Out of the Mouths of Babes

Aunt Ti-Ti: "Cole, how is your new school?"

Cole: "I love it."

Aunt Ti-Ti: "What do you get to do?"

Cole: "Umm, I get to dance, and sing songs, and play with my friends. Oh, and I get to make craps too."

Through more investigation we realized Cole gets to make crafts!

I've Been Tagged

by Leslie to share 10 things that make me smile

1. Seeing my boys in the afternoon filthy because they have been playing in the yard since they got up from their nap. And when I say filthy, I mean it. It's pretty gross and I think it's AWESOME they get to be all out boys for at least a few hours a day.

2. Good coffee. I know you have all heard me rant about my coffee, but really, it does make me smile. I really enjoy the warmth, taste, smell. I thank Jesus for such small things.

3. A clean/ organized house makes me smile. I can be a little OCD and I really like it when everyhting is in its place and every place has its thing. It just makes me feel like I have it together when my house is clean (Which by the way is a little insight as to why I appear to not have it together since having little ones. Rarely is my house organized.).

4. Waking up early when no one is up and reading my Bible. This does not happen often enough. Jonah is our morning boy and is usually up by 6:30 which would mean I would have to get up at 6. In the age where I'm staying up past 11:00 PM to finish laundry and picking up, that just doesn't happen. But, on the mornings I do get up that early, I really enjoy my moments with the Word. God loves me so much He knows exactly what to say to me for that day.

5. A good work out. Again, not happening as often as I would like. Despite my unweilding effort to get my husband to buy an eliptical, he has yet to give in (Which is actually a good thing; where on earth would we put it now?). So I have to wait until I can get in the gym here which ispartof CJ's benefits working for the hospital. It might be the endorphins which are released, but it does make me smile when I can get all the way through a challenging work out. I feel great!

6. Sleeping in. Oh, I really like to sleep in. I don't like to do it often, but once a week sleeping until like 9:00 would totally rock! It makes me so refreshed and alive!

7. Good worship. I actually had a dream the other night where I was staying at Leslie's house by myself and I ws taking a bath. While I was lying down in the tub I was singing a praise song and lifting my hands. I was so into it, I didn't even notice she had come home. When I got out of the tub and realized she was home, I laughed at myself for how I must have sounded (I am totally tone deaf). The cool thing was, she thought it was awesome b/c she loves praising God too! Ha! Funny dream!

8. CJ. He really is a funny guy. A lot of people don't appreciate his humor but I think it's hysterical. He has a lot of wit about him and I love his accents. I'm sure to someone who actually speakes with an accent it doesn't sound a thing like the real thing, but I can't tell the difference.

9. Judah's grin. He has 5 teeth- 3 on top and 2 on the bottom. When he smiles, it's this big cheesy grin. My mom says he looks like Sponge Bob Squarepants. When she said that, he actually kind of does. It makes me smile when I see him grin like that.

10. When Cole kisses my hand and says, "I love you so much , Mama." I mean really, how could I not just melt away!

So now I tag Claire!

Thursday 13

Sadly, I was able to come up with 13 shows I am looking forward to watching this new season of TV. I do like to watch some TV and I do love my DVR!

1. Heroes (premeires MONDAY- YAY!)
   
2. Bionic Woman
3. Lost
4. American Idol
5. Pushing Daisies
6. Dirty Sexy Money
7. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
8. 24 (not until 1/08, but getting closer)
   
9. Battlestar Galactica (same as above)
   
10. K Ville
11. Life
12. The Biggest Loser
13. Journey Man
    

Wordless Wednesday- with an under note

Happy birthday Mac- Attack!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

"Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. " Deuteronomy 11:19

Being in this world yet not of it has often gotten us much criticism. We are very careful with what we allow our children to watch, play with, wear (boys' clothes can have graphic violence on them), and how we allow them to spend their free time. One rule CJ have also agreed upon is to make our children go to church as long as they live under our roof. Yes, I said make. We have often heard critical comments of other friends (certainly not any of you reading this) and family members who come from an era where parents allowed their children to decide for themselves their spiritual journeys- all in the name of freedom and democracy. Not in this house. We believe the above referenced scripture regards teaching our children about our God and His ways through everything we do. With lots of prayer and patience, we hope their hearts become sensitive to Jesus' knocking and they will be brave enough and willing enough to accept the call. All we get until earthly salvation comes, is small glimpses here and there if anything is soaking in. We play praise music. We say the blessing before meal time. We take them to children's church/ Sunday School (Believe me when I say this is so much easier said than done with our boys). We read Bible stories they can get. We only watch certain programs. Maybe something will sink in?

I got a glimpse today. As we were on our way to MMO I had the radio playing on WHMK, the local Christain station in Columbia we listen to (There are others, but this is the only one for music we like). They were playing a souped up version of "Holy, Holy, Holy". From the back of the car Cole says, "Mama, is this the 'Holy, Holy' song?" I said, "Yes, Cole, it is." He responded, "I like this song." We go to a high tempo church, so Cole doesn't hear hymns there. I was curious as to where he had heard this song before so I pushed a little.

"Where have you heard this song before?"

"You know, with the babies."

"What babies?"

"The babies who sing the 'Holy, Holy' song, Mama."

The spirit put it together for me and reminded me of the Praise Baby DVD we have. Cole has seen it many times during me cooking dinner. I was amazed he remembered because of all that has been going on in our lives and also, he hasn't watched it in months!

God is teaching me that life is so much more made up of the little things we do that weave themselves together to make it great. Those of us who long to do and be great usually miss the great because we miss the small things. We truly do miss seeing the forest for the trees. That is why God tells us to "Teach [them to] your children, talking [about them] when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." The principle is for me to take advantage of the opportunities I have. I shouldn't wait for the big teachable moments to teach long- lasting life lessons (although, I do like when those come around), but I should keep steady with the daily tasks God has given. I'm not a great mom for this discovery. Praise be to God for that. I just do the daily tasks of mothering- day in and day out. I wipe butts; I clean crusty noses (and the not-so-crusty); I cook meals; I clean up; I do laundry; I'm careful and protective of what and who I allow into my children's days. It's all pretty mundane.

Thank you, Lord, for showing me through my children, that what I find monotonous, You see as faithful. What I find never-ending, You count as perseverance. May my attitude reflect Your patience with me.

Happy Birthday, Judah- Bug!

Today Judah is 1 year old! We are so blessed to have a healthy, happy, thriving baby boy!

Thursday 13

13 Ways you Know You’re the Mother of a Little One

1. You eat off of animal-shaped plates- and you like it!
2. Your purse always has a diaper and wipes in it (along with snacks, juice, and some kind of happy meal toy)
3. When you’re eating fruit salad and your husband asks, “What is that?” You sing back, “Fruit salad, Yummy, yummy.” From The Wiggles
4. You know the words and songs to Finding Nemo and other Disney/ Pixar flicks
5. Your house and car never feel like they are tidy
6. You have mastered the art of speed shopping
7. Your idea of a quiet evening is having all children in bed asleep before you
8. You have found new and exciting ways to use baby wipes and are amazed you ever lived without them.
9. You can leisurely walk by other little ones screaming their heads off in public places and it not phase you
10. You totally dig yo-gos, fruit chews, and cereal sticks- for yourself
11. Just when you think you’ve washed all clothes, you find a pile of laundry behind your child’s bed or toy box or both.
12. You laugh when someone asks you, “What do you do all day?”
13. Your idea of going to an adult restaurant is going to a place with no child’s menu.

Wordless Wednesday- with an under note

Happy early birthday, Abby!

First Day- YAY!!

Well maybe not-so-much excitement coming from the Cole-man. He spent his first day at Mother's Morning Out (a.k.a. Part-time Preschool) running errands with Mom and Judah. He has been sick all weekend and was yet fever-free for 24 hours so he has to wait one more day. He did get to sleep in , though!

Jonah, however, had a blast! This is his first time going to MMO so we weren't sure how he would do. He definitely doesn't usually have separation issues, but he took his blanket just in case. He was so excited to go in and play he wouldn't even look back so I wasn't able to get any pictures of his face. The back of the head is all we get. Plus, he wouldn't slow down so this first one is blurry. When I picked him up he was laughing and cackling. He took his nap an hour late because he was so wound up (or maybe over-tired?)! They are both looking so forward to going tomorrow!

Nasty Butt

Forgive the title, but this is a TOTAL brother-moment! I was changing Judah's diaper and Jonah was right beside me- as usual. When I pulled the diaper down, Jonah said, "Judah's got a nasty butt, Mama." A little phrase he learned from Ms. Sarah ;). I said, "Yes, he does. We need to clean it up." So he hands me a wipe. When he did he must have caught a whiff of what I've gotten so accustomed to smelling and began to cough and make gagging noises. Laughing, I said, "Jonah, what is wrong?" He held his nose and walked out the room saying, "Judah's got a nasty butt, Mama."

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things That I Will Enjoy While in Columbia
(Not an exhaustive list)

1- The Bullet: I'm digging protein drinks for breakfast and my mom has this thing that whips 'em up fast without having to clean the big blender

2- Dogs: I'm a dog-lover and we haven't had one since I was pregnant with Jonah. Being back in Lexington on the land has reminded me how much I love me some dogs!

3- Fans: Despite being pretty comfortable temperature wise, my parents still run these floor fans. They are awesome at drowning out noise. All of the boys are sharing a room right now and running one of these in there has definitely helped.

4- Hills: I forgot how hilly this place is. Charleston is really flat compared to Cola- town.

5- Avon: My aunt is an Avon rep and I'm always on the look out for better skin care. I love this Anew line Avon has.

6- The Dam: Lexington is rebuilding the dam on Lake Murray and the way traffic flows you drive right beside the massive stones used to build the dam. Plus, getting ready to go across it you see the amazing vastness looking across Lake Murray.

7- The Rivers: I know Charleston has rivers, but I don't know that you could actually river walk them. The Broad River here gets low enough you can actually walk across it on the rocks. It's very slippery, but we did it all of the time when we lived here before we were married. Plus, you can often find rope swings hanging from nearby trees.

8- The Firm Gym is here: I haven't actually gone yet (I can't find my sneakers) but I'm looking forward to actually going to some live classes. I've done the videos and it is a whoppin' work out. I hope the class music isn't as cheesy as the videos.

9- The Restaurants: Now you know I like to eat! Columbia has some good places to eat; but Lexington has exploded with good restaurants. And I like the little hole in the wall joints that tend to stay off of the mainstream, so I'm looking forward to checking them all out. Yes, all of them!

10- Grandparents: They are the best. CJ's grandma is close by, my Me-ma is not too far, an my Great-grandmother (Mo) is right down the road. Although we can't spend large chunks of time at once with them, I love to hear their stories and see how they handled the stresses of raising babies (Our grandmothers had 4 kids each and Mo had 3).

11- FREE BABYSITTERS! Wow! Sarah is worth every penny, but it makes a HUGE difference not to have to pay to go out.

12- TV in our room. We haven't ever had a TV in our bedroom, but we didn't want to store it in storage because of the moisture. It is nice to have the boys pile up in our bed and we all watch a movie together.

13- My mom: I mean, really, she is the best. As different as we are we are so much the same. Plus, she is a firm believer in retail therapy!

Wordless Wednesday

Les Miserables

Disclaimer: This is not a "pick-me up" post.

So, we're here. I'm still pretty depressed and I can't find any of my stuff. It is literally strung out from here to Florence, SC (CJ's dad took some boxes to store at his house). Among my absolute favorite things I can not find are my wonderful bra, my sneakers to work out in (all I have is my black crocs), my camera, and my fingernail stuff. I still have the glittery pink polish on from when I gave myself a mani at Leslie's and it's peeling off- YUCK! I'm trying to be optimistic but it just isn't working. I don't want to talk to any of my friends because I know I'll cry (my eyes are welling up now). If any of you have any encouraging verses for me to meditate on, please send them my way.

On the upside, I did get to go to church yesterday and they played a little Bon Jovi ditty "You Give Love a Bad Name" making way for a lesson on Samson and Delilah. I do love me some Bon Jovi. The one thing I will say about the Irmo campus of Seacoast as they absolutely can rock it out during worship. I'm sure all of the campuses had their own rendition of the song too.

Another high note is Judah is walking more and more; however, because I can't find my camera, no pics to share for now. But he is cute. My parents have a lot more furniture for him to hang onto so he is much more brave. Also, my dad- the all-powerful Poppy- keeps Cole and Jonah occupied so Judah has much more alone time and he isn't getting pushed down by his brothers. When I do find my camera, you'll be inundated!!