Sunday...with a few extra!!

Late last night, my DEAR friend from FOREVER, Courtney, arrived with her 6 kids!!  I was SO excited when she had asked several months ago if they could stop through on their way to Atlanta!  We knew it would be a quick visit, but I'll take whatever I can get!!  They came to church with us that morning, I packed lunch for us to eat (in one of the preschool rooms at church!) and then we headed to the zoo!!

 We got to see the new baby koala and his mommy!

 Then we headed over to ride some ponies!  It was a first for several of her kids! Here's Levi!

 Lincoln!!  You can see his grin a mile away!

 Bailey...this was apparently REALLY a dream come true for her.  She would stayed here all day long and just ridden around and around :)

 Jacob was especially taken by Levi.  I can't blame him - I could have eaten him up!

 Caleb LOVED having some little guys his same age!  He and Sawyer clicked right away!

 Judah was happy to see some new friends too!  He was a trooper to handle church all morning and then straight to the zoo!

 When we got home from the zoo, we headed to the pool to swim for a little bit before coming home for dinner.  

 Joshua and Josiah went head to head on Madden (Cowboys vs. Redskins).  Joshua won.  Josiah was sad :)

A little Scattergories fun

I had SO much fun!  As quick as it was, I've never had this much uninterrupted time with Courtney and her kids!  Since we got married, we've lived in different cities and so we always see each other on visits when I'm coming by for a couple of hours while I'm in town visiting my mom or something.  So this was such a gift - I felt like I REALLY got to know her kids better and see each of their personalities.  It was SO good to sit on the couch and talk with her and hear her voice!!  I LOVED it!!

All American Bike Parade

Our neighborhood hosted an All American Bike Parade this morning.  It was the first year we had done anything like that, and didn't really know if anyone would show up to participate, but we had a great turn out!!!

 My kids were happy to tape streamers and flags to their bikes.  I should have taken pictures of the kids that WON the decorating contest!  WOW!

 It was a fun way to meet some of the new families and get the kids out for a little ride through the neighborhood!

Judah was taking his morning nap, but David came down to the end of the court to take some "action shots".  I was following behind Caleb, but he was going faster than me while I was talking with some other moms.  David asked where I was when Caleb zoomed past him and Caleb said "I left her in the dust!!"  :)

Colossal Coaster World!

We had so much fun at our VBS this week!  I am a HUGE believer in Vacation Bible School.  I know a lot of critics say that it is used as free child care, and that a bunch of kids just hop from VBS to VBS at churches all around the city.  You know what - these kids need to have truth buried deep into their hearts, and if a way to get them to hear it is by doing several VBS weeks during the summer, then that is awesome!  Okay, soapbox over.  We had an AWESOME week this year at Northside!!

 We invited one of Callie's friends from school to join us this year.  We picked her up each day and then took her home.  The BEST part was that on Wednesday, she made a decision for Jesus!!  SO excited for sweet Lyric!!!  (this picture was on Mustache Day - not sure where this fad came from, but the kids loved it!)

 I was in charge of leading the music again this year and I absolutely loved it!

 We had 500+ kids involved this year and what a JOY it was to see them hiding God's word in their hearts through song.  Absolutely the best.

 After sharing the gospel on Wednesday, we had almost 100 decisions made!!  YAY for God!!!

Last year, I was 34 weeks pregnant doing all these crazy songs and choreography.  I was SO glad not to be that pregnant this year!  The sweet ladies in the nursery that took care of Judah were WONDERFUL...he had 2 hour naps two days that week!!!  They loved and cuddled and held and played and rocked my baby and he was as happy as a lark!!  :)  What a blessing!

He PASSED!!!

 First day of VBS  :) Oh we LOVE VBS!!! But this post is about Jacob...

 Jacob took his rank test for his red belt again on Saturday.  He tested back in the spring and wasn't ready yet to be promoted.  That was tough.  But a very good lesson.

 Sensei talks alot about the fact that things that are worthwhile take work.  If you don't have to earn it, it's not really worth much.  And so he really makes the kids WORK for it - and I appreciate that.

 Jacob is very naturally coordinated and good at lots of things. Team sports come easy to him - soccer, basketball, baseball (which he's never played but is GREAT at) - all come very naturally to him.  Karate is a little harder.  It takes extreme discipline and focus and attention to detail.  These things don't come as naturally to Jacob and so he has to work harder for it.

 He was disappointed after his test in the spring, but understood the reasoning behind it and has worked SO hard over these last few months.  All weekend long he kept saying "Has Sensei called you?" (If the student doesn't pass, Sensei will call over the weekend and explain the results of the test.  If the student DOES pass, they get their belt awarded the next week in class".  

 I was SO proud of Jacob and he was SO proud of himself when Sensei stood him up in class to award him his red belt!

Jacob, always remember that if anything is worth doing, it's worth doing well!  I am SO proud of you!  You never gave up!!!

Good morning!

We slept great!!  I fed Judah at the beginning of the movie last night and then he conked out and slept great all night in his pack and play.  The rest of us enjoyed the movie and slept great!  We woke up and were treated to Krispy Kreme donuts, juice, and bananas - what a great city we have!  :)

 Judah enjoyed crawling around in his jammies while we were packing up camp

I went later on that afternoon and finally got his 9 month pictures....even though he's closer to 10 months.  Oh well.  He's the 5th one...I'm just glad I got the picture made!  :)

Camp Out!!

Time to start working on our summer list!!  :)  Our city hosted an outdoor movie night at a park just up the road from our house.  AND they were allowing families to camp out and spend the night!  Sounds like a GREAT and EASY way to get "camping" checked off our summer list!!  

 We got there and found a good spot and set up our tent...

... then headed over to the firepits to make some s'mores!!  Who doesn't love s'mores?

 Judah's version was graham cracker only - poor kid.  Maybe next year he can get the real deal!

After everyone ate enough s'mores to make your eyes water, we headed back to our "campsite", played a little football, and then settled in to watch "Oz The Great and Powerful"!  :) So fun!

15 years

15 years ago today my life changed forever.  It is so much better, funnier, calmer, and more stable with this man next to me.  He is my rock.  Unflappable.  A huge calming force for this mom of 5 that is often at her limit.  I am hugely thankful that God brought us together on that YouthQuest trip at Liberty so many years ago.

This is a busy stage of life.  An exhausting one for sure.  But a great one as well, and I am so thankful that my best friend is riding the wave along with me!  I love you David!

See what I left for David?

Since the kids and I were gone to visit Beth & her family this weekend, I at least left David this!  

Actually, I left him a coupon that Chili's emailed to me - for a free meal!  Some new entree they just launched.  He of course could not handle just getting the "free" thing and had to buy a drink too.  Silly David.

Building Forts

Gotta love summer vacation.  It took everything within me not to scream "NOOOOOOO" when they happily scampered upstairs to build forts....after all, it is Monday which meant we cleaned the house today.  As you can see, the forts undid much of that progress upstairs, but sometimes its worth it!  :)  And yes, of course you can all sleep there tonight!  :)

 Josiah and Caleb sleeping in their fort

 Callie in hers

 Jacob in his

Love my kids.  Love having them all back at home with me again!  :)