Crazy Love...

Our small group is going through the book, Crazy Love together. It's written by Francis Chan. We are two weeks into it so far, and I'm loving it. It's a really easy read, but powerful at the same time. Here are some things that have struck me, taken from the first few chapters:

-"As much as we want God to explain himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us." pg. 33

-"When we face the holy God, "nice" isn't what we will be concerned with, and it definitely isn't what He will be thinking about. Any compliments you received on earth will be gone; all that will be left for you is truth...All that matters is the reality of who we are before God." pg. 50

I'm just starting the chapter on the Lukewarm, convicting for sure. But I think the best part of all of this has been getting to discuss it with our friends. There are also great video's available online to watch as you read each chapter. I highly recommend reading it. You will be "Overwhelmed by a relentless God..."

A little early for water balloons?

Is it too early for water balloons? My kids don't think so! They are obsessed right now, and got to indulge a little at Nana and Papa's house.

I love the excitement in their eyes as they would run down with a new balloon ready to throw...
Jakey-boy...


The faithful filler. He could hardly fill fast enough!

Look at that stud...
Me and my boy...
Wrestling with Papa...

I know Nicole's eyes are shut, but this picture is awesome for two reasons. One, doesn't she look fabulous? 75 pounds down! And two, she's holding the boys for the first time since her open heart surgery! Isn't that amazing! She is able to do so much more now, it was fun to see! It had been a few weeks since I've seen her and I noticed a big change!

For Free!

I have gotten into couponing....kind of. I am, but I'm not. I don't really buy food with coupons, because most of what we eat is fruits, veggies, and meat. But I have boughten diapers, and other house-hold items! That picture was from last night, but I went again today and added to that: 2 more packs of diapers, 3 John Frieda shampoo/conditioners, more tampons, more Vitamin D, and some more candy/pencils for the boys (I needed some filler items). So total, I have gotten:

-6 packs of diapers

-11 bottles of vitamin D (I've already given most away)

-3 boxes of tampons

-2 windex

-1 scrubbing bubbles (I know, I know, it's not all natural...but sometimes don't you just want to blast your shower with harmful chemicals?!? Mrs. Meyer's can only take me so far...)

-2 reusable bags

-2 boxes of foil

-3 John Frieda blonde shampoo/conditioners

-M&M's

How much do you think it cost me? Well, it was FREE!!! In fact, I actually made $1 on it all. How is it possible? Leave me a comment and I'll let you know!

Spontaneous Beach Trip...

Andrew came home from work on Tuesday and said he didn't have to work the next day! So, I suggested doing something fun as a family, like going to the zoo, etc. Then I blabbed, let's go to the beach! So, we did! I had volleyball practice, and then we took off, just two hours after mentioning the idea. We aren't really like that, we plan things out. We prepare food, clothes, everything we might need for traveling with kids to make things smoother. But we needed something fun, something different, a little adventure. So I threw our suits in a bag, packed some eggs and bacon, cut up some strawberries and cucumbers, grabbed some trail mix and we were out! Literally! We made due, and didn't have any distractions. No computer, no e-mails, no work that had to be done. Just time spent laughing at our kids, lots of time swimming in the pool, and a short little walk on the beach. It was really windy, so we didn't last long. I also snuck in a soak in the jacuzzie as Andrew packed everything up:)

We enjoyed our time together, focused on being together as a family, and loved every second! Except for maybe when Jakey got carsick on the way over...

Here are my monkey's jumping on the bed...our bed I might add! They had there own room, but they had to jump on mine!

Noah Reading...

This is Noah reading a book he got for Easter. Word for word. Boy, that kid has a memory. You probably aren't interested in seeing the whole thing, but I think it's adorable. But, I'm his mom...

Yankee Boys...

Here are my Yankee boys...they don't have a choice with Andrew being their Dad, they have to be fans. But they make some pretty cute fans, don't you think? This was the day of Jakey's party and I was out at volleyball, so I told Andrew to dress them in something cute. This is what he picked out.

Jakey is Two!

Here are some more pictures of Jakey's birthday party. So many people who love him, we are so blessed! We had a fun, low-key birthday. These pictures are all out of order, but atleast they are up. :)


Nana
Beautiful and yummy cupcakes from Serena
Luke and Serena
Colby
Jess and her beautiful kids
Auntie Cole
Jared, Kellie, Anne, and run-away Jake...
Tyson, Cade, and Noah
We tried...





Papa

A little excited!

We had Jakey's birthday party last yesterday. Jakey likes to brush his teeth...NOT having us brush his teeth, but putting toothpaste on his toothbrush and "brushing" his teeth. The Coles got him some toothpaste and a new cars toothbrush, and I think you can see how excited he was. Over toothpaste.

Sneak Peak...

I have lots of pictures to upload of Jakey's birthday party today...but I'm too tired. So I'll do it tomorrow! Have a good night, we had a great time with our family and friends today, I'll share more tomorrow:)

19 minutes...

I was reading today in The Primal Blueprint, I'm still in the first few chapters, but I was reading. It was talking about families now versus thousands of years ago...I know, I know. But one thing that really struck me is that the average American family spends 19 minutes a day on average of non-television time together. What makes it even worse, is that actually thinking about if that was us or not...there are many days where that's probably true. Where we are all together in one room, without the tv on, talking, playing, or eating together. Sometimes just getting us all into one place for dinner is a challenge. I feel like we are pretty good about spending time together as a family, but when I actually examined our time together...we need to improve.

One thing I remember from growing up was a family that would walk together every night a lap around the neighborhood. Not really for exercise, but just to have that time together to talk, chat with the neighbors, and be together. We did it last summer, not every night, but we do a lot of family walks. As soon as this wonderful Oregon weather clears up...we're getting outside after dinner every night. Sometimes you need to be intentional about things...this is one of them that's going to take the front burner.

Doing a little more of this:

Laughing...
Running...
Being...
Getting...
Playing...

Discovering...
Fighting...
Flying...
Shooting...

So what about you? Do you get in your family time? How? Any tips/ideas?