The First Review...

After deciding a couple months back to stopping fooling myself into thinking that "I didn't have time to read a book", and to actually use the bits and pieces of time I found throughout the day to actually complete something, the first one I picked up was Dr. Dobson's (of Focus on the Family) Bringing Up Boys. I obviously chose this book because I, # 1, am not a boy, and therefore have no personal experience in this area, and #2, want to learn more about what makes my sweet baby Trey do the things he does. Because, well frankly, sometimes he can be crazy with a capital C!! (Although, Shaun says that he gets that from me, so who knows;) )

I really enjoyed reading the book, and though, when I first started it, I thought it would be a step-by-step model of how to discipline and make sure my child didn't turn out completely dysfunctional (disappointment there), it turned out to be very helpful in a more general sense. There were a lot of "I need to write this down!" moments that I obviously didn't (hence the generalized review), but my big take-away is that God simply made boys different, down to the chemistry of their body that makes them do things that we (or at least me) as mommies just don't understand. Also, he made every boy so very different! Parents of boys can certainly relate in many areas, but my job is to focus in on my Trey (and his baby brother) and work closely enough with him to unwrap all the gifts that God has given him. They are in such a raw form right now that it can be hard to see at times, but I know that this kid is destined for greatness and if we do all our parenting from our knees (bloody and bruised, perhaps) then we may just complete the task God has set before us with the victory being all His.

I finished a book!

I've never been a "reader" per se, but whenever I have actually completed a book I get such a sense of accomplishment. Every now and then I'd pick up a book, but usually never make it all the way through. With shelves full of fantastic reads that contain bookmark after bookmark, I'm reminded of my lack of "finitiative". (This word was coined by our dear Aletheia friend Brandon Kiracofe--I've loved it ever since he used it in our Wednesday night Bible study of Joshua back in the day:) Thanks, Brandon!) I have loads of initiative, more than I can handle at times, but what is the point of having initiative without finitiative?! I want more "finitiative" in my life.

I've often fed myself the lie of "I'm too busy" or "I don't have enough time" (for much more than reading a book, I must say.), but I'm taking a stance and saying "I'M COMPLETELY OVER THAT EXCUSE! I'M OVER HEARING IT FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND I'M TIRED OF USING IT!" We're all busy! And that's a whole nother can of worms that we'll not open today, but when it comes down to it, these excuses are just dodging the reality that we simply haven't prioritized whatever it is we're just "too busy" for. This may or may not be a bad thing depending on what's important to you, but I hear myself (and so many others) say, "I'd love to read that, but I just don't have time." "Wouldn't it be nice to just have free time to sit and relax for a minute? I'm just too busy."

While I'm sitting there saying this to myself, my precious husband is knocking books out left and right. How is he doing that?! He's a quick reader, but seriously, this is a man that doesn't sit around. I have to MAKE him relax most of the time! He has a theory that 15 minutes is all it takes to make a lot of changes in your life. (This man is a genius, seriously!) I love his names for it, "Power Blocking" "15 min. of Power" "Power Quarter Hours" hehe...I think he should right a book, but for now we're making changes here and there with his approach to "getting things done and making things happen." He doesn't sit down for an hour and read a book, nor does he complain that he doesn't have an hour to sit down and read a book, but he has 10 or 15 min. And so do I! How often throughout my day do I just spend 10-15 min. here and there doing absolutely nothing at all, or at least nothing productive? A LOT!!

So I decided that I wanted to start reading! There are so many fantastic books out there and I have so much in this life I can learn especially being a wife and mother, where I'm faced with my shortcomings daily.

To keep me accountable I'm going to be using the new "I finished a book!" segments of my blog to write a quick little review of what I've just read and my thoughts about it. I'd love if you all would comment as well if you've read it too!

The most current book I've been reading is a bio on John MacArthur, and I loved a quote that he had made that emphasizes the very things about books that I'd never have been able to come up with...

"Unlike television, books freeze thoughts on the printed page, forcing us to argue, and judge ideas using our active, engaged minds. Books are permanent, requiring a response from the mind. They help us raise our thoughts and think outside ourselves and our everyday lives. It's no accident God's chosen vehicle for his special revelation was a book!"

Beautiful!

And we think that it was Dave Ramsey that said this, but not 100%, though quite thought provoking in itself...

"From year to year, the only things that will change a person are the people that you've met and books that you've read."

To be continued...with the first review:)

Oh, the things they say...

Trey loves his little animals so much and last night we were rocking in his chair reading his bedtime stories when he so sweetly stated, "My bear, he's so cute." Shaun and I just looked at each other and giggled. Then again today when he and I were settling down to read before his nap, he was holding another one of his bears and said, "He's beautiful."

I wish I could have a recording of his voice. It's the most precious sound. I never want to forget it:) I love you so much, Baby Boy!

The Big "Baby" Reveal

The Results are in...

Thursday was our anatomy ultrasound appointment, and most importantly, we are so thankful that God gave us a very healthy report, thus far! It's amazing to me what they can "rule out" disorder-wise with all the measurements that they take. Technology can be a beautiful thing:) I'm totally one of those patients that quizzes the tech the entire way through. "Did you see this? Was there anything wrong with that? How's the heart?" But then after all of that, we found out what our beautiful baby is...boy or girl. Except that we didn't find out:) We know but we don't know! We had her tell us when it was coming then to have us look away so that she could write it down on a note card and put it in an envelope for us. Trey is getting dedicated at church on Sunday and many of our family members are coming to celebrate, so we thought it would be a fun way to include them, by having them surprise us with the results!

After much thought about "the perfect" way to find out (without copying exactly some of the very cute ideas I'd heard), we decided that we'd pick out two outfits, and they will wrap the appropriate one for us to open after lunch. The thrill of the surprise has been so fun, and having this envelope sitting right here is so tempting, but I love surprises WAY too much to spoil it:) We had a fun little family outing today to target to find a couple of sweet little outfits for the "Big Reveal".

We did have a serious close call yesterday when Trey was opening some mail and I heard him open a second envelope, and out of the corner of my eye I saw that he had busted into "The Surprise Envelope"! I freaked out and shouted, "NOOOOOOOO!!!" So I ran upstairs and closed my eyes the entire time I shoved the card back into the new envelope--haha, phew, that was close! Anyway, we'll be sure to let you know!

Garden Update

I just finished this entire post and it didn't save anything-grrr. So, let's try this again.

We had the most fun this weekend building our new Square Foot Garden! We've been researching and reading up on it for the past several weeks and have continued to be inspired by Emily and GW's very successful gardening over the last couple of years, so we've been very eager to get started. Takes a little bit of prep to get your SFG going, but it's supposed to pay off big time in the long run:)

All our supplies ready to go!

Our "power" drill is a P.O.P (Piece of POOP!) so my big, strong man hand-drilled the whole thing! We constructed a 4 x 4 box out of untreated wood because treated wood will mess with your soil and crops. We also used 1x8" boards, but I think 1x6" would have been good too. Maybe next time.

We covered the bottom of our box with weed fabric to cut back on the upkeep.

Next is the lattice top to divide out each square foot section for the different crops.

Here we are combining our Mel's Mix soil composed of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. Can you tell that we had to wait till after Trey went down for this part?:)

And Walah! Project Complete:)

I forgot to take a picture after we'd planted our veggies the next day, so I'll just tell you what's in each square. Can't wait to show you the results (and see them for myself!). We've got oregano, basil, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, red leaf lettuce, roma tomatoes, celebrity tomatoes, lavender, zucchini, squash, cantaloupe, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, and watermelon!

I go out to check out the progress multiple times a day, but I haven't seen anything yet;) A watched pot never boils, I suppose;)

Going Green

It's funny how our interests change season to season. Using the Barnes & Noble magazine stand as my indicator of change, I can remember each transition. In college, I dreamed of my perfect man and that perfect wedding day (no need waiting till the last minute to get the details in order, right?), so I poured myself over every wedding magazine. I still love a good wedding spread, but my thoughts moved to design and decor after Shaun and I had a house of our own. What's our style? How can we make it ours on a shoestring? The challenge is so fun:)

My latest focus has become our garden--or my visions of our garden, so far. This one hasn't been as natural of a transition for me. Mom has the green thumb in our family, and for some reason I have managed to kill every living plant I've every owned. But I'm determined that this will change. I'm excited about gorgeous blooming flowers, but I'm more excited about getting our vegetable garden up and running. Fueled by my desire to grow delicious food that we planted and harvested with our own two hands, but even more so by my increasing disgust at the fact that I feel like we have to choose between eating fresh and healthy or on target with our budget. ugh!

So...last year, I got a roma tomato plant and a basil plant. Loved having both, but the summer heat burned them up and I harvested one lone tomato and eventually lost my herbs:(

With even more enthusiasm this year to get multiple crops going, I had to pull back my zeal. As of now, I have gotten some red leaf lettuce, which experimentally I planted in a window box, and SUCCESS!!

The First Harvest!

Our lettuce has been the most productive so far, but we have a small basil plant with several more seedlings trying their hardest to grow, cherry tomatoes in the works, and a neighbor just brought up a green bean plant:) We're on our way!

We are in the process of researching the Square-Foot Gardening method, so we'll be sure to update you on that as it comes together.