the boy loves to eat

those are seeds, not bugs



kiwi and graham crackers



a simple, yet delightful combination

11 Months Old

That's a roast beef sandwich. I kid you not. Happy 11 months, Jude Rives!

Time Travel Thursday

last year at this time...


We were breaking out the baby stuff and about a month away from Jude's arrival! Asher, with safety always in mind, tried out the bouncy seat to make sure it was still in working order. Look at what a baby he was!

A Pickin' and A Grinnin'

We had so much fun picking blueberries yesterday! Turns out Asher is quite the little harvester. And thankfully, he is beginning to pronounce blueberries correctly, because for quite some time, he has referred to them as "boobies," which makes for some very interesting sentences.

He did a great job of just picking the ripe ones (for the most part.)



Although I'm pretty sure he ate more than he actually put in his bucket.



But that's OK--part of the beauty of picking your own blueberries! I'm glad that we at least introduced him to the idea that food does not just appear on the shelves at HEB--that there is a little more involved in the process.

This is Kris' "I love blueberries!" face.



Jude just enjoyed the ambiance and ate some grass. And he looked precious in his little overalls.




And me? I was a blueberry picking machine! It was like I was born in an orchard. Check that out--a kid on the hip and a bucket around my neck. Amazing.




We got about 2.5 lbs. for a little over $3.00 and had a lot of fun in the process. Not bad for an evening's work. Lord willing, we will be back next blueberry season!

Us

We are silly. We have food on our shirts. Our pants don't always fit. We don't all look at the camera. Most of us are in desperate need of haircuts.

But yet, I see this picture and think, "Perfect." This is just so us. Unrefined, yet blissfully happy.

I like us.

Back to Devastatingly Handsome

Not that Asher doesn't look adorable even with the Quasimodo thing happening, but I am happy to report that the swelling has gone down and he is looks like himself again.

As proof, I offer you this incredibly long video that you should be no means feel obligated to watch. The boys are cracking each other up and I, rather unsuccessfully, try to persuade Asher to sing a few songs. There are a few moments of his sweet little voice but mainly you get Kris' sweet little voice and mine, such as it is.

The "After Nap" Shot

You get the full effect of the swelling in this one. Poor little fella looks awful :( But don't you worry--Jude is close by to take care of him.

You Should See the Other Guy

Asher got in a bar fight.

Ok, not really. He apparently was bitten by what we can only assume was a mosquito and woke up with his eye almost swollen shut and the area around his forehead and nose swollen as well. The picture doesn't really do justice to how different he looks today.

I took him to the see the NP this morning just to make sure there wasn't anything seriously wrong. Thankfully, she confirmed that it wasn't a spider bite and he doesn't have any kind of infection. She told us to dope him up on Benedryl for the next few days until the swelling subsides. He's never had Benedryl before so here's to hoping he isn't one of those kids that gets really hyperactive on it.

Next topic (seamless transitions are my specialty): how precious are these pictures!





These were taken at Harper's birthday bash and the humidity, while wreaking havoc on the cupcakes, made Jude's hair extra curly and spectacular. Looking at those pictures almost makes me want to go wake him up from his nap and squeeze him!

I said almost.

Judah Barracuda is 10 Months Old!

Can you believe it? My little Judah Bear is getting so big! He is the sweetest little chub of a boy and I am so thankful he is part of our family. He is funny and cuddly and is fairly certain he can do anything his big brother can do. All it takes to make him happy is his thumb and his lovey. He says, "Mama," and actually prefers me, in contrast to Daddy's boy, Asher. (Don't get me wrong though--when Daddy gets home from work, there is much rejoicing by ALL of us!)

Jude has gorgeous, curly, sandy-blonde hair.



And legs that are so sweet and delicious I may just eat them up one day.



He also has a big brother that loves him to pieces. They light up when they see each other in the morning and play together all day long. They can get a little rough with each other(yes, both of them!) but when I see them giving kisses or sharing snacks, my heart just melts.

I think Asher's shirt sums it up well...



It's been a good 10 months with the little guy. May the Lord allow us many, many more.

Wordless Wednesday

Latest Organization Project

After ramming a stack of boxes with the ol' minivan a few times too many, I decided it was high time to restore some order to this region of the garage. These boxes were full of the things I kept from my classroom teaching days. I knew some of it would be useful for homeschooling, but I really needed to go through it and consolidate it to just a few boxes. The rest of the mess is old newspapers, diaper boxes, and shoes.



Ahhhh...I can breathe now. I feel sorry for the people that are never messy or disorganized enough to let things degenerate this badly because they miss out on the feeling you get when you finally clean the mess up.

At least that's the story I'm going with.

Reinacting Jaws

This is the shark tent. It is the source of hours of fun in this house. But it is huge and our house is not so we can't leave it out. Oh, but when we do the good times that are had!

Even Daddy couldn't resist the lure of the shark tent.



The lot in life of the little brother.



No biggie. Didn't want to go in that dumb tent anyway.

Rock On

These boys take after their Daddy and their Poppy--a guitar is always close by. It seems all day long, someone has some instument in their hands playing a song. Jude has even taken to searching out the drumsticks so he can beat them together as he sings. They both enjoy composing their own tunes--Asher just sang me a sweet little diddy about blowing on your oatmeal when it's too hot. I think it was his best one today.

Moms' Night Out

In lieu of our usual Friday playdates with our kiddos, some friends and I decided to do a "P.M. Playdate." This may be one of the best ideas we have ever had in our entire lives.

The five of us, Kathy, Chris, Bethany, Misty, and me, had so much fun getting to chit-chat and--get this--finish each sentence we began! A rare thing indeed.

We went to Chuy's for dinner and ate our combined weight in creamy jalepeno sauce. We also were the recipients of a free appetizer. Seeing the picture of us above, you are probably wondering to yourself, "Is it because they were the most beautiful group of ladies there last night?" Good guess, but no.

As it happened, Kris, Asher, Jude and I were at Chuy's the night before because Kris really wanted to go there and I didn't have the heart to tell him that I would be dining there with the girls the very next evening.

Whilst dining, I noticed a sign that read "Bring in a framed picture of your dog and receive a free appetizer." We don't actually have a dog per se but my parents do so I figured that was close enough.

But I don't actually have a picture of their dog. So I printed one out off Google images--same breed. I figured that was close enough. And we just happened to have a frame that no longer had glass in it that fit the picture perfectly that I had been meaning to throw away. Evidently, I was providentially hindered from doing so.

And I brought that picture to Chuy's, gave it to our waiter, and asked for the most expensive appetizer on the menu! I told him the dog's name was Heidi, which I had named the dog in picture on my way to Chuy's in honor of one of my parent's boxers who is no longer with us. He brought me a sharpie so that I could sign the picture and it is now displayed proudly on the wall of Chuy's on 59 North.

They have a random picture to hang on their wall and we got free food. Everyone went home a winner.

Remember When...

My camera is in my diaper bag which is the the car which in the garage which seems like a long way to travel right now. It's not that our house is that big, it's just that I'm that lazy.

So I thought a little flashback would be a good substitute. Here's little Asher one year ago. He was a carefree 16 month old that had no clue about how is world was going to be rocked in just a few short months. A good "rocked" of course.

Incidentally, the outfit Asher is wearing, Jude wears now. Both boys are in size 4 diapers and both wear 18 month shorts. Impressive, huh?

Lord willing, some current pictures and witty banter will follow soon.

The Dénouement of Metallic Shoe Saga '09

Thank you to all of you who cast your virtual ballot in what some have called the most important vote of our time. All of your input was considered and I now know, that in my time of need, I have some true-blue friends that I can count on. I also have some nameless readers of my blog who are willing to take two seconds out of their day to make a selection. That touches my heart as well.

The wearing of metallics is a personal choice that every woman must make for herself. I do like them and I agree with several of you that they work as a neutral and can be paired with many things. But Lis hit the nail on the head when she brought up the fact that if you don't absolutely love something, then it isn't worth your time or money. And something about the fact that I felt the need to post a survey on my blog hints at the possibility that I might not be truly sold on them.

So back to Target they went. As I told Mandy last night during our legnthy Facebook chat on this very subject, no one can accuse me of not trying.

I'm all for branching out, but it has to be the right thing at the right time, or it's actually a wrong thing trying to act like it's the right thing. And that's just wrong, right?

Do We Like These?

Go here to view and then cast your vote. Consider it your good deed for the day.

And feel free to leave a comment to elaborate on your vote. And no reverse-psychology voting...please do not mess with my head at a time like this.

One of the Many Reasons Jude Loves Asher

A Little (Too Much) About Me

So I went to a Latin Fusion class at the gym last night. It was so much fun! Kris calls me a gym rat now. If I had a tan and muscles, and maybe overly processed hair, I might agree with him. But the class was awesome! I love classes that make you forget you are working out. When I am on the treadmill, my thoughts are consumed with the fact that I am voluntarily torturing myself. But when I am grooving to a Latin beat, time passes much more quickly.

Ever heard the saying, "Nine months on, nine months off," regarding post-partum weightloss? Well I took my full nine months--even though I was pregnant 41 weeks, which is more like 10 months, but whatever--but I am happy to say I am back, baby! All my clothes with the exception of one pair of pants from Anthropoligie, a store, I am convinced, is off on it's sizing anyway, fit. It is so nice to have options again. I feel so much better and healthier! I still have more to go because I would like a nice little buffer zone for the next pregnancy, but I am pleased with my progress thus far.

However, I have been pregnant or losing pregnancy weight for the better part of the last 3.5 years. So most of my clothes are from circa 2005. Thanks to one of my two shopping policies, namely "Always buy classics" I don't feel too outdated, but it would be nice to get a few new things. (Incidentally, my other policy is "Never pay full price for retail.") So what are some key pieces that I could add to my wardrobe that will update me? I need help from any cool, well-dressed people that read this.

I cleaned the baseboards in my bathroom yesterday. Seriously. Along with the rest of my bathroom. So now my closet is nice and organized and my bathroom is sparkling.

Jude is fussing right now because he is laboring under the delusion that he does not need a morning nap. He is quite wrong.

I am making whole wheat pasta salad with feta and toasted walnuts for dinner tonight. My sweet carnivore of a husband will be running sound tonight so I get to make a meatless dish and call it dinner. I think I'm a "flexitarian." I like meat and while I would rather not meditate on the process involved in getting it to HEB, I think I could be happy with way less of it. Not so with Mr. Rives. It is not a meal unless meat is involved. I can respect that.

I must stop here because I have a mom's bible study today. Please don't forget to leave any wardrobe suggestions you have for me in the comments. kthanksbye. (totally stole that from you, J-Thib.)

You Pick the Caption #2

A: The Rives Brothers Rehearse

B: One in a Sleeveless Shirt and One in a Diaper...Classy

C: Jude Thinks Sharing is for the Birds (click the pic to enlarge--Jude is m.a.d.)

Again, your call.

Who Sleeps Like This?

Old Words. New Tunes. Timeless Truth.

Rediscover the richness of hymns! There is such a depth and passion in older hymns that modern choruses rarely match. Listen to these songs and be encouraged by the God-centeredness of them.

Let me know what you think!

A Non-Sequitur Post For You

--I really--seriously, really--need to organize my closet. It's bad. Seriously.

--Jude sneezed at HEB today and a lady offered me a tissue...from her pocket. I kid you not. She assured me it was clean as she held it out for me to take. I took it so as not to hurt her feelings but did not use it. I used his shirt instead.

--I have been sewing a jon-jon for about 5 months now at our weekly sewing lesson with a lady from church. It started out for Asher and then I took so long, it then became Jude's. But I jacked it up so badly last night that I decided I am done with it. I refuse to rip one more seam out of that darn outfit. I need shorter, instant-gratification type projects.

--Asher is offically in the "I do it by self" phase. That has its pros and cons for sure.

that's all I got. more bluebonnet pics are coming--with the whole fam in them. please don't abandon my blog due to crappy posts like this.

Bluebonnet Pictures

In which the Rives Brothers never look at my camera at the same time, barely smile, and Jude eats some grass.






Thankfully, Uncle Sean was also snapping pictures and he got some really cute ones so I will post those once I get them.

This was our first year to do this. I feel so badly that Asher is 2 years old and has never taken the obligatory bluebonnet picture. So un-Texan like. But I plan on keeping up this tradition, especially since Uncle Sean and Aunt Mindy (along with some friends, including one Mr. Scott Dayton who said he would like a shout-out on the blog) take the yearly pilgrimage to Brenham, famous for it's bluebonnet fields. We will tag along with them for many years to come, Lord willing.

Rives Boys+Wimberly Girls=Good Times

A few days ago, we had the pleasure of Saige and Meadow's company while their mom went to a friend's birthday lunch. It is so interesting to watch them interact and to see who ends up playing together. This time, Saige and Jude paired up for a rousing game of "Stick the Fish in Jude's Mouth." If you've never played, the pictures below will help you out.









Meadow wasn't too sure about that game so she just watched.


I had to post this picture to point out the fact that Winnie the Pooh has never once been held like that in his life. Complementarianism is a beautiful thing.



I had to get a few of Asher and Saige because they are just too cute when they get together.







See what I mean! Good times!

You Choose the Title

A: "Walking with My Daddy"

B: "Bridge Over Peaceful Water"

C: "On Our Way To Get the Poop Off My Hands"

Your call.

ps--I feel the need to document the fact that Jude is now a crawler as of this week and a clapper as of today (I love it when they start clapping!) He turned 8 months a few days ago so he has far surpassed his brother's crawling age of 10.5 months.

Jude is now a much more contented individual who has eaten tissue and a coupon today thanks to his newfound mobility.