Caps for Sale!

Reading Rainbow was one of my very favorite shows when I was a kid. Levar Burton had this magical way of making me want to read anything that he read. I still remember specific episodes of that show in great detail. I think because this book was on Reading Rainbow it was one of my very favorite books when I was a little girl. It is sort of a weird story, but I always really loved it. Anyway, Carter wanted to read this story before his nap today. When we got to the part with the monkeys, he was giggling and so very happy. I love watching him soak up new stories and seeing the curiosity and enthusiasm on his face. We had to read it twice before he would lay down.

When he came downstairs after his nap, this is what I found. . .

Pretty stinking cute, no?

Whirlwind week!

Summer is officially going by way too quickly! We just returned from a week long tour of Texas, and it is good to be home, but we sure had a blast!

My sweet Carter bug turned 4 on June 17th (the day before we left town). He seems so grown up to me in so many ways now. He is so proud that he is a big boy and tells everyone that will listen that he is 4 and he poops in the potty! If you are extra lucky, he might even show you his underwear. This kid melts my heart!

We started our tour of Texas with a trip to see Mike's grandparents in Abilene. Carter had a blast playing cowboy with Grandad and cried when we left. It is so cool to me that my babies get to know their great grandparents. We had a nice visit. I was so worried about traveling with Carter in underwear, but he did amazingly well. Unfortunately, he threw up all over himself on the way to Abilene, but it is amazing how a car full of barf will change your perspective on the potential for a teetee accident!

We went from Abilene to Houston to see our sweet friends, the Cutrers. It was so nice to have a chance to just catch up and visit and hang out with the kids. They were so gracious and gave up their bed and best towels and fed us some amazing food! The boys played guitar hero while the girls talked Twilight! (I finished it, Eli- I will call you!!!) Here are the kids- Alexis, Carter, Evyn, and Abigail. I could not get Carter to smile for this picture so I picked up the closest thing to me, which happened to be a kitchen knife and waved it around, which explains why Alexis looks terrified!

Me and Eli. If I look sweaty, it is because I am. She is gorgeous, like always!

We went from Houston to Boerne to stay at a "ranch" which was actually more like a 5 star resort. This was the BHBC staff retreat. We had such a good time just getting to hang out with the rest of the ministerial staff and their families and I cannot even begin to describe how beautiful the ranch was. Carter was in little boy heaven! This is the whole group (minus Evyn) on the front porch of the big house.

This is the view as you walk into the big house. There are four bedrooms with bathrooms in each downstairs and the loft had a library, dining area, study, and playroom. Amazing!

There were mules and 4 wheelers that we had a blast exploring on. Evyn slept through about an hour long ride on the mule. Incredible.

Here you see Carter and Jake feeding a bongo from their hand. Luckily I did not hear the story about a bongo goring a man until after he fed this one.

The bongo really liked Evyn. All I could think about was that movie where the lady kept saying "The dingo ate my baby!"

Half of the group went to San Antonio on Monday and the rest of us stayed behind and dug for fossils, fed bongos, rode the mules, swam, and hung out. It was the most restful and fun day that I have had in a long time. Have I mentioned how much fun Carter had?

We left the ranch and went to SeaWorld to celebrate potty training success. Unfortunately, we picked the 104 degree day to go. Other than the sweltering heat we had a fabulous time. Carter was so excited to see Shamu that I thought he would cry. He was very concerned that the killer whale was going to eat the trainer. Luckily this did not happen.

Feeding the dolphins.

The whale did not eat the man. Whew.

Carter and Mike rode the Shamu express two times. He thought he was such big stuff and told me that it went really fast but was not scary.

Then mommy got to ride the farris wheel with Carter. He kissed me at the top. Awww.

After SeaWorld, we headed to San Marcos to see Nana and Grandad for a few days. Carter fed the deer, the guinea pigs, the rats, the dogs, and chased the cats. Again, paradise for a little boy. We had a really nice visit and enjoyed catching up a little bit.

Hanging out watching the deer and sweating profusely.

I was so proud of the kids. They were so well behaved in the car and so sweet and flexible everywhere that we went. I think that I fell a little more in love with all three of my favorite people this week, if that is possible. Carter threw up 5 times within the first hour of our trip home today but rebounded nicely. And all of that was soon forgotten when he accomplished his first level 2 event in a public place while we were stopped for lunch today! Atta boy, Carter!

It is fabulous to be home. I am tackling the mountains of laundry and looking forward to another fun day tomorrow!

Beautiful Babies

There are times that I am so completely in awe of my children- what a blessing they are and how completely undeserving I am to get to be their mommy. I am so thankful for the thousands of ways that they make my life richer. I seem to be having more and more fond feelings now that there is an end in sight with potty training! I could not help but share some pictures of my sweetest little things!

Evyn's hair is too long to pull off the traditional baby mohawk in the tub, but we tried anyway!
And my girl is business in the front and party in the back! Check out how long that hair is. I know that it is uneven and awkward to style, but I cannot bring myself to cut it!

If Carter looks particularly menacing to you in this picture it is because he is pretending to be a shark!

And I am not above hanging out in the backyard pool when it is so hot! Evyn and I had a lovely time.

My mom gave Carter these sunglasses that wrap around your head after she got her eyes dilated. He loves them and thinks that they look like the mask that "Mo" wears on Veggie Tales "Mo and the Big Exit." He napped in them and everything!

There are days that just beg you to get your camera out. This was one of them!

I love these two so very much! Thank you, God, for blessing this mommy!

Our First Week of Summer

It is such a gift that I get to have summer vacations to spend with my babies! I love lazy mornings in our pajamas, running errands with both of them, swimming, and just doing all of the things that I wish I could do the rest of the year. We have made homemade playdough, done art projects, cleaned, and almost completely mastered the whole potty thing! Not bad for one week! I am so thankful that I still have the rest of June and July ahead of me because it is flying by already.

Here are a few pictures from our first week of vacation! This is Evyn playing- I love some of her facial expressions. You can just tell that she has something to say to me.

We have had some amazing summer thunderstorms. On Wednesday morning at about 10, the entire sky went black like it was night and this intense hailstorm came out of nowhere. Carter threw his winter coat on and dug out his headphones so the thunder would not sound so loud and sat on the porch watching the rain. I missed the headphones with the camera, but you can imagine.

Evyn being girlie and adorable.

This is one of many prizes that Carter has received for doing his business in the potty (I love the dollar section at Target). He meticulously set up every soldier in combat stance. Too cute!

There is nothing better than an afternoon at the pool with your three most favorite people in the world.

We love to have breakfast for supper. We normally do that every Sunday night. This week was waffle night and Carter begged to put chocolate chips in the holes of his waffle. Why not? Syrup and chocolate- great combo, no? He was so sticky but so adorable!

And it turns out that Evyn loves waffles too.

Proudly sporting his Spiderman undies!

Smiling for the camera. She is so much fun. You can almost hear the little giggle that goes with this sweet smile.

Blessed and then some!

Every now and then a girl is blessed to have a job that she really loves. And if that girl is especially blessed, she finds friends at that job to share her heart with! That is the situation that God has blessed me with! I am blessed and then some. Unfortunately, all of my friends seem to be ridiculously attractive, which makes me feel rather like the old fat woman of the bunch, but they are so nice that I will overlook that too! Yesterday we loaded up the kids and headed for Roaring Springs. We giggled, swam, visited, chased kids, ate watermelon, splashed in the stream, and had an absolutely marvelous day! This was my first official day off, and I enjoyed every minute!

This is the group (minus Monica) by the waterfall.

And the group (minus Heather) by the waterfall!

My sweet babies loaded up in the car! Thanks, Monica, for this picture!

Carter and Evyn were perfectly happy playing in this boat together. They absolutely melt my heart together!

I can't get over how much I love this sweet little girl. She actually splashed in the freezing water for a bit yesterday!

This is all of the grown ups- me, Jinnie, Kelsey, Monica, Mika, and Heather!

Thank you, girls, not only for a wonderful day, but also for the gift of your friendship! I love you gals!

Random stuff.

This is the hat that Mike brought back from Morocco for Carter. He loves it, unfortunately!

My hairy little princess, after her nap! This hair makes me laugh- combination fro, curls, and mullet!

Apparently offended that I was laughing at her.

Carter and Blake spent the night with Grammy last night and he was sooooo excited about it. He has maybe spent the night away from us a total of 5 times in his life. He had his backpack packed and ready to go and was telling Toonces not to miss him because he would be back the next day but she was not invited to the "smumber party." They swam, ate pizza, watched a movie, made banana splits and giggled late into the night. Pretty cute, no?

Because my blogland friends have been such an encouragement through the potty training journey, I feel compelled to update! We are still having several stinky accidents, but the little man has gone twice in the potty in the last two days. Today he told me "that sure feels so much better." Right? He has told me all along that he will do it when he is four. Maybe I should have listened. I am going back to cold turkey underwear on Wednesday. Wish me luck.

Finally, my friend Sara recently made me aware of the "Fresh Air Fund" which is an organization that allows kids from inner city NY to come spend summer vacation in alternate locations. They will match donations dollar for dollar from now until June 30th, so I added a fancy little button to the right of my page that you can click on for more information or to donate.

I guess Carter is officially a preacher's kid.

You know you're a preacher's kid when. . .

1. Your mom finds 5 little rocks in the washing machine and you tell her that you put them in your pocket to kill Goliath but you only needed one.

2. You have an obsession with "Rack, Shack, Benny" and the "burnace."

3. Your favorite bedtime story is "the hurt guy" aka "the good Samaritan."

4. Every prayer starts with "Dear Heavenly Father, to have a beautiful day."

5. You believe that Jesus' last name is "amen." (In Jesus' name, Amen)

6. You can use the word Levite in context.

7. You happily tell all of your friends that sharing makes Jesus happy when you would like for them to share their toys with you.

8. You know exactly where the donuts are kept in the nursery and help yourself to one every Sunday after church.

9. Your favorite song is "this little light of mine."

10. One of your favorite activities is taking money out of your piggy bank so you can give it to Jesus!

I love it that at the age of 3 Carter-bug already has such a cool understanding of the Lord!

Nan

Today was the funeral of an absolutely amazing woman, Nannette Barrett. She passed away on Friday morning after battling cancer for 27 years. To say that she will be missed is an understatement. I have wrestled with whether or not writing about her on my blog is "appropriate," and came to the conclusion that she most definitely made a mark on my life and her passing has caused me to really reflect on several things that are worth writing about. So it is with a great deal of love and respect that I share the following thoughts.

Obviously your prayers for her family are coveted. Her son, Brooks, graduated from high school the night before she died and her daughter, Baylee, will be a sophomore in high school next year. Her husband, Danny, has spent his entire life caring for her and there is no doubt that he will miss his wife more than I can imagine. These are precious people and my heart hurts for them.

One of the things that God continues to show me is that He is big enough to stand in the gap for a mommy. The human side of me and the mother in me knows that the little things in life like laundry, cooking, wrapping presents, buying toothpaste, planting flowers, and goodnight kisses are about to not feel so small and insignificant for this family. And I find myself asking God how this family can be expected to carry on without their mom and wife. And time and time again, He reminds me that He is not only my Heavenly Father, but He is big enough, gentle enough, kind enough, patient enough, loving enough, and more than enough to be a Mother as well. I know that this sounds so simple, but this truth stretches me in so many ways.

Nan was a beautiful woman. She took care of Carter every Friday for the first year that he was alive. I feel so blessed that my little man got to soak up even a small part of who she was. What a gift for our paths to get to cross in such an intimate way. I found a book that Nan gave Carter and she wrote in it challenging him to love God with all of his heart. I know that she did. I know that she is home now.

It seemed appropriate that there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky on my way to the viewing last night. I am reminded that God does keep His promises. She is restored. There is no more pain. And I know that she must have an incredible head of hair now! Today at the funeral I sat behind a little girl and her mother. I watched as the little girl kept looking at her mom while she silently cried. Watching her process her mother's grief was really moving for me. The mom put her arm around her daughter and the daughter rested her head against her mom and I was reminded that the best way to honor Nan is to keep living. To keep comforting my babies. To turn their eyes to the Lord. To laugh and savor and sing. Being a mom has completely changed the way that I process grief, maybe because I know an entirely new dimension of love now too. I am so thankful for each day that God has given me to spend with my babies. And I am so thankful for the life of Nannette. She was an inspiration to so many and I feel honored to say that she was my friend. Her legacy will live for a long time to come.

Thank you, Nan, for reminding me how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.