Cup Runneth Over

Two weeks since I've blogged!!!! That is entirely too long, and I apologize. I wouldn't blame you one bit if you gave up on my blog due to my lack of consistency. But for those that choose to stick with me....

I do love this blog. But my blog comes right after my love for God, my family, and Mac. (Mac is my computer for you lost souls without one.)

My family is probably thankful that they come before Mac and CupRunnethOver. Otherwise, they might not have decent meals to eat, clean clothes to wear, nor educated minds to work with.

Anyway, thank you to the hundreds who have called or emailed to check on me in my absence. (That might be a slight exaggeration for the two sweet ladies that have checked on me, but who's counting?) All is well over here. I've just had a hard time juggling all of the balls in my court, and blogging had to be dropped for a bit.

But I'm baaaack!

Reunited and it feels so good.

Sorry, back to 2009.

When I left you, I told you that I was boarding a plane to see my niece in Colorado. Boy, did I!

I left torrential downpours in Texas and found myself in a blizzard in my favorite state. Nearly two feet of the white stuff fell on my first full day there, and I sat on the couch in my brother's house all. day. long. The snow fell all. day. long. And I might have held Edie all. day. long. It was glorious!

I love me a good blizzard. I love a baby in my arms. And I love peace and quiet. Check, check, check.

My poor husband was stuck at home with sick boys and soggy weather. I felt guilty every once in a while. But I didn't let it spoil my trip.

Because this...

is a little slice of heaven.
Amen.

I see those pictures, and my heart aches to see her again! She is so sweet. Laid back. Mellow. Calm!

No one is calm in my house. Ahem.

Anyway, those are the only pictures I have of my time with Edie. Silly me, I forgot my camera and had to rely on my cell phone for those two shots. I could have used my brother's camera, but it was actually nice to just sit and, you know, hold her, instead of worrying about getting a good picture or two hundred.

I guess you could say I enjoyed the "moment". Something I need to do more often.

On Sunday, a friend, Jennifer, said, "They don't look too bad." It took me a minute to figure out she was referring to my bangs. And I have to be honest and say, they're growing on me, literally and figuratively.

I said I wouldn't talk about hair every day, so enough about that.

Since I haven't seen Jennifer in a couple weeks, I knew she had seen my blog.

I find it very odd that people beyond my family read my blog. My initial intent for my blog has always been, always will be, to journal and scrapbook for my boys.

(The actual art of real scrapbooking escapes me. I have tried it, but mercy me, if it doesn't overwhelm me, then I don't know what does. But that's another post altogether.)

If I don't blog, then these hundreds of photos I take of my boys every month simply reside on my Mac. And that's a shame, because my boys are simply too cute to stay hidden, if I do say so myself.

My secondary intent for this blog is to keep our family and close friends up-to-date on the goings on around the CupRunnethOver household.

And my tertiary reason for my ramblings is to encourage families in the adoption journey. I feel called by God to share our adoption experiences with many people, because he did not take us through those trials for our own good, but for His glory.

(Are you impressed I used the word "tertiary"?)

So, when I realized Jennifer is reading my blog, I got all clammy and nervous. And then Rick informed me the other day that he ran into someone at his office that mentioned she reads my blog regularly. Again, I my hands were sweaty and butterflies formed in my stomach, because I don't even know the person he's referring to.

Obviously, if I write on the world wide web, anyone in the world can read it. And, yes, I read strangers' blogs every day. But it is still such an awkward feeling to know that strangers are reading my words!

Rick and I talked about it briefly, and I think it all boils down to this: I don't think most of you realize how shy I am. Put me in a room full of strangers, and I feel like crawling into a cave. Tell me I have to attend a large event (anything over 20 people), and I'd rather go to the ER. My stomach is churning while even writing the last two sentences!

Rick said that most writers are shy. Really?

After I've pondered this topic over the last few days, I have a question. How many bloggers out there are actually shy?

I would really like to know how some of you bloggers post every single day?! It's not that I can't think of topics; I have plenty of ideas in my head.

It's the time. Where in the world do you people find the time to post daily?! Please do share.

Anyway, I have put my to-do list away tonight and am allowing myself time to blog.

What have we been up to? Well, thank you for asking!

Pretty much the usual...schooling, eating, sleeping...you know...life. But here are some recent photos. In case my boys ever ask why they don't have scrapbooks (yea, right!), I need to have a photo dump on here every once in a while.

Jackson has suddenly taken an interest in puzzles and was quite proud to have put this one together all by himself a few days ago.
No, the ensemble would not be complete without the hat.

Garrett has loved puzzles for quite some time. When he saw me take Jack's picture above, he hurriedly picked out a puzzle to complete for himself. He is quite proud of the fact that he is working on 60-piece puzzles these days.
I say, "Who cares about the puzzle? Look at that cute pose that I did not have to encourage!"

When the weather is nice, we head to the park to shoot off rockets.
I don't know where my brother found that rocket, but it is the best entertainment ever!

The boys even take turns without fighting. Because if they're not shooting off the rocket, then they watch how high the others' are flying.
Then, Liam does the jig.
Notice he's not wearing his glasses. That would be because all three boys have broken their glasses in the last three weeks. Good times, I tell you.

Some boys have to take timeouts at the park.
But Mommy loves to take pictures of the pouty face. It's a pitiful sight.

And some boys beg Mommy to play baseball.
I oblige most of the time, but not today, sweet boy.

When Daddy is home, we beg him to have a Beatles jam session.
Do you think the Beatles ever had a jam session around the Saturday morning breakfast table? In their pjs? With their Mac revealing their chords?

No? Bummer, because it's a rockin' good time.

Perhaps much of my blogging time is put into keeping this child clothed:
That child is sporting the fourth pair of jeans I've bought him in less than a month, because he wears the knees out in no time. I finally caved and added patches to the insides of those jeans. Maybe he'll wear those for a full month.

When we're not adhering patches to jeans, we're having Preston spend the night and trying to teach him that strawberries and other such yummy foods are our friends.
We try to be a good influence.

And we even dress up for church.
Perhaps this post was a bit random. Maybe it was really a post to appease my mother. Yes, Mom, I do still blog, and I have been taking pictures of the boys regularly.

writer's block

Sigh. Not a sigh of disappointment. But the sigh of relief and peace. Relief because it's nice to sit down and post. Peace because I feel God's hand upon my life.

I'm not sure if you've noticed my absence from this here blog. I've been posting somewhat regularly, so I haven't actually been "absent". But my days have been so filled with this and that, that my blogging time has been nothing more than ten minutes here and there.

Once the calendar turned to September, someone must have pressed the fast forward button. I promise yesterday was August 30th, yet here it is September 16. How did that happen?

My days have not been filled with anything exciting or unusual. I can't even say that I've added much of anything to my plate. Yes, I homeschool, cook meals, clean house, wash laundry, but I was doing all of those things before September.

So why haven't I had time to blog? I don't know. Maybe I have had the time, but my heart hasn't been in the right place.

My mind has felt cluttered and my heart heavy for a few weeks now. So much so that I have enjoyed very little about my life lately. I'm sad to even say that I haven't enjoyed my own kids in a couple weeks. Please don't judge me. I know I am wrong to be unable to find joy in those sweet lives.

My lack of joy has left me confused until this morning. As I read my devotional this morning, the Holy Spirit convicted me.

In John MacArthur's Drawing Near, the September 16 entry encourages us to put on the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). When we fail to do so, we lack joy.

Bingo, Ami! As soon as I read it, I knew in my heart that I have failed to put on the breastplate of righteousness in quite some time. Thus, my joy has been zapped.

What does it mean to put on that breastplate? In my own words, it means choosing to follow God, to obey Him. If He tells me to do this today, I might not do it at all or I might do it with half the effort needed. But the righteous choice would be to obey with a happy heart. And MacArthur's words are encouraging: "If you're pursuing greater righteousness, you'll know greater joy."

I certainly want to know greater joy! I decided this morning that I would take a more active approach to choosing righteousness in my life this day. And I have truly felt more peace and joy in my heart. I'm sure my boys have appreciated the smiles from my face and the calmer voice spoken to them.

MacArthur continues to explain that when I do not put on the breastplate of righteousness, I deny God the glory He deserves. "Without righteousness you will also suffer loss of opportunity to glorify God. When thinking or behaving unrighteously, you violate your reason for existence, which is to glorify God in everything (I Cor. 10:31)." I want my life to bring Him glory, so I must choose the righteous life.

In short:

• my righteousness = my joy
• my righteousness = God's glory

Thanks to my big bro, Ben, for the new header! And thanks to my hubby for fixing the final details.

How do you like the new look?

Today is one of those days in which I wonder what possessed me to break my Diet Coke habit two months ago. In fact, forget Diet Coke. I need me a Dr Pepper! And not the diet version.

I decided last night that Garrett's temper tantrums have got to stop. His fits have never gone acceptable to us, but we have not been as consistent as we need to be. As I went to bed last night, I decided today was the day to catch every. single. fit.

By 11:30 this morning, he and I were both worn out with the process. He asked to go to bed at that point. I fed him lunch and put him to bed.

I'm not sure if it's making an impact on him yet. But I sure hope so.

As for me, nothing would soothe me more right now than to hear the pop and fizz associated with a newly opened can of Dr Pepper. That's not true. Nothing would soothe me more than to hear the pop and fizz, only to be followed by the ice cold deliciousness flowing down my throat.

But there aren't any yummy beverages in the house. Whose idea was it to stop buying that stuff?

In other news, my brother has designed a new header for my blog. Yippee! I'm ready to have a little somethin' up there. As we put the new header in place and mess with some details, my blog may be a little goofy. Please pardon the mess.

In some other news, could I also ask you to say a prayer for Jack (3)? He is having surgery tomorrow morning to remove his tonsils and adenoids and to receive new ear tubes. Poor little guy.

Please excuse me while I take care of a fit-throwing three year old, a sickly three year-old, an active 4 1/2 year old, and a boring blog. And I might be sipping a DP if it gets much worse.

Is anyone else out there having trouble downloading pictures with Blogger? When I choose a picture to download, the screen says that Blogger is downloading, but it never downloads anything.

We converted.

I can't stand how little I'm able to blog these days. I enjoy being able to blog 4-5 times per week, but that just doesn't seem to happen anymore. My days are filled with this, that, and the other. My nights are filled with bar hopping and late night parties.

Are you paying attention?!

Actually, my nights are filled with more of this, that, and the other. You know the real exciting stuff like making dinner, cleaning dishes, bathing boys, smothering them in kisses, and visiting with my husband. Two of those items are more important than the others, but they all deplete me of time and energy by 9 pm.

I wish I were a night person! I feel like I could get more accomplished if I could keep my eyes open til 11 pm.

But I'm a morning person. Rick is laughing his head off right now, because I am definitely NOT a morning person. Don't even try to talk to me until I've had a healthy dose of caffeine and a shower!

I'm really fun to live with. Ahem!

Truly, I'm more of an afternoon person. When Jack and Garrett are napping and Liam is playing independently, I am running around this house like a mad woman, trying to accomplish everything on my to-do list. But that is only about 1 1/2 hours...flat out not enough time to take care of my house, my blog, and my social life.

The only solution I see is to add two hours to the day. Anyone else interested?

You didn't know I was taking a blogging break? Well, neither did I! I normally blog during nap time, but that block of time has been filled with other obligations this week. I'm not sure when life will settle down again, but please be patient while I try to make heads or tails out of my calendar.

Fellow bloggers using Blogspot, when I post pictures, it never fails that spacing between paragraphs becomes a problem. While composing, I am careful to make certain that my spacing is correct. But as soon as I publish, Blogspot either adds extra spaces between paragraphs so that it looks like I've hit "enter" fifty times too many, or it takes my properly-spaced paragraphs and runs them together.

Take, for instance, my Thanksgiving post. Everything was fine and dandy until I posted the picture of my mom and me. Every paragraph thereafter runs together.

This happens every single time I post pictures. I usually dabble with the HTML and repair some of the issues. But I'm quite tired of posting what looks correct, only to find more problems. It's as if I fix one problem, only to find 2 more.

My Type-A personality can take it no longer! Every good post should have its proper spacing!

Anyone out there have some suggestions for me?

This is post number 200! Wow, I can't believe it!

I signed in to post on God's faithfulness today. I'm not sure that there's an appropriate transition from, "HEY! Look at me! I have 200 posts!" to "HEY! Look at God's faithfulness!" But stay with me....

Part of my daily quiet time is to read a short devotional by Jon Courson from his A Day's Journal. He gave a great illustration today about observing Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

He says:

There we are, standing by the fence waiting for Old Faithful to erupt--as it does every 92 minutes. But after about 30 minutes, you become bored and you see a goose which you follow into the woods. I remain by the fence and see the spectacle of Old Faithful's geyser. You, on the other hand, miss out because you're on a wild goose chase. Finally you say, 'This is dumb. I'm going back to position myself close to Old Faithful again.'

Now, when Old Faithful sees you coming, it doesn't say, 'Well, well, well. Look who's finally decided to show up. There's no way I will erupt for you. You've been on a wild goose chase.' No, Old Faithful erupts regularly, faithfully, no matter where you are or aren't.

Paul [referring to II Timothy 2:3-4] is saying that God is, in the best sense of the word, Old Faithful, because His blessings are continually flowing. If I go off on a wild goose chase, I won't be blessed--not because the blessings aren't there, but because I've moved away. But once I realize I'm in the woods on some crazy excursion and return to the geyser of the goodness of God's grace, I find that God is faithful still....

God cannot deny Himself, gang. He's not faithful one day, and frustrated the next. He's not generous one day, but stingy the next. He is continually and completely faithful.

As of last week, I was ready to give up and throw in the towel on Jack's potty training. We've been at this whole potty thing for 2 1/2 months now, and he can't seem to get past 1-2 accidents every day. Now, I realize that there are far worse things going on in the world, but when I feel like I'm stuck in the trenches, y'all would be better off just agreeing with me. So, go ahead and repeat after me, "Yes, Ami, one to two accidents every day is awful!" Thank you. I feel better already.

But it seems as if we've turned the corner, as Jack has been dry since Friday! I repeat. Jack has been dry since Friday!

On Saturday afternoon, he was going potty, and I went to check in on him, because leaving him for any length of time in a room where there is water, a toilet, toilet paper, soap, a stool, and a light switch is a mere disaster waiting to happen. I also decided to use this potty visit to praise him for being dry all day, and he was quite proud of himself.

Suddenly, he spotted the boo-boo on my forehead. (This is where I should show you a photo of my boo-boo, but I don't want to you to think that I take photos of my injuries in order to chronicle them. I don't, just in case you're wondering.) He asked what happened, and I explained that I burned my head with my flat iron...again.

I'm a real whiz with the flat iron. If you've ever wanted to learn the skill of straightening your bangs, just ask me. But I digress.

After I told Jack about burning my forehead, he said, "Poow Mommy."

Which cracked me up! I'm sure that "Poow Mommy" isn't that funny to you, but it is to me, and this blog is supposed to serve as a journal for my family.

I tell you this story because I have been doing a lot of thinking about this blog lately. There are days when I just want to pull the plug and quit blogging. Those are usually the days when I'm too worried about my readers. Worried if they're having a good time, worried if they'll want to visit daily, constantly trying to please them.

When I first began this blog, I intended it to be my family's journal, and I feel as if I've lost sight of that goal over the past several weeks. I want to earnestly attempt to return to my original blogging intention to chronicle my family's life, and I hope that you'll find it amusing, entertaining, and perhaps even challenging. But even if you don't, I want to carry on in my job of creating memories for my family. And I need this blog to be my memory, because mine left me the day I became a mother.

I sat down here on the couch to write a profound post. Flexed my fingers. Tapped a few keys. Stopped to sip from my Diet Coke. Tapped a few more keys.

Only to be interrupted by the rattling of a doorknob. Behind that door is a 2 1/2 year-old that is learning to nap on a napmat instead of within the confines of his crib.

"Jack, what are you doing up so early?"

[Rubbing the confusion and sleep from his eyes.] "I get up."

"No, it's not time to get up. Go back to bed. I'll come get you when it's time."

After settling him in with his bear, I close the door to return to the couch and laptop.

Only to find a 4 year-old on the stairs with bright eyes and a wide smile. "Hi, Mommy!"

"Hi, Liam, you're up early. What's going on?"

"I'm awake."

Knowing that I put him to bed earlier than usual, I relent and allow him to play quietly while his brothers rest longer.

Turning back to the laptop, I realize that the intellectual post...is gone. I guess it wasn't so wise if I can't remember where I was going with those escaped thoughts.

We're leaving early tomorrow morning for a three-day weekend of camping, so I'll be back Monday. With something thoughtful, I hope.

A Concerned Leader...yep, that's me in a nutshell. How about you? Go here to take your own test.

I am interrupting what should be a Friday Funny for a very important announcement...I'm a winner!!!

"I never win anything, ever!" We all hear people say it all the time, don't we? For me, it's 100% true! I cannot, for the life of me, remember winning anything in all of my life. Until today!

Boomama has been raving about Monk & Neagle's new CD titled "The Twenty-First Time" due out in September. Their record label had sent her a prereleased copy to review, and because she gave such a fantastic review, they wanted her to help them give away 100 prereleased copies.

Boomama let us all know that we could sign in at noon on Thursday in order to become one of the first 100. Well, I just couldn't pass me up this opportunity, oh no! At 12 noon, I clicked here and won myself one of those highly-acclaimed CDs. And I did a little dance right there in front of my laptop.

I feel like a celebrity having won an Emmy. I am stoked! And then I ask myself, "Self, why do I feel like a celebrity over this win?!" Oh, that's right, because most of my life centers around three preschoolers.

Today is my 150th post, which in the blogging world isn't a big deal, I realize.

When I signed into Blogger a few minutes ago, I had planned on posting a different topic for today, until I saw that Friday's post was #149, which would make today #150. I realize that is by far the most brilliant statement I have typed thus far on this blog. 149 +1 = 150. Who knew that my Math minor would pay off so greatly?! Ahem.

But when I realized that this would be 150, I just had to write about sesquicentennial. 150 is one of those numbers that stands out in my mind, and every time I see or hear a remark with the number 150, my mind immediately takes me to the year 1986. 1986 was Texas' sesquicentennial.

For those of you who are like me and abhor history, don't worry. I will not turn this into a history lesson. I would rather solve 100 algebraic equations than sit through one history lesson. Thus, you will never read an historical post here. But I also won't bore you with an algebra lesson.

The year 1986 was a big to-do in Texas. There were celebrations that included fireworks, not necessarily related to July 4th or New Year's Eve. Every public school room taught an extra special unit on state history. I also remember that there were newly printed T-shirts, bumper stickers, ball caps, pins, and license plates made to celebrate the big 1-5-0. Oh, yes, every new car had a special license plate to commemorate our history. Don't believe me?

We do everything big in Texas, y'all.

Including our hair, and 1986 was a pivotal year of big hair. My bangs, oh my word, yes, I had big bangs. I don't have any childhood photos of myself at my house (gasp!), but even if I did, I'm not sure that I would share with the world of bloggers. Just picture an eleven year-old with teeth in need of braces, hair in need of taming, and freckles in need of make-up.

What about your home state? Do you remember any such big event? Or, do you dare share a photo of you in 1986?