Moments

Good morning! I have had the hardest time sitting down and blogging lately, for some reason. Maybe it is because there is so much to say that it overwhelms me.

We are doing well here in Japan. I am not sure why Noah's snowboarding picture won't rotate upright but, you get the drift: this kid loves the snow.

We thought that since all 180" we had gotten thus far had melted that spring was on the way.... no such luck! We got aboujt 5-6" last night. The temp has been up and down so much lately that I am sure it will melt but it certainly is beautiful to wake up to the sunlight bouncing off of fresh snow.

I am reading "One Thousand Gifts" right now and if you haven't read it, I highly encourage it. Especially for busy moms who long for night time when you finally have some alone time... Like me. I am learning that God has given us THIS moment - it is to be savored, enjoyed, and we are to enter His courts with THANKSGIVING for all things in that moment of time.

I have started my 1,000 list but haven't gotten far... there is so much for me to be thankful for. Even the mundane can be given thanks - and giving thanks when you don't have a thankful heart is so difficult, but God doesn't care. He doesn't want us to blanket our thanksgivings to Him. He knows our hearts and knows our struggles. So if we can give Him the thanks even in the daily struggles, our blessings will abound. As I said, I am learning an awful lot from this book. And when you are "mom tired" as I am most often, it is vital that we remain thankful and aware of the moment. Moments we will never have again with our babies, our husbands, our daily rituals - for once a moment is gone, it is gone forever. I don't want to look back on my life wishing I had slowed down, for life isn't a race - once run on this earth, it is but a memory. I want my babies to look back on their childhood with me and know that I took time for them, for their dad, for our family, but most importantly, for our God.

Things like my kids singing to each other, the way Elly's hair curls and hangs around her innocent face, the sound of Noah's voice, the soft breathing of my husband as he sleeps beside me, the cat's meows as he talks to us, lying on the couch reading what God is trying to teach me, the mundane of the daily routine, the soft snow outside my window, the phone calls from my mama from so far away, my sister's constant dry sense of humor that never fails to make me laugh, a wave from someone you pass on the street.... my list continues into infinty.

I encourage you to order either the book or the devotional (which is just as awesome) and read it and savor your moments in time with what God has given you. I admit, I struggle to do that most days - I get so caught up in myself, my anxieties, making it one moment to the next. But when I slow down, God blesses me and that moment.

Heading out to start my day as the kids are at pre-school. Enjoy this day and give thanks for it!

Hi!

Sorry I haven't been blogging much! The four of us have had the Misawa crud and it hasn't been pleasant. The kids got it first then Dan and I did and it has done a number on the adults! I ended up getting a sinus infection from it and finally got on antibiotics and I am still trying to convince Dan to go to the doc for the same. Men.... Hopefully he will soon.

The snow is still covering everything here but we are getting some warmer days so its melting a bit. However, it is currently sunny and snowing outside. So funny to me. I never thought I'd get tired of the snow but it is starting to wear me down a bit - I am really looking forward to the early spring when the snow has melted and we get the amazing cherry blossoms everyone talks about.

While we have free heat - and free everything - in our on base home, we don't have a/c.... and the months of August and September have been described as TORTUROUS! Like, you have to have dehumidifiers in every room because of the stifiling humidity and heat. Not a fan of the heat when it is that bad. Thankfully, that only tends to last about 2 months here.

The kids are doing great. LOVE their new school. Noah goes off base to a great pre-school five days a week and Ellyotte goes to the same place 3 days a week, sometimes more if she cries hard enough for it.

We haven't been snowboarding/skiing in a couple of weeks because of all we have had going on on the weekends. I had a baby shower here at our home for a great girlfriend of ours - we had 30 women come! Everyone loves Kara. And this weekend, we have the annual spouses' dining in. Our theme is Hee Haw - so I am in charge of decorations, etc and it has been stressful planning. But will truly be a fun night for the women on base - I can't wait to see how our OSS table and gals do this weekend! Hopefully we will win something for originality ;)

I am finishing up a term and will jump right into teaching another. That has also kept me busy. Despite the busyness though, I am starting to get homesick. Maybe it is the gray, dreary snow days getting to me; I don't know. But I do miss my family and home terribly. Some days are so easy, others are not. Today has been so-so but there is always so much to be thankful for.

My friend back home, Alithia, sent her little man's Flat Stanley to us so that was fun taking him around and taking pictures of him and "teaching him" all about Japan. It is currently back in the mail with lots of pictures and info for Houston to show to his little class. Noah liked helping out with his friend's project all the way here in Japan.

Dan's job is definitely keeping him busy and gone a lot. But it is awesome having his office literally 3 minutes away. And so far, he's not slated to deploy or go on any long trips so we are thankful for that.

This is just a short update as I have to wake up Elly from her nap to go get Bubba (Noah) from school. But I wanted to let you all know we are alive and well here in the Land of the Rising Sun!