Three handsome fellas

Noah and Micah had a fun day at the Red Caboose Park in Bellevue with their cousin Ty. And I had fun catching up with my sweet sister. It's so neat to be mommies together!

Blog-cation

I know that the hundreds of you out there who check my blog daily are very disappointed in the little blog-cation I have been on for the past few days. I've gathered these numbers by the enormous response I've had from you in the "comment posting" area of my blog. I'm so jealous when I check my friend Candice's blog and she has like 432 comments on one entry. Give a sister some love for goodness sakes. Anyway, I'll do my best to catch you up briefly. We left on Sunday to spend a few days with Nana and Grandy. My very talented and currently unemployed husband is building them a fabulous new deck. I am always amazed at how he just seems to know how to do everything and by what a hard worker he is. In the meantime, the boys and I have been enjoying some QT with the GP's. Noah has been swimming twice. Once with his girlfriends Brette and Sydney and once with just his Grandy. They are the best of buddies.

I had a lovely evening yesterday. Dad watched both boys and mom took me out to an awesome dinner at Sambuca in Nashville. It was a refreshing break for a worn out mommy of two little boys. We had great food, great music, and best of all - meaningful adult conversation. Leave it to a mom to know just what you need at just the right time!

Micah currently has about 4 bruises on his forehead. He is fearless in his new talents of crawling and cruising. I hope this lack of caution is not a sign of things to come! The bruises do not however affect his level of cuteness. He is just more fun everyday.

Last, but certainly not least, my little sis has joined the world of blogging, so if you want to check out my extremely cute nephew, go to tarafpetty.blogspot.com.

My little post-modern thinker

This past spring I was invited to Community Bible Study by my sweet friend Candice. I knew after my first day that it was something I wanted to be a part of. After only a few weeks it was time for it to end for the summer, leaving me feeling somewhat cheated. I had just gotten into it. So, I was very happy that today we were able to get back together with our core group for a swimming day at the farm. It's such an encouragement to be surrounded by a diverse group of mothers who you know have one very important common mission - to raise children who love and serve the Lord. I'm so thankful that the Lord used Candice to introduce me to CBS and the blessing it has already been to me.

The boys had a great time swimming. Micah was just chillin' most of the time, and actually sleeping for some of it. And I cannot get over what a difference a year has made in Noah's swimming. He was going down the slide, jumping off the diving board and swimming the length of the pool. He figured out how to do forward and back flips underwater. The sense of accomplishment on his face was priceless! If you're wondering about my title, here it is - Noah refused his perfectly good PB&J at the pool because he said it tasted "sour". I didn't make a big deal about it, but on the way home I just said, "Noah, I can't figure out why you thought your sandwich was sour. I had the exact same thing and mine was good." To which he confidently responded in true Noah fashion "Mom, we don't have to think the same. I can think the sandwich is sour, you can think the sandwich is good. I doesn't matter. It's over." Pray for me.

3 Days of Praise

We just returned from a long Father's Day weekend in Nashville. I was blessed to be able to be with my father on father's day, something I don't take for granted.

This Father's Day I praised God for 3 things!
1. God my Father. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge. (Psalm 144)

2. My Dad. I know that many people struggle to have a healthy view of God because their earthly fathers have brought them so much pain and disappointment. What an immeasurable blessing to have an earthly father that actually gives you a glimpse into the heart of God.

3. My Husband. It is a truly blessed woman who can pray that her sons grow up to be just like their dad, and mean it with all of her heart. I'm married to the most wonderful man in the world. My children are blessed to have a father who is full of love, integrity, godly wisdom, and too many gifts and talents to mention. I pray that they will sit at his feet and learn from him how to sit at the feet of God.

Yesterday I praised God for the miracle of life. I had the pleasure of meeting Blake Easton Allison for the first time. He is quite handsome and oh so sweet! I wish I had a picture to share. Hook me up Jason. Congratulations! Thanks Jason. Here's Blake with his big sisters Brette and Sydney!


Today, I praise God for friends! I have so many wonderful friends. Some who I see often, some who I rarely see, but all who are so dear to me. I did not mean for that to rhyme. Ok, seriously. I had a wonderful dinner tonight with three precious friends. When we started meeting together several years ago, it was the four of us and we each had one child. We studied the bible together, read books together, sometimes even managed to pray together. Now we have 10 children, almost 11, and 4 wonderful husbands who stay at home with them once a month so that we can enjoy a quiet meal together. I say quiet to indicate no children. There's actually not a quiet moment when we get together because we have so much to share and so little time. Tonight as we left the restaurant I had to laugh because we were yelling things to each other across the parking lot as we walked to our cars. I've been thinking about what a gift someone is giving you when they allow you to truly know what's in their heart, without the walls that most of the world sees. I'm thankful that my 3 sweet friends trust me with their hearts and that I can trust them with mine. I've come to cherish this time more than I ever knew I would.

peace out.

Day 5

Last night before I turned out the light I was reading a book that was given to us by some dear friends. The title is 31 Days of Praise and I was on Day 5. After a day of feeling overwhelmed by the changes and challenges that lie ahead for us, the following paragraph from the book was most definitely God's way of bringing me comfort and peace before I closed my eyes to sleep. He is such a loving God!

"I praise you for Your sovereignty over the broad events of my life and over the details. With You, nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental, and no experience is wasted. You hold in Your own power my breath of life and all my destiny. And every trial that You allow to happen is a platform on which You reveal Yourself, showing Your love and power, both to me and to others looking on. Thank You that I can move into the future nondefensively, with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, for You hold the future and You will always be with me, even to my old age... and through all eternity."

I just want to praise God for the way that He gives us just what need at the very time we need it. It helps me face the uncertainty of what our future holds just to remember how faithful he has always been and promises to be. I can't wait to see what He has planned!

9 months!

Micah is 9 months old today!

Hanging Ten on Sundae Sunday

Some might say that our day was just an ordinary Sunday. We went to church this morning, came home and had leftovers for lunch, and did some work around the house. But with two busy little boys, ordinary days are few and far between. Here are some of the "extra"ordinary things about today.
1. Watching (and following) Micah as he is constantly exploring and exercising his new skill of cruising around the furniture.

His favorite thing right now is to walk circles around our ottoman. He is so proud of his accomplishment and shows it through lots of screaming and beating on the furniture. We feel confident he will show up his big brother in the walking department. Noah didn't walk until 14 months but there's no chance this kid is waiting that long!
2. Sprinkler Surfing
After several very hot, dry days my humble little vegetable garden was looking pretty puny today. Duane had the brilliant idea to set up the sprinkler so it could get a better watering than just me with the garden hose (why didn't I think of that?). Noah took this as an opportunity for a little fun. When I was a kid we would turn on the sprinkler and run through it. That was fun. We were thrilled. Apparently that's way too ordinary for Noah. He decided sprinkler surfing was the only way to beat the heat.

3. Sunday Sundaes!

Noah has recently been having a little bit of trouble with what we would consider "the basics" - listening, responding, respecting. So, we issued him a challenge for a dessert and movie night last night if he could do a better job with "the basics" all day yesterday. He failed. So, he had another chance today and I must say he did much better. He really likes dessert and movies. It was sweet victory when he was allowed to end the day with a caramel sundae complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top! Not to mention a riveting episode of 123 Penguin.

4. The sweet smell of a clean little froggy!

Micah had an especially messy dinner. He has discovered that he loves tomatoes. I know. Weird kid. By the time he was finished eating he was covered from head to toe with little tomato seeds, so it was straight to the tub. There's nothing quite like a baby when they've just finished a bath. He was extra tired after only having one real nap today, so he was in bed by 7:00! That left time for mom to read books to Noah ( one of my favorite activities) and update her blog (one of my new favorite activities!). Another seemingly ordinary day made extraordinary by the way God continues to bless us through our children.

Don't be fooled by this blog that I got!

Props to my little sis for the cute name for my blog. Thanks Rara. Convinced by my friend Candice (who once thought it to be dorky), that it was actually a good idea, I decided to enter this world of blogging. So, I'm kicking it off with our trip to the beach last week.

Nana and Grandy (mom and dad) gave us a trip to Seaside, Fla as part of our Christmas gift last year, so it was a much anticipated trip. We stayed in a beautiful, ginormous house with an ocean view. We are definitely spoiled. I think Mom's goal was to see to it that we all gained atleast 10 pounds while we were there. She slaved away cooking delicious meals for us, with the help of her assistant chef - Aunt Karen. The grand finale was a feast of crab legs, shrimp, steak, key lime pie and atleast 100 other things.

We had quite a crew with 6 little boys age 6 and under.

Noah and Micah had a blast with their cousins Ty, Andy, David, and Michael. Noah was swimming like a fish by mid-week. Micah loved the beach and the pool. He would actually take naps under the umbrella at the beach. I wished I could join him. He really nailed down the crawling and pulling up thing while we were there too! Now I feel like I'm spending all day following him around the house trying to keep him from killing himself. He's quite adventurous.

Seaside is a really great place. I realized as we were leaving that I hadn't been in a car one time since we arrived. So many cool things were within walking distance. One night we took all of the boys to see Robin Hood at an outdoor theatre. A wonderful time was had by all and it was a good week to be with family. Thanks Mom and Dad!