Mr. Independent!

Happy 4th of July! We had such a wonderful time in the Round Rock Brushy Creek bike parade! It was after that, that the challenges of a 4 yr old under extreme situations had us scratching our heads. He did fine, no really he did! You know that point in the outing where they go from "angels" to "that is not my child"? Yep, we got some looks! Ugh, so embarrassing but we stuck to our guns and left the fun! It is part of life so why not share it. No one likes to read a blog where the children appear perfect or even close. Look at the picture below and maybe you can tell by his facial expression the kind of behavior he  exhibited.  However, all the other activities before that were a blast. Lil man rode his decorated bike in the parade, played with puppies, rode a train, played in a bubble pit, was sprayed by the fire department's water hose and rode a merry go round. All in 2 1/2 hours! I hope you are enjoying your freedom today!  

Mr. Sweaty, hot and hungry! not a good combo

Getting in line for the parade!

All together! 

Even the puppies were festive. 

And we're off! 

Beautiful day full of beautiful people! 

Yay! we finished!

Drew's Party!

June 22, Friday early evening we adventured out to our new friend Drew's birthday party. It was an outside event at a Dinosaur Park. Yes, you heard that right! It is a sand and water play park. The sand has fossil bones laid out on the sand. The water park has a whale sprinkler for the area. I know a whale is not a dinosaur but that is what they call it here. Actually, the real name is Champion Park. The park itself is huge so they have named it by the variety of activities that are available. Pretty cool huh? My son loves Drew! They are in the same bible class on Sunday's for 2 hours. We have enjoyed this friendship with the family as a whole!

So sweet! 

Sand time or maybe plotting ;0)

Drew's sister, Payson. 

She is NOT afraid! Right in the middle with the big boys!

" I prefer my own stick, daddy!" 

Gifts!!!!

Thank you Drew for an amazing time! 

Fishing & Soccer

Sorry my blog is having issues and so am I! Where is the coffee? *sigh*

Another reason why we  I have been away from blog world is lil man has started soccer and fishing on the weekends. For 4 months now we have played soccer at Soccer Zone. It is an indoor facility which benefits my red head. Most of the soccer activities in our area are outside. Right now for this summer indoor soccer is the way we will particapate. Once the fall(cool weather) hits then we will switch to an outdoor soccer team. 

First Lesson

I know it is blurry but love his kick!

He ran all over that field with Coach Doug. 

My IPhone pics. 

Hubby and lil man so far have fished in 5 lakes/ponds. They have been to Georgetown(twice), Pflugerville, Budha and Austin Tx. The weekend that the grandparents visited Lake Pflugerville had a kids fishing festival. Perfect timing for the boys to go try a new place to fish. Lil man caught 5 fishes! Whoo Hooo! I am so proud! 

Fishing with Paw for the first time!

Helping Paw 

Loading the car

Love the expression! 

It is small but it counts! 

A Blessing

Mother's Day spent with Granny Bug

One of the many aspects I LOVE about living in Austin is being near my momma. It is a huge blessing beyond words across the screen. I am so loved by her as my mom and as my best friend. To be able to live so close is truly a gift that ties our bonds for eternal measure. When my husband asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, it was all about being with my momma. All I wanted was to hang out with her, watch a movie, chit chat and that is exactly what we did!

Mother's Day 

Earlier in the week we participated in a Mother & Son Tea Time at lil man's preschool. My mom(Granny Bug) was able to be with us as well. We enjoyed every minute! Even the little gifts that were on the table.

Granny Bug & lil man! 

I had no idea that my scarf was going to match the decor. HA! 

He loves his green blanket so much and this note makes my heart sing! 

"To a child's ear, 'mother' is magic in any language."
- Arlene Benedict, For Mother with Love

If My Blog Could

Write me a letter it probably wouldn't be a very nice one. It would have words that involve neglect and unloved in it. Though I personally have not meant to do those things, I have! So here is my apology. I am so sorry for the lack of attention that you have gotten lately. However, I am sure there will be more times in the future where I will slip.

Sincerely,

A wanna be blog writer


Now, that I have THAT off my chest we can move forward. So where have I been? Everywhere, no where, somewhere and well here! The last 2 months have flown by so quickly that I have to really stop and think about where all the time has gone. We(book club) finished One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff. I LOVE book club! We all have different opinions and are able to bring them to the table with respect for each other. This group has really helped me step into some roles that before I would not have considered. I thank them for loving me! Our latest, greatest challenge and I do mean CHALLENGE is 31 Days to Clean(having a Martha house the Mary way). Oh ladies, it is waaayyyy more than "just" cleaning. It will be interesting what is "uncovered" in the next month or so.

Our lil man finished his first year at his new preschool here in Austin. He really enjoyed his year! He made good friends that we have had a few play dates with them already this summer! I know I mentioned before that he turned 4 but I never posted about his birthday gathering. It was just us! GrandParents became ill that weekend and we had only invited a few friends. Two of his friends were from the neighborhood who moved away on the same day as his party. Bummer! The other two we invited were from out of town so we told them we would catch up on another weekend. Part of me felt bad but it was just an unusual set of circumstances that were out of my hands. One lesson learned is whether we have many friends or just us as a family, he stilled enjoyed himself. It saved my pocket book for sure!

Son calls this his Dirt Digger Cake or better known as The Construction Site Cake 

Another lesson I learned was about his gluten free cake or at least the baking process. I need to double the recipe for a height purposes. It was not as thick as I needed for this particular theme but it was still very good! 

Then we celebrated Easter! This year we had time to decorate our own eggs. It was a lot of fun! 

Of course it  was all about Spider-man. I am not sure what made him latch on to Spider-man but he did. I think it may be the cool colors and mask!


Stay tuned for more updates and hopefully it will be sooner than later. I pray all is well in y'all's precious homes.

lots of love

A Basket Full

Lately, I have had a basket full but not full of things that are good for my soul. Many of you know I have been through a lot these past several years and maybe you are thinking, "so what? big deal! don't we all have a plate full and still have to handle things?" Or maybe you are thinking,"what is so special about your stuff?" Well, its not special! Honestly, my situation isn't bigger than yours or what you are going through. The difference is you have YOURS and I have MINE. Duh! Yes, I know I am stating the obvious. What isn't so obvious is how our hearts & spirits are doing during the process. Maybe one can tell by some one's mood what their "emotional temp" is for the day but do we really know what is in one's heart. I have to share with you that for me to say I need space is huge. Yes, I need my daily dose of quiet time however, space, that is different. My personality typically does not require this much space but my spirit has required it. My soul has been extra quiet. My mind still races. Some nights I sleep and others I do not. I know many of you reading this probably have whispered the words "is she depressed?" Hummm, good question. My together self would say no. My messy self would say not depressed but a little sad. Sad for reasons I can't even find or let alone grasp the words to articulate what I feel or think. I have had good days and I have had some really bad days. Days where the thought of doing the dishes is monstrous to me. Oh they still get done. Then I have days where not only do I get the dishes done but I cook a full meal and have a craft hanging from my frig. Of course my craft consist of watercolors or paint or crayons. Nothing that would capture the alluring eyes of pinterest. To be more vulnerable I have felt like a failure. Feeling as if I am failing everything around me. House blessings(chores), hubby time, child time, bible study, weight loss, exercise, church activities and well you name it, add it to the growing list. Then I was on the phone with a very good & wise woman who said " do not compare yourself to others!" Ouch! She is so right. I was. Then after our heart felt talk about life it hit me. I was allowing Satan to attack me. Did you read that? Allow! I was leaving myself open to believing his lies instead of resting in truth. Do I still struggle with all of those life situations of juggling them? Yes! I was leaving myself unarmed on a daily basis! Wide open for sin to creep in and let Satan do his dirty work on me. For me right now it is one day at a time. One step forward of picking one thing on that list that I struggle with to conquer. Exercise is the one thing I can get right. Being with the Lord is another that I will always "get right." It may not be an hour of studying the bible. It may be 15 minutes but that is okay. They just need to be 15 minutes worth of filling my basket full so I am armed for the day.

Speaking of baskets I love my basket in the first picture. I have had it since we got engaged. I fill it with magazines, books I love to read, bibles that comfort me and journals that I long to fill(haha). I know many of us have a "go to" place where we gather with the Lord for our daily walk. I have a bookcase full of many books to assist me or challenge me. Like in this one.

(I left it in its purest form. a little messy)

Then I have this chair and side table I love to rest in. It is the same chair I rocked my baby, nursed him and read many wonderful stories. Sometimes, I am just quiet with my fresh cup of coffee rocking away in my chair. Then the Lord gives me a word of Hope for the day or a quiet whisper of Encouragement to continue on.

I don't know where you are with your walk with the Lord. I also don't know what you are filling your basket full of. I pray no matter how hard the day or even easy it can be that You are really looking to HIM for truth. Truth to set you free. Truth that gives anchor to your soul and quietens your mind. Truth that carries you through the day, prepared to fight. Truth that pricks at you to challenge you to do better in HIS eyes not yours or your peers or the world. Truth that makes you ponder on the Lord and where HE wants you to be in the moment.

Here was the TRUTH spoken to me today.....

Psalms 103:1-4

BLESS the Lord, O my soul

And all that is within me, bless His holy name

Bless the Lord, O my soul

And forget none of his benefits

Who pardons all your iniquities

Who heals all your diseases

Who redeems your life from the pit

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion

Who satisfy your years with good things

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Go fill your basket my friend....

No Joke!

He's 4!!!!!!!!!

at 4 mths old

Through the years(sniff sniff) I have tried to take many photos of him in this chair. It is fun to look back through them to see how much he has grown. Funny at 4 mths he barely fits the length of the chair and at 4 yrs old he is almost bigger than the chair! Children grow so fast! That is the part of motherhood no one really tells you about. If they do, most of us were NOT listening. A wise woman once said " the days are long but the years are short!" This is so true! Below I tried to post the pictures that were exactly on his birthday or within one to two days of it. I came very close. So Happy Birthday to my very active, creative, fun-loving and tender boy!

4 mths old

5 mths old(my fav outfit)

1 yr old

2 yrs old

3 yrs old

My 4 wishes for you my sweet boy...

I wish for you JOY

I hope you learn to LOVE

I pray you Know GOD

and embrace WISDOM

I love you the most-est...

~mom~