Fourth of July Menu

I'm hosting a little family Fourth of July shindig this year.  I can't remember ever hosting on the fourth of July before.  I'm super excited!  Uncle Kerry and Aunt Mary are in from Oklahoma, Uncle Mickey and Aunt Kathie are driving up route 1 to join us, and of course our family and my mama will be here.  If you are related to us, consider this your invitation to join us...I'm not even kidding...come on...do it!!!!

Here's our menu:

Hawaiian Pork Chops
We used to have these at Steve and Jan Spencer's house when I was a little girl, and now here I am being the grown-up and making them!!!

Buttermilk Chicken Legs
We just tried these for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and Ezra said (with chicken hanging off of his face), "Could we have these EVERY night for supper?!?"

Source: cleverlyinspired.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Calypso Beans and Rice
We had this fabulous side dish for the first time at a Fourth of July shindig at my 2nd cousin's wife's brother's house a few years ago.  Don't even try to figure that out....in my family we are super close to our 2nd cousin's wife's brother's uncle's aunt and we never see our uncle...we're just weird that way!!!

Pioneer Woman's Fresh Corn Casserole
I've never made this, but EVERYTHING the Pioneer Woman makes is delicious!!!

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

My Aunt Kathie's Salad
I love it when Aunt Kathie makes salad...it's always yummy!!
(I don't have a picture of the salad, but here's one of Aunt Kathie...she's the redhead in the middle...my aunt Mary is on the right, and my mama is on the left)

Homemade Peach Pie with Ice Cream
Again, no picture of the pie (I have never worked that far ahead!), but here's the rolling pin I will use to roll out the crust...

The Pioneer Woman's Fourth of July Cake
I'm pretty sure this is sinful, but we WILL enjoy every minute of it!

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

So, this is our Fourth of July menu...what's on your menu this year??

Thankful...

...for air conditioning

...for the mild weather we've had so far this year and lots of picnics like this one































































...for the season of life we are in

...for a trip to Holiday World with no nursing, swim diapers, or strollers!!!

...for a God who SEES us, LOVES us, CARES about our deepest pains as well as the shallow ones

...for vacation coming soon

...for days at home in our jammies

...for the WORD that is living and active

...for Jesus, our savior, redeemer, our hope

...for a big boy in our house who loves Jesus and loves his little brothers

...for the little brothers--the joy and laughs they bring

...for big kids in our lives...too many to list, but SO grateful for ALL of them!

...for Family Video free movies from report card As :)

Seven

Seven years ago today, you came bounding into our family, Ezra James Wood.  We have never been the same.  You have brought joy.  You have brought so very much laughter.  You are legitimately funny, not even just funny in a little kid sort of way....you are VERY funny.

You speak the truth.  You never hurt people intentionally.  Sometimes you mistakenly think that it is all about you, but you realize later when you have been wrong and you always think to say sorry.  You love your brothers and your Daddy and me with a deep and real love.

You know a lot about sports and you play them with passion.  You know the plays on a football field before they ever happen just by the way the guys are lined up.  You can pitch a baseball like nobody's business.  You are good at sports, but you are also patient and very excited when your team mates do well.

I adore you, my second son.  Your face lights up my world.  I am thankful God chose to give you to our family for these years.  You make us more like Jesus.

Love, Mama

I wanna live like that...

Last night, Tim and I listened as a new friend told us that the future of their little family might possibly have just changed for generations to come because of some recent conversations she and her fiance have had with Tim.  She talked with tears in her eyes which, of course, caused tears to come to my eyes.  I love those moments when you know with everything in you that God is present...that he is right there with you at that Starbucks table...and that he is working in the hearts of people...and that for some reason which we will never know, he chooses to involve us in it.

My God, the one who redeems, has used Tim in these two hearts, and they are different and their future will be different.  This isn't so unusual, though...God is supposed to use us, right?  It shouldn't be a surprise when it happens.  The part some might find unusual (or dare I even say "sinful"??) is that the relationship Tim has with these two was born about a year and a half ago when my dear husband chose to go to a bar with this new friend of his (the guy in the relationship, not the girl...don't worry...this is not THAT scandalous!!).  He even stuck around while this new friend chose to drink more than his fair share so that he could help him get safely back.  There are some comical stories about their time together that night and subsequent nights.  This guy saw something different in Tim.  My hubby, the one my soul loves, is who he is no matter who he is with.  He is real.  He is honest.  He is wise, yet fun.  He loves Jesus with all of his heart.  He is not afraid to be a friend of sinners (and its a good thing, because if he was, he couldn't be a true friend of his own wife or his own self!!).  The man I love is not worried if someone sees him in a bar or with people drinking or even drinking an alcoholic beverage of his own because he knows who he is and he knows the One who has called him and he trusts his God to go before him, preparing the way for relationships that will be built and ministry that will take place.

I love this man...who is full of grace and wisdom and trusts his God to lead him.  He is not perfect.  In fact, last night when we got in the car, I said, with tears in my eyes, "I can't believe I get to be married to you!" and then quickly followed it up with "but some days I can NOT stand you!!".  So, no, he is not perfect, but he is REAL and he LOVES people.

I love this God...who redeems us, who chases us to where we are and uses his people to love us and pull us out of pits.  He IS perfect, but in his perfection, he still pours out grace and mercy into our lives, both for our own sake and so that we can then pour it into others' lives.

Fifteen Things...

1.  I accomplished Day 1 of Couch to 5k today.
2.  Even though I loathe exercising, I always always ALWAYS feel so good after I do it.
3.  I ate a brownie and a bowl of ice cream after supper.
4.  My boys are on their 7th episode of The Avengers because they are so excited about the movie tomorrow night.
5.  It is ok with me if they keep watching it until bedtime.
6.  My husband and I had a fight about money tonight.
7.  Actually, I fought, and he listened and responded patiently.
8.  I hate it when he does that.
9.  Tomorrow is Opening Day of baseball for our town.
10.  Baseball is my favorite sport to watch my boys play.
11.  There are only 8 more regular days of school.
12.  At this point, no school day is actually "regular".
13.  I'm wearing a pair of cut-off sweats that one of my college room mates was going to throw away 10 years ago but instead gave to me.
14.  Clearly, I need a shopping trip (see #6...haha!).
15.  I am thankful for my wise husband (see #7).

And, because no post is quite as exciting if it doesn't have a photo, I'll leave you with this...I got up on the roof of south school to take a picture of the whole school for next year's handbook.  They told me to photoshop myself in, but, sadly, they did not choose to use this version for the handbook.  I am still not sure what the problem is???

Happy Birthday, Simon!

Simon came down the stairs this morning and Ezra said, "Hey, Simon!  Happy Birthday!".  Simon looked down at himself, gave himself a once-over, and said, with wonder, "Am I 4?".


Yes you are 4, sweet boy.  You are not a baby anymore.  I can't believe how much you've grown up.  You make us laugh ALL THE TIME.  You love your friends and your brothers.  You can pray like a wild man, and you always know just what to pray about.  You love to dance, and Daddy and I often look at each other with a look that says "Can you believe how good he is????".  You love for us to read to you and you also like to "read" to us (the books you have memorized of course!).  You are very ornery which is cute most of the time but gets you into trouble at least once a day.  :)

Daddy and I were wishing for a girl before you were born, but the moment you arrived we knew you were just what we needed.  I can't imagine our family without you.

Three Boys

I really love am obsessed with pictures of all three of our boys.  I will never need to wallpaper my house because the walls are filled obnoxiously covered with pictures of the three of them.  So, I recently had the idea to do a blog post with pictures of the three of them from the time there first were three of them (when Simon was born) until now.  This was a fun trip down memory lane, with a little sadness that they will never be this little again, but mostly a lot of excitement about the boys they are now and what they will become.  Before Isaac was born, a wise friend told us that every stage just gets more and more fun, and she was so right!!!

in the hospital, soon after Simon was born

hanging out on the porch at home

on the porch again, dressed up for church

the 3 chipmunks for Halloween

our Christmas card picture 2008

Easter 2009

hanging out at home

visiting the Enkoffs

a photo shoot outside

and a photo shoot inside

playing in the snow

spring break 2010 trip to St Louis

Easter 2010

Disney World summer 2010 to celebrate 

Daddy's MDiv graduation

three sporty boys summer 2010

St George Island Summer 2010

hiking at Turkey Run on Daddy's last Sunday 

working at First Christian Church

Christmas 2010

Deming Park Summer 2011

Milligan College Fall 2011

Christmas Card picture 2011