My Ebenezer

You know a chocolate craving is bad when you resort to eating stale semi-sweet chocolate chips from the pantry. By the spoonful. Not that I would know or anything.

Here is Noah counting from 1-40 this morning at the breakfast table. (He made it to 60, but my camera battery died right after he hit 40. Bummer.) Oh, and P.S. Grampy, if you're reading this, thank you for all those Haircut Conversations you had with Noah while you were here... on Tuesday I gave haircuts, and Noah for the first time did GREAT! No fussing, no crying, and only minor complaining one time. Thank you for convincing him that it's no big deal to get a haircut. :)

I'm giving you a glimpse into my life with a 3 year old whose favorite form of communication is the question. This was at breakfast yesterday. "Mommy, what are you eating?" "A blueberry muffin." "Do you like blueberry muffins?" "Yes." "Why do you like blueberry muffins?" "Because they have blueberries in them." "Do you like blueberries?" "Yes." "Why do you like blueberries?" "I don't know, Noah. Because they're blue. And tasty." "Why do blueberry muffins have blueberries in them?" "Because that's what makes them blueberry muffins." And I used to wonder why mothers crave adult conversation! :)

On Tuesday I got a haircut: Several people have asked me if I like it, and I'm sure you're curious too, so I'll give you the standard answer I've been giving. It's Fine. And now, an observation: I must be a horrible communicator. No, really, something happens to me when I walk into a hair salon long-haired and wearing vulnerability like a sweater. My whole appearance is in the hand of the hairdresser, what's not to fear? :) And I cannot for the life of me accurately convey exactly what I want. Or what I don't want. I bring pictures, sometimes several. I explain. I back-pedal. I talk with my hands. The hairdresser nods, restates what I just said, and takes me over to the sink. And then proceeds to do exactly what she wants with my hair!

Last night, Josh suffered the most ghastly bloody nose I've ever seen. I didn't take pictures of it (You're welcome!), but trust me it happened. Last night about 7 o'clock we were heading out to collect some rent and go to Publix for a few groceries. I was gathering my coupons and Josh was changing his shirt and then we were all going to go out. But I don't think we said, "Lord-willing." Because right then, the Lord allowed Josh to get a bloody nose. No warning, and it turned out to be the worst bloody nose Josh has ever had. We thought it would just mean a slight delay in our plans. Ten minutes later the bleeding had not stopped. We prayed. Thirty minutes after that, the bleeding had still not stopped, and it wasn't even letting up. The websites I checked were saying that it was time to go see a doctor. We prayed some more. Then, as much as Josh hated to admit it (do you know any man who wants to go to the doctor?), we were going to have to get help. ...

This Valentine's Day I was thankful for a family to love, and a God who loves me! We had a pretty low-key normal day, which in its own way is an incredible blessing. I made a heart-shaped pizza for dinner, and we all enjoyed each other's company in the evening. Josh came home with red roses for me (how does that never get old? :) I was reminded again that it was God who first loved us, not the other way around. All in all, a great day! I hope yours was good too. And for those of you still waiting for your Valentines, know that God loves you, and I'm praying for you. :)

Josh and Noah have a taste for the death-defying. Or at least making me nervous. The following is at least a weekly occurrence here at the Rowley house. And actually, this is tame compared to what stunts they normally attempt. Mothers and Grandmothers may want to look away. :) There's something very reassuring about a kid and his daddy playing together.

Thought you'd like to see our amaryllis that has been blooming now for a couple of weeks. It is one of the only plants that has survived my black thumb. :)

For the past year and a half, I have been following several money-saving blogs online. At first I was almost religious about it, making sure I printed out Every Single Coupon so I could try to take advantage of Every Single Deal. I won't get into the details of how I could so easily lose my cool if my printer malfunctioned at *just* the wrong time. Or if the cash register girl skipped over one of my coupons. Or--perish the thought--if I was an hour too late to one of the online freebies and missed it altogether. Those details would be highly incriminating, not to mention embarrassing. Over the last several months, I have been losing interest in spending every second of my precious free time scouring the deals, and compiling my coupons. Maybe there are some people out there who can do all of this in a mere 45 minutes per week (there are those who claim so!), but for this girl, it was consuming me. In the last few weeks, I hadn't even been reading the blogs, so low was my inter...

The Lord graciously healed me from my health issue on Tuesday! I had just called the Doctor and had a prescription (for a hormone pill) called in to the pharmacy, planning to begin taking it that evening. Around 4pm I noticed positive changes, so I decided to wait it out another day before taking the meds, and by Wednesday morning the problem had completely cleared up! It was only God who could have done this without medication, and I am thankful to any of you who may have prayed for me! The Lord does hear our prayers! Praise the Lord!

***Men, you may want to skip this one. For my sake. Please go watch Indiana Jones or something and come back another day. :) **** I'm having more of my issues again. After visiting the doctor over these issues back in October, Josh and I had decided to just leave things be and pray that my body would start doing what it was supposed to do. That hasn't happened. Not even close. So unless these issues quit by Monday, it looks like it will mean another string of doctor visits, blood work, and ultrasounds for me over the next few weeks. I'm praying for answers, concrete ones this time, as to why these things are happening. "It's hormonal" (the Doctor's explanation from last time) is just so vague. A plan of management that doesn't include hormone pills would be a blessing too! If you think about it, please pray that the Lord would resolve this problem by Monday, and/or that Josh and I (and the doctor) will have wisdom. This goes beyond wanting to have a...

We've been working on the fine-motor skill of buttoning buttons over at our house lately. Noah can finally do it, but not without a lot of patience... and lots of sticking out that tongue... Victorious!! and so proud of himself that he could just burst his... well, you know! :)

For those who may have trouble telling, that's Matt on the left and Josh on the right. Brianne and Noah are a little easier. :) (I, of course, don't confuse Matt with Josh, but you'd be surprised how many people do.)