Dead Battery....

The last few times we've been in and out of the car, Harris keeps messing with the lights. Between that sentence and the title of this post, you can probably figure out where I'm going with this. Apparently a light got left on, so when we went to leave for Bible study, the car wouldn't start. Sooooo, we were homebound today. It wasn't a big deal, just some serious wasted effort. And I should have taken a picture of myself because I had fixed my hair, had on makeup and jewelry AND had on decent looking clothes. You know, clothes without an elastic waistband or sports team anywhere. Fancy. Apparently, this is so unusual that someone I normally only see at the gym DID NOT RECOGNIZE me when she saw me showered and cleaned up. This isn't a first, though. Someone I had class with for two years in college saw me dressed up and said she'd never seen my hair, since I always wore a baseball hat. Apparently I haven't changed much. But anyway, all my effort was wasted. So we took a walk around the block instead, hoping to run into someone I know since all 3 of us looked clean and cared for. Didn't happen.

So the troops spent the morning doing some workbooks......playing with magnets......fighting playing lovingly with each other....and eating. Always eating.  Do you think Harris is a little proud of himself for finishing the workbook?

He asked for another pic to be taken. This better displayed his connect the dot prowess.

And I also documented something to make myself feel better. It's been bothering me that my house seemed so much cleaner when I was working. Shouldn't it be the opposite? So I took some pics to cut myself some slack. We are in the house all day long, eating, playing, and just generally making messes. I didn't think to get a pic of the fruit cup Walker took from Harris, then ran down the hall with fruit juice and diced peaches flying everywhere. Or the entire cup of milk that was spilled on the table, with milk running down all sides and onto the chair, floor, and Harris. Or the peanut butter covered cracker that was hurled on the floor and landed messy side down. But I did get these.

This is the price I had to pay for the 10 minutes of getting ready. There were also cotton balls thrown into the bathtub, then the water was turned on. Now I remember why I just throw on gym clothes and hustle everyone out of our room. Walker is pretty sneaky. He grabbed something and ran away without me noticing. Nicely played, Walker.

Proverbs 24:25
An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

The commentary in my Bible talked about a kiss on the lips as being a sign of true friendship, in the time this was written. So this verse is really saying that giving someone an honest answer is being a true friend to them. It can be so uncomfortable to answer someone truthfully when they ask for an opinion, so I've been trying to remember that having the courage to speak openly is better than sugar coating it. And the same goes when I'm on the receiving end.

Off to do my naptime chaos control.

Frankie Says Relax

If you don't know what the title of this post means, please don't tell me because it will make me feel old.

 We are ready for some downtime this week. The past few weeks I've put over 2,000 miles on my car and have had things going nearly every single evening. It's been fun but it is O-V-E-R. This week, our calendar is blissfully almost empty. We have our regular date night back (WOO HOO!) and life is settling down. Time to RELAX, as Frankie instructed.

Now, I have to really face the issue of Walker's discipline head-on. That boy is a mess. He throws tantrums, hits, takes his shoes off, tosses food, steals things.......and he does it all with a smile. He has NO. SHAME. None. And almost everyone that knows Tom and I both are quick to point out that Harris has a lot of Tom's easygoing nature. No one has mentioned, thought it's becoming painfully obvious, that Walker is a lot like me. Yikes. I re-read that list of things he does and the "takes his shoes off" seems a little out of place, but it's just one more random thing to deal with. I picked him up from church today and he was barefoot. It is always something! Just when I'm at the end of my rope with him he comes charging down the hall for a kiss. I think kids can smell your frustration and know when they've really pushed you to the edge. Sweet boy. He's such an affectionate little guy in the middle of all his drama. I don't even know what I intend to do about him but I'm starting to feel like he's got the upper hand here. At 18 months, no less. Feel free to offer up suggestions. But do not tell me consistency is the key.......(shout out, Megan :) ) 

Harris is fine. Tom had them by himself for dinner one night recently. I told Harris he and Daddy were going to eat pizza. Later, he was pretend talking on the phone and said "I'm just going to eat pizza with my friend Daddy." He's so random. My friend Aimee was in town, spend the night with us and hung out the next day. We went to the park and Harris ran up to her and told her "I have a cool big boy bed at home!" like he hadn't seen her in months. Toddler minds are on a different wavelength, I guess.

And because sweet Little Walker got outed as trouble today, here's a cute video of him talking on the phone. He is big into pretending to talk on the phone and that kills me! I very rarely talk on the phone and it's certainly not when they're awake, if I do. If he pretended to text, that would be a little more understandable. Maybe he notices me do it in the car? That's not the norm either, I'm just not a phone talker. Regardless, Walker is. This time he's even using a piece of cardboard, not even one of the 14 play phones they have.They even have a REAL cell phone that I keep charged and he wants the piece of cardboard. Whatever. At least he's not throwing something.

 Proberbs 18:10
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Do-over

Don't you hate it when you think of JUST the right thing to say but it's hours too late? That happened to me today so I'm going to answer it on this blog, even though this person won't read it. Someone I see fairly often but don't really know all that well made a comment to me to the effect that I seem to have it all together. I just basically changed the subject. Well, what I should have done was laugh hysterically. No one has it all together. I don't think I've been "posing" to this person but I don't know her well and typically see her in a group setting, so there's no opportunity for real conversation. Anyway, I should have said that it's only by the grace of God that I'm married still (and happily!) and that I fall so short of who I was made to be every single day. I continue to sin, even knowing that my actions are grieving the Lord, I do them anyway. I get frustrated with my kids and husband. I drop the ball with my family. My mom had to call me today to tell me she's had the flu for almost a week! How did I go a week without talking to her??? This person comments almost every time I see her that I'm happy. I would have liked to tell her that my joy comes from the Lord, not any thing that I've been able to do for myself. It feels good to get the right answer out there even if it's to a different audience.

Switching gears, we have been crazy busy lately. We're not usually busy people so it will be nice to get back in our homebody routine :) We went to see Wicked and it was so so good. Tom and I saw it in New York and were looking forward to seeing it again. We ended up sitting right next to our neighbors! Random.  It was even more special because we went with close friends and were able to celebrate another birthday with them. Tom and I have been so blessed by their friendship. Also, we had our friends fundraising dinner and it was FABULOUS. They had a great turnout and will be getting their kids this month! Yay! If you live in San Antonio and have not been to the Paesano's on 1604, check it out. December's End performed and they are so good. I like nothing better than to be outside, listening to great music, spending time with good friends. My kind of night.

And the boys had a fun playdate. Harris is still talking about it. Thank you mom for the new jungle gym!

We went to a couple of birthday parties.

Harris LOVES this little girl, our neighbor. He only has that look on his face because he had an audience and that's what he does when he gets shy.  We also went to one at Fiesta Farms. This place is always a hit.

Ok, do you notice Walker's fingers? All he wanted to do was stick his fingers in a goat's nose. Tom had to pick him up and carry him out of there. Why would he want to do that? He is such a mess!

Harris fearlessly rode a pony. Walker didn't want to this time, so he rode a sawhorse instead.

Ok, below are just some things the boys have said/done that I want to remember.
I told Harris I loved him and he said "That makes me happy." He woke up late today so I told him he didn't have to nap, but he needed to stay in his room and have some downtime for awhile. At some point, he must have decided he was tired because he turned his sound machine on, turned the light off, and sacked out.

Walker wants to sing songs and dance. Head,  shoulders, knees and toes makes him giggle and he does his little hands a certain way when he wants to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider. He's starting to say more things and able to follow directions and pick up what we say. I love this stage. He also comes charging up to me and wants a hug. He'll lay his head on my shoulder and pat my back, saying Ahhhhhh. That sweet boy is so affectionate. Harris will hold his arms out and Walker will run into them and they'll hug each other. I have video but it's on the other computer and Tom's working. He probably wouldn't appreciate being asked to stop for a blog post :)

I like to mediate on the verses below for what's happening with international adoption in Ethiopia right now. From Psalm 10
¹⁷ You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted;
   you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
¹⁸ defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
   so that mere earthly mortals
   will never again strike terror.

Results!!!

Janee wins!
True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 2

My sister and Janee had a 50/50 chance of winning a raffle ticket. :) It went to Janee.
Janee is Tom's cousin. Her husband, Bart, was a groomsmen in our wedding. Janee is an awesome artist and has a unique perspective on life. She has a sweet sweet heart and I have SUCH a great time with her and her family.

Thanks for playing, Janee  Hope you win!! If you do, I'll deliver it to you in person on our awesome Spring Break visit :)

An Act of Love....and a Giveaway!!

Most of ya'll have heard me talk about my sweet friends, Brian and Jen, who are adopting two children from an island in the Caribbean. They're having a fundraising dinner and raffle. So I thought it would be fun to give you guys a chance to win a raffle ticket. And the odds are good that if you enter, you'll win the ticket because only a handful of people read this :)  This adoption, among other things, is an act of love. So, to enter this giveaway, leave me a comment about an act of love you've witnessed. You can be the receiver, the giver, or a bystander. Just tell me about something you saw that warmed your heart. You can leave a comment on this blog or my facebook page, whatever works. If I were entering, I might comment about Tom brushing Walker's teeth every night. Or, I would write about our church's Christmas service, where people were blessed in the name of Jesus.  Or my sweet friends who brought meals to us for TWO WEEKS after Walker was born. Or my friend Kristi who always reaches out to those around her and gives of her time, even as she parents two toddlers and runs her own business. She is the first person to offer to help others and she does it selflessly and with humility. I'm sure she will DIE when she reads this :) 
So leave me a comment about an act of love! It'll make us all feel good to read about this and someone will get the chance to win! I'll use random.org to pick the winner.

I'll close the comments on the giveaway Saturday night and will number the comments made on the blog first, then the facebook page.