Psalm 80

So I was reading Psalm 80 today during my Bible Study time. It was like water to my thirsty soul! For some reason I have felt rather parched spiritually the last few days - perhaps from the exhausting, self-sacrificing, continuous nature of motherhood! Here are a few of the words from the Psalm - they are a refrain that is repeated 3 or 4 times throughout Psalm 80.

"Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we might be saved."
Psalm 80:3

It stood out to me so clearly why I am parched. I have been pursuing "restoration" in many things - none of which include the Lord. I have pursued it in a the hope of rest in a 4 day weekend, trying to pull myself together, wishing I had not been waken at 5am the last two days, peaceful playtimes, a full schedule, etc. You get the picture. The reason that I have been so parched is that my restoration - my strength, my joy, my purpose, my perspective - needs to be rooted in and grounded in God. In who God is, and what He has done and what He continues to do in and for me through Jesus today.

My soul is so encouraged by this truth! It's not all up to me! It's up to Him and He is able and willing!

I hope that you too will find a relief for your parched souls today in the Word of God! What a deep deep well it is!

Favorite Children's Books?

As I was reading to O this morning, I thought I'd ask folks to share what their favorite Children's books are. Would you take a minute to make a comment below and share your favorite Children's book with us? Here are a few of our current favorites:

The Donut Chef by Bob Staake (just a cute one that all of the words rhyme)



Ducks Don't Wear Socks by John Nedwidek (suggested by our friends the Hunts - it's another cute one!)

A new drum!

Our good friends Mike and Laura have been serving in Peru for the last two years. One of their great friends is Annemarie. Annemarie lives in Richmond. We knew each other at JMU and have been reconnected through our time in Richmond. SO...Annemarie just went to visit Mike and Laura in Peru one last time (they're coming back to VA in July!! Pray for their transition and God to provide a job for Mike.). Annemarie came back to Richmond with a new drum for Owen. He loves it!

Thank You Miss Annemarie!

Owen's Preschool

Owen attended preschool this year at our church - West End Presbyterian Church Community Preschool - in the 2 year old class. It was a bumpy year, but in the end it was great. He loved his class and his teachers and came home every week with some fun craft or learning something new about God's love for him or about the life of Jesus. It was sweet to see him develop friendships with his classmates. We are not sure what the fall will hold for O - we'll either have him in the 3's class or at home for the year. You can pray for us as we decide what is best for our little boy and our family.

Here is his whole class. Owen wouldn't let me leave his side when the parents were all in the classroom, so that is why he is on the edge holding my hand.



Singing a song on the last day of school with the parents in the class.

Baxter's new plane noise

Baxter has a new love of planes. Just like his Uncle Bryan. He makes the sweetest little plane sounds and holds his hand (or Cheetos or books...) and moves it around like a plane. Here is a little video. You might not hear the sound, it's really quiet. But so sweet and funny.

Hat Making

We have a big bag full of foam sticker ABC's and 123's. We found these hats at Walmart the other day that you can decorate with foam stickers. Owen and I had fun with them while Baxter was sleeping. They love to wear them!

Puppy helping out.



Owen took these two pictures of me wearing Baxter's hat.





Here is Owen wearing his hat.

Boy time

The last few weeks have been full of boy time. The boys are really starting to play more and more with/near each other. This inevitably leads to many laughs and many tears. But it is fun!

Owen on top of the fortress that he built by himself.



Owen pulling Baxter around in the car. They both enjoyed this one.



Playing Chutes and Ladders. This lasted for about 30 seconds.



A fortress that daddy built.



Owen's transportation tower. So proud.



This one was a bit bizzarre. Not sure what else to say about it.

Haircuts

Last week was haircut day at the Purdy house. It extended into haircut week for Owen because it was so hard for him to not be very sad. BUT in the end, we all survived and learned more how to love each other. I think that haircuts are the HARDEST times for our family. It brings out the sin in all of us. We are thankful that the Lord is at work to refine us all! Here are two pictures from the day/week.

Owen hates getting the little hairs on him, so this was helpful at one point.



B after his haircut.

A few fun times recently...

14 months old!

Baxter turned 14 months old this week. He is currently suffering from a double ear infection AGAIN. He had one about a month ago too. Hopefully the antibiotic will resolve this quickly! Besides the ear infection, he is a joy! He is just a funny little boy. He is learning more words by the minute. He says "caat" for every animal. He give a little uh-huh when he wants to do what you say and very clearly shakes his head no when he doesn't agree. He is very responsive to what little discipline we have started - usually a little hand pop along with saying no-no. He and Owen are starting to play together which has been a treat to watch! With that come many disputes, but it's worth it! Here are a few pictures I captured at lunch the other day that capture him well!

Matt's new blog!

Check out Matt's new blog.

Getting the hang of it!

Owen is really starting to get the hang of the guitar. He still loves his drum, but I would say that he equally loves his guitar. What he really loves is music! Here is Owen playing the first two verses of a Hymn that we love called "For all the Saints."

For All the Saints

1. For all the saints,
who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith
before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus,
be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Allelu...

2. Thou wast their rock,
their fortress and their might;
Thou, Lord, their captain
in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness
drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Allelu...

How did he get so big?

Look how big our sweet Owen is! We had this out when we watched our friend Jenny's little one - baby Gray - the other day. Owen and Baxter might have enjoyed it more than Gray :)

"Boy Time"

Every Thursday morning (EARLY), I go out to meet one of two girls (each girl every other week) from church for discipleship at a bagel shop. While I am doing that, Matt and the boys have "boy time." I usually come home to some new silly game or song or pictures. Here are a few from yesterday. I guess they both woke up with crazy hair! By the time I got home they were out of their pj's and their hair was combed - thank you Matt! (There is a "clean up" song that Matt made up while playing Owen's guitar that sounds like it is straight out of the Wiggles Show. I will have to record it and put it on here. It's funny and the boys love it!)

Crazy hair at breakfast.

Life as an almost 14 month old

Here are a few pictures of Bax from recently. He is such a joy - hard to believe he used to cry more of the day than he was content. He brings a lot of laughter to our family. He's starting to show that he too is born as a sinner - what a will!! So we will now pray more fervently for BOTH of our boys!

Snuggling mommy and big puppy - Bax will give great "snuggles" - they only last about 6 seconds, but they are very sweet.



Owen and Baxter got a "Cozy Coupe" car for their birthday - Owen is the main driver, but occasionally B will get a turn too. Here he is enjoying it very much.



He has learned how to climb on the dump truck - he can't move forward or anything, but getting on is half the battle!

Tasty Korean Food!

Every month we have the leadership team for the Young Adults ministry over for dinner and a meeting. I have generally done most of the cooking - which I really enjoy - they have offered to help a lot recently though and I am learning to accept the help more and more. This week, our friend Mr. Eman made a DELICIOUS spread of Korean bbq (I forget the exact name for it) and great sides and such. It was so fun to learn about his family and food and to enjoy the yummy food. Thanks Mr. Eman!

The Food.



The Team

The Lord is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

On our way to church yesterday we were trying to teach this to Owen - by the end of the day he was bold enough to do it. What a profound truth! What a great thing that we have a holiday every year to remind us of the life, death and ultimately the resurrection of Jesus! What a great God to teach us more each year of the significance of that day and to teach it to our children too.

Saturday we were invited to attend a BIG Easter egg hunt at our friends the Carroll's. They are some folks at West End that we have asked (and they have agreed!) to love on us as a couple and as a family. They host an egg hunt each year for their kids/grandkids/friends. There were about 100 people there! Lots of eggs! And even a REAL Easter Bunny! After the event, they hosted everyone at a local pizza shop for dinner and fellowship. It was a really great time. The boys really loved it - which surprised me since Owen is such an introvert. Owen loved finding eggs. His favorite was an egg that someone had hidden in our hubcap- smart egg hider! Baxter loved the ONE egg that he fond. His favorite part was standing near the path where all of the kids were walking through and just watching the big kids. Maybe he'll be the lone Purdy extrovert?!

Here are a few pictures from our Easter weekend. We hope and pray that in all of these things, the Lord Christ was lifted up in our hearts and in our home!
(Note: we recently purchased a MacBook, so some of the pictures have been edited in iPhoto - what fun!! We recommend buying a Mac!)

The egg hunt:











Some Easter fun ones - forgot to get a family picture on Easter Sunday - Matt was our photographer :)

Visit with Cousins

Last week (on Matt's birthday) we went to Harrisonburg to visit with my parents and my brother Brett and his family from Connecticut. Brett was on spring break from teaching middle school and they were at my parents for the week. Here are some pictures of cousin fun. Anna and Owen are only days apart and Jake and Baxter are a few weeks apart. They have a great time together and miss each other terribly when the visits are over. We love you guys!

Jake and Baxter with wild hair.



Brett and Carolyn went to Target and came back with these great kites. Owen LOVED his Thomas kite! He did so well with it...



EXCEPT when he let go - look at Matt in full stride chasing down the kite. It didn't get very far, but it was funny to watch!



Serious kite men.



Making spring cookies!