student of the month

Micah's teacher chose him for the student of the month for the month of August.  I went to eat lunch with Micah one Friday and the first thing she told me was that he was going to be her student of the month.  She was so sweet as she told me that he amazes her in his work ethic and behavior.  In her words, "when you tell him to put his stuff away he does it and when you say don't run in the hall he doesn't!  I just look at him and say Micah May where have you been all my life!?"

We attended the SOM celebration and the principal called each child up and read what their teacher had written about them.  His said...

Micah is the perfect student to receive this honor!  He listens and follows directions, performs at his personal best each day and produces beautiful work!  I love Micah's enthusiasm and eagerness to learn!

I love that boy oh so much!!!  The mama and teacher in me loves watching him do his work and see his brain working overtime because it's starting to click and thinking in ways it never has before.  I love listening to him read and sound out new words and watching his face light up when  he shares something new he knows and hear him say "man I can really read"  I love answering his questions about how things are spelled and what new words mean.  I love listening to him 'trick me' by counting in different ways and adding things up in his head and watching his finger write in the air as he's thinking.  But do not fear he does have flaws ;) 

My handsome Micah May is a typical first born child.  A sweet OCD rule follower with a hint of perfectionist.  He loves being at school and does a great job with his work there and at home.  However,  he is overly concerned with following each rule to the letter and can think negatively about those who do not and he already gets upset if he doesn't get something right.  I spent one morning on the way to school while he was in tears trying to convince him that it was ok that he didn't know all his sight words already.  Some days it as if I'm looking in a mirror.  I understand his mind and heart because it is so like my own and we are each growing and improving during these talks and situations

Like all of us, he will have to learn that you can't be right all the time and you can't know everything.  You will learn, you will try, you will succeed and you will fail and through each of those things you will grow into the person God is molding you to be and in each of those moments there should be joy.

passion band

There are many attributes I hope my children have that range from living out the gospel and incorporating the fruit of the spirit in their daily relationships to being able to clean and house and cook themselves and one day their wife a meal.  

One very big hope in that wide spectrum is to possess the musical talents of their daddy.  I was in choir and don't embarrass anyone when I sing, at least I don't think so.  I also played in the band and danced so I have rhythm but my brain does not feel music the way Zach's does.  I have to learn the skills like most people but he can hear it and do it.  I would love for our boys to have that from him and lately there have been glimpses that it's true.

Micah has always been able to hum songs from memory after hearing them and had pretty good pitch too.  Zach has always played fun songs for them to dance to and sing along with but recently they've both been paying close attention to different songs at church and become obsessed with listening to them over and over and playing along with them.

Connor likes to be the front man.  He sings loud and practices the lyrics over and over with a little help from Micah.  Micah likes to stay in the back, so no one will see him, and play the drums and coach Connor on volume and keep him on beat.  Micah has stayed up in his bed practicing each song and was so happy when Zach taught him how to count the drum beats.  He even talks in drum talk now which totally cracks me up and watching them is so much fun because they are about the cutest things ever!

There current favorite songs are Always, Here For You, One Thing Remains, God Is Able and the songs from their VBS cd from this past summer.

There's no way to know if this is a phase or the beginning of a love for playing music.  Whichever it is music will always be a part of their lives and I pray they feel God in it and use it for his glory whether from performance or in the audience.

10 months

Logan turned 10 months old last Saturday and he looks like he's grown/matured a TON in the last month.  He's becoming such a fun little thing and slowly leaving his baby ways behind even though the two big ones, nursing and NOT sleeping through the night, are still alive and well.  

However, he plays so well with his brothers, on his own and with us that I forgive him for those pesky things and am enjoying this stage so much.  It's one of my favorites.  While I clean up a lot of his adventurous messes it's worth it to see the discovery that is beginning.  

Logan also...

* has given up all baby food except for his oatmeal in the mornings and baby yogurt in the afternoons.  He hates yo baby yogurt but loves strawberry Gerber Yogurt.  It's a challenge some days to figure out what to feed him but so far he has really enjoyed noni cheese, pasta alfredo, ravioli (not chef boyardee cause that's disgusting actual real (from the freezer section) ravioli), and basically anything else pasta related, sweet potato fries, green beans, black beans, yellow rice (it's a fav), grits, toast, banana and apple sauce.  He will not eat meat of any kind yet but hopefully we'll figure that out soon.

*is very ticklish under his arms and on his ribs

*can cruise very slowly on the table or couch but not so good at the corners yet.

*likes to roll a ball back and forth to you

*likes to push cars, trucks, etc

*likes to place all toys, random objects and paper (especially paper) in his mouth

*will push the laundry basket so I got the walker and Connor's old ride on 'Mater from the attic so he could practice walking and pushing those two.  He usually starts on his feet and then almost immediately goes to his   knees and takes off.  

*is not a fan of trying to walk by holding your hands but he will pull up on anything and let go and stay standing for about half a second.

*still wakes up once every night/wee hour of the morning

*is down to one nap a day which for either of my other children would have been awful but for him is amazing.  He's up for about 4 hours in the morning then takes about an 1 1/2-2 hour nap which overlaps with Connor's rest time by 30 minutes - 1 hour which means I have a quiet house in the middle of the day!!!  Happy Mama Dance!!!  

*the one nap thing does mean though that by about 5:30 he is C.R.A.N.K.Y but between eating and taking a bath, which is his favorite thing in the entire world,  we can usually make it to 6:45-7:00 before it's bedtime.

out of doors

The weather is getting downright beautiful so my blondies and I enjoyed the new grass in the front yard for the first time.  There was lots of throwing, kicking, crawling and falling.  Very entertaining for all involved.

sunday song

Just so you know when you read Romans 8:28 Paul seriously means ALL things.  Even scrapbooking!

Yesterday I was given, and by given I mean I asked Zach please oh please let me escape to Archivers for a day and get some scrapbooking done and he graciously said absolutely put it on the calendar, the opportunity to go to my favorite scrapbooking store and work on my never ending list of scrap pages for my handsome threesome.  I hadn't had time to haul my stuff out in the while and the last pictures I had gotten done were before Christmas 2010!  Which just means that poor Logan wasn't even in my belly yet let alone on a page anywhere.

I got there at 1:30 and left at 10:30 and it was a great 9 hours that pretty much helped in every aspect of my mind, heart and soul.  My mama brain got some time off, my type A personality checked off a lot from the scrapbook list (yes I have a list), my creative side was in crafty heaven, and my soul spent over 9 hours when you count the car ride being flooded in music and prayer.  I came home that night with a peace I hadn't felt in a while and 28 pages done!


Perfect Peace
Laura Story

Stay close by My side,
Keep your eyes on Me, 
Though this life is hard,
I will give you perfect peace,

In this time of trial,
Pain that noone sees,
Trust me when I say,
I will give you perfect peace,

And you'll never walk alone,
And you'll never be in need,
Though I may not calm the storms around you, 
You can hide in Me,

Burdens that you bear,
Offer no relief, 
Let Me bear your load,
Cause I will give you perfect peace,

Stay close by My side,
And you'll never walk alone, 
Keep your eyes on Me, 
And you will never be in need, 
Though this life is hard, 
Know that I will always give you perfect peace,
I will give you perfect peace...

bye bye mullet

Micah got his first hair cut at 10 months because he was so fratastical it was ridiculous!

Connor got his first hair cut at 18 months because it took that long for the front of his head to catch up with the back.  

Logan just got his first hair cut at 9 1/2 months because the mullet in the back was just too much for me to look at anymore.  Not to mention the feathery hair at the top of his head that was just so fine and wispy it constantly got entangled especially when he spit food in his hand and rubbed the top of his head.

I have cut Micah's hair since before he was two because barber shops freaked him out.  Also they butchered him the few times we did talk him into going.  Connor decided since I cut Micah's hair I can cut his too.  It's not my favorite because his hair is so fine you can't hide mistakes but I'm getting better.  Well at least I think I am.  

Because of these great "successes" I decided to just go ahead and start cutting Logan's from the get go. I have very particular ideas about things occasionally ;) and didn't want someone screwing up my baby's head!  He did a GREAT job sitting still and letting me cut it.  Zach's job was to take pictures and Micah and Connor's job was to keep his hands full of lil' crunchies which are Logi Bear crack.  Veggie Dip only please he will take no substitutions.  My sweet baby turned sweet boy in a few short minutes and I love it!

Before

During

After.

Love that handsome thing!

may, logan may

I'm not entirely sure why but when I look at this picture I immediately think Daniel Craig...James Bond.

be transformed

I had this post planned out in my head this morning and now as I sit down to write it I've gone blank.  I hate when that happens.  It would be easier if these exact thoughts were going through the head of my sister in law Katie because she is much better at sorting through things and getting them out in writing so that it all makes sense.  However, I am not her and my thoughts do not always make sense, just asks my husband as during a "discussion" as all my frustrations come spilling out in who knows what order until they're all out and just floating in the air until we look and figure out what is really going on!  So here it goes...

One of my favorite things when we joined CCC eight (wow EIGHT!) years ago was my women's group.  I had never had the blessing of being a part of a group of women who's sole purpose was to study the word, speak truth and wisdom to each other, encourage one another while being understanding and honest about themselves and their own struggles.  I've had this discussion with some people but to the ones who I haven't I hope you understand what I'm about to share.  The last couple of books/studies we did felt different to me. While it was still an enjoyable evening to get a night out and be with other women, there was something missing.  

I was about to share my thoughts on why and what happened but then deleted it.  If you are curious just ask and I'll try to explain it the best I can.  Instead here and now I'll just say that it fizzled shortly after and for the last year due to lack of leadership has no longer been a ministry at my church.  As much as I have missed it looking back I knew it was for a purpose and just prayed that God would place that in my life again.  I, unfortunately, will probably never learn that His timing and His plans are always better than my own and that I need to just get over the fact that things are not going to happen immediately just because I want them to.  However I will also never cease to be amazed at the beauty of how my creator's plans come to fruition and the intricate paths He takes each of our hearts through to have them all perfectly prepared for what He has in store.

This morning I attended a kick off brunch for the new women's group at Christ Community Church and as I sat in my seat at a gorgeously dressed table created by a freshly graduated college student who oozes God's grace and as I sat around with friends and sisters in Christ singing praises to our King and as I listened to each other share their hearts about women's ministry and saying we can't speak truth and wisdom to each other until our goal is to allow God to continually transform us to be more and more like Christ, I almost wept.  The fact that Micah and Connor and I just made a painting this summer with the theme verse just further shows me how fun God is in his preparations!

Thank you Father!  Thank you for answering the prayers of so many, thank you for loving me enough to show me my own sin and wanting to transform me and use me in your Kingdom.  Thank you for the women you have and will place in each of our lives to speak truth to us in love.  Thank you for what you will show us and when we rebel against it and try to think of ourselves more highly than we should, thank you for helping us see that we need to come humbly to the throne of grace and be filled with you alone.  Even when it hurts and confuses I know it will soon be replaced with joy and peace.  I'm ready...let's do this!

labor day

We took advantage of the long weekend to visit my family.  Sadly it's probably the last time we'll be able to get down there until Christmas so we really were excited about our visit.  *sidenote:  I am BEYOND thankful that there is someone Zach trusts to fill in for him at church.  Thanks Donovan! Who doesn't read my blog but still thanks!*  It was one of those blessed weekends with no fights between the kids and no drama of any kind (not that there usually is mom) so it was just good.  We packed a lot of stuff into the weekend which included meeting my brother's wonderful girlfriend, watching football, getting crafty, eating way too much food, visiting my other brother's new church, celebrating our niece Abby's 2nd birthday, doing a photoshoot (Zach) our nieces Keelie and Kayden, having a double night sleepover with our oldest niece Haley, watching all the cousins play A LOT and just hanging out.

Taking Logan on his first 'car' ride

The result of our crafternoon.  This was attempt number 3.
 I didn't like my system in number  1 and number 2 looked like the wreath that ate Tokyo!

Singing their VBS songs from the summer

Cute picture of Tim with the Logi Bear

Abby cadabby playing a vuvuzela

Cowboy Connor.  He would come up to you and say surrender.
When you surrender he shot you anyway.  Ruthless!

The three oldest at the High School football game

Home Sweet Boll Weevil

Random horror movie looking motel on the way home from getting our craft supplies

*out of order*  We stopped in Auburn on the way to Enterprise to get our new gameday shirts!

FOOTBALL FOOD!!

Daddy manning the grill and all the kiddos in the kiddie pool on Labor Day

My pretty wreath with an added peacock (picked out by Connor) on the front door

AAA

Someone reminded me that I hadn't blogged in ten days. I didn't know it had been that long. Not that I think the whole world is just waiting to hear what is going on in our house but saving our families story is important to me.

My brain goes through phases of being completely with it, ok not with it but more present, and completely shot.  It has gone through a 'shot' phase this past week.  I have found myself on more than one occasion standing in the middle of my home with no clue what to do.  There is plenty to get done and sitting down and doing nothing is always an option to but I was just stuck in one place with no direction of any kind.  Such a weird feeling.  Its like when your computer or phone has the little searchy arrow circle (technical term) that keeps going around and around and around but never loads to where you wanted it to go.  That's been my brain.  Just a little arrow making never ending circles with no clue what it's loading up.   Pathetic I know.

So on to a new story.  Last weekend we went to our first minor league baseball game.  A good friend of ours is/was (he's almost home for good!) the strength and conditioning coach for the Syracuse Chiefs and we'd all been anxiously waiting for them to come to the atl and play the Gwinnett Braves.  Zach was able to go Thursday night with a group of our friends and then we took Micah and Connor with another group of friends Saturday night.  We had to tell the boys we were going to a Gwinnett game because I was afraid if we said Braves they'd get really confused.

Logan hung out with the Moons for the evening and immediately went to the stairs as soon as we got there.

After picnicking with Dairy Queen ice cream and burgers in the parking lot we walked to the game.  Micah picked to hold my hand :)  Happy mama heart!

This nut job sat on my lap the whole time.  There was a mix up with our tickets and we were in a completely different area so we snuck in with everybody else and scrunched into not enough seats.

They had lots of inflatables in the back that we told the kids we could go on.  It wasn't until we got there that we found out you either paid $2 a turn or $10 for all you wanted.  Since none of us were willing to pay $10 and all of us had already told our children they could go we let them take one trip down whatever they picked.  They all picked the big slide.  These two crazies struck some ninja poses after their turn.

Then we took a lot of free trips down the grassy hill!

Before we left the boys said bye to Ryan in the bullpen and then watched a couple guys warm up.  Baseball fever in these two fellas!