Romans 7

In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul writes, "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate." and later, "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.."
He's referring to the war of the two natures within us -the Law of God (or Spirit), and the flesh. I feel this battle every day, as I know who I desire to be in Christ, and yet it's so HARD to actually exercise self-discipline and DO (or not do) certain things.

But Jude is feeling the battle, this week...and it's making all the more poignant for me. He said a couple days ago, "Mommy, I know it's bad to do naughty things...and I don't know why I do naughty things!" and he also said on Wednesday, "I just don't know why I disobeyed Opa! I don't want to disobey."

Wow! I am glad he's listening to his conscience, and that he's seeing his inability to be righteous on his own. Maybe his heart will soon see his need for a Savior who loves him, forgives him, and gives him strength to do the good he wants to do.

Isn't it amazing that the truth of the Bible practically flows out of his three-year-old heart? He knows the truth about his nature. It reminds me of the truth about mine. Oh, how we need His grace....I am so thankful He loves us, and offers His forgiveness when we fail.

Do I have to admit it?

There's a cardboard spaceship in my living room,
A stool in each bathroom, and locks on my cupboards.
In the ceiling fan dwells a tangled grocery store balloon.
Next to our couch: baseball bats and swords...

There are blue Crocks in the dishwasher,
There's a rainbow of chalk on the front walk,
My makeup is war paint, dishtowels: burp rags
The window: a yogurt finger-painting masterpiece.

In my stereo: Veggie Tales. On my Netflix: Thomas.
I am seriously considering a swimsuit with a skirt.
I am an expert on the playgrounds in my town.
I know how different brands of diapers"fit."

My room, once a romantic retreat, is headquarters of
a massive laundry processing enterprise.
I have Costco-sized goldfish and fruit leather boxes in the pantry.
I think I am officially....a mom?

(Of course I love every minute of it...I just had a moment of realization.)

Cute

Owies...

Today Jude started crying when he bit his tongue while playing. I ran over to see if he was ok.

He stuck his tongue out and said, "Kith it, Mamma, it hurths."

Hmm.....

Spring Break!

Wow, as I was getting ready to post this, I saw our blog has one whole follower. I'm not sure whether I should be depressed, or thankful to that one person for bothering to follow my infrequent, lackluster blog....

Anyway, here are some pictures from the last month. A month ago yesterday, Greta started solid food:


She is now liking to eat, although she still has no teeth to help her out.



Though she's been crawling backward, she figured out how to move forward on Saturday. It's been fun, but I forgot how much trouble babies can get into when they crawl. The worst part is, Jude is another variable I hadn't thought about. Today he let the dogs tear up a toilet paper roll (a favorite spectator sport of his) and Greta ate some before I got it all cleaned up. Guess you don't need teeth for cardboard!

We had spring break last week. We went camping (pics below), and had a fun adventure. A.J. (Stevi's brother) and Alisa (Troy's sister) and Haddie (our neice) came along. I forgot Jude's entire suitcase because in his effort to help, he wheeled it away from the top of the stairs where it was waiting to be loaded in the car, and leaned it against the wall in his room. So tidy....Luckily there was a Walmart nearby where we camped.

Tent camping with a baby isn't easy, but we had fun. At least we had some quality snuggle time in my sleeping bag for two long nights....you don't really sleep anyway while camping, right?

Troy was sick the whole break, in fact he had a fever for about four days, and part of our camping trip. His birthday (St. Patty's day) was sad too...he didn't even eat his special birthday breakfast.

He's doing better now, just in time to go back to work =) Poor guy.

And to top it all off, Gonzaga lost to BYU. Hopefully summer break will be better for him...

A.J. and me at the top of our hike...

The camping gang in a hollow tree.

Best picture of 2011 so far....Haddie found a pair of Jude's new wal-mart underpants in the tent...they paired perfectly with her blue leggings for a fresh new spring (Wonder Woman) look.

Jude and Haddie sharing the one kids' chair.

Jude loved the blow-up kayak we borrowed from Opa. This was one of Troy's good moments...

Troy, Greta, Haddie and Alisa at the top of our hike. It was a major hike for the kids. You can tell...

Christian Mama's Guide

So my sister wrote a book about pregnancy that released last week. From what I understand, it's pretty legit. If you know someone who is pregnant, or just likes to read about being pregnant, pick up a copy!

Greta is on the move...sort of

Greta can now (slowly) skooch herself about. She didn't move much in this video, but it will give you a general idea of her progress.