The Master Cleanse

So, I am beginning The Master Cleanse tomorrow morning (well, technically tonight, I guess since the first laxative is taken the night before). I know a couple of friends have done this process of cleaning out the toxins in your body...anyone have any thoughts, suggestions, comments??? I will keep an update on how I am feeling - physically, emotionally...and with weight loss, too! Here's hoping the next 10 days are fast and that this process really works! :)

Leading By Example - Going, Serving, Loving, Giving

Setting the scene: Caleb had one stuffed cat, and Hannah had another.
Johnny: Caleb, can I have that cat? I want to play with it.
Caleb: Well, Hannah has a cat, too. Maybe you can have hers. Hannah, will you let Johnny play with that cat now?
Hannah: NO!
Caleb: Please, Hannah? It would be really nice of you to share.
Hannah: NO!
Caleb: But Hannah, God really wants us to be nice to other people and to share what we have with them. Isn't that right, Mommy?
Me: I think that's exactly what God wants.
Caleb: That's what I'm trying to teach Hannah by having her give her cat to Johnny.
Me: Well, I think a better way of teaching Hannah how to share and to give to others is by showing her how to do that and giving Johnny YOUR cat.
Caleb: Hmmm....

This little interaction between myself and the kids was really precious to me. I loved that Caleb has the mindset of helping others, but it's cute to see his still-very-much five year old mind battling what he knows is right. But, I began to wonder, perhaps it's true that we all sort of have that still-very-much five year old mind. At that age, the world is all about them. But, honestly, does that ever really stop being what the world is about? Doesn't the world tell us to always go for bigger and better and more? Me, me, me...it's all about me.

I love the idea of the upside down Kingdom - that life just isn't about me. My money isn't my money, and my kids aren't even my kids. It's all my Father's and he has been gracious enough to lend me these things, so I can use them - in partnership with him - for His glory and His work.

I have to evaluate my life often, in terms of this conversation with Caleb. It's easy for me to say exactly what I think God wants of me, but am I really doing it, or just expecting others around me to do it? Am I really putting into action the characteristics of the Christ-follower that I am trying to be? Am I loving? Am I giving? Am I serving?

Just as I hope Caleb will learn to lead by example, I need to do the same. How can I expect my children to know how to serve and give and love our neighbors if I'm not doing it?

Thanks, Caleb, for reminding me of my call to action - my call to go, and serve and love and give. To be the hands and feet of Christ in this world...

Butterflies and Cars

She loves stuffed animals, cars, butterflies and trucks. She says, "poo-poo" and gives the sweetest hugs and kisses (not at the same time). She cuddles and adores her baby sister, and wrestles with her brothers. She plays with trucks, baby dolls, strollers and lions. She reads books about Spiderman, cranky bears, shapes and animals. She dives off couches and climbs "mountains" with her brothers. She watches Dora, The Wiggles, Barney...well, anything, really. She is beautiful, smart, hilarious, fun and oh-SO-much more! She is my baby girl, and she is TWO today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY SWEET AND SILLY HANNAH! I LOVE YOU WAY, WAY, WAY MORE THAN I COULD EVER PUT INTO WORDS!!

The Itch

No. I don't have some weird and creepy disease...sorry, no good gossip to be found here! I'm talking about this itch that I get every year to year and a half to get out of this country.

As many of you know, Lily and I had the incredible privilege of taking a 9 day trip to Scotland last month. (And if you were wondering why you missed out on this news, I kept it off of Facebook...reasons to be mentioned further down.) It makes me sad to know that Jon's entire family lives over there, and that there was a grandchild/niece/cousin that they hadn't met yet. So, we made the decision to go. The best part about it (and the reason I didn't mention it on FB) was that Jon's mom had no idea (well, maybe a small suspicion a while back) that we were coming. When Lily and I showed up to her birthday girls brunch, Jane (Jon's mom, and Lily's middle-namesake) was nearly shaking and got the goosebumps - I think she was excited to meet her newest grandchild!
We had an AMAZING time - truly.

Here are some thoughts on my time away:

~ Airplane restrooms have always seemed small to me, but never as small as on my flight to Amsterdam. I had to bring Lily in with me, fold down the "changing table", attempt to fit my head between the under-side of that table and the toilet and the proceed to vomit. It was quite a site! (I was anxious about flying alone with a baby...I'd gotten myself pretty worked up about it!)

~ Lily is absolutely the most perfect traveling baby to ever exist. She sucked her thumb and fell asleep on my shoulder on every flight. In all of the 30+ hours of travel time, she whimpered maybe twice for about 10 seconds. Amazing.

~ Amsterdam airport is a place I could sit all day long and people watch. It is a true melting-pot of so many of the cultures in our world. People are so beautiful - their clothing and hair and style; their language and expressions and attempts to communicate in a foreign country is magnificent to watch and listen to. I love it.

~ Scotland is incredibly gorgeous - even in the dead of winter. It is so green and hilly. There are still sheep roaming the hillsides. The old castle ruins, and castles still standing are breathtaking under their thin layer of fresh snow. The weather is mild and time at the coast still feels like vacation. And the sunsets...OH the sunsets! What a place!

~ The similarities between Jon and his parents are hysterical...down to Jon's dad hating to wash the silverware - just like Jon. And both Geoff and Jane searching frantically for keys, wallets and phone minutes after they should be out the door. (I say all this out of love, of course, Geoff and Jane!;))


~ No matter how many times I go to Britain, double-decker buses (even the school buses were...) and old-fashioned telephone booths will always be things I get excited to see. (Thanks Jaime and Jo for indulging my American tourist needs!)

~ As much as I would have loved having the rest of my family with me, it was great being there without Jon. Sounds bad, but what I mean is that every other time I've been there with Jon, as his wife...visiting because he wanted to see his family. (That's not actually true, but I can see how it could be perceived that way.) This time, I was able to be Angela...not Jon's wife...in Scotland visiting Jon's family because I chose to - because I wanted to. It was awesome to build relationships with Jon's family without him being there. I had a BLAST!!

"Confessions" of an Almost 29-Year-Old

I don't like talking about myself - it makes me really uncomfortable. But, I was thinking of little tid-bits about who I am, and thought I would follow in the footsteps of my sister-in-law Betsy and write some "confessions". So, for no particular reason, here they are:

1. I really wish I was more motivated - to eat healthier, to exercise regularly, to be super hands-on with my kids, to play in the snow, to keep an amazingly clean house.

2. I really like the movie K-Pax. I may be the only one I know of who does.

3. I don't shower nearly as often as I probably should.

4. I hate it when I go to the restroom in a public place, and when I come out I have to look around like a big idiot for the person I'm with. I give Jon a place to stand and he knows he has to stay there, or I stress!

5. I would move to Africa tomorrow if I could (with my family, of course).

6. Caleb told me yesterday that my stomach looks stripey, little, and a little bit big.

7. Me and my brothers have matching scars on our stomachs from pyloric stenosis when we were babies. If I ever had "work done" on my stomach, I wouldn't let anyone touch that scar, cause I really like that we match.

8. Something that bugs me more than anythings else is someone who presents themselves as being "awesome" or better than everyone else...or someone that thinks they have all the answers. Grrrr.

9. The thought of chewing on a sock is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Why would anyone chew on a sock? I don't know, but let's just stop talking about it...it's giving me the heebie-jeebies.

10. Big Red gum gives me painful little bumps on my tongue that last forever. Other than that I really like Big Red - but I won't chew it anymore.

11. Someday I want to deliver babies in Africa. There's nothing in the world quite like child birth, and so many women there have no one to help them through it.

12. I have a really horrible memory. It's pretty frustrating, but maybe once I'm old enough I'll actually just forget that I have a bad memory and it won't frustrate me anymore.

13. My brother Dave and I both have numb areas on the left side of our backs. (Don't be concerned...our doctors have both found nothing to worry about.)

14. I'm really good at burping really loud. I hold it in most of the time - especially when the British side of my family is around! ;)

15. There are VERY few things in my life that I am proud of myself for, but one thing is giving birth to Johnny without any pain medication. Now, I know it's different for everyone, and some people can do that without much trouble, but it was HELL going through it for me, but I did it, and that makes me proud of myself. :)

Scattered Family Together

The last 7 years or so have been crazy as far as family being all over the place. For starters, as most of you know, Jon's family is ALL in Scotland, which means we are able to see them so rarely...it's sad. But even the Scott side is all over the place. We've been in Boston, Philly, Kenya and now Ohio. My brother Mark and his family were near us in Boston until we moved away, and they've just recently moved to Texas. My other brother Dave and his family moved to California just after we got married, and then came to Ohio with us for awhile, then headed back to California and are now heading off to France to the mission field for two years. So, we are one scattered family. We had the amazing privilege of all of us being together over the Thanksgiving holiday...and with Dave and Betsy and JJ being in France for 2 years, and with Jon having NO vacation time for this first year, who knows when we'll all be together again. I LOVE my family so much, and tried to squeeze every minute out of my time with them as possible...including a couple of airport mishaps! Anyway, here are a few pictures of our time together...

My brother Dave with Hannah - playing with her new doll house blocks:


My brother Mark and Cyndi with the pile of kids:


We celebrated JJ's (4) and Caleb's (5) birthdays together:


Johnny, JJ, Hannah and Caleb watching a video together:


Lily and her older cousin (by 10 days) Aaron sharing some time on the bouncer:


Grandpa reading to Hannah and cousin Christian:


Jon and his little girls:


Me with my sister-in-law Cyndi:


And my other sister-in-law Betsy:


We had an awesome time celebrating both Thanksgiving and Christmas together. Hopefully it's not TOO long before we're all together again!

The Busy Life...

It's hard to believe that Lily is nearly two months old now, and I haven't posted a single thing about her - no pictures or updates or anything! (Poor fourth child...I'll blame it on being BUSY!)

Lily Jane is an AMAZING baby! We have been blessed to have four very easy babies - no colic, good sleepers, easy going. Lily is no exception to this. She pretty much sits around happy all day. She sleeps a lot, eats every three hours and is just a great baby! Now that she's eight weeks old, she's doing a lot of smiling and starting to coo and jabber some. It's amazing how even after four kids, that just doesn't get old!

So, life is pretty busy, it seems. Jon is back to work now - as a sales rep. for an office supply company - so it's back to me being alone with the kiddos all day. His unemployment was perfect for me. When I was sick, he could be with the kids. When I was huge and exhausted, he could be with the kids or cook dinner. When Lily was on oxygen, he was around to tote her and her tanks around, change her tubes and tape - it was all such a blessing! But now it's me...from about 7:30am until 8:00pm (well, Jon gets home around 5:30), plus the night time feedings. It's a pretty tiring "job", but - as cliche as it is - I wouldn't change it for anything! I actually enjoy the challenge of getting them all fed, dressed, out the door and into the car...just to get out of the car, load the girls into the stroller and bring the boys into school. (Then I do it all again to pick them up a few hours later.) It has it's stressful and frustrating moments FOR SURE, but for the most part I really enjoy it. (It's also fun to see the look on people's faces when I'm out with four kids under five in public! People think I'm nuts - and I probably am!)

Here are a few pics of Lily and her older siblings over the last couple months...

Lily in the hospital when she was still on her oxygen


Hannah loves her little sister! She still just calls her "Baby".


Johnny is always concerned when Lily cries - he takes SUCH great care of her!


Caleb loves being the biggest - he looks out for Lily and the others.


Daddy's little lady Lily.


My Baby doll.


One big happy family!


Such a sweetie-pie!


Yup, I think we'll keep her! ;)