A Busy Week

This week has been a busy week and have not been able to post much, though much ahas happene. How can not much happen with an 8 month old and 27 month old. On Wednesday evening, jmejr and I went out on a date. We went to Best Buy and then to Chick Fil A for dinner. This gave my WLW some time to herself with the Jitterbug. JMEjr was very comical in the store and said hello to almost everyone there. We purcahsed him two movies, another Uhg (Backyardiagans) and a Thomas the Train actual 86 minute movie. Last night, we had several folks into our home for dinner. The Pages, David Jones, The Greenwoods, our newest family member and good friend "Doc Doc Meg Meg" (who will be going back to Charleston either Friday or Saturday. her friendship and humor and attentiveness to our children will be missed), Lah-Lah and ourselves. Many around the table. There was much laughter and talk. Emily Greenwood is expecting their first child in October or anyday soon. They are a sweet couple. Today is Friday and jmejr and I will head off soon to do ur Friday is for Boyss day experiences. Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

JMEjr Has a New Look in His Room

JMEjr Has a New Look in His Room My precious WLW went to Gaffney several weeks ago with Dah and came home with two sets of these bedspreads and doodads that go along with these blankets. She was soo pleased at the price that the Lord had allowed these to be sold for. Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

A Quick, but Worthy Visit

Last night we received word that Gramps' sister and daughter will be driving through SC on the way to bringing her to Penn State, where she is a JUNIOR. The last time I saw Calise, she was maybe 2ish years of age, NOW a JUNIOR. We all agreed that it would be easier for our home if we all just met at The Haven for breakfast. They showed up at our home at about 8:30ish this morning where we had coffee and fruit ready and Gramps and Neenee brought Panera bagels. It was crazy to see Calise and see the resemblance with her and Brenna (WHOM WE HAVE NOT HEARD FROM IN LIKE FOREVER). Aunt Carol looks as young as her daughters and Calise has gotten much taller in these 18ish years since seeing her. I guess that happens. Come to find out Calise is majoring in Math Education for High School. Yeah, once she said that I knew I could not talk more about that as it was taking everything I could to just think about what all entailed in mathematics for high school...So we talked about what all she is involved with while not studying and watched our boys fall in love with our aunt and cousin and remembered Camp Costello. Calise is Brenna's sister, the youngest of the three siblings. Our boys loved these two young ladies and jmejr was sad to see them go, but boy did he put on a show for them to remember him by. Calise also made an impression by jumping right in and playing with him. They will be shooting for Pennsylvania today and should make it within 9 hours, maybe 10. Our prayers are with them as they travel and we prayed that Calise would look to do those things which please our God and that He would keep her safe and focused this school year. Grace, mercy and peace be with you

Thursday Gathering

Last night we had the opportunity to have Mr. Daley to our home. His family is out of town and he has blessed our family soo much, we wanted to extend an invitation to him and our evening with the Pages and my WSNL was blessed because he was with us. We would have received a double blessing had his entire family been with us, but I am not sure if The Haven could have handled a double portion of that Daley blessing. Our children were wanting to show him all the cool stuff we have which not surprisingly, many of it came from his family. Here our boys are showing him what type of music they like to listen to on the "iPods" which Monty made for them. (Oh btw, everyone was very impressed with my WLW's haircutting skills. She may be opening a salon). Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

A Homegrown Haircut

JMEjr's regular hairstylist has undergone an operation on her hand. Please keep her in your prayers. Due to that, many who are fortunate to have her as a barber/stylist are now sporting shaggies on their head, jmejr was one of them. We spoke it over with jmejr last night and made a special "mommy-haircut" sound soo good, he was running to the kitchen today with clippers in hand for a first time mommy cut. She was nervous but did not show it. JMEjr was excited and after having a delicious homemade calzone made with broccoli and chicken settling in his stomach, made my WLW and his mother, feel sooo special by being soo happy about getting a haircut, that all were ready to go and get it down. We played a game with the clippers first and he seemed ok with it. Clipped on the guards to the clipper and she went to work. JMEjr was handling it soo well. We were shocked. About half way through with half the hair cut off, my precious, sensitive WLW became very quiet and sullen. Her eyes watered and she was sad to see his hair go. She said he looks much older now. She kept it together and pulled through and with about 5 minutes left, he became very ancee (sp?) and ready for it to be over. In the end, my WLW did a spectacular job. You are awesome sweetie. CJE wants in. He has become such a crawler. I mean, really. He is ALL over the place. I was in the bathroom with jmejr for his bath and next thing I know, cje has made his way from the kitchen to the bathroom on his own. If you are not looking, these shots are about all you'll see of cje. JMEjr has become an excellent cje-watcher. He will also come and tell you when cje has either eaten something that he may should not have or that he has lost his paci (which if you listen, you will hear this before jmejr tells you. We have a bet going when cje will be crawling on hands and knees rather than the army-man which he currently does and does so well. With the weather being in the 100's, we have allowed Belle to stay in the basement. On occasion, trust us, very rare occasion, she has come up stairs to see the boys. They LOVE it. Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

The "What..." Stage

Oh yeah, by the way, JMEjr is in the "What..." and the occasional "where..." stage. "What is it?" "Where are they?" "Where is it?" He has also begun to say more regularly, "I LIKE it." When referring to just about anything. This morning when I went in to his room to get him, I opened his shades and as I do, I speak with him about what I am doing. After openinmg all 3 shades I say, "all three are opened." He comes back with, "I LIKE it." When I go to make his bed, I place a 2nd pillow on his bed and he asks, "What are you doing?". I tell him I am making his bed and placinmg a second pillow on his bed, he says, "I LIKE 2 pillows." Fun stage. Will the "why?" stage be coming next? Joshua M. Espinosa Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Patience

As mentioned in previous posts, Fridays are boy days. JMEjr did our 9:00 class at Gymboree, where he learned about CIRCLES. It is always fun. With the exception of JMEjr being one of two children there, it was fine. The other child was not too interactive so it made the corporate games a little difficult to do, but the teacher yesterday who happens to be the owner also, seems to know a lot about child development and was able to take what the boys were doing and see the "good" in it. Afterwards we drove over to WCC and had a snack on the way. He was in a great mood all morning. We were both excited to be at the pool again. My WLW and his WM were to meet us there with CJE. We did the usual, changing of clothes on him, throwing all the toys into the pool, daddy jumping in several times making splashes. I felt like it was time. Prior to her getting there, I grabbed JMEjr and led him into the pool, me carrying him. After some (very short time, like 10-15 seconds) fussing, he calmed down and I distracted him with a toy that squirts and had him squirt daddy and try to squirt water really far. He stayed with me in the water for several minutes (longest he ever did it). I was very pleased and encouraged him with words like "JMEjr YOU WERE IN THE POOL", "YOU ARE SOOO BRAVE", "WHAT A BIG BOY". And kept saying that over and over again. All of these words come back up later on when I am on the telephone with the owner/manager/caretaker of WCC and jmejr hears me speaking with him and begins to yell out, "Daddy, dahdahda IN. BRAVE. dahdahda IN, BRAVE". It was great. The man on the phone with me was smiling hearing the news. . . So when my WLW comes and finally gets cje down inside, she does a wonderful 10 Score dive and swims to jmejr and he and I spoke earlier about allowing mommy to see him in the water. He was ok with it but really did not like going fast in the water or going in circles and wanted out. Later on he goes back in with me and stays in for another good while (minutes). Soo, patience brings progress. We shall return this morning for another round. CJE - he has been moving around soo much. The doctor believes he is in the 3% of his age because he is moving around soo much. He was shocked the other day to see him crawl as much as he is at the age which he is. We go back in a week or so to get him weighed again. Yesterday, I was playing with jmejr and looked around and could not find cje and looked for him. He had crawled out of the living room and was making his way down the hall to the kitchen, where our wonderful homemaker was located, preparing Sundays meal. SHE IS SOOO GOOD AND SOOO GORGEOUS!!! CJE is pretty incredible with his crawling. JMEjr - his words and sentence structure continue to develop. He actually said a full sentence with proper placement of words (better than I do) yesterday. I was placing deordorant on and he said, "Excuse me daddy. I would like some please." So I placed the cap on the deodorant and placed some on him. We've been doing that for some time, but never has he asked like that before. WLW - continues to be encouraged by God's Word each day. Her enjoyment of His Word is one to be desired by all. For Now. Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Thursday Gathering

As many of y'all know and some have experienced, we attempt to have friends and folks who later become our friends to our home each Thursday evening and many Sunday evenings. Last night we had the Grices (minus Merrill), Lee Monts, Annie of the Parker and Annie Pages, Lyndsey of the MWSNL Lyndsey, SV Harder (Scott) and Leisel Boyd (Leisel, just like The Sound of Music). This was the first time we had SV and Leisel over on a Thursday as we have had the pleasure of their company on a couple of Sunday evenings. SV works for the DNR as a hydrologist and Leisel works for a pediatric's office as a nurse. This was an enjoyable group with lots of laughter and good conversations. Mrs. Grice recruited SV and Leisel to be a part of the children's rotation. Some may think that this is why we had them over. IT IS NOT!!! We grilled hamburgers, the Grices brought their famous baked beans and some fresh tomatoes from Bob Maghan. We also found out this evening that the Grices have placed an offer on a home in the Forest Hills part of town and it was accepted. So now we must pray that their home in Blythewood with 4 ACRES sells. Lee brought some wonderful strawberries which went well with the watermelon. To top of the meal was dessert which was good ole' ice cream on ICE CREAM CONES (brought by Scott and Leisel). Thank you to all for blessing our home. Earlier in the day was we were preparing the food for this gathering, we changed jmejr's clothing and gave him several pieces of watermelon still on the rind. He never had this before and it appeared (photos below and on our web album) that he thoroughly enjoyed it and we believe would have continued to eat them until he was red, but we had to stop him after 3 pieces. After jmejr finished his first piece and handed it to Belle, he turned around and looked at me and said his famous, "Uh Oh!" as if she took it from him. He did not mind as he had another in reserve. jmejr showing Ratadah his new ipod which Monty painted for him. Now go on over to our web album and check out the rest. For some reason, the camera filing has done something with the numbering where the files uploaded are now being placed in the middle of the others. So do not just look at the last pictures and think we have not added any, they are placed within the "older" pictures. A post on Modesty which gives links to other posts. Lately with the books which are being released there is a lot MODESTY OR LEGALISM by Life in a Shoe Grace, mercy and peace be with you!

Just the Right People and Place

Last night, at The Haven, we ended up having several families over and having pizza and fellowship. It was one of the better gatherings as all who were there were people who were perfect to have there, each being able to encourager one another. You know what I mean, sometimes, you just have people over and have not prayerfully considered who and the time was fun and you would not have traded the time for anything, but just not . . . you know. Last night, each person there was an encourager and seeked the opportunity to lift one another up. We had planned to have pizza by the pool over at the Westminster Country Club (WCC), which jmejr and I have been frequenting this summer. JMEjr and I got there and spent about 45 minutes doing our thing when the thunder was getting closer. I really did not think that it was going to rain, but who wants to sit around a pool in anticipation of it. So I made the call to my WLW who without batting an eye said, moving to our home is not a problem. Had she not been the wonderful, excellent mother and governor to our home that she is, she would have been nervous at the condition of the home, etc. But ohhhh no, not her. As I and the Blythes were the first there, all was in place as if we had expected company the entire time. She is soooo excellent. Here's a for you. Oh, back to the gathering. Last night we had, the Blythes, the Burt, the Dinkins, the mother and son English, and us. It was one of the first time where we had our sons with each other in this setting. It was fun to see them warm up to one another and just began being boys. As the evening wore on, they found themselves playing int some of the wettest (as it ended up raining, but only for a brief moment, yet the rain drops were huge as we were outside immediately after dinner, and it was done raining within 3 minutes of us finally making it inside) freshly cut grass (as I had just cut the grass that morning and I did not bag it this time so cuttings were freshly laying within and on top of the grass) found. They were having a ball, no a blast. Especially when Mr. Dinkins found a very large beetle outside, which all the boys (young and old) were playing with it and doing what boys do. As the boys were outside (minus CJE as he was with his mother and I thought was going to bed only to find out later, he went down with JME at the same time, which was close to 9:00) the ladies were inside doing what they do best. . . Encouraging one another and making each other feel as if they were not alone, because they are not. My WLW was soo encouraged by this time and was soo thrilled to have that group over and I was also. It was difficult to have the evening end, the hardest part was that the boys were having so much fun together that they were not even showing any signs of weariness or exhaustion. It was good to see how others are raising their children and to hear of how they are doing things which another may be having difficulty doing. Whether it is sitting still at the dinner table and waiting patiently for others to finish, to saying the "yes or no sirs/ma'am's", to being a sharer of toys. We have a lot to learn from one another. These gatherings are joyful times to do such a thing. Oh, btw, it would have been difficult to have what this evening offered if we were all sitting by the pool. Ain't God sporty how he takes what we may have deemed to be a good setting and forces us to move in a more appropriate setting. Many Blessings.