Like Father, Like Son

Some Things Are Just Meant To Be...

My Little Black-Eyed Pea

Sooooo...if you live in our town and were walking or eating downtown tonight, you might've noticed a sweet little kiddo bouncing down the sidewalk with a ponytail and a cookie and a huge smile across her sweet little mouth.............right under the HUGE BLACK EYE that she got playing in my office last night.

This is not a wimpy little black eye, folks. It's the real deal. The funny part is, every time we passed someone, there was a noticeable trend: "Smile at the cute kid....wait for it....wait for it.....gawk at the black eye....then turn to check out the daddy to see if he looked like a potential offender." Hilarious. Funnier is that she was really proud of it and would point it out and talk about it even to a complete stranger, leaving them in a true conundrum of what might really be going on in our household.

I'm not thrilled that our Easter pictures consist of a major shiner, but then again - it could have been much worse, so I'm thankful that a shiner is all we got. After you get over the initial shock, it's even a little bit sweet, don't you think?

Egg Hunt 2010: Take 1

As is the tradition of this time of year, we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior by stuffing brightly colored plastic eggs full of instant teeth-rotting materials, "hiding" said eggs in 2-inch grass, and encouraging our young ones to get as many and as much as they can faster than anybody else so that hopefully they will become the "winner" of the prize egg.

At least, that's the lecture that my husband gave to me when we ended up on the Easter aisle at Wal-mart the other night at the end of a luxurious date. Love my man. :)

In good fashion with the commercial agenda, though, I packed up E this weekend and traveled to my home town for a really sweet little egg hunt that one of my high school friends' mom does each year. Last year, we weren't able to make it, so I was really looking forward to the "reunion" aspect of this little emerging tradition. And I wasn't disappointed. My mom even blocked off her very full tax season schedule (gasp!) to be able to be there. Trust me...it's a big deal for her to do that!

Looking at all the cameras, one-by-one, and saying "Cheese"

(none of the other kids care)

Look at all these kiddos!

Surveying the land of eggs

"Mommy, whatcha doin'?"

*love*!

The Gift of Giving

Each year, my parents are way generous givers at Christmas. Each year, we always talk about it and about how we should instead organize a family project and do something "really meaningful" with our money instead of just using it to give things to each other. Implying, of course, (though definitely unintentionally), that giving gifts to each other isn't as meaningful.

And sometimes it's true. If we're honest, many times gifts aren't all that meaningful. Sometimes they're given out of obligation. Sometimes items get regifted in an effort to save money. Sometimes, the gift becomes the idol, and the sacrificial, selfless meaning behind a gift is entirely lost. Been there, done that for sure!

For some reason, though, each year our whole family is back around that Christmas tree giving gifts to one another. I think I know why...and it has something to do with the fact that my parents truly take pleasure in finding those gifts for their children that reach out and connect with us, that show their children that they truly take delight in us, that speaks that they know us both on a deep, heart level and also on a lighter, what-kind-of-things-make-you-smile level.

One of the things my parents seem to delight in giving to us are those rather "necessary" things (necessary being a relative term, of course) in life that just are sometimes a bummer to spend hard-earned dollars on. Like...

When I was in high school? Cool clothes.

In college? Expensive shampoo and conditioner.

As a wife? Starbucks!

And as a mom? Diapers. Always diapers.

This past year, my parents gave me a gift that would otherwise be beyond my budget but has since motivated me to do something I haven't been able to do as a mom: running. Now, ask me in high school if I would ever jump up and down over a jogging stroller and I would've given you the perfected, classic eye roll. Today.....well, that thing is priceless to me.

Thanks, mom and dad, for understanding and living out for me the picture God gives us in Luke 11:13 of how a (don't take the evil to mean more than what the scripture implies) parent willingly gives good gifts to their children. Maybe we'll make it around to a family project one day...but because that's what God lays on your heart, NOT because it holds more meaning!

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” -Luke 11:13 NIV

SNOW!!!

Seriously, this has been the snowiest winter since E was born, and definitely the first winter she's been able to enjoy it a little! Her favorite thing to do is EAT it. Her next favorite thing to do is.......EAT it. While her daddy and I had snowball fights, built snowmen, and made snow cream, she was happily content to just simply walk around and try to find the places where it would scrape off clean in her hand. Though I've been feeling pretty bummed about a recurring cold for most of the day, I have to admit - these sweet moments really brightened my day. :)

(Before you go on judging this mama, I just wish you could've heard the giggles that accompanied these slobbery canine kisses!

Trust me...worth it!!)

They are so cute it just kills me.

We Are The Champions

Roma Ultima

Yesterday we traveled a looooong six and a half hours in the car so that daddy could play in a frisbee tournament this weekend - his first ever!

Today was an equally long, but very fun day. E was by far the dirtiest person on the field by the end, and made quite a team mascot.

The count at the end of day one is 3 wins and 1 loss, with great hopes for being in the final championship game tomorrow!

Some of the day's best shots (from our perspective, anyway!):

Instant Gratification

We kick-started our Family Times tool today with a little note that I stuck in E's lunch bag. Like I said yesterday, I really have no expectations for how much she is going to glean from these things right now- the point for me is mostly to go ahead and begin habits that she grows into, and to not wait until she's already formed habits of her own that don't allow for opportunities to reflect on God's providence and provision for our lives.

But on the way home tonight from dinner, I heard these little words coming from the back seat,

"Mommy, I s-h-a-r-e with Bo. S-h-a-r-e. Special. Share with Bo. Sweet. Share, sweet."

And about halfway through agreeing with her that, yes, sharing with Bo was really sweet - it hit me. The note. Why didn't I start this the first day she was alive?!?!

The Star of the Show

As E creeps closer and closer to the big "2," her little personality is shining through more each day. It's amazing to see the ways in which she's like me, the ways in which she's like her daddy, and (the best part) the ways in which she's just E.

She's definitely an attention-seeker - of that I am certain. She has no problem breaking out a little white-girl dance in the middle of a highly public place; in fact, she did just that during a little playdate we had with a friend this morning. She's also becoming more and more aware of the camera, and on the way home last night began asking me to snap her picture while she made goofy poses in the back seat.

At the top of the list with white-girl-break-dancing is also karaoke; "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" is (appropriately) one of her favorites right now. My favorite line is, "Up above the world so high, Rocket diamond in the sky..."

The pictures and the video are from last night's movie-maker episode in the car seat. They're a little fuzzy, as all I had on me was my phone camera; but she was in rare form...a perfect time for capturing some candid memories, regardless of the quality.

Halloween 2009

Despite the drizzling rain, we all enjoyed watching E's delight grow as she realized - for the first time ever - if you say "Trick or Treat" (on Halloween), people give you candy. To my dismay, she also figured out very quickly that if you let mama hold your candy, she eats the chocolate pieces when you aren't looking.

Posing with Indiana

Trick-or-Treating: Our Very First House

Downtown Halloween Candy Extravaganza

Enjoying our Spoils

Grandparents and a Two-Year-Old

It's been a week full of grandparenting around here! We travelled over the weekend to see grandparents in South Carolina, then on to grandparents and great grandparents in North Carolina. Lots of fun, lots of sweet sweet memories, and lots of "2"-ish behavior. LOTS of it.

Thanks to access to TV (a luxury we don't offer at home), E has developed a crush on Blue, the canine star of the preschool show, Blue's Clues. I have to admit that I am encouraging it a little, as I am about to need some heavy incentives for potty training, and Blue is much more tolerable for this mama than Barney or Dora (and conveniently available via YouTube). I'm also working in a little Veggie Tales on the side, but since I'm guessing that Veggie Tales underwear is a little harder to come by than Blue's Clues, I'm hoping that the enjoyment of maybe both will stick around.

Words are beginning to morph into real phrases - not just the crazy jabber that we've heard up to this point. Some of my favorites from the weekend are most certainly, "Grandaddy, I want ice cream!" and "No way! Are you serious?" (a phrase she hears often from her daddy).

And, to my total embarrassment, she now points out the sign for Starbucks when we are driving down the road and says, "Coffee! Coffee, mama?" Yeah, that's nice...

A Seaman's Story

We spent some time on Monday morning with my husband's dad's dad (E's great-grandaddy Bost) and his wife, Jenny. When we went out for lunch, we somehow got on the topic of his history with the U.S. Navy during World War II, and I sat with a mouth open-wide as he told a story of how he - as an 18-year-old - not only survived a torpedo attack on the USS Donnell, a destroyer en route to Europe, but then also went on to join the forces in the attack on the beaches of Normandy.

At the time of the torpedo attack, he should have been asleep in his assigned bunk. Instead, he had traded bunks with another soldier that was on duty. If he had been in his assigned bunk, his life would have been taken along with the lives of the 29 other men that day. Instead, God had other plans.

He went back home after the war, back to his mom's house (who had signed a waiver for him to be able to join the Navy at the age of 17 at the time of the draft), back to his preacher to find out just why God had spared him his life that day. "I don't know why he chose to allow me to live that day," he said very candidly as we sat around the table.

Ohhhh...but I do Grandaddy Bost. I'm sure there's a million, but I've got living proof of one perfect little reason why God spared your life that day.

A Pumpkin Just My Size

Every year we carve pumpkins with the Bosts - L's dad, stepmom and brother, or now affectionately known as "Grandpa, Grandma, and Unca." E had a pumpkin that was just her size, and as it turned out, so did Indiana.

Productivity

Tonight was a working night at the house. For what seems like one of the first days in a while, the ground was finally dry enough to tackle mowing the lawn, and the weather cooperated to allow for some other outdoor chores as well. My rockin' husband picked up E, came home, mowed the lawn, cleaned out the gutters, swept off the roof, unloaded the dishwasher, washed the dog and helped with the laundry. I made dinner, staved off a starving child to "make it" until dinner, fed everybody, bathed E, cleaned up dinner, kept laundry moving, and swept floors throughout the house. I noticed about halfway through sweeping that E was being especially quiet and was playing really well with her toys in her room. I was proud of her. I was proud of myself for helping her to get to that point. I was a bit too proud.

For what she was really doing was pulling all of her clothes out of the drawers in her dresser and off the bottom rack of her closet and draping them all over her bedroom.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

When I was a kid, if I saw something I liked, I would just take it. My unregenerate heart simply had no regard for other people's stuff. I brought home several books from preschool. I would take pencils that I liked off of people's desks at school. I remember having to go back into a department store and return a magnet that I had stolen in the check-out line, per my dad's disapproving instruction. I took things from my sister all the time (maybe one of the reasons she's such an awesome person is that I cultivated a huge heart of grace in her...hahaha).

Today E and I had a little playdate, and when I went to clean out her bag tonight, I found this:

Three little pieces of fruit from her little friends' play kitchen. (To further demonstrate that this wasn't "an accident," she asked for them by name when I was emptying her bag. I didn't know what she was talking about until I stumbled upon them.) Sorry, J & E!! We'll return them ASAP. :)

It's a little bit funny, but it's also quite serious too. I don't want to overlook the fact that this could be a potential foothold in her life one day if not addressed early and talked about frequently; it certainly is an issue I have always dealt with. She has such a sweet, joyful heart even now in the midst of being a little thief - I can't wait to see what it's going to look like one day when it has been reclaimed by our Holy God and used for His incredible purposes!!

Play date kiddos:

(E, E, & E!)