Monday, July 25, 2011

can't trust that day


it wasn't quite an ordinary monday.

most mondays we usually stay home, bake bread, and do laundry.

THIS monday, cousins were in town, so we went and played at a neat indoor play area!

then when we came home, a package was waiting on the porch for moi..


a blogger friend and i did a clothing swap last week, and it was fun to get "new" clothes in the mail!


and tonight's menu? a pasta dish with turkey sausage, fresh peppers and quinoa pasta.

yum.


weekend peeks

mexican food

a favorite park

getting wiggles out

bluegill and carp

long drives just to drool over pretty old houses

self-explanatory :)

Friday, July 22, 2011

'round we go

it's not easy


this toddler stage has a lot of good points. i love being able to carry a conversation with my little girl. the things she says, thinks and imagines keep us constantly amused (and constantly concerned with how careful we need to be with what we say and do around her! she's a sponge!)

this toddler stage has also had its fair share of challenges. (so funny how i fool myself into thinking, "ok, the next stage will be so much easier than the present one" only to find that you just swap an old set of challenges for a new set. oh, and yeah...usually the new set is much more challenging.)

we have entered the land of temper tantrums, of disobedience, of hitting and kicking, and all sorts of terrors. just writing that makes me feel guilty. i'm constantly yelling at myself internally "you must have done something wrong along the way, to be dealing with this behavior in your child! failure!" i'm learning that this attitude doesn't do much to help matters.

i am having to learn a whole different kind of patience that i have never known before. patience that can only come from the Lord. and i'm having to learn to give myself and my family over to Him - daily. i'm constantly coming before the Lord saying, "You know what? i'm just not strong enough to handle this child. i can't do it." and lately, the answer i've been receiving is "of course you can't." and i remember the simple truth that we can't do anything good of our own flesh, but only by dying to ourselves and allowing Christ to live through us every minute.

and i'm learning, it's very easy to recognize and know that God's word is true, and quite another to put it to practice in your heart. but i'm trying, and learning. every day.

Monday, July 18, 2011

our own pool!


and it's a perfect week for it, too. high 90's all week. :(

Saturday, July 16, 2011

just around town

this week, we got to do a little shopping at our favorite store ever..


and we got to go to daddy's favorite store ever [lowe's] to look at paint chips and carpet samples for our little renovation project we've got going on upstairs..


and we've spent looooots of time at various parks. 'cause this little girl has too much energy.



Friday, July 15, 2011

"vintage" children's books


one of my homeschooling-mom friends was getting rid of some old books and homeschool supplies, and invited me to come look at the goods and take my pick. among some other little treasures, i grabbed up these cute vintage-y children's books...







i'm smitten with the illustrations - especially the ones with the 1960's style color palettes.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

evenings at the park





since coming home from nc, i have had the worst time motivating myself to get on the treadmill. just seems too boring. so we've been going on long walks at a nearby park in the evenings. last night we did 2 miles at a brisk pace! (yay us!)

 it feels so good to be outside, looking at pretty scenery instead of being cooped up inside staring at my living room wall. i think the fresh air does us all good.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

zucchini and coffee


we got our first fully grown zucchini off the vine yesterday. i had been eyeing a recipe in my favorite gluten free cookbook for "zucchini cake" for weeks, so i knew exactly what i wanted to do with my first zucc. :) i frosted the cake with a light cream cheese frosting, and it is deeee-vine.

speaking of all things divine...


we have fallen hard for iced coffee. we love it so much that we're making our own at home. (at least a gallon a week. i can't believe i just admitted that.) i try to justify the indulgence by making our iced coffee decaf, and i've learned to drink it with cream or milk only, no sweeteners. but it's still pretty over the top. (i love the way it looks the minute you add milk. so pretty!)

Monday, July 11, 2011

the coffee mill





olive and i went out on a coffee date with grace to a cute little cafe in an old downtown near my family's house. we loved the brick walls, quirky decor, friendly staff (and the coffee was pretty good too.)

random pictures from nc







holly made the beautiful blanket for me, for my birthday! i was so surprised!

airplane at crabtree valley mall, raleigh

Sunday, July 10, 2011

we obviously love taking pictures of ourselves in the car





these days it's starting to feel like we live more in the car than we do in our house!