EX turned 4!

Happy Birthday, Emmy Xiang!

Yesterday we celebrated Emmy Xiang's "first" and fourth birthday! She had a ton of fun eating cake and opening presents! After she opened every present she would whisper, "Oooooo...Pretty!" The girls got her some fake jewelry and she fell in love with the earrings (she is constantly asking for theirs)! Mama made her a pretty dress and a doll with a dress to match. Enjoy the slideshow!

Track District Meet

It is such a joy to watch our children have fun while they exercise - those ("fun" and "exercise") are two words I don't naturally associate together! No matter....it is a joy to watch them!

Yesterday the Elf and Ladybug both competed in the District Track Meet. All of the kids on their team did so well, and seemed to have much fun. Many of the kids placed in the top four of their events, and thus progressed to the Regional trials (to be held next week), which was quite an honor! This is the girls' team's first official track season, so to be competitive at this level shows a lot of diligence. The coaches were excellent encouragers and helped them all improve (Dad even coached the throwers, so I include him in that bunch, too!).

Ladybug, due to the encouragement and selflessness of her "mentor/friend" Holly, took 1st place in the 2 mile race. Not bad for this 6th grader! Holly paced her the whole race, encouraging her each step of the way. (Holly had already taken 1st in the mile, while Bee came in 3rd in that race!) JE took 7th in her event, the discus, though she was a bit disappointed in her performance. Truly, she's thrown much better all year, but we all have days when we just don't perform our best. Yet, she enjoyed the season, the day and was thrilled for her younger sister and friends. Bee and Stevo (regulars on this blog) also progressed to Regionals, as well as many other friends.

The Pooch cheered on her sisters, and read one of the Little House books between races and trips to the concession stand (her favorite "event"). EX watched, cheered a bit, ate snacks and posed for a picture or two. Overall, a fun time!

Here's a little slide show of the day....

Spider Incident...Yikes!

Okay, here we go... it's Katie and Bee, we are home with Emmy Xiang, by ourselves...
I (Katie) started wandering around our house just in time to see a HUGE brown spider by Gracie's school books on the floor!!! (note: this is not where they belong, but where they are often found) I was freaked out!! What should I do???
"Oh my goodnes, Bee, there is a HUGE brown spider in here!!!"
"Well squish it!"
"Nuh-uh... are you kidding me?!"
"I'll call Ruthie at home, and ask her to have a boy sprint down!!"
"GREAT!"

"Hi Ruthie, it's Bee, we have a giant brown spider in the Brown's house!..."
(Ruthie talks)
"Katie, she said it's probabaly just a wolf spider, so to squish it ourselves"
(Me)"Tell her to put her pointer finger and thumb in a circle, and thats about how big around it is! I am not going to squish that thing!"
"Okay... Ruthie put your finger and thumb in a circle and thats about how big around it is!"
(Ruthie Talks)
"Okay, we'll squish it, bye."

"Katie, we ARE going to squish the spider! Okay"
"You mean you are... I am not goint to do that! Thats absolutely disgusting!"
"Okay, where are your Dad's shoes?"
"Use his old shoes, they're in the garage"
"Okay... will these work?"
"Perfect!....

She walks up to the location of our spider, puts the heel of the shoe on it, and BACKS AWAY!!! I thought "What is this girl thinking??" about then she says
"Okay, now you finish it off"
"O-o-o-ka-a-ay"

While standing as far off as possible, I finished it! That was absolutley, completely, terrifying! Especially beacuse there were no adults or boys there!!! Yikes! Well, I'll get back to babysitting now! Thanks for listening to my story!
Katie

Shopping for Time?

Are you, like me, busy...or are you beyond busy...and challenged by your current season of life? Do you often feel overwhelmed with all that is on your plate? Might you even have so many “good things” to choose from that it’s hard to choose what’s best?

Admittedly, I have found myself wandering through a day with no clear purpose, or worse, ignoring what *should* be done, to gratify my own selfish pleasures. God has been so kind to reveal to me my sin. I lack of discipline and clear purpose in many areas of life. But, in His rich mercy, over the past many months, He has provided me teaching after teaching to address my lack. He has led me to passages of scriptures to encourage my heart and to songs that make melody to my occasionally weary soul. He has placed in my path books to speak to my mind and to direct me practically. In short, He has reminded me in countless ways of the gospel.

It is truly my desire that I would approach each day, each situation that He calls me, with purpose, intentionality, being productive yet sensitive to His leading....that I would be wise. To this He has called me.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul says, "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." The Elf and I, with the ladies of our church just completed a book study and enjoyed several lovely evenings discussing Biblical wisdom and practical ideas addressed in Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney and daughters.


Understanding that we, as ladies, tend to be wise shoppers (of stuff!), and using biblical principles as the foundation, with a sprinkling of encouragement and examples from real lives, the Mahaney women offer 5 tips to help ladies of various seasons of life apply the words of Ephesians 5:15-16, to be wise shoppers of time. Lest you be wary, the ladies state:

“These tips are not our attempt at Christian-coated time management principles. Rather they are biblical, life-tested practices we trust will encourage and assist you to bring glory to the Savior through every season of your life."

If you too, tend to feel overwhelmed, or just “busy”, or if you feel that you are missing something...a clear plan, intentionality....may I recommend this book for ladies (and young ladies)? I believe you’ll be encouraged!

Diligent Duties

"By this time her old disposition had begun to rouse again. She had been doing her duty and had in consequence begun again to think herself Somebody. However strange it may well seem, to do one's duty will make any one conceited who only does it sometimes. Those who do it always would as soon think of being conceited of eating their dinner as of doing their duty....To be conceited of doing one's duty is then a sign of how little one does it, and how little one sees what a contemptible thing it is to not do it....Until our duty becomes to us common as breathing, we are poor creatures." -The Wise Woman by George MacDonald 1875

This quote was in the chapter we read for our Maiden Tea this afternoon. Everyone agreed that this chapter, titled "Lady of Leisure", was convicting. It is so important that we are faithfully doing our duty to our families and to God and that we don't fall into the nets of laziness. Prov. 31:27 says, "She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." Wow! Let us pray together this prayer that was at the beginning of our chapter!

"Dear Lord, help me to be diligent in all that I do. Help me joyfully to seek Your will and not my own pleasure. Keep vanity and pride far from me. Grant me a meek and gentle spirit, and let me serve and glorify Your all the days of my life. Amen."

Elvenmaiden

PS All of the quotes and Scripture were included in the chapter! I didn't find all of them myself!