Head wobbles and some "G" love

Papa and G-Mommy spent Saturday with us and it was so much fun. We went to brunch at J. Christophers, swung by the church, went to get Lia some new shoes (her feet are growing like *weeds*) and then we hung out at the house.

Lia and Papa played with the block sorter, well, Papa provided commentary while Lia sorted!


Enjoyed a few head wobbles...this is a sort of secret headshake between Papa and the grandkids... he puts their head next to his and says *wobble, wobble, wobble* while shaking both of their heads back and forth. Lia loved it and kept coming back for more wobbles.


And of course you have to have some love from G (that's what Lia calls G-Mommy)


We had such fun...thanks for coming to visit!

Hurricanes, Flying objects and Fire on the Island

After I made the cake and took pictures it was time to get some sleep so I left the cake and went to bed praying that the trees would make it 24 hours...

Well, they didn't and Brendon was the first to see the damage an apparent hurricane left on the island. I learned my lesson and decided to reinforce the base of the trees with chocolate (cake concrete :)). I did this and the remaining 2 trees were holding steady. I also decided to put the cake in the fridge to make sure the concrete set AND to keep it off the counter away from danger.

This worked well until Brendon went to get a drink out of the fridge *right* before he left for Married Life Live and bumped one of trees. B/c it was so well cemented into the cake it shattered too. So, the one-tree island, Lia and I left for Buford praying that although it was pouring...the island would stay intact :)


We made it to the party and Sarah was *super* excited. I was able to add a little umbrella for one of the bathing bears and I thought that was a fun touch until the blowing out of the candles almost ended with a fire on the isalnd :)!


11 nine year old girls had a very fun time and Lia even managed to sleep through the squealing when Sarah got 3 Webkinz and a gameboy. We wouldn't have missed it for anything.
Happy Birthday Sarah!

Aunt Rachel gets her cake on...

Give me a picture and a kitchen to mess up and this is what I can do.


My niece, Sarah, is turning 9 this month and asked me to make a cake for her party. So, we discussed options, and decided on an island cake. I saw this fun idea online and put it together. there were little teddy hula girls hanging out on the beach and a sufer taking a dive in the ocean....

the fishys were swimming in the sea along with a little treasure chest...


and the toughest part....the trees... they turned out well though... don't you think?

More than pig tails...

Be warned... there is no picture of Lia in the following post. :) I've been inspired by some fellow bloggers and I want to share a little more than pig tails... there will still be pictures, but also some thoughts from me...It might be a little rambling, but here goes...

We are going through a marriage book/small group experience at NP called Intimate Encounters (ie). It's something that Brendon and I have been wanting to do for a while and have just now felt ready for the challenge. We have been told... "if you do IE you are asking for trouble" and warned..."be ready for all the bad stuff to come up" but we also heard how healing this time could be and no one said they were sorry they went through it. Well, being the dare devils that we are- we decided now was the time... we wanted trouble, and we were going to go looking for it. We have a good marriage and in this time wanted to learn about how to make it great.

So, we are in IE right now, and I won't speak for B, but it's been an amazing time of healing for me already. It's not easy to start unpacking emotional baggage, to agree to stop running the "tapes" of past wrongs and dump out all the stuff you have been holding onto. But we are trying and I think the fruit in our marriage is already a little sweeter.

This past week we got into a discussion about commitment vs. feelings in our small group time. Why is it that after the new feelings of a relationship fade it seems harder and harder to do those things that make the other person a priority? Is it life? Is it selfishness? We started the discussion about marriage, but I really started thinking about this in regards to my relationship with Christ on my way home.

When I first fell in love with Jesus - it was easy... I wanted to spend time with him, to learn more about him and grow closer. I felt good when I read my bible. I learned and grew in my walk. Challenges came and my faith made me feel better. Then things changed... I don't know if it was just the pressure of life, or my selfishness, but I have had times when I just didn't want to expend the effort to grow my relationship with Christ. See, I was still making it about *me*. And when I didn't *feel* like it - then, sorry God - not today.

Last fall I heard an explanation of abiding that really clicked from a wife/mom I admire. She said that abiding in Jesus... what we must do to grow and be fruitful... is the discipline of spending time each day with God, just being with Him even when you don't *feel* like it. She explained that abiding is rewarding for us, but it is really something that we do for God. As an offering of part of our day. She talked about this discipline and that the commitment of that time will begin to pay off over a time. That at first it's hard and sometimes even after years, it's hard to make it priority, but that the reward is worth the investment. God rewards this type of commitment. And I think she's right - I think God wants us to learn the reward of pressing on, of abiding in him when it's not what *feels* good.

It's really amazing to me that God made us to get so easily infatuated with something...we *feel* good about at the beginning but it's not those feelings that God rewards...it's the commitment. It's when it's not about me that the real pay off comes. Love is a commitment to consistently meet the other person's needs and I'm learning that with regard to all the relationships in my life. Really, it's just making it less and less about *me*.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matt 22:37)

Red Day

Lia's preschool has color days and yesterday was RED day. I had the outfit all picked out, but Lia had other plans and ended up hanging on to her cold so she didn't get to go to school. So, we are bringing red day to you...


and just b/c I thought it was cute and can't help myself with the pigtails...

Pig Tails

I got inspired on Sumday and decided it might be time for pig tails. Lia did ok once we went into the bathroom and she got to see what Mommy was doing. I think she looks pretty cute :) what do you think?



the rest of our morning after church was spent napping and eating blueberries and a sandwich for lunch. this is a mouth FULL of blueberries...

and then hanging out with Daddy in the evening. This morning Daddy even played Lia some tunes on the computer and they played a little air guitar together.


If you ask Lia there is no better way to start her morning.

Labor Day Fun

Well, we had a good Labor Day... and by good I mean we didn't do much at all! :)
Just a little family nap, a few chores, and some fun! We washed both cars this weekend - and they REALLY needed it. Brendon wants to sell his truck...
so we had to get it ready.

Also, we went to the park with Lia. She loved the slide and had fun climbing all the playground equipment. She's getting so big now.

Backpackin' It

Nice, new back pack, Lia!




Come on, Daddy, it's time to leave for school!!

New Lights and a Kitchen Remodel

Well, we have been inspired to do a few things around the house... new light in the office/playroom and a new entry way lightThe Stevens were putting in a new light and Micah needed his help so Brendon decided to do ours and only use the giant ladder once for both their house and ours. It was definitely a 2 man, 1 woman project and i didn't think to take pictures while Brendon was on the ladder... I was too busy praying and thinking we might need more life insurance.

We also installed a few new kitchen appliances... here is Lia checking out the new cabinet space...

and cooking some soup this morning... hmmm, I think it needs more salt...


what do you think?

and finally when Daddy left, Lia just wanted to say "bye, bye" and wath him go...

Playing with Rings


Lia knows how to get enjoyment out of just about anything. Sometimes I catch her laughing at her toes while we are riding along in the van and of course she always thinks her daddy is funny. But she can certainly finds fun in her toys...

Auntie Mac and Uncle Geoff gave Lia a table for her birthday that she enjoys, but the real fun comes from the stacking rings on the table...you can often find her wearing the blue one as a braclet, but today she....

hooked them on the cabinet nobs....


wore them as toe rings...

funny, huh....



and balanced them on her head...


she even got it to stay once...


Just imagine what she might do in a real playroom full of toys!

Suprise Date

My sweet hubby took me on a fun date on Saturday and I thought I would brag on him for a moment :). Nothing like a little www recognition to say thank you.

He made the Lia sitting arrangements (thanks to the heinzs) and after dropping her off we started driving toward the big ATL with me just along for the ride... He kept trying to get me to guess our desitination.

"Well, is it a Braves game??" ..."No" (good, b/c I'm wearing jeans and it's 105 otside!)
"Are we going to the new coke museum?" - "No" (good cause that's a long drive for a coke)
"The Center for the Puppetry Arts?" - " No, we are never going back there" (*smile* - I didn't think so after we had an interesting time there with the nieces and nephews....and have marked it off our list)

by this point we are driving down Peachtree (I don't know which one) and we pass the High with a big banner annoucing the Annie Lebowitz exhibition...
"Are we going to see that?" - "Yep (with a big grin)"
"Really?!?!"
I don't think he could have planned that better....and I was really excited. I love that sort of thing and I know it's not always Brendon's favorite so it meant even more.

The exhibit (A Photographer's Life:1990-2005) was really great. It's a combination of her personal pictures (like this one of her mother)






and her professional work. (like this one of Nicole Kidman...it was amazing!)



She was a photographer for Rolling Stone and then still is for Vanity Fair. When i worked at Graves import we got VF and as I looked through the magazine for shoes I often got to see beautiful photographs of hers. It was amazing to see most printed 3'x3' or larger. There were also some landscape pieces that I really liked.

After walking around that exhibit, we also saw part of the Louvre in Atlanta exhibit. It was really interesting too but I would love to go back when they have the Impressionist paintings there this winter.

We had a really nice dinner afterwards at Stoney River that ended with ....yum.... creme brulee.
You know, I would really love to know how to make that, but maybe it's best that I don't!

So thank you, for the wonderful suprise date, Bren...it was really wonderful!

Haley's Party

Today, one of my oldest friends, Haley, turned ONE! She had a fun party at her house and we got to play outside with all the kids.

Mommy worked in the morning to make her cake. I tried to help by hugging on Mommy's leg, but she asked me to go play with my toys for a while instead. After my nap, she showed me the cake with *pritties* on it...



We went down the street to Haley's house for the party and they had a lot of fun things set outside... there were blowup pools and beach balls every where. Mommy got me near this *giant* beach ball and then.... they turned it on...it's like a sprinkler and I got a little wet. I was very suprised, but loved it and squealed for more!


Mommy, Miss Lisa and Miss Vicki tricked Ben too...but he wasn't as excited.


Haley got her own special cake to smash...



And we had fun playing with a few of her new toys ..Slinkys are fun!


Happy Brithday Haley!

Where have we been?

Well. it's over 100 degrees here in Hotlanta these days so we prefer the inside :). We have been busy getting ready for the new school year to start for Lia and all the busyness of August!

Here are a few fun pictures I took along the way...


Lia reading and looking cute in her bow...


This is what happens when you smear banana in your hair - maybe we should market this as a new volumizer :P


Working on a few more teeth...


Do you want to try it??