Oh, the Boat...

This is probably a story that would be best told by Joe but here's my version!
We prayed for a long time before purchasing a new boat for Joe, I mean our family! :) Joe's heart was truly in the right place! He has sacrificed all of his wants for soooo long! I have to practically beg him to purchase new clothes and he never buys anything other men desire like new cars, phones, hobby stuff, etc. So after years of dealing with our less than perfect boat (that was too small for the family) he finally asked God to make known to us a boat that would be a blessing to our family and not a burden (financially or mentally or mechanically)!! So, as you see in the top picture we believed that was the boat for our family.
So the day he bought it we took it for a test drive as a family. Shortly after the ride began it went from blessing to burden. :( Looking back, now we realize all that went wrong truly wasn't the boat's "fault" but instead our own. We just didn't realize how incredibly different the river here is from what we were used to back in GA! We quickly became stuck in inches of water and lost a few times. Did I mention their was a HUGE black cloud looming in the sky as well! Anyways what we planned as a "quick" trip turned into hours (running right into the middle of nap time:) and just a crazy stressful trip. Mason was screaming his head off because his life jacket was uncomfortable, he wanted to walk around, it was HOT, and he wanted to sleep. Joe was trying his best to control his anger in front of the boys (and his tongue)while I was "trying" to be the one remaining calm, cool, and collected! HA! But our sweet Owen!!!! He was the BEST! He didn't seem to mind that we were stuck in the middle of a river with no clue where we were and his Dada was having to step into the alligator infested water to push us out of the mud. as stressful as the trip was, one of my life's favorite moments occurred during that boat ride. Owen initiated his first "in the moment" prayer. Sure he's initiated prayer at dinner and bed time, but here on the boat he knew exactly who we needed to call upon for help, Jesus! His prayer was so sweet and simple "Jesus please help us get home and not rained on amen." And Jesus did just that! We did get home-eventually. We found our way and the rain didn't start until the boat ramp was in sight. God even blessed us with a dolphin sighting right in front of our boat.
The following day Joe took the boat out with a friend (who just happens to be in the Coat Guard) and they were stranded again in the middle of Terra Ceia Bay. The next day we decided to bring it back to the dealership and sell it. We're still not sure what the "lesson of the story is" and quite honestly as the boat still sits for sale we're not even 100% sure we're doing the right thing by selling it. I suppose we should get Owen to pray about this as well!

July 2011

Every night we watch "Animals" (Life by BBC Earth bluray)

Mason's first look at his birthday week decor!

Owen and his Uncle Matt!

The boys opening Mason's present

Chillin' bros

Watching TV together

Mason had so much fun with his Aunt Carol! Ho loves the Cat in the Hat she gave him!

The boys with their Mimi

Owen loves reading stories with his Mimi on her Nook Book! She even downloaded a "Cars" story for him!

Me and my boys!

Mason and his Uncle Adam

Snuggled up with his Aunt Sissy!

Look at those boys! They are all trained by their Mimi to close their eyes and put out their hands when she says "I have a prize!"

Owen loves his cousin Bennett!

Mason's 1st Birthdat Party!

Well Mason turned one (sheesh!) almost 3 months ago! He had a great birthday with friends and family! My mom, Aunt Carol, Sister and her family all came to celebrate with him (THANK YOU ALL!!) Here are some pics to sum of the event (thank you Sarah!!):

He was pretty messy by the time he was done with his cake. I really have the best friends in the world...they cleaned his mess for me, walls, blinds, and all! :)

Just another example of how different my two boys are: Owen gently placed a small piece of cake in his dad's mouth on his birthday; Mason slapped his dad in the face with his cake!!

DIVING IN!!!

Big Brother Owen helped Mason with his candle!

Blessings! The gifts and his friends!!

Quick timeline of the first year of my baby's life. tear.

Sweaty Owen after a "Green Egg" hunt. (Did I mention it was a Dr.Seuss/Cat in the Hat theme???)

Mason and his Mimi

The adult's cupcakes:Chocolate with an Oreo on the bottom and an Oreo cheesecake filling!

Welcome table where guests signed a book for Mason (well like 3 people signed the book..I have great friends, they're just not so good at following directions :)!!

The Favors: Personalized straw cups with a snack trap on the bottom; filled with scented bubbles and candy!

Food!

Sweets!

Fun!

No good excuses....

So its been a really long time since I've even looked at this blog. For the few that care, I'm sorry! No good excuses. I'm going to TRY to make it a more regular part of my life so that each time I sit down I'm not trying to re-cap 3 months of our lives. That's the main reason I've avoided it for so long...I've just let too many great memories build up in my head and it would take FOREVER to capture it all on this blog. So I'll attempt to create a few concise posts to sum up (HA!) what we've been up to!!

Easter....yes I know im a few months behind!

Owen took this picture of us on Ester! Pretty good I think for a 2 year old...he has a very "artsy" style in his angle!

We like to include in their Easter baskets something that points back to the reason for Easter so both boys received "virtue" packs (these are great resources that capitalize on Deuteronomy 6:6-7...they provide tools that easily allow parents to talk to their children about God and Godly virtues while in the car, eating meals, and going to bed at night). The boys also received Mickey shirts since we were going to Disney World the following weekend!

Hee! Hee! I made us match! Surprisingly, Joe didn't mind!

True brothers!

Dying eggs while talking about the Easter story!

On Good Friday we made a "Resurrection Garden" while we read through the story of what happened to Jesus...Good Friday is good for us but it wasn't so good for Jesus.

Our Finished project

Owen and Mason received Easter gifts in the mail from Uncle Matt and Aunt Elise! Owen of course offered to help Mason open his! Look how excited Mason looks!

Owen loved his Percy Easter Egg train!

Just like last year, Mimi came to visit!

Our church Easter Egg hunt. It's our big outreach event each year which includes 50,000 eggs, bounce houses, rock climbing walls, free food, and...

a paraschuting bunny!!

Mason's first Easter egg hunt!

My Messy Mason Moose!

This boy is a Mommy's boy...and I LOVE it! He wakes up each morning laughing and squealing at who knows what! If I don't get him quick enough from his crib then he will begin to squeal even louder and thus wake his older (better sleeper) brother. I love reaching in his crib to get him...he stretches out his chunky little arms and wraps them around my neck and gives me a Sweet hug! On the mornings when he hasn't woken his older brother we enjoy a little one-on-one time snuggled up on the couch. Most mornings this lasts until his sippy cup is empty, then he slides himself off the edge of the couch and he's off! He really doesn't stop moving throughout the day unless it's to "refuel" and suck his thumb for about 20seconds...then he's off again! He still prefers to army crawl but he is also enjoying holding hands to walk as well. It took him a while but he is now able to lower himself carefully after pulling himself up. For a while he would pull up on the train table or the ottoman and then just cry from frustration because he didn't know how to get down. It was very sad!
Unfortunately he's not real interested in baby toys. He wants whatever Owen has or anything that doesn't resemble a toy at all (ie computer cords, candle sticks, tv remotes, plants, etc). He's slowly learning all of the "no-no's" around the house but he is very hard-headed! At this age Owen would be in tears if I looked at him and said "no"...and if I had to swat his hand he never looked back at the "no-no" again. Mason-totally different kid! Swatting his hand does nothing. He will look at me dead in the eye and reach back and touch the object 5 times receiving a hand swat each time...unfazed. We're starting to think he is unable to feel physical pain. Which for Owen's sake sometimes works in his advantage. Most of the time it's an accident, but there are about 5 incidents each day that Owen inflicts "pain" on Mason. I use " " around the word pain because it looks like it should be painful for Mason, but he doesn't cry...he grunts or yells at Owen! But they do enjoy their time together. They mostly play next to each other but there are times when they actually play together and it simply melts my heart. When Mason wakes from his naps (which he is not a great napper) Owen always rushes into his room at the first sound he makes. Owen climbs up the crib and flips in! They will play together for several minutes laughing and squealing!
When Mason isn't playing with his brother's toys or taking a short nap, he's usually eating. I'm seriously still amazed at how much he eats, and I see him eat three times a day. He will sometime sit in his highchair and eat for an hour!! His favorites: all fruit (apple, grapes, bananas, strawberry, blueberries, mango, pineapple, oranges, plums, watermelon, etc)whole-wheat English muffin pizza (he ate 3 pieces for dinner along with fruit and milk!!), peas...I don't know why I'm trying to make this list...he eats everything!!! AND he drops/throws everything on the ground! He is SOOOOO messy (hints his nick name)Even Owen says "Mason messy"!
I just love this boy to pieces! I can remember before he was born I would think "how can I love another kid as much as I love Owen"...now I know how...God just gives you more love to love with...so amazing!!!