Day Eight

Andrew and Abigail were with friends and family most of the day so I got to stay home and clean with the middle kid....LUKE! We went outside and rode bikes but didn't stay long due to the heat.

Happy Memorial Day! Before dinner tonight with our extended family on Mitch's side, we prayed for those currently serving in our U.S. military and for the families of those who had lost a loved one in any time of war. Then, we ate and swam until our kids were so cranky that we had a VERY ROUGH bedtime tonight.

I hope you had a great holiday, too!

Day Seven

Church this morning.....glorious!

Home for lunch and then a cleaning session.

Dinner with friends.

A walk along the river where a wedding was taking place.

Oh, and they love singing "Mighty To Save" in the car. Laura Story would smile. They belted this song out while we rode to dinner tonight.

Day Six

Today was Saturday and that means we got to have Dad with us all day! So, after he and Mr. Chad took care of a tree that had fallen over on our church playground during the storm this past week,

we went swimming (duh!) at MeMe and Pop's house.....

(SEE VIDEO BELOW!)

Then joined the party with Piglet to celebrate her third birthday.

And this is what my husband looks like behind the wheel of a new cool car (that isn't ours, by the way).

Another full day of activity but I'm ready to rest tomorrow with the Body!

Day Five

It was a delightful 82 degrees today. The kids begged to go swimming but I knew that they would be miserable once they got wet and climbed out of the pool. We still managed to enjoy being outdoors but chose to have a picnic at the park across from our church building instead.

They saw the baseball fields at the park and decided to sing their favorite camp song.

We also stopped and got ice cream.....

visited Target...

and came home to make a tent before dinner.

Later, I took Abigail out on a date to Chuck-E-Cheese (can you sense the excitement?...ugh) so she could spend the 20 free tokens we get in an email 6 times a year. Otherwise, my kids would NEVER go!

Day Four

Stayed home all morning but left after lunch with the intention of running errands with the kids.

First stop was to the local library.

Luke & Andrew found a couch where they could sit beside each other to chat about the pictures they found in their books.

Abigail made herself at home - she took off her flip flops and propped her feet up while she read!

See how comfy he is? He took off his tennis shoes, crossed his legs, and flipped the pages. Notice that Luke is walking around the library barefoot....crazy kids. They won't keep their shoes on!

As we were leaving the library, Mitch sent me a text asking, "Where are you?". I knew he was just about to get numbed up for his root canal so I sent him a funny text back saying, "We are leaving the library and heading home where you wish you probably were, huh? It's your turn now!". He text'd back, "There's a bad storm coming." The tone of his text turned my ease into unrest and I told the kids that we wouldn't be stopping at Target, Publix, and JC Penny after all.

When we arrived home, the storm didn't seem so bad so I jumped on YouTube and gathered the children around me to watch a few Mr. Bean videos. Suddenly, I opened a curtain and saw the black sky and panicked. Why did I not pay attention? Then, the sirens blared and the power went out. My heart started pumping fast as I started toward the TV and radio to get a weather update, all the while gathering flashlights and instructing the kids to "follow me!". We huddled in the laundry room where I tried to call Mitch but failed. I sent him a text: "I want you home now! ASAP!". My next thought went to my dear friend, Coralie, who just experienced these same emotions a few days ago - so I sent her a text asking her to pray for us.

I remained calm but held my children and prayed out loud. This sent Andrew and Abigail into tears while Luke kind of joked through it all. Finally, Mitch arrived home and let us know that the worst had passed and the storm was out of range. I breathed a sigh of relief, cooked dinner, and then tried to take in all the emotions I had just experienced in the previous hour of my life. What horror the people of Alabama and Missouri have been going through these past few weeks and days!

Day Three

This is all we did today. We stayed in the pool for four hours at Meme and Pop's! The kids had a blast and it was all I could do to keep them awake on the drive home from their grandparent's house.


NOTE TO SELF: reapply sunscreen after two hours. Poor Abigail and Andrew....burned backs (thanks to me).

"Argh!....walk the plank!"

Day Two

Thanks to our local library membership, we were able to go to Zoo Atlanta for FREE today! The weather stayed in the upper 80s all day long so we picked a great time to be outside with the smelly animals. Some of our favorites were the gorillas and meerkats. We'll be visiting another large beautiful zoo next week so look for more pictures to come!

Three scooters

Riding their scooters is one of their favorite afternoon activities. You should see how fast they race around the culd-e-sac.

No broken bones yet but a lot of money has been spent on Bandaids!

Summertime Day One

First of all, school is out! That's all I wanted to say about that.

Many of my friends are participating in the 365 photo challenge where they take a picture each day of something they did or of someone describing the events in the life/lives of "that day", most having started January 1. I've decided that, since I am too far behind to start such a task, that I would use that same concept for these next ten weeks of summer before school starts back in early August. We'll see how quick I am to post on time!

So....today.....

Andrew's reading skills are improving

and he's beginning to learn to like it a bit more.

Luke is crafty and enjoys making anything.

Today he designed his own American flag!

Abigail has been asking to paint for the past week.

Today, she finally got the opportunity to make her masterpiece.

Just a few of the church kids

The Holy Spirit is softening his heart...and mine

He turned seven early last month. I get why mothers cry about watching their kids grow up. My heart is full of joy and sweet memories of my days thus far with my oldest child but I'm also overwhelmed with a tinge of sorrow that he won't be small forever. Sure, there's great satisfaction and reward in watching the Lord mold and soften his heart, shape his character, and build his confidence - but my mind still can't wrap around the fact that he used to be this size....

...and he's now this size...

Yesterday, I found myself in a moment of disappointment in my mothering (that happens alot). I wasn't being patient with my daughter and soon realized that I was overlooking the real reason why she was choosing the route she did (which was the wrong route in my mind). After walking away from her, I mumbled under my breath, "I'm an awful mother....just the worst there is". I didn't know it but Andrew was within earshot and heard every word I mumbled. He immediately lunged and embraced me from behind and sobbed, "You are the best mama in the world. I know you love us. You said you would die for us!" I picked up his entire lanky body and buried my head in his neck and apologized to him, affirmed my love for him and his siblings, and confessed my sins of pride, doubt, and unbelief....all while leaving our snot and tears on each other. It was a sweet moment and God used it for his glory.

I'm so proud of you, Andrew. Today was your last day of first grade and you were disappointed that you have to take 10 weeks off from school. When I told you that our summer was gonna be filled with fun activities and time to let your brain rest, you responded, "I think I can do those things at school, Mama".

You sure could, dude, but I want you all to myself for just little bit longer.

An evening outdoors

After dinner last night, we played outside as a family, enjoying the cool weather the storm was bringing in. She spent her time riding her scooter and then copying my markings and rainbows. So sweet!

Mom's rainbow

Abigail's rainbow

The boys played basketball.

It was a wonderful way to end the day - together!