Well we survived!!! It was a wonderful trip and the girls had many new experiences from riding in airplanes, subways and being hit up for money from several homeless people. Below is our account of the weekend through photos. They are pretty much in order, I have not mastered how to get my photos to load in a particular order.

Eden Grace before take off in Tulsa!

Somewhere over Oklahoma.

On the Tram ride at DFW airport. Payton says this was one of her favorite things.

Payton on the trip from Dallas to Atlanta. We had quite a bit of bumps that about sent me over the edge but she didn't even notice!

The four of us on the airplane!

This reminded us of Payton's picture in the backyard. (See previous post.)

The subway ride in Atlanta. Wow - it made me realize how much of a little bubble I live in here in Oklahoma!

This was Payton watching all the different people on the subway. I am pretty sure she learned some new words that shouldn't be repeated.

Baggage Claim!

This was our view from the Mariott Marquis in downtown Atlanta, GA!

We were on the 34th floor.

The girls and me looking out our window.

This was inside our hotel and I didn't care for the elevator ride up and down to our 34th floor! Payton on the other hand went right to the window and looked out!

This is Baby Bella, she was one of four little girls on the trip with us.

This is another one, baby Alexa. Alexa and Eden are only 4 weeks apart.

Payton photographing her little people she was playing with in the hotel room.

The conference, that looks more like a concert and sounded more like a southern gospel revival - we are not sure really what we attended, we just know we had a ton of fun and learned a lot!

Sweet Eden snoozing in bed. Early mornings and late nights.

The beds were super nice!

Six o'clock in the morning - leaving the hotel to head for home.

Payton and Clay trying to run off some energy in between sessions at the conference.

A sweet note that Payton wrote and then took a photo of in the hotel room.

Dallas Airport lunch and babies playtime.

Kaytie Jo with us leaving the hotel.

We had so much fun and we were SO worn out by the time we got home!

~Holly

More moments and photos

So we have been doing several fun things that we have taken photos of in the past couple of weeks and I thought I would share them with you! :)  They are kind of in random and out of sorts order.

A fun visit from Nicole - Kaytie Jo's (our roomate) old roomate.  She is so funny and great.  We shared a wonderful meal of buritto bowl's with her.

This is cool mosaic table that we made as a community at church on Easter morning.

Payton eating honey seared chicken at Pei Wei on her birthday evening.  It is her favorite meal!

The big happy family at the big party on Saturday.

Kiddos decorating cookies to eat!

Payton has been doing a little photography on the side these days and this is one of the pictures I found on the camera.  I found it hilarious - hope you do too.

Payton photographing our garden bed with baby lettuce and spinach poking.

The four year old birthday girl on Friday evening.

Blowing out the candles.

Sweet Eden Grace swinging on the new swing set in the backyard.

Payton Jayde swinging and showing off her fruit leather in the backyard.  The girls got money for Christmas from grandparents and other family members to build a swing set.  So we finally got around to building it last week. When I say "we" I really mean my dad and wonderful husband.  It is a legal buy for those of you questioning if it is new or not... "the panel" of judges said it was okay because it was money received before the new year for a specific gift. :)

Payton and Eden on the front porch Easter Morning

Eden at our Good Friday service.

Payton and her fabulous Easter Eggs!

Payton's Portrait of Clay on a picnic at Mohawk Park

On a hike at Oxley Nature Center with our friends the Ruckers.

Payton resting on bench already at the beginning of our hike. She is totally a city girl, reminds me of myself a lot.  Hopefully we will get her past this city girl stage and into nature lover very soon.

This little thing was photographed by Payton in our house one day.  When going back thru our camera I discovered it.  We have been visited by some mice of late and I honestly thought this was one of them.  However after I screamed upon viewing it, Payton let me know it was just one of her tiny toy cows she was photographing.

Well there it is in nutshell over the last couple of weeks.  I am getting the camera all charged up and ready to head out for Atlanta tomorrow.  I am sure we will be back with many more photos and tales.  Between riding shuttles, airplanes and subways surely we will come home with some kind of fun.

~Grace and Peace ~

Holly

My Life and My Thoughts

My sweet Payton that just turned four this weekend.

Eden Grace, my garden child!

So I have made NO time to blog in the last several weeks. It has been one thing after another around here. So here are some of my thoughts - randomness of sorts.



*I am overwhelmed

* Where does my time go? I am always cooking, cleaning, teaching, washing, gardening...but I have no time for what others seem to have time for in a regular day.

* I did plan a birthday party for Payton that was a hit! Kiddos came to the house in random intervals in a three hour time span and decorated cookies. It was great at times and then there were times where I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and leave the house. The moment in time for me to want to do that most was when all my friends from all walks and seasons of life and family landed in the same spot at the same time. I didn't have time to spend with any or all of them. So I simply hopped from one to the next like a little hyper dog trying to make sure I gave my love to each one.

* Why do we do this kind of torture to ourselves? Are our kids going to remember these chaotic parties? I didn't have but one or two birthday parties in my lifetime and I remember those, but not to say that I am at a loss for not having more.

*I hope my kids remember how hard I work for them.

*This is why I don't have time for silly nonsense in this world - I am raising two precious girls.

*I went to a "Natural Momma's" group this morning. It was great. I walked in feeling a little out of place but by the time I left, I felt totally comfortable.

* I am hopping on a plane for the first time in 3 years. I hate flying!!! Well the whole family is going so if we go down - we are going down as a family. We are heading to Atlanta for the weekend for a Mona Vie confrence. For those of you who didn't know we are climbing the ladder in Mona Vie. I may have not mentioned to you yet. I don't want to be known as the crazy juice lady. I am sharing this product with people because it is doing incredible things for our health.

*I have a rollercoaster of emotions these days. I have given permission to myself to let some things go that I have been holding on to for a little less than a year now. However, this week I feel like I just picked them back up again. I am a little sad, overwhelmed, and jealous.

* On the other hand I am very excited, refreshed, and renewed with blossoming friendships all around me. Suddenly I have burst out of my bubble of life I have lived for almost the last ten years and have discovered that there is life outside of my world. It is great.

*So just between you and me - I want a housekeeper. Just like everyother week or so. I am really not a fan of "stay at home" moms having housekeepers - but now that I am one - I think we need them more than anyone else.

*My hair is getting greasier - maybe it is the shampoo or maybe it is just my hormones changing - but I have NEVER had oily hair. YUCK!!

*I wish my kids took three hour naps.

*I miss my husband. I feel like for the most part we pass each other in the hallway and sometimes get to have dinner together. Is it ever going to slow down?

*I am listening to a great book on CD - "Grace Eventually" by Anne Lamott. It is not a read for conservative christians. Or maybe it is - wow she is real - makes me feel a little more sane, or a little less crazy when I listen to her.

* I have to stop blogging and go pack - well wash first and then pack.

*I think five hours on a plane is not going to be fun with a four year old and a nine month old.

*Say a prayer for nice weather and smooth rides for us. I am really much more comfortable with both feet on the ground.
~H

I am

Eden Grace getting her fingers dirty in the garden.

I am a mother,

a wife,

a sister, 

a daughter,

a best friend

a soul's mate.

I am a soul's mate to Clay.

He is more than I ever dreamed.

I love that he knows how to romance me.

He romances me by...

coming home early from work,

dancing with me in the most random of places,

gardening with me,

and just being beside me.

I am a quality time person.

I am not won any other way than just spending time with me.

If you invest in enough time with me you will also find out I am an open book.

You pretty much get what you see for the most part.  

I do hold back some ugliness in my brain from time to time that probably isn't nice to share with everyone.

I love that there are certian people in my life that I can call and reveal that ugliness to at any given time.  

I love that these people love me inspite of my ugly thoughts.

These people have dirty basements as well and I love them for it too.

I am becoming more okay every day with my dirty house.  

It is simply the stage I am in life.

It really isn't DIRTY it is simply kid clutter and a bit earthy.

I am earthy most days.  This is who I am becoming. Earth Momma.

I am more comfortable in my skin right now than I have ever been.

I love the earth between my fingers.

I am a gardener.  

I am  a front porch sitter.

I love my wind chimes - it says spring to my soul.

I love opening all the windows and doors in my house and letting the wind whip through the halls and rooms.

I love leaving the windows open until it is too hot or too cold to stand it.

I love the smell of spring, rain, cut grass and dirt.

I am learning to love the smell of children who have played outdoors all day long.

I love watching Eden use her tiny fingers to investigate dirt for the first time.

I love witnessing Payton teaching herself how to swing all alone.

I love seeing freckles form on young faces from the kiss of sunshine.

I love curly hair.

I hate my curly hair at times.

I love getting my hair cut.

I love having my hair shampooed at the salon.

I love having my hair dried at the salon.

I hate washing and drying my own hair.

I don't like taking showers everyday.  

I usually shower every other day.

I do love bars of soap and how they smell.

I love taking a bath and reading but usually only get one or so a year.

I want a big, deep, bathtub.  One that the water will cover my entire body and not just the bottom half.

I love the smell of a bookstore.

I love new books.

I am a book lover.

I almost always have more than 2-3 books going at all times.

I almost always have more than 2-3 projects going at all times.

I am an artist.

I am a photographer,

a painter,

a decorator,

not an illustrator.

I am a teacher,

an instructor,

a blogger.

I am a thrift store shopper

and a garage saler.

I love Saturday morning

garage saling with my family.

I love Saturday morning farmers markets.

I love Starbuck's early in the morning with my family.

I am a peppermint mocha drinker.

I am a classic coffee cake eater.

I am a spring and fall person.

I am a dreamer.

I am a magazine junkie.

I love my "Cottage Living".

I live vicariously through my magazines.

I am an old soul.

I want to live in a cottage.

I want to name my cottage.

I want to know all of my neighbors.

I want to live outside.

I am me.

I completely stole this idea from a fellow blogger and former high school buddy, Brooke Howell.  Thank you Brooke.

~Holly

Angels in Waiting

Bear with me while I set up this story...it may take a bit of verbage...

Well it has been a long four or five days ( I honestly don't remember what day it is today). On Saturday evening Payton came down with a fever. She had played outside all day with Clay and I assumed she just got overheated or sunburned. Sunday morning we had church on the front porch with some Starbucks, paint and paintbrush and a book. It was so good for my soul and I think it is just what I needed before the crazy next couple of hours. About nine o'clock Sunday evening Payton was sleeping in my arms with a very HIGH fever (104ish) and awoke very scared and disorented. She kept asking for her momma and didn't know who I was. It was tremendously scary in that moment. I am the MOMMA!!! She is always supposed to know who I am!!! So off to the ER we went. There is an Emergent Care place close to our home that we hopped over to and they had locked their doors early. So then we headed to Saint Francis. And let me just tell you I HATE ER's, probably because until summer before last I had never had to sit in one for myself. If I had ever been in one, it was because I was there waiting for someone else. By the time we got to the ER Payton knew what was going on and who we were. They gave her some Motrin and told us to have a seat.

So here is where the real story starts. While we are waiting and making Payton drink water like she has never drank water before (that was the problem, she was dehydrated), a girl in her early twenties walked into the ER waiting area from the back where she had seen a doctor. It looked as though she had injured her foot and possibly broke it. Honestly she was super scary looking, probably a little strung out on drugs and moving into a hangover. She plopped her self into a chair and began crying. Others around her were pointing and snickering. She picked up the phone and made a phone call, and another, and another. Phone call after phone call we witnessed yelling and screaming on our end to the person on the other end. Obsenities that were making the waiting room people a little antsy in their seat were coming off her tongue right and left. Finally a police officer came out and confronted her with what was going on and tried to calm her down. She began yelling at him and telling about what had happened and that she had got drunk and now had a broken foot. At that point Payton's attention was fully on her. And I was amazed. She looked at that girl with the eyes of such innocence and love. Payton began to ask, "Momma, is that girl okay? Is her leg going to be okay? Why is she crying and sad?" My heart just sank. Here is this precious child who is super sick now fully engaged with worry about this upset and hurting woman. At that point we decide to pray for the girl - NO we didn't go and ask her to pray with us...:) we just sat quietly in our chairs and asked that "someone" come along and take care of her and show her Jesus' love.

So they called us back into the actual ER - for another round of waiting and testing. By then Payton was doing fine with a good dose of Motrin and a ton of water and we were more than ready to go home. Meanwhile some of our dearest friends were sitting out in the car with Eden so that we didn't have to bring her into the sickness. At one point I had to hop out into the car and nurse her. As I was coming back in the girl with the foot problem was begging the officer to take her to jail because she just didn't want to sit in the ER any longer.

They released us soon after 1:00am and we headed to the car. Once again on the way out we passed the girl who was sitting at the door. She looked up and began to ask us to take her home, but then saw we had little ones. As we walked out Payton asked what was going to happen to that girl and wondered if she was going be okay. I think then and there Clay and I knew we were the "someone" that we had prayed earlier for in the waiting room to come and help this girl and show her some compassion. We piled into the car and Clay told me that he had about 20 something dollars on him and maybe we should give her some money for a cab. So we drove to the front door and Clay hopped out and gave her money which she then tried to refuse. We litterally would have loaded her up in the car with us had it not already been full with Clay, Kaytie Jo, Eden, Payton and I. She took the money finally. I pray that she got home, that in some way we comfortated her.

As I look back on this night that for me seemed really hard, and I realize that maybe God was using us for someone who had it much harder than we did. Maybe Payton got sick to the point that we had to go to the ER, and maybe Emergent Care closed early so that we had to go to St. Franicis, so that we had to be sitting in that waiting room at that moment so that we could be used in this way. I know that I had angels waiting on me that night out in the car with my precious Eden, and maybe we were her angels on Sunday night. They always say hindsight is 20/20 and mine sure is. There are probably several things I would have done differently now looking back but I am thankful for the experience, for my little girl's innocent, empathetic heart and for the ablitily to listen to what the spirit is telling me to do.

Leading By Example

This is Payton painting at "movement".

A finished product at "movement".

This is Clay and I with our paintings from "movement" a.k.a. art night. BTW our four year old Payton took this photo, that's right the acorn is not falling far from the tree!

"Hello, this is (insert name)," is something you will commonly hear around my house these days when someone is answering the phone and nine times out of ten it is Payton, our four year old daughter. I am continually having friends laugh at me because we are answering the phone in such a proper manner. Well when Payton began to discover the novelty of answering the telephone she perpetually picked it up with a "Yeah" or a "Hey", which neither one was typically how anyone in our home answers the phone. So we began asking her to answer the phone with a "hello, this is Payton speaking". However we (the adults, Clay, Holly & Kaytie Jo) continued to answer the phone as usual around here, "Hello". Well Payton asked me one day why I didn't have to answer the phone the same way she did? So now we do.

Look at that sweet little monkey hanging on her momma!

We attended our first annual (many more to come) used book fair at Holland Hall school. OH MY GOODNESS!!! It was a book lovers dream and we are a family full of book lovers. Neither Clay or I were avid readers as young people, however in our early marriage (it has been 10 years this July) we discovered reading as one of our passions. There are some days that I worry that I am overcompensating for not reading much as a child by drowning my children in stories and books, but it doesn't seem to be hurting them.

Payton asleep with a book in the car after the book sale.

This week was OK Food Coop delivery week! Okay so I am a huge dork because I LOVE delivery day. It is like Christmas once a month! AND I get to be an adult with all adults! This is rare moment in my month where I am without both children. I just had to post a photo of our eggs, we think they are beautiful, such a rainbow of colors and sizes. Hopefully my children will value where and how their food is raised because their mom and dad educated them in this area. I can remember being so angry with my mom because she wanted me to go and weed the garden with her. Well 20 something years later here I am an avid gardener.

Clay and I are raving fans of Rob Bell, a minister at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids Michigan. Any road trip more than 20 minutes down the road is an excuse to listen to a podcast of his teachings. A couple of weekends ago when we were going to the dairy we listened to one of his teachings about Grace and Peace. It really stepped on our toes in several ways. So what if we were a world of Grace and Peace just oozing out of us was kind of the point. So Clay and I began discussing thoughts on this subject and suggesting to others the idea of having grace and peace in areas that are hard to have grace and peace and people that it is hard to extend grace and peace to... And then one evening in the car this past week I hear Payton "reading" to her imaginary friend and discussing the ramifications of extending grace and peace.

I am not sure who is leading who around here but we are definitely leading by example.

Grace and Peace to you,

Holly

Sorry about the sideways photo. This is our chalkboard wall in the kitchen and Clay always leaves us sweet notes to find in the mornings.

The smiling cook

Sweet baby Eden asleep on my back in her sling!

This is our family bed...yes both girls are typically in our bed either all night or at some point in the night.  Bedtime is our favorite time of the day.  

Well I have tried to start this post about three or four times now and as a few of you have realized as far as I got was the title! I intended to write two weeks ago tomorrow and between baking some bread and a screaming baby in a backpack on my back it didn't happen. And then last weekend once again I sat down with intention to blog and something else got my attention. So here I sit almost three weekends down the road finally getting a moment in time. Of course any second a three year old will come running in barefooted and ready to play or an eight month old will wake from her slumber wanting some milk. So since it has been so long I may just give you a running commentary of what the last couple of weeks looked like.

To start off we got a incredible break from the winter weather which meant in the Peevyhouse family - GO work in the garden!!! We were so happy and excited to get out and dig in the dirt that we forgot to eat lunch and get the kids down for a nap (both pretty important things in our world)! I tilled up all but two of our raised beds, picked weeds, and raked all the while with Eden on my back in the backpack. It was so good for my soul. Payton played her heart out - this will be the first of many years that I think it will be hard to get her to come back inside from playing.

The weather continued all weekend and into the beginning of the week. Payton, Eden, Kaytie Jo (our roomate) and some friends all headed out to the zoo Monday morning and spent the whole day!!!

Tuesday came with snow in the morning!! Can you believe that, after having a record high of 82 on Monday morning?  Tuesday evening Clay got the hook up with singer/songwriter Jeremy Camp!!!  I know it sounds like serious cheese for us to be excited to meet someone like this but we are very appreciative of his work.  A ton of you know this story but for those who don't here is the Cliff Notes version.  Summer of '06 we lost a baby to miscarriage and the weekend that I miscarried Clay and I went out just to get our mind off of things and randomly picked up a CD of Jeremy Camps at our local Borders.  That was the best thing for us...it repaired our brokeness in so many ways.  So to him we are grateful and have always wanted to tell him so.  Well Clay got a chance to tell him...so nice. I have tried to post a picture but it will not load.  Maybe I can get it to post on the side somewhere.

Sometime in the past couple of weeks we ran to Target for the first time since the 1st of January - so about six weeks (a VERY long time for me).  Well it was pure hell and torture for me.  We were there to return some Christmas items that were too small for Eden and simply replace them.  Well I found out what my friend Justine has said to me about Target and other such stores before - "I am fine with everything I have until I walk into one of those places and suddenly I need everything that they have"!!!  That is exactly what I felt - like everything I had at home wasn't good enough, even though right before I got to the store everything I had was fine.  It hit me like a ton of bricks that this was going to be one long year if I thought of it in Target terms.  So we made our way out quickly.  However, a Target and many other retail chains are being built very close to our home and I have decided it is like Jesus being in the desert and satan tempting him with some bread and water!

We are very fortunate to be in a dairy coop with eight other families.  So every eight weeks we deliver milk to the rest of the families and the other seven it shows up at our front door!  How FUN!!! We love it.  I am going to include some pics of us at the dairy farm.  Just another little underground group of people getting their food in unconventional ways.  The dairy is great because it is RAW - straight from the cow to your table.  We also get cream and cheese from there as well.  With the cream we make our own homemade butter!!  YUM YUM!!!!

For other random foods that we have added to our diet...kombucha!!  It is a fermented tea that is great for you.  It aids in digestion, energy, metabolism, liver function and more!!  So the "scoby" which is like the starter was a gift to me over a week ago from my kindred spirit friend Justine.  So I have been brewing it in the pantry for over a week now and I can't wait to try it.  We have been buying bottled kombucha from Whole Foods this past month because we are addicted to it.  At $3 a bottle it will be nice to have our own here at home.  I will let you know how it turns out.

Valentine's Day was a fun event here in our home.  We made chocolate cover strawberries and valentine cards with cut outs from magazines that were inspired by our friend Angelyn.  For our celebration we had my mom a.k.a. "Gigi" over for dinner with us and Kaytie Jo.  Now Clay and I have always kept Valentine's very personal and only between the two of us.  However this year we decided to ask my mom and Kaytie to be our valentines. Instead of dinner with just the two of us we had a very nice dinner with the whole family.  As I was cooking dinner I could hear the chatter and laughter of my mom and Payton on the front porch making some sort of creation with glitter paint, Kaytie Jo was loving on Eden and my wonderful husband was walking in the door and I realized that I was smiling and didn't even know it.  Truely happy with our decision, to share our day of love with several of the ones we love.