Wrapped Around His Finger

Lately, Ava Jane has really been active. Our sweet girl is beginning to have a personality, to laugh at her brothers, she's enjoying feeding herself at the table and talking up a storm. She's mastered crawling up the stairs, she's learning to go down them on her belly and she's just about to take off walking. She is our precious little miracle and we love seeing her reach all her milestones.


The other night at dinner the boys had already left the table, she was sitting with Adam and I while we were talking and she just sweetly laid her head down on the table top as if to take a little rest from the conversation.


She is learning to play the "drums". Since there's a lot of noise going on in this house, she's learning she's gonna have to make some too in order to keep up!


She is just a sweet blessing, and a nice reprieve from our loud boys. Literally she will sit at the table and eat so quietly that we hardly even notice that she's there. And she is a great little eater too, she can put the boys to shame which might explain how she's now in the 50% on her weight (up from the 3rd at one time!) Don't you agree that she's a doll baby?


Peek a boo, I see you!


To be fair, and realistic, she does have her moments though...but she's only human! She can't be perfect 100% of the time! Look at those lips, oh how pitiful!


Her Daddy loves her immensely, and she is what he lovingly calls, his "girly-girl". I believe it is safe to say that she has him wrapped around her little finger! And I don't think he minds it one bit!

Raku: Who knew?

Yesterday evening our D-Group, from church, got together to do something I've never done before, make Raku pottery. Raku is a type of Japanese pottery that is traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies. I had never actually heard of Raku until last night. One of the girls in our groups Dad, is extremely talented with making pottery so he gave us all a behind the scenes look at how he creates these beautiful, unique pieces. He had quite the impressive setup for sure!


These are flame resistant "brick" type things that you set the pieces on in the kiln, to keep the pottery from touching.



When we got there he'd already shaped a bunch of different pieces for us to pick from.


We then put whatever type of glaze we wanted on it, there was a white crackle, turquoise, deep blues and coppers as well as an alligator (matte) glaze.

Mr. Butkowski told us a little bit about Raku while we waited for the pieces to come out of the kiln. Though I'd never heard of Raku, now having seen what it is, I do recognize that I've seen it many times before. (I believe that my Dad's Mom, my Grammy, had several of these types of pieces, and I'm pretty sure that she'd have enjoyed seeing all that Mr. Butkowski had made there in his shop!)



Would you believe that the boys were beside themselves with excitement? But it might have just been the 1700 degree fire or the flaming torch that inspired them!


While the pottery was in the kiln, we ate a most scrumptious dinner that I'd never had before either! It was called a "Cream Can Dinner". Inside the old milk can were onions, corn, rutabagas, purple cabbage, potatoes, as well as smoked and italian sausage, I must say it was delicious, and the homemade honey that went on my 3 pieces of bread, was A-MAZ-ING!



The fall table-scape, was set beautifully, and included some of his dishes that he's made.


After dinner we went back to fire our pieces and then scrub them to a beautiful luster! The pottery has to get super hot and comes out glowing then quickly must be placed, oh so carefully (to prevent cracking) into a covered container. After 10 or 15 minutes we took them out, then carefully scrubbed the pieces down with a brillo pad in order to reveal the beauty underneath.


We owe a big "Thank You" to the Kinzler's and Butkowski's for showing us such a fun evening! It was a great time with friends getting to do something totally new!



Here's a couple pics of the finished products, I do believe they turned out lovely! I can't wait to find a new spot for them in my house!

"Team Head"

This semester, the book that my Bible study is going through at church is called The Christian Parenting Handbook, it has really been a great read and I highly recommend it to anyone with kids of all ages, there's pertinent information and practical examples that have challenged and encouraged me.

One chapter that stood out recently was about pulling your family together through teamwork. The authors say, "When your family is being pulled in too many different directions because of individual needs and interests, it may be time to focus on teamwork. Only through organization and cooperation can a team succeed. The same is true in a family."

So we pulled together to get our yard and my parents yard finished! As I've mentioned, we'd been living at my parents house for two weeks, so Adam and I wanted to leave their home in mint condition inside and out so we set to the task as "Team Head" to rake and mow both yards and theirs is a very large front and back yard. It took four and a half hours on their yard alone, 22 yard bags, 2 adults, a 6 year old and a 4 year old to get the job done; there was a little whining and a few "I'm thirsty's", but I'm happy to report, we pulled together and attacked the leaves!

Here's most of my boys...oh how I love them!


After all that raking and bagging we took a little rest...


See, there were smiles, even in the midst of hard work!


Then it was time for our yard...raking out the flower...



Picking up sticks...with his mighty muscles...in rain boots of course!!



There were even a few moments to ponder the deep thoughts of life. Ha! I love that I caught you like this babe!


And Peyton wanted to take a picture so I let him use the "big camera"...


The lesson we talked about a lot while raking the yard was that even though we have to do some hard work sometimes, we also get to enjoy doing fun things as a family. There's a time for working together and a time for playing as well. Its a privilege to get to work alongside one another to see a job accomplished. The authors say, "One of the signs of a successful family is the ability to work as a team." I was proud of "Team Head" for our stamina and perseverance! I look forward to playing hard together this next weekend!

Killin' Time

Time is just flying. We have been in the middle of a small house project the past week and a half so we've been living at my parents house while they've been away on a trip, which has been so wonderful and generous of them. I do have to say that being here at their house has felt a little like a vacation which has had its pros and cons. The positive is that we have had a really great place to stay and have been able to spread out but the negative is that we've been living out of suitcases, having to go back and forth because I kept needing different things, including fall clothing which had to be pulled out of tote boxes). We've obviously been out of our routine so I'll be oh so glad to get everything back in its place.

So, to keep my sanity we've been killin' time with several things, but one day we decided to make a visit to the library for some new books and a couple of DVD's which is always fun for the boys to pick out. While the kids played I looked for some books for Peyton that would hold his attention and also stretch him as he progresses in reading.

The boys had fun playing checkers...



Ava enjoyed standing at the table and working the puzzles...



And Emerson found the rocking horse...


It was just another normal day, but I'm learning to stop and enjoy those more. I was reminded by a friend recently that this is my last year to have Lawson home with me every day, ALL day long. I can't beleive that next year I'll have two in school and only two at home! I'm really trying to soak it all in and enjoy the moments we have together. We've spent time reading after I put everyone else down for naps and reviewing letters and numbers. We've implemented a new "game". I made letter flash cards and I hold two up (one in each hand) and he tells me what letters he sees then he makes a fist and punches the one that I call out; for a little boy who likes to move and play, its quickly becoming a great way to review letters and get some energy out too.

Reunited...

This weekend Adam and I got to enjoy going back to Fayetteville to cheer on our beloved Hogs as they fought against Texas A & M! I won't sugar coat the fact that getting out of town was a tad bit harry, it always is, with trying to get 4 kids packed up and settled somewhere. Bill and Donna can attest that our trying to get out of town was complete with not being able to locate our tickets (because we were moving all of our belongings so that our hardwoods could be sanded and refinished and tile put down in our kitchen and laundry room), so while I took the kids to the Head's, Adam stayed at the house to search for the tickets, after I got the kids settled I realized I couldn't find my phone (the one that I had just had) which was super frustrating. I was just about to leave to go help Adam, forgetting about the phone, when he called to say he'd found them and was headed back over, that's when I found the elusive cel phone in my trash bag of a purse; thank you Lord!

Once we had, said tickets and the ever so handy i-phone, our road trip resumed. Road trippin' without kids is always fun. We enjoyed the quiet and the ability to have conversations that were unbroken. I LOVE getting away with just Adam, it's really so wonderful!

When we arrived in town it was raining cats and dogs...it honestly sounded like rocks hitting the windshield, that's how hard it was coming down! We went straight to Ben and Rebekah's house which I was excited to do, since I hadn't seen these sweet friends in many months. After living life along side one another in Birmingham, we were long over due for a visit! (Cue the 70's music, "reunited and it feels so good...")


We visited for a bit then headed out in the rain to cheer on the Hogs. We went armed with ponchos and trash bags to sit on...it did cross my mind that I just might be a "fair weather fan"...if the rain kept up.

We got to the stadium and enjoyed our time and our seats very much. We were right under the indoor box seats and had a roof over our head, so unless the wind blew, we didn't get wet, which was a real plus! We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Fayetteville.




Leaving was kind of hard because we knew we had a ton to do immediately upon returning to Little Rock. It was all great things, and things we wanted to do, it was just going to require all hands on deck! We had to move out all the rest of the furniture and appliances that we didn't move on Friday night (we owe a HUGE "Thank You" to a couple of our dear friends). I was making a meal for a friend who had a sweet baby boy, we wanted to go see another friend whose husband was in the hospital and we had to get all of our clothing and belongings over to my parents house where we'll be living for the next week or so, it was quite a full afternoon. I'm happy to report that our floors have been ripped out, tile is being laid as I speak and the first coat of stain is going down on the hardwoods...I do believe it's going to be worth all the effort!

I was reminded in the midst of the frenzy that God's mercies are truly new every morning, when I got to see His promise in the rainbow that peeked out from behind the rain clouds. I am so grateful for God's gracious-ness on me and His strength that is made perfect in my many weaknesses.


Happy Wednesday!

Weekend In Pictures

This past week I began an online photography class, aimed at capturing the day to day, everyday moments. I have been wanting to take this course for quite some time, Ashley Ann, from the blog Under the Sycamore, only offers the class a couple times a year and it's very popular so getting in is tough because it's on a "first come first serve" basis. The last time she offered the class the spaces filled up in 15 minutes, but thankfully, with my Mom's help, I was able to get into the current class with no problem. The day that sign up started, I actually had a meeting at Peyton's school at the exact time that the signup began so I asked my Mom to get online and do it for me. I owe her a big "Thank You" for helping me out!

I have had a DSLR camera now for almost 3 years, but honestly I have been extremely intimidated to get off of Automatic and into Manual Mode, but I am hoping to get over my "fear" and begin learning how to capture the precious moments that I get to be apart of each day. So here goes, here's a little bit of what I've captured so far.

We love to paint at the kitchen table...



No matter whether it's actually ON the paper or some other body part!



Then there's the everyday necessity of emptying the dishwasher (keeping Ava Jane off the door has become quite a feat!)




She is SUCH.A.HAPPY.GIRL!


Friday Adam took off of work and we kept Peyton home just for fun! We took the kids to the Children's Museum downtown and I must say that was quite a trip in the POURING DOWN RAIN, trying to get from the parking deck inside the building! You'll have to take notice of all the kids rain soaked clothes in these pics.







For lunch we ate at All Aboard, which was a huge hit as always! The boys were enamored by the train delivery system.



Ava Jane couldn't take her eyes off her crazy brother!



Then there was the jumping on the trampoline...


And of course, there's always something dramatic...so why not a bloody lip? But he's still jumping, no need for ice!



There was some outdoor play so I practiced with the lighting while the sun was setting...




She's learning to wrestle.


Showing me his busted lip. (He's in desperate need of a haircut, gotta get that done this week!)


She sat watching the three "crazies".



And Grammy got some lovin'!


We capped off our weekend with a bike ride/run on Sunday evening around Pleasant Valley.





Tying his shoes tight so he can run faster.


And this poor thing was screaming to get out and run too...so we finally gave in to the pitiful-ness of this little guy!


Sunday evening was perfect, the weather has been beautiful and more fall like than ever, oh how I do love the seasonal changes!


My dear sweet husband pushed the jogger stroller with Ava Jane while also carrying Lawson's bike so that the boys could run and I could try and practice taking pictures...he's a DEFINITE KEEPER! Love you Ad!




There was a little bit of creek time and rock throwing of course. I'm trying to learn how to "freeze" the picture, as you can see from the "splash", I'm starting to get the hang of it which feels good after all my hours of frustration this past week as I've been learning more about my camera!




I am having fun trying new things and learning how to adjust the different settings, I still have so much to learn, but I'm enjoying the class! Hope y'all had a good weekend, happy Monday!