Whoa.

So today something miraculous happened. Both of these children here? Took a nap at the same time. It's never been done before, people! Honestly? I didn't really know what to do with all that quiet time...

Milestones!

So. Apparently, if you are Tate, you reach major milestones in your tiny baby life only when wearing the striped Old Navy jumper (What can I say? I love that outfit on him...). It helps when it's filthy, too.

Not only is he sitting, but he's crawling and pulling himself up! (!!!!)

Have I mentioned how proud I am?

Tuck.

Almost every night my husband and I sit outside and talk. I love this time together. We have the chance to connect, hash things out, or just be silly. We talk about the kids often, but we also deal with some heavy issues out there. We usually sit out no matter what the weather. If it's cold, we bundle up, and we even have this special thick blanket we cuddle up under (Trust me. That wool thing has seen better days, but we just can't seem to part with it. I even washed it once and shrunk it so badly that it's all bumpy. And more itchy. But still, we keep it. We're sentimental fools...). If it's raining, we open the garage door as we sit and watch the rain (Or snow!). When we were first married, we lived in Arkansas. I think we broke my parents heart with that move, but it was honestly one of the best decisions we ever made. We were forced to become our own family, and we learned a lot in that year! Like, Tucker really really feels passionately about toothpaste tubes and the way they should be squeezed. Those of you in church this morning got a little taste of that quirk, but I'm here to tell you that this is a huge issue. Huge. I think he was ready to walk out after the first week of sharing a tube of toothpaste with me. I'm a grab and squeeze kind of girl. Tucker? He is not. It got ugly. But back to Arkansas. There was this little park a few miles from our apartment that had these fun stone structures, and we would drive there almost every night to sit on the benches and talk. Even during the big ice storms. I can remember sitting on 3 inches of ice, freezing, drinking hot coffee and loving it.

We just came back inside. Tuck's watching TV and I'm sitting here. Life is back to normal. We were only out there for about 20 minutes, but they were the best 20 minutes of my day. I feel like it was a mini vacation, as silly as that sounds. I just can not stress enough how important it is to talk and be together.

I absolutely adore that man. I love his passion for life, his sense of adventure and his "immature" goofy side. I love the way he prays for our family, our church and our future. I love what a great father he is. He can always make me laugh, always make me think.

And I don't tell him all of this nearly enough.

So yeah. I love him. *insert silly mushy grin here*

Cool blogs.

While in Virginia, we took a day trip to Washington DC. The trip itself was full of, well, everything that could possibly go wrong (flat tires, hospital trips, bad storms, tense leaders...). But before we crashed into DC, we stopped in Reston. There's a church plant in that area that we helped out by doing (more) door hangers. We pulled up to this guys house, all 50 of us piled out of the vans and into his bathroom (Thank you. That was a looong van ride.), and then spent a good chunk of the morning there. His wife was lovely, and his children adorable.

Anyway. I found his blog, and I can't get enough. I love what he has to say! Check out Ben Arment and his wife, Ainsley.

Just wanted to share.

My personality.

So this was fun.



Pretty accurate, too!

Look!

He's sitting! (And filthy. But he's sitting! So, yay!) Tate pulled himself up into a sitting position on Sunday.

So proud!!

ipod Shuffle.

So this morning, I had to be at the church at nine. Tucker was staying home with the kids, and I was heading in to do much VBS prep (It's going to be an amazing week! Ye-Haw!). I hopped in the car (Not our car, mind you. We're still waiting for it's new engine and all that. But the great car Renee, our Children's Ministry Director, lent us for the week. It's nice. It's silverish. See now, this is the part where my father would roll his eyes and make some comment about how it's impossible to believe I grew up with him and still know nothing about cars. It's true, though. I really don't know much. In fact the only reason I know our current car is a Neon is because I've had to ask about it at the shop. Mechanics don't take too kindly to "Hey. I'm here to find out about the Silver car!". To my father's extreme frustration, I've always defined cars by their color. "Hey Dad. So-and-so got a new car." "Really? What kind is it?" "A red one!" Yeah.), and hit shuffle on the ipod. This can be an interesting thing to do with our ipod, since Tucker and I sometimes have vastly different tastes in music, and there's a bit of Rory's music on there as well. And just because you all should know, Raffi rocks. But anyway, the first song to pop up is one by Steven Curtis Chapman called Be Still and Know. Now, it's been years since I've listened to the adorable (Seriously. Have you seen him? Adorable fits.) Steven C.C. Probably not since high school. He's a bit cheesy for my taste, but for some reason, this song really struck me.

I'm not a naturally calm person. People seem to think that I am, but if not for the presence of Christ in my life, I would be a total mess. I really struggle with worry, fear, huge insecurities and failures. All of that can create chaos in my life. All of that does create chaos in and of my life. It was just a sharp reminder this morning as I sat and listened to the words of this song that I need to be still more often. I need to allow the Peace that is such a gift to my life come in.

So yeah. Here are the lyrics. If you can find the song, sit and listen. It meant something to me today, you know?

Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is Holy
Be still oh restless soul of mine
Bow before the Prince of Peace
Let the noise and clamor cease

Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is faithful
Consider all that He has done
Stand in awe and be amazed
And know that He will never change
Be still

Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is God
Be still
Be speechless

Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know He is our Father
Come rest your head upon His breast
Listen to the rhythm of
His unfailing heart of love
Beating for His little ones
Calling each of us to come
Be still
Be still

Well. So much for the calmness. Rory just decided to take a bite out of a scented candle. *sigh*

Home.

So we're home! Tucker, Steven and Tally have all blogged about our adventures already. As usual, I'm sort of late to the party.

We had a great time. An exhaustingly great time. Nothing went as planned (Nothing. Time line? Ha! Schedule? Gone.), but I was amazed by how well people just rolled with it. Our children did well, slept well, and traveled well! The students? Did well, slept little and ate all the junk food we could shove at them! I'm not going to give you a run-down of everything we did since the men listed above already did that, but I am going to list all of the things that meant something to me this past week.

-I'm so proud of my husband. He put his whole heart into every decision that was made, encouraged the students, planned things out, and still made time to be Daddy during the trip. The man changed as many diapers as I did, and put the kids to bed quite a few nights. I loved being with my best friend for this experience. I really do encourage families to do missions work together. It's tough, and seems overwhelming, but it's so worth it!

We got along famously.

Although. Don't talk to Chelsea and Rachel. They may tell you we bickered a good amount on the way home. And that I may have forced Tucker to eat a granola bar (He was tired. He was hungry. I felt that he needed to eat.). Anyway. All's good now.

- I'm very encouraged by the pastors at Focal Point Church. These men have an amazing vision (shhhh...one I'd love to be a part of...), and such a passion for the people in their area. Their church may be small, but it's going to be powerful one day in their community. With leaders like they have, there's no way it won't. Tally has a great message to share, and their church family fed us, housed us, and entertained us all week long. They worked together to serve us. I'm overwhelmed by all that they did. Thank you!

- I'm so grateful for the couple that took my little family in. They handed us a key, and let us come and go at all hours. They were wonderful to us, even when Tucker tackled their hall shelf at 2 am and destroyed some glass objects (Champagne flutes, I think? I'm not sure. It was dark, and they were shattered.). They let us have a pool party. One they knew about and planned, and one we sprung on them at midnight. They are good people!

- I want to thank Tally's wife, Kristy, for opening up her home to us. She gave Jen, Maya, my kids and myself a place to crash on days we couldn't be with the students. I know it's not easy to hand your house over and allow it to be overrun with people for a week. I know I would freak (I love people. I love visitors. I just like my quiet, you know?), but she was wonderful. She's also the mother to, quite possibly, the cutest kid I've ever seen. (My own excluded, of course.) It's a toss up between him and John and Amber's son. They make 'em cute in VA!

-We got to wear some rocking T-Shirts. See?

- I learned that it's hot in VA. And it's even hotter when you're sitting in a van with 11 people, and sitting on vinyl seats. You sweat in places you didn't think could sweat. Even worse? You're stuck in traffic, almost out of gas, and have to turn the air off. The cool part? The students in your van keep the spirits up, and your kids cooled off with a water bottle. I love 'em. Can't say it enough. I love our students. We have the best, the most passionate, and the most caring group of students ever.
- I have no desire to go to Washington DC ever again. EVER.

Weeeell, maybe once more. But not with 50 people in tow, and a bad storm and terrible communication all around. Although, all that craziness was kind of fun...

- A huge part of making this trip amazing was our students. They did everything we asked them to do, and quite a few of them were babysitters for the many small children running around. Thanks!

And Amanda? Could make that kid be quiet already?! Yeah. Thanks.

- Texans are super polite people. They are also hard working, wonderful lovers of our God. I'm honored to have met them and worked alongside of them. Focal Point Corpus Christi is blessed to have that group of people! We do miss y'all. A special nod to Dee who made all of our food, and Ken, who kept us awake on the longest van ride ever.

- Tucker likes to find a soapbox and climb up on it. Especially after 6 hours in a van. Apparently, he doesn't care for Ark churches... (That one's just for Sammi and Becca!)

-My baby girl Rory rode the log flume ride at Busch Garden's with her Daddy. Scared me to death, but she loved her "boat ride"!

- Oh hey. Those stain pen thingys? Totally work. I used it more than you could ever know! Thanks!

All in all, we had a successful trip. God worked on our student's hearts, as well as our own. He used us and pushed us, and we were dead to our own selves. I've never been more touched by the attitudes of people, and the love they showed. Good job, guys. Looking forward to next year!