Wordless Wednesday...

"Hey, It's Okay..." AG edition.

A little AG humor for you from the last few weeks...

Hey, It's Okay...

-If your child asks for a piece of the high life one night while watching the Braves. Yep, he asked for it. Andy died laughing and I kept saying "seriously!?!" a la Meredith Grey that my toddler just asked for a piece of the high life. (Sigh.) Humorous, yes. But probably not the best thing to say to other kids on the playground!

-If your child says to himself, "whew! That was close!" After receiving a warning because of his behavior.

-If your child wears 3D Harry Potter Glasses EVERYWHERE thus giving his mom a new weekly post..."Where in the world is Ron Potter?!?"

-If your child replicates Turner Field EVERYTIME he plays baseball by setting up a "Moo Cow" aka a CFA Cow, a Coke Bottle aka his sippy cup, and his "Chop" aka a foam letter T from the bathtub ABCs that he uses for a tomahawk. And to set the ambience he plays songs that can be heard at the stadium along with the chant. 

-If your child asks to go to HePo aka Home Depot with "his Daddy" so that he can get out of the house.

-If your child carries around your old PINK Motorolla Razr flip phone and has conversations that go a little something like this... "AG watch puppies. (AKA 101 Dalmations.) Pause. Eat pa'corn. Pause. Hit homerun. Hold on..."

-If your child hates to be the barer of bad news..."Bad news!" "What's bad news buddy?" "Trash is bad news." (As garbage man rolls down the street.)

Never a dull moment! Literally. On a more serious note the inspiration for my "Hey, It's Okay..."posts come from a blog that I read about the Needham family. If you have time hop over and read about them and if you think about it say a prayer for sweet Piper, her parents, and big sister Linley. Piper has leukemia and has just recently relapsed. They are doing everything that they can to save her life. Recently, Sus posted the following:

"I don't plan to dwell on the "whys" or "hows" or "what ifs" because frankly, that steals from my living with what I have now...two sweet girls, a husband and a God who gave this all to me. I'm learning quickly that a blessing isn't always a perfect gift or the answer to something you may think you want. Sometimes its just the knowledge that you're still here and still breathing despite having the wind knocked out of your sails. 

Praise God. "

And this

"While I have no idea what happens in the future, I still stand firm on the knowledge that God is sovereign and that He has a plan. I fear the prayers I am sending up are not filled with faith but rather with pleading but I rejoice that He knows my heart, my girls and my life. At this moment, sobbing at the computer with strangers around I feel much like a tree that has been beaten by the weather. I may look to be bent over, I may be weathered to a indescript gray but I am still rooted in the soil that give me sustenance. 

Of this I am certain, God is still good."

I've been chewing on these words the last two weeks or so, daily, as I pray for Piper. There's not much I can say after that...

The return of family dinner...

I often get asked why we do what we do when it comes to opening our house to students. And I usually say it's because we love having them in our home and we love that our kids have lots of "older" siblings, etc. However, as this school year has started I've realized something else...we really are like a family. I love the following quote because I feel like it perfectly describes our group, 

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." ~Jane Howard

Wow! In the last few weeks I've seen our family serve each other sacrificially because that's what families do. It's been amazing. Some of the serving has been from Andy and I but the majority of it has come from our students taking care of each other. And that to me is amazing. To sit back and watch them invest and build their relationships with each other. To drop everything and come to their aid when they need help. To show love to each other. I'm blessed beyond measure because of these students that God has given to us. It is such a joy to watch them grow and discover who they are. I'm grateful we have a brand new year upon us full of lots of memories to be made. Speaking of memories here's our first family dinner of the year...

Even Peter Pan...

...has to get squeaky clean. AG and Avi-Kate's first bath together along with Peter and crew. I decided to give it a try and it worked surprisingly well. I'll be glad when she's bigger and we can stick them both in the tub together without the infant tub. But for now this works...AG adores her and so when I asked if he wanted to take a bath with her I didn't have to ask twice. He then asked if Peter could take a bath too. I acquiesced since he had carted Peter and Wendy all over town this week...figured he needed a bath! :o) Also, I'm noticing that as her hair comes in that it is the exact same shade that AG's is. Not going to lie I absolutely love the shade of red that it is. And speaking of her hair...she has more hair now at almost three months than AG did at twelve months! Ha. Anyways, here are some pictures from our bath time fun... 

Telling Avi-Kate who Mr. Smee is...

 ...sharing Mr. Smee.

 Showing off Peter Pan and Wendy.

 AG loves all things Peter Pan. Love this picture of him...it captures this stage of life perfectly.

 Sharing Peter, Wendy, and Tic Toc Croc.

 Laughing. Because her brother is hysterical.

While we are on Peter Pan...AG wants to be Peter for Halloween. Perfect since his hair is red. :o) I think we are going to let Avi-Kate be Tink. I don't think we'll subject her to a full Tinker Bell costume but so sort of variation. It'll be perfect for when we go to Disney in October and do Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween. And I'm thinking this year we'll do some sort of Peter Pan or Pirate themed birthday party for him since he's been on a Pan kick for most of the year. Hard to believe the holidays are fast approaching and then I'll be having a birthday party for a three year old! Goodness me, where does the time go?!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Redheaded little boys.

 Redheaded babies with sweet rolls everywhere. Perfect for kissing.

 Grandparents and their willingness to serve.

 Mid-morning snuggles and smiles.

 AG's love for the Braves. Andy and I love to watch him watch the Braves. Entertaining on so many levels. :)

Wordless Wednesday...Favorite Aunt Edition...

Oh, the places you'll go...

Dave, you are off to the next chapter in your life. It has been a joy and an honor to be a part of your life these last few years. Thank you for filling our home with so much laughter. (We can always count on a great story when you are present. Apples, anyone?) We are so proud of you and are excited to see you start seminary. Know that you always have a home in Rome to come home to. We'll leave the porch light on...see you for Mountain Day Weekend. 

We love you.

Dave's going away dinner...

Avi-Kate 2 month pictures...

Avi-Kate's 2 month rocking chair pictures...due to the heat wave we opted to stay home for this photo shoot. I'm looking forward to doing the next one at Berry. Can't believe how quickly she is changing. Avi-Kate you are a sweet baby. Your big brother adores you. Really. You are so lucky to have him. 

You have already started wearing 3-6 month clothing and some 6 month clothing. You love, love, love to eat. You are wearing size two diapers these days. You have been sleeping through the night and even did your first 12 hour stretch this past Friday night. You love to snuggle but you also love to play in your bouncer while AG entertains you. You have the sweetest smile and we just love you so!

Snuggling my lovies...

...is what I do best! That's one of my favorite lines from AG's book, Tickle Monster. Here's some pics of Avi-Kate snuggling her lovie from Aunt Meg:

Thank heavens...

...for Aunt Mis coming to spend a few days with us while Daddy is gone all week on business. Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming to help me out for a few days. It was wonderful to hang out and I loved every minute. (So did your niece and nephew!) We love you, Aunt Mis!

How to Build...

...a bowling alley.

AG being the creative little man that he is decided we needed a bowling alley in the den. He collected his ball, pins, a kitchen towel, and a diaper box and got to work. He also needed to watch bowling while bowling and requested I put on bowling. Thank heavens for YouTube and in five seconds he was watching bowling clips from ESPN.

He amazes us daily with the things he comes up with. I say it all the time...never a dull moment. :)