first friday in june links

i'm on day 2 of solo parenting with jamie in mbale until monday. it's going pretty well so far.
i think it helps that the boys {and i!} have been sleeping well. thank you, Jesus!
this morning noah was up early and shortly thereafter jude was, too. they played for a bit and then we all got dressed and i made those banana muffins i've been craving while the boys watched noah's birthday videos {i asked friends and family to send videos to noah wishing him a happy birthday last october and he still loves watching them. so thank you to those who sent them!} and ate yogurt while they waited for the muffins to finish baking.
then noah proceeded to eat three muffins.
seriously. he's already eating me out of house and home. it's a good thing i doubled the batch.

potty training with jude is going so well! we go on outings with him in underpants and he lets me know when he needs to go. if we're at home, he'll run to the bathroom and go on his own. yesterday he peed standing up. i'm one proud mama. thankful this has been a low-stress undertaking.

jude had a blast wearing water wings while we were in jinja. my little water babies.

here are your weekend links!

recently i have a love-hate relationship with LEGO. noah loves to dump it out, but getting him to clean it up is sometimes like torture. this morning it wasn't so bad, but last night? brutal. and the teensy, tiny, itty bitty pieces? that's going to be trouble when baby b is born and crawling around. anyway, i have a feeling it's just going to be part of our lives for the next oh, 10 years or so. more? yikes. anyway, i love this LEGO birthday party for a 6 year old. 

and i am so making this popcorn. sweet and salty? you had me at hello.

and it's june 1st! crazy how fast time is just flying by. i love this website. there are "ways to play" for each month of the year. this is from last june, but it's a great list and you can download the list from each month.

i'm totally crushing on chevrons. and picnics? who doesn't love a picnic? combine the two and it's a beautiful thing.

101 spring freezer meals. 'nuff said. {this list is AWESOME.}

this blog post. it's so tragic that things like this happen all the time here in uganda and in other countries in africa. i am facebook friends with keren and she is fighting for justice for women and families here in uganda and for cihldren to stop being taken from families and placed up for adoption or other heart-breaking situations. please check it out. let's all get educated about what's really happening behind the scenes of adoption.

my mother's feet

thursday we celebrated mother's day with my mom and family.
jamie sweetly gave me a card as well from him and the boys and out fell a gift certificate for a pedicure for me for friday morning.
such a sweet surprise and extremely thoughtful as we're going to south carolina {and of course i want pretty toes for the warmer weather}!

my first ever pedicure was part of the bridal package i got for my wedding. it was heaven.
and thus i was introduced to one of the most wonderful pampering experiences known to woman {and some men} - the pedi.

i have since had many more pedis {but i could definitely have used more!} but none have compared to that first pedi {it lasted around 1.5hrs!}. still, i love a good pedicure. it's just so relaxing.

today it struck me though, as i took the "after picture" that my mom gave me so many things; my sense of creativity, my sense of wrong and right and the confidence to stand up for what i believe in, my desire to host {and do it well}, my cooking and baking skills, so many mothering "instincts" and ideas, but she also gave me her feet.
because when i look at this picture, that's all i can see.
it just goes to show you that you don't have to have similar genetics to leave a legacy to your children. because while it's kinda neat to point to my feet and say, i have my mother's feet, it`s what my mother taught me that points to her mothering and continues to live on in me and my children.
not our feet.

three

today i watched my friend suzanne's son, jacob for a couple of hours.

jamie commented to me,

three isn't so hard. we could totally do three. 

(my evil plan is working...)

thoughts about lent

I didn't grow up practicing or participating or even really knowing about Lent. 
I'm not sure when I heard about it, but for the past few years I've started to look more into it and sometimes I give something up - or at least attempt to. 
For some reason this year my heart has been inclined toward Lent; to make it count, to prepare my heart and focus on Jesus and the suffering he took on for me. 
Upon doing some more research I found that there is more to Lent than just "giving something up". Wikipedia says that "there are three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigour during Lent; prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbour)."

Recently the pastor at our church spoke about the discipline of fasting and how it's a gift to us as Christians to practice this and rely on the Holy Spirit. It's something that's assumed of us as Christians (Matthew 6:16 says "when you fast..." not if, but when.) and it's something that Jesus himself did. I don't regularly fast, but I'm seriously considering making it a part of my life whether on a monthly or seasonal basis, I'm not sure yet. But it's something I felt the Holy Spirit saying to me, "Listen to this. Pray and seek me on this.". And so I'm going to. 

According to Wikipedia, justice (referring back to Wikipedia's definition of Lent) is the concept of moral rightness based on some form of ethics or law and that punishment occurs when there is a breach of those ethics. 
Romans 3:28 says that we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law so I know that I have already been justified, but I do like the idea of focusing on God, myself and my neighbour in a way that is more purposeful and deliberate.
So with all that, here is what I'm aiming for during this time of Lent.


I'm giving up sugar - nothing like giving up all breads or not eating fruit, but candy, sweets, desserts, sugary cereals or other sugary breakfast items will be what I'm focusing on fasting from.
I also really want to focus on my bible reading plan: for slackers and shirkers - I've been coming and going with it and I really want to make a concerted effort to stick with it, rely on God and seek him during this time for my contentment and fulfillment.
I want to be in prayer for specific things: 
1. God's will and plan for our family as it relates to expanding it. We're not there yet, but it's something I continue to think and dream about on a daily basis. I want to be at peace with whatever He has in store for us. 
2. the Orphan crisis and my/our role in it. 
3. my husband and my children. Especially for this next transition and phase in our lives. 
4. specifically for Noah and how incredibly strong-willed he is. how to teach and instruct him. for wisdom to take the necessary steps to guide him and to know what those steps are and for the Holy Spirit to bind the spirit of defiance and stubbornness in him but without breaking his spirit.


As for "almsgiving", I'm still not sure exactly where or what God would have me do during the next 40 days (Lent starts this Wednesday) but I think my eyes will be open and I will be praying for opportunities and I know God is always waiting to present us with opportunities to be His eyes and ears, his hands and feet and to speak words of Love and Truth into peoples' lives if we are only willing to be open and step out in faith.