A Time For Every Season....

Our Butterfly unit was a huge success! I took a cute video of us letting them go.

Question from today's IBR: How are you making sure the generation after you, your own children and others children are being raised in the faith of Christianity? We just recently started having discipleship time as a family (after many failed attempts!). We are enjoying the simplicity of the book "Big Truths for little Kids." It seems to make our family time easier and more focused on concepts that young children can comprehend. The first three questions we're working on are: Who made you? God What else did God make? God made all things. Why did God make all things? For His Glory I've had fun teaching these simple lessons, asking them throughout the day. It is fun to see how the mind of a 3 year old starts to put things together. (We recently had a discussion where our 3 year old said," God made mommy, daddy, Nana, and me!" When asked, "What about your baby brother?" He replied, "No God didn't make baby Gabe, mommy's tummy made h...

Drew had his last day of Pre-school on Wednesday. I can't believe it. I decided to take some pictures of Drew with all his artwork. My house is only so big, so only the most near and dear get to remain. The rest we have fond pictures of! (Drew with the world's best preschool teachers!) Our Butterflies are out! We all were able to see 2 come out of their Chrysalis'. Wow, it was amazing, a total transformation. Drew was very impressed! We will be letting them go in a few days, right now we're enjoying watching them eat Oranges and fly all over the pavilion. Do far, unit study #1 is a huge hit! Unit study #2 will be pulled out shortly. I've been scouring the Internet to find creative ideas for things to occupy our creative minds this summer. I'm thinking "music" and maybe renting a 1/4 size violin for a few months just so Mommy can give Drew some violin lessons. He talks about playing the violin all the time, we'll see! John was so wonderful and bough...

Daddy to Drew - "Don't put anymore blueberries in the wire nuts!" " Take your poopy finger into the bathroom and don't touch anything!" "Baby gabe is sleeping, but when he wakes up he will need his puke wipe." (Drew's name for the burp cloth)

Well, the good news is Gabe doesn't have a large head for his body. The nurse from two months ago must have measured his head circumference wrong, either that or his head shrunk! His stats for today are: Height: 24 1/2 inches (less than 5%) Weight: 18 Pounds 5 oz (50-75%) Head: 16 1/2 (10-25%) I might introduce rice cereal to Gabe this week just for some fun. He doesn't seem to need it, but the doctor really wanted me to start. We'll see how it goes! To compare the boys, at 6 months Drew was weighing almost 15 pounds, Gabe is 3 1/2 pounds heavier than his brother when comparing them at 6 months. Physically they are both doing the same things (rolling, smiling, grabbing, babbling) and maintaining the similar sleep schedules. Boy my boys require lots of sleep in order to play hard and keep joyful hearts!

Life has settled into a nice harmonic melody... for a change we are actually on a schedule and enjoying its consistency! What a week we have had! I was busy last week writing my IBR's for this coming week. I posted two of them below. It was also closing at work so I was super busy getting work wrapped up for the month. Once all "work" was complete I treated myself to some planting and weeding! I'll have to post some pictures of the flowerbeds, they turned out beautiful this year. It is so peaceful to sit out back and look at God's creation. I'm trying to teach Drew all the names of specific flowers; maybe he will love gardening as much as I do! Drew enjoyed helping me pull weeds, playing in his sandbox, and playing in the dirt as I planted. He also gave me some sunflowers for Mothers Day; we planted them early last week and have been watching them grow! ...

My wedding photo hangs proudly in our home. With a mere glance it takes me back to that perfect January day. My wedding day was euphoric, it symbolized a forever covenant I made before God to: love, honor, and serve my husband. To me that picture represents one perfect moment in my imperfect life. Moses created a similar ceremony for the Jewish nation, a time of rejoicing at the alter, built for the Lord (vs. 7) in thanksgiving for His faithfulness. Moses praises the nation and declares, “This day you have become a people for the Lord your God. (vs. 9)” Their time of rejoicing is bittersweet, for they are again reminded of their tendency to serve idols and turn away from the Lord. Twelve curses are placed before Israel as a reminder of their wandering hearts. A photograph can represent a perfect moment, but not perfection. We are all walking examples of sin and its consequences. Praise the Lord that it didn’t end with us being broken and cursed in our sin! We all carry the scars that r...

We are still here, just getting back to normal. We had John's brother Scotty here for a few weeks and then my sister and her husband were visiting from Oklahoma for about 4 days. We are just now getting back to a routine with normal bedtimes and nap schedules. I haven't taken many pictures the last few weeks because my camera has been acting up. Gabe is growing and changing daily. He discovered his voice last week and loves to scream and laugh at us. He is also getting quite incessant about his food. He has a temper tantrum if he wants more milk and it doesn't arrive as soon as he desires. Gabe is growing out of his 3-6 month clothes and his 6 month appointment is on the 20 th . Gabe is a very content baby, he doesn't get too fussy and still loves to sleep. He is teething still which h as created some fussy evenings. Gabe loves to smile and laugh, he also loves to watch people. Drew is growing and learning each new day. He is potty trained now, almost 2 weeks without...