Possession is 9/10 of _________?

When Carson was only a few days old, my sister-in-law Tara came over and made a plaster mold of his hand. It was so incredible! We forget how TEENY those little newborn hands are! The palm was like the size of a quarter. We loved it and put it up on our entertainment center. A few weeks ago, I was hanging up some pictures, and I bumped the mold with my elbow, it fell, and broke into many pieces. I was crushed. I cried hard. I was so angry with myself! Why couldn't I have knocked down just another picture frame? This was something that was precious to me, and can never be replaced. It was a real souveneir of a time in Carson's life that will never return. Truly, I was just sick about it. After the initial disappointment (and the bummer of telling Tara!) I started thinking more about this piece of plaster. I comforted myself by pointing out (yes, to myself--we have long discussions) that this was just a possession. Carson, my living, breathing son, was unscathed! His actual hand was perfectly healthy and chubby, and, well, currently getting into all kinds of things he's not supposed to be near. This got me thinking even more about our stuff, and the word possesssions. For some reason, that word itself implicates (at least to me) a kind of "secular" vibe. As in, store up my treasures in heaven, and anything purchased with money here on earth is refusing to comply to that order. But I don't necessarily think it is wrong for us to be attached to certain things that we own, as long as we never forget Who has provided everything we need. Right next to the mold of Carson's hand is a wood carving that I got in Africa--also pretty irreplaceable. What about the scrapbooks that I have spent hundreds of hours and dollars putting together to capture memories? (I won't lie--I've had dreams in which our house is on fire and I tell Trent to get the baby so I can save the scrapbooks.) And ALL of this train of thought led me to think about some of the victims of the hurricanes and tsunami, who LITERALLY lost all of their possessions. I'm sure that in the aftermath, there were some possessions that they missed more than others, but for those who lost loved ones, don't we all know that they would gladly trade every thing they had ever owned for that life back. I know we would feel the same way. There's really no point to this rambling, other than a moment of gratitude for ALL that God has blessed me with. Above all, the people in my life, and their health. But also, I am very blessed to have things like a roof over my head, food on my table, books on my shelf, a little extra money to scrapbook, and a new replacement molding of Carson's 17 month old hand. (That's this one.)

Just because.

Slumber Party!

We had a treat this weekend when Mike, Becky and Lilly came down for a spontaneous slumber party. The nice thing about being a little further away is that when we do spend time together, we really spend TIME together! Carson loved playing with his auntie and uncle, and especially having Lilly around to torment. ;) Uncle Mike, as usual, was ready with his camera to get some great shots of Carson's current obsession and most clearly pronounced word: bubbles."Oh yeah. I've got her wrapped around my little finger!"

Silver Falls Hike

Today the three of us drove over to Silver Falls, where there are about 10 waterfalls and trails all around. We decided to go for the South Falls, and it soon brought back some memories of going there as a kid.

Bummer. Bad lighting.
This is Carson in the lodge for our pre-hike diaper change/potty break. I love rosey cheeks!

These pictures are at the top of the falls, which is unnervingly high, but gorgeous.

This viewpoint is about halfway down, and you can see it is already getting pretty misty!

One of my favorite memories was the fact that you can walk under this huge waterfall. (Last of the Mohicans, anyone?) While I stopped to take these next pictures under the falls, Trent said "Should we turn around here?" "No!" I said! "We need to go all the way under! It's fun!"You can see the trail along the left of the pic. I mean, look how cool this is!

What cannot be captured on film, is that about 15 feet beyond this spot, all hikers get SOAKING WET! I mean, Splash Mountain has nothing on this drenching. Oops. Did NOT remember that part. Trent and Carson were walking quite a ways in front of me, and as I was running through what felt like an actual extension of the waterfall, I began to hear the cries of my soaking wet baby boy and husband, with "I told you so" face on, waiting in a small cave covering. But we all laughed about it (well, not Carson--but he got over it quickly). The real bummer is, the camera battery died at that point, so we don't have any shots of us and our soppy clothes/hair. It was a good memory!

Welcome to the club.

Yeah, Sarah!

Ashamed? Yes. Slightly proud? A little.

The picture below really has nothing to do with this post. It's just a funny pic of Carson in our new family room with his newish chair. But, back to the topic at hand, I had two nice long drives today, which is becoming a regular thing, and I began thinking back on all the wierd things I've done while driving. Especially when I lived in So. Cal. and would be stuck in traffic everywhere I went. Now that I have a child, I have toned down my risky ways, and limit myself to my two driving vices: drinking ($4 coffee, water or pop, people) and talking on the phone, but I try to limit that to long, straight stretches on I-5. But these are some things I can remember doing while driving in the past:
Eating, of course
Putting on make-up
Changing clothes
Changing PANTY HOSE (which, and the ladies will back me up on this, is harder than clothes)
Adjusted the seat cover, below the seat
Buttered a bagel
Signed a card (with message and signature, and, obviously, sealed card in envelope)
Wrapped an entire gift (with wrapping paper--not a gift bag)
UNwrapped gifts and also FedEx boxes
Made a bottle; gave bottle/binky/snacks to my son in the back seat (OK, that one was after the kid was born, but it was for his benefit--and I was really careful)
Searched for CD's in all corners of the car
Read a magazine
Read sheet music along with CD in stereo
Paid bills

So, what have YOU done while driving that you are ashamed/slightly proud of?

TOO much!

Oh. My. Gosh. (Sorry, Haley!) This kodak moment is just too much cute to handle. My mommy girlfriends were so sweet to meet me (kindof) halfway for a mommies and babies shopping afternoon at the outlets. We got lots of looks with our five boys, all within 10 months of each other. (Plus three identical strollers among them.) Now I can see why! Thanks so much to Tiffany for taking and sending these pics. I'm sure they'll end up on some other blogs too, but I couldn't resist. In order of age:

Carson, 16 mos; Silas, 14 mos; Ethan, 1 year this week!; Nathan, 10 mos; Henry, 6 mos.

The OTHER Tompkins

Here are some more pictures I got from the Tompkins' camera--that's Phil and Linda's cam, and Michelle's too. I will narrate:

Before Tara moved out, Michelle had this upstairs room and Carson loved going in there to watch Baby Einstein and the Polar Express. He would stand outside the door and knock until someone let him in. Looks like the girls and Riley are really into Baby Beethoven today.

I couldn't resist a couple more pictures of the snow day. I think they're even better than the last one I posted.
Last season, Carson got to go to two football games with his daddy. This one was with Michelle too. They are brainwashing him from an early age! (Also, thanks to Aunties Beck and Sarah for the outfit. Holla!) We don't have high hopes for him to be a famouse football star--it's not really in his genes. In fact, in this picture, he looks more like one of the male cheerleaders.

The creating of the charm monster....

Delayed Snow Post

These are some pics that weren't on my camera from when we got some snow around here. We took Carson over to my inlaws house (isn't it gorgeous?) and let him walk around in the snow for a bit.

He was very unsure of the whole situation. He couldn't walk very well and was very quiet. We would hold some snow up for him to hold and he would just shake his head "no."

Right after we took this family pic, Carson tried to walk in the snow and did a face plant, with his little snow-bundled arms sticking straight out in the air, rendering him helpless, his face cold and wet! It was one of those moments when you are laughing at your child, but also trying to comfort him. :)

Getting Settled

It's been two weeks since we moved into our temporary housing assignment here in Salem. :) It is easy to be appreciative for the house itself--coming from an apartment there are a handful of nice changes, especially a big roomy living room and a garage that we can park our cars in! Carson has had a rough time with the transition, and is still waking up in the night frequently, but the rest of the time he is doing much better. Trent is loving his new commute, and I'm realizing that driving an hour to see my friends and family is not so bad. Here's some pictures of Carson at the front door after we went for a walk in our new neighborhood.

PS: That's a camera pose, not a cry or grunt.