Who needs a shower?!

I can't be the only one that hasn't showered yet, and its noon.

I can't be the only one who got only 5 hours of sleep.

The only one who is blogging while her kids have been in the bath for the last 20 minutes...pretty sure the floor is SOAKED!

The only one who has two large laundry baskets full of clean clothes.

The only one who has let her children have fruit loops for breakfast, and then watch a movie after that so I could play on pinterest. 

The only one who has a list of DIY projects that are waiting on me to finish them.

The only one who needs to wash my floors (it doesn't feel right when your hardwoods seem sticky.

But its ok. 

Cause the boys soaking the floor will cause it to get clean when I wipe it. 

The boys also know how to help themselves to fruit, so they have had an apple and a nectarine without the help of mom! 

The DIY projects can wait.

....and I am enjoying relaxing.

But please don't stop by.

Cause I may smell:)

Have a good day!

Pharaoh of Egypt...

He-Man and Pharaoh (self-titled)

Being a mom to a boy can mean many things.
I have a friend who's boys LOVE all things crawly, slimy, furry, whatever. They love to get messy, dirty, and gross.
I have another friend who's son is always getting hurt. Broken arms, black eyes, scraped knees, whatever kid injury you can get he does.
But my boys, primary my oldest, are different. I remember starting to read Bringing Up Boys by Dr. Dobson and after a few chapters gave up-none of it applied to my cautious, quiet, bug fearing child.
Jay is adventurous, as long as someone else is first:) Having a little brother who is a little less cautious is helpful for that! I can always see the desire in his face to really want to do something, but also the fear that traps him.
God, I am so like this. So many times I really want to jump out and do something so great for God, but my fear traps me. Fear of failure. Fear of not being good enough. Fear of the unknown.
I think the unknown is Jay's issue.
I mean who really knows if ladybugs don't have death venom and pinchers that hurt so bad it feels like your leg will fall off?? So I guess its totally understandable to scream bloody murder when one gets on your leg? right?!
Luckily the Lord gives us plenty of skid dish, not equipped, timid men to reference in the Bible. Most all of our "heroes of the faith" were nobodies, who thought they were exactly that. We have been camped with Moses for a while lately. Kids love the red sea story and David and Goliath. So we continue to go back to them:)
I decided to let Jay watch Prince of Egypt. How I love that movie. (And you can't go wrong with a little Whitney Houston!) I watched Jay's face the whole time. He watched intently, and I prayed through his expressions and body language. Oh, that this little boy would grasp how AWESOME God is and that through Him we can do anything! 
As the movie finished I waited expectantly for the questions, and the awe that I felt ( I know he was feeling the same!). He turned and looked at me and said "oh mommy, I want to be the Pharaoh so bad."
What??! Did he not get how awesome God was? How defeated Pharaoh was? And I can also add here that in playing David and Goliath he wants to be Goliath. Every. time. My sweet son, always wants to be the bad guy... This proud mommy, who thinks that her son has such a kind soft heart, gets hit with reality every time. My son is still a sinner. In every story God shows himself powerful and so does the bad guy. But in Jays mind. Not the person that God uses.
Is this my problem too? Do I want to be the one who shows a little bit of power, or am I ok with God getting all the glory? Is it a continual power struggle with me and the God of the Universe? Lord, help my heart. Help me to decrease so that you can increase!! Help me to lead Jay in example of giving glory to God in all things.

Virginia is for Lovers. Nature Lovers.

What a trip we had to Virginia! I will never be a farm owner-or a pet lover, but I can see the draw to that lifestyle. At least for three kiddos under the age of six (and even an 8 month old baby:)!

Morning rides on your own ATV, mowing the riding John Deere with Popi, singing songs with Noni, having puppet shows, scooping horse poop (and ACTUALLY wanting to do it!), sipping hot tea on the porch after adventures in the rain, riding the pony, finding bugs and frogs at the pond and so much more. The kids had a blast, and this "closet nature lover" wasn't to disappointed either:)

We also had the chance to visit the caverns by my moms house in the Shenandoah National Forest. It was so beautiful. Such a reminder of our Creator and thankful that He simply made them to bring glory to Himself. 

oooh i could eat these cheeks!

Thanks for enjoying our trip!

The Avengers!

So The Avengers came out yesterday! How many of you saw it? I have not yet. I made my husband promise me that he would take me before he took any of his junior high students to see it. We just need to find a babysitter for a 2 and a half hour movie?! But, I am so geeked about it! After all the marvel comic movies they have been giving you teaser clips, and come on, there is such a great cast! I'm no nerd. But this is gonna be a great one!

Well, Jay is also excited about the Avengers. He has seen the commercials and we have let him watch most of Thor and Ironman, and come on, Daddy is into it, so in turn so is Jay:) So when my favorite crafter/blogger Cheri wrote her blog to me- I had to copy! 

And yes, I was the "one" she was talking about:) 

Isn't it great? So simple and yet, if you know Captain America, Thor, Hawk Eye, and Ironman Symbols, you'll know how awesome it is! ( I know there are a few missing, but hulk doesn't have a symbol-and I don't need the girl:)
It was so easy to make, and I am going to walk you through how I did it. You can use any old plain tshirt, but Jay is growing like a weed and tshirts are limited, so I bought him a $6 Target T.
I made a stencil with freezer paper. Have you ever used it? Its so great. Just let it run through your printer like a regular sheet of paper-then cut it out with an exacto knife to make a stencil.

ugh. ignore my chubby fingers:)

Then you iron the shiny side down onto the Tshirt, making sure to keep the little pieces. (In  Cheri's blog she does a great tutorial on how to do it, you just have to navigate a little:)

Then you take fabric paint and paint!

  It helps if you have a super cute little helper, this one isn't for sale, but I may be willing to rent him out for a small fee:)

After it has dried, peel off the paper, and iron with a cloth over the paint. To help the fabric paint set!

He has now worn it 2 days straight. Church is tomorrow. Im going to sneak it into the washing machine tonight so he's not tempted to try to bust it out:)

605 stairs to the top!

Davon and I took the boys hiking at Amicalola Falls  and it was beautiful.
Goodness, I am so thankful for this little family that God has blessed me with. Thankful that Jay wanted to run up all 605 stairs to the top of the falls and that Davon ran with him:) and thankful that my two year old walked up all of the stairs by himself all the while his little hand holding mine:) and look at those chubby hands in that picture! Stinky, sweaty, chubby hands-gotta love them.

The hike was beautiful and daddy and I used it as teaching time about how amazing out Creator is. We saw all different kinds of trees, rocks, birds, and even a 4 foot snake walked across our path. YIKES!

SO Pretty! No Filter and taken by my iPhone!

This was after we made it to the top!

As we enjoyed the view from the top of the waterfall (and the beginning of the Appalachian trail!) I couldn't help but think about the Lord. I thought about Psalm 139 and sang the song we would always sing at Young Life when I was in high school

"Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, 
    your right hand will hold me fast."

Then I thought about the beginning of this chapter

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise; 
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways. 
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely. 
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 
    too lofty for me to attain.

God knew me and You before He created us. He knew us before He created this waterfall and these trees. He knows us enough to care about our thoughts- to search me out and want to know me. This knowledge is to lofty for me to even attain, or even understand for that matter. But regardless of what I do, regardless of how I "feel" about Him, He will remain constant. Thank you Lord.

Letter Wreath

So my sisters birthday is Cinco de Mayo Eve and she has been dropping hints like crazy for a wreath like mine. I used to change the decorations on my wreath every season, and for fall and christmas that was fun, but Jan-September was always a real let down! 

SO...I was looking through pinterest and came across one that looked simple enough and got super excited about rosettes and hot glue and of course the letter S:)

This is mine on our front door.

So I headed out to Hobby Lobby, our closet craft store, Joann and I are actually BFFs, but she was a little far of a drive. I brought a coupon-always bring a coupon!- and bought another wreath and the letter P for my sisters last name. I had the fabric in my stash at home, so this birthday gift was a total of $5! So great right? (Don't worry I am also getting her something else-she deserves it:) 

I just traced the letter and hot glued the fabric to it!

I didn't take a picture of making the rosettes- probably because I burn my fingers trying to go to fast, and paying attention to two little boys while using hot glue (yes I know, not to smart-at least no children were burned in the process!), but here is a great video tutorial!

Rosette Tutorial

I hot glued everything onto the wreath. And check her out!

So pretty right?! I love the red and the robins egg blue colors together.

Garth Brooks juice diet

So we still have fleas. Seriously? How do you get rid of these things?

So during the "bombing" of our home (after we tried other "highly recommend" sprays) we had to spend the whole day outside. And 

Praise

the

Lord

For such a gorgeous day! I had my women's discipleship group (and do you ever feel weird about calling yourself a woman?-It makes me feel like such an adult?).

Then we went to Fresh 2 Order- I love this place. I ordered a tuna burger with salad-of course no picture:) and the boys shared grilled cheese and fresh fruit, sooo good. If you are ever in the Atlanta area-its a must!!

 Then a little time at our church. I must admit, I took a picture and read about 3 scripture verses before Miles pretty much fell in. They wanted to get as close to the waters edge as they possibly could! I could say boys will be boys, but my niece would be right there with them!

Look at that muddy little behind!!

I could just eat them up!


Last stop was a yummy juice from Whole Foods! Because its healthy and reminds me of the So I Married an Axe Murderer line of "I'm on my weekly world news Garth Brooks juice diet."

Ok seriously. I bought it because I like juice, and there was a huge line for it. So I waited. Didn't know the cost, but when they said it was $4.50 I thought, ouch, but hey its super healthy.
and super nasty.
Come on, celery, kale, beets, wheat grass, pears, ginger. No. Never again. and if you say you like it i won't believe you. I saw everyone buying it, but walking to their cars with it? No one gulping it down. Hmmm.
Even Miles and Jay pretended to like it cause it was juice, then a few minutes later-"this is so yuck." ugh, my children are sheep also:)