Andrew-isms

Andrew decided to pick out his own clothes one morning.

When he came out I couldn't help but burst out laughing. An Old Navy flag tee, turquoise and orange plaid shorts, and grey wool socks! He got tickled because I was laughing so hard and just laughed along with me. When he got done laughing, he said, "What? Are my socks inside out?" HA! I said, "Andrew, that is a very interesting outfit you have there." His reply? "Thanks, Mama!"

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We were discussing Heaven one night after dinner. Here is how the conversation went:

Andrew: Heaven is the best place ever! Jesus might take you on a jet or rocket through outer space to get there, we don't know!

Me: It IS the best place ever!

Andrew: Everybody loves to go there!

Me: Well, not everybody gets to go there. You can't go there if you have any sin in your heart. Everybody has sin, so we have to get rid of it to get in Heaven. (I explained in super simple terms about salvation.) Me and Daddy have done that, so we get to go to Heaven. I hope one day you will do that too!

Andrew: (trembling lip and eyes welling up) I don't want to go to Heaven!

Me: Why?!

Andrew: I don't want to DIE!

Me: Don't worry sweetie, most people die when they are really old.

Andrew: (big smile) And we're not old! We're new!

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Discussion about grandparents on the way to NeNe's house:

Me: When you grow up and have kids, I'll be their grandmother.

Andrew: Thanks!

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We've read a certain book lots of times in the last couple of days, so now Andrew "reads" it to me. He gets a few words messed up when he tells the story. When it gets to the part about a yellow jacket, he calls it a "flying coat"!

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When waiting to eat at a hibachi grill, Andrew was so nervous that it was going to be loud and scary. He plugged his ears and squeezed his eyes closed as soon as we sat down. After assuring him that fire wasn't going to hit his face, I asked him on a scale of 1 to 10 how nervous he was. He replied, "I'm 20 nervous!"

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. ~Proverbs 17:22

Family Date Day

Have y'all ever had a time period in your life that was just soooo busy that you felt like you never even got to see your own family? I'm sure you have! That's where we were this weekend. There have been lots of things going on in the past couple of weeks, and some of them have involved the whole family, however, not just the 5 of us together. We felt it was high time for a family date day on Saturday!

We started out by sleeping in (it wouldn't be a great Saturday otherwise!). We are very blessed that our kids like to sleep in too. Of course, there were a few night time feeding calls from ole Benjamin, but he let us go back to sleep afterwards :) Then we headed to town to have some fun!

Since we ate a really late breakfast, we just grabbed some Chick-fil-a fries for lunch. We shopped in Target for a little while for some summer clearance stuff. The boys love to ride in the Target carts that have the little double seats on the front. We then ran by a shoe store and Old Navy (which ended with visiting the mannequins for awhile :) 

We had a little time to kill before dinner, so we took the boys to Barnes and Noble to play with the train table. They LOVE that place! I always love to observe how my kids act while playing with other kids. We see some things we're proud of, and some things we need to work on! I had to remind Andrew of the verse that we are learning together a couple of times: "And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Hebrews 13:16. 

It was a nice feeding/changing diaper pit stop for Benjamin too! Before we know it, he'll be playing at the train table too!

When we left the bookstore, we headed to a Japanese place for our family date night meal. We took the boys about a year ago, but the hibachi grill scared Andrew, so we haven't been back. We thought they would both really enjoy it now, so we talked it up BIG on the way. When we were seated, this is what Andrew looked like (his eyes were also closed most of the time):

Isaac wasn't looking toooo scared :)

And of course, sweet Benjamin. So thankful to be able to take him anywhere at all!

In the end, they all loved it and can't wait to go back. Andrew has very enthusiastically retold the events of dinner to everybody who will listen. He thinks he wants to be a "cooker guy" now!

We ended the day with a trip to a local park. Andrew and Isaac are getting brave on playground equipment! They about give me a heart attack! We were all worn out (partly because of no naps) by the time we got home, but it was the good kind of worn out. If you don't do family date days, I HIGHLY recommend it every once in a while. It's good for the soul :) Next up.... trying to find time for a mommy/daddy date! Hmmmm, that might be a little more difficult! :) 

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. ~Psalm 16:19

Old Friends = New Friends!

It's so neat how friendships evolve over the years. Savannah, Abby, and I have been friends since high school. (And we've each known Abby since we were toddlers.) Savannah and I were roommates for 4 years in college, and now we all three live within an hour of each other. We've been there for each other through thick and thin. Most recently, they were so supportive through the birth and hospital stay of Benjamin. I love them! :) Here is a fabulous picture of the three of us from 9th grade? 14 or 15 years ago?!?!

Now we have the privilege of watching our children grow up and be friends too! Between us, we have six amazing kiddos. Yesterday they all came over to our house for a playdate. It was great! Here are some pictures: 

It takes about 3.7 seconds for a room to go from clean, to this... :)

Lunchtime!

Andrew and Libby LOVED playing together. They pretended like they were brother and sister, and addressed each other as "Brother" and "Sister". When Andrew went to down for a nap after everyone left, he asked me if I would be his sister when he woke up. :)

Andrew, Libby, and Benjamin. 

All the sweet babies! Benjamin, Isaac, Waverly, Luke, Libby, and Andrew.

Mommies and babies! 

I love these friends, and I'm pretty sure that our kids love each other too! What a blessing!

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!~ Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

Catch Up!

Well, I'm realizing that I don't have as much time to sit down and blog as I thought I might. (I wonder what could be keeping me busy? :) ) SO, the boys are asleep (for now) and I am going to jot out a little catch up of last week/weekend. Yes, I know this is Tuesday! I am trying to keep in mind that this blog is mainly to remember things about my family's everyday life, so if I'm not super punctual, it won't matter in the end when I'm looking back!

I have to start out with a scary story. Last Tuesday my mom and I were super brave and tried to get back into our weekly Tuesday grocery/coupon shopping trip. This was hard enough with two small boys, and now we are adding a newborn into the mix. Whew. Anyway, as is our usual, we took the kids to McDonald's for lunch. It's a great way to blow off all that energy that's been building up in the grocery cart! When Happy Meals were consumed (well, mostly), we told the kids to go play. They ran to the play area, which was literally a couple of steps from our table. We could see the whole play place. Mom and I returned to conversation and within about 30 seconds she said she was going to get a refill for her drink. She came back to the table holding a crying Isaac with a terrified look on her face. Isaac had not gone to the play place.We only assumed he ran and climbed into the equipment where we couldn't see him. He had actually run out the door into the main dining area, THEN out the door of the restaurant! He was standing outside the door BY THE DRIVE THRU, crying because he couldn't open the door to get back in. Now, I realize he could have only possibly been out there a few seconds, but things could have go sooooo differently. He could have run straight into oncoming traffic, could have gotten lost, could have been taken, and the list goes on. I can't tell you how the realization of that felt. I seriously felt like the worst mother in the world. So, all that horrible story to say this: NEVER take your eyes off your children for a second! I considered myself watching them, but obviously wasn't watching close enough. Thank you, Jesus, for protecting my child when I failed. (Sidenote: Anyone reading from around here has heard about the child being left in the hot car in Birmingham last week for 3 hours and not making it. I just have to say that I can't believe people are so judgmental of this mother. ALL of us make mistakes, we are just blessed that they happen to not have turned out the way her mistake did. I especially realized this last Tuesday. I pray for this poor family.)

On with the rest of the (less scary) week! On Wednesday nights I have finally returned to choir practice, with Benjamin in tow! I'll have to take a picture of our setup tomorrow night :) Each of the other boys came with me when they were tiny and they have all enjoyed it!

We had a super happy day on Friday because my sister, known to her nieces and nephews as Emmy, came home for a visit! She lives and works in Georgia and we miss her around here! We spent the afternoon/evening with all of my family and some friends; visiting, breaking out the slip and slide, going to a kids consignment store, and eating. Although each get together is so much fun, it's a different fun when you have 6 children ages 3 and under at your party! We had a 3 year old, two 2 year olds, an 8 month old, 6 month old (family friend), and 4 month old! Not much "down time". :) I could post some really cute pictures here, but that would involve getting my camera and uploading them, which defeats the purpose of this "quick recap" (that's far too long already). 

Saturday, Brad and I took the 3 kiddos in the stroller and wagon around our neighborhood to meet some neighbors. We had a church outreach that morning to just let the community know that we are here for them and to ask for prayer needs. Let me tell you, 3 cute kiddos are real ice breakers when you are going door to door! I recommend it! That night we went out to Brad's parents' house for swimming and supper. We had a wonderful time, as always. We are so blessed to live near our families and to get to see them often. 

Sunday was church day! Always busy, always good! We love Sundays!

Monday and today the boys and I have stayed home and cleaned, played, and done piles of laundry. They are actually pretty good little laundry helpers! We had a scare this morning when Isaac woke up and threw up twice. He NEVER throws up. There is a virus going around and some of our friends have had it. Yikes! However, since then he has seemed ok and not had anymore "spit up", as Andrew called it. I'm praying it was nothing and we can avoid any sickness around here! It would be terrible if Benjamin got anything. 

Well, if you've lasted this long, you are truly my friend! Ha! I'll try to be better about posting more often, and with shorter posts! Not to mention pictures! (Bad blogger.) Thanks for reading!

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. ~ Psalms 91:11

Happy Birthday, Isaac!

I want to eventually go back and recap lots of "life events" from the past few years. Maybe do some sort of "Flashback Friday", "Throwback Thursday", or something like that. Just something to record some big memories. I think I'll start with one of our recent events though. On July 1st, my sweet, precious middle boy turned 2 years old! How did that happen? It seems like this was only yesterday...

And here we are now... (Is that not the most adorable grin? Melt me!)

I have always said that I would never do "character" birthday parties when I had kids. Never say never... We usually do small, family/close friends parties revolving around something that the child likes. Andrew has had truck, tractor, and pirate themed parties. For Isaac's first birthday, we just did a color scheme, went swimming, and called it a day! This year I wanted to pick something that Isaac REALLY liked for his birthday theme. The problem is, sweet boy likes everything! The only thing that stood out above anything else was the lovable Winnie the Pooh. Therefore, the Pooh party was born. FYI, you cannot find anything "Pooh" themed for parties in stores! Every decoration that I got was ordered online. So, here are some pictures from Isaac's 2nd birthday party!

I made his birthday cake and decorated it with little figurines from the Disney store. After they were done being cake toppers, they became a present for Isaac!

When he came in and saw all the Pooh decorations he was so happy! Everyone was milling around talking and he just walked over to the table and started pointing at and naming all the characters on the table covering to himself. That silly little tablecloth was totally worth it for that moment of happiness!

All the little cousins played on the swingset while we finished getting dinner ready. So happy that my kids will grow up with cousins close in age. Built in friends!

Isaac loved his cake and being sung too! He was such a big boy and blew out the candles all by himself!

He especially liked getting to lick the icing off all of the Pooh characters!

I think it's safe to say that he had PLENTY of help opening presents! Don't worry, he did most of them himself. :)

This birthday boy LOVES shoes. (I seriously almost did a "shoe" party!) Here he is sporting his new shoes from NeNe and PawPaw. He got 3 pairs of shoes for his birthday because everyone knows how much he likes them!

Then the kids played,  "Pin the honeypot on the Pooh"? It was QUITE the hit! I had to go find more stickers after they ran out of honeypots so they could keep playing!

See? A major hit with the three and under crowd!

Here are the girl cousins! Sophie and Ella Grace. 

And last, but not least, the baby boys. Noah and Benjamin. They just happened to have the same pjs, so we were going to get some cute pictures after the party... ummm, Benjamin wasn't having it! I love the way Noah is looking at him in this picture!

I'd say that Isaac's 2nd birthday party was a success! Thanks to all of our family and friends who came and helped us celebrate our sweet fellow. He is one loved boy. 

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:  a time to be born and a time to die,...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance... Ecclesiastes 3:1, 2a, 4

Alabama Summer = Water Fun!

Everyone who lives in the deep south knows that you can't play outside in the summer unless there is some water involved. It is waaaaay too hot! (Although temperatures have been strangely mild this summer.) So, this past week we had fun with one of Isaac's new birthday presents. (Thanks, Grams and Granddad!) This water table has been a huge hit with the boys. We've already spent many hours playing with it. Not only is it fun, but something about the combination of water and sun wears children out! We've had some GREAT naps and earlier bedtimes. :)

PLEASE take note of the excitement on Isaac's face!

When you're thirsty, just take you a little drink off the water table. 

After all that water fun at home, we got to have some great water excitement this weekend. We went to Fayette on Saturday evening to visit Anna Katherine (my sister) and family for a fun time at the new aquatic center in town. Their church rented the whole place for the evening and invited their members and family and friends to come enjoy some water fellowship! The kids had so much fun! And the adults did too!

Isaac, cousin Ella Grace, and Andrew could hardly be bothered for this picture!

Daddy and Uncle Blake took the 3 toddlers down this huge slide multiple times! They loved it and thought they were so brave!

This is the worn out look that I referenced earlier! Isaac was so tired.

You knew he was tired because he was snuggling with me! Well, that and cold. :)

I especially enjoyed getting to "show off" our little miracle, Benjamin, to some of his prayer warriors from Calvary Baptist. We will forever be grateful for friends and brothers and sisters in Christ who lifted up our baby boy during his hardest times. It was so great to have him there with us, happy and healthy! Praise the Lord!

This is how Benjamin enjoyed the water park. :)

We ended the night with a little more water. I think all of our fingers and toes were wrinkled like raisins. The cousins enjoyed a fun bath together before we went home!

Too tired to even give me a good smile!

And what kind of aunt would I be if I didn't show a picture of the whole crew?

I sure do love these babies!

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ~ John 4:14

A Place for the Memories

Because these faces...

are changing so fast that it makes my head spin.

And because memories like these...

desperately need to be recorded. 

I am going to try to start a blog! 

I love to read blogs when I have the chance. I think it's such a neat way to keep a record of your family's big events and little moments. People always tell me to write things down in this season of life (3 children, 3 and under) or I will forget them. Well, I regret that I haven't been writing because of all I've forgotten already! 

I hope that this blog will be a great way for me to record memories for our family, and to keep some of our family and friends that we don't see much updated on our lives. I can't promise I'll be any "good" at blogging, but if I can look back and see a post and think, "Hey! I forgot about that!", then this blog will be a success in my book.

The Owens family isn't perfect. Quite far from it, in fact. However, I hope that through my posts it will come shining through that we are striving to raise our children in a household of faith. Jesus is our reason for life, and the only way that anything good can be found in us. He gave us each other, loving and supportive Christian families, and three beautiful children. Praise to the Father, the giver of all good things!

I am excited to start this blogging journey!

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." ~Joshua 24:15