the boy loves shoes!

this is will in one of his favorite places - outside of my closet, pulling out shoes.

he loves this navy heel in particular. hmmm

"i need to carry it all over the house"

"wait, maybe daddy will wear it"

he loves giving us our shoes to wear. and other people's shoes to wear.

patty cake

i know i'm biased, but this is the cutest thing ever! mom taught him how to patty cake a few weeks ago. whenever people clap on the tv, he smiles and joins in. too cute

will at 13 months

he's climbing things other than stairs now. monday he climbed up on his music table and then on his rocking chair. the toddler years have begun!

this is his excited face.

unbelievably cool

okay, so this is my younger brother and mom parasailing in panama city. if you know my mom, you will not believe what you are seeing in this video. she barely gets in the pool and here she is hundreds of feet in the air above the ocean! they said it was quite peaceful.

baby pool

beach pics continued

here's the whole group. this is my family and all of the significant others and children.

this is one of my favorite pictures. my sister in law took it i believe. check out the spiky hair.

will at the beach

he liked the water.

he hated the sand.

the view from our condo - gorgeous

will reflects on life - "hmm, i think i might walk tonight". this was on tuesday and he did take his first run of multiple steps that night. yep, he's officially walking!

forever this truth remains

Not angels, nor demons, no power on earth or heaven
Not distance, nor danger, no trouble now or ever

Nothing can take me from your great love
Forever this truth remains

I belong, I belong to you

Not hardship, nor hunger, no pain or depth of sorrow
Not weakness, nor failure, no broken dream or promise

Nothing can take me from your great love
Forever this truth remains

I belong, I belong to you

i belong, kathryn scott

i love you jesus. thank you for saving me from darkness, for forgiving my sin, for making me clean, for giving me hope, for your unconditional love that i do not deserve. you are my saviour and my king, and i rest in the truth that i belong to you.

birthday pics

happy birthday to you!

he's started imitating our laughs.

will and nana

saturday

will sat in his wagon for probably 10 minutes pressing the same button on one of the toys he got. it made a really obnoxious sound. a continuous obnoxious sound that he was totally fascinated with.

paul's girl pushes him on the swing. haha. this was cracking me up.

another brother

my sister in law - her name is laura brown. sometimes this confuses things. haha. we love her to death.

first experience with balloons. pretty cool.

okay, so maybe i'll get some pictures of him eating his cake a little later. there was cake, i promise!

He's one!

We survived! It's time to celebrate.
oh, the lessons i've learned in the past year - we'll save that for another day.
i just noticed will is playing with my ring in the picture - funny.

Redeeming Love

i think this is the best book i've ever read - Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers. i finished it within a few days - i'm still thinking about it. read it and it will likely change you.

will's wagon

the mobile life

he loves to climb the stairs, and for you to help him walk down. i'm really wishing i lived in a ranch right now - not a split level!

a pouty face for good measure. he wanted to chew on papa jerry's cane, and i took it away. how could i?

james

i'm reading through james right now. hear are some snippits that spoke loud.

when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 1:6 don't doubt God

the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does. 1:25 choose freedom, live in the Word and do it

mercy triumphs over judgment! 2:13 don't be judging people - give em a break

about the tongue - whoah

...Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. 3:12 am i producing bitter words or words that give life? can't do both.

Berries

I went to Publix recently and bought some berries - strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries - because they were on special and looked really good. Well, they were really good. If you live near a Publix, go get you some. The special ends tomorrow. They also had blackberries. The strawberries tasted like they had just been picked from the strawberry patch. Melt in your mouth.

adventures in june

look at alfalfa showing off his six teeth. he loves to give grandma cox a big smile esp. when she has her camera. this is will in the church nursery. he has a blast there because it's a big room of different toys.

we spent a lot of time at church last week because i was helping out with Bible school. so will went to his first Bible school - he's growing up so fast! sniff sniff :0)

a few weeks ago, will and i spent a few days at nana's house in sc. here is will with nana looking at the flowers. will really wants to totally demolish mom's plant, but she tries to teach him to smell it instead. he kind of caught on.

we got to see some friends and family. i treasure each moment - it's hard being away from old friends and family esp. when you're a stay at home mom. here will is with one of my aunts. she is showing him a rooster and a few hens. he was happy until the rooster crowed a few times.

reduce, reuse, recycle.

a friend recently made me realize that these should go in order. i need things spelled out for me sometimes. we are pretty good about recycling. but really that should be your last option. reduce first, reuse when possible, and if you have to, recycle.

what i learned at cvs last weekend

the cashier at cvs had a different kind of accent, so i asked him where he was from. i thought he might have been from brazil. he was from ghana. he asked me what i knew about ghana - i said not much - so he began to give me an education about his country. very interesting. i guess this is what happens when you run errands late at night. people aren't in a rush. there was nobody in line behind me, and a bad thunderstorm going on outside, so i just stood there and learned about ghana. world geography and history and sociology is so much more interesting outside of a book.

there's gold and diamonds there.
it's on the western coast of africa, so that's where a lot of the slave trade happened. he said it's very hard to talk about there. he says he might see one of his relative here in the states, but would never know because families were separated. sometimes when a child was misbehaving very badly, the parent would sell them to the slave trade. wow! i wonder if they knew what they were really doing to their child.
it is a democracy.
they like the British because they brought the Bible to their country and because of that, there are many Christians there.
they learn the Bible in school and have signs on storefronts that say Jesus Christ Saves, so that no one will have an excuse when the end comes.
many of the surrounding countries were (colonized? i guess) by the French - they did not have a Christian influence. on the weekends, they drink a lot of alcohol.
then he said something interesting - that those people from the other countries know that the people in Ghana are wiser than they are.

so there's a real life perspective from Ghana.

ugly doll

i keep seeing these everywhere. go to uglydolls.com. there are many different varieties. they're so ugly they're cute! i can't afford one, (lee told me i probably should edit this - we could afford one, i just can't justify paying that much for something like that with all of our other expenses, kind of like a pedicure, even though it is stinkin cool), but maybe i could make one. will seems to like them.

three years ago today

the reception in my parents' backyard. what a hot day - don't even remember how hot it was - definitely mid 90s. we had an awesome time getting to see so many friends and family members in one place at one time.

aren't we cute?

Finally, we're married!!!

Vowing - sorry these pics are not chronological.

one of my favorite pictures - me and my flower girl (my cousin, Grace) and our beautiful dresses.

first shoes

he's on the move...

and very happy about it!

car for sale

i can't believe i'm actually doing this. letting go of my dream car. but, if there is a buyer out there, i think it is the wise thing to do. if anyone's interested, please post a comment on this blog or contact me otherwise if you have my information. please note - it might be a few weeks before it is ready to sell. we are replacing the tint on the passenger side window.





2005 Toyota Celica GT
59,000 miles
air conditioning
dual front airbags
power windows, door locks
am/fm stereo, single cd player
cruise control
tilt wheel

Good Condition - according to Kelly Blue Book's rating system

$11,000

bye-bye playpen

on tuesday, i had to accept the fact that there will be no more playpen time. this was a sacred period of about 15 - 25 minutes every morning (almost) when will would play in his pack and play while i cleaned up the kitchen (wash dishes from night before) or started laundry or ate breakfast - whatever. now, he is almost 11 months old, and becoming very mobile. bye-bye playpen. hello kitchen cabinets!

"my one outfit"

i know we've all heard stories like this before, but i know i always need a reminder - a good dose of reality to recognize a need vs. a want.

"Esther Dania, 52, single mother of six, lives with her children in a 12 foot tent the International Red Cross gave her last September. Hurricane Gustav and other storm-related floods killed more than 800 Haitians and left over 1 million homeless. Today the tent is her only possession, along with the clothes she is wearing. 'When my one outfit is dirty, I take it off to wash it and then wear it again.' Dania said."

World Magazine