Getting Ready

I am getting ready to leave for New Zealand in 3 days ! I am so excited to visit my sister and her family in Auckland and see the sites. This is the first trip I am taking without my hubby or boys. It is a girls trip for my mom and I.

In preparing, I have made the boys lunches so that daily packing is easier on dad while I am away. Here they are all lined up for the days they are needed. Labeled with the date, where they are going & which lunch is for whom.

Now I can breathe a little easier knowing they are all set for the week !

I'm Back !

Well it has been quite a while since I have had the time & energy to blog. I am also in the middle of switching from an older computer to a newer one, and it's taking time to get it all set up. I will be happy when there is only 1 computer in this room and not a big mess !

We have had a busy couple of weeks..no need to bore you with all the details..we are enjoying our summer so far, and there's still so much to do!

Have a great week..mine is starting off with a bang !

Blessings

Today was a day of blessings.

Blessing #1 : I awoke to a quiet house..2 little angels slept in till 8:15 & I was up around 7:30. This gave me the opportunity to have some great quiet time with the Lord, to pray and read my summer study.
Blessing #2 : I am going back to work...part time this fall ! I will be an assistant teacher at a Christian preschool. Matthew will attend (at no additional cost) ! And being able to bring a little extra income is, well, a blessing !
Blessing #3 : A good friend is willing to pick Ryan up from Kindergarten everyday ! This was huge, because Ryan gets out of school at the same time I am done with work. It is only this first year that the schedule's are tight, when he is in half day school.

Thank you Lord for blessing me today (& everyday), for my good friends & for my family !

Aahh Girls !!

We were able to spend the afternoon with 2 adorable little girls. My boys had such a good time with them..there was no arguing, no fighting, no screaming..just fun, fun, fun !!
It is so different with girls. They are cute and tender, play quieter than boys, have great imaginations (although I think my boys do to) and are just so fun !
It was a quick glimpse at what our life could have been with a girl around. The boys were very careful with them today and made sure they were taken care of.
Even if I don't have one of my own..it sure is fun to play with our friends girls !

Fun with Friends

Today we went and spent the morning at the park with friends. It was great ! The boys..all 5 of them..had a blast..running..jumping..going down the slide..swinging..playing in the sand..eating lunch..chasing each other..what a fun day. We are so glad to be friends with the Floyd's !

Happy Birthday Mike

Today is my husband's birthday ! We were able to have a birthday celebration while we were on vacation with family. It was so fun to be together with family opening gifts and enjoying homemade ice cream. (he got that from my parents..thank you so much !)

Mike is a wonderful, kind, loving, gentle hearted, funny, handsome man that is the love of my life ! We met over 16 years ago now, were friends first and then started dating 11 years ago. We will celebrate our 9th anniversary in a couple of weeks.

I love you honey and am so glad you are the love of my life !

Here he is with all his boys.

My Quiet Time

I have started a new Bible Study this summer...

Six Secrets to a Powerful Quiet Time

Discovering Radical Intimacy with God

by Catherine Martin

This is a 30 day journey to help you transform your quiet time & your prayer time and help it to become a time of deep interaction with God.

My goal is to have a deeper connection with the Lord, to be consistent with when I have my quiet time, to develop better knowledge of my Bible & to have an open heart to what the Lord desires of me. This morning I set the alarm to get up, hopefully, a good 30 minutes before I thought the boys would wake. I ACTUALLY got up ! I almost had the entire time to myself, Matthew came and joined my ending prayer, but at least I was able to do my reading, reflect on what I read and the biggest thing was that I started my day in prayer and in the Word. So many times I have tried to do this, reading over and over that a day started in prayer is the best way to start the day. I am not a morning person, so this was a big thing for me. My prayer is that this 30 journey will get me into the routine of making this morning time my Quiet Time.

Fun at the Lake

This was a great day to spend at the lake. We packed up a picnic lunch, our games and water toys, and headed to Clearlake State Park. There were hardly any other people at the lake this day so we had this piece of beach all to ourselves. We enjoyed our food under the comfort of a big shade tree and then it was into the water !

our picnic spot



water ball..a new bandy game



a little playing in the sand

The weather was clear and beautiful for our day out. It was great to be spending it with family..laughing, playing and soaking one another..always a good time !

Our Preschool Grad !

It's hard to believe that preschool is all done and he is ready to move onto Kindergarten, but he is. In fact he's been ready for quite some time now. He received a letter from his new school informing us of which class he'll be in. We are anxious to see if his good friend will be in the same class, prayers are going up for that.
There are officially 69 days left until his first day of Kindergarten..he can't wait, but I think I can!

Graduation Day !

The Big Catch

The guys wasted no time in getting started on our vacation..as soon as the bags were unloaded they headed down to the dock to go fishing ! It was great to have access to the lake right from the backyard. We were out their daily either fishing or watching the wildlife..so relaxing.

Here they are getting the poles ready.

Matthew and I giving it a try.

Mike with the BIG CATCH of the day ! (and trip)

This was the first time Ryan and Matthew had been fishing. They had such a good time and Ryan was so patient, he didn't mind sitting there for an hour or so. He just enjoyed being there with his dad and grandpa and uncles trying to catch a fish.