But What I DO Love...

is that tens or hundreds of thousands of people will gather in Washington DC on August 16th to fast and pray for our nation. We were a part of The Call in Nashville last year. I know it impacted us in ways we have yet to see. If you are within driving distance to DC, by all means, GO! Be a part of history!!

On a Whole Different Note...

I hate politics. Enough said.

It's Potty Time

Josiah has an announcement to make.

"I Wear Big Boy Underwear!!"

It happened, it really happened. Within 1 weeks' time, Josiah did it with minimal intervention. He even woke up dry every morning this last week! Why am I making such a big deal? I was beginning to convince myself, while cleaning up dirty diaper after dirty diaper, that this day would just never come. Having unhealthy visions of my teenage son walking around with a diaper on. But he came through! He did it! Yeehaw!

And he gets to wear these cute things, to boot~

Count Your Blessings

I think I have a new tool to store in my back pocket for pre-teen/teen years. It will go something like this:

Child enters the room with that "Life is SO unfair" attitude.
I respond, "Well at least Dad and I didn't name you this- Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii!"

Read this article. Thank God for judges who exhibit such common sense!

The Fam!

Recently we visited the George Washington Carver Museum here in Missouri. The man was amazing. He had conversations with the Lord all the time. And he was a brilliant scientist. We fully enjoyed our day...

Elijah was a bit skeptical of the all-Caucasian African band playing on the grounds. Oh wait, I was the skeptical one...

Boy on a Red Bench

Beware of the boy with the plastic knife!

My handsome Boys!!

Penny for your thoughts....

Elijah is so excited for a little sister. 7? Pshaw! He's still my sweet boy!

Okay, sorry, this has nothing to do with the museum. Seth let the boys give him a haircut. He tried the "hair thing" for a while but just loves bein' buzzed!

Updates

Allow me to go down the list...

1. This Friday, I will hit 24 weeks in my pregnancy. Talk about flying through time!!
2. Elijah is out of kindergarten and will begin 1st grade. The plan is to homeschool again this year. He turns 7 in a couple of months. 7??!! Excuse me while I go blow my nose...
3. Josiah is growing splendidly! He can totally hold his own in conversation. It is an amazing stage when kids can speak their whole thoughts in paragraphs. He is also "officially" using the toilet. My boys. My boys take forever with certain things. Walking and using the potty. But once they do, there is no going back. It has finally clicked for little J. Even to the point of waking up dry for the last few mornings. We can now enjoy 4 whole months without diapers and wipes!!
4. This update still kinda blows me away. We're having a girl! Can you believe it? It was difficult for me to, even while staring at the cute moving gray blob on the ultrasound screen. Her name is Lyla Marie. Lyla means "Lily", a flower that may look delicate but is as tough as they come. Don't you think that's appropriate for a little girl who will be growing up with 2 older brothers?!
5. Seth turns 31 this Friday. He is soooo in his 30's now! He hasn't been traveling much these last few months. What a blessing! Especially when I felt terrible the first few months of this pregnancy. It's funny how quickly you can take for granted the "coming home at 5" days. But there is enough traveling happening in the near future to help me remember.

I believe that is enough for now. Next post? Pictures!

Time to Start Sharin'

I hate reading the blogs that go on and on with excuses of why they haven't posted in so long. So I will save you the misery. I have been lovingly poked and prodded back into bloggy-land (Hi Holly and Misty!) and I do believe I'm ready for a new round!

I Have Become a Fan

I have mentioned before how I love to find new blogs to read. Not that I need to find any more at this point of my life, but if I come across a new and interesting site, it makes me happy. I'm not sure that I could call myself a "Midwesterner", even though I have lived in the dead-center of America for almost 4 years now. It's a life I never expected. I am getting better at recognizing crops as I pass fields and fields of green. I can identify different breeds of horses. I have learned to love the smell of barns.
Going back to my first point, I recently stumbled across a blog that I have thoroughly enjoyed. The site is kept by a woman who is the wife of a rancher. She grew up, never seeing herself living in the Midwest. Yet she fell in love with a cowboy. I can relate to her environment just a tiny little bit. Although, I do happen to live right down the road from a Starbucks!
Here is a short interview of the Pioneer Woman. Watch out! You may become as addicted as me =)

Quote From a 3 Year Old

"Mom, I don't feel so good."

"Really? What hurts?"
"I hurt my feelings."
(He now collapses dramatically on the couch.)

Still Here...

Sorry for the sad lack of posting! I am suffering from the worst case of "mental constipation" to date. I'm gonna do it, I know I shouldn't...but....I am blaming this on hormones. What else can I say?

Ahh, if it were only this easy....

I'm Outta Here!

Not really, but I am leaving Thursday morning for a 5 day vacation to New York City!! My lovely friend Misty and I have been talking about celebrating our 30th birthdays with a bang for quite some time now. So we are headed off to New York to do some sightseeing and some eating and some shopping. It is our first time to the Big Apple so it will all be very exciting. We will be staying here. Very posh! We will be seeing this. We will be visiting here and here. Both places I have dreamed of visiting for years! Oh, and we have reservations for dinner here and here. All just a taste of our itinerary for the weekend...
Meanwhile, back on the home front, Seth will be staying home with the boys for 5 whole days. Not that he really needs a reminder, but I do think it will open that door of appreciation just a little wider for the Momma who has had to do it multiple times over the last few years...
Seth's such a great Daddy, I don't really have any worries about leaving. I just know that is a whole heck of a lot of testosterone for 5 days! Yow!!

We have a Name

Today the baby was named by his/her big brother, Eli. And the name is........Shrimpy. Because he/she looks like this at 9 weeks-

Shrimpy has been kicking Mommy's booty. I don't have the time or the energy to deal with pregnancy sickness but he/she doesn't seem to take this into consideration. It has not been fun. I have to be honest- I don't really enjoy being pregnant. Since this is my third go-around, I guess I feel brave enough to say it out loud. There are parts of it that are fun (i.e. the ultrasounds, the kicking, and the baby at the end) but overall, pregnancy has not been kind to me. I am just looking forward to that day when Shrimpy lets me feel a little "normal" again.

"I'm Fwee!"

Says the boy who had a birthday yesterday.

"I want a guitaw, a keyboard, and dwums." This was the birthday boy's list this year. He managed to get 2 out of 3...not bad, not bad! The "dwums" will be saved for a later date since big brother has been asking for a set for about 3 years now. (Which will most likely be happening this Christmas...Mommy is trying to type this without wincing.)
It was a nice, quiet day. But from the excitement-producing soprano notes reached by Josiah's voice all day, you would have thought we spent the day at Disney!

Caution: Curvy Road Ahead

From the very beginning, our family's "straight and narrow" path has had some interesting curves, twists, and turns. The Lord has always kept us on our toes and we would not have it any other way! I have become settled in the fact that I believe He created Seth and me to love adventure, to not live the 9-5 existence, to always look ahead with hope that something new might be on the horizon. This has been a little more of a stretch for me than for Seth. To love the unknown. I love adventure as long as there is a handy list to go with!
We have had a new "curve" in our road this year. At first, it actually felt like a sharp right turn that knocked me off my balance. But now as some time has passed, the first jolt has mellowed out to yet another Macchi adventure. Friends, I am pregnant. Yes, it was a total surprise and No, it was not planned. (At least by us.)
And yes, we are still planning an adoption. I hope that answers all of your initial questions. I will be posting more on this subject. But for now, this is just the happy announcement of LIFE.........

Sweet Boys

I have been a mom for some years now. Every once in a while it still kind of freaks me out that there are 2 people on this earth who will always know me as "Mom". There are still times when, for a split second, I look for my own mom when one of the boys calls for me. Even weirder? When the boys ask me a question and I hear myself say, "Go ask your Dad". But I just have to say- I love my boys! They are kind to each other (okay, maybe not all the time. maybe about 70 percent of the time.). And they are kind to others. Something I fully appreciate!
A couple of days ago, I walked outside. I turned to come in and this is what I saw. Can you blame me for running for my camera?

Sorry, I couldn't decide which one I liked the best. So there you go.

Meet My Friends

This is Clyde. How do I describe Clyde? Clyde is like that big, gangly kid in your class who doesn't quite know his own strength yet. The one who is sweet yet would never pass up any opportunity to play that practical joke on you. You can't help it but he actually becomes your favorite because he's so funny and you know he won't take things too far. Yes, this is Clyde.

(Doesn't he look mischievous?)

Aaand this...is Solo. I actually imagine Solo with a British accent. He is such a gentleman. Solo is my friend's horse. She is guiding me through Natural Horsemanship training and is generously letting me learn with him. He is much older than Clyde so he carries himself quite differently. He and I have quickly become buddies, even more so when I have a pocket full of cookies!

Mama is Down

I repeat. Mama is down. Best flu remedy around here? Well, isn't it obvious? Tigger and the warm-up puppy, of course!

On loan from a very sweet and very concerned 6 year old boy.

It Has Begun

The trucking of children from practice to practice. The Saturday morning games. Yep, you guessed it. Elijah joined a soccer league. His first team sports experience. Practice began this last Wednesday and his first game was this morning. A very unorganized, chaotic almost 2 hour (when all was said and done....the actual game was 45 minutes) soccer game on an early Saturday morn. Every mom's dream, right? Better still, it was in the gym of a local school. We do things right around here...indoor soccer leagues!
Elijah was adorable. He was nervous so there was a lot of quirky shirt twisting and fumbling. (Good thing there wasn't any grass to pick at, huh Mom?) But he warmed up pretty quickly. You know, I've always known my son is a pretty big kid but today it was more than obvious. He stands about a head taller than all of his teammates. I guess I'd better keep feeding him his Wheaties!
They did great. In fact, they won. We're pretty sure the score was 5-1. It's kind of hard to keep track in the middle of pure chaos.
Elijah's biggest fan was, of course, his little brother. We heard "Go Eli" a few times from the munchkin man. His turn is still a few years away. Thank God!
So, there you have it. The beginning of the end. I see a future of endless practices, stinky shorts, deadly socks, and adrenaline-filled games.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Please excuse the quality of the pictures. I am going to attempt to use the "sports setting" next Saturday. Maybe that will save me from all the blurriness...

Drumroll Please....

Exciting news in our little world. We have begun a new blog specifically for our adoption process. Another blog for you to check =) I posted the link on my sidebar. Hope you enjoy!!

Togetherness

When Seth and I got married, our friend gave a tidbit of wisdom that has stuck with us over the years. "May you know the joy of togetherness". I can honestly say that through our ups and downs, this is something we have guarded. Our joy of being together. These last couple of months, we haven't had much of a chance to be together. So the joy started dwindling slowly but surely.
This last weekend we remedied this by going away for the night. We booked a room here.
In the Castaway Isle suite. Who doesn't like their bed in a boat stuck in a tree? We had dinner here. And then played here.

Looks like we got that joy back after all.