Big, fat mess

Dinnertime at our house tonight was a disaster.  And in my mind, it all began with this cheese:

At the store this week, I had the bright idea that I should save us some money by buying a block of cheese and then shredding it myself if I needed to.   Well, tonight I needed to. And I'm pretty sure I'll be going back to pre-shredded cheese after this.  Because while I was fussing about, trying to get the grater assembled, the cheese shredded and then unstuck from the inside of the grater (not to mention finishing up the other steps involved in the delicious casserole I was planning on serving), this was happening behind me:

  "helping" to unload the dishwasher

 spreading out the contents of what seemed like all his toy baskets

 decorating the refrigerator

banging on the counter,

 which then led to inconsolable screaming when dinner was STILL not ready.....

...and also a few other things that I didn't manage to capture on film, like a full cup of orange juice being knocked off the counter, across the floor and spraying the cabinets on the opposite wall!

It sounds funny, but at the time, it most definitely wasn't and, in all honesty, the screaming and crying was not coming solely from the kids.  There are some nights when we sail through the dinner hour with no problems, but tonight was not one of them. 

So, there you have it.  We do not have it all together here.  It's messy and sinful at our house sometimes.  I wish I had been more prepared, more loving toward the kids as my frustration began to mount, more thankful when Scott swooped in to save me before things got really crazy.  And as painful as all that is to admit, I suppose it's healthy just to be able to say it honestly. 

I'm so incredibly grateful that I've been saved by grace, not works, and that Jesus is walking through this mess with me.

First fruits

And there was much rejoicing.

Peace & Quiet

Everyone except me took a nap this afternoon, which gave me some time to read through Ann Voskamp's blog archives.  I've been spending a lot of time attempting to absorb her wisdom when it comes to mothering and building a Christ-centered life.  I ran across this post about watching her oldest son grow up.  It made me want to call an immediate halt to the craziness of life and just soak up every moment I have with my little man.  I love him so much and don't want to miss a minute of these few years I have with him.

 So I finished up nap time, holding him and praying for his future. 

A perfect end to a restful Sunday afternoon. 

Decade

June 16.  10 years of marriage.  Crazy beautiful.

Officially, we weren't planning anything big, but, unofficially, we were both working on secret surprise trips.  Scott's plan worked out, and luckily, I suppose, mine did not.

We ended up having the most amazing weekend away in Nashville, thanks to this wonderful woman who watched our kids, cleaned our house, did our laundry, etc, etc!  Thank you SO much, Carol Ann!  What a tremendous gift! 

We stayed at an aquaintance's condo, right downtown.

It was so refreshing to talk, catch up, have no deadlines or worries...

....or kids running about.

We went for early morning runs,

followed by breakfasts out...

aimless walking and sightseeing,

one morning at the farmers' market,

a dinner at a Taste of Nashville outdoor event,

  

reading and napping and sitting by the pool,

 

and, of course, picking out treats to take home to our two most precious gifts

(who apparently did a pretty good job being without us).

So thanks, Scott, for a truly memorable moment away. 

I'm looking forward eagerly to our next decade together.

Their royal highnesses

 I have been inspired by another mom to pick a letter of the week and try to find ways to incorporate it into our daily activities.  So this week, I picked K in honor of Kipster. 

Today we read the story of Daniel and talked about kings.....and then made crowns.  The kids had a blast!  Gus actually participated in an art project (something that's pretty rare around here) and Kip decorated her own (and much of her hands and face in the process).

Before:

After:

  

 

Aren't they precious??

So far we've learned about Koala bears, colored some K letter sheets, listened to the Kookaburra song and eaten ketchup.

I'm having a blast planning all these things to do!  Tomorrow we're going to look at pictures of Korea (where Scott was born) and buy some kiwi fruits.

"The Ants" by Gus

The ants go marching two by two.  Hoorah.  Hoorah.
The ants go marching two by two.  Hoorah.  Hoorah.
The ants go marching two by two and then they go and buy some pizza
and then...they...all...feel better.

Lunchtime Fun

This morning on the way home from errands, Gus asked if we could have lunch at Taco Bell.  I immediately said no, but then thought I should at least try to make things fun for the poor, disappointed kid.  So, today we had lunch at "pretend Taco Bell."

 I took their orders in the car: cheesy rollups with a drink.  Easy, peasy Japonesy.   I got rewarded with a "Thank you, Taco Beller!" which is apparently what you call someone who works at Taco Bell.  I was also told that I should work at Taco Bell (when Scott is home from work, of course) so I guess the food was pretty good!

Berries

 Our kids are rocking mulberry season this year!

 They spend A LOT of time outside collecting the ripe ones that fall from our tree, and they are both literally purple from head to toe when they come inside.

 Laundry has been interesting lately, to say the least.

P.S.  I discovered why these berries have absolutely no commercial value: those little green stems you see in this picture do not come off.  So you either have to eat them (which my kids do) or cut each and every one off (which I'm not willing to do).

Three blocks down

The wind in our willows...

....well, actually, our hackberry trees, if you want to get technical. 

It started this morning with lots of clouds and a gentle rain.  During breakfast, however, I noticed that the rain was becoming more horizontal and the wind was picking up.  The lights started to flicker.  I heard a soft thump, but didn't think much of it, until Scott walked out of the bathroom where he'd been shaving and calmly announced, "There's a tree on our house."

It looks pretty rough all around the neighborhood.  This is across the street from us:

This afternoon, I went outside to take pictures and couldn't help noticing the constant noise: firetrucks, people out surveying the damage, chainsaws going already.  And I'm pretty sure I saw a Red Cross Natural Disaster Response van at the rec center!

We're so thankful that we're not hurt, but I'm mourning the loss of our one large shade tree.  Sure, hackberries aren't really pretty, it's growing through our fence and it makes these tiny berries that I have to constantly pull out of Kip's mouth.  Plus our garden will be getting a lot more sun!  But, it was shady and our windchimes made beautiful music hanging up there.  I'm going to miss you, old girl!

Lone Star state

Kip wore this today....

...and it reminded me that I am extremely late in posting the photos from our wonderful trip to Texas a few MONTHS ago.  Yikes.  So here you go!

First we headed to Houston to be with the Noll side of the family.  We stayed with Scott's Aunt and Uncle and made trips over to see Mimi and Grandad at their new apartment. 

Three of the 4 Guses

 This was also when Kip finally decided to take her first steps!  Crazy lady.

Then we were off to Dallas where we spent a few days with Aunt Dee Dee and Nonnie Lewis.  Who knew we would have to go to Dallas to get our third snow of the winter!

It was a long drive.  Between TN, two cities in TX and the trip back we logged over 2,000 miles in 6 days!!  The kids did great though and we so enjoyed seeing Scott's family.

Thanks so much for hosting us, everyone.  We had a really wonderful time!