My Ebenezer

I love family photos! Other people's, my own, it doesn't matter. There's something comforting to me about family photos. Josh does not share my affection for them. Last year at Christmas, we were hard-pressed to find a single one in our Olan Mills photo shoot where he was smiling. His face in almost every picture said, "My wife dragged me in here." It was cute in an irritating sort of way. We can laugh about it now. :) I've figured out it's the formal photo shoot that he bucks against. He much prefers candid shots. When we were in Connecticut last August, our friend Cory Hoover offered to take pictures of our family. Josh got his pasted-on smile ready, and we headed over to her backyard. Me excitedly, him not so much. BUT when we got there, Cory told us that the best pictures are candid anyway. The less-posed you look, the better. Here are some of my favorites from that photo shoot. The group shots especially tickled me! I'm only showing ...

Confession: I am 30 years old and still have never made a Thanksgiving meal! Maybe someday I'll have Thanksgiving at our house and figure out the whole how-do-I-cook-a-turkey question, but for now I am thankful to have friends and family who have hosted all our Thanksgivings. On Thanksgiving Day about lunchtime we left for Viera, FL (about 2 and 1/2 hours south of here) to see our longtime friends, the Fallons. We really enjoyed our time there eating way too much delicious food, and talking with them. As always, we went with the purpose of being a blessing to them, but are sure they were the bigger blessing. :) Thank you to the Fallons for a fun, relaxing holiday! The Fallons have a swimming pool, and invited us to bring our swim suits. That was all the invitation Noah needed. As soon as we arrived, he began asking to swim in the pool. Friday morning, at about 7:30am, when most people were Black Friday Shopping, Noah was shimmying into his swimsuit and floaties. The pool was freezi...

Don't call Noah a little kid. It won't be pretty. These days he's very sensitive about this issue. He gets very miffed if you call him a little kid or think for some reason that he's anything but a Big Kid. Case in point: A couple Sundays ago, Pastor Rowley (aka, Uncle Matt) was dismissing the Two's & Three's class to Sunday School. "At this time the little kids can be dismissed to their classes." Noah was already halfway out of our row when he heard this. He stopped. Looked at me, alarmed. "I'm not a little kid!" For all the church to hear. He planted his feet. Wasn't. Going. Anywhere. It took all my strength to drag him out of our row and deposit him in his Sunday School class. This past week, Pastor Rowley amended his statement: "At this time the YOUNGER kids can be dismissed." I wonder why? :)

Compounded with Noah's recent crazy bedtime behavior, I forgot to mention that for the past couple of months, he has been waking in the morning before 7am (6:30 or 6:45 to be exact. It was 6:20 one morning.). Now before those of you parents of REALLY early risers get out your tomatoes and warm up your throwing arm, let me reiterate that the bedtimes over here have been nightmarish.** We're talking not getting to sleep until around 10pm. I'm sorry, but 10pm to 6:30am just is NOT enough sleep for a 3 year old (in my opinion). It's barely enough sleep for me . At the very least, I need him to have more sleep than that. So I did what any I'm-desperate-for-my-mornings-back parent would do: I went out yesterday and bought Noah a ....drumroll please..... Big Boy Digital Alarm Clock. (I cannot take credit for the idea I am about to share with you. My dear lifelong friend Holly shared it with me. I would hug Holly right now if I could.) I brought the clock home, plugged it ...

I love helping Noah get dressed. It's the way his belly sticks out and he doesn't care. It's the way he giggles when we pull the shirt over his head and there's a brief moment when we all wonder if his head is going to fit through the hole this time. But more than anything, it's the way he rests his hands on my shoulders for balance. These are some of my favorite moments of the day! I just needed to say that.

I have always thrived on routine, and something inside of me rejoiced when I heard that small children thrive on routine too. YAY! Routine: check. I can handle routine. Josh dutifully, and I excitedly, began a bedtime routine with Noah from infancy. Bath, pajamas, Bible story, prayer, songs, bed. It was beautiful. We all looked forward to it. It worked. Until 3 weeks ago. It began with a simple request for a drink of water and escalated into a battle of wills heretofore unparalleled in our household. We gave Noah his simple drink and said "goodnight." Then, somewhat fussy-sounding, the little voice asked if he could tell me something. "No," I said. "It's time to go to sleep." Noah, full-on fussy now: "But I want to!" And such began a sequence of discipline, reproof, and correction that lasted 45 minutes. Forty-five minutes!! And we (get this!) thought it was a fluke. It wasn't. It's as if we have a Jekyll and Hyde on ou...

My dear friend Alice informed me, way back in July when Noah turned three, that I had better watch out. "Age three is much worse than two," she said knowingly. Alice has had 5 children and has raised them commendably. I smiled and thanked her for her advice and thought to myself, "It couldn't possibly be worse." Dummy! It. Is. I don't know if we have done something wrong or what, but age three is Much Worse than two, at least for our little boy. Maybe it's just the current trial we are facing with Noah that is making me say this. Maybe it's just our son. Maybe it's our parenting techniques or lack thereof. Maybe.... All I know for sure is that Josh and I have been driven to our knees over child-raising more times over the past few weeks than probably in Noah's whole career as our child. Maybe that is God's point: to remind us that we can't do this thing alone! That He has all the answers. That we need Him. I've been read...

The Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair was in town last week, and we decided to make an annual tradition out of it and attend again. This time we brought Matt and Jen and their kids with us. My mom wasn't able to come due to all the walking that was required. Surprisingly, Noah remembered much about the Fair from last year, especially the rides. From the moment we got there he began begging to go on the Motorcycle Ride again, which was apparently his favorite ride from last year. So cool. Noah and me on the roller coaster. Jen and Brianne right behind us. I'm so sorry about this picture, Jen! But I'm laughing as I type that. I have no idea what that face was for. She doesn't normally look like that, folks. :) In a fluke turn of events, Noah won a fish! Sadly, the fish didn't fare so well... Noah kept shaking the bag as he carried it around (Finding Nemo, anyone?) and the next morning the poor fish was looking a little sick. We let him go in the strea...

Noah and his cousin Brianne don't always get along. Kids their age have a very hard time sharing or being self-controlled or even very considerate of each other. Some mornings with the two of them turns into a constant referee job, but then there are times like today when they are both sweet, and you remember that kids are treasures. It's times like these when you had better run inside to get the camera and prove to yourself and to posterity that Yes, they did get along sometimes! Here's our proof: Brianne singing "Skinamarinky-dinky-dink." Don't ask me to spell that again. If you have no idea what song that is, you totally need to google it. You'll be glad you did. Points to note: Both children are sitting next to each other. Without fighting. Peacefully. Brianne is singing . What a great morning!

Is there anything more fun to a kid than bubble wrap? This kept him occupied for a full 15 minutes! Impressive. One rainy night, we played Candy Land Yes, now that I think of it, there is something more fun than bubble wrap; riding a bike through a puddle in the rain! Folks, it was raining as I took that picture. Now that's livin'! Splashing is pretty cool too. Ladies' meeting at our house I love these ladies! Story Time with Grandma Jelly Roll time with Mommy The finished product. Tasty!

There is a family in our church with a 5-year-old little boy. Last spring, they gave us a huge bag of his outgrown clothes for Noah, and they've been very generous to pass along toys that were no longer used as well. Last night at church they gave us this horse! I had one similar to it when I was a little girl, and Noah loves his like I loved mine. P.S. Please excuse the mess in Noah's room. It's not always like that, I promise.

Confession: There have been times I have not blogged because I couldn't come up with a decent title. I have sat there staring at my New Post page for 10 or 15 minutes, waiting for something really witty to hit me. It usually doesn't, and then I just come up with something trite or common and move on, determined not to let my own lack of creativity thwart me. But there are other days when I truly come up empty and then give up on the post altogether and go do something entirely different that doesn't require thinking, like swabbing the toilet. That was almost the outcome today, until I decided NO, I am not going to let the absence of a title for this post scare me off. I'll blog anyway, thank you very much. So here I am, basically title-less and willing to move on if you are. So. What's new with you? Noah and I did our weekly baking project today, and made Jelly Rolls for "J" week. In other news, we plan to go to the fair tomorrow night. Noah is pumped...

1. I am still here. I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Life goes in cycles, and right now I'm in a busy cycle. De'. Ja. Vu. 2. My mom is here visiting for a 2 1/2 week stay while renovations take place in her bathroom at home. We have loved having her here! 3. Noah is getting more ornery by the day it would seem. Sorry, just speaking the truth. Maybe if I wanted to speak the truth in love I should write, "Noah is getting more ornery by the day, bless his heart." Southern joke. Anyways... 4. Last Friday I caught a very nasty cold that has been revealing itself a symptom per day over the course of a few days. Started with a sore throat. Add to that a fever. Next day came clogged ears, followed by chest congestion and a cough the day after that. Then came the runny nose. Today I am complete (hopefully) with all the above symptoms minus the fever. I will say that it has been lovely having my mom here during this time, as she's able to ease the burden of ente...