Friday, already? And a wedding.

How on earth is it already Friday afternoon?

I've been wanting to write since Monday but haven't been able to get a chance to get to it. I started working on my thesis this week, which is totally overwhelming and horrible and great, all at the same time. It's made for a busy week. And Jeremy is in a wedding tonight, a groomsman for a friend of ours we've loved for a very long time.

I remember at our wedding coming across one of my mom's friends who was there alone. When I asked where her husband was, she told me that they were separated. "Marriage can be hard," she said. What a thing to hear at our wedding reception! I'm so thankful that I can go to weddings, and this one in particular, and say "Congratulations! Marriage is awesome!" with my husband right beside me, agreeing. Marriage is hard, but it's so, so good, and I can't wait to celebrate that fact with some of my closest friends tonight.

Our weekend will be full of our kids, and farmers markets, and more strawberries, but I can't even see that far ahead right now. I'm only thinking about getting all dressed up with my love and getting to go to a great party :)

end of the week

So this has been a hard week, a little more than usual. Jeremy had to work nights and days, going to work at 8, coming home at 5, going back in around 8, coming home at midnight or 2, or even 5 a.m. Of course, he's now sick and still not finished with the project, so he's still running a bit. And I've had the boys all to myself, which I realize is much easier than Jeremy's had it, but exhausting nonetheless. So I'm running on empty with the boys--especially Elias, who is fulfilling the prophecy of the 2 1/2 year mark being a particularly rough one. And I haven't spent time with my husband since last weekend, a weekend that was especially beautiful-- but one that seems so far away now.

So, I'm brushing off the hardships of the week and looking forward to the weekend. What in particular?

Elias is spending the night at my parents' place, so tonight should feel a little easier. They got two chickens yesterday, which E will find pretty awesome.

I have little snap peas that are ready for eating, which is just what Elias and I did yesterday, picking them off the vine, stringing them, and popping them in our mouths without so much a rinse. Love having the opportunity to have a garden in our backyard.

Local strawberries are ready! I missed them last week, but I plan on being at the farmers market in time to get them tomorrow. Maybe I can bring the boys out to the U-pick farm this next week and get a flat, which means I get to dust off the canner and find some pretty recipes for those pretty berries.

I'm helping organize a farmers market in our community! Pretty exciting stuff, and a lot of of fun to look forward to for the summer. (How much do you love that logo?? The same artist that did our beautiful wedding invitations also created this one for the market.)

One of my friends is back from Japan and the other is done with her school for a couple of weeks, which means that I get some girl time, which is badly needed. BADLY NEEDED.

And the last thing? My mother-in-law has committed to watching the boys twice weekly so that I can work on my thesis. I'm dreading it with the same intensity that I'm looking forward to it. I so want my degree to be completed. This time starts next week, so the boys and I will be traveling down to Paducah come Monday, and we'll get this party started.

I hope you guys have a fun weekend, one where you laugh and get to be silly with the ones you love most. And in the midst of family time, don't forget to seek out the One that loves you most.

yogurt face

 No, Josiah didn't actually eat any of this yogurt, for those of you keeping up with his continuing refusal of all solid foods (sigh). But he did enjoy playing with it.

His smile is so sweet, but this boy smelled so sour afterwards :)

big boy, in his own room

We finally moved Josiah out of our room. He's been sleeping through the night for a little while now, and it seemed like a good time to give him his own space. It's been going really well, although I really miss having him close by.

I may have cried myself to sleep that first night, fyi. This babies-growing-up business is hard stuff.

His smile is the sweetest.

Big brother vroom-vroomed in to say hi to little brother, which made Josiah super excited.

first of the season

When we get our weekly jug of raw milk, I usually skim the cream off the top and save it to make butter, but this time I decided to splurge and make ice cream instead. We ate it out back Sunday night, on a late Spring night (that felt a lot more like summer).

(By the way, Jeremy is going to kill me for posting these of him...but his handsome face isn't on this blog nearly enough. You can tell from these photos just how attentive he is to Elias; he's a great daddy.)

signs of life

Clockwise from top left: carrots, peas, strawberries

Good morning :) My garden is showing signs of life, lots of blossoms and green sprouts. I'm still such a beginner, as this is only my second year with a garden, but what I lack (noticeably) in skill and and experience, I have (in abundance) a sense of wonder. It is still magical to me, the idea of putting seeds in the ground, with some nutrients and water (which I often forget!), and seeing beautiful flowers and vegetables grow from them. I regret the Saturday mornings I spent watching television instead of out in the garden with mom; it's been a steep learning curve as a result.

I put in a new flower bed a few weeks ago in the front yard, which gets a lot of undiluted sunshine. I then neglected to water it, until I realized just a few days ago that I was going to lose the pretty new flowers and other annuals I had put in. I hauled the hose up to the front of the house and remedied the situation, and I think they'll be okay.

I've been feeling a bit under-watered this week, too. I haven't spent hardly any time praying and meditating, or reading. I never realize until it's too late, till I'm noticeably drooping and feeling withered.  I'm asking the Lord to help me to sit still and ask for some living water today. I usually am looking forward to the weekend for some refreshing, but I'm hoping that by the time the weekend gets here, I'll already be refreshed, and ready to spend some good time with Jeremy and my littler guys. They get most of their water from their mama, so I need to get on it.

Hoping you all have a sweet, restful weekend. Take some time to drink deeply from the One who offers it.

these warm spring mornings

Cherishing these warm spring mornings, before they turn into hot summer days.

some kind of week

It's been some kind of week, friends. Some. Kind. Of. Week. We finally got Josiah sleep-trained and then he came down with I-don't-know-what-- allergies? a heinous cold? teething? All I know is that the fluorescent green fluid oozing out of his eyes and his nose just. won't quit. The only thing he hates more than that gunk on his face is when I try to get it off. And don't get me started on Elias. I don't know what's happened with that kid, but suffice it to say that there isn't a lot of sleep happening in our house right now.

It's ten forty-two am, and I've been up for almost six hours. That makes me sad, you guys.

So what has the opportunity to make me happy on this rainy, gloomy, cranky day?  That no matter what, it's Friday, and since misery loves company, I'll be enjoying having my husband with me to manage these boys the next couple of days. It'll be a busy Mother's Day weekend, which means a lot of good, and totally creative and enjoyable, work on my part getting things prepared for Jeremy's and my mom, if I can only stay awake. I have a Pinterest board for the picnic board I've set up for Sunday with my family-- no peeking, mom! And this cake is in the works for celebrating with Jeremy's family down in Paducah tomorrow. I have a full night ahead of me! (And a full afternoon--I get to take both boys to the grocery store this afternoon to pick up the supplies-- the horror.)

The other thing that makes me happy (the tingly kind!) is that I got a couple of prints this week, this one and this one, and I can't wait to hang them up. The colors are perfect for our living space, and the sentiment is one that I'm embracing for this season of our lives. A lot of things have happened behind the scenes...they have been harder than hard, but they have also proved to be an open door to dreaming for family. We don't know what God has in store for us, but I know that He wants to me hope and dream again...meaning that we thought we knew what God had for us...and it turns out that isn't going to happen. Which means that I get to dream even bigger dreams than before. And that is exciting. I've been hearing his voice so clearly lately, and I couldn't be more grateful. I get so caught up in daily life--even daily Christian life--that I forget that our God is big and fearsome and wild. And that he has a crazy sense of humor. I can trust that He will lead us into something as big and fearsome and wild as He is. So, I'm going to.

I hope your weekend is a fun one. Ours will be sweet and loud and crazy and probably a little testy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, I wouldn't quite be opposed to a little sleep, too...

a quiet moment.

Sometimes, you just need a moment to listen to a favorite podcast, eat a favorite snack, drink a favorite drink, and get a chance to do something that YOU think is productive. Right now, I'm readying the "guest room" for Josiah. We had always planned on moving him in with Elias, but E has been having some sleep issues, and it's (past) time for us all to have our separate rooms. (By the way, for those of you that have known how badly the sleep situation had gotten around here, Josiah is officially "sleep-trained". It took one night. ONE! I still can't believe it. What a champ.)

I hope you get a chance to get a moment to yourself today, friends. Lying prone on the couch out of exhaustion doesn't count. Need a suggestion for a snack? Try a banana smeared with salted, crunchy peanut butter. Need a drink suggestion? Try this. Need a podcast? Try today's Fresh Air. No need to suggest something that you'd find productive-- if you're anything like me, you have a mental list of things you would do if only you had the time.