If You Make a Bowl of Popcorn...

Are you familiar with the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff? It's a humorous story about how a mouse keeps getting distracted and moving onto other projects/thoughts because the current project/thought makes him think of something new...

I've written my own personal version of this cute story...one I think is very worth telling.

If You Make a Bowl of Popcorn...

If you make a bowl of popcorn, your kids will want to sit with you to hear a story...

If your kids want to hear a story, you'll tell them about how you learned to make such delicious homemade popcorn at the beach with Aunt Margo...

Thinking about the beach will remind you of that summer when you realized renting a house on the beach was the vacation of all awesome vacations and how mama and the other two aunties were hoping to get pregnant at the same time...our longed-for beach babies...

Thinking about beach babies will remind you how excited you were to find out you were expecting your fourth baby due in July 2009...a girl...

If you tell the story of Sadie Kathryn's arrival, you'll have to tell about how excited you were to have a son join your family in August 2006...and how you "laughed" about having your third boy...

If you tell about Isaac Joel, then you'll have to tell about how shocked you were to find out Luke Daniel was going to arrive in May 2004...just eighteen months after his older brother was born...

If you think about your oldest son, Elijah Michael, arriving in November 2002, you be reminded how nervous and excited you were about having your first child...

Since you've taken so long telling the beautiful life stories of Sadie, Isaac, Luke, and Elijah, you'll be asked to make just one more bowl of popcorn...

When you are making the second bowl of popcorn, you'll be reminded that now is probably a good time to tell about one more beautiful life...the precious one that will arrive in October 2012...

When you are telling about the new baby coming, you'll be reminded that life is to be celebrated, that all good gifts come from the Lord - the Giver of Life, and that this baby is dearly loved and wanted...no surprises, no regrets...just love, excitement, and anticipation...

And when you share how excited you are about your fifth baby, you'll pray that others will share in your joy and excitement, too...

Baby and Mama looking all springy and bright...11.4 weeks.

Isaac's prayer journal from church...March 18. 2012