fathers

I could say a lot about dads in honor of Father's Day, but mostly I just want to say how thankful I am for the dads in my life. 

Josh, my dad, and Josh's dad are fathers in the truest sense of the word. 

Though obviously imperfect, as we all are, they show, time and time again, that they are worthy of their calling to be fathers.

Thank you for providing a great example of God's love not only to your own families, but to the church families you serve daily.

Thank you for working hard to more than make ends meet for your families, yet still finding time and energy to be daddy.

Thank you for loving, for being patient, and understanding, even when your wife and kid[s] are less than deserving.

Thank you for being the best dad.

friday five (6-14-13)

This is my last post with a one-year-old. I cannot believe Jordan turns TWO next week!!

{more than} friday five 6-7

Just some life as we wrap up May and fly into June... I'm going to call it Friday Five, just don't count past five. :)

surrender.

I've been promising this post for awhile now, but God keeps holding me back... I think I'm ready now.

A component of faithfulness heavy on my heart the last month & a or so is surrender. What is God calling me to surrender, to Him and for Him?

friday five 5-17

I skipped last week. Not because I didn't have 5 positive things to focus on, but because I just didn't feel like taking the time to make a post! :) I decided that though it's okay to not post about it, I still need to make a conscious effort to focus on the positives from the last week even if I don't physically list them. I could feel the effects of skipping. As our family seeks to return to focusing on positive more than negative, I'm realizing how much sharing my 5 things with you each week helps!
All that to say... I'd love for you to write out and share the positive from your life with me (in the comments maybe?!), or others, too. Just a thought!

friday five 5-3

If you want a little laugh right now, check out this video of Jordan. It's actually pitch black because I'm rocking him before bed, but the audio should at least make you smile! No idea what "boof" means, but Jordan sure thinks it's funny!! http://youtu.be/kfBMDqZylWg
Some more joys here, and hopefully my post on Surrender is not far behind! :)

We were taking pictures of ourselves and I caught this gem!

• Laundry on the line! We'll have to skip this week, but maybe after that we can be back in the swing of no-dryer season.

(Yes, the neighbor's houses are really that close to ours...)

• Finally had a warm-weather visit to the playground and zoo! And we visited basically all "new" things... we saw them last summer but Jordan doesn't remember! He loved the prairie dogs as much as he did last year, he was so sweet trying to tell each one, "Hi!" in the sweetest voice ever, and asking them to "Get out, please," when they went in their holes.

Drink break at the park.

He'd sit outside prairie dog holes all day if we let him.
Notice the tiny finger up by his ear. That's his new motion that goes along with his, "Sss {shh}, yisten! Heard dat!"

Flamingos, feeding fish, sea lions.
At the sea lions: Jordan-"Go in there?" Daddy-"Who's going in there?" Jordan-"JORDAN!" Mommy-"You really want to go in there?" Jordan-"Okay! {Leans over to go in}"

He tried drinking it and told us he was "washa hands!"

• Rainy/snowy days. He's either learning to relax or slightly under the weather, or both.

• Independence is growing. He helps choose his own snack {for a couple weeks now}, and I can trust him to help me cook. No more paci during awake time. And, he's telling me when he has to potty all the time! Whew! With this combination and how old he's been looking lately {we especially noticed at the zoo}, we're having to accept the fact that he's turning two soon!

Snack time. One food at a time, leave the bag in boxes, one piece of food at a time.

"Jordan, time to put away your bobby, unless you want to go back to bed..."
"Backa sleep. {hides as pictured} Mommy take it :("

• Multiple times this week Jordan and one or both of the boys I nanny played civilly together, by themselves, and communicated with each other well if they were upset about something. It brings me so much joy to hear {from Justin and Miles}, "I'm not done with that yet. Can I please have it back? Please wait your turn." followed by the toy being given back. Jordan just says, "My turn." But he's learning! Role playing and coaching definitely pays off!

More things we never want to forget:

• Love when he calls us "honey," "sweetie," and "sweetheart."
• Saw the zoo sign, and said, "z-o-o." Granted, daddy spells it to him all the time, but still, he recognized the letters! Whoo!
• Knows when he sees numbers, but doesn't recognize any of them individually yet.
• Started saying he "gogot" {forgot} things last week. He finds something he hasn't seen in awhile and says, "Oh! I gogot! I gogot _____." Or if he sets something down and walks away without it, stops and says he "gogot" it and goes back to get it :)
• He asks me to find school buses for him to see while I'm driving.

friday five 4-25

The bests of this week... :)

friday five 4-19

Some weeks are better than others, but no matter how many frustrating {and seemingly overwhelming} things happen, there are always positive things we can focus on in our lives! When we focus on the positive, more positive seems to overflow... if you haven't tried it along with me yet, do it now! Think about a few positive things that happened in your week!