For the Love of All Children

     This morning, I was straightening up around the kitchen while the girls ate.  I picked up a coupon we just received in the mail to one of our favorite restaurants, Buca di Beppo.  In the middle of the coupon was an ad for Valentine's Day that read,

     "Love means... Never having to say you're still hungry."

     I read that and stopped in my tracks.  It made me sad.  Sad in that deep, inner portion of my heart.  You might ask, "Why would an ad make you sad?"  Because so many in the world today are starving.  They go to bed hungry every night.  They never get to eat at Buca's and eat until their stomach hurts from eating too much.  My heart breaks for the hungry around the world, and especially those children affected by hunger and poverty.  The ad reminded me of this video...

   May God break our hearts for what breaks his heart.  May he open our eyes to those in need around the world.  May he pour out his grace and mercy on all of those who hunger today.

Cookies and a Picnic

     Today is the first day of the week that we have not had something planned - no school, no play dates, no groceries to buy.  I love it.
     Audrey woke us up this morning.  I have been trying to wake up before her, but I did not succeed today.  That's ok, though.  We made it to the kitchen and she asked if I'd help her make pancakes.  Sure, why not?  We made enough for our whole family, since Matt didn't leave for work early today.  I also told Audrey that we could make chocolate chip cookies today.  So once Claire was down for her morning nap, Audrey and I began baking.  She helped me mix all of the ingredients (helping herself to a little cookie dough and a chocolate chip - or four) and put the cookies on the cookie sheets.

(pretending to mix - no idea where her spoon actually is - and notice the partially eaten pancake she is still snacking on, too!)

     The cookies are yummy, but we made WAY TOO many of them.  So, we packed up two little boxes of cookies to share with our friends in our neighborhood.  Once Claire woke up, we delivered the boxes of cookies!  After our special deliveries, we had a picnic lunch in the park in front of our house.  It's such a beautiful day, and the grass in the park is as soft as a blanket.  After we ate, the girls played in the grass and on the playground before nap time.  Claire is becoming more of a daredevil every day - wrestling with Audrey and trying to climb playground equipment she has no business climbing.  Audrey twirled, danced, and spun her way through our outside time.  Thankfully, I had my camera and caught a few snapshots of the post-picnic playtime...

Lemonade Baths and Paint

     Have any of you figured out what is in this photograph?  Well, it's a washing machine full of stuffed dogs.  This was the only way I could really capture today's quiet time events.  Audrey actually naps about once a month now.  It's okay, though, because we still have a lengthy quiet time.  Claire naps.  Audrey is allowed to rest on her bed, read books, or play quietly in her room.  It's great down time for her.  It's great down time for me.  Sometimes, though, her imagination gets a little wild.  Today, for example, she decided that each of her doggies needed a bath.  She set up a bathing station and cleaned them with lemonade and water.  Lemonade?!  Yup.  This is my fault, really.  She brought home a glass of lemonade from lunch the other day, and the cup ended up in her room.  I didn't see the cup until AFTER it was used to bath the doggies (empty cup now).  So, Audrey bathed her dogs, and they were all wet.  I'm sure they loved their lemonade baths, but Mommy made them take a second bath in her washing machine.  

      "No, mommy, we're just playing."  Sure, sure.  And both dogs are trailing after my girls.  And all of Claire's Cheerios are gone.  Hmmm...

     Audrey asks for lots of barrettes.  It's only because I put a tiny, bitty bow in Claire's hair and Audrey wanted her hair to be fixed, too.  After I put the barrettes in Audrey's hair, she says, "Now I have prettier hair than Claire."  Uh, oh.  SO, I had to explain that we are not competing over who has the prettiest hair (or prettiest anything else).  God looks at our hearts and beauty is on the inside.  I'm sure I have many more of these conversations in my future...

      Claire in the cutest little REI vest that Audrey wore once upon a time... Before the itty bitty bow.

     You can barely see Claire's bow here.  I was trying to take a picture of the bow.  Instead, I caught a moment of "sisterly love," as Claire tries to rip the bag of chalk out of Audrey's hand.  Both of my girls are strong willed.  You can see the angst and determination on their faces.  Both lose.  Mommy takes the chalk and sets it upon a high shelf.  We'll try to share it again tomorrow.

     And this is our first dual craft moment.  Audrey loves crafts.  She'd do them all day every day, I think.  I haven't had the energy to try double craft time until today.  Claire has practiced drawing with chalk, and she's scribbled on her own, but today, I sat them both at the table.  Audrey painted while Claire used crayons to draw on the butcher paper.  Both girls were happy!

Morning Time!

     Wake up time in the Russell household is mysteriously beautiful.  I stumble around the kitchen until my hands find that first cup of coffee.  Audrey dashes exuberantly from room to room, proclaiming she is hungry.  Claire wakes up chatting to her animals.  Matt quietly slips into his flight suit and joins us for breakfast.  No, I don't cook a meal (unless putting a frozen waffle in the toaster oven counts as cooking). We help our kids to food and grab what we want, but we sit together.  We talk together.  Sometimes we might even shed a few tears if the morning is off to a bad start.  Okay, the girls will actually cry, but there are definitely mornings where I feel like crying!  

 Claire stares at me with those deep, blue eyes.  Thank you, God, for your precious ones...

 A few teeth peek at me as she smiles, laughs, and waits for more food...

 Audrey loves breakfast, and a good Ego waffle always hits the spot.  She still won't pour the syrup directly on her waffle, though, preferring to dip each piece... I do love this girl!

 After we are dressed, Claire will find my measuring spoons.  They're instruments today...

And my sweet girls spend time together before we take Audrey to school.

     Now, I am no morning person. Far from it.  But God is teaching me to cherish the mornings and cherish the time we share together.  I am thankful for each new morning!

I Am New

     We listen to Christian radio a lot in our house these days.  Why?  So many reasons... It's encouraging and uplifting.  The music humbles.  It inspires.  It reminds me in the moment of how much I love Jesus and of the riches He brings into our lives.  Always.  I heard this song by an artist named Jason Gray, and I love the words.  I am particularly fond of the last refrain.  Some days I feel heavy, burdened, and weighed down.  Then God gently lifts up my head.  He is making me new.  Moment by moment.  Sigh.  Weight gone.  Thank you, God!

      The lyrics:

Now I won't deny
The worst you could say about me
But I'm not defined
By mistakes that I've made
Because God says of me 

I am not who I was, I'm being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy and I'm dearly loved
I am new 

Too long have I lived in the shadows of shame
Believing that there was no way I could change
But the one who is making everything new
Doesn't see me the way that I do 
Who I thought I was
And who I thought I had to be
I had to give them both up
Cause neither were willing
To ever believe 

I am not who I was, I'm being remade
I am new
Dead to my sin, I'm coming alive
I am new 

Forgiven, beloved, Hidden in Christ
Made in the image of the Giver of Life
Righteous and holy, reborn and remade
Accepted and worthy, this is our new name
This is who we are now

Just Random...

     I really have no stories to go with the pictures below.  We hang out and play in our house or outside, and sometimes I grab the camera and snap a pic or two.  Claire and Audrey play together often, and I just think it's adorable.  They love each other and love spending time together.  I'll occasionally find them both holed up in Audrey's room playing.  Audrey has started helping Claire figure out a way on to her bed so they can sit and look at books together.  I have to watch them, though, because it'll quickly shift from book reading to bed jumping, and Claire just isn't quite as old as she thinks she is... But, the girls are a source of joy, and I am thankful that God blessed our lives with their little lives!

 Claire finds a Q-tip and thinks it might be something she could chew.

 Audrey is giving Matt a card she made so that "...Daddy can have a good day at work and not forget about me."

Snack time - the girls are sharing and our beagle is lurking, hoping a morsel might fall to the floor...

 Claire and Audrey sit on the bed together, then Claire (below) decides she should do some jumping.  Audrey gives me the "why are you taking my picture?" look.  Nice.

 Claire sports her new outfit to church, and she laughs as Daddy makes silly faces!

Get the Wrench!

     Our kitchen table and chairs are old.  Don't get me wrong, they are perfect for our family right now, but they are not in the best shape.  The table itself was actually mine while I was in law school.  Since I lived in a small apartment, it doubled as my desk AND my dinner table.  (If you look closely, you can still see ink pen marks and highlighter stains, most likely from when I was up way too late studying).  The chairs belonged to Matt.  I'm not even sure when he bought them, but it was before we were engaged or married. It seats our family, and I have no qualms using it as a staging table for craft time with Audrey.  "You spilled paint on our table?  Oh well.  Let's clean it up..."
     But, because it's not exactly the best furniture in the world, the chairs occasionally get "wobbly".  The screws in the legs loosen, and you can feel the chair shift while you're sitting in it.  I guess the move across the country in the back of a tightly packed moving van didn't help our kitchen chairs, because they all needed a little TLC. So, one night, Matt grabbed his tools and took a few minutes to tighten the chairs (so no unsuspecting guest would fall to the ground in embarrassment if the legs gave way).  Claire was intrigued.  Matt set down his wrench to step outside, and Claire immediately picked it up and set to work!  She imitated her Daddy, hitting the wrench against the screws and then just banging the legs of the chairs!  We have two very helpful little girls.

The White Tanks

     Last weekend, we drove a few miles to the White Tank Mountains to take our family's first hike in Arizona!  At Christmas, I got Matt a little pocket book of easy day hikes in the Phoenix area.  We decided to hike the "Waterfall Hike" and enjoy some time in the desert mountains.  The hike was definitely an easy hike - 2 miles total, elevation gain of 180 feet, paved all but the last 300 yards - and it gave Audrey a chance to stretch her legs and hike a bit of it herself.  We brought the Kelty Pack for her, just in case (she did prefer to ride, and who can blame her).  I carried Claire in our Ergo carrier, but we let her hike around at the waterfall and at the end of our hike.  She and Audrey finished the hike hand in hand!
     The waterfall itself was exactly what we figured it would be as a waterfall in the desert - the rocks were damp and there was a near stagnant pool below it!  In my pictures below, you might actually miss the waterfall if you aren't looking for it.  It's the photo of gray rocks with a wet streak down the middle!  On our way back from the waterfall, we looked for all of the different types of cactuses (which we knew by name, thanks to an informational sign at the beginning of the hike) and saw some petroglyphs on the rocks.  The day was beautiful, and both girls loved the hike.  We are excited to get in a few more hikes before it really heats up around here!

Sweet Claire Wakes Up!

     Most days, Claire wakes up from sleep happy.  I love walking into her room, turning on the light, and seeing her happy face.  She always has something to "say", she loves to show me her toys and turn on her music.  I finally took our Flip into her room this last week to film the wake-up routine.  It's mostly for me, because I love it so much, but maybe a few of you will get a kick out of it, too!

Phoenix in January

     January is actually amazing in Arizona.  The temps are crisp and cool in the morning, and by the afternoon, we can comfortably play outside!  The sun is shining most days... Amazing!  We're soaking it up, as we remember the summer HEAT that will arrive in April.
     Both girls are growing up so fast.  Audrey started a day school program last week and she LOVES it.  She still misses her friends and school in South Carolina (as she talks about them almost daily), but she also loves her new teacher and classmates.  We've also had the chance to get together with other military families for play dates, which is great for the girls and for me!  Claire will be 14 months old this next week.  She has started "talking" quite a bit.  She is ornery and hilarious.  Her little personality keeps us on our toes, and I can't wait to see how she grows over this next year.
     We have a few pics below of bath time with Daddy.  The girls AND Daddy always have so much fun during bath time.  The rest of the photos are from our time at the park today.  Matt had to study, so I took the girls to one of the many parks in our neighborhood.  We wore ourselves out running, climbing, and sliding.  On the wagon ride home, Claire started trying to kiss Audrey, which usually resulted in accidental head-butting.  I tried to snap a few photos, but we all ended up laughing!  Enjoy.