A Little Help for Mother's Day

A gift isn't necessary.  It's about knowing you are thought of, appreciated, and loved (and let's face it....we will know this more from the rest of our year than the one simple day dedicated to mothers everywhere).  But here are a few ideas anyway.  :)

a beautiful and simple display of her favorite flower

lovely dishtowels

you can never go wrong with a cute little dress

woo her with a picnic lunch in a meaningful place

a new mug....and friendly reminder of her strength

a good book....or even just relieving her of her responsibilities long enough to let herself get lost

(and I am aware that it says 'discovering the secret of a man's soul,' but this book far surpasses the realm of man alone.  It unlocks the heart of woman and man and helps the union to become even stronger through recognition of our deepest needs.  It is beautiful, heartwarming, and empowering for both the masculine and feminine spirit.

a token; a reminder that it is not what a woman does, but the spirit she carries and is

cute shoes



What Israel Likes

Here are the likes of my other favorite little man.  I don't however have pictures of him singing, being a ninja, setting booby traps, playing video games, and taping his face into contorted positions.  Other than that, these pictures about cover it.

bb guns and legos

creating

making man muscles with friends and family

being a monkey on dad

teaching River funny faces

relaxing with his bro

posing

candy

finger puppets (he's had this little guy whom he named Alf, since he was about 1 1/2)

bed acrobatics

gingerbread houses    yum yum

enjoying a good strawberry (Israel LOVES fresh fruit)

climbing trees (in this case he took his portable chair in the tree too...really safe huh?)

injured solider or mummy......can't remember

'untangling' the Chistmas lights for us...haha

the frog whisperer

a man is never too old for a bubble bath

setting up our gigantic tent in the living room

hiking, being strong, and generally just being awesome!

That about sums it up.  Two amazing boys + two fun and unique personalities = lots of fun!



What River Likes

Here are a few fun things that River really enjoys doing.  The only things that are not on the list that should be are...brushing his teeth (which he likes to do obsessively), dancing, twirling my hair around his fingers, and wrestling with his daddy.  Other than that, these are things he enjoys the most and entertains the family quite nicely with.

 fixing things



the Al Bundy method of getting comfy (this is very recent and I hope it doesn't stick)

snuggling with Bubba

reading

 

his 'bah'

picking on his brother while drinking his 'bah'

working

 he loves to squirt with a spray bottle but doesn't yet have a firm enough grasp to spray it in the appropriate direction

he really got himself good

(apologies for some of these photos being blurry...our camera is temperamental)

finding random cubby holes...even if it is inside of an ottoman

hanging onto me wherever I may go

his little monkey and chick

being all adorable and stuff

 enjoying a good strawberry

making a huge mess with mashed potatoes

then playing innocent about who created the horrible mess

Check in tomorrow for what Israel likes  :)

Let the Food War Begin!

River has recently given up any sort of taste for food.  Not just the typical veggies that some kids boycott.  It's the sweet stuff too.  He's never like juice (which isn't a bad thing), and won't even eat pancakes with syrup!!!  One time we thought we would be all sweet and surprise the boys with Hartzler's ice cream.   River gagged and acted like he was dying.  What a weirdo! It's chocolate ice cream!  Chocolate!   And I know what everyone says....'He won't starve himself!'  But I am actually quite sick of hearing that.  He might not actually faint from malnourishment or walk around with a bloated belly from starvation, but the truth is....he is not getting the nourishment his little body needs.  And after his latest iron test, there have proven to be some issues with anemia.  So....the food war is on!  I found a cookbook that masquerades as kids food while packed full of spinach, squash, and numerous other purees.  Spinach brownies?  Macaroni and cheese with a cauliflower and sweet potato puree added to the sauce?  Oh yeah, I am getting sneaky.  But shhhh....don't tell.

I will update you on how he handles this new adventure of food.  I really hope that it helps as much as I think it will.  For all of you other moms who have picky picky eaters, it might be well worth the $13. 

Wish me luck!



...In A Nutshell...

Today...

• got laughed at for my Marge Simpson laugh...thank you laryngitis
• almost got attacked by 2 large schnauzers
• watched the boys have their daily dance party
• witnessed River actually ingest food!!!
• enjoyed the 2nd day of my husband's 5 month hiatus from school
• revelled in River's sweet nuzzles as he drifted off to sleep twirling my hair
• laughed at Israel's plans of villainous villainy towards his friend whom he plans on 'trapping'
• had fun putting River's naked bathtub bum up to the window to make Israel laugh while he enjoyed a popsicle on the picnic table
• marvelled at the warmth and beauty of the day and my family

Are you Jealous Yet?

   There has been so much going on lately that my brain feels like it's been scattered around like a dead man's ashes.  River, now 18-months-old, has recently boycotted food AND sleep, and Israel, thank God, is almost done with school for the year. 
   Between running errands, cleaning and organizing for our up-and-coming move, and this little tiny boy inside of my uterus, I have been ready to collapse with exhaustion!  My belly is huge and I have two more months to go.  Oh boy.  Some days the baby (in utero) is so frantic with movement that I feel at any moment some crazy alien thing is going to spew out of my stomach like SigourneyWeaver in Aliens.  Sorry little baby.  I know you will be much cuter and way less homicidal upon your arrival.  Point being....I think this baby is like 25 inches long already and is practicing to be an astronaut or a gymnast of something.
   Contrary to what I have already said, I do enjoy being pregnant.  This time around I just feel like an overstuffed turkey.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with the sundae's and sweets.  That seems unlikely.  It's probably more about the real life human being that is sprouting in my womb.  I haven't gained any more weight than I did my last pregnancy, it's just more compact this time....hence the overstuffed turkey feeling. 
   So for now all I can do is suck it up, eat a little better, keep basting, and wait for the timer to go off.  Hopefully between now and then, I can enjoy my lack of life-altering pain, stop whining about it, and get ready for the joy that awaits us.
  
  

A Light in the Darkness

   Darkness is kind of a funny thing.  It doesn't somehow eerily produce ill-begotten fantasies.  The same occurrences and beasts meander in the day as well.  Somehow though, we have subconsciously learned to give power to the dark.  Maybe it's those childhood memories of fear in the night, the suspense of what lay around the next corner when walking as an adult, or perhaps even a real life trauma occurred that left you afraid.  Whatever the context or reason, we need to start utilizing the dark and reclaiming all of the power that we have lent to our crazy abyss of fears.
 
   There's an illusion that darkness not only hides things, but actually creates certain monsters.  Certainly the dark has an ability to makes things harder to distinguish, but it's not a breeding ground for bad things.  Sometimes we can even run to the darkness to hide; we stuff our skeletons where people can't see them, hoping they never surface.  And maybe that's really why we're afraid of the dark....because we know what kind of secrets we've stashed there.  Inevitably though, the sun always shines, and our junk comes flying out unexpectedly like a jack-in-the-box.  Our darkness is now overflowing into our light.  Now what?  Usually we stuff it back down and keep pretending, all the while keeping our nightmares intact.  We illuminate our fear of night because we've convinced ourselves that there's a difference between night and day, exposed and hidden.

   Psalm 139:11-12 says, 'I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.  To you the night shines as bright as day.  Darkness and light are the same to you.'

   Wait.  Did you hear that?!  Darkness and light are the same to God!  When we are in His light...He is with us and sees our every intention.  When we shamefully run into the dark looking to hide from Him....He is already there.  And where He is, there is no darkness.  And sometimes, just sometimes, God lets us fumble around in the dark until we find him there.  Sometimes there are truths found in the darkness that can't be found in the light. 

   In Exodus when Moses was on Mount Sinai and God was passing by him, he hid Moses in the cleft of the rock.  He put his hand over him, shrouding him in complete darkness, until he passed and could safely exit the mountain.  Sometimes we want to run from the dark because our imaginations run wild.  Most of the time though, we are simply to search out God's light and trust that the reason things look so dark is because the very hand of God is upon us.  Covering us.  Protecting us from all of the unseen dangers.  When we find the light while we are yet in the darkness...the truth tends to stay with us longer.  Because we've been there, and the truth of the light works.  It's undisputed, reliable, tested and true.  If you search for Him...he has promised that you will find him.  Especially in the dark!.