bahahahahaha..this is my life. :)

3 down.

the beauty of kansas spring is hard to equal.this past week i've been picking some wild flowers/weeds and pressing them. wild roses are my favorite.

5. hoping on getting two or three more done today!

I haven’t been asked yet to walk the hard roads
Still there’s a sense of deep loss in my soul
In the middle of a party, I’ll just want to go
Home.

But ooh,
My bow is on the strings,
I’m beginning to learn where to find the words
To the song that emptiness sings
Ooh, bow is on the strings:

Glory to God! Glory to God!
This is how emptiness sings, oh,
This is how emptiness sings
Hmmm, hmmm

Cato's <3
I got these beautiful earrings for 2 dolla on Monday at a Cato's up near Branson. Totally adorable :)

sunday
after church,, I got to hang on to Jeremiah for a looong time. he's such a sweetie. and he fell asleep on my lap, which is when I took pictures. he has the most beautiful big blue eyes that I didn't get to photograph. next time :)

delicate long eyelashes.

pudgy white hands.

Grandma took this for me :) I'm still in awe of his cuteness. Yes, I admit it, I have baby fever.

[quote!]

"For no sooner do we begin to live in this dying body, than we begin to move ceaselessly towards death." 
-Augustine, City of God
I think that I've had my fill of morbidity for today. Or maybe not ;) His paradoxical look at death and life is extremely interesting.  Augustine must have had a passion for heaven.

"Science is changing its fatheaded mind all the time!"

 -Mr. C

"All the things I pursue, well they stay for a season, but everything moves but You."

 I have been enjoying her music so, so much. Check out her album 'How Emptiness Sings'

[baby island]

I found this book somewhere...I'm not sure where, and nabbed it to read to my little ones when I have them. I don't know about you, but a well done kids book just makes my day. It's one of my favorite things. I haven't read this one all the way through; it's a chapter book in the style of The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, but a bit shorter. I do want to read it sometime when I have the time, though. The illustrations are darling, a bit reminiscent of Indian Captive (one of my favorites growing up-by Lois Lenski) and it looks like a really fun book for 7-12 year old kids. I have a few pictures of some of the illustrations, and a couple shots of some cute parts in the book. Enjoy!

Yes. I want to write a book like this someday.

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! 

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. 

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, 

Nor will the flame burn you."

[quote!]

“The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder

[quote!]

"What day is it?" 

"It's today," squeaked Piglet.
"My favorite day," said Pooh.
- A.A Milne

[quote]

"Be taught, ye abandoned creatures, and ascertain the causes of things; what we are, and for what end we are born; what is the law of our success in life, and by what art we may turn the goal without making shipwreck; what limit we should put to our wealth, what we may lawfully desire, and what uses filthy lucre serves; how much we should bestow upon our country and our family; learn, in short, what God meant thee to be, and what place He has ordered you to fill." -Persius

May I just say that I'm so happy with the education I'm receiving from Mr. C right now? Like, beyond happy.  When and if you have kids, make sure they get a classical education. I don't even know Latin or Greek, but what I've done has been so amazing.

[this is my heart]

Why must fear follow me everywhere, like a tiger waiting to pounce and kill? 
"Fear not, for I am with you." 

Lord, be with me always.
"I shall not leave you or forsake you." 

Lord, this hurts so bad. 
"My flame shall not hurt thee; I only design/ thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."  

[quote!]

"Everyone asks me how to find the man or woman of their dreams. The best way I heard on how to pick a mate was this. You run as fast as you can for Jesus Christ, commit your life to Him, love Him, sell out to Him, and stay devoted to Him. Then you start looking to your right and left and see who is running at the same speed. And you wave at them. And if they stay up with you, after a while, say, 'Come on over!' And you're running together. That's how you find your mate."

-Unknown

[quote]

Yes, I'm doing a lot of quotes these days. :D I just know you love it.

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” 

-Augustine

[quote]

"O Lord, you are eternal but You will not always be indignant with us*, because You take pity on our dust and ashes. You saw me and it pleased You to transform all that was misshapen in me. Your goad was thrusting at my heart, giving me no peace until the eye of my soul could discern You without mistake. Under the secret touch of Your healing hand my swelling pride subsided, and day by day the pain I suffered brought me health, like an ointment which stung but cleared the confusion and darkness from the eye of my mind." 

St. Augustine, Confessions

*Psalm 85:5

This passage makes me want to cry. This is such a beautiful book.

[songs]

I only watched thirty seconds into the second video, so... I don't know what's in it. Probably nothing, but you never can tell with music videos, haha. Great songs.

[my bros]

John, looking all epic in Josh's glasses.

<3

that is one goodlookin kid right there. everyone agrees with me, at least all of my family does.

THOSE EYES, THOSE EYES!

dude, there they are again. wut.

What on earth did I do to deserve four such handsome brothers? Whatever it was, I'll take 'em. (yes, I just said 'handsome' instead of 'attractive'. The former is vastly underused at the moment, while the latter is grossly overused. Just sayin. Soo, I'll stick with the classic rather than the trendy.)

[duuude]

Augustine was awesome. If I had had a pen handy at all times while reading Confessions, it would probably win 'most underlined Great Book' of all time.. it may yet, haha :) 

"The good things which you love are all from God, but they are good and sweet only as long as they are used to do His will. They will rightly turn bitter if God is spurned and the things that come from Him are wrongly loved."

"[Jesus] did not linger on His way but ran, calling us to return to him, calling us by His words and deeds, by His life and death, by His descent into hell and His ascension into heaven. He departed from our sight, so that we should turn to our hearts and find Him there."

"Man is a great mystery, Lord. You even keep count of the hairs on his head and not one of them escapes Your reckoning. Yet his hairs are more easily counted than his feelings and the emotions of his heart."

"Do my questions provoke You to smile at me and bid me simply to acknowledge You and praise You for what I do know?......For it is better to find You and leave the question unanswered than to find the answer without finding You."