Bella Rustica

Bella Rustica is a vintage, shabby chic, flea market in an old barn, in Pulaski, TN. Need I say more? Well, if you know me, then you know that I am very verbose, so I will say more :) 

When I was in Tennessee for Jeremy's reunion, I had the chance to go to Bella Rustica with my Mom-In-Law (Linda Jo) and my Sister-In-Law (Berrie) Linda Jo had heard of it and thought that it might be fun. It was! Jeremy watched the kids for me (isn't he amazing?) so that I could spend the day with the girls. I did have a little bit of dough in my wallet that day and expected to walk away with a few items, but I ended up looking and not purchasing (even though the prices were extremely affordable) What I did walk away with was a full stomach! I think we ate the whole time we were there!

Bella Rustica is not huge. The booths have to be juried in (not just any vendor can set up shop) Many vendors had Pinterest type crafts, and others had shabby chic furniture. A vendor from Nashville (Rew Elliott) buys vintage jewelry and resets the jewels in contemporary settings (stunning!) Another vendor makes jewelry entirely out of guitar strings (sound hokey, but isn't) If you think you might be interested in attending next year, see their webpage (Google it) This was only the second year that Bella Rustica has been in existence, so I think it will probably be bigger and better every year that it takes place. :)

Northwood Lake Playground

To Nana And Poppy's House We Went...

Our family recently traveled to Nana and Poppy's house to stay for a few days while Jeremy's 20 year high school reunion was taking place (I know, 20 years, right?) We drove in on a Thursday afternoon and had dinner together before putting the kids to bed. It was a sweet afternoon because Poppy took Ava all over the front yard looking for bunnies (there was a small family of rabbits living in their front yard) She didn't really know what she was looking for, she just enjoyed getting out of the car and running around! It was also the perfect time for Nana to cuddle with Greta!

God Gives Growth...

Part of Jeremy's job as Family Minister, is visiting families from our congregation and having bible studies and devotionals within their home. Two weeks ago, we visited the home of Nathan and Maggie Moore. Nathan and Maggie have two small children and so Jeremy tried to plan a devotional that would be age appropriate. He talked about how only God can give growth. To illustrate, he brought supplies to make terrariums. The Moore's kept the one that Avery made, and we kept the one that Ava made. Every day, I pull the cup off the ledge in our kitchen and show Ava how her plant is growing. I tell her, "God is making that plant grow!" 

Salt...

The pictures don't do justice.

While I was feeding Greta one day, I heard a "SHSSHSHSHSHSH" sprinkling sound coming from the dining room. I didn't think much of it because I was completely exhausted and just didn't want to get up and see what it was. I continued to feed Greta. As my mind began to clear a little bit, I thought, "I really need to see what that is. Ava is being too quiet and hasn't come back into the living room." I stood up and saw her standing in one of the dining chairs, salt shaker in hand. She looked up at me, blue eyes round as could be. She had decided to "decorate" the table with salt. :) It doesn't look like much, but you can see that the salt shaker is half full (or half empty, depending on how you look at it) It was filled to the brim with salt BEFORE she got hold of it.

Salt was EVERYWHERE! She poured it all over the dining room chairs, the table, the tray centerpiece, the candles in the centerpiece, and the floor. :) It was so much fun to clean up!

Our new rule is: "Leave NOTHING on the table!" If we leave nothing on the table, she can't mess with it! :)

Mr. Incredible

This is silly, but it is SO Jeremy...

Jeremy teaches the Young Married/Married With Children class on Sunday mornings. On top of his bookcase sits...Mr. Incredible. :) Since Mr. Incredible cannot stand on his own two feet, Jeremy placed him in a plastic drawer and pushed it in so that Mr. Incredible won't fall. 

One of the reasons I love this class is because I believe Jeremy is a great teacher. I always learn so much from him. Another reason I love this class is because of the relationships that we have formed with everyone in our class. I feel like my bond is so much stronger with my classmates because we all feel free to share comments and struggles in an environment that is non-judgmental. But, I also love this class because I feel safe. I know that Mr. Incredible is nearby, watching out for us all...

Tebow

No, I am not talking about Tim Tebow. We don't speak the language of sports in this household. We are more artistically and musically inclined. Call us nerds. We don't mind. We are proud of it! :)

No, Tebow has actually been a mystery in our household for over a week. It is a word that Ava has said over and over in reference to movies. She will point to one movie and say, "Tebow!" and point to another movie and say, "No Tebow." We could not figure out what she was talking about!

We tried to figure it out two days ago. Jeremy got three movies that we had recently viewed and held them all up to Ava. He asked her which one was "Tebow." She pointed to Cinderella. We thought that maybe Tebow meant Cinderella, but then she said, "Cinderella." We pointed to Shrek. She said, "No Tebow." We held up the Disney documentary that we sometimes watch (and by sometimes, I mean every afternoon) She said, "Mick Mouse." What in the world was Tebow?

I solved the mystery this afternoon! After Ava's bath, I sat her on the bathroom counter to brush her teeth. She said, "Tebow!" I looked at the toothbrush, confused. I said, "toothbrush?" She said, "toothbrush." I said, "Ava, tell Momma where Tebow is." I was really excited because I felt like I was on the brink of the most important discovery of the 21st century! She pointed to her Tinkerbell cup that holds all of her dental hygiene supplies. I said, "Tinkerbell?" Ava shook her head yes and said, "Tebow!" I threw back my head and laughed so hard because all the pieces fell into place!

Tinkerbell=Tebow. I don't know why that is the way she says it, but it is what it is. The reason she said "Tebow" when we pointed to Cinderella, was because of the Disney logo immediately preceding the opening credits. There is the castle scene and Tinkerbell flies over the top. I always make a big deal of that and say, "Ava look! It's Disney! And there's Tinkerbell!" I didn't know she was paying attention to me! When I put "Shrek" in the other day, Ava looked at me and said, "Where Tebow dough?" ("Where did Tinkerbell go?") (Shrek is Dreamworks) I didn't know that she paid attention to those opening scenes! It is really amazing to me that she was able to make a distinction between a "Tebow movie" (as she calls it) and a "No Tebow movie," just by looking at the DVD cover.

So, tonight when we got home from church, I pranced around a little bit and tried to get Jeremy to guess what my big news was (seriously, figuring this mystery out IS a HUGE deal!) He couldn't guess it, so I finally told him. I would love to tell you that we found some spiritual application in all of this, but we didn't. We popped in the movie "Shrek" and taught her how to say "DreamWorks" :)

Alisha's Wedding Shower

This is a recent shower we had in our multi-purpose building at our church. Alisha and Colin will get married in just a few more weeks! We are so excited about their big day! I want to wish them the best of luck on their marriage. They have a lot of people praying for them right now as they take this HUGE step in their lives :) 

Their love story is a sweet one. Colin's mom had Alisha picked out from the moment she met her. In fact, Colin's family was so sure that Alisha was the one for him, that they asked if they could adopt her for our church's adopt-a-student program. That is really how Colin and Alisha got to know one another. The rest is history. They are such a sweet couple and such a great example of how Christians should act in a relationship. I love them both and can't wait for October 20th!