What does one do when the kiddos are gone???

Thanks to my awesome hubby, we enjoyed an official grown-up weekend. That's right folks, a whole weekend without our boys. Billy played in a state softball tournament and really wanted me to go too, so he arranged for my parents to keep the boys for a couple of days.... now, softball isn't exactly my cup of tea, BUT I do love seeing my man play and of course, just being where he is and the ball pants don't hurt either :-) ... So what does one do when the kiddos are gone for a few days???

1. cleaned the entire downstairs of my house top to bottom on Friday afternoon - it's amazing how much I got done in two short hours


2. Walked three miles


3. watched two softball games (church league on Friday night - my hubby was great!)


4. Took a two minute shower and got ready for a movie in record time! Really - in the house and in the car in 20 minutes - I should get an award for that!)


5. Watched half of a movie with my sweetie...why half you say??? Well, that's a whole other post, but let's just say I wouldn't recommend The Ugly Truth - we were pretty disgusted by the content and language and left after 40 minutes. So disappointing, but it allowed us to get some much needed rest - UNINTERRUPTED!!!!!


6. Drove to Lexington with my sweetie to watch him play in the Bluegrass State Games -his team did pretty good - went 2 and 2 - played until 9pm. It was a nice day out - and between the games, Billy and I had some great quality time. I really am his biggest fan - on and off the field!


7. Drove home, somehow avoiding the storm and came home and crashed. We were both exhausted.


8. Woke up LATE on Sunday (oops - we never skip church eva, but without our alarm clock, ahem, Jonathan Patrick Stover :-), we slept in. Nice. Really nice.


9. Cleaned the entire upstairs of the house top to bottom


10. Organized bills and filed away a bunch of stuff that had been long ignored (well, Billy really did that while I blog-stalked and worked on some invites for an upcoming party)


11. Took a long walk....


12. WHEW - what a weekend!!!

Now, I MISS MY BOYS!!!!! We're on our way to get them from Grammy and Pa's house. Can't wait for some slobbery kisses and funny conversations. Love those boys! Now, don't get me wrong.. the break was nice. But part of us just feels missing. Gotta go get my sweet boys!!!!

Zoo baby

We took a little rondevous to the Louisville Zoo today - our first trip as a family of four. All I have to say is thank you very much Zoo member cards!!!! The line for tickets looked to be 1/4 mile long (seriously!!!) What a perfect day for the zoo - today was perhaps the nicest weather day of the whole summer. It's hard to believe that today is the middle of July. The boys and I went to the zoo about a month ago and it was over 90 degrees. The difference was amazing - a month ago, not a single animal was moving. They were all too hot to move I guess, but today, they were all awake and happy. Even baby Jonathan got excited and started pointing at the animals. Jacob's favorite part was probably the playground areas - what a great addition to the zoo! We had a great time!

My Friend

Whoo Whoo! "My friend is sweet, My Friend is cool, My Friend love me, My Friend loves you..." Last night was the grand finale of the Boomerang Express VBS at First Baptist Church. The words above are the lyrics from one of the famous songs this week - and it is oh.so.true!!! Of course, the song is referencing Jesus - he truly is sweet and cool and I hope each one of the precious children at VBS remember that! Billy and I teamed up with our best friends the Webbs to teach (ahem, herd) the 15-16 FIVE year-olds who attended VBS. They were really a great group of kids, but put a bunch of little people in a room with some markers, stickers, wrapping paper rolls - (which of course became swords), apple juice and sweet treats for snack and you get chaos!!! But, I really was impressed at how much they seemed to learn about the person of Jesus and that He truly is the best friend ever.

Jacob enjoyed VBS immensely - he is a little sponge and is learning so much. One of the lessons was about Jesus walking on water and it has really stuck with Jacob all week - he keeps asking me "how does he do that mommy?" His teachers rocked the house - the Collings are AWESOME teachers! So proud of my big boy. Jonathan had a tough week - he really really missed his mommy and daddy, but also had a great teacher, Ms. Rachel!

Though I'm glad it's over (really really glad...) I'm so glad we got the opportunity to share about Jesus with some kiddos who don't go to church anywhere. I pray for those families!

*** oh no pictures from VBS from me, but if you head over to my co-teacher and AWESOME friend's blog at babywebbsite.com, you'll see a few great shots!

lessons from my children

We started a new Bible study called Parenting By Grace and it's been really insightful. One of the questions it asked was "what is one thing you've learned from your kids the last week?" - learned from my toddler and almost toddler- are you serious? Well, the question has made me ponder for a few days and tonight God spoke to me loud and clear on a rare walk by myself this evening after the boys were asleep.

Ask anyone what the favorite word of a toddler is - I bet almost 100% of people would say that it's "NO" (all caps to emphasize how loud and emphatic it sounds coming from the mouth of a 2 year-old). Well, my sweet and loving 2 1/2 year old has progressed way past "no" - his phrase of choice seems to be "I DON'T WANT TO." Hmmm. Now, as a caveat, I do have to say that overall, Jacob is a great kid - he uses his manners most of the time and says thank you and is a really really good sharer with his brother. He is very very sweet and I feel very lucky to be his mommy. With all that said... i.don't.want.to. is making me crazy! What a blessed day it would be if I said "Jacob come eat - supper's ready." and low and behold, he comes running in the kitchen saying "okay mommy ready to eat." Or if I said "Time to brush your teeth" and Jacob said "sure mommy, that's a great idea..." You get my point. Really in the grand scheme of things, no big deal, but enough times a day and I'm ready to jump off a cliff. (of course not really, but in mommy language anyway).

So tonight on my walk, I was praying (out loud - neighbors if you saw me, sorry. I'm not crazy - just having a little talk with my God!) for patience with both my boys and especially for the right way to respond the next time Jacob says " I don't want to." God gently reminded me that (gulp) I DO THAT ALL THE TIME TO HIM!!!!! Not necessarily even on purpose and in reality I don't even say it out loud, but my actions sure scream it loud and clear. Oh God - I don't want to disobey you - I pray that I would be willing to say "Sure Lord, here I am..." whenever He asks me to do something.

yep, That's a tough lesson I am learning from my kiddos. What a model God as a parent is for me... even though I scream "I don't want to," He loves me still and truly wants whats best for me. The perfect model of parenting by grace. Or Lord help me every day. Every second. To be the best mommy I can be to my precious Jacob and my big boy Jonathan.

*** oh - the picture has nothing to do with this post, but I just really love this. It shows Jacob's funny personality. I love these boys!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

A little belated - but happy birthday to the best daddy ever! Billy celebrated the big 3-4 on Wednesday - fun times. What a great day - fun party at night at the in-laws with all Billy's favorites for supper. Hope you know how special you are! We all love you so much!

taking risks

Some of our best friends announced today (and to us last night) that they are taking a huge risk! They are in the beginning stages of starting a new "mission-focused" church right here in Shelbyville! We are so excited about what God has in store for this city...their boldness and willingness to accept God's call has got me thinking about risks and what taking risks really looks like. I think I've taken a few spiritual risks before (a trip to Africa and a blind date with my now wonderful husband are a few that stick out), but when I think about my walk with Christ, I'm not so sure I have really ever had to or chosen to take a risk. My life verse, and the one that I pray for my children over and over is Matt 22:37 - "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." That is a powerful verse - my prayer is that I would really live this verse out every day of my life and if that means taking some risks, then I really hope I'm willing and open to jumping right in. Not really sure of the kind of risks, and I'm a little scared to even go there, but I do know that God's calling all believers to share his love and to be Kingdom minded. So, my bloggy friends - join me in praying that the Stovers would be willing to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength! What a journey we're on!

pictures from the BEACH

A trip to the BEACH

We just got back from a wonderful week at Panama City Beach for our first "family" vacation. It was a lot of fun - our boys were great (thank you very much Mr. dual DVD players for the van!!). We vacationed in Panama with our dear friends Chris, Katie and Caden Gaither. What a blessing these guys are - we were fortunate to stay at Katie's grandparent's house a few blocks from the beach. We feel a little tired, but mostly refreshed and excited to be home. Here's a few things I learned during my beach vacation:
1. I LOVE THE BEACH (and always will - I never feel God's presence more than when I'm at the beach!!!) Seriously, I'm a total beach bum. BK (before kiddos) I seriously could be at the beach from sun up to sun down and never get tired of it!
2. Sand + seaweed + swim diapers + poop = GROSSSSSSSSSSSness (I mean really gross, but thank goodness for Huggies swim diapers)
3. BK I would have read three books last week and been totally sunkissed. After kiddos, I didn't read one word of a book and loved sitting in the sand looking for crabs and shells. I still got some sun, but sat in the shade quite a bit with the kiddos.
4. My little guy Jonathan eats more than any human I know. Seriously, he would eat a full 5-course meal complete with cheerios, puffs, vegetable beef baby food and crackers and STILL be hungry and mooching off any passer by with a plastic baggie full of sand-proof sandwiches or chips.
5. Seagulls LOVE cheetos and my boys LOVE feeding them (gross to me, but it sure made for some sweet free entertainment)
6. My husband is the BEST daddy in the whole world - trust me I do a lot of people watching and my husband definitely gets the star dad of the year award - complete with long walks down the beach with two slow critters, carrying a 35 pound crying little guy for three hours after a very traumatic boo boo (a teeny tiny scrape on the knee to the average adult, but a full body cast and three surgeries for repair to my sensitive Jacob), taking Jacob and baby Taylor putt putting and go-carting, arranging for our friends the Gaithers to keep our boys so we could enjoy a wonderful night out.... all that while enduring a little stomach bug. Gosh, I sure do love that man.
7. My boys sure do love their big cousin Taylor who accompanied us on our journey to the beach.
8. Sand + salt + wet carseats = stinky big blue van
9. Mosquitos love me (why is that????)
10. I have so much to be grateful for - now I know I don't have to travel all the way to the beach to know that, but a vacation from reality sure is a good time for reflection

Dear Daddy

Dear Daddy - we better hurry so mommy doesn't catch us on her blog, but we just had to get on here and send you a message... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the best daddy in the whole wide world - you really are our favorite person ever. I (jacob) love you so much and thank you for having so much fun with me. I love it when we have our little guitar concerts - you can sing really good. You're a nice daddy, Daddy! I also really really really love our nite nite time activities. I hope you don't ever catch on to the fact that I just really pull your leg a lot of times when I ask for ice milk 10 times each night. I really just want to see your smiling face . I love that most of the time, you lay down with me and tell me stories! :-) I also really like sitting by you at dinner and eating all your food. For some reason, it's just better off your plate than mine. (don't tell mommy though). You are my hero - I hope you know that! I want to be just like you when I grow up. I really do - you are so cool and so funny.

I (big bad jon) love you so much too. That's why I giggle and say "Daaaaaaaaaaa" when I see you. You are so big and strong. You always make me feel safe! I love it when we play ball together - it's really cool. You even taught me how to slam dunk last week. I really felt like hot stuff then. You cheer me on and I just know you'll always be my biggest fan! I love it when we play chase too. That's really fun, but I just can't figure out why you always find me so fast! I'll have to learn better hiding places. I watch how close you and Jacob are and I can't wait til I can get in on those late night stories. Jacob laughs so much - I just can't wait!!!! You're my best big friend, daddy and I am so happy to be your son. Love you love you love you!!!!

Good night Daddy - hopefully mommy won't care that we got on here. It was after all, for a good cause!!! Love you! Oh - we also love love love our Pa and Papaw - Happy Father's Day to ya'll too. Hope you know how much fun we have with you! Hugs to both!

Dear baby Jonathan

Dear Baby Jonathan - I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU'RE ALREADY A YEAR OLD!!!!!! Holy moly, time is flying. I love you so much and I just love watching your personality bloom. Your birthday party was the highlight of last month - so many people came to love on you and to wish you the happiest birthday ever. You love balls, so naturally, your birthday party was "ball-themed." We had all our friends and family sign a big ball that you'll get to keep forever. What a fun day it was! You weren't terribly crazy about your cake - but your big bro couldn't wait to get his hands on some icing. Happy Birthday sweet boy!!!

You are sleeping so much better these days - going to sleep on your own and everything - thank you for that!!!! I'm really thankful!

You are a little bit mischevious, I have to admit. You already know wrong from right in many cases, because when you are just about to do something you shouldn't, you turn and look right at us and give us your little smile that could seriously just melt a person. We try to resist (and most of the time are successful, but it is pretty hard!) You love to pick up all mommy's picture frames and move them from table to table. Remember, those are mommy's pretties: not to be touched.

You are so patient with your brother - I love that about you. He absolutely adores you, but since he's little too, his hugs can be overwhelming for you. Thanks for hanging in there and letting him love on you. You are best friends already - it's so cute to watch the two of you play!!!

I love you my sweet little bug - you're my favorite friend. Love you forever and always!!!

love, mommy

Dear Jacob

Time for your monthly letter from Mommy - little man, I love you! I'm proud of the sweet young guy you are becoming. You are very thoughtful and respectful and most of the time use really good manners. I find myself not having to remind you so many times to say "yes ma'am" and "thank you" and "may I please get down from the table?" You still need reminders, but not every time! Thank you for that!

You started doing the sweetest thing two days ago...your love for music continues to grow and grow and it's so neat. You and your daddy love to have "concerts" with your guitars and sing lots of great old hymns. Your favorite it Victory in Jesus!!! On Monday, you started your concert by saying "oh I need to pray first." So you closed your eyes and prayed "thank you for god thank you for jesus thank you for the children Amen." Before each song of your "concert" you stop and pray - precious. Just precious. I really need to video tape the next concert so I'll never forget it. Here's a few of your prayers tonight...."thank you for jesus thank you for god thank you for mommy and daddy and jacob and jonathan and guitars and toys and hope my brown guitar feels better amen." (your brown guitar is the one we brought you from Nashville and the strings are broken.) What a great prayer!

I love reading books to you and you love reading to me to - you look at all the pictures and tell a great story. You even have some of our favorites memorized like "Brown Bear Brown Bear."

We continue to try to teach you the right behaviors and most of teh time you are wonderful! Please do us a favor and stop screaming "no" to us - that would really help us all. thanks. :-)

Seriously, I love you so much and am so thankful to be your mommy! You're my best little friend and always will be!!!

Love you, Mommy

Poopie in the potty!!!!!

Drumroll please........ Jacob pooped in the potty tonight! We're so proud. He's been peeing in the potty pretty consistently for a few weeks (though he still wears diapers because it's so unpredictable.) I've not been aggressively potty training him - I'm going to try the "Potty train your child in one day" potty party technique. Selfishly, I want to wait until after vacation (10 days and counting...) so we can just use diapers in the car and not worry about having to find a bathroom NOW RIGHT NOW!!!!

So hard to believe my little guy is getting so big! Of course I take pictures of everything, but even I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of the first poopie in the potty episode (you can thank me later for that!!!)

A day at the park!

Wow - what fun we had at the park yesterday!!!! My boys got to hang out with a few of their best friends at the park - just plain ole belly laugh kind of fun! I love to watch my boys go down the slides and swing - it's like seeing life for the very first time. Their smiles are priceless. Here's a few shots from our day!

firsts...

Jonathan has experienced a few "firsts" lately and I just have to share them. He had his first experience in the swimming pool - he's not a big fan... his trip in the pool lasted about 45 seconds - barely long enough for me to snap a shot of him! He also got to ride on a "tractor" at Grammy and Pa's house (lawn mower) - this was part of a week-long visit to Grammy and Pa's; another first for both the boys. We were away from them from Tuesday -Saturday (I did see them on Friday briefly before Billy and I headed off to Nashville for a wonderful relaxing evening to celebrate our fourth anniversary. We were a little nervous to leave them so long, BUT they had a blast and so did Grammy and Pa!!!!!

On a similar note, I can't make this post without saying I LOVE YOU SO MUCH to my awesome husband. I love our life and I love sharing everything about parenthood with you. Can't imagine anything different or better for our lives. You are a wonderful husband and the perfect daddy for our boys. What a role model you are for them - you will slowly teach them by example how to love other people, how to see the best in all situations (even when I see the glass as half empty), how to put others' needs and desires before theirs, and eventually, how to love their spouse in the way God would lead. You are amazing! I love you so much!

Happy Birthday Big Boy!!!!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Jonathan - Happy Birthday to you!!!! Big boy turned one yesterday and it was so much fun! I can't believe he's already one - really, this year has flown! He had so much fun at his party!!! He wore these cute little madras plaid shorts - all his shorts are so long because his leggies are SHORT!!!! They were precious. Here's a few pics from the day!

Thunderlight...

occasionally, I post about fun conversations with my little guy, Jacob... well, last night's was just too good not to share. We went to Target to pick up a few things for Big.Boy.Jonathan (I can't believe he's already 1!) On our way back home, it was thunderstorming - we kept trying to show Jacob the lightening as it was very very pretty (scary, but pretty!). Jacob started saying "where's the thunderlight" I thought that was SOOO cute - and I also think somewhere along the line, lightening got the wrong name - I think "thunderlight" is much more appropriate. Cute, huh?

babies - necessities or not???

Okay - so my friend Tiff recently created a post that inspired this one...she's a new mommy-to-be (YEAH for baby Keene) and went into Babies R Us and came out totally overwhelmed. There is so much to think about!!! So here's some of the things I either bought or received as a new mommy that just weren't as necessary as I thought they would be:
baby booties and baby shoes (maybe I'm a bad mom, but neither of my boys hardly ever wore shoes until they were crawling!!) I have a whole basket of shoes and booties that have never been worn!
Diaper genie - I know some people swear by them, but we rarely used ours and when we did, it was only for "pee" diapers - there's just something yucky about poopie diapers just sitting in a white trash can in the boys room - Kroger bags work like magic!!!
Blankets - i love baby blankets as they are so versatile, but seriously, I probably bought/received 25 blankets that were never ever used!!!! I ended up finding about 5 that Loved and used all the time.
Bottle Warmer - used it only once - a warm cup of water is MUCH easier, more portable and easier to explain to grandparents. :-)

Some things that I got and have used the heck out of: the pack n play -stays at the sitters - that's where they sleep!; extra car seat bases for the infant car seat - had one in each car and for the babysitter!; hooded towels - LOVE THEM!!!!; car organizer -thing that hangs on the back seat - great storage for toys and books as they get older; little tupperware dishes - great for snacks; spoons - I never seem to have enough - they seem to disappear!; tubes of diaper cream - seriously you need one in every room of the house (changing tables are over rated - the floor works much better for those wiggly little peeps!); extra pacis (if your baby uses one - be aware though...babies get to be very particular about the type of pacis they use!)

what about you???? Any thoughts on essentials for babies and toddlers? Any things I will just have to have as my boys get older???

Dear Jacob

Dear big boy,

Hi honey - it's mommy again -time for your monthly letter from me. :-) You are growing and changing so much! I just love watching you figuring out new things and learning so much. You have a very fun personality - some highlights from the last month:

You got a boo boo on your knee - you showed EVERYONE!!!! Even the lady at McAlisters who was checking us out. FUNNY! You were in Aunt Kelly and Uncle Shawn's wedding - you were hands down the CUTEST ring bearer ever. You loved your tuxedo. (Not a tux - you always corrected us when we called it a tux.) This letter's going to be a little different. Just so we never forget the funny things you say, I'm just going to make a list of them. It's so fun to hear you talk:

"manacain" (manaquin - you have this strange obsession with them...)

"How bout????" you always say this to us when you want something else.

"Member mommy? Member Daddy?"

"do you like jellyfish mommy?"

"Kissy Kiss" - hershey kiss

"this is a pork chop maker" - pointing to the grill

"salam" - salad - to you, a salad is cheese and bacon bits

"what time is it?" - you are actually showing some real smarts here - you know all the numbers

"2 more minutes"

"I need the troll" -(remote control)

And one of my all time favorites - "those aren't ducks mommy, those are geese." ahem - I stand corrected.

You are simply precious. Love you forever and always! You are and always will be my best little friend.
love, Mommy

Dear Jonathan

Dear Jonathan,

Hi Sweet boy!!!!!!! I love you so much! You are just growing too fast! I can't believe you're going to be one in two weeks! It's really hard to believe. This time last year, I just couldn't wait to see what you would look like, to hold you and snuggle you. You exceeded all my expectations - you are perfect!

here are some of the really cute things you do and say right now:

You love balls - love to bounce them, throw them, catch them, chase them... so cute!

You are turning into a little bit of a TV junkie - you love watching praise baby - you get so excited when the other little babies come on. You wave your arms at them like you're trying to grab them.

You love to "cook" - when Mommy's in the kitchen, all I have to do is open up the shelf with the pots and pans and you just go to town. You get really big spoons and stir away - I don't know what you're cooking, but it sure is yummy!

You love the sandbox - I was a little nervous about letting you play with it, but you love it - you never even attempt to eat the sand (which is what I was afraid of!)

You love to walk in the laundry room and play with the garbage can - weird, I think, but it sure fascinates you!

You love to go on walks! You laugh at our shadows.

You DO NOT like to stand or walk in the grass - don't know why, but you really can't stand it.

You love wind chimes - you grab them every time you walk by.

You sometimes throw tantrums - like full blown tantrums - you scream, throw yourself back and cry - they only last about 10 seconds, but they are definitely tantrums. oh gosh - what's next???

YOU ARE SLEEPING SO MUCH BETTER!!!!! thank you thank you thank you for that!

You were "dedicated" to the Lord last weekend at church and we pray for you all the time. The verse we have chosen for you is Matt 22:37.

Baby boy, I love you so much! I'll be your best friend and biggest fan all the days of your life!

Love, Mommy

(here you are after finding a "treasure" in the laundry room!)

Being a mommy

Being a mommy is a great great thing. Mother's Day has always been fun, because I have a great mommy! The last three mommy days have been so special with my little sweeties! Yesterday, I got the sweetest gifts - first, Jacob made the most adorable card for me in Sunday school - I love it and will truly treasure it forever! Then, Billy made me a little scrapbook with some special pics of the boys - it's a pre-made Hallmark scrapbook with places to journal. He took so much time to write special messages all throughout the book. I love it!!!!! I promise, it's one of the things (after my boys of course) that I'd grab if our house was on fire. I really have the best husband in the world - sorry all you ladies. I really do have the best!!!!!

Mother's day was very special for lots of reasons - it was baby dedication day at church so we dedicated Jonathan to the Lord - Billy and I pray for our boys every day! We chose Matt. 22:37 as our life verse, so it's only fitting that it's the verse we pray over both our boys. The day was quite eventful... Billy had been out of town ALL week and was scheduled to fly in at 9:55. WELL, at 8:45, I got a message that his plane was delayed. Thank the Lord, he made it - with one minute to spare for baby dedication. Literally, he walked in at 10:59 - thank you Jesus!!! Then Jacob proceeded to run up and down the isles while we were on stage....i just knew that all eyes were on me, the MOTHER of that silly little person.

All in all though, as I reflect, being a mommy is my most important job. I sure am not perfect at it - in fact a lot of times I down right stink at it, but I try so hard to be a good mommy to these boys. I pray all the time for wisdom and the right "trick" that will help them be obedient and respectful. Lord help me with that one...

Here's a few shots from our special day. Thank you Jesus for the most wonderful family ever!!! I am blessed beyond imagination!