10: childhood memory

My mom just gave me this picture for my 30th birthday (framed in a very cute frame might I add)!

It is my kindergarten picture.  And it brings back several memories of that exciting year :).  

Here's just one: my first day.  I remember being so nervous/anxious/excited the night before, I munched on a whole bowl of carrots my mom had set on the table for supper.  (Ha, I must have been an emotional eater at that time!).  Anyway, the next day went well and good until just after recess.  I remember my class was in a line, walking into the school building.  All of a sudden I felt really queasy.  Just as I was about to step foot inside, everything in me came out.  Yep, I puked EVERYWHERE.  Oh, I was so embarrassed!  And to my surprise (and everyone else around), my puke was completely orange...so gross!  It had to have been all those carrots...

Check out more on the 30 day challenge at Tami's blog!

9: someone you love

What do you say about someone who means SO MUCH to you?  

I've only known Chad for 4 years...and we've been married for 3 of those years.  Let's just say, I would not be who I am without Chad in my life.  

Daily, I am amazed and challenged by how he lives and thinks.  (We are opposites in MANY ways!)  He truly is one of the most gracious and compassionate men I have EVER met.  He extends Christ and His love to all he comes in contact with and does so with joy and and passion.  He is wise beyond his 32 years :)...and he makes the impossible look easy and the tough details of life fade away into the big picture.  To God be the glory...

I am so honored to be his wife.  

Thank you babe for being my leader, provider, protector, father to our girls, and gracious husband.  I love you so much.

8: a bad habit

I know I posted this picture just last month, but I couldn't resist posting it again for today :).  It just makes me laugh every time I look at it!  And, for those wondering, she is doing better about not picking her nose (esp. in public) lately.  

I promise all these pictures are not going to be Livie or about Livie.  I know I have plenty of bad habits of my own - being late, eating lots of sweets, excessively cleaning - just to name a few.  But right now Livie is pretty easy to take cute pictures of and talk about!  Love you little girl.

day 7: fruit

Not very original today.  This is Livie's half eaten apple from breakfast.  She is loving whole apples recently (must feel good on those teeth).   But this morning, she got distracted (surprise!) and only ate part of it.  

day 6: from a low angle

I have two.  In the first one, I'm standing in our great room, looking up at our future loft...and the guys hard at work :).  Also, notice the sky-lights..they are the first two windows in!

The second one is Livie.  I just have to put one of her at the top of this post because she consumed my day today.  During bathtime, I realized she is finally cutting 3 out of 4 of her eye teeth.  That may explain some of her emotional instability lately (ie.  crying over EVERYTHING), and why I've caught her biting Emma's hand twice now (to which she even looks VERY surprised that she was capable of such a horrific act).  But just before bed tonight, she snuggled with me on the couch for a good 30 minutes...which does make me forget why I have such a headache right now :).  

And for my weekly update on what's going on in the Herman household...here's what we've been up to lately...

The house?  We have Tyvek on, the roof is ready for shingles, the chimney is set in the covered porch, and the windows should all be set within the next 2 weeks.  LOTS going on!

 view of the dam/lake from the master bedroom

And while a lot got done at the house this weekend...it wasn't by us.  We were up in Chicago with some friends to attend the International Justice Mission benefit dinner.  IJM is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.  They truly are advocates for the poorest of the poor in the world.  GREAT CAUSE.

And after the benefit, all the guys had to get caught up on the games going on Saturday night.  Which reminds me of a frequent phrase from Livie lately when Chad turns the TV on, "No baseball Daddy...No baseball!".  Go Cardinals :).

And Emma has outgrown the laundry basket...time to break out the suitcase :).

30 day challenge

I would not call myself a great photographer.  But I do love taking pictures of our girls at home...and I love all the details of life.  The simple, beautiful things God has given us to enjoy...things that you would otherwise miss if you weren't paying close attention.  And I love my cousin, Tami, whom I probably haven't had a real/genuine conversation with in a loong time :(.  That makes me sad. 

Where am I going with this?  Well, to celebrate her 30th birthday, Tami is doing a 30 day photography challenge on her blog and inviting others to join her.  She is an AMAZING photographer...go check out her blog by clicking here.  After 5 days of stalking her blog :)...I've decided to join in cause it just looks like fun and I'm all about celebrating 30th birthdays now!  So, happy birthday Tami...maybe after all of this, we'll get together and catch up.  Here are my first five days...crammed into this gorgeous fall friday:

1) Self-portrait:

I think this is one of the only self-portraits I have.  And from my freckles, it reminds me of summer!  Sad to say, but I already miss summer this year...and it's only October :(.  

2) What I wore today:

Hahaha...I'm a little embarrassed about this one.  Just a little.  Truth is, this is me most days at home.  T-shirt and boxer shorts :)...easiest thing to put on in the morning.  But the reason I'm embarrassed is cause  today I'm wearing a T-shirt that Chad randomly brought home one day after cleaning his truck out.  It's definitely not Chad's (cause it's size medium)...and he didn't know who it belonged to...so I just washed it and put it in my drawer :).  If anyone wants to claim it...it's yours!  

3) Clouds:   

This is the best I could do for "clouds"...Livie playing peek-a-boo during bathtime.  Let's just say there's lots of white!

4) Something Green: 

A green wire basket that Andrea gave me for my birthday...LOVE it.  It's currently holding some of my favorite magazines/catalogues.  When I got it, I put it next to my desk where a trash can used to be.  To this Chad said, "Um...this new basket can't hold trash."  I said, "Yeah, but I like it and it's a little inspiration for our new house." And he said, "Well, inspiration can't hold trash."  True babe, very true.

5) From a high angle:  

Our toyroom/playroom/office after a morning at home.  I love mornings like these...Livie playing, hanging out with my girls, watching Emma smile and coo, listening to music.  Yeah, I'm a home-body...so, it doesn't get much better than this!

More to come on monday...

parenting

The following are some pics for Emma...to redeem the ones from her "crazy hair" post.  Baby girl, you really are pretty cute.

Parenting has been on my mind a lot lately.  Good thing, right?  I mean, I am faced with it pretty much 24/7.  As Livie is approaching age 2, I'm finding myself being more humbled and challenged, not only in parenting, but in my Christian walk.  More than ever before.

In attempt to explain this, I'm going to take an exerpt from a little book I was given for my birthday,  "Loving the Little Years", by Rachel Jankovic, mother of 5 children under 5!  She's further into this parenting thing than I am, but I can already relate to her with just 2 of my own.  The following passage really resonated with what I've been learning lately...

I do a lot of on-the-job failure and correction.  Repenting and forgiving.  Laughing.  Lots and lots of laughing.  Because if there is anything that life will teach you, it is that there is no room to take yourself seriously...

The opportunities for growth and refinement abound here - but you have to be willing.  You have to open your heart to deal with the tumble.  As you deal with your children, deal with yourself always and first.  This is what it looks like and feels like to walk with God, as a mother.  

God treats us with great kindness as we fail daily.  He takes the long view of our sin - knowing that every time we fail and repent, we grow in our walk with Him.  It is easy for us to accept this, because are sins are, well, ours.

But our children sin against us, annoy us, mess up our stuff.  We want to hold it against them, complain about them (if only to ourselves), and feel put on by their sin.  We have a much harder time accepting that every failure from them is a wonderful opportunity for repentance and growth and not an opportunity for us to exact penance.  

It is no abstract thing - the state of your heart is the state of your home.  You cannot harbor resentment secretly toward your children and expect their hearts to be submissive and tender.  You cannot be greedy with your time and expect them to share their toys.  And perhaps, most importantly, you cannot resist your opportunities to be corrected by God and expect them to receive correction from you.

God has given us the job of teaching His law and demonstrating His grace.  We are to be guides to our children as they learn to walk with God.  Sin is just a fact of life.  It is the way we deal with it that changes ours.

Love all of that...especially that it is so centered on the Gospel.  May God grant me grace to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ at home!

My lighter note for today is that the roof on our new house is now completely sheeted (meaning, it is covered in plywood and is ready for shingles).  Sheeting the roof was a BIG job.  Soo, now the final decisions on outside finishes need to be made.  We have the stone, windows, gutters, garage doors, and trim picked out...now we just need to decide on siding and shake colors (which covers most of the house).  Here is what is on my kitchen table right now...

And the decisions are just starting...

30!

I guess turning 30 is a big deal or something...cause I got so spoiled on my birthday this year.  

First of all, Emma slept through the night for the first time.  She already knows how to give good gifts :).  Then, I had 4 parties in 4 days!  Crazy, I know.  The first was with my family...always a good time.

The next night, my Thursday morning Bible study girls got together at Andrea's...such a fun night just hanging out!  Thank you Andrea.

The next night, I was supposed to go out with Chad while his mom watched both Liv and Emma.  Chad wouldn't tell me ANYTHING about the evening beforehand, just the time he wanted me ready.  He kept saying, "It's your 30th, you need to have a few surprises."  Early on, I had told him I didn't want a party, so I genuinely thought he was just planning a special evening for us two.

But as the day progressed, I sensed something else was going on.  A few things tipped me off...missing $ from our savings account, talking to a few too many people that knew it was my 30th, all the Herman kids randomly having babysitters for the evening...hmmm.  Something was up and I knew it!

After dropping the girls off, we arrived at Biaggi's (yum)...and Chad tried to drop me off at the door.  I was like, "No way!  I'm walking in with you."  So, he parked, we walked in together, he handed me a card, and then he ran off to the bathroom (what?) while the waitress took me back to our table.  Next thing I know, I'm at a table with some of my closest girlfriends :).  

I guess it had all been in the works for awhile.  I know my sister-in-law, Amy, and Andrea helped Chad out quite a bit to pull it off :).  But it was his idea...and I just have to share a little of what he wrote in his card that evening...

"I thought that since for my 30th you put on a carnival for me and my peeps, that for your 30th we would treat the wonderful women who serve and pour out themselves everyday taking care of us kids.  I love you so much, so have fun, enjoy the relationships God has given you.  Don't worry about the kids, I'm on my way to go back and get them when you're reading this..."

So, yep...Chad took care of the girls yet another night, while I got to eat delicious food, get pedicures, and go to a movie with some wonderful girls...all on him!  I think I'm married to one of the most generous guys ever...and I know he was that way LONG before I came along too.  Thank you so much babe for such a relaxing and fun evening...I know we all LOVED it.

The fourth party was Sunday at Norris with the Hermans.  Such a beautiful afternoon/evening and SO RELAXING...hence, no pictures.  But it was a great end to my birthday marathon.

So, now I'm officially 30.  While it's crazy that some of the girls in these pics won't be here for 6-7 more years (you know who you are!)...I am ready to embrace it with arms open wide.  God is so good...I cannot complain!

emma's crazy hair

Since birth, Emma has had a TON of hair.  It appears to be dark brown...but don't let it deceive you...under all that dark brown hair, it is auburn RED.  And so far, she hasn't lost any of it!  It has to be at least two inches long right now.  

In attempt to cure some cradle cap, we might have come up with some new hairstyles for ya :).  Disclaimer: pics were named by Chad.

float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

grow your own shower cap

naked and i love it

i'm not as smart as i look

Poor girl...