Another game night and some nature thrown in for fun!

We had a ballgame last night. Jacob hit three doubles and made a great catch at home to score an out! His team won and has done quite well overall this season. We have playoff games next week. It is single elimination, so we'll play at least once. His team has been ranked fairly highly this season, so I think they've got a pretty good chance. Here are some pics from the game.

And now a story that my best friend Sammie will love. I had a busy day today. Eli and I took Jacob to school, went to the bank, to the DMV, and to BJs this morning. This afternoon, Eli had his second round of shots!! :( It's been a busy day!

So, this evening, while we are waiting for our pizza delivery to arrive (no, I didn't cook), Jacob went outside to play. Matt was holding our fussy baby and I was researching houses for our vacation when Jacob came bolting through the front door. With a huge, glowing smile, he made an announcement. These were the words out of his mouth, "I THINK I FOUND RHINOCEROS BEETLE LARVAE IN OUR YARD!!!" Despite the fact that I could not identify rhinoceros beetle larvae if my life depended on it (and if I could, I would probably head in the opposite direction), I was excited that he was excited and Matt followed him out to inspect his discovery. And although (after a little internet research) we discovered that what he found was not rhino beetle larvae, these little science education moments are yet another reason we love living in the country.

Birthday fun!

Today, Matt took the day off work to hang out with me and celebrate my birthday. We went to the Farmer's Market this morning and had lunch at the NC Seafood Restaurant. Then, we headed over to Yates Mill Park for a little nature walk. We had a great time and Eli was so good today! Here are some pics of our fun!

Sleeping baby! Sweet dreams!

Hi, Daddy! Hi, Eli!

Our self-portrtait
The mill

This evening we will eat dinner with my parents and then head over to Jacob's last regular season baseball game. I'll post about that later! Until then...

Fruits of his labor!

Thanks for your prayers. Due to his hard work this year in third grade and God's blessing, Jacob scored a 4 on his Math EOG. 4 is the highest score a student can earn! He is enjoying the fruits of his labor (and so are we as his proud parents)! As Matt told Jacob, we are just as proud of this 4 on his EOG as we are of his home run! I think it's wonderful that Jacob is excelling at school and away from school! He's developing into a well-rounded kiddo!

Way to go, Jacob!

Weekend Wrap-up

Disclaimer: Be prepared for a barrage of images and information!

I'd like to introduce you to our cows. I say "our" very loosely as the cows are only ours in the sense that our yard backs up to their pasture. I love our cows! Yet another reason I love living in the country!

My nephew Joshua celebrated his ninth birthday with a party this weekend. It was baseball themed and I think my sister did a great job on the cake and cupcakes. Look, even a forty-year old can be creative! Okay, just a joke...my sister turns forty this year and I have been ragging her about it. P.S. I turn 30 on Thursday, but don't tell anyone!

We encourage the combat play in our family. With the sheer numbers of children at any family gathering we figure it's survival of the fittest :) So here's a picture of our very own version of American Gladiators. My nephew Wooten and Jacob had a blast!

PaPa had fun on baby patrol.

So did Becca and Anna Gracen! Look what great cousins they are to our little guy!

And just because I somehow missed getting a photo of Christian on Saturday and he's just too cute, here's a picture from the photo archives of "the grandchild formerly known as the youngest"

We also did some minor projects around the house. My tireless husband installed a storm door on the front of the house. It is wonderful and allows so much more light into our home. I unleashed my inner grafitti artist and grabbed the spray paint. Jacob joined in to help and I attempted to teach him how to use the spray paint (and hopefully how to NOT inhale the fumes) Our old, hand-me-down, been 5 different colors, lived at three different houses, but still hanging-in-there wicker furniture now has a new coat of colonial red and brings new life to our wrap around porch.

And to top it off, Eli turned three months old on Monday. Here's a picture of him celebrating the milestone with his new favorite pastime...sucking his thumb!

Hope your weekend was as fun as ours!!!!

All gave some...some gave all

And we will forever be grateful for their selfless and heroic sacrifice.

They fell, but o'er their glorious grave; Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save. ~Francis Marion Crawford

Our little thumb sucker!

It's my understanding that Matt was a bit of a thumb sucker himself. Like father, like son!

Big hitter!

We had a great time at Jacob's most recent game. Eli was super well-behaved. He really enjoyed watching his brother play ball (and his nap later in the game).

Jacob played catcher for most of the game and did an awesome job, as usual.

Jacob was also a great hitter. Here's one action picture below. However, that picture is not the picture of our kiddo's best hit of the night. Oh, no...that hit came later in the game. That hit soared down the first base line and past the outfielder coming to a stop at the fence. Jacob ran for all he was worth and in the end he scored his FIRST HOME RUN!! Jacob has come so far in five seasons. I remember his first season when we held our breath during his every at bat, praying that he would actually make contact with the ball. Now, he's hit his first home run! I just love the fact that Jacob has found something he enjoys and has practiced, stuck with it, and now is seeing the rewards of his efforts! HOORAY!!!

Two things

I'm praying in agreement with this post today.

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This is why I love living out in the country (aka "fake Raleigh")

This is not the actual deer that meandered across our yard this morning. Between me oohing and aahing, then running into Matt's office to let him know the wonders of nature were actually in our yard, by the time I remembered that we owned a camera and oh, wouldn't this be a great picture, the little doe had wandered off into the woods.

This is why I do not always love living in the country.

This is the actual snake that was on our back deck--he's much bigger than the one that was hanging out in our driveway, sorry no pic of that one. He's peeking in Matt's office to check on him. Our local snake charmer (aka Matt) gathered the snake up on a broom handle and escorted him back into the woods. I however would have prefered the old shovel to the head method for dealing with the snake, but Mr. Snake Charmer assured me this guy was a good guy and kept the varmints from coming in our house to reside.

I guess sometimes you have to take the good with the bad!

Is is just me or does that sentence above remind you of The Facts of Life TV show. You know it, sing it with me...you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life.

Okay, enough fun for now! Hope you have a great day!

Twelve weeks and a toenail

Today Eli is 12 weeks old! I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home and I was a hormonal, nervous, obsessive-compulsive, over-worrying, over-analyzing, over-scheduling, over-the-top, first-time mommy to a newborn mess! But here we are 12 weeks later and although I still worry and analyze, I've calmed down so much and Eli and I are both better because of it! I feel so blessed that God has given Matt and me two wonderful boys to raise. I pray the He continues to help us train them up in His ways so that they can be world changers for Him!


On another note, I spent the afternoon at the doctor. Yes, the afternoon. Although I had an appointment at 3:45, you know how the doctor's office can be. I wish I could bill them for my time. You know, the recent calculations by salary.com has a SAHM making $117,000/year and if I do my math right, the doc owes me somewhere around $75. But I digress. I was at the doctor due to a red, swollen, and OH SO PAINFUL big toe. For your viewing pleasure, I took a picture, but had second thoughts when I realized I might lose readers...or readers might lose their dinner. So off to the doctor I went. I checked in and hobbled over to find some worthy reading material for the wait. Do you know there was no People or InTouch magazine to be found?!? I was forced to settle in with the Time magazine (I ought to charge the doc extra for that pain and suffering). What seemed like an eternity later, my name was called. The nurse greeted me with a cheery "And how are we today?" Ok, first off, what's with the "we"? And secondly, you have my chart, you know what time my appointment was actually scheduled for, you know why I'm here, you saw me hobble over after replacing the dreaded Time magazine...YOU KNOW HOW I AM! But I politely give the nurse the expected "I'm fine" and we head to the back. After the fun task of stepping on the scale, I was put in the exam room to wait some more. Once the doctor came in, he looked at my toe and determined it was infected--most likely due to improper nail cutting or an ingrown toenail. He asked if it was painful. I said OH YES and then he proceeded to poke and prod and pull at my poor red, swollen, and OH SO PAINFUL big toe. While he did that, I prayed that I would not accidentally kick his teeth in from the pain! He prescribed a shot of antibiotics (which I discovered later was to be administered in my rear end) and an oral antibiotic plus soaking and releasing the pressure (I will not get more detailed here) three times a day! He smiled, told me to have a great day and off he went. Tonight, the toe is feeling a little better...but, my rear-end is sore! I guess I'll have to take the trade off!!

New family photo!

Here's our first family photo. We just haven't been able to get everyone together, happy, and have someone around to take the picture until now. My dad took the picture, of course! We have given him a new nickname..."PaPa"razzi. I know, I know! That 8-year old humor is really starting to wear off on me!

What's happening?

Here is what's going on around the Sloan household.

*End of Grade tests are this upcoming week. Please lift Jacob up in prayer as he will be tested on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! He is such a bright kiddo and has worked so hard this year! He should be proud of himself...we certainly are! "Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours." Psalm 128:1-2

*Eli got a new Bumbo seat and he looks just adorable sitting up in it! By the way, we love BJs for the baby stuff. The seat was $10 cheaper at BJs than Target.

*Jacob fed Eli for the first time and he did an excellent job! I was at a Scrapbooking Club, so Daddy was in charge of taking pictures. Unfortunately, the camera batteries died after the first shot. It's not the best picture, but here it is!

*Today Matt and Jacob headed outside to do some sprucing up. Jacob was a wonderful helper to his dad. They replaced our rusted mailbox and cleaned the mailbox post. Our natural area in the front yard has now been weeded. The lawn was mowed. Matt even removed the dead boxwoods from the front of the house, which means now I have to plant something! Eli and I joined them briefly and did some supervising...I mean watching :)

*I took this cute picture after Matt gave Eli a bath for me earlier this week! I thought it was cute and deserved to be posted!

*And, last but not least, Eli is getting stronger every day. He wanted to prove it by showing off in front of the camera! Look at those strong neck and shoulder muscles!

I hope you all have a blessed week! Until next time...

Last Minute MVP!

Last night Jacob had another baseball game. Eli and I stayed home because it was raining. Matt came home and gave me the full report (after finding me in bed..it was 9:30 after all)!

Here's how it went down. Jacob was one for two with a single early on in the game. In the 5th inning, Jacob was up to bat with runners on first and second. He hit a double and brought in a runner for the run that tied the game. Then, thanks to the effort of a teammate, Jacob was able to run home scoring what ended up being the winning run.

Jacob also made a great play at the plate. With runners on second and third and 2 outs, Jacob was behind the plate. The batter had two strikes on him. The pitch was thrown and the batter tipped the ball. Jacob was able to catch the ball to get the final out of the game!

HOORAY!!

Since I wasn't able to go, there is no photographic evidence of this display, so I'll just post an older picture of our last minute MVP!

Answered prayers

Many of you have joined me in praying for the Lawrensons. You can read about them here at Nate's blog. In an answer to prayer, Tricia and Gwyneth are both "home" from the hospital. They will temporarily be in Durham while Tricia recuperates from her double lung transplant (another answered prayer). Praise God!

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Ps. 37:4

Canine Companion

Eli had some company a few days ago while hanging out on the floor. Eva is being a good dog...she knows she's not allowed on Eli's quilt, but she gets just as close as she can!

The path to a laugh!

Please ignore the drool!

Sometimes you just can't control the slobber!

Catch (aka "Pass the Ball")

Here's some pics of Matt and Jacob playing catch in the yard today. I love to see Matt playing with our kiddos. Our boys are so blessed to have him as their father!

Just out of curiosity, do you call that "catch" or "pass the ball"? I say "catch" and Matt says "pass the ball" so I was wondering what all you readers think. Let me know!

Happy Mother's Day!

It's not easy being a good mom. It's not easy being a good friend. Somehow, you've managed to do both at just the right times. Thanks, Mama! I love you!

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Ps. 127:3

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Pro. 31:28

Seek Ye First...

I wrote this about a week ago (originally dated 4/28) and didn't publish it. I do that sometimes. It's my private journal, so to speak. However, tonight at First Wednesday, the speaker, Stovall Weems, also referred to Matthew 6, so I thought maybe I should publish it now!

At church, we're in a series called "Kingdom Builders." Yesterday, Pastor Matt referred to Matthew 6. The passage is familiar to most of us. The highlights for me were "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be" and "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." I was reminded that all I have to do is give God priority in my life and he will give me exactly what I need. The love I need. The peace I need. The wealth I need. The joy I need. He's ready to give me everything I need, if only I would give Him everything He needs--priority! I don't need to worry or get stressed out. I just need to give God first place and He's ready to give it. What an awesome promise of God!


Father, You are such an awesome God! I just thank you for who you are. I thank you for promising me that if I just put you first, you will give me everything I need...everything! Help me to always give you priority in my life. Even when I get busy, Lord, lay that desire on my heart above all else. I love you Father and give you all the honor and praise! In Jesus' name...Amen!

Picture Pages!

Game Ball Glory!

It was a great game last night! Jacob was really on! He did a great job of fielding while playing outfield and catching behind the plate. But, he really shined at bat. He's a slugger. Each time up to bat he whacked that ball. But one at bat really stands out. It was the last inning, bases were loaded and Jacob was up. He fouled out twice and then he nailed it bringing in 2 runs. Check out the video Matt caught.

After the game, the coach always gathers the players together for a little talk and he also awards the game ball. Last night our Jacob got the game ball--YEAH!!! He has come such a long way and we are so proud of him and his efforts.

And just for fun, here's a picture of Elijah! Please, ignore the KFC/Taco Bell cup in the background...you know we're health food nuts around here!

New baby, prayer request!

Matt's sister Mary gave birth to a baby boy, Callum Albert William Burnett on May 2nd at 2:42am. She labored for about 25 hours and the labor was not easy. Please pray for Callum (and Mary and Iain) as he has pneumonia and will be kept in the hospital for at least a week. I know this will be a difficult time for Mary and Iain and baby Callum, but we know that God has a plan and is holding them in His hands. Thanks for your prayers!

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. NIV (emphasis mine)