Fighting human injustice & poverty

God has been stirring my heart slowly over the past 3 years to take a closer look at ways I can be involved with fighting human injustice in this world. It's a heavy topic and there are many, many amazing organizations to get involved with. I'm still in prayer as to how God wants to use me exactly, long-term. As a stay-at-home-mom, I long to do more and am actively looking for ways to do just this. Some on-going causes that I've been involved with or that stir my heart include:

The Human Trafficking Project
ISanctuary
Love146
One Day's Wage
Not For Sale

A fantastic fair trade company I've purchased from: Trade as One

Is God stirring you? What are you doing? Would love to hear!

Leavin' on a jet plane

Tomorrow morning I leave for Orlando to visit my folks for the holiday weekend. And I'll be taking Curren with me. Alone. 31+ weeks pregnant and having a VERY active 16-month old on my lap should be an adventure to say the least. For once in my life, I'm basically packed before the morning of and it feels so good. I can't wait to be with my family and just enjoy some great downtime. Pray for the flight with C if you think about it. Maggie is very much looking forward to many days of daddy time and has been talking about it for awhile now--"Is today when you go to Florida?"

I think we're in for some memorable stories on both sides.

The Starbucks experience

My friend Casey wrote an excellent post on creating the Starbucks experience at home and for much-less than what they charge. Rather than share all her thoughts here, I figured you should check out her blog yourself and hopefully, in the process, you'll have a found a new blog to read often. She's awesome!

I love the blueberry oat bars Starbucks offers and Casey shared a copycat recipe from the wonderful Pioneer Woman herself. I made it this morning and it took all of 10 minutes to prepare. I used Trader Joe's Blackberry jam (instead of apricot) and let me tell you, I wanted to eat the whole pan.

I didn't.

But, I did eat alot. And I did share with our friends at the park today.

And I'm just sayin', but I think they taste MUCH better than Starbucks' version. Much. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's cup of coffee so I can eat more of this goodness.

Make yourself some.

And read Casey's fantastic post if you are a Starbucks lover, too.

little climber

This boy LOVES to climb. He climbs on chairs and on speakers and on to the couches and on top of the dining room table. At 16-months old, he amazes me with his dexterity and tenacity to accomplish something he's set out to do.

Take the high chairs at the McDonald's playground for example. He scaled them all by himself, using only the high chair itself (grainy nature of pictures due to iPhone camera, but I had to share these).

And, my, doesn't he look pleased with himself?! :)

friends

My friend Katie's 2 youngest kiddos are the same age as my kiddos. Lucy is a few months younger than Maggie and they get along famously! Levi is 2 months older to the day than Curren. We've enjoyed weekly swaps and playdates lately, especially enjoying the outdoors. We are so thankful for good friends!

The Help

A must, must read. Kathryn Stockett's first novel blew me away. Dealing with race relations in Mississippi in the 1960s, she touched something deep in my heart--my own ideas of what it must have looked like to live in a still-segregated society (not that long ago!) and how wrong I was. It's a book about overcoming these barriers, about friendship, and ultimately, about realizing how much alike we all are. Summing it up best are the author's favorite words: "We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I thought."

I absolutely loved it. I would give copies to all my friends if I could.

Anyone else read it?

Rorschach Test

Aron keeps saying, "Pancakes? The pancake post is still up." So, I guess I'm due for a new post.

I think it's been one of those fairly quiet weeks, where I haven't been sure what to write about, uploading any pics seems to be a bit of a hassle, or I DO have things to write about, but they are topics I need more set-aside time to write about--ongoing thoughts/struggles/wonderments on motherhood, the spiritual life, feeling lonely, the need for relationships, etc. But, overall, I've just enjoy a low-key week with my kiddos which has been so nice.

A bit of randomness here, but Maggie for quite some time likes to tell us what her poop looks like. The other day she announced, "It's a parade!" The best was at Christmas when she announced, "It looks like baby Jesus!" Oh. My. Gosh. Where does she get these things?! Hilarious!

Please tell me I am not the only parent who's child likes to announce what shapes they see in their bowel movements (don't worry, my posts aren't usually about such subject matter, but hey, it's part of being a parent, right?!).

I spared you a photo.

pancakes

It's been one of those weeks, well, really 2 of those weeks. Ironically, the 2 weeks before the previous 2 weeks were outstanding with my kiddos. They were just "on" and I was loving motherhood. Then, colds hit us last week and my kiddos got crabby and cranky and lost sleep and appetite. It's been a taxing time for me, especially with Maggie. She's just been emotionally needy on a new dimension. Trying to navigate emotional waters is a tough one. Needless to say, I start my day in prayer and pray throughout each day because man, I just feel like I'm running on empty by the end of the day.

Thank goodness for The Original Pancake House. And their flippin' amazing 49ers--3 crepe-like pancakes, as big as the plate and oh-so-buttery delicious. The 3 of us enjoyed them on Tuesday for lunch.

Yes, lunch at 1:30pm.

Again, just one of those weeks.

Swimming

For the past 2 months, Maggie has done swimming lessons at the home of Ms. Michelle, who's been teaching for over 7 years. If you live in the area, I HIGHLY recommend her. She is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Click here to visit her website. And many props to Megan for the recommendation! Maggie learned a ton in those 16 lessons and I am so grateful--she can float, jump in, swim to the other side of the pool, and kick. I felt we needed a break, as summer approaches, and thus, a new baby, too! So, I hope to go back in the fall. Curren and I also did a "Mommy and Me" with Michelle and this kid is just a natural in the water. Michelle was so stoked on him and couldn't believe how he would go under and not even flinch. I'm so proud of both of them!

Maggie jumping in

Maggie "choo-chooing" down the wall

Curren floating

curren swimming