In the Future

I was looking at the hutch in my kitchen tonight, staring at it with many thoughts swirling through my head. My first and foremost thought was, "In the future, my beautiful hutch that was given to us by Jeremiah's Grandpa, will not contain playdough, and 'Let's Go Fishin' game, and fingerpaints with a pad of special paper for the paints, and cheap shaving cream for playing with on a long winter's day..." And it got me to thinking about all the things that will be different in the future.
For example....

In the future, the front of my refrigerator won't have magnetic letters on it spelling, "Dig" and "Boy" and "Run" like they do at this moment.

In the future, I won't have little boy furniture as my bedroom furniture. I will have a new set, that was not my husband's from the time he was about 10 (grateful for that furniture as I am, otherwise my clothes would be in big Rubbermaid bins in my room).

In the future, there won't be small step stools in front of both sinks in the bathroom, that I constantly knock my shins on in the middle of the night.

In the future, I'll have a new couch in my basement family room. Not one that we took home, repaired, and vacuumed out all the goldfish and cheerios, after finding it, (lovingly mind you) by the side of the road with a sign that said, "Free."

In the future, there won't be Matchbox cars and squirt guns all over the living room floor, mixed in with the castle, princesses, and tea party utensils.

As I think about all these things that will be different, and for the split second that I WANT to be different, it makes me a little sad. The reality that these things will no longer be there, makes me want to savor the day. It makes me want to take pictures of messes and toys and dirty kids, because I'm told that these days go by very, very fast, and I'll want to look back and remember them. I want to look at my life and be pleased with all things surrounding it. And for the most part, I am, and I'm so grateful I can say that I am.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13.

I am reading and pondering the words- the powerful words- of Paul, taking them to heart and cherishing what my circumstances and situation are today. I love my husband. I love my children. I love our life. I am content and at peace with exactly what we have and how the Lord has blessed us.

I Love You Lord

I love you Lord,
And I lift my voice,
To worship You,
Oh my soul rejoice!
Take joy my King,
In what You hear.
May it be a sweet,
sweet sound, in Your ear!

Last night after a weekend of camping the kids were bathed and ready for bed early, as all were tired. Aphia had chalked up about 8,392 melt downs at this point and as she climbed into her bed (which has been and official big girl bed- with no gate for several weeks now) she asked for a song and a prayer. I gladly laid down next to her and obliged, as her mood shifted. First she wanted Kumbaya, but quickly changed her mind to I Love You Lord, "I Love You Lord is my favowite! I love dat one!" So with Jeremiah up top tucking in Jonah, and me below laying with Phia, the four of us sang a song to the Lord, telling Him that we love Him. Being their parent, the sound of each of my children singing this song was complete joy to me!! I know that when they sang, "Take joy my King, in what You hear. May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear," that this truly was a sweet, sweet sound to our Lord, hearing his children sing praises to Him!

Lord, I pray that my children will always love you with all of their hearts. That they'll love you above everything else and everyone else for their entire lives!
Amen.

Back in the Midwest

We're back from Tennessee and had a phenomenal trip! After spending 30 hours in the car with my children, I'm now in love with a few things:

1. Potty chairs in the back of the van. Since Aphia is newly trained, this saved us many a time. And since this Mama is somewhat pregnant, it may or may not have saved me too... I will neither confirm, nor deny :) Although Mr. Rules Boy was a bit freaked out when he asked me, while tinkling in the potty chair while traveling, "Mom is this illegal?!" and I confirmed that yes, because he was unbuckled it was illegal. I was able to talk him down though and he was eventually ok!

2. Our new mini-dvd player. We didn't use it too much, which I was surprised about, but when we did it was GLORIOUS and a true gift from God to parents in vans with small children.

3. Headphones. When Jonah wanted to play his Leapster, he could stick on the headphones and was perfectly quiet and busy for a long while!

4. The library. Not that I didn't love the library before, but it came in handy to request SEVERAL movies and borrow MANY books for our trip... All for freeeeeeeee! If you know me, you know how very thrifty I am and this pleased me immensely.

There were several great times to be had while in Tennessee also!

Like the hotel worker lady who would basically sit in the lobby waiting for Aphia to pass through, so she could watch her and say (think this in a deep southern drawl), "Mmmm Hmmm! She is sumptn (something) else! Her and her lil' ol' self! Mmmm Hmm!!" Over and over...

Or watching Jonah being SO brave, jumping off the side of the pool, holding hands with his older cousins. Or watching him say he was going to walk on water and then proceed to run across the pool deck and attempt to continue running over the water as he quickly sunk in, assuring me however, that he DID get a couple steps in before sinking!

If you know your geography, then you know that Memphis is very close to the border of Tennessee/Mississippi and so I was fortunate enough to have time to head down to Oxford, MS on Thursday afternoon with the kids to visit some family down there. My mom's sister, Auntie Mamie (Marie) and her family all live down there: Uncle Joe, cousins Shannon, (and her BF Mike) Sean, Chris and Brian. Shannon just opened a SWEET bakery called the Honey Bee and we got to indulge in some mouth watering cupcakes! There's just about as much DELICIOUS frosting as there is cupcake. And here's a little secret, I'm not much for cake or frosting... and these were AMAZING!!! If you're ever in MS, go to the Honey Bee.

Shannon then had us over to her house for a fabulous dinner and time to visit. The kids had SO much fun with the boy cousins- taking to them quickly and singing, "Seany got no hair!" a little ditty that Sean taught them, while out back by the swamp/bayou thing. Hilarious!

The wedding!! The reason for traveling 1800 miles!!

Dave (Jeremiah's step-bro) and Bethany's wedding was gorgeous, blessed, vibrant, and so much fun! Josh, (Jeremiah's bro) officiated over the ceremony, while both Jeremiah and Liz (Jeremia's step-sis) were in the wedding party. We danced a small part of the night away, as dances aren't really the thing in the south. But Dave, being the northern boy he is, insisted on a dance. It was great! After the reception ended at 10:00, JJ and cousins headed down to Beale Street, a happenin' place in Memphis to party it up some more. He strolled in around 4:00 am, having had a great time with the gang. I hung back and did the mom and pregnant thing- very glad for the sleep after a very busy couple days!

We had a terrific time and would make the trip again in a heart beat... although the next time we will have 3 kids in tow... hhmmmm, that could be more challenging, but worth it all the while, I'm sure. And maybe next time we'll go the early spring when it's really perfect there and you don't drip sweat after being outside for 2.47 seconds.

Meant To Be

Some things are just meant to be. So far beyond my tiny little brain, God has this huge plan in his mind of how things will be. He is able to see the big picture. This came to mind last night as Jeremiah and I were talking about our kids.

Back up a couple days and you'll see the four of us- Jeremiah, me, Jonah, and Aphia walking into the clinic to have the ultrasound for our 20 week old baby. The ultrasound will tell us if things are looking good for the baby, that s/he is growing and healthy and will also tell us whether it will be a he or a she! We did not find out the sex of Jonah or Aphia before they were born, but we decided to go the other way with baby #3. During the ultrasound all was looking great and then our doctor told us that we would be adding a boy to our family! We're overjoyed! Jonah was a bit upset at first, he was really, really pulling for another sister, the entire duration of the pregnancy until now. But he's very easy to reason with and quickly adjusted to the idea of a brother.

So now fast forward to Sunday evening when the children are asleep and we're talking about our family. We've decided to name our baby boy Isaiah John and we were talking about how Isaiah was meant to be. He was meant to be because I was about 5-6 days past when I "should have ovulated" when Jeremiah said, "Let's try tonight," those many months ago.... neither of us really thought anything would happen. Well God had bigger plans to formulate because Isaiah was meant to be. It was very, very exciting to put a so-called, characteristic to our forming baby boy. We know already that Jonah is a structured, rules boy and very sensative. We know that Aphia is a limit tester, with SO much charm it's practically oozing from her. And now we know that Isaiah was our child who just had to be and God made it happen. The miracle of conception and birth is always incredible to me. But this time it takes my breath away. God's mighty hand creating and covering our sweet boy, forming him, and strengthening him. wow.

Jonah and Aphia are LOVING knowing that they're going to have a little brother. They are really starting to refer to him as one of the family now, which is so awesome to see and hear. Aphia still continually looks into my belly button to see if she can see him, but to her slight disappointment, still cannot :)

Isaiah's been moving more and more, each night I can feel him tumble around a bit when I lay down. I go back to the doctor in two weeks so she can take measurements of his heart and see his face (hopefully). He was laying face down during the ultrasound and so she didn't even attempt to get heart pictures and measurements because she knew she wouldn't be satisfied with them.

For now, I continue to try to do what's best for my body, thus being best for Isaiah. I try to continue to be present and intentional in my "momming" and the same for my "wifing". God is good and I'll praise him through the good (which is now) and the bad (which is hopefully never, but most likely inevitable).

Back in the Game

She's back in the game folks!

For many, many years back at Calvary, I taught Vacation Bible School. I absolutely LOVED doing it. I started as a helper, have worked side by side with many friends and both of my brothers assisted me a couple times. I do have to say, Michael and I had some of the GREATEST classes ever (Michael, do you remember, "Are you rrrrrrrrready?!"). Richie and I... well Richie was awesome- the insane 5th grade boys were a whole nother story! I kind of wanted to convince them all that they suffered from allergies, give them a BIG dose of Benadryl and watch them all zonk out. Just kidding... kind of.

Anyways, sorry for the ramblings there.

This year I was back in the VBS game at our church! I got to do the Bible stories each day for the "Little VBS"ers (2-3 year olds whose parents are volunteering), the 3-4 year olds and the 4 year olds. IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE BLAST! The little ones were amazingly good listeners for their (approximately) 10 minute story! They'd sit on their blanket and stare up at me in awe and wonder. I'm hoping the wonder wasn't as to why I look so goofy or something. I was a little nervous leaving Aphia's class the first day, thinking that she'd want to go with me. She did wimper a bit, but the second day, when their teacher said to say thank you to me, she shouted, in her little high pitched voice, "Sanks fo da stowy, Mommy! Bye Mommy!"

On Wednesday, Jonah was "that kid." You all know who I'm talking about, the one who raises his hand and really has nothing to say, but who just wants to talk. Yep, that was my boy. Just as I'm starting the story and getting the kids engaged, he raised his hand (which he must have learned this week- thank you to Teacher Trisha! Because he was a blurter before) and when I called on him, he said, "Ummm, ahhhhh. Ummmmm, Mom. We're going to go camping in a couple weeks." "Yes, Jonah thank you, now let's listen to the story." And at the end of the story I let the kids as questions or make comments about the story. After Jonah's couple of comments he says, "Mom I have a LOT more questions." I said, "I'm sure you do. We can talk about all of them later at home."

I'll post some pictures that my wonderful friend Jen took during the week, I know she got a shot of both Jones and Phi. So when she puts them on Facebook, I'll get them and put them on here too.

So to conclude. I love VBS and I'll do it til I die.

Not Me! Monday

I haven't shared a Not Me! Monday in a while and so I thought I'd drop in with some things that I, of course, did NOT do!
Not Me! Monday is an origination of my dear blog friend MckMama. You can check out more stories by linking up to her blog here:


So onto the things that I "did not" do in the past while...

*Today I did NOT see the Schwan's man driving his big yellow truck down the road and think to myself, "I need ice cream sandwiches right now!" and then proceed to run down the road after his truck, waving my hands at him so he would stop and come to my house. My neighbors would have all stopped and stared had I done that, so I did not.

*Last week, when asked about the keys for a closet at our church, that had been in my possession for MOPS, I did NOT tell a church staffer that I gave that key back last year, only to get out to my car, actually look at my key ring to see it hanging innocently where it has been for the last two years. Nope I would never do that, it would make me seem like such an airhead! I, of course, did NOT go back into church with my head hung in shame and would NEVER blame it on pregnancy brain.

*A week ago Friday we started potty-training Aphia. The first day did NOT go so well (no actually, it really didn't- it was horrific). Saturday did NOT go better (sarcasm back in place here) and by Sunday she was NOT dry all day! After 7 days she was NOT telling me each time she had to go potty and I am NOT extremely proud of her!!

*My cravings for veggies and hummus have NOT calmed down a bit over the past week, because I figured to curb my cravings I'd buy a brand of hummus that I'm not as crazy about as Athenos. This craving that has NOT calmed down is good because I was NOT eating it non-stop... or just by the spoonful because it's so yummy.

*Finally, tonight, I did NOT convince my family that they each needed an ice cream sandwich or orange push-up simply because I wanted another one. Nope not me! And when they all happily agreed to having our yummy treats that I worked so hard to get this afternoon, I did NOT get them out of the chest freezer, only to leave the chest freezer WIDE open for the next hour and a half. That would have been very absent minded of me and I would never do that. Not me!

Got any "Not Me!"s to share?? We all do. It's therapeutic... give it a shot ;)

Love Watermelon Juice

Last night for dinner we had pancakes and watermelon (don't judge me) and both of the kids LOVE watermelon. Jonah prefers to eat it right off the rind and Aphia likes hers in chunks. I put the chunks in a bowl for her and she proceeded to eat the entire bowl full, as well as drink the juice right out of it too!