Fishing with daddy

For months Emma had been begging daddy to take her fishing.  Daddy kept saying that when "it gets warm" they could go.  Her long awaited wish came true yesterday when Byron took her to the river to fish.  They didn't catch anything, but Emma had a blast, and in Byron's words, "she was such a chatterbox the entire time."

Ready to be potty trained?

Providence would have it so that our second-born is also ready to be potty trained before the parents are ready for it.  At 20 months he is very aware of when he goes to the bathroom, BEGS to be changed often, and then the other day this is what I found --

"Maaaammmiiiii, Maaaammmmiiiiiii.  Pee pee.  Maaaammmiiii, Mammmmmiiii.  Pee pee." 

He climbed on the toilet and was pretending to go to the potty like his big sister :)

Cousin time

Cousin Ames came over to play last week, and all three children had a great time.  Little Byron made sure to imitate everything the "big children" did.

I was impressed by how well the three of them entertained themselves.  Before I knew it, the big kids stripped down to their undies and Emma pretended to be the mama.  She did a great job reading to them :)

WHY-Wednesday: Why we did not rent for Masters this year.

If you know nothing about the Masters tournament, allow me to give you a brief (and informal) introduction to it -- 

The Masters tournament is considered one of the most prestigious golf tournaments around the world.  I heard on TV last week that the Masters green jacket awarded to the winner is considered one of the most coveted clothing items in the world of sports.  It takes place every year in Augusta, GA at the golf course located only half a mile from our home.  Needless to say, things get *a bit* crazy around here this time of year.  

And just to give you an idea of the kind of money that flows around here.  Our middle class home (3 bedroom/1.5 bathroom) has been rented out every year to "the patrons" for an average of $3,000 for ONE week.

Our home is one of the lowest paying homes.  Depending on the size and location of the house, many Augusta residents rent out their homes for tens of thousands of dollars for the week (!!!!!).

But this year we did not rent our home.  After four years in a row of renting out our house, we decided to take the year off.

WHY?

Did we not need the money?  Actually, yes, we did need the money.  We are a one-income family, and the husband changed jobs six months ago, taking a pay cut while at it.  Top that with the fact that we just purchased a new and larger home.

Could we use an extra $3,000?  You betcha! 

So why didn't we?

Well, the easiest answer to this is that we are about to move homes (remember I said we just bought a new house?), and leading up to Masters week, there was a chance that I would have to be in Mexico during that week (which did not end up happening, btw, but still...).

But there is more to the story.  You see, a funny thing happens inside of me every year at around Masters week -- I become very greedy.  I begin to compare myself and how much my house is rented for compared to others.  I become angry and resentful towards people who get more money for their house.  People who rent out for less days, or have a "lesser home" than mine, yet get "a better deal."

Do you see where this is going?

These are not fun emotions to deal with, especially as I realize that I've been given all that I am in need of... 

YET...

I'm incredibly ungrateful for it.

I want more, yet this "more" I'm after is not enough.

This hit home last week in a very unique way as I was reading through the account of the healing of Naaman in 2 Kings 5.

The gist of the account is this -- Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram (a foreign country), had leprosy.  His wife's slave girl, an Israelite, told her master's wife about the prophet Elisha in Israel who could cure him.  Naaman asks the king for permission to leave for Israel to be cured, and the king allows it.  Naaman takes with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing (v. 5).  He plans on paying Elisha for his services with this.  In verse 16, after he is cured from his leprosy, we see Elisha refusing this payment.

Why did he refuse the payment?  I'm not sure.  Maybe because Naaman was an enemy of Israel.  But I'm really not sure.

What we do know is that Elisha's servant Gehazi did not think refusing the payment was the best thing to do.  So he hurried after Naaman and asked for a talent of silver and two sets of clothing, a small fraction of what Naaman was offering to pay (v. 22).  Gehazi gets the money and the clothes, but is later cursed by Elisha with Naaman's leprosy instead. 

My guess is that the talent of silver and the two sets of clothing were worth a lot in those times (just like my Masters money... do you see where this is going?)...

BUT...

He did not need the money.

And I don't need the money either.

The talent of silver and the two sets of clothing would have been a nice boost, but they did not need it.

The extra $3,000 would have been a nice boost for us as well, but we did not need it.

Remember in 1 Kings 17:2-6, how the Lord supplied Elijah with water from the brook and food through the ravens?  Elisha was Elijah's apprentice, and Gehazi was Elisha's servant.  Chances are that Gehazi had heard of Elijah's miraculous provision, and had probably continued to see this provision first hand himself throughout his life.

Point being, neither Elisha nor Gehazi needed the boost.  They had been given all that they were in need of.  

And similarly, though the $3,000 would have been a nice financial boost for us this year, we did not need it.  Even in the mist of being a one-income family and the new house, we have enough!  We'd love more, I'm not going to lie, but we have enough!

There is nothing wrong with renting out our house for Masters every year.  We hope to get to do it next year again and for the rest of our lives.  I'd love to get to do extra things with that money in the future.  But not this year.  This year we took the year off.  We tucked away the greed and resentment that inevitably always rises up this time of year, and watched the Lord continue to provide for us. 

I don't want to be like Gheazi, and forget about God's continuing provision.  I know I have all that I'm in need of, and anything extra is just that... extra :)

Nap or no nap?

This girl is off and on about naps these days.  She will still stay in her room for a good 1.5 - 2 hours to play or "read" by herself.  She'll sleep for about half of those days.  And then on occasions I'll walk in her room to get her out and find this --

Airplanes

Last week was Masters week, which means the entire world comes to Augusta to watch the golf tournament.  After Saturday naps at the end of the week, we decided to pack a picnic dinner and drive over to the private airport to watch all the private airplanes fly in and out.  These pictures do not do this afternoon any justice.  It was a lot of fun, with Little Byron pointing at every. single. plane he saw.

Easter 2015

This was a fun Easter season this year, with Emma really getting excited about it.  

On the Thursday before Easter, a few friends and our kids got together for a playdate and an Easter egg hunt.  We had lunch, and the "older" kids got to build their own "peep" house.

All the children before the Easter egg hunt.

Emma and her absolute best friends -- Ames and Zeke.

After the egg hunt, all the kids looking through their new-found treasures. 

Then on Easter morning, the kids found their Easter baskets at their door.  Emma was sooooooo excited.  I'd say Easter was a greater hit than Christmas.

Byron fell a few days earlier and hit his face with the steps.  Then he fell again and hit his face on the same spot with a chair.  That child is an "accident magnet." 

Picture catchup

Thought I'd play some catchup with this post and just post a number of pictures from the past few weeks.

Emma has always been a TV-girl, and Little Byron has found himself enjoying some sibling TV-time as well.  I was raised thinking that TV was "The Devil," so I almost always feel borderline guilty about the kids watching TV.  But in all honesty, it's quite the life saver, never mind a "cheap babysitter."  And just to set things clear, the kids don't sit around watching TV all day.  Days can go by without any TV, then on most days they'll watch about 30 minutes, and then on others watch about 1.5 hrs - 2 hrs (movie).  All in balance.  The goal here is to not make it a big deal.

Then as the weather has been getting nicer, the kids enjoy playing outside and "water the plants" (aka, the weeds).  It always ends up being on big, wet mess.

This was a fun little thing for me to watch.  When I was a little girl, about 8 years old, I began collecting stationary pages.  More than 20 years later, I never got rid of them, waiting "for the perfect time to use them."  I was quite nostalgic about them, especially because I clearly remember as a little girl looking through them and organizing them.  My prized possession!  Then the other day, as I was going through some papers, I came across them, and decided that "the perfect time" was NOW.  My little girl was going to get to enjoy them and play with them and scribble on them.  She enjoyed them well for a while.  Now they'll be headed to the trash soon.  I'd say I'm glad I held on to this collection of mine for as long as I did :)

Little Byron getting into Daddy's closet.

I got to go see my baby sister get matched in Athens three weeks ago.

The kids and their shenanigans.   Here they are playing the "night-night game."

On a lazy Saturday morning.  This boy still sucks his right index finger.  Never mind that he's been doing it for his entire life now, I'm still not used to seeing him do it.  I've never seen an index-finger-sucking child before.

And how he sleeps!!!!  (And big sister taking a peek)

 There is something about a baby and his bottom in the air when he sleeps that just makes my heart melt.

Another outdoor afternoon playing with water.