Joseph Daniel wonderfulness

Well, my love, 33 has arrived. It looks mighty fine on you. You have been talking about this year for quite some time and it is upon us.



You know if it weren't for God's grace, I would have married a fool. I'm so incredibly grateful that God not only delivered me from my stupidity but gave me a gracious, wise, and precious husband. Sigh...



Every day is like opening a new present of your wonderfulness. Thank you for loving, leading, and shepherding our little family so well.



I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

(pics from our 5 year anniversary over night trip a few weeks ago!)

Whiplash Monday

We spent the weekend celebrating all kinds of things and it was wonderful.

One of which is my in-loves amazing accomplishments. Introducing...Dr. & (the soon to be retired after 35 years of teaching) Mrs. Robert Lee Terry....


I couldn't be prouder of all of their hard work and perseverance.

All that partying and little work equals what I affectionately call whiplash Monday.

It is one of those days that you welcome on your knees and a "happy stick" in your back pocket.

Its a laundry doin', dish washin', toy organizin', school timin', grocery shoppin', dry clean droppin', house cleanin', child trainin' and garden tendin' kind of a day.

I love what I do.

But as for that blessed garden of ours...Whew, weeds...they go viral. They are fighting to take over but we will not have it.



We came armed with sleevless shirts, a trash bag, bottle of water, and our garden gloves.

As I was pulling and pulling and pulling today, I could sense the living word stirring in my herart as I unfortunately had to pull out a couple of vegetable plants that had died. The good fruit takes so much tender care while the weeds grow without any effort.

While Isaac was diligently helping me pull the weeds, we discussed how the sin in our heart is the same. Without any effort it grows rapidly and can choke out the good fruit that is trying to grow in our heart. With each weed extracted we prayed His word over the pesky (and especially the deeply entrenched) "weeds" in our heart and left the garden again surrendered to the only one who brings forth sweet fruit.

"Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created."James 1

My Cowboys

These cowboys make this city girl's heart melt...






and make me wonder if its too late to be a cowgirl?

garden of our hearts

So I set out to watering with one of the cutest garden helpers you could ever imagine (daddy dressed her, who would have guessed? ;)

Tending the garden requires forethought, emotional energy, and physical action. It requires this kind of love every single day. I have to believe that this time spent and set aside for tending the garden is worth it, that its going to bear fruit. It seems so common sense, right?

It is so similar to the garden of our hearts, but why is it so difficult for us to believe? Why do we question or neglect time spent in God's word allowing His spirit to tend, water, and grow our the garden of our heart? When the rain falls from the sky or life's circumstances flood our day, why do we distrust the all- knowing God? When the temperatures are rising and the heat seems suffocating why do we question whether God is ever present?

It has been therapeutic being out in the garden: the practice become discipline, the plants become a lesson, and the fruit becomes a promise.

"The Lord of Heaven's armies is a wonderful teacher; He gives the farmer great wisdom." Isaiah 28 What a promise for this amateur farmer and perpetual brown thumb!

Over the weekend my grandfather gave me some of the first fruits of his garden, two yummy tomatoes. I cut it up along with some kale, cucumber, and avocado I had in my fridge then I tossed it with some balsamic vinegar, oil, and seasoning. It was a refreshing twist on the lunch salad

It too became a lesson: when we see fruit in others, it encourages us. After leaving his house with two tomatoes in hand, I skipped on over to our garden to water, tend, and de-weed.

This morning we came out to the garden to find our first fruits! We sauteed them with some mushrooms and put them on top of our salad today.

The garden of our hearts is worth cultivating today.

So much to be thankful for

To my beloved mother., you continually amaze me every day. You inspire me with your joy for life, ability to take things in stride, endless energy, beautiful countenance, and commitment to not give your opinion unless you are asked.

You give selflessly and relentlessly. I'm so honored to call you my mother on Mother's Day.

p.s. thanks for all those nights you nursed me all night b/c I would refuse to eat all day at day care ;), for putting up with my strong will, for not slapping me when I had parenting advice at the ripe age of 13, and for when I would squish your arm skin while you were trying to sleep.

(My mom is right of my sis, the bride. I love this pic of you, mom, you look so regal! )


The other day I had one of my favorite moments of motherhood. We had gone to the gym and had dropped the kids off at the nursery. They have a basketball area for the kids to play in and when we came to pick them up they were in there. Joe and I stayed in there for a little while and were playing with all the kids and goofing around. Isaac looked at one of the bigger girls and confidently said while looking at us, "They're awesome."

Oh son, we really aren't but we sure pray that you think so all the days of your life. What a joy motherhood has been. Glory to God from whom all precious gifts are from!

The other day I was in the laundry room and I heard some wrestling around in my closet, I happened to grab my camera on the way and surprised the little people.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! Wish I could have taken you all to a spa day. Maybe one day soon...

Baby girl is busy

Baby girl you are full blown entertainment these days. I love to watch you take in life with every turn. You are an absolute joy and such a God-given gift to our family.

You are really busy these days. Your walk looks more like one of those professional power walkers because you have places to go and things to take care of.

The pediatrician told me you were a little under weight and asked about what I was feeding you. What a joke! Your little tummy pokes over your pants like a pregnant lady and those thighs of yours are almost edible. You are just adorable!

You say so many things but here are a few of my favorites right now. When you first wake up, the first thing you say is, "Where's Isaac?" He, of course, is by far your favorite person on the planet but you know just how to irritate him. I try hard not to laugh when you take his toy and run. You two love to play playdoh together and you make these laughable grunting noises as you shape your playdoh just how you want it. You two also like to play chase and tackle, you both get the unstoppable giggles.

Can you believe those curls? I doubt they are here to stay but I'm enjoying every day with them.

When you want something you say "pease (please)" incessantly until I respond. We are trying to teach you to say please once and wait, but you may have taken a lesson or two from the persistent widow. You are my fruit and carb little lady. Getting you to eat meat and veggies are a little more work. Also, I must mention, you don't like kid vitamins. What child does not like those gummy things? Then, when you are done with your food, you boisterously exclaim, "ALL D!"

Your favorite animal is ducks and when you quack, you laugh every time. You really like Elmo and exclaim his name every time you want to read your Elmo books. You take your book, turn around, and wiggle your little hiney right onto any one's lap who will read to you.

You enjoy reading



But you love dancing. You have some signature moves: the one armed pump fake, the I look constipated, and the I'm so excited that I fall over.

Your favorite way to help is in the kitchen. You like to take out some of my utensils and create your own dishes alongside mommy. Not to mention, you are a big helper with the dish washer.

You are also a professional mess maker. At least 5 times a day I hear Isaac say, "Mom, Elyana is taking everysing (everything) out!" Its true. The bathroom cabinets, the bookshelves, the pots, the pans...it is constant reminding in this stage that we take one thing out at a time ;)

Here's you pointing to your hair. Its getting longer now and it makes bow-dom so much easier.

Here's you pointing to your mouth. You are getting your 15 mo. molars and poor thing you have been fussy.
When you point to your belly or your feet you insist on tickling yourself. Too cute!
Who needs a playground when you have the best kid dog e.v.e.r!?!

"Your eyes are a window to all my childhood dreams." - Watermark

We love you, Ely belly!