So Say We All

Resolutions vs. Intentions

2012-01-05T19:25:00.004-05:00

There seems to be, in general, a negative disposition towards New Year's resolutions. Maybe it's because they have become so cliche` and so likely to fail. Resolutions like losing weight, excersizing more, eating less, being on time, not procrastinating, and others like that are often emotionally driven. Don't get me wrong. These are great resolutions, but when you get to the nitty gritty of getting it done, you're usual tendency that's causing those behaviors in the first place take over and you're right back where you started.

So this year, I asked myself this question: What are the things about last year that I want to leave behind and make different about this year? Intentions. "I didn't like that I was (enter behavior or negative habit) last year, so this year, I intend to do it differently."

The biggest one for me *true confessions* is that I intend to be a more faithful person this year. Last year, I was notorious for not following through on ideas I had, or worse, things I had committed to (eek!), I never returned phone calls or emails or facebook messages out of plain laziness, and I often forgot about them . I was convicted that I had flat out, most likely become a person that could not be counted on. UGH! How terrible! Thank you God for His grace and the grace of all the people around me who loved me despite this particular shortcoming.

Now that I'm sharing this with the whole world, I have the accountability of the whole world as well. Of course, this is all in the power of the Holy Spirit in me to help me overcome the laziness that I tends towards so often.

so, what are your intentions this year? You don't have to answer, just ask yourself.

Baseball Birthday

2012-01-05T14:07:00.008-05:00

In late as usual fashion here's Isaac birthday post....a month late.

Isaac loved baseball from the time he went to his first game with Luke. After this game we went to three more games. All he ever talked about was baseball. So it was no surprise that when we asked him what kind of birthday party he wanted, he loudly proclaimed, "BASEBALL!". So with no further ado, here are some pics from his Baseball Birthday!

The morning started with our small family celebration since the party was actually his birthday day. We had to eat birthday pancakes at the coffee table because the dining table was being used for something else.....
....like birthday cake. This is the table the night before without all the other food. I went with Red White & Blue theme since baseball is America's pastime.
Here are the invitations. Please take some time to look closely at it. Luke designed it from scratch and I LOVED IT! and boy Isaac did too. Check out all the little details. He did SUCH a great job!!!!
The rest of the food on the table. As the invitation said, there were, indeed, free corn dogs all day. We had chili for the adults, homemade popcorn in little brown bags, fruit on a stick and oreo "base"balls (I just put little red lines on the oreoballs). My house actually smelled like a baseball stadium, but in that good way :) I forgot to take a pic of it but the cups were blue and red and I glued little baseballs on them as well.

Here are a few closeups of the cake and cupcakes.
Here's little brother enjoying his cupcake! Then it was time to PLAY BALL!
Thankfully, it was a really nice day so most of the kids were out back playing T-ball or football or just with whatever they found! Praise God for our fenced in backyard! Then after all the excitement calmed down, we had a small very unstructured game of Pin (tape) the baseball on the baseball bat!
It was funny. Most of the kids didn't like the the blindfold, and the younger kids would peak and match the balls to the little baseballs I had drawn on the board instead of trying to get it on the bat. Funny.

When it was time to say goodbye, the kids left with little treat bags with their names on them. Inside was a little baseball coloring book Luke made, a small pack of crayons, a piece of candy and a little baseball bouncy ball. What a fun day! Isaac is still talking about it. The best part for me was that my mom was here to celebrate. It was the first birthday of my boys that she could be at because she lives all the way in AZ. I was so happy that she could be here!

And now, we have a 3 year old! I say almost everyday, there's no baby left in him, just my big boy. single tear.

2012-01-05T08:20:00.001-05:00

Superman and Superman!

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Our Christmas House

2011-12-20T20:34:00.003-05:00

Even though Christmas is only 4 days away, and I've been a terrible blogger lately, I'd still like to show our Christmas home this year.

I've never done anything like this to our mantel before. Mostly because it's awkwardly shaped like a triangle as opposed to straight on the wall, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
This is the pianeo. With the mantel and the piano, I used fresh christmas tree trimmmings. You can get A TON of them at Lowe's for free.
You can't really tell in this picture but this is my little ECU tree that I put up every year. As a side note, you can see in the back the buffet table my mom built and installed while she was here.
Here is our Christmas tree! We don't have a matching tree just an "every kind of ornament imaginable" type of tree. and we love it!!
And finally, our outdoor lights. We've never been able to reach that top point but hopefully one day we will.

There are about 5 houses on our street that are total Griswold houses. It's awesome.

Tomorrow I'll try, TRY, to post about all our Advent activities.

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-15T17:09:00.001-05:00

Isaac literally teaching Simon how baseball. Here he's telling him that first you hit the ground with the bat before you hit the ball :)

Felt Advent Wreath

2011-12-14T09:24:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to post this. I made the boys a felt advent wreath to use during the week. They love getting to "light" the candles!

Annual Thanksgiving Movie

2011-11-28T22:29:00.002-05:00

Every Thanksgiving Luke shoots a movie. They're usually so funny and creative. This year was extra special because it was all kids. It's kid funny. Also, my little Isaac is so cute! He was so obedient and happy to do this with daddy!

P.S. Luke does all the editing and puts in the music and the credits. He's so creative.

Another Turkey Craft

2011-11-22T09:40:00.001-05:00

Simon's tissue paper turkey. One of my favorites. He needed LOTS of help.

Today's Fall Craft

2011-11-17T11:48:00.001-05:00

A fall tree made from different kinds of colored noodles.

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Simon's First Haircut

2011-11-17T11:22:00.003-05:00

This happened on 8/20/11, so it's a little late. He looks so cute with his big boy haircut! I kept giving him bits of graham cracker to keep his attention.

Fall at the Rose Garden

2011-11-16T16:42:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the rose garden after story time today. I love fall and I love my boys!!

A Thanksgiving Craft

2011-11-14T10:21:00.000-05:00

Simon's hanprint turkeys!

Family Fun Night

2011-11-12T16:21:00.005-05:00

Luke won free tickets to the first basketball game of the season! We love free tickets!! Go Wolfpack!
We were at the very top level but still had some pretty good seats! The guy said we could sit anywhere we wanted!
Simon thought sitting in his own seat was really fun!
Isaac stayed so focused. Luke has to keep reminding me that he was screaming on the inside. Since I show all my emotions on the outside (good and bad) i can sometimes think that Isaac is not having a good time, but he is, just on the inside :)
After a while, Isaac would clap when I clapped and scream "Oh man!" when I would. Too funny.

What a great time. We praised God so much for loving us in this special way. We would never, on a normal bases be able to take our boys to a game like this. I love my family!

A Fall Craft

2011-11-11T10:40:00.001-05:00

Isaac's family tree.

Justice League Forever!

2011-11-10T22:00:00.002-05:00

Never would I have thought that the day I walked into Luke's dorm room 10+ years ago and proclaimed "I'll be Wonder Woman" as he watched TV that the Justice League would have such a deep affection for our little family.

This Halloween was something of a little dream coming true for Luke and I. We love the Justice League and love having little boys that are our super heroes.

Here are pictures from this Halloween.
The Dynamic Duo. I said this before, but I dedicate these costumes to my mom who taught me how to sew. Making these costumes for my boys was a labor of love.
On halloween night, I totally forgot Batman's utility belt. sad. And as grampa pointed out, without his utility belt, Batman is just a man with a costume. But of course, my little Batman didn't even notice!
I should add that being Batman was 100% Isaac's idea and even told Simon that he was going to be Robin.
Luke and I mostly dressed up for Isaac. He spent the whole week, and is still even now telling everyone that daddy was The Flash and mami was WonderWoman. He was so excited to see us that night.

Here we are, ready to save the Day!

Courageous

2011-11-08T14:52:00.002-05:00

Luke and I saw this last night on our date night. It was so good. I cried alot. Not always because it was sad, though it was was at times. But because the call on men in this movie is so strong and goes straight to the heart. It made me thankful for my husband and drew me to worship God for the great and heavy call to me as a mom of boys. One quote the dad says says, and I'm paraphrasing, "It's my responsibility to call out the man in my son." At the end of the movie, there's a long monologue that almost dropped me to my knees. I won't give away too much but he says in a loud commanding voice to the church, paraprhasing again, "You don't have to ask who's going to teach my son about Christ, I WILL! You don't have to ask who will lead, protect and teach my family, I WILL! You don't have to ask who will train my children to honor authority and live responsibly, I WILL!" and it goes on.

Very few movies do you leave from a changed person, with a heart drawn to God and challenged in such a way. But that's how we left this movie. Praise God for the men who took courage to make this movie and call out men of this society in such a way.

Please go see this movie.

I love having a warm and cozy fire in the flip of a switch. I think Missy likes

2011-10-31T09:00:00.001-04:00

I love having a warm and cozy fire in the flip of a switch. I think Missy likes it most of all.

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Really Late Birthday Post

2011-10-25T15:45:00.007-04:00

I am ashamed. Not only have I not been the greatest blogger in general, but I TOTALLY forgot to post about Simon's birthday. Poor Simon has totally been neglected. But even though it's late, here we go.

The first birthday is usually smaller scale and we only invite family and very close friends. We were honored by all the people who came to celebrate.

Here's the spread. Because I'm usually so ambitious in crafty things, small scale turned into slightly larger scale :)

I, at the last minute, decided I "needed" to make a cupcake stand for a fun addition. Everything was purchased at the Dollar Tree! On the day of the party, Luke caught Isaac behind the table sneaking in a cupcake. He thought it was so cute and funny that he should take a picture. Silly, sweet Isaac. Here's a picture of the birthday banner I made for Simon. It matches the crown you'll see in a minute.
Now to the guests. His future wife Grace (who was born one week after Simon) was there along with the rest of the Thompson family.
Tom and Cathy, who are dear dear friends (really family) came representing the Watkins family. Simon's BFF Silas was also there! And my sister and her kids. Here's Malikhi. He loved holding Simon. Cupcake Time!!!
This is the collage that we gave for everyone to take home. I have to admit, I miss the mohawk!
After a hilarious afternoon playing Cranium (it's so different and fun with big kids) we all went out to Moe's for dinner.

Since Luke's parents couldn't be there for party day, they took Simon and us out to Red Robin the next day for another birthday party. (As a side note, this was the day before Sharon's big car accident. It's amazing how quickly things can change.)
There Simon got a birthday sundae. He didn't know what to do when everyone came clapping and singing! Afterwards, we came home for more presents!!!
It was a special weekend full and joy and disbelief that my sweet SimonBoy was 1! I was also humbled as I looked back and remembered the goodness and grace of God to Luke and I on the day he was born.

Oh SimonBoy! I love you so so so much!

A small picture of God's grace and goodness to us....a free playset! We never th

2011-10-24T09:47:00.001-04:00

A small picture of God's grace and goodness to us....a free playset! We never thought we'd have one of these.

Simon's First Step!

2011-10-24T08:11:00.002-04:00

Technically, it's his second, b/c he had JUST taken one before the camera was turned on, BUT he still played his role and took another one! Hopefully, he'll be walking around for Thanksgiving when both families come to visit.

Isaac "Playing" the Piano

2011-10-24T08:08:00.003-04:00

Here is a video of Isaac playing some of the demo songs from the keyboard (thanks Drew and Jamie)!

I just love matching these boys!!

2011-10-17T11:17:00.001-04:00

I just love matching these boys!!

Mother & Son (Double) Date Knight at Chickfila

2011-10-10T11:56:00.002-04:00

There are so many reasons to love Chickfila but little events like this make even more special! I took my two boys and doubled with Leah since both our husbands were working at the event. It was a fun night. It was also special to see teenage boys out with their moms and to imagine my 15 year old Isaac and Simon. Jeepers. I hope they still want to go out on dates with me by then!

A Day at the Park

2011-10-02T15:37:00.005-04:00

The weather this weekend was so amazing. AH! Fall is coming! Sure it's going to get warm again, but this little taste was great. It was too nice to stay cooped up so we went out to the park. We took a walk around on the path then took some time to play on the playground. Isaac is learning to ride the bike so we brought that too. Simon will only walk with a push toy so we also brought that along. Even Missy, who is very often neglected, got to come too.We could have stayed out there all day. I value our time as a family so so much and a day like this fills my heart with so much joy and a humble thankfulness for all that God has blessed us with.
I'm also so very thankful for my husband. Luke not only values our time together as a family but puts it as a top priority in his life and supports (sometimes reluctantly) all the silly little traditions I want to incorporate into our family including my not-so-crazy obsession with family pictures. He loves our boys so much and boy do they love him!
Can't wait for the fall weather to stay for good!

The Doxology

2011-09-22T07:40:00.004-04:00

Sweet boy! It is our prayer that Isaac (& Simon) would grasp the glorious God that we're singing about. We long to see their hearts worship out of true adoration not just because mommy and daddy do it, but because they are radically affected by Jesus and what He's done. I hope you too enjoy the precious-ness of this little voice.

"Praise God from whom all bay-sings wo.
Pays Him all tee-cures here bee-yoh.
Pays Him all dee hev heh-wee-wee hosss-T.
Pays Foddr, Son an Ho-dee Ghost. Amen."

Trying out spoon for the first time and doing pretty good!

2011-09-16T09:09:00.001-04:00

Trying out spoon for the first time and doing pretty good!

Sweet sleepy snuggly isaac. Wish i could be snuggling with him.

2011-09-15T16:57:00.001-04:00

Sweet sleepy snuggly isaac. Wish i could be snuggling with him.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2011-09-08T14:17:00.005-04:00

Ever since Isaac went to the Durham Bulls with his daddy, he has been in love with baseball. Every time we ask Isaac randomly what we can thank Jesus for today, he ALWAYS says, "Thank you Jesus for the baseball!". So this past Sunday we went to our third and final baseball game for the summer. This time, the Mudcats. And, we brought grams and grampa along too! Isaac has such a great time, and though he doesn't fully understand the game, he knows about "throwing the baseball" and "hitting the baseball" and to watch mami for when to scream and clap :) Here are some pics:

We were saving the mitt for his birthday, but just couldn't resist him taking it to the game. He wore it the whole time.
All the boys watching intently. Isaac seriously sat still, so well-behaved the whole time watching the game. Except, of course, when it was time to dance.

Simon was such a trooper.
Me and my boys. I cherish pictures like this since I'm usually the one behind the camera.
Here, also are some videos of the game.

This first is of Isaac dancing. It was hilarious!! And we weren't "showing" him how to dance like that, he just did!

This next one is of the Baseball song. We had just taught it to him that day. You can't hear him but you can see him mumbling with his lips and doing the hand motions. Please excuse my obnoxious voice.

One more. This was just yesterday and it's oh so cute. He's alot better at it, but as you will see, he's still figuring out the middle part :)

Can't wait for baseball again next summer. For now, it's on to FOOTBALL!! we're planning on going to some high school games since they're nowhere near as expensive as college. GO ECU! WOO!

Snip Snip

2011-09-06T16:46:00.003-04:00

Sweet special Simon boy got that beautiful dark hair cleaned off his ears for the first time back in August and he looks SO different. I'm not sure if it was his long hair or his sparkling eyes, but many strangers mistook him for a girl (even when wearing blue). It was a little difficult to keep him still enough for Rockie to cut his hair safely. I tried distracting him with the ipod and other shenanigans. Anyway, here are the before and after photos:

Enjoying our day at the beach!!

2011-09-03T13:43:00.001-04:00

Enjoying our day at the beach!!

spaghetti anyone?!

2011-07-27T18:27:00.001-04:00

spaghetti anyone?!

Isaac's First Super Summer Adventure

2011-07-20T10:42:00.005-04:00

That's what Providence calls vacation Bible school. They did it differently this year by having it in different people's back yard's all summer long instead of one week at church. I was excited to take Isaac. Here are some pictures. They're taken with my cell so they're not that great.

Very proud of his praise/verse box.

Eating some snack and relaxing after playing hard.

He's praying here. We didn't teach him to fold his hands like that :) i wonder where he got it from.
Simon joining the "beach" fun too!
his octopus and his fish.

Poor guy is so so sweaty...just like his daddy!
Love that he sits so quietly listening to the Bible story.

It was a fun time. I'm excited for next year when Isaac is even more able to engage and remember!

I. Can't. Take. It.

2011-07-09T19:31:00.004-04:00

Now he has a picture.....
...just like his brother did.

Fourf a July

2011-07-07T11:19:00.011-04:00

Here are some photos of our fun rainy celebration with the Blinson fam:

Goodbye Bees

2011-07-07T10:13:00.004-04:00

We recently had a yellow jacket nest in our backyard. I thought the terminator would be dressed differently. He was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Watch this video to see him get stung. Also, take note of how many were just swarming around out there. Hopefully they won't make another nest 3 feet from Isaac's slide.

Here is the hive:

Today's bounty!

2011-07-06T08:51:00.001-04:00

Today's bounty!

Another fun day at the pool with our best girlfriends!

2011-06-21T12:13:00.001-04:00

Another fun day at the pool with our best girlfriends!

Samuel Andrew Watkins

2011-06-15T21:45:00.003-04:00

Our dear friends Drew and Jamie gave birth to their long-awaited baby boy early this morning at 4:49. He was a whopping 9lbs4oz, just like his cousin Simon :)We are rejoicing in the Lord for this sweet baby boy. His name was very intentionally chosen for him, because he was indeed asked for and in the course of time (which is of course not our timetable) God granted what they had asked! Praise Him!

Here's the happy family of 3! Doesn't Jamie look great?!?
I can't wait to squeeze that little baby again!

A Special Treat after Dinner

2011-06-15T10:49:00.002-04:00

Eaten outside of course....oh it's so cold!but still delicious!

my very first tomato.

2011-06-13T09:52:00.001-04:00

my very first tomato.

Another matching sunday morning :)

2011-06-12T08:54:00.001-04:00

Another matching sunday morning :)

Finally Some Color

2011-06-10T10:23:00.003-04:00

Most of the blooms in my front yard are late spring/early summer blooms and I have been not-so-patiently waiting to see some color. And finally, the color came. I was getting alittle concerned that I had messed up somehow and they weren't going to bloom. Especially my gardenias. But they finally started blooming as well!
Here are my ECU faithful colors!
Even my tomatoes are finally turning red!!!
Here are two more things in my front yard that bring color to my life!
Love them!

Summer = Pool

2011-06-07T14:54:00.003-04:00

Our first of hopefully many trips to the pool this summer! I didn't get any pics but our friends Bianca, Isabelle, Gabe and Gracie were there is us. Fun times! Here are some pics!
Isaac liked the splash park from a distance but wasn't too happy about it once we got in.
Oh how I love my boys! even though one of my boys wasn't there to play.

These are all cell phone pics which is why they're not the greatest quality. I hate forgetting my camera!

Birthday Tramp

2011-06-06T10:11:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, we went to a super fun birthday pool party for Isabelle Thompson (who just turned 3). I have seen Isaac on a trampoline before, but never like this...his little legs looked so funny as he ran without bouncing!

my gardenias are finally blooming!!

2011-06-03T13:15:00.001-04:00

my gardenias are finally blooming!!

enjoying some outside time on the cooler breezy day.

2011-06-03T10:46:00.001-04:00

enjoying some outside time on the cooler breezy day.

family pizza picnic inside for dinner. Yum.

2011-06-01T18:21:00.001-04:00

family pizza picnic inside for dinner. Yum.

Got To Be NC Farm Festival Adventure

2011-05-24T14:07:00.003-04:00

Here are some picture highlights from out Super Saturday Family Adventure!

Simon went for a big open mouth kiss right after this pic was taken. But we saved the poor camel :)
my little sheep
and little pig
we had to dress him in overalls. It was a farm festival afterall.
My sweet SimonBoy. We had a picnic lunch in the shade with some awesome Bluegrass playing in the background.
It was a super fun day. The boys were WIPED OUT afterwards, thank goodness since Luke had to go into work afterwards.

This is the part of summer that I love. there's always some festival or something going on outdoors!

Super Isaac!

2011-05-14T20:09:00.002-04:00

Can you hear the Superman theme in the air?!
Isaac has totally gotten into super heroes lately.
Good thing too. Because we're also pretty into super heroes !Even Missy

Buddy-Buddy

2011-05-13T14:22:00.003-04:00

When Luke was little, his dad used to take him to Buddy-Buddy's. These were basically dates with his dad. Well, last night Luke and Isaac had their very first "real" buddy-buddy. It was also Isaac's first baseball game! Luke got free tickets to the Durham Bulls from work and even some gift certificates to buy food and stuff there. Isaac went on and on about the ice cream he ate and showed me his souvenir baseball over and over again. He even wanted to go to bed with it!

I'm so thankful for my boys and for Luke who loves his boy so much!

Feeling Honored

2011-05-09T14:20:00.001-04:00

These are the pictures Luke framed for me.

Love.

My first strawberry. Tiny and i probably should've picked it earlier. But still

2011-04-27T12:46:00.001-04:00

My first strawberry. Tiny and i probably should've picked it earlier. But still proud!

My first strawberry. Tiny and i probably should've picked it earlier. But still

2011-04-27T12:41:00.001-04:00

My first strawberry. Tiny and i probably should've picked it earlier. But still proud!

My little bee pollenating my little flower:)

2011-04-26T12:45:00.001-04:00

My little bee pollenating my little flower:)

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Happy Easter.....

2011-04-25T10:47:00.004-04:00

...from us 4 Mehaffies! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!! The sermon this year focused on how Mary was alarmed, afraid and amazed when she went to the tomb and found it was empty. This should not have been so since He had Risen, "Just as He had Said". The pastor talked about how Jesus had called His shot. What comfort!

AFter church, we headed to our house to have late lunch/early dinner. It was the first time we had Easter at our house and we loved it! We just love having things/family at our house.

Also for the first time, we did my family's Easter Egg tradition of Cascarones. It was fun to crack these confetti filled egg shells. Here's Luke getting Isaac.
and Isaac getting Daddy :)
Poor Ruby was not so fond of the confetti. She was actually quite scared of it. Poor girl :(
and Isaac getting Simon.
It was fun and we're sure it'll be even more fun next year when the kids are alittle older. We also did a regular Egg Hunt that Alinna brought. It was amazing to see the kids really look for them this year since last year they needed so much help. Isaac would run all across the yard when he found one. We ended the day with our Easter Little People story to make sure they remembered that even though eggs are fun, Easter is to remember and celebrate that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and was raised back to life again. Halleluia!

Also, as is our tradition (more like, my obsession) we all had hand made matching outfits. This year however, Luke made the decision to all have gingham but all different pastel colors, like an Easter basket (his exact words)!! Funny.

And just to brighten your day...here's a picture of the cutest, happiest, sweetest, cheeky-est baby EVER!
I love my family. Hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter as well/

One Last Easter Craft

2011-04-22T15:07:00.003-04:00

I made a felt board Easter Activity for Isaac similar to the Velcro Nativity I made for Christmas. The purpose again was to have something that Isaac could touch and feel as I read the Easter story to him.

I found these images online and instead of laminating and velcro-ing, I decided to use felt. So after I printed in all out, using Tacky Glue, I glued each little peice to some felt. I also took some foam board, cut it the size of a standard sheet of felt, and glued again. Super Easy.

The trickiest part was condensing the Bible's Easter story to something more concise yet accurate for Isaac and also that corresponded with the pieces of the activity (the sun and the dove are extras).

So these are the verses that I used in this specific order: John 19:17-18, 28a, 30b, 38a, 40a, 41, 42b; 20:1,11b, 12a; Matthew 28:5-6a; John 20:14a. After this I ended it with, "Jesus said, "Go and tell my brothers that I am alive".

Now I know there's a lot of a's and b's in there, but like I said, I wanted to hit the highlights that matched the activity and wanted to make it concise to keep Isaac's attention. It's worked out pretty good because he knows mostly the whole story now.

Isaac and I usually do this activity first thing in the morning and is even the one to bring me the board. This is usually when I'm getting lazy and want to skip it. Thanks Holy Spirit for using my little boy.

I know Easter's only 3 days away, but you could either crank this out really fast, or write down for next year!

Palm Tuesday?

2011-04-22T11:02:00.003-04:00

Well, on Sunday we were making our way back from the beach and Monday was recovery. I know, excuses, excuses. So we had Palm Tuesday instead.

First we read the story in Isaac's little Bible.Then, we pretended that Missy was a donkey! Doesn't she just look thrilled?

I cut some Palm Leaves out of green construction paper and we started waving them (that's why they're blurry in the picture).
Isaac knew exactly what to do with the leaves because we had been practicing at other times with the resurrection eggs and with some friends. He had a good time and couldn't stop telling Luke at dinner that Missy was a donkey :)

Ready for the beach with the exact same outfit isaac wore on his first trip to t

2011-04-14T12:26:00.001-04:00

Ready for the beach with the exact same outfit isaac wore on his first trip to the beach 2 years ago.

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my swinging boys.

2011-04-12T10:14:00.000-04:00

my swinging boys.

FWD:Im batman

2011-04-09T20:05:00.001-04:00

Im batman

holding his own bottle! 7months tomorrow!!

2011-04-09T20:03:00.001-04:00

holding his own bottle! 7months tomorrow!!

sweet brothers sharing a cart :)

2011-04-06T17:49:00.001-04:00

sweet brothers sharing a cart :)

Resurrection Eggs

2011-03-31T14:12:00.003-04:00

These eggs were super easy to make. I used Sarah's eggs over at CREATE to help me get started. I made a little book as well for a quick reference to the Bible verses.

Here we go:

Egg Number 1

Message: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people waved palm branches.

Passage: Matthew 21:1-11.
Item: A small plastic leaf or a piece of a palm branch.

Egg Number 2

Message: Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet.
Passage: John 12:2-8.
Item: Small perfume sample, a piece of cloth or a piece of cotton with perfume on it.

Egg Number 3

Message: Jesus ate the Last Supper with His disciples.
Passage: Matthew 26:17-19.
Item: A small piece of cracker to represent the Passover bread.

Egg Number 4

Message: Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Passage: Matthew 27:3.
Item: A dime or plastic “silver” money.

Egg Number 5

Message: Jesus carried His cross.
Passage: John 19:17.
Item: A Popsicle stick that is cut and glued in the form of a cross or a small plastic cross from a necklace.
Egg Number 6

Message: Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head.
Passage: John 19:2.
Item: A small thorny branch or a single large thorn.

Egg Number 7

Message: Jesus was nailed to a cross and pierced in His side.
Passage: John 19:18,37 and John 20:25-29.
Item: A nail
Egg Number 8

Message: Soldiers parted Jesus' garments and cast lots for His coat.
Passage: John 19:23.
Item: Miniature dice.

Egg Number 9

Message: They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall on a sponge to drink.
Passage: Matthew 27:34.
Item: A small piece of sponge.

Egg Number 10

Message: Jesus was wrapped in linen for burial.
Passage: John 19:40.
Item: a long strip of white fabric
Egg Number 11

Message: The stone covering Jesus' tomb was rolled away.
Passage: John 20:1.
Item: A small rock.

Egg Number 12

Message: The tomb is empty. He has risen!
Passage: Luke 24:6.
Item: None.
Isaac has seriously enjoyed these eggs so much. He requests them almost every day. At first, he was genuinely surprised when the last egg was empty. But now, when he opens it, he says, "Jesus is not here, He is risen!" And when he opens the egg with the cross, he says, "Jesus died on the cross. Sweet boy.

Hope you have fun making these and that you also will be blessed as you bring the gospel to your kids.

Today's Easter Activity

2011-03-25T11:45:00.001-04:00

Watercolor a simple Easter coloring sheet.

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first fry!

2011-03-23T13:25:00.001-04:00

first fry!

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NCSU Farm Days

2011-03-21T14:38:00.002-04:00

We had a great time at this FREE event on Friday. We met some friends there which was great because we all kept an eye on each others kids; there were TONS of kiddos there. I'm pretty sure it was field trip day. It was a beautiful day to go to the farm and Isaac had a great time. He was very brave and touched all the animals. Here's a slide show of our time.

One of Our Daily Easter Stories

2011-03-21T10:36:00.002-04:00

As I read this bookLuke acts the story out with these little people.
Sort of the same thing we do at Christmas with the Little People Nativity. We got these at Oriental Trading Company.

We also try to leave them in a place where Isaac can interact with them.

As Luke is acting it out, it's funny and amazing to see how genuinely surprised he is when he opens the "tomb" and sees that Jesus is not there.

First time in a high chair at dunkin donuts. Big boy.

2011-03-20T18:24:00.001-04:00

First time in a high chair at dunkin donuts. Big boy.

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Helping daddy wash the car.....kinda :)

2011-03-19T10:58:00.001-04:00

Helping daddy wash the car.....kinda :)

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Easter Egg Wreath Part 3

2011-03-18T13:21:00.001-04:00

glue eggs on the circle. And that's it! You're done!

Easter Egg Wreath Part 2

2011-03-18T13:17:00.001-04:00

posterboard circle and finger paint cut into egg shapes.

Last Year's Easter Crafts

2011-03-17T21:09:00.003-04:00

Check out the links from my craft blog Something Wonderful. Maybe you'll see something you'd want to do for your family.

Easter Banner
Easter Cascarones (confetti filled egg shells)
Easter Scripture Tree
Easter Egg Wreath
Easter Coaster and Kitchen Towels
The levels of these crafts are all over. Some are easy and quick and others are a little harder and more involved. Enjoy.

Easter Egg Wreath Part 1

2011-03-17T19:26:00.000-04:00

Finger paint on construction paper. After it's dried tomorrow, we'll be cutting it.

Lent and Easter

2011-03-16T15:07:00.003-04:00

We're one week into the Lenten season. Easter will be here soon! Many of you know that in our family, celebrating Lent and Easter is just as important as celebrating Advent and Christmas. We've done our decorating and are working hard to bring Isaac and Simon the gospel through daily devotions and crafts.

So here's my committment to you all. Until Easter, I will be posting daily, as much as I can, things that we have prepared and are doing with our family for Easter. I want to be an encouragement to you to bring Easter into your home the way we do Christmas. This isn't meant to be a "look how good we are" but truly, be a resource and encouragement to you. God has been good and gracious to us in giving us a vision in our parenting and we're thankful to Him. And we recognize that, though we may have fun crafts and devotions, it's ultimately the Holy Spirit that will bring our boys to faith. However, we want to be obedient to God's command to us in Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

One of the greatest treasures in teaching our children about Christ's death and resurrection is that God uses it in our lives and hearts as well. As we teach our children, God is teaching our hearts the depth of what was done for us. Praise Him!

Again, we hope that we can be an encouragement for you to make Easter special in your home!

Today's Easter craft.

2011-03-15T17:43:00.001-04:00

Today's Easter craft.

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Highlights From the Zoo

2011-03-14T10:40:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, we went with my sister and her kids to the zoo. The last time we went to the zoo was March '06 on the day that Luke proposed. Of course I didn't know at the time. And now, 5 years and 2 kids later, here we are again!
Here are some highlights from our fun day.

Me

2011-03-12T17:08:00.001-05:00

Fun day at north hills.

2011-03-12T11:58:00.001-05:00

Fun day at north hills.

2011-03-12T08:17:00.001-05:00

Finally got the jumper from the attic. I think he likes it.

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2011-03-09T09:04:00.001-05:00

Big boy sitting up! He'll be 6 months tomorrow. Goodness.

Makeover

2011-03-08T14:12:00.003-05:00

We finally painted our shutters and door!!

Before:
After:
I feel like our house is new again. I love it!

2011-03-03T18:21:00.001-05:00

Little green pea face.

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2011-02-28T11:56:00.001-05:00

Getting ready for our zoo trip this weekend!!

2011-02-23T08:39:00.001-05:00

Little snuggling jammy brothers. Love them.

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2011-02-23T08:37:00.001-05:00

My new flag. GO ECU! woo!

A Family Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T15:16:00.003-05:00

Luke and I have never celebrated Valentine's Day as a couple. Partly because my birthday is the day before but mostly because it's such a Hallmark holiday. Everyday should be Valentine's Day!

But this year, my heart changed a little. Did you see that Hallmark commercial? It said, "Valentine's Day isn't for saying, I love you, it's for saying I love us". I really liked this campaign. And the wheels started turning.

We've been teaching Isaac about God's great love for us and we memorized 1 John 4:19 with him. We wanted that to be the focus for V-day.

But then I thought, let's also celebrate the love of our family. So, the adventure began. Here's how our family celebrated V-day.

First the decorations, all of which were made yesterday morning. My heart banner (Note: all the paper was from the $1 section at Target)
and a sun-catcher and chandelier decorations. Theses were definitely child oriented and not meant to be super fancy. Isaac helped me glue all the hearts.
Little napkin rings made with paper and tape. Super easy.
The table decorations. I took the 12x12 paper, cut out a big heart to make some simple place mats.
Next, some pink heart shaped ice cubes.
Now on to the food. This was very tedious but so worth it. Roasted heart shaped potatoes! I even cut the chicken breast like a heart. Can you see it? yum!Lastly, heart shaped brownies.
Isaac helped me out with these with a heart shaped cookie cutter. He also helped with the icing. And if you can see, I turned my head for a second and he took a little bite. Just making sure they were good enough for daddy I guess.

Throughout the day, and throughout dinner, we talked about how the heart is a symbol we use for love. We talked about ways we could love each other and how much mami and daddy love Isaac and Simon. When we asked how Isaac could show love he said "SySy ball" as in bring Simon the ball. so sweet.

Then Luke started talking about how the greatest love is love from God. Luke said that God showed us how much he loved us by sending Jesus to die on a cross to forgive our sins. Then it happened. Isaac started to sing on his own, "Jesus died my soul to save" from the hymn, Jesus Paid it All.

We've been singing this hymn to him and he has it all memorized for the most part. I almost cried when he sang it at this specific time. That he connected those dots. That he pulled that hymn out from his memory and connected it to what Luke was saying. Praise God! We know that God's word does not come back void and we pray that he will connect the dots to his heart one day.

So yeah, it was a great V-day and I hope this is a tradition that can stay with our family.

It's Happened....

2011-02-09T14:28:00.004-05:00

After two short years of life (only one of which he's been talking), this brown-eyed cutie, finally did it....he belted out.........

MY BIKE!!

To whom you may ask? Not to this super adorable, cheeky, I could just eat him, little brother of his. oh no.....to this other beloved family memberYup...MissyGirl. What's she gonna do with his bike anyway? C'mon Isaac!

Anywho, I was stunned and saddened. I know this is a normal phrase for toddlers but Isaac has seriously not said this. Well, I guess once he did but he was just repeating another little person who had just said it.

So obviously, I immediately intervened, even if it was just to Missy. I wanted to teach him that this is a very unkind thing to say. Thank God for being with me in this teachable moment who brought Psalm 24:1 to mind. (Of course I didn't know it was Psalm 24:1 at the time). It reads,

"The earth is the LORD'S and everything in it"

I went word by word with Isaac asking him to repeat me and told him that the bike belongs to God and it's our joy to let others play with the things that God has given us. We'll see.......

But this is certainly going to be our memory verse for a while. And we're just going to trust God with changing his heart.

Sweetie Little Sweet-ums

2011-02-03T21:12:00.000-05:00

2011-02-03T09:02:00.001-05:00

Buzz Lightyear snuggy from Nana.
Rockie Mehaffie

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...

2011-02-01T15:58:00.002-05:00

Here is our sweet sweet boy reciting some of his Bible knowledge. We hope he will retain and treasure these eternal truths and lessons!

Blessed by a Children's Bible

2011-01-31T14:18:00.005-05:00

Have you heard of this Bible? We have by so many of our friends. We got to flip through one when our little niece Ruby was dedicated. It was her gift from the church. It looked amazing and we loved the idea that every story pointed to Jesus. The illustrations in it were also really great. So we waited patiently for God to provide this little Bible for us.

We have been so surprisingly blessed by this Bible. The first thing I read was the introduction, telling how the Bible isn't just a book of rules and heroes, but that most of all it's a Story- a true Story. I almost cried and was immediately drawn to worship. Here's a tiny excerpt:

There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves His children and comes to rescue them.

It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece is a puzzle- the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend. This is the Child who would one day--but wait. Our Story starts where all other good stories start. Right at the very beginning....

Then you turn the page and begin to read about creation and see this picture. oh. I just got chills again.Here's another excerpt from the story of Abraham and Isaac and how it points to Jesus.

"One day Someone will be born into your family", God promised them. "And he will bring happiness to the whole world"

God was getting ready to give the world a wonderful present. It would be God's way to tell his people, "I love you."

Many years later, another Son would climb another hill, carrying wood on his back. Like Isaac, he would trust his Father and do what his Father asked. He wouldn't struggle or run away.

Who was he? God's Son, his only Son--the Son he loved.

The Lamb of God.

sigh. And just check out this illustration for the Christmas Story!
Well, I hope you've been blessed by these little excerpts. I HIGHLY recommend this Bible to all my mommy and daddy friends.

Here's the website for any of you who are interested. The Jesus Storybook Bible

2011-01-31T12:45:00.001-05:00

Another major graduation and big brother showing him how to play!
Rockie Mehaffie

2011-01-27T11:25:00.001-05:00

Big boy undies! Just at home though.

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Simon's Dedication Day

2011-01-17T15:15:00.003-05:00

This post is exactly one week late. Sorry about that.

Last week we dedicated Simon. This is such an important day in our family because we stand before our church and the Lord and promise that we will raise Simon in the love and instruction of God. This is something that we take so seriously. We feel the great calling that God has placed on us to teach Simon (and Isaac) the glory and authority of God. We also feel the amazing blessing and humility that He has chosen us to be the parents of these two amazing sweet little boys. I can't help but cry when I think of it. Even now there's tears in my eyes. During the dedication, they read the prayer of Hannah ( 1 Samuel 1:27-28).

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.

This gets me every time. What a high calling! And yet, we receive it with so much joy in our hearts. That we prayed for these sons, and God has answered our prayers! Praise Him!!

Here are some pictures from church.
Luke introducing us to the church.
After church, we invited our family and dearest friends over to our home for lunch and a time of prayer. We also shared the verse we picked for Simon and asked everyone to join with us and pray these things for Simon. The verse is Job 1:8

"Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil."

This is our prayer for Simon. Man I'm so emotional right now. God has been so good to us!! Any who, here's a family picture!

4 Months Old

2011-01-11T12:45:00.002-05:00

My sweet sweet SimonBoy! It goes by fast the first time and even faster the second time around. Where did that little new born go?!

He's so great. Everyone said that since Isaac was such an unbelievably easy baby, that #2 was going to be crazy. Well, not so with Simon. He has been just as easy as Isaac was.

The biggest difference: thumbsucker. (not pictured above) For. Real. Isaac loved the paci. Simon doesn't not like the paci, he just likes his thumb better!

I love my boy!

The Lion King

2011-01-07T10:53:00.004-05:00

Man oh man! I've wanted to see this for a long time. And Luke surprised me with tickets!!!! I was stunned when I saw the note under my pillow. It was a full minute of me just frozen staring at the note before I let out a good "Rockie" scream! We went last light. Here are just a few pics. They don't allow cameras so these were taken with Luke's phone, so they're not amazing.
We were on the second to last row. pretty high up. Ha! but I was truly truly thankful that I was even there! I cried pretty much for the first 10 minutes. Not because it was sad or anything, but because I was so overwhelmed at what I was experiencing and so extremely thankful to my husband.

It was such an amazing show! I just wanted to take pictures of EVERYTHING and rewind it to get a second and better look. uh! so awesome! I hope you all can see this show sometime!

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T20:29:00.002-05:00

We had a mini ECU reunion for New Year's since our friends came down from Connecticut. I would say this is the most fun I've had in a while. It was awesome to reconnect and to remember and laugh our heads off about things that happened while at college. So SO fun. We all have kids now which means when they were all running around like tornadoes, we all just watched and laughed. And though there were kids everywhere, it still felt like an adult party! Here are pics from the night!

I'm Dreaming of a White Day after Christmas!

2010-12-29T10:44:00.002-05:00

We woke up to snow! YAY! And it was still snowing....hard. we loved it. Perfect for a pancake breakfast! Here are some pics.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-27T15:34:00.006-05:00

Christmas was great this year. I'll only bore you with a few pictures of Christmas Eve. Here's our family picture at the Providence Love Feast.
Remember this picture from last year? Well, I made matching bow ties again! I know, I can't help it. and this year I went for super cheesy! What do you think??
For Simon, I put his bow tie right on his onesie. Sweet little guy. If you look at the first pic, you can see I also made myself a matching rosette!
And this year, we did something different. We had an "Oliva" Christmas eve lunch. All that means is that I made what I had growing up for Christmas Eve: ham with red rice and beans. I even set the table nicely. The only thing missing was my wita's potato salad. We substitued mashed potatoes because Luke doesn't like potato salad. Yum! I had really missed the traditional Christmas Even meal I had growing up.
Here's Luke cutting our little ham. Which is just leftovers from some ham Luke's parents had from another dinner.
I hope this is a tradition we keep with. I would love our kids to have a traditional Mexican Christmas Eve meal even if we can't be with my family.

Christmas day was fun. We traditionally sleep under the tree on Christmas Eve. So we woke up ready for the festivities. After Isaac's breakfast, we put a candle in a little cake I made and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Then we lit the final candle on our wreath and sang Joy to the World. What joy there truly was!!! And it was so sweet to hear Isaac say "Happy Birthday Jesus" Then we watched A Charlie Brown Christmas which is a little tradition of mine. I especially love that it communicates with clarity, what Christmas is really all about. And now Isaac recognizes that song as the snoopy song!

After presents, we had one more special present for Isaac to open. We put the baby Jesus from his Little People Nativity set in a box for him to open. We had him open it last because He was the greatest gift of all. I'm sure the real meaning of that didn't sink in this year, but I believe that God will be faithful to us in what we're trying to teach Isaac.

Then we headed off to Luke's parents house for more Christmas festivities!

It was a fun Christmas. But honestly, I'm so sad it's over. I just love Christmas! and if that's not depressing enough by itself, they're forecasting it to be in the 60's this weekend. Geez.

2010-12-26T08:43:00.001-05:00

Jesus brought us lots of snow last night. And its still snowing hard!!

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