Brotherly Love

Micah wanted Korban to sit with him one morning before church.  Korban loved it for a good little while.  Such a sweet moment.
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" --Psalm 133:1

Fancy Shmancy Blender

We have been given some wonderful homegrown veggies lately.  We've cooked with them, frozen some, and I've pureed a lot for baby food. Pictured: zucchini, yellow squash, white squash.  I also pureed some apples + green beans + carrots.

Have I mentioned lately how much I'm in love with my new fancy shmancy gifted blender?  It's amazing.  I'm in love.  So smooth.  So powerful. 

And the gift came with this fancy peanut butter jar.  It makes peanut butter in one minute.  Smooth + creamy from just straight peanuts.  Works great with this homemade chewy granola bar recipe we love.

I found these 2oz oxo containers on diapers.com from a friend's recommendation who makes baby food with her baby bullet (which she says works great, too!).  I love the size + the tray.

They also come in a great 4oz size.

Dedicated

Last Sunday, May 13th, Mother's Day, we publicly dedicated Korban to the Lord.  Korban means offering to God.  Since we first knew of His conception we dedicated Him to the Lord, this ceremony was simply making our offering public.  We are honored to be trustees of this precious little man.

We are grateful that MikeMike has been there to lead in the baby dedications for all three of our children. 
The kids are definitely a little squirmy and it's a little crazy having them with us, but I want them to be a part of the dedication ceremony.  I want them to know that we are God's--our whole family.  He comes first and foremost in our lives.

I enjoyed having my children sitting with me during the church service on Mother's day...even if it was exhausting--and that's with four other adults to help!  We have definitely not mastered excellent behavior during church service--it's a work in progress. 

I did manage to win a Mother's day rose.  It's a joke between my husband and I.  I absolutely love winning the Mother's day rose.  I won it two years in a row for having the youngest baby and would have last year but we were out of town.  And yes, I have forgiven Jason for taking me out of town and making me miss it...[wink].  This year there was a baby younger then Korban so I thought I'd lost...but then there was a three-way tie for most children with us at church.  I guess I'd never win if the Duggar's were members of our church.  Hooray for winning the Mother's day rose!  Don't worry I'm not really that emotionally attached, it's more a fun joke.  I'd gladly hand it over to another mother if it means more moms + babies in our church!

I'm so glad that Uncle Matt could make it for the service + my parents could, too.  Two years ago my mother and I spent Mother's day in anxious anticipation of Micah's arrival.  I feel so blessed to have spent Mother's day with my mom again this year.  I couldn't ask for a better example.  Mom, you are truly incredible--the best mom a girl could hope for.  I love and appreciate you + hope to be an awesome mom just like you.
My children were super excited to give me their wrapped packages of painted hand print tulip hand towels made in church class.  We have such great preschool teachers.  I was also blessed by flowers + my family surrounding me.

The Perfume

This is a story that must be recorded for my little Ivory to read when she celebrates her first mother's day.

Ivory LOVES going to the dollar store with her grandparents.  Since there really aren't very many options in our little town she gets to visit there often when they come into town.  Grandma took Ivory to the dollar store on Mother's day to buy mommy a gift.  Ivory loves wearing Mommy's perfume + body spray.  Sweet little girl found a gift set of perfume + lotion in pink bottles.  Remember, we're talking dollar store fragrance.  High class.  You guessed it, it smells awful.  At first I'm just swept away by how sweet + thoughtful her little gift is.  Then the reality of the gift settles in.  Ivory will ask me to wear this--Every Day.  She will ask to wear it--Every Day.  I will get to smell it--Every Day.  Oh the gift that keeps on giving...ugh.  What will I do? 

No, I'm not the sweet sacrifical Mom that will joyfully wear + smell a terrible fragrance daily. 

What will I do??

Jason has a brilliant idea.  What if we keep the bottle and replace it with different perfume?  The lotion doesn't smell that strong so it's okay left as is.  Brilliance.  With a few tools, care + precision by my handyman (who knew the bottle would be so tricky to open + reseal?!), and some Victoria Secret PINK I already have on hand that will appear exactly the same I am rescued from my smelly dilemma.

Now my sweet little girl + I can enjoy our pink perfume every day.  And Mom won't gag.  Happy Mother's Day to me!

The Graduate

Last Friday Jason's younger brother Matthew graduated from our alma mater, The Baptist College of Florida.  Matt graduated with honors majoring in Biblical studies.  Way to go, Uncle Matt!  He also won a nice scholarship for Southwestern Seminary in Dallas, Texas which is where he'll be heading this fall.

Dr. Kinchen -- president of the Baptist College of Florida for 26 years. Dr. Kinchen handing Uncle Matt his diploma.

One of Jason's college friends Eric also graduated with Matt.  Way to go, Eric!  And all life's special milestones are best celebrated with a party!  So, we hosted a graduation party for Matt at the Marianna Caverns.  It was a small event for Matt's family and friends and a few of Jason's college friends who were in town for the graduation stopped by, too.  We were so glad for everyone who could join us to celebrate Matt's big day. We kept the food traditional...with a visit to KFC for chicken + the donut shop for the custom cake.  Fried chicken, mac + cheese, potato salad, fruit salad, zucchini + squash casserole, gluten free chocolate chip cookies, gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, chips + cake--yum!  I'm so grateful for Seana's help Thursday preparing all the food.  You rock, girl! The kids loved seeing Nana, Grandaddy, Aunt Mel + Uncle Matt.
Micah loved meeting new friends his size to run with + play. Ivory enjoyed the girls her age for a little while, but she was mostly fascinated with "Uncle Matt's silly friends."  "Mom, why are those boys so silly?"  Well, they're sort of like teenagers.  "Oh, okay."  And then she couldn't get enough of them.  Crazy girl.
The graduate. Grandaddy + Korban                                                Titus + Emily  All the fesitivities wore poor little Korban out. "Feed me + lay me down please!"                           Excessive dirt = proof Micah had a blast Miraculously this picture was super easy to take.  These are the kids of some of Jason's college friends--we so enjoyed spending time with them.

Ivory, Korban, Maggie, Hannah, Micah, Titus.

Congrats, Uncle Matt--we're so proud!

6 + 2 + 10

Six: Wedding Anniversary

Six years ago today I married my college sweetheart.  While it is often crazy, we have our fair share of fights, and it's definitely not been easy, I haven't regretted our marriage for a moment. 

See this happy face?  He still makes me smile like this every day.

And here we are six years later.  Three kids later.  And by God's grace still in love.

Two: Birthday

Four years after our wedding we visited the hospital and welcomed our sweet Micah man into the world.  Not how I had envisioned celebrating our second anniversary, but what an incredible gift to receive.  Micah came in a hurry and I welcomed him with tears, kisses and overwhelming love.  Headful of hair.  Wrinkly puppy dog face.

Then that dark headed little puppy grew into a shaggy blonde chubby one year old.  His giggles, snuggles, and joy bless our lives every day.


And now he's our little toddler.  Our silly little blondie.  That tongue.   
That grin.  This one will do almost anything to make big sister laugh. 

Our truck + car + tractor + ball loving tenderhearted little man.

We love you, Micah Man.  Happy birthday.

10: Ministry Anniversary

That's how long my husand has been faithfully serving in ministry at our church.  I'm so very proud of him and so honored to be his partner in ministry.  Thank you to our church for making these ten years such wonderful ones.  All glory to God for His abounding grace + mercy.


So today is a special one.  Full of love, joy, and celebration.  A follow-up post of the day's activities will come soon.  For now, I'm going to enjoy some hubby time while the kids are sleeping!

Little Mommy

Sweet "little mommy" moment.

Everyday Happenings

Play date fun--it's more fun with more mess, right?
Chocolate granola bar yum!

What's On Your Phone?

Mobile pix download from the latter half of April.

Ivory found it fun to drum on the table while waiting for our pediatrician to come in to see Micah's ear where we discovered that yes indeed it was infected.  Ivory + Micah also thought it was fun to play hide-n-seek behind the exam table.  Glad Korban could be so delightfully entertained. After the visit we stopped at Target, dropped off our prescription + did a little shopping.  Goldfish were on sale by quite a bit so we picked out like at least six different kinds.  After arriving at home, attempting nap time, we headed to the church gym for some playtime. While in the backyard we discovered a little bird who had fallen/been pushed out of her tree. Love my boys. Outdoor fun. Ivory, "Will you take a picture of me and send it to Nana?  She will say I'm so pretty!"  She then proceeds to extend the list of who else should be texted the pictures.  Donut shop fun. Ivory + Daddy went to a wedding.  Before the wedding Daddy + Ivory had a little photo op.
Ivory showing his strong man elbow.  He loves bumping elbows and saying "Strong man!" 
Jason playing a superhero kinect game. 
Clay the superhero.

John the superhero.
Stephen the superhero.
Sleeping babies + hand picked flowers = sweetness
Enjoying our new gifted swingset! Slides are meant for sliding + climbing, right? Climbing fun! Micah + Mommy enjoying the swingset. Daddy is our hero. He put together our set + screws in handles to help the kids climb better. 
Still loving my new phone!