Baba

I didn't know my grandparents well growing up. God blessed me and my siblings with a church family and other special family friends who substituted quite well though. I am SO grateful for those people in my life...then and now. Having said that, when my family moved to Melber, I was able to see a different side of family that I had never known. It's the first time in my life words like cousin, aunt, grandmother, grandfather, etc became real and more than just a word I mentioned when asked about my extended family. Those words were rich with a love and history. I really didn't understand what I had been missing during my childhood until we moved to Melber.

This woman is one of my favorite people in the world. Baba and Dado taught me what grandparents were. They showed me and great example of what it looks like for grandparents to love their grandchildren. Baba turned 94 years old yesterday. She is the strongest woman I have ever met. Her health is not perfect but it is still better than any 94 year-old I have ever met. I want so bad for her to be alive for my children to really remember her like I do. I know that is not likely. I wish I would have known her a lot longer than I have. I wish I had stories of my grandmother like Mark does. I will cherish the last 14 years I have had with her. I love that she calls me her grandchild even though I technically am not. I will do my best to show my kids pictures of her with them, and tell them how much she adored them. I wanted to dedicate this blog post to this sweet lady. Here are a few things I want to remember:) I hope I get to keep adding to this list!

-She cooks a mean breakfast! Her biscuts are her trademark. I have tried for years to make them. I'm pretty sure I just don't use enough lard:(
-If you don't take what she has offered you the first time, she will keep asking until you take it. Might as well just take it when she offers no matter how full you are.
-She loves the Lord. She raised her family to follow God.
-I am pretty sure she works harder than me keeping her house clean. We always compare our cleaning schedules when we talk on the phone.
-I love it when she calls the day before our weekend visit to ask what I want her to make for me:) Strawberry pie is my favorite!
-She never measures any ingredient. Ever.
-If you ask her for a recipe, she will NOT include all the ingredients unless it is written down. It's best to just watch her make it and write down as she goes.
-I love walking in her house in the evening when she has a small lamp on readying her Bible at the kitchen table.
-She takes forever at the grocery because she stops to visit with everyone.
-She says things like 'be good to the bread' to the grocery boy who puts the groceries in her trunk.
-Nothing is ever 'fit to eat' according to her when he cooks
-Aaron and Corban always ask her to make them 'oats' for breakfast.
-Mark and I always remind her that they are 5yrs and 2yrs and big enough to feed themselves. (She always tries to feed them)
-She showed me the best example of how to love her husband.
-She NEVER forgets to call me during the week even when I do.
-She makes sure to reprimand Mark if he is critical of my cooking.
-She loves to rock my children.
-She taught me the word 'shit-fire' (can I say that on my blog?????)
-Corban told us the other day that Baba calls him "sweet darlin"
-When I was so stressed the day before my wedding she hid me in her house so no one would find me:)

The biggest thing I will always remember about Baba is her heart for service. She is a servant. It is simply who she is. I will forever be grateful to God for the opportunity to know this special woman who introduces me to others as her granddaughter. Such sweet words to me.

New Glasses

A month ago at Aaron's 5 year check up we learned that he has something called Amblyopia. This means that one of his eyes (left eye in Aaron's case) is not see correctly. His right eye is seeing clearly but his left is seeing 20/200. So off to our favorite optometrist we went. He now has a brand spanking new pair of glasses and we will begin patching his right eye (his good eye) for several hours a day in attempts to get his left eye to catch up. So here my sweet boy is in his new pair of glasses! He is doing great keeping them on!

Eden 6 months

We made it through the first 6 months! Here are a few things about you, Eden, that mommy wants to remember!

-You are such a good baby! You hardly ever fuss. Seriously, you only cry when you are hungry, sleepy, or have a dirty diaper. Once those are taken care of you are all smiles!
-I love that you are so adjustable! We haul you everywhere and at all times of the day and you just go with the flow. You are super smiley and will let anyone hold you....right now at least.
-You are super chunky. Those thighs are holding all the milk I think. Your cheeks are just squeezable! You are in size 6 months but some of your shorts don't fit around your legs:)
-Mommy's only complaint is that you don't sleep through the night. You get up once to eat, sometimes twice. I just can't bring myself to be mean yet and make you do it because you go to sleep right after you nurse, so it's easy. I'm sure the time is coming very soon when there will be some crying to get that problem corrected.
-You are sitting up by yourself. I LOVE this!
-You LOVE your brothers. Aaron can make you laugh harder than anyone. Corban is learning the ropes though and got some good ones out of you yesterday!
-I just started some solid food this week. Rice cereal at night and some bananas and squash during the day. Banana is your favorite right now. You are starting to reach for our food when we have meals so I am sure your options will increase very quickly.
-You take 3 naps a day. An hour morning nap around 9am, a 2 hour noon nap and then another hour nap in the evening. I am so excited for you to drop your evening nap...this family is much to busy for that one:)
-You still take a pacifier, but only for sleeping. You won't take it during the day for some reason. (no complaints here!)
-You love to watch TV. This is a bit ridiculous if you ask me. I find you watching it all the time when your brothers have a show on.
-You nurse every 3 1/2 to 4 hours. I haven't offered you a bottle in a long time...oops!
-Your eyes are my favorite thing about you right now. They pierce straight through me! And those eye lashes...they are long and beautiful. They are the first thing people notice when they see you.

Our cup overflows! We are so grateful for you, Eden. There is nothing sweeter than your adorable smiling face when I come get you out of your crib every morning. Next month will be your first trail ride - which is a pretty big deal in this family! We can't wait to get you on a horse! We love you so much beautiful girl!

Aaron 5 years

So I now have a 5 year old! Mark and I are so proud of the young man Aaron is becoming. He is such a compassionate child and a great big brother. Here are a few things about him I want to remember:

-You can make your little sister laugh harder than anyone else in the family. She smiles when she hears your voice and will belly laugh when you play with her.
-You do such a great job playing with Corban and helping him learn how to do 'big boy things.'
-You are long and lean. Just like the pictures I see of your daddy when he was your age.
-You LOVE your daddy! You do everything he does, just like he does.
-You are getting more and more confident with horses. Papa is paying you right now to 'work' with a horse we have right now. 'Pony Boy' is his name and daddy helps you do ground work and ride bareback.
-You got a cowboy hat, boots, and a vest for your birthday. You play a game called 'buck you off' where you and Corban put your cowboy gear on and get 'bucked off' your beds. Mom and dad get to come watch the 'show.'
-You are very compassionate and sensitive to other people's feelings.
-You are really smart. We debated on whether or not to start Kindergarten this year because you would be the youngest in your class. We have finally decided to hold off 1 more year and do Montessori this year and start 'real school' next year.
-You love learning new things. You ask TONS of questions. I have been able to tell a major shift in your understanding of abstract things lately and answers are harder and harder to come by. You do not accept the answer 'I don't know.' or 'There is no answer to that question.'
-You just got a new 'big bike' and go on bike rides with your dad all the time on the 'big road.' You have been riding without training wheels for over a year now.
-You can read. Small sentences and still have a ways to go, but I am so proud of your self discipline at such a young age to want to learn.
-You played T-ball for the first time this spring. You LOVED it and had so much fun. Coach Jimmy did a great job helping you learn.
-This year on your birthday we went out to breakfast as a family and plan on having a camp out with a few friends. You said you want hot dogs, Cheetos, and s'mores. Yum! We also went to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro with RaRa. Aunt Lori came and brought Eli, Isaac and Esther too!

Aaron, God has blessed us beyond measure with your life. Thank you for being such a great son and big brother! Our prayer is that you will continue to have just as much of a zeal and determination to find answers as you do now. Most of all we pray that God will make himself known to you always and your relationship with him will grow and mature as you do. We love you sweet boy!

Corban 2 years old!!!

Corban, you are 2 years old this month! Son, you are by far the funniest child I have ever met. There is not a hour of the day that your dad and I don't mention something funny that you did or said that day. You seem to understand sarcasm and actually attempt to make jokes with your broken vocabulary. We LOVE your sense of humor!!! You are also, by far, the strongest willed child. You are persistent and love to do the opposite of whatever everyone else does. I know this can serve you well in your life, but let me tell you, son, it is a difficult thing to deal with at 2 years old! I find myself having to modify a lot of discipline in order to figure you out and deal with your persistence and strong opinions. The term 'let it go' and 'choose your battles' is used frequently when we mention your name. Here are a few things I want to jot down about you:

- You LOVE to ride...lawn mowers/tractors/horses. You ask non stop to ride something and don't stop asking until it happens!
-You LOVE your Papa and RaRa! You are friendly with everyone but I mean, seriously, you are very select about who you attach to and when you love someone, you love hard. You are stuck like glue to them. Add in your persistence and strong opinion and things get a little ridiculous when they are around.
-You eat, and eat, and eat, and eat. Except, you hate milk.
-Your vocabulary is taking off....you can say pretty much any word we ask you to and are putting words together to make sentences.
-You sleep in a big bed, and have been for about 5 months now. You insist on sleeping on the 'op bunk' for naps but we had to put our foot down at night and made you sleep in the bottom bunk.
-You still get up at 6am every morning and are REALLY chipper too! We have finally gotten you to play in your room when you wake up until I come get you...well kind of...it's still rough mornings around here most of the time.
-You have a crazy obsession with glasses (like sunglasses or play eye glasses) right now...all kinds. You wear them everywhere we go. You also love keys, phones, and your Crazy Coup car.
-You want to do everything your self. I. mean. EVERYTHING!
-You LOVE your brother and want to do everything he does and exactly the same way he does it...as long as it is your idea.
-We call you a parrot because you repeat everything that is said...no secrets in this family right now:) and :(
-You sing non stop. You go around our house and find books or a piece of paper and something to stand on, lift your hand to lead and start singing at the top of your lungs. Your favorite song (that you can sing almost all the words to) is Jesus Loves Me. You also like Holy Lord, Blessed be the Name of the Lord, Days of Elijah, The Lord Reigns, and Lord Reign in Me. You also ask every Sunday to go up after worship and lead songs on the stage. We literally hold you back until the final amen and you go running up the steps until we pull you off to go to class.
-You are all about your feelings. You go around and declare your mood (happy, sad, and scared are the typical ones) frequently.

Corb, thanks for making us laugh! May God be glorified in your life always, son! We love you so much! You are so full of life. Keep on growing, sweet boy!

Let us be women...

Let us be women who Love.

Let us be women willing to lay down our sword words, our sharp looks, our ignorant silence and towering stance and fill the earth now with extravagant Love.

Let us be women who Love.

Let us be women who make room.

Let us be women who open our arms and invite others into an honest, spacious, glorious embrace.



Let us be women who carry each other.

Let us be women who give from what we have.

Let us be women who leap to do the difficult things, the unexpected things and the necessary things.

Let us be women who live for Peace.

Let us be women who breathe Hope.

Let us be women who create beauty.

Let us be women who Love.



Let us be a sanctuary where God may dwell.

Let us be a garden for tender souls.

Let us be a table where others may feast on the goodness of God.

Let us be a womb for Life to grow.

Let us be women who Love.



Let us rise to the questions of our time.

Let us speak to the injustices in our world.

Let us move the mountains of fear and intimidation.

Let us shout down the walls that separate and divide.

Let us fill the earth with the fragrance of Love.

Let us be women who Love.



Let us listen for those who have been silenced.

Let us honour those who have been devalued.

Let us say, Enough! with abuse, abandonment, diminishing and hiding.

Let us not rest until every person is free and equal.

Let us be women who Love.



Let us be women who are savvy, smart and wise.

Let us be women who shine with the light of God in us.

Let us be women who take courage and sing the song in our hearts.

Let us be women who say, Yes to the beautiful, unique purpose seeded in our souls.

Let us be women who call out the song in another’s heart.

Let us be women who teach our children to do the same.

Let us be women who Love.



Let us be women who Love, in spite of fear.

Let us be women who Love, in spite of our stories.

Let us be women who Love loudly, beautifully, Divinely.

Let us be women who Love.


Today's quiet time brought to you by Idelette McVicker, spoke straight to my heart! I thought I would share in case it does the same for you:)
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Lent

The past few years I have tried to give something up for Lent. I have pretty much not done a good job of following my commitment. This year I have tried something different. I have given something up, and added something into its place. Watching TV takes up a pretty significant part of our day most days. It has become easy for me, and my kids, to wake up and drink coffee (for me) and juice (kids) while watching cartoons to start our day. We end up watching several shows before we start our day. Aaron knows what time shows come on and what show comes after the previous show during the day. Just to be honest folks, it's just easier. Having 3 kids and dealing with big stresses in my life right now has made it easier to justify watching TV on my 'mommy breaks' or for my kids while I am cleaning or just frankly am tired and it is easier. I enjoy TV. I have always watched too much TV since I was little, so I can't really even use having kids as an excuse. I have noticed more and more that both my older kids ask non stop for 'their show' and for 'just one more show after this show.' If the answer is no, whining/fit throwing starts immediately. Aaron has been showing some disrespectful behavior lately too. He is picking up phrases from certain shows, arguing with us constantly, and talking back a lot more lately. Is all this due to TV? No, but it is certainly not helping. So, I decided to drastically modify the amount of TV we are watching. Both boys can watch one movie or 2 short shows during the entire day from wake up to bed. Aaron bucked this new idea pretty hard the first few days, which just proved to me even more how bad it is needed. We have been doing it for a little over a week now and I noticed he has stopped asking to watch TV so much. I was reading what Rachel Held Evans said on her blog when Lent started about how to include your family in giving something up for Lent AND adding something to your routine in its place. I sat the boys down and talked to them about Lent and told them we were giving up watching a lot of TV but that we were also going to add some things to our day to think about Jesus...how he lived, what he taught leading up to the days of his death and anticipating his resurrection. We are doing simple things like singing more songs together and talking about their meaning, praying together and reading stories from the Bible about Jesus. Aaron, in particular, is eating. this. up. For me personally, I have committed 30min a day by myself praying, studying, and/or meditating. I am reading through the story of Jesus just for myself. I have studied the book of Mark for the past several months on and off with people and for the class I taught. I loved the study, but this time I am doing it for me. Not to prepare for a class or an evangelistic study...but for my growth and spiritual feeding.

I hope that my kids will not see this as me just trying to keep them from watching TV. Of course I am doing that, but I hope that by taking these actions, we will not see just something being taken away but what are trying to do to focus more on glorifying God holistically. I hope I will becoming more patient with my kids and husband. I want to become more peaceful, slower to anger. I want to show my kids that our relationships with each other are more important than the shows we watch. We will build more block towers and knock them over, we will make forts and have picnics outside. We will read the story of Jesus and talk about God's reign on earth. We we will be eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the table instead of in front of the TV. We are going to do puzzles, sing songs, do crafts, and cook together. Or maybe two sweet brothers can just play with toys by themselves....but we aren't going to watch TV. We just aren't.

May God be glorified in our daily life as a family. This family will start that by turning off the TV.

May God be glorified in our daily life as a family. This family will be more intentional about reflecting Jesus every day in the way we talk and act toward each other and others. I hope we will continue this even after Lent is over. It's showing some great results so far:)

We anticipate Easter Sunday when we will rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord.