Erik Guest Posts - A Christmas Miracle

A Christmas peacock with ornate drool jacket included.

Mullet the Elf.

A Magnum P.I. Christmas.

Sophie applying jagged glass shards to the grandparents' ornaments.

I'm Sophie the Child. Bon Apetit!

To earn Christmas cash we've been selling Gingerbread Man's organs on the black market.

One nation, under garments, indivisible...

25 hyperventilation bags to deal with holiday stress. Only 3 left...Yikes! Make that 2.

Catherine does a lovely job decorating our house each year. But who is Manuel?

Christmas Card Joy

So it's that time again - Christmas card picture time. And this year we had the fun experience of trying to get a sweet, genuine smile out of Sophie. This is no simple feat, people. Let me share with you some of the many "outtakes" from our picture-taking session (thanks to Amber, who snapped these gems for us):






As you can see, not exactly the easiest task in the world. But if we CAN find a winner, the rest is a cinch, thanks to a great program from Shutterfly. Bloggers can get 50 free Christmas cards from their company this year. And since I love their products and have used them in years past, this is a no-brainer. So here's a little advertisement for Shutterfly products, because I was seriously considering not doing cards this year. But when they're free it's hard not to :).

So first let's talk about their cards - seriously so cute. I love that there are so many options - greatly diminishing the chances of sending the same one as a friend (which, let's be honest, isn't exactly the end of the world).

I also totally love their photo books - we've done one of these every year for Sophie and will do the same for Micah. Scrapbooking was taking too much time and just not realistic for this stage of our lives, but I wanted to have something for Sophie to have as she gets older. So these are the perfect solution. And they're great because they don't take up a lot of space and she can look at them now, which she loves doing.

Finally, we never really have Christmas parties, but whenever I see cute invitations, I totally want to have one just so I can send some out. If anyone wants to send me an invitation to something (I don't even have to come - I just want the invitation), I would be so grateful if it's this cute.

So there you have it - shameless promotion of a company with some great products. And if you get a Christmas card from us, just know that I didn't buy it, but I still love you :)

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Fall Catch-Up Post

Well since it's almost December, I thought I'd post some pics from October. This is a smattering of pics from Sophie's birthday in Arkansas, Halloween, random fall activities, and a few of Micah from the past few days. Enjoy!

Oh, and make sure you check out the amazing quilt my mom made for Micah.

Radical Crafts

So this was supposed to be posted a week ago, but I always overestimate my ability to get things done quickly. But, better late than never.

Today I'm announcing a new venture - Radical Crafts. It's an idea I've had for awhile and am finally acting on it (had to take some time to love on Micah before starting this up...don't worry, I'm still loving on him...he just doesn't need quite as much "love" now as he once did).

Anyway, to read more about it and visit the Radical Crafts shop, go to the blog here.

I would appreciate your prayers as I see what God might have for this in the future. And also as I try to keep my priorities in order and serve my family before this project.

Finally, if you're needing any Christmas presents, I'd love for you to take a look at the shop.

P.S. - I'll still be posting all family pics and news on this blog - the other one is strictly for the shop.

Radical Living

Several months ago Erik's sister, "Aunt Jenny," gave us a copy of the book Radical by her old pastor, David Platt. We've enjoyed listening to his sermons and both "enjoyed" reading this book, although "enjoy" is probably not the word for it. It was more like subjecting ourselves to an extended, extremely uncomfortable, yet motivating session of soul-searching. The fact is that we're so influenced by the falsehoods of the American dream and we've allowed it to prohibit us from doing what we're called to do - take the Gospel to the nations.

Below is a 2-minute promo for the book - take the time to watch it to the end. Just these 2 minutes are enough to get us thinking and searching our hearts.

Reading this book and meditating on truths from Scripture has caused us to make some changes in our lives, and hopefully we'll continue to do so - we have a long way to go. It's also been a source of inspiration for me to take on a project that I've been thinking and praying about for awhile now. So stay tuned for an announcement about that in the next few days.

Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.

Sophie's Birthday

On her actual birthday Sophie woke up and had some heart-shaped pancakes, then headed out for a day of fun with Mommy, Micah and Gran. She got her first real haircut at Snip-Its, then went to Chuy's for lunch (her request), then went to a fabric store to pick out fabric for a quilt that Gran's going to make her, and ended the day at Sweet CeCe's. I'm not sure who had more fun, Sophie or me. It was great to have my mom with us to make it such a special day.

Showing off her new "do"

Smiles at Chuy's

Sugar-free chocolate yogurt - yummmm

Micah, in protest of not getting any yogurt, decided to eat his bib

She also got this super-fun bouncy ball to hop on from Bubby and Laura (my bro and his wife)

Here she demonstrates her jumping skills:

For Cate

There was just one thing missing from Sophie's birthday party - her friend Cate. We love you Cate (and family) and missed you lots!

Sophie's Bubble Gum Party

Last year we told Sophie she could have gum when she turned 3. She's spent a year talking and dreaming about that magical day, so as it approached I decided it would be fun to have a bubble gum birthday party. We waited until that night for her to have her first piece - it was a hit! Here are some pics of her party:

Me with the kiddos in their matching gumball machine shirts

Favor bags for Sophie and her special guests

The amazing cake made by my mom

mmm...gummm

Party decor

Sophie and Ava made gumball machine visors

Ava letting me know how old Sophie is now

No sweets for Lily, but she still managed to keep a smile on her cute face

The moment of truth - Sophie's first gumball!

Amber, Kristen and Grandma Jan took good care of Micah

Thanks to the generosity of her guests, Sophie now has a year's supply of gum

Sophie meets "Bubbles" - her fish from Gran and Papa