A January Christmas Tour

Am I the only one who still has my (gulp, cheeks turning red) Christmas tree in the living room?

I have to come clean. Each January, I go a little further on trying to sneak in extra days of leaving the festivities up. I think my husband is paranoid that a few more years down the road, we might still be celebrating Christmas when July rolls around.

At this rate, he might have valid reason for concern.

There is something so warm and cozy about a home decorated for the holidays. Everything seems more alive and full of love. And with the cold bleakness of the January weather, who can blame a girl for holding tightly to the wonderment of December?

Well, besides her husband, who is ready to get all the Christmas boxes out of his garage and back into the attic. This weekend, hubby, I promise.

Somehow in my "blogging sabbatical", I missed out on Boo Mama's Christmas Tour of Homes this year. Regardless that I am way late to join the party, I'm still going through the links on her site to visit people's homes, while pretending they are all still decorated, as well.

And then it hit me.

No sense in hanging my head in shame. Since I've already admitted my decorations are still up, why not help keep the wonderment of December alive by giving you a January tour? So, grab a cup of hot chocolate and come on inside.....

Front door

Entry way

Living room ("The Fancy Tree")

Mantle

Kitchen

Kitchen table close-up

Playroom ("The Sentimental Tree")

Park's Room (The Jesse Tree)

The Back Patio (in search of festive table decor for next year!)
The Little Man who is as sad as his mommy is to see the decorations come down.

Thanks for stopping by and here's to hoping the TRUE reason for Christmas stays our top priority all year long!

And that my decorations find their way back to the attic before next December.

Relax, Chris.... just a joke. (Well, kind of:)

Apparently, Warmth is Out

Has anyone else noticed a disturbing trend in fashion this winter?

Regardless of what store I visit, there are no appropriate clothing options in sight. And by appropriate, I mean shirts with actual sleeves.

After trying on a few of the short sleeve ensembles from various racks, I could stand it no longer. Baffled by the lack of warm attire being offered to the general public, I finally resorted to questioning a teenage sales clerk about the issue.

Without batting an eye, she answered me with, "Oh, long sleeves are so last season. We only carry the newest trends here."

Now I realize that I live in Texas, but is she for real? Who knew that warmth could go out of style?

Perhaps this should have been my first clue that I am not Forever 21, no matter how much I shop there. In my old age, I favor practical over cutting edge. And call me old fashioned, but I need sleeves in January.

It is just who I am, a cold blooded American.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Well, that and to keep from shivering as I slipped off the trendy tank top I had tried on in a moment of weakness. As I hung the symbol of youth back on the rack, I made a 31 -year-old executive decision.

I'll be waiting to buy winter clothes until sleeves make a come back.

Until then, I see a lot of scarves in my wardrobe future. Apparently, they are the hot item of the season, anyway.

And with all the freezing cold outfits being sold out there, I'm convinced that something HOT has become more of a necessity than an accessory.

Either way, in the innocence of his youth, Park has totally bought into the trend.

Draw Me Close to You

I didn't realize that I was going to take a mid-Winter sabbatical from blogging, but it looks like I did anyway. Hopefully, the New Year will be a different story, or else even I am going to quit reading this dead- beat blog:).

Christmas was a blast this year. Park could not have had more fun if he tried and we were able to spend lots of time with each side of the family. We also managed to squeeze in some time at the lake, where many hours of intense board game action took place after the kiddos turned in for the night.

Looking back at 2008, I feel like the Lord has stretched me incredibly. There were so many blessings that the year held, but probably the most unexpected one was how He has chosen to refine me through longing.

If you follow this blog much, it is no secret that we have been desperately yearning for a second child this last year. At times I've even felt like it has been the very thorn in my flesh that Paul so eloquently describes.

Over the last year, I have had the opportunity to celebrate the pregnancies of my sister, my sister-in-law, Bridget, my neighbors on each side, and 6 other close friends. Sharing in their joy also increased my own longing. During this season of waiting, there have been points where my heart has felt very alone and forgotten, even though my head knows Jesus has been with me every step.

But, although the road He has had me walking this year has been heart wrenching at times, it is also the very thing that has driven me to believe His promises like I never have before. My longing has given me a new view of His supernatural peace, mercy, grace and perseverance.

It has drawn me closer to the very heart of who He is.

What the devil has meant to harm me, the Lord has used for my good.

And who am I to argue with that?

Too many times, though, my eyes get so focused on what I think He is "not giving me" that I miss what He IS giving me. In my life experience I have found that when God temporarily allows yearning in my life in one area, He is quick to bless me in another.

And that brings me to some exciting news....

Chris and I have experienced a unique, unexpected blessing. Our seven years of ministry together have been centered around high school students. We have seen God do amazing things in the lives of thousands of students and we have been in awe of where he has taken us throughout the journey.

And now, we have a new opportunity to expand our ministry even further. About a month ago our Sr. Pastor asked Chris to become the Campus Pastor for Fellowship Church's Fort Worth satellite campus. We are so excited for the opportunity and for all God has planned for the city of Fort Worth in 2009. If you live in the area, we would love to invite you to our Sunday services. You can find more information here.

As for my personal journey in 2009, I can't be sure what the future holds, but I am certain that the One who holds my future will continue to use my circumstances to draw me closer to the very heart of who He is.

And who am I to argue with that?

The Jesse Tree

Christmas in in full swing here at Holding Little Hands and family.

Being married to a pastor has taught me that it is imperative to take advantage of holiday festivities immediately following Thanksgiving, in order to free up our schedules for the weeks leading up to Christmas.

So far, the agenda has included a visit to the Gaylord, a trip on the North Pole Express train, a viewing of the Polar Express, and a pancake breakfast scheduled with Santa. Also in the mix are plans for a holiday party, the building of a ginger bread house, a celebration of Chris' 30th birthday, and an early Christmas with one side of the family.

All of that, and yet we still don't have a decent Christmas card picture to show for it.

Go figure.

I love all the glitz and dreaminess of Christmas. However, as much as I want Park to have fond memories of baking Christmas yummies and partaking in holiday festivities, I pray that those pale in comparison to his memories of how our family celebrates the birth of our Saviour.

In light of this, we have added a new tradition this year that I would highly recommend to anyone looking to instill the true value of Christmas in their children.

It is called the Jesse Tree.

The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots." It is a vehicle to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across thousands of years of history.

There are many creative ways this can be done, but in our family it simply looks like this:

Starting on Nov 30, we began reading passages of scripture each night. We've been using Park's Classic Bible Story Book (which I LOVE!), and supplementing scriptures from our own Bibles. After reading the story, we memorize a short verse of scripture and make an ornament that represents what we have read. (So far, we have only been using very basic art supplies such as yarn, Popsicle sticks, foam sheets, construction paper, cotton and so on)

Each night, we hang the new ornament on a special Christmas tree that is in Park's bedroom. As we place it on the tree, we take a minute to look at the previous ornaments and briefly recap the theme and scripture we learned from the nights before.

I am amazed at how much he is remembering and how much he looks forward to the activities that the next night holds. It has become the highlight of the day for each of us.

If you are interested in duplicating this tradition for your own family, you could easily use a modified version of this for the remaining days. To simplify, listed below are the passages we are using and (the symbol) we are basing our ornament on:

Introduction of the Jesse Tree
1 Sam 16:1-13 Isa 11:1-1: (The Tree)

Creation- God Made Everything in His Image
Gen 1:1-2, 3 (Sun)

Adam and Eve- Consequences for our Actions
Gen 2 and 3 exerpts (Apple)

Noah- The Flood
Gen 6:11-22, 7:17-8:12, 8, 20-9:17 (Rainbow)

Abraham- The Promise
Gen 12:1-7, 15:1-6, 17, 18 (Tent)

Isaac and Rebekah- Going Above and Beyond
Gen 24 (Camel)

Jacob- Assurance of the Promise
Gen 27:41-28: 22 (Ladder)

Joseph-God's Providence
Gen 37, 39:1-50:21 (Coat)

Moses-God's Leadership and Provision
Exodus 2:1-4:20, Exodus 12-18 excerpts (Manna)

The Ten Commandments
Exodus 19-32 excerpts, Deuteronomy 34 (Stone Tablet)

Joshua-The Fall of Jericho and Entering The Promised Land
Deuteronomy 33, Joshua 1-5 excerpts (Sandal)

Gideon-Unlikely Heroes
Judges 6, 7 (Trumpet)

Samson- Importance of Staying in God's Boundaries
Judges 13-16 excerpts (Flexed Arm Muscle)

Ruth- God Rewards Loyalty
Book of Ruth excerpts (Wheat)

Hannah's Promise- Samuel Listened to God
1 Samuel 1-3 excerpts (Ear)

David and Goliath- Fear Not
1 Samuel 16, 17 (Sling Shot)

David the King- Becoming a Man after God's Own Heart
1 Samuel 18, 26, 31 excerpts, 2 Samuel 6, 7 excerpts (Harp)

King Solomon- Fulfillment of God's Promise
1Kings 1, 3, 8 excerpts (Crown)

Jonah- Obeying God the First Time
Book of Jonah (Fish)

Three Faithful Men- Following God Wholeheartedly
Daniel 3 (Fire)

Daniel- God is in Control
Daniel 6 (Lion)

Nehemiah- Rebuilding and Gathering Together
The Book of Nehemiah excerpts (Shovel)

Mary- Being Willing to Accept the Call
Luke 1 (Silhouette of Mary)

Jesus -Birth of the Messiah
Luke 2:1-20 (Manger Scene)

*Pictures to follow when blogger cooperates:)

We may not end up with a great Christmas card photo this year, but I'm so thankful that snapshots of Jesus are being stored up in Park's heart.

The Turkey Toddler Trot

For the last few years, our church has run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. We all wear matching shirts that advertise our service times for Christmas and use the oportunity to invite others to be our guests.

Typically, we've been unable to participate in this event because my entire side of the family heads off to the anual Aggie/T.U. game.

But, this year we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with Chris' family (who live in the area) and that means watch out Turkey Trot, here we come!

Hubs was trying to talk me into running the 10K with him, but then he woke up and remembered who he is married to. Him walking in on my unathletic attempt at Taebo in our living room may or may not have served to jog his memory.

Since then, the word is, "Feel free to walk it at your own pace, sweetheart."

Needless to say, Park is beyond excited about this race. Or, at least he was until I told him there will be a lot of people there and we will need to bring his jogging stroller as a back up plan.

Enter The Great Stroller Strike '08.

According to him, no respectable three-year-old still rides in a stroller for any reason whatsoever. Apparently, that is soooo last year.

So, to prove his capability of running the race to completion, he has been practicing nonstop for the last 2 weeks. Running everywhere we go, he turns back over his shoulder to shout, "See me running this race, Mommy? See how fast I am?? I will WIN that Turkey Trot!"

Perhaps that stroller will come in handy for Park to wheel me across the finish line.

Park's Turkey Trot Countdown Chains!

Inspiring Minds Want to Know

Sarah, Bridget and I just concluded hosting our second Savor event and this month’s topic was “Parenting with an Eternal Perspective.”

I believe that every Christ-following mother has incredible intentions when it comes to the discipleship of her children. However, our dishwashers get full, laundry piles high, and our children constantly need food to eat. (What’s up with that, by the way?)

Somehow in the midst of it all, we get sidetracked with the every day things and lose sight of our ultimate responsibility as mothers.

So, our goal for this Savor was to give mothers (ourselves included) some practical tools for success.

Sally Clarkson’s “The Ministry of Motherhood” does an incredible job of dividing discipleship into 5 categories; Grace, Inspiration, Faith, Training, and Service. And possibly even more helpful, those categories spell out the acronym GIFTS.

For today’s post, I’ll focus on what God has been teaching me about “I”.

Inspiration: Inspiring our children to see the power and majesty of God.

If there is any church in America that models this concept it is Fellowship Church. (Clearly, our Pastor's sermon this weekend, entitled "Seven Days of S*x", illustrates this point! ) I absolutely love the creativity at our church. And the reason our church is so intentional about utilizing creativity is because our God is so creative and we (and our children) are made in his image.

Based on that premise, it is so important for me to seek to expose my son to the evidence of God’s artistry all around us. Not only to just expose him, but to teach him to respond with gratitude, as well as creative endeavors of his own.

Park started teaching me this concept very early on. I believe I’ve mentioned once (or a thousand times) that my child was born more oral than dental floss. He puts EVERYTHING into his mouth and I do mean EVERYTHING!

When he was 15 months old, we were playing outside and he found a dead spider and actually ate it!

Now, I’m not exactly sure that this is what the Psalmist had in mind when he said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good”.

However, it does illustrate the point that our children are born with a hunger to experience the world around them, an insatiable appetite to explore the vastness of God’s creation.

But helping Park enjoy and appreciate God’s handiwork requires a choice on my part. Because if I were to be completely honest, it would be a stretch to describe myself as outdoorsy or even the least bit artsy crafty.

Just mention the word scrap booking and see me break out into hives.

But I strive to expose Park to nature, music, cooking together, plays, arts and crafts, books, Holiday traditions, field trips, and consistently modeling creativity in my own life.

And yes, that means I have to be willing to embrace the spilled paint, broken crayons, inconveniences, and hassles that go along with it. Because we all know projects never go as planned with small children!

But, all of that is worth it if I can even give him a glimpse of the creativity and majesty of our God.

And much to my relief, according to Sally, wise, creative mothers did not necessarily get that way on their own. A wise woman has learned to imitate lots of other wise women; the creativity comes in adapting those ideas to fit the needs of her own family.

One of the things I love about the blogging community is the ability to learn from wise mothers all around me- women I may never meet face to face, yet their ideas are helping make an eternal difference in the life of my son.

Now if that isn’t inspiring, I don’t know what is.

The Grinch That Stole Daylight AGAIN

Last year around this same time of year, I posted this to vent my frustration with Mr. Daylight Saving Time.

Considering I feel the same disgust this year, I figured re-posting it might make me feel better.

It does.

Thanks for the therapy, Internet.

And thanks to the blogger out there whose post entitled "Can Someone Please Tell My Children the Time Changed" , for confirming to me that I'm not alone in my irritation:)

"Collection Day"

Four years ago, on an election day similar to this, Park was just weeks away from being conceived. Perhaps this accounts for his vast array of political interest at the tender age of three.

Needless to say, he was ecstatic to get to vote with me today.

But, his bubble was burst a bit when we walked into the designated elementary school where our ballot would be cast.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"Who, baby?" I inquired.

"Is that one of them?" he asked loudly, while pointing wildly at an older gentleman.

"Who?" I repeated, quite confused.

"John McCain and Barack Obama!" he exclaimed.

Poor little man was so excited to go vote because he thought we would be meeting the presidential candidates. After stifling my laughter I explained that they were not here, to which he disgustedly responded, "Well, how are we supposed to vote for them if they don't even show up on collection (AKA, Election) day?!"

But, his disappointment was short lived after I let him push the "Cast Vote" button. One look at the American flag waving on the computer screen and he cheered, "We won! We won! I voted all by myself and we won, Mommy!

Apparently, one vote really does make all the difference.

A Hero of a Halloween

It's a bird....It's a plane...No, it's a SUPER HALLOWEEN!

*(In case you are wondering why his cape is maroon, a certain someone had his heart set on being an "Aggie" Superman.)


Happy Halloween, Y'all!

Shameful Family Secret Exposed

A few days ago, Bridget and I loaded our kids up in her minivan and headed over for a play date at Sarah's, along with our friend Angela.

As expected, within minutes, our children had scattered enough hot wheels, Lego's, dress up paraphernalia, and other various items across the house to entertain themselves for a few hours.

Somehow in the midst of multiple diaper changes, breaking up sharing squabbles and helping children in and out of costumes, we managed to have actual conversation.

One of the topics we discussed involved habits we are currently trying to break our children of and as we did so, those who had already found success in that particular area shared their motherly wisdom.

My area of concern?...The pacifier habits of a certain little boy.

Brace yourself, as I reveal that Park still sleeps with his pacifier (or as it is known in our family, pa). It looks hilarious to see my very over sized, highly verbal three-year-old sucking furiously on this itty bitty baby apparatus. Yet, there seems to be no end in sight.

In case you are wondering about the motherly wisdom I received on this subject, let me just start by saying this is why I love these people.

First order of business, Sarah reminded me that no adults we know still require one to sleep. And if Park does happen to be the first grown man to hold on to his pacifier habit, nobody will really know about it, besides his wife, who will already be joined with him for life by the time she discovers this quirky little problem.

Truly, she has a gift for putting things in perspective.

Bridget was quick to point out that anyone who scales the shelves of his closet to secretly obtain the treasured item might not be quite ready to dispose of it at this particular juncture in life.

It was at this point that I felt it necessary to fully disclose the seriousness of the situation.

You see, Park comes from a long line of pacifier hoarders, but perhaps the most serious offender of all is his Lolli.

When Lolli was 5-years-old, some family friends who had a small baby came for a visit. Upon leaving, the distressed mother of that unhappy baby realized a pacifier had been misplaced. Everyone tore the house up in an attempt to restore the missing item to the young child.

Everyone EXCEPT Lolli, that is.

It turns out that my precious, wouldn't hurt a fly mother FAKED looking for the beloved item. She waited until the unsuspecting guests had completely given up the rescue mission and left without it before she made her move.

The door had barely closed behind them before she swooped in and retrieved the MIA pacifier from behind the recliner. Making a mad dash to her bedroom, she stored the stolen treasure in her dresser, where she intermittently sucked it mercilessly for the next several years.

As I relayed the shameful family secret to my girlfriends, their eyes widened with amazement.

"Yeah, you are working against some serious odds," they said, thoughtfully assessing the situation.

That seemed like an opportune moment for Sarah to whip out the Pioneer Woman's sheet cake for consolation, as they reiterated that Park's wife will be the only person who will know that he still sleeps with his pacifier.

And it probably goes without saying that Lolli is not pushing for Park to be stripped of his pa, either.

Hope Floats

Today I took Park to story time at the library, followed by some time at the adjacent playground.

I was struck by how grown up he has become as he sat on his little square of rug, intently listening to the librarian. He excitedly sang about the monkeys jumping on the bed and stomped his feet to "If You're Happy and You Know It", glancing back at me every so often to flash a big grin.

In that moment, I thanked God for giving me some extra, unexpected time of having Park as my only child. My heart swelled with love as I showered him with my undivided attention. Despite my longing for another baby, God is revealing to me the joy in trusting Him with my current circumstances and fully appreciating the blessing of where He has me in this moment.

To be completely honest, some days I am much better at this than others.

Oftentimes I feel more like Peter, as he took his gaze off of Jesus after being summoned out of the boat. That calm tranquility of locking eyes with His Saviour quickly turned into a sinking panic as he changed his focus to the high waves that enveloped him.

Today, as we made our way to the playground I began to push Park on a swing that put us in close proximity to a conversation taking place between two other mothers. Both women had 3 small children of their own and they were discussing if they would have more children.

One mother said, "If we do, I will not wait long. I don't understand why anyone would have their children spread out. Don't they realize how hard they are making it on themselves? Their children will never entertain each other and they surely won't have close relationships down the road."

The other mother nodded her head in agreement and went on to tell a story about one of her friends who had a two year old and "wasn't even thinking of trying for another anytime soon." The two shook their heads in disgust as one of the women summed up the situation with, "If you have your kids further than three years apart, it almost seems like it wouldn't even be worth it to have another child."

Suddenly, I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, as the peace and joy I'd experienced in the library trickled away. I broke my gaze with Jesus and the high waves enveloped me in a big way.

Being that they were clearly oblivious to my presence, there is no doubt that they meant no harm by their conversation. But, in addition to being hurt by their careless words, I began to feel a righteous indignation boiling in my blood.

How could they be so ignorant? What gives them the right to belittle God's timing in other people's lives? How insensitive to speak so negatively of things they haven't experienced!

But in that angry moment, God reminded me that I, too, have been guilty of speaking with authority on things I know nothing about. Guilty of unintentionally making incorrect assumptions or insensitive statements when I wasn't the least bit aware of what that person's private life entailed.

Just the other day in Bible study I was looking at a beautifully put together, well groomed woman. I marveled at her cute hair cut and designer clothing, secretly thinking that she must be either materialistic or vain to put that much effort into her appearance.

Green eyed monster, anyone?

Imagine my shame when I mentioned how cute her haircut was and she responded that this was the first day she felt well in so long that she had decided to go all out in getting ready that morning.

She was in the throws of battling stage four breast cancer. Oh, and that cute haircut?... A wig, covering her precious bald head.

As women, why are we often so quick to go negative about other women? We are so full of opinions and overflowing with such an abundance of words, that we sometimes forget to use them to build others up; to encourage a sister in need; or simply to discern when NOT to speak.

My righteous indignation at the playground melted into a broken hearted repentance and a new realization.

It's high tide, friends.

Women all around us are facing unimaginable waves and being asked to get out of the boat and walk in faith. (Jesus did not say IF trouble comes, but rather WHEN!) The Bible makes it crystal clear that the key to weathering storms is to keep our eyes on Jesus. But perhaps just as important, I'm realizing that I don't want my careless words to be the stumbling block that causes someone else to break their gaze with Him.

Ladies, let's speak words of life to sinking sisters in need!

May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Master of Disaster

Please allow me to introduce you to Captain Destructo (left) and his partner in crime (right).

And judging from how infrequently I've been posting lately, re-introducing myself to the blogging world may be in order, as well.

Hi, I'm Brittani and things have been a little hectic.

So until I return, I thought I'd leave you with the top 5 titles of some posts that I SHOULD have written lately:

#5) Our Closet Threw Up in Our Bedroom (and other tales of hubby's construction obsession)

#4) Hip Hop Hooray (the making of a student ministry video)

#3) On Pins and Needles (a quest for an acupuncturist)

#2) Smashing Pumpkins (a trip to the pumpkin patch gone wrong)

#1) Beady Eyes That Made Me Cry (caught in the crossfire of hubby's war with a mouse)

Hoping to expand at least one of these into an actual post in the near future......

Life in the Slow Lane

In a few short hours we will be heading out to the lake to soak up some rest and relaxation that looks something like this:
And there is no doubt that hubby and brother-in-law, along with some very excited little boys, will also be doing lots of this:
Those same excited little boys will spend most of their weekend in a boat, digging in the dirt, or feeding corn to these:
Except on Saturday, where they will temporarily put dirt digging on hold so we can join up with our people:
Here's to a long weekend of book reading, Aggie football, time away with family, and slow paced living.

And here's to hoping that yours is equally as enjoyable!

Savoring the Gift of Motherhood

Last year, our pastor's wife, Lisa Young, began a new ministry called Flavour that meets on a monthly basis at our church. It is a place where woman of all ages gather for an hour in the middle of the day to be encouraged and inspired to use the unique "flavour" God has given us to influence our families, friendships, and communities.

Recently, Lisa came to Bridget, Sarah, and me, to share with us that God has been expanding that vision even further.

He placed a desire in her heart to create a brand new ministry of Flavour that would provide a program specifically designed for mothers of young children to come together for refreshment, rejuvenation, and to embrace this remarkable time in life. She wants Fellowship Church to provide a place where women in the same season of life can befriend one another and find encouragement and support from other mothers who are currently in the trenches with them.

Definitely qualifying as women in the trenches, Bridget, Sarah, and I were asked to lead this new ministry called Savor. (And I can't even tell y'all how well this has worked for providing us with a great reason to increase our number of Chili's nights!)

In all seriousness, the three of our lives have been so enriched by our friendships with each other and we are so excited to see all the relationships that God will develop through women coming together to savor the gift of motherhood.

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, we would love to invite you to share this experience with us as we gather for the first time on Tuesday, Oct 7. Not only is it going to be fun and inspiring, but who can turn down free childcare?

Interested in more details? Click here.

Tooting My Own Horn

You know it's not a good sign when I haven't even started the post, and I already feel the need to preface it by saying I have never found humor in bodily functions.

Without getting too graphic, let's just say that any noise requiring an "excuse me" after it does not rate high on my laugh meter.

Even typing about this subject is causing me to turn three shades of red, but I'm enduring the embarrassment for the sake of having this memory recorded in writing.

Poor Park might as well have been a horn today because I can't even count the number of toots that left his little body.

And each time it happened, he would politely say excuse me, in between giggling hysterically. By about the 10th time in a row of this happening, I suggested that he take a few minutes to sit on the potty.

However, even after doing so, the problem was not solved. But after about 5 more excuse me's and the resulting belly laughs, Park suddenly got very serious.

Eyes wide with concern, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I can hardly believe how much my bottom is talking today! I'm afraid it might not have any words left for tomorrow."

And thanks to that statement, I found myself giggling until the tears rolled down my cheeks.

Apparently, those bodily functions rate higher on my laugh meter than I gave them credit for.

Thank you, Lord for knowing this girly-girl needed a son. He has not only broadened my horizons and stretched my comfort zone, but expanded my sense of humor, as well.