what's a better fall activity?

apple and pumpkin picking....is there any other way to enjoy the first hints of fall? i think not! we drove down to illinois to enjoy the beautiful weather and teach the kids about orchards and green pumpkins.

kite flying

my husband loves to fly a kite. as a teenager he would take his kite to the beach and just lay down in the sand and stare up at the kite for hours. he loved it. last weekend he taught maggie to love it too. it was the first coldish day we have had. Abraham & I sat on the hill, had snacks and watched the sky and the marvelous clouds. it was a good family day. we were in our favorite place-Forest Park.

sometimes all you got is your cell phone

last week we went to one of our favorite parts of town (South City) to eat with good friends and feed ducks in the pond and walk around the beautiful gardens and teach the kids about lily pads and goldfish. the pictures were just too cute not to post! look how old maggie looks!

3

there were so many deliciously cute photos that I've been stalled in putting them up. Little princes and princesses descended upon our house for cobbler and high tea. it was wonderful. maggie was in princess heaven.

missed milestone

in the hurry of august, i forgot to blog about an important milestone of our family....we've lived in St. Louis for one year! i feel like its flown by and yet here we are- one year of seminary down! Two more to go! {or three!}
St. Louis really does feel like home to me. As you know, i really love this city. I absolutely love the way the city is laid out. I know thats random but I think its wonderful how all the streets have huge old trees lining the way which bow over the street and make every street feel romantic. I love the houses. Most all the houses are brick or stone and from the late 1800's. They are big, gorgeous and wonderful to look at. There is one street near our apartment that every time we pass by i say, "Man, those houses are amazing." For some reason, I cant help saying it and Matt now just laughs cause he is awaiting me to sigh and say it. Its just lovely.
i love all the parks. st louis does a great, great job at providing communal areas. i was thinking yesterday at how i feel like this is a very active city {walking, running, bike riding} because the city does such a good job at providing places for people to be active with one another. it truly does foster community.
i love all the farmers markets. there is one every where you turn, they are quaint or massive, local/seasonal. wonderful.
its definitely has more of a 'city' feel than nashville and i just love it!
Matt still loves Nashville way more. apart from our dear friends there, he says its because of Bongo Java and not having found a coffee shop in St. Louis. but its more than the coffee-he misses being able to just sit at bongo and at some point old & new friends will come in. he'll always consider Nashville a really special place to him. we both, of course, miss our friends and the ease of long friendships in Nashville. But can I say? we are on a journey that will uproot us many times.
its funny how our memories can easily forget hard things. when i look back at our first year of seminary, all i have is good memories. it was a wonderful year of getting to know new friends and this new city and slowly get involved at our new church. but when i actually sit down and think about our year i begin to remember the exhaustion. Abraham was only 8 weeks old when we moved and moving with a newborn is very, very hard work. and how quickly i forget that Abraham just starting sleeping through the night in july. i mean really. can you believe it took him that long???? i'm so thankful that the things that stand out are good things.
this year holds many changes ahead. me going back to work and we are raising support so that Mojo can be the worship leader for a new service our church is starting....lots and lots of changes, good changes. and i know i will look back at the milestone of our second year and be just as thankful.

waura

this post is dedicated to our dear friend & neighbor, Laura, or since Maggie cant say her Ls, its Waura. She and her husband Walter, live just a few doors down and our kids Adore them. Abraham thinks he is Walter's Bff and the first time he waved was to Walter and the first time he ever said WHOA! was when they were babysitting. And speaking of babysitting, these guys are champs. They come and sit with our children in exchange for kisses from the kiddos and perhaps a bottle of wine. Since Matt has been gone alot this summer dear Waura comes and lends a hand helping me get out the door to church, bath time when I am too spent to think, and like yesterday when i lost my phone-Walter came and sat here while Abraham napped and Maggie & I went and got a new phone. Our kids adore them and their two puppies. We are more than thankful for them.
so today is Waura's birthday. She is 25, that young chick. And it much wiser and far ahead in life then I could have wished to be at 25. I think when I was 25 I was dreaming of the peace corps and hoping for a man to waltz into my life (which he did shortly before my 26th birthday). But dear Laura is not like that. They are mature and loving. They care about the poor, social justice, and Africa. It's lovely to be their friends.
Here is Laura with my babes. We went to the City Garden last weekend together. {she is always up for an adventure.} happy birthday neighbor!

science center

another great landmark (free!) of st. louis. this center is great for all ages....our kids are a bit young for it but its great for rainy or cold days.(or hot & humd!)...i normally dont get to take pictures when i am with the kids but daddy-o was with us last week.

this is on the overpass between the planetarium and science center. you can watch the cars go beneath you. they learn all about 'transportation'!


hopscotch that makes music


being mesmerized by the huge t-rex that moves and roars! its pretty awesome!


maggie & mars


learning about shuttle take off

enjoying being in the center of the universe

brokenness and restoration

if you've been reading this blog, you will know that a while back i decided to volunteer at a hospice. its been a wonderful experience and i know its going to be a journey that shapes me. the lady i visit with is precious and we are still in the "getting to know you" stage. i mean, its quite odd showing up at someone's bedside because they are dying.
we found out this week that we were both born on the same day in November! she in 1923, me in 1976. we both felt this odd twisting of "fate" and how we are now in each others lives. i cant fathom what she has seen in all her years as an african american women, before civil rights was even whispered in conversation. and now, here we are together beginning to share our lives. its odd at times, uncomfortable to see people so sick in the nursing home, and more than anything-such a honor just to get to hear her story and her journey.

i am struck each time i step in that nursing home by the brokenness and sickness that is in this world. i took maggie a few weeks ago to meet this lady and having such youth and energy holding my hand made what my eyes were seeing all the more shocking: the longing for death, the longing for youth, sadness and loneliness.

and some of you might not know but i am going back to work! i will be working in the mental health field again. i will be a clinical case manager for folks with "severe and persistent mental illness." thats the technical name for people that are really sick. and just thinking about it makes me ache for those people so that they would be set free from their illness.... but here is the good news that i heard while listening to a sermon online this morning:

"Only Jesus has experienced the complete
abandonment of the Father, and he did so humbly,
soberly and gladly for us, that we might live forever in
the eternal favor of God. Life is short, as short as a breeze that blows through this room. But eternity is perfectly long."

we are not abandoned. this life isnt all there is. we can gladly, and with joy, enter into hardships with others, even into death with others because there is hope!
Everytime i walk into her room, everytime i touch her skin, everytime i sit with someone who is having a hard time-i am pushing back the affects of the fall.
everytime we choose selflessness instead of ourselves, to speak with kindness instead of spite, everytime we choose to think of others before ourselves, to go to ugly places in peoples hearts and speak God's healing words, everytime we create & make something beautiful (whether thats growing basil, painting, or making a child) we are pushing back the affects of the fall. we are reclaiming the earth for God's purposes. we are saying, O death, O death where is your sting? and Goodness and Rightness will win.

my potted garden

much to my dismay, i did not inherit my momma's green thumb. growing up, i felt like all i did was pull weeds. perhaps thats why i never wanted to garden...i thought pulling weeds was all that there was. but i really do long to have a full garden one day. but this year, because of our little back deck, i decided to do a "potted garden." it seemed less intimidating and i figured if it was right off my deck then i wouldnt forget to water it. i received some heirloom tomatoes from my brother and some peppers and bought some herbs at the farmers market. and you know what, its actually thriving. I have grown probably 25 tomatoes but havent eaten a single one. but i have feed the entirefamily of squirrels that live around here. sooo frustrating. but still, it makes me happy that I know things are growing and not dying out there. although my thyme started to die this week but i did a little research and found out that they like Mediterranean climates best and need well-drained soil and lots and lots of sun. hmmmm, why didnt i think of reading about my plants ten years ago? anyway, its been an immense pleasure of mine to ask Maggie to gather me some basil, or oregano while i am cooking dinner. she loves to go out there and figure out which one she needs and ask her daddy to help her. next year: more veggies!

future photographer

some of you might know, but my all time dream job is to be a national geographic photographer. i'd like to be the one who goes to far off places and takes pictures of animals and people groups that people rarely see.
well, apparently maggie has the same dream. upon a trip to the zoo she insisted she bring along her 'camera.' its not at all a real camera and all you see when you look through the eye hole is Pluto & Goofy sitting in a car. But every time we got to an animal she'd say, "i need to take a picture of this." then look at the back of the camera (like its a digital) and say, "oh thats a good one!"
oh my dear maggie! i hope all your dreams come true...

for mimi & grandma

here is a sweet little video of Abe walking. its not the best of him walking but he is playing ball with his dada which is a close second favorite right now! enjoy!

time out

we should give ourselves more 'time outs.' Time out from talking about adult things. Lately my mind is filled with thoughts of money, bills, tuition, jobs, stock market, lack of money, etc. etc.
It's nice to go out and talk about other things like books we are really enjoying, why we are excited about Harry Potter, and just have fun.I love having a partner to enjoy the important things of life and also the fun, frivolous things of life too.

harry potter 6.0!!! we loved it! best yet! anyone else so excited about the budding romance of Ron & Hermoine?!


a few months ago we went out to eat and to a fancy little roof top bar!

tower grove

there is an area of town called South City that I would love to live in if we were here longer. It has wonderful ethnic restaurants, old beautiful row homes, the botanical gardens and a wonderful park: Tower Grove Park. Even though there are a bunch of parks closer to us, there is something about this park that i really really like. Its huge with a boulevard down the middle that goes from end to end. Its got a ton of shade, a little lake where you can feed ducks, a playground that is shaded and this wonderful water spray. It is also a bit gritty which I really ilke.
We hadnt experience the water spray area so it was fun to try something new. Maggie LOVED it and kept running from spray to spray yelling, "I like this!" and Abraham would crawl to a water spout just in time to grab the water then it would go out and he would look bewildered and say, uh oh!
I didnt have my camera but they were having so much fun that I took a few with my phone. Not the best quality but you can still see there glee.
Have I told yall enough how much i LOVE st. louis????




We are missing the hubs around here but the kids get to talk to him on the computer, which is fun for them. We are doing ok!

rest

My blog has been quiet lately despite the swirl of life going on around us. But i have felt the need to post at least a little update on our family. I am currently watching two squirrels chase each other around on our deck, maggie dressing herself in a bathing suit thats a tad bit too small, and abraham trying to climb the couch.
I am pretty sure I gave birth to Evil Canevil (sp?). A few minutes ago I looked over and saw he had gotten on the couch and had climbed to the arm rest and was ready to jump off. I hope he is like a cat, and has nine lives, he'll need it.
Despite the enormous squirrel activity on our deck, some of my tomatoes are growing and my herb garden is flourishing. It's amazing how much fresh herbs make me want to cook things from scratch and this summer we have been eatin' good.

Although its been silent on the blog-we've been enjoying our summer so much. St. Louis is in the midst of some glorious weather and we have been running around as much as possible, playing with our neighbors, enjoying all the fun things St. Louis has to offer, & playing in our kiddie pool. I had the best weekend away with my oldest friends. We went to the beach and soak in some rays, rode bikes, and learned how to paddle board. Apparently I needed to get away because Abraham started sleeping through the night! So, after 13 months of broken sleep, we have been sleeping until at least 6 or 7 every morning! I cant tell you how wonderful that is and how broken sleep affects every aspect of your life. We are hoping this new pattern sticks. Now the next step is getting him and Maggie to sleep in the same room....but we are going to just enjoy this stage for now.

Matt leaves again for Europe tomorrow for a little over a week. So today we are preparing-laundry, getting the pantry stocked-all the things its hard to do with two little ones at my ankles. I'm off to enjoy our lazy summer day- we hope you enjoy your day too!

baby daddy

my sweet husband is over an ocean today in beautiful switzerland. considering he has been apart from us this week --it has made me all the more aware of just how much he does with our kiddos. he is possibly the most involved dad i know. i know that he takes the role of father very very important, and he doesn't take lightly that God has entrusted him with these two precious ones. he is so patient with them, loves to teach them flips and somersaults, loves to take them swimming, and makes them breakfast every single morning. yes folks, he's a superdad.
our kids LOVE their daddy.....and as you can guess, i do too, very very much.

{this picture was taken over in croatia for the new record he is recording. he's a creative genius AND a great dad. and you can see where our kids get their good looks}

let them eat cake!

abey baby

oh little boys are too much fun. our baby boy turned a year old! we had a fabulous little party in st. louis with our neighbors who love him dearly, who have babysat, and who give him lots of hugs & kisses.
he is a doll. such a lover. so laid back but definitely sensitive and passionate. we often say that he is an 'easy laugh'-its easy to make this little one smile and he is so ticklish!
we are so thankful for him and for the love the maggie has for him. they are starting to 'play' together and is so very sweet.
happy birthday our dear son!