Then there were three....

If we ever wanted to "test drive" the experience of having 3 children, this was the weekend! Noah (our nephew) has been with us since Wednesday night and will leave tomorrow night. And it's been a blast. We had purposely kept the calendar clear so we could truly have a family time weekend and I'm so glad we did. We had a lot of outside playtime due to the beautiful weather, and today we enjoyed a trip to the zoo and ate dinner downtown at the Spaghetti Factory (picture is in front of their trolley).

I didn't find having 3 kids much more difficult, just louder. Noah is a such an easy going guy and so well behaved. He communicates so well and is not intimidated by his older cousins at all. And let me say, he ate almost everything I put in front of him. He must have inherited his eating skills from his daddy Josh. I hope we haven't worn him out too much and he'll want to come back. Daniel was crying tonight because he knows Noah is leaving tomorrow. So I guess we'll just have to arrange another extended stay soon!

The Wesley Shrug

I mentioned this "shrug" expression a few posts ago.... I get this from Wesley all the time when I ask him a question!!

Marriage: At the 10 year mark, doing well.

I remember when we got married, we received a lot of great advice. Of course, I don't remember most of it. I do remember lots of people saying, "it gets better and better as the years go by". I remember thinking, it can't get any better than right now- we've just gotten married. Well, it turns out they were right, it does get better.

I never tire of hearing talks on marriage. I am glad Dave likes to hear them too. Our church has a great emphasis on marriage, since most of the pastors were on staff at one time with Family Life. They recently did a whole weekend retreat for community group leaders and the emphasis was on marriage. The speakers were Cindy and Michael Easley, who are new to our church but very seasoned marriage speakers. Here were some of the things said which stuck with me (in no particular order, the talks were much more structured, these are just random thoughts):

1- Christian education is the constant re-education of the same principles (because of our tendency to drift away from the Bible towards liberalism).

2- The Bible begins and ends with a wedding.

3- Our discontentment in marriage has nothing to do with our partner, it has to do with our view of God.

4- Nurture of your marriage relationship should be like a hobby in and of itself.

5- Be confident God is working through you (as you minister to others in community group).

There were several take aways from this weekend. One for me was I can feel great about wanting to spend as much time as I want on my marriage. We are excited to have our date nights (maybe because it's so challenging to schedule them), we are going to attend the Family Life conference at the end of March (our last one was 11 years ago), and we are really looking forward to our 10th anniversary cruise in April where we will be alone without kids for a very long time.

Cindy also spoke on submission to the CG wives that weekend. She has written a book, "What's Submission Got To Do With It?" which is next up on my stack of books. She also spoke today at my moms group and urged us all in faithfulness to our tasks, our marriage and to God. All good stuff and much needed at this time. I love how the Lord is faithful to us so we can understand how to stay faithful in our calling as well.

Cute things

I've been a horrible blogger lately. I think I go in spurts with my ideas and writing. I do the same with taking pictures and video. Hopefully our kids won't notice too many gaps in their childhood history later on. Here's a little bit about what they are like these days:

Daniel is becoming more creative and independent. He still struggles with shyness, but he is taking more initiative in social situations. His teachers at school say he is obedient and tries very hard at everything. He has asked about Jesus coming to live in his heart. He also wants to know why dogs die, where the water goes when he flushes, and why dinosaurs couldn't fit on Noah's ark. He will try any food we put in front of him, which is such a blessing (and makes mommy feel good about her cooking). Our biggest issue with him is his unhappiness with his brother getting in the way of his plans.

Wesley is talking in long sentences. Sometimes I have to break up what he is saying and repeat it back in 2 or 3 word phrases. He sings songs by heart and can recite some of our favorite books. He has a great "shrug" expression with his shoulders and face. My nickname for Wesley is "junk food baby". Unfortunately he craves all things unhealthy and asks for them often. One night we were at Cracker Barrel and the waitress was taking our drink order and he yelled, "Chicken and fries!". Another morning I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he said "Chocolate!". He is not afraid to take what he wants in any situation and he gravitates toward older kids in social situations. I'm a little scared about taking him to the pool this summer!

We've decided to hold off until summer for sports, because the schedule is already so full right now. This summer Daniel will take swim lessons and we are considering golf, martial arts, and then possibly soccer in the fall. Daniel will not start school until 2010, so I have another year at home with him to work on Pre-K concepts. And I'm sure all of next year will go by in the blink of an eye, just like the last few months have.

January- February Pictures

January- February

I just downloaded pictures for the first time since Christmas! I know, I'm way behind in the documentation department!

Here are some of my favorite highlights of the last two months:

• Having lunch with my dear childhood friend Angie Barham and her kids (she homeschools)
• Going to Atlanta with Kim Blair and Ethan and staying with the Stewarts (thanks, John & Tara, for hosting us!). They even had a birthday cake for me!
• Dinner and a movie for my birthday (thanks, Josh & Carolyn, for babysitting!)
• Family Valentine's dessert date at Baskin Robbins/Dunkin' Donuts
  
• Community Leader Marriage retreat with Michael and Cindy Easely (I'll have to write more about that later).
• Trips to the zoo, the downtown Nashville library (puppet show), birthday parties, and a girls night out at PF Changs.
  
• A visit from Janie Farwell, an old roommate and friend from NC
• A visit from Grandma and Grandpa Stewart this past weekend
  
• A fun Moms Together "no agenda" retreat at Deer Run

Pictures to follow in the next post!!