routine

I have never been so grateful for routine. I have never really been a fan of a schedule or time constraints but having children makes all of us NEED some sort of structure and schedule. After the summer of so much travel, not having my super duper husband around but a few days here and there, and just the long endless days I am SO happy to be home and having somewhat of our routine back! Grey doesn't start school until after Labor Day but we are at least home and I can structure our days for the most part. 


Tucker is a full blown toddler and everything that comes with it. I am trying to get him to learn to focus on things for longer periods of time but mostly just joining in his gross motor endeavors. He laughs a whole lot and would live outside if I would let him.  I frequently find him here...

He OFTEN finds a chair that was not completely under the table and climbs right on up. He finds a way to scale anything to get up higher. He is wide open. And more recently, he has also discovered his will and is exerting himself through lots of tantrums. Full out tantrums. Throwing himself on the floor and kicking a screaming and hitting and throwing things. The works. Grey and I just ignore him. he'll learn...


Grey Bear is just busy being the ol' Grey Bear. He is learning to share and be kind to his brother each and every day. Some days are better than others but overall, his tender heart helps him out a lot in being a big brother. I am enjoying our time together before school starts. He tells me lots of stories and we play Toy Story at least 75 times a day. He is at such a fun age. 


I have been filling up our days with playdates, going to the park, playdoh, running, scootering, digging in the dirt, and some napping. Lots of popsicles have been consumed, we have enjoyed daddy being home at night, enjoying the cool mornings outside on our new deck, playing in the cool grass in the evenings, and being thankful for our home and the time I get to spend with all of my boys here! 

they call him "the reverend"

last night i had the pleasure of standing beside matthew as he was ordained into the ministry. the whole night exceeded any expectations i could have even dreamed. it was extremely humbling and such a wonderful time to rejoice in the Lord's plan for matthew and our family. 


we started out the evening with a prayer time. each of the deacons came to lay hands on matthew and i and pray for us individually. my heart was very humbled in these moments to know that these men (and some wives) were affirming our call into the ministry and thanking God for our ministry. there was also much prayer for protection of our ministry for the years to come. i  could only thank God that He had created both matthew and i for this "call."


we then attended a service that matthew put together. it was inspiring to say the least. we were both challenged and had the opportunity to worship the Lord with so many who love God so deeply. we were encouraged beyond words. both of our parents were able to come along with david, matthew's brother. there were youth from past and present and many friends from the church that came to support us. it was a time to praise God for who He is and all that He has done and is doing! 


we also had a beautiful reception afterwards where we were able to fellowship. the whole night humbled our hearts and brought so much joy in realizing the Great God that we serve.


barry (matthew's dad) said it best last night. God ordained this "call" before the world was even made. He made matthew specifically for full time ministry while he was knitting him together in the womb.  He also created me and our family to be in full time ministry. how grateful we are for His perfect plan. we cannot wait to continue seeking Him day by day and following where He leads! 

before we know it

both of these little boys will be big brothers!

st. augustine

Matthew and I set out on our MUCH anticipated anniversary trip last Thursday morning. We headed right down I-95 to St. Augustine Beach for a few days to relax, catch up with each other, and just enjoy some time together. and that we did. 

we had quite the music selection taking it back to our younger years. we rocked to counting crows, mariah carey, dave matthews, avril lavigne, caedmon's call. you get the picture. our younger years. i have always enjoyed belting out tunes with matthew. it's just something i really enjoy.

we checked into our hotel, got ready, and headed downtown. matthew had something planned for thursday night so i was excited. he kept making these mysterious phone calls before we left for the evening so i was curious to say the least. our first stop was here....

where i got to pick out my own oyster, watch as the "pearl lady" opened it up to find my pearl inside, and be really excited about what was to be found!

and apparently getting a black pearl is extremely rare. i was stoked to say the least! what a cool anniversary gift :) I got it set to put on a silver chain to have forever.

we had dinner at the raintree cafe and walked the beautiful brick streets of st. augustine all evening together. hand in hand. 

we spent our days with our toes in the sand, napping on the beach, reading on the beach, playing in the ocean, snacking, talking. it was a beautiful thing with no schedule, no responsibilities. exactly what we had hoped for!

all three evenings were spent downtown eating delicious food, taking in beautiful views, having much needed conversation, holding hands some more, shopping, taking our time doing whatever we wanted. have i mentioned it's exactly what we were hoping for?! because it was.

i so enjoyed spending time with this man. talking about our family, our ministry, our future. such an encouraging time. such a relaxing time. couldn't have asked for more!

(i just enjoyed this picture so i thought i would throw it in for the memories)

tucker

i had the unique opportunity to spend an entire week with just my little tucker man. just mommy and tuck monster. it took me back to my days as a mother of one and boy is it DIFFERENT. two naps a day, an early bedtime, only one child to get ready in the morning, one mouth to feed, one child to put in a cart, and he can't even talk! needless to say it has been a different but delightful week for the two of us. 

i have enjoyed mostly some very intentional play time with tuck. though we have greatly missed grey there has been no bossing us around or grey wanting to play things tucker just hasn't quite gotten the hold of yet. he has had ALL of my attention. it's definitely been different than my time with grey was. tucker is an entirely different child. 

we started our week out with a trip to sumter where my friend ashley's parents live. we went last summer when tuck was only 6 weeks old so he had much more fun this summer :) Mrs. Linda and Mr. Chuck make us feel right at  home and our time is so relaxing there. it was great!  tucker got to have a big sister (brooke) and little brother (drew) for a few days. 

 and then there was lots of playing here at the house for a few days. we spent our time playing with with cars nonstop, playing in the mud after the rain, playing lots of chase, building really high towers and knocking them down, coloring, basketball, digging with shovels, lots of climbing, and just plain getting dirty any chance we got. that's what he loves to do.  i did have to give quite a few baths a day. my time was devoted to this little man and i loved it! 

i was very ready to have both my boys and my husband home. the house just isn't quite the same without all the boys. i realized having a brother is something to be cherished when you are a boy (or a girl for that mater). though we've had fun this week, i really see the great benefit of having that playmate that tucker is so used to having. learning to share. learning to be kind no matter what. learning to consider others. i am thankful i don't have just one child but two little boys that make my life so much fun! 

journey eternal.five years

Matthew and I both had something “secret” engraved inside our wedding bands that was a fun surprise to read after the exchanging of the rings. Inside my band Matthew had “journey eternal” engraved. I took a peek the first chance i had and it really sunk in. I was in this FOR LIFE. FOREVER. NO TURNING BACK. FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE TIL DEATH DO US PART.

As overwhelming as that moment was, I remember my heart skipping about 10 beats at the thought of literally being on an eternal journey with this man. Now my heart skips 50,000 beats thinking about it because of how much better our journey has become over the past 5 years. It really does only get better.

Marriage is a privilege. It has been the greatest privilege of my life to share so many moments with Matthew. We both had such beautiful pictures of what marriage was meant to be in our parents. Now we get to experience it for ourselves.

I never would have imagined how much the Lord would choose to grow us in such a seemingly short period of time. We get to make fun decisions and hard decisions together. We have become parents and get to raise our children together. We get to do ministry together. We get to travel together. We get to love others together. We get to encourage others together. We get to learn and grow and change together.  I am grateful beyond expression and can’t wait to see what else and where else He is going to choose to take us.

I know the Lord intends for our journey together to ultimately bring Him more glory. I do not deserve the man God chose to give me but I sure am glad He chose to. I can’t wait to walk 55 or more years together! Hooray for five whole years of marriage :) 

fishing

we went fishing as a family on friday afternoon. it was a blast to say the least. grey fished for a short while but had lots of fun splashing and swimming in the river. of course he saw his younger brother doing it so he jumped right in. tuck makes grey branch out a bit and i love watching it happen. right when we got there tuck found the rocks to throw and he found the mud. then grey decided to let loose a little bit himself. i love these boys. all three of them.