The Saturday 7

1. In the past week, I've noticed that Lena is crawling full time now instead of scooching on her belly. I'm pretty sure Lucy started full-time crawling at almost exactly the same age. They've been so similar all along that I could probably start predicting when Lena will walk, get teeth, etc.

2. We're getting excited for Christmas around here! We got our tree up and I decorated the whole house. I've been listening to Christmas music non-stop, and even got all my gifts wrapped! (I still have more to buy. I'm not totally done.) Lucy and I are have been doing our Advent Activities and changing the number on our chalkboard countdown every day. 
We made a card for our Compassion child, Christmas tree cinnamon rolls,  and painted Lucy's nails red and green. The last picture is to show how each envelope has baby Jesus getting a little closer to the stable. Every day I tell Lucy, "Jesus is getting close! It's almost Christmas!"
3. Justin had the week off, so we decided to take a couple days to go see his sister Kaley in Chicago. She just moved into a bigger apartment, so we could all fit. It's still a studio apartment, but she had a couch for Justin, we could fit Lena's pack n' play in the closet, and Lucy got a new inflatabed that I snagged for $10 on Black Friday, so it was perfect. :-) We went to Shedd's Aquarium and the Chicago Children's Museum, plus filled up with gas, and ate out a few times for the price of one night at a hotel in the Chicago area. Thanks, Kaley, for putting us up! (Or maybe putting up with us. ;-) ) 

4. The drive down to Chicago was a breeze. Lucy was entertained by the DVD player and Kindle, Lena slept a good portion, and then was happy to look out the window or play with the few toys I brought. We didn't hit any traffic, and made it in 3.5 hours. The way back, however, was a different story. We hit rush hour traffic in the city, Lena was sick and miserable, Lucy's bladder suddenly shrunk, and I was anxious and irritable. Poor Justin. Haha. It took us almost 6 hours to get home (including a puking incident all over the floor of Taco Bell) and I swore off road trips of any kind for a long time!!

5. I'm as bad as the kids in the car and need constant entertainment. It was dark on the way home, so I couldn't read the paper books I brought myself, so I read a book on my mom's Kindle. The only thing I could find that was already downloaded (so didn't require the Internet) was John Grisham's The Firm. It was intense. And old. Haha. I was so confused at first about why they didn't have cell phones, and what a dictaphone was. Then I finally realized the book was written in the 80s - which seems like should be 15 years ago, but was actually 30 years ago!  (Man, I'm getting old . . .) Anyway, now that I've finally done it, I can give an educated opinion about electronic readers. Verdict: I'm not a fan. I hate not being able to gauge how much farther I have to go. Yes, it tells me I'm at 64% or whatever, but that doesn't mean much to me. I want to see the thickness of the pages I have yet to read. I also hate having to worry about the battery dying, and then sitting plugged into the wall when it does inevitably give out. Paper books don't die. I guess the pros are that I could read it in the dark, it's more portable, and it doubles as a tablet to use for facebook and Lucy's games. But I think I'll stick with the old fashioned readers for now.

6. Remember when I wrote about my new Bible Study method and how I'm going to study a Psalm a day? I just went back to see when that was - October 19. So it's been almost 2 months and I'm on Psalm . . . 18. :-( I'm not the most faithful. Something I'm working on. Anyway, I loved this verse that I came across this week: Psalm 18:19 "He [God] brought me out into a spacious place, he rescued me because he delighted in me." First of all, let me say that I have new appreciation for "spacious places" after being in Chicago (I'm such a country bumpkin. Those big buildings and busy streets stressed me out.) But the part I love the most of that verse is that God rescued me because he delighted in me. I think I was raised being taught that I'm a wretched, wretched sinner and I need to be forever grateful that God had mercy on me and spared my soul. Those are all right and true things. But I still kind of feel like God disapproves of me, but withholds his punishment because I prayed a prayer so he has to hold up his end of the bargain - not because he loves me and certainly not because he likes me or delights in me. And yet, I have verse after verse underlined in my Bible that shows he does. (Zephaniah 3:17 is another of my favorites.) 

7. Only 6 today because Lena is standing next to me with tears and snot streaming down her face, and we're hosting small group in an hour and a half so I have to get cooking! Have a great week everyone!

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