ABCs and Frozen Peas

Crashing Christmas Balls

mitchellfam — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:52:25 +0000

We have had a small photo tradition at my parents’ house with each Macey and Eden. My mom typically hangs Christmas balls with the names of Christ on the the chandelier in their dining room. When both girls were a year old at Christmas (this past year for Eden), we have taken photos of them reaching out and grabbing/exploring the bulbs. Two balls suffered life-ending trauma;-)

Macey-17 months

Eden-15 months

See any similarities?

The Saga, er Tale, of Macey, St. Nick, and B-Bear #3

mitchellfam — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:43:12 +0000

This year was the 1st year that Macey really began to understand the whole idea of Santa, wishlists, and finding presents under the tree on Christmas morning. We didnt really talk much about it before leaving on our Christmas trip, but did ask her what she’d like for Christmas and she didnt really have much to say. She casually mentioned when we asked that she’d like another teddy bear exactly like her other 2 “Be Bears” and a doll house, but she wasnt overly excited about asking for things and hoping that Santa would bring them to her. When we were in Kentucky, however, Macey’s 6 year old cousin, Jenna, more fully explained Santa to her and she really, really got it in her mind that she really, really wanted another B-Bear!

The story of Macey’s B-Bears goes back to when she “adopted” one as her lovey when we was around 9 months old. He was one of the toys that she received at baby showers. Mom strongly suggested that we purchase a bunch more in case Macey lost her bear along the way. So we purchased more— five to be exact! So, the most bears that Macey ever had was 6, but as the years went on, she lost some and until recently, has just had 2. A couple years ago we got nervous that that if she lost any more that she’d be down to just 1 bear, so we bought another one on E-bay (for twice the cost of the original one).

So back to Christmastime last month….. Macey was a bit disappointed when “Santa” brought her a Lite Bright instead of a new B-Bear. We felt badly about the situation, but didnt know how to remedy it b/c the new bear was in Florida and it was impossible to find a her kind of bear in a store and, although it was possible to find one online, we’d have to rob a bank to get one! (I guess the downturn in the economy has severely affected the cost of B-Bears!)

It was so sad to see Macey crawling under her Mammaw’s Christmas trees to see if there was a new B-Bear hiding underneath. In addition, it seemed that she told nearly everyone that she didnt get what she wanted for Christmas– even the checker at the grocery store!

In addition, Scott and I hadnt really talked through how we wanted to handle the whole Santa thing. We like the fun and imagination surrounding Santa, but we dont like “lying– ok that’s a bit harsh, but you know what I mean and ” the whole “you have to be good” thing. Through talking to other families, we decided that we liked the idea of telling her that Santa is pretend along with the history of the real St. Nick.

So, today was that day….. We looked online and found a little bit of information about this wonderful Christian man (http://www.cbn.com/family/parenting/lamb-santa-situation.aspx) and that the reason that we give presents is because Nicholas (who has the same name a boy in her class;-)), gave to children who didnt have things, much like she gave a box of love to child who didnt have much.

When asked if she knew what st. Nick looked like, she replied by saying that the Nicholas in her class has curly hair;-)

We proceeded to tell her that Santa is pretend (“timber,” as she calls it) and that she never has to worry about getting presents if she’s bad b/c we all do things to disappoint God and the reason that we give presents is to celebrate Jesus’s birthday (much like Nicholas did).

I was wondering if she might be sad about the idea of Santa being pretend, but it didnt phase her much. She asked her patented question, “How do you know?” but that was about it. Im glad that we told her early, as it might have been a bigger deal for her to find out when she’s older.

So then came the fun part! We gave her the new bear:-) She looked a little perplexed as she pulled him out of the bag saying that he looked different. And that was b/c he was NEW and hadnt been sucked on and been throught he washed a bunch of times.

Macey pulls the new B Bear out of the bag!

But he looks different!

A new Bear!

And then came the sweetest part of all– she gave the new bear to her little sister! (Insert small tear of joy here)

Eden with her new bear!

Looking Back on 2011

mitchellfam — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:15:52 +0000

I think if I were to summarize 2011 in a word I would choose the word challenging. Throughout the year these challenges felt “bad” but looking back on the year I am thankful that they were a part of God’s loving plan for my life.

To briefly summarize:

January-April: in Virginia working on expanding our team of ministry partners

May: Relatively low-key– packing/preparing for our summer role in Colorado

June-July: Quite challenging assignment running a 5-week training in CO. Also took a seminary-type class where the content was demanding, but amazing, but a situation in the class made it stressful. My grandmother passed away in July. Also worked on preparations for overseas conference– continued challenges throughout. I was in quite an unhealthy state all summer.

August: low-key, vacation

September-Oct: relatively low-key; also preparing for overseas conference. Departed for Thailand on Oct 29

November: Challenging conference situation in Thailand

mid. Nov-mid-December: Sick for a month, made 6 trips to the doctor between the 4 of us.

mid-Dec-Now. Fun with Family and friends, but in the midst of sickness again as I type this!

_____________

From raising support to working issues related to my summer and fall conference assignments, to struggling through illness, this was a challenging year! I was able, though, to grow these times. My calling was reaffirmed through raising support. I was reminded that my struggle against anxiety is still my Achilles Heel (even though I can often feel like I’m “over it.” And, I learned that all too often I put my significance in things other than Christ.

_____________

If I didnt have faith in Christ, then I would conclude that this was a “bad” year. But, I know that God is in control and that “He works all things together for good for those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). He knows better than I what I need and when I need it. He loves me too much to leave me where I am. He wants to make me more like Christ.

And, although there were seasons of challenges this year, the Lord showed His mercy. He provided for our needs even when I doubted. I love how He gave me concentrated times of challenge/struggle and then gave me a break for awhile before the next challenge came about!

____

Therefore, I can conclude that 2011 was indeed a GOOD year.

God is good all the time and all the time God is GOOD!

Macey Chops Down a Christmas Tree

mitchellfam — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:40:58 +0000

We put up our [fake] tree at home a couple of weeks ago, but Grammi and Grampi help out for us to come into town to get theirs so that Macey could make a trip to the Christmas Tree Farm and help pick it out.

: Christmas Tree Farm

We had to look long and hard for the perfect tree as this is the last weekend that the farm is open. That’s Grammi, Daddy, and Macey from across the way. The good part about waiting is that we scored a good deal for choosing a tree with a special rectangular yellow tag. One group told us that theirs was going to cost $175 b/c of the height and a surcharge for choosing an untagged tree. Whew, can we say, “Ma’s rich and Pa don’t care?’

: Macey helps chop down the tree

We finally found a tree that we liked and Macey and Grampi chopped it down…. and Daddy helped too.

: The Matching Lumberjacks celebrate their “prey”

Last year Daddy and Grampi got matching CPO jackets for Christmas. Of course they had to wear them for this tree-chopping adventure.

After chopping the tree down, we had to drag it to the tree shaking station and get it tied up to take it home.

: Dragging the tree

: The tree shaker gets off some of the dead branches and pine needles

: Tree Baler

: Macey hitching a ride to the car with the tree

Fun day!

Mitchell Family Christmas Card Reveal

mitchellfam — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:02:49 +0000

Here’s our Christmas card “collage.” Notice that it includes a smiling picture of Eden. Whew! They will be in the mail soon after our envelopes arrive in the mail. We thought that they would arrive earlier in the week, but when they didnt we checked our Amazon orders and realized that I never ordered them. As Eden would say, “Uh oh!” Silly me. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime. They should arrive tomorrow.

Mitchell Family Christmas Card 2011

: Mitchell Family Christmas Card 2011

Mitchell Family Christmas Card 2011

Mitchell Family Christmas Card 2011

Defintion of “Mama” Found in the Dictionary of Eden

mitchellfam — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:09:37 +0000

ma·ma

[mah-muh; for 1 also muh-mah]

noun

1. Informal . mother.

2. Slang .

a. Command: [context: while sitting on the floor, pointing at a toy across the room.]

Sentence Example: “Mama!”

b. Denotes Hunger [context: while sitting in high chair, pointing at food on the table]

Sentence Example: “Mama! Mama!”

c. A derogatory term to show disgust, often 4 letters, [context: having a dangerous item removed from child]

Sentence Example: “Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!”

d. A plea for help: [Context While in a precarious position, about to fall.]

Sentence Example: “Mama! Mama!”

e. Term of Endearment for someone of either gender

Sentence Example: “Mama! Mama!”

f. A Filler, much like “um” when child has a loss for words or just would like to hear himself

Sentence Example: “Mama! Mama!”

Also, mamma.

Origin:
1545–55; nursery word, with parallels in other European languages, probably in part inherited or borrowed, in part newly formed; compare Latin mamma, Greek mámmē breast, mama ( see mamma2 ), French maman mama, Welsh mam mother (< *mammā )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Mitchell House Dictionary, © Mitchell House, Inc. 2011.

Mitchell Family Christmas Card Outtakes

mitchellfam — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:11:43 +0000

Today we took photos for our Christmas card. The vision for our Christmas photo was to have each person hold up a sign with a word, which I would then make into a collage of photos saying “Merry Christmas from the Mitchells.”

As would be expected, Eden was less than cooperative.

TAKE ONE

: Our first thought was to decorate Eden with lights and have her hold the “Merry” sign. Uh…. not so much…. cranky baby who threw the sign.

TAKE 2

: Getting Closer… but “Merr” doesn’t quite communicate the jolliness of Christ’s birthday and this baby is so much cuter when she’s smiling!

TAKE 3

: I don’t like this Mama! This is NOT my idea!

Before too long it became obvious that this was just not going to work, so we got Eden down out of ~~quarantine~~ ~~jail~~ chair.

: It didn’t take long for this to happen so we decided to change our plan of action on the photo….

If she wont hold the sign… just tape it to her….. BACK…. genius!

TAKE 43

: Take 43…. this is our life, right?

I liked this “action” shot, but Scott and my mom vetoed it b/c the baby’s face is much more cute than her diaper. Back to the drawing board….

Hooray, we got a winner!

Shew! We got one!

Final card coming soon!

Thankful Tree

mitchellfam — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:06:21 +0000

This year we decided to put a “Thankful Tree” on our wall. We really enjoyed doing and I hope to make it an annual tradition. It made us stop for more than 2.5 seconds to think about all that we’re thankful for and to Whom we’re thankful!

Thankful Tree!

I’ll admit that I struggled to explain “thankful” to Macey. Im not sure if she totally understood. Her responses were cute. She’s thankful for her Teddy, mac and cheese (although I cant remember the last time she ate it), and herself;-) Eden is thankful for her two teeth, milk, her crib, sister, and Dora couch.

Tree Close-Up

What do Figure-8s, Fires, and Fun all have in Common?

mitchellfam — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:21:46 +0000

They are all things that you encounter at Crash-o-Rama!

Scott and I and my fun office team attended this event this past Friday.

: Scott and me at Crash-o-Rama!

Crash-o-Rama is an event like no other event and is a must-see if you’re in town if the Crash-o-Rama series comes through a nearby town. The 2012 schedule will be up soon at

http://www.crasharamaseries.com/.

From buses racing on a Figure 8 “track” (insert crashes and flipping buses here) to cars racing without their back tires on skid plates, to a limo jumping over a mobile home, Crash-a-rama is non-stop action and fun. The people who attend Crash-o-rama are quite “interesting” as well;-)

You can see a Figure-8 Bus Crash here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=Dp1mSoiZ-BM

I thought to myself, who has time to think up these things. Then I was reminded that it only takes a little testosterone and a little boredom to kick some brains into gear.

And what might they come up with next? Well, believe it or not there will be a motorcycle demolition derby during Bike Week in New Smyrna Beach, FL this spring.

WOW.

Why the Name….

mitchellfam — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 01:46:22 +0000

I thought I’d explain the name of my new blog. ABCs and Frozen Peas are where we live right now. Macey is 4 and is in preschool. Each week she has a homework assignment where she has to find photos of items beginning with the letter of the week. It’s so interesting that some weeks this assignment is a cinch and other weeks there simply are not too many words that start with the letter of the week!

And frozen peas— both of our kids LOVE them! They’re like a delicacy, straight out of the bag from the freezer to their dish! I wondered myself what the big deal was, so I tried one myself, and yep, a frozen pea is still a pea and yucky to me. Interesting that my kids like a veggie that I dont;-)

So, ABCs and Frozen Peas– It’s where I live right now and it’s a sweet place to be.