Easter Weekend

What a beautiful weekend we had to celebrate Easter! It was a wonderful weekend of fun and fellowship with family and friends, with probably not enough time spent reflecting on how very undeserving I am of the gift Christ has given me.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we consider him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6

I feel like I have tons of pictures to share from the weekend, but none from Supper Club/Tunmore baby shower on Friday night...and none of us as a family in our Easter finest on Sunday morning! In fact, I have no pictures of myself from the entire weekend. I promise I was there! I need to start handing off my camera...

Saturday morning our church had a big egg hunt for the children...













These three are in the same Sunday School class.



Thankfully they have a wonderful teacher that they absolutely adore. Here is Mason with his much beloved Ms. Ginny...



Saturday was also mine and Graem's 6th anniversary! I know, SIX years. Time flies when you're having fun! :) We put the boys to bed early on Saturday night and I cooked a gourmet meal that I found in one of my Christmas with Southern Living books (I'm pretty sure its the 2001 edition).

I was flipping through trying to find the recipe for the dish I was bringing for Easter dinner when I came across a recipe for Fig Glazed Quail. Hmmm...we just happened to have some quail in the freezer from one of Graem's hunting trips. I have never cooked quail but I always trust SL to come up with something tasty. Why not? They recommended accompanying recipes of Bacon and Pecan Dressing and Skillet Red Cabbage.

So I gave it a shot...and about 3.5 hours later dinner was served! Note to self -- don't try THREE new recipes all at once. My timing was off and the "fig glaze" had about 32 steps to reach the finished product. No doubt, it was all delicious! But...have you ever eaten quail? It was kind of like eating chicken wings...messy! Not exactly the elegant dinner I had in mind. It was delicious nonetheless and it was fun to try some new recipes to enjoy with my sweetie!

Moving right along...on Easter morning the bunny made a quick stop to fill up the baskets and leave some beach chairs...and now that I'm looking back through my pictures I'm really annoyed with myself because for months I have been wanting an external flash for my camera so that I won't have pesky shadows in my inside pictures. I got the flash for my birthday, over a month ago, and I still haven't learned to use it. I'll get on that pronto!











I'm just realizing that it might appear that we don't fully dress our children in pajamas...in last year's Easter morning post, Mason wasn't wearing pajama bottoms, just underwear...and in this year's post, Roper is sans shirt. Oops!

After a beautiful church service with very special music and a great message, we headed over to Graem's Aunt Linda's for a feast and more egg hunting. The Roper clan did not get together this year, and Graem's family was so sweet to invite my parents to join us. It is unusual to be able to spend time with both sets of parents on a holiday, so this was quite a treat for us.



























One of my favorite things about blogging is looking back at old posts...

Check out Mason hunting eggs in 2009. And Easter Sunday 2009. Here is Easter Sunday 2010.

Raising Men

I'll start this post with a confession...I don't like to read parenting books. Being the mother of two young children is a consuming job, so when I make time to read I prefer novels.



When Mason was an infant, I read James Dobson's "Bringing Up Boys." I knew it was a good one (all of his are)...but it didn't really sink in. At that point I was still under the impression that I had a little angel that could do no wrong on my hands. It didn't take long to learn the true meaning of original sin...and here I am today with a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old that reinforce that meaning every single day!



I'm re-reading "Boys" and I'm so glad. After all, the subtitle is "Practical advice and encouragement for those shaping the next generation of men." Advice and encouragement? Yes, please!



Often I hear from other mothers, "You are so lucky to have boys -- they are so much easier than girls." What??? I have zero experience raising a girl...but maybe they haven't been around my boys...these boys are what John Rosemond calls "little aggressive machines." They are fearless. Roper has learned to jump (which most little girls can't do until they are about 3) -- and he wants to jump off anything and everything. He also has learned to spit (do little girls ever learn this?) -- and he wants to spit on anything and everything.



Don't get me wrong -- they can be very sweet. Roper is just starting to put words together, and last night after we said prayers, he and Mason hugged and kissed goodnight and Ro said "Love you." Melt my heart. They also crack me up on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis.



All of that is to say that it brought me a great deal of comfort and satisfaction when I read on page 2 of the book:
"Boys are usually tougher to raise than their sisters are. Girls can be difficult to handle too, but there is something especially challenging about boys. Although individual temperaments vary, boys are designed to be more assertive (check), audacious (double check), and excitable (check) than girls are."



And on page 4:
"One of the scariest aspects of raising boys is their tendency to risk life and limb for no good reason. It begins very early. If a toddler can climb on it, he will jump off of it {smile}. He careens out of control toward tables, tubs, pools, steps, trees, and streets. He will eat anything but food and loves to play in the toilet. He makes "guns" out of cucumbers or toothbrushes and likes digging around in drawers, pill bottles, and Mom's purse. And just hope he doesn't get his grubby little hands on a tube of lipstick {big smile}. A boy harasses grumpy dogs and picks up kitties by their ears. His mom has to watch him every minute to keep him from killing himself. He loves to throw rocks, play with fire, and shatter glass. He also gets great pleasure out of irritating his brothers and sisters, his mother, his teachers, and other children. As he gets older, he is drawn to everything dangerous -- skateboards, rock climbing, hang gliding, motorcycles, and mountain bikes. At about sixteen, he and his buddies begin driving around town like kamikaze pilots on sake. It's a wonder any of them survive."



Wow. That sounds daunting! Parenting is h-a-r-d, whether you have boys or girls. How easy it is to become obsessed with controlling their little lives -- from feeding them "all organic" to restricting their tv time to choosing their schools to making sure they are involved in sports but not too involved...oh the list goes on. The thing I love about this book is that it is "practical and encouraging" -- it focuses on what matters. It also provides the reasons why boys are the way they are...why God made them to be assertive, audacious and excitable.



My mother-in-law, who raised two boys men of her own, tells me all the time that Mason's temperament is so much like Graem's was as a boy. I know my in-laws had some tough and trying times as the parents of GMC Sr...but his assertiveness/audaciousness/excitability/independence paid off as an adult. What better reward can you ask for? One day these rambunctious little boys will be men that will make me proud...and I can tell their wives, "You know, Mason and Roper were just like that as little boys."

A Sweet Picture

A Wedding

We attended the wedding of a friend of mine from home over the weekend, and she was so sweet to invite the boys. This was their first wedding, and they had a great time.

Mason thought the "M" on the top of the cake meant it was just for him. :)







As the mother of two boys, it's hard to get overly excited about children's clothing. I love to buy dresses for friends of mine with girls...but one thing that I absolutely love on a little boy are these saddle oxfords. Several people at the wedding asked me where I found them...I picked them up at a consignment sale a few years ago. Mason wore them, and I'm so happy that they now fit Roper. So cute!



On the way home, I had to snap a picture of my baby sleeping...



and a picture of my green-loving boy. Obsessed? I think so! Green shirt (not my original choice for him to wear...he wanted to wear his John Deere t-shirt, we compromised with this green shirt), green balloon, sippy cup with a green top, Mr. Frog -- the lovey he's had since he was a baby -- also green, and green silly bands.

Zoo, Take 2

We have been making the most of our zoo membership lately. Another beautiful Friday morning, another zoo outing...







I had to snag the picture of Tripp-man from Tara's blog...what a sweet little thing...I think he loves the zoo as much as the bigger children!



This little 4-month-old baboon was so energetic and entertaining, and not much older than Tripp! I almost feel like I could have one of these as a pet...except that they are much cuter as babies {I guess that's true for most of us}.









The boys get their choice of riding the train ($2 each) OR riding the pony ($5 each). Last time, it was the train; this time, the pony. I have a hard time shelling out ten bucks for a pony ride that lasts 30 seconds when they could ride a horse at my parent's house...but it makes for a cute picture and Roper was having a fit. I know I've mentioned before how vast the differences are between my boys...Mason marches right up and climbs on the pony {he is definitely my independent one -- not scared of a thing}. Roper is so excited about the pony, but at the last minute starts clinging to me and won't sit on the saddle. And I'm stuck with $5 worth of zoo coins.



After checking out more animals we hit up the playground...









...the playground is right next to a climbing wall. When I tell you Mason isn't scared of a thing, I mean it. He wanted so badly to go up the climbing wall. He stood and watched the climbers and asked repeatedly to go up. Too bad he is still a few pounds shy of the 40-lb minimum.



Also within sight of the playground is the carousel...and since I had $5 worth of unspent zoo coins it was an easy sell and a good distraction from the climbing wall. Again, Roper was excited to go on the carousel but started clinging to me when I tried to put him on one of the animals.

Check it out...all eyes looking at the camera + smiles -- that doesn't happen often!





I know the days of cool mornings with low humidity will be gone before we know it...it's still early April so I'm thinking we have a hot summer ahead!

Monday Morning Humor

We all need a reason for a laugh on Monday morning, right?

Friday afternoon, my mother came down to share her green thumb and help me plant a few things in my flower beds and flower pots.

We were re-planting some pots while Mason entertained himself {Roper was napping -- Mason has been on a nap strike lately -- another subject altogether}. At one point Mason got into my mom's car {the keys weren't in it} on a hunt for chewing gum. We noticed he had been quiet for a few minutes -- a red flag that he is getting into mischief!

Me: "Mason, what are you doing?"
Mason: "Nothing, Mama. I'm just putting on some of Bebe's chapstick."

Pause. A minute or two passes.

Mother: "Brantley, there's not any chapstick in my car."
Me: "Uh oh."