Recently...

Our life speeds along as life tends to do and in its course this poor little blog gets neglected. It's a good thing I do not care one whit for blog stats because I'm sure mine would be in shambles.

Anyway, recently we've been spending a lot of time doing Playdoh. For real, that is my life. Liam wakes up talking about Playdoh and goes down for his nap talking about doing Playdoh after his nap. Playdoh time mostly consists of mama making "peas", "swirls", "noodles" and cutting out animal shapes with cookie cutters. Currently Liam's favorite thing to do with it is dump it in and out of the containers. I can't honestly say it is my favorite time of day, but I make the most of it and try to be cheerfully involved with Liam.

Playdoh nose! 

Liam has also discovered singing which is a joy. My heart rejoices when I hear "Jesus loves me" and a church song based on Psalm 8 that he loves. It is so funny to hear him singing the words and getting them all mixed up. I got him up the other morning and he told me he was singing and talking about packages in his bed. The kid loves a good package and is delighted to see the UPS man pull up.

We are also experimenting with "mama's quiet reading time" which means about 20 minutes a day of Liam reading or playing quietly by himself while I read my own book. This might not seem like a big deal if your kid is a good independent player, but mine is not so this is huge. So far we've had two successful days so we'll see how that goes.

We still have A LOT of Liam and mama reading time! 

Each day has joys and challenges and I am trying to remember that the years are short and these days at home with just Liam are so precious. That is not easy to remember when he is pushing my crazy button, but I try. God's grace is sufficient for each day and I am so thankful for that.

Here are some other random pictures from our life lately: 

We had some gorgeous late fall days with temps up into the 70s. We busted out the shorts and t-shirts again and spent some time "painting" with water on the sidewalk. 

Liam's two best buds, Peter and Lucy, joined in the fun

Rob went for four days to a conference in Florida at the end of October, so we stayed as busy as possible. Here we spent an afternoon and evening with Liam's other best bud, Liam Tucker. 

Also while papa was gone we had dinner at Steak 'n Shake. I hadn't been there since college and it was just like I remembered. 

We had a pumpkin carving party with our small group one Sunday. Liam loved the candle in the pumpkin after it got dark, but not the yucky stuff inside. 

Roasting marshmallows over the fire

Loving on that s'more!

We didn't celebrate Halloween, but Liam did get a cookie with black icing that he thought was delicious...

We've been trying out Kefir {store-bought - I'm not adventurous enough to try making my own!} to get more probiotics into Liam before the winter rounds of stomach flu hit. Contrary to this picture, he loves it and calls it his "smoothie". 

Our last batch of cherry tomatoes before we pulled the dead plants up. 

Helping mama make pumpkin bars. Liam is fascinated by the kitchen and loves to "help" cook and bake. 

Liam loves games, particularly marbles, dominoes and Rumikub. He obviously can't really play, but I've found it's a great way for him to learn numbers, colors, counting, sorting, etc.  

I snapped this picture before church to send to my mom and brother because Liam is wearing a cardigan my brother Ben wore in the late 80s. 

Rob's 27th Birthday

The year rolled around again to Rob's birthday on Saturday. Unfortunately he spent most of the day doing school work, but we still managed to sneak in some fun and escape from school for a few hours. 

Friday night we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Bloomington, Siam House. They have an extensive menu of Thai food, and I always say I'm going to order something different, but I don't. Neither does Rob. We only go there about twice a year and we always order the same thing. I can't spell it or pronounce it, but it's this red curry with coconut milk, cinnamon, chicken, potatoes, onions, cashews and a whole lot of magic wonderfulness. It's a little sweet and a little salty and all around amazing. I always wish I could cook like that when I'm eating it. But then I suppose it wouldn't be such a treat to go out to dinner there! 

Friday evening and Saturday I was in the kitchen making Rob's birthday treats. He didn't really want or need any gifts, so my gift was love and time and treats.We invited a bunch of friends over Saturday night so don't worry, we didn't eat all the treats ourselves! I made him a salted caramel cheesecake {thanks Joy the Baker} and a Biscoff Pie. Oh and Liam helped me make cupcakes for the kids at the party. 

I know you are all salivating for a bite right now and let me tell you, the treats were good...

Cheesecake and Biscoff pie 

I, of course, loved the salted caramel cheesecake the most, but the big hit at the party was the Biscoff pie. Biscoff is a European spread similar to Nutella, but not chocolate. You may have had Biscoff cookies on a Delta flight before. They are a gingery type of cookie that some genius turned into a spread. It would be delicious on toast, apples, by the spoonful, etc., etc. I substituted it for peanut butter in this peanut butter pie recipe {if you make this, follow the instructions from the first person who comments} and made a gingersnap crust instead of a graham cracker crust. 

Here's a close up of the Biscoff jar {empty of course} so you can go to your nearest grocery for some. 

It is always good to celebrate a birthday, especially one of someone you love so much. I couldn't imagine doing life without you, Rob, and I'm glad for every day the Lord gives us! 

Election Day...

As if any of us could forget, it's election day. I was reading this morning in Hebrews 1 where the author quotes Psalm 102:25-27: 

"Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, 

and the heavens are the work of your hands. 

They will perish, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

but you are the same, and your years have no end." 

What an excellent reminder for us today! The God of the universe does not change based on the whims of our political system. He is the one who ordained the system and already knows the outcome. We can rest in his sovereignty and not fear, no matter who wins at the local to national level. 

Taylor Homecoming 2012

Hard to believe, but its been five years since I graduated from Taylor. Where does time go? We decided to make a weekend out of my reunion and Homecoming. We had a blast all weekend and it was fun to take Liam back to where we met and fell in love. Taylor did a great job planning the weekend and welcoming families to campus. 

It's amazing what can change in five years. We ate dinner Friday night in the dining commons and Rob and I were floored by how much the food and options there have changed! I wandered around unsure of what to eat and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of food that is immediately available. Those kids don't know how good they have it! Imagine someone making you all that food every day and doing the dishes too. But then, the Brotherhood was there in costumes and chanting about the Snake {sorry, only Taylor people will understand that!} and I was reminded that some things at Taylor never change. We also had a chance to tour the new science center and other new facilities on campus. It was exciting to see good things coming to Taylor. 

The main reason we went back though was to see friends from near and far. We kept running into people all over campus and having "catch-up" conversations. It was great to talk with people we have history with. And bonus, we got some quality time with aunt Kayla and Chris. Liam was a star with all her friends. His comment in the car was, "Go to Taylor. See aunt Kayla and girls." Oh dear, we have a heartbreaker on our hands! 

One of Liam's favorite places all weekend - aunt Kayla's bed! 

These two are buds. 

This is another reason why Liam loves aunt Kayla...a huge ice cream bowl she made for him! 

View from the top of the new science building 

What a treat to see this girl! I heart you Christianna. 

Checking out the football game {Taylor lost, big surprise} 

This was by far the highlight of the weekend for Liam. We spent over two hours at the blow up activity area where Liam braved and LOVED the big slide, anything he could climb on and the bouncy house. Kudos to Taylor for adding area this for kids. 

I wish you could see his smile better in this picture! He was beaming every time he came down.

We finished out the weekend with a trip to Ivanhoes, the best ice cream place in the world. I had a pumpkin shake....

Liam had his third ice cream of the weekend, cotton candy! 

And Rob had chocolate peanut butter pretzel sundae. Yum! 

Thanks Taylor for the great memories, old and new! 

More Birthday!

We continued the birthday celebrating over the weekend with a trip to Cincinnati to spend time with Rob's family. Rob's sister Kayla turned 21 on the 9th so we had a lot of celebrating to do. Mom B also included Rob and I into the mix for an even bigger fall birthday celebration. 

We spent Saturday morning at a local fruit farm taking a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and eating apple fritters. Saturday evening we went out to Don Pablo's with the extended family and then came back to the house for cake and a little party. It was great to see everyone and celebrate two special people, Liam and Kayla. 

We started off the weekend right with these doggie cupcakes Lauren and I made for Liam. He had been asking me for weeks to make them from his kids' cookbook and finally I did. They were adorable and he loved them! 

Waiting patiently for his cupcake

Enjoying it too much to pause for a photo

We spent good portions of the weekend playing in big piles of leaves. Tons of fun for little boys and mamas alike. 

This could have been a cute picture if Kayla wasn't coming out of my head...

Aunt Lauren was there too! 

This is one of my favorites.

Hanging out with "uncle" Chris

Waiting for the hayride with two hipsters we found (aka Chris & Kayla)

Heading out on the hayride. Liam looks unsure, but he loved it. 

Hanging out with Boppy and Mimi on the hayride.

"See the pumpkins mama!" 

Looking for the perfect one

Showing off my lovely pumpkin

We got Liam his own little pumpkin, not this big one

He was, of course, fascinated by the squash bugs crawling on the rotting pumpkins. 

The happy birthday girl and her dearest Chris

More presents! Liam was thrilled to get lots of matchbox cars, an excavator, Playdoh, stickers, bubbles and more. 

It's probably good birthdays and Christmas only come around once a year...we've had enough birthday for awhile! Thanks for a fun weekend Mom and Dad B!

Big Birthday Boy!

It's amazing to me that two years have passed! 

If you've read this blog for awhile you may have picked up that we make a big deal about birthdays around here. We think that birthdays should be a day where you feel extra special and know you are loved. Liam's second birthday yesterday was no exception. We had been talking about his birthday for about a week and I think he understood fairly well that it was a special day. We could have done half of what we did and he still would have loved it, but we crammed a lot into the day. 

We started off in the morning by singing 'Happy Birthday' to him when we went into his room. He immediately buried his head in his blankie and started crying. We were not off to a good start! The day quickly improved though with a trip to Starbucks for a birthday cake pop and chocolate milk. 

Cake pop!

Love this guy!

And both of these guys

Then it was off to WonderLab for some family play time. {Thanks to Boppy and Mimi for the birthday gift of a membership!} 

After WonderLab Rob went off to school and Liam and I headed to Kohl's to pick out his birthday present. Last week he saw a display of Matchbox cars there and I told him we would come back on his birthday to pick one out. All week he had been saying, "Go to Kohl's, get trucks for birthday!" He did a great job narrowing the choices down to one package of rescue vehicles and away we went to Wendy's for lunch. I'm pretty sure chicken nuggets and french fries qualify as a happy birthday lunch! 

Showing mama his new trucks

Yum! 

We came home to a giant cupcake on our front doorstep from our friends the Tuckers which we promptly had to eat some of. Liam then napped for three hours because he was so wiped out from his birthday morning. 

We did get some play time outside even though it was freezing. These are Liam's nearest and dearest friends: from left, Liam, Caleb, Lucy, Peter, Megan and Iain. 

I had to go to Bible study in the evening so we opened two birthday boxes right after supper. One was from Uncle Ben and Aunt Heidi and contained two bags of monster cookies. Then, we opened a birthday box from Grammy and Pop. I've never had a birthday without an amazing birthday box and it looks like Liam is set up for the same. He got clothes, socks, M&Ms (his favorite!), markers, coloring books, stickers, a basketball hoop for the bathtub, a darling backpack and his favorite, a Playmobil policeman on a motorcycle. I think he would have slept with that policeman if he could have last night! He is attached to say the least. The funniest gift opening moment happened when he opened the Playmobil and I said, "Oh my goodness Liam, look at that!" He looked up at me and in the same tone said, "Oh my goodness!" 

Playing hoops

Showing off his new fox backpack. {It's a Skip Hop Zoo Pack if you really want to know and I know you do...}

Looking so grown up!

Liam bear, you are such a joy to us! We are so thankful to God for your life and the gift you are to our family. We cannot imagine life without you. We love your silliness, your giggles, your social personality, your interest in everything around you and so much more. We pray that you will continue to grow in faith and godliness and come to know Christ as your Savior. We pray that the Lord will be merciful to you throughout your life. We love you! 

Psalm 37

I was reading this morning and God's word was so rich and full of promises that I had to share with all of you. Isn't God good to give us His word? He is and we should be so thankful that we get to read it and learn from Him. I hope this passage will encourage you like it did to me.

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

Be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. 

Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 

Delight yourself in the Lord;

and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday. 

Be still before the Lord and wait 

patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 

For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land." 

- Psalm 37: 1-9 (ESV) 

What are some simple things we can learn from this passage? There are several promises that jumped out to me. Promises that involve us doing something and God responding. 

Here's what I saw: 

If I: 

- Trust

- Do good 

- Dwell in the land 

- Befriend faithfulness

- Delight in the Lord

- Commit my way 

- Be still before the Lord

- Wait patiently

- Fret not

- Refrain from anger

- Forsake wrath 

God will: 

- Give me the desires of my heart

- Act

- Bring forth my righteousness and justice

- Cut off evildoers

- Give me the land 

God's word is so clear and these promises are true! Yes, the things we need to do seem insurmountable sometimes. But, God does not make us go through those things alone. He gives us his strength and grace to trust, wait, commit, etc. on Him. We will sin in our attempts to do these things, but his forgiveness is near and it gives us another opportunity to make a path to the cross and cling to Him. My prayer after reading those verses was "Lord, help me!" 

I know I will be coming back to these verses often to remind myself of what God requires of me and what he promises in return. What promises are you clinging to today?