Summer, part 2

(see part 1 in the post below)

We got to visit with Harper's favorite tiger...

Celebrated the 4th in soggy, rainy weather. We made the best of it, though, and went for a rainy day boat ride...Harper is all ready in her too big rain jacket!

Harper and her Nonnie on the boat ready for a ride!

                                      

 Harper's class at school this summer made this cute shirt! 

Harper and her sweet cousins cheesin' it up on the 4th!

It stopped raining long enough for us to see the fireworks from the boat!

 Harper got to go on her first jet ski ride!

 And went down her first water slide (reluctantly, as you can see!). She cracked me up holding on for dear life. She ended up enjoying it but it was much steeper once you get up there than it seemed from the ladder.

 She got to "hit" her first pinata (they have pull strings now so you don't have to give kids a bat to swing around...who knew?).

                  First haircut!                                                          

First day of preschool in her "big class"

Time at the lake with Jason's fam. Harper loves her cousins!

 Second jet ski ride!

 Summer sunset...

It has been a glorious summer full of lots of fun, family time, and lots of firsts, too! When I was pregnant with Harper Jason and I talked about getting to see the world new through our child's eyes. Nearly three years later it continues to amaze me to get to experience life in a new way with her!

Summer, part 1

With the start of football season (so sad about my 'Dores but what a great game) I feel like I can declare that summer is officially over and fall is here. Even though "technically" it is still summer and it is hotter than it has been all summer right now. Anyway, I thought I'd share through pictures what we've been up to this summer. We've been  busy so I'll split this into two posts.

"All in all, it was a never to be forgotten summer- one of those summers which comes seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going- one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends, and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world." -Lucy Maude Montgomery

We spent time canoeing and roasting marshmallows to send off this girl...

 ...who is serving God in Honduras right now! See her blog here.

 Hung out with "Aunt Meghan" and went to the Georgia Aquarium with my family.

 Celebrated my 25th birthday! (haha, if only...)

 Spent an entire week at the beach! Harper built plenty of sandcastles...

 Went on boat rides, saw dolphins in the water...

 Built more sandcastles...

 Made the best of rainy beach weather by shopping...

Went "scuba diving" and found all sounds of cool marine animals...

 And made up songs. This is a Harper original. The lyrics are: "Seahorses, seahorses, they are so silly, they are so silly!"

A blog post about a blog

Someday I am going to write a blog about all the crazy things I see on my drive from Auburn to Columbus every day. I will have plenty of guest bloggers (aka coworkers) that could contribute! Here are some ideas for blog posts that I have already come up with:

1) Crazy bumper stickers (i.e. "There's a baby up in this b*#$^" instead of the normal "baby on board")

2) Wildlife (including a dead bear on the side of the road)

3) Accident's I've witnessed (scary scary stretch of road)

4) Redneck happenings (I drive from Columbus, GA through Phenix City, Smiths Station, and Salem Alabama....need I say more?)

5) Bad drivers (see #3)

6) Hoopties (saw a beat up, rusty old van yesterday that said "Bingo mom, Bingo is my other job" on it. Apparently 'Bingo' doesn't pay that well...)

Anyone have any suggestions for titles for this blog? I supposed I'll never have time to write it since I spend so much time driving to and from work...

Bye bye jungle!

I wanted to title this post "Welcome to the Jungle" but blogger wouldn't let me do strikethrough text in the title. Anyway, I think the last time I posted on our yard was October of 2011, 5 months after we moved it. This Sunday marked our two year "house anniversary" and boy have we been working hard on the front yard the last month or so. To look at the 'after' pictures you'd think we were done. I'd say these are not really 'after' but more like in progress. Jason and I guess we're probably between 75%(his guess) to 85% (my guess) done so let's split the difference and say the front yard is 80% complete.  Here is the 'before' picture from October 2011. I tried to add arrows but instead you get numbers. Here is what we have done so far.
1 & 2: taken out those awful junipers and replaced them with grass. Junipers in your yard are of the devil. Their limbs reach out and grab you and scratch you. No joke. Anyway, now my sweet HG has a yard to play in.
3 & 4: took out the evil privet hedges along either side of the yard which walled us off from our neighbors (whom we like) and made the yard look much much smaller. Plus privet is a non-native, invasive species that all three of us happen to be allergic to. Good riddance!
5: took out the overgrown Indian Hawthorns (and one random boxwood) and replaced them with knockout roses. Now burglars and cockroaches can't hide in the overgrown bushes next to the house (seriously, in our home inspection they listed getting rid of those or cutting them way back).

Ta da! Isn't that better? 

I don't post this to get you guys to give us a pat on the back (though it couldn't hurt, right?) but more to encourage us to keep going! We still have two more bushes to remove (one is right up next to the house and the other is right behind Harper's head in this picture), some MORE bushes to trim (I just trimmed the azaleas and pruned the snowball bush way back...camellias are next!) and I plan on repainting the shutters and the front door (which doesn't really count as yard stuff, but still). When we bought the house we loved the yard but I still remember when we were standing in the front yard trying to figure out if we wanted to make an offer saying "I'll get rid of these bushes and trim this and....". So we knew we were in for a lot of work. We love having so many mature plants but a lot of the yard just hadn't been cared for in some time before we bought it. I call it my secret garden and I do feel like Mary from that book! We are making the yard come alive and making it functional for our family!

 Have you guys done any major yard work lately? Anyone need a pile of brush for a bon fire? 

Harperisms 2013 2.0

I love kids. I always have. I love working with kids and hearing the hilarious things they say or do. I love being a mom and laughing out loud at the hilarious things Harper says, which of course, are the MOST hilarious things ever! Here is another sampling of Harperisms, from February, March, and April!

*I need some shoes on...like my black shoes or my blue shoes or my brown shoes or my red shoes....
      (I have no clue where this girl gets her love for shoes!)

* Me: "Peeee yoooo Toby!" (after Toby had passed gas)
   Harper: "No, he not bad. He stinks!"

*I love getting the chance to debate my two year old! Like when Harper is saying a friend's name wrong:
   (PS- Not actually posting the little boy's full name because I didn't ask his mom for permission!)
   Me: "His name is John E....."
   Harper: "No, John B...."
   Me: "John E...!"
   Harper: "No Mom, it actually John B.... say it John B.."
        Clearly at two she knows better......

*On the way home riding in the car:
  HG: "Which sticker you want Mommy? "
  I see a purple sticker in the rearview mirror so I say "The purple heart"
  HG: "No, you want the green heart".
  Me: "okay" (clearly we have already established attempting to argue with the 2 year old is futile)
  HG: "I no have a green heart sticker!"
               !!!!!
*"Hatapillar" (we love that she says caterpillar this way!)

* Harper had been playing with some pretend money and was passing it out to Jason and I.
   Jason: "Harper, I have some money for you."
   HG: "I have my OWN money!"
              If only she'll say this at 16!
*"That yucky. Restaurant is dirty. You NO touch wall. You hear me? Mommy? You no touch wall in bathroom. You get germs!"
    (I love this because it a) shows how I am slowly making my child OCD and b) she never follows her own advice! What is it about public restrooms that make them so attractive to kids to touch every surface?!?!?

Seasons

We all go through seasons in life...no, I am not talking about weather based seasons. Since January the 'season' that I have been in has been one of refinement and growth. When I became a Christian I thought that from that day on I would have things figured out. I never thought my life would be perfect or easy but I thought my walk with God would be a smooth one, one that progressed in a gradual up-hill rather than up and down. Well, that's not the road I've been on. I don't think it's a road most people take. When reflecting on my relationship with Christ I always think that if I treated a spouse, friend, family member, etc. the way I treat my relationship with Jesus, our relationship would probably be irreparably broken. But this is the beauty of the gospel. God loves me. That period is important. There are no conditional statements that follow. He loves me. He loves you! Even in my darkest places, even when I put everything else first, even when my faith is just a checklist of things I think I should do, He loves me. Right where I am.
With Mother's Day fast approaching I have been thinking about parental love. Harper has started asking us (usually when she has gotten in trouble) "You still love me?". It breaks my heart to hear her ask, as if her having an accident before she gets to the potty would ever change my love for her. We've started telling her "yes, of course we love you. No. Matter. What.". And in thinking on this I realize that being a parent gives me a tiny glimpse of how God loves us. I am not perfect. I fall short of the glory of God daily constantly, but my success or failure is not what God uses to measure His love for me.  He loves us. NO MATTER WHAT.

As you celebrate Mother's Day this weekend keep this in mind. I will strive to live life in such a way that God's grace and love overflow onto others. I will not let God's unconditional, unfathomable love be an excuse to do things that I know are not His will or do not advance His kingdom. But I will live in the mindset that my shortcomings are just an amazing reminder that, even with my flaws, I am loved.

Top Ten list...

So the month of May is a very fun month for me: Mother's Day, our anniversary (8 years!), and rounded out by my birthday, plus sprinkle in the birthdays of some fabulous friends and one fabulous sister in law and it is a month of celebration! Anyway, with so many gift getting opportunities happening in one month what would a girl ask for? Jewelry? The traditional 8th anniversary wedding gift of bronze (!?!?)? No. What I would like is an iPhone. And my 'sweet' husband keeps asking me reasons why an iPhone would be helpful in my life. Notice I didn't say reasons why I NEED an iPhone. Let's face it, I've functioned for 30+ years sans iPhone with no trouble. So I really don't need an iPhone. I just want one. Jason (who ironically has an iPhone 5) joked that I should make a blog called "reasons I want an iPhone" because I keep texting/calling him with reasons. So here goes.
10) Next time I am in a strange city and my gas gauge says 'E' I can find a gas station without having to stop and ask random strangers for directions (this has seriously happened...possibly more than once!)
9) I will be able to look up directions/alternate routes when I am in unfamiliar areas or when I am stuck in traffic without having to pull over and consult a map (or a random stranger, see #10)
8) It would be a great help to be able to use Siri for reminders..I often think of things to add to the 'to do' list on my hour long commute but forget them by the time I get home. Or really to use Siri for anything so I can be 'hands free' and be a safe driver since I spend so much time in the car.
7) Having email contacts available on my phone would be an awesome help for meetings, etc.
6) Being able to have a back up form of entertainment for Harper while we wait at a doctor's office, etc. would be lovely (usually she tires of my books and songs and drawings if we wait longer than 30 minutes)
5) All the helpful Apps available...like Angry Birds and Awkward Family Photo ;-) Just kidding! There really are amazing apps that would help with work, life, etc.
4) I would be able to capture important moments on video (which I am unable to do on my current phone)
3) I would love to be able to listen to my iTunes music while I run (and not have to use ye old walkman since my iPod is broken and I am unable to run without music)
2) It would be helpful in case of an emergency to have my phone with me while I run (since, of course, I'll have it hooked to my ears while I listen to my iTunes).
And the number one reason I would love to have an iPhone is......
1) My sister in law has called my phone a 'Zac Morris phone' (if you don't get this reference, see this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBWneSL5MWI ).

But seriously, hopefully you see this as the funny list it is. I do not covet an iPhone and certainly don't NEED it to make my life better or to keep up with the Jones...though my notoriously anti-tech mom has one. I am fine with my dinky phone but if a certain husband was looking for a certain gift for his very deserving wife....I might know of a thing or two! ;-)