Que the "Tapping"

We're going on a trip.

And the boys are freaking out with excitement it's both humorous and challenge to try and contain.

Consider our last night sleeping in our house:
Jason and I packed the car until the wee hours of the morning so we could be ready to leave the next day after Jason's golf tourney. (Translate: we went to bed LATE).

Then what seemed like on 19.5 minutes of sleeping, Jason gets a light [TAP] [TAP] [TAP] on his forehead (I wake up to the sound of a sucking pacy) and there is our 2-year-old toddler standing in our room, so excited, ready to GET UP!!

It was 5:00am, folks...the "pitch-dark-kind" of 5:00am.

I carried him back to bed, the whole way explaining that it was "dark outside and we don't get up when it's dark!".

Tucked him in, tucked myself back in, and fell right back to sleep.

Then, at 6:00am precisely, another [TAP] [TAP] [TAP] on Jason's forehead. Jason's eyes abruptly open to the same toddler standing over our faces with a big smile:

"Hey guys - it's not dark no more! It's not dark no more guys!"

Don't you remember those days when you were too excited to sleep?? :)

Staying in Shape

Lately I've been back into running and am at about 20 miles/week. I love it again...it's easy again...it energizes me, and it's easy to do on a daily basis now that my husband's schedule has been less demanding. I love every benefit of running. It's good for the body obviously, but it's even better as a re-charger for me on an emotional level.

Enter another love of mine: Music.

I think one the things that gets me addicted to running is the half hour I get to fully dedicate to music. I get giddy about new playlists I put together to get me through the runs. They usually last a month or 2 before I switch it up again. Usually on the playlist there are a few songs that I reserve for when I don't quite "feel it" and need a little extra push. It's crazy but I can totally get lost in music when I run. I have many "daydreams" I play out to various songs...I have dances made up in my head that I do (in my head) while running to certain songs (did I mention I'm a nerd?)...if I'm alone, sometimes the dances leak outside of my head (triple embarrassing, I know).

With the exception of the past 2 years, I have been a regular runner since I was 15 (I am currently 29) and I have only ONE time run without music...and it was about 3 months ago.

Currently I have my 2 fav songs to listen to on my playlist. One's fairly new, one's pretty old, both are pretty substance-less, but for some reason the rhythms of both give a boost.

What are your songs that get you motivated while working out??? I'm always looking for new ones. :)

His Own Take on Scripture

We try and teach Lincoln new Scriptures about every few weeks or so. At first we used the ones that he worked on in Sunday School, but here more recent, Jason and I use them as we see fitting in his personal development and things he struggles with.For instance, obedience has been a big one lately. My little guy is pretty cunning because he's actually a fairly "obedient" kid, but has recently been super SLOW to obey (which is not obedience for him).
So a few weeks ago, we learned "Children obey mommy and daddy in the Lord for this is right!".

He's got that verse down perfectly and understands what the word "obey" means very clearly. So when he struggles, we remind him of what Jesus said and he recites it back to us. And we do struggle with this obeying thing. :) We have one strong-willed rascal.

Here recently I've heard "I can't!". It's been in the last week r s but he says it a handful of times a day - about a wide variety of things! This is a big shift for him (from the absolutely fearless monster he was!).

So today Jason and I worked on "I can do ALL things through Jesus who gives me strength!"

He knows by heart, about 6 verses now that he can recite ff his head.

And today when learning the new one, he goes:

"I can do ALL things through Jesus and obey mommy!!"

Yes. I like where he's going with that :)

A New Leaf

This week Lincoln has turned a new leaf...he LOVES to read. I used to always read other's blogs/FB posts about how their baby would constantly bring books and could sit in mommy's lap to end end reading, reading, reading...then reading some more.
Then I would look down at my "go-go-go!!" tot and wonder how ever in the WORLD mom's got their kids to sit still in their laps for 5 seconds!!
When Lincoln turned 2, he was able to sit through more books (and enjoy them) but still, always at my initiative.

Fast forward  to 5 days ago.

It started with one book in particular that Lincoln wanted to read over and over and over for an entire day. This continued to day 2 (by which I happily obliged) and by day 3, he can now read me the book. And this book was the only one he was interested in. So the other day I moved all his books to the book shelf in the living room and it was like Christmas when he saw it. And since then, the books are constantly scattered in the floor, him looking for ones he has not yet read to bring to me.

Now, scattered through all those "new books" we still read the one that started it all about 5 times a day - at least.

So this is super fun for us and I'm glad to announce I can now join the "My toddler can sit still and enjoy book after book" Club. :)

Happy You Day!

Lincoln gets super excited on holidays and birthdays. To him it means 3 things: parties, presents, and cake. So when he found out yesterday was "Daddy's Day", he - of course - assumed the above three things were in order for that day, which meant crazy excitement from my little man.
He ran to daddy when he woke up and goes "Happy Daddy Day!!" followed quickly by "Lets party!!!!".

He understood it was a man's day from the start, and when he saw my dad and Nathan at church later, he ran to them with a big hug and excited eyes to exclaim: "Happy you Day!!!"

Pretty sweet.

We celebrated at my parents that night, and his sweet Mimi knows the path to his heart - she had cupcakes made just for him. :)

On a serious note, we studied Psalm 112 in church that morning and I am so grateful both my dad and my husband exemplify the Psalm 112 man in my life and in my kids' lives. Behind God saving me from utter sin and destruction and choosing to love me, I am most grateful in life for my husband and his dedication to fearing the Lord and following His commandments.

Almost Here!

Since 2007, my parents have taken all of us to Destin every other year. The trip total lasts about 10 days with 7 of them reserved for the beach alone. The first year we went, my sister and I had just gotten back from the Ukraine (literally) and were at my parents having dinner the night before they were to leave (alone) for Destin. They said, "we have a really big condo if y'all wanna come" and we took them up on it - with about 10 hours notice. Jason and I had just gotten married a few months ago, and Amy and Nathan weren't even dating, but it was us four that tagged along.

It then became tradition (planned tradition - not last minute!) from then on...

Only the last trip, Lincoln was the new, distinguished guest at 8 months old...

And this trip, we add two more toddlers to the bunch: Tucker & Noah.

(Mom and Dad, I hope these trips don't stop if we continue having kids!!!!)

The trips have marked some significant milestones for us:

                         - 1st trip: We had just gotten married

                         - 2nd trip: We had a baby with us,

                                          Jason had just gotten a big new job

                                          We had also just found out we were pregnant with Noah

                                          Amy & Nate had just gotten engaged

                         - 3rd trip:  We just sold our house!

Yeah so looks like the even number trips have the most news...I should be geering up for 2013 apparently. :)

                        

The trip isn't just Destin, however. We all meet in Biloxi at the Beau Rivage for one/two nights prior to rolling in to Destin. The first trip, Jason, Amy, and I (Nate stayed in his parents room...remember? not even dating yet?) crashed in my parents room at Biloxi (though Jason and I went to bed at 6:00am); the trip 2 years ago, us + Lincoln crashed my parents room (Amy & Nate were actually engaged on this trip!), and this year, we've pondered this crash scenario: Me, Jason, Amy, Nate, 3 babies, Kristen, Devin, and my parents - all in one hotel room in Biloxi...

Then we decided it's worth it for us and my sister's fam to split our own room this year. Sorry mom and dad - I know you're devastated. :)

Jason and I are extending this year even further though as we are stopping in Crossett before Biloxi (before Destin) to spend 2 days with his family!

So fun times coming up ahead! Lincoln has been praying for the beach in his prayers for the past 2 weeks now. Here are a few pics from our last trip...It's hard for me to even recognize Lincoln! So funny. And you can bet I won't be shy in the picture taking department with my new camera this year.

Buds

I just love this picture. It makes me smile every time I see it, but probably because of the back story more than the actual photo. On this morning, when I got Noah out of bed, he pointed out toward the hallway and goes "Lincoln. Lincoln." Those were his first words to me that morning. So I sat him down and he waddled in to the living room and plopped down on the couch next to his brother...and then I snapped the shot. Precious. This is a re-occurring prayer of mine (usually as I'm putting them to bed) that they will be thick in love, thick in compassion, and thick in spiritual bonded-ness with each other.

While Dad's Away...

June marks "team camp" month which means we don't get to see as much of Jason as we'd like (though he does a great job using all he can with us!)...and that leaves lots of time with me and the rascals, and - of course (I know you'll be thrilled) - more pictures!!!Thrilled...right?

Tonight we exercised on the Crystal Bridges trail, played at the park afterward, ate some dinner, then played in the front yard (a normal ritual now before bed).

Lincoln worked on his golf game a little...

And then I got some shots of them that I'm just loving! :)

There Will Be Blood

Here's one for the baby books:

At dinner tonight we were all enjoying some healthy grilled chicken and veggies when I looked over and saw Noah toppling backwards in his chair. He was about 50% to the floor when - with my awesome mom reflexes - I swung my arm over real quick to catch him and keep him from falling to the floor.

Only he was one my right side.

And I eat with my right hand.

And we were eating, which meant I had a fork in my hand at the same moment I swung it over to catch him.

Bad combo.

Not only did he end up falling to the floor anyway, but my fork caught the top of his head and scraped a good portion down the side of his head as he continued to fall to the ground.

People - there was blood and lots of it. My hands were covered in bright red blood and my mind racing to figure out where I had last put my phone cause we were headed to the ER and someone needed to come stay with Lincoln.

But we got him settled down, stopped the bleeding, and realized he probably didn't need to go to the ER after all (my husband's determination - who is very good at this sort of thing thank goodness).

Noah actually stopped crying and was laughing within about 7 minutes (I was not so much).

And sweet Lincoln turned into a little mommy comforter. He kept coming over to me with his arm on me going "Mommy, Noah's okay. He gonna be okay mommy." So sweet. And the he looked in my eyes all serious and goes "Mommy, I think Noah should probably go eat his dinner now...he okay mommy."

Melt my heart.

Lincoln continued to tell me this throughout the rest of dinner.

So yeah, how many of you can say you've ever stabbed your child with a fork??

Tuesday Funday

We love friends!!! :) Now I was going to ask yall's opinion on a good book (non-fiction, of course for me!) to take with me to the beach, but then I quickly realized my foolishness and that, with a 1 & 2 year old at the beach, there probably won't be much down time to read. :) But now any good podcasts you have recently listened to, I'm all up for enjoying that with Jason on the long drive!

Summertime

Last year we had just moved into a rental house around this time with an awesome community pool right up the street. If you're a high school girl wanting peace and quiet and a tan (like me 10+ years ago), you would not think this pool is awesome...but if you're a mom with two toddlers who love the water and tend to lack a healthy fear of it, this pool is phenomenal.
The majority of it under 3 feet with a big wade-in part where even the 6 month old cats can relax and splash around. The "deep end" only gets as deep as 5 feet or so with a super fun slide. The 5-ft deep part is significant in that mom can stand there comfortably and catch the fearless rascals as they shoot out from the slide.
We love this pool.

It is opening late this year (Tuesday!) because of complications, but we are pumped. The splash park has kept us entertained in the meantime (which is also great because you can't drown at the splash park).

So here's the deal...Lincoln, last year, was absolutely fearless and a complete madman in the water. Noah was so little at the time and sometimes just slept in his stroller while we played, so I could have my total attention on my wild man. He would jump off the side and be totally submerged in water (we would literally have to scoop him out), would think he could "swim" in the deep part, would go off the fast slide repeatedly (again, we'd have to scoop him out from under the water)...I was glad he had no fear and enjoyed himself so much, but I was also a nervous wreck at times (nothing like the peaceful "Getting a tan" moments I had always associated with the pool).

And now this year.

Our dear sweet Noah, I'm afraid might like water even more than Lincoln did and am a little nervous he could be a total handful this summer! This is actually expected, but the part that makes me wonder how fun pool days will be this summer is whether or not Lincoln will still have the same fearlessness.

I'm going on a limb and guessing he will not. I think the guy has developed a little bit of hesitancy (but we'll see). My first thought is that this would make me sad. But then I think a bit more and realize there is nothing wrong with a little healthy fear of the water! And if Noah takes his place, I need at least one toddler to have a little healthy fear (if we'll be going without Jason in the day at least).

So I'm just curious how next week will go...2 fearless toddlers, or just one?

We'll see! And if it's 2, that's what those self-containing floaty "boats" are for, right? :)

American Dream No More

That's right. We are no longer home owners and at this point in our lives, we couldn't be more thrilled (a little backwards, I know).
Throughout this, we've gotten a handful of questions that I'll attempt to answer.

Now that you sold your house, where are you moving to??
Nowhere. We are staying put in the house we're renting because we have a great deal on it and we love it. We've been here a year and it's actually our house in another town (where we have not been living) that finally sold.

How did you sell it?
We saved money like madmen for the past year to put in to it so that we could make a quick sell this spring/summer. We didn't want to pay that savings to a realtor to sell it for us, so we did Owners.com, put a sign up and got an MLS# in March, and waited patiently. But I believe it was no doubt a God-thing. We had ONE person even inquire about it, and in the end, that one person bought it...and we closed the day after our renters were to move out. I committed about 6 months ago to praying for this exact situation on a daily basis. God is faithful.

Will you eventually buy again?
We don't see that happening in our near future for sure. We lost money in our last house and it just doesn't feel like an "investment" these days. Currently, with our financial plan, buying a house doesn't fit for us. Doesn't mean it won't one day, but not now. To us, it's still owing to a debtor...it still ties us to one place (which also isn't conducive to Jason's occupation).

The coolest thing???
I was reading through our private blog we keep about finances and one year ago this month (when we started it and wrote out this massive plan to get us to where we owe nothing to anyone), I had written a side note at the end about 2 things that needed to happen that were out of our control (the rest depended on us being frugal, disciplined, and keep our vision)...

1. Sell our newer, nicer car and buy a significantly cheaper one (we had to sell that car!)
2. Sell the house buy the end of summer.

We sold the car and got a new one last fall, and, well...you know how #2 ended up! So praise the Lord for His faithfulness! I felt like selling the house yesterday was a big hug from God reminding us to keep pressing on the path we've been praying over...that He is our ultimate Provider and has a plan for every aspect of our lives, wants to involved in every aspect of our lives - even our money. What a big weight lifted!!!!