365.122: Flowers and Lists

Holden went on a little walk around the block with his Daddy and his Phoebe (our dog) this morning. When they got back, he was so excited to give me some wild flowers he had picked for me. He kept saying, "I brought you these flowers because I want you to be happy." What sweet words for a Mama to hear!

Later today Holden wanted to write his own grocery list. I so wish that I had taken a close-up of his paper so you could see all the words he wrote! I helped him sound out everything, and figure out the words that aren't phonetically spelled. (PS, of all the words in the English language, shouldn't the word "phonetically" be spelled how it sounds?!) This is the face he makes (and taps his chin with the pencil) when he's thinking. He also did an impersonation of what his teacher looks like when she's thinking. He wrote:
PEACHES
EGGS
APPLES
RICE

365.121: The Invisible Woman

I sent the video below out to a few of my friends last night, and felt this morning like I needed to share it with y'all, too.

Over the last few days, I have just been knocked upside the head by the enemy attacking my role as mother. And then in talking with other moms, I feel like there is a wide-spread attack going on in this area!

Moms, do not believe the lies. You are so much more than a disciplinarian or a cook or a seamstress or a maid. And your worth, even the worth of your parenting efforts, is not determined by the output of your child. You are valued as a mother, and even if you never hear if from little mouths, God values the work that you do. Be encouraged today by these words from Nicole Johnson:

365.120: This is Tough

OK, so I'm just gonna be real with y'all.

Holden is not doing well in preschool. Like, at all.

Almost every day he has had serious trouble following instructions and obeying, and then today he got his behavior card turned to "Boo-Hoo Blue," which is as bad as it gets, for trying to cut a kid with scissors! What?! He is a sweet kid who is kind and compassionate to others. He got sent to the office, and told me that when the administrator asked if he was ready to obey, he honestly responded, "No, not yet." Hearing this kinda made my blood boil. Who is this kid who could care less if he gets in trouble? I mean, I know we've had an obedience battle at home since the day he turned two, but I remember being absolutely mortified as a kid to be called out and get in trouble. Holden is not me. And from what I hear (from Ryan), he is a whole lot like his Dad as a child.

I have done a lot of crying the past two days, and even more praying. I was so hopeful for a good day today, especially after reading the story of Saul's transformation to Paul with Holden during breakfast. How Jesus changed him. And we prayed together all morning. And I gave him four spankings before school even started.

So I feel like I'm at a loss. I am giving each day, each moment to the Lord, letting Him tell me exactly what to do. His consequences today are new and more severe than ever before (in room all day with no toys, spankings, no treats like honey on his yogurt, even his favorite toy thrown away!) And I've received a lot of good words from friends. This one from my Elevate friend, Jessica Cash, was especially good:

Consider this: God is a perfect parent and even his children don't obey.

365.119: Happy Birthday Esther

So today is my sweet, amazing, beautiful sister-in-law Esther's birthday! I'm a little blue about it, though, because this is the first family party or holiday we will have missed being in Texas.

This is Esther when I talked her into being my model for a makeup photo shoot!

(Note: this is not my photography, just my makeup.)

All the Turner siblings moments after my brother Clark proposed! (Cameron and Esther had flown to Los Angeles to visit Ryan and me for a little vacation. Clark secretly flew in after a few days, popped out of the bushes at the Getty Center and popped the question!)

Es re-enacting her surprised face at her surprise birthday party a couple years ago. Love it.

The whole family at my parents' birthday dinner at Seasons 52. Which was also a surprise. Hmmm...I'm beginning to see a theme with Turners and surprises!

Esther, I LOVE you and count myself blessed and fortunate to have you as my sister for the rest of our lives! And I cannot wait to see you guys in Waco in a couple weeks!!

Happy Birthday Esther!

365.118: Medifast Round 2

Okay, Medifast, here I come again.

Since we've been in Texas I've gained a pound or eight. I blame it on all the free time I had those first six weeks before Elevate started, in which I cooked and baked to my little heart's content. But now it's time to get serious. When we moved out of our house in Atlanta, you better believe I packed up all my left-over Medifast food. That stuff is seriously expensive. I mean, it was worth it for the 30 pounds I lost, but too expensive to just get rid of.

So now I'm gonna finish what's left and get back down to fighting weight. There. I said it on a public blog for the whole blogisphere to read and hold me accountable! No turning back now.

365.117: Memory Verses

Broken Voices headed out of Waco this afternoon. We're sad. But we crammed in a full day of quality time before they had to go!

The boys having breakfast this morning, after their spend-the-night:

Some coloring on the front porch:





Pool time at the hotel:
(This is their Super Hero poses.)


Then we went out to lunch before they got on the road. It was such a great weekend for us!


So in unrelated news, if you glance over to the right side of the screen, you'll see that I am now updating my memory verses for each week. Wanna memorize some with me?? The killer thing about these verses is that at the end of Elevate, after almost a year of memorizing three verses a week, we have to sit down and write every single one from memory. What?! I am totally trusting God to give my mind the supernatural ability to do this.

I stink at anything long-term memory dependent. For example, my best friend Becca Meloy (don't be confused--two of my best friends are both named Becca), anyways Becca Meloy and I went to high school together, and I totally rely on her as the keeper of my memories. She is my perfect complement, with a mind like a steel trap. So whenever I want to take a trip down memory lane I can just call her for a recap of events that seem only vaguely familiar to me. It's like hearing about your own life for the first time!

But back to the verses, you will see that this week I chose the absolute shortest options on the list. We didn't have class this past Monday (which is when we normally write out our verses) so we are having to write all six out next Monday. Which is really just the tiniest glimpse of recalling all bazillion of them at the end of the year. I was having enough trouble with last week's rather wordy verses (vines and branches can get so tangled up), so I went ahead and copped out this week with one-liners and the ever-so-common John 3:16. But hey, it is all the word of God and all good to have in your heart, am I right?

365.116: Broken Voices in Waco

We have had so much fun having the families from Broken Voices in Waco this weekend with us! Andrew and Matt had to go to Austin this morning to speak, so Emily, Erica, and all the boys came to church with us this morning. After naps they came back over to the house, we let the boys help make pizzas for dinner, had our Lifegroup over, then Caleb stayed to have a spend-the-night party! Full day!