Merry Christmas--INCOMING!

Today brought the biggest surge of testosterone yet. John's first day off work began with him taking the boys to Home Depot for PVC pipe and Wal-Mart for marshmallows and foam darts: Voila! Homemade blow guns for my 29-, 4-, and 3-year-old boys. (Since this is obviously something they teach in boy school, I won't include an extensive how-to. If you need one, your husband instinctively knows how to do this.) They are having a blast, and at least they agreed to stop shooting me for the second half of my lunch. Considering my kids' attention span and that their fun has lasted at least 3 hours, this is a big hit (...pun not intended).

Will in combat
Loading ammo

Can you guess what happens next?

John in action; his have gone all the way across the house, no problem. Baden was wearing his plastic armor at one point.

The stockings were shot by the chimney with care...

"Can Daddy please have the darts, Corinne?"

Latest picture installment

Mom and Dad's 30th anniversary!

Okay, I love this picture! John really captured the boys and their brotherhood.

At Little Rock's Christmas parade!

Loves to read already :)

Our little Santa Baby

Souper Easy

Thai Soup (got it from Real Simple; they have recipes that just use two cans of chicken noodle soup, and this is one)

2 14-16 oz. cans chicken noodle soup (mine was condensed, so I added 2 cans water)
1/2 c coconut milk
2 t lime juice

Heat and serve with cilantro and lime wedges if you want to be all fancy. This one was simple enough I mixed a half-batch for myself and loved it--YUM.

It's a...

BOY!!!

I am a little overwhelmed by this. (No cool photos yet, by the way; Wonder Mom left the CD at the doctor. Nice. And they trust me with young children.)

Even as the specialist typed in those truly blessed words—"Male; no abnormalities seen"—the prospective energy level/intensity/groceries/testosterone coursing through my future household is a lot to imagine. Honestly, the idea of four children aged four and under has me gulping for a little extra air. Now I'm adding a little extra rambunctiousness, a bit higher volume level. There is a healthy dose of fear involved.

And then, next morning, I thought of Mary. The more I encounter life, the more I am transfixed by her reply to Gabriel, who has just described how Mary's life, her reputation, and (as far as she knew) her marriage would be altered by the most unexpected pregnancy. Here's her response from Luke 1:38:

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."

Wow.

I'm convicted that there's a whole lot of maturity wrapped up in that little verse. What if my response to fear, unexpected turns—or anything God sovereignly throws my way—was marked by that depth of faith, that depth of submission? Abraham had that kind of faith, and God built a nation on that; Noah had that kind of faith, and God saved his family from the world's destruction. This kind of faith has a pretty high value with God.

Christmas can somehow accentuate the things that aren't going as planned, as joyful, as peaceful as I wished they were. But from my vantage point, I think I could camp on this verse this season and discover a lot about the kind of heart that is "highly favored" by God (Luke 1:28,30).