Goodbye For a Little While

This week I have to say goodbye to my dear friend Carissa. She is leaving to go out to Virginia and even though it's only for a few months more than likely she will return only to marry and then be moving permanently to Virginia. These past few weeks God has tested me and been so kind as to reveal my heart in her moving away. He has shown me how I cling and hold on to things to tightly that were never "mine" to begin with. Even great realtionships that are full of fruitful fellowship and love are only a gift from him to be cherished and sometimes only given to us for a season. I want so badly for things to remain the same and my world to be comfortable but how kind is He to remind me that this is not my home. I am not meant to be comfortable here on earth and I long for heaven even more knowing that those whom I cannot be with here on earth I will be with forever in heaven. I find myself day dreaming about heaven and imagining what a wondourous place it will be. And this morning I am thanking him for the joy that is to come when I shall see him face to face and my soul shall rest and be satisfied.
So thank you Carissa for your friendship to my sweet little ones. you have been their faithful companion as much as mine. We will miss you greatly! We love you.

Catching up- Swim Lessons

The summer is flying by, I can't believe it's mid- July! After our vacation with family in the Outer Banks( which was so great) we came home and started swim lessons for Mady. She went every day for two weeks and at the end was diving off the diving board and doing a spectacular doggie paddle to the side of the pool. Still working on perfecting her strokes but relieved to know if she fell into the pool she could make it to the side. These pictures were taken on the last day. Aslan also had fun making friends in the kiddie pool each day as well.

The Business of Being Born

This is a must see movie for all who are thinking of having another child! It a documentary about home birth. I liked this documentary partly because it did a great job in telling both sides of the story hospital birth versus home birth. They interview lots of OB/GYN doctors as well as midwives and follow the story of several ladies in their quest to delivery naturally at home. They also do a historical overview of how our country has gotten so far away from home birth since 95% of all births used to be at home. In all the other developed countries except ours this custom is still practiced today and they have much lower infant mortality rates than the United States. Our is the second highest! Yes the statistics will blow away but more importantly I think we as women are missing out on this incredible experience. We are pushed by our culture and our insurance companies to inform us of how we should give birth. I was also deeply moved by the corelation between the oxytocin that is released in the brain( the love chemical) that you experience to it's fullest when you give birth naturally and your baby experiences it too, thus it deepens the bond that you have with your child. I would love to know if any of you out there have see this movie your thoughts and if you haven't seen it I would highly recommend that you do.

New Hair

Thats right it's gone and it feels sooo good to be short! It may not seem like a big deal but i haven't had my hair short since i was pregnant with Mady five years ago. Now I have to remember to put sunscreen on the back of my neck. It's weird I've gotten sunburn there the last two days.

New Playhouse

Yes for those of you who read this blog you know my love of garage sale finds. Well this weekend was one of those that usually happends once a year, like last year when I got the swing set for $20. Well this year my score of the year( well it's only April) so far was this playhouse. It happened to be on a friend of mine's street and she called me at like 6:45 a.m. to tell me to go and look at this house that was getting rid of a bunch of kids toys. I show up around 7:45 and took this baby home in her husband's pick up truck. And my bargain price for this was....FREE!! Yes that's right just needed someone to haul it away. Aslan is loving it as you can see by the picture:) Jim is like don't we have enough stuff back here. I said well it's only for a season and I want it to be a fun one:) There will be time for a beautiful yard and big people stuff for the rest of our lives but for now my backyard is built for the kids.

Blue Hands

This year we had sort of a pre easter at our house. Saturday Mady's friend Lauren came over and we colored Easter eggs. They both submerged their hands in the blue dye and thought it was hysterical to have blue hands. I was a little worried after the fact, i thought they might have blue hands for Easter but turns out baking soda and water did the trick. Then we hid the eggs in the backyard and had a little easter egg hunt. I am glad we did because the next morning, Easter Morning, I was getting Mady into her Easter dress and she just said, " Mom I'm gonna throw up," which she did thankfully in the bathroom toliet and not all over her new dress. But just Aslan and I went to church because Jim was sick too. So here are the pre Easter pictures. Mom I'll put her in the new dress you got her and take some pictures another time.

Aslan is Two

Yes my little boy is growing up so fast here he is on his birthday this past March. Just a couple because he was rather cranky when the day actually came around. In the morning Jim and I went into his room to wake him up so Jim could see him before work. He just said, " Go!, Go Go!" And that's how his day started and ended much the same way. This was one of the few shots I got of him smiling. He did enjoy all the cars he got as presents and exclaimed Ohhhh! as he got each one. Wish everyone could have been there.