On the Sidelines

I've been longing to hop on here and write for weeks now. Sooo much to write...Life has not been dull in our corner of the world and with a whirlwind of activities every week, it feels a little bit like I've been treading water with one arm tied behind my back.  I'm behind on just about everything and have a to-do list that is a mile long.  But who wants to talk about that??  My mind is swimming with thoughts and topics but for your sake and mine tonight, I'll leave you with some pictures of the world's cutest (albeit wild) fans :)

Daddy is thick in the soccer season and we have been planting ourselves on a many a sideline these days.  Well, I should clarify.  I have been planted there but not for long.  There is no planting when it comes to Ava and Carter!  They keep me on my toes :)  No sooner do I catch a big play than I turn around to discover that one or both of them are making a break for it! 

Sidenote-Can you see that Ava's shoes are on the wrong feet here?  She is all about getting dressed all by herself these days and I'm inclined to let her excercise that skill but 9 times out of 10 she gets her shoes on the wrong feet!  So cute.  It makes me laugh when I realize it hours later and know that she's been walking or running that way!  For some reason all kids seem to do that and most of them act like it makes no difference to them, why is that???

This little tornado is exactly that.  A TORNADO.  He is active with a capitol "A" these days!  I'm not kidding when I tell you that he requires our FULL attention all hours of the day.  In case you think I'm exaggerating, so far in 5 games he's run on the field during the game; run away from me and into an active parking lot (twice); and earned himself several trips the minivan for some "attitude adjustment" while screaming "NOOOOOO!" at the top of his lungs after I wouldn't let him do something...like run into the street.  Fun times :)

At home, he's been equally as busy.  A few days ago he let himself out of our house and through our locked front door while I was in the shower!  Thankfully we live in a condo complex so he was just down the hall, but still!  I came out in my towel and quickly realized he was MIA...never good.  On Sunday, while Travis and I were talking in our room, he was busy playing in the living room with a knife and scissors. Yes.  Take a moment to ponder that a little bit. 

Yesterday (again while I was in the shower and he was supposed to be napping) he dumped a lit candle in my kitchen sink, pouring hot wax all over my dishes and thankfully, not himself.  Are you surprised to know that I never showered today??  How could I??  I can't turn my back for a SECOND on this little guy!  While I was on the phone today he was throwing a real golf ball halfway across our living room, dangerously close to our brand new TV. And when I say dangerously close I mean, he JUST missed it.  And since it's all of 24 hours old, that would have been quite a story...I mean, seriously!!??!!  I'm writing this down now so I will remember and laugh about it later. 

Like when I'm well rested and he's married :)

 Can you picture why I barely get anything done these days???  I'm considering tethering myself to him, just so I know where he is and what he's doing at all times.  Luckily for me, my mini-me (AKA the big sister) is a pretty great tattle-tale, which right now is a GREAT thing!  She helps me keep "Cawty"in line and away from the knives :)

Suckers are my latest bribing tool.  I'm not above begging my children to sit still with a sucker while they:

-Go to the grocery store with me

-Watch the soccer game

-Sit in the stroller after Church

-Let me talk on the phone

-Buy a new TV for their Dad :)

 

I'm desperate, people.  Right now, I've never met a piece of candy that I wouldn't consider hanging over their head!

Truthfully, as busy and wild as this little guy is, he has definitely stolen my heart.  He is a snuggly, cuddly, park-loving, ball-throwing, toe headed lover.  He is a GIANT whose feet are growing overnight and yet he loves to crawl in bed with me in the morning and say, "Baby?" with his paci and giraffe in hand. 

Wonder how many years he'll long to be my baby??

Can you stand how OLD this girl is???  It's Fall, so naturally I am counting down the years until I have to surrender her to school, whatever that means.  TWO!  That's how many school years are left until she's on her 13 year journey through education.  We decided not to do preschool this year, we're just not ready to give up our time with her or to be slaves to a schedule.  Maybe I'll regret that in a month or so, but I think it's going to be a fun year for her and Carter.  They are becoming quite the little friends and I want them to have this time together, knowing it will soon be a fleeting option.  We are doing some more field trips together and some one on one dates with her.  Travis and Ava are fishing buddies, they both just love that outing and I get a big kick out of their stories when they get home.  She is ALL ABOUT catching those fish and touching them too...is she MY daughter??? Last week I took Miss Ava to a high school volleyball game (hilarious) and to my cousins' house for a family lunch.  Both times she was such a good girl and she told me afterwards, "Dat was SO fun Mama!" I am loving her independence these days, she's really pretty helpful right now.  She is my window washer, clothes folder and dish loader!  Well, she's "in training" in all of those things :) She loves it when I let her skip a nap but the deal is that she has to be my helper if she wants to stay up.  So far that idea is golden.  She goes for it everytime!  Again, wonder how long I'll get away with that??

Travis and I are both crazy busy right now.  He's in the middle of Fall kick-off at Church in addition to soccer.  I'm "working" a little on the side right now (doing some freelance design work) and trying to keep the ship afloat at home.  We are burning the candle on both ends but only (fingers crossed) for this present season.  I am working HARD to protect our days off and keep our days as unscheduled as possible.  This is kind of our last week before our fall activities begin and the kids and I are headed to Iowa for a few days, for my Grandpa's funeral.  Hoping to write about that tomorrow...

Anyway, we're doing well and the kids are getting cuter by the day.  Just look at those little peanuts, we are just crazy about both of them! 

You know, when they aren't wielding knives or running in streets :)

Hope your Fall is off to a great start!  I've missed you blog friends, really missed my time writing and sharing pics.  The busier I get, the more I long to get on here and write...

Like lots of things in my life right now, this is probably just not my season yet, and that's ok.  I am very grateful to have a busy husband and 2 little people to fill my days and weeks with, blog or no blog. 

 Hope your week is a blessed one! 



Bike Rides and Blessings

Our babies are growing up and doing big kid stuff every time we turn around.  Ava has been asking about riding a bike for awhile, since early in the summer actually.  We had a little bike that was given to us last year but I sent it to my parents house because it was too big for her and we had no room to store it.  This summer she rode it at their house in July while we were visiting and in just a few days, she was noticably better and more interested than ever before.  Just a few weeks ago she started asking about it again, bringing it up a lot and wanting to "ride HER bike" to the park :) We decided it was time to buy her one and begin teaching her, but in between the demands and events of each week, we just hadn't gotten to the store yet. 

(Insert my sweet friend E and her generous heart *here.* 

 THIS picture is for YOU!!)

As the Lord has so faithfully used her before, my friend E called me on a Monday morning (out of the blue) to tell me that she had a little bike in her car for Ava and could she leave it in Trav's office at Church??  She had no idea that we had plans to get her a little princess bike at Target that week, but as the Lord loves to delight us (both of us), I listened to her tell me that this was a purple princess barbie bike with training wheels and a matching helmet, and would that work for Ava?? 

 Ummm, YES!!!

I can't tell you how many things she has passed our way that have been PERFECT for our kids and have come at just the right time.  She is a huge blessing to us and our kids have reaped incredible gifts from her slightly older kids.  Amazing.

 We heart E at our house!!

  After she called, we didn't tell Ava about it, we wanted to surprise her.  I so wish I would have had the video camera out when it happened.  Trav pulled in after work one day and I directed Ava to the window to "see Daddy" and then casually said, "Ava, what is he getting out of the back seat??"  She leaned forward to really look and then shrieked (as only little girls can) "Is that a bike???  Is that a bike for ME???" 

 It was precious. 

I wanted to cry.  (I probably did)

She took off running through our house and out our door, waiting for the magical sight of her Daddy and the new bike.  She jumped for joy, told us she loved it and said to Travis "Daddy, did you get this for me?? Did you get me my bike I wanted?? Thank you so much for my booutiful bike Daddy, I love it so much!! Oh my, oh my goodness it's a PRINCESS bike!!"  Again, where was the video camera when I needed it?? 

 

I was too busy choking back tears over her joy and thanking the Lord once again for providing in ways we never expected,  to delight us AND our children. 

 I love that He cares about the big stuff in our life, but I also love that He sees and knows about the little stuff too.  And so often I think He uses the little stuff in life to see if we're tuned into Him or not.  Sometimes I've missed out on blessings He's had for me because I was too focused on the ways He seemingly wasn't answering the big stuff.  These last few years I've tried to really look for Him in the little things and I'm finding that His fingerprints are everywhere. 

Case in point: Here is Carter on his new, little bike, also a gift from E last summer. 

While Ava rejoiced over the new bike in her life, Carter enjoyed an upgrade too :)

Seriously, we are blessed!!!

This little guy is almost ready to ride it himself, but he still loves for us to push him.  I love him in his little hat and crocs.  That has been his classic summer look and I keep trying to preserve it in my mind's eye so I don't forget it when he's 18 :)

Miss Ava wasted no time getting on that bike and exploring her world as if it had just opened up to her.

She is our cautious kid in many ways, so she was never too far from one of us.  She didn't quite trust the training wheels and kept thinking she was going to tip over. 

It's kind of a new phase, transitioning from always having them in a stroller to their own little bikes instead.  It will be a good thing when we can lag behind and they can peddle and steer on their own :) But, as I walked behind everyone and took the whole scene it, I couldn't help but swallow that lump in my throat that is forming more and more these days as I watch them grow and mature. 

We were laughing at Ava who was very vocal about her thoughts and emotions as she "rode" :) :) As she would pick up speed and start to feel out of control she would say, "OH my, OH my, OH my!!  Mom, do you GOT me??"  It was so funny.  She loved it and it terrified her all at once :)

I can only imagine how Carter (our non-cautious child) will handle that next summer!  I don't think he'll be asking if we "GOT" him, I think he'll be peddling like a maniac and laughing hysterically while he crashes into anything and everything in his way. 

Just a hunch I have :)

 We're starting to resemble a circus now.  We're loud, there are several side shows going on at any given time and Travis and I are trying desperately to be the ring masters in the midst of it.  It's a sweet, simple season of chaos.  Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by it and sometimes I can't stop thanking God for the ways He's answered our hearts' cry.  They are precious and they have our hearts all wrapped up around them.  The day will come too soon when a new bike or a walk to the park will not be their idea of fun, but I am not longing for those days yet.  I want to freeze these moments in time and hear their little chatter and banter back and forth.  Life is their oyster right now :)

 

We need to pick up a helmet for Carter, but I think they are pretty set for some fall walks and spring bike rides, don't you?  Thank you, thank you, thank you to our dear E.  You are a blessing in more ways that we can count!!  Our kids don't realize what you have done for them yet, but we do.  And we love your generous heart and your willingness to let go of your "stuff" and share it. 

 

If you're looking for us, we'll be circus headed to the park, chaos and noise surrounding us the whole way!

Swimming Lessons and a Soccer Retreat

It's a beautiful Friday here in Minnesota, what's it like in your neck of the woods?   I'm playing a little bit of catch up this morning, actually who am I kidding?  I'm playing A LOT of catch up today, in just about every area of my life.  We enjoyed a *little* downtime about 3 weeks ago, but we are officially back to the grind now and our days and nights have been full.  Truthfully, I'm kind of exhausted.  But, I am editing as much as I can from our schedule, trying to keep it balanced and healthy.  Much easier said than done right now.  I'm not sure where I left of in my blogging, but here are some photos and updates from the last couple of weeks.  To our dear relatives who must think we've forgotten how to pick up a phone, or that we are not taking any pictures of "the stars of the show", these are especially for you :)

Did I ever tell you about Ava's swimming lessons?  She took a few days of lessons from one of our former students and it was so great!  She just LOVED it and she did so well.  I'm so glad we signed her up for this, it was good timing for her age and stage.  She seems like a natural water bug already! 

 We were blessed with fabulous weather and a little girl who couldn't wait to get in the pool every morning!

 Channeling her inner Michael Phelps :) Or Missy Franklin, right??  Weren't the US swimmers so fun to watch this year in the Olympics?  They were unbelieveable.  I think watching so much coverage helped get Ava excited too.  She told me that she was going to "touch the wall, Mom" and then we would "cheer for Ava!"  So funny!

 And cheer we did!  My parents came up for a few days to see us and to watch the water bug.  She had quite the cheering section and of course, we loved all of our time with them! 

 These two just keep growing and growing, both in stature and personality :) Life is pretty fun right now, although pretty exhausting too.  I keep thinking this (the physical nature of parenting) will get easier, but so far we aren't there yet!  They keep me on my toes ALL DAY LONG. 

I've never loved naptime/bedtime more :)

What really wiped me out a few weeks ago however, was this list above, in addition to 3 more just like it!  Travis hosted a 3 day soccer retreat for his JV and Varsity guys and the kids and I tagged along too.  Actually, I was the "cook" and they just came because they had too :) It really was a lot of fun, there were 27 guys and I brought along 2 high school girls to help me, plus a Mom who was there for the first 2 days as well.  Overall, no complaints.  The boys were so great, very appreciative and helpful but practically speaking, I am SO GLAD I only cook for a family of 4 on a regular basis!!  Cooking 6 back to back meals, plus snacks, for that many people is exhausting.  I think I just stood in the kitchen for the bulk of 3 days, prepping/cooking/cleaning/ and moving on to the next meal.  When we got home on Wednesday, I got the kids down for a nap and then spent most of the afternoon and evening in bed!  My legs and feet were so tired.  I am seriously getting old :(

One of the highlights for these two was seeing Daddy pull up to our house in a huge coach bus and getting to ride in it with everybody!  They have been begging to "ride the bus" since they first saw their Dad drive it at camp and finally they got their chance :) They had a ball looking out the windows and taking everything in.  They were silent for a really long time, totally thrilled to be eye-level with truck drivers and to see so much that normally goes unseen from their seats in our van.  Plus, they looked so darn cute in those car seats, I couldn't get enough of them either!

One of the meals I made involved this amazing dish from who else but...

The Pioneer Woman. 

She and I are becoming like blood relatives.  I practically refer to her as if I know her because I make her stuff, watch her show, read her blog, etc. so often!  This is her Baked Cinnamon French Toast, with blueberries :) Ironically, she just made it on her Food Network show last Saturday!  And I felt so proud of myself while I watched her, thinking I knew every ingredient she needed before she rattled them off.  No, it doesn't take much to excite me these days.

I lined up plate after plate, meal after meal and it always amazed me that after all that hard work and planning, those hungry guys had it demolished in about 10 minutes!

I did manage to get about 20 minutes one afternoon on the porch swing, but aside from that I barely stepped foot outside :) It was SO great to have the girls with me though, they basically took care of my kids for me and I quickly realized how valuable it was to have cute girls around...their presence alone brought me so many "helpful" guys, constantly asking if they could help us out or do anything for us??  It was hilarious.  I knew exactly what they were after, but I was more than happy to let them help us!  Mental note, always bring girls with me on these trips!!  Ha ha!!

Our little readers, enjoying some books on the drive home.

They were two tired little people and so were their parents!

I just love those little chubby feet :)

Sidenote, I have no idea what's happening here with Travis' face.  Stress??  :) :) :)

You might be a Youth Pastor's wife if...

-Your husband rolls up to your house in a coach bus. 

-Your kids think it's normal to ask, "Is Daddy driving the bus today?"

-You know the best way to pack a bus, as if it were just an extension of your minivan :)

Honestly, I can not imagine what our neighbors are always thinking about us??  We must be the topic of some very odd conversations, considering so many elderly people live where we do and they just cannot wrap their minds around what Travis does and better yet, WHY He does it!  As we were sweating and loading up 3 shopping carts to haul our stuff inside again, I can only imagine we had quite an audience :) It's times like this one that I get so frustrated with living in a condo and yet I end up in fits of giggles because NOTHING is seemingly normal about our life :)  It is definitely an adventure!  We always have an audience when we are coming and going and inevitably the kids end up running around, making too much noise.  Which usually ends in someone getting hurt or Travis and I panicking over how many neighbors we're most likely annoying at once.  Good things the kids are cute.  I believe that often makes up for all the volume we produce!!

After we got back, the next few days were filled with lots of this.  Chilling out and watching movies or cartoons.  I was good with it, but better still, they were good with it!  They love to get in our bed and because they are so active, whenever they initiate the opportunity to be still, we take them up on it :) 

I caught this sweet moment one morning as we were walking in to Church.  Carter held out his chubby little hand for Ava to grab and she did!

And even better, I whipped my iphone out to capture it!

It's moments like this one that give me hope on the hard days.  Hope that they really do love each other, hope that our parenting efforts are working, hope that they know how to be kind :)

Someday when they are at each other's throats, I'm going to show them this picture and remind them of the day when they were buddies. 

 

And honestly, I hope that is always the case no matter how big they get! 

We are grateful for the little friendship that is budding between them.  We are so thankful to God for the gift of siblings and the way He saw fit to give them to each other. 

 Friends for life...that's our prayer!

Happy Dance

Last week I came home to TWO fun deliveries I had been (not so patiently) waiting for. 

Yes, I documented the whole experience on my iphone so I could share it with you. 

Although I have neglected you recently, I do love you my blog peeps, are you getting excited??

Get your cup of coffee/tea/diet coke and get ready. 

It's that good...

This was the scene outside my front door. 

Not a bad way to come home from the grocery store, right???

(I spy little toes, do you?)

I was excited about all of it and I did in fact *celebrate* with a little happy dance that might have involved some squeals and clapping.  Who doesn't love an Erin Condren box on their doorstep??? 

 Seriously. 

Even the box and the packing inside is ADORABLE!!

These are my 2 new treasures I ordered a few weeks ago!

I had a great voucher from my birthday to spend so I finally redeemed it and got a great deal on these. She doesn't do many deals, but when she does they are usually half-off and I was thrilled to scoop this one up last Spring.

No, this is not the 2012-2013 Life Planner, I don't need a new one yet.  This is their notebook, which is kind of like a mini-planner.  I wanted it for some new design projects I have in the works and already, I love it!

 But THIS item has stolen my heart. 

I do LOVE a good visual form of organization!!  Although our kids are still young and we haven't even begun to schedule lots of activities for them, our schedules are more than enough for us to keep up with.  This Fall is crazy busy at our house and when I saw this online, I knew it would be helpful for us.  One or both of us is always asking the other, "Do you have anything going on tonight??"  Usually we can't remember and we are not electronic calendar people (Yet-we're holding out) but we both appreciate a good paper calendar.  SO, my plan is to fill this out every Sunday and put it on the fridge for us to reference all week. 

 And this is what my fridge looks like this morning! 

I am in love with this product already.  I'm using it for keep track of activities, but also for meal planning.  I ama visual girl and a write-it-down kind of gal, so this speaks my language well.  Plus, it's terribly cute to look at, isn't it??  I love that you can personalize it too, we chose to put Proverbs 16:9 on there, reminding me that no matter what "our plans" are, the Lord's will always prevail!  I can tell you that the 20 minutes I spend filling this out every week will be a happy 20 minutes :)

After I got done rejoicing over the contents of that box, I moved on to these! 

My second order that was a total treat to buy.  I'm in a BIG organizing, de-cluttering, purging mode over here right now and one thing that I've been targeting is my kitchen.  After 9 years of marriage, I have accumulated lots of stuff and I'm realizing how much of it I don't use.  So, those items are on their way out and I'm trying to only keep what I actually like and use regularly.  I am a dish girl, I like to entertain and I've always loved pretty dishes.  I like to mix stuff around and I have a basic set of ivory Mikasa dishes that I registered for when we got married, but I also have several other sets that I've used with them for all kinds of seasons and occasions.  Anyway, they've been great but I'm sick of them.  They aren't amazing dishes, they're from Wal-Mart and Target, but they have been great over the years.  I was online last week reading emails when I stumbled on one, alerting me to an online flash sale from Dayspring.  It was a 4 hour sale and it was a big one.  I decided to browse it and I was THRILLED to see the dishes I've seen before and loved were part of the sale!!

They are so "me" and they go with my stuff beautifully!!  These are the bowls, they say "grateful for his grace, grateful for his goodness, and grateful for simple blessings" and I LOVE that! 

Cute mugs that say "grateful for the gift of hope" inside.  Love the butter color!

 Dessert plates

 Salad plates

All the plates :)

I know, this is riveting stuff!

 I ordered 4 place settings that were 60% off.  It was such a great deal and I was very grateful that Trav gave me the green light when I called him and basically begged him, ha ha!  I sold him on it because they will easily mix and match with my plain ivory dishes and some of my chocolate mugs and serving dishes.  I like to recommend that idea to people, especially new brides.  Invest in some plain, white/ivory dishes (8-12 place settings) that will last you for a long time and then supplement them with cheaper "decorative" dishes (4-6 place settings) that add some color and pattern and allow you to mix and match, but aren't a long term investment that you'll regret in 10 years.  I think the idea of fine china is kind of out the window for a lot of modern couples.  It's just not practical anymore and so many people have fine china that they NEVER use or they have no room to store it, in addition to their every day stuff.  Not everybody cares about dishes, but for those of who like that kind of stuff, I'm always looking for ways to create a look without breaking the bank or always buying new stuff.  It's been 9 years and I'm happy to be swapping out my older blue dishes with these! 

Seriously, aren't they cute??  I like tying gratitude in to our everyday dining and I'm always looking for more ways to incorporate scripture and the Lord around our house.  I liked these the first time I saw them, months ago, but I like them on sale even better!  The surprise bonus is that they match my kitchen perfectly!  They look good with my countertops and my flooring and they make my paint color pop on the walls :) I know, who even notices that stuff??  Someone with an Interior Design degree, that's who!  Ha ha! 

 

So there you go, sorry about the week long teaser on twitter!  My life has not been my own for the last few weeks (read: we have been WAY TOO BUSY.) 

 

In the middle of the chaos, it was fun to get some sunshine delivered to my front door. 

The Fed Ex guy is my new best friend!! 

 

Two fun places for you to check out on this Monday morning:

www.erincondren.com

www.dayspring.com

Hope you have a blessed day!  Enjoy!!