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

superman

the kids were flying high like superman this afternoon. we all had lots of laughs and fun as i held them up with my feet. it made for some fun photos! (just don't look at my chipped off toenail polish, ok?)

isn't this face hilarious? i have no idea how he got his eyes to do that :)

it kinda looks like i'm stepping on him!
at least with ella's photos her hair is hanging down and you can tell she is up in the air!

more talent to show off!

it doesn't seem that long ago when my little ella was singing in her 3 yr old spring program. my how a year can change them! after the little 3 yr olds sang last night, the big 4 & 5 yr olds came on stage. ella seemed so much bigger than last year. but those sweet little cheeks, those cute little baby teeth, and that sweet singing voice helped remind me that she is still my little girl. she did such a great job last night. she sang all the words to the songs and knew all the motions and sign language. she watched her music teacher the ENTIRE time...she wouldn't even look over at us during the whole performance. she was so focused that she would barely crack a smile. i told her later that i wished she had looked at me so i could get a picture of her and she said, "mommy, i had to look at Ms. Jana because she told us to." well i'm glad she follows the rules at school at least! why can't she do that at home?! ha.

after they sang, we went to her classroom for their art show. she showed us all her cute artwork from the school year. my little artist was so proud...and so were her parents and grandparents!

my future rock star

looks like evan is following in his daddy's footsteps. rusty brought this old electric guitar home this past weekend after helping his parents clean out some things. it belonged to his grandmother! the kids enjoyed playing with it and we were able to capture evan singing "twinkle, twinkle".

i'm bloggining mommy

this is what evan would say if he were a blogger. the past 2 weeks he has changed all of his "ing" words and he has made it "ining".

a few examples:
"i'm not comining!"
"it's not workining"
"whatcha doining?"
"look mommy, i'm rollining"

i've heard him say all these things. and he used to say all the words correctly. i think it sounds so darn cute...so much so that i don't correct him! i even start talking like him. :) so i'm goining to take a shower now!

oh heavenly day

saturday night was a fun date night for r and i. we saw patty griffin in concert at the Tabernacle in atlanta. i take it that most people don't know who she is...every time we told someone where we were going on saturday, they would say, "who?". well she has the voice that i'm going to ask for when i get to heaven! i have been a fan of hers ever since rusty introduced me to her...but after hearing her live...i'm a huge fan and i fell in love with her voice even more. she can mesmerize you with her slow ballads yet can make you want to learn how to play guitar just so you can rock out with her...she is an amazingly talented singer/songwriter. i could've listened to her for hours longer on saturday night! she made life stop for me outside those walls. so thanks to patty for putting out another terrific album that i can sing my heart out to in the privacy of my mini van. can't wait to get to heaven so i can sing like her! (check out her myspace page if you want to hear her music...click on "Heavenly Day" and "No Bad News"...2 of my favorites)

we're still on a sugar high

i hope this sugar high is the only substance abuse high that my kids ever experience! it's almost as bad as halloween. but it was all fun. our friends marty and robyn came saturday and spent the night with us. ella was in heaven having her best friend, abby, staying at our house. they got to make bunny cupcakes together and enjoy all their easter basket loot together. i took many pictures of the 4 of them at church yesterday and this was the best out of the bunch...and it's still not too great! but don't they look cute? ella is definitely making a fashion statement with her tights and sandals. but with 30 degree weather...we had to come up with plan B! happy easter!

a good thursday and Good Friday

yesterday we drove down to my sister's house for the day. it was a fun thursday with the cousins and their grandparents. they decorated easter eggs and played fun games.

here's Gramma J with all her grandkids...

i think this photo is cute of all of them lined up listening to stacy give them directions about the game they were going to play...

evan had the best duck walk!

ella trying not to drop her egg...

as we drove to their house yesterday, we were listening to the cd "Share the Well" by Caedmon's Call. i love the second song and it really hit me yesterday. it actually brought tears to my eyes. it's called "There's Only One." and as we celebrate Good Friday today, i must say that i am overwhelmed that this One who chose me...to save me, to love me, to make me his daughter, to give me eternal life, to forgive me and show me His mercy, and to give me everything that He gives His Son. there truly is only One...only one savior who could save us from our life of sin. only one savior who would give his life in order that we would not have to be punished for that sin. there is only one who rose from that grave and conquered death. there is only one almighty God and i praise him for what he did for us through his son, Jesus, this easter weekend. there is no other one or no other thing that will ever satisfy.

here are the words to the song "There's Only One (Holy One)". you can go here to hear a clip.

Left his seamless robe behind
Woke up in a stable crying
Lived and died and rose again
Savior for a guilty land

It's a story like a children's tune
And it's grown familiar as the moon
So now I ride my camel high
And I'm aiming for the needle's eye

I chased the wind, but I chased in vain
I chased the earth, but it would not sustain

There's only one who never fails to beckon the morning light
There's only one who sets loose the gales and ties the trees down tight
When all around my soul gives way He is all my hope and stay
There's only one, only one Holy One

Lord, You are my Prince of Peace
but this war brings me to my knees
See there's a table You've prepared
And all my enemies are there
But where my Shepherd leads
Where else can I go
Who else fills my cup till it overflows

There's only one who never fails to beckon the morning light
There's only one who sets loose the gales and ties the trees down tight
To the Solid rock I fly Though He bids me come and die
There's only one, only one Holy One

the boy can be stubborn sometimes

this is the only way he will wear his glasses. upside down and on the outside of his ears. if you try and help him put them on the right way...you will hear crying and pouting. whatever makes him happy...and he is awfully cute wearing them.

evidently daddy has a higher IQ

some more quotes to write down. tonight ella and i were having another conversation about how she doesn't want to grow up. during our little talk i was asking her about her friend lydia who had a birthday recently and i asked her if she remembered how old lydia had turned on her birthday. she says, "no, i can't remember. but maybe we should ask daddy because he is smart." what?! maybe she is picking up on my mommy brain syndrome! i said, "so daddy is smarter than mommy?" and she said, "well mommy you are a little bit smart and daddy is smarter." we continued talking through this and she proceeded to giggle at her mommy's response!! there was no way i was going to let her continue to think her daddy was smarter than me...no way! :) so i guess daddy will be the one to help with her algebra homework in future years....(have fun, honey!).

i also wanted to mention another cute thing that evan says. whenever we take the kids to home depot or lowe's, they always want to get on the riding lawn mowers. right when we pull into the parking lot, evan always says, "i want to ride da mows!!" he picks out the lawn mower he wants to sit on...and says "i ride dis geen mow" (i ride this green mower). such a cutie pie.

kid talk

i've been hearing some cute things around here lately. i wish i could remember all the funny things that are said...but i have mommy brain (definition: the loss of memory brain cells after giving birth multiple times and from just keeping up with life in general!).

some quotes i actually remember:

evan: "i wear my hitball pajamas" (hitball is what he calls baseball...how cute is that?!)
-------
ella: "there's Backyard Burger!" (a fast food restaurant)
evan: "no, it's backyardigan burger!" ha ha
-------
as i was tucking ella in last night she says "mommy, daddy left my big pillows there until i get my new cardboard." we ordered her a new headboard for her bed and she called it cardboard.

i love hearing all these funny things they say. these kids are so much fun to listen to!!

i heart san francisco

so i guess you could say i left part of my heart in san francisco. i love that city...it's really beautiful and so many fun things to do and see. but i mostly enjoyed just being with my friends...and that is where i left some of my heart! katie and wendi are 2 of my best friends from college and i miss them tremendously. it never seems like there is enough time when i get to see them.

a photo wrap up of my time:
i spent wednesday with my friend wendi (who lives in the city) and she
took me to fisherman's wharf

and we at lunch at one of the many open air restaurants with fresh seafood

we shopped at Pier 39 and i bought the kids some fun prizes

i got to see the cute but obnoxious sea lions at the pier

i drove down the crookedest street (Lombard) and saw the famous "Painted Ladies"

we ate at a fantastic peruvian restaurant with karl & wendi and
talked, laughed, and reminisced for hours...great times!!!

and lastly, i got to spend a couple days with katie who delivered her 4th child on wednesday. i got to hold and snuggle baby elliot and enjoyed just sitting by katie's side...talking, watching american idol, and even sitting in silence while she slept. i'm so happy about my time with her.

rusty enjoyed his conference. and we got to go to dinner with our friends shane and ursula who also live out there. (we met them while r attended northwestern 6 years ago.) shane also works in prosthetics...and its always fun to see them and catch up. they treated us to a wonderful steak dinner! saturday r and i did a little shopping in the city before we had to leave. our hotel was right in the middle of tons of stores (yipee for me)...it was probably a good thing that i didn't have more time to shop! we were happy to see the kids when we picked them up at r's parents house. its just so fun to love on them and gaze into their sweet little eyes and just soak them up and try to make up for lost time. they did fantastic for both sets of grandparents....and we are super thankful we have wonderful parents who we can trust and depend on to help us out during times like this!! so long vacation. back to reality...got to go finish unpacking!

goin' back to cali....again!

i'm sure certain friends of mine (this one and this one to be specific) will give me a hard time for travelling yet again! but when your hubby is heading to san francisco for a conference and his company is footing the bill and when i have enough miles to fly for free as well AND two of my very best friends live there....WHY NOT!? it seemed like a no brainer. and this time we are going childless. my mom/dad and rusty's mom/dad are helping out with the kids while we are away.

can i tell you how excited i am!? first to be able to get away just rusty and i. i know he will be busy during the day with his conference...but we have a 5 hour flight together and nights to just hang out together and with our dear friends. and my friend kate is about to have her 4th baby any day now (i'm hoping today!!)...so i'm thrilled to get to meet her new baby boy! and i will be a free woman while i'm there....i can sleep in if i want to....go shopping in union square (where our hotel is)....go visit my friends, etc! i can't wait!! we're off tomorrow!