Prayer

A few words from Ann Voskamp (author of One Thousand Gifts) on prayer.  This is from her site, which you can find on my list of "blogs I love."

Prayer becomes what we live when we want to get hold of God, not just get a hold of what we want.

And real prayer isn't about changing God's mind but about finding God's heart--and letting His heart change my mind.

If one's not praying regularly, it's only because something else is regularly loved more than God.

Without prayer, how can our life and His will have anything in common?

We need to pray without ceasing--because it's the only way to live in communion.

Sometimes I underestimate the power of prayer. Oftentimes I fall asleep at night while praying.  I tell friends and family I will pray for them, and I do, but I am guilty of only doing it once or twice.  And let's just be honest, every once in a while I question the necessity of prayer.  These snippets were great reminders of why we pray. Encouraging to read, challenging to put into action.  Pray for me! :)

Camden and Mommy Outing

On May 12th, Camden and I saw Recess Monkey (a local band made up of three teachers).  The show was called "In Tents."  They teamed up with a circus so it was the band mixed with some acrobats and juggling.  I thought it was great, but Camden was not a fan of the guy in the huge bear costume (he has never liked anything in that category...not even Red Robin).  So, although he loved the band, he was a bit tense the whole time about the bear. Bummer!  However, it was still fun to spend some one-on-one time with my big boy!

 Pre-show photo

 He was excited!

 They had games before the performance...

 ....where the kids won cool (wink, wink) prizes like this one!

After the show

Fizzy Fun!

Vinegar mixed with food coloring + squirting it into a dish of baking soda = an entertained preschooler!

 Getting started

 Watching it bubble and fizz

 Adding more

 Someday I will capture a real smile!

All done squirting so he wanted to see what happened if he stirred it

Mommy's Day 2012

I had a great Mother's Day weekend!  We didn't do anything big, just spent the day together as a family, which is just what I wanted!  On Saturday, I took Camden to see Recess Monkey (a local band) in the morning then took the afternoon "off."  I sat outside of Starbucks (loving the sun!) and read One Thousand Gifts (a present from my MIL.  It is a fabulous book and I highly recommend it).  It was great having time to myself.  Sunday we went to church, had a picnic lunch in our front yard, then headed to the park and dinner after naps, and topped it off with fro-yo!  

Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were here an hour I would die for you. This is the miracle of love. ~ Maureen Hawkins  

Making the decision to have a child – it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~ Elizabeth Stone

 Woke up to this awesome sign in the kitchen with sweet cards from Jonathan and the boys (the words at the top are straight from Camden.  I love the "You're Mommy!"  So cute)

 My little guy

 

My big guy

 So thankful to be a Mommy

 Blessed with boys!

 They went down the slide together many times!  

 Parker loved every second.  For Camden, it was serious business holding onto his bro!

 Weeee!

 So fun!

 Camden wanted the duck to come over to him

 Telling her to go back in the water with her friends

Watching the ducks and his big brother

Mommy & Me Tea

On May 10th I went to Camden's classroom for a Mommy & Me Tea.  It was super cute!  "Teacher Annie" had the kids make some things to treasure for years to come...so thoughtful!  I still can't believe he's old enough for me to go to school events.  This was the first of many and such a great memory!    

 We didn't get any pics together before he started eating...he was all about the snacks!

 So we snapped one when he took a break (which means a photo with crumbs on his lips)!

 Then it was time for the kids to do a couple of songs.  Camden bustin' a move with his jingle bells.

 I'm not sure what he was doing, something that went with the song

 This time the little ones all had a "bean bag animal" they had to balance on different body parts (elbow, back, knee, etc) according to the cues from the song

 My special boy!

I love him so much!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Parker loves to roll (somersault).  He will put his head down on the rug (see first pic) and just wait until someone comes and flips him over.  Mommy or Daddy usually do the flipping, but Camden thought he would give it a whirl. Their faces in these pics crack me up.  Camden's eyes are closed in most of them because I think he's a little nervous about getting whacked in the face.  He probably rolled his brother over more than 30 times!  So funny!

05.10.12

No Tutus

No tutus.  No headbands.  No ribbons.  No dresses.  No nail polish.  No make-up.  No hair appointments.  No prom dress shopping.  No wedding dress shopping.  

It's weird to think I will never experience any of those things with my own child, with a daughter.  Yes, we are done having kids.  No, I'm not going to try for a girl and I'll tell you why...I think it will be a boy and, in my only child mind, three kids seems like A LOT!  Right now the hubs and I are man-on-man and we're good with that!  Above all, I'm blessed and content.  I'm happy to be a Mommy of two boys, thrilled, actually!  I do not feel like something is missing.  I'm not sad about not having a girl.  I love the fact that my boys have each other, a brother.  I obviously don't know a thing about sibling relationships, but I'm guessing there is a different bond between siblings who are the same gender.  I'm not necessarily saying it's better, but different.  They, as boys, can and will really relate to one another (Parker already grabs Camden's wee-wee in the bath for crying out loud!  I digress...).  I love how both of them will bond with Jonathan doing "guy things."  I love that we already have all the toys and clothes we need for Parker.  I love being surrounded by every ball imaginable, skateboards, scooters, army guys, and cars.  I love getting tackled at random.  I love the noises while playing, the energy, the jumping, the instruments, the never sitting still, the "all boy" in my boys.  No tutus in this house.  Ever.