Lego Lovin' Birthday Boy

The cake-

new Legos!

A lego scavenger hunt. We do a lot of these hunts- easter eggs, thanksgiving turkeys... it never gets old.

Lego candy!!

Celebrating with friends, pancakes and ice cream sundaes!

He gets ALL the phone calls on this day!

Some nighttime decor for a birthday morning surprise.

Daddy Dates

Brad began taking Jaedon out for monthly breakfast dates when he turned 5. Turning 5 meant that Seth would be ready to start his regular monthly breakfast dates too! When I asked him what he thought about that he said "Dat's so cool, Mom. I hope we got to Chucky Cheese!"
;)

Girls weekend!

I've heard it said that doing something once it a good time.
Twice and it becomes a pattern.
Three times makes is a tradition.
So that would mean that this second annual girls weekend is officially a pattern for Becky and I.
A pattern we're a fan of. =)
We have the GReaTeSt hubbys who graciously allow us the entire weekend (from Friday night until Sunday afternoon!) to get away, relax, recharge and refocus.
One of the things I appreciate so much about this sweet friendship is the time and energy we spend "spurring each other on in good works". Coined phrase but really so true. We spend our efforts in brainstorming ideas of how we can be better wives, moms, friends, daughters, and servants. It's a sweet time.
Oh- and we go shopping.
Without kids.
=)

All this- for just us two! Yikes.

Doing some scrapbooking-

I can't quite believe I was brave (or dumb) enough to include this LOVELY picture- but really- what's a girls weekend without a facial mask, pedicures, shopping and Chonda?

Wha???

Not sure how he grew up so fast...

Kindred Spirit

I've decided that in life there are friends.

And then there are kindred spirits.

Laurie is one of those kindred spirits. We met in college and just clicked right away. Even when we lost touch for almost 10 years- we were able to pick up where we left off -despite her living in Buffalo and me in West Michigan- and have been able to enjoy a true friendship of the soul. She is an amazing, godly woman that I deeply admire. She challenges me and has such an authentic, lived out type of faith.
She's neat. =)
She opted to come out to our place for a visit this past February. Yes, I was a bit stunned that she would decide that coming to my boy-infested, ruckus of a house was a VACATION!!!- but I thoroughly enjoyed that she was able to come and enjoy some time of relaxation, ruckus and (hopefully) refreshment.

X-tra kids

They are determined to have fun outside- despite all the gear that is required to enjoy it!

So here's the crew I am watching - this day was a few weeks ago when we had PJ day.
Anna-6, Seth-5, Chessie-4, Brady/Owen-2 and Timmy- 8 mo.

Gym time

A few weeks ago we spent a few hours playing at a new-to-us gym here in town. The kids and their friends had a ton o' fun- jumping, running, climbing- what's not to love?

Enjoying the toddlerness

Because someday all too soon- these chubby little cheeks will be gone...

Because these baby blues will always steal my heart...

A Fathers prayer for his son

The following prayer was written by General Douglas MacArthur -

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee….Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain.”

Read more at A Father Prayer by General Douglas MacArthur

Remember

Brad and I are attempting to read the Bible through in a year this year. Brad found a cool reading plan that has you read the Bible in chronological order. Right now we're in the middle of Numbers. Can I just say- HOW in the world did these Jewish men memorize all these names, numbers, places???
Amid all the mispronunciations though I am very aware of God's repeated attempts to gather his children near by and to tell them their story- HIS story. In my study of Isaiah as we are reading I see it time and again how God is reminding his people...remember, remember ...REMEMBER!
I'm a visual learner so I love reading about the very physical acts of remembering that God sets up for his people. The feasts, festivals are all about remembering. The stones he had the Israelites set up to remember their crossing of the Jordan- He is passionate about our remembering him.

So why is that?

Perhaps because he knows his sheep.

We're dumb.
We're forgetful.

So if God is so desirous of our remembering his faithfulness not only in the story of our lives but his story of all lives- then what am I doing to remember?
Last night was a sweet time of remembering for us. We were able to share our stories/testimonies/journey with our small group. The neatest part of it though was realizing that in our own rehashing we were able to see God's faithfulness more clearly than we would have had we gone on and not remembered!
Do you have any habits of rememberance? I'd love to hear about your "pile of stones".

A song to hear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w6YG2NZguc

Learning to read!

Our MnM weekend

MnM stands for our "Marriage Maintenance" weekend- although we are firm believers of the chocolate coated goodness too (as per pictured!) We stay at a close-ish bible campground and conference center- this year we had a whole 2 bedroom apartment to ourselves! We didn't know what to do with all the space (and quiet!) We enjoyed/huffed a stroll out to the lakeside- in waist-deep snow drifts. I'm thankful that we have this set aside time for us.