It Came and It Went

2009 - It came and went. And to show for it? I've got thousands of pictures (no, I am not exaggerating); hundreds (maybe millions) of memories; and three precious men that I love all the more.

True, being a mom isn't always glamorous. But, I can't relate to the mom who comments that life is boring. I don't usually find time to drink my coffee while it's hot, shower without matchbox cars zooming by, or talk on the phone without major interruption. Most mornings my feet hit the ground running and don't stop until the evening - but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm married to a man who doesn't have the word "stop" or "quit" or "can't" in his vocabulary. I've got two toddlers who don't understand "slow down" or "be gentle" or "be quiet." So, naturally, the days become weeks, and weeks become months, and months become a year really fast.

January: Micah started walking, and as a result, got four stitches when he collided with the coffee table. Grady Lee had his fourth round of laser surgery, visited the eye doctor for "twitching issues" and had his first dentist appointment. (It's true: kids aren't cheap!)

February: Tim, Michele, Taeger, Karis, and Kallen visited en route to ministry in Africa. Nana, Uncle Matt, Aunt Sarah, Alaina, and Olivia came for a week-long visit and the fun didn't stop. Grady and Sarah celebrated eight years of wedded bliss. (It's one thing to have a best friend. It's another thing to be married to him!)

March: March 1st brought six inches of snow and March 6th brought 75 degrees and shorts. Welcome to Charlotte, NC.

April: Grandpa and Grandma High came for a visit and we enjoyed the Lazy 5 Ranch (petting giraffes and antelopes is quite fun, actually), Easter egg hunts, Plaza Fiesta, and multiple trips to the park.

May: Grady Lee had his fifth round of laser surgery (crossing our fingers that we're finally done). Yours truly was in bed with the flu on Mother's Day (sniff sniff). The boys loved picking strawberries, until a school bus of 5th graders showed up and invaded the field.

June: Grandma High came to visit and taught the boys how to run in a sprinkler and play ski-ball at Chuck-E-Cheese. Grady Lee turned "thweeee" and loved his Bob the Builder cake. Grady (drumroll please) left PwC!

July: Micah got his first haircut. The boys enjoyed sparklers on The Fourth , until Grady Lee burned his finger and his fun was all over. We also took advantage of our season passes and enjoyed several trips to Carowinds for rides and water park fun.

August: We had a Peeler/White Family Reunion in the mountains near Asheville. (Family Reunion = LOTS of free and willing help with my children!) The boys and I also spent a week in Michigan with the High/VanLoon family.

September: Grady Lee began Gopher Buddies, hasn't stopped talking about it since, and knows lots of verses that I never thought he'd be able to memorize. Grady took the boys on a couple of special "guys only" trips: touring the local fire station and visiting a lake to throw stones and hunt for bugs.

October: Our home held a lot of out of town guests this month - Great Papa and Grandma, Aunt Betty, Grandpa Peeler, Grandpa and Grandma High, and Nana. Both boys trick-or-treated until their buckets were full; Micah as a monkey and Grady as a dinosaur.

November: Lots of family-fun-time outside to enjoying the Fall! We drove to Michigan for Thanksgiving and also had an early Christmas. (Grady Lee's favorite part? Staying in a cheap hotel along the way so he could swim and have a donut for breakfast. It never takes much to please a toddler...!)

December: Grady Lee had a double ear infection. We loaded up the van for another big road trip and went to New Jersey for Christmas. Finally, Micah turned two asks all the time if he's as old as Grady Lee now.

Impossible to highlight a year with busy toddlers, a husband with his nose to the grindstone building a new business, and a family that's committed to our church and its ministries. But, I once read (David Jeremiah or Robert Ketchum?), something to the tune of "a person in the center of God's will is unshakable until God moves him." I think that sums up the Peeler's 2009: we took major steps of faith in regards to finances, careers, family, and ministry. But we did so after careful prayer and with a confident hope that God desires the best for us as we give him our best.

And, so, in 2010? We're not going anywhere until God moves us.