Seth's Birthday {rewind}

One of the tricky things about having 2 camera's is it's hard to keep my pics in order (just pulled these off my little camera a few days ago).  So here is a rewind to Seth's bday in May.  

My wonderful sister watched all four kids all by herself so we could go on a dinner date (Seth picked Pad Thai..it was wonderful!).  They were SO excited to have pizza and movie night with Aunt Beth.  They made homemade pizza and watched the Chipmunks.  Love this pic of Beth with the kids!!

 When we got back, we had cake together.  Love how the kids are jumping in on the birthday candle fun here!

 My parents stopped by for a bit too.  It was also their wedding anniversary!!  

 The next morning Hannah and Daddy woke up early to have a fishing date together.  Hannah is getting to be quite the fisher girl (more posts about that to come).  

 They found a snapping turtle on their walk to the water. :)  

Happy Birthday, Babe!  How I thank God for you!

Happy Home Maker Monday: July 1st

It's been a while.  Monday's are our family day, so it's tricky to get on here and do a hhm post....but today Seth is working most of the day so that he can be with us to celebrate the 4th.  



The weather....Much cooler than last week.  75 degrees and cloudy.  

Right now I am....putting off folding 3 loads of laundry.   

On my reading pile...
"Anything" .  I'm doing this "Good Morning Girls"  book/Bible study with some friends and let me tell you, this is an excellent book.  

"Desperate: Hope for the Mom who Needs to Breath"  I read a lot of this book on the beach last week.  It was the perfect read for motivation and encouragement on my vacation.  Lots of great practical advice and encouragement....challenging and convicting too!  
On my TV.....Absolutely nothing.  

What I found while surfing the net....I liked these two posts about caring for your pastor...I want to care for our senior pastor in this way:  Pastors Need Your Care Part One and Part Two   

Faith Like a Child 

On the menu for this week....
Monday:  Deer Loin in the crockpot
Tuesday:  Slow cooker chicken caesar sandwiches
Wednesday:  Youthgroup night:  Chicken nuggets and tater tots.
Thursday:  The 4th!  Picnic with Family.
Friday:  Homemade Pizza night
Saturday:  Sausage and Pepper Pasta

On my to do list....finish unpacking, laundry, and bills 

In the craft basket....Making a summer wreath for my door.  This is my inspiration...love that I could get everything I needed from the dollar store (except for the wreath which came from a garage sale)  

Looking forward to this week....Getting back into routine.  Loving and spending time with my children.  Excited to celebrate the 4th of July with family!  

Looking around the house....Luggage and piles of laundry.   

From the camera....
My favorite picture of my husband and I.  We spent last week in Mexico celebrating 10 years of marriage.

On my prayer list.....Praying for a friend who will be delivering her 2nd baby this week, for the sale on our house to go through and for revival in the hearts and lives of the teenagers that we are serving.
Bible verse, Devotional....
Galations 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."  

Praying that God's Spirit will be working in me to be victorious over sin today.  

Now off to do some laundry :)  

Planting Sunflowers and Other Springtime Fun

Our wonderful children's librarian had the kids plant sunflower seed during story time this spring.  They diligently watered and cared for their seeds.  It was finally time to plant them.  

 We picked a sunny spot along the fence.  Bummer is...see those dandelions?  I forgot to tell Daddy where we planted them and the next time he week wacked...the flowers went with the weeds.  Good news is...one survived..hopefully it will grow and I think the kids might forgive me.  Next year, we'll pick a better spot, or at least mark it!  

We have 4 apple trees to enjoy in our yard...the spring blossoms are just beautiful!  

 My sweet kiddos

 Hannah and I planted these purple tulips right when we moved in back in the fall.  It was fun to watch them come in this spring and have a touch of us in the flowerbeds.  They grew so tall...this pic is to show just how big they got.  

 More beautiful spring blossoms..this is our dogwood tree.  

Thankful for the beauty of God's creation!

Hopscotch

Hannah is such a little girl.  She takes me right back to my childhood.  This time, with her love for hopscotch....

Park Play Dates!

My friendship with my friend Teri is a special one that has stood the test of time...and distance.  We were prayer partners when I worked at Skyview Ranch and have been friends ever since.  We haven't lived close to each other since then...but our friendship still continues to grow.  We've chatted on the phone for many house, drove long car rides to see each other and Teri even saved her money and flew to see me and meet Hannah after she was born.  Anyway...it's such a blessing to live fairly close to her.  God has brought us both back to Ohio and we are living just about 45 min from each other.  We were able to meet up for a park play date...it was so much fun to chat and watch our kids play together!  

We found such a fun park!!  

Hannah and Isaiah climbing on the tree...

Lila loved the swing and Isaac loved pushing her 

Family Game Night

We love games!  Monday nights that we are home usually end up being a game night.  We sure are enjoying the age of our kids and making memories with them!  

It takes much concentration

and a little bit of silliness too..

 Uno Stacko!  

 there goes our tower...

 puzzles for daddy and isaac

Kinderealm: Wildflowers

May's Kinderealm was all about Wildflowers.  We learned about different flowers, made a craft, and went for a nature walk to discover different wild flowers.  

The naturalist also brought a box turtle to share

 We learned that if you find a box turtle on the road to just move him to the side and let him go on his way.  If we pick him up and take him somewhere else he will spend his whole life trying to find his way back and will eventually die.  

 We went on a Monday, so Daddy got to come too!  Yeah for a nature walk with Dada!