"A Feast in the Moments"

"He gifts with seeds as small as moments, grace upon grace, and the unlikely here and now, it shall sustain you, feed you.

Do not disdain the small. The promise of feast is within the moments.

Our enough is always in the now, because He never leaves us."

~ Ann Voskamp...from this post (click to read)

Loved that post and the fact that the "feast is within the moments"...

Definitely feel that way a lot...trying to slow down and enjoy and feast in the moments!

It has been crazy busy around here, but the promise of summer (and a slower schedule) is in the air...and this past weekend I could taste it!

Even when we are super busy we can be "still" in the moments and enjoy them for what God designed them to be...for what is the chief end of man? To GLORIFY God and ENJOY Him forever!

He gives us so much to enjoy each day!!! We just have to look! :)

"If you Build it....

...."they will come!!"

In "Field of Dreams fashion" the B&Aers built a habitat for Skylar in the hopes they would find him again...and wouldn't you know...they did find him Thurs morning! So into his new habitat he went...a turtle in a turtle...(we hardly had any sand left in our sandbox so it seemed like the perfect place to build a home for the little guy)...We didn't let him go before school this time, but would let him go after Mike got home that evening so he could experience some of the excitement!...but when the kids and I got back from MOPS Bible Study at lunch time Skylar was no where to be found! Sneaky little guy!

Camp MiMi

Went over to MiMi's the other day...the kids had been beggin' to head over so we took a ride out after picking M up from school one day. Now that MiMi is out of school for the summer we can hang out more! YAY!

Then today...I thought I would be taking both kids with me to the grocery store this morning (CrAy-zAY!), but MiMi came by with a flowergirl dress for M to try on and offered to stay with the kids so I could shop alone...what a TREAT to shop sans kids! It was a HUGE trip too as we were out of EVERYTHING almost...so I'm not sure where the kids would have gone in the cart! They had a much better time here playing in the pool on the deck with their MiMi! (It's gonna be 97 today! Phewwww!)
We love seeing you more MiMi and the kids are looking fwd to July at Camp MiMi during summer school!

Summer FUN!

It feels like SUMMER over here with temps in the upper 80s and low 90s!

Played with some of our church friends yesterday to beat the heat!

Our kids had never tried a slip and slide before...they were more interested in the little "pool" at the bottom...

It was amazing how long 8 kids took turns playing on the slide...3 of the kids were quite dare devilish in their sliding...not our 2 though...(Mommy liked that...less nail bitting for me :) )

The kids love their little jeep...Hope to find one for our kids one day before they get too big for one...maybe we will find one sometime soon at a yard sale...

Carter doesn't understand how to push the pedal yet...but not the Mal Pal! She took him for a little joy ride!

Yay for summer fun!

And our (fun to say!!!) pool will be open starting this weekend! Yippppppeeee!!!!

Beep! Beep! Who's got the keys to the jeep!?!!? (can't load the jeep video...will try again later...)

TURTLE MANIA!!!

"Consider the turtle.
He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out."
~Unknown

Exciting times around here this morning! The first B&Aer to arrive said, "Miss Sarah there is a turtle outside next to your steps!"...So we scooped him up and put him in the baby pool so everyone would get a chance to see him this morning....M and C were so excited when they woke up and saw our special surprise!

It looks like the same turtle we found before with Grandma!

Carter is about to "bust a gut"...he was so excited!

We let the little guy go before we headed to the bus stop...The kids named him/her Skylar...

When we picked M up from school the kids walked all around the yard calling, "Skylar...we love you!!! Skylar where are you?!?!?!"...He was no where to be found...smart little turtle!!!...Until next time turtle friend!

Dog Fair

Aunt Susan invited us to a little fair near our house with different vendors dealing with dogs and their care...We headed over after church on Sunday...The kids were excited to get their faces painted...they waited so patiently (something Carter usually struggles with)...they both picked out what "face" they wanted to have painted...

M choose a unicorn! At first she wanted to be a poodle...lots of time to choose and decide in line...

Carter wanted a tiger or an elephant that would have covered his eyes and nose...but I was concerned about his boo boo and not painting on it...so I asked if she could draw one of those small on his cheek...he was so still while she painted...I don't think M got her face painted until she was 3...I was surprised at how still he sat...but when it didn't look like what he had been looking at while he waited he got upset...he couldn't get over the disappointment so he and I went back to hang out in the van while Aunt Susan and M finished walking around...good lesson in disappointment and things not working out they way we want them too sometimes in life...and I should have chatted with him before he got his face painted about it looking different...we had a nice chat on the way the van as Carter kept up his "noise pollution"...but once inside he was a happy little camper... :) Oh the JOY of playing in the back!

We got home and Mike had cut the grass and was working in the yard...it looked so nice!
Thanks for telling us about the fair Aunt SQ! We had fun! The kids loved seeing all the different dogs!

PaPa Do List

MiMi and PaPa came over with dinner on Sat. night...Mike was finishing up painting the bathroom (!!!!) when they arrived! (you know we take 4ever on painting projects around here...thanks Mike for working during naptime to make it happen!!!)..Mike even pulled off the old mirror and we were ready to put up the new one! Mallory and I came home from a BDay party to find:
*Front door knob fixed (quite a prob with all the B&A traffic not to have a working door!)
*dishwasher fixed!
*And bathroom finally being completed!
*and the smells of a home cooked dinner a la MiMi!

Before dinner we went outside and Carter fell running in the front yard and hit his head on the front bottom brick step (ahhhhh!!!) That boy is gonna give me an ulcer! We are VERY GRATEFUL he didn't get hurt worse than he did...and when he fell I was ironically telling a story about another friend's child falling and needing stitches! Oh our little ROCKY...what are we gonna do with him!!?!? :)

Then after dinner MiMi and PaPa broke out the strawberries that they picked at their friend's farm that morning....Carter about levitated out of his chair he was so excited...strawberry sweetness was rolling down his chin after he ate his whole helping...Mal enjoyed quite a few as well...they love strawberries...sadly we have been so busy we haven't been to the farm to pick them this year yet...not sure when we will be able to squeeze it in!?!?!

Thanks for coming over to hang out and fix things around the house and feed us dinner!! We had a great time with you all! :)

Sportsmanship...

We have really enjoyed soccer...Can't believe there are only 2 more games and we won't be at the last one bc will be out of town celebrating the future Howells! (Yippee!!)...so only one more game for us! We love getting to practice a few mins early and warming up as a family... :)

Ran into my high school soccer coach this Sat while M was playing and it was fun to show her my daughter playing on the same fields that we played on for practice in High School... :)

Carter had grown to love sitting on the side lines with the bag full of snacks, books, and toys...and M loves joining us on the water breaks...here she is getting a pep talk from Daddy...Last week was rough...she acted like a goof at the end of the game...we had to have a long talk after the game and then before the game this week about what it means to be part of a team and how there is a time to be goofy with friends and a time to work hard for your team...she really put her all into working hard the whole time this Sat....we were so proud of her!

There she goes! She isn't very aggressive at this point and hardly touches the ball, but she is running and working with her team which we love!

At the end of each game one kid is chosen for a medal (everyone gets one by the end of the season)...M got one for GREAT SPORTSMANSHIP....we were so proud of her and for trying her best and that the coach saw a difference in the way she was trying this week...

She wanted all of us to try on her medal...Showing Carter the medal and letting him wear it...

We decided to go for ice cream after the game to celebrate...not that it's about getting a medal...but it was just such a drastic difference in how we felt about her effort last week and then this week...we couldn't help but feel proud and want to celebrate...

Silly boys!

We got home and passed a lemonade stand at the end of our road...how cute! We love our neighborhood....so we bought 4 cups and came home and sat on our front porch sipping our drinks and looking up at the squirrel nest in the tree above....(the kids and I saw the squirrel building it the other day...really cool to watch...)

What a SWEET start to our Saturday!

Melt my HEART...

These 2 can drive us batty sometimes...but it's moments like these that melt our heart! Mike and I were cleaning up after dinner and the kids were reading quietly in the other room...

Had to sneak and grab some pics before the moment was over...

M loves to have a captive audience...and Carter was loving being read to for quite a while!

The end of "the moment" before C was done and on to playing with his super heroes! (wouldn't load video...will try again later)...

ZzZZzZzzZZzZs!!!

What a busy and full weekend...we had a lot of fun...but some of us are feeling a bit tired! Everyone took a nap today but me! :)