and now he is 3

Our little boy turned three a few weeks ago. He was so excited about his birthday. Whenever asked about it, he would say, 'do you want some cake at my birthday party?' What a sweetie. This little fella makes me melt over and over again. He makes crazy faces, laughs like there's no tomorrow, cries big fat crocodile tears when things are hard, shares his toys with Madeline, tickles Anna, tackles Andrew, and has the most determined heart. So determined in fact that when he decided he needed his training wheels off his bike he learned to ride by himself within 3 days. Did I say he's only 3? He has a very stick to it attitude, gives big hugs, and we are so incredibly thankful for him. Happy 3rd birthday to our sweet Simeon Andrew Tekalegn Brill!

behind but still here

Well over the last week or so my computer kept telling me I had 'malware'. Whatever that means. Apparently it was coming from a link I had to my friend Amelia's blog so I removed it. Sad. Sorry Amelia. Hopefully we can get you back as soon as someone explains to me what might need to be done. Anyway, we are in the middle of a W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L family stay-cation. Meaning, a vacation in which we stay home. 5 whole work days with no work. Much happiness going on in our home. More on staycation later but for now, here are some pics of my funny funny kiddos.

what are you guys doing?

being silly?

I will get you!

birthdays, laughter, tears, prayer, and bravery

I sat Sunday night surrounded by so much goodness. Eight lovely ladies squished together in on cozy couches, ate yummy food, and shared life with each other. We all really needed that night. Good, Christ-focused conversations were free flowing. It always is an encouragement but I was especially blessed and in awe of God's goodness to me through this group of women I get to call my friends. We got together to celebrate birthdays but did so much more. And I cherish cherish the quality of time, the easy depth of discussion over Christ, marriage, parenting, failures, struggles, and joys. These women are brave and honest and vulnerable and willing. And that is hard. And it means so much. What a blessing to cry together over pain and hardship, to get down on our knees before our Jesus and seek His will, His grace, and His mercy, to pass babies around and laugh at their sweet faces and loud noises, to know that we know that we know that we each love each other, pray for each other, and desire to be more like Christ with and for each other. I am so very thankful for my community. Thank you Heather, Jenny Beth, Jayme, Ginny, Amelia, Sarah, Bek, Brooke, and Sarah. You are much loved and appreciated.

thank you Jesus

On Saturday we had tickets to the Razorback game. We had made a plan for me and Madeline to have a special date and go together. If you were around here then you know it r.a.i.n.e.d all day long. Actually, poured. Like crazy. So sadly I was assuming we would not be trekking out to the game. Right before Madeline went down for her nap she asked me, when is God going to stop the rain so we can go to the football game? I told her I wasn't sure. She told me excitedly, I know what we need to do! We need to pray and ask Jesus to make it stop so we can go. So we did. And He did. And we went. It was such a sweet sweet prayer from my little girl. Full of hope, joy, and total belief that once she prayed, it would for sure happen. Because she believes fully in her God who answers prayers. I love moments with my children where I see more of Jesus because of who they are. He is very good to keep showing me more of Him through them. On the way home we stopped at Bliss for some delicious strawberry cupcakes and gave thanks to Jesus for answering our prayers and letting us go to the game.

happies, Barack & Abe

In May, my sweet mama-in-law & I braved a long road trip to OH to visit fam. My academically minded father-in-law gave the kiddos some educational treats for along the way. For each state we drove through he printed a state map and pictures of any presidents who came from that state. So, as I'm sure you all know, driving through IL we had pictures of 2 presidents. Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. Well somehow in the process Simeon got a bit confused and kept calling the picture of Barack Obama by the name Lincoln Abraham and the picture of Abraham Lincoln by the name Barack Obama. It was funny. And he was very adamant. A few days ago my academically minded husbanded was sharing world news with the family from the paper. On the cover was a picture of Barack Obama. When Simeon saw it he shouted, "Look! It's Lincoln Abraham!" We laughed and attempted to correct him. He said to me, "No mama. It's actually Lincoln Abraham not Barack Obama." I figure, who cares? He's cute and can get away with things like that. About 15 minutes later he was following me to my closet and right next to it is a trashcan with pictures of the presidents on it. And who does he immediately spot? A black and white photo of Abe Lincoln. He grabs the trash can and shouts excitedly, "HERE is Barack Obama mama!" Then he ran off with the trash can to tell Andrew. Yeah, we know...he's incredibly cute.

Also, amidst this whole conversation Andrew asked Madeline if she knew who was in the picture and she said, yes, it's Broccoli Obama. Feeling pretty good about our parenting right now.

blemish is beauty

Some good friends of ours are doing great work with their foundation, 99 Balloons. Right now they are launching an 8 week blog series entitled, Blemish is Beauty, focused on the plight of special needs children internationally. Check it out.

blog: www.theatypicallife.com

info: http://www.99balloons.org/blemishisbeauty.php

life in pictures

Our life in pictures over the last few weeks...trying to get a little me in the memories. :)

One day I fixed my hair up a bit and Madeline wanted her hair curled as well. She had about 8 tiny ringlets in her very fine hair. It was super precious. She wanted to take a pic and this is what she came up with for us. Love this girl.

Every week we go to the library and scurry ourselves around there and toss several books into a bag and scurry ourselves out. It must be quite the sight for those around me. But I can't help but brag that my kiddos are generally very good. I'm sure the don't mind Anna pulling every book off of a few of the low shelves in the kids area. Or Madeline shoving our library card into every card reader looking thing at the self check out desks. Oh well. Anyway. We usually pack ourselves onto a couch during Anna's second nap enjoy some good reading. This is us right after what we call, library time.

And lastly, Andrew's parents gave us tickets to the first Hog game and Simeon got to go! He was very excited. Called the Hogs. Played tackle. Sang the fight song. Like I said, very excited. Until that is the first firework went off after the first (of many) touchdowns. Let's just say he's not a big fan of loud noises and they left a bit early. :)