Today's Lesson:

Struck Me Funny...

Which of these things is not like the others?

I'll bet you could come up with a pretty cool caption for this :)

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

When is the last time you read these lyrics and really absorbed their truth?  I have highlighted below the phrases that have encouraged me lately.  Seems like this song has popped into my head many times lately, and I don't think that's a coincidence.  Whether it's a time for blessing for you, or a time of trial, what a wonderful reminder of God's ever-present faithfulness from the ol' Baptist hymnal...

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee ;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
  Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
    "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow ,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

May you experience the peace, strength and hope of God's great faithfulness in ABUNDANCE today!

Not Just A Cardigan.

I've admired and respected the faith and character of Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers, as he is well-known) for many years.   His wisdom has lasted far beyond the framework of his children's television show and the span of his lifetime.  I received a couple books for Christmas full of "Important things to remember," according to the man in the cardigan himself.  Small quips and quotes, I thought I'd share some of the ones that have resonated with me in recent days.  Just a little "neighborly" gift from me to you.  :)

Some days, doing the "best we can" may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn't perfect- on any front- and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.


Confronting our feelings and giving them appropriate expression always takes strength, not weakness.  It takes strength to acknowledge our anger, and sometimes more strength yet to curb the aggressive urges anger may bring and to channel them into nonviolent outlets.  It takes strength to face our sadness and to grieve and to let our grief and our anger flow in tears when they need to.  It takes strength to talk about our feelings and to reach out for help and comfort when we need it.  


When I was a boy, I used to think that "strong" meant having big muscles, great physical power;  but the longer I live, the more I realize that real strength has much more to do with what is NOT seen.  Real strength has to do with helping others.


People have said "Don't cry" to other people for years and years, and all it has ever meant is "I'm too uncomfortable when you show your feelings.  Don't cry."  I'd rather have them say "Go ahead and cry.  I'm here to be with you."


Mutually caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other's achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.  We need to accept the fact that it's not in the power of any human being to provide all these things all the time.  For any of us, mutually caring relationships will also always include some measure of unkindness and impatience, intolerance, pessimism, envy, self-doubt, and disappointment.

I'm so glad you're my "neighbor" today!

Every Child Matters to Jesus!

While in Stockton, we had the privilege of dedicating our little Carter to the Lord at First Baptist Church.  I have always considered First Baptist my family, having spent 25+ years involved in the church body.  Chris and I love going back to visit, allowing distant friends to love on our kids as they grow. 

Baby Dedications are a special time for family, as we make a covenant before God and our church body to make  

Christ the head of our lives and our  

Home, where all are safe, loved and encouraged to build one another up in ever 

Increasing Christ-likeness while setting our hearts on Godly priorities

Living a life towards God and one another with a

Determination and passion to fulfill the good news of the Kingdom of God!

We received the above reminder on a special plaque, along with a letter to read with Carter on his 10th birthday.  The letter shares the promise we made to him and God on this day, and hopefully someday he'll make the decision to follow Christ for himself!  

 Thank you to all who came to share in this celebration and who continue to love our family, even from afar!

Going Green

Starting traditions with our kids is something that has been on my mind lately.  If we want to say in the future, "We've been doing _____ since you were born!", it needs to start now!   So, I'm busy creating new traditions and making sure old traditions are kept up.  (Anyone else singing "Tradi-shuuuuuuns!  Traditions!.....Truh-di-shuns!" to yourself as you read this?   If you weren't, I bet you are now.  *wink*)

St. Patrick's Day was on Saturday and, though I am not Irish, it's still fun to use the occasion to play with green a little bit.  So, I prepared a "green dinner" for the family.  Green pesto, green grapes, green Sprite (okay, I was too lazy to create a green drink), and GREEN CAKE!  Pretty low key this year, but I plan on doing it up bigger in years to come...when kids can appreciate it (or, at least notice it).

Kendall added to the festive meal with some headgear :)

Kendall REALLY liked the "Deet Cack" (Green cake)

I think I'm pretty "lucky" to have such a wonderful family to spoil!

The Heart Melts...

...when moments like this sneak up on you.  Good thing I had a camera in hand.

You Had Me At "Grilled Cheese"

When Chris and I started dating, he told me many times that he was a good cook.
AWESOME!  I was thinking lots of gourmet goodness was in my future!
Reality:  "Cooking" means he is able to throw a couple things in the oven or whip up a grilled cheese sandwich.

I guess that's okay with me, since I LOOOOOVE grilled cheese.
However, in my world of grilled cheese, I like to shake things up a bit. 
You know, add a little of this, a little of that. 
Thanks to some recent inspiration, we've been trying out some new combos lately.  ALL delicious and highly recommended!

Caprese Grilled Cheese:  Mozzarella, Tomato, Balsamic/Basil Aioli

Rosemary Apple Butter Grilled Cheese with Brie

Pepperjack. Avocado. Bacon. Apple Slices. Sourdough.

Bacon Guacamole Grilled Cheese

And from the GRILLED CHEESE ACADEMY, the ultimate in Grilled Cheese:

I present....the Lisa Marie

 8 Slices of bacon, brown sugar, maple syrup, peanut butter, bananas, hot fudge, and Wisconsin Butterkase Cheese.  Whhhaaaaat? 

 (Somebody make this and tell me how it is.  I'm completely scared of it.)

A Little Bit of Sweetness

Hope your Saturday is super sweet!

DIY Disasters.

I used to be crafty.
Sometimes I think I still am.
But then I undertake a project, and what was a great idea in my head usually goes horribly wrong.
Thanks, Pinterest, for making me feel incompetent.  Everyone else makes it look so easy!
Here are a few of my recent *fails*.

 This lampshade is for Kendall's room.  Thankfully, I got it on clearance for only a few bucks since it might not stay in her room long.  I HATE it. 

 The ribbon I added is too wide and doesn't lay flush against the lampshade. 

 And the top......sigh.  Not sure what I was thinking there. 

 Can you guess the flavor of these cupcake gems?  LEMON.  Yep.  I decided to throw some extra berries in the mix, but did so too early instead of folding them in later....hence the gross brown color.  And if the left one looks a little lumpy, well, that's because I forgot to add WATER to the first batch.  How does that even happen!?!  (PS. they were actually pretty good.)

 I wanted to make some hangers for the kids' rooms, and found these wooden shapes at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $0.40 each.  It would have been great if the actual hangers FIT on the shapes.

I'm actually pretty happy with this one.  Just to show you I'm not a TOTAL crafting disaster zone, I picked up this navy lamp at Target.  I had some leftover felt stars from another project, so I lined the bottom of the shade with them and, voila!  The perfect addition to Carter's nursery.

Bouncy, Trouncy, Flouncy, Pouncy...

In lieu of Kindermusik this quarter, I signed Kendall up for a Parent/Child gymnastics class.  We have been attending since January and boy....does she LOVE it!  "Bounce," as it's called at our house, happens every Tuesday morning, and having buddy Jasmine in the same class makes it extra fun!  The class begins with free play, followed by warm-ups and stretching, then practice of a focus skill.  Kids can take part in centers, where they earn stamps for completing a task.  Kendall comes home with stamps from her head to her toes!

Time for the "Pit!"

Touch your toes!

Coach Marcy helping Kendall with her bar skills.

Coach Mac helps Kendall walk the beam.

Kendall's FAVORITE is the trampoline, but she will ONLY jump alone.  Sometimes it creates more drama than fun.  Oy.

Kendall and Jazzy get jumpy with some music!

And the BEST part, of course, is getting STAMPS!  Kendall keeps her coaches entertained with her enthusiasm :)

God's Definition of Good

I love reading Jon Acuff's blog, Stuff Christians Like.  Good stuff, funny stuff. 
On "Serious Wednesdays," he digs a little deeper into the Christian faith to encourage and inspire.
Today's devotional resonated with me, so I thought I'd share an excerpt of his thoughts on Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Why did this happen? How can this thing possibly work for the good? Why do bad things happen to good people? You promised good, God, and this isn’t good.

But we’re not promised our purpose. We’re promised God’s purpose. We’re not promised our definition of good. We’re promised God’s definition of good. And in the moment when life crashes down, and our own expectations of what “good” should look like fall apart to ashes, we tend to think God has failed us. Or does not love us. Or that “all things” don’t work for the good, just some things.

The truth, though, is that all things do. How? Because his purpose is exponentially bigger and more beautiful than mine could ever be. He is painting pictures with the universe as his backdrop. He is unraveling stories with generations as his paper. His vision and his ability to define good is so much grander than mine. So when I get his purpose, when whatever situation I’m in works toward his purpose, I don’t get my small definition of good. I get his massive definition of great.

That doesn’t make it easy. That doesn’t make the Christian life carefree or painless. That doesn’t mean you won’t have nights or even years when you don’t doubt and say to God, “You promised me good, and this is not good!” You will. I will too. But my hope is that, when we hold up our broken definition of good to God and ask him what’s going on, we will remember what Christ said about the father in Luke 11:
“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Today might feel like a snake, but it is not. Tomorrow might feel like a scorpion, but it is not. Our great God always works toward a good greater than we can possibly imagine.

Daddy's Little Helpers

For Kendall's first Christmas, she received a pair of baby scrubs from Grandma and Grandpa Petersen.  Daddy was pretty surprised when we dropped in on him between surgical cases!  I've been cherishing this photo on my phone for a while...

Recently, one of our good friends gave Carter a little scrubs outfit, too!  So, we again stopped by the office to see Daddy.  Dr. Carter, scrubbing in!

Today's Funny

When Did...

When did naptime go from the most hated to the most loved part of my day?

When did my BABY girl turn into a little girl?

When did cleaning became therapeutic?

When did half my wardrobe become fleece?

When did my feet become so dry, my socks stick to them like velcro?

When did my parents' friends become MY friends?

When did a shower become a luxury?


When did I stop caring if my hair is perfectly straight?

When did I become so dependent on my cell phone?

When did grocery shopping become my personal retreat and not a mundane task?

When did I start preferring a night at home over a night on the town?

When did I start referring to 30 degrees as "warm"?

Just wonderin'....

Pictures are Priceless...Or Are They?

After 854 posts over almost 8 years of blogging, I was notified that I've met my quota for free photo storage on Blogger.  Did you know there was such a thing??  I didn't!  That wouldn't have deterred me, but bloggers beware- you, too, could have the same fate!  Sheesh, that's what I get for having such photogenic children. 

I know you're panicking right now.  WHAT!???  No more pictures of Kendall??!  Carter??!  Random Stock Photos!??!  OH, THE HUMANITYYYYY!!!!!

Calm yourself down.  I paid five bucks for unlimited photo storage space.
You're welcome.

Pass the Water, Please.

My wine post has turned into water.  Jesus works reverse miracles on my blog :)

Speaking of Jesus, the season of Lent is upon us!  Happy Fat Tuesday, fatties.  Though I'm not Roman-Catholic, I enjoy observing Lent- not necessarily as a time to "give something up," but as a time to refine my personal disciplines.  This year I'm undertaking one aspect of my health that has ALWAYS been a challenge for me.  Drinking water.

That's right.  Starting tomorrow, my daily goal is to drink a MINIMUM of 6 glasses of water.  I know the recommended number is 8, but considering water in food products, I figure 6 is decent.  And going from 1 to 6 is enough of a challenge for now considering I don't like water.  But I've added some fruit to a couple pitchers full and am optimistic that will make it enjoyable enough.  AND I'm gonna give myself stickers, too.  (Hey- if it works for 2nd graders, maybe it will work for me.)   I'm hoping that this 40 days will help me develop a lifestyle change that I can continue at the end of it all.  Maybe, just maybe, it will prevent any more of those ridiculous kidney stones.

As we crawl closer to the Resurrection celebration, I am excited to allow God to refresh me both physically AND spiritually.  The Bible declares that HE is the LIVING WATER- and, boy, do I need it every day!  

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” —John 7:37-38

A Toast to You!

Today is National Drink Wine Day!  So, I thought I'd break away from my crying baby for a moment to sip a glass of Chenin Blanc and compose a blog.  I'm not a big drinker, but I enjoy a glass of wine from time to time when I need to feel all relaxy-like or fancy.  And, since I've never cared for red wines, my friends here have made it their mission to "broaden my wine horizons" (and give me red wine stains on my lips in the process).  I attended a "Wine Tasting Party" a few weeks ago- my first real venture out of the house for an extended period of time.  There, we had a tournament-style crowning of the "Best in Show" for white and red. 

 There was, um, a LOT of wine.  But don't worry- all my "sips" added up to about two glasses.
In May, I'll be drowning my sorrows in wine celebrating my 35th birthday with friends in Napa, and I'm SO excited to be revisiting some of my favorite wineries.  I love the wine tasting experience, especially if the winery grounds and tasting room are picturesque.  So, if you oblige, here are a few of my favorites from years past:

Domaine Chandon gets the award for the prettiest tasting room.  The whole winery is spectacular, really.  They are recognized for their sparkling wines and champagnes which are not regionally exclusive- you can probably pick up a bottle at your local liquor store. 

St. Supery Moscato is the go-to wine for people who don't like wine.  I've always likened it to Apricot flavored Capri-Sun.  Super sweet, super fun if you aren't in a drinky-drinky mood.  The winery itself is kinda contempo-artsy, if you like that kind of thing.

Located not in Napa, but in the Shenandoah Valley, Charles Spinetta Winery is a fun and friendly stop for wildlife art lovers and people who don't take wine TOO seriously.  We served several varieties of Spinetta wine at our wedding, my parents having struck up a friendship with the owners after years of visits.  In fact, the Chenin Blanc in my hand is a Spinetta wine.  Yum :)  But you won't find this wine at your local store- it's a gem for which you'll have to travel.

So, cheers to you on this fine Drink Wine day.  I wish you many wonderful vintages and fruitful searches for the perfect glass of vino.  And boys- remember that you can make a dull night romantic with a pretty glass and a little grape juice :)  Just for fun:

My Little Valentine(s)

Finally getting around to sharing some of the newborn cuteness from Carter's photo shoot!  Of course, we snuck in a few pictures of Sister Bear, too...the camera just gravitates to that face!  Check out the sweetest Valentines on the block!

Carter is already fielding calls from his agent ;)