Piece by Piece

Ella has shown to be quite the whiz kid when it comes to putting puzzles together. It's truly her prodigy! She has the patience to sit down and work on a puzzle for a long time (especially for a 3-year old!). She doesn't get ahead of herself, she just goes piece by piece. She doesn't get overwhelmed by all the scattered pieces, she just patiently looks at what she has and what she needs to do.

Such patient concentration.

Yay, Ella!!!

Soaking in the joy of completing the puzzle. Oh, and the attention Mommy and Daddy are giving her for a job well done. :)

Successfully trying to be cute.

And then the craziness kicks in. You know she's getting into her crazy mood when her eyebrow goes up and her eyes widen. Oh my! Crazy Ella means unpredictable, lively, hyper, free-spirited and over-the-top happy. :)

Watch out!!!

She climbed onto Daddy's belly and allowed for more pictures to be taken. :)

I can't help but feel inspired by watching Ella put her puzzles together. I'm sure you've all heard the analogy of life being like a puzzle at one time or another. But it's so true! Sometimes we get so overwhelmed by all the scattered pieces...all the loose ends of our lives that need resolution. Sometimes we are so concerned and busy in our day-to-day lives that we forget to simply take each day at a time, each piece at a time. Getting ahead of ourselves always makes life more stressful. If there was an award for being a worrier and getting ahead of ourselves, I'd win first place hands down. I'm trying to change, though. Aaron and Ella are helping me. God is definitely working overtime on me. After all, He is the puzzle maker! He knows the beautiful design He's created with my life. I just have to trustingly live each day, not worrying or being overwhelmed, because God is control. He is laying down the pieces to my beautiful puzzle.

And speaking of pieces, I spent the majority of my day painting the first coat on all our cupboard doors and drawers. Door by door, drawer by drawer...I finished the first coat. I'm quite proud of what I accomplished today. My back may have other feelings on the matter, though. :(

BAM! Check that out!

I'm really pleased with the way the cupboards are turning out.

After the second coat on these bad boys, I just have to finish the second coat on the cabinets themselves in the kitchen and then it'll be time for hardware and (brace yourself) INSTALLATION! Woo hoo!!!

So, now that you saw what Ella and I did today, you may wonder what Aaron did? Well, here you go...

HAHAHA!!! I'm just kidding, he had a productive, fun day as well. I snuck this picture of him after his evening session at the gym. He doesn't even come inside the house. He goes straight through the garage, into the backyard, strips down to his gym shorts and jumps in. :)