Before I start, I want to warn you: this is long! I read not too long ago on one of my favorite blogs {one I love to "stalk"} about this girl and her husband having a slight disagreement. {Okay, to start with, the reason I like her blog so much is because she is so darn honest!} I think more and more I am grasping the fact that it is okay to not be "perfect". Since none of us are anyway, why do we try to live up to an impossible image? This is something that I have been praying God would help me with. I want to be a REAL person. I want to teach my children to be genuine and to not worry about what the world thinks. I love the verses in I Cor. 3:18-20: "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, {the world's standards} he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight... the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise,{wise in the world} that they are vain." God knows our heart. So why not be honest? Why try to be "perfect" in any area? And why do we expect others to be perfect? I think some of the areas where I struggle are my marriage, the cleanliness of my house {as you already know}, and John Luke. I cringe when he gets dirty or if he has a booger in his nose or a scuff mark on his shoe. How insane! As for my marriage, I went into it floating around on love clouds and thought that I had it all figured out. I wanted to make my husband so proud and that was the problem. I was too concerned about pleasing him instead of HIM! In the book, "It's All About Him", by Dennis Jackson, she makes a profound statement: "No one is designed to be the center of my life. No human being could fill that place. Christ alone can truly be my all-in-all." How true! Yes, without a doubt I am instructed to be a helper to John and respect him, but not to be "perfect" in his eyes.

I guess the small disagreement {okay, large disagreement} I had with John this morning has sparked all of this thinking, and I have decided to be honest. Before marriage, I thought "love" would make everything alright. Well, I was wrong. I didn't {still don't} always like to say I'm sorry. Well, today was one of those times I HAD to. After a few hours of steeming, and then a fear tears {maybe more than a few}, and some talking really loudly to no one {well I guess John Luke was listening because he was staring at me like I had lost it}, I called John and apologized and invited him to join us at the park for lunch. {That should make it all better, right?}
I realized, Who am I to NOT forgive when Christ forgave me to the point of death?! A sweet lady in my Bible Study told us a really good way of reminding ourselves who we are without Jesus. She says, "All we deserve is death and hell." Wow! That'll humble you!

Of course I am a work in progress! I haven't got it all figured out yet and I know I never will. If any of you have any insight, please share.
I also want to say, I really love blogging! I love to look at all of your pictures and see what's new and exciting. I hope nothing ever happens to this Blogger thingy!!!

P.S. I want to clarify that I DO love my husband and I am so thankful God gave him to me! He is a blessing!

So... if you haven't left me yet, I have some pictures to share of our trip to the park...

The peanut butter and jelly sandwich wasn't as exciting as the french fries. As you can see, he liked the fries much better!

Since I was on the subject, I thought it was a perfect time to tell you about my latest read. A wonderful book about MARRIAGE! It points out the biggest differences in a man and woman. "A wife has one driving need - to feel loved. A husband has one driving need - to feel respected." HOW TRUE!!!

" Ride?!! "

There is not much of anything that our little man likes more than riding and driving. He absolutely LOVES to be behind the steering wheel and he can't even reach the gas pedal! Today, John needed to fuel up the loader to get it ready for next week, so we rode with him. John Luke was asleep when we got to the dirt pit but I woke him up because I knew he would want to "ride". {He says ride over and over when he sees a truck, piece of equipment, the Ranger, lawnmower, anything he can ride.} He had such a good time driving around the dirt pit. As you will see, he did NOT want to leave!

Just a Simple, Fun Day

Don't you love days when you get to just relax and enjoy your family? I do, and thankfully today was one of those days. John went to work early this morning for a couple of hours so when John Luke woke up I made us some breakfast and we played for a while. Then he took his morning nap and I DID TOO! It was lovely! When John came home around lunch, we ate sandwiches and then rode the Ranger all over Carolina. Of course John Luke was in heaven. The weather wasn't too bad as long as we were moving and every once in a while there was a nice breeze. When we got back home, John Luke played in the water hose and chased me and John around trying to wet us. We took showers and decided we would go eat at Beef O' Brady's since it was early and maybe there wouldn't be such a long wait. So we did and there was not a wait and the food was actually really good. I got a club wrap and fries and it was delicious. Another bonus was we got to see some of the Auburn game... War Eagle! When we got home we got in our pj's and played some more with our sweet man. He is now in the bed and I am headed that way myself. Couldn't get any better than that! {At least not in my opinion; we are some homebodies!} So, I am off to bed. These are some pictures I took today. Just thought I'd share. Good Night!

This is his new favorite face.


This pose reminds me of those silly birds on The Little Mermaid. The ones that are sitting on top of the post. I used to love that movie!

"Would you like some of your drink, Mama?" "I have pretty much gulped it all down!"

What a BIG BOY!~

What Has Happened To My Mama?

Strawberry Yogurt plus chocolate brownie mix...

Equals a very dirty but HAPPY little boy!


Well, this may seem like nothing to some or even most of you, but for me it is HUGE! I have a very hard time "letting go" and just having fun no matter how messy it might be. I was thinking today that I needed to be honest with myself and admit that a lot of days I have my priorities out of order when it comes to the simple daily routines of life. What I mean by this is I truly have a difficult time being creative and "stepping outside the box". I always want everything to be clean and in order. I am WAY TOO structured! The sad thing is John Luke is the one suffering from all this madness!!! I talk about how quickly he is growing up, but I fail to take advantage of every day God gives me with him. God has blessed me with a precious child. He really is. He is sweet. He is easy to take care of. He entertains himself so well. He is just a good baby. I know there is nothing wrong with being clean and organized but I am OCD! I was talking to my sweet friend Ashley today, and I think it all just became so apparent to me as I was talking to her. She is so good about "playing" and having fun and I need so badly to do more of that. I guess this post is just me talking to myself. {And I wanted to have proof that I actually did allow John Luke to have fun and make a mess!} As of today, I am making it a priority to stop and PLAY! This is going to take time and lots of prayer but I hope that one day my children will remember me as a mama that enjoyed life and not as Mrs. Clean Freak! This is probably nothing for most of you mamas, but it is one GIANT step for this mama!! Have a wonderful night!

A Rooster Tail and Off to Work We Go...

This is John Luke's usual morning look. John wakes up every morning with this same exact hairstyle. It is amazing how much they look alike in the mornings!



John had gone outside to do something right before he left for work, and when I walked around the corner to find John Luke he had put John's boots on. I guess he was making sure he was ready to go with daddy. Before long, it is going to be very difficult for John to leave for work without John Luke because he already cries EVERY morning to go with his daddy!

Sweet Tooth?

I BELIEVE HE'S GOT ONE!!!

Watching the Rain

I thought this was cute. We were sitting at the window talking about how it was raining and we couldn't go outside. Then John Luke reached over and grabbed the blinds to get a better look. He doesn't care for the rain because it hinders him from getting to go outside and play, but I sometimes enjoy just sitting and watching it rain. It's relaxing. One thing John and I look forward to about having a house is being able to sit on the porch {with our glass of sweet tea as John would say} and watch the rain. Oh, the simple pleasures of life!

The monitor is the phone at this moment. He is saying "Hello".