Whatcha think?

Should I get these pictures printed out and hung in the living room. I'm thinking it would make a lovely wall collage/conversation piece.






You know--just something different.

My Sweetheart

I would give up every single thing on that other list for you. Even Jason's Deli.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that though.

things i love

monogrammed sheets

coffee with heavy whipped cream

red toile

any film based on a jane austen novel

dr. pepper

uninterupted sleep

jason's deli

when Asher says "gotfor"

when Jude holds his lovey and sucks his thumb

anthropologie

dusk

pink pearl earrings

pleasures perfume

matching little boy outfits

robins egg blue/red color combinations

james taylor songs

a washed and vacuumed minivan

eating out

black and white pictures of my kids

wearing a skirt and flip-flops

a fresh haircut

good conversation with good friends

Godiva chocolate cheesecake

the beach in Destin

Peace Like A River by Leif Enger

the bulk section at Whole Foods

my J. Crew peacoat

live music in very small venues

ruffling feathers :) oh yes I do.

Zoo Season

We love having a membership to the zoo! But Zoo Season does not last long. Zoo Season, as defined by me, runs from about October to December (only on not too cold days) and then from about March to May (only on not too hot days.) Any other time, I find the weather completely objectionable and refuse to be out of doors for any length of time. But occasionally, a pretty day will surprise us in what would normally be considered off-season and I break my rule to take advantage of it.

A few weeks ago, one such day occurred. The weather was amazing--breezy and low humidity, but warm enough to not need a jacket. It was so unbelievably pleasant. Even the animals seemed happier than usual.

The boys are both at a great age for the zoo. Lots of excitement and questions and stamina. I love having two big boys!

Asher Turns 3 Pt. III/Bye-Bye Baby Bed

Asher's real birthday was Sunday, February 7. But as far as he was concerned, something magical happened at his party on Wednesday and he walked out of Chick-fil-a a fully-fledged three year old. So Sunday would have been kind of anti-climatic had not a major milestone occurred.

I am referring to the taking down of the baby bed. We have been telling him for quite some time that when he turned 3, the baby bed was getting put away and he would start sleeping in his big boy bed. If we brought up this fact from the time between Wednesday and his actual b-day, he would say, "Umm...I think I'm still 2."

But there was no more putting it off. The men of this house got out their tools and went to work packing it up!







I am happy to report he has transitioned somewhat smoothly. He is not thrilled, but he is embracing the change. Nights are better than naps. He has yet to actually goto sleep but I still make him stay in there for 2 hours. I can't make him sleep but I can make him give me some alone time. He usually comes out dressed in a new outfit. Whatever. Just be quiet.

The next day was the day of the big ultrasound so we rolled family birthday party and the big reveal into one celebration. My parents and several of Kris' siblings came over and we went to dinner. Asher got more fun presents and we revealed that we found out that Simeon was a Simeon.

I think we can consider this birthday duly celebrated. The next birthday in our little family will be an actual day of birth this summer. Hopefully I will have recovered from all of this by then.

My Other Birthday Boy

Before Asherfest 2010 began, we celebrated another very important day. My amazing husband turned 35!

You know its gonna be a good party when the guests are in their underwear before the candles are even lit.



Daddy's helpers were there to lend a lung for ALL. THOSE. CANDLES.



Oh how these boys love cake. From their first birthdays on, these boys have never passed up the opportunity.





This shot was taking by a budding photographer. He's really good but can only really offer an "up the nose" perspective right now. Can you tell this picture was taken by someone about 3 feet tall?



He's booking quickly so don't wait til the last minute.

Asher Turns 3 Pt. II

Here is Part I.

The same day as the big friend party, we went to dinner with our good friends, The Rowleys. Mrs. Kelli is one of Asher's very favorite people on this earth so it is always a big treat to see her and the rest of her gang!

We went to Pappasitos (half-price fajitas on Wednesday nights--holla!) They ordered Asher the phenomenal tres leches cake and he got to wear the birthday sombrero.



So we sang to him (again) and dug into the cake. We are ringing in 3 for sure!

But, I kid you not, the celebration was not over yet...

My Three Sons

Lest this child label himself as "The One She Never Blogged About" I will make sure I gush about the newest little Rives who will, Lord willing, join our family in late June/early July.



This is Simeon James Rives. We are so excited about having another boy. Oh the matchy-matchyness that will ensue. I cannot wait!

Asher Turns 3!

I obviously have a lot of catching up to do so I'm just jumping in. I'll start with the highlight of Asher's life thus far--turning Three. We have talked about this day for about the last 6 months.

If you asked him what he wanted to do when he turned Three, his answer, invariably, was "Go to the gym and play ba-ketball and check my email." At our gym, when you turn 3, you get to go to The Promised Land where there is a big play structure, a mini court, and an array of colorful Macs on which to play games. Asher has tasted the goodness of this place a few times when he figured out if he asks to go to the bathroom, he can sneak into the big kid zone but he is always busted and made to return to the purgatory that is the toddler room.

The irony of it all is that I hardly ever make it to the gym these days. I had lofty goals for this pregnancy which included working out as consistently as I was pre-pregnancy, but alas...I am not That Girl. I tried to be--I really did. But I am Live It Up and Get Fat While You Are Pregnant Girl. Huh--who knew?

Anyway, turning Three. It was a marathon of a celebration. It began with a small party for his friends on the Wednesday morning before his real birthday, which was the following Sunday. He has been hooked on a show that comes on PBS Sprout called "Fireman Sam" which is a kids show from the UK. So I scheduled a tour at a local fire station. Great idea in theory--until the firemen get a call about 15 minutes into the visit and have to leave. Thankfully, we run with a flexible group of friends.

During our breif visit, we did get to explore the fire trucks. First, the boys cut their teeth on the smaller truck--kinda got a feel for how it handles.





Then they moved up to the big rig.






Mamaw (who graciously took the day off to attend the festivities) and Jude (who may the be the hardest child EVER to get a decent picture of.)




Here's the crew all together (minus Isaac, Sadie, and Sophia)



Here you can see the Amazing Mamaw at work. She did such a fabulous job at this party, I am considering renting her out. She did get a big ol' smile out of Jude (not an easy feat) but of course I was shooting from the wrong angle. Did anyone get a shot of the elusive smile of Jude Rives?



Our tour was cut short, but since the next stop on the party route was Chick-Fil-A, no one seemed to mind.





Yum! Hydrogenated oil and refined sugar! Nothing but the best for my boy.





More party fun!






It was the perfect party. Play, eat, go home and take a nap!

But this was only Celebration #1...

A Little Better?

I'm not in love with it, but it's better. Maybe it will do for now.

You were right, Robin. Simple is better. Glad you are not snowed in. But I think you are supposed to get more snow so feel free to give me some ideas if you get bored again.

I Hate My Blog

Somebody redesign it for me. Please. I really want to start posting again but until I find a layout I like, I cannot proceed.

Robin, since you are snowed in, I think this would be a nice project for you.

Do You Love the New Layout or What!

THe blog is getting revamped. I'm changing up the look, the links, and the organization. I need to start blogging again--so much is happening and I hate that I'm not making note of it here.

So hopefully I will be back soon with a better look and more true stories of ill-deserved grace in the lives of Kris, Jamie, Asher, Jude, and an as-yet unnamed third child.

Blog, You Are Still Being Neglected

Don't get your hopes up that I'm back and ready to blog. I just need to record a few things that I don't want to forget and then I'm out of here again.

Asher's version of Old MacDonald: Traditional words until he gets to "With a oink, oink here. With a oink, oink here. Anywhere, anywhere. Old Mac Donald had a farm e i e i o"

Jude is LOUD and proud. His favorite words are Mama and Daddy which he yells constantly throughout the day. Loudly.

Asher always points with his middle finger. I tell him to use his POINTER finger, but he never does.

Nothing major here--just want to make sure I remember this stuff!

2010

Kris will turn 35.
Asher will turn 3.
New baby will be born.
Jude will turn 2.
I will turn 31.

Resolution: Don't blink.

For Our Friend Lightning

We sang the Scooter Duck song tonight and I thought of you.

It's a bird! It's a plane!

No wait...!



It's SuperJude!

"What seems to be the problem, Elmo? Mom and Dad turned you off again? I'll fix that!"



He gives Elmo some lovin'.




And then he rides off into the sunset on his trusty steed...er...zebra.

Jesus in Genesis

Here is Andrew Peterson's song, Matthew's Begats, in which he sings the geneology of Christ beginning with Abraham.



And if you, like my good friend Kathy, object to clicking on videos, I urge you to make an exception just this once :)

We Are Not Daily Beggars

The number of pictures in which my children have no clothes on may lead you to believe otherwise. They actually do own plenty of clothes, but for some reason, tend to lose them if we hang around the house too long.

So when we began making sugar cookies this morning, it seemed pretty natural that Asher should be in his underwear. Not quite a classic Rockwell scene, but still a sweet memory.

But then he decided he would like to wear an apron like I was so he got to wear the companion apron to mine (which of course says "Jamie loves Kris"--wedding gifts that I'm sorry to say we don't use nearly enough)



So as Jude and Daddy recovered from a rough night of coughing and yucky nasal issues, Asher and I made our first batch of sugar cookies ever. Very messy, but very worth it.



And with that, I bid a fond farewell to the December Blog Challenge of 2009. And it has been officially decided that this will be the very last DBC ever. Bittersweet, but it's just time to move on. A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

No Crib For A Bed

As some of you know, Asher still sleeps in a baby bed. We have the big boy bed all set up and ready to go, but our first attempt at the transition (when he was about 20 months) went horribly, horribly wrong. So we borrowed another crib after about a month of sleepless nights and he has been sleeping like a baby (pun obviously intended) ever since.

But with news of a new baby coming to live with us, Lord willing, this summer, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for Asher to make the big move, free up a needed baby bed, and be the big brother-hero in the process--sacrificing the comfort and security that I suppose sleeping behind bars offers.

Well...he sees things a little differently. He has informed us that the new baby (who will be a girl says he) may have his big boy bed and he will stay in the crib. So little baby-on-the-way and the little Lord Jesus have something in common.

Through the Years

I was thumbing through our old workbooks that my pastor had Kris and I use during our pre-marital counseling and one of the items on a questionnaire was "Name your top 3 favorite memories with your partner."

One of Kris' was "Jamie picking me up at the airport as a surprise." I read that and for the life of me could not remember that ever happening. So I asked him about it and he has no recollection of that happening either.

Are we already at that phase of life? Should we be concerned? I mean, it made the "top 3 best memories" list just 5 years ago and now we have no idea what he was talking about.

I guess too many other "best memories" have been made since then that that one had to leave to make room for all the other ones. Yeah, we'll go with that.

A Beautiful Sight

As previously reported on facebook, the shelves are in and they are spectacular. They are exactly what I wanted. We looked for a long time for shelves and I was so close to settling on some that I didn't love but that would have just been an easy fix.

But I'm so glad I didn't because these are perfect. Kris worked so hard in addition to all the hard-working he already does. He cut and sanded and painted and nailed and glued--not because he particularly loves doing all that--but he does particularly love me.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

As you may recall, Asher was a fireman for Halloween this year. He still enjoys dressing up in his costume and it is not uncommon for him to walk around the house with some piece of his fireman regalia on.

But we should have known he was up to something when he wanted the whole outfit on AND wanted his Elmo bucket in hand. Kris helped him put everything on as we were still sitting at the table after dinner. He ran off and then we hear the sound of the Christmas candy jar being invaded.



He decided to do a little trick-or-treating on his own. It was a good plan so we let him get a piece for himself and one for Jude.

Speaking of Jude and firemen, I think a certain someone is working on his calendar poses.

Tiny Tots With Their Eyes All Aglow

First of all--I know what you're thinking..."Hey look! Asher is wearing that truck shirt. Again. For the fourth time."

Yes, we are getting our money's worth out of it. We have a little over a week left to wear them before they are essentially useless to me so we're living it up.

But back to the picture--Meadow and Saige, Asher, and Josiah. We're thankful for our friends! These guys get to play together each week as the moms participate in a bible study. It is loud, slighly chaotic, and usually one mom is up at any given minute checking on a noise (or a lack of noise) coming from where the kids are playing. But those are the signs of life--beautiful reminders of God's grace in our lives.

Shoppers Rush Home With Their Treasures

I got to leave the house alone yesterday. It's the little things in life, really. Not that I don't love every minute with my guys but sometimes it nice to be able to be able to accomplish my tasks a little more quickly than I'm able to with the little helpers in tow.

So to say I rushed home might be a bit of an overstatement. Took my time and made sure they were in bed before I darkened the door is actually more accurate. I found a gift for Jude that I think he is going to love. And maybe a little something for me. And I ate dinner alone at Cafe Express--a place I knew Kris would not at all mind missing out on. He's not a fan but I love it. I think this is because they offer sun-dried tomoatoes on their little mini condiment bar. I feel that sun-dried tomatoes enhance just about any dish and at Cafe Express, you get to add as much of them as you like.

I came home to boys in bed and an unloaded and reloaded dishwasher. That's right--my man builds shelves AND does dishes. Good call on my part marrying him.

All I Want For Christmas

is for my brother to respect my personal space.

Mary's Boy Child...

probably never needed a haircut. She had plenty on her mind as she cared for him, no doubt, but the the fact that he was getting a little shaggy was not an issue.

Not so here. Haircuts were sadly overdue. Asher had a about a 2-3 week window where he was rocking a pretty cool "surfer-musician, I just run my fingers through it and go" style but then it degenerated into "pitiful street urchin" and that's just really not the look we're going for.

So Mamaw and I took the boys today to get haircuts.



The webcam obviously does not do well with moving subjects so this is all I could get without actually getting up and looking for and using the camera. But trust me, they look so sweet. Asher kept saying, "I look pretty." I said, "Yes, you do baby...you get it from your daddy."

Don We Now Our Gay Apparel

My friend Becca made these adorable shirts for the boys and I just love them! I really wanted cute holiday shirts for them but wanted a design that Kris would not get mad at me for putting on his boys. Cutesy snowmen and reindeer would just not do. We needed somthing that said "Cute, yet overtly manly." So a truck hauling a Christmas tree was the winner! Asher had his doubts at first ("I'm NOT wearing a Chris-a-mus tree shirt!" But he came around...as you can see.

The Cattle Are Lowing

Does that mean mooing? Mooing quietly perhaps? Eating hay? Who knows.

I can tell you that a good dairy cow (under normal circumstances--meaning not what you find in most American "dairies") can produce up to 17 gallons of milk a day. If you give that cow to a family in a third world country, that family all of a sudden has the means to feed itself and a source of income by selling the surplus. This is exactly what Heifer International makes possible for thousands of families around the world.

An animal can literally change the course of life for a family. In addition to cows, you can give llamas, chicks, goats, even water buffalo! Each gift not only addresses an immediate need but starts a chain reation of need-meeting for the family, the neighborhood, and the entire community. But I'll let Alton tell you more (because who has not learned more from Alton Brown in one episode of Good Eats than in all 4 years of high school science classes?)...



Here is the gift catalog. Do a little holiday shopping!

And Heaven and Nature Sing

I love hymns, ancient and modern. There is just something about theologically rich, well-written, Christ-exalting music that proclaims the gospel to your soul. Many of the songs we typically think of only around Christmas time are incredible proclamations of the glory of the Incarnation that we would do well to meditate on throughout the year. Some of these songs were written hundreds of years ago. Some were written in the last decade.

Andrew Peterson, one of my very favorite singer/songwriters, has a beautifully done album all about the coming of Christ. He begins in Genesis, which is where we first receive the Promise that God will deliver His people, and follows the promises throughout the Old Testament, culminating, of course, with Christ's birth.

If you have never heard the album I recommend you CLICK HERE and get it! One of my favorite songs on it is called "Labor of Love" and the first line is "It was not a silent night. There was blood all around." Now that's my kind of Christmas song.

So check it out. And listen to it all year long. Because as believers in Christ, his Incarnation is a precious truth that we celebrate all year long.

Making a List--UPDATED

Before I lie down tonight, here is what I would like to accomplish

1. Make up bed with clean sheets. (update: made bed...same sheets...kids got in made bed and now it is no longer made...story.of.my.life.)
2. Fold and put away all laundry. (update: might still happen)
3. Hang all clothes that go on hangers. (update: DONE)
4. Clean bathroom counter and mirror. (update: not looking good)
5. Paint the rest of the shelves. (update: the Boss told me to wait til he sands them more)
6. Vacuum. (update: not happening)
7. Clean kitchen. (update: almost finished...had to cook dinner which made the job more involved)
8. Clean out magical minivan. (update: still filled up will all manner of books, papers, sippy cups, shoes, and junk mail)
9. Gather all books scattered throughout the house. (update: gathered some)
10. Deposit checks. (update: went to Target for more cleaning supplies and ran out of time...bank closes too early)
11. Print out Jesse Tree stuff. (update: maybe next year)
12. Straighten boys' rooms. (update: what's the point?)

Ok, that should be enough to keep me busy for today. I just put the Brothers Rives down for their naps so I will go get to work.

ps--the shelves are in and they look awesome! I just need to paint the little shelves that go inside because Kris made it to where they are adjustable. After that, I will post pics. My man did an incredeible job!!!

Later On We'll Conspire

I think the scales at doctors offices (specifically OBs) are not balanced properly. I think all the obstetricians got together and decided to set their scales to weigh you at a good four to five pounds heavier than you really are. They keep you under their thumb better this way. You're defeated and desperate, therefore more inclined to do whatever they tell you.

Well I'm on to them and their evil plot (did I mention I'm pregnant?)

I get on the scale for my first appointment and I weighed--of course--4 pounds more than I did just 30 minutes before on my scale at home (which I know to be highly accurate.) So the nurse asks me my pre-pregnancy weight. So I just added four pounds to what I knew my starting weight to be. Take that. You're gonna have a faulty scale, then I'm gonna make the necessary adjustments. No condescending glances or offers of an appointment with a nutritionist for me, thank you kindly. (maybe I've been down this road before?)

So yeah, July 3. I'll be 10 weeks on Wednesday. Everything looks good. Got to see a sweet little heartbeat. Very happy and thankful indeed.

I really did try to make it a real button with a real code but, as usual, I couldn't make it work and I gave up. So you have 2 options: figure out how to turn this picture into a button and post the code for the rest of us OR just save this pic to your computer and add it to your blog.

Either way, DBC '09 starts tomorrow. Fa la la la la la!

DBC--Monday--Be There

2 more days to rest up and then it is ON. And that blog button is coming--pinky swear.