End of Summer

Well the end of July is here and it's time to start gearing up for the end of summer. I don't know about you but I'm never a fan of the end of one season and the beginning of another. But it seems like just when you get comfy with something it's time to change. 


And so begins the next phase of our life with Hannah beginning "big girl school".  We really struggled as a family to decide what type of education she would receive. We weren't sure if we wanted to home school, send her to private school, or send her to public school. Keep in mind we have an awesome public elementary school literally in our back yard, and we have some really awesome families around us who are home schooling. We really agonized over making the "right decision" for our family. Ultimately we prayed about it and decided that God wasn't calling us to home school our kids. We felt like our kids could have a positive influence in their world if we let them. And as long as we were doing our job at home, their education would be fine. So we decided on public school.  


This was confirmed to us as Hannah came home from the first day of summer school (CH has a pre-k socialization program) informing us that she'd invited her entire class to VBS and to church the next Sunday. She has since invited just about everyone in our neighborhood to church. Each day she wants to see who's outside so she can talk to them about Jesus. My heart bursts just thinking about the level of faith that she has and the boldness with which she proclaims Christ. I've certainly been convicted about my own lack of sharing my faith. Then she surprised us all by going forward at VBS to accept Christ as her own personal savior. Now my little girl isn't just sharing what she's heard all her life, she's sharing her OWN faith! Its hard to watch my girl grow up but this is one area that I couldn't be happier to see her mature in.


So here is a pic of our little girl headed out into the great big world. I often wonder what she will do with her life and I can only pray that she will continue to put Jesus first in her life! And share it with those around her... I pray that you have a blessed end of summer and that your changing seasons would bring about new wonders in your world!

On her way to summer school

This little girl changed my world forever. I pray she changes the rest of the world too!

It's a CRAZY life!

This summer has been so busy that it seems like June never existed... Between Han starting kindergarten, Bek turning 4, SG learning to crawl, celebrating birthdays and holidays, work, church, friends... life seems busier than ever. How in the world do Mom's of more than 3 manage? I guess you just learn to adapt and find a way.


Some days I feel like I'm just barely hanging on and then some days I think, "ok, I've got this Mom thing down." There are days when I look around at all that I have to do and wonder how in the world I'm supposed to manage it all. There are still days when I wake up and I find myself feeling nostalgic of my pre-Mom days. But then very quickly one of my girls will do something sweet and I know that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. John got to go on two missions trips this summer and at first I felt jealous that I wasn't going on the adventures with him. But very quickly the Lord spoke to my spirit and reminded me that I'm in a very important (admittedly probably the most important) season of my life. The call to raise my girls the right way is probably more important in my life now, than it ever will be. "Train up a child in the way he should go..."
So in my overwhelmed moments I remember the words of Paul "I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." And I remember that I'm working towards an eternal purpose, not an earthly one. I also remind myself constantly that the Lord is faithful to complete what He starts in our lives and that I don't have to do this daily stuff by myself! Friends He will be your ever constant companion if you let Him! Your peace in the chaos! We can choose to not let the struggles of day to day stuff overwhelm us!


I love my life, it is a crazy life, but one that I wouldn't trade for a million bucks... ok well maybe just for 5 mins of uninterrupted bathroom time, I might consider...  <3 <3

How Time Flies



Welcome to the world Sarah Grace 11-9-10



I can't believe that my baby is 6 months old already! It's amazing to think about the development that occurs in the first months of life. How anyone could believe that we're created by anything other than an all knowing, perfect creator is beyond me. As always I'm astounded by the things that my daughter can now do that she couldn't do just a few weeks ago. She can sit up, laugh, smile, roll around on the floor, reach for things she wants. Most of these things aren't things that I taught her. I certainly didn't model rolling around on the floor for her (that was John's job... ;o)) I'm amazed at how we are created in such a way that most of our growing occurs in the first year of life. How awesome is our God? Here are a few pics of the first 6 mos.

 

2 mos



We've used this frog to measure the growth of all of our girls, 4 mos



This is the probably my favorite pic so far. 5 mos



"I don't particularly care for this avacado Mom." 6 mos





"But I can definitely go for the sweet potatoes!" 6 mos



"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him." Ps 127:3

We're jumping on the bandwagon!

Well I finally decided that I should jump on the bandwagon and start a blog so that our out of town family and friends can keep up with the goings on in our world.  Things change so quickly when our kids are little that it's hard to keep everyone updated. So here goes...

I may as well start with the ballet recital. We just finished the girls first ballet recital and while it was so much work for me, my girls loved it and are already talking about next year. Everyone keeps saying that I don't know what I'm in for with having girls in dance. But I do know that I was one proud mama watching my little ones do their dances. So here are a few pics:

The price of beauty

Hannah, 5 and Rebekah, 3

Me & My Teddy Bear

With Mrs. Robin, their teacher