...in like a lion

Christmas has come and gone (a white Christmas at that), a new year has begun, God has completely turned my heart inside out through a second trip to Haiti, I have done zero nannying and I am completely behind on blog posts.
Forgive me?
For now, I'll share my prayer (courtesy of sara groves):

‎"I won't pretend to know what's next
but what I have I've offered
and I pray for a vision and a way I cannot see,
it's too heavy to carry and impossible to leave..."

More to come. I (pinky) promise.
xoxo,
April

חנו כ"ה

Mazel Tov!!

It's the first night of Chanukah or
חנו כ"ה
if you prefer the Hebrew. Or just Hanukkah or the festival of lights.
Take your pick. Let's not discuss the 18 million different spellings either (turns out it's not actually mentioned in the Torah so I don't know if there is an official spelling).
It begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev (& you should know it's one of the less significant Jewish holidays).

If you know me well, you know I love Judaism. It might even be true that I wish I were Jewish. Except, I deeply believe in Jesus and his redeeming power...so it would never work.
I just love the traditions of the Jewish. Their views of family, observation of holy times & rituals is so beautiful. This book will make you love it too. It's a memoir of a womans journey from Judiasm to Jesus. She writes it in concurrence with the Jewish calendar, it's an incredible story.

Now, you might be wondering why I'm writing about Chanukah on my little nanny blog. Let me reveal another tidbit about "the-family-who-must-not-be-named" (formerly known as "the family who sucked my life away" but in an ode to harry potter, I find the new name more appropriate + I'm never going to name them, because that would be inappropriate).
The family who must not be named, is Jewish.
I love this.
Now, they weren't (could be now, you never know) the temple going type, who kept the Sabbath, ate kosher, or wore yalmukes.
I did get to participate in the menorah lighting each night last year though. I also had the chance to participate in a few shabbat activities through the year (I even know a little song I sing to the 1 Jewish kid in our class).

I'm thankful I was able to experience new things with 'tfwmnbn' - I truly did enjoy some of my time with them. Promise.

So, light a candle (or 8), play dreidel (don't forget the gelt), bake some challah and enjoy the next 8 days!

xoxo,
April
Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah/ Festival of lights!!

P.S. In other news, I cannot for the life of me, decide on a blog design. Ops!

I owe who?

Today at church, the subject was gratitude.
Perfect on the heels of Thanksgiving.
Being grateful gets one a long way.

I think I say "thank you" more than anything else.
I just want people to know they're important.
It's incredibly powerful.
Seriously, I think part of my purpose on Earth is to make sure people feel appreciated.
It's that important to me.

However, it's not important to everyone- people just don't realize it should be. It's easy to think you're being appreciative- or showing it.
Example? Parents think their nannies know. They don't though.
Andy Stanley put it best today, "Unexpressed gratitude communicates ingratitude" & "has the same effect as rejection," amen. When you do not express gratitude you "drive the other persons heart out of the relationship".
[Now, I could go on & on about this in regards to many of my personal relationships, but I'll refrain...] You want your nannies heart to be in the relationship. It makes the relationship.

Say thank you; to your friends, your family, your roommate, your husband or wife, your co worker. You are not entitled to any of it. None of us are. Show gratitude. [Warning: cheesy statement ahead] I think gratitude is the absolute best gift we can give this holiday seasons.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

xoxo,
April

I am so thankful...

There are 15 minutes left if thanksgiving, so I'm jumping on the thankful bandwagon (plus, we've already established that I love lists).

- I'm thankful for my mother, father, and grandmother. So thankful.

- Friends who support me at my best and worst.

- A new home and wonderful roommate to experience this season with.

- The simple joy Christmas music brings, no matter how I feel.

- The holidays = lots of call from old nanny families....and plenty of stories to pass to you lovely readers. Thank YOU for reading this little blog that can :)!

- I'm thankful for THIS I seriously cannot believe I get to go back to Haiti in just ONE month from tomorrow. Praise the Lord for his blessings!!!

- I am thankful for my health, not everyone is so lucky...I say that with a heavy heart, as my great uncle Mac is in the hospital with a failing liver and lungs. Things look bleak, and losing Mac would be so difficult for so many of us. Please keep him and our whole family in your prayers. May the Lord send us comfort in His plan.

Happy Thanksgiving (and in 9 minutes we can start saying MERRY CHRISTMAS)!

xoxo,
April

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Don't forget about the arts&crafts this holiday season!
Make a turkey hand with your favorite kiddos.

There are plenty of options (please note how tiny this hand is).

Of course, a turkey crown is also a necessity...

Turkey cookies. Need I say more?

Whatever you make & whatever you eat, be thankful!
xoxo,
April

a lovely love list, just beacsue

I wasn't planning on writing a love list...at midnight...on a Monday...when I should be preparing for small group tomorrow/sleeping. It has just about nothing to do with nannies(even though I love nanny things too)...but when you feel as blessed as I do at this moment, you just have to share!

A nannies non-nannying love list:

1) A special visit to Birmingham (& co-workers willing to switch shifts so I can make it on time for this next one...)
2) Celebrating the birthday of the one and only Lindsey Vaughan (aka: fun bags and/or S)
3) Celebrating with couples/families on their wedding day
4) Brunch on both Saturday and Sunday with equally fabulous friends
5) Thanksgiving and Christmas (I could go on & on)
6) Christmas parties and concerts with friends who are finally moving back to the peach state :)
7) Reading Beth Moore with my small group
8) 2 hour phone conversations with people who you can be 100% candid with
9) Emails from hundreds of miles away that encourage you right to the soul
10) Renewed friendships that have been on your heart for ages
{ 11) Coffee...I'm going to need it tomorrow after staying up this late}

That's all for now, thanks for indulging me blog world. I owe you one.

xoxo,
April

happy halloween

I'm writing this at 11:50, so by the time it's posted I can safely say...

Happy Halloween!!!

I've been a busy bee lately so I haven't been able to post- I have about a million things I want to write about but of course the obvious subject is Halloween.

It's been a rough week with our students parents- and a busy week at the school. We're counting the days to Thanksgiving. I also just moved into a new place today. I feel grown up...I think. Anyway, I feel all jumbled up so I'm going to list my Halloween high points for you. I like lists. They make me calm.

1) In the last family I nannied for the 2 youngest both hated costumes. Isn't that weird? The 3yr old went as himself, his parents tried for bob the builder (can we do it? yes we can! [he didn't though]). The 6 yr old doesn't hate them, but is just now fully embracing the concept.
Random.

2) At school Friday we celebrated "FestiFall". No costumes no big parties. Just icing some cookies and using candy to make faces. OH MY GOODNESS. It was the most spectacular activity ever. My 3yr olds just sat quietly and iced their cookies. They didn't even make a mess. We're icing cookies more often in room 118.

3) We did some dancing on the carpet after cookies, to work off the sugar of course. We were gettin' our grove on to 'twist and shout' when one of our kids caught a cramp from twisting to hard. She said "my stomach hurts" but was fine a couple of minutes later. It was hilarious. I told her that happens all the time when you're such a great dancer.

Alright folks, have a happy (& safe) halloween, wear a costume, ice a cookie, and dance the night away!

xoxo,
April

P.S. It's 12:07 as I'm posting this so you can go ahead and start trick or treating!