If one picture says a thousand words...

...what does a whole CD of pictures say?  We received a cd in the mail on Wednesday from our photographer and what I see and hear from all those amazing shots is WOW.  You forget just how stinkin' cute your kiddos are (easier to do when they are fighting and whining) and how much it means to be a family.  I will not be able to post all of them today, but thought I'd upload my favorites.  Hopefully we will figure out which ones we want to print and enlarge before we celebrate 20 years!

More to come....

We just got back early this morning (as in close to 4am) from our 2nd honeymoon in St. Maarten and have lots to share from the last couple of weeks....

We are waiting on pics from thr professional photographer who took amazing shots of us and our boys at our renewal ceremony, down by the Eno river on 10/20.  Once we get those, I will post lots of pics and even some of the words we said, including the new and improved vows we said!

For now, here's some pics that one of our small group members took and sent to us...thanks, Alfonso!  Spoiler alert...

 



And then also, the song that has been running through my head all week....
The one below isn't the official music video (you can see that HERE), but it has the lyrics and I LOVE the way they did this video!

drought

I could never begin to explain what has gone on since I last wrote a post on our blog.   And while this blog has experienced a "drought," our lives our being nourished and refreshed by Jesus' love and redemption.  Every day, I strive to remember that fear and hurt no longer rule our hearts and our home.  Grace rules and we pray for strength to remember what that means for us and how to love each other because He first loved us.
Sounds so simple, doesn't it?  But anyone in love for longer than 20 minutes knows that loving someone when you feel unloved is the farthest from simple as it gets.  That loving someone when you are tired, overwhelmed and quite honestly, just focused on your own needs, is impossible.  Loving when you've been hurt...wow.  And not just by that person, but by others.  And when that hurt has made scars and wounds that you've never shown anyone before.
Psalm 147: 3 says that God heals the brokenhearted and "binds their wounds."  As a nurse, I find this verse's explanation of what God does particularly meaningful.  "Binding" a wound means to make a dressing and cover it- like with gauze and tape.  It doesn't say that the wound will disappear.  The verse says instead of healing our wound, instead of taking the pain away and the memory of how we were hurt, he heals US.  He heals our hearts and leaves the wound, and likely a scar.
I have no idea who reads a blog that rarely gets updated, but if you are reading this and you have been hurt, my prayer for you is that you would know the sweet healing that comes only in trusting in God to be your nurse, your healer.

Soccer!

Here's our big man at his first soccer practice!  Thanks to Aunt Katie for the last minute soccer-mom advice:
1.  You can go either way, but socks OVER shin guards is the best.  We followed her advice and think he looks great!
2.  Don't agree to be "team manager" because you'll get stuck coordinating snacks.  No worries there...no one asked and we sure didn't volunteer.

St. Pat's

This one's for you...

...you know who you are!









Copyright 2011 - Brave Girls Club, Inc. All rights reserved

Wherever you go...

a story of friendship

It's funny to me how you can be sister-friends with people even when you don't see their face on a regular basis. There are just some people who get in your bloodstream somehow and never leave. The song below reminds me of them and for anyone who has friendships like Ruth and Naomi, you know what it means to say:

“Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die. There I will be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me and more as well if even death parts me from you!” Ruth 1: 16-17

I have always heard that verse used in marriage relationships, but it originated with these chicks, Ruth and Naomi. They had a bond...they were kindred spirits.

Like Anne and Diana.


Like these girls:


Like Beaches.



Like this:


Yep, that's right. There is a bible verse in the same post as the word "ho." That's how I roll...

But you get the point, right? Okay, maybe this song will help...


Also, I love that this is sung in part by Amy Grant! Have always had a soft spot in my heart for her...even through the "Baby, Baby" years!

Whenever I am reading and learning and experiencing a lot (like NOW), I think about this blog and think about posts in my head. But we all know what happens to those head posts...they never quite come to fruition. But tonight, I decided I could spend a few minutes sharing with the world wide web a few nuggets of what I have learned and use this post as a mini-journal entry. I have a dear college friend who uses her blog to do that and it's beautiful. The insight that girl puts on a computer screen is inspiring. She knows who she is...

Just to give you a little background, Christopher and I spent the day and night away from the Bull city and our little boys (thank you Grandma-who I am sure is fast asleep now, exhausted from our little men). We headed out and stayed at a B&B called 458 West. Super charming and they let us check in way early so we could enjoy some quiet time. The outcome of our time was quite the fresh start we needed. After 10 years of marriage (this October), we have collected quite a few not-so-great pieces of baggage and are starting to unpack them. It was a first step of many we will be taking this year, and even though it had some bittersweetness to it, was beautiful.

There was lots of time for reflection and conversation. It actually reminded me of an old youth group retreat, minus the worship sessions and funny skits. I took some time to get further in a new book I am reading on my lovely Kindle (love you Mom and Ash) while soaking in the claw foot tub. Which, by the way, I decided I need in my next house. I am reading a book called Gospel. I know what some of you are thinking about that title. I know it because I had the same feelings. But I read two pages of this book as a sample on Amazon and had to read more.
I am just here to tell you that it is life changing.

I spent many years before going to college doing all the right things. I was Miss Christian. But I had no freakin' clue. I mean, flat-out no idea what it meant to be saved by grace. I thought it was a one-time thing and then I was on my own to do things better and be a better person.

SO

WRONG.

I did and can do nothing to deserve grace. But every day, I beat myself up because I am not perfect. Because I get annoyed at the way Christopher chews his food. Because I get impatient in the parking deck when I am late and people are driving slow. Because I think judgmental thoughts about people that I work with (and that I work for). Because I come home and yell at the boys when they are fighting. And then I think, "What was I thinking? My life is no good- I am not worthy to know God. I am never going to be different."

The book I am reading basically says this:


Because that negative committee isn't Jesus. Not even close. And that negative committee doesn't know the breadth and depth that is his love for me.
"in Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less."
I know a lot of my sweet friends are searching for that kind of love. I know I am. I know that I thought Christopher could provide that for me.

He can't.

I thought that having children would make me feel more loved and that I would be more loving.

They don't.

I am learning to grow my identity elsewhere. It's super scary and feels slightly fanatical, but gives me a peace I have NEVER had before. All I know right now is that I am covered in a big ol blanket of grace and that's all I need to grow...I pray every day (hour?) that God will change my heart, our lives and our future.

Bye-Bye Baby!

It's official...our little baby is a BIG BOY. Today, he turns TWO and every day shows us how fast time flies when you are a little boy having fun. I think my favorite thing about Ethan, born two years ago today....February 19 at 4:23pm, is how much he talks! He is not only like a parrot, repeating everything we say, but forms little sentence on his own that make your heart melt into a million puddles on the floor.
"Mommy- get down, read Thomas."
"Daddy-help. Don't fall down!" (if he needs help coming down the stairs and knows a fall is imminent).
"Brudder- be nice!"
"Bless you!" when someone sneezes. And this morning he heard big brother say "GOD bless you" and so the next time someone sneezed, he said "Thank you God." He knew God was a part of it but wasn't sure how. I am sure God appreciated the heartfelt gratitude either way!
And my all time, fave, "Mommy- hold you."
Whatever the phrase, it reminds us that he is growing up more every day and are so blessed to have another very sweet little boy.



Snuggle bug...

Snuggle Bug still...


Funny baby


Daddy's side kick


Curly-headed, Wubbie-luvin' boy


Giggly little brother


BIG boy!


We celebrated this boy with an Elmo party yesterday. He is still building his friend base, so there were more adults than kids. After last week's party, however, this was okay with us! Reminder to self: Next year, don't have boys birthday parties 1 week apart. This equals insanity!
The usual local suspects were there...Grandma, Chelse and Mary Margaret! But we added our sweet friends Amanda and Lawson, along with Laura and Jamie and their sweet girls, Kaylee and Emma. Grandpa and Granny made the trip to see the big boy and we spent a fun 24 hours with them.
Once again, my inspiration for this party came from Pinterest. See the links at the bottom for credits to the individual genius who came up with it. I was simply a copycat!





Ethan approves!

Color scheme idea plus the idea for using goldfish
Elmo face plates
Elmo birthday banner uploaded onto Pinterest by user Katie Frageorgia (don't know her, but loved the idea!)
Elmo cupcakes

So, I think we can relax for a little while with the party planning! Whew...it has been a quite a month!

LEGO birthday bash!

Thanks to mulitple Pinterest boards, we successfully hosted a Lego inspired birthday! I am going to try to include links to where I found ideas, though I am sure that part will take me longer than posting the pictures. I should've made notes as I went along....
First, I bought a 14.99 container of Lego Brick and Blocks to be used for various decor and party favors. I knew Elias could not bear to part with a single one of his 7, 982 legos that he currently owns (the number is actually bigger now post-birthday gifts). I bought from Wal-mart and paid the 97 cents shipping. WELL worth it, considering that the only time I can get to the store are the busiest times...evening and weekend days! No thanks! I also saw the same container at the Lego store for about the same price. We had taken a trip there last weekend and LOVED it. You can make custom Lego men/women...3 for 9.99! You can also buy legos of specific colors- the back wall was made of lego bins. So fun...

I should've done this next item sooner and instead did it the day of the party. It worked out, but was a little "stinky." Ummm, and I did not create this piece of decor myself. I called in reinforcements since it involved spray paint and going outside in the blustery cold weather. Thanks, honey!


Green spray paint + bubble paper = awesome table runner that looks like the green lego bases.

I got this idea and MANY other from a blog called Delia Creates. Click HERE for the lego party posting but don't get sucked in...she has a ton of DIY ideas and you won't have time for DIY laundry, diaper changing or dishwashing. = )
This blog is where I found ideas for the legos/mason jar/balloon centerpieces and lego head plates (another place I illicited help...I hate cutting things). Here's how they turned out for me...







Lego place cards with kiddos names...(ugh, more cutting!) but so worth it. The kids got a kick our of finding their place at the table and then we put the cards in their favor boxes on the way out.

Click HERE to find the free download of "Lego Chic" font. And p.s., it only works when you are typing in all caps. It only took me 20 minutes to finally figure that one out. Here's another cute font called legoblocks. I wish I had found this before I made invititations, but my time to spend with Pinterest is severly limited by a thing called WORK. For the invites, I copied a picture I found on google images (searching for lego invites) and inserted into Publisher. Then I just played around with text boxes to cover up the other kid's name and information. It kinda took forever, but I probably do things the hardest way.



I made Lego inspired food including a lego cake and lego pizzas. The pizza idea was from this blog, but I came up all on my own the banana legos and mini Reese's cup legos (shocker! she has ideas outside of pinterest)! We also adapted her cheese puff ideas and did cheese balls (which we called lego heads...six year olds think that stuff is fun-nee. At one point in the party, Elias' friend Jacob asked, "why is this party so lego-y?" Hilarious!


I cut the peanut butter cups in half and secured with a little nutella onto graham cracker quarters. The bananas stuck all by themselves. The hardest part of this prep was being careful to break the crackers evenly. Elias even helped with making these!


The cake is a recipe from Betty Crocker, but would've never stumbled upon it without my pal Pinterest! The tops of the lego pieces are made out of jumbo marshmallows, which will also be used in Ethan's Elmo cupcakes next weekend. Honestly, I need some time off work in February for all this party preparation.

I got the idea from the same blog to make signs out of legos. She had done her kiddo's name, but we did a simple 6. We played later and Elias did his name with a little help....




The juice box covers are from Delia Creates and you can find the FREE downloadable template HERE. There are two on each page. In hindsight, it would have been better to buy shorter juice boxes. Don't buy Motts for Tots because they were obviously too tall!

Another favorite thing of mine was decorating our entry way:

I used leftover juice box bricks and the lego man cut out from this blog to make the polka dot lego man. You could make a really cute paper-doll like banner from this. But again, the CUTTING!!! so I only did one. I know my limits!

I got game ideas from a bunch of different places, but here is what we did:

Guess the number of legos in a jar

Build the Tallest Tower

Lego bingo (comment or contact me if you want me to loan you the bingo cards and call-out cards. I laminated them so am happy to share and you'll need a bunch of 2x2 legos so that the kids can mark their cards).

I also thought about a "lego man hunt"...where the kids would search for hidden lego men, like an easter egg hunt. But our house is just too small for that and it was TOO cold to do anything outside.
More game ideas HERE .

Prizes were from the dollar store (where else??!!) and so were the little gift boxes. Elias and I had made little lego things out of the Wal-Mart box of legos. We kept it simple (aka CHEAP) and included little crayon boxes. The crayons were $1 for a pack of 4 boxes (8 crayons each), the white boxes were $1 for 12! Beat that!

This party ended up being a lot of work, but mostly because I did everything the week of and night before. That's how I roll.... thanks to Chelse and Mary Margaret who helped with some last minute cake fixing and pizza lego making!

One of Elias' girlfriends (he has twin girlfriends- Faye and Lily) said while we were eating cake- "This is the best birthday I have ever been to!"

They even wore Star Wars Lego dresses made by their Mama, Carolyn. SO cool!

Our BIG buddy had a good time and enjoyed the attention from friends and family...


Click HERE to see all the party pics!