No-time-vember

Scott and I were talking this evening about this crazy month ahead. "It's just going to be an odd month,"  he described aptly.

• He has two business trips this month.  Back to back weeks.  He has not traveled with this job before, so we are not old pros at him being gone.
• Our daughter turns 3.
• I'm starting a new job.
• His best friend is getting married.  There will be multiple awesomely fun events during the wedding weekend. No lie, this will be fun. We're excited.
• We're taking a trip to his parents.

Scott definitely quoted these lines from this movie during our conversation:

I'm one of those people that "gets a full plate easily."  It doesn't take a whole lot for me to feel like there's a lot going on.  This isn't a comparison game, I realize.  I know tons of other people have a significant more amount of stuff and things going on in life this month.  But for me, for our family, this will be a full month.

What recommendations have ye?? Organizational tips?  De-stressing techniques?  Mental exercises to do? (Hint: I like writing...so maybe journal prompts or something like that?)

Sitting here with tight shoulders and a quickening pulse...
*adding chiropractor appointment to the list of to-dos*

I'm Happy When...

1. I get to go to sleep when I'm tired and sleep until I wake up on my own.
2. I get to leave town for a few days.
3. I get to see my family after being away for a few days.
4. I'm petting a purring cat. A kitten is preferable, but a cat will do.
5. It's cold and I'm drinking hot chocolate.
6. It's warm and I'm at the beach, under a huge tent, just watching the waves crash.
7. My kids figure something out on their own and grin ear to ear with pride in their accomplishment.
8. You ask me to tell you a funny story about my kids.
9. The agenda is small and time is plenty.
10. I get to help a momma hold her baby for the first time.
11. I connect people to each other that have things in common.
12. I'm done working out.  (back when I used to work out)
13. I'm looking at kitten pictures or videos.
14. Scott cooks dinner. (that happens a lot)
15. Dave Ramsey responds to my tweets.
16. I get to spend time with all 3 of my siblings at the same time.
17. I'm eating almost anything my mom makes.
18. Lots of Acuffs get together and I get to be there.
19. I spend quality time with a dear friend, usually talking.
20. Bills are less than I expected them to be.
21. I observe a random act of kindness by a stranger.
22. A stranger shows me gratitude.
23. Someone gives me the benefit of the doubt.
24. I'm laughing.
25. My son wants a hug.
26. My daughter lays her head on my chest while sucking her thumb.
27. My firstborn calls me on the phone.
28. I win a game of Cities and Knights.
29. I win any game at all.
30. I'm on a date with Scott.
31. I watch a movie that happens to be just what I was in the mood for at the time.
32. My mailbox contains a personal piece of mail.
33. I figure out the challenging harmony in a song.
34. You ask me about my thoughts on adoption.
35. A friend risks being vulnerable with me.
36. I hear a new-to-me old story about my grandparents.
37. I get to watch my children with either set of their grandparents.
38. I'm skiing.
39. I'm looking at pictures of trips I've been on.
40. All the laundry is clean, folded and put away in my house. (a rarity)
41. You comment on my blog posts. :)
42. Listening to really well done acapella music with strong bass voices.

What about YOU??

Lake Gaston (part 4)

Hopefully you're getting a good picture of the weekend we had.  Relaxing, lounging, enjoying great company.

Aden the wonder-dog soakin' up some rays.

More jaw-dropping furniture Papa made.

A rather CHILLY boat ride.

Don't we look warm and cozy??!

Oh Captain, Our Captain (and her 1st mate)

Selfie before we headed home.

ROAD TRIP home!

I can never thank Brooke enough for the invite.  Or Scott enough for being at home with our kids.  Thank you both!!!
------------------------

Lake Gaston (part 1)

Lake Gaston (part 2)

Lake Gaston (part 3)

Lake Gaston (part 3)

Brooke made us fantastic food while we were at the lake.

Pan-seared steaks and veggies.

Brownies (almost gone in this picture).

Stir-fry chicken and veggies and couscous. And salad.

Not pictured:  sausage and eggs and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Brunswick Stew and grilled cheese sammiches for lunch.  Lots of hot chocolate and hot tea (for me).  Ralph's BBQ in Weldon, NC on our way home.  They had to-die-for chicken and dumplings.  Oh. Em. Gee.

I am now starving just typing up this post.  Awesome.

------------------------------

Did you miss:

Lake Gaston (part 1)?

Lake Gaston (part 2)?

Lake Gaston (part 4)?

Lake Gaston (part 2)

Oh the games we played...

 Pounce.  A fast-paced card game, also called Nertz. 

Settlers of Catan:  Cities and Knights.

Small World.

Cribbage.  

Carcassonne.

We played a LAWT of games.  Fun was had by all.

Did you also read/view:

Lake Gaston (part 1)

Lake Gaston (part 3)

Lake Gaston (part 4)

Lake Gaston

I had the amazing opportunity to chaperone hang out with two great people this weekend, Jason and Brooke.  Brooke's parents have an incredible lake house on Lake Gaston.  We headed up I-95 on Friday afternoon and arrived ready to get our relax on.  Scott, bless his heart, had a church commitment that required he stay home.  Conveniently (for me), the kids opted to stay with him. ;)  THANK YOU SCOTT FOR THIS TIME AWAY!!!  And thanks to my parents for pinch-hitting for Scott on Sunday. And thanks to Brooke for the invite here.  And thanks to Brooke's parents for providing this retreat from reality locale.  And thanks to Jason for dating Brooke.  Okay, okay, enough with the gratitudes...

The house was just plain awesome.  I want one.

We didn't hang out here.  Tooooooo cold.

We did spend a great deal of time here.  Yummmm.

Also didn't spend much time here.  I value my non-frost-bitten toes.

I slept here.  Incredibly spacious bed, complete with stairs to hike up into it! Brooke's Papa made that bed.

Some of us bathed in the sink...

This is where we ate meals, played a lot of games and put Jason in time out.  (Papa made that fantastic table.  He is a gifted man.)

We watched some movies in this room, quite comfortably.  (Jason still in time out.)

Brooke crocheted some.  Aden (the dawg) cuddled for warmth.  Jason hung out.

We all spent a little time here.  Did I mention how awesome this place is?

We are having a great, great time.  More to come, but I'm busy relaxing....so peace out for now.

updated:

Lake Gaston (part 2)

Lake Gaston (part 3)

Lake Gaston (part 4)

That Time When We Moved to Columbia, South Carolina

*notice the U-haul in the upper right!

This apartment complex, The Ashborough, in Raleigh, NC is where Scott and I called home for the first 5.5 years of our marriage.  We lived in three different apartments within this complex.  Both times I got pregnant, we moved into a slightly bigger apartment.  You can see why we had to get outta there.  I might have gotten pregnant AGAIN!

We were happy there, but eager to move into a HOUSE.

Scott got a new job in Columbia, SC.  We'd been saving for a while for a downpayment on a house.  In this case "a while" = 3 years.  We were ready to look into buying a home!  I'll write more about our home search and financing journey in another post.  Fast forward to the week of Thanksgiving.

My mom hosted an incredible Thanksgiving dinner.

Side note:  It stresses me out a little bit to think one day I'll be responsible for creating such holiday feasts on my own.  I'd hate for my kids to grow up telling stories about "Thank goodness McDonald's was open on Thanksgiving Day..."  a la Christmas Story type stuff.  But the gap between what I'm capable of making right now and what my mom or mother-in-law can make is Grand Canyon-esque. <sigh>

Scott made us his very first pumpkin pie (pictured on the right).  It was so.very.good.  Well done, hunnee!

Thursday we feasted, then finished packing.  

Friday, the move began.  Our goals for the day were 1) pack the truck, 2) clean the apartment, 3) drive to Columbia.  We had already moved most of our belongings downstairs into the garage for easier truck-loading.

Please take note:  The vast majority of everything we owned was in this garage when I took this picture.  Not a wall-to-wall-packed garage.  A stuff-loosely-stacked-and-scattered-throughout garage.  I know this will be the last time all of our belongings fit in a 17' U-haul.  That makes me a little bit sad, actually.  I'm the opposite of a hoarder/pack-rat.  I love throwing stuff away and getting rid of stuff.  The idea of accumulating MORE stuff makes me sad!  

Back to the move.  Friday we* loaded the truck and we** cleaned the apartment.  

*Scott, Scott's Dad Bruce, my dad Steve, my brother David.

**My mom Anne and I.

Can I just tell you how much husbands LOVE IT when wives walk around taking pictures of work instead of actually doing work? 

Nestle is soooo helpful.

This picture is to document where Reese slept from about 6 months of age until we moved.  Her pack-n-play fit in there nicely. Hey...some of our grandparents slept in dresser drawers.  My kids slept in a bathroom.  To each his own...

Despite James and Reese's superior moving skills, we opted not to employ their services on moving day.  Gail, my amazing mother-in-law, and my amazing mom were on kid duty at my parents' apartment while the move took place.

About 3 pm on Friday, November 29th, we turned in our keys to our apartment and began our drive southbound to Columbia...Scott, Steve, Bruce and I, all driving separate vehicles (because we LOVE to waste gas!).  Anne and Gail stayed with the kids in Raleigh for one more night.

We arrived around 6:45 or 7pm.  Yay!  Goals met!  We didn't unload much at all that evening.  That's what Saturday was for!  We did take a few minutes to set up our brand new king sized bed.  We love it, by the way.  If you come visit us, there's room for a whole 'nother person in between us!  That's where you can sleep. :) 

Walking into the house from the garage.

The living room.  The walls are "softer tan" from Sherwin Williams, not yellow as they look in this picture.  I'm happy in this house, but not yellow-walls-happy, not THAT happy, sheesh.

Saturday's goals were 1) unload the truck and return it, 2) get the kids' beds set up and functional.  That morning we got the truck unloaded quickly.  It was fairly easy to do since we put most of it in the garage until such time as we figured out where to put it all.  The beds didn't take too long to locate linens for and assemble, so we were all set! Saturday goals met!  Yay!  I seriously should have printed out agendas for us all.  Next time...next time...

The grandma brigade arrived with children in tow in the early afternoon.  James immediately loved the house.  He ran around looking at stuff and pointing at it all and squealing.  He also loved the outside.  The fact that we can go outside now without being in a parking lot is pretty amazing to me too.  Reese seemed less phased by it all, but she's only a year old.  What does she know. :)

Here we are a week later and we are feeling fairly settled.  All the urgent boxes are in from the garage.  There are some we may never bring in from there.  The house to-do list is a mile and a half long, but the initial funds for such are gone.  We'll have to save for stuff and budget accordingly.  You know...the Dave Ramsey way.  It's how we do.

I absolutely love this house.  Just being in a HOUSE is so amazing to me!  

• No neighbors upstairs to hear morning and night.  
• No downstairs neighbors to worry about hearing us as my toddler practices Dora-the-explorer marching around the house.  
• I have a mailbox at the end of my driveway!
• I have a driveway!
• I have a great garage for storing all the don't-need-now-things.
• I have an attic!  I've put a lot of stuff up there just because it's there and that excites me.
• I met a neighbor and her little boy who is James' age while we were playing outside in the cul-de-sac.  Yay for meeting (nice) neighbors!
• I have a deep enough sink to wash high chair trays in.  This singular fact makes me blissfully happy.

The list could go on and on, but needless to say, we are happy.  We're getting settled and we're happy.  I'm still in the interview process with a couple of local hospitals, but it looks promising.  I'll get a job soon, at one place or another.  Scott has a long, grueling 10-12 minute commute to work to a job he is loving so far.  Pray for him.  There is a Krispy Kreme donut shop less than 10 minutes from my house.  Pray for me.  And for the nutritional status of my children.

If you need my new address, please email me at baacuff at mac dot com.  How do you know if you need my address?  If you are reading this, you need my address!  You need to send me a Christmas card!  Or just a note to say hello!  My preferred love language is quality time together or receiving snail mail.  Please love me.  Come see me.  Send me mail. Or both!

Moving Is My Favorite

Scott is home.  YAAAAAY!!  Our trial separation* is done.

*What I called the period of time he was already in South Carolina working his new job and I was still in North Carolina working my old job and wrangling kids, with much much help from my parents.

Tomorrow we will eat some turkey and hang out with some family and pack some more boxes.  Friday we will move to Columbia, SC.  Saturday, I guess, we'll begin living happily ever after there.

I'm not sounding all that enthusiastic at the moment, but believe me, it's because enthusiasm requires energy and I ain't got none.  I've been doing a great job of getting things packed up and ready to roll for Friday.  So now, at 8:30pm, I am completely and utterly spent.  It's shocking, I know.  How could I be tired when I have such GREAT, GREAT helpers?!

There's James the box-packer.

And Reese the furniture-mover.

And sometimes they work together to drive cars on top of boxes, which is really helpful, as you might imagine.

We bought our first house on Monday.  That'll be another post for another day, but for now know that we are so excited about it.  I'm excited to have a yard to play in and a garage to park in.  And a new king size bed to sleep in.  Yay!

This season is full of change for our family.  Changing jobs, cities, states.

Change is...

Exhilarating.

Invigorating.

Exciting.

Exhausting.

Depending on the time of day determines which of these emotions I'm feeling.  As I mentioned before, 8:30pm = the exhausting part of the day.

More pictures and stories to come as we transition.  Thanks for sticking with me through this!

 To infinity and beyond!  

(yes, we've been watching a lot of Toy Story while momma packs)

I don't even know where to start...

I don't know what to call this post.  Rambling?  That might be a good name for it.

There's so much on my mind.  I can't quite sort through it all.

This weekend Scott was here.  It had been two weeks since he'd been home.  It was SO GREAT to see him and spend time with him and watch our kids crawl all over him.  It sucked when he left.  I packed several boxes for him to take south with him when he left.  Packing is actually therapeutic somehow.  Maybe it's like scratching things off of a list.  The more things I pack, the less things there are left to pack.  Feels like the to-pack-list is getting smaller that way, I guess.  On the flip side of that coin, WHY DID WE PUT STUFF IN EVERY SINGLE CABINET??  We don't have that much stuff, and yet, we DO.  I made the horrible mistake of packing a box of toys in front of James.  He totally lost his shiznit.  He wailed about a certain truck he wanted.  A truck that has been sitting on a shelf in his closet.  In a box.  Out of sight and out of mind.  But oh yeah, he just remembered, IT'S HIS FAVORITE.  I'm kinda stuck, though.  Can't pack toys in his closet while he's sleeping, because DUH, dude's sleepin.  But now apparently I can't pack it when he's awake because OH EM GEE.  Perhaps his room will be the last thing I pack.

On a related losing shiznit note, I may have to put my cat to sleep this week.  :(  He's barely eating now.  I can't even stand to think about it.

Next subject.

I'm participating in a Open Adoption Blogger Interview Project again this year.  I participated in 2011 and 2012.  I love doing this, writing about adoption.  My eyes have been blown wide open about how different experiences with adoption can be.  Can't wait for you to read our interviews of each other.  They will be posted on November 12th, so stay tuned.

It's just gettin real up in here, folks.  The move.  Transition.  Leaving my job, friends, and comfort zone.  New things.  Great things, I'm sure, but new nonetheless.

Prayers welcome.

Bandwidth

When I worked at Biogen Idec, there was term tossed around frequently called "bandwidth".  Maybe this is a super common corporate term, I dunno.  Used in a sentence:

"Are you sure you have time to add this project to what you're already doing?  Do you have enough bandwidth for that?"

A dictionary definition of the term:  the energy or mental capacity required to deal with a situation.

Currently, I feel like I don't have enough bandwidth.  

NEED MOAR BANDWIDTHS!  

• working two days/week
• parenting 24/7 sans Scott since he's already in Columbia (albeit with a TON of help from my parents and friends!)
• packing a box or two here and there for move at the end of the month
• managing realtor/mortgage/maintenance/inspection people for our new house
• searching/applying for a new job
• squeezing in quality time with people I'm moving away from

These are the main things filling up my brainz on a day to day basis.  How do I know I need MOAR bandwidth?  Because the other day, while at a friend's house, we both had large drinks from fast food places.  I labeled my drink with my initials so we wouldn't get them mixed up.  Two seconds later, I drank out of her drink.

I drove to Columbia last Tuesday for an in-person interview.  While I was there, I met my realtor to walk through our house again.  I really wanted to take some pictures of it while I was there.  When I drove up to the house, I thought I had forgotten to bring my ipad (what I was going to use to take pictures).  I was totally bummed.  Fast forward to later that evening, after I was back in Raleigh, I realized my ipad was in the back seat of my car. I HAD remembered to bring it with me after all.

Left my kids with a friend so I could run a couple of errands solo.  Had left my wallet at home.  Added "go home, get wallet" to the list of errands that day.

Sigh.

So if you are out shopping and you happen to see BANDWIDTHS on sale?  Please, please, please pick me up a couple.  I need them.  Badly. 

List Maker, List Maker, Make me a List...

Are you a list maker?

I am.

My mother is a list maker.

My dad's mother is a list maker.

I come by it all kinds of naturally.

I like making lists.  I LOVE scratching things off lists.  What if I do something that isn't on my beloved list?  I add it to the list just so I can scratch it off.  Yep.  I'm THAT kind of person.

Here is my list for all things related to moving:

The point is not for you to read every line item(sorry it's a crappy picture quality).  The point is for you to see the number of things on the list.  There are several (understatement).  And I know there are several more (another understatement) things that need to be added to the monster "To Do" list prior to us moving.

For some reason, when I start to get overwhelmed about an upcoming thing, I revert back to paper.  There are millions of apps that would probably work well at managing my lists.  I can't use them.  I have to physically scratch something off with an actual real-life pen to make it feel official.  Pencils are also inadequate in my list-world, in case you were wondering.

The other day, thanks to a gracious friend watching my kids for a couple of hours, I managed to accomplish ONE item on my list:  obtaining birth certificates for my kids.  James is 2.  Reese is about to be 1.  No, I had not found it necessary to go get those precious documents yet.  They live in my house.  That was enough proof for me that they were borned.  Getting birth certificates really shouldn't have been a big deal, but for some reason I was absolutely dreading this task.  Driving downtown, finding a place to park, finding the right government building, finding the right office inside the building, filling out the right forms, having the right form of payment with me, yada yada yada.  I just plain didn't wanna do it.  Which is why I've put it off for so long.  Yes, you can request these documents through the mail or online, but the price goes from $10/copy to $30+/copy for those other methods.  The spirit of Dave Ramsey in me wouldn't let me pay ridiculous amounts more just because I was being a wuss about navigating in downtown Raleigh.  I lived in Seoul, Korea, for goodness sakes.  My parents let me and two other 13 year old girls gallivant to and from an indoor amusement park using the subway system there with no adult supervision.  If I handled that as a 13 year old, to be sure I can handle downtown RALEIGH as a 35 year old, right?!

Anyway...back to birth certificate procurement.  After leaving my friend's house and realizing I forgot my wallet and driving back home to get it and then going to the bank to get cash to pay for the oh-so-important documents and finding a place to park and getting to be "wand-ed" by the xray security guy because I had on a belt and Danskos which apparently always set off the xray machine and finally making it to the right person to fill out the paperwork...  I was with the birth-certificate-lady for about 10 minutes.  That's it.  The person beside me trying to get her 3 week old baby's birth certificate was having a time of it because his name was apparently spelled wrong on it.  The kind government worker was gently explaining how the mom needed to follow this simple 352 step process involving approximately 895 peoples' signatures to get his name corrected.  I was quite grateful my process only took 10 minutes.  After driving not-so-directly out of the downtown area back to my friend's house, I couldn't wait to scratch off "birth certificates" off of my list.  Only, after I did, I felt like just scratching the one thing off wasn't enough.  It seemed like such a complex task, I almost wrote all the steps down just so I could scratch them off.  It would've looked something like this:

At least THAT list would make me feel more accomplished!

Are you a list maker?

Giving Myself Permission

One of a million things I learned from my parents is how to clean a bathroom.  I mean really clean a bathroom.  Up to and including washing the shower curtain, bath mats,  and towels, scrubbing every surface of the toilet, sink, mirror, cabinets, cabinet handles, over-sink-light bulbs, and wiping down the door (both sides, of course).  Vacuuming and mopping the floor goes without saying.  Part of my cleaning indoctrination included the principle of "Don't do a partial job.  If you're going to clean some of it, go ahead and clean all of it."

With a regular shower/tub combo kind of bathroom (not that separate shower stall/jacuzzi tub craziness some of you have), it takes me about an hour to clean a bathroom.  And that's if I'm moving efficiently.

Recently James has been showing an interest in potty training.  He's been sitting on the potty some and has even pee-peed there a few times.  Pretty darn excited about that fact, actually.  (Him, Me, Scott...all of us are excited.)  Putting my son's delicate little heiney on my toilet that was in desperate need of cleaning certainly changed how I felt about the dirty toilet.  Dirty, in this case, shall be defined by, but not limited to, a pinkish-orangey color at and below the water line in the toilet bowl.  Ew ew ew.  Not that James is touching THAT part of the toilet, but still.  (well hopefully not)  I decided I needed to take care of that nasty toilet today during nap time.  Except I didn't want to spend an hour + cleaning my bathroom.

So, today, August 22, 2013, at the age of 35, I gave myself permission to SPOT CLEAN my bathroom.  I cleaned the grungy potty:

and the grungy sink:

and now they are both sparkly clean. (after photos only, before photos would have cost me all 10 of my blog readers...)

This is a big deal people.  If I could truly get a handle on doing small cleaning things routinely instead of every six months deep cleaning for hours, I might actually have a CLEAN HOME.  On a somewhat regular basis.

If you already grasp this concept, bravo to you.  Please invite me over so I can pat you on the back appropriately for your efforts!  If you are still struggling with this idea, "Well I don't have time to clean everything I want to, so I might as well clean nothing..." as I do, hang in there.  Give yourself permission to spot clean.  It's okay.

YOU CAN DO IT. *patpat

Feeling Special

Last Sunday, Jame and I went to church together.  Yes, Jame.  This is how he refers to himself.  When he sees himself in the mirror he says excitedly, "JAME!"  No 's'.  I love it.  It's an improvement from the "Beans" or "Baynes" he used to call himself.  Not sure why he's dropped the 's' at the end, but whatever.  Toddlerspeak is hilarious, so I say carry on Jame.

We haven't been to church in a whiiiiiile.  The whole family wasn't coordinated enough to go together, so Reese and Scott stayed home.  We were slightly early (1-2 minutes, that's crazy early for me), so we parked in the satellite parking lot and road the shuttle bus over.  You would have thought that riding the bus was the sole reason we were there that day.  Jame absolutely LOVED.IT.  He kept saying BUS! BUS! BUS!  I should have just let him ride the shuttle by himself continuously while I was at church...

When we got into the building and headed toward his classroom, he started clinging a little more tightly to my arm.  As we stood in line to drop him off, his bottom lip started to protrude markedly.  When I placed him on the floor on the classroom-side of the gate (yes, 2 year old classrooms require gates), the tears and wailing began.  I left really, really quickly, so as not to draw out the painful process for him.

Off to church I went by myself.  I don't know if you consider going to church by yourself an outing, but it totally is.  I certainly would have preferred Scott and Reese to be there as well, (Reese in her own classroom), but that wasn't possible that morning.  So I had my own fun little by-myself-surrounded-by-a-whooooole-lotta-people outing.

If you've ever taken a kid to church and dropped them off, you've probably received some sort of claim ticket for them.  Because, apparently, they want you and only you to pick them up after the service.  Weird.  Can't I come back in a few days??  This particular morning I looked down at my sticker which says "Betty Davidson" (don't even get me started about people calling me "Betty") and my kid's number/letter combo: ZB4.  My cousin Jon wrote about this tagging of children at church idea.  He calls it playing "bad kid lottery" as you go through church hoping your kid's number doesn't appear on the screen.

I felt pretty confident Jame would do well in his class that morning.  I felt so confident I sat in the smackdabmiddle of a row. Two-thirds of the way through the service, the bad kid lottery screen lights up.  Imagine a scrolling, red, marquee kind of sign.  That's what it looks like.  First up, some early elementary school kid's number.  *Phew*  The next classroom name to scroll across says "2 yr olds"...................ZB4.

Aw dang.

I just won the bad kid lottery.  I quickly got up, and started making my way out of the row.  The people were kind and understanding as I tried not to step on their toes.  Off to the 2 year old classroom I went.

I can hear him before I get to the door of the classroom.  He is beside himself with grief over being left in that den of wolves to be eaten by those other 2 year olds.  Even holding his beloved giraffe "bankit" isn't helping calm him.  The sweet teacher passes him to me over the gate and encourages me to bring him again.  What a kind lady.  In her shoes, I would have said "We don't take criers."

The MOMENT he is in my arms, he stops crying and smiles.  I hugged him tightly and told him he was going to make it.  I promised.  Together we headed upstairs to the "Family Chapel" (where you can take kids of any age and they can be loud if they want to) for the remainder of the service.  He sat pretty happily on my lap for the last 15-20 minutes.  I just sat there squeezing on him and lovin' on him.

Although I would have preferred he make it the whole service in his class so I could have an uninterrupted church experience, I was grateful for this sweet time with him.  He's not a cuddly kinda guy.  He doesn't spend much time just hanging out in my lap.  From what everyone tells me, I'm going to blink my eyes and he'll be 30, so I better enjoy these rare moments.

I know parenthood can teach a person all kinds of things about how God loves us unconditionally.  I felt like this experience was one of those learning moments for me.  I saw a glimpse of how much God must love me as my Heavenly Father.  When I am beside myself with grief over something that probably shouldn't cause me as much grief as it is causing, all God has to do is just show up, arms open wide.  Suddenly, instantly, my fears are eased, the tears stop.  I feel loved, cared for, assured.

Putt-Putt

Scott determined James is now of the age to begin his proper golf indoctrination.  We made it a family affair.

James started out with a club that turned out to be a wee bit too heavy for him.  Apparently proper equipment is pretty crucial to a good golf game.  Since I'm not plagued with such a thing (a good golf game), I wouldn't know...

Similar to James' approach to corn hole, he found it easiest to just drop the ball into the hole.

Looks like Scott's work is cut out for him regarding James' form.

Reese tried to be a good cheerleader from the sidelines, but she lacked both the enthusiasm for the game and the ability to see it from her car seat.

We found she made a most excellent caddy, though...

James pretty much lost interest after the first two holes.  Scott and I spent the rest of the time taking turns putting and keeping James out of the water hazards.  Fun fun!