2 Blessings in Rascal disguises

Yay!

Nick slept through the night last night.  From 7:15 pm to 6:15 am.  I know many people reading this will be shocked to learn that this is the first time he has ever slept through an entire night.  Actually, I don't know if Milo has either.  Needless to say, our sleeping arrangements are not "textbook", but they work pretty good.

Both boys start the night in their own room, & their own bed, but at some point Milo migrates to our room, and I migrate to Nick's room and end up sleeping in the twin bed in there.  It works out fine, everyone gets pretty good sleep, and I don't really sweat it too much.

However, I am planning to go to a planning retreat with the rest of the MOPS leadership team this summer, and also planning to go to the Women of Faith conference in the fall, so I've been sort of stressed wondering how I was going to get away for these events and ask someone else to get up in the middle of the night in my absence.

I never thought to pray that the boys might sleep through the night, it seems trivial.  Sure, it would be nice to get a full night of sleep and stay in my bed the entire time, but in the big picture of life, it's not really a deal breaker.  I do remember though, the other night as I was lying in bed about to fall asleep, & feeling especially exhausted, I uttered some sort of prayer about how it's not THAT big of a deal, but it sure would be nice if God would miraculously make either of the boys sleep all night.  I forgot that I even prayed that until after I had been up a few hours this morning, and when I remembered, I just kind of laughed, because it was then I realized that God DOES care about the small things.  I always tend to underestimate him and his love & care.  It actually says in the bible that God WILL take care of us as mothers, but of course I often forget this.  

Isaiah 40:11 "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."

I guess I will see in the coming nights if Nick continues to do this, or if it was a one time thing.  Either way I am thankful.  One night of solid sleep gave me hope and enabled me to see the light at the end of the tunnel of sleepless nights.  Mostly I'm taking this as a lesson from God that I am always to be bringing all matters of my life to him, even if they seem unimportant, because nothing is unimportant to him.  After all, he even takes care of the birds.

Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

crazy fun

Today we had friends over to play.  In total there were 5 boys, 2 girls.  My sister Heather was here, and my step-sister-in-law Jocee.  I was so gald to have them come over!  It turned out to be a very busy, but fun day.  The boys that were here visiting, have baby twin sisters at home who aren't sleeping very well at night, so we picked them up for the day so mom & dad could try to rest.

52 {16}

Theme~exercise

Milo's favorite way to exercise.

52 {15}

Oops, forgot to post this last Friday.  The theme was "What's in the fridge". 

Lest I continue to promote a culture of fakery that seems to sometimes run rampant on the internet, I must be honest about the "staging" that took place for this picture.  Because believe me, my refrigerator does not usually look like this.  

First, I've been trying to eat much healthier over the past month, hence the abundance of produce.  Secondly, I went to Costco the day I took this picture, and before I refilled the fridge when I got home, I took everything out and cleaned the whole thing.  It looked disgusting prior to me doing that.  Both boys were gone that day, at Grandma Heidi's, or this would have been a much more daunting task.  Nick would have had a heyday with the glass containers and anything he could dump or pour out.

So, all of that being said, here is the picture of my fridge on that day.

Happy Half Birthday Nick!

Nick, a few days ago you turned 1 1/2, and you give "busy" a whole new meaning.  Anyone who sees you for any length of time just marvels at your speed, determination, silliness, & zeal.  You are quite the ransacker around the house, so at any given time it looks like your mama does absolutely nothing all day long even though I work tirelessly to follow behind and clean up in your wake!  Some of your favorite things to do are; get a measuring cup out of the drawer and scoop cup fulls of flour onto the kitchen floor; pull all of the kitchen garbage bags out of the box and make a huge pile in the kitchen; dump out and rearrange all of the toys that are organized by category in the hallway; climb up onto the kitchen table and see what you can find up there; color & eat the crayons; play in the toilet if brother forgets to close the bathroom door; throw away any "garbage" you find, such as papers from the desk or counter, the entire tissue box that you pulled out one at a time, and occasionally your toys; you also like to empty out the packet of baby wipes and say "poo" while attempting to wipe your behind.

Now of course all of this is done with such cuteness that it really is hard to get mad at you.  

Some of your favorites:

Favorite show: Bubble Guppies

Drink: Chocolate Milk

Food: String Cheese, Pirates Booty, Craisins

Toy: Anything that's not actually a toy

You are such a lively, charming, happy little boy.  You exhaust me, but you are so very worth it!

10 on 10 {April 2012}

Sort of forgot about this until yesterday, so glad I remembered! We had a full day at home yesterday, which was SOO nice, as I feel like we have been so busy lately.  The weather was almost 70 degrees, so we got outside a few times throughout the day.  I'm hoping this weather lasts, because it gives such a good start to the growing season for tree fruit!

snowmobile trailer; cheerios are better outside the bowl; we have a new love for the bathroom; pussywillows; mini driver; rest & recover; a hike on the hill; orchard adventures; Kevin stands guard while Milo tries out the cool new toilet he found; such a rascal; bedtime story

Now see what Marisa's day looked like!

easter egg dyeing

I'm getting a little post-happy these days, I feel like I've been blogging non-stop lately.  I think it's partly because we got a new desktop with a huge screen, and it's super fast so Lightroom & Photoshop run at lightning speed so it takes very little time to get a post ready.  

Anyway, Milo & I dyed eggs together on Saturday while Nick took a nap.  That night we made Empty Tomb cookies.  It was a really fun activity.  Each ingredient signifies something in the crucifixion story. We followed this recipe: http://westerntractmission.org/KK/craft/EasterTombCookies.shtml. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday morning we got up and went to church at 8 am.  That was a very early morning for us.  The boys (mostly Milo) were excited to check out their Easter baskets before then!

early Easter!

After Milo's dentist appointment on Thursday, we had a really fun day with Grandma Pam & our cousins!  We did an easter egg hunt, played, had easter dinner, and I think we wore out Grandma.

I wish I had the kids on video as they literally leapt off of the back porch when the egg hunt commenced. They couldn't be bothered to use the stairs, it was really funny.

Alaina set up school at one point, and Milo was her student.  He was sitting there drawing with a pen and paper, pretending to write his name.  

Grandma Pam had an old Flinstones episode for the kids to watch, which reminded me of when Kevin and I dressed up as Fred & Wilma for a dance in High School.  I pulled up the picture on my iPad and showed the kids, and they all thought it was pretty funny.

Pam made a really cute cake, it was an angel food cake with daffodils in the center, so springy!

Cavity free!

Milo had his 3rd dental visit with Wenatchee Pediatric Dentistry. They are the BEST!  He looks forward to going!  He did great, we didn't get any xrays (again-he has an extrememly over-reactive gag reflex), but he earned his place on the cavity free tree!

playdate

During the week of spring break, we had a playdate with a couple other MOPS moms and their kids.  It was a lot of fun!  I think nearly every toy we own was scattered about the living room and dining room.

It's so fun to get the kids together so the moms can talk:)  Sometimes I wonder if the playdates are more for the kids or the moms!  We had three 1 year olds, and two 3 year olds, and they got along fabulously.

 

52 {14}

This week's theme: eggs

milo & i did eggs today during nick's nap

 

Happy Easter!

A weekend with cousins

We spent last weekend in Mt. Vernon.  The men went out salmon fishing both days for the Salmon Derby, so Casey and I did our best to entertain the 5 kids, diffuse fights, enforce the laws of sharing, etc.  I think all the kids had a great time!

We hung out at their house on Saturday morning, after a mostly sleepless night for the boys and I, and then in the afternoon we loaded everyone up to go to the Children's museum..that place is so cool!

Sunday morning we took the kids to sunday school & church, and it was Palm Sunday, as you'll see in the pictures.  Later that day we headed up to Anacortes to say hi to the boys after they took the boat out of the water.

Super fun weekend!

 

We had a great weekend!  Casey definitely has the gift of hospitality!

Kids were here 28 & 29

So much fun was had with this racetrack by 4 little boys!

Who still uses a binky?!

52 {13}

This week's assignment was to post something that makes you happy.

I posted this photo earlier this week, but I really have nothing else that meets the mark of making me happy, quite like this;

My husband, reading his bible and hanging out with Milo.  Doesn't get any better!

snowmobiling!

Milo went on his very first "off the orchard" snowmobile ride today!  He had so much fun!  He went with Kevin & Wayne.  Before they left, he kept saying he was "super excited", and he talked about it until he went to bed after they got home.  Kevin took a few pictures:)

Milo 3 1/2

Today was Milo's half birthday:) 

At this time in his life, here are some of Milo's favorites, and highlights of life!

Favorite books: Berenstain Bears, Jesus Storybook Bible, I Love You Forever

Most talked about friends: Jonah & Caleb from Sunday School & Moppets, & his cousins Hayden, Oliver, & Lorelai

Favorite adjectives: Fantastic, amazing, beautiful, gorgeous

Favorite songs: I Refuse-Josh wilson, Strong enough to Save-10th Avenue North

Favorite TV shows: Little Einsteins, Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer, Little Bear

Favorite Drink: Chocolate Milk

Favorite Snack: Goldfish crackers

Favorite Dinner: Elk steak & broccoli

Favorite Dessert: Ice Cream

Milo loves to play outside and is very imaginative.  He can turn just about anything into a snowmobile, and he's going on his first real snowmobile trip with Daddy tomorrow.  He's super excited!

I think Milo's love languages are Touch & Quality Time.  He likes a lot of affection, and is always wanting someone to just be with him.  I love his cuddly nature:)

He is such a fun boy, and I love seeing his heart and mind develop day by day!

Height 43" Weight 52 lbs

 

Last night I let Nick play in the flour bin while I made dinner.  He had basically been hanging on my pants whining for the past hour, so who was I to bother him when he found something fun to do?  Plus, the weather was horrible and rainy yesterday, so they didn't get to play outside, so maybe flour is the closest thing inside of the house to playing with actual dirt?

Milo came in and saw the mess and raced to get the vacuum.  Nick tried to help too.

Milo reached a major goal this week, so as a reward, he gets to go snowmobiling with Kevin tomorrow (hence the new helmet), and we got out the Toy Story 3 racetrack that has been sitting in the box for a year, just waiting for Milo to take the bribe.

Kids were here 26 & 27

Good thing the month is almost over, because I'm falling behind on this project!

Nick's favorite blankie, in the rocking chair where we cuddle after his nap:)

Oops.  Somebody got to play in the flour bin so mama could cook dinner!

Re-blogging an encouraging post

For the original post, go here

Ladies, Don’t Compartmentalize God

Trisha Wilkerson » God Marriage Children Home Worship Mind Planning

“Neat” Never Happens

Believing we are are in Christ—women of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works—we strive to live lives to love and glorify our God. If Jesus is our treasure, do our lives continually reflect this rich grace? Often, we experience joy and peace as we go about our complex lives, trusting Christ with the details. Other times, we take the reins and figure that actually, we would be better managers of the chaos. So, we try to create order in the mess, happy little compartments that we suppose will bring peace.

But, it isn’t that easy is it?

Our lives aren’t neatly arranged. We try for “neat” and it never happens. Rather, our lives are messy, filled with stacks and piles, chaos, and busyness. Our hearts are full of wandering desires distracting us from Christ, making those good works and loving acts of service sometimes non-existent, or just simply scattered across the disorder of our lives. And, our life stories are broken and complex, never easily understood. So, we limp through life as Christian women searching for “balance” amid the chaos. 

She’s Gone Compartmental

Often, our response to the mess is to create compartments in our hearts. We make the lists: house, marriage, kids, extended family, schedules, friends, food, hobbies . . . and Jesus. (Interesting how Jesus gets his own separate compartment.)

Mental compartments give us a sense of order for our overwhelming lives. Our minds daily race through these various categories, either checking our boxes off our lists (or not), gladly tucking devotional and Bible thoughts into that “Jesus” category.  Feeling weak and inadequate with what we haven’t gotten done, we wrestle with who we are in the disorderliness. Struggling with hope and feeling condemned by what is lacking, Jesus seems distant, unavailable, and cold. We briefly acknowledge him and get back to work, sure that God will understand our mess.

“

If we love Jesus, we can relinquish control.

”

We may have heard that “all of life is worship”. Clueless for how to achieve this, we try to “do more” worshipful thinking and feeling, hoping maybe that if we do more in the Jesus category, it will overflow somehow into the others.

That can’t be it right, can it? Do we think that if we ever “get it all done,” we will have time left over for God?

Our attempt at order by compartmentalizing or controlling our lives, people, and tasks is really a heart issue. We have to ask ourselves what we believe. Do we believe that God is Lord over all, attentive to us in everything? Does he care about the details, the insignificant aspects of our lives? Does Jesus really care about our lawns or laundry?

Worship Is More Than a Song

Handing the reins over to our attentive God (he already has them, anyway) is the first step. We can tenderly acknowledge the propensity to compartmentalize (which isn’t always sinful) and pray for discernment, that we may see our distracted worship, and desperate need for Christ.  We need the Holy Spirit to help us (John 14:26) to see how we have pushed God aside in our effort to “do” our lives. 

Worship is more than a song or posture. As D.A. Carson says, “Christian worship is the response of God’s redeemed people to his self-revelation that exalts God’s glory in Christ in our minds, affections, and wills, in the power of the Holy Spirit.” It is that turn of focus from my agenda to his, seeing Christ made great in my thoughts, actions, feelings, etc.—to gaze on him through the details of life.

We Serve—Whatever, Whenever, However

To worship Jesus throughout our stressful, busy days without putting him in some compartment means that we truly see him as Lord over all of it, deeply loving us in the details. Yes, even the mundane tasks of life. Remember, Colossians 3:23–24: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

“

So, whatever, whenever, however we serve, we are serving King Jesus. 

”

Pause for a moment the next time you are doing dishes, reading a board book to your toddler for the 30th time, filling your car up with gas, attending another boring meeting, cleaning toilets, pulling weeds, or lying down for sleep, and think of our God who is with you. He is loving you. His control is trustworthy and safe.

If we love Jesus, we can relinquish control, knowing that our holy, perfect, and attentive God is Lord over all these self-made compartments and gives us his Spirit to demonstrate his wisdom and grace daily. We are invited to live this out, as worship.

Catch Up

I missed getting a picture for the Kids were Here project on Friday, but here are Saturday & Sunday's submissions:) Milo's knife that he "takes to work". It's a plastic straight edge razor, from his "My First Shaving Kit"
Not sure who's parking job this is

Recent History

Not much has been happening around here lately, just our usual routines. 

I want to remember the ordinary though!

playtime.  Nicky loves to throw stuff in the garbage-doesn't matter to him if it actually qualifies as garbage.  Milo delights in popping the air packaging that our Amazon shipments come with.  Nicky has figured out that he can scoot the chair all over the kitchen to access any cupboard, countertop, or computer desk that he feels like messing with at any particular moment.  Milo is in a stage of talking back quite a bit, playing hard, and crashing at about 7:30 every night.

I love these boys!  There is never a boring day around here.

Kids were here-22

Somebody played outside with Grandma Heidi today

52 {12}

Night light.

Glowsticks in the bathtub

Kids were here-21

Milo has been removing the stuffing from a pillow that has a hole in it.  I'm constantly having to pick it up and re-stuff the pillow. Any normal person would probably just fix the pillow or throw it away, but I can't, because Milo uses this stuffing as "snow" and he runs his snowmobile over it, or pretends to snow-plow it.

Kids were here-20

Kevin's old firetruck made it out of the toybox today
Both boys love driving this around!

Kids were here-19

Dropped food, spilled milk...Macey loves every minute of it

Kids were here 17 & 18

exactly 4 hours after I swept and mopped the whole dining room floor, and there is already this much

I managed to make these last two days.  We may need to go into the raspberry farming business!

Workshop assignment

All of these photos were shot as part of an assignment for a photography workshop.  I had so much fun doing these!

Faceless connection-Giving Grandma a hug goodbye



No link to an original inspiration for this, but I've seen many like it, that show the unbridled innocence & inquisitiveness of sweet babes.
Emotion-fascination


Breaking the Rule of Thirds-staring straight down a piece of 4 inch PVC pipe into the face of my 3 year old



Pocket of light



Indoor backlit wedding ceterpiece




Water! Who doesn't love a good ol' fashioned mud puddle stomp?

_________________

Kids were here-16

Milo parks his tractor in the garage.

52 {11}

Theme-green

14 Hands 2010 Merlot

 

Kids were here-15

Today we had a fun day.  Playdate with a friend, grandma time, mommy's day out time....so baking and playing got done however, dishes did not!

Kev picked up Wendy's for dinner so we could have an easy dinner....Nick was eating ketchup by the spoonful.

17 months

What? I suddenly realized this month, that my baby has quite rapidly turned into a wild toddler.  He does still snuggle sometimes, and I'm so happy for that!

Here are some highlights from Nick's busy life:)

Wakes up between 6 & 6:30

Drinks chocolate milk in the morning, just like big brother

Likes to eat strawberries, cereal, eggs, blueberries, pears, turkey sandwiches

still wakes up at night

wears clothing size 12-18 months

weighs around 22 0r 23 lbs

runs full speed almost everywhere he goes, usually on his tip toes.

has recently been introduced to timeout, because of his persistence in going behind the gate behind the woodstove, and climbing up and taking the lid off of the turtle tank.

loves to take the garbage out of the garbage can if it's not securely tied up.

when he wants to be picked up, he puts both hands in the air and twirls one of them around in circles

he's always trying to put shoes on in his tireless attempts to go outside

he loves baths and asks to take one by putting one leg up on the tub and saying "ba!"

loves playing with a whoopie cushion

likes to bite phones & ipods

pretends to sweep with anything that has a long handle, usually his little walk-behind-duck

He kisses back with a wide open mouth, and frequently kisses the dogs this way.

I love you Nicky, you are so much fun! 

Kids were here-13 & 14

Two in one day again.

Nick stays very busy while I make dinner.

Rest time reading

To Kevin

I just finished a photography workshop, and one of the assignments was to pick a couple of quotes from several that we were given to choose from, and tell a story based on those quotes.  Here's mine. A tribute to my husband.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

We bought this place 6 years ago. We barely made it work. There were so many nay-sayers. So many bumps in the road. You knew this was your dream, and at the young age of 23, you stared down the huge obstacles in your path and were not deterred.

Now, 2 kids later, and 5 crazy cycles of orchard growing seasons under our belts, you are continuing to grow in wisdom, patience, & dedication to this little patch of earth God has entrusted us, and more importantly to the two little boys He has entrusted to us.

I appreciate you more than you know. I am honored to be your wife and feel truly blessed to do life with a husband who so selflessly gives, in order to make a beautiful place for our family to grow. I love that you are both tough & tender. I'm thankful that you have given all of your self, your time, your talents, & your possessions to the God who made you, so that no matter what happens to us in this life, we as a family can rest in the assurance that we have a Father in heaven who is directing your steps, and will always feel cared for and protected to the utmost.

"Love is the most difficult and dangerous form of courage. Courage is the most desperate, admirable, and noble kind of love" --Delmore Schwartz
"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams












I love you Kevin, and I'm excited to see what's next.

Kids were here-12

Banana peel on the floor.  Par for the course at our house.  It was one of many food corpses that littered the floor today, along with pistachio shells and orane peels.  They may not eat at the table, but at least they are having healthy snacks, right?!?

Kids were here-11

Milo's bible bridge to the couch for his backhoe.

Kids were here-9&10

Didn't get my post up yesterday...so I'm doing 2 at once tonight.

Nick has discovered that there is a turtle in the turtle tank, so he is relentlessly climbing the chest that is in front of the table that holds the turtle tank (so much for the chest being a deterrent) I used to have a potted plant on that chest, but not anymore.

After we removed our Christmas tree in January, I left the space open as a little corner for playtime, instead of putting a piece of furniture back there.  It's a great little spot where Nick can work on his block skills.

10 on 10 {March 2012}

I'll come clean right up front.  There are more than 10 photos here.  Sing it with me! "It's my blog and I'll overpost if I want to!"

Last Sunday.

On the way to church

Worhsip band hanging out between services

Heading into our hometown

Super nice weather called for an impromptu playground stop

I think this was some sort of altercation because Nick ran to me crying afterward

He's over it, and found some of Daddy's cool safety sungalsses

The nice weather also beckoned Kevin to get out his newest RC helicopter for some flight time

Babysitter at the house with the boys, mom & dad heading out for a date

Chair shopping at Davis followed by dinner at McGlinn's

Black & Bleu salad

Goodnight Wenatchee

Some last cuddles before bed

As I've mentioned before, I'm doing this project with a bunch of wonderful ladies from the Bloom forum, please check out what Jackie has for you this month!

Baptism

I got baptized a few weeks ago.  I was baptized as an infant, but felt led by God to do a full immersion baptism of my own volition, now that I have put my life in the hands of Jesus.

Acts 2:38

New International Version (NIV)

  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit".

This was prompted by Pastor Josh preaching about baptism for a couple of weeks in January.  Of course I can't cover 2 sermons in one blog post, but the gist of it was: the American church has basically made baptism sort of an optional thing, while it's a clear mandate in scripture.  Meanwhile, believers around the world literally risk death by being baptized, and do it anyway, in their obedience to the Lord.  

So what was my excuse?  Since I began following Jesus a couple of years ago, I have wondered, do I need to get baptized?  These sermons I heard from Pastor Josh felt like God telling me an emphatic "yes".

I'm enjoying seeing others get baptized at church now nearly every week.

One of the scariest parts about this was getting up in front of the whole church and feeling "on display".

Here are some photos from the day, and as soon as I get the video, I'll attach it to this post as well.

"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

1 John 4:16 ESV

52 {10}

Abstract.  Any guesses as to what this is?

Kids were here-8

It's been so nice out.  Such a relief to finally be able to get the boys outside to play for LONG stretches of time!

Kids were here-7

Kids....and dogs. As evidenced by the dog hair gleaming on the floor.

This is one of 4 little cars Nicky plays with on his "ramp racer".  It flips itself over, it's pretty cool

Kids were here-6

Oops, I didn't get this posted last night! We had marriage class, got home after nine, at which point Nick woke up...so I'm late:)

Paper towel construction

Kids were here-5

The typical mess that adorns every corner of our house.  Nick really likes to pack things around and find new places for them.

I should rephrase the title of this post to Kids are here

Kids were here-4

It was an outside kind of day, and a very muddy one at that.  Shoes had to be left on the porch.

A patient little lab-lion

We have the best dogs in the world.  They put up with so much from the boys. I love them!

Milo watched Narnia this morning, and decided to make his very own version of Azlan at home.  Macey looked absolutely thrilled with this plan.

The other little boy around here has basically given up on sleeping and just runs around here at full speed all day, getting into whatever kind of trouble he can find.

Kids were here-3

Post snack.

Kids were here-2

Day 2

Milo's boots, taken off with such enthusiasm that a sock was left behind.

Cars, truck, tractors, road cones, etc.

Nick's duck.  His favorite toy at the moment.

The whole point is to do ONE picture per/day, but I couldn't pick one, so I did three. I have a really hard time following rules with these picture projects:)

52 {9}

Theme: Motion

I've been knee deep in different photo projects lately, so I'm relying on an old shot for this week's entry.

Alii drive in Kona, after dark.

A Just Because Party

The other day, I told Milo & Nick we should have a dance party.  The weather wasn't great outside, and everyone (at least me) seemed restless.  He told me "no, let's have a 'just because' party".  I didn't know what that entailed, so I asked him, and he said we needed to make a chocolate cake with pink frosting. This was not the first time he had asked to bake a cake, so I obliged, since we didn't have much going on for the day. 

I asked him where he got this idea, and he said that Little Bear & Mother Bear bake a chocolate cake with pink frosting and have party hats.  So, we baked, and ate cake sans the party hats.