recently i'm... [32?]

Slacking:

Oh dear. I meant to do individual posts about my brother's wedding, Bo's birthday,

his birthday party, our new kitchen colors, etc... but I'm just a slacker!

Blogging isn't much of a priority in my life these days. 

I realized that I've had a blog for 10 years now.

TEN YEARS, people. Granted, not this particular blog. My first "blog" was a Livejournal...

and my moniker was "Packt_Sardine" ... 

because I was eighteen years old and a Radiohead reference was like, the coolest thing, 

and finding obscure music was clearly the most important thing in life.

Oy.

Anyway, then I started a blog for my experience at Oxford, 

and then I started this ole blog to update western NY fam & friends on our life in Michigan,

and now I'm supposed to be doing the same for fam & friends in Michigan.

Public self-absorption for a decade. Woo-hoo!

ANYWAY.

THAT was a tangent.

Celebrating:

LOTS of big celebrations this season!

[1]

Robert & Bailey's wedding was beautiful. BEAUTIFUL.

Such a sweet couple, and the wedding reflected them in the most perfect way.

All of these pictures are stolen from various people on Facebook - thanks, friends & fam!

My brother branded the bottom of his cowboy boots, which showed when they kneeled at the altar!

I mean... just perfect, right?!

[2] 

Bo's 2nd birthday!

I started a birthday post to him and never finished it. Horrible!

The day of his birthday was beautiful & I tried to do a photoshoot with him,

but he wasn't really feeling it.

Much to my delight, Bo showed no hesitation with his birthday cake this year.

Then we had a tractor birthday party for him over the weekend.

Even though it was rainy and cold, we had a great time!

Enjoying:

Our new kitchen colors! (Here you go, Sara!)

Before:

After!

Reading:

The Meaning of Marriage, by Tim Keller. Awesome, awesome.

Loving:

Autumn in western New York. 

the bills make me wanna... shout.

This past Sunday, my dad treated my sisters & me and took us to the Bills' season opener!

Dad & I, getting pumped for the game:

This was my 2nd Bills game. 

The last game I went to, the Bills were beat the much-hated Dallas Cowboys... 10-7...

And the stadium was still called "Rich Stadium"...

... And my favorite player, Bruce Smith, was still playing. 

Soooo yeah - it had been awhile.

It was a beautiful afternoon with amazing company.

And pretty decent seats - thanks, Dad!

And although the outcome of the game made us do this:

We still had an awesome time together.

And we're foolishly cautiously optimistic about the Bills this year... 

Although other terms, such as "in denial" or "perpetually masochistic" are also applicable.

an apple afternoon

 ::1:: 

apple orchards. arguably the best place to be in autumn.

 ::2:: 

v & her boys

::3::

whatcha got there?

 ::4::

spoils a'plenty.

 ::5::

goofy guys 

 ::5::

so much love. kade isn't convinced.

 ::6::

"oooh." - watching tractors.

 ::7::

sweet, silly boys

::8::

before & after

three is a magic number.

September 3, 2012 - Our sweet boy was put in our arms forever.

And life since that moment has been sweeter and harder than I could ever imagine.

I've talked to several girl friends & mentioned that it seems like Bo has always been with us.

Which isn't to say I can't remember life before him. The fun of carefree marriage, just the 2 of us.

But I just had no idea the immense joy that a tiny bean could bring to our life.

Yes. There are hard moments. Times when I wonder how that same sweet bean could be 

so incredibly aggravating. Times I am so disappointed in myself for my lack of patience.

My lack of compassion. My lack of understanding. My failures as a parent.

These past 2 weeks especially have felt tedious, to be totally honest.

I just read Jen Hatmaker's blog today and read this quote:

"We are not capable of healing our kids' bodies and hearts and minds, but Jesus is.

We can trust him with our little families, because He is a good God and He is ever for us."

That's a lesson I've been learning lately. The beauty of the Gospel.

How I need to remind myself daily of its truths. 

I will never be a perfect mother. 

Our family will never be perfect. 

But we have a perfect Savior.

And there's nothing more beautiful than that.

And I have been given such an amazing gift in my husband and my son.

And I just praise God for them.

For the tiny moments of each day.

The triumphs. The trials.

The quiet. The chaos.

My precious, naughty, sweet, stubborn, remarkable boy.

And our family of three for one year.