The Adventures of the Day

Yesterday our playgroup went to a friend's farm for a little adventure. It was great for the kids. Cheryl treated us to a wonderful lunch in their beautiful 100-year-old farm house. And her daughters were great with showing the kiddos all the animals. Kathryn was happy to see her buddies, but I think she more likes the *idea* of animals rather than actually getting close to live ones. She had no interest in petting any of the animals, even the cat. She liked looking at everything from safely in someone's arms. :)

One of Cheryl's daughters showing Kathryn how to feed the goats...she was not interested in getting that close!

"I'll just watch them from here, how 'bout that?"

With the horse- couldn't get her to touch it. She was very interested in it, though.

Up close with a chicken

The little kids were a little more interested in the big beach ball than they were with the animals.

Watching a baby hedgehog

Kathryn was very taken with this bunny

And the part of the adventure that was not planned...getting a flat tire on the highway on the way to the farm. I didn't have a cell phone with me, and I had only watched Nick change a tire once years ago, so I didn't know what to do. Jeanie and Eileen were about 10 minutes behind me, so I knew they would see me eventually, which is probably the only reason I wasn't totally losing it as I was trying to figure out what to do. I decided to stand outside the car and wave someone down, praying that whoever stopped would be helpful. Thankfully, the Lord brought two very helpful gentlemen, who I think were Christians, to change my tire. Thankfully there was a spare in the trunk.

Bradford Store...De Ja Vu?

Jeanie and I went back to the Bradford Store yesterday to get some new pictures of our girls. My camera battery died about half way through, so I don't have the second half of the day's pictures. I took way too many pictures, but with toddlers, you have to take a lot to get a few good ones. Fun to see how much 9 months makes...here's the post from the last time we went last August.

Alathea and Kathryn

"Hey, this chair is just my size!"

Playing with the bowl of discarded peanut shells

Recent Pictures of Kathryn

Our Happy Girl

LOVES being outside, now that the weather is beautiful

"My mom is so mean- waking me up from a dead sleep with a bright flash in my dark bedroom. All for a picture of my cute puffy sleep-eyes."

All of the "friends"- Bunny, Ducky, Monkey and "Wild Man"

Playing at the park

Great Quote from Piper

Last night Nick and I listened to one of the recorded panel discussions from Together for the Gospel. This was the panel discussion with Mark Dever, Al Mohler, CJ Mahaney, and Ligon Duncan interviewing John Piper after his message. For a full list of downloads, you can go here.
After listening to Piper's message from the conference on living a life of radical sacrifice, this panel discussion was a wonderful addition to the message. During the message Piper mentioned that he loved that he had a church full of "strong women." He elaborates by saying:

"I love strong women. I think they are magnificent testimonies to Christ because if they're complimentarian, then they're combining things the world can't explain. They're combining a sweet, tender, kind, loving, submissive, feminine beauty with this massive steel in their backs and theology in their brain."

This idea seems right in line with Proverbs 31
vs. 17 "She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong."
vs. 25 "strength and dignity are her clothing"

I find this picture so helpful. Even as Nick and I were talking about it, I was challenged to want to study more, think more deeply, press into the Lord more fully. How does this quote strike you? Curious to hear thoughts.

Kathryn- 15 month update

Kathryn had her 15 month check up this morning, and she's looking great. Weight: 22 lbs. (25-50%), Height: 31 3/4 inches (75%). These days she's very active...walking like a pro, trying to run but still a little bit like a "drunken sailor" at times. She also loves climbing on to anything she can, which (thankfully) only includes a few of our sofa chairs and coffee table. She's really getting into books, which is a lot of fun. She likes sitting on our sofa chair and "reading" with her stuffed animals...it's so cute! She also loves "feeding" her bunny and monkey and will make little noises for them like they're eating. I love watching her play like that. Scribbling with colored pencils is the new favorite activity.

Life with a toddler has been different than life with a baby. Better, I think, but I'm having to be a little more strategic about planning out my days to make sure everything gets done. Just like when Kathryn was first born, I'm learning to be more efficient with chores (and I'm sure I'll have to grow in this area more when more children come along). I'm thankful that Kathryn remains a good sleeper, which means long afternoon naps. We really couldn't ask for an easier baby/toddler so far. It is a gift that I don't take for granted.

Just within the last few weeks, we've started having "pack-n-play time," with Kathryn playing in her pack n play in her room alone, which we've tried before resulting in a screaming baby and stressed Mom as a result, but something must have clicked suddenly that now she seems to really enjoy that play time by herself. It's been a wonderful addition to our morning schedule, which allows me to get ready for the day in a peaceful manner.

I think I say this at every stage, but this is my favorite age so far. I have really enjoyed watching Kathryn learn and develop. I love seeing that she's understanding more and more of what I'm saying to her, and having her start to communicate more with the few signs that she knows.

Here are some videos from this morning while we were eating breakfast.

Finding Christ in Leviticus

I am reading through the 2-Year Bible, which includes a section of the Old and New Testaments, Psalms, and Proverbs for each day. Currently the Old Testament is in Leviticus, a book I have always struggled through in the past. I have had a hard time connecting with all of these old-covenant laws for the Israelites, wondering how those passages were relevant to me. During this read, though, I have been struck with some very striking application from several different passages, so I thought I'd share about it here.

"Those who suffer from any contagious skin disease must tear their clothing and allow their hair to hang loose. Then, as they go from place to place, they must cover their mouth and call out, 'Unclean, Unclean!' As long as the skin disease lasts, they will beceremoniously unclean and must live in isolation outside the camp." Lev. 13:45-46

I am struck in reading this, that apart from Christ's work on my behalf, this is a description of me. I would be this unclean person, with no hope of salvation.

"If the priest finds that someone has been healed of the skin disease, he will perform a purification ceremony, using two wild birds of a kind permitted for food...The priest will order one of the birds to be slaughtered over a clay pot that is filled with fresh spring water...The priest will also sprinkle the dead bird's blood seven times over the person being purified, and the priest will pronounce that person to be ceremoniously clean."

Lev. 14:3-7

A fresh reminder that the only way to be declared clean and be justified before a Holy God is by blood sacrifice...and here is where I was struck by the reality of what Christ has done on my behalf. I thought about a song that has the line, "We've been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, we've been washed in the blood, of the precious Lamb of God."

"When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, and the alter, he must bring the living goat forward. He is to lay both of his hands on the goat's head and confess over it all the sins and rebellion of the Israelites. In this way, he will lay the people's sins on the head of the goat; then he will send it out into the wilderness...the goat will carry all the people's sins upon itself into a desolate land."

Lev. 16:21-22

Thank you, Jesus, for being the ultimate Scapegoat, taking my sin upon yourself at the Cross! What joy this brings to my soul, that I am pronounced clean! Thank you for a new-found joy in this amazing Good News. Thank you for your Word, your Holy Word that is sweeter than honey to my lips.

"Expelled: No Intellegence Allowed"

Nick and I had the opportunity to watch Ben Stein's new documentary, "Expelled: No Intellegence Allowed." I haven't seen a lot of documentaries, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It ended up being marvelous food for thought. If you haven't seen this movie, I would encourage you to do so (in theaters now). It is very interesting. You can see the trailer here.

Okay, some pics...

Not the greatest quality of photos, but you get the general idea of the haircut. :)

A New Leaf?

Today I tried something that I have never done before....I cut my own hair. After weeks of saying, "I really need to get a haircut," and procrastinating on getting an appointment and babysitter, and debating whether it was worth just spending the $50 to get a nice haircut (my last $12 was awful), I decided I would give it a try myself. Worst case scenario, I could still go and get it fixed at a salon if I totally botched it. I figured since I always go into a salon with an exact picture of what I'm thinking I want and rarely walk out with my hair the way I thought it should be, I might be able to do it myself the way I wanted it. And I've watched closely enough when other people have cut my hair I basically knew (sort of) what to do. So....the end result.....I actually like it! Granted, I am a little paranoid that I am walking around with big zigzags across the back that everyone but me will notice, but from what I can tell using two mirrors, it looks pretty even. So perhaps this is turning over a new leaf (unless I keep getting comments about how bad my haircut is...I'm not too dense to get a clue...hopefully, anyway). One word of advice for those who might be inspired to try this at home: if you are tempted to give yourself a haircut while your toddler is awake, I have a suggestion: don't. I learned this the hard way :)

Visit with Gram

Last week Kathryn and I spent a wonderful few days with Gram (my Mom's Mom) while Nick was in Maryland. What an enjoyable time we had! I always love time together with Gram...not only does she make her guests feel welcome and special, but she is so much fun to spend time with! We made jewelry in her workshop (3 new pair of earrings!), went out to lunch at a very cute cafe, enjoyed wonderful cooking (Gram's salads are my favorite!), watched two movies, took Kathryn to the park, went shopping (Gram entertained Kathryn with the three-way mirror while I tried things on), and even fit in a trip to the tailor to alter a dress that Gram bought me for my birthday. All in 2 1/2 days! Thank you, Gram, for the wonderful visit!

On the dock where there were tons of cool-looking boats anchored

Easter Weekend

Nick's parents, Dennis and Marilyn are here for the weekend...this is the first trip where Kathryn seems to recognize them, which of course is very fun for all of us. She is quite taken with "Papaw" and "Mamaw," and they have had fun playing with her all weekend.

On Saturday, we went to the church's easter egg hung outreach, including face painting (Kathryn barely sat still long enough to get her face painted)

"Hey, I see eggs out there! Lots of them!"

"Aha! I found two of them!"
Well, we joined the pagan tradition of easter baskets with Kathryn. :) She mostly just loved taking the grass in and out of the basket and was quite thrilled to discover that there were M&Ms in the plastic eggs! We also gave her a little toothbrush and trainer toothpaste (much needed for that "dragon Breath" of hers) and some crayons. As much as I enjoyed Kathryn as a baby, I'm finding that I am REALLY enjoying her as a 14 month old. I love seeing her respond more and interact. Of course there have been more challenging days, too, but on the whole I am really loving this age. Especially now that her molars are through that she was cutting for a while...that was not very fun for either of us. But now she's back to her sweet self, and Mama is much happier, too!

Gotta keep up on the news

Rekindle '08

We spent a wonderful week last week at Laguna Beach, near Panama City, FL with Mission 28 (CrossWay's college ministry). Since Nick is leading a third of the group in a small-group setting, we were invited to go along this year so Nick could preach one of the messages. Jeanie and I drove down with our three girls in a rental SUV, which was smaller than we thought. So we had three carseats across, which actually worked out well. We stayed the night at my sister Margaret's house in Atlanta (which was a lot of fun!), then headed the rest of the way to Florida the next day. We beat most of the people there since we left a day early, so we got to enjoy a nice afternoon at the beach with the girls when we got there. Kathryn really liked the sand (liked eating it, too!). The weather was pretty nice- a little chilly all week, but sunny every day but one. The highlight for me was enjoying the Worship and messages, enjoying time with friends, and getting to know some of the girls in our Care Group a little better. The ride back was interesting. Jeanie and I got to Atlanta around 9:30, and decided we thought we could drive the whole way back that night (4-5 hours from Atlanta). This was probably a bad idea. The first hour was great- girls were both zombies in the back, watching their DVD's (they were so tired but were just sitting there in the dark, eyes wide open, losing brain cells by the minute), and then the rest of the time involved loud crying/screaming, Kathryn and Alathea taking turns waking each other up....so, it was.....interesting. But we made it back to sleep in our own beds, which was nice.

"Vegging" while watching TV...too funny! Feet crossed and everything.

I think Kathryn was trying to imitate the sound the birds were making in this picture

On our balcony...right on the beach! Amazing.

The view from our balcony...beautiful!

The last morning was warm enough for swim suits, so Kathryn got a true "beach experience"

Sitting in a giant hole one of the students dug

loved the sand...eating it, too!

My Love and me