Snow Belles

STELLAR p.j. find this year! Snow Belles...perfect. All the Bell girls have them this year. SHOUT OUT to the best Aunty Em a girl could have. She sent these to die for Christmas babylegs and personally made flower clip. She's simply the best AND talented!
What a fun way to celebrate the season!

Everything That Sparkles!

Saturday night we attended Nee Nee's 60th "Everything That Sparkles" Birthday bash, where we had a sparkling time at. She is much loved and we LOVED the chance to dress up and go out on the town! Highlights? Her life size mirror image cake, her hysterical birthday video, and chatting with family who are also our dear friends!
Life is good.
Shout out to Andi for the amazing pictures! We're all lucky to have a photog in the family...
Don't you love all the pregnant Lang ladies? I sure do!

Weekend Roundup!

This weekend officially kicked off our Holiday festivities! On Saturday, I got the girls all gussied up in their Cowgirl Christmas outfits and we headed out to Santa's workshop to deliver our requests, pose for a picture or two, and generally start the season off right. As a welcome surprise my girls had NO meltdowns; Pearson actually TALKED to Santa and sat on the couch next to him. Harper loved it and just gazed at Santa whilst tugging on his real beard. In fact ALL four Bell belles did really spectacularly and I was definitely impressed as both mom and aunt. Also if you can't tell, Momi wrote to Santa and it was "signed" by Miss Pea.
AND...
Happy Birthday to my sweet Mom today! We LOVE you.

Cowgirl Christmas

Special post dedicated to the girl's Christmas outfits this year. I really love them; so cowgirl chic. Seems like they're a hit...check em out!

Craigslist Killer (of Dreams)

Last night we put our cat on craigslist.
Free cat, litter box, and bed. First person to call wins the lucky prize of owning Kat Von B!
We got a call from a father who just bought two kittens for his little girls for Christmas. The kittens promptly ran away. He lives like two miles from us; we're taking it as a sign that KVB is going to a better home.
I feel like a horrible mother. I am killing the dream of cat ownership for Pearson. Though at the moment, ownership emcompasses "petting" her, playing doctor with her (wherein KVB ALWAYS receives shots), and yelling at me to feed her when her food bowl is empty. However, though I may be one dream stealer, I keep emphasizing how she will be able to get a dog when she turns five and that's been our promise to her for some time now. A promise we intend to keep!
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are NOT cat people. Let's just all accept it. We adopted KVB for Pea's second birthday and since that time it's been a roller coaster of the following:
-Clawing
-Constant Meowing (seemingly only in the early morning and at bedtime for the girls).
-Peeing and pooping inside Pea's castle tent in the playroom. (So passive/aggresive: for spite I am positive).
-No cuddles, not even one.
However, to be fair to her I rephrased these attributes in her craigslist ad respectively as:
-Curious
-Friendly
-Resourceful
-Independent
So, goodbye Kat Von B. We will sort of miss you...

Bemusings: On Will

Definition of will (part 1): volition: the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention.
I'm realizing maybe for the first time that I can be unpredictable to others. Not really a loose cannon (I know a few of those and most of them do not know they are loaded guns), but maybe in a shoot from the hip kind of way. Make a decision and let it ride...

Shoot first, ask questions later.

Timeout: If my overuse of similes and metaphors pushes you to the brink of sanity, I am extremely sorry. I literally can't control it; flowing from my furious fingers like lava (and there we go again...dang.) You can quit reading my posts if so, I am trying to be open to criticism as of late.

Time-in: As I was saying, I'm sure NO ONE I knew from growing up thought I'd move away for school, or get married, or have a child (if ever) before I was even 24. Frankly, that last one did surprise me too. I am at the age now where friends and acquaintances view my life as either The Holy Grail or The Deadly Plague depending on the direction of life as it were. Domestic Bliss? Man-made prison? I'll admit a three week stint with a baby who has an ear infection feels ball-and-chain-esq. No doubt there are mitigating circumstances and ranging opinions or pure ambivalence.
That's all fine and dandy.
Definition of will (part 2): a fixed and persistent intent or purpose.
But I suppose what matters most is what He thinks of my life, my behavior, my growth. I often think about the fact that God knows what we will choose before we make the choice. That He does not foresee our lives, but sees them because He is omnipresent; here then, here now, there in the future. All three, all at the time. To me it is a blessing knowing that nothing is really set in stone except that Jesus is the answer to the question and that He is victorious. Our lives can be lived dynamically as an interplay with Him; a mutual relationship and not fatalistically. We have will, He has a perfect will. I suppose then the goal should be aligning them as we live out our life with Him, not despite Him.
Definition of will (part 3): bequeath: leave or give by will after one's death.
This is what I want part of my legacy especially for my girls to be.

Gosh, you guys. I am a writing machine this week. I have been wanting to write these things down. Maybe my diary is a better choice? I guess life's too short to hold back. However, I promise a lighter note in subsequent posts this week...maybe something on ice cream or kisses or Christmas decor. And not poop, definitely not poop...

Bemusings: On Vulnerability

Since Ms. Lane has some time to ponder...
Warning!
Treading into deep water. If you'd like to stay in the kiddy pool for a bit longer I understand; it can be nice! I just got pruney in there soaking for some years.
Lately I've been thinking about image. What we project, what others actually see in comparison to what we intend. I may regret this. In fact I'm sure I will, but I want to know my blind spots in order to refine myself (possibly in the fire if these revelations are painful!). I think I've started on this path, but without outside help I won't get the full picture. In this vein, I'm praying for more to be revealed. And if you'd like to tell me a blind spot; I am open to it even if it might hurt. I suppose in some ways this is an experiment and I think that's allowed. My hypothesis is that by opening myself up to this, not just myself but others will benefit? Maybe that's assuming more than my Mom and Dad read this blog...
I digress.
On masks since these bemusings discuss congruency...
The mask we wear can be put in place for a number of reasons; self-preservation, perfection, guilt, pride, the seven deadly.
You name it.
What we present to the outside world can vary so drastically from what is actually happening in our lives that it can be quite amusing. Or horrible depending on the circumstance.
Metaphorically, this mask is a glass case where our heart is kept. What we think is safe (fear), beyond reproach (perfection), and in some cases hidden (self-preservation) is not. Fragile, yes. But maybe more vulnerable than that.
Seen.
God sees. We are never hidden from Him, even if we are hidden from others, even others we love.
Things He knows about me that I now know to work on: generosity, discretion, and patience.
Back to the lab,