Snapshots.

reading with grammie.

before.

after.

early morning reading.

down at the farm.

dress-up.

carousel ride.

grapes from the farmer's market. sooo good!

smiles.

snoozin'

aunt katie and asher.

"mama, do i match?" Haha!

lily loves the kitties.

"mama, do i look like grammie?" LOL

watching the rain.

playing in the rain.

reading.

s'more time.

sweet man.

mr. potato head.

sandbox fun.

crayfish.

sweet little cousin.

reading time with uncle joe.

playing with pom poms.

happiness.

chocolate pudding finger painting.

sweet first born son of mine.

teething boy.

Our Week/Weekend.

We had a really good week last week. I found out on Tuesday that my iron was/is low, so after getting on a mega dose of iron, I have felt like a new person! It's been amazing! Life was just feeling like a chore. I had headaches everyday and just felt lousy. Anyway, I'm just really thankful to be feeling better!

On Wednesday the kids and I went to the library and then took Pawpaw a vanilla milkshake. We were so proud of him for nearly drinking the whole thing! He seemed to be doing ok and I know he loved seeing the kids. 

We went over to my parent's for supper on Thursday night. My brother, Jer, was leaving the next morning to start seminary in another state, so it was kind of a going-away supper for him. We already miss him a ton, but we are so proud of him following God's calling on his life.

Levi sat and did this puzzle with Papaw for the longest time.

Jacob had opera rehearsals/performances all week so the kids and I were on our own in the evenings. We played outside several cooler evenings. Lily and Levi "exercised" on their balls. So funny!

On Saturday, Jacob had a rehearsal in the morning, so I took the kids to the farmer's market and to the grocery store. I was thrilled with the yummy stuff we got at the farmer's market - cantaloupe, tomatoes, okra, pears, and a aloe vera plant. I man also gave Lily and Levi apples to munch on. 

At the grocery store, we met my Mom in the produce department. She offered for Lily to shop with her for a little while. Then we met up and Levi had a turn. It was fun!

Saturday afternoon Mom kept Lily and Levi while Asher and I went with Jacob to a retirement party for the previous youth orchestra conductor (Jacob took his place as the main conductor last year). We had a great time and of course everyone loved playing with Asher. :)

Sunday was a good day! We had church and then ate dinner with Jacob's family. Jacob had to rush off to the final opera performance, but the kids and I went and visited Pawpaw for a few minutes. We couldn't stay long because it was way past nap time and we had some cranks going on, but I think Pawpaw enjoyed seeing the kids. 

The kids took really good naps and I cleaned the house. Poor Asher was fussy pretty much the whole time at evening church, and completely wore me out! My family came over to our house for supper. Jacob had a play rehearsal after the opera, so he didn't get home until 9 or so. It was around 10 when everyone left and Lily and Levi begged Jacob to read them Little Bear before bed. :)

5 months.

Asher turned 5 months on Saturday. Can't believe how fast this little man is growing!

• He still drinks about 7-7 1/2 oz of goat's milk formula every 3-4 hours and a 9 oz bottle before bed.
• He sleeps from about 8:30pm to 6:30am. He is still sleeping in the co-sleeper beside our bed. I'm hoping he will start sleeping to 7 or 7:30 soon and then he'll move to share Levi's room. Levi needs to sleep longer than 6:30am and I'm afraid if I put Asher in there now, he'll wake Levi up early in the morning.
• He weighs about 14lbs and wears 3-6 month clothes.
• He squeals and talks a ton.

• This week he's finally past the fussy phase that he was in for several weeks! This Mama is so thankful! He's happily playing in the bouncy seat, on the play mat, or on a blanket. Such a blessing!
• He loves chewing on his fingers, toes, and anything else he can manage to get to his mouth.
• He is very attentive to everything going on around him.

• He loves to look at books with mama or brother and sissy.
• He really enjoys being outside. He got his first mosquito bites this past weekend. Poor baby!
• He sweats so bad! 

We are so thankful for our sweet little man!

Thoughts.

These are just random thoughts - 

Our weekend was pretty good. We did normal stuff - grocery shopping, visiting Memaw and some out of town family, playing outside, etc. 

Levi had fun riding our uncle's tractor. I was surprised that he wasn't scared of how loud it was.

After all the planning, preparation and serving of the food for the men's conference, I've just felt wiped out. We were out of the house every day last week and most days we were out two or more times. Jacob was one of the directors of the conference, so he left around 6 each morning and got home around 11 each night. 

I am thankful for my children although they have been more than difficult today. I think everything last week has caught up with them. Hopefully nothing a little time at home and re-training won't help.

Lily and Levi beg to hold Asher. I love that they love him so much!

Last night was the first time in weeks we got to bed before midnight! Tonight should be night #2!

My sweet Memaw has fallen twice in the last two weeks. I feel so bad for her. Thankfully she remembered both times to use her LifeLine necklace so family would know to come help her. (This is monumental since most other times she's needed help, she hasn't remembered about the button on her necklace.)

Look at this hair! When it's wet, it's nearly halfway down his back! We are trying to decide whether to cut the curls or not.

"Hmm, this looks tasty. Let's give it a try."

With Jacob gone so much last week and then playing for a funeral and a wedding yesterday, I've been feeling like summer has ended and solo parenting has returned. The kids and I got a pretty good bedtime routine worked out last week, now we just have to work on the rest of the day.

I am thankful that God's grace is sufficient for my every need.

My plan this week is to catch up on cleaning, laundry, picking up, and sleep...

Desserts.

I think I mentioned about our church hosting a conference for a few days this week. We have been providing some meals each day. Anyway, I signed up to make most of the desserts. Each night after I got the kids to bed I would get to work making the desserts for the next day.

Banana Pudding for 100 people

5 pans of Brownies

15 dozen cookies

2 Strawberry Pretzel Desserts - my mom made the other 3

It's been crazy but lots of fun!

Sweet Babes.

Right now Lily is really into wearing coats, tights, and long-sleeved anything. Yes, with this heat and humidity! Crazy girl! The other day she was running around in her coat and I found her sweetly playing with Asher. It was the most precious thing to see her hugging him and talking quietly to him. She is such a good big sister. Of course, like any 2 1/2 year old, she has her moments of not being so nice to her little brothers, but we try to focus on the good times and use the bad times as training ground.

Weekend.

Levi and Lily having quiet time in their rooms. We've been doing this for just about 15 minutes in the morning during Asher's nap.

Friday afternoon we had family pictures done with my brother in law. While the kids were napping I ran out to try to find some new shoes. I found these on clearance at Cato and loved both colors. I texted this picture to Jacob to see if he could help me decide - he said he liked both too. :) I finally decided on the green ones and found a necklace that matches them perfectly.

The pictures we pretty well, although it was extremely humid and we were melting after about 10 minutes. Lily got cranky just like she did during our Fall photo shoot. I'm not sure what the deal is with that, because she doesn't act that way when we take pictures of her. Oh well, even the pictures where she's not looking or she has her arms crossed will still be memories we'll be able to look back on and laugh about.

After pictures we took my brother in law out for supper to a yummy mexican restaurant. The kids did great and we had such a good time talking! After supper we used a groupon for frozen yogurt. Yummy!

Saturday was Jacob's sister's birthday. We went out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast (we like CB if you couldn't tell. ha!) and of course I forgot to take any pictures. 

Jacob, the kids, and I headed to get groceries after breakfast. The scariest thing happened - we put the kids in the cart outside like we always do. One of the front seat straps was broken so Levi wasn't buckled in. I was holding Asher and feeding him (we left his seat in the van). We were in the produce section and I asked Jacob to pick up something and I had my back turned. Just as I turned back around, I saw Levi flipping over the handlebar of the cart and  I couldn't catch him before he hit the floor. I was so scared. He landed flat on his back. Jacob came running back over and picked Levi up. A precious lady came and took Asher from me and stood by Lily while we checked Levi. The breath got knocked out of him, but he was ok after a few seconds. His eyes were dilating and tracking ok and he could walk fine. He was extremely pale and he wouldn't talk for about 20 minutes. Jacob went and got Asher's seat so I could carry Levi. Thankfully by the time we were checking out, his color was normal and he was talking. We watched him closely the rest of the day and praise the Lord, he acted completely normal.

Sweet boy reading one of his favorite books - completely back to normal about an hour after his fall.

I did a ton of baking Saturday afternoon - chocolate oat bars, blueberry muffins, 2 batches of mini quiches (for a conference at church this coming week), 2 regular sized quiches, and chocolate meringue cookies (which obviously flopped! i think it was too humid). 

The kids and I took supper to my sister and then went to visit my mom for a little bit. When I got to Mom's, I walked around the back of the van and there was my brother holding a 6 ft long chicken snake. It was dead, but I screamed. Ha!

Sunday we spent time in God's House and visited with family. It was a long but good day.

Happy Monday!