An Anchor...

A blog friend shared this song on her blog this morning, and it is so beautiful. It speaks to me on many levels this morning, but what hit me is this:

Change is a part of life. A big part. Most changes are for good, some are not, but in every change I find a part of me wants to go back -- back to what was familiar, what was predictable -- no matter if I'm excited about the change ahead or not. It's like my soul is still searching for a constant amidst the changing.

What I am just beginning to fully realize is that the Lord longs to be that anchor. That 'hope and stay.' He IS my constant, unchanging God. I have known this to be true for many, many years but somehow it's becoming true in my heart now. Maybe a new level of meaning. At any rate, He's been impressing it on my heart for the past few months.

Inspiration found in the bridge, at about the 2:30 mark. Enjoy...

The Littles is Three...

Toben James....

You are now THREE years old! How has this happened? I feel like it was yesterday that you were this small. Now you're a rough-and-tumble, loud, silly, cuddly, messy, loud, 100% boy. 

We had a small party on your actual birthday this past Sunday, September 9th. Family and a few close friends came to your "monster splash"where we played on the inflatable water slide in the backyard, enjoyed cake, fruit, veggies, marshmallow pops, and amazingly good popcorn mix. Your family and friends know you well, as nearly each gift had something to do with super heroes -- specifically the Incredible Hulk (which your mama still has very mixed feelings about!).

Your other interests at this age are mostly based on whatever your older brothers are into, like Legos, pirates, Wii games, baseball, and Star Wars. However, you have a soft spot for anything with monkeys! 

You love to eat pizza, and often ask to go eat "at the pizza place" which is anywhere that serves pizza. You love frozen yogurt, cheese sticks, lasagna, and Goldfish. We are trying so hard to get you to eat more vegetables and a wider variety of fruits, but so far you're not thrilled with much. You'll eat a bite or two (sometimes) but that's about it. Hopefully you'll get there - we're not going to stop trying!

We haven't moved you into a 'big boy bed' yet, although we probably should have about a year ago! You started climbing out of your crib at about that time,and instead of biting the bullet and getting a full-sized mattress,your crazy mama forced you to learn how to climb out feet-first and put a child lock on the inside of your door so that you couldn't roam the house at night. This leads you to becoming our own personal alarm on mornings that we'd like to sleep in, as your loud voice gets amplified down your hallway to our room by you laying on the floor and hollering under the doorway that "Tobey's up! My sun's up! Mommy come get Tobey! Tobey out!"

The big boy bed will be here soon. (You know what this means, right? No more cribs in the house. Bittersweet!)

Totally NOT supposed to jump like this...but too funny not to share! (We did ask them repeatedly to not jump down the slide.) 

Toben, you pretty much always have a bruise on your forehead. You've had two black eyes this summer. You are one of the most enthusiastic and energetic little guys ever, and often that enthusiasm lands you on something like a coffee table. One of these days we pray that your coordination catches up to the rest of you!

We love you to the moon and back, Littles. You've added a dimension to our family that we didn't know we needed until you came along! May your love for your family and your love of life never change, but only grow. May you continue to learn about Jesus and grow to love Him. I know you've got Him on your mind quite a bit -- lately you've been telling me about all that Jesus has made, as in "Mommy, Jesus made my teefs (teeth)". Yes, baby boy, He made you. He made you so unique, and so very special.

How we've been greeted several times since Sunday... "Hulk SMAAAASH!"

The invite...for my memory

iPhone Photos Unleashed...

In keeping with my tendency to be a step or two behind others in technological advances, it's only taken me a couple years to utilize the Blogger app and blog from my phone. I can now share some photos taken with my phone much easier than I could before. Thrilling!
Here are some moments which have happened in the last month.
I have a long way to go in figuring out how to blog from my phone!!
Maybe I just need another cup of coffee.

Caleb and Logan will be playing baseball this fall -- we are working on C's swing:)

Logan with the puppy he painted last summer, in his right hand, and the one he painted this summer, in his left hand

Bedtime story

Grocery shopping all by myself! You know you're a parent of small ones when that errand, done solo, is a treat.

(Edited to add, from my computer: I am on Instagram! If you want to follow me, I'm @griffsgirl01. I'm also on Twitter - @Griffs01Girl, but I don't post there much at all. I use it mainly for news, sports, and other updates.)