Bye-Bye paci

Well, the boys are back in town!!! And oh, how we missed them. They were so so so so SO excited to be home and we were too! 

 One thing that didn't make it back from New Albany {much to our delight} was the "Ba-pee" a.k.a. the pacifier. Mia (my m.i.l.) kept giving Rob updates on how Luke didn't have it all day, then he didn't have it during his nap, THEN he didn't have it ALL. NIGHT. LONG. WHAT?!?!!??! Well, this went on from Wednesday to Saturday and the first thing Luke said when he walked in the door to our house was "Ba-pee." I looked at Rob and Rob looked and me and we were like "Nope--can't do it!" He said, "LUKE, let's go find your puppy!"...changed the subject. Well, here we are Monday and we've been "paci-free" for almost a week! 

Thank you Mia -- I don't think we could've ever done it without you

...now can you come and potty-train him too (preferably in the next 6 months)!

In Garden News...

WOW at the produce {and the Zinnias}!!! We have gorgeous squash, cucumbers, peppers, and my zinnias are blooming beautifully. We MAY even have some tomatoes eventually. This week we will be harvesting peas and butterbeans {thankfully our wonderful neighbor, Will, has his own pea-sheller}. Will is going to make everyone pepper sauce and I am going to attempt to make pickles and this wonderful squash casserole recipe (if you have never been to this blog -- GO now -- it's one of my favs) since our house is now nice and cool again.  

Here is Reed a few Saturday's ago after riding his tractor out to the garden!

My summer loves -- zinnias!

The "harvest" in the tractor bucket

Corn -- which will be ready to pick this weekend.

Peas from a few weeks ago -- now they look very purple!

Pea flower

Peppers (which I HATE but all the boys absolutely L-O-V-E)

...and a little update on the baby birds. Well, they aren't baby birds anymore and as you can see on the look on this BBs face, he is ready to "fly the coop." A few days ago, they were flying around the garage and the mother bird was shepherding them out the door. Anyway, they are gone now and I am going to try to use the bird's nest as decoration somewhere in the house -- am I weird or what for wanting to do that?It is, however, very beautiful and I love that that mama bird made it and "nested" her babies to bird "adulthood" there!

And one last thing -- this is the BBs new fav (thanks Emily McClain) -- Baby Pools. You can find us here just about every afternoon after school
(except most of the time the BBs are necked)!

The BBs are back to North MS for the rest of the week and I will miss them so -- but Rob and I have a LARGE project to tend to...(cue the nightmare-ish music) -- Our GARAGE!!!
Will have to have a separate post on the progress!

Father's Day

The father of a righteous man has great joy;
he who has a wise son delights in him. 

Proverbs 23:24

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; 

instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. 

Ephesians 6:4

The above picture is
Four Generations:
Ronnie O'Neal Yates, Roy O'Neal Yates, 
Robbie O'Neal Yates, Reed O'Neal Yates, and Luke Thomas Yates

After spending a lovely and relaxing Father's Day weekend in North Mississippi, we came home to NO AIR at our house -- talk about H-O-T! I don't know how people lived before air conditioning -- I guess their bodies were more acclimated to the heat! We've been staying at my mother's down the street and it's been kinda fun! 

We did have a wonderful weekend though, and here are some pics from our weekend:

 This is the view in Rob's parents back yard -- isn't it beautiful!

My big "little" boy!

 Reed let's me know he's "almost 4" every day!

 And in honor of the World Cup, these boys had their own soccer game where daddy got in on some of the action!

Soccer Star?!

Things of this World

Rob and I went to Bible Study Sunday night and I got slapped in the face. I can become obsessed with THINGS -- THINGS of this world -- and it is horrible! TV shows that clutter my mind with garbage, silly drama, and stuff that I really don't have time to worry about. We touched on a verse, 1 John 2:15, which reads,  

 "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you." 

Well, then we went to the evening church service where Matthew Clark
(who grew up in our church AND who is music director at The Orchard in Oxford) and his friend Katie Heckel (on staff at Delta State's Wesley Foundation) shared wonderful music they had written (I was moved to tears and am about to download her CD). Katie shared her story of visiting and helping raise funds for the Rafiki Orphanage in Ghana. Children (orphans) in this country are sold into slavery at very young ages and beaten nightly for things like not setting a table correctly. 
All I have to say is, I should be ashamed for ever thinking I need one stupid THING!!  
Help me Lord!!


Well, I thought about myself. I am giving up all those horrible shows (esp. everything with the words "Real Housewives" -- these women are horrible to each other), and using that time to spend praying and studying God's word. Our Sunday School teacher, Claire, gave us a folder several months ago teaching us to pray scripture over our children over 44 days and repeat it. I started this and never finished. I'm starting over! REVELATION -- how much more important is it for us to pray for our children and others we know need prayer, than to watch garbage on TV. And what a blessing knowing that I didn't waste hours (upon hours, upon hours) filling my mind with "the things of this world" and I spent it with God, praying for my personal relationship with Christ, my children, my husband, and anyone/anything else who needs it.





Needless to say, I've been convicted -- and I'm praying for endurance, faith (of a mustard seed can move mountains you know) to make me aware of Christ in my life at every moment!

Pa Pane Pa-tee -- LUKE IS TWO!!!!

We had Luke's second birthday party over the long Memorial Day weekend and had so much fun. It was an airplane party (or as Luke says, "Pa-pane pa-tee"). We enjoyed being with family and friends. I have never seen a child so tickled when we sang "Happy Birthday to You" -- he was so cute. Each time over the weekend we ate cake, Luke started singing "Happy Birthday" again, so we would sing the whole thing with him. Such a sweet baby boy -- who, by the way, isn't a baby anymore. He is saying everything!!! 
Here are some pics:

The Cake

Beginning the obsession with the cake 

(this child could not get enough of looking at, eating, 
mashing, and talking about this cake...and I can see why!)

Reed (love the hat) and Haley also loved it!

Presents!!!!

This little "rody" horse was the hit of the party -- Luke loved it and it is so cute!



In other news, we "harvested" our first "crop" from the garden -- squash!! Rob immediately sliced them and put them on the grill and they were wonderful! Will have tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers soon! 

 TOMATOES!!!!!!!

...and soon to be Zinnias -- so so so so so so excited!!!

...baby birds

As I was washing the mounds (and mounds) of clothes we brought home from the beach, I noticed a little straw peeking out from a pile of t-shirts on the shelf above our washing machine (our house is circa 1951, so our "laundry room" is in a corner of our garage).

 As I glanced a little closer I saw some feathers, and two little bitty eyes. Apparently a little mama bird flew in and built a nest in my t-shirt rag pile {we have a window pane missing from the garage door -- I know, it's terrible, but it's just a pain in the you know what to try to get fixed, which is how the bird flew in}. The next night the mama bird must have been having a little "girls night out". Rob got up there and looked and there were 4 speckled eggs in the nest.

 

 Aren't they pretty!?
 

Proud mama bird guarding the nest

Baby birds are now here...

They are cute -- just like I would have imagined...
just hope they  make it out of the garage!

And speaking of baby birds, we'll be adding a baby bird to our nest in early January of 2011!! 

 Rob and I are scared, thrilled, shocked, excited, and blessed beyond words! 
All Reed wants is a baby sister to take care of and 
Luke is oblivious but I'm sure will love it too!


"Every good and perfect gift is from above" James 1:17