Funny Stuff

Ella has been watching me list her old clothes on Ebay. We've also been giving some of her things to friends who have little ones of their own. Ella has been a tiny bit concerned that some of her things seem to be leaving our house (remember the dollar story). Tonight, while we were putting her to bed, she noticed that the bear that's usually in her bed wasn't there. She looked up at me with a very troubled look and asked, "Where's my bear? Is it on Ebay or something?" She comes up with some of the funniest stuff. If I don't write it down, I'll never remember all of it. One more before I go to bed...while I was getting ready for church, she came into my bathroom and just kind of stood there. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Um, just hanging out." What a mess and what a blessing she is all wrapped into one.

I'm Clean!

Just wanted everyone to know that I had my 5-year scan yesterday to check for any regrowth of my tumor, and nothing was there!!!!!!!! Also, the hearing in my "good" ear is 100%. The tester even commented that I heard things that she wasn't expecting me to pick up on...woohoo! Thanks for your prayers throughout this long journey. NO MORE HEAD SCANS FOR ME!

Forgive and Forget

I'm learning a lot from my little girl these days. It's funny how some of life's most complex problems can seem so simple through the eyes of a child. Ella's latest lesson for me is to forgive and forget. On Thursday, while we were driving to school, she told me that the last time she was at school she was "angry about lots of things." She said that everyone made her angry and that she wasn't going to play with them. I was sure that we were in for a rough transition from mama to teacher; however, when we went through the front doors, she ran down the hall to her class and never looked back. I peeked in her room to see her laughing and playing with the very ones that she'd been angry with just a few minutes before. Either she has a short memory, or she just decided that they are her friends, and she loves them regardless (I tend to believe it's a little bit of both).

Last night she was SO exhausted and needed sleep badly. While I was trying to get her ready for bed, Ella told me that she didn't love me (I guess that the tooth brushing didn't go over very well). I was pretty distraught over what she said until this morning when she told me that I was the best mama "of ever!" There seemed to be no hint of last night's drama, and I wasn't about to bring it up, either. I basked in the glory of her words, and then I thought about it all for a minute or so.

There are many things in my life that I need to forgive and forget and maybe God's lessons to me are being taught through the actions and words of a little (almost) three-year-old girl. Something to ponder, for sure.

God and Dollars

Ella LOVES dollar bills. Poppy gives her one each time he sees her, and she has quite a collection of money (more than mama and daddy, we think). She keeps a very close eye on her money. When she sees dollars around the house, she quickly asks, "Whose money is that?" Last week, she took three dollars to school and told the children's pastor during chapel that they were from her Poppy and were for drinks and Donald's. We had no idea that she'd even taken the money to school, so we are keeping a closer watch now on what leaves our house by way of little pockets. Yesterday, she received a Valentine card from Papa and MiMi that had FIVE dollars in it. She was so amazed! After we put it away, Ella and I talked about taking some to church for our offering. I told her that we always give some to God. She asked where God was going to be. I told her that the church is God so that when we give to the church, we are giving to God. She thought on this for a while and asked, "Will God give it back?" We are REALLY going to have to work on this money obsession!

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Here's our "Snow Storm"

After watching the news and seeing all of the great snow that the REST of you are getting, we thought we'd share a few pics from our first big snow! Since Brian and I both grew up where you went to school with 4-6 inches of snow on the ground, this "storm" was a little disappointing, to say the least. Oh, well, according to the weather people, there may be some more hope for Wednesday. We enjoyed this little bit of snow that we got, though, and felt like we were home even if it was all gone by the next day.

Going to the dentist...

Ella had her first visit to the dentist today. She did GREAT! She watched mama get her teeth cleaned first. She was very interested in the "noises" at the dentist office and a little worried, too. When it was her turn, though, she was super brave. She sat on mama's lap and opened wide...well, at least until the dentist got close to her mouth. Then, she would clamp it shut so that he couldn't get his hands in there. After several tries, she finally got the hang of it. By the time we left, she had more toothpaste, floss and toothbrushes than WalMart. Needless to say, the dental assistants LOVED her. They even gave her a bottle of water on the way out. On the way home, she told us that she would need to floss when she got home because "that's what the lady said." Wish it were that easy around here...I can't imagine her saying that she needs to pick up her toys because "that's what mama said"...hahaha!

Potty Training...Again!

We may be the only family alive who has been potty training for 6 months (not really; I know there are others out there!) What a chore this has been. We've been back and forth with this several times. The problem isn't that Ella doesn't know HOW to do this; the problem is that she is STUBBORN! She may not be our biological child, but she is mama's daughter through and through (or so daddy says...haha). Brian figures he'll just move out when she turns 16. He's not sure he can deal with us both at the same time (he's kidding, I think). Anyway, we are trying very hard to potty train "for real" this time. So far, it's going very well. We are determined to see this thing through, and Ella seems to be really ready for it, too.

Being a parent is no joke, I tell you. I guess that's why Dr. James Dobson has written so many books about being a parent. I'm guessing that my parents wish his book about the strong-willed child was out there when I was growing up! All we can do is pray that God will guide us down this path of parenthood and pray that our children will see His love through us. I have really been praying a lot lately about how to bring God to Ella. I really want to make Him real for her and to teach her about His love for us. I've struggled with how to do this until our preacher said something in a sermon a few Sundays ago. He said that we beat ourselves up and worry about how to bring Jesus into new situations at work or to new people we meet along the way. He said that he always used to pray that he could "bring God" into the situations he was faced with in order to witness to those around him until he realized that God was already there. God is everywhere! We don't have to take Him to anyone...He is already there. What He wants to do is to use us to point Him out and to make him real to those around us by the things we do and by the way we live our lives. God is already here; He's in our home waiting to use us in whatever way He chooses. I know we know this, but we forget sometimes that He is around even when we aren't calling on him. Our job, as Ella's parents, is to allow God to use us to SHOW her His love. What a relief it is to know that God is already here doing all of the hard work for us...how amazing!

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Our First Entry!

Well, we have decided to join the world of blogging and give this whole "blog" business a try. We live in a crazy, fast paced world, don't we? As I put this together, I am reminded of an episode from the Andy Griffith show where they decide to have a peaceful Sunday enjoying a band concert (something they used to do quite frequently). After lots of work and arguing to get it all together, they were way too tired and way too mad at each other to actually enjoy the fruits of their labor. We've come a long way, don't you think? We live in a world where you can have a diet coke, answer the phone, receive a fax, send an email and create a blog while sitting in a chair or on the couch. Pretty funny, huh?

Anyway, we hope that this blog will be a fun way to keep everyone informed about our busy lives. Actually, we are pretty boring, so you may not be interested in anything we have to say. We do have lots of fun together and enjoy staying at home laughing, giggling and watching Land Before Time 100 times a day (thanks, Poppy!)

We are the Masts! Brian is in his 9th year at at a local high school. The first 6 were spent as a special education teacher and the last 3 have been as an assistant principal. He is the 10th grade principal (which is the biggest group of students), the athletic principal, testing coordinator etc. He works very hard at his job and enjoys what he does.

I am am a SAHM and have been for the last two years. I LOVE being at home with Ella and am grateful that I've had the opportunity to do so. I am so in love with my sweet baby girl, and I can't tell you what a joy it is to watch her grow and learn. I also love being able to keep things together at home so that Brian can come home and relax and enjoy his time with us in the evenings.

ELLA!!! What a mess she is. She is "growing into medium" according to her. She is really into comparing sizes of things and people (which isn't always a good thing..hahaha) She will be three on March 8th and is excited to get lots of presents. Ella goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and loves every minute of it. She has a husband there named Willie, and I think that all of the other girls are jealous. She loves Publix, Target and Hobby Lobby and loves to pretend that the rooms in our house are her favorite stores...wooohoooo; wouldn't that be cool?

We hope you enjoy our blog and look forward to new posts. When I figure out how to put pictures on here; I'll do that, too.