Many Faces...

I couldn't let you think (after seeing our recent family portraits) that my children were always posed and ready for pictures.  Here are just a few of Austin's many faces from our recent photo session...

 

Do you have a favorite Austin face? ;-)

Overdue Family Pictures...

It's been a good year (plus some) since our last family pictures...so, I think we were definitely overdue.  But do you know how hard it is (as a photographer) to put down the camera and let someone ELSE take the pictures?  You don't?  Well, trust me...it wasn't easy!  Thankfully, my Mom agreed to use my camera to take pictures of us yesterday, and I then did all of the post-processing on the pictures.  Here are a few favorites.

Now for the fun of picking which pictures to use to update the blog pictures... ;-)  It's amazing to see how much the kids have changed in a year!

Homemade Tigers

15 minutes into quiet time...
while Mommy makes a few phone calls...
and we surprise her as...

HOMEMADE TIGERS!!

And Mommy just laughed, cried, and considered a little screaming...

Impromptu Bowling...

Saturday morning, we decided to take the kids to the Arsenal library...one of their favorite places.  While there, we decided we'd also enjoy an impromptu bowling trip on the Arsenal, as we'd heard such great things about their bowling alley.  {I didn't have my camera with me, so the below pictures from my phone will have to do for this memory.}

The kids were BEYOND excited when they heard the news...honestly, I didn't think we'd even get them to eat their pizza before bowling (as planned).  But, they tried their pizza and didn't stop eating until it was pretty much demolished :-)  Then, on to the bowling fun...

Katie using the dinosaur's back to help her position/roll the ball down the lane...why didn't they have these when I was a young bowler?? ;-)

Austin - super excited about his bowling fun...and the funny little characters that started singing and dancing on the screen after each turn.  :-)

It's Austin's turn now!  He was pretty good!!  He even beat me! (but that doesn't say that much...)

our final score (don't laugh too hard...I haven't touched a bowling ball since early college years...a good 6 or so years ago!)

We'll definitely be returning for more bowling fun...and highly recommend it over any other bowling lanes around, if you have access to the base :-)

Summing up Life| Parenting Woes & Encouragement

A friend shared this article the other day, and it was just the parenting encouragement that I needed.  I encourage you all to read Kevin DeYoung's "Parenting 001" article, as well.

As for our house...the following excerpt pretty much sums up our life with the kids right now {in a humorous, but oh so true, way}:

Excerpt from "Parenting 001" by Kevin DeYoung

 I don’t consider myself a particularly good parent. I was asked to speak a few years ago at some church’s conference. They wanted me to talk about parenting. I said I didn’t have much to say so they should ask someone else (which they did). My kids are probably not as crazy as they seem to me (at least that’s what I keep telling myself anyway), but if I ever write a book on parenting I’m going to call it The Inmates Are Running the Asylum.

There are already scores of books on parenting, many of them quite good. I’ve read several of them and have learned much. I really do believe in gospel-powered parenting and shepherding my child’s heart. I want conversations like this:

Me : What’s the matter son?
Child : I want that toy and he won’t give it to me!
Me : Why do you want the toy?
Child : Because it will be fun to play with.
Me : Do you think he is having fun playing with the toy right now?
Child : Yes.
Me : Would it make him sad to take the toy away?
Child : I guess so.
Me : And do you like to make your brother sad?
Child : No.
Me : You know, Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. That means loving your brother the way he would want to be loved. Since Jesus loves us so much, we have every reason to love others–even your brother. Would you like to love him by letting him play with the toy for awhile?
Child : Yes I would daddy.


I try that. Really I do. But here’s what actually happens:


Me: What’s the matter son?
Child : I want that toy and he won’t give it to me!
Me : Why do you want the toy?
Child : I don’t know.
Me : What’s going on in your heart when you desire that toy?
Child : I don’t know.
Me : Think about it son. Use your brain. Don’t you know something?
Child : I guess I just want the toy.
Me : Obviously. But why?
Child : I don’t know.
Me : Fine. [Mental note: abandon "why" questions and skip straight to leading questions.] Do you think he is having fun playing with the toy right now?
Child : No.
Me : Really?! He’s not having fun? Then why does he want that toy in the first place?
Child : Because he’s mean.
Me : Have you ever considered that maybe you are being mean by trying to rip the toy from his quivering little hands?
Child : I don’t know.
Me : What do you know?
Child : I don’t know!
Me : Nevermind. [I wonder how my brilliant child can know absolutely nothing at this moment.] Well, I think taking the toy from him will make your brother sad. Do you like to make him sad?
Child : I don’t know.
Me : [Audible sigh.]
Child : He makes me sad all the time!
Me : Well, I’m getting sad right now with your attitude! [Pause, think, what would Paul Tripp do?  Thinking . . . .thinking . . . .man, I can't stop thinking of that mustache. This isn't working. Let's just go right to the Jesus part.] You know, Jesus wants us to love each other.
Child : I don’t know.
Me : I didn’t ask you a question!
Child : [Pause.] Can I have some fruit snacks?
Me: No, you can’t have fruit snacks. We are talking about the gospel. Jesus loves us and died for us. He wants you to love your brother too.
Child : So?
Me : So give him the toy back!

Then I lunge for the toy and the child runs away. I tell him to come back here this instant and threaten to throw the toy in the trash. I recommit myself to turning down speaking engagements on parenting.

As funny as it is to read, this scenario happens more often than I can count in our household right now...especially with our oldest.  While I find humor in it, and even a little comfort in knowing I'm not the only one who deals with this, I also must seek to continue to be the godly parent that I know I need to be for my children.  So, I'm praying for more patience...more wisdom...and more of God's wonderful grace!

Awakening | Book Review

I was recently given the opportunity by Blogging for Books to read and review Awakening by Stovall Weems. This book initially intrigued me as it stated “21 days to revolutionize your relationship with God”. No matter how devoted to Christ you are, what Christian would not have the desire to get even closer to God? There is an over-abundance of self-guided devotionals to strengthen/challenge your relationship with God, so there was an immediate question as to how different this book could possibly be from all of the others out there.

Though I’m sure there are plenty of books that hit on many of the same ideas/topics mentioned in Weems’ book, I think he did a great job getting down to earth with each reader…encouraging them that no matter where you’ve been, you can still have the ‘awakening’ in your spiritual life. Weems had no problem going back into his past and giving examples to let readers know that his life was far from perfect, but he still awakened his spiritual life.

This book includes 21 days of prayer, fasting, and personal devotions that are easy to read and apply, regardless of your knowledge in the faith. I was impressed with the author’s honesty and down-to-earth talk in the book. While I’m sure there are equal books to aid in spiritual growth, I think this one is worth reading and trying, as you try to dig deeper into the Word of God and learning more about Him.

Something's fishy...

Due to the tornadoes in our area and the widespread power outages it caused, we made an unplanned visit to our Mobile family for a long weekend.  We enjoyed getting to spend extra time with our family (and the power/hot water, as well)!

While there, we were able to take the kids fishing.  This was Katie's 2nd time to fish and Austin's 1st.  They were both SO excited about their fishing trip!  Here are a few pictures of them catching their fish :-)

Katie caught a fish!!

So proud of her first catch!

Who would have though Katie would have TOUCHED her fish!?

Bless Austin's heart...he waited to fish all day, but was so worn out that he fell asleep on the way to Pawpaw's to fish.  I had to wake him up to hopefully give him a few minutes of fishing time (I knew he'd be heartbroken if he slept through it all). 

Watching Pawpaw get ready to let Austin fish.

He loves his Pawpaw time.

Looks like he caught something!

Austin's first catch!!

"Look at my fish!"

And, a family fishing outing just wouldn't be complete without a little silliness...

So thankful for the extra time with the family we had, even though the circumstances weren't the best.

Wordless Wednesday (a day late...)

Katie and her "adopted" kitten...she shares our neighbors cats with him...on a daily basis.  Austin is always nearby, chasing the other kitten.  They love these cats...just not certain that the cats always love them ;-)