VACATION - the respective gangs

Kids...parents...families...
it was a beautiful week! Thank you...(the card is NEAR the mailing point...written, sitting awaiting a stamp...so next year sometime it will arrive!)

VACATION - fishin' and bluberries

The blueberries were UNBELIEVABLE! I picked about 10 lbs in less than an hour...the bushes were LOADED and all I could think of was BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL...ahhhh...

Cam actually enjoyed picking them, Em managed...
Shea and I got away alone and went for an hour, it was WONDERFUL!

And the obligatory lake fish! Stu only went fishin' once, the water was calling "kneeboard, kneeboard" and who are we to deny it?

VACATION

Oh yes, Cam also enjoyed the thrill of the kneeboard, totally impressed that he did it!
Emmy went Tubing!! Wow! (Cam too)

Love Em and Daddy having a "dance" in the water!

This last pic of Em makes me think of Aleah, I think I've seen this expression before....

VACATION

We headed up to Michigan for vacation...on the lake with the Hanna fam.

It was ... bliss!

Here's the evidence of our two water bugs...and let me just say that Stuart and I discovered the joy of knee boarding. Even with my "spectacular" wipeout, I still LOVED it!

The Reaction

So, he did well in school.
The official word when I picked him up was, "I liked it a little bit"

Now, at prayer time last night I asked him what he wanted to thank God for and it was school, so that's a good sign.

However, this morning he was "too sick to go"

And Emmy informed daddy that "bu does not go to school today. He goes on Thursdays and Sundays"

Its good they love each other!
Its also good that Cam loves to be at home and misses us a bit. Makes me feel good and yet, he DID enjoy school, so that's good too!

All in all, the getting up early is the hardest part...

How to tell is you're lazy

This is how I know I'm lazy:

Em begins to "lose her breakfast" this morning and I hold out my hands for her to "spew" into.

WHY?

Because the thought ACTUALLY ran thru my head, "I don't want to clean the floor"

That my friends, is Laziness.

Kindergarten begins.

It starts tomorrow.
Bright and early.

We are NOT excited.
I am nervous.
HE is nervous.

But, the beautiful...
...tears tonight at bedtime led to a wonderful snuggle, a heart to heart chat and a serious prayer time with my boy.

It hurts this letting go.

And this is the tip of the iceberg.

So, I will pray.

God made him.
He belongs to God anyhow.
I will pray and TELL God to take care of my little boy.
God will smile and say, "I know, I know"

He will give me a peace. A peace that surpasses any understanding I have.
And kindergarten will begin. And kindergarten will end.
And so will jr. high, high school, college, etc.... And someday life here will end.

I know I sound morbid, and like I'm reading WAY too much into all this.

But here's the thing...all these beginnings lead to endings.
And there is one big ending here.
And then there is an amazing beginning...
and then there will be NO letting go...and that is a beautiful thing.

So selfishly I'm having to think a bit long term :)

Meanwhile, tomorrow awaits my boy. And it WILL be wonderful and exciting! Doors will open to him, he will learn things, meet friends and love more!

THE HEALING CHOICE By: Brenda Stoeker and Susan Allen

Another book review you say??? Yup, and a give away as well!

This book is about the power of God to help you heal, specifically it is geared towards women who have experienced betrayal in the husband area, whether thru an affair or porn. However, the first section of this book is Brenda's story of her mother's death and how it affected her relationship with God. This first part of the book anyone can identify with and it was EXTREMELY insightful! There was a specific part where she talked about having a skewed view of God and life. She tackled the mindset of if I follow God and obey, then ... perfect life. I loved the way she gave steps to overcome this kind of thinking and the practical advice she gave. Plus her story was very intriguing and this section of the book was SO easy to read. I gained so much from this part!

The second half of the book is much more specific to betrayed women. It is PACKED with resources for the hurting woman. Most importantly this part offers real HOPE to any woman in a betrayal situation or any situation where she feels worth less than God's design.

This book and workbook combination are, I believe, a starting place for so many women trapped in a place where they feel alone. Its a way out.

LOVE AS A WAY OF LIFE By: Gary Chapman

Book review ahead!

This book is from the guy who wrote the 5 languages of love thing. He talked about the 5 ways we want to be loved: acts of service, gifts, quality time, words of affirmation and physical touch. In this book he is doing a sort of "prequel" to the 5 languages. He said that in counseling people he found that the 5 languages was a great revelation, but it did not push people to want to act. They were, in fact, sometimes put off by the fact that they discovered their husband/wife's love language was acts of service. They still weren't going to DO any of that stuff. This book discusses the 7 traits of a loving person, habits we need to cultivate in order to become loving people. Its not enough to KNOW what love language someone desires, we must BE a loving person in order to put that knowledge into action.

The first premise is a relief for me: love is an action, not a feeling. An action can be put into practice, or practiced. Feelings are fleeting and ever changing. I've always heard that love is a decision, you decide to love and this book explains that statement very well.

The seven secrets are: kindness, patience, forgiveness, courtesy, humility, generosity and honesty. Its easy to read that list and think, "well, yeah" but Chapman gives such practical advice mixed with illustrations that you find yourself learning without meaning to.

This is the book that will give you the proper motivation to love others (Christ) and the tools to pull it off better than you are currently. It will give you the tools to being a better parent, co-worker, spouse, friend. Most of all, its a simple reminder that your job here on earth is to love.

So, want a free copy???
Comment below, or check facebook and leave a comment and I'll randomly pick someone (I can mail this one to you easy!)

14 Years

Yup, its that time, the anniversary~ 14 years!
Check out the lovely flowers from my sweetie!
Cam took the pic...

We had a lovely evening, Stu even brought home some olive garden salad and tiramisu to go with dinner! He's GOOD!

Kitchen

Not that anyone really cares (other than Amanda, bedrest is a bummer) our kitchen has been a source of contention since day one. Stu's wanted a new table in there, not the big dining room set. The last house had only a dining room and not an eat in kitchen. Here we had both. But I thought the dining room should be used as a playroom for awhile. WRONG. Guess who NEVER played in the wide open empty room. The kids never set foot in there. So we decided, lets let is function as a dining room.

Now, do we get a new table? Stu wanted a pub table, the tall ones. I wanted to use the old table from when we were first married. I refinished the darn thing, so it adds about 2 million dollars to its value in my book. We talked, looked, talked for about 4 months. Then in a fit of brilliance we decided the old table was the perfect size, but its the chairs we hated. Sooooo, here's the new look. Different chairs all around...one of the old ones that goes with the set, a white chair that's actually a highchair with the tray and arms cut off (perfect for Em) and two new ones and the fun summer/cottage adirondack chair thrown in for fun.

WAY more than you needed...???

Quote of the day

Since there is NO such thing as Claritin clear with me, only Claritin SUPER tired, this is what was overheard from Emmy as I put in a VHS tape:

"Did you put in Jesus?"

Me, "Nope, Barney"

Cracked me up, the whole conversation.
Could just be the medicine

Photo shoot at Grandparents

While Bu had Swim lessons

Em got to hang out in the pool with Cam, she did really well at not getting in the way. She LOVES the water!!

Swim Lessons

Cam had a few swim lessons that were AWESOME~ he learned a lot and more than anything his confidence in being in the water ramped up WAY high!

The only thing really left to work on is the rolling his head to breathe. He worked on it, but didn't quite get it yet. But, going from NOT swimming at the beginning of the summer to now...crazy man in the water, jumping off the diving board! Its wonderful! Thank you Jordan for the lessons

The 5th of July, the lesser known holiday

For some reason here the park district has a bash on the 5th of July...fireworks, concert...the whole nine yards.

We were invited over to a bash at Jane's house with LOTS of super YUM food (chess cake, Stuart was in heaven, oh that silly Weight Watchers)

The kids had SO much fun with the glow bracelets Miss Angie supplied!!

Unfortunately the fireworks didn't start until 11pm-ish (and by ish I mean later) Ugg.

Tired kids, melting down...but fireworks, you just can't leave early.

The pic of Em is her taking a "picture" of me

Cincinnati Reds

While in Cinti for Stu's conference we hit a Red's game! Stu blew the whole entertainment budget on some AWESOME seats! They were WONDERFUL and it kept both kids pretty into the game. Hard to do with Em! The Cotton Candy didn't hurt :)

We saw a bunch of home runs from both sides, unfortunately the Red's lost. However Emmy did get to meet the mascot, Mr. Red Legs, with whom she was infatuated.

Cam was TOTALLY pumped up for the game and enjoyed EVERY single bit of the experience. Beautiful night at the ball park. It reminded me of a certain game we went to with Frank and Amanda...Cubs, Wrigley, down right near the field...baseball at the actual park is a beautiful thing.

carousel...

At the zoo waterpark

The kids were so great at the zoo. There's a splash park there and Cam helped Em do the slides...I LOVE the way he took care of her, holding her shoulders, making sure she stayed in line and getting her down the slide safely. WHAT A GREAT BIG BROTHER!

Then, ofcourse, the carousel, always a crowd pleaser!

Important Info

If you are planning on a short trip of any kind it is IMPERATIVE that:
NO ONE sleeps the night before

This gives the grumpy children and parents some quality yelling time trapped in the car together.
It will be simply lovely.

Currently I'm finishing packing (ummm. blogging) whilst the children have been sent to their respective rooms and are lying in their beds. GRUMPY.