a life beyond running shoes.

took treats to peanut's class today. meringue ghosts with sprinkles for eyes....recipe found on myrecipes.com . we had fun making them. we opted out of the mini chocolate chips for eyes because we didn't have them..... we did have sprinkles. i think his class liked them....only three came home in the tuperware. we also carved our pumpkin tonight.....okay daddy carved the pumpkin. tomorrow....costumes!!! parade!!!! candy!!!! we enjoy halloween.......

my husband is going through this book with the leadership team at church. because i am not able to go to the meetings, i have been trying to read it along with the group.. i have been trying to tackle a couple of chapters a week and finally finished. the purpose is to present our leadership with a vision to be a neighborhood church that actually reflects the neighborhood we live in.....which is a multi-ethnic neighborhood. it is an excellent read. deymaz is bold. using the church in acts as his example, he would argue that there is a biblical mandate to be multi-ethnic and that we as an american church culture have gotten too comfortable being homogeneous.... that we have allowed the church to be the last place where segregation is acceptable and tolerated. we like to worship with people that worship like us. he argues that the primary purpose of building such churches isn’t racial reconciliation, but rather the reconciliation of men and women with God. he challenges the idea that t...

she can crawl... just about a week and a half ago she decided she was tired of sitting still. she took her time but now can get just about anywhere she needs to. she can also get into all of her brother's things. she is driving them crazy. i love it! we get to have lots of conversations about a kind heart. we have very little kindness when she grabs uno cards or knocks over the train tracks or grabs books or takes race cars or......

i know that we really have not spent much time together in the last year. and actually the last couple of years we have really been on again and off again. you have been very patient. you have waited.... on the side-lines. you have been faithful. i have missed you. no, really..... i have. it was nice to spend tim e with you the other day. well.....okay, that is not true. it was painful to spend time together. we are awkward. we just don't have the same rhythm anymore. we are out of sync. i think this will take some time. we'll get back there. i think. i hope. it just takes time....right? we've been here before. stating all over. starting from the beginning. it takes time to get comfortable. it takes time to find our pace. it takes time to settle back in to it. we have to take it slow, breath and relax. we are old friends. easy strides. we'll get there. i have to be patient with myself..... i have really missed you. i think...... ps. i spent time with your close...

with the idea of not using a flash. watching my friend, made in brooklyn , take some really beautiful shots, i decided to try my hand. while i am not her in photographic skills or baking skills...... i made our first apple pie of the season. yum. with apples we picked. i love the north east. we've come a long way in two years....two years ago i threw out my first attempt at home-made apple pie. version #2 of that year was not much better.... this was much better.

after 480 pages..... i called it quits. (with another 300 to go) i couldn't do it. this was my latest book club book. i was committed. quick fold laundry, read book. saute onion, read book. kids to sleep, read book. went to the discussion..... got the idea. i am not finishing. i enjoyed it. liked it even....... it was just long. and i can't really do long right now. so, i recommend it......with full knowledge that it is a beast to get through but really quite good with witty humor, sarcasm, and charm. perhaps one day, when i do not have three children four and under, i will pick this back up. i said the same thing about the brothers karamozov ..... perhaps.

we had some fun during lunch with just ourselves. we like being us....some days. translation: all the single ladies, all the single ladies. (yes, he is singing beyonce)

we just moved it.... out of the center of our living room. we tucked it upstairs in the multi-purpose room...... office (not really, but used to be), baby room (hopefully not much longer when she joins her brothers in the kid room), guest room, and now entertainment room...... it is an attempt to de-focalized our life from this thing. we'll see.... that couch ain't all that comfy..... but it makes a bed.

in union square. fun in the old playground.... anxiously awaiting the opening of the new one. yummy sweet potatoes (not our baby - the real ones you cook). yummy vegan chocolate chip cookies from whole foods. and still in time for school. sweet pea's first time in a swing... i think. she was nothing but giggles as little bit got to swing her. i love the view of the buildings in the back.... urban kids.

to get a few things on the wall..... i've been saving these book covers since peanuts was little. i finally was able to put them on the wall. we love it. and our chronicles of narnia painting..... also, these are the boys one year photos and sweet pea's six month. yeah, sears! and can anyone tell me what is missing from this next photo. now it would help if you have been to our house...... but something is missing from our living room.

first, the boys played for almost half an hour together with almost no screams. WOW!!! there was sharing, creativity, helping, and kindness. then it all feel apart..... but i'll take half an hour! second, my baby brother and his wife had their first baby on sunday morning just before 6am. it is pretty amazing to think of him as a father.... i still picture him getting his driver's license. he is 28. i'm silly. i think they are going to be great parents, i just have a hard time realizing that it means that i am not 21 anymore..... big surprise but i kind of feel that old in my head.... or maybe 25. definitely not 35.... but i am. mathew (no middle name yet) adams. 8 pounds. 19 inches. i can't wait to hold him...... one day.

so my whole family has been sick. i have been on nurse duty and so my husband (who was up all night himself) watched a movie with the boys for me to escape for a few minutes yesterday. i took sweet pea to run a few errands that are easier with only one kiddo.... post office, dry cleaners, grocery, etc. in the car i have a new cd..... i was struck my one song yesterday. call it exhaustion mixed with sorrow but i was encouraged...... "I know the words of life to come are true But sometimes they feel like salt upon the wound When I’m asking in these moments where are you Where are you? Sometimes it's like Lazarus, You come to roll the stone away And watch him walk back out alive Sometimes its like my good friend Paul, breathless on the interstate Mother weeping at his side Either way it's something I will never understand But I trust enough to take you at your word So I believe though its hard sometimes You are the resurrection and the life" -jill phillips, "re...

well.... i faced a dilemma that continued my induction into the new club i am now a member.... i have a school-aged-kid.... it is a new parenting club. granted, we have been taking baby steps as he only goes 2.5 hours a day. but..... this week the question arose of whether or not to send him to school even though he claimed that he didn't feel well. do i take him at his word or force him to go? is this a ploy to get out of going to school? (we had two awesome drop offs in a row.... no tears, no holding onto the leg, no request to go home, no promises to take a nap) part of the issue is that the younger brother woke up in the night with what we refer to as "the throw-ups." do i take my chances he is not sick and send him. do i take my chances he is and keep him home. thinking through this......calling another mom..... i then realize he is laying on the floor in the middle of the kitchen. not on the couch, not on the carpet..... cold, hardwood floor. dilemma solve...

year two... this year we went with friends. it was a bit colder than we had anticipated.... note how red sweet pea's nose is. we also had the best cider donuts ever!!! and they weren't even warm. i can only imagine. now for making the apple pie - yum!

i am seven months old today. i tried yogurt for the first time. i didn't really like it. i have not decided that i want to crawl yet... but i think i might in the next couple of weeks. i think i will when i am motivated enough to get across the room. the only thing i like that much right now just might be my daddy. he really makes me smile. my mom is making my food these days. i think i prefer the jar stuff. she thinks i'll come around. she doens't realize i'm just as stubborn as my brothers. i weigh about 15 pounds. i am still on the petite side..... my brothers went and saw their first movie in the theater.... toy story in 3-d. we love halloween!

since my peanut is still home all morning long before going to pre-k in the afternoon, i have been attempting to structure our mornings a bit. it helps me and we are having a lot of fun. we have "mommy school," adventure (aka errands) morning, craft time, and baking time. i have also initiated a "chore" for each day that they are helping me with.... laundry (sorting based on colors), vacuuming (which they love), and cleaning the toilets (since they are the reason they are so nasty! yuck - boys!). one of the things we have really started with more intentionality is their bible verses.... here is week 1: "a soft answer turns away wrath." proverbs 16:1 "be strong and courageous. do not be frightened and do not be dismayed for the lord your god is with you wherever you go." joshua 1:9 (we were working on courage for school) we have also been working on catechism questions.... a question and answer learning tool to help kids learn about god ...

i read this book when my first child was not even one. i got the concepts, theology, overall principles. it was good stuff. now my child is 4.5, 2,5 and 6 months. it means something totally different to me now. it is still one of the best parenting books i have read. it is one that i highly recommend. it is one that most of my friends from church have read. it was good to re-read. to be reminding that i am the authority in my children's lives because god has made it so. that i am their guide, their shepherd.... not their dictator. it is my goal to have children that love jesus. being well-behaved just might be a bi-product of that but is most certainly not the main objective. it was good to be reminded some of the biblical perspectives on childrearing. why i am doing this. why i am doing it this way. why this is so hard. it was good. it was good for my soul.

in our house.... we love halloween. we love to dress up. we love candy corn. we love pumpkins. we love the weather. we love leaves. we love fall.