Faces of us - Defying the Odds - and a Book for Wayward Weathery Days

Look at this face. He's still really cute when he's angry.

Oh wow, I have a feeling these two boys are going to raise much mischief in our home. This looks like they are scheming already.

Look at their chins. I love how the shadow shows their matching dimples.

The forcast calls for cool, windy, rainy weather this week. It's June for Pete's sake. BLAH! YUCK! KC reminded me that Hawaii will be that much sweeter in light of this ongoing blah Northern Idaho weather.

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In baby news: Go Lewis go! Grow Grow Grow. I took him to the doctor last week. He's in the 95th percentile for heigth. It would be a joyous thing to pass up his parents in this catergory.

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In book news: We took a bunch of books to a bookstore that gives store credit and came home with some real gems. I'm currently engulfed in one of them; a book written by Eugene H Peterson entitled, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: a conversation in spiritual theology. It is a beautifully written book, very poetic and full of conviction. I'm sure I'll be sharing some great qoutes and ideas that have really hit home with me.

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Hit and Miss

No one told me that when your child no longer needs diapers things get worse before they get better. I thought that no diapers meant that "waste" would be designated in a nice and clean fashion in the toilet. This is a false notion in our home. This is an example of what I mean:


I'm reading in the living room when the almost-3 year old comes in and says, with his britches around his ankles, "I went poopoo in potty Mommy. I went pee on the floor."
Awesome.


I have also learned that potty training, for me, would be nearly impossible without Clorox Wipes. Little boys are messy and their aim is poor. I follow up every bathroom break with Clorox Wipes.

Closer to 30.

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. This is what we did:

Slept in.
Breakfast at Old European.
Lazy drive to the Big City of Spokane.
Banana Republic.
Sellas for Dinner.
Cookie Dough Ice Cream.
and
an episode of The Office.

Lewis also gave me a birthday gift: he slept for 8 hours last night. He's a stud.

This Boy

This little face makes me melt. He is so hilarious. I wonder if he knows how much joy and laughter he brings to our home. Here's an example of what comes out of his mouth:

(in the bathtub)

Colson: Is that my bottom right there?
KA: Yes
C: Is that a hole right there?
KA: Yes, and don't touch it, please.
C: Is that a hole right there, where the poop lives?
KA: Yes, Colson, that's where the poop lives. Did you hear me!?! Don't touch it!

and this one this morning after he tried to pick Lewis up off the sofa (don't worry I promptly intervened):

KA: Colson, no, you don't try to pick up your brother.
Colson: yeah, that's only for womenses.

The Evolution of a Coffee Junkie

It all started for me with the Starbuck's Frappuccino....isn't that where it always starts? I was in college. I was Baptist. Our version of going out for "drinks" involved what was evoked from a espresso machine and not from a pub or club or bar. Actually, I take that back, I can remember my first espresso dating back to high school. Mulino, Oregon is a town with a population less than 3,000. My oldest friend and I decided to pay the first and newest in-town business a visit, which was a rinky-dinky drive through espresso stand. We walked. I ordered a Latte. She ordered a Mocha. I was a rookie. I didn't know that it would have been a better idea to order a flavor to accompany my latte. I hated it. I liked my friend's mocha a little bit more. (or the chocolate in it no doubt). It wasn't until college, however, that this kind of socializing happened on a regular occasion. I remember moving on from the Frappuccino to the white mocha. I felt more like a coffee drinker with something other than the Frap. It's such a beginner's drink. From there I started dating a hunk (whom I married) who drank Americanos. He liked the real stuff, no artificial gunk, but the rich flavor of true coffee accented with cream. I suppose this is where it became serious for me. Once I could drink coffee for the sake of coffee, and no longer for the sake of having a sweet treat over conversation, I knew that it was here to stay. I still enjoy a 1/2 the chocolate mocha or a 1 pump-vanilla caramel machiatto here and there, but on a normal morning we've been relying on freshly ground beans and our in-house French Press. Rich and delicious without much bitter. Just how we like it.

I'm curious, particularly from those of you that commented on my last post and share a love with me of your cup of Java, how did it start for you? Did you start with a tin of Folgers and a black Mr. Coffee pot? or did you start out like me, with the sweet stuff that evolved into the richness and joy of the pure flavor? Do you still only drink coffee from a "coffee shop"? or, did you start drinking coffee in some greasy-spoon diner somewhere? Let's here it.

Confessions of an Addict

I know that I'm not the only one, but I have this habit/obsession/addiction/chronic enjoyment of a morning cup of coffee. When Lewis was born he was quite disgruntled, so much so that I cut out coffee and chocolate in an attempt to ease the grumbling. When this didn't really seem to make much difference I jumped back on board the coffee train with quick enthusiasm. I enjoy it so much that I try to find some sort of pastry to accompany the flavor, even if that means a morning cookie. (hey, it was oatmeal raisin. Doesn't that count for something? The raisin part in itself is a compromise.) I know that some day my metabolism won't allow for this kind of indulgence, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Is this coffee thing a nation-wide condition, or it is a sure sign that I was raised in the great Pacific Northwest?

waking up to this:

Craft On

This weekend, finally, I was able to sew this fab apron. The pattern is out of Amy Butler's newest book. And this fabric is from her Lotus line. I love it. I wanted to cook up an awesome meal for dinner just so that I could be sporting my newest kitchen accesory.
We had a great long weekend: dinner with friends, park dates with the boys, naps, sewing, worship, and good food.
p.s. We also had poopie diapers and lots of baby toots and burps. But Colson is now officially potty trained - so potty trained, in fact, that he's leaving the house with undies on and telling us when he needs to go. KC and I thought this day may never come, and we're overjoyed!

JoJo the Idiot Circus Boy

Ok people, you know this scene from Tommy Boy right? What I particularly want to illustrate through this is video is the way Tommy treats the Biscuit. I have to laugh about this, because, seriously, this is how something in me wants to treat Lewis. When I say, "I could gobble him up, or "I want to just squeeze him" I'm kind of not exaggerating. I honestly want to just squeeze. Obviously, I don't really want to hurt him and crumble him like Tommy did the biscuit, but I do have to control myself, and that's why this clip is just so perfect. And I'm sure when I get in those moods and Lewis sees his mom hovering over him almost convulsing and moving her arms like a cheerleader all over the place, he already knows that she's coo-coo.
poor children.
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JoJo the Idiot Circus Boy

...Continued from above...

Is there anybody out there that can understand what I'm saying? Sometimes to curb my over-excited affection I'll dance with him around the apartment. It's a good way to get out some of my energy and to have him close.

He's just so cute, those lips, the onsies, the social smiles....it's all too much for me, and I know that it he will be too old for this type of mothering oh so soon.

"things that make you go Awwww"

Sweet Lewis. I love every minute with you.

I love this picture. These two know how to have a good time together.

and ahhhhh, (sigh) Beautiful Oregon, oh how the mountains help me breathe easy.

Ali & Jonathan

We drove down to Southern Oregon this past weekend to celebrate the union between Ali and Jonathan (Ali is KC's sister). It was a touching ceremony and the perfect evening to wed. The following couple posts are my favorite pictures of the evening.

Ali & Jonathan

more favs

and more Favs

Our Saturday Story

Adventure Seeking

He's Scrumptious

"Take me to Summer"

We've got things to be excited about this summer.
We're going to Hawaii with KC's family. We're all beside ourselves in anticipation. Colson says that these sandals will "take me to summer." Come summer come!
and
My eldest brother, Mitchell Jack is getting married to the lovely Miss Jessica late August. Ok sandals, "Take me to summer!"

Last nights show and woe

Last night Husband was out of town . I did what any woman would do in my situation. I bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's "Triple Fudge Brownie" and rented a chick flick.

Ben & Jerry came through fantastically. The chick flick lacked everything I value in a movie. uhgg. I should have known. It was very distasteful and my hand was on the fast forward button through a third of the movie, not all because of inappropriate content, but because it was just lame.

ok ladies, any movie recommendations for another rare night alone? Who knows when that day will come, but when it does, I'm going to be prepared.

I wanted to get an older Bette Midler movie with Robert Redford to boot....someone stole it from the rental store. Maybe next time I'll just go with something I know and have already seen: Pride and Prejudice, Wives and Daughters, Sabrina, Casablanca, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Roman Holiday....now these are movies worth watching more than once.

Soiled Britches and Kingdom Work

Things are busy around here. Never a dull moment as I'm running from the baby to the potty, to the sink to wash my hands, to the changing table, to the sink again, to the cheerios, to laugh at a funny face, to the cheerios on the floor, to the washing machine and the soiled onsies, to the banged chin that needs a kiss, to the crying baby in the next room, to the boy that needs me to read a book, to the dishes, to nurse the baby, to make the bed, to the potty, to the sink again, to burp the babe, to ......are you catching my drift?

I'm finding that I'm running around my apartment most of the time, trying to fill up the tank in this lovable little toddler and care for my newborn and be a good help-mate to my hard working man. It's a full time job, and to do a good job takes grace, prayer, hard work, diligence, and organization. There, I said it, "organization". It's been a word I've loathed. That I've tried to rebel from. I used to live my life crying out, "spontaneity is the life for me! It's much more fun and free!" Well, I recant those words now. It's been impossible to live like that with these two little children, and when I do live that way, I'm finding that frustration and impatience set in quickly (and I don't do a very good job taking care of my husband this way either). What's free about that? I have discovered finally that freedom comes after I have done the dirty work of planning and organizing, whether that be the laundry and the meals or the putting my mind in the right place through prayer and the Word. It's only after I am organized that my family will be, and it's after my heart is right that i can take care of them the way they need to be taken care of.

When KC and I were dating, and even early on in our marriage, I remember specifically saying that I had never felt like such a "girl" before with all these new emotions and vulnerabilities and duties to care for the heart of a man. This changed me greatly. After having Colson I was overwhelmed with this new task of motherhood. I wrote this on the subject: "Never have I felt so right, so able, so in my place, so loved, or so capable of giving love as I do now." This new world of mother took on a new world of woman to me, of nurture. It took me away from me and pointed me somewhere out, caring entirely for another person. This made me a better wife and only added to my role there as lover, friend, and helper. I specifically remember being overwhelmed at this beautiful calling, and my home on this earth became something more, something more human and real and more valuable. Astonishing to me, this was only the beginning of a lifetime of giving.

And now, here, in my home and in my nurture are two little arrows and one incredibly strong and loving man. Now that my days are truly full of poop and pee and milk and spit up and more poop and messes every which way I turn my head, it's a glory! It's a glory because Jesus says, "And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." (Matthew 10:42). Giving a cup of cold water is Kingdom work, for Jesus' sake. Don't mind if I do. :)

When I'm feeling exasperated after sweeping a pan full of mess off of the floor for the 3rd time before dinner, or when the laundry pile turns into a self perpetuating monster, or when the baby won't stop grumbling, or when my toddler needs a day of one correction after another, I can be encouraged knowing that here and now, in the earthiness of this mess, is the glory of Kingdom living and work. I'm serving God right where I'm at. I'm building my house and enabling my husband to be the man God created him to be while shaping my boys to be Rumreys, Dragon Slayers, and to go forth from my nest with great fruit, for Kingdom work, for Jesus' sake. This work of woman, of wife, of mother, I'm discovering, is a work of sacrifice. Oh the glory and joy that are given to us when we embrace this giving work.