Some of the latest comments from my sweet Brady:

• every time he sees a cross now - since learning about Easter - he says "look, Mommy, there is the cross where Jesus died."
• we practiced riding his bike in front of our house the other day and he gets real nervous thinking he is going to fall, even though he, of course, has training wheels on.  I was trying to encourage him by telling him how to pedal and I said: "See bud, you are doing it...that is great.  When you know how to pedal and ride you can go wherever you want....you have the freedom to ride, to go...isn't that cool.?"  He said: "Yeah, Mommy, I am going to ride to the beach."  I LOVE it, a man after my own heart!
• after doing my usual tasks around the house with my dear boys...Brady looks at me and says: "Mommy  you are doing a great job.  You are my best Mommy."
• praying before his snack yesterday after school, unprompted, he says: "Thank you Jesus for my day.  Thank you for our blessings.  Thank you for my snack.  Thank you for dying on the cross for me."  PRECIOUS!!!
• Tonight at dinner when Brady was playing with his fork I said: "Brady put your fork down please." with a bit of an annoyed voice (this is something that has to be said OFTEN).  He said: "Mommy I need it.  Stop being grumpy, Mommy" without even skipping a beat or being funny.  Chris and I had to hide our faces to not laugh in front of him.

LOVE this boy!!

Easter Blessings

Easter is amazing to me.  I mean I LOVE Christmas...who doesn't?  How could you not?  The season is joyous, magical, festive, and just plain fun!  The reality of Easter is tough...thinking about what Christ endured - what HIS Father, our Father endured on GOOD Friday for US ME is phenomenal...absolutely phenomenal!    What Christ did on Easter Sunday for is nothing short of miraculous...I mean who else do you know that has risen from the dead?  Me....no one, just Jesus....just the son of GOD, just the Savior of the world, just MY Savior....Really??? "just"?  "just" doesn't cut it...."just" indicates "justice" and where is there justice when you consider all that Christ endured...blameless, HE who was without sin?

This Easter season while we had fun with Brady with all the parties, festivities, crafts, egg hunts, etc. I really wanted to focus on what Easter is....what this day represents.  I had a hard time with the wording...it is not pretty what our LORD suffered through...there is nothing romantic, magical, or mystical about being flogged, beaten, or crucified.  Explaining this to a 3-year-old is tough...you question yourself as to the extent of the details, the depth, how honest....but again, I don't want to romanticize it.  We had a few conversations come up as we discussed the fact that Easter was approaching. 

• Brady - "I don't want Jesus to die"
• Brady - "He came back to life?"  "When I die will I come back to life?"
• Brady - "Why did Jesus have to die?"
• Brady - "Jesus is in heaven?  I thought Jesus was in our hearts?"

Then we had a cool dialogue after Brady came home one day from preschool the week of Easter.  He told me the story of Easter.  "Mommy the bad mans killed Jesus and put a crown of thorns on his head.  This gave him a boo boo and he had circle boo boos on his hands.  They hurt him Mommy and it was very sad then they put him on a cross and he died.  The good guys rolled away the rock in front of the cave and he wasn't there, Mommy.  His friends couldn't find him because he rose from the dead....Jesus rose from the dead!"  I was so impressed by his knowledge and his retelling of what he learned from Mrs. Janey (who was thrilled to hear that he retained it and it made sense) and the toddler picture Bible that she used.  This led to great conversation in which we talked about Jesus, sin, inviting Christ into our hearts - in which he clearly stated "I have invited Jesus into my heart, Mommy" - I am not sure he is quite capable of truly understanding that yet so we will continue to have this open communication, prayer time, Church, and his Bible teaching in school, of course.  That is something only Christ will truly know.  Perhaps my prayer of Brady coming to a saving knowledge of Christ at an early age will come to be...perhaps sooner than I ever imagined. 

It is not enough to say Thank you, Lord, but without any other words - Thank you!!!

I DID IT!!

I ran a half marathon.......13.1 miles!!! It was hard as h#!! but I did it!!! I committed to this back in November and after a long 3 1/2 months or so on Sunday, May 7th I did it....completed a half marathon.  The training did not go as I would have liked....bad weather, no treadmill, injuries, illnesses, breastfeeding, work, nap schedules, husband's work schedule, preschool schedule, not having the schedule match-up with anyone to have a steady partner, etc....but I did it!!!  Did I mention that I did it???  I am still in shock at times!

It was a great location...Seaside, FL....GORGEOUS!!! A pretty flat terrain...perfect time of year for Florida...early March...perfect sponsors....Vera Bradley and Jim 'N Nick's BBQ......the best ladies anyone could ask to do this with and enjoy a weekend at the beach with:

Deana, Kerry, Brittney, Leah, Christine, & Dara.........love these girls!!!  I would have NEVER done this without them!

Sweet Brittney....a collegiate cross-country runner who encouraged me all along and came WAY down to my level to do this with me and, figuratively speaking, "carried me across the finish line" (although not long past mile 10 I thought she might have to literally carry me across).  What a GREAT girl, wonderful cousin, and - more importantly - fabulous friend!!!  Love her!!

Did I mention it was at Seaside, FL....the GORGEOUS beach!

We finally did it!

After 4 years, Chris and I finally went away over night by ourselves and it was MAGICAL!!! We attempted this a couple of times since Brady was born but life kept getting in the way....moves, lay-offs, pregnancies, breast-feeding, money, you name it!  I surprised Chris for Valentine's Day weekend by booking the perfect bed and breakfast...The Forsyth Park Inn in Savannah, GA.  We stayed there once...before we became parents and absolutely loved it and, of course, Savannah is one of the greatest cities in the country!  I arranged for the boys to be with Chris' parents.  I talked to his boss in advance for him to have Friday, February 12th off and I kept it all a secret.  He had no idea.  The Tuesday before I told him that we were heading to his folks on Thursday to spend the night and get the boys settled and then heading out of town for our first overnight trip without our kiddos on Friday morning.  He was definitely surprised!  We had so much fun....yummy food, great atmosphere (it even snowed on Friday night...first time in Savannah in 14 years), beautiful accomodations, relaxation, and PERFECT COMPANY!  I hope and pray it does not take another 4 years to go on a fabulous getaway with my man!

The best Valentine's Day EVER!!!

Some things that I want to always remember...

My sweet Brady always amazes me with the things that he says and does. These are a few of the recent ones that I do not want to forget...

• a week or so ago, Evan was fussing in his car seat waiting for us to head out the door to Brady's school. I turn around from inside the kitchen to see and hear Brady leaning over him, praying for him. I almost cried! After Brady said "Amen" he said, "Mommy I prayed for Evan so he is all better now" How sweet!!
• With Evan teething, he has been fussier than usual and - frustrated from constantly hearing it, I said out loud: "Oh, Evan, you keep fussing. PLEASE stop fussing!" Brady, without missing a beat...very calmly, said "Mommy, he is a baby, babies fuss. That is what they do." So wise!
• After getting Brady up from his nap, I told him that I was tired.  He asked me why I was tired so I told him because I had stayed up too late the night before.  All groggy and sleepy-eyed, he says "Mommy that is what grown-ups do, they stay up late.  They just do."  I said "Oh really, they do?"  Brady - "Yes, Mommy; they do.  Grown-ups stay up late and kids go to bed early."
• Always encouraging, my sweet Brady Mac always has an encouraging word for me...some of my favorites lately...."Mommy, have I told you lately that I am proud of you.  You are doing a good job, Mommy.  You are doing good work as a Mommy." and another...."You rock it out, girl!"
• Brady and Evan have quite a bond.  Ever since Evan has come home I do not think Brady has ever wanted - not even for one second - to have Evan somewhere different from him nor he somewhere without Evan...even in one of his most yucky moods, phases, etc....these have never been directed toward Evan.  A couple of weeks back, when we were in Atlanta visiting family, Pop Pop & MiMi were discussing having Evan stay at their house with them, without missing a beat Brady said "No, he can't stay here.  He has to go home with me, he's my baby brother."

Sweet & Sour

My sweet Brady is being so sour!!!!!!!!! It amazes me how complex a 3 1/2 year old can be. One minute he can be the sweetest child I have ever met and then the very next minute he can be so ugly....whew!! I guess this is all part of growing up but it sure is EXHAUSTING!!! As a mother there has been a lot of teachable moments lately...

trying to encourage the sweetness while discouraging and disciplining the sourness! I LOVE you, Brady, even when you are being sour!

GREEDY, GREEDY GIRL!!!

This past Tuesday it hit me......a major conviction...I am a GREEDY, GREEDY girl!! I have known that $$$ was an issue for me for quite some time...not in the typical way...I don't LOVE it, in fact, I think I actually may despise it. I despise it so much that I don't want to stress about it, fight over it, owe any of it, or focus on it. Therefore, I have always tried to make decisions that would, hopefully, keep the above from happening. I would rather make less money, have less money, etc. if I have a plan and can manage the little that I have rather than having lots of money and lots of debt, stress, burden, LOVE of the green stuff that can happen. What is wrong with this??? How does that make me GREEDY if I don't really even want much of the green stuff?!?!

Webster defines greed as having or showing a selfish desire for wealth and possessions. It doesn't say "a lot of". It is not about the amount. It is all about the desire of my heart and if that desire is for my own benefit, my family's benefit, my peace of mind, my easier life, anything me-focused then it is greed and greed is sin!!

I am GREEDY because I am always focused on how I can save money, how I can make more money, how I can sell something.... focused, focused, focused on MONEY....one way or another I am focused on MONEY and it's affect on MY life!!!! This is GREED because it is all about I, my, and me!!! My focus should be on GOD, you, and them!

As I work to be a good steward of all I have been blessed with...I need to remember the why, the drive, the focus......stop looking inward and start looking outward....start looking at HIM...the one - and only - who never thought of HIMSELF as HE stretched out HIS arms and laid down HIS life for little old, selfish, sinful me!!