Strawberry Pickin' at Lever Farms

This is the place where you pay---and they even have pound cake and strawberry SALSA for sale!
Examining a strawberry---then.....

Smooshing the strawberry all over himself!!!

Look what we picked! Pretty good, eh?

Emma Grace and Madeline with stains and all---I think Madeline ate more than she put in her basket!

Alex and Jase watching the action!

Here's one, Mommy!

Ms. Julie, Madeline, and Emma Grace---beautiful rows they have at Lever!

Today a friend and I took our little ones to pick strawberries at Lever Farm about 20 min. up the road on Hwy. 34 in Newberry County. Emma Grace and Madeline really enjoyed themselves...Emma Grace had never picked anything beyond our garden before, and this year she's really getting into the planting and weeding aspects of it. She was actually very good at only picking the big, red ones and picked most of what we brought home. We hauled Jase and Alex along for the ride and it was not long that they were reminding us of why it's hard to travel anywhere with babies. :) The strollers would not fit down any of the rows planted, but we persevered and came home with a gallon each full of juicy, sweet strawberries!! I'm talking YUMMY!!!! I'm so excited about what I might do with them tomorrow (tonight they just sit on the counter--maybe they should be in the refrigerator!). This is just the first of many wonderful trips around the Midlands---can't wait for the Zoo, the dairy farm, Edventure again (they have the butterfly garden now!), etc. Enjoy the pics of our little ones with red stains!

Jase's 1st Birthday

Food & Fun!
Jase was not too hip on the messy cupcake. He's a lot like his mother---a little OCD!

The happy Birthday Boy!

This was before he made too much of a mess.

Emma Grace helps Jase open his presents.

To my precious Jase:

God has blessed you with nearly one year of life! We are so honored to be your parents! God has only given you to us for a short time, and we pray more than anything that we can teach you how to truly love Jesus and trust Him for everything while we are caretakers over you. You have just been such a blessing to our family for this first year, and we all look forward to watching you grow up! Sometimes I sit and wonder and pray about what it is that you might become in this world. I must confess one year ago I sat in church on Mother's Day without a named picked out for you and, upon hearing the sermon about Hannah and her vowing to give Samuel back to the Lord (which she kept that vow), I wondered if we should call you Samuel. That name had been in my mind almost the entire 9 months I carried you, and I felt the Lord telling me that you were to be given back to Him even as we raise you. That God was getting ready to entrust to us another little life to help shape and mold.

Well, you came into the world on May 20, 2008 and your daddy and I decided you were going to be named Hennies Jason Pope III. But even at this your one year birthday coming up on the 20th, I know still that God has asked us to give you back to Him...that you are His covenant child and that we can give you no greater present than to pray for you to come to know Him at an early age! WOW! What an awesome blessing you are to us! We do pray for you in all areas: your salvation, to love God's word, to use the gifts He gives you, for wisdom and discernment, for a servant's heart, for kindness & compassion, health and safety, self-control & diligence, spiritual protection, friends, sibling, teachers, and one day your future mate. He can handle all of those things and MORE, so I am not scared to hand you back over to the One who lays our paths. May yours be filled with more love and joy than you could ever imagine. I love you, Jase Pope!!!

Heading Out to Lake Lure

Pulling up on everything.

If Mommy won't put up the Johnny jump-up, then I'll sit in it myself.

Bathtime mohawk.

On Friday I'll be heading out to Lake Lure with some friends from college days at Winthrop. Oh, how I look forward to sleeping all the way through the night. It's the simple things in life! Yes, I look forward to seeing my friends and catching up with them like we do every 6 months, but I really just need time to sleep and be a normal person. This is what I asked (told) Jason I wanted for Mother's Day. Can't wait to see how he fares...he told me that no one does things like mama. True, true. I'm sure they'll be fine. Funny how you relax so much more with the second child! Here are some recent pics of Jase at 11 months old. He's such a doll!!!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Kudos to Miss California!!

Iam so proud that Miss California stood her ground both in the pageant and on the Today Show regarding Gay Marriage. If you haven't listened to her, the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DwozFT7n6s
And when Matt asked her if she were to have the opportunity to do it all over again, would she still answer the same way, her response SOOOO honors God. Yes, of course, she would answer the same way because our God never changes...He is not circumstancial. He does not change His views on gay marriage. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As Christians, we should be bold everyday to defend the faith that we possess, and now Miss California has an AWESOME chance to "tell the hope that is within her." Isn't life worth the living!? AMEN!!!

Quick Trip to TN

This past weekend was the Allinger family reunion in Sevierville, TN. I was really anticipating a lot of "We only see you once a year" stares and lots of people on "that" side of the family that we really do not have much in common with. It started out much the same way with one of the ladies looking completely over me as we walked in and she did not speak. Looking back, I am a little disgruntled to say that, yes, I feel we did a very little to "bond" with our family. But with all that said, what can you expect from seeing people ONCE A YEAR?! I mean, it's not like we even talk on the phone or email personal stuff. The family members who I regularly email from Charleston were not even there, and those who were are people that we really do not share much in common with. I know my church family here in Lebanon better than any of the other family members. I'd be surprised if any of them even went to church on Easter Sunday much less any other Sunday throughout the year, and Lord forbid any weeknight! Just not important to them like our Lord and Savior are to us. The kids played fine together and the adults watched TV and ate well together (whoopdi-do!).

We had hoped to enter some sort of conversation and be a shining light about "the reason for the hope that is within us", but it just did not happen. Jason was asked to say the blessing, which he did share the reason for Easter and for us to even have all the blessings that were on the table before us. So I guess we can be thankful for that. Like I said, it's about relationships and relationships take time. We will know when the time is right, when the season for sharing is upon us. God will give us the wisdom for all that He wants us to do.

Another area that I have been so glad to be studying/reading in is Matthew 11:28-30 when Jesus talks about coming to Him all who are weary and heavy laden. I really like the book Queen of the Castle by Lynn Bowen Walker. My mom gave me the book for Christmas, and on page 89 she shares, "The definition of yoke is a harness that was never intended to be worn by just one. It was designed for two creatures to share the workload. That helps me see how important it is for me to bring my troubles to Jesus when I'm feeling stressed and overburdened. I don't need to walk alone, lugging hundreds of pounds more than I can carry. My shoulders are weak, and He knows that. As soon as I ask Him to, Christ will walk with me, sharing my life and my burdens, taking nearly all the weight from my back so all that's left is an amount I can bear. It is heavy enough, to be sure, but as I walk with Christ, sharing the yoke designed for two, I know it can be carried."

May this last prayer help you as it has helped me as I go through yet another week of being a SAHM and learning to let Him carry my burden and not get stressed out:

"Lord, thank you that neither death nor life nor dirty laundry nor sticky floors nor grocery shopping nor carpooling nor homework nor science fair projects can separate us from Your love. Whether I handle life well or poorly, thank You that nothing I do will make You love me any more, or less. Help me not to be stressed over my imperfections, but to rest in the comforting knowledge that through Christ, I am acceptable to You." AMEN!

Burp, mommy, burp

I have to post some of the funny things Jase has been doing lately and how he is just GROWING UP SO FAST!! He's just crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. Nothing is off limits! It's amazing how different he is from when Emma Grace was a little tot. Boys are just different AND we have a lot more "stuff" now since there's a little girly girl who loves dolls, bottles, little play shoes, strawberry shortcake house complete with wardrobe and table/chairs.

This is just too funny. Lately Jase has started reaching behind me after I give him his morning bottle and I begin to pat his back and now he's starting to pat ME on the back as if to say, "Burp, mommy, burp!" It's too cute and I almost can't help but laugh now that I realize what he's doing. Maybe he's seen EG doing it with her baby dolls, too. She's such a good little mommy to Rachel and Laura and Suzy and Abigail and Campton (boy doll...yes, she named him Camp-ton like Hampton) and all her other dolls I cannot remember.

And I really do not like that Jase is pushing away the baby food! What?! I think he's seen Emma Grace's plate and he knows that she does NOT have little jars and plastic containers with tops on her plate. This morning he ate some of our cinnamon toast and seemed to like it a lot. UUHH, OH. And seems to love the Special K I have for breakfast. I'm just not ready for a messy meal 3X a day when he self feeds. Well, now I have gone and purchased some of the diced Gerber graduates foods like apples and carrots and stuff and guess what??? I have a 4 year old who says, "I want those apples" or "I want those turkey sticks"! YUCK. Why? I thought one bite of those little fruit puffs for babies and she'd get back to the real deal cheese puffs, but NOOOOOO. She eats the entire bag of Jase's baby puffs in the car! Well, at least they're good for her.

Jase loves the johnny jump up!! Man, he's a monkey, and I'm sure glad he likes the jump up because it's the only place I can really confine him that he's happy. If he's not napping or in the jump up, mommy generally cannot get a shower. He's just too mobile. I may have to bring the pack-and-play in from the car so I can let him be caged in enough to shower. (I keep it in the car for days when we go to the park or the church playground or even to our Sat. night fellowship at Danny and Lily's and he needs something to sit in and play while I push EG on the swing or help her do the monkey bars). He will occassionally sit in the exersaucer for a stint or the bouncy seat for about 10 min. while we eat breakfast, but he does not like them for long periods of time.

He has finally started on whole milk in his bottle. Most of the bottle is still formula, but part is whole milk and the proportions are starting to be more even, thank goodness, because formula is WAY too expensive! I don't know how people do it for 12 months or more!! I'm so thankful to have been able to pump and give him breastmilk for 10 months. His first tooth came in on my birthday, March 22!! YEAH! I thought for sure he was going to be like me and be 15 months before he showed signs of a tooth, but it popped up on my birthday. Wonderful present for mommy! Glad I'm NOT nursing now---oh how I remember when EG got teeth and decided it was time to gnaw. I DO NOT MISS THAT.

We're all doing well...still trying to maintain that balance in church activities later at night and my children's sanity. Pray for me as I try to also walk at least once a week and do my workout tapes 2X a week. It's been difficult, but EG every now and then wants to do the tape with me...please be aware that she is more in the way than she is actually working out, but at least she's active some of the time and it's not cartoons I'm battling on the TV. She knows that is mommy's TV time. :) Ha!