Night Away

The above picture is the view from our balcony at the hotel we stayed this weekend. Yes, you heard right folks- Seth and I went away for a whole entire night by ourselves. No children. Just the two of us. Amazing.
We stayed here right down at the Plaza. One of the best attractions of Kansas City. It is only about 25 minutes from our house but it felt like we traveled out of state. The hotel room was very classy. Please note our pleased expressions...
We walked to dinner. Enjoyed it immensely. We walked to the movie theatre. Great movie (can't wait for the 3rd). We walked here for their divine dessert. We each had a piece to ourselves and tried to finish them. Did not succeed.
Overall, it was so wonderful to reconnect with each other. It's been quite the busy year so to be able to spend an evening just thinking about each other was such a treasure. We didn't have to think about fixing dinner for the children, giving baths, waking up to the sound of the whispered, "Mom, can I have my breakfast now?". Grammy and Papa took care of that (Thank you, Thank you!). As much as we tried, though, we just couldn't shed the "parenting bug" for the whole night. Around 3am (I think) we both woke up to the sounds of a baby crying. Seth and I shot up trying to figure out how Josiah got in this strange room. After a few seconds, we woke up enough to realize that it was a child next door and not our own. We had no trouble falling back asleep.
We arrived home the next afternoon feeling fully refreshed and ready to give the boys lots of extra hugs and kisses. Boy, if our 9th anniversary was this nice, I sure can't wait for the BIG 1-0 next year!

Spanish Lessons with Elijah Macchi

This morning Eli came in to give me a "Good Morning" hug. He started humming a pretty song while doing it. Seth said he has been humming all morning and called Eli a "hummy boy". Eli's response?

"Dad, I'm not a hummy boy. Because hummy means hungry in Spanish!"

Crazy Lady

Do you ever have the urge to just get out of the house? Tonight, I had this urge. So I called my friend Misty to see if she wanted to get out of her house. Thankfully she did. 20 minutes later, we were on our way to a late-night movie. Amazing how 3 hours out of the house completely changes perspective on things...

I needed new perspective. I knew if I didn't see things from a different light, I would end up looking like this-

And NONE of us want that, do we??

Party On

Last night we celebrated Seth's 29th birthday by having some friends come over for hamburgers. It was so nice because our house was actually full...get this...of people! There were three other couples from all walks of life. One couple with their 9 month old daughter just moved here from Africa. They were missionaries there for 3 years. As they were serving under the Southern Baptist missionary board, the Lord encountered them in amazing ways. They became filled with the Holy Spirit and began walking in power. This began an uncomfortable chain of events (because of the "Holy Spirit issue") that eventually led them to resign from their post. And through some pretty amazing dreams and prophetic confirmations, they have found themselves here in Kansas City hungry to live lives of prayer.
Another couple we have known for many years now but only on an acquaintance level. These two have an adorable son who watches everything Eli does. Elijah relishes the role of superhero! They have come here to Kansas City broken but it is so neat to see how the Lord is building their foundations in Him and in each other. They, too, are hungry to walk in the fullness of their destiny.
The third couple have become over the last couple of years, really good friends. I believe the Lord has placed them in our lives to help heal our hearts. We have walked through life together- the good, the bad, and the ugly- and are walking with a greater respect and loyalty for each other than we have ever known. God is good!
So now that I have introduced who the Lord has put in our lives, on with the party!! Our friend, Misty, made her first ever Boston Creme Pie (Seth's favorite) and it was, shall I say, totally yummy!

By the end of the evening, we were completely exhausted...all four of us. But we were full. And not much of the fullness was from the food...

Party On...and On...

On Saturday, Eli went to his first "big boy" birthday party. His little friend, Isaac, turned 7 and had a water party in his backyard. Water party = squirt guns, water bottles, water balloons, a large blow-up pool. Pretty much the description of Little Boys' Heaven.
A couple of days before the party, Eli started acting very peculiar. Actually, he began acting downright terrible. Talking back, attitudes and the like. By Saturday morning Seth and I were about to put our proverbial feet down and forbid Eli from going to the party. I finally listened to that little voice in my heart and asked Elijah to come sit with me and talk. I asked him what the problem was...why was he behaving so badly the last couple of days. Immediately he answered me and said, "Mom, I'm really nervous about the older kids at the party. I don't know any of them." And we all chime in...Awwww....
That explained it. The poor guy didn't quite know what to do with his feelings about the whole deal, thus explaining the tweaked behavior. So I told him that Daddy would be with him and if he didn't like being there, he could always come home. Of course that didn't need to happen because Eli ended up having a total blast. He tossed water balloons with the best of 'em. (Actually, he and his partner were the best of 'em. They won!)

Okay, so I was blown away by this...(I have a picture of it but for some reason Blogger won't let me post it)
After all the fun and games, the kids at this 7 YEAR OLD's birthday party gathered around Isaac and prayed for him. How awesome is that?? We are raising a generation of Elijahs and Isaacs and Levis and Josiahs and Zions and Ezekials (Seth said it almost sounded like an Amish party with all the Biblical names) who take the time at birthday parties to pray for their friends. I love what they teach children to do here in Kansas City. They believe that if kids lay hands on the sick, they WILL be healed. That if they listen to the Lord, they CAN prophesy. That if they offer their hearts to God, they WILL become lovesick worshipers of the Most High. Wow!

Bragging Rights

So I have to brag on this handsome guy for a bit. Elijah's personality is one that does not do well with sudden change. He has always been like that. I remember when he was a baby and we would walk in a room full of relatives...there was always the "I'll grab him first" rush. And he, without fail, would always burst into tears. Because he needed some time to adjust to the room. Then slowly he acclimated and was fine. He is still that way. When he walks into a room full of children, he is never one to rush into play. He needs time and space to figure things out and then he is okay.
So with Seth's new travel schedule, it's been a bit rough for the little guy. He really misses his Dad. And I think that's a good thing because it shows what a great relationship the two of them have. Before Seth left last week, he showed Eli the website of the hotel he was going to stay at and even Google mapped the way there for him. That really helped the E man because he needs all the information possible to adjust to the change.
Elijah has done so well when Seth is gone. He obviously misses his Dad but he really steps up and helps me out. He and I still have our battles but they are much more few and far between. He's growing up so quickly...physically, mentally, and emotionally. There are times where I just love to sit down and have a conversation with him because we can do that now. I enjoy watching him with Seth. They really have such a special bond. I pray that will always be the case...

Okay, I'm finished rambling...What I really wanted to show off is Eli's new summer haircut. It has never been this short but it's great. It makes me cooler in this 100+ degree weather just looking at him!

Caution! View at your own risk.

These photos were in no way, shape, or form altered or messed with.

The height of the hair is just phenomenal. I tell you, when you have kids with lots of hair, going in to see what a night's sleep has done is always an adventure. I should have taken a measurement on this 'do...

A Long-Distance Kiss

On Tuesday, a Fed Ex truck stopped in front of our house and dropped off a curiously long box at our door. When I opened it, I discovered 18 gorgeous long stem red roses. My sweet husband had ordered them at the beginning of his trip so they would get to me in the middle of the week. He had no idea that it would be such a horrible week. But I know Someone who did. Once again, the Lord used Seth to show me how much He loves me. How even in the midst of weakness (literal weakness...I had to sit down 5 times while trimming the flowers...I didn't have the strength to stand that long), He lavishes me with amazing and timely gifts. He is good, isn't He??

The Longest Week EVER

I won't spend too much time telling the tale of last week. For some reason, I think it would give one of the worst weeks of my life too much credit. Seth left last Saturday morning for a week in Dallas, TX. Early Sunday morning, around 2am, I checked on Josiah and found him lying in a literal sickbed. After 2 hours of 5 baths, 5 bed changes, and 3 loads of laundry, I knew I was in for it. A day later, the bug bit me. Hard. A day later, the bug bit Elijah. Thankfully, not so hard. So, without any more detail, it was literally one of the worst weeks of my life. What was supposed to be a "quick week" ended up feeling like a month long.
BUT the week did finally come to a close. Seth arrived home on Friday. Everyone is almost fully recovered and trying to get our appetites back.
The End.

Lord, grant me patience!

I've gotta say, there isn't anything much more annoying than this- getting ourselves and the kids ready, driving down to the trail, setting up the jogger, sitting the kids in the jogger, and then having to turn around 5 minutes later because our child is screaming at the top of his lungs with no intention of stopping.
It was a beautiful evening. Couldn't have been more than 75 degrees with a cool breeze. There were even a few deer out grazing not 50 feet from us. They just gave us a "hey could you shut your kid up" look and resumed their eating.
I think I almost left Josiah with them. Wolves have raised children before, haven't they? Deer would be a good, herbivorous choice. I just picture in 20 years, a reddish blond curly-headed man timidly leaping out of the forest, neck craning to spot any predators. Nooo, I guess that wouldn't work very well. I guess I'll have to keep the little guy. Good thing he's so darn cute...

It's Over...I think

Halelujah! The 4th of July has come and gone which means so has the obnoxious firework-ing. If it was just the 3rd and 4th when people did their fireworks, I could actually say that I enjoy the holiday...you know, celebration and independence and all that. But here in the great state of Missouri, the sky is the limit when it comes to how soon they start. June 30th? Let's light them at 1am. July 1st? Why not 2pm? I should have counted how many bombs were thrown into the drainage systems. The whole house shook when they went off.

Well, last night we joined the masses if you will and sent rockets screaming into our neighbors' yards. And had a really good time doing it. Eli was so excited to finally get to light the fireworks that had been in our garage since Christmas. (We drove through Tennessee and stopped at the Daddy store of all firework stores, The Firework Supermarket.)
He even got his own punk and lit many of them himself. Of course, with Daddy right there watching.

As much as I enjoy celebrating with friends, I have to say I wait in no great anticipation for next year!