Train Them Up

One of our biggest concerns when we decided to send our kids to public school was making sure that we continued to provide them Biblical teaching.  We believe that is our greatest responsibility as parents to lead them towards a relationship with Jesus.  It is an overwhelming thought at times.  It is not for us to allow others to do.  It is our job!!  So we sat down and determined how we were going to be very intentional in our teaching them.  We came up with a plan of our we were going to do it to include 4 parts.

1.  Family Worship Time!!  We do this once a week.  It doesn't last too long (short attention spans) but it is a time where we as a family sing, study and pray together.  We are going through a resource put together by the Church at Brook Hills.  It has been an excellent way for us to lead them and it is divided by age which is great.  Matt plays the guitar and we sing praise songs.  We then study the Bible together.  One of my favorite parts is at the end when we all take turns praying.  I love hearing the kids pray and ask God to help them with what we just talked about.  We all look forward to this each week. We have found it works well to just do it on a night that works with the schedule for that week.

 2.  We wanted to start off each day with a way for us to focus on being more like Jesus each day.  I looked through a bunch of different books to find the perfect devotion book.  I found an awesome one called Growing with Jesus.  It takes about 3-4 minutes each morning but has a thought provoking question and then something for us all to do or think about during the day.  It has been excellent and brought up some really neat discussions.  We do it every morning at breakfast and then pray for our day.  We desire for them to be a light in whatever situation they are place and to do that they have to be focused on Jesus each and every morning.

 3.  Every night we wanted to spend some time in the Bible learning the stories and how they point us to the redemption of Jesus.  That of course means the Jesus Storybook Bible.  I know I have talked about it a million times on the blog but we just love it.  We are going through a story each night and it is such an encouragement.

 4.  We also wanted to make sure we focus on scripture memory with the kids.  I found a great resource on an awesome blog - I Can Teach My Child.  She has made scripture cards for each letter of the alphabet.  We have started going through the alphabet learning each verse.  They are some great verses that I pray will be a blessing to the kids in the future.

So that is what we are doing.  Are we doing a perfect job - NO!  But we have prayed over these decisions and know that God is going to bless even our failures as we teach and train Ben and Kate to be followers of Christ.  I think the key to it is to make sure to be intentional in everything we do and lots of prayer!!

Joy

The Crocodiles Who Ate Jesus

Kate sure does keep us on our toes these days.  We like to call her our wild woman!  I remember my mom saying that if my brother had been born first he might have been an only child.  I know understand that.  If Kate had been born first she might be an only child!  She keeps us running most days but with that also comes a lot of laughs.  Like this conversations we had the other day on the way home from church...

Me: "Kate what did you talk about today in Sunday School?"

Kate:  "We talked about when Jesus crossed to the other side of the lake."

Me: "What happened when He got to the other side?"  (thinking she would say something about him feeding people or teaching people or walking on water.)

Kate:  "He got eaten by crocodiles."  

I had to laugh at that one.  Only Kate could come up with a story about Jesus being eaten by crocodiles.  

She also has a new trick she likes to do these days.  She has learned how to do a forward roll and she calls it her flip.  She shows everyone she can her flip!

Thankful everyday for the sweet blessing this little girl is in our lives.  She is crazy but I know she is going to do big things for God one day!  Can't wait to see what it is.

Wet & Wild Weekend

Looking back on our weekend now it sure was busy.  Didn't feel so busy during the middle of it but it was!  Friday afternoon I went over to Florence to attend the ladies retreat hosted by our church.  I am on the women's committee so we have spent the last year planning the retreat.  We had over 150 ladies and it went really well.  It was a lot of hard work so I am just glad it is over!  

When I got home Saturday afternoon, I was greeted with hugs from a couple of wet kiddos!  They were having a blast washing Daddy's truck.  Matt did an amazing job with them while I was gone (like always and I sure have been gone alot lately).  Kate enjoyed spending the night at Mema and Opa's and attending a high school football game and craft show with Mema.  Ben and Matt had a fun boy's night watching movies and playing Wii.    

The kids had a super fun evening in store for them.  Andrew and Kelly had gotten them tickets to see Disney on Ice.  The kids could not wait!  They had a blast seeing some of their favorite stories.  Kate loved the fairies and Ariel.  Ben's favorite was the army men from Toy Story.  What a special time to spend with Andrew and Kelly.  They have the best Uncle and Aunt ever!

 While the kids were at Disney on Ice, Matt and I enjoyed a dinner out.  We weren't planning on watching the Auburn game because we figured it would be a blow out.  We started watching it while we were eating and it was a great game.  Very sad it didn't end quite the way we wanted but we enjoyed watching it.

Sunday morning was church activities.  The kiddos were so cute posing for pictures.

After church we all enjoyed some rest time.  Then we played outside with friends for the rest of the afternoon!  What a beautiful weekend it was.  The kids are loving being able to play outside for hours each day.  It is so nice!!  We helped our neighbors move a new sofa to their bonus room so all of the kiddos had to pile on for picture.  How many kids can sleep in one sleeper sofa?  At least 5.  

What a busy but fun weekend!

Happy 80th!!!!!

I have 2 kids that want to wish a very special lady a very happy birthday!!

Today is my Grandmama's 80th birthday.  What a special day.  My grandmother is just amazing.  She is such a strong lady.  Ben's favorite story to tell people is that she was bitten by a rattlesnake and she is just fine.  The thing that amazes me most is her love for her grandkids and great-grandkids.  I love this picture of my brother and I from way back when.  I loved all the time we got to spend at her house each summer growing up.  Such wonderful memories!!

 Watching her with Ben and Kate over the past few years has been such a joy.  She loves them so much.  In all of these pictures you can see she can't take her eyes off of them.  And they ADORE her.  I don't think a week goes by that they don't talk about GG and ask if we can go visit GG.  They just love her so!!

We just want to say Happy Birthday GG!!!  Hope you have a very special day.  We can't wait to see you very soon.

Growing Up So Fast

I don't know if it is the selling of the baby clothes or Ben's lost tooth but I have been really pondering how fast my sweet babies are growing. On that note if you at all call Kate a baby (or even mention babe or baby around her), she quickly tells you "I am not a baby." I then tell her she will always be my baby!! Sorry about that tangent. Anyways, I am realizing how quickly they are growing up. I love the changes and seeing them grow!! I just want to make sure I don't miss a minute of it. I want to cherish it all!!! I consider it such a blessing to be their mom and I want to make sure I am doing the best possible job through the help of my Savior. I know I can't do this on my own but I lean fully on Him knowing He will help me! What a comfort even when I struggle watching them grow and change.

Love these sweet pictures of my little guys. I can't believe how big Kate is looking!

No Nap!

I have to admit that I am just a little envious of some of my friends...  My friends who have kids that nap until they are 6 years old.  I would love it!  Ben stopped taking naps at around 2.5 or 3.  I thought that maybe Kate would be my longer napper.  She has always taken such great naps.  I was hopeful we might could just make it to 4.  Well a couple of weeks ago it was like a switch was flipped.  She went from being a great napper to not taking naps at all.  AHHHHH!!!  What happened??  She started skipping naps every few days.  Then it would be 2 or 3 days without a nap.  Not cool!!!  I am a mama that needs a few minutes of peace and quiet.  She is pretty good about staying in her room and playing.  It is actually pretty fun to listen to her play.  She has some elaborate stories she creates.  So she and I came to a little deal.  She can not take a nap one day and then she has to take one the next day.  So far it is sort of working.  She is pretty good about knowing when she is tired and she will ask to nap.  If she says she is not tired then she really doesn't need a nap I guess.  She stays happy until bedtime so I guess I can't complain.  I just wish the naps had lasted just a little longer!

Cleaning Out

I was going to post this yesterday but I got too busy working on all these clothes...

I am going to go ahead and admit it (I think I have before and it doesn't seem to help)...  I have a serious problem with over buying children's clothes.  At last count I had over 28 large containers full of clothes in the attic.  They were all just sitting there so I figured it was finally time to start doing something with all the clothes.  It was a little overwhelming at first but I started with the girl stuff (of which I had less since she is only 2).  I went through the clothes and picked out what I was going to keep and what I was going to get rid of.  I divided it all out by size then people came and started looking.  Lots of friends came first and bought tons!  Yesterday I started posting it on the Facebook yard sale sites I am on.  It is great to be cleaning out and making some extra money.  It is much more manageable now.   

Cleaning out has been hard for me at times.  There are so many great memories in each of the outfits.  I look at each one and am taken back to a fun time.  But it is also a good thing (or at least I am telling myself).  

And because no one cares about me selling clothes and you just want to see pictures of my kiddos...  Kate cracks me up everyday.  Her latest thing is a passion for band aids.  She will make up boo boos just to get a band aid.  It is so funny to me because Ben HATES band aids.  He could have a huge cut and he would rather have it bleed all over than get a band aid.  

 My sweet boy!  Every afternoon he comes in from school and goes straight to his room.  He wants to listen to Odyssey on the ipod (his latest obsession) and play Legos.  It is his "chill out" time.

Lost Tooth Weekend

What an exciting weekend it was around our house!  Friday night we were all very tired so we had a family movie night and went to bed early.  Saturday was the big day!  Yep Ben lost his his first tooth on Saturday morning.  The tooth had been wiggly for a couple of weeks and Matt pulled it out about 10 minutes before we left to go to his soccer game.  He was so excited!  

 Then it was off to the soccer game!  He was so cute because the whole time his tongue was sticking through that whole in his mouth.  It was really hot!!  Nothing like blazing heat in September.

 My little guy loves soccer because he gets to hang out with his friends.

 The rest of Saturday was spent watching football and hanging out as a family.  The big excitement came Saturday night when Ben got to put his tooth under his pillow.

 He woke up Saturday morning to a golden dollar!

 Sunday was busy with church but we did fit in a bagel run before church.

 I helped out hosting a baby shower for my friend Hannah in the afternoon.  Uncle Andrew was super sweet to come over and watch the kiddos while I went to the shower since Matt was in Birmingham for a work meeting. They had fun.  When I got home the kids and I had a great time playing and jumping on the bed.  I love getting to play with my kiddos.

Ben could not wait to get to school today so he could write his name on the lost tooth poster!  The exciting days of a kindergartner.  Now it's on to a new week.  Can't wait to see what it brings.     

Something's Missing

I'm A Cool Mom, Again

So we made it through our crazy week!!  We are looking forward to being at home some this weekend and finally enjoying some family time.  

I thought I would end the week being a cool mom with the kids again.  Before school this morning I took the kids to the local doughnut shop for a special treat!  Love getting to do fun things like get doughnuts with my kiddos!!  Happy Weekend!!

Rocket Man

Matt and I had the awesome opportunity to spend the evening last night with "The Rocket Man" - Elton John.  When we told people that we were going to the concert we got the same answer "I didn't know you were Elton John fans."  Yes we are!  It's a long story.  I've always enjoyed his music and he last came to Huntsville in 1999.  It was the night of my senior prom and I wanted to skip the prom and go to the concert.  Matt wouldn't let me skip it and promised that we would go see Elton one day.  It just took over 13 years but we finally got to go see him!  We had to buy tickets back in June when they went on sale because they sold out in 30 minutes.  We were so excited to go!!  Our seats were up in the nose bleed section but it was still great!

The show was awesome!!  You gotta love the purple sparkly outfit!  He played most of his hits which was lots of fun.  We were amazed by his musical abilities.  He played the piano amazingly!!  They had a camera right on the piano so you could see him playing.  It was awesome.  He sang and played for 2 1/2 hours straight.  No break.  It was really cool.

Ok so I think we were one of a few people in the audience under the age of 50.  We still loved it!

It was great to get to spend the evening with my sweet hubby!  Elton ended the night by singing "Your Song."  We don't technically have "a song" but if we did it would be "Your Song."  So that was a great way to end a fun date night.

Crazy Week

This was one of the weeks on the calendar that I had marked as one that you just make it through.  It seemed that there was something every single minute!  It has been a bit crazy but we are making it.  

It started early on Monday morning with Grandparent Breakfast at Ben's school.  Mema and Opa were able to take him.  They all had a great time.  

Monday morning I took 2 fun little girls to Publix so we would have some food to eat for the week.  I worked both Monday and Tuesday afternoons so that makes things a little complicated.  Monday night we also went and hung out with our friends the Phillips.

 Tuesday morning I worked in the library at Ben's school.  I signed up to be a library volunteer.  I got to learn the ropes from the best teacher - my mom!  It was fun to work with her.  Ben's class came to the library while I was working and it was fun to watch him interact with his class and get to check out his first library book.  Last night we also had soccer practice.

 Today Kate and I started BSF for the year.  We were both so excited.  Seriously everyday this summer she asked if we were going to Bible Study.  We are studying the book of Genesis this year which I am stoked about.  It is such a great book and I can't wait to learn.  My group seems awesome which I am super excited about.  Can't wait to see what's in store.  Kate was in heaven getting to be with her friends and learning.

So we have made it halfway through the crazy week!  Lots more to do but we are making it.