Fall Shenanigans (and proof that I can sometimes be the fun parent)

I may be a bit biased, but I have come to the conclusion that we living in the absolute most beautiful place for the Fall season. I love much about NC, but VA kicks NC's booty in the fall beauty department. Just observin'

Just a few pics of the kids playing in the yard, with the most beautiful backdrop ever...

For the record, let it be noted that I, not Jeremiah, built this fire. I am woman, hear me roar.
And we ate marshmellows and hot dogs and called it dinner. No one can ever not call me the fun parent.

Happy Fall, ya'll!

I'm really not one for giving marriage advice, but here it is, regardless...

We've been married for 12 years now, so that makes me a bonafide marriage expert. 

Well, maybe expert is too strong of a word. I'm more like a specialist? 

No, that's not right either.

I actually feel that marriage fits right in there with all the other the-more-you-know-the-less-you-realize-you-know categories...parenting, God, life.

It's like that arcade game Wac-a-mole: I hit one thing square on and then another thing sneaks up on me. Oh, so you think you've figured out the whole communication thing? BAM! Didn't see that sex/money/fill-in-the-blank issue coming for us.

Because Jeremiah travels so much, I have started a habit of reading (or re-reading) a marriage book whenever he goes out of town. Or, if I don't get to a book, I will try taking a few days to take account of my marriage during my quiet times. Because, really, what better time to evaluate and work on your marriage than when your husband is halfway around the globe?! I get to be perfect at it for a few whole days until he comes home.

This trip, I've been finishing up Capture His Heart, by Lysa Terkeurst. Two major points have resonated within me as I have needed reminding of these things which are so important for my marriage...

I need to invite him to be dangerous.

My desire for planning and security and lets just get real here, my desire for control, can easily take over all in the name of responsibility and I can squelch this God-given need in my husband. I remember reading Wild at Heart by John Elidridge years ago and had my eyes opened to how the Lord has placed in the heart of every man a desire for a battle to fight, and adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. I know, it sounds cheesy...but now, 12 married years later and 2 boys later...I know this is true.

I need to send him on his "adventure" (which is going to look differently for every man) not with a passive aggressive assuage of guilt, but with a sense of support and the knowledge that I am with him and that I love this part about him.


I need to not forget the power of a shared dream.

The dentist appointments, school projects, field trips, bills, oil changes, and the its-time-to-empty-the-dishwasher-yet-again moments can overrun your day, your week, and your marriage. I can get so bogged down in doing life shoulder to shoulder with Jeremiah that I forget how powerful face to face time can be. I need to take the time to prioritize this, to ask those deeper life questions, to stay on the same page, to remember and reminisce with him about what God has done in our life. And what He is still doing! The Lord placed a dream in our hearts way back in our dating days...of living a life on mission for Him. It was a shared dream and is a powerful connector when life doesn't seem so dream-like.

What about you?

Got any nuggets of marriage advice that have rocked your world lately?

tgit

Thank God it's Tuesday.

That's a thing, right?
Or maybe not.

But it is Tuesday, and I'm just gonna be glad it's Tuesday.

Because on Monday one of my children, who will remain nameless, spilled the entire extra large container of bird seed all over the kitchen floor. When we were already running late to get out the door to co-op. Because, of course he did.

Because on Monday I had this exact conversation with Zoe:

Me: Why is my pillow wet?
Zoe: Oh, dats just my spit. I was making a pool for my dragon to swim in.

Because, of course she did.

Because on Monday I may or may not have accidentally sent a "for my husband only" picture to the entire family text feed instead of my husband. Because, of course I did.

It did have its better moments.

I impressed (or tortured...hard to tell) my kids by remembering and singing all the words to Ace of Base's "The Sign"...

Because, really, you can only go up from sending a cleavage-y pic of yourself to your entire family.

Yep... right now, today...I'm just glad it's Tuesday.

One week down and less than one week to go until Jeremiah returns.

A Malagassy woman Jeremiah met in the village last week. 

where i admit that i have no idea what to name this post but something needs to go in this box

I'm waking up this morning and for the first day in forever...I have nowhere I have to be today. 

Bliss, I tell ya. Pure bliss.

Jeremiah is landing in Manacara, Madagascar right at this moment as I write this. His three days of travel to get there are finally coming to an end! 

I''m thinking I should have sent this child with him...

Good thing she is cute. Really cute.

We survived and thrived through our benefit dinner last week. It was a lot of work, but it was also a ton of fun! We got to meet new friends, catch up with old friends, brag on the Lord, and get excited about the future of UTWWK together.

I used to be a master to-do list maker. Used to being the operative words. I've written before how losing my to-do list was one of the major ways that living in Haiti changed me and it still holds true today. With that said, I make an exception whenever Jeremiah is out of town and I usually make a While-Jeremiah's-Away list...

 It makes the time go by faster and keeps my mind focused on other things rather than missing him.

I've got a lot of other tricks up my sleeve that make the time go by faster, but admitting to binge watching cheesy netflix shows after the kids go to bed isn't quite so affirming to my pride.

And now, I'm off to go enjoy this beautiful day with my fab four. We've got lots to do but nowhere to be, and that's my favorite kind of day.

Not Me Monday

We are in a busy season right now. Between school and ministry obligations and all that makes up life...it is so easy for me to become as Peter says, "so nearsighted that he is blind." (2 Peter 1:8)

I am so prone to focusing on temporary problems that I become blind to the things that really matter.

And it happens so quickly.

Before I know it, I let a failed (okay, 3 failed) spelling tests from one of my children distract me from the grace that I live in, the joy found in my salvation, and the hope that is my eternal security.

The beautiful thing about the Lord is that he gently prods me to remember. He allows me those moments to "taste and see that He is good" and suddenly everything else shifts into place. My temptations to pursue and get caught up in an "ordinary" life fizzle out because its too late for me. I have tasted and seen what its like to life a life more and more surrendered and I don't want to stay in the temporary.

Yes, those spelling tests need addressing. But not at the expense of me losing my eternal focus. Or my ever-loving temper, for that matter. Not that I ever lost my temper over some silly spelling tests.

Nope. Not me.

Back in the good ol' days when none of us had ever heard of a spelling test.

take a walk

We head out of town this morning. Heading back to NC, our home for a decade. Heading back to the very first church Jeremiah was a pastor at. The very church that welcomed Ella almost 10 years ago...

Memory lane, people.

5 months preggo with Ella, heading out for some go-carting fun with our students. I remember being very disappointed when they wouldn't let me ride a go-cart.

We get to share about the work of UTWWK and our lives over the last 10 years...and sitting down to write out and think through the last 10 years, actually think through them...I am overwhelmed with how they just scream the sovereignty of God. Our family has grown, I've grown, each stage preparing us for the next stage, the next chapter of our lives.


It's a good thing, to take a walk down memory lane.

Thursday Thoughts (with an Invitation!)

If I whined enough about all the rain of the last few weeks, let me take a few minutes to rave about the glorious sunshine of this week.

The weather has been absolutely p.e.r.f.e.c.t.

Life to my soggy soul perfect.

And, life to all the stinkbugs in VA as well as we appear to be in full-fledged stink-bug season.

At dinner last night:

Ella: What is that smell?!
Me: It's just Zoe.
Zoe: I just wuv to catch the stinkbugs. They wuv to crawl on me.
Ella: Well, you need a bath tonight.

A great big thank you to the cashier at Kroger who told me that she thinks cilantro smells like stinkbugs. I used to LOVE cilantro, but now, I have to agree with the cashier...and am having a hard time getting past it.

Goodbye, cilantro.

Life this week (for me, at least) has consisted of school, soaking up all the sunshine we can, a fun field trip, and trying to keep the kids out of Jeremiah's hair as he prepares for a few super busy (and super awesome!) weeks of ministry ahead of us: our celebration and benefit dinner in 8 days, a trip to North Carolina to speak at a church in 2 days, and a big trip to Madagascar in 10 days.

One of these days I'm going to have to write about the logistics of having a husband who works primarily from home when the kids and I are primarily home...in a very small home...

Yeah, one of these days...once I actually figure out those logistics.

It's haircut time for me today. Serious first world dilemma going on in my head and my pinterest board right now: grow it long or keep it short? Or is it keep it long or cut it short?  I'll decide at precisely 11am when I am asked what I want to do and not a moment before.

 If you are local and you'd like to either 1) find out more about our ministry and the work we do, 2) eat some yummy Haitian inspired food, 3) watch some amazing videos that my hubby has been working hard on, 4) watch the entertainment that is sure to ensue with the presence of my four kiddo's (yes, kids are coming), or 5) meet my awesome in-laws, one of the Haitian pastors we work with, and the Price family that is moving to Haiti in January to help continue to grow our work in Port-au-Prince...then this is the night for you!

Sign on up!
Come on out!
We'd love to see you, meet you, and get the chance to share what the Lord has allowed us to be apart of!

I promise it won't be lame.

Happy Thursday!

mr. golden sun

It's Monday and the sun is out!
As in, grab-your-sunscreen-its-never-looked-brighter out!

Oddly enough, my three youngest are fast asleep?
And my oldest is at a sewing class at the moment.

I'm going to pretend that the fact that the boys are sleeping in the middle of the afternoon on the first sunny day in eons is just because they are wiped out from church yesterday and co-op today...and not getting sick. Leave me in my bubble, please.

So, of course, I made a mug of tea, snatched a pumpkin muffin, and am enjoying these precious few minutes of quiet.

We are a month into this co-op thing and so far so good. The kids are having fun and learning things and making new friends. I am finding it comforting being around other kids my kids age and realizing that...well...my kids just might be more normal than I first thought. Or not.

Thanks to all the rain, I was able to finish up several books I had gotten sort of bogged down with. All of them were (mostly) great reads, but I was seriously in the middle of 4 of them at the same time (which I never do?!) and was just putting all of them off rather than finishing them.

I finished up:

Give Them Grace, by Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson
Tattoo's on the Heart, by Gregory Boyle
For the Love, by Jen Hatmaker
The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbol

The kids and I are also almost finished up with the Dahl classic, James and the Giant Peach, which has turned out to be a super fun read aloud. My kids are speaking my heart language when they beg for "just one more chapter" at bedtime. It's the ONLY time I ever get talked into staying up. And they may know that, but I'll keep believing its because they are really into the story. Leave  bubble #2 alone.

I bought a bunch of flower bulbs to plant and I feel like such an old lady getting so excited over planting them this week.

Also, thanks to the rain I actually baked a few things that weren't terrible. I'm not a bad cook and enjoying making dinners and experimenting and trying new recipes. Baking is a whole other story though and I've had some historic flops. I think it has something to do with the fact that you have to be so darn precise with baking...


Happy sunshiny Monday everyone!

thursday thoughts (and i-phone photo dump)

It's October?! 

What, what?! 

What happened to September? 

Anybody else with me?

We got a gloriously sunshiny one day break from the wash-out that was and is to come. 

(Bring it on Hurricane Joaquin!) 

We spent the afternoon at the park in an attempt to get a weeks worth of energy out...

Going old school, playing Mother-May-I with some of our Via family.

October is a big month for our ministry, busy with a lot of exciting things...sharing at churches, holding a celebration and benefit dinner, a trip to Madagascar, and of course...the work continues every day at the House of Hope in Haiti. There's too much to write today, but I really need to take some time and update. Have I mentioned that I LOVE our job?!!!

I know its early and people get grumpy about seeing Christmas decorations out at stores before Halloween...but I gotta admit, I am already getting excited about it! Go ahead and get annoyed at me, its okay, I can handle it.

School is in full throttle these days. Our co-op started a few weeks ago and it's been a fun addition to our school schedule...

1st day of P3 co-op

Even Zoe has actually decided to "do school" for a few short minutes every day...

All of my kiddo's have started their school off with these A-is-for-apple print pictures =)

I just love finding her "signature" on her drawings.

And why not end with my coolest dude...

Um, when did he become a teenager?!

Happy soggy Thursday everyone!