Yay Uncle Andy & Auntie Callie!

Uncle Andy & Auntie Callie bought a house at 747 Winslow!  We are so happy and excited for them as they prepare for this new chapter in their lives.  Not only are they busy preparing for a December wedding, but now they are choosing paint colors and cleaning cleaning cleaning.  Uncle Andy will move in soon and Auntie Callie will follow after the wedding!  They have already invited me up to paint and hang out; I can't wait.  The best part?  They are within three miles of my favorites: Chipotle & Starbucks.  I had a case of the jealousies, but I quickly repented...

 The new homeowners emerge from their new HOME!

 Big A loves to walk in Uncle Andy's yard.

 Best picture I could take - Aidan wasn't interested in me, just the new house!

 Family.

After looking at their new house, we had supper in St. Paul and pretended we were hot-shots by walking through the St. Paul Hotel.  What a fun evening; thanks Andy & Cal!

On a different note, Aidan wanted to tell Uncle Andy and Auntie Callie how much he loves the cup he received from them in honor of his baptism:

This is Mommy's China hutch, and it's also where she keeps my special cup.

 When Mommy's not looking, I walk right up to it and open the door.

 I pull out my special cup and never touch anything else...

 Then I take a sip...

 And another one just to make sure I've gotten every last drop; I even tip my head back.

 Then I carefully (or not so carefully) put it back....

 And shut the door.   Then I repeat the process over and over until Mommy comes.

Mommy reprimands me and then I cry, but Leo never gets upset with me.  He just watches me quietly the whole time.  Sometimes I even offer him a drink from my special cup.

I love you, Auntie Callie and Uncle Andy.  Thanks for the wonderful gift!

Godly Discipline

Dr. Tedd Tripp.  I heart him - mustache and all.  I'm currently reading his Shepherding a Child's Heart for the fourth time, but this time is different - I'm reading it as a mom and not a teacher.  

The premise of Tripp's book is Luke 6:45:

"...out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."

The goal of parenting isn't primarily about changing outward behavior; the goal of parenting is training the heart of your child.   As parents we are given authority, by GOD, over our children to empower them to become self-controlled people who live freely under the LORD'S authority.  This is done not through harsh discipline or "ungodly child abuse" but by laying down our lives - authorities who are truly kind and who parent as we are called to by God in His Word.  And, fortunately, children usually don't resist authority that is selfless and kind.

One thing that struck me today as I was reading Tripp's book was "ungodly child abuse" - that term is new to me and I am so surprised at how often I see "ungodly child abuse" occur - even amongst believers!  And I know I am guilty of it - from babysitting or in my classroom - because it stems from anger.  What is it?  It's correcting our children out of irritation or as a way to vent our frustration.  For example:

I am fed up with you.  You are making me mad.  I am going to hit you, or yell at you, or make you sit on a chair in isolation from the family until you figure out what you did wrong," (page 38).

That is punishment.  Discipline is done in love (Proverbs 3:12, 24).  This sort of "ungodly child abuse" doesn't produce righteousness and peace - it produces sullen, angry, resentful children. 

I pray that the LORD would spare me from "ungodly child abuse" in the future. I pray that my discipline of Aidan would stem from the principles and absolutes of God's Word - and nothing else! - not my frustration, anger, irritation, exhaustion, etc.  The goals of my parenting should be character development and glorifying God; I pray that those would be the only fuel for my discipline.

Motherhood

Motherhood.  It's a full-time job.  And, usually, other jobs take longer than they need to because of cute little helpers.

 It's a full-time job making sure Aidan plays with his toys and not Leo's.

It's a full-time job fishing out the food that Aidan throws into Leo's water.

Tuesday was a day in which motherhood was overwhelming.  I'd take two steps forward and a hundred backward.  But yesterday, I read this aricle on motherhood by Rachel Jankovic and was encouraged.  Here's a blip, but I'd recommend reading the article in its entirety!

Mothering is a job that is full of difficult moments. Diapers blow out in stores when you have too much in your cart to just walk out. Sudden carsickness can leave you pulled over on the side of the road wondering just how much can be done with half a bag of wet wipes. You need to take what you believe and apply it to these difficult moments. Does the Bible teach us that God is disgusted by our frailty? That he doesn’t want to carry our burdens? That he doesn’t have the energy to deal with us?

The good news is, you don’t need to have been through some elite mother’s training camp to apply the gospel in your life. You need to believe. Trust God, give thanks. Laugh. Believe — and that will feed your children. Rest in God, and your children will learn to. Extend God’s kindness to you, to them. Forgive them the way God forgave you. You have everything you need to spiritually nourish your children, because you have Christ.

Mimic the gospel in what you do. Bring peace, bring order, bring joy, bring laughter. Bring it because it was brought to you. Give, because it was given to you. The gospel is not too big to fit into little situations. It is too big not to. 

LORD, help me to mimic the gospel today and to laugh with my boys and give to them my all because Christ's all was given to me.

Back-to-School Encouragement

For this is the will of God, your sanctification:

that you abstain from sexual immorality;

that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,

not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.

I Thessalonians 4:3-5

As students head back to school, I'm reminded of the difficulties they will inevitably face, particularly those who love Jesus Christ: 

"You may be tempted to join the party scene (rebelliously indulge your sinful desires, James 1:14-15), to downplay your faith (hide it under a basket, Matt. 5:14-16), to keep an open mind (question the only eternal truth, 1 John 1:1-4), or to chase your dreams (pursue selfish ambitions, James 3:13-18) instead of running after God’s commands," (Girltalk.blogs.com, He Goes With You).

The students from our church have been on my heart lately.  I want to encourage them to be pure, "set apart" for God in a world that denies Him and encourages students to live for themselves.

Godly living isn't a set of rules to follow; it's desiring, because of work done in your heart by the Holy Spirit, to please Him in all you do.  And this holiness actually produces happiness -which is what everyone is going for, right!?  God designed it perfectly that way.

Students, if the Holy Spirit is at work in your hearts, participate in that work by controlling your body & mind against the temptations of this world and guarding your heart against unruly passions.  You are responsible to be obedient to Scripture and trust that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to overcome all temptations.

Holiness is a blessed thing - run toward it!  And be encouraged when the going gets tough:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

Yay for Fresh Produce (and a New Ride)!

My garden is going strong!  Despite the extremely dry weather, I've had a lot of green beans, beets, tomatoes, green peppers and some lettuce.  My spinach and snap peas went to seed and dried up so I pulled them all out.  When my in-laws were here last weekend, we wanted to check out the carrots; I was shocked at how large they already are!

A friend told me, "There's nothing like home-grown carrots."  And she was right - they were scrumptious!

Just ask Sue & Brian...

 A small sample of what we picked Sunday.

Leo loves to help John pull carrots.

Leo has been hilarious in the garden.  I know I shouldn't have him in there with me, but he loves it.  He loves green beans; he'll sit and eat all the beans within the radius of his mouth.  Then he'll move to a new spot.  And digging up the weeds - oh, what a joy for him!  He's been such a blast.

On another note, my birthday present is finally up and running:

Yay for a Burley!

 This is the face you receive before you start moving...

Or whenever you stop....

 But he's a happy camper when you're moving....as long as you don't go too far.

I've been loving it - we went to the Post Office to mail letters, to a friend's house to see her new play set, on a ride with another friend and her Burley...oh so much fun!  I just hope Aidan continues to enjoy it as much as his mama.

Funny story:  the other bike my parents gave us is my green Huffy from junior high (without breaks!).  Well, my chivalrous hubby refuses to let me ride a bike without breaks so he's been riding it when we go as a family.  The poor guy - his legs barely can go 'roud and then the seat doesn't stay up or in place so he wobbles around.  I get the giggles every time we go - I think it's time to get him a new bike!

Proverbs Project

A woman who fears the LORD:

She seeks wool and flax,

and works with willing hands.

-Proverbs 31:13

I saw this wool project at Mary's Country Threads and loved it.  I have nearly no decor in the huge parsonage kitchen and with black-ish counter-tops, I thought it'd match - if it turns out!  I conned my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, her mother-in-law and a friend into taking the class with me.  Sweet Grandma Fretty came to watch Aidan and Leo while we sewed.

  Here is the kit we purchased.

This is Christie and Darcy using Transfer-Ease to copy the picture onto the silk.

 Bethany and Mary, our fabulous teacher.

My dearest mother-in-law who was disgusted because she could never get her needled threaded.

 I practiced my back-stitch.

 Christie, the perfectionist, back-stitching like crazy.  I'm hoping the "Mary's store" bug bit her that day and, now that she's a stay-at-home, she'll do projects with me!

 Back-stitching almost complete!

 The Transfer-Ease is neat because once the stitching is complete, you dip it in water and the backing dissolves.

In the afternoon, we put the strip of grass along the bottom (yes, we had to stitch around it, we couldn't just glue it - Mary said.), but now we have all the sheep and the lady to do...by ourselves!  We might have to get together again in the future!

We survived a wonderful day of sewing!  First one done with their project wins a trip to Hawaii....HA! Thanks, Mary, for such a fun day!

Photoflop

Earlier this week, I had the brilliant idea of doing a photoshoot with my boys.  Little did I know what was in store...

 This is Mr. I-Like-to-Grab-Mom's-Camera

 This is Mr. I'll-Cry-When-You-Tell-Me-"No"

 This is Mr. I-Hate-My-Hat

 This is Leo-the-Camera-Licker and Hand-Biter

This is The-Only-Good-Shot-of-the-Day

Yay Leo!

My puppy was at the vet Monday and he's 13 pounds already!  Leo has been so gentle with Aidan.  While I've been blogging for the last 15 minutes, they have been sitting facing one another sharing toys and bones.  It was so cute!  They also can be Team Mischief: Aidan knocks the candles off the coffee-table and Leo chews them up.