What We Did This Summer

Just what did you do this summer that would prevent you from blogging???

Lots and lots of swinging and climbing and gardening and building and .....well, check out the the slideshows to really see!

Summer fun:


Beach visit (which is so long it may only be interesting to those in the pictures and those who love us all a lot):

The Boy Who Reads

Is she EVER going to post again? In a word, Yes!

Summer was busy busy with outside things and inside things and lots and lots of trips to the library for the boy who doesn't want to read the same book twice...

So coming soon will be pictures of what I was doing this summer instead of blogging :)

In the meantime, here is an interesting (and disturbing-at least for those of us who Love a good book) article from the Wall Street Journal:
How to Raise Boys Who Read

And here's a blog post that is the antidote to the "pollution" in the previous article:
Literature of Honor For Boys

Enjoy!

Growing things!

A few weeks ago, the boys and I were picking weeds out of the front landscape beds and discovered two leaves that didn't look like the rest of the weeds. We decided to let it grow to see what it became and here it is:

We still don't know what it is but we have an idea...This is where we carve our pumpkin every year. So maybe in a couple of months we'll have pumpkins! We'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, Hudson is keeping it watered...
We've also been working hard to get our garden growing before the end of May and finally got it built and planted a couple of days ago...
Hope things are growing in your neck of the woods, too!
love,
the franklins

Easter 2010

Enjoy our pictures from Easter! Click on the slideshow to see larger photos.

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

Season Opener

Saturday, March 6th, was the tee ball season opener. We were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL day and the boys were so cute it was hard to keep the parents off the field with their cameras (including yours truly)...

Enjoy the pictures of our favorite tee ball player:

Learn something new everyday

Here are a couple of things I learned yesterday:

1. Good neighbors are priceless...
2. Clean up your kitchen BEFORE going outside to play with the kids because you might stick your foot in a hole and sprain* your ankle and one of the aforementioned neighbors might be in your kitchen fixing your kids dinner...

*This is a self diagnosis. Yesterday I could barely walk on it. Today it is a little better--still swollen and still pain especially at certain angles.

Today, Thomas got a couple of beans in the Lenten offering vase for bringing me the step stool to prop my sad foot and making me a breakfast of graham crackers and cream cheese...all at his own initiative!

Until next time...

Observing Lent

Ash Wednesday always seems to sneak up on me. Thankfully, I have a friend who emailed me some ideas for Lent a few days ago and her email prompted my preparations.


To observe Lent this year, we have set up a Lenten tree (that will turn into an Easter tree on Easter morning....shhhh-don't tell the boys!). Hanging on the tree are 45 Bible verses, one for each day from today to Good Friday. Each day we will take down the verse for that day and read it. Then we might pray the verse, read it in context, or just talk about it...I'll try to update about how that is going at some point. As Easter approaches, the tree will grow more and more bare and will be empty on Holy Saturday as we remember our Lord in the tomb. Now keep this as a secret...Easter morning before the kids wake up I plan to fill the tree with egg ornaments and hopefully stems of blooming forsythia from our yard. Oh, I look forward to Easter! But for now we must travel through Lent...


Here is our Lenten tree:


In the picture, there is a jar of beans and what we are calling our Lenten offering vase. For each kind or thoughtful thing we observe the boys doing, we are placing a bean in the offering vase.


Click here for the list of Bible verses I'm using for the Lenten tree.


May your Lenten observation be blessed. Create in us a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within us...



Until next time....

Valentine's Weekend

Valentine's weekend started with SNOW! Thankfully, Thomas had time to have his class Valentine party before early pickup and then the fun started. I captured a picture of Hudson enjoying the first flakes. I loved his look of wonder and excitement.

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

By the time we were home from school and from going the the store for some very important hot chocolate, there was enough snow for a little fun.

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

Later we came out for more snow fun with friends...

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

Including the building of this snow friend.

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

We had more fun in the snow on Saturday.

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

Then it was time to get ready for Valentine's Day...We made cookies on Saturday night.

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

Then on Sunday enjoyed waffles for breakfast....

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

And decorated our cookies to eat after lunch.

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

Despite Hudson's BIG yucky cold, we had a fun weekend!

From Valentine's Day Weekend 2010

Until next time...

thursday THREE

I.

For the past few years, my parents have given Matthew the renewal of his Costco membership for his birthday. If you know Matthew, you know that he LOVES a bargain and even that is an understatement. We go almost weekly because they have great prices on milk and we enjoy strolling around as a family...it is the gift that keeps giving!

Well, yesterday, guess who I ran into at Costco...

BETH MOORE!

Okay, I didn't just run into her. She was having a book signing. And because it is a membership warehouse, it wasn't covered over with people like it probably was the other places she visited. So she met Thomas and Hudson who were with me. And when I thanked Beth Moore for what she does (if you don't know then you are missing out!), she said, "Thank you, for what you do," nodding her head at the boys... I don't have the words to express how much those words blessed me.... And I didn't even have Thomas say all his memorized Bible verses for her! She would have loved that!

II.

A moment of brotherly love... Now I'll try to tune out the tattling and bickering in the background to focus on these precious faces and their cute matching pjs :)

III.

And lastly, our neighbor friends are dear to us. When we found this house, we were desperate to find a home before we had to move out of our other house. Plus, I was very pregnant with Thomas. There were two neighbors who had blue bows on their mailboxes at the time! Now that we know these families and their precious children, the value on our home goes up exponentially.

Hope we get some snow and can build some snowmen with them this weekend!

Until next time,

melissa

thursday THREE

I.
Earlier today I remembered that I didn't follow through on some discipline from last night. As I shared that with Thomas, he said, "That's okay, Mom, you're giving me a little mercy..." I fail as a parent and my child turns it into a spiritual lesson...

II.
Hudson is crazy about baseball. In fact this blog entry was interupted a few times by games of catch in the kitchen. A few minutes ago, he was using a vacuum attachment as a bat for some hitting practice until he decided to use his drum stick instead.

III.
I heard the best definition of love the other day...

Love is persistance in a free choice to pour out self for the benefit of
another.

Love is a choice. Love is something you do and not something you feel.

Until next time,
melissa

thursday THREE

It is Thursday and I have three things to share...

I.
I'm still thinking about the sermon I heard on Sunday morning entitled Jesus is More than a Caterer.

You see the catering side of this miracle is purely peripheral. The wine is merely a sign that points to the true nature of Jesus. The point and purpose of the water into wine is the proclamation and witness that Jesus is God the Son who has come to save His people from being “Desolate,” to claim them as His bride and call them “Married” and to give the first taste of the heavenly banquet.

I need to download it to my ipod and listen to it over and over. I need to know that I know that I know that God has renamed me "My Delight" so that I can teach the boys that they too can have a "new name."

II.
Thankful for the weather warm-up, we went to Byrd Park on Monday for a picnic lunch, biking riding and fun at the park. Enjoy the pictures...



III.
Then we had a full Tuesday -- McWane with church friends to see Curious George and a real professional haircut in the afternoon. At one, Hudson was scared of Santa Claus and any costumed character. At two, he is fearless. For Thomas, it was just the opposite. How wonderfully different they are!

I have heard that kids cry during haircuts, but neither boy has had any problems in the barber chair. Perhaps that's because Mr. Clay is great with the kids and, of course, a dumdum sucker always helps!

Three for Thursday

Here are three things I'm thinking about on this Thursday...

ONE
I'm a little behind the times having just watched "Facing the Giants" this week. If you know anything about me, it might seem strange that I rarely meet a sports film I don't like. "Rudy" was on this past weekend and practically had me glued to the screen! This is my favorite scene from "Facing the Giants" and if you watch it you will see why...


TWO
My small group at Community Bible Study on Thursday mornings is led by a dear prayerful lady. This grandmother keeps her grandchildren while her daughter and son-in-law are working and sees this as a privilege and opportunity to pour into those children love and truth. This morning she said that she is teaching her granddaughter three words each week. She uses them to work on phonics and reading, but what stood out to me was that she was intentionally choosing words that describe how God sees her little granddaughter. One of the words she choose for this week is "beautiful." What little girl (or grown-up girl!) doesn't want to hear that she is beautiful?

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14

Our discussions at CBS this morning reminded me of what I want to intentionally pour into the boys. I want so much for them to grow to be men of character...

THREE
A week or so ago Hudson had his well check-up. The doctor asked how much he was talking and if he was putting two or more words together. Of course, I couldn't think of any particular instances that he did that but ever since I've been noticing them. It seems like he's had a language explosion. I'm constantly thinking in amazement, "Did he just say that?" The other day at the library, I was trying to put his jacket on and Hudson in typical two-year-old fashion had his very own ideas about what he wanted to be doing. So very calmly I said to him, "Hudson, I need you to obey." To which I get the reply, "No obey" Not yelling. Just matter of fact, "No obey." It was so unexpected, I laughed. I wonder if he even knows what "obey" means?

Three Thoughts on a Thursday

ONE

We celebrated Epiphany last night with kings and crowns and this little song.

Now time to put away all the Christmas decor...

TWO
I read this meditation in Christianity Today last night and enjoyed it so much. It makes me want to travel to the Holy Land. My favorite quote:

Early Christian apologists, particularly Irenaeus of Lyons,
recognized that the true God had always been present with creation, as the
Scriptures revealed. This God, wrote Irenaeus (to Gnostics' supreme offense),
"mingled with his own creation," willingly inhabiting a human body and having
that body die and rise again so as to "raise up all flesh." Irenaeus recognized
that caro cardo salutis—"the flesh is the hinge of salvation." It was only
through a real earthly ministry and a bodily death and resurrection that
redemption was won.

"The Myth of the Perfect Parent" (for which I couldn't find a link) was a good read in this month's issue, as well.

THREE

I wonder how many times hot chocolate will be requested today? I'm guessing at least eight...

We are waiting for the snow. Our morning activities were cancelled due to the potential "weather event" (I've been reading and watching too much James Spann) so it would be a good idea to use this day at home to put away the aforementioned Christmas decorations. So now that I've blogged, I'll make a to-do list, get the boys dressed in SPIRIT wear (yea! another day to wear their ALABAMA gameday uniforms--I'll update with a picture if I get a chance), and get to work. Stay warm and ROLL TIDE.

A New Year

2008... (Thomas is filling his new big brother shoes and Hudson is not even a month old!)

2009... (clearly I had prop issues and couldn't get a good picture holding the sign)

2010... (FIVE and TWO and lots of fun!)


How fun to see how they've grown! When I was a child, my grandfather, who we called Papa, would take a picture of my sister and me wearing New Years hats and holding a sign he had stenciled with the year. I know someone in the family has these polaroids that we need to preserve(or NOT depending on what year it was--ha!). And now I continue the tradition but I make my sign on the computer and will spare my boys the hats(even though they would probably love them!).

Happy New Year!

May God make your year a happy one!
Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most,
and by making you anxious to be there to help.
God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.
~Anonymous