Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife by Ruth A. Tucker

I was highly intrigued when I first saw Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife: My Story of Finding Hope after Domestic Abuse by Ruth A. Tucker. I think that there is so much that seems to get covered up in the "church world" so I was thinking that this book would uncover a small portion of that. 

I'm struggling with what to say about this book because I didn't hate it, I just definitely didn't love it. This book was, in my opinion, super wordy. There was so much information in this book but I didn't really feel like the information was what I thought it would be.

After reading the synopsis, I thought that Tucker would be sharing more about her domestic abuse. While she did share about the abuse, she shared a good bit of theological information about wives submitting to their husbands and she uses her experience to back up her reasoning for believing certain things about relationships between and man and his wife. I expected more of a biography and it read more like a school book.

I honestly don't disagree with her point of view and even those she gives scriptures, I didn't feel like it was always appropriately supportive. 

I feel like there is a great deal more I could share about this book, however, I think I've said enough for now. If you are interested in this subject, take a shot at reading it. Let me know what you think.

 

 **I received this book in exchange for my review.**

Easter Pictures {2016}

Well, how about a little unintentional Throwback Thursday?!?

Matt took these pictures of Mason on Easter and as you can see, Mason was being quite the ham. Matt was frustrated and I don't blame him! BUT, they turned out great and I am not sure why I hadn't shared them before now! 

This was also pre-hair cut and it's so funny to see how long his hair was! 

I love my boy!!

Simple Pleasures by Marianne Jantzi {A Book Review}

I know I've mentioned it before in recent posts that I am somewhat intrigued by the Amish community and culture. When I saw Simple Pleasures by Marianne Jantzi up for review that was the very fact that drew me to it. 

There are some aspects of the book that I thoroughly enjoyed and one I did not. Let's start with my least favorite aspect first. First, I felt like the flow of the book was a bit rough. I know that the book is Jantzi's journal moved into book format. However, I felt like it was hard for me to follow for that reason. The stories and tidbits shared were at times jumbled and didn't flow well. 

What I loved about this book is that Jantzi was honest. She talked about their life in the Amish culture and she didn't sugar coat it. She shared about highs and lows in their lives. She shared about day to day movements of her family of 6 and I truly enjoyed that. 

I also really appreciated learning more about the Amish culture from a modern standpoint. These stories shared are happening in current day and that made them more relative than a story of Amish culture 50 years ago. 

Aside from the rough flow of the book, I think Jantzi did a great job with this book and I wouldn't mind hearing more about her culture from her perspective in the future.

**I received this book for free from Litfuse Publicity in exchange for my review.**

Matt's camera {Zoo & Strawberries}

As promised, here are pictures from Matt's camera from our recent zoo trip as well as our strawberry picking. LOVE when he gets pictures that are better than our iPhone! 

I love my boy and we loved seeing the rheas and the giant ant eater! 

This monkey was HYSTERICAL! he was just hanging around and we were all cracking up!

EWWW!

These (fake) lions are Mason's favorite part of the zoo, in my opinion!

AH!! Hi, Tatu! We were so glad to finally meet you!

While I stared at the giraffe, Mason and Granddad were just walking happily. Thanks, Granddad! 

We have been to the zoo probably a dozen times and this was the first time that we have every seen the tortoises moving about!

Little baby monkey...oh how cute!

Mason thought he wanted to feed the goats but he ended up just jumping up and down giggling...haha!

That's all for the zoo! Now, let's move on to those strawberry pictures. 

It was the PERFECT day for picking strawberries. The weather was warm but not hot and the breeze was blowing a little bit. ah! 

You bet we snuck some yummy berries while we picked. MMM2 enjoyed them.

Mason and Mammy

Mason and PopPop

The gang with the LOOT!

Aren't they beautiful? After eating, er, I mean picking berries, PopPop got us some yummy strawberry freezes. I want one RIGHT NOW!!

Thanks, Matt, for always capturing the best pictures. I love you tons! 

Mason Says...

Lately, Mason has been saying some things that just crack us up!!

Mason typically asks "Where's Dad?" off and on throughout the day. I will typically take the question and turn it back to him. 

Here's our recent exchange:

"Mason, where does Dad go when he leaves home?"
"Work."

"Where else does Dad go?" (fully expecting his response to be church as it usually is)

Mason thinks for a second, holds his nose "Dad poo."

 *we were so shocked and we just cracked up!!*

When we talk about the baby, we typically just talk about when he/she will get here, where baby will sleep, etc. The other day I asked Mason if he thought the baby might be a boy or a girl. 

He responded with "boy" and then I asked him what about it possibly be a girl. He looked up, pouted his lip and fake cried! haha!!! He was cracking us up!

I quickly told him that baby may be a girl so he better get ready! :)

We were in the car recently and a song was playing that said something about a goat. I asked Mason if he knew what a goat liked to eat. He said he didn't and I told him "Paper.". 

He said "paper" and then thought for a minute and then said "No, ma! Fish Crackers...oooh, oooh, oooh!" 

**This is a reference to Curious George and had me cracking up!!**

Open Letters {23}

Dear Green Acres Strawberry Farm,

Thank you for letting us pick strawberries from your pretty little fields! We certainly indulged in those strawberry slushes, too. YUM!!

Love,
The Strawberry-lovin' Morgans

Dear Happy Hollow Park, 

Thank you for existing! Your perfectly shaded playground is our favorite! As a side note, it's also incredible to watch Mason as he can now do nearly everything there when he was once only able to crawl on the ground and eat mulch. :)

Love, 

A Happy Momma

Dear Baby MMM2, 

You are going to be here SOON!! I can hardly believe how close we are now! I can't wait to snuggle your newborn-ness and I know you'll be worth lots of low-sleep nights!
See you soon!

Love,
Your Momma

Dear Mason, 

You are going to be 2 1/2 this weekend!!! AH!!! I cannot believe it! Hopefully we can celebrate with a fun meal and maybe even cake. Love you Dude!

Love,

Your Momma

Dear Greenville Zoo, 

Thank you for FINALLY having Tatu, the baby giraffe, out when we were visiting! I was one happy lady and Mason loved seeing the baby, too!

Sincerely, 

People who have been waiting (im)patiently to see him

Dear Matt, 

You are my hero! Those late night back rubs after a long day? Well, they have made me VERY happy!!

Love, 

Your Wife

PopPop & Mammy Visit {Misc.}

Here are some more random pictures from Matt's parent's visit. Some from my camera and some from Mrs. Claire's. There are some more pictures that Mrs. Claire got from a fun walk they took. Maybe I'll get them upload one day. ;-)

Mason WORE Mr. Rob OUT! There was book reading, wrestling, tickling and on and on and on.

Mr. Rob and Mrs. Claire brought Mason some new fun toys for his sandbox. The dump truck was obviously his fave...duh!

   

Matt grilled some incredible hamburgers. He's the MAN at the grill!

Outside is FUN but outside with PopPop, well, that's AWESOME!

And well, outside fun when everyone is watching you play...that's pretty cool, too!

After strawberry picking, Matt and Mason played soccer. And well, Mason did some relaxing as well. haha!

 Sunday morning's breakfast was English muffins and strawberries and well, Mason ate lots of strawberries and not so much muffin....

Mas was in a teasing mood and he was stealing shoes, hiding them, hiding himself and jumping out to get people! :)

More wrestling with PopPop. Pretty sure PopPop was tired when he left our house Sunday afternoon!

Not the best picture but Mason did get some good snuggles with Mammy AND PopPop. Mammy read him lots of books and she gave him a CUTE turtle that she crocheted!

Matt's Dad left on Sunday afternoon and aside from the walk I mentioned earlier, Sunday was low key. I started to feel crummy so Matt and his Mom took over with Mason. Monday morning, Matt and Mason took Mrs. Claire to breakfast for early Mother's Day.
Mason showed her how we hold hands and pray. Sweet boy!

After that, Matt brought him Mom to stay with her parents for the week. We have seen them off and on during the week for meals and park fun, too! Today, we are heading to Atlanta to meet up with Matt's Dad. We've enjoyed her visit and I may have a few more pictures later to share. :)