Life in the Sticks: The Owl

We started our building project in the fall of 2007, shortly after David began working out here he spotted "the biggest owl" he'd ever seen. Over the years he has spotted the owl several times, flying around the house, perched high in the trees, once it even sat on the bushes watching him while he worked outside. I, on the other hand, had never spotted the owl, not once. I was beginning to think it was a figment of his imagination, surely I would have seen it after 3 years of living out here! Well, this morning I did finally see it and it.was.awesome! The boys and I watched it fly back and forth in the back yard, I assume looking for little rodents to make its breakfast. Three times it stopped and just perched on a bush (or a snow pile) looking around, turning its head this way and that in the crazy cool way owls move. We were fascinated but it and it total awe of how HUGE it was!! Seeing it I was even comforted slightly because, despite it's large size, I do not think it is quite big enough to carry off my oversized mini- dachshund, especially with his added "holiday weight" lol. It was SO neat to practially jump up and down in my giddy excitement see the excitement on my kid's faces while watching the owl, and to hear my their shrieks of joy when it looked our way. I love living out here in the "sticks", I know it's not for everyone but I LOVE encountering nature on a near daily basis...except for that stinking muskrat...that blog will be coming soon. I actually want to start a "series" of 'Life in the Sticks' blogs about the random things that happen on 30 acres of "wild land" 20 mins from town,  an idea I got after my run in with a muskrat, so I guess this is the first. I kept forgetting to post the muskrat story, so that one will be from the "archives" of my mind but it's a good one, and a good laugh...now...

In the meantime, try not to hold your breath for in anticipation & enjoy the few pictures I snapped of our elusive owl friend this morning. 

"What are you looking at?!?"

This was crazy cool to watch but hard to photograph with a point & shoot

I wish you could see this better, you can sort of see how long his wing is in relation to his body. It was SUPER impressive!

Exodus..

     I am currently on a "read the bible" in a year plan. It surprised me when I realized I had never, in 26 years of being a christian, read the bible in it's entirety. I've read the new testament a few times, but never all of the old testament. Anyhoo, I am currently reading in Exodus, about the Israelites, their departure from slavery in Egypt and their journey to the promised land. In my reading I found myself, more than once I hate to admit, passing judgement on them. Reading their story I want to holler or shake them, "why can't you just see?", "Uhhh God just saved you from slavery, why are you whining?!, "what more obvious signs of God's presence do you need before you will trust him?"...those kinds of things. Similar to the way I shout at or question character's in a movie that are just.not.getting.it. I just couldn't understand their lack of vision or their easy forgetfulness. God delivered them from Egypt, showing many signs & wonders before they actually departed (Exodus 5- 11). After they left when Pharaoh changed his mind and went chasing after them, God parted a sea for them to cross on dry land (Ex 14 & 15). He sweetened bitter water (Ex 15:22-25), provided manna & quail (Ex 16), actually appeared to their leaders (Ex 24:9-11) and yet time and time again they complained, grumbled, failed to trust, even built an idol to replace God (Ex 32). When the time came to cross into the land God promised (Numbers 13 & 14) they failed to trust the Lord and ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. It seems so crazy from this side of things, the miracles, the signs, the never-ending faithfulness of God, even when they complained-how could they not trust him? I mean seriously people...
     While mulling this all over one day, subconsciously asking the Lord how it was possible for them to have lost faith over and over, the Lord spoke to my heart. I am thankful that, even when pointing out things in my life/heart that are not in tune to the heart of the Father, he is so gentle. There was no condemnation, simply a reminder of the times in my own life I have been just like the Israelites. I was saved at 5, I think, I can't remember the exact age it was so long ago. Some of you may think that means I couldn't really have made that kind of decision for Christ, I assure you that my heart was changed and touched by the God of the universe and my decision was real and permanent. Regardless of all that, the point is I have known God most of my life, I grew up in church, my parents are Christians. I have known people miraculously healed, seen lives totally changed, heard testimonies of God's incredible goodness many times over. In my own life I have felt his presence, had prayers answered, been reassured over and over again that God was with me & God was for me. Yet I found myself, not so many years ago slowly pushing back from all I knew about God. I stopped attending church regularly, stopped reading my bible, I began to make compromises in my life, in my heart. I allowed bitterness, anger, depression, fear, take root. It wasn't a speedy rebellion, it was a slow decent, giving in here and there until my heart was no longer recognizable to me. The Lord spoke to me often during that time, I still loved him, I've always loved him but I just didn't want to have to do anything, I wanted change but not really. I was comfortable in my slavery to those things, especially fear, anytime I made headway away from it I kept going back. Just like the Israelites would likely have done (they surely wanted to many times) had they not been so far from Egypt.
    Thankfully, I serve a persistent God who loves me, who wants more for me in this life than the life I was living. He was faithful to walk alongside me, occasionally nudging me, waiting, hoping, longing for the day when I would simply turn and say "yes Father". That's all it took, I reached a place of desperate longing, my wilderness had gotten the better of me, as it did to the Israelites after those long 40 years of wandering. When I did finally acknowledge my desperate need, was finally willing to truly trust in the Lord, He was there to bring me through my wilderness and into the land he had for me. There were giants in the way, enemies determined to keep me from reaching it, but just like he did for those wandering friends of mine, he gave me the ability to destroy them one by one. The view from this side is so much more glorious then I could have imagined. So, you see? I am not so different then those grumbling Israelites, not different at all and the God I serve is the same wonderfully faithful one they finally trusted to bring them into the land he promised...and I am so thankful.

A Conversation With Z

Watching your kids grow up is so incredibly bitter-sweet. On one hand it is hard to let go of the sweet, snuggling dependancy of a baby/toddler, on the other seeing their personality develop and watching their little minds grow is a wonder. The older my boys get, the more I recognize I really do have a pair of smart, sweet, funny, sensitive, intuitive kids on my hands and marvel at how lucky I am to get to be their mom. Here is a snippet of a conversation he and I had this evening during dinner. 

Today Isaiah says to me "Mom, I learned that what you have is your treasure" 
I will confess that he learned this in a conversation about a Wubzy episode lol, who says tv is all bad
 I said "yes, that is very true buddy. You & Joshy are my treasures". 
Z- "Yeah, and daddy is all of our treasure, and you too mom".
Me- "Yup and we are all God's treasures". 
Z- "Yeah, everyone is God's treasure". 
Me- "They sure are kiddo". 
Z- "Yeah cause God made everything, I know that."
The conversation went from there to talking about prehistoric sharks and such, because he LOVES shows about all that. They talk so much about evolution, I find myself compelled to share creation with him. Being a former biology major from a liberal arts university, I know the ends and outs of evolution and honestly find it unbelievable, my religious (ugh, why does that word have to make me cringe?) up bringing aside, it just doesn't make "scientific sense" to me. So I don't mind him watching shows that tout evolution as fact because it gives me a chance to share what I have learned and the truth about the animals he loves so much.  Anyhoo, that's why he rabbit trailed that direction, he is, after all, his mother's son :). I just love that boy.

And because I think he's the cutest, here he is hanging outside in his Diego shades & Spongebob hat. 

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

I'll never tire of how excited they get when they see a moose, even if it's for the 100th time. While watching this moose Isaiah said "this is the BEST day EVER!" & Joshua kept saying "WOW! COOL!"

Happy Birthday to My Best Friend

12.5 years (or so) ago I met this guy named David, he was my new bestie's friend and had come over to use her laundry or something because his bathroom at home was torn up. It was my freshman year of college, I was 19, he was 18, we were kids. It wasn't love at first sight, in fact, I was dating someone else at the time. It was 7 months later that we began to spend more time together, my relationship had ended several months before and neither of us (David & I, I mean) were looking to date anytime soon. It was when my bestie met her future husband and started spending so much time with him, sometimes forgetting about plans with us, that David and I got to talking more. One night, my bestie (Julia), myself, another friend and David all went to the drive-in. Sitting in the Blazer all together was the first time I was aware that I had been thinking about what a great guy David was and that I was almost holding my breath sitting there next to him. That night I was signed up to walk in the "Relay for Life" on campus from 1-2 in the morning. I didn't want to do it alone (ok I wouldn't have been alone, alone but I wanted someone to chat with). I offered for any of them to join me, secretly hoping only David would offer and he did. We walked and talked until 4 am that night and from that night, until the day I had to go home for the summer (roughly a month later) we spent every single day but one together. We talked and talked, went to spring events on campus, went to church together. Two weeks into our 30 day stint, he finally (well it felt like finally, summer was coming & I'd hoped he would ask before I left) asked if I would be his girlfriend, of course I said yes. The rest is pretty much history :). I went home that summer and we spent countless hours on the phone, it's how I feel in love with him, through talking. We were engaged after 10 months of dating, married by 13. I was a month shy of 21, he was 7 months shy of it.

The things that attracted me most to David back then were; his love of Jesus, his tender heart, his humor his laid-back demeanor, his passion for music, his integrity, the care he took in whatever he did..and more. Now 10 years after we got engaged (very nearly to the day!) he is 31. I still love him for all of those reasons and much more; for his incredible love for our children, his enduring love for me through some rough times, his complete adoption of my family, his love for our nieces & nephews plus countless cousin's kids, the way he gets down and plays pretend with our boys, the incredible sacrifice he made building us this beautiful home, his tender heart (I love his heart so I had to mention it again:), his generous nature....So, happy birthday to my best friend, my love, the father of my babies and my partner in life!

My mom took this picture while camping this summer & I just love it. You can't see just how handsome he is but what a great shot....sigh, I love him

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

I took this 2.5 years ago, three generations of Petty men.  

Just Another Motivated Monday

Well hello there my friends, wondering if I went MIA? No, despite my ups & downs I refuse to give up on my goal or on my hope to help you achieve yours. I'll be honest, I did awesome for 10 days...then my son's birthday came, a friend visited and my hormones went haywire which threw me for the biggest loop of all. So following my ten days of being "fully awesome", as Rhino the hamster would say, I was...well not so fully awesome. Once again I was tired of not only reading all labels for content, having to pre-pack food everywhere I go AND having to measure it all, so I didn't.  Once again, I find myself feeling like I am starting over, except I'm not really, I haven't gained anything back but starting over is better than not starting at all and I am determined not to quit.  SO, I've made a list of reasons why I wanted to lose the weight and get in better shape in the first place, because I needed to remind myself that I am worth it and pros definitely out weigh the cons. 

1. It really is biblical that we should take care of our bodies, not become obsessed by them, but to take care of them as temples of the Lord. I haven't always been so great at that and I want to be. God made my body much more capable then I tend to think, his word says we are "wonderfully made", masterpieces, I figure it's about time I treat my body as such, respecting it as something created by the almighty God who also created so many wondrous things, and we are his favorite pieces!
2. I don't want to grow old gracefully...yes I know I am actually going to get older but to me getting older and being old aren't the same thing. Confused? You wouldn't be the first. What I mean is, I want be in shape, in the best health I can be as I age so that I don't feel old. Obviously this has parameters, because my body is going to age (hello wrinkles I found on my forehead last weekend- ugh) and somethings will be unavoidable but I can certainly avoid falling apart entirely as I age, that's all I'm talking about. 
3. I have two very active boys who run me ragged and wear me out will likely always be active (I hope) and I really want to keep up with them. I don't want to be a bystander in their lives but an active (albeit clumsily) participant. If they want to play soccer on the pile of dirt we have outside lawn, I want to play with them, if they want to go hiking, I want to hike with them...you get the picture. 
4. Ok, I am totally aware this one will sound terribly shallow after the top 3 posts, but I am all about being transparent so here it is...I want new clothes... I need new clothes, I have clothes in my closet I have been wearing for years. I really want to start dressing nicer, looking nicer when I step out of my house, rather than my traditional "young mom" (by that I mean the stereotypical young mom, I know plenty of young moms who take the time to look nice when they go out) look, the pony tail, no make-up (ok I've never worn much make-up & that's not going to change much), t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. There is nothing wrong with looking that way sometimes, I am just tired of it being my "signature look". It really has been since high school and I am ready for a change. The thing is, I don't want to buy a bunch of new clothes when I really really do want to be fitter. So, I am going to wait but still try to dress nicer in the meantime. 

So there it is. Four good reasons to keep myself motivated (ok, three good ones & one shallow one:) and I intend to do- JUST DO IT (copyright Nike:), however long it takes. I confess I'm hoping to reach a certain goal before my trip to Oregon in 6-ish weeks. If I do- WOOHOO! If I don't, but I worked hard- WOOHOO! :) I am going to adopt a "glass is always half-full" attitude, because really it is, extra pounds or not. 

Five Years Ago Today...

Five years ago today, you, my first baby boy were born. After a year of trying, 9 months of growing & 36 hours of labor I was beyond overjoyed to hold you in my arms. You were blue when you arrived but quickly gained color and peed all over me. I didn't mind, I was so happy to finally see your face, and a beautiful face it was. Daddy & I welcomed you into the world with big exhausted smiles.

Four years ago today, we celebrated your very first birthday with many family members, including a dozen cousins there with us. You loved all the excitement but weren't too sure about the cake, although you did love the frosting. By one year you were walking, spoke many words and it was already obvious you were going to have LOTS of energy. You were (& still are:) SUCH a blessing.

Three years ago today, we celebrated birthday #2, a party you shared with your good buddy Abby. By now you were running, leaping, jumping and had a very large vocabulary, especially for a boy your age. You loved to do puzzles, loved to play with animals and love the Wiggles. You were only months away from becoming a big brother, but of course you didn't really know it. 

Two years ago today, we had your 3rd birthday, nearly all traces of toddler were gone and you were 100% all boy. You still loved puzzles, but had dropped the Wiggles in favor of the Backyardigans & Diego. You loved any toy that prompted your imagination, and what an imagination you already had!! We took you swimming and then back to Granny & Papas for cake, you loved it. It never takes much to make you happy and excited, you are see so much joy in life!

One year ago today, you had your 4th birthday. We were knee deep in finishing our new home so this birthday was pretty low key, although you didn't mind. We did spend the day at Boucin Bears with many of your friends and later just had cake at home, with presents of course. Such a big boy you already were, with such a sweet spirit and loving nature. 

And now you are five, this year we had a big party at Happy Hoppers, many of your closest buddies came to celebrate with you. It was a really great day, for all of us. You told me many times that it was the "best birthday you'd ever had", although I am pretty sure you've said that every year :).

I cannot believe how quickly the years have gone by, Isaiah, and how much my love for you grows as I watch you grow. You may be a little dramatic at times and VERY energetic, which can be exhausting but I wouldn't trade an ounce of your personality for a thing. You have the sweetest, most loving, tender, compassionate spirit and we love you more than words can say. We are so proud of you, the boy you are, the man you'll be. Every day we pray for you, and your brother, that God will pour himself into you, even now. I have already witnessed a love for Jesus in your little heart, you pray on your own and with mommy, you have faith that will move mountains one day, I know it. Happy Birthday to my sweet Z, I love you to the moon and back. 

A Conversation Between Boys

I love listening to my boys talk to each other, to eavesdrop on their conversations usually brings a smile to my face. Ok, sometimes I roll my eyes, like right now as they are talking (again) about poop. Still it's pretty neat to watch their relationship grow as Joshua gets older and they now operate on the same level, so to speak. Here are a few more snippets of conversations I've picked up on a few times, and had the sense to write down.

Isaiah: "NO! We're not girls, we're just boys who need haircuts.*"

Josh: "Umm, I'm Joshy"

Isaiah: "I know and I'm Isaiah"

*I'm only sorry I didn't catch the first part of this little tidbit, so I could understand Isaiah's need to point out that they were not girls in the first place lol. 

Josh: "What game are you playing brabo (this was before started calling him Isaiah, much to my sadness)?"

Isaiah: "I'm not playing a game, it's the app store."

Josh: "Why are you playing in the app store?".

Isaiah: "The app store is not a game, it's where you buy stuff."

Josh (with awe in his voice, and mature understanding:) "Oooohhhh"

Isaiah (loudly): "Josh!!"

Josh: "What?"

Isaiah: "I love you."

Josh: "I wuve you too."

5 seconds later

Josh: "Brudder!!"

Isaiah: "What?"

Joshua: "I wuve you."

Isaiah: "I love you too Josh."

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

This is Joshua's favorite thing, to hold my (or David's) hand. Makes my heart happy.