COS

We are in Hilton Head at the Christian Ophthalmology Society Meeting. It is a joy to see old friends and make new ones. And huge encouragement to meet others who are following the Lord as ophthalmologist, especially all those serving through missions.

It is humid and hot in HHI. We walked outside, I grabbed my camera and took a picture of the girls, it was completely fogged over. I wiped, took again, fogged over. Sweet pic though.

Better Way

I have had a renewed appreciation of the working together of the body of Christ over the last week or so. And then interestingly I listened to a sermon on the very topic. First though, right now we are at COS in Hilton Head. Today we went to the beach for a bit, the kids and me, J was still in a meeting. We went, in clothes, with just the purpose of playing in the sand, which the love to do. Ek was busy filling a huge bucket full of sand to make a sand castle. huge. I was piddling around with L making turtles. H was busy digging holes. I looked over and Ek was patting down the sand in her bucket, it was almost full. She started to tip it, but I knew if she did with several more inches to fill it would not work, so we all joined in to help her finish, I tipped it over and tapped on the bottom, she lifted the bucket and voila! a castle. She was quite pleased. And moved onto a smaller bucket to fill to add to top. L really wanted to crush it, we managed to hold her off. Here is my point, this life seems to work a lot better when we take what is important to one, make it important to us and rally around the one to get it done. To think beyond what is just important to me, but makes others’ important things important to me. I didn’t much care about making a castle. but Ek did. It was important to her, it was what she wanted to do. So we helped her accomplish her goal. And we all shared in her joy of seeing it done. I have been blessed to see this in my life here lately too and it has made my life better, now some we can take for granted, like birthday parties. Now who wouldn’t want to go to a birthday party? me, if it is in the middle of my day, and I’m tired. but for someone who I love, someone who is special to me, someone who is special to my kids, I will make it important to me and go with joy. I was able to cook dinner for friends coming back into town, and she was able to help me get packed for our trip. We are having dinner with friends tonight who are moving to Peru to serve God, they are helping us take care of our kids so J and I can spend some time with each other doing a tri Saturday. There are tiny examples, like a birthday party, and huge examples like J and I wanting to see a Backyard Bible Club in Dublin, all of the sudden, we had probably 30 people getting it together! A friend from Bible study wanted to see a marriage retreat in Dublin, so now 20 of us are helping her see it happen. I was listening to a sermon about ‘Rewards’ and the pastor spoke that one of the rewards of following Christ is living in the fellowship of the body and I completely agree. Matt Chandler “We are not just saved from [a sinful life worthy of hell], but saved to a covenant community that is to exalt Christ by lowering ourselves and lifting those around us.” O Lord help us, we have no chance of seeing others as important if you don’t give us the love.

Good work!

decided it was about time. TIme to get back into the ‘swing of things.’ I have never formally made a list of things for Ek and H to do around the house, but I thought I would see how it worked. I call them ‘responsibilities.’ The list is actually quite funny when you look at it, but I work well with to-do lists so I thought I’d see how it motivated them. So morning “responsibilities” are make bed, get breakfast and put away dishes (ok paper towel), get dressed, put clothes away, take vitamins and Zyrtec, brush teeth, gather up things for school. Not too bad. Evening responsibilities are put on PJs, put clothes away, pick out clothes for next day, brush and floss, Nasonex. Ek is so excited, i guess she takes after me. I hope it will just help them establish some sense of working together and taking care of themselves and their things. Ek makes her bed pretty often, but honestly H never has. Here is his first- impressive- attempt. Ek quickly followed and also did a great job (but almost too far, she probably won’t want to sleep in it!)

I

Friends are great to celebrate

Tonight we celebrated H's friend Will's birthday. So I guess H has been 4 for one whole month now. Wow, time flies. We had a great time visiting with the Georges, Polhills and Bishops. The big boys played a game involving a box with a hole and bean bags and totally lost all sight of any of their children (did you think I was talking about the 4 year old boys?)-- it was really pretty fun to watch them having such fun. Then they, same big boys, tried for over an hour to bust into the laundry room that a stroller had somehow gotten lodged into the door; that was quite entertaining as well. And the kids had fun too. Pizza, cake, a lot of playing, screaming, running, and more playing. Such a blessing to have friends, and children, and laughter. ahhh, tired and off to bed.

Ek's birthday

Ek was so excited to get an American Girl for her birthday. I gave her the option of having her party there in Atlanta with several of her friends or having a pool party. She choose pool party so I chose to take her there for her birthday. J doesn't like to miss out on birthday fun, so he took the day off and the 5 of us headed for Atlanta. We got there just in time to grab Kit and head for our table for lunch. Ek remembered that they birthday girl gets to pick out the lunch spot, but she didn't know you could have lunch at the store, until her sweet friend Sophia told her. So she wasn't surprised to have lunch there, but she was very excited. It was a wonderful place to have lunch. I think 1/2 the tables there were celebrating birthdays, but that didn't make Ek's moment to be sung too less special, they put a candle in a ice cream sunday. After we ate, Ek and I strolled around the store to get a few more things for Kit from her Grandma. That was super fun, Ek knew exactly what she wanted, but we still had fun looking. Ek was super happy all day. She was so pleased to bring Kit home and dress her up in matching pj's and put her to bed in her room. It was a blessing to be able to get our little girl, who is growing up so beautifully, just what she wanted on her birthday.

Happ Day

Here's the video of our fun swimming afternoon!

Zoo day

Last Monday on the way through Athens, the kids and I had a quick zoo visit with Dad and lunch at the church with mom too. The kids really enjoyed the zoo, H did wonder where the elephants were, they were both anxious to not awaken the bear- Ek thought he would wake up grumpy, and L enjoyed walking through with her little hands in her little pockets. I enjoyed hearing and seeing all the sights and sound and especially getting to be with Dad.

Playtime

Other than getting time quietly with H and Ek while waiting at our various dentist offices, one of my other favorite time of the trip was one afternoon I took Ek, H and Will to the pool. It just gave me great excitement for our future to see them so joyful and playful and imaginative together. They swam for about a hour which included a lot of jumping in and Ek giving Will and H a swim lesson. Then they played on the playground for about 45 minutes. They played this funny game that they had a restaurant, i think they were serving Mexican food but they were speaking in Italian accents. Will called Ek "Bu-lli-to," which sounds a lot like burrito, which is funny because that is what Ben calls me (long story). H was Will and Ek's son. They had a ball, so did I.

And here are the sweet little ones...

Monday night Special

One of my personal highlights was getting to go to prayer Monday night in G'ville. J and I have tried to figure out for years how to get there and this trip it just happened. Love the Lord's timing. I was so excited. Ek was so excited that I was so excited. It was a great combination of quiet time of prayer while the worship team was playing, corporate worship for the city- specifically for the employment situation of G'ville, and praying specifically for people with personal issues. All could participate and there was such respect for privacy for those that had needs. It was a huge blessing to be a part of and I loved seeing my brother in a leadership role there. I wish I could be there every week, sitting beside Milly, knowing the kids were all playing together, and sitting side by side trusting God as He works.

Done

Yes, I do blog. Not sure why I didn't this week. hmmmm. Oh yeah! 5 dental appointment in 2 days! Not sure how many actual cavities were filled. More than 10. Less than 20. So here is the breakdown. My brother is a crazy amazing dentist. He fixed I think 3 fillings on me. maybe 2. not sure. I am not very brave in his chair. Drills make my brain vibrate. but done! Yeah! No more plans for my mouth except brushing, flossing and swishing, then back when we can for more cleaning from Ben. His staff is so great. I love his Tangie. He told me that her daughter created the word "Praiseallulujah." Love that. I think of it a lot, am not quite bold enough to say it out loud yet. Ok, next. Ek is braver than I am. I got numbed 4 times for one tooth. She didn't want any. Her first filling Ben snuck it in, yep that's how good he is. but, she didn't like it. So for the next one, none. And she didn't even whine. awesome. Super, super proud of that girl. NEXT. H. H was a brave guy too. Again, me the mommy a bit emotional. Couldn't handle leaving G'ville without something fixed in his mouth, the first dentist didn't quite get that idea, the next one sooo got it. He sat down, sat H down and filled every hole that was in H's mouth that shouldn't be. H sniffed on laughing gas and managed to get through it. He did not enjoy at all me holding his hands away from taking everything out of his mouth. But like I said he made it! Several months ago, J saw a friends son who was newly but in glasses and not happy about it. J checked him over and helped him understand what the situation was. J's friends were so appreciative, they just could not get over how kind J was. Now I get it. When someone is above kind to your child, there just are not enough words of appreciation. I was so humbled by his kindness, his patience with H, and his diligence to get his mouth fixed. H doesn't seem to remember much of the visit and awoke from his post-dentist nap to chow down on his long waiting lunch with no problems. ahhhh. I told the kids that next summer lets go for no cavities and a cleaning followed by a trip to the zoo instead of trip after trip to get all fixed up. Please help us Lord!

Party Girl

Today Ek was the Birthday party girl. She began the day with Mopsey's french toast and gifts from she and Pops. She got a Ginny doll that reminded us of her dance recital outfit. We were off to the pool tonight to meet Kardyn, Blake, Sophia, Leah and Caroline and their families. We had Brian's subs, chips, cake and Grandma made ice cream. They played and played, swam and swam. Ek was so excited about her cake and loved her gifts- Honey the dog and PJs, Hannah Montana barbie, Veternarian Barbie, a Claire's gift card, a bracelet and necklace and a ballet bag. She was so excited. So thankful to celebrate our girl, she's a great one.

Off

Yesterday I had the afternoon off. J and I were supposed to go to St. Simmons for our anniversary but I was sick. and disappointed. very disappointed. So J told me to go to bed and rest. J, Grady and Emma Jean took care of the kids and I did not get out of bed for 6 hours. that's right, 6. ahhh. On my way to bed, I grabbed a Sprite, 1/4 of a turkey sandwich, comfy clothes and The Shack. I read the whole thing. that's right, the whole thing. I got out of bed so energized. Not feeling tons better, but feeling so much better. yeah, I heard that sentence.

One of the things that struck me so much about that book was this: When the man was sitting at table eating with the Trinity, they were eating with him and asking him questions about their kids. He got frustrated and said, why are you eating? Why are you asking about my children? You don't eat! You know everything. God gently said that he was right but that He limits himself to be able to relate to his children, to have relationships with them. He went on to say it is like a father playing ball with his son or a mother reading to her child, they are capable of so much more skill and knowledge than they are displaying at that moment, but they limit their skill to have relationships with their children. I think that is an amazing thought, that God listens to our prayer to spend time with us. That makes me want to sit down and pray to spend time with Him.

Many thanks to all who gave me an afternoon off.

Dead Worm

Last night J took Ek and H to the Polhill's for a Bible study family cookout. They had a ball. The kids both had a bunch of friends to play with. They guys discussed the upcoming "Glory Revealed" concert that they are sponsoring. They came home joyful and energized. Ek was holding a ziploc bag. The contents was a worm. yep, that's right. a worm. She named it Kelly. I told her it couldn't live in a ziploc bag and she said that was ok, it already died and that was ok. She said she didn't get to go fishing so Mr. John let her put it in a bag to take home so she could fish with it later. thank you. Today when she was playing with Caroline it made its way to the trash. Ek was not home 10 minutes before she was looking for it! devastated to hear of its trash fate. She got it out of the trash. well sort of. It was on top and she was upset that I had put my swept trash onto, so there it stayed. I mean really, what do I make of this. One, I think it may be time to get a goldfish. If she is this excited over a dead worm, what would a live goldfish do for her?! Second, it makes me question how often am I satisfied with "dead worms?" symbolically speaking of course. I hope that my affections are right based on good provision of God. His word reminds me, Every good and perfect gift comes from above from the Father of Lights with whom there is no shifting or changing. James 1:17 God gives much better gifts than dead worms. (that is a great sentence to end on, don't cha think?!)

9 and counting

Today is J and my 9 year wedding anniversary. We haven't really seen each other today, but he did take off Friday to celebrate and we plan to head to the beach for a night! I am so so so thankful for my J. He is kind, patient, loving, hard-working, dependable (meaning he will always be late ;) ), a really great Daddy, i could go on and on. Two things strike me today. Well 3, the first being how thankful I am for him. 2. From our wedding ceremony, from the OT when Joshua went out into the dessert and was met my an angel. And he said, 'who are you for, me our my enemies?' and the angel said, 'neither, but as commander as the army of the Lord, I have now come.' Mr. Letchford encouraged J and I to not worry about who wins in the marriage between the 2 of us, but that God wins. Good word. 3. From Ben and Milly's wedding that the biggest compliment you can give one another is that they are improving. And I can say that the J and my marriage is improving. Hallelujah. I am very thankful for my guy. He is great.

Sick bug

Little bug is sick today. So strange. Check up on Monday and Dr. put her on antibiotic for runny nose that she couldn't get over. So I think, no big deal. Today we had a very busy morning including grocery trip. I get home, get her out of the car and she is hot. 102 degrees hot. What?! I lay her down with Tylenol for a nap. A 4 hour nap. yikes! Then her temp 103.7. AHHH! After various talks to my kind nurse Rebecca, Motrin and a tepid bath. So she cries from the time I get her up from the nap to the end of the bath through the crying phone calls (her not me, whew!) and rocking rocking rocking. So we are in my room, Ek and H were up in L's room playing. We could hear them over the monitor. L cried and cried and then stopped. Several deep breaths later she says, "Hen-he?" We proceeded to have a 5 minute conversation. Did I mention she was lying in my arms, all wrapped up in her hooded towel with her little pink paci, excuse me 'ba'? She was adorable. And then to see her mood completely change by hearing the voice of her sweet big brother. Ok, ok so the conversation consisted of figuring out where everyone was.

me, h is upstairs playing.

l, where k

me, k is upstairs playing too,

l, where daddy,

me, daddy at work,

l, daddy eyes?

me, yes, daddy takes care of eyes

l, daddy come home?

me, yes daddy will come home,

l, i wan daddy stay home.

me, awwwww.

and on and on

she went from huge fever and terrible crying to the sweetest little face grinning over her sweet family. now that was much better. she is still quite hot, but ate a bit, ok 2 Popsicles and some animal crackers. j took the kids to a Bible study family cookout, so l and i read books for 45 minutes (a record) and she played babies. just to prove she is feeling, a picture. and now she is peacefully in bed. Thank you God for helping her, please help her through the night!

Jumping Jacks

When we were at the lake, Ek and I encouraged H to try some jumping jacks, we told him that he would do them in PE at Trinity. So he tried and improved after trying several times. Well last week on the porch, little L came over and said, "mommy, jum jack" and began jumping and clapping. I ran, I mean ran, to get my camera and got this...

The song

Here is the video of L's cake moment. She is as sweet as the cake tasted.

Kid zone

Today we shifted the kids areas around at church. The nursery at least doubled in size which is really great for me and our sweet babies. I love being in there with L. We started our curriculum back over today to kick off our new room in a big way. We started back with "God made Everything." And tonight I do think she was trying to say that for J when J was asking what they learned at church this morning. Yeah! She is picking up on the songs we sing very well. H and Ek were really excited about their classes too. No one is in the same class together anymore, but I think they are all in the right place to learn great things and make some great friends.

Happy Birthday Little Bug

Happy Day. What a joy today to celebrate the day L was born into our little family. She is truly a joy. She makes us smile and laugh everyday with her little cuteness. We all enjoyed giving her a new baby bed and baby bottle today. We took her to Chick-fil-A for lunch and let her take a nice long nap. She loved her cake. I took like 10 pictures of her with her cake and did not get her eyes once, she could not look away! We ate cake with Grady, Emma Jean and Dave. Then she opened her new baby and new bear. She went to sleep in new PJs. We ate dinner at Tumpies and enjoyed seeing Gwen there. L ate and ate, the surprise was grilled shrimp! The best part of the day way smiling at our sweet girl, singing Happy Birthday to her (which she sang along to) and giving her lots of hugs. And now looking at the pictures!

I forgot one of her funniest comments of the day! This morning I told her we were going to pick up her cake and it was a ladybug cake because she was my little bug. I said, "Are you my little bug?" and she said, "No, I your big bug!" gracious. But the rest of the day, when I retold the story, she said she was my little bug. whew. Not too quick L, not too quick.

Almost 2

Today was L's last day of being 1. I admit I am a pretty nostalgic person and around this time of year I get really nostalgic. I talk to the kids alot about their births, where we were, what they were like. This spring I know I have already talked about how much I have just stared at L in disbelief that Ek was this size when H was born. Today H asked, "Mommy, was I L's age when I was born?" Ok so maybe I am just confusing them, but I continue. It is so fun to have them 2 years apart and compare what they were like-- not to see who was 'better' but just to see how they are different and how their lives are different. So L loves to play babies, she just naturally loves to nuture and take care of her babies, feed them, tote them around and put them to bed. Ek didn't really do that, she was all about her Little People dollhouse at this age, so it is fun to see L do something different. I can't remember how well the others talked but L can talk. Today she said, "No mommy, I don't want you to change my diaper." Wow. I did anyway. So tomorrow we celebrate our little L. Our little curly headed, playful, talkative, adorable L. Ek thinks she needs Chick-fil-A for breakfast and lunch and lots of hugs and kisses. H thinks she needs french toast for breakfast and to 'stay up' (not take her nap). I think she needs cake. a ladybug cake. and a new doll baby bed. and lots and lots of smiles, hugs and kisses.

We spent her last day of being one down in McRae at the park-- the playground and a nature walk- and Dairy Queen for lunch. It was great fun being with Grandma and Papa. I was very proud of our nature hikers, we walked close to 2 miles!

almost done, Rabun 4

I tell you, that Milly can throw a party. We celebrated Ek, H and L's bdays and Will and Drew's days. Complete with decorations, cake, singing and presents. Thank you Milly, we can't wait to camp out! If only our yards were closer.

Lake Rabun 3

Even though I took 243 pictures (!), I didn't come near to capturing every favorite moment. So here are a some of those. I really loved sitting in the house and looking through the open windows through the trees and seeing the lake, especially with Mom and Milly Friday when Drew and L were asleep. It was so wonderful to get to sit quietly and visit. And the moment later watching Big Daddy throw a can into the woods and deny it/ blame it on Memaw was not bad either, actually it was a hoot! And I look forward to the Easter egg hunt/ can gathering event to take the cans to recycling! I think that laugh was worth at least one mint oreo.

I also really loved Saturday night fireworks. It was amazing to sit in the boat talking with Ben about life watching boats with their little lights on pour onto the lake anxiously awaiting the sky to get completely dark and being thankful we weren't in west TX so we wouldn't have to wait 2 more hours for the sun to go down. And then they begin. L was interested for about the first 3 and paid none other a moment of attention. Ek finally let go of her ears about 10 minutes into the show. But the last several minutes, Milly pointed out the amazing silhouette of our little heads perched on the front on the boat, eyes glued to the show, with the reflection of colors dancing around on the water as explosion after explosion took off into the sky. Wow, what a sight, no camera could have gotten that one well.

Ben and I took our little versions of ourselves on a quick canoe ride to the waterfall. That was crazy to see little Will and little Ek all huddled down in the canoe off on an adventure. The water was truly ice cold on our little feet. It was quite fun to show them that hidden place.

Somehow Saturday afternoon, Mom, Dad, Ben and I were the only ones left on the dock. Strange but true. and nice. I love those 3 people. Amazing to sit peacefully with those who have always been there. what a gift.

John and I took Ek on an adventure to find a newspaper. Ok she didn't know what the search was for. And amazingly we couldn't find one, it could have been like looking for a bear, but I'm glad we didn't find one of those. We did find the fireworks awaiting fire on the dam, a deer, a donkey, a drive-in movie theater, a new rug for the porch and a lemonade. I'd call that an adventure. And we did make a u-turn.

I'm sure in a minute I'll think of some more to add, but for now... post.

Lake Rabun 2

One of the greatest treasures of the weekend was being together. I am so grateful for the love that spreads around our family, it is a gift. So here are some of my favorite "together" pictures.

Mopsey and L's 20 minute conversation

L is always happy to have a real live participant in her tea parties
summer birthday party

because we know it is a "Skiing lake" and not a "fishing lake" we don't even bother to put hooks on the lines, but still ever fun!

shy sweet L
lunch with the great grandparents

feeding ducks

love a bullet ride!
the always popular baby pool
eating al fresco on the dock
toasting marshmallows, they smelled and tasted sooo good! Ek and Will exploded into a grin when they saw the beginnings of the marshmallow being toasted.