The List….

My friend Bridget wrote about list making today. I love to make lists, too. I have one this morning for errands P and I are suppose to run later today.

She tells a wonderful story of how her daughter wrote a list of things she is good at. It inspired Bridget to make a list of her strengths. (which is hard for us to do as adults!)

Thanks to Bridget’s encouragement, I’ve made my own list.

Here it is:
*Top three are stolen from Lydia’s list

Eating
Sleeping
Living

Laughing
Cooking
Giving hugs
Smiling
Listening
Reading books
Preaching
Meeting new people
Dreaming
Sitting outside
Singing silly songs
Loving
Encouraging
Volunteering
Parenting
Exercising
Planning
Snuggling

It’s hard to write down my strengths. I kept wanting to write justifications or think of judgements (“well, except”…  or “only if..”) Every time this would happen, I’d say to myself, “Stop. Just write the list. Embrace it.”

What’s on your list? Comment below or post it on your own blog. Go… write your list!

Visits, Visits, and More Visits….

Wow.

We’ve been on the road lately.

And folks (thankfully) have been on the road to see us.

It’s been a busy month. Let’s see if I can recount it.

Father’s Day weekend we traveled to Savannah for Barry’s grandparents anniversary

We visited the brand new Children’s Museum of Savannah which is all outdoors. It was so cool!

I left for a short trip to TX for the CBF General Assembly. I had a great time catching up with friends but I missed my guys!

The Mackey family made a quick trip from Atlanta on what I think was the hottest day of the year. How do you survive 106 degrees with three toddlers and a newborn?

WATER DAY!

We headed to Florida on the 4th of July where Parker saw fireworks from the beach. He did such a great job keeping his eyes open but just didn’t make it for the finale. He was hard and fast asleep in my arms. It was a busy week but we enjoyed good food, beach time, and lots of playing with family. Barry and I slipped over to Seagrove Beach for the afternoon/evening one day to hang out with his boss and his wife. It was a fun night.

We arrived back home and headed straight into a week of Vacation Bible School. Whew! It was fun but busy. I taught the 5th and 6th grade class and brought home two girls from our church each day afterwards. I was worn out when the week ended.

Last week, we got a call that Kalli wanted to come stay with us for several days. We said, “of course!” and I headed out the next day to get her. We are always happy to have Kalli stay with us! She was a great help to me because Parker has been teething. She helped distract him when he was really fussy. She always helped without complaining. She’s a trooper!

The afternoon that Kalli left, Mrs. Pam came for a visit. We always love visits from Mrs. Pam. She eats popsicles, reads books, and plays baseball while wearing a dress!

 

Where will our adventures take us next?

 

Enjoying Nature

It’s a good thing I enjoy being outside. It’s one of the places we spend most of our time these days. Parker loves to explore whether it’s around our block, a nearby park, or a new place. Today, we went with the preschoolers from our church to visit Dauset Nature Trails. It’s a free park that helps with the rehabilitation of injured animals. It’s a really wonderful place. Today we saw a bald eagle, owls, foxes, bison, deer, otters. There was a bear and a cougar but they were busy sleeping on this sunny morning. Who can blame them? 

Each time we would finish one habitat and before moving to the next, I say, “Parker, what animal do you think we’ll see next?” He would reply, “Moooo”. Hmm, maybe the Bison were the closest animals that “mooed” but we have to find the boy some cows soon! (And Chick-fil-a doesn’t count, although he moos when we pull in the parking lot there!)

We are so lucky to have this wonderful resource about 30 miles from our house. If you are in Middle Georgia, it’s a great place to visit! 

Play Ball

We are obsessed with balls of all shapes and sizes at our house. My parents went to several spring training games and brought him back a Mickey Mouse ball and bat. He loves it. Yes, we currently play baseball in the house but I’m sure this will have to stop soon because his hitting is improving.

Today, we were at the vet with Jovi and as I was talking to the vet, he proudly announced, “I hit da ball!” The vet responded quickly and I stood there stunned for a minute. He constantly talks and I recognize words or phrases but this was the first full sentence I had heard clearly.

After dinner a few weeks ago, Parker started singing the Tomahawk Chop. I grabbed my camera and surprisingly he did it again when I asked. Here’s an excerpt:

Parker loves his Atlanta Braves

Pardon the covered in food look, that’s a regular look for us around here after meals It means there’s been a good one!

Grateful for Grandparents….

We have had the opportunity to spend the last two weekends with P’s grandparents. The first weekend we made a quick trip to Savannah to see Barry’s grandparents who have had some health complications. It was a quick visit and we had lots of fun. The highlights for Parker included playing in his great grandparents BIG yard where he could run all he wanted. The other highlight was visiting the Savannah mall and riding the carousel. He also got a pair of new shoes he loves very much!

May 2012

August 2011

It’s so hard to believe the comparison. He is growing up so fast!

This weekend we enjoyed Memorial Day with “Ranny” (Parker has dropped the “G”) and Big Daddy. We went to Atlanta for the Braves game and met up with Aunt Morgan and Uncle Jared. On Sunday, we went to Bass Pro and Dickey’s for some ice cream. There was lots of “bees ball” (baseball) and “bball” (basketball) played in our house this weekend too.

A Beautiful Mess

One of the traditions we have as a family is to eat dinner together as much as we can. We usually do pretty well with it, too. There are exceptions like one night a week when Parker and I eat with our church family or the occasion that Barry will have a work dinner. It’s become a really special time for us and look forward to it continually growing into our favorite time together as the years go on.

When there’s a toddler at the table, you will more than likely end up with laughter during dinner. Tonight was no different. Parker usually eats about 3/4 of his meal and practices his throwing arm with the rest of it. At one point, while the table (and floor) was covered in food, Parker began buzzing his lips. In the background, Jovi began whining for his share of food from the table. He doesn’t like to come and eat off the floor while Parker is at the table because he never knows when things will go flying. So, at one point, we had a toddler buzzing and a dog whining while surrounded by food.

Barry laughingly looked at me and said, “Somehow this is not what I imagined when I signed up for parenthood.” I replied while laughing out loud, “It’s exactly what I signed up for. I remember eating by myself as a young adult and longing for a family to share dinner with– now I have you all– Barry, Jovi, and Parker.”

Jovi wins the award for clean up champ around here!

I’m so thankful for this beautiful mess I’m living in.

Wordless Wednesday