Tidbits.

-- Potty training is going so so so well! The first couple days were a little rough, as she does say they will be in the 3 day potty method, but by day 3 I could tell he had really gotten the hang of it. Since day 1 he has stayed dry through all naps and bedtime {12ish hours}. Also? It's the cutest thing to see your child go from diapers to big kid underwear... love them!

-- My house is slowly continuing to come together, decorations are out and in their places, and we have things on our walls. Even though it's a huge improvement from when we first moved in, there's still so much to be done. First on that list is painting... I hope to convince the hubs to help me with it this weekend over our long 4th of July holiday.

-- I bought all the paint and supplies for my entry way bench & kitchen cart renovation project, hopefully I can get started on those this weekend as well.

-- The basement when we first moved in is a stone floor so one of the first things we did was looked for carpet, as half of the room is a play area, and what child wants to play on cold, hard, floors? I have always loved Flor carpet tiles but at $15-$25 A PIECE, they were WAY out of our budget! Enter craigslist.... and a few hours later we had carpet tiles for a $1 a piece! It has made a huge difference, and the best part is that kids actually will play down there now. This is an awful cell phone picture, but it gives you an idea anyway.

-- With the wedding coming up PLUS being bit by the crafting bug, I am on the look-out for a cheap sewing machine. Anyone have a brand they would recommend to a beginner?

-- I made a quick overnight trip to Columbia this week to surprise my sister. She was wedding dress shopping and with my husband's late hours and my desire to be apart of her dress shopping trips, I decided to be spontaneous and was in the car with the boys within 30 minutes of deciding to go. She found the dress {it's stunning!} and I also bought my dress there as well! It was definitely a successful trip, and one I don't regret making at all. A moment I'll never forget.

-- Since we've been married I have had the same red/black/white color scheme in my kitchen, and I'm so tired of it. Seeing all the red and aqua inspiration all over pinterest recently made me decide to get rid of the black/white and add aqua. My friend Kristal was gracious enough to sew me some curtains for the kitchen window, and adding that small amount of blue has already brightened the space up so much.... more to come on this later!

-- I feel like I'm constantly trying to get caught up on sleep. My boys are in bed at 8:00 each night, and on the nights that my husband is actually home, we love our {peaceful and quiet} time together and end up staying up way too late. I value that kids-free time with him so much, and it's always the perfect way to recharge before another day of being with the boys. This is why I don't understand why some kids don't have set bedtimes, haha! I go crazy otherwise.

-- We have a packed-full month of traveling ahead of us, so I am looking forward to some down time this weekend. These are the times however that I really wish we had a lake house. ;) Enjoy your 4th of July!

Weekend recovery.

My weekend was the kind that is sort-of like a vacation... so fun, but yet you need more vacation time just to recover from it.

Friday night rolled around, and about an hour before my family arrived, we finished assembling our new patio set. We've wanted one for the longest time but have never had the cash to shell out to get one. An unexpected check from our previous landlord giving us our full deposit back allowed us to make the purchase, and perfect timing... all of the stores have their sets on clearance. In addition to the already-low price, Kmart was running an extra 10% off if you bought it online, so that's what I did. Found a beautiful set, bought it online, and picked it up about an hour later at our local store for free.

I looooove to have people over and host, so company coming for the weekend is right up my alley. It is also perfect motivation to deep clean my house and organize, and it felt so good to hear people saying how nice the house looked, especially since the last time they saw it there was still boxes everywhere. The night was spent sitting outside on our new patio set, laughing and talking until after 1am. {Grandpa & Grandma even camped in the backyard with the 2 oldest grandkids!} I knew I was going to pay for the late night having a child that still wakes up multiple times, but even so, there are no regrets. The late nights just make early morning coffee time with my Mom even more special to me.

Earlier in the week, Tyler and I bought tickets online so that we could take Jaxon to the premiere of Cars 2. He's a Cars-a-holic, so we thought that would be the perfect "Daddy/Mommy/Jaxon" date. It worked out great, as my Mom was able to watch Cohen for us as well. Unfortunately the movie theatre messed up our tickets, so we had to see the movie in 3D. We didn't want to do this because just as I suspected, Jaxon wouldn't leave his glasses on so the movie was blurry for him. We left about 45 minutes into the movie and luckily they refunded our tickets so we can take him another time. I was frustrated, but thankful that he isn't old enough to really get what had happened, but at the same time is old enough to get the overall gist... that mommy & daddy took him to see "Mac-qeen" and "Mater" at the "BIIIIG moooovie." Ha!

After eating lunch with Jaxon, Tyler dropped me off at a bridal store in town that we had made an appointment at. I was giddy like a school girl at the thought of my sister trying on wedding dresses... and just as expected, she looked gorgeous in them. {sorry, no pics, she'd probably kill me!} After dress shopping, we went out for coffee to talk about a few of the options a little more, trying to make a decision as the bridal shop offered her a discount if she bought it that day. She decided after looking through some pictures to keep looking, but at least now she has some dresses to compare the others to. After coffee, we did what any other group of girls loves to do... we got pedicures. Cohen tagged along with us and actually fell asleep in my arms during my pedicure. I loved holding him while he napped as this was such a rare thing for him, to allow me to hold him as he fell asleep and slept. Such a sweet time.

Saturday night we grilled out, played some games, and celebrated my Dad's upcoming birthday this week. Sunday was church, naps, swimming, hugs goodbye, and then I closed out the weekend going to a Pampered Chef party with some friends.

I'm so blessed... thankful... and exhausted.

How was your weekend?

Sweet summer time.

I've never liked summer.

In fact, all of my life it has been my least favorite season.

I had to pick up my sister's jaw of the ground a couple weeks ago when I told her that I was actually really enjoying it this year. Being outside, soaking up the sun, watching my boys play, water and spray parks, backyard swimming pools, walks in the morning & evening, frozen popsicles after a hot day... love love love!

Kansas rang in the first day of summer with the most amazing weather... low 70's and just a slight breeze. That evening was the perfect opportunity to take Cohen on his first wagon ride with his brother, since he's a big boy now and all. This is another one of those picture-perfect-moments I had really been looking forward to ever since we got this wagon from Nana for Christmas, and I am so glad it lived up to my high expectations. Unfortunately I forgot my actual camera, so iPhone pictures will have to do.

Reminds me of that song... "these are the moments, I thank God that I'm alive..."

This is yet another thing that has changed me since being a Mom. Seeing my boys happy and having fun outside makes me happy as well... I can only imagine it will get more and more fun the older they get and the more memories we make.

"Summer time, and the living is easy..."

Frugal finds.

Have I ever told you how much I love Craigslist?

Let me clarify... Have I ever told you how much I love Kansas City's Craigslist?

I swear, things on that site sell like hot cakes. You pretty much have to stalk the page if you're looking for something in particular, because before you know it, it will be gone.

I've gotten lucky the last few weeks and picked up a couple things... first off, a kitchen cart. It didn't take long after moving in to realize how awful my new kitchen is, in storage terms. We're talking about 2 drawers, ladies. 2 drawers... and neither of them were even wide enough to hold my silverware. Think about all the things you have in your drawers in your kitchen, and then maybe you can sympathize with me for a second. Anyway, a kitchen cart was pretty much a necessity at that point and I found this cute thang for $50.

I'm going to cover the wire mesh on the doors with some fabric and give her a paint job, and I think she'll be as cute as a button.

The next thing I started looking for was a bench for our entry way. We're in dire need of a storage solution AND a bench for Jaxon who gets offended when I ask him to sit on the stairs to get his shoes on. Sure enough, craigslist pulled through for me again and I found this little lady for $40.

Sure, she needs a little TLC, but I think she'll be adorable in no time!

{why are all my furniture pieces females?}

Now to decide what color to paint these beauties... any suggestions are welcome, so fire away!

Mission field.

Toddlerhood... its killing me. Some days my sweet, sensitive, loving, gentle 2 year old boy turns into a monster. He's strong-willed. He's stubborn. He's whiny. He's demanding. Some days it feels like I got run over by a truck at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong -- I'm thankful to be home with him, but that doesn't make it easy.

My life feels a little bit like the movie "Groundhog Day" with a husband who has been working every day (even Fathers Day!), some days until 10-11pm. You know how you just start feeling like you're just going through the motions because every day starts feeling the same... then the enemy loves to sneak in and tell you lies about how life is pointless and the work that I'm doing by investing into my boys each day is senseless and inept.

Perfect timing for me to come across this article. It challenged me... it encouraged me... and I hope it does the same for another Mom, just as it did for me tonight.

MOTHERHOOD AS A MISSION FIELD

by: Rachel Jankovic

As someone once said, “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help Mom with the dishes.” When you are a mother at home with your children, the church is not clamoring for monthly ministry updates. When you talk to other believers, there is not any kind of awe about what you are sacrificing for the gospel. People are not pressing you for needs you might have, how they can pray for you. It does not feel intriguing, or glamorous. Your work is normal, because it is as close to home as you can possibly be. You have actually gone so far as to become home.

If you are a Christian woman who loves the Lord, the gospel is important to you. It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.

There are a number of ways in which mothers need to study their own roles, and begin to see them, not as boring and inconsequential, but as home, the headwaters of missions.

At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Motherhood provides you with an opportunity to lay down the things that you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.

If you are like me, then you may be thinking “What did I ever give up for them? A desk job? Time at the gym? Extra spending money? My twenty- year- old figure? Some sleep?” Doesn’t seem like much when you put it next to the work of some of the great missionaries, people who gave their lives for the gospel.

Think about the feeding of the five thousand when the disciples went out and rounded up the food that was available. It wasn’t much. Some loaves. Some fish. Think of some woman pulling her fish out and handing it to one of the disciples. That had to have felt like a small offering. But the important thing about those loaves and those fishes was not how big they were when they were given, it was about whose hands they were given into. In the hands of the Lord, that offering was sufficient. It was more than sufficient. There were leftovers. Given in faith, even a small offering becomes great.

Look at your children in faith, and see how many people will be ministered to by your ministering to them. How many people will your children know in their lives? How many grandchildren are represented in the faces around your table now?

So, if mothers are strategically situated to impact missions so greatly, why do we see so little coming from it? I think the answer to this is quite simple: sin. Discontent, pettiness, selfishness, resentment. Christians often feel like the right thing to do is to be ashamed about what we have. We hear that quote of Jim Elliot’s and think that we ought to sell our homes and move to some place where they need the gospel.

But I’d like to challenge you to look at it differently. Giving up what you cannot keep does not mean giving up your home, or your job so you can go serve somewhere else. It is giving up yourself. Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now. Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you, the people who annoy you, the people who get in your way, the people who take up so much of your time that you can’t read anymore. Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose in them.

It is easy to think you have a heart for orphans on the other side of the world, but if you spend your time at home resenting the imposition your children are on you, you do not. You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peacehere. You cannot have a heart for missions, but not for the people around you. A true love of the gospel overflows and overpowers. It will be in everything you do, however drab, however simple, however repetitive.

God loves the little offerings. Given in faith, that plate of PB&J’s will feed thousands. Given in faith, those presents on Christmas morning will bring delight to more children than you can count. Offered with thankfulness, your work at home is only the beginning. Your laundry pile, selflessly tackled daily, will be used in the hands of God to clothe many. Do not think that your work does not matter. In God’s hands, it will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers.

From desiringgod.org

Dads {and Sisters} Day!

Today is a great day.

First up, it's Fathers Day. I am so blessed with an incredible Dad, a man of compassion and dedication to our family. But I also have the honor of raising my boys with my husband, who is also an incredible Dad. When I close my eyes and imagine the type of person I would want raising our kids, it is him. He is a true gift to me and to our family. I would be lost without him.

{one of the gifts "the boys" gave him}

Second off, my sister got engaged this morning!!!! I literally jumped up and down and started bawling happy tears as she told me. I am over-the-moon excited for her, and seriously? She'll be such a gorgeous bride.

The sun is shining after raining for the last few days. My son has been dry, in the same pair of undies, since yesterday afternoon. And I know, and can feel, how incredibly loved by my Savior I am.

Happy Day!

Question.

Just a random thought swimming through my brain today so I thought I'd ask y'all...

Do you buy name brand food, or off-brand at the grocery store? {do you shop at Whole Foods or Aldi?}

For us, we always been fairly middle of the line... HyVee is generally my first choice, or while we lived in Waco we shopped at HEB. Not a big fan of WalMart and Target is a little pricey, in my opinion.

Due to budget cuts, we now get most of our groceries at Aldi, and our meat & produce I still buy at HyVee. On the very few weeks that I do all of my shopping at HyVee, I'm very specific about buying off-brand while there.

This is a new thing for my husband, as he definitely prefers name brand food. He swears they taste different, and I would agree that a few things do. Peanut Butter, Mac 'n Cheese, and coffee creamer... those are a few of the items that I buy name brand but the rest of it I could care less about.

How about you?

A milestone.

Today's the day we begin potty training.

Jaxon has been showing "ready signs" for quite a while now... asking to go potty without being asked, and wakes up dry most mornings. I almost started this a few months ago, but once we were contacted by Tyler's company about possibly moving, I obviously held off because of the upcoming transition time. Now that we're getting settled and life is slowing down, it is time.

I know everyone does it differently, so just in case you're wondering how I'm going at it, we are doing the 3 day potty training method. I'll let you know in 3 days if it really works or not, but even if it takes longer than that, my plan is to not go back to diapers at all... Jaxon even helped by throwing them away this morning and proudly saying "no more pipers (diapers)!"

I am armed with 20ish pairs of undies, the potty chair, and lots of snacks for bribery. Oh, and patience and lots of diet coke. I'm just trying to make it fun, so hopefully I can keep my cool and this can be a successful and not stressful thing.

Wish me us luck!

My week in pictures.

literally, right next door to our house, is a little cute park! to say we've spent a lot of time there would be an understatement... it's perfect!

a little sneak-peek at the project i'm working on for our playroom

cohen's first "bike" ride

this needs to win an award for cutest swim suit ever... found at babyGap of course :)

took the boys to Deanna Rose here in KC one morning with some girls from church. such a fun outing, and it's FREE! (monday-thursday)

also attended a playgroup with my SIL... lots of fun!

{the girl is my niece, Brynn, who is 6 weeks younger than Jaxon}

jax loves that cohen is old enough to stand & "play" with him now... so fun!

such a big boy...

cohen woke up with a bad rash a few days ago and we still haven't determined if it was an allergic reaction to the amoxicillan he was on for his ear infection, or if he got into something the night before while he was sitting outside with me as i picked weeds. unfortunately my boys both inherited mommy's VERY sensitive skin!

we have spent lots of time with my brother and his wife, and their kids. jaxon LOVES playing with his cousins, and thanks to their pool purchase, i foresee us swimming there a lot this summer! :)

We are headed to my parents house for the next couple days, while my hubby works some long hours at work. Looking forward to spending some time there... and the best part? It's only 2 hours away, not 12-13+ :)

Happy Thursday!

My title.

This morning I woke up with high expectations for the day. I was going to have an amazing quiet time with Jesus, sip my coffee, basque in the silence of sleeping boys... and then my day would begin. I would vacuum the entire house, wash the floors, clean the bathroom, and start a few loads of laundry. Little did I know my boys had other plans for the day.

Cohen woke up about 5 minutes into my quiet time. Jaxon was up shortly after, and both of them were as needy as ever. Literally, all morning long, Cohen had to be held. The second I'd try and put him down and distract him with toys, a fountain of real tears would spill out of his eyes. Jaxon repeatedly said to me "I pay {play} Mommy?"

I was disgusted with the way that I felt annoyed for a minute. Annoyed that my plans of being this picture-perfect housewife had been crushed by the boys wants & needs. I also found myself feeling this way from time to time the last couple weeks when I'd look around and see a house that needed unpacked & decorated, but boys that needed my attention even worse. All the sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks... my job, my "title", is a stay at home Mom. I'm not a cleaning lady or a maid. I am a Mom. My boys, not my house, not my to-do list, are my priority.

I'm the first to admit that I set too high of expectations for myself. I frequently hear my husband say "who are you trying to impress?" My answer is always "no one!" -- but in reality, I guess I'm trying to impress myself. Striving to meet this image of having it all together, and in turn I have sometimes put other things in front of my real job... to love and care for my boys and raise them as God has called me to do. It is an honor and privilege to spend my days with them, nurturing and instilling in them God-honoring principles.

I was so thankful for that sweet reminder this morning. And just in case you wondered, I spent the remainder of my morning doing this:

For in Him we live and move and have our being.

Acts 17:28

Update.

In the midst of chaos...

... being alone with the boys, while packing the house for a week

... tyler's flight being cancelled, leaving me to drive to KC alone with the

boys

... trusting my husband completely and wholly as he signed a lease on a

house without me being able to see it first

... living out of a cooler for 6 days as we quickly discovered how "reliable"

our new landlord is

... overwhelmed as i see boxes and boxes that need unpacked, but having

2 boys who need my attention even worse

... battling a high fever with Cohen (102-105degrees), plus an ear infection

... realizing that i have my hands full with a house that needs a lot of love

... a "to do" list for our landlord full of things that need fixed, including

water constantly dripping into our basement, and stair railings that

are 7 inches apart {huge safety issue with the boys}

...I am filled with joy.

... family close by

... completely content, not "wanting"

... peace, despite chaos all around

... a hard working family who would give anything to help us

... blessed to have shelter and a place to be together

... grateful for blessing after blessing

... friends that are so excited to see us and welcome us back

... a safe neighborhood with a little park next door

Life is good. We are blessed. Thankful. Grateful.

And so very happy.