in case you were wondering...

So if you want to know what happens with this cute little thing:

 decides to eat this:

she ends up screaming with tongue out and then covers my pretty this:

along with herself, my bathroom rug, and floor with a lot of puke.  And btw, never google vomit thinking you may get a usable pic for your blog.  Nasty.

Then, lest you think this story is over, it's not.  If you begin to clean up said nastiness and leave half-naked unattended child near one of your daily happies that happens to be too close to the counter edge such as this:

 then you get the added bonus of cleaning up spilled soda from your child, your counters, and your kitchen floors.  And then you are left with this:

and this: 

 Good thing she is still cute, even as she unsnaps her diaper.  

embrace the camera: PROM night!

Senior Prom: 2012

So my small group of Potter's House gals are seniors.  We began together when they were in 8th grade & have seriously come a very.long.way.  I am so very proud of the beautiful, godly women they have become. 

 Cyrenthia: full of life and passion

 Kilsha: full of honesty and desire

 Marissa: full of genuineness and kindness

 Jasmine: full of dedication and inquisitiveness

As an added bonus:  my little lovies

tried to get Anna to participate in this but, obviously, she wasn't up for cooperating

why we love our backyard!

 You can't really tell from this picture but we have a great long deck & yes, that is my toothbrush.  lovely.

 Simeon loves to ride his bike.  Or motorcycle as he calls it.  And now likes to practice taking his hands off.

 He goes super fast & yes, does so without training wheels.  3 years old.  He's quite impressive!

 Madeline is our adventurer.  She mastered the tire swing in a day & roams all over the yard creating games.

These two love to be goofy!

 And Simeon loves to mimic whatever Madeline is doing.  Hence, tongue out.

 Seriously this is not posed.  He is just naturally adorable.

 Anna is trying more and more to do what the big kids do and she only fell off once!  Success.

 These 3 make me insanely happy.

And to end, a little more cutenss from Anna.  Oh my I love this girl.

words of life: wisdom

James 3:13-17

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.  But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Wisdom comes from a MIND disciplined to stay on the character of God.  Arrogance prevents me from submitting myself (my fears, insecurities, anxieties & struggles) to God's wisdom and denies His Sovereignty, power, and true promises from working in my life.  This is following earthly wisdom and not heavenly.  So many (if not all) of my struggles originate in not believing God is who He says He is and His promises to me are true.  When I stumble into earthly wisdom directing me I fall into the traps of selfishness, fear, envy, anxiety, and so much more.  In doing so, I am saying God is not enough, His grace is not sufficient for me, His truths do not remain true for me.  I see the hope in the Scripture above...remove myself and welcome in peace that reaps a harvest of righteousness.  That is what I really want.  I life that humbly walks in the wisdom of God, discarding what the world and others throw at me, say about me, make me feel about myself, and the lies I fall into believing about myself.  I hate those things and when I catch myself going there I desperately want to cling to the wisdom of God that leads me only toward more of Him and less of me.  

happy monday

Things I am liking right now:
1. Sunshine & a B.I.G. backyard...we had no idea how great our yard would be when we bought this house but we sure are thankful for it!

2. Our crazy community group...18 adults, 26 kiddos (present) and a lot of fun!  These families make our family so much better.  Love living life with them.

3. Tim Keller's book, The Meaning of Marriage.  Andrew & I set a goal once upon a time of reading a marriage book together every year.  We haven't pretty much not done good at this but we are enjoying reading this one together now.

4. Fayetteville Public Library...an outing, free, and educational.  Win win win.

5. Rotini pasta...all my kiddos are slightly in love with this pasta currently.  So for $1 I can feed them all lunch and dinner and then some.

So there ya go.  Welcome to my Monday randomness.  Happy day to you all!

long nights won't last forever

Tonight Ren & I spent a few minutes talking about furniture and rearranging and closet cleaning in preparation for the arrival of baby Elijah in about 11 weeks. She is giddy with beautiful sweet love for her baby boy and I am thrilled to have them in my home. She spoke: Me and Elijah are gonna have so much fun in here! I mean, I know I'll be tired but long nights won't last forever.

My babies are 4 1/2, 3 1/2, and 21 months. It almost hurts to write because I long to stretch out their young little lives and hold onto every single second with them. And the longer I mama, the more I ache for that. When Madeline was a baby I think I rushed her. I looked forward to the next milestone, next word, next thing she would learn. And in doing so I think I missed too much of the now with her. I am sorry for that. I am pretty sure she is no worse off for it but I aim now to do it better. When Simeon & Anna came along so quickly I was forced into slowness. And the slowness became more and more what I wanted and what I took so much joy in. Many would look at Anna and think she was younger than almost 2. I believe that is all my doing. You see, I baby her just a teeny tiny bit. And I love it.

I'm certain I sleep more consecutively at night than I did in my nursing baby days. But I am also certain I go to bed late, get up early, and have one-two children in my room at some point at least 5 nights a week. There is just so much to do in order to savor my moments within my days with each of my kiddos. Right now, after putting all my babies to sleep, my dishwasher is running, my washer is running, diapers just got folded, another load awaits folding, I made a grocery list, and on any given night 10ish things could be added or taken away from this list. This is not a brag, I know you other mama's do the same. It is so often exhausting...mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. But I am pushed more and more to slow down, enjoy, and make the most of what God has given me.

So my long nights may not last forever, but for now, I will be thankful for each one.

embrace the camera: Simeon style

Trying out a link-up with a gal's blog I enjoy. Embracing my camera with Simeon...Ethiopia dinner night! Note his jersey underneath his outfit. He was kind enough to leave it on for some pics but quickly went back to "big shorts" and his jersey because that is basically all he will wear! Good thing he's a cutie.