Simplicity

It seems like the last month or so, God has really been speaking to me about simplicity.  Why wouldn't the Christian life reflect simplicity?  Why do we(I) have to have the best, the newest, the latest, and the most expensive?  Why do Christians (I) feel the need to own the biggest, loveliest house on the block complete with granite countertops, a master bathroom "spa", and shiny hardwood floors?  Why do Christians (I) feel the need to have a new outfit every week from the trendiest store at the mall? Why do Christians (I) need to be entertained by the most expensive vacations, fanciest restaurants, and whatever else I find to spend my money on in order to meet this goal?  I know that our flesh falls into the same temptations of the culture, and before long we start looking like the culture around us.  But what about simplicity?  And not because "things" and "stuff" are ultimately bad and evil, but because we should  look different, and we should be using our abundant resources for a greater, eternal good. 
God has been sending me great literature the past month that focuses on this principle/discipline.  If you haven't read Radical by David Platt, you should pick up a copy.  Here's a link to a great article about the early church's views on simplicity, caring for the poor, and not turning simplicity into legalism.  And last, I was given a book by Richard Foster, The Freedom of Simplicity, by my good friend at the beginning of summer that I am going to start reading this weekend.  I'll let you know about it when I get finished. 
I don't exactly know how simplicity is going to look in my life, but I know the Lord will show me!  I will end with a great quote by Clement (this is taken from the article I linked):

"The handmaids of Christ should love simplicity.  Simplicity is the forerunner of holiness.  It smoothes out the inequalities of property.  A holy ornament should surround your wrists, the joy of giving and the diligence of the housewife.  On your feet should glitter untiring zeal in well-doing, and walking in the ways of righteousness.  Your necklaces and chains are modesty and simplicity.  Such jewelry comes from God's workshop."

Sucré

I love sweets.  You may have already discovered that, if you've read my blog for any length of time, especially see this one.  Of course, I not only love sweets when I'm pregnant...I love them ALL of the time!  That's why I'm having to question why I never stopped in Sucré.  It's an incredible "sweets" shop on Magazine St. in New Orleans.  They have gelato, chocolates, and a lot of yummy deserts.  It's the coolest place you've ever been to, too.  If you EVER come to New Orleans to visit me, I promise that we will go to this place(unless you're a diabetic, and then I wouldn't torture you like that!). 



        Here's me about to dig in!


      This desert was called the "Tiffany".  Grandma, I ate this in honor of you.  Dark chocolate and raspberries.


It was SO good!  But not cheap.

Random Facts for Friday

1. Arnold and I get to go on a date tonight! We are going to a restaurant called "Impastatos". This restaurant is run by an older Italian man from Sicily, Joe Impastato. They have a commercial on tv "Fuhget about it!"

2. I have been addicted to mochas, frappes, frappuccinos, iced mochas, and anything with espresso in it lately. I think this stems from the fact that I have had virtually no caffeine in the last 3 1/2 years. I didn't drink any while I was pregnant, either time(accept for maybe a sip of a Coke Arnold had once or twice), and I haven't had any while breastfeeding either time.......accept for this time. Ever since Raegan hit about 8 months, I've given up. I need caffeine to function these days....at least a few times a week. :)


3. I really do love New Orleans weather. Give me hot and humid any day over cold and freezing. But I have to say that the rainy New Orleans summers can be a bummer sometimes.


4. I am learning....and now time for a bit of honesty....to be content even when I read other people's blogs or facebook statuses. Sometimes I feel a twinge of jealousy and start getting discontent. You know the feeling..."wow their kids are really smart, godly, etc.," "wow look at all the nice stuff that person has, their house is gorgeous," "wow, that person gets to do that?" Does this happen to you too? Why is it so hard to be content when we look at other people? The grass always seems greener on the other side, I guess.


5. Peyton has started saying anytime she smells anything, whether it is a pleasant scent when you walk into a store or a dirty diaper in the trash, "Mommy, it smells like skunk". She said this the other week when we walked into Michael's Crafts. As we were driving through the country to get to Monroe, I smelled a skunk and said, "Yuck, I smell a skunk". Now everything smells like a skunk to her

11 Months...Yesterday

Yesterday Raegan turned 11 months old.  I find it hard to believe that she is that old, and that's it almost been a year since we were blessed with a little 6lb. 3oz. bundle of joy.  Raegan has really blossomed these last few weeks.  She's started cruising a lot.  Peyton was walking by this age, and I really thought Raegan would walk even earlier because she wanted to keep up, but she's taking her time.  She's in no rush to walk because she can crawl at warp speed and get carried around the rest of the time. 
Raegan has started having cute little "conversations" with us. "Blah blah wah wah nah nah nah" and then a perplexed look that says, "What do you think about what I just said Mommy?" 
These days you cannot put any outfit on Raegan that may even be a little loose.  She is Houdini and will work her way out of the outfit in record time.  You will look over at her sitting half-naked if you blink. 
Peyton has really been cracking Raegan up lately.  It is hilarious to listen to her cackle at something that is totally not funny(at least to us big humans)--and usually annoying, simply because it generally involves some high pitched loud noise from her older sister. 
Raegan still does not have a tooth or even a hint of one.  But she loves waking up during the middle of the night to remind us that the teeth are trying really hard. 
As I've said before, she is the sweetest little thing in the whole world.  Thank you Lord for our little Raegan.

Bills, Bills, Bills

Sometimes it seems like you just get swamped all at once, you know?  Last week we got a call from our credit card company.  Apparently someone had stolen our numbers from our card and tried to buy almost $300 worth of pest control products off of the internet.  Who steals someone's credit card and tries to buy roach bait?  If I'm going to steal a credit card, I'm going shopping for some designer clothes, shoes, and going to the spa.  Or if you're a guy, at least go to Best Buy! 
Monday we get a past due statement from the electric company.  Apparently the check I sent off in June never made it(thanks USPS...and we want the government to handle healthcare?), so now we not only owe two months worth of bills, but also a nice late fee.  I'm disputing this one. 
Monday after I came home from work, I opened the credit card bill (a different one....don't worry, we're not credit card freaks....we don't have 18 of them, and we hardly ever use them) and discovered that I had not paid the bill from the previous time.  Now, in my defense, there was no record that I ever even received the bill.  In the credit card company's defense, I may have possibly, accidentally thrown away the bill when I came back from vacation and had a huge stack of mail.  Not sure, but it could have happened.  I'm very meticulous in my record keeping, so it had to be an accident of some sort.  Oh well, what do you do? 
Pay the man and keep going.

Washcloths

If you come to my house and ever need to take a shower, you will have a hard time. Peyton takes every one of my washcloths from downstairs everyday and puts her baby dolls and stuffed animals asleep on the floor. The washcloths are blankets for the babies. For her birthday, she's getting a pack of washcloths. What kid wouldn't want a pack for her birthday?

Cheerwine Doughnuts

Our AWESOME friends Michael and Joy saw my post about Cheerwine, a cherry flavored soft drink only found in the Carolinas, and sent me a link to an article about Krispy Kreme's Cheerwine doughnuts. Apparently, Cheerwine and Krispy  Kreme have teamed up and created a Cheerwine filled doughnut that is only available during the month of July in the Carolinas.  Then our awesome friends sent up some.  They are so delicious.  If you live in the Carolinas, I highly recommend you picking up a dozen.

If you're not a fan of Cheerwine, you may not want to bother. These doughnuts taste like the real stuff!

A Verse from the Word

"Keep on loving each other as brothers.  Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.  Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."  Hebrews 13:1-3

Ponchatoula

This weekend we decided to hop in the van and take a little 45 minute trip up the road to Ponchatoula, LA, home of the Strawberry Festival.  The Strawberry Festival is in April, so we missed it by three months, but we always wanted to come back to Ponchatoula to look around in all the antique shops in their downtown area and stop at a big produce stand there, Berry Town Produce.  Our first stop was...

The Ponchatoula Bakery.  Of course the first thing Peyton wanted to do was eat!

These cookie things were so good...peanut butter cookie with a whole Reese's cup.  They were huge.  Peyton savored every bit of her cookie.  We had to drag her out of there. 

She probably would have licked the crumbs off of the floor if I would let her.  HA!  Our payment for treating her to such a delicious, but rich and possibly the kind that gives you a tummy ache snack: a ridiculously smelly diaper that afternoon.  (We're still working on the whole potty training thing.) 

After the bakery, we stopped in a few antique shops just to look.

Who takes a 2 year old to antique shops?

She was swatting me away because she was mad.

Look at that face.

And then there's Raegan, happy as a lark.  :)

 

We finished at the produce place where I bought corn, okra, grape tomatoes(Peyton's favorite), peaches, blueberries, avocado, cucumbers, cherries, plums, a cantaloupe, a watermelon, and strawberry preserves. So we should be good with fruit for a while!

Raegan's Favorite Thing

Raegan's favorite thing to do these days is push Peyton's tricycle around the living room. For the first time in her little ten month old life, she actually fussed when I picked her up last night because she was having such a good time pushing it around and around and around. That onesie that she has on?  Yeah, it's for three month olds.  Raegan's a little shorty, though the onesie is starting to get a little short as you may can tell.

Summer Days

I was thinking today about how much I love summer and some of my favorite things to do.  What are your favorite things to do during the summer?  Here are some things I love to do and some things I love about summer...

*I love fans in the summer and open windows.  I'm okay if it's a little warm in the house, as long as some fans are going.  Fans and open windows remind me of childhood.

*I love walking barefooted through the grass.  Arnold calls me a redneck when I do this, but he's just jealous because he's not a redneck.  This also reminds me of childhood. 

*I love going swimming!  I don't get to do this too much, even though we have a pool ten steps from our front door.  (It's too much work to haul all of our stuff out there!)  My mom's neighbor has a pool with a sliding board, and we went over and swam when I was in SC.  I was like a kid going down that sliding board and jumping off the diving board.  

*Getting to go on vacation.  I still get just as excited about this. Who doesn't??

*It's so nice to look out your window at 8 pm and still see daylight.

*I love sitting on the porch and doing nothing.  One day I will have a porch with a rocking chair....

*I love going for a walk outside.  I don't care if it's 100 degrees with 80% humidity (which is usually the case in New Orleans), I still love going on walks. 

*ICECREAM!!!  I have become addicted to icecream lately.  My favorite is Cold Stone Creamery.  OH my goodness!  Or Cinnamon Buns from Ben and Jerry's (can't afford this one too often though!)  But the best is homemade icecream.  I remember my family sitting under the trees at my grandmother's house a few times when I was growing up and making homemade icecream. You can't beat that.  Just throw some watermelon in the picture, and that is summer. 

What do you love about summer?

Little Red Wagon

The hit of the party this past weekend...the little red wagon.  Peyton loved pulling Raegan around, and Raegan loved riding around.  I forgot how fun wagons could be. 

Partners in Crime

After we got back from Monroe last night, I was in a de-cluttering/organizing mood.  I left the girls in Peyton's room while I started on our closet.  I should have known when Peyton shut the door and I heard giggling from BOTH girls that something was going on.  Deep down I think I knew what they were doing, but they were being SO good and I was getting so much done...want to know what they were doing so quietly?

This is not what the bookshelf should look like.

Partners in Crime

Random Friday Facts

1. After spending 24 round trip hours in the car with my kids on vacation, Veggie Tales is on a constant loop in my head.  How do you get your brain to stop singing, "I LOVE my lips!"? 

2. And the Veggie Tales will never end because this weekend we're going to Monroe to see Arnold's family for the 4th.

3. I LOVE grilling out, and I think that's what we're going to be doing this weekend!  It's the 4th!!!

4. My friend Michael sent me a link about Cheerwine filled Krispy Kreme doughnuts during the month of July. Awesome!!!

5. Raegan is 10 months old and her first tooth is nowhere in sight.  Is this normal?

6. I am almost done reading the book Radical by David Platt.  You need to buy this book immediately and read it if you haven't already. 

7. I hope you have a great 4th! 

What I love about SC

Want to know a few things I love about South Carolina?

An ice cold bottle of Cheerwine, a regional soft drink unique to the Carolinas.  I love this stuff!

Peaches!!!  South Carolina is known for their peaches and used to produce more peaches than even Georgia.  Not sure if this is still the case.

Farm Fresh blackberries from a local produce stand.  We made a blackberry cobbler with these.

Who can go the whole summer without eating a juicy cantaloupe?