Lifes latest

1. The other night after the boys were in bed Payton called me back in to his room. When I walked in he said, "Mom, I think if you can answer one question I will finally be able to go to sleep." I said, "Then ask it." His response was, "How old is God?" It took me awhile to get him to sleep.

2. The other day as we were eating lunch Payton said, "I think I may be the smartest person in the world." I told him, "You know, you are smart, but that is not something you want to talk about. You want to say things that make others feel good about themselves rather than things that just make you feel good about yourself....etc, etc...Do you understand?" He replied, "Sure, well I at least know for sure I am the smartest one in this family." I do not think he got my message at all...still working on that.

3. The other day after eating pancakes I told Benjamin he needed to go wash his hands in the bathroom. He began to cry and said, "How come you never clean me like a dog?" I looked at him and told him I had no idea what he was talking about. He proceeded to tell me some of his friends moms just lick their hands and clean their kids with their tongues...WHAT?! I never thought this would be our lead in to the conversation that there are somethings that your friends are going to be comfortable with that our family has decided we will not do.

4. Almost everyday the boys play the game Tarzan (they call him Tarzam) and Pirates...Best I can tell the game consists of the pirate running around in full costume yelling Arrgh and Tarzam (who is rather modest at our house) stripping down to boxers and undershirt and running from tree to tree on all fours in our backyard. Here are some pictures from Tarzam and Pirate taking a popscile break.


5. We went to one of the most fun weddings this past weekend. My brother Andy was the best man for Jeremy Epps. Jeremy married Jessica and their love for each other overflowed throughout the ceremony. We left so happy for them and so encouraged about life. We had a babysitter for the night and had a fun date afterwards...Sure love that Tony.


6. We wound up T-ball season this past Saturday. I was sad to see it end. We were incredibly blessed to have fun watching our boys and meet new friends. I hope we play with the same people next year. We loved every minute of being with the New life crew! Here's a picture of my favorite coach talking to my favorite pitcher.




7. Andy and Jessica made the last game. The boys are crazy over A and J. In the mind of a 3 and 5 year old, A and J are celebrities. The boys cannot have a clear thought when we are about to see them and they are reduced to awed silence in their presence. SO CUTE! We loved having them there to cheer.

8. Speaking of celebrities...when Payton was one year old my brother worked in the White house. As a result we were able to meet the President once when he was coming in on Marine One. Things worked out where we got a couple of great pictures of GW talking to and holding Payton. The other day a friend asked Payton (when looking at the picture) "Who is that holding you?" He responded, "That was back when the President used to babysit me."

9.Eden is doing great in utero. Her most active hours are between 3 and 5 AM. I feel like she is prepping me for things to come. I am up and moving during those hours these days (of couse that means that between the afternoon hours of 2-4 I am not up and moving)...I do love feeling her every move. It is such a gift. I am currently 29 weeks along.

10. The other day Payton got up early and we had some time to talk just us. I thought we were having a great conversation when in the middle of it, he picked up the remote and turned the TV on. I said, "Payton we were talking." He quickly turned the TV off and said, "Wow, you really have a lot on your mind lately. Go ahead."

11. A couple of months back I was really struggling... There were (still are) some things that were a part of our life that were beyond our control that brought a great deal of stress to our life. I had the definite feeling of suffocating under the weight of it all. I went to a counselor in order to just hear myself process some things out loud. It was eye opening for me and so good to get some outside perspective. One of the things that she did that has blessed me so much was read the words to "It is well with my soul". When we got to the end, she said, "Right now your "Even so" is off. Things are not well with your soul...circumstances are rocking you and your emotions and our goal is to get you back to where when things of life occur...you can say once more, "Even so, it is well with my soul"." We are in process (we always will be) of growing deeper in Him....of getting to the point where we can say, "Even so, it is well with my soul."

We are on the same journey Paul was on when he talked about having to LEARN contentment in any and every circumstance. Our prayers continue that the Lord would hear our cry and change circumstances...But we are feeling more and more content...resting in the pray of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3:16...We believe He is a God who can change things...but even if He does not...It is well with our soul. Its a lifelong journey we are on...but its comforting when you feel yourself walking a bit deeper into the ocean of peace and contentment that is ours in Christ. The deeper you get, the less the waves knock you over. I think we are getting our "even so" back on track.

**A huge hooray for anyone who made it this far...Payton is right, I have alot on my mind these days.