Quote of the Day

Tonight after dinner, Jacob got into a little trouble for pushing his brother down. When put into Time-Out, Jacob said, "I'm too busy for time-out." Mommy and Daddy could hardly keep in the laughs when Jacob said this. You never know what that guy is going to say :)

what every girl needs...

(picture has nothing to do with post, but it sure is cute!!! Love these boys!!!)

This weekend, I've had the opportunity for a little girl time and it has been oh so fun! I wasn't gone the whole weekend or anything like that, but I did get some precious moments with some of my favorite people on the planet. Friday afternoon, Rachie and Walkee came for a visit. We had a great time catching up and watching our boys play. Ya'll should have seen it - the three boys were flat out busting a move to some "wiggles" on CD. Hilarious. Sweet. And I got some video for bribery that might need to rear its ugly head when they're teenagers. :-) Then, Saturday morning, I got to hang out with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Jamie...so good to have friends who even though you're not together often, when you are, it's just like you're never apart! Jamie's cooking me a niece or nephew and I can't wait to meet them!!! Then, Saturday afternoon during the big UK/UL football game, (C-A-T-S!!!!) Rachie and Walkee came back over - my boys were napping, so we really got to chat and I got some extra sweet snuggles from Walkee!!! What a blessing. To top it off, today, we had a baby shower for another sweet friend of mine, Tiffany, mom-to-be of Tucker...a.k.a. Jacob and Jonathan's bud! Enjoyed all the fellowship and the car ride (though it wasn't long enough) with Katie - and I got a sneak peak at her new house - LOVE IT!!!!!

So, the weekend's got me thinking about what a girl needs - here's my conclusions:

* every girl needs friends who can come over and REALLY overlook the mess in your house - even when their son eats crumbs off your floor :-) You know you're soul sisters when...

* every girl needs time at Panera and the mall with a good friend

* every girl needs someone to confide in

* every girl (at least every momma) needs other mommas to share (confess) the mishaps of mommyhood and be reassured that you didn't really scar your kid for life when you___ fill in the blank there. You name it, I've done it...

* every girl needs to be able to go shopping for baby gifts every once and a while

* every girl needs (DRUMROLL PLEASE) a wonderful husband who didn't even blink an eye when he found out I had plans a couple of times this weekend and took on the superdad role, which is no stretch for him.. Hon, I love you so much and am honored to be your wife!

What about ya'll - any other thoughts on what a girl needs???

what now??

Today was a strange, tough day for us...this morning when I dropped off the boys at the sitter's, she told me that she and her husband had been praying for a while and have decided to stop doing child care...I was totally shocked and taken aback and of course, being the emotional lady that I am, I cried. And I felt like crying most of the day and I did shed some tears numerous times throughout the day. Ms. Mary and the whole Wisley family have been just that to us - family. No other way to describe it. The boys love love love it over there and we have just felt like they are so safe and happy there. Ms. Mary was sad and said she had so many mixed emotions - their family has a lot going on, a new grandbaby on the way who will live in Florida, family all over the place... So I'm trying to be a big girl and understand, but selfishly, I just don't like it one bit!!!! I don't want to go through the trauma of finding new childcare. I don't want my boys to have another transition. I don't want them to miss their friends... But, I know that God is good and will honor this if we honor Him. In the grand scheme of things we have so much to be grateful for!!!
Once again, God reminded me how blessed I am to be married to Billy - he was an amazing man of God today and a total pillar of strength for miss emotional me. I love that man and I love that he is the eternal optimist. Thanks, honey!!!!
To top it off, almost 50 people at our agency got laid off today. Thankfully, Billy and I still have our jobs. We do have so much for which to be grateful!!

Just praying that God would prepare our hearts and boys for change and that the perfect opportunity for child care would find us...our boys mean the world to us and we want the best option for child care when we have to work!!!

Dear Jacob,

Dear Sweet Sweet Jacob,

My big big boy... I love you so much! I can't believe you're almost three. Time is absolutely flying. I just ordered your 3rd birthday party invites - unbelievable. Being your mommy is so much fun. You are very creative and very very sweet! You are very smart! I know I say that a lot, but it's really true. Everyone says "I can't believe he's still 2 - he speaks so clearly and knows all his ___ " (colors, numbers, letters, animals...). You are learning so many new things all the time! I love watching your little brain work! You've also been working on memorizing some Bible Verses and you love to repeat after me. The cutest thing you say is the way you say Philippians - when you say it, it sounds like "flimikias." You have started to do the funniest thing - you follow your brother around and do everything he does -literally. Every sound, every step, every single thing he does. And he loves it!!!! He loves the attention you give him. You are best friends and that makes your daddy and mommy so proud! You continue to be a very very painfully picky eater (I know...apple doesn't fall far from the tree) - but sometimes you just skip dinner all together - you say "I don't want nuffin for eat. I fine" hmmmm...any advise here young man??? I suppose you'll eat when you're hungry. You are really into books right now and are even starting to recognize a few words! You could literally sit with us and read 100 books at a time. You "read" Brown Bear Brown Bear" all the time and it is priceless!!! You have a new renewed interest in Mickey Mouse - something you share with your brother. So cute!!!!

You are also quite the little helper these days - you love helping mommy do special tasks - like cooking, dusting, helping with the laundry... just a great helper. I love that!

Jacob, I'm very very proud of your behavior lately. You have been working so hard to be respectful and to follow the rules. You are still working on saying "please and thank you" but you really do a great job! You are a good listener and mommy and daddy really thank you for that. You're being a great example to your little brother.

I feel so happy and blessed to be your mommy. You are so funny right now and really bring joy to my life. I love talking to you on the phone when I'm not here and I love talking to you at nite nite time. We're gearing up for potty training and would appreciate your full cooperation (hey a little begging never hurts, huh???).

Love you forever!!!! Mommy

Dear Jonathan,

Dear Sweet Jonathan - you continue to be the joy of my life. You are growing too fast though!!!! It seems like the 'baby' stage is long gone. You are a full fledged toddler - I suppose you really have been a toddler for a while, but hey, I'm in denial. You are a very curious young man. Here's a few facts I've learned about you lately:

*you are a bottomless pit...I'm so proud of the way you eat!!! Keep it up, buddy! You out eat the rest of the family by a mile. Your favorite food right now is grapes - sometimes you stuff so many in your mouth that you look like a chipmunk.

*you LOVE Mickey Mouse - you flap your arms and turn around in circles when he's coming on TV. Nothing makes you smile more than Mickey these days!

* You are the apple of your brother's eye - he adores you and follows you around all the time! It's really sweet and I can tell you love his attention

* you are starting to enjoy books and being read to - you grab a book and come plop down right in my lap

* you are getting four teeth right now and I don't think you like it very much - good news is I can see all of them now, so hopefully your discomfort will end soon!

* taking you out to eat is oh not so fun for mommy and daddy - you are a little wiggle worm and have some utter dislike for highchairs. :-) (unless it's a LOUD place like Gatti Land - you can eat the house down on the salad bar!!!)

* you are a very big helper!!! You always are the first to help put your toys away and love racing mommy to put all the books away. Thanks for that!

* you are deciding to wait a while before you start to talk...no words from you yet, but I have a feeling when you do find your voice, it'll be non stop for you!

I love you so much Jonathan - you are a very sweet boy and we are so proud of you. You are the best little sleeper and eater. You are so fun right now! I pray that you keep your spunky personality and that you will learn to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Love,

Mommy

Helpful Hints

Parenting is a journey...no one ever perfects it...you learn as you go...let God be your parenting guide...you will probably mess up once or twice and feel guilty, but God has perfectly orchestrated you to be parents.... Anyone ever told you those little wise proverbs about parenting? People along the way have told me these and many other little tidbits about being a parent. Okay, so here's my truth to these: If parenting is a journey, every day feels like a marathon without proper training...you learn as you go, sometimes minute by minute and you almost always second guess yourself...you mess up once or twice every hour and FEEL OH SO GUILTY (and if your neurotic like me, you wonder if you are seriously messing with your children's' futures)...if God has orchestrated me to be a parent, then why do I feel so inadequate...

Parenting is sure stretching me, that's for sure. Now, as a caveat, I love it. I really do. And I'm learning a lot. Here's some helpful hints I've gleaned along the way:

1. If there's a family outing planned right at naptime - skip it. Every time!!!!! Especially if your little guy has an ear infection and is cutting two teeth. (sorry Tay - we sure made your birthday lunch memorable today!!!!!) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!!!

2. If you hear your husband whispering into the monitor at night "bring the flashlight," it's probably best to get the flashlight and go upstairs as quickly as possible...the culprit for the flashlight?? a potential poopie diaper from a sleeping toddler.

3. Don't let your toddler go birthday shopping if you want to keep everything a secret! :-) I'm milking this one for all it's worth this week!!!!!!

4. Don't ever ever ever give your toddler the syrup bottle when everyone's eyes are shut saying the prayer. (we had breakfast for dinner tonight - a fun tradition for us!)

5. Don't go to the ballpark with out baby wipes - a bunch of baby wipes. For that matter, don't leave the house without wipes - always a recipe for disaster.

6. To get anywhere on time, plan to tell yourself that the start time is actually 15 minutes before the real start time. Why oh why does getting out the door take so long?

7. Never leave your 15 month old alone with a container of puffs (you know those fruity little treats from Gerber???) oh - and if you do this, make sure you have a vacuum handy!!!!!

8. And of course, the best for last...cherish every moment and laugh all you can or YOU.WILL.GO.CRAZY!!!! Be thankful for the blessings of children.

Here's a couple of pics that totally show the personalities of my sweet boys. OH and it's important to note that all these lessons come from the last three days. Never a dull moment in the Stover house!!!

God always keeps his promises

Don't know if anyone else saw it last night, but after the storm, if you stepped outside you saw what I saw... a breathtaking rainbow that literally stretched the entire length of the sky. It was a great reminder for me that God sent a rainbow to Noah to remind him that He would never leave him or forsake him. The same promise rings true today and I'm so thankful. I got to show Jacob the rainbow and was able to tell him the story of Noah again - what a great teachable moment. The pictures don't do it justice, but here's a glimpse of God's glory!!!

what we've been up to...

The past couple of weekends have been quite eventful and very "social" for us. Last weekend was birthday palooza (Billy's sister on the 14th, my mom on the 15th and my mother in law on the 16th). This weekend, we've been visiting with an old friend of Billy's family - Dennis, from Denmark and his lovely friend, Tina. Dennis was a foreign exchange student who lived with the Stovers 20 years ago. It's been a lot of fun. Here's a few shots from our very busy weekends...

lessons from my kiddos

Well, I know I posted a few months ago about lessons I learn from my kids - well, at that time, I wasn't sure I actually learned anything from my kids, but boy was I wrong. Not only do I learn from my kids, but I also continue to learn more and more about who they are and who they will become and I.love.it. It scares me a lot, but I love watching them grow and bloom. Today I learned two very distinct lessons from my kids - one very profound and one not so profound, but oh so very important.

Episode 1: We went to the park today - it was a perfect day and I love taking the boys to the park. We went for a nice long walk and then played on the playground. When we got there this little boy ran up to Jacob and said "hi, I'm Aaron." Well, my little sometimes shy guy proved that all wrong - he was completely taken with his new little friend and proceeded to follow him around like crazy for an hour or so. Jacob was quite conversational and it was really cute...what's so profound about this, you ask??? Well, it got me thinking about who Jacob will become one day. I believe he is going to be somewhat of a follower. Not that that's a bad thing at all. In fact, I think being a leader is sometimes much much harder than a follower, but being a follower means one thing. You follow the example of someone else. Well, this realization has had me whispering a new prayer today for my little man - that God would place amazing people in his life that are worthy of following. So many people have bad motives and any one person can have so much influence. I pray that even as a little boy, God would place sweet little friends in his life that are good listeners and that obey their parents. And as an elementary school boy, friends that are learning about Jesus and that like school and listen to their teachers. And as a middle school boy and high school young man and a college guy, friends and mentors that lead him toward Jesus and teach him that it's okay to do the right thing - even if it's not the popular thing!!!!

Episode 2: Not nearly so profound (but important nonetheless)... the lesson I learned from/for Jonathan today - always always always leave the bathroom door shut! Jonathan decided to go into the bathroom today (I guess while I was fixing lunch) and took everything that was in the bathroom trashcan and put it in the toilet. Fun times, let me tell you. Well, after a floor full of water, quite a battle with the plunger and 10 soaking wet towels later, it's all fine. Lesson learned - 15 month old little boys are curious little fellows. When things are quiet in the house, probably a sign that mommy should go see what's happening and not just be grateful for the peace. :-)

I love the way being a mommy stretches me and makes me rely on Jesus - I tell you one thing - I cannot imagine trying to be a mommy without the power and strength of the Lord!

Summertime Cuties!

Summertime is one of my favorite times of the year! Spring is actually my favorite - new life with all the new flowers and trees budding... I love me some flowers. That's for sure! Here's a few shots of my sweeties after church last week in my flower garden!

"I'm the King of the Bees, I don't like RULES"

Okay, so that's the quote of the day from yours truly, Mr. Jacob. Where in the world he got that, I'll never know.... BUT today during "nap" time (the term is used lightly in our house) Jacob told his daddy "I'm the King of the Bees, I don't like rules." Just like that. Matter of fact. No emotion. Nothing. I happened to be downstairs and I witnessed the conversation courtesy of the old faithful baby monitor. I don't know how Billy kept a straight face, because I was cracking up. Billy said to him, "what did you say?" Jacob repeated it again and then Daddy said "where'd you learn that?" Without skipping a beat, Jacob said "Vacation Bible School." HMMMMM... now that's an imagination. I happen to know what the exact curriculum from VBS was, since we were teachers too, and I can assure you that NOT liking the rules and king of the bees were not included in the week's curriculum.

Always an adventure at the stover house....

"the doctor people glued my forehead together"

Well, today was one of those days that you just absolutely dread as a mother...I got the call from the babysitter... you know, the one that starts with "everything's okay, BUT...." And then your heart stops beating and you feel like you might just toss your lunch, which happened to be a tasty cheeseburger from McDonalds (I digress...).

Well, here's the whole story. Today at Ms. Mary's, Jacob had a little mishap with the kitchen counter and got a pretty yucky gash on his forehead. He was running from the living room to the kitchen and I guess forgot the corner of the kitchen counter was there. Right at forehead level. Poor little guy! Ms. Mary was a trooper - she managed to get him calm, clean up the mess - why do foreheads bleed so much???, and she even got a butterfly band aid on it. She called us to let us know what had happened and thought we should come see it just to make sure we didn't think it needed stiches. STITCHES????? I screamed in my mind??? My little guy might need stiches???? Holy moly, you might as well as said he'd severed his leg or something like that. (dramatic, I know, but seriously? This is my little man we're talking about!).

The other part of the story... I was all over the place today. Started out the work day by driving to Lexington for a conference. Then had a meeting in Louisville destined to start at noon...I was almost downtown Louisville when I got the call and decided to turn right around and head to check on my little guy. In the meantime, I called the pediatrician to see if stiches were in fact needed, could we do it at the office or would it necessitate a trip to the ER. FORTUNATELY, my pediatricians' office said they could do it if needed. So I trucked back to Shelbyville and went to rescue my little man.

Unfortunately, it was naptime for both my critters, so by the time I got there, they were both in near-meltdown stage. Jonathan was crying and Jacob was screaming NOT to take off his bandaid...but. I. Had. To!!!!! I had to take a look. It is just a little gash, but a gash none the less and was still bleeding pretty bad when I got there (about an hour post incident). So, after a phone call to Daddy, we decided to go ahead and take him to the doctor.

When we got there, Jacob was fine. Playing happily...until we went into the room. Moms, ya'll know exactly the kind of fear I'm talking about, I presume. It was ugly. The nurse was great and managed to listen to his heart and look at ears and all the routine stuff with no problems. When conversation turned to the little incident with the kitchen counter, it was entirely different. The doctor came in, and we held him down long enough for her to get off the bandage expertly applied by Ms. Mary and get it all cleaned up to see what we might need to do. Here's the options we were given: stitches (which of course involves a needle), glue, or some procedure that would require him to be velcroed to a table for 30 minutes....wait a minute. Did you say velcro my child to a table for 30 minutes??? I started to cry and the doctor said she would just see what was needed. Fortunately for all of us, she decided that the best course of action was the glue - quick and painless (except for the sensitive ears out there). Jacob flat out screamed at the top of his lungs, but fortunately, it really only lasted 30 seconds. Dr. Schuster was fabulous. Jacob was brave. Daddy was braver. Jonathan was oblivious to the whole thing. And mommy -well, mommy was nervous, but thankful for a strong husband and a great doctor and staff. And thankful that the doctor chose the glue!

Then, we piled in the car and headed home for an ice cream treat. I know it REALLY wasn't that major, and he is definitely going to be 100% fine. Still.... I'm just saying that when it's your own child, nothing is worse than seeing them hurt or scared. NOTHING. Heartwarming to think that God's love for me is even deeper that that which I felt today for Jacob. Heartwarming and Humbling all at the same time!!!!!

(oh - the title for this post was inspired by his conversation with Grammy and Mamaw on the way back home from the doctor... "i was running and the kitchen counter hit my head and it was bleeding and then we went to the doctor and the doctor people glued my forehead together.")

Dear boys,

Time for the monthly installment of the letters to my boys. They are such a joy right now - really enjoying each other!!!

Dear Jacob, You are a really funny kid - I know I've told you that before, but you really make me laugh. You have found a new favorite thing lately...Daddy found some random little show on Noggin (didn't even know we had that channel) called Jack's Big Music Show and YOU. LOVE. IT!!!!! It is all about music, which is your favorite thing. There's a song on it called "I'm gonna catch you" and you are so cute when it comes on. You grab your guitar and sing right along and do all the motions. We HAVE got to video tape it - it is just too precious!

Jacob, you are learning so much about Jesus right now too - you love to sing "Jesus" songs and always tell us what you learn in Sunday School. You got to go to your first VBS last month and let me tell you... you loved it!!!! You still sing the songs and talk about the things you did. What fun! You are also a very good big brother. You are very protective and don't like it at all when mommy or daddy have to say "no no no" to your little brother. You always want him around and are so patient with him when he messes up your puzzles or jumps (or mauls) on you. You have started calling him "daily dub," which is one of our silly little nicknames for him.

You also started drawing people last week - really cute - you put little legs and arms that aren't attached to the body, but it's really cute. I will cherish those first people drawings forever! (and I was the first person you drew - lucky me.) You tell me all the time "you're a cool mommy, mommy." and I. just. melt!!!! I love you little man! You are a GREAT little boy and I am so proud of you for working so hard to follow the rules and listen to mommy...we MIGHT, just MIGHT be getting close to over the terrible twos. :-) LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!!!

Dear Jonathan,

Hi little buddy - I cannot believe you're already 14 months old. That is just unbelievable! You are growing so fast. It is evident to me now that you are tall enough to open every drawer in the kitchen and tall enough to reach the on and off button on the TV in the bedroom (not that you would ever do those things...) You are a very curious little guy and I love watching you explore. Your sweet babysitter, Ms. Mary, even says sometimes you just wander off and find something to entertain yourself. So funny! You are most definitely going to be a lefty - your left hand seems to get preference for eating with a spoon (YOUR NEWEST TRICK!!!!!) and throwing balls. Daddy says he'll have to get real creative when he teaches you how to play ball since he's a righty and you're a lefty. :-)

Jonathan, you are going through a bit of an "i need my mommy stage" and while it's sweet, it worries me a little bit. Especially at church. Don't worry little buddy - mommy will always come back for you when I leave you somewhere! Always! I want you to always feel safe and loved!

You continue to LOVE LOVE LOVE your big bro. He is definitely your hero. You two are really starting to play together and I just love to sit back and watch. Sometimes he leads and you follow, but honestly, he admires you just as much. He follows you too. You two have really enjoyed playing outside together lately - you love to find random water puddles and just splash away. You also LOVE it when I blow bubbles for you. Those shiny round bubbles just amaze you (me too if I'm honest here...).

Jonathan, we are so proud of you and love you so much! You are a miracle my little guy - pray that you see yourself that way to!

Much love to you both,

Mommy

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