Assurance of Pardon

I had an amazing time at Wellspring this morning. The Lord really blessed us with His Word. I hope I can recap, mostly b/c it helps me rethink and remember what I've learned.

"This, then, is the first thing to observe: all true love to God is preceded in the heart by these two things - a sense of sin, and an assurance of pardon. Brethren, there is no love possible-real, deep, genuine, worthy of being called love of God-which does not start with the belief of my own transgression, and with the thankful reception of forgiveness in Christ. You do nothing to get pardon for yourselves; but unless you have the pardon you have no love to God." Alexander Maclaren

We read from Luke 7:36-50.
41"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[a] and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
43Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

God is the one who has completely cancelled my debt (sins) through Christ's dying on the cross. His complete and outright forgiveness therefore, propels me to love Him. Do you identify with the debtor who owes the 500 or the 50 denarii?

Big Wheels

Here it is. The new set of wheels. It probably doesn't look that big, but if you saw what he was riding before you'd laugh. He is definitely nervous on it and doesn't want to ride it by himself. He had gotten so comfortable on the little one ("doing tricks and off roading" his words not mine) and now he is very timid. I am sure it won't take long. This one does move a lot faster. I had to try it out :) Too bad I didn't get a picture of that.

Full of fun

Here was our day at the Fair. Owen had a blast. Time with Grandma and Sir, Rides, corn dogs, ice cream and a chimpanzee on horseback. Doesn't get much better than that.

Mason was two inches too short to ride most of the rides. We spent a lot of time feeling guilty about it and then when we tried to put him on one, he was terrified. He didn't really enjoy this Merry Go Round. Thanks anyway, Sir.

Thanks Mom and Dad. We had so much fun.

Waiting for Grandma and Sir

That little blob in the middle of the pic is Owen waiting for 15 min at the end of the driveway. What you can't see in the pict is his legs that were swinging back and forth.

Excitement is in the air

Today will not be an ordinary Monday. Owen is skipping school to go to the State Fair of VA with Grandma and Sir. This will be the 3rd year they have taken him and the first year I will be joining them. Mason and I will be going too. I am going to try my best to blend in and let them do the grandparents "thing." I will just be there for extra arms and probably to entertain Mason while Owen rides some rides.
Another reason for excitement is that Grandma and Sir are bringing Owen a bigger bike. Their neighbor graciously gave them their son's bike to give Owen. Its the next size up and in great condition. I am thrilled b/c he really needs a bigger one, but we didn't want to buy one with the weather changing and we weren't sure what he would need next year. He is so excited.

Poor Mason will not have quite as much fun this morning. Before going to the Fair I have to take him for is 15 Month check-up and shots. I totally dropped the ball and forgot so his appt. is almost 5 weeks late.

Owen the builder

This morning EJ and Owen went to Lowes to price out some lumber for his upcoming project. He and his dad are going to replace some rotten wood along the base of our porch. While they were there Owen built an awesome little wooden fire truck.

Do they look alike?

Mason 16 months and Owen at 18 months

1st words

Mason's words at 16 months: hi, mama, ball, football and car (think we've heard: truck, cracker, more)

Owen's first written word other than his name. Don't ask why its fireman. Seems like a shorter word would have been less stressful. I think he is finally understanding that the letters he has been practicing can make words. He is in his room right now for quiet time still practicing "fireman.

Ugh

This new fall schedule is kicking my butt. I don't know how or why, you would thinking having one less child 9 hours a week would help. Hopefully we'll get the hang of it. So far I am way behind on chores, hardly playing with the kids or doing anything creative and getting less sleep. On the plus side, I am managing more exercise (since we are walking to and from school).

Ej's office

The van finally went to the body shop this morning. So I drove EJ too and from work. Tomorrow he will drive my grandparents Plymouth Acclaim. Don't all grandparents drive one? I think its a requirement :) Our insurance plan doesn't cover car rental (which we will try to change) so they have graciously lent us theirs.
Anyway, since we had to pick up EJ we went in for a visit. I snapped a pic of his office b/c the grandparents are always asking about it. He recently acquired a larger office that we hadn't seen yet. If you ask me it could use a woman's touch. Maybe in my free time ;) Although he did hang the watercolor of Richmond City I gave him for an anniversary present a few years ago.

1st Wellspring

So we made it to Wellspring this morning. Almost all of my group was there. It turned out that I was not the only one who missed the first week. 3 others were missing. For some reason I wasn't as nervous last night as I was last week. But I am glad the initial introductions are behind us. Its always awkward to lead a bible study with 8-10 women who don't necessarily know each other. The ladies all participated and the dynamics look good. One woman was very vulnerable and shared some hard stuff, I am grateful that she set the pace so early on and hope that will encourage the others to share deeply. I am looking forward to spending time with them each week. This week we studied Luke 18:9-14 and discussed the difference between the self righteous prayer of the Pharisee and the humble and repenting prayer of the tax collector. Thankfully we don't have to have it all together. The Lord is glorified in our weakness not in our accomplishments and abilities.
2 Cor 12:9-10 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Oh, if only I could remember this ALL the time. I don't like being or appearing weak!

Fun with groceries

Mason and I have started doing the grocery shopping while Owen is in school. I must say it is a more relaxing experience at least for now. While we were shopping today this little old man saw Mason and gave him a dollar for his piggy bank. I tried to kindly refused but he insisted. Mason just starred at him like he was crazy. Probably not the kind of reaction the man was expecting.

While I was putting the groceries away Mason started stacking the cans. Each time he added one I was sure they would tumble. He stacked all of them and then did a little cheer for himself

Friends for dinner

We had friends for over for dinner last night. Ashley was out of town for a long relaxing weekend and so we thought we'd help James out.

Mason of course did not want to eat the corn I cut off the cob instead he wanted to eat mine. Who know you could eat corn on the cob with 8 teeth.
A little softball game as the sun was setting on another awesome fall day.

3rd celebration

Greeted at the door of my parent's house with party decor and sweet faces we had missed.

Owen and Grandma worked hard on this creation. It is a row of oatmeal cookies stuck together with vanilla pudding and topped with cool whip.

We ccouldn't leave Sir's house without one more concert.

I hope Burke (that is my dad's stage name) doesn't mind I am attaching a video of his concert. I didn't see any signs about no videos ;) You can catch him live at Applebees in F'burg every Wednesday night. His drummer and dancer only make occasional appearances.

I did it!

I slept in until 9 a.m. For those of you who know me well, this is a big deal. My old roommates used to joke about my "sleeping in" time. It was so nice.
We had a great time last night despite EJ's stomach. He actually started feeling better yesterday afternoon which was a big blessing. He is still not 100% but he managed dinner out. We went to an old favorite, Peking for Chinese food. The only problem with Chinese is the food comes so fast, we were done in 40 mins. However a lot more conversation happened in those 40 minutes of uninterrupted time than probably all week. We weren't too excited about the movie theater choices so we rented one. Overall we had a great time catching up with one another. This morning we drove my dad's convertible with the top down on the way to pick up the boys. What a great ending. We were greeted at the door with Owen eager to show daddy the party decorations he helped grandma hung. More pics to come!

Date night

This afternoon I will take the boys and meet up with my dad on his commute home. We will switch cars and the boys will go with him to stay the night with Grandma (my mom), Sir (my dad), Nerna (my grandma) and Paw Paw (my grandpa). Owen is excited, Mason has no clue. Then tomorrow when we pick them up we will have a birthday lunch for EJ.

So tonight is our big date night. We had plans to go to a fairly new restaurant that EJ has always wanted to try. Its pretty expensive but he found out that for your birthday they send you and buy one get one free meal coupon! Pretty good deal. Unfortunately he is still nauseous ALL day long. He can barely eat normal food and doesn't want to waste this kind of meal when he feels lousy. We are both pretty bummed. I almost made a rain check with Mom, but we still could really use the time to ourselves. We don't have plans, it may be a movie instead which we can never do so that doesn't sound too bad. It will just be so nice to do our own thing and maybe even sleep in on a Sat! Thanks Mom!

Here is a pic taken almost 10 years ago. We met through friends at JMU and attended a fall semi-formal as our 2ND date. I can still remember the excitement and those butterflies. We've been together ever since.

Table drama

You'll notice in the previous blog that we are eating on our porch. Well, the table we are using is suppose to be a temporary table. Here goes the complicated drama... At the end of March we ordered outdoor furniture for our screened in porch. The first table arrived 4 weeks later and it was the wrong style. We wanted glass top and they delivered mesh. So they let us keep it while we waited for the correct one. Then 4 weeks later we got a glass table but when they set it up on our porch glass didn't fit into the frame, plus the glass was clear instead of "textured." So we kept that one temporarily. Then they came and took photos so they could reorder one. 4 weeks later we got a phone call that 3rd table's glass doesn't fit in the newest frame either. What the heck !?!?! So today I got a phone call almost 6 months later that the glass was broken in shipping. Oh my goodness, as you can imagine I had to hold my tongue. So we have to order a 5th table are you joking. The craziest thing about it is the store is hardly apologizing and has only offered us a 10% discount. RIGHT! Its actually a high-end store that is fairly well known in Richmond. Granted we probably ordered the cheapest stuff in the store but come on. Ej is going to have some fun with his negoiating skills, if we ever see the table. We may just pack it in. Good thing we didnt pay the full amount. Sorry just had to get that off my chest!

Birthday Celebration #2

I think this may have been the best thing Mason ever tested. He chowed down. We had a nice little celebration tonight. The weather has been gorgeous so we enjoyed eating on the porch. Owen and I spent a little time decorating. He even hung all his new preschool art around the porch because we needed more. He also didn't understand why it was only going to be the four of us.
Unfortunately Ej's stomach is still bothering him, so I don't think he totally enjoyed his special meal. We had one of his favorites-eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti and bread. For dessert we had Jell-o with whipped topping. Personally I think he is crazy for liking Jell-O so much, I'd much rather have something sinful.

Missing the beach

This will have to do for now. Mason loves the sand. At least I didn't have to wrestle Mason with sunscreen.

Bloggers

Last night while I was making dinner Owen randomly asked what his 2ND cousin Haleigh was up to. She is 10 months old and lives about 1.5 hrs away. I looked at him puzzled and said I had no idea. He said, "why because she doesn't have a blog?" Oh my goodness, what have I started?!?!

Hat Head

Mason has decided that he loves his hat. He wants to wear it all the time. Even with his PJs. If it falls off he starts squawking and brings it to someone for help. If he sees someone else with a hat he points at their hat like its his long lost friend. Owen was never interested in a hat at this age. Funny thing is the hat was free. It was laying on the sidewalk near EJ's grandmother's beach house. We walked by it for 3 days to and from the beach. I finally took it home and washed it. You would never know :)
He will be 16 months this weekend. I can hardly believe it. When I was pregnant with Mason I use to wonder how I would love another child as much as Owen. It seemed as if my heart was already bursting with love. And then I held Mason and it was as if he existed in my heart all along. It brings me to tears just thinking about it.

We survived

The day went much better than I expected. Thanks for your prayers. Owen is totally fine. You would think that missing 2 hours of sleep last night would cause him to nap. Nope! I did manage to nap for about 30 mins. Boy was he tired at dinner. Just kind of staring of into space. He was sound asleep by 7:30.
Lissa and Alex came over for dinner tonight to celebrate EJ's birthday which is tomorrow. Thanks for the yummy pie! Owen wanted a pinata and wondered why we didn't do anything fun. That's what happens when you get old. Tomorrow we'll celebrate with just the four of us and then EJ and I are going out on our own Friday night. 3 days of celebrating, pretty good don't you think! We'll also probably do something with my parents and grandparents this weekend.

...the Lord upholds him with his hand

So "I tripped over toys" early this morning (figuratively speaking). I will not be going to Wellspring this morning b/c Owen was up at 3 a.m. with a bad stomachache. He eventually got sick twice but very minor. The cramping did manage to keep both of us up for about 2 hours. I felt so bad for him. I guess whatever was bothering EJ was an actual bug. Nothing serious but just enough to hold us back. Hopefully we will all get a good nap. I am thankful that he is feeling okay today.
The Lord knew all of this, but I am still very sad to miss the first Wellspring and so wish I could be there to meet my group. I did get the list last night and I recognized all the names but one. So I will spend the morning praying instead.

Nervous

I feel like tomorrow is my first day of school. I have that nervous feeling in my stomach. Tomorrow morning the Women's Bible study at my church, Wellspring, starts back up. I am leading a small group again this year, but it will be a new group. I had the privilege of staying with the same group of ladies two years in a row. Now me and my co-leader and dear friend, Jenn W. will start all over. Yikes! I have been waiting all day for the email with the list of names and it still hasn't come. We aren't doing much as a small group tomorrow but I am still not looking forward to the awkwardness of meeting one another. So pray for me and Jenn, pray for our group and pray that the Lord would bond us quickly together. I know He is already at work and I need to trust Him. Almost 70 women are expected to come. Wow!

All smiles

Owen loved his first day of school. He liked his teacher and enjoyed seeing old friends. When I asked him about the 2 new boys, he commented that one was wearing a Lightening McQueen shirt that actually lit up. That made him cool in Owen's book.
Mason and I had a good morning. EJ actually stayed home today b/c his stomach is really bothering him. He rode with us to pick Owen up and we all had a fun lunch together with sprinkle sugar cookies for dessert!
Naptimes are over so its back to playtime.

1st day of preschool

(I guess you can call it that even though he went to preschool last year) Owen was very excited for school this morning. I heard him around 6:15 a.m. in the bathroom. He came into our room at 7 completely dressed and asking for help with his shoes. Too bad he had to wait another 1.5 hours until we left. He rode is bike while I pushed Mason in the stroller. Don't worry mom we went to the traffic light! I am glad we walked because it allowed me extra thinking time to pray for him, his teachers and friends. This is one of many teachers and schools with whom I will entrust my child.

He told me numerous times that he just wanted to be dropped off and not walked in. The first week of school everyone is walked in, however we missed that week b/c we were at the beach. I reminded him that he has never seen his new teacher before and that I should probably introduce him. Can you imagine what the teacher would think if I just sent him by himself? Needless to say he didn't wave or say goodbye. I was a little sad, but I am glad he is so independent.

Now a whole 3 hours with just Mason! We are going to the grocery store and hopefully make a fun lunch for Owen when he gets home from school.

Best Buddies

This picture sums up Owen's friendship with Joshua. He has to be with Joshua at all times. Joshua was minding his own business being buried in the sand and at the last minute Owen jumped on top of him and got buried in the process. Fortunately Joshua is very sweet and gracious. He is at least half smiling while Owen crushes his legs! Each year this has been a struggle for Owen. I keep hoping that when Mason is older he won't "need" Joshua quite as much. It is very sweet but slightly obsessive. Remember Owen's describing word -sociable, well since our family is still not big enough for him he always wants to join the Cassada family. Who can blame him, there are lots of Cassada kids.

Owen and Joshua spent a majority of the time "surfing" as they call it. I will say they were much braver this year than last. The water was a perfect temperature and no jellyfish in sight.

Our group

Whenever I mentioned our vacation plans with friends I got strange looks and questions. Is it really fun staying with 5 other families including 7 other kids? Well, with our group it definitely is. Considering that there are 21 people in one beach house and some of us only see each other one week out of the year it all goes very smoothly. I am still amazed. The grace, love and care extended is wonderful and EJ and I consider it a blessing to be apart of it.

Around the dinner table.

The kids put on several shows for us.

Courtney put together this pinata to add to our candy collection:)

Cary was by far the kid's favorite. Here he is telling a story to the kids.

Girls night out

On Wed night the girls got gussied up for a night in the off-season of Duck, NC. Let me tell you its a happening place! We left the guys and children around 4:15 and did not return until 9:00 p.m. We did a little shopping and had mediocre dinner at Fishbones (not to be mistaken for BoneFish). More importantly we didn't cook, feed children, clean up or put the kids to bed! Here are the ladies from left to right, Stacy (Dan), Ali, Courtney (Pat), Cheri, Peyton (Brian) and Leah (Cary).
Almost all of these ladies are the wives of college housemates of EJs. The men's names mentioned in parenthesis (mostly for my mom's sake:) This is our third year with these families and it was apparent this year how close the ladies are becoming. I know sharing in the role of motherhood (Leah expecting her first in Feb) has made a strong common bond. We were almost always discussing pregnancy, labor, postpartum or caring for our children. Hopefully we didn't scare Leah too much :) With 9 children between the 6 couples we had plenty to discuss.
And don't worry, the guys played 18 holes of golf on Monday so they had time out too!

Enjoying the beach

If Caroline was around you can be sure Mason wasn't far away.

Caroline, Mason and Bailey

The kids enjoyed softball, soccer and "surfing" on the beach. The dads were great at keeping them entertained. EJ mentioned this was a highlight of his week. It is fun having a child old enough to play sports and games.

EJ relaxing with our group behind him.

Getting as sandy as possible. Even the cloudy days turned out to be wonderful on the beach.

Mason spent a majority of his time with Bailey. I thought perhaps he would start saying "Bailey" before Mommy, but I am happy to announce "mmmmmama" is being spoken. They were a cute match and Bailey always let me know when Mason was doing something he wasn't suppose to :)

Packing up

Getting ready for our annual beach trip. We are so excited to be joining 5 other families (college friends) in the OBX for a week.

Happy 3rd Birthday Bailey!

We can't wait to see you. We love you!

I am not sure, but I think he is break dancing. If nothing else it was good exercise!

Paper

So I have a problem. I love love love scrap booking paper. Not for its intended purpose b/c I don't scrapbook, but b/c it is so beautiful. Don't get me wrong there are definitely some tacky and ugly paper out there. But a lot of them are like little pieces of art. Today I dragged the boys to this amazing paper store. Owen actually came up with 2 reasons for needing special paper. How can I deny a boy after my own heart? So he bought one sheet with a motorcycle on it for his "place mat" at school (for snack time). And another lighthouse sheet for pictures of him and Joshua at the beach. (Surprise, Surprise) After 20 minutes of multiple trips down each isle (the boys were thrilled) I selected only 2 sheets. I was good, sometimes I just buy it b/c its pretty and I already have plenty unused. I am very excited about my new project. It is for our bedroom makeover. I won't be starting on it right away but I couldn't resist. If it turns out like I hope, it will be an easy gift idea.

Here is a project I did awhile ago.

Owen

I met Owen's new Preschool teacher last night at Parent Orientation. Miss Holly is her name and she was delightful. I think it will be a great year. There are 3 other boys in the class which is a huge relief b/c there seems to have been a shortage of boys born in 04. Each parent/couple was asked to introduce themselves and describe their child in one word. Owen's word...
so·cia·ble -adjective (dictionary.com)1. inclined to associate with or be in the company of others. 2. friendly or agreeable in company; companionable. 3. characterized by agreeable companionship: a sociable evening at the home of friends.

Not to be confused with outgoing. Because he isn't really that outgoing until he knows a person well. We joke, but its true that Owen's worst fear is being lonely. He is constantly saying "wait for me", "who else will be there", "we need a bigger family", etc. He loves planning social gatherings, hosting parties and eating with other people. He rarely wants to go somewhere with just EJ if Mommy and Mason aren't coming or vice versa.

As you can see from this video. The apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. The man in front trying to get more "air" time is my dad! The little guy in the tux is Owen at my sister's wedding.


We love this about Owen, however we do worry that he too easily "follows the crowd" He is always wanting to do what others are doing. I know it is every one's nature to desire what others have or to constantly compare ourselves to others (I am very guilty of this). Our prayer is that he would desire God's fellowship and companionship first and foremost. We are never lonely with God as our Father. He promises to meet us wherever we are. In fact, He waits for us and desires time with us. "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

Homage to Joshua

This is a picture of my sweet son's bedside table. Several months ago, my friend Courtney was kind enough to send a picture (far right) of Owen and her son Joshua. Owen has kept it on his bedside table ever since. Over time he has found other pictures of the two of them and insisted that they all be displayed together. I think its so fun that the pictures encapsulate their whole friendship starting at just a few months old. Joshua is 6 weeks older than Owen and they have been great friends since the start. Even though they live 2.5 hours apart, each refers to the other as their best friend. I couldn't be happier. Joshua has an amazing family and we are delighted that Owen will witness Joshua's family loving God and living each day for Him. What a treasure!

It's Wednesday already!?!?

Having EJ home on Monday has made the week fly by. I keep thinking it is only Tues. We did finish painting on Monday. EJ asked if I posted a pic. There still isn't enough to see. After all the wall color is just cream. Plus, Candice Olsen (my favorite designer of HGTV) hasn't made an appearance to accessorize and give it her amazing touch! Of course her work crew and outlandish budgets would also help. So I'll leave you hanging for a little while longer. I know you can hardly stand it ;)

Last game

Today marks the end of 43 summers of a Richmond pastime. and we were there! What a game. Thanks dad for getting us tickets. I don't think I have ever seen the stadium so full and the crowd so enthusiastic. Remember how mom and dad stopped by for a surprise visit? Well the game they played to go to was cancelled so we used their ticket vouchers for today's game. Thankfully we went early this morning to cash in the vouchers b/c the game was sold out! If you don't know much about the Richmond Braves, you need to know that this is very rare! Wish you could have been there with us Dad and Mom.

The boys had fun. Mason's first baseball game and he did much better than I expected. Especially considering he is always on the move. A soft pretzel helped extend that sitting time :) He danced and cheered to the music, clapped his hands and waved to anyone looking.
We will miss the R Braves!