End of August

I can hardly believe that it is the end of August.  Tomorrow is September 1st, which means summer is nearly over and fall is just about to arrive.  The weather here has been so delightful the past week or so, so at lunch today, I decided the kids and I needed a picnic.  We packed up some food and walked down the block or so to the playground.  Throw in a blanket, my camera, and two precious kiddos, and I'd say we had a wonderful time.

Liam eating his sandwich, berries & Capri Sun

Nora ventured over to play for a while, but it didn't last too long.

She quickly came back to snuggle in my lap.  She kept saying that it was so relaxing and nice in the shade.  (She is her Momma's girl!)

Here's Liam trying to make sure he got every last drop out of his Capri Sun.

Silly Boy:

Sharing together:  "Sharing is Caring"

(Amy Townsend, that is for you!)

I vow to take as many picnics as possible over the next two months or so.  Before long, it will be too cold to even consider the possibility.  So, I want to take advantage of one of my favorite times of year here in TN.

Two Types of Faith

I read the following today in a Bible Study I've been going through by Beth Moore called Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit.  I cannot tell you how timely this book has been for me every time I pick it up.  God has definitely led me to this Bible Study, and He blows me away with how applicable each day is for what I am going through day in and day out. 

This week I am studying about the Fruit of the Spirit that is Faithfulness.  In trying to learn about the gift of the Holy Spirit, Beth Moore is leading the chapter by discussing the faithfulness of God.  I was totally convicted by this chapter.  She asks a question that totally struck me:  Do you base your faith on what God does or who He is?

Unfortunately, I too often base my faith in the Lord on what He does.  Even today, I was tempted to despair when a circumstance arose that didn't end like I thought it should or wanted it to.  It was something that God "didn't do" for me.  So, to be honest, I questioned His goodness, His love for me.  This is SOOOOO wrong.  And I know that.  I fully believe that "All things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose."  I know in my heart that God doesn't keep from me any good thing.  But, my faith is weak.  I was encouraged by these quotes from this chapter and I thought I would share.  I hope you don't feel condemned (because I didn't), but I have become excited about pursuing a faith that focuses not on what God does, but on who He is!


"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."  Hebrews 11:6

Do you ever tire of riding the roller coaster of faith? of being up one day and down the next? of believing Him one minute and not the next? We can exercise our faith in God in one of two ways.  One leaves us at the mercy of life's constant ups and downs. The other is the key to steadfast faith--the way off the roller coaster to begin walking with God and practicing a faith that can't be "greatly moved."  Every believer falls into one of these two categories on the basis of his/her answer to one simple question:

Do you base your faith on what God does or who He is?

A person with [faith based on what God does] lives by the unspoken motto: I believe God as long as He does what I ask.  His/Her faith is built on how often and how well God answers prayers.  Such "faith" depends on results and is fueled by sight.

[. . .] What about those times when God does not work according to your requests or expectations?

[. . .] We will rarely be able to perceive God's actions, though they will always and ultimately be wonderful.

Genuine faith walks steadfastly with God for the pleasure of His company not for His results. [. . .] Why is faith based on a God not "greatly moved"? Because it focuses on a God not greatly moved! It increases our understanding of His ways.  Prioritizing WHO He is will help us more accurately interpret WHAT He does.  We must prioritize WHO God is over WHAT He does!

Why Is It!?

Why is it that some days motherhood seems almost easy?  Dare I say effortless?  I'm joyful.  They are joyful.  They play well together.  Some of the housework gets done. 

Then, there are days when motherhood is HARD.  Really hard.  You know what days I'm talking about.

Thankfully, God is God during all of these days, the good and the bad.  He is sovereign over my mothering.  My successes and my failures.  His mercy is abundant and anticipating my needs.  On days when I feel like motherhood is effortless, it's not that He's decided to smile at me while the other days He's decided to take a nap.  God is with us every moment, with every victory, every time I give into my sin.  His grace is always there.

Today is one of those days when motherhood seems effortless.  Thank you, Lord, for the grace that makes me feel this way.

Wuv....Twue Wuv

Some men send flowers.

Some men write love letters.

Some men buy jewelry.

My man...


He draws me pictures with sidewalk chalk!

Now THAT'S true love.

Pop Quiz:  What movie is the title of this blog post from?  Anyone? Anyone?

Liam Piper: 15 Months Old

Because I am such a stellar blogger, he is actually closer to 16 months, but I didn't want to miss any opportunity to talk about our precious boy.  Liam turned 15 months on August 4th, but he went this morning for his check-up. 

Here are his stats:

Height: 31.5 inches (70th %)
Weight: 24 lbs., 4 oz. (50th %)
Head Circumference:  "Top of the Class" aka BIG OLE HEAD

At 15 months, here's what's going on in Liam's little life:

Eating:  Liam has definitely become a picky eater.  This, to be honest, stresses me out at times.  Liam wants absolutely nothing to do with cheese, macaroni and cheese, any sort of pasta, and most breads.  (I know, seriously, how does the boy survive!?)  He does eat any fruit you put in front of him, avocado, ground beef (spaghetti, chili, taco meat, sloppy joes), chicken (almost any kind), sweet potatoes, yogurt, oatmeal, breakfast breads (i.e. waffles, pancakes, cinnamon-raisin toast), peanut butter sandwiches, and anything sweet.  He DEFINITELY has a sweet tooth!  Most days, Liam will eat anything within the realm of things I listed above, but then there are other days where he out-right refuses to eat.  At all.  Take this past Sunday:  We got home from church and fixed lunch.  I fixed Liam a sweet potato with butter and some baked chicken, and he wouldn't touch it.  We tried everything, but he wouldn't give.  I was afraid he wouldn't nap, but would wake up hungry at about 3:30, but I was wrong.  He did nap and held off until supper time.  Crazy boy!  If is he refusing to eat big boy food, I can actually still count on him to him jarred baby food (stage 3), so I will give him that if all else fails so that I know he is getting something to eat.  Hopefully he will realize all of the delicious goodness he is missing out on.

Walking:  Liam started walking when we were in New Orleans the last week in July.  Since we got home, he has been walking a little more almost every day.  In fact, this past Monday, it was like a flip was switched and this boy went from walking about 40% of the time to about 70% of the time.  I think he is finally getting the hang of it and really enjoying his mobility.

Sleep:  Liam is still taking two naps each day.  For a while there he was not napping well in the afternoons at all, so I was just about to officially drop the morning nap for him.  But, then he got sick, and since his sickness, he's back to sleeping great during both naps.  So, we'll keep them for now.  I don't think he's too far off from being to one, and he can handle just having one on the days that we need to cut one out.  At nighttime, he goes to bed between 8:30-9:00 and sleeps till 8:30-9:00 in the morning!  I am one blessed woman to have such a great sleeper!

Teeth:  Liam has 9 teeth as of today!  He is currently working on all his molars and incisors, so I expect teeth to be popping out anytime.  He has cut one molar so far, and his other eight are the four on top and four on bottom in the center. 

Things He Loves:  Liam has started to take a real interest in books lately (much like his older sister).  He loves to be pushed up into the rocking chair in his room with a stack of books where he will sit and flip through the pages, sometimes "reading" aloud to us.  He takes it very seriously, and I've been trying to get it on video, but if he spies the camera, all hope is lost.  Liam still loves his Cozy Coup car and anything that helps mobilize him.  He has recently discovered the joy of blocks.  By that, I mean that he loves when Nora or Momma or Daddy start to build a tower that he can knock down.

Liam LOVES his sister!  He wants to be like her so badly and gets in her way and into her stuff way more than she would like him to.  We're learning to co-exist over here, but they really do love and adore each other.  Liam is definitely a lover and is quite affectionate.  He loves to kiss Nora and hug her, and she is not always fond of that attention, but sometimes she is super sweet with him as well.  I keep praying that their relationship will grow and their care for each other will bond.  I know it will!  The number of times that they play together unsolicited is becoming more and more common.  One of my favorite sounds is hearing their laughter together!

Liam has never been interested in the television in the past.  Nora, however, would see that the television was on and her eyes would lock onto the screen.  Almost like a trance.  Liam couldn't care less.  However, he has recently started to enjoy the Baby Einstein's or Praise Baby DVD's just a bit.  His attention span isn't very long, but he likes to look at the kids in the videos and say, "Baby."  I am kind of glad that he isn't into TV, but sometimes (say, suppertime) it's nice to have a bit of a distraction.

Vocabulary:  Liam's vocabulary is exploding here lately.  He is starting to make effort to repeat things after a word cue.  Not to compare them again, but Nora was definitely more verbal than Liam is.  I like to tease that Liam speaks "cave man."  He's like a lot of men in that he grunts to communicate.  But, here are the words that he can say (and when I say "say," I mean that they sound like baby words for sure and not like a normal person.  I, however, know what he is saying):  Momma, Dadda, Granna, Geegaw, Nora, Mamy, baby, ball, car, duck, truck, thank you, more, milk, up ("puh"), please ("peez"), cheese ("cheez"), bye-bye, night, more, book.  He can mimic the animal sounds for duck, cat, dog, and sheep.
This is such a fun stage to be in.  I love that he has such a desire to learn and communicate, and I love how proud he gets when he gets something right!  He is such a joy!

Sweet Memory:  Liam loves his daddy!  They always call out to each other if they aren't in the same room.  Liam will start by yelling:  "Dadda!"  Jonathan responds with a "LIAM!"  "Dadda!"  "LIAM"  "Dadda!"  "Liam!"  And back and forth it goes.

Clothes:  Liam is wearing 18 months clothes mostly, but there are a few 24 months things he wears.  I have been blessed by friends with almost all of Liam's wardrobe for the fall and winter.  I have spent about $20 dollars on everything, and that includes two coats, two practically new pairs of shoes, and too many outfits to count.  Thank you Lord for providing through generous friends!

We love our Buddy Man!  He is the sweetest thing and is such a gift! 

What Can I Say? She Takes After Her Mother.

If you look in the distance, you can see my little athlete making her way closer.

And closer....

Have you ever seen such focus?

Have you ever witnessed such sincere effort?

Have you beheld such endurance, determination, perseverance?

The nature of a true athlete, indeed!

Ahhh! The end is in sight.

Have you ever seen such joy?


Such raw style?

Such innocence?



All joking aside, my girl did turn 3 over the weekend! I cannot believe how quickly her little life is going by. We had a wonderful birthday weekend celebrating God's gift to us in Nora! More on that to come!

Smells Like...

Last night, I picked a book off of the shelf that we've had for a while.  Neither Jonathan nor I have started to read it yet, but during a two hour conversation with my college roommate, Kate, this book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan, came up.  Kate loved the book and made me promise I would read it so that we could talk about it in our next conversation.  Well, that was over a month ago, and I just got to it last night.  I haven't quite gotten a feel for the book yet, but about two chapters in, I was really touched by the following.  I thought I'd share, and I pray that it challenges you as much as these words have challenged me in this area.


     "Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.

Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional.  Both worry and stress reek of arrogance.  They declare our tendency to forget that we've been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won't be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God's strength, our problems are small, indeed."

Crazy Love, page 42

I am totally guilty of worrying and "stressing out."  I am a self-professed control freak when it comes to certain things (i.e. my comfort, my children, my household, honestly, anything involving me!), and I am aware that this is an area of sin that I need to grow in.  God has been gracious to open my eyes to these things, but I am aware that I need to grow.  I am very guilty of all that Francis Chan said about stress.  I excuse my behavior, my attitude, my actions and responses because I feel that the circumstance that I am in that is causing me to stress out "merit[s] [my] impatience, [my] lack of grace toward others, or [my] tight grip of control."

Also, I had such a visual and sensual image of how my arrogance "reeks" before God when I worry, stress, and remain anxious about circumstances in my life.  A funny occurrence from this past weekend immediately came to mind that drove the point home even more to me.  This past Saturday, Jonathan and I went white water rafting on the Ocoee River along with his sister, Amy, and her boyfriend, Andrew.  We had a great time!  In order to be safe while rafting, you are required to wear a helmet and a P.F.D. (Personal Flotation Device), or as we common-folk refer to them, life jackets.  Well, about half-way down the river, Jonathan leans over to me and says, "My life jacket REEKS of B.O."  At the time, I was sitting in the front of the raft, and he was directly behind me and conveniently "down wind," so I hadn't noticed the smell.  We didn't bring our own life jackets, but used the ones that the Rafting Company provided.  A bit later, I moved to the back of the raft, now having Jonathan right in front of me.  It didn't take long before I smelled him.  It was awful.  Every now and again, I would get a wave of the stinky body odor as it passed over me.  It was terrible, and I immediately felt sorry for Jonathan who was surrounded by the smell for the entire rafting trip (over an hour and half).

That smell of B.O. is nothing compared to the reeking smell of arrogance that drifts up toward the Lord.  It is not a pleasing scent, to say the least.  I am thankful for such a vivid reminder of how my pride personally affects the Lord.  I will continue to dwell on these thoughts, praying that my worry and stress are short-lived as I remember that God is in control.  He is big enough to carry my burdens.  He is so patient with me.

Splish. Splash. Crash.

Last Thursday, Jonathan took the day off of work so that we could have a family day together at Splash Country.  It's a family water park located right next to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge.  All I can say is that I was so blown away by how much fun we had together.  Splash Country was so nice and seemed (relatively) clean.  It is such a great family environment, and the kids loved it! 

Nora blows me away by her lack of fear when it comes to things like this.  By nature, she is such a cautious little girl.  She studies everything, is very thorough in thinking things through before she experiences new things.  But, when it comes to water and fun and adventure, she literally "dives" right in!  We brought a life jacket for her for when she went swimming in areas of water that were deeper than 1 foot, and she would just kick her little self wherever she wanted to go.  She went down big slides.  I mean, big for a little girl that is less than three years old.  No fear.  Didn't need Momma or Daddy to hold her hand.  Seriously, I think that if we would let her venture her way to the top of the big ole jungle gym with the slides, she would.  Is she terrified by the water that is spraying every which way?  Is she scared by the sudden dumping of water on top of her head? NOPE!  She really is so much fun to be around.

And Buddy Man Liam.  He did great.  He wanted to be in Momma's arms mostly, but occasionally he would get down and splash around and explore.  Next summer, he will be tearing that place apart!

We stopped playing to enjoy lunch, then spent a few more hours playing and sliding and splashing around.  We decided to stay even through nap time, but it wasn't long before Liam passed out in my arms, and Nora needed to relax for a bit to catch her breath. 

We had such a wonderful time together, and I am so thankful for my hubby who planned a great family fun day for all of us to enjoy.  I hope there are more days like this in the future because we sure did make some great memories.

P.S. What is it with my son and his cheeks?  I can't get enough.

P.P.S.  Sorry for the picture quality.  We took these with JB's phone!

The Community Bowl

It'll probably be a long time before I can fix myself a bowl of ice cream and eat it in peace.

Without having babies crawling in my lap.
Little girls and boys sharing my spoon.
Having a little less than I may have wanted.

But, you know, I think I am okay with that!