a house full of friends.

when the navy gave us our marching orders from starkville, ms to king george va, my most consistent prayer was that God would grant my kids with sweet friends. i think the influence of friends is as almost as big of an influence as a mom and dad. God has placed us in a church body, and a community that is overflowing with sweet kids whom have made such great companions and friends.

four of those kiddos have taken up residence in our house while their parents (dave and chris, mentioned several times in this blog) are on an anniversary trip.

joe 13, katie 10, kellie 9, and tim 7 have been such great helpers and entertainment.... ;) no one is lacking for a friend to play with, no one lacking for a helper during school, and no one is lacking for noise around here.

it's been wild... but it's been fun.

 we have had hot coca and elf night.... BIG SUCCESS!

we have attempted rest hour.... BIG FAILURE!

and we have all tried to find a quiet place to hear ourselves think... even the cupboards.

"but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." prov. 18:24b

happy friday!
~s

to believe or not to believe

we do not believe in santa claus. mainly because mark is selfish and does not want some fictional character to receive all the glory for his hard work! ;) but we do not have issues if you and yours believe in santa.... really, we don't.

we have tried to teach our kids to be sensitive to others who do believe, and we instruct them to not ruin the secret.

katie is by far my most sensitive and intuitive child. she can read people and situations better than most adults i know.   she honestly desires to do what is right ALL the time.  so last year she was really concerned about what to tell other kids about her beliefs in santa. she didn't want to lie to them b/c she knows that ALL lying in wrong... but she also did not want to hurt someone. so, the following story took place last year :

when katie was 3, she was determined that she wanted to have NOTHING to do with a creepy guy who climbed down her chimney at night without her realizing, and then proceed to sneak around her house while she slept..  nuh-uh! not for this three year old. so santa really died before he even became alive in the littlejohn house. katie has friends who DO believe in santa claus, and we are totally fine with that! 

however, today she said, "mom, what am i suppose to tell kids who ask me, "katie, what did you ask santa for?"

"well, hmmm..." i said.  instead of just telling her what i thought she should say, i tried to encourage problem solving and said, "well, what do YOU think you should say?"  she sat quietly for a few minutes... she even began a coloring project.  all the while, i knew her big brain was processing. 

after some time she piped up and said,
"mom, when kids ask me what i asked santa for, i am going to tell them that santa put me on the naughty list...!!!"

ho-ho-ho!
merry christmas!

s

"Cutest Thing This Side of the Mason-Dixon Line"

the title of my post is just another one of those staple statements people say in the deep south. honestly, i'd have to google exactly where the mason-dixon line is. ah-ha... here it is.

ok, now that we have had our geography lesson we can move on.

so, like i was saying....cute. i figured out how to download the pictures from my phone into my account, and have found some of the cutest pictures this side of the mason-dixon! i hope you enjoy them.

make sure you stay tuned. as of today, mark and i have officially become parents of eight until saturday. oh, yeah we are nuts, and oh, yeah there will be some good stories to tell!

til then, stay cute!
~s

Not Losing The Merry in Christmas!

when mark and i were engaged my mom made two rules.
1. we WILL have fun!
2. you WILL get married!

as we approach the madness of the christmas season, mark and i try and abide by two simple rules.
1. we WILL adore Him!
2. we WILL be merry and FUN!

so for us we have found some ways that help us adore Him, and be merry and fun!

1. Limit stress:
Ho-ho-ho, can sometimes be a slippery slope to ho-ho-hellness. when i feel the merry and the fun seeping away, i eliminate the stress and find HIM! i find Him in silence, in carols, in scripture, in the lit christmas tree during the wee hours of the morning or night, and He can even be found in the deliciousness of a peppermint mocha from starbucks ;)

2. Less money spent on things to give to people, instead more money spent on experiences WITH people. in our nine years of marriage, eight of those years have been spent on a ridiculously tight budget. so when push came to shove we would choose to use our money to go be with those we love, rather then spend the money on the ones we love. to me, that's the best gift. honestly, mark and i have never bought each other christmas gifts. trust me, we are not lacking.

this year has the potential to be the best christmas yet. our girls are at a SUPER fun age. last night when we were decorating the christmas tree katie said,"mom, mom, can you feel it? can you feel it? it's coming up inside of me and boiling over... it's, it's CHRISTMAS TIME!!" *squeals of delight followed*
the girls serenaded mark, as he painstakingly hung the lights on the tree. and anderson ran around the tree saying,"booty-full, booty-full" (beautiful. he was referring to the tree, not my rear end ;)! i love that the excitement, anticipation, and shere joy, that wells up in my heart this time of year is overflowing into my little one's hearts. 

with "adoring Him" in mind we try and limit the gifts the kids receive. don't get me wrong, i love buying and giving my kids gifts. but early on in our parenthood journey it became very clear, very quickly that our children were going to be persuaded by the powerful monster of materialism. we saw their hearts and desires not being captivated solely by the awe and wonder of our Savior's birth. if mark and i preach to our children that this season is about our Jesus, but fill their hearts up only with things that satisfy them, we feed their selfishness and do a poor job of teaching them self-LESS-ness. one time i heard this mom, that i really respect, talking about how they did christmas in their home. her idea stuck with me, and now we use it. the kids are each giving 3 things; a need, a want, and a book. they still get things in their stocking, and they still receive gifts from their very giving grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends. but from mark and me, they know they will receive these 3 items. it eliminates the, "how many gifts am i going to get this year?" it eliminates me being concerned if "everything is even". and we believe it's a balanced way to share in the fun of gift giving, but it also leaves room for the birth of Jesus, and Jesus Himself, to satisfy their every need and want, and above all else point them to Him during this delightful season.

so SLOW down! it's not even december, and i can feel some of you losing the merry, losing the fun, and losing Him!

~s

Elton John and a Naked Christmas Tree

 Elton John

and our* naked christmas tree

you know what today is don't you? holiday hangover day!! look here for clarification. 

any who! we had a fabulous turkey holiday. and now we are switching gears for the next holiday. hence, the naked christmas tree. our* tree will hopefully find some color and life tonight as 10 hands try and spruce her up (buh-dunce).

we had such fun with uncle zach.

and of course we had fun with grandma and grandy! (no pics...how in the world did that happen?)

some kids push babies in a stroller... AJ pushes he trucks in the stroller. such a boy!

some time after anderson got his hair cut, he grew up. and now i have twins.

well folks, this is definitely a random post for me today... but i am feeling totally random. ;)

happy monday,

~s

p.s. i promise we do change anderson's clothes. but he just LOVES spider man.

* our tree was graciously bought for us this year by dave and chris bentz. in return we are going to keep their kids for four days ;) such great friends!

I'm A Big Boy Now!!

so we *all went to see anderson get his first hair cut

miss kathryn carter did a FABULOUS job!

 can you tell he is loved?

he did a super great job!

and he is a super big boy!

i cried. what else is new?

 

and now he is a big boy!

~s

*uncle zach was missing b/c he was sick.... :(

WHEW! I am so glad that is over!

tons of vomit and other bodily fluids, endless loads of laundry, TV marathon, groans and moans, tears, and a living room turned into a make-shift infirmary. the last time we had the stomach bug was christmas of 2007. it is miserable. i hope it's another 3 years before it rears it's ugly head again. 

funny statements were still to be found amongst the misery.

lucy to me, while she was on all fours,"mama, i don't know how to throw up...*insert vomit*!" mark to lucy: "baby, you don't have to know how to throw up...it just happens!"

katie to me: "mama, i threw up and i was calling for you but you didn't hear me, so i just put myself back to bed...!" me to katie: sweetie, i am so sorry... i was up all night with lucy and anderson, and i must have gone comatose!"

3 AM, mark to sara. after having spent four hours cleaning up after lucy and anderson, who were simultaneously throwing up: "this is what memories are made of, babe!"

now that we have this behind us (no pun intended) we are looking forward to a great thanksgiving week with my brother, Zach, Larry, Jere', and cousin Amy. late night games, anderson's first hair cut, bike rides, late night chats, cooking, and hopefully some eating :)

                                         uncle zach and aj
happy monday!
~s