Family Fun!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We spent the first couple of days with my parents and had a great time. However, we didn't get any pictures of Turkey or our whole family. We did get a cute picture of our 'little turkey' being ever so cute in some crazy wig his nana had :)

My sister and her three boys came over later in the afternoon on Thursday. They LOVE Clint so they all had a great time hanging out. Heather's birthday was saturday so we celebrated friday night? Not sure why we didn't wait... I think her boys were so excited they couldn't wait~sweet. We love them to pieces!
Saturday we spent the day in Clarksville and had a great time with Clint's family. This is Grandpa Nadeau and our extremely handsome little one.
Playing in Grandpa's yard and having a blast!
Uncle Lee and Aslan had so much fun chasing each other down the hall. Who needs toys with Uncle Lee around!

More Attention Please!!!!

I was just looking over our little family blog and realizing how utterly boring I've been over the past few weeks to write nothing! I am so sorry to the few who like to look regularly and comment (which lets me know people actually do read this).  But soon after my last entry, my son started acting horrendous... and this is entirely out of character for my sweet boy. So after about two days of this insanity, reading numerous child rearing books, being head-butted by my child, and a whole lot of complaining to Martha~it finally dawned on me what 'alien' had taken over my child. The common child 'alien' of "More Attention Please!!!"

 I have been sick for almost 5 months and have not exactly been altogether with it in regards to my usual duties and joys of caring for my son and home. So I decided that I needed to put some unnecessary things aside and play with my son. And that is exactly what I did, and within 24 hours my loving and affectionate son returned and life was good again. We played on the floor with his toys, danced and stomped around the apartment, blew so many bubbles that his carpet was soaking wet and went to the park. 

Any one that knows me knows that I am not so much a neat freak and that on any given day my house is most likely to be strewn with a million different toys and other various items my son has pulled from some remote place in our apartment. I struggle with the balance of homemaker and mommy. Perhaps the best advice I have ever gotten was from my Granny Bea who told me that this was not the time to be overly stressed about my home looking exactly the way I want, that soon my children would be grown and no longer wanting toys and other such toddler things. She was so right! The time has already gone by so fast and Aslan will be two in 3.5 months :( So here I've been for the past few weeks, relishing in my sons toddlerhood and having a blast stomping and dancing and blowing bubbles.  

I'm thankful he is grouchy when left to himself for too long because I fear I might have carried on and missed such fun times that will no doubt creep back into consciousness in the most inopportune times... like when he learns to drive a car, graduates or gets married. He just steals my heart and usually, even when he's grouchy, slays me with his precious face. I hope he can always say that while his mom may not have been the very best housekeeper, that he never had any doubt that I was crazy about him and would drop just about anything to blow bubbles and dance around. So I will continue to strive for a balance in housekeeping :( and mommyhood, but I hope I never get too busy to remember that one day my precious little boy won't be blowing bubbles anymore and may very well be going places I can't follow. One day my little dancer-singer will hopefully be a mighty warrior for the cause of Christ, so can you blame me for choosing the bubbles over the dishes?

17 Weeks Already!!

 Today was my 17 week check-up. My precious doctor whom I love is out on 6 week maternity leave so I saw a different doctor :(  I did not love her. It made me very thankful for the friendly and genuine disposition of my physician. But we heard that precious baby, which was so sweet. Just a few more weeks and we will find out whether it's a boy or a girl! 

The Pumpkin Patch

Our Little Lion

Yesterday our sweet little family went to a pumpkin patch to enjoy the fall holidays. Aslan was the cutest little lion I have ever seen. However, a bit of a grumpy and uncooperative little lion. And after we saw how expensive the pumpkins were, mom and dad felt a little grumpy and uncooperative too. But we still managed to get some great pictures and left with the smallest pumpkin for 2$. 

In hope against hope, he believed...Romans 4:18

One of the hardest things we have done as a young married couple has been moving to Louisville. It has been one overwhelming trial after another. It has been a storm like no other that we have encountered together. There have been such intense swells of difficulty that I felt we were surely drowning. At the moments when I thought I simply couldn't breathe under the weight of it, His glorious hand would reach me... He makes me cry. He refreshes my soul by His thoughtfulness and at the same time breaks me with His tenderness. He has used the most faithful people to renew us~ my parents, my mom, my aunt, my grandparents, sj. Without His touch on their hearts, and without their obedient faithfulness I dare not think about how the past few months would have been. They are all reminders of God's love and faithfulness to our family.

Through this intense time of trial, we have grown so much~ Glory to God. And yet, we are keenly aware that we have so much more to learn. Before we moved, the Lord presented me with a tough question. "Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" to which, in all my superficiality, I responded...honestly I might add, "I think not." And I was embarassed before Him to realize that, while these are important things, they consumed me. So here we are, some time later, and we can't afford groceries and we can't afford clothes for my growing body or even to replace Clint's tatered, torn work shoes. And do you know, that in the midst of all of this, I feel more at peace than I ever have. Now this is not to be confused with the fact that there are still times that I am afraid. But I choose to trust.

This morning I sat down, and asked Jesus to speak to me. I really wanted Him to tell me how it turns out. He has done that before with situations... but He chose not to give those answers. Instead, this is what He spoke to me through His Word, "Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" to which, in my weathered and bare state, I responded, "I think so." This is why He leaves me breathless. I didn't go searching for that, He brought it to me so bold and strong. And He said, as He has so many times before, "In hope against hope, he believed... will you?"

"Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace,
Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonet sung by flaming tongues above,
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my ebeneezer, hither by thy help I've come.
And I hope by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wondering from the fold of God.
Oh He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood.

Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be.
And let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wonder Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."