Monday, October 31, 2011

Courageous

Got to go on a date night with my hubby this Saturday - thanks to my awesome in-laws for doing kid duty for a couple of hours. We have been wanting to go see "Courageous" since it's opening a few weeks ago, but we just couldn't work it out. Until this weekend. Oh man - GO SEE IT!!!!!! Really - you won't be disappointed. We enjoyed Fireproof a few years ago by the same film company, so I was hopeful about this one as well. It.was.awesome! Pretty convicting too. The basic storyline of the movie is about 4 cops, trying to save the day... putting their all in at work and sometimes having little left to give at home. They were self-admittedly "good enough" fathers. Tragedy struck one of the families and he, through grief, started seeking the Lord and trying to understand what the Word says about being a dad. He wanted to be better than "good enough." I won't spoil all the movie plot (Seriously - you wanna go see this one!), but I will say that I was impacted greatly. It was full of laughs and serious (actually I cried several times!) parts. The first scene of the movie got my tears a rollin - this guy's car was hijacked at a gas station and the guy literally ran on foot, caught up with the truck and was dragged several hundred or more feet but eventually got hold of the wheel and made it crash into an embankment. Thought he was just a bad dude - but really, he was just concerned about his baby son in the backseat strapped into his car seat. Got me thinking about my kids. I would walk through fire so they wouldn't be harmed. I would die for them in an instant. But I can't imagine for anything willingly giving them up - but that's what God did for me. WOW!

This movie also made me insanely grateful for both my daddy and my hubby. My dad would have (and still would) done anything in the world for us. He loves us so much. I never doubted that. And my hubby??? What a blessing he is to me and to Jacob and Jonathan. I've posted before about how great he is as a daddy, but I will say again, Billy was made to be a dad. He's such a good role model for our boys. I really do hope they grow to be like him as he guides them toward God.

Anyway - getcha a babysitter and go see this one. You won't be disappointed.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Dear Jacob-man,

Well, a week without internet made me a little crazy, but oh well... I felt a little spoiled all week and each time I complained about having no internet service, God gently reminded me that I have MUCH to be thankful for. Anyway, we've been super busy around these parts. So much to update, I don't even know where to start. How about this... MY BABY TURNED FIVE!!!!! Last weekend, we celebrated like crazy with Mr. Jacob. Started with an awesome little field trip at preschool (how thankful am I that I have the flexibility to go with him??? - another post!).


Then a small cupcake party at his school.


Then, family palooza that evening.


Finally, Sunday, he had his first "school friend" party at All About Kids on Sunday. Mass chaos abounded, but I believe birthdays are the one day (or several days in our case) to really make a person feel special.




So, in honor of Jacob's big day, here's the most recent edition of letters to my boys...

Dear Jacob-man,
Oh how I love you. Five? Really??? Unbelievable. You are full of life and full of questions. You always want to know how "this works" or "why is it that way?" or "what did you say?" You don't miss a beat! You have the best memory of anyone on the planet. Seriously. You remember details about places we've been or things we've done... you even remember what people were wearing. You say the cutest things - for example, we were driving in Cave City this weekend and out your window you saw two deer. You said, "hey look, there's a big buck and his wife." Precious!!! You also love to write little messages all the time - they are treasures. You usually write "I love my mommy and daddy" or "I love Jonathan."

You are really into this new Disney CD you got for your birthday and especially love the song Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - you are trying to master the words. You are still into all things superhero and even had a Superman party. Batman is still your favorite. Grammy and Pa got you and Jonathan Superman costumes and you wear them every.single.day. I'm so proud of you at school and church. Your teachers have nothing but good things to say about you - they say that you are super mature and are kind to your friends in your class. That warms my heart! You are doing great on your school work and love love love preschool. I love hanging out with you for field trips and special days at school. Mommy feels so blessed! You are sleeping like a rock star - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Still worried about your eating habits, but we are working hard on it. You started eating yogurt (yeah!) and after a battle, you actually ate a green bean tonight. :) We only want what's best for you, never forget that!

You love playing with your brother and isn't it way more fun than fighting with him? Try to remember that he is only 3 and he wants to be like you and with you all the time. He thinks you are awesome, and guess what... HE IS RIGHT!!!! you are awesome and I love you so much. I pray that you would continue to want to learn about Jesus and try to be like Him. I pray that you would be kind and patient and gentle and good. I pray that you are happy and healthy and that you have good friends who lead you to Christ! I already pray for your school, your teachers and your future wife. I pray that you get your identity from God alone and don't listen to what the world has to say. I'm so proud of you and feel so blessed to be your momma.
XOXOXO
Love, Mommy

Monday, October 10, 2011

Fall Ya'll

It's definitely fall around here. The leaves are falling, the trees are turning and there's pumpkins and mums all around. I like fall. I don't love the decrease in the number of hours of sunlight though... it is wrecking my running schedule. But, overall I love fall. Not as much as spring, but I do love it. If you need more evidence that fall's here, wait no longer! How lucky am I to get to spend my Mondays with these cuties???