the things he says...

Many people have told me to write down the things that my kids say so that I remember them later...well, here are a few noteable things that Jon has said lately:

• "I want to drive a garbage truck when I get big--it's a 'portant job, Mommy!"
• "I want to ride a steamroller when I get big"
• "I want to drive in a airplane REALLY FAST when I get big" (are you sensing a theme?)

A couple of my favorites:

• "I need a little mommy lovin'" (he says this when he's sleepy or stalling at bedtime or if he's not feeling good, or this morning when he got dizzy after spinning around in circles!)
• "I want Jesus to help me go potty!"
• "Will you pray to me, Mommy?" (he means with or for, but he's barely three, so he gets his prepositions mixed up--he doesn't want me to actually pray TO him)
• "Can we sing of the mercies of the Lord some more?" (after singing along to the song that goes "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever...")

This is such a fun age--minus the potty training woes! I'm trying to enjoy it!

Here's a short (1 minute) clip of Jon telling me of his plans for the day in his play car:

By the way, Sam is doing some really cute things too--he's loving peek-a-boo and tackling his big brother and mom and dad. I'll have to get some pics or video of some of that soon! Poor second child, doesn't get nearly as much attention as the first!

a gentle reminder

I like having things to do and love the feeling of accomplishment when I can check things off of my to do list. However, for the past month, (since we moved) the list has been so long that it has been weighing me down. I have put trying to complete the tasks on that list above most everything else and have allowed my priorities to get a bit out of wack. This week, I am going to attempt to reprioritize, get into some better routines and hopefully, have more realistic expectations. Just today, I was reminded of a passage of scripture that has been a favorite of mine quite some time: Isaiah 30:15 and 18 "This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.' ...Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!" I spent the summer of '99 in Venezuela living with a missionary and 2 other college age girls. The oldest student wrote a song based on those verses and I remember how much it ministered to me. I distinctly remember that in the midst of one of the busiest summers of my life, I needed that repentance and rest, that quietness and trust. Now my life is busy in a million different ways than it was that summer, but I need that quietness, that repentance and rest just as much, if not more. I'm so thankful that He longs to be gracious to me; that He rises to show ME compassion. Thank You, Father.

Three

Three years ago today my life changed utterly and completely. I became a mother. Jonathan David Gross was born at 9:48am on Saturday, August 20th, 2005. He was a pretty big fella, weighing in at 9 pounds, 4 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. To read his birth story, click here. It has been quite a journey, motherhood, but this day isn't really about me anymore, but about my favorite three year old.

Here are a few facts about Jon:

He LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine and his new train table that Grammie and PopPop (my parents) got him for his birthday. :)

He plays well by himself and needs that time--like his daddy--but LOVES being with friends and going places--like his mama!

He eats most fruits and vegetables, but isn't a big fan of the main courses.

He LOVES being told stories and tells stories that are pretty funny too.

He sings to Sam anytime he is sad--usually he sings the ABC's or I'm in the Lord's Army

He LOVES playing outside

There are so many more things to tell, but right now Jon's asking to go outside with me! All in all, I just have to say that he keeps getting more and more fun. Even though we have to discipline more as he gets older, the fun times definitely make it completely worthwhile. I love it and I absolutely LOVE this kid! :) Happy 3rd Birthday, Jon!!

So much to blog...

For now just a few teasers of things to come:

Jon's 3rd Birthday party that we had a little over a week ago

Our trip back to Virginia to spend time with my family, see friends and go to the wedding of Bethanie and Tyler Cooke.

Once upon a time...

I try not to always blog about my kids, but this was so funny to me and I definitely want to remember it later. Here's the scene...Jon asked me to tell him stories at bedtime tonight instead of reading books, so he hands me a few items and asks me to tell stories about them. My stories probably weren't the most creative and mostly just had little mini-lessons about sharing, patience and being careful (man, I've turned into such a stero-typical mom). After I finished he said he wanted to tell a story. He says, "Once upon a time there were diapers. And the diapers had sticky stuff that stick to hold them together. The end." Then he says, "And once upon a time there were shoes and books. The end." Wow, if he's modeling his stories after mine, they were even more dull than I thought!! :) Hopefully his storytelling will improve in time!

**Edit**

There's hope! I just walked by and heard him telling a story. He was pretending to be one of his cars and he said, "No, I don't want to go to the mall today." Then he responded with another voice. He's definitely getting more detailed, and hopefully more interesting!! :)

Timing

This week will be full. This week should be fun and probably a bit exhausting. Tomorrow our good friends from college, the Kucks, are coming to visit and bringing their two little girls. I can't wait to meet them. Thursday my sister-in-law and my niece and nephew are coming to stay for a few days and Friday, Pete's grandparents come to stay for the weekend as well. On top of all that fun, Saturday we're having a birthday party for Jon who turns three on August 20th! I love having people in our home. That's one of the most exciting things to me about having a big house--lots of room to have people. This is going to be a bit of a whirlwind, but I'd rather have it than not! I just hope my introverted husband can take it. :) On a more serious note, in the midst of the busy moving chaos, God seems to be hunting me down this past week or so. I tend to get into these modes of self-reliance and He knows just how to snap me out of them. Most recently it was a book written by a friend of ours, Amy Hollingsworth. She wrote a book called Gifts of Passage, What the Dying Tell Us With the Gifts They Leave Behind. She was writing it when my brother Joe died and ended up telling a bit of our story in the book. She sent me a copy, which I received last week. God definitely used her telling of my own story to just drag me back to His feet again. I was amazed at the pain that was fresh all over again as I read and yet her whole point is pointing out God's graciousness to me. And that grace is so refreshing. He is so faithful throughout all of our trials and triumphs. I was encouraged to that end again this morning by a friend who quoted Spurgeon and I think I'll quote the entire post--it's too good to butcher! "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God."—Romans 8:28. Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world's tiller, and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That re-assuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, "It is I, be not afraid." He knows too that God is always wise, and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes; that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, "If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God ordains it." "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so, believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, that He brings good out of evil, the believer's heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, "Send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from Thee; never came there an ill portion from Thy table to any of Thy children."