scenes from the weekend.

i hope you had a good weekend. ours was not so eventful, & that was nice.

for a little while, our house even looked like this.

i was also struck by how quickly our little man seems to be growing up. & growing into his own, sweet, helpful self.

snacking on leftover pasta after helping mommy put away leftovers (which he did almost all by himself).

creepin'. because that's just how he rolls.

we're getting ready for our trip up north. which means i'm getting a little list crazy.

apparently, so is he.

did you do anything fun this weekend?

love.

more time to read.

it's what happens when your little boy throws your arm weights at your laptop.

it's fixable--a few days and a new hard drive later we should be back in business. but until then, we must find other ways to entertain ourselves. & blog.

c. has enjoyed reading his favorite book.

no, really. it's his favorite book. he'll sit & page through it for ever.

and after that, we'll probably go outside.

happy weekend.

love.

the easter bunny: a story.

once upon a time, there was a little boy that loved his bunnies very much.

in fact, the little boy's best stuffed-friend was a bunny. a pale bunny with blue stripes in his ears & on his feet, given to him when he was just a teeny little boy by his auntie lydi. oh how this bunny was loved. ben-da-bunny (named after his favorite ben-da-ben uncle) went many places with--and got lots of kisses from-- the little boy.

and then, one day there was a knock at the door. a man left a box with the little boy's daddy. the box had the little boy's name on it! he & his daddy opened the box and...

inside was another bunny! the little boy was overjoyed. until, that is, he realized something--this bunny was not like ben-da-bunny. it was not soft & cuddly. it was not quiet & kind. instead, it sang loudly, and stomped it's feet like a machine gun.

the little boy did not like this bunny. and so he cried.

he was so sad that the new bunny was so loud & scary. he couldn't hug the bunny or snuggle with him. what a sad situation it was.

but all was not lost. slowly, the little boy began to realize that the new bunny wasn't really a mean bunny. he was just different. and while he'd never be the same as ben-da-bunny to the little boy, he could still have fun with him.

after all, the little boy really liked the easter song, as long as it wasn't too close. and he realized that the loud noise was the bunny jumping! he though this was really neat, and so the easter bunny taught the little boy how to jump with two feet off the ground.

now he & the easter bunny are great friends pretty good playmates. sometimes.

happy easter!

love.

4.3.12.

“Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” - C.S. Lewis 

here's to years of fairy tales. push on, brave little knight.

love.

diy: origami bird mobile

i finally finished the new mobile for c.'s room!

this is long overdue. let me show you why.

remember this?

 and remember the sweet, thankful baby enjoying his new bird friends? well, the baby is now a toddler. and this toddler did this to his friends.

like i said. long overdue.

i spent a long time trying to figure out what to replace the mobile with. i wanted something that i could do myself, but didn't want to just make a new version of the old one. was having a hard time finding something that was a little less "babyish" & that would instead age well with c.

thanks to pinterest, i found this. & then i found this. & then i found a stick in our front yard.

i think it turned out pretty great. 

of course, i had a great helper.

i think he likes it.

origami bird mobile

what you need

5-6 sheets large scrapbook paper, colors of your choice

a branch, dried out and cleaned off

twine of some sort (i used hemp jewelry twine)

ruler & pencil

scissors

pushpin

what i did

1. since i wanted a lot of birds, i cut the scrapbook paper into four perfect squares (using the ruler & scissors). then, i followed this lovely tutorial to figure out what in the world i was doing. don't worry, after like the 7th, you start to get the hang of it. :)

2. once the birds are done, cut the branch and bind it in the way you want it. 

3. taking a pushpin, poke a hole in the top of each crane's back, large enough for your twine to fit through. feed the twine through each, tie it off, and cut about a foot up from there.

4. then, string each bird onto the branch, making sure to give enough space between. tie them on in alternating lengths.

5. finally, make sure all ties are tight, snip off excess twine. hang & enjoy!

love.

on parenting & marriage.

this week's relationship series' topic is on parenting and marriage. i'm definitely no expert, but i've learned so much in these 22 months. and, as a warning, this is probably going to be a rather long post because, well, these are my two favorite people. 


almost two years ago, on a warm night in june, a moment took place that changed our lives forever.

 we met our sweet, sweet baby boy.

i don't think i will ever be able to adequately express the joy & absolute privilege it is to be the mother of this child. to know that God saw fit to bless us with this charming little soul still leaves me speechless. and after seeing the special purpose that this little man has had in our lives. the joy that he has brought in times of struggle & pain. well, it has left my heart so full that i feel it may burst.

the journey this far has been so full of learning & growing (and not much sleeping), but has proved to only strengthen our marriage. to see the complete love and care that nick shows to c., the patience and the gentle firmness, has caused me to fall even more in love with him. and to grow my respect to an even higher level.

to know that we have been entrusted with this beautiful little blend of us. together. has caused our love & our lives to become rooted even deeper in the lord and each other.

to have a common goal--the raising up of another human. training him in the way he should go. hoping we can have a positive impact on his life. praying that he will come to know the sweet sensation of salvation. i've found this to be an intimate & glorious relationship, when done in unity. we are together focused on the good of another.

but, for most of this little boy's life, we've been in a difficult season. and as both a wife & mother, i've had to choose more than once whether to care for my husband or my son.

i think this is where it's really broken it down for me. the importance of putting your husband first. and then your child. that might sound awful to you. and honestly, it sounds pretty awful to me when i put it down on paper  this blog.

but, i'm not saying that i've neglected our little boy. but i've learned that there is grace when you are called to be by your husband's side. this boy is the most unaffected little thing i've met. he has enjoyed countless hours spent playing with family & friends in the midst of surgeries and hospital stays. and sometimes, putting my husband first meant coming home to be with c. when my heart yearned not to be away from nick. so that nick could rest, knowing i was home caring for our little blessing.

what i'm trying to say, though probably not very gracefully, is that in order to love my son best, i need to love my husband best, first. we are in this together. we are one body. one life.

and together, we are trying desperately to give this little boy the best. the best life. the best example of what loving your spouse looks like.

really, we're just trying to give him best love that we have in our hearts to give him.

love.

good news! (& some no news)

miss me?

i know i've been a bit absent since last week, so i wanted to catch you up on what's been going on. finally.

remember valentine's day? well, happy day to us, we spent the night in the ER (he finally got his room around 2 a.m.), and stayed in the hospital until friday afternoon. obviously, that's not how we planned our week to go, but that's not really important. we're gotten pretty used to it. and we got to see all of our nurse friends. they're pretty wonderful.

and now for the good news! nick was able to get the testing done to see the status of everything, and the results were great! the surgeon was super pleased with how everything has healed, and is looking at the end of this month/the beginning of march to do the second procedure. this second procedure should hopefully be the last of it all. 

and that means that life will start to get back to normal be better than we can imagine after these past two years. as this realization has started to sink in, it's been following by an overwhelming sense of gratitude. it's only a couple of weeks away, and he'll be better.

it's surreal. and a little scary. but most of all, it is so exciting. 

we covet your continued prayers over the next few weeks. for the surgery to go well. the recovery to be successful. and for nick to come out of this healthy, and ready to start a new chapter of his life. this has been quite a journey. but having so many of you come alongside us in prayer & love has made it so much more bearable. 

_________

as for the "no news," i promised to report on my exercise challenge. so i am. last week totaled a big fat ZERO. but, i'm okay with that. because sometimes, life just has a way of pushing in and rocking your little world. so i let it.

this week is already going better, which is what counts. and in the meantime, here's a video of a cute little boy who is loving his outdoor time.



lovelove.

home again, home again!

good news--we're going home today!!

nick is much improved and the doctor just gave the a-okay. we still have a pretty long road of recovery ahead of us, but we'll be home soon. and being home makes everything a little bit better.

for that, we are so grateful. and excited. oh, and we're not the only ones...