January Fun

So far, our January has been cold, cold, cold. All our snow melted because we had a lot of rain, but it has still been cold. However, as I'm writing this, Rob told me it's supposed to be 52 degrees today. Go figure! 

Consequently, we've spent a lot of time inside trying to keep Liam entertained. I think we're both missing our daily walks to the park...

That time will return again, but in the meantime, here's a few shots of things that have kept us entertained. 

This bunny came to visit our backyard one morning

We spend a lot of time at this spot on the dining room floor racing trucks and taking animals for rides.

Building Lego forts

Hanging out with Thomas, Captain and Diesel in the bathtub.

This is what my floor looks like alll dayyyy long. I'm pretty sure I'm going to stab my foot on some car any moment. 

Racing...again...

These are Liam's other pals...Thomas and Hank. 

He gets pretty excited about his trains!

This is one of my joys of January. A beautiful paper white plant that was a Christmas gift from my mom. I've enjoyed watching it grow from the bulbs to just starting to bloom. 

And, in case you are tempted to believe that all we do is play all day, I will tell you that you would be incorrect. There are always dishes, cleaning, chores, emails to write, etc., etc. There are also epic naptime battles from a certain little man who refuses to lay down in bed. Let me just say I've been glad the past few days that he is still in his crib! This is life and it is a good life, but not without the challenges a toddler brings. 

How have you been spending your January? 

Holding Loosely

I was reminded today of how important it is to hold all things loosely. Particularly for me today it was my plans. It was Rob's first day back to school so it felt like my first day of "real" life again too. I got up early, had plenty done before Liam got up, plus had our day planned out. Then a friend texted asking if I could watch her kids while she took her youngest son to the doctor. I wrote a few things, made an excuse of why I couldn't watch them, then deleted it all. Instead, I texted that I would be glad to have them over and help her out. 

Yes, it messed up my morning. Yes, it made our other errands we had to do today rushed and I got hungry. Yes, it was hard for me to lay aside my plans to help her. But you know what? That stuff didn't matter. My plans need to be held loosely to account for things like this. To make others and their needs more important than my own. To be tenderhearted and gracious. 

This type of thing -- serving others and caring about them more than ourselves -- should characterize the lives of Christians. We should be reminding ourselves that God is the one who gives us all things from his hand, including the things we do need to get done in the day. Instead of holding those things and our plans so closely to ourselves and believing that we are the ones in control, we need to remember that it is God who has numbered our days and given us these things to to do for his glory. 

I know I can't always do what I did this morning, and believe me, I really didn't want to in the moment. But I'm glad I did because I love my friend and I know it blessed her day. It was great then later in the day to have another friend bless me by keeping Liam so I could go to the doctor last minute and get my toe checked out. 

I hope you know this post is talking to myself, but I hope it helps you to think about how you're holding your plans in light of what God has given to you. 

A Yoder Christmas

After we left the Kastle, we went back to my parent's house for a few days. Both my brothers and their wives came out too and we had a great time together. We hadn't all been together since the summer, so it was especially good to be together. We were all a little sad to lose our dog of eleven years, Webster, as she had to be put to sleep while we were there. But Mom pushed through and went above and beyond to give us a great Christmas together. We had our family Christmas on Saturday morning and then my aunt Millie came down for the day. She was very brave to come out in the additional snow that was falling! The rest of our time together was spent hanging out, playing games and the Wii and visiting friends. We had a low-key new years and were in bed by 11:30. New Year's day we drove all day and finally made it home by 11 pm.

It is such a joy to be with people you love at Christmas time! We are very blessed and thankful. 

Opening some gifts on "Christmas eve." 

The deer head we made as a gift last year made a new appearance over the fire place. He looked very distinguished. 

More presents! 

Hanging out in packing peanuts between gifts. 

Ben made mom these gorgeous hooks with vintage door knobs. 

Liam's gift from uncle Ben was a wood desk filled with coloring books and crayons. 

Snow fell all day. 

Mom's beloved peacocks made their annual appearance. 

Beautiful snow.

It was perfect snow for making a snowman. 

"Help me up, Mama!" 

Blurry, but cute with uncle Ben. 

The creepiest snowman you've ever seen! 

So we don't end on that creepy photo, one more from outside. 

At the Kastle

We heard about the big snow storm coming to town on Christmas night, so we cut our time at the Bedinghaus' short by half a day and headed out to PA on Christmas day afternoon. Our destination was my cousins' cabin in western PA, also known as the Kastle. About 20 family members from my mom's side, including my brothers and their wives and my parents were all planning to spend a few days there together. 

Thankfully, everyone made it just before the snow came and we had a great time together. It was especially fun since it snowed about eight inches and we truly had nowhere to go. We ate and ate some more, played lots of games, did puzzles, played ping pong and went out in the snow. Liam was in his glory with his best buds, cousins Rio, Mattias and Marco. I was also thankful for their presence because they play so nicely with him and love him.  

The Kastle is such a special place to all of us because of the family memories we make there together. 

Heading out in the snow! 

First trip down the hill on a sled with papa....

...ended with a face full of snow and lots of tears. But he rallied and wanted to go back outside, just not on the sled. 

Chilling with Marco on the sled. 

A real treat, getting to ride the four-wheeler with Kendall. 

A real smile for the camera! He must be having fun. 

Eating snow ("Not the yellow snow, mama!") was also a highlight. 

Playing games and relaxing. 

More games...

A beautiful snowy morning when we left. 

We hit a major traffic jam on the turnpike on our way back to my parent's house. It took us about two hours to go 15 miles. Ugh. 

This Amish family must have hiked through the snow to see the traffic. It must have been a big deal to them! 

A Bedinghaus Christmas

We started our Christmas traveling with a week with Rob's family in Cincinnati. It was a great week of doing fun stuff and relaxing together. We made cookies, played games, watched movies, home brewed some beer, went to the train museum, saw The Hobbit and of course, celebrated Christmas. 

The low point of the week for me was dropping a metal bowl of frozen cookie dough on one of my big toes. Ouch. It immediately bled underneath the nail and I could barely walk on it for a few days. The pressure under the nail got so bad that Rob eventually melted down through the nail with a mini screwdriver to help the blood come out. It worked, and the relief was immediate. However, I'm sure I will lose the nail and it will probably be ugly for months. 

The high point of the week was watching Liam interact with everyone while he enjoyed everything about Christmas. He was funny, obedient, independent and did so well all around. We were really proud of him. 

We are so thankful for families who love us and who we enjoy spending time with! Here's a quick recap of our week in pictures. 

Liam "helped" with the home brew. 

Liam loves the "train place" near Boppy and Mimi's house. 

At the train place they had a "fun house" with this cool room. When you walked down into the corner you looked really small. 

Enjoying some cookie decorating (and eating) time with Nan. 

Rob's masterpiece -- they say "Christ" in Chinese. 

Everyone working hard to decorate 13 dozen sugar cookies.

Mom and Dad sent us out on a date to downtown Cincinnati one evening. We loved Nada, the mexican restaurant we went to and then spent some time walking around downtown. 

Christmas eve service. This is the best smile I can get these days...

Liam loved helping put the gingerbread house together on Christmas eve. 

"Presents! Presents!" He definitely understood Christmas this year. 

Thomas the Tank Engine and many friends were the star of our Christmas morning show. 

Hanging out with Mimi

Thankfully, this gift was for Dad, not Rob, but he couldn't resist a try.