Ahh ... Hello, Spring!!

Hip Hip Hooray! It's FINALLY Spring in Pennsylvania! That means fresh cut flowers on the tables, hours spent in the sunshine, and in turn, daily doses of Allegra for the whole fam. I am just loving life with these warm temps and being able to let the kids play outside from sun-up to sun-down. Not to mention the milder temps and lack of humidity we haven't missed a bit (which may be the ONLY thing we're not missing about Arkansas)!

Prepare yourself: This will be quite the hodge podge post ... bare with me.


This has been QUITE a fun-filled week! We started off with a BANG with Avery's birthday, then had a super fun family over for dinner Tuesday night that were just the sweetest people ever (I didn't break out the camera because I wasn't ready to chase them off when they realized I was one of  "those" people). But, they were darling.

Last night was one of the guys Aaron works with, Jason's, birthday so we had the whole crew over for dinner! We ate my fav summer pasta:


Bowtie Pasta, grilled chicken, artichoke hearts, steamed spinach, toasted pine nuts, parmesan cheese and a little lemon juice ..... Ridiculously easy and deeee-licious!!




I just love him.


And this one is just yummy!


We celebrated his birthday ...


Ate some yumminess ...



Avery learned to be a flyer ...


Many popsicles were consumed ...


Leading to lots of sticky kisses ...


And good times had by all ... it was a great night.

Followed by a fun end-of-the-year picnic at Avery's school today!
I dragged Jason's kids with me because they're visiting and are my new fav peeps! So fun, so cute, so sweet! Love, love them!


Singing their cute songs.


The Pre-K Grad herself!




Mason and Saw-Dog.


I could just eat him.


Avery is lllooovvviiinnnnggg some Theolke girls. She's even spending the night with them tonight!
** Sidenote- please look at my laptop keyboard ... pitiful.


And here are Dalton and Tripp with the bows Tripp MADE in the backyard today. Dalton is OBSESSED with Tripp ...seriously, sweetest kid ever. He's over here spending the night with D. I totally heart him and am loving them being here and hanging with us!

That's all our news for now .... but check back soon for more everyday happenings  in the Boonies.

Celebrating Avery.

As Avery's birthday was approaching we explained to her that we still haven't met a lot of kids here and there really wasn't any way to do a "party." But Mom and Rach have PROMISED Avery that she will get her cake decorating party when we get back to AR. So, we asked Avery what all she wanted to do for her day of fun ... she said she wanted a shopping spree at Target, a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, and wanted to go read books and get a cupcake at Barnes and Noble. For some reason this totally tickled me, I mean ... my birthdays aren't much different and I'm 26. I just love her. ;)

I didn't snap as many pics as I would have liked, buecause everyone was hardly sitting still. All the blurred pics of kids on the move were confirming that it's officially time to start pinching pennies for a fancy schmancy camera. The iPhone was just not cutting it.

After waking up to her requested breakfast of pancakes with strawberries and sausage we got ready and took off for Vestal, NY for our day of celebrating Miss Avery. Part of the Target fun was letting Avery fill up the cart (I tried my hardest to not pressure her into MY wardrobe preferences) and going in the dressing room to let her try everything on. Being that usually when you're in toddler sizes you don't have to actually try things on ... because everything just happens to always fit and look great. The child had a BLAST putting on a fashion show for us in the dressing room. Dede and Pop Pop sent her some blow money, too. So she was able to have QUITE the spree and still has a mani/pedi to come. It was so fun to see her match and pair little outfits and explain to me what event they would be perfect for.


This was during her shoe shopping ... Before she shed her Matilda Jane bday dress and cute cowgirl boots to change in the car into new Target duds and Hello Kitty glitter shoes  (that I bit my tongue and chose to look the other way about).
Avery, I just think you're the cutest no matter what you're wearing.

While we were in the dressing room Cody called to tell Avery Happy Birthday. Avery has had a MAJOR crush on Cody every since he and Aaron became friends. After he called she threw this dress on and wanted me to send the pic to Cody ... she is constantly making me laugh.



Chuck E. Cheese was a hoot. Dalton and Sawyer were pretty much on this horse the. whole. time. Every time Sawyer would ride it he would dismount, come to grab another token and then mount up again. I was rolling. He just seemed so big!

**Funny tidbit: We came to Chuck E. Cheese a couple weeks ago there was a grown man on this horse. Like ... he was balding and had a mustache. On this horse. Most of us were laughing so hard we were crying. Hilarious.

Moving on ...







Fun for all ages.





After emptying our wallets at Target and filling our bellies at Chuck E. Cheese we went to Avery's last request: Barnes and Noble. She knew she'd gotten a coupon for a free b-day cupcake was bound and determined to get one and a new book. After looking through almost every book there she finally settled on The Giving Tree which I was shocked when I realized we didn't have it! So it was a great pick!






Decisions ...  decisions ...







We came home to fix Avery's favorite dinner- tacos. We had several of our new friends over and Avery decided it was her best birthday she'd ever had. And well ... you can't beat that.

Happy Birthday Avery, you are so loved!!

Happy Birthday Avery

Five years ago today, our lives were infinitely blessed. We had our first daughter, Avery Elizabeth Boone. She was born at 7:33 pm, on May 21, 2007 weighing in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long.

She was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen.



Five years later, she is still the most precious little girl in the whole wide world. I am so delighted with her I could get giddy just saying her name. She is happy, lovely, kind and just enchanting. I mean that whole-heartedly. I think I use the word "delightful" often ... but I really can't think of a better word to describe our Avery. She wakes up EVERY morning in a good mood. She "mothers" little kids all the time, always taken the younger ones under her wing. She LOVES people and an outing. She begs to go anywhere she'll have interaction with other kids- especially school. She is easily excited and is hands down one of the most observant and intelligent kids I've ever met. Before bed she'll whisper in my ear things like, "Mommy, I have a great idea: in the morning let's get up early and drink coffee, paint our nails and watch the news! It will be the best day ever!" with a huge grin on her face.

I don't know what else to say except, we're smitten.

She loves anything that feels "schoolish," so an interview was right up her alley.

She was all too happy to answer 20 Questions about herself.

Q: What makes you happy?

A: Spending time with Mommy (I knew I liked her).

Q. What is your favorite animal?

A. My favorite animal is a deer.

Q. What is your favorite thing to eat?

A. Popsicles.

Q. What is your least favorite thing to eat?

A. Broccoli and Carrots.

Q. What is your favorite thing to do?

A. Play on the computer.

Q. What is your favorite TV Show?

A. Jessie

Q. What is something you are really good at?

A. Puzzles.

Q.What is your favorite movie?

A. My Little Pony

Q. What is your favorite color?

A. All the colors you can think of.

Q. What is your favorite song?

A. All the church songs we sing in the car.

Q. Who is your best friend?

A. My best friend is my mother.

Q. What do you and your Mom do together?

A. Me and my Mommy love hanging out; we always love to play together.

Q. What do you and your Dad do together?

A. Me and my Daddy like to practice school together.

Q. What do you and your brothers do together?

A. We like to play house.

Q. What is your favorite sport?

A. Soccer.

Q. What is your favorite place to go?

A. Chuck E. Cheese

Q. What is your favorite bible story?

A. The one about Joseph and his brothers.

Q. What does your Dad do for a job?

A. Sometimes he goes to the courthouse; sometimes he plugs pipes.

Q. What does your Mom do for a job?

A. She takes care of us.

Q. What do you want to be when you grow up?

A. I want to own a farm, that way I can ride horses all the time.

See what I mean?? She's just the cutest.

This year Avery went to pre-school and learned things like mastering the alphabet and reading site words.

She can count to one hundred, do simple addition and has the cutest girly handwriting (which is obviously of the utmost importance). She can't WAIT to go to Kindergarten in the fall ... and I can't believe it's really almost here.

She has become so much more independent this year,  fixing herself small snacks like sandwiches, cereal and drinks. She gives herself baths/showers and changes clothes at least seven times a day. That's really our only arguement (she throws all the clothes that she takes off into her closet floor ... clearly she's headed for trouble). She is a huge help to me with her brothers: she helps them with simple tasks, has changed several diapers, and always lets me know when someone is doing a no-no. She's the eyes in the back of my head that I defintely need with those two silly boys around.

Avery Elizabeth,

You are my dream come true. I always, always dreamed of having daughters and I can't

imagine anyone more perfectly perfect than you. I love that you love doing girly things and try to

be my little mini-me (even wanting me to fix your hair like I have mine every day!). You are God's

absolutely most precious example of grace in my life. You are darling in every way and I can't imagine my life without you ... you bring so much light and enjoyment to every day. I just know we'll be best friends forever.

Love you so much, A.

xoxo,

Mommy

Book Worm

Lately I’ve been on a book binge.

I seriously have been inhaling books like those guys in the hot dog eating contests on Coney Island on the Fourth of July.

I’ve always been a reader. Since early grade school I’ve read all the series of my time … The Great Illustrated Classics, Boxcar Kids, Babysitter’s Club, The Twilight Series, Hunger Games and all the ones in between (except those freaky deaky Goosebumps books. Hated those.).

This binge has been full of non-fiction, christian literature for the most part (Not to be confused with self-help). I feel as though they have helped me out of what I’m sure could have been a Debbie-Downer season of life. I will NOT let myself think this season as a “trial.” But, at the same time, uprooting and moving more than 1200 miles from home is an … adjustment. My new BFF’s (my books) have made me look at the BIG picture. They have made me fall head over heels in love with Jesus in a way I didn’t know was possible. They caught me at a time where I was hungry, needed a major distraction and pushed me toward Jesus, which is the ONLY thing that could have satisfied me. Almost all of these books have encouraged me to dive deeper into my Bible and I’ve been eating it up. Every Holy word.

I mean, here I am in nowhere, Pennsylvania with more time on my hands than I know what to do with. And a girl can only clean her baseboards so many times a day. I’m pretty sure this is my healthiest outlet. And spending so many hours a day with my head in a book means I have pretty much zero interest in TV. I haven’t watched Idol this season AND I have no interest in The Bachelorette … WITH Emily Maynard?!?! What? Who am I?!?! Where is the reality tv guru I knew and loved.

She’s gone. She ran off with her e-reader.

In case you’re curious … here’s the low-down on my book habit.

I know, I know. I have WAY too much time on my hands. But truthfully, some of them are running together, so it’s good for me to further process.

It started with a book on tape that is the base to a powerful study that practically every woman in my family has done. You can download the lessons to your phone/ipod and listen to them while you’re cleaning the house, commuting, etc. I wrote about them in an earlier blog, but the name of the book is The Five Aspects of Woman by Barbara Mouser. She defines womanhood in five aspects: Helper Completer; Mistress of the Domain; Lady Wisdom; Lifegiver; and Glory of Man. She shows us how the God truly designed us to be, what the fall meant for us, and how Christ redeemed us on the cross. I feel like I learned sooooo much about myself, women in general, and what God’s best is for women. It even made me gain more insight on men. I can. not. wait. to do the study eventually with a small group. Ahhh … so good.

MmmKay, next I went a little rogue. For me. I read Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. Quit laughing. It was seriously a page turner (I told you, I was hungry)! I’m kind of laughing at myself, now. However, it was REALLY good. It was so wise and so practical and so easy to understand, even for beginners like us. I loved it and am SO glad I read it and we have gotten started on the baby steps. Five stars, Dave. Five stars.

Then, I got into the big stuff. This is where God started literally turning my heart inside out. I found the first suggestion randomly on my Facebook newsfeed- 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, by Jen Hatmaker. Seriously … No, really, SERIOUSLY. The most life-changing book I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put it down. I still haven’t stopped talking about it. I’m constantly day dreaming about the all the takeaways. I think I’m probably just going to have to read it again so I can pick up more details. It was about a normal chica (My peeps and I would call her a PLU, meaning “People Like Us”) who realized all the crazy excess we live in in the ole US of A. I’m copying this summary from her website, because I want to rewrite the book for you in trying to persuade you to read it:

7 is the true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence. In the spirit of a fast, they pursued a deeply reduced life in order to find a greatly increased God.

People, it’s so stinking good. It just magnifies all the areas of our life where we’re living in extravagance. When you look at all these individual things they’re so normal you can’t think of life without the excess, but when you start realizing how just cutting back on just some of it leaves more room for God to show up, it makes you crave simplicity. So, I’ll give Pennsylvania that- it’s definitely making a “simple” lifestyle much easier to come by. Life at home in the normal realm of my Arkansas bliss was distracting … because like I said before- I like the distractions. However,  after reading 7, I’m seriously trying to cut out on the extra. I want God to have plenty of room to be God without all my … stuff.

This threw me into a Jen Hatmaker kick so I followed that with her books, Interrupted and A Modern Girl’s Guide to Bible Study. I even read her husband, Brandon Hatmaker’s book, The Barefoot Church. I would recommend all of those, too. Great reads. The guide to Bible study was especially helpful. I LOVE doing small group Bible studies with fun fill in the blanks that make me process and memorize Scripture, but sometimes can have trouble just opening up God’s word and being able to really understand. She seriously opened my eyes to being able to dive in head’s first and really get something out of it without having my hand held in a structured study … forever indebted.

I also read Jennie Allen’s book Anything which was challenging and an awesome book. Way to go Jennie! I’ve loved everything I’ve done by Jennie, especially her study Chase. She’s super fun and real and just encouraging. Loved it.

Jennie talks a lot about a girl named Katie Davis who is a girl in her young twenties from Nashville, TN. Katie went to Uganda for a year after high-school to intern at a small school. However, while there she fell in love with the people and has now adopted 14 girls that she lives with and has started a ministy called Amazima which is AMAZING and I am all over. Between Katie, Jen, and Jennie I'm just filled with love for adoption and am PRAYING God uses that in our lives. Katie's book Kisses from Katie is just inspiring. Seriously. I cried and cried and cried. I feel like it literally broke my heart in a million pieces, but has gotten me really excited about doing something for God's Kingdom that I never really thought about before. Her Amazima ministry is exciting and just ... amazing. There are so many ways the average person can help! Do it! Today!

David Platt's Radical was pretty interesting. I've heard lots of mixed reviews on it, but I actually loved it and thought he was spot on. I was kinda ready to pack up and join Katie Davis in Uganda after I read it. Too bad, Aaron hasn't been on my book binge. I'm pretty sure he thinks I've gone off the deep end. Which is fine. I'm sure it's not the first time he thought that. Aaron is a huge Francis Chan fan, he loves his sermons and we watch them frequently. I think he's amazing too, the way he can get up there and share his heart so honestly is just awesome, so I downloaded his book Crazy Love which I'm actually only half way through. I've been trying to slow down and actually take it in so I could process better. But, it's really good.

Lastly, I am almost through Kelle Hampton's memoir, Bloom. I saw it on the Mother's Day shelf at Barnes and Noble and when I saw the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, had raved on it I went home to download it. It's Kelle's story about delivering her second baby girl and she was born with Down Syndrome. She had no idea until she delivered her. It is a PRECIOUS book and Kelle is hilarious. She's actually a blogger (like Jen, Jenne, and Katie). The book was just released. Nella, her daughter with DS, is just a few months older than Sawyer. I love that I can follow all these super cool peeps in the blog world and hear more as their stories further unfold. Kelle is pretty off-the-cuff, and we definitely have some different theology ideas. But she's real and she's witty and I just like her. It's a really good book. And it has lots of pictures ... bonus.

To feed my addictive habit, Aaron bought me a Nook Tablet for Mother's Day which is my new baby. Loving it. I'm finishing up Bloom  and Crazy Love and then moving on down my ever-growing "to read" list. The "free sample" thing on e-readers in my fav thing ever. Anytime I head about a book I want to read, I just download the sample to remind me about it later. Genius!!

Happy Reading!!



Mamas.

Most of my favorite people are mamas. They just tend to make the very best friends. After many years of putting themselves last, they usually grow to be quite selfless. They make great encouragers, as that's pretty much a job requirement in the mom field. They are excellent secret keepers, amazing cheerleaders, and soft shoulders to cry on. Mothers hearts just seem to be a little more tender, and I love that.
Growing up I had the best mom ever. No, really. She made everything special; she loved us unconditionally and just made life fun. She was an awesome "girl mom." She loved doing girly things with us and made major sacrifices to make sure we never went without anything. She's the best friend a girl can have, which is why more than one person count her as theirs. My sisters and I all blow up her phone multiple times a day for advice, love, or laughs. She's amazing. And I can't imagine living life without her.





Her silence can correct me without a lecture, her wisdom embodies every aspect of the Proverbs 31 woman, and her loving friendship is invaluable to me. She has set the bar so high.





Almost five years ago, God let me share the same privilege that I'm sure most women esteem in their hearts as their deepest pride and greatest joy: motherhood.





It is indescribably hard, but incomprehensibly gratifying. I daily praise the Lord for my three precious blessings. It has helped shape me into almost an entirely different person. It has taught me so much about God's love and sacrifice in a way my simple mind can understand. It's a lifelong course written just for me on some of God's most complexing attributes: I love knowing that God always sees the best in us, even when we're at our worst. I love that there is truly nothing I can do or not do that will make Him love me any more or less. I love that He has great plans and hopes for me. I love that He delights in me. I love that He would do anything for me. I love knowing that He is jealous for my attention and time.
Avery, Dalton and Sawyer have made me love Jesus in a whole new way. I've heard people say that once you become a mother you end up with your heart living outside your body, so much more vulnerable. It's is terrifying thing. I have written pages and pages in my journals and prayed for probably hours and hours for God's protection of these people that hold my whole heart in their little beings. I would do anything for their sweet selves and I only see the best in them... Even when they're in a funk that has lasted 3 months. Even when they pour out an entire jug of chocolate milk on the floor, and even though they manage to spill out half of the bath water on a nightly basis.
It makes me love them no less or want anything less than the best for them.
They are my treasures.





"If these are the treasures afforded sinful man, what must God have in store for those whose hearts are His?" -Augustine



I love pictures.

Clearly.
So I just want to post (and re-post) some of my very favorite of the wee babes.





















































































I have loved celebrating the humbling and blessed GIFT of being "Mommy" to Avery, Dalton, and Sawyer today. I just love them with my whole, whole heart.
I tried to get a picture with my littles, but as mothers know ... This is quite the challenge. Add in the fact that we are all high on Benadryl and swollen from having terrible allergies and I threw in the towel after only a few shots.
Nevertheless, it was a wonderful day! Thankyou Aaron, Avery, Dalton, and Sawyer for always making me feel loved and special!!





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