The Landers' Life: 01/01/2016

"You can make anything by writing." ~ C.S. Lewis

1/14/16

what it would be like to live in aulstralia

By: Jake Landers

If I lived in aulstralia I would take pictures of birds, go to the zoo, and draw and write.

My first thing I would take pictures of birds. I would take pictures of birds because thier beutiful. The second thing I would do there is going to the zoo. I like going to the zoo because I could watch shows there. My third thing I would do there is draw and write about wildlife. I like to draw and write about wildlife because everything there is so beutiful.

I would love to go to aulstralia. It is so beutiful and colorful.

from our weekend

1/11/16

I reached my maximum of themed parties at age four just like I did with Jake so this year was the first of him deciding where he wanted to go to celebrate his birthday. He picked Chuck E. Cheese's, and we and my parents obliged. We did ALL the things - tokens, pizza, and prizes - and then went back home for presents and cake. All in all, I think it was a pretty fantastic day for the newest five year old we know.

happy, happy birthday

1/8/16

While we're wishing him the happiest of 5th birthdays today, I'm time hopping to this time last year when we celebrated him turning 4. For a guy who loves to do anything crafty and especially loves to paint, an art-themed party was a given. So we painted at our local All Fired Up then went home to play several rounds of Pictionary, open presents, and of course eat cake.

A whole year later, his love for painting is still going strong and although it's two plus inches shorter than it was then, so is his love for his Dusty pilot costume. I would say both sum him up perfectly. Happy 5, P!

his birthday eve

1/7/16

Parker's been counting down the days all the way from five up to his birthday. Tomorrow's the big day, and he's well aware so this morning while I was getting him dressed, he said, "Mommy! I only haf take one more nap then it's my birthday!"

Wow. Five is still all so crazy to me, and I just can't sink it in.

on memorizing multiplications tables 1 - 11

1/6/16

"CONGRATULATIONS!!! Jake is one of the few in class that has passed off every set of facts at this point!!! Thanks for all you do!" ~Mrs. Blair

"Reading forces you to be quiet in a world that no longer makes place for that." ~ John Green

1/5/16

One of the things I'm so glad I started taking the time to do in 2015 is read.

I could probably count on one hand how many books I had read in the past five plus years, but this past year, I read on average one every month - all checked out from our library because it puts reading on my to-do list and holds me accountable to get it done before it has to be returned. I didn't know where to start, so I took most of my book recommendations from Shay and got a few others just from scrolling through the "Most Popular" titles in Overdrive (our local library's online library where I can "check out" and read books on my iPad). Funny, serious, happy or sad, I can honestly say I loved them all, but the ones that stuck with me most are the ones that encouraged me in one way or another.

One of the ones I finished early in the year is called give them grace, and this paragraph...oh how it still lingers...

"As we close this chapter we want to leave you with a comforting message that must never be forgotten: the disciples couldn't hinder the children from coming to him even though they tried. When God calls our children to come to him, even if we haven't gotten it all right, even if we've trained little Pharisees or have a house full of prodigals, nothing is impossible for him. He can break through all our flawed methods and redeem all our frail errors. The world tells us that our children's success depends upon our success. The world knows nothing of God's ability to use our failures as means to bless. 'What is impossible with men is possible with God.' (Luke 18:27) So even though we desire to be the ones who place our children in the lap of God's mercy and even though we stumble so badly trying to do so, Jesus is strong enough to pick each of us up and carry us all the way. Parents, too, are weak but Jesus is strong. No one, not even you, can thwart his purpose to bless those who are his (Eph. 1:11)".

give them grace Elyse M. Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson

monday monday

1/4/16

Today was their first day back to school after a three-week long break, and the first thing he said to me when I walked into his classroom to pick him up was, "Mommy! I didn't even peed in my pants tuh-day!"

I'm amazed at what makes the list of the best things from the four year old's day.

where's the heat?

1/1/16

Brrr! The temperatures have finally dropped here and until this past weekend, rays of sunshine had been few and far between because of rain, so I've been staring at the heat and bright sun in pictures. From the flight there to our transport from the resort back to the airport (and even a few repeats are thrown in because it's been so long I couldn't remember without looking back which ones I had posted already), this is the rest of our Jamaica story.

Not a ton and most were purposeful (when they were either dressed for dinner or early in the morning) because quite honestly our bathing suits stayed as wet as theirs did so I left my camera in our room versus somewhere on an unmanned lounger. Here's to pinky swears that I'll capture more candid moments on our next excursion (I may even go really crazy and manage to get one of all four of us) and the countdown on my computer screen to our upcoming Spring Break week of fun in the sun. And heat. I like the heat.

Happy New Year, Y'all! xoxo

"You can make anything by writing." ~ C.S. Lewis 1/14/16

1/14/16