Show yourself, selfish house

I wish there was a "self clean" setting for houses. I'm pretty amazing at cleaning my house in a hurry, since I've been practicing so much lately, but I still don't like the panic-mode-type of cleaning that I do almost daily. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy that our house is showing so much and I do love a clean home, I just wish that my home would stay clean when the boys and I are in it as opposed to only when I'm gone and other peeps are viewing it.
  Ne'er the less, I consider it pure joy that God has granted me this day to live, explore, visit loved ones, and eat good food. (My mother-in-law can out-cook your mother-in-law!)
  Be blessed, dear readers!

Earth, meet Stephan's face. Stephan's face, the earth.

My husband has not joined a fight club, nor has he taken up bmx-ing or some other hazardous sport/activity. He just went bike-riding through the park on what turned out to be a rather defective bike. Long story short- after the front tire ran away from him in mid-jump, Stephan hit the earth hard, cleverly taking the majority of the fall with his face. This was the end result:

It was even prettier before he left for work this morning.

I tell the epic tale of Stephan's face plant because it is a tale of God's ever-watchful care. When I say Stephan landed on his face, I literally mean his face. There was no shoulder hitting first, then quickly rolling to his face. The order of collision was cheekbone and jawline immediately followed by neck and shoulder. Where are you seeing God's protection in this, Colette? Good question, reader, and the answer is simple. Stephan's alive. He walked away from a helmet-less accident that could have broken his neck or at the very least his collar bone. So said the paramedic that was jogging past as Stephan's bike fell apart. The worst injury he's going to have to content with is a sore, blessedly unbroken face.
   This exercise in dangerous exercising and the results thereof reminds me once again how blessed I am. Often I find myself grumbling in my head about this discomfort or that annoyance that I may be enduring at the time and I have to stop myself and say, "Self, stop! Look at your life! Why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks are you complaining?" Even if God chooses to take away all the unnecessary comforts He has bestowed upon us, let me praise His name, for He has given me His Holy Spirit. And, He saved Stephan from living out the rest of his life as a paraplegic, at the same time giving him a pretty sweet scar and a story to tell our sons when they grow older and want to ride their bike without helmets.

  "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content."
1 Timothy 6:6-8

Oh, to be young again

Noah got excited about a new lamp. Not just any lamp, mind you, a Lightening McQueen lamp. His daddy is awesome and loves him, so yesterday, after work, he went to Ross and found this really neat lamp. When Noah saw it, especially after he saw it lit up, he flipped his lid. How excited was he?

I wish I saw young and innocent enough to get that excited over something as simple as a lamp. The last time I got a-tad-bit-crazy excited was when my bestie surprised the snot out of me with a really cute shirt on her little girl that said "Big sister". Then I did indeed jump and squeal and laugh and yell for a while. God bless you, Aubrey, for giving me a reason to be two-year-old-with-a-lamp-in-the-shape-of-his-favorite-thing-ever excited.
 
   Be blessed, dear readers!

In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus

Good morning. It is early, but I wanted to type a post today and this day has potential to be a busy day, so I thought I'd knock one out before the rest of the house wakes up.
   Not much news to report. Witten's stinking adorable and has three and a half teeth. He's also so close to crawling. Noah is continuing to test boundaries and be your average 2 year-old. I love him so much and it really pains me when I feel like I'm constantly correcting, chastising, scolding, or disciplining him. Then suddenly, out of the blue, he'll say, "Mommy, I wanna hold you!" and my heart smiles so big and I know he still loves me.
  Stephan and the Stand are doing very well. He recently referred to it as his "second marriage" because of how much time and effort he puts into maintaining it. I only laughed a little. God has blessed us by sending along a new employee who will hopefully enable Stephan to come home from work before the kids' bedtime         And because I'm in a bit of a rush, as the rest of my household is awakening, I'll close with a hearty and joyful congratulations to Rachel and Alan Thomas and their brand new baby, Jonah! I pray that your first few days, weeks, and months are a smooth and peaceful transition into parenthood and being a happy and God-centered family of three.
   Hey, Johnson! You're next. (Imagine an ominous voice and steady, serious glare.)
Be blessed this weekend, readers!

play times

I thought I should document on this day the way our play group goes.
 Since almost the beginning of my blog, I have oft' written of this thing called play group. It has gone a few names in my blog, actually. Play date, play time, play group; it's all the same. It all started when two dear friends of mine and I had babies. Here we were, three very new mommies with three tiny new babies and we were rather frightened by the huge task we had just taken upon ourselves. (Well, that may have just been me.) Motherhood is a pretty big responsibility and you rarely feel the weight of the responsibility so much as when you first pick it up. So, we very quickly decided that we should get together regularly and let our babies "play" (have you ever watched an infant play? They don't. They lay there and observe.) while us moms talked about life and stuff.
  Our plan was a great one. Starting when Noah was barely 3 months old, we met together once a week, except for special occasions, and we have continued that tradition for two years as of yesterday. It has been a blessing to me in many ways, and I hope it has been the same for my friends. And boy, have things changed. I'll give you an example;

  Playgroup then:

Lucy, Madi, Noah

Playgroup now:

These are only the older kids

Along with Lucy, Madi and Noah, we now happily play with Lydia, Wyatt, Kyle, James, Ella, Ethan, Witten, Caleb, and sometimes Lauren, Autumn, and Ollie. Sometimes, a new friend or two pays us a visit during play group. In case you didn't count, that's 14(ish) youngsters ranging from 2 years old to 2 months old. No longer is it a quite couple of hours for mothers to talk while sweet babies goo-goo and coo on the floor; now it's an exciting and energetic time that mothers bring their kids to so that they will wear themselves out and take awesome naps later.

Why hello, Lydia! aren't you adorable!

 Playgroup goes a bit like this: 

      -everyone arrives one by one. As more toddlers show up, the noise increases and the air fills with cheers and shouts and laughs. As more babies show up, the floor fills with rollers, crawlers, and Kyle's sweet little 3-step-shuffle. (He's so close to walking)

     -By 10:45-ish, everyone that's going to come has arrived and there is a moment of settling-in as mothers find their seats (temporary though they may be) and toddlers uncover the treasure trove of toys. 

     -Around 11:20, there is a 20 minute period in which a crescendo of noise reaches its cacophonous high-point. At this time, mommas have to practically holler at each other to be heard. This strange anomaly happens every time. It quiets down soon enough, usually because of the urgent "shh!" coming from us mothers.

     -As lunch time nears, more whines and cries of grouchy grumps can be detected amidst the sea of silliness. This signals the end of play time and mommies pack up their gear and children and head home for that aforementioned post-playgroup nap. 

Three manly little men right there

    I thank God for these busy mornings. I thank Him for these friends He's given Noah, Witten, and me. I'm so very happy that I have friends living life at about the same pace as I am. Having these women around me for the past two years has encouraged, edified, and supported me in my low times, while grounding me and helping me to stay humble in my high times. 

  I thank God that He has already answered my prayer for Noah to be surrounded by sweet, wonderful friends. I will continue to pray for God to provide wholesome, Christian friends for Noah because I know that I won't be able to direct who Noah and Witten will be around and befriend for much longer now. At the same time, I pray that He preserves these young friendships for years and years to come. 

    To any readers and friends of mine who are looking for a small (again, -ish) group of young mothers and their children to plug into, please feel free to hit me up. We love inviting new people and making new friends!

  To my dear friends who have been sharing this play time tradition with me for a while already, I love you all dearly and I love your precious children! I pray for you often, too.  Thank you for being such awesome friends!

Wow, What a Week!

Ouma and Oupa missed their little ones so much that they planned a surprise for them. With Mommy and Daddy's blessing, they snuck to Petsmart and picked up a present for Noah. When they arrived to assemble the aforementioned present, Noah was apprehensive at first. But once it was all completed, Noah couldn't contain his excitement. Ouma and Oupa gave Noah his first pet fish!

You can't really tell, but there are four in there. They're named Nemo, Marlin, Speckles and Freckles.

So happy!

Witten loves the fish. He almost hopped of Oupa's knee to get to them.

We were all very glad to see Ouma and Oupa. With Stephan's schedule being the way it is for now, we haven't been able to do a lot of things together as a family, including going to visit Stephan's parent's on the farm. Hopefully soon Stephan will find another fantastic worker for the Stand so that he and his current employee can get a little more time off.
   Readers, I have been a mother for a little over two years and a mother of two for almost seven months. where on earth has time gone?

first hug

one-month hug

two-month snuggle

three months of brotherly affections

four months of sharing love

five month of putting up with brother

six months of spending time together

almost seven months of loving one another

 I hope I can keep up this month-to-month picture taking. I'd like to do it forever, even when they are old enough to have families of their own, because, of course, they will always be my babies.

  Tomorrow is an awesome swim-party at Scott and Karen's new pool. I plan on taking cupcakes, but we'll see how that pans out. And Stephan won't be able to make it because of work. I tell you, friends, I'm so very glad that Stephan's restaurant is succeeding, but I wish I could have my husband around a bit more.

  Praise God for my husband, for my sons, for providing work, and for cupcakes! Amen.

this could be it

Twice today, Noah has come to me and told me he had to poo-poo in the potty. We went to the potty, I took of his diaper, and he tee-teed in the potty! Of his own volition!!! *holy moley!*
   If I put as much work as I did into something that turns out to be as simple as Noah deciding he's ready to do this thing and then doing it, I may have to kick myself.
On an unrelated note, the boys and I went to the pool four times this past week. It is a happening I gladly wish to repeat. My uncle and aunt are incredibly generous and have loaned us their back yard for the remainder of the summer and we are making good use of it. Noah's getting so used to being in the water that he's down to kicking around the shallow end with only his arm floaties on. Meanwhile, Mommy's getting a tan! I haven't had a good one of those since B.C. (before children).
  Thank you, awesome relatives, for being so kind to us!
Now, to ensure that Noah actually takes a nap instead of very quietly playing in his room for two hours.