simple and good

We spend quite a few weekends outside of Knoxville… sometimes it feels like too many. Something was different, though, when our friends Claire and Mike invited us to their cabin for the weekend. There was no agenda. No event. No expectations. Not even a dinner out.

Blissful, if you ask me. So we went.

It was everything we were hoping for and more: good friends, good rest, good football (well, some of it… boo Florida),  good play, and really good food.

 

Did I mention that there was a hot tub? The rain let up for awhile on Saturday, so all the boys partook… and loved it. 

 

 
Mike, our happy host, and baby Henry (6 months old).

 

 
I was jealous. I wanted to be Henry in that moment. 

 

 

Trying to maximize the rainless hours, Curtis and Mike decided to do a little fishing too.

 

 
I’m not sure it was the most successful fishing ever, but at least they tried, right?

 

They even let Cooper tag along and scare away the fish! His favorite method? Rocks…

 

 
…flung into the water. Too fun! So fun, actually, that he fell into the pond and had to be brought back inside for a full change of clothes (hence the lovely outfit)!

 

The rocks, however, couldn’t hold a candle to playing with the dog. Maiden, Claire and Mike’s dog, is slightly obsessed with playing fetch. Ironically, so is Cooper.

 
Each time, he would get the ball back from Maiden and start running…

 

 
throw… (usually about 4 feet in front of himself)

 

 
and watch Maiden go.

 

 
If only I had brought my Flip to capture on video the laughter and squeals of delight- every time- as Maiden ran to find the ball and bring it back.  Happiness in its purest form.

 

 
Claire, Henry, and I had come out to be a part of the action and were certainly glad not to have missed any of it.

 

 
I was also particularly glad not to have missed this.

 

Wait, no. This.  Ohhhh, the preciousness.

 

Later, I enlisted Curtis to help me with a special project… my only real contribution to the weekend worth of food. Delicious food! Mike smoked a pig and made unbelievable barbeque, Claire baked scrumptious pumpkin muffins, and they served us meal after meal with little to no help from us. It was amazing.

 
Curtis collected some sticks from outside and used Mike’s pocket knife-

 

to make these-

 

 
so that I could make these. Yum.

There’s just something simple and good about a caramel apple. Seemed to fit the weekend just perfectly…

kids in costumes

Why are they so dang cute? Check out these pictures from our Halloween Pumpkin Carving party that turned into more of a Hang Out and Watch the Kids in their Costumes Party.

My pictures are sporadic and certainly do not cover all of the cuteness that was present. But, as a sampling…

My friend Emily and sweet Abby. Almost as pretty as her mom.

 

 
Don’t you love the way the light is shining on her? So beautiful. And then there’s that cute little ladybug in the background…

 

 
Oh, there she is! Annie, working on her newfound mobility. I could just eat up little girls in their stockings. Especially this one.

 

 
This darling little doggie, Hayes (Cooper’s buddy- same age!), who walked around with Cooper’s toy dog all night. I guess mommy  and daddy chose the right costume!

 

 
Then there is Hayes’ older brother, Cade. It was tough getting a picture of those older boys…

 

 
….they never stopped moving!! I’m counting on Cade’s mom to produce a few decent shots of these kids. And maybe the ones I completely missed!

 

 
Well, occasionally they had to stop for a breather!  This is big boy Ben in his Halloween t-shirt. Mom Ashley wasn’t quite ready (understandably!) with his and little brother Ethan’s homemade costumes.

 

John Harvey, one of Cooper’s heros, was another mover and shaker. He was so stinkin’ cute in his policeman costume and THIS is the best picture I have to show for it. Really?!

 

I did get this little elephant to stop running once in awhile. I have a little more pull with him :) Thanks to my friend Amanda, he had on one of the cutest costumes I have ever seen. I may not give it back.

 

 
Ava, Cooper’s cousin/idol, arrived with quite the Ariel costume. I don’t think Cooper knew who she was for awhile! Her mom had described the wig as “kinda creepy in a pageant sort of way”. Ha!

 

 
Millie wasn’t really feeling the cousin picture (note the paci), so I had to settle for a pic of her in her mommy’s arms. Still precious.

 

There was a little pumpkin carving going on. And it was impressive.

 

 
This is a terrible picture of an amazing pumpkin.

 

 
Teddy and Liz, the master carvers.

 

But, did I mention the kids?

   
Especially this one. Oh, dear. The cuteness.

feel the pain

Yesterday, Cooper had a run-in with the stairs… and the stairs won. We were at Marmee and Papa’s house (Curtis’ parents) and Cooper was playing upstairs with his cousins. All of the sudden, this is what we hear downstairs:

thud. thud. thud-thud-thud. thud-thud.thud…

screaming.

I was halfway up the stairs (thank God for the mid-staircase landing!) by the end of the thuds. I thought for sure that I would find his little body broken. All of it. As I scooped up my crying baby and surveyed his body for blood and mangled limbs, I breathed a sigh of relief that he was- for all intents and purposes- okay. That’s when I saw a HUGE knot forming- already- on his sweet face. I’m talking 1/2” out from the side of his face within seconds.

It was awful.

He cried and cried, and all I could do was hold him close and tell how sorry I was that it hurt… so, so sorry. That was it. Curtis stood by our side for a few minutes, helplessly, until he finally asked to hold him. I understood: the only thing worse than holding your hurting little boy is not being able to hold your hurting little boy.

We didn’t attempt to photograph his bruised little face last night, but this is what we woke up to this morning:

The swelling had spread out and didn’t look quite so menacing. The bruising, however, had extended. He now had a bona fide black eye.

The thing is, this picture doesn’t do it justice. So, we kept trying. We were sure that one of these could capture the full extent of his little injury:

“Cooper, hold still for just a minute.”

“Cooper, where is your boo-boo?”

And what did he say? “Ball? Play? Ball?”

The kid is tough. Tougher than we are.

My heart aches every time I look at that black and blue face. I know it seems dramatic… all this over some bruises? Before Cooper, I never knew the agony of someone else’s pain. I remember crying with him when he got his first immunization shot, because it was the first time I heard him cry from pain.

It struck me tonight that this pales in comparison to what God feels for me in the midst of my pain. If I can cry over Cooper’s tears, how much more is He grieving over mine? If my heart aches at my baby’s hurt, how much more is He longing to take away mine?

So often I forget how deeply personal the Lord is, how He has woven Himself into my heart. Having a child has given me glimpses, but I know my understanding is still so limited. I was grateful that our sermon today reminded me of this:

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion… How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.” (Isaiah 30:18-19)

transformation in progress: bathroom (days 10ish & 11)

So much has happened! I’m sorry that I’ve been a slow and haphazard blogger. Let’s catch up:

Day 10(ish): cumulative weekday night work from last week

 
As of last Monday (a week and a half ago), we had a toilet! Evan had to do a crazy amount of sawing and sweating to get the wrought iron pipe underneath to be the correct height. Poor guy. It looked miserable.

 

 
And then there was Curtis’ part. Apparently, the toilet is placed on top of a wax ring and needs to rocked back and forth and “jimmied” to get a secure fit. Evan and I greatly enjoyed being spectators during this process.

 

 
On Tuesday, Curtis installed the doorframe and door for the linen closet.

 

On top of that, he then gave Cooper a bath and a gave the bathtub its first ever use! It was exciting for everyone.

 

Especially for Cooper. He’s missed the bathtub.

 

 
The vanity countertop was added last Thursday, a little forcefully, because it was a pretty tight fit. Evan even added the faucet late that night to make the bathroom fully functional for Kelly’s visit that weekend!

 

Day 11: Last Friday

This was a full day of bathroom work for Curtis and it certainly paid off. I don’t remember exactly what was done when (as we’ve done a few small things since then), but check out how far we have come:

Curtis did all of the crown molding- by himself- in just a few hours. Isn’t that impressive? It looks amazing. Later, we caulked and filled nail holes so it is ready to paint.

 

 
The door to the linen closet: installed, one coat of paint, and a door knob. Voila!

 

 
I even got a chance to fill it up and organize during a naptime this week. So fun!

 

 
We bought and put up the shower curtain and rod. Pretty! In case you were wondering (as Kelly honestly did), we are not leaving the window or the back of the bathroom door that dark wood color. We just haven’t gotten around to using the dreaded oil-based primer on it yet.

 

In my opinion, Homegoods has the best selection and lowest prices on stuff for your bathroom. That’s where we got the shower curtain, hooks, towel bars, toilet paper hanger, robe hook, etc. Not to mention that I could probably find something I wanted… no, needed… on every aisle of that store. :)

 

The vanity is also complete, except for my nagging question of whether to paint the vanity. What do you think? I was pondering a dark brown or maybe just a layer of darker stain…  but can’t decide if anything needs to be done at all!

 

 
Finally, the completed toilet: I can’t tell you how great it is to have a toilet downstairs again, and to have one that is so clean and new!

You are up to date! We are in NC this weekend, so we’ll not be progressing at all on this renovation. When we get back, though, we will get to work- painting trim, going through the “punch list”, and tying up loose ends. Oh, and decorating. If you’re good at that, please let me know. Not my gift!