Ft. Central

How many different forts can be made on rainy days around here?!?!? We have been building thrice daily!

We made one after M got home from school on Wed....Mags supervised...we have had so much rain around here this week....I think "Cabin Fever" set in yesterday...it was a rough day with lots of T.O.s...but lots of learning happened through discipline....at least I hope! :) Heb. 12:11

Being a parent has shown me how much more to depend on prayer...we can try to teach teach teach our children the way that they should go, but they often (like us!) choose the harder way, not the easy way of just being obedient...A long time ago I wrote a quote on the inside cover of my Bible... "Christians are a prayed for people..." Someone prayed hard for us to see our sin and our need of a Savior...and we need prayer each day to live in the light of the gospel!

After we read our Bible Story with the kids on Wed. when Mike prayed before bed he prayed for the fruits of the spirit for our children...and that kept going through my head as we had such a rough day on Thurs...I had to pray constantly for God to give us love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, and self control... (me and the kids!) The Lord is good to reveal to us that the fruits are only something He can give us....

Then Laura sent me this...I love this devotional and read it every day, but Laura just found it and the one yesterday was so relevant and timely when she sent it to me....and she didn't know what our day was looking like...it's like God wanted me to read it twice! :)

As our family grows I want to have a family that does those 3 things that the devo. said yesterday....say what is KIND, NECESSARY, and TRUE....and depend on the Lord to help us!!!! I know with time sibling drama will increase...

They have so much fun together...it's just harder now bc they are 2 "real people" with real ideas about what they want to do with their time...

I'm excited for soccer this morning with my little boy and I know M is having fun at school...

The kids had a blast last night at Community Group and M asked this morning..."When can we go back to Bible Study!?!?!?" I'm glad they had such fun!

And to close I wanted to say that PEPSI is giving 250K to find less toxic ways to help children with cancer...We were one of the top 2 that will receive $$$$! What an answer to prayer! Thanks for all your votes!

As we rocked out to our scripture memory CD (See verse below) this morning in the van with the B&As...I am so grateful for the good and the bad days...God is always near and He is always teaching us...Hopefully He will teach me to always be gentle...even when "my monkeys are driving me bananas!"...There are no 2 monkeys I would rather have driving me crazy!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
~Philippians 4:4-5

Ebenezer!

We took a little field trip to MiMi's yesterday...The kids have been asking to go over there for a while...and as always the kids had a blast playing all around the house and feeding the fish!

Check out how long M's hair is....here comes the Ebenezer part of the post...(Please click and read this first)...Mal has only had her hair cut a few times in her life...each time we cut a lot off...and when I look at her hair it is a "time marker" for me... (I don't feel this way with Carter's hair bc he gets it cut so often...)...Anyway...I am just so overwhelmed thinking about all of God's help and faithfulness in allowing me to stay home for 4 years in Nov. (4 yrs!!!!....seems like so long to me...the span of High School...my college career...)

Always a bit sad to reflect on the time passed as her hair is cut...but excited to see "the new growth" and all that we will experience in the future that the new hair will symbolize...

So "here I raise my EBENEZER"....check out those locks in the trunk of that jeep...God is so faithful! We are so grateful for His help and provision!!!! :)

M to the I to the K to the E

I love my Michael...The kids are so excited when he gets home from work...he will often scoop M up from the middle of the B&A Crew and sit and chat with her on our bed about her day...I love that....and Carter loves chatting about his day too with Daddy...And Mike surprised me with a care package yesterday after school...all my fav. snacks, a card, and some fall smelling candles...We are so grateful for his love and presence in our lives... :)

Puddle Party...Party of 2

What an answer to prayer to see that rain falling down! What a cozy day! I even made pumpkin bread and it smelled so yummy and fallish in the house this morning! :)!!!

Splish splash....the puddle party only lasted a few mins...Then the boy saw Kingston...

Look at that cat go!

Back to puddle hopping....but the hood was off and he didn't want it up....

Splish Splash!

Then he wanted some "van time"...after too many "put your hood ups" from Momma...

I love this little boy! I'm enjoying my one-on-one time with him! :)

Everyday Moments

As soon as M wakes up in the morning the "smarming" begins...poor Mags doesn't stand a chance....And here is "errand boy"...he helps me run to and fro while M is at school....when we are done I always try to have time for him to play in the van which he loves...

Busy BEES!

We have been busy busy over here trying to get used to the new pace of things! The kids wake up ready to play, but on MWF we need to scoot quicker....try to let them play in the midst of getting ready for school....here is M all dressed up in last yr's costume and then playing one of her fav computer games with a B&A friend...Here is the site...

We had a great time at church together...Carter was all decked out in his new outfit from Aunt Susan (Thank you!)...I got to go on a road trip for a friend's bridal shower on Sat...what a joyful time of celebrating! Can't wait for the wedding in Oct! :) And had fun hiking with Ginny after the shower...lots of fun "girl time"!

The kids had fun with Daddy and going to a friend's B-Day party on Sat while I was away...

Daddy made a rain stick after church on Sunday with rice and our empty wrapping paper roll...we were so excited to see rain on SUNDAY!!!

Then Mal and I headed out to another party on Sunday and left the boys at home...C and M had a blast playing the "Hugging Game"...and it was great to catch up with the Mommies of the group!

What a blessing our neighborhood is with all the little people...I can't believe the oldest kids in the playgroup are turning 4 this yr...

What a great weekend full of friendship and good times!

After the party and before little man woke up we did a 100 piece puzzle...it was more like Mike and I did 96 pieces and M did the last 4....Fun fun!

Another Way to Help...

Thanks for buying cookies to help kids with cancer...Our town raised 33K with the bake sale and Glad will match it so that's 66K to find new cures for these kids and their families...

Another way we can help these kids is through PEPSI....since Sept. is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month....Please read and vote!

We only have one WEEK left in September...Let's vote EVERY DAY and help these children!!!


Pepsi Refresh Program:

PLEASE CONTINUE TO VOTE EVERYDAY UNTIL September 30

Three ways to vote

THIS IS IMPORTANT ABOUT VOTING ON THE WEBSITE. After you hear the Pepsi can opening and slurping sound, you must click VOTE FOR THIS IDEA. Then check to make sure the vote counter on the bottom left goes from 10 to 9 votes. Then you can be sure your vote counted.

1. Vote ONLINE
http://www.refresheverything.com/armswideopenchildhoodcancerfoundation

2. Text VOTE FROM YOUR PHONE daily. Text 102653 (in the message area) to PEPSI (73774).

3. Vote with Facebook. Here’s how:

Step 1

Log in and vote online www.refresheverything.com/armswideopenchildhoodcancerfoundation

Step 2 look on the right side where it says vote from facebook, install application

Step 3 Log in to facebook. Your pepsi app will be on the left hand side of your page, click it

Step 4 Search for our cause by typing in Fund less toxic treatments, ours pops up first... then click VOTE

2 Things I Love

I love weekends around here...even if it is a weekend where we are all fighting back to school colds...I love having Mike around...it's like summer...I love listening to him play guitar...he is teaching himself...

And I love hand sanitizer...my obsession continues with a new scent...lavender! :)

Soccer Class

Waiting for our class and giving me a sideways "Cheeeeeese!" Trying something new with the little guy on Fridays...signed up with some friends for a soccer class...have never done anything like this with Mallory so it was neat to try something new as a parent with the youngest of the fam...didn't sign up til the last min bc I wasn't sure how it would go...he loves playing "ball" with us, but it's totally unstructured...this was a Mommy and Me class where we did drills together....Hopefully he will learn more about patience and following directions from his 8 wks in soccer class....he ran straight out into the field and wanted to get down to business...it will be good for him to learn to wait for each activity....his fav. part was when they let them run all over to shoot at the goals around the field...He basically ran all over with the ball-- not so much kicking it...

Finished up with snack time...we had to take ours for the road since M's preschool had early release all week to get the kids back into the routine...can't wait to see what next week will be like!

Future Pele in action....Mike was sad to miss out and def. wanted a video....hilarious!

Sneak Peak

We had PaPa over for dinner Wed. night...MiMi was down at Aunt LuLu's working on wedding things for a few days....

The kids wanted to show him their costumes after dinner...We picked them up at Kid to Kid the other day...we have already gotten our $6.99 and $7.99 out of them and it's not even Oct! We are hoping Carter's will still fit by then...it's a little snug and high waterish...but he loves "phants!"

When it was time to take them off Carter was so sad and threw a fit which landed him in Time Out...so sad, but cute that he loves his costume! The next morning they were on again first thing with the B&A crew....

We went outside yesterday for most of the morning...love being in "Park Morin"...the weather was so nice with a warm breeze blowing...(it got much warmer by the end of the day though...)

We found a turtle and made lots of Sand B-Day Cakes...yummmmm!

And the costumes went on again in the afternoon...I'm telling you...$ well spent!

Chicken and Elephant run....