what to do with my prime time

may sweeps are over. no american idol, no grey's anatomy, no 24 or lost...now how do i spend my time?! oh yeah, maybe i could finish cleaning out my laundry room or actually vaccuum my bedroom. or maybe i could pick up one of the many books that are sitting on my shelf that i have never read. i've never been a big reader. it's just not something that i would choose to do in my spare time...other than reading my Real Simple magazine (does that count as reading?!). i think i want to become a reader though. in the past, i have tended to choose non-fiction Christian theological books to read in hopes that i might gain some spiritual ground. i then get halfway through the book and get bored with it because 1. i often have no idea what they are talking about and 2. i don't read regularly and i end up having to read previous chapters over again and then i just get frustrated at how long it takes me to finish it! so, those books end up dusty and back on my bookshelf. however, there are a few fiction books that i have been sucked into because they are fun to read and i can't put them down. this is what i need. i think if i found some great books that will take me to another place (just like my tv shows!), then i will enjoy it. and maybe...just maybe...i could call myself a reader. so i need your help. will you give me some recommendations of some GREAT books you have read? help me become a better reader, ya'll!

i couldn't write a post without posting a picture. this has nothing to do with reading but everything to do with our weekend in nashville with the walters. here are the kids having fun on a swing. they had a great time playing together this weekend!! thanks walters...we miss you!

picking strawberries

yesterday we went with my parents, sister, and her kids to pick strawberries at a local farm. evan mainly just walked around picking a few random strawberries that didn't look so good...but i give him an 'A' for trying! he also was obsessed with the pink flags that were supposed to be markers of where you leave off so the next person will know where to start. so a lot of help he was when he started pulling up flags everywhere! ella mainly stayed with her cousins, lane and grace, because they are much more fun to be with than mommy evidently! she had fun and that's what matters! then we had a picnic at a beautiful park near the strawberry farm and they played their little hearts out. it was a great day. (except for the HORRIBLE meltdown that ella had when she had to say goodbye to her cousins!! i had to literally drag her to the car.)

they were watching a grasshopper.

they oughta be in pictures

i had some fun taking pictures of the kids last night. they were outside playing "hitball", as evan calls it, with their new tee ball set. these were some of my favorites.

motherhood

motherhood is the most challenging, exhausting, selfless, yet rewarding job i've ever experienced. i never knew how much love i could give until i had my two children. and i never knew just how much God would use them to show me how much i need Jesus. i will never be the perfect mother....but i have a perfect God. and i hope that some day my children will be able to look back and see how God used them to help me run to Him in desperation....repent to Him with a sorrowful heart...and love and enjoy all the things that He does. my kids have changed my life....they have brought joy to me that i've never known before. they bring smiles and laughter to my life every day. every day also brings struggles in motherhood, but it's things like these sweet little duck duck goose games that i want to be engraved in my memory forever.....



HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

yesterday and today

what a difference a day makes. here's my little peanut showing off her amazing talent of writing block letters yesterday. she did this for the first time several months ago and i was quite impressed! my friend sara was actually concerned that her 4 yr old boy was not up to par after she saw ella's writing! but i think its probably unusual for little ones to be able to do this at this age....or maybe i'm just fooling myself in thinking i have a super talented little one! at any rate, mama was proud and wanted to show the world. i remember when i was younger doing the same thing...so i guess it's in the genes!



and then comes today. it actually started last night. we were at community group and the kids were playing outside. ella suddenly started screaming and crying and complaining about something being in her eye. we flushed out her eye and let her hold a wet washcloth on it. she cried off and on the rest of the night. she was miserable. she tends to be overly dramatic over her injuries....so i gradually lost compassion as the night progressed. about 5 times during the night she cried out in pain. this morning when she got up, her eye was all red and swollen. i knew then that all of it wasn't an act. we took her to our pediatrician and he immediately said we needed to take her to a pediatric opthomologist. thankfully, rusty cleared his schedule to go with me (and thanks to sam for watching evan!). he held her the whole time while the doctor scanned her eye and then had to fold the eyelid back to find a big brown speck that had been in there all night! poor thing...when i took a look at that piece of dirt or whatever it was, i felt so sorry for her and it certainly explained all the crying! ella did a GREAT job and we were so proud of her going through all of that. she now has a cool eye patch that she will wear til the morning. she also had an abrasion on her eye which we will have to treat with ointment. she has been such a trooper today....she was rewarded with a milkshake after her dr. visit and a mexican dinner tonight! we are just so happy that she is ok!

our trip to the zoo

our friends took us to zoo atlanta last friday and we had such a great time. ella loved seeing the elephants (her favorite animal). i'm not quite sure which animal was evan's favorite...i think he liked seeing them all...he certainly enjoys talking about all of them! my favorite were the gorillas. the mama gorilla had some adorable baby gorillas and they were quite entertaining to watch! here are a few of my favorite photos from the day.

ella thought this orangutan was hilarious...his hair was so long it looked like dreadlocks!

lydia, ella, benjamin & evan