A Great Day

Today was a great day. It was one of those days that you want to hold onto forever. You never know how the day is going to go when you have one parent gone for the weekend...but today was a day that was just perfect. We went to the Red Barn in Weston, MO. A place we love and visit each year. I think I could live in Weston, but that is another blog some other time. In the afternoon, we hung out at home...I even got a few things done! 

After our awesome day, I just laid in my kids' beds, looking at them, thanking God for giving me such wonderful kids. Praying that I don't wish for them to get older and to turn things over to Him as we go through life. He is the ultimate parent and I pray for Him to take the lead. 

Another part of today was hanging out with the Sharky's. I do apologize that I never got a picture of little Sam...but he is a big part of the picture too! 

I love watching these kids together. They have known each other since birth. They truly love each other. Makenna and Sophia greet each other like they haven't seen each other in years. They call each other sisters and I believe Makenna is the only one that can get Sophia to hurry. :)

John and Madeline love being in charge of the little girls and Sam. They fight and play like brother and sister. (I secretly hope one of those girls marry John someday so we will be in each other's lives forever and ever.) 

I can't wait to see as they grow up together and see what friends they will become. I can already tell that when Madeline and/or Makenna get their first boyfriend, John will have something to say about it. I can also see Makenna and Sophia calling each other to see what is happening on a Friday night and to tell about something exciting that happened that day. 

Another part I love is that the parents treat the kids like they are our own. We say no to them and we celebrate on their achievements. We pray for each other and help each other. 

I almost don't want to go to bed just because I truly loved today. It would have been even more perfect if Matt were here. I am sad he missed it. 

Dinner Conversations

Tonight's dinner conversations...

John: I have decided I am not going to college.

Me: Why?

John: Well, I don't want to leave you and Dad. So I am just going to live here forever. 

Me: Well, that sounds nice but I am sure you will change your mind later. 

John: Well, I guess we will see. 

This is not the first time we have had this conversation. Actually it comes up at least once a week. I love it! I know that his mentality will change later in life, so I am embracing it now. 

Sophia: We have to get ready for my wedding. 

Me: Really, who are you marrying?

Sophia: Hmmm...I don't know. Some boy.

(At this point we are throwing out some names.)

Matt: Is it Kurtis?

Sophia: No, my boy will have hair. And NO mustache!

I am loving dinner conversations lately. I haven't been focusing on some crazy meal. I have went to very simple meals, so that I am not completely exhausted when I sit down after working all day and then coming home to cook. It has been nice and refreshing to do things a little simpler and not set such high expectations for myself, especially with dinner. We now eat dinner a little later, which gives us some more time to not be rushed. 

John is the one getting ready to kick the ball and has red plaid shorts on.

John started soccer tonight with YMCA. I had Open House so I didn't get to go but Matt said that it was really good and really organized (which I secretly love :)).

John had a blast. His coach instantly new his name because he was constantly talking and answering the coaches questions. Is anyone surprised?

His team's name is The Royals. He was proud that he came up with the name and the team picked it. He had another name that he said and this is the conversation that we had about it...

John: My first name for the team was Blue Balls.

Me: Oh...well that is an interesting name. 

John: Yeah. Because we have blue shirts and we have balls. (I believe he meant soccer balls.)

Me: All I can do is smile. I finally get these words out "The Royals is a good name."

Oh I love little kids!

I then had this conversation with Sophia...

Me: Sophia, did you have fun at John's practice?

Sophia: Yup

Me: Do you want to play soccer?

Sophia: Nope

End of conversation :)

The Beginning of School

I missed these little kiddos while I was at work today...

 A few pictures I never posted of the kids dressed up for Abbey and Brant's wedding. 

Being Sick

Most of the time I blog about my kids but not tonight. 

So I woke up last night throwing up (sorry for sharing that) and when I got up this morning, I felt like I had ran into a brick wall. My body ached and my head was booming. We were suppose to go to Lamar to see Aunt Linda, who is visiting from PA. I could easily tell that I was not going to make it to Lamar. So my sweet husband, loaded the kids up and let me rest all day long. I must say, that before going to Lamar, he went to the store and picked me up chicken noodle soup, bread, crackers and Sprite, because we had NO food in our cabinets. 

So while my husband has been wrangling children all day...I have been laying on the couch reading books and watching Law and Order (don't judge). I did make it outside today, in the evening time, to sit on my deck and read my Bible. I have been studying the book of Jeremiah and let me tell you...it isn't the most interesting book of the bible but I had really felt let to read it. Tonight I was reading a commentary about the first 2 chapters. It explains that Jeremiah didn't want his job as a prophet. He told the Lord that he didn't think he could do it. However, God put words in his mouth and he did it for 40 years. In the commentary, it talks about how Jeremiah was suppose to be a Priest, like his father and grandfather, but God called him to be a prophet instead. 

So my conclusion is that sometimes we have a plan of what we think we should be doing and God changes it. God made us and gave us skills but we have to make sure that our skills are being used for God. My mind and heart have been full lately of questions and no answers. I have been full of doubt of the things that have been laid on my heart but tonight, as I sat on my deck, I started to bring those doubts to God. All of a sudden in the midst of my doubts, the verse Psalm 66:10 - "Be still and know that I am God" came to my mind. And so for that instant, my heart was calm and I realized that sometimes God's plans don't make sense and he does things out of the ordinary - and that is simply okay because that is what faith is all about. 

For those of you that read my blog (when I actually blog) or you just happened to run across the blog, feel free to pray for me and my family as we see what God unfolds before us. 

Have a great night. 

Catching Up

Whew...what a year. School is finally out and as I look back and think about this school year (and what I didn't blog about) I get a little overwhelmed. There is so many things I wished I would have blogged about but didn't because of time and being exhausted. But here are a few things..

• John had an awesome year at preschool. He loved his teachers and his friends. He was very sad about having the last day of school and leaving his friends and teachers. 
• Sophia finally is potty trained. Whew...that was quite an experience. That girl does things on her own time! 
• I get to stay at the same school as I was located this year I am very excited to get to continue learning under my principal and continuing to be with the same staff. 
• Sophia still doesn't like to go to bed and we have decided she is a night owl. We are learning to adjust :) 
• Abbey (Matt's little sister) and Brant got married! I hope to pictures of this up soon. Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures because the day was sort of a whirlwind but I did capture a few. Matt, Sophia and John were all in and did a fantastic job. 
• Mark and Barb found out they are moving to Lamar to be at another church. This means that we will not have any grandparents in the area next year. It is going to be very different but we are excited to see what God has in store for them. 
• My brother Scott and his wife Emily have their house on the market in NC (please let me know if you are moving there and want to buy a house...I can hook you up!) and are wanting to move to the KC area!

Well those are just a few things but I know there were more. That is the nice thing about blogging each day. You capture the small things. :)

Now to blog about today:

Since Mark is no longer preaching at Liberty United Methodist, the family has been coming down to Lakeland. It is nice to see them each Sunday. Today we had family Sunday lunch at our house. As I looked around our house (which is fabulous to host in now since the remodeling), it hit me that we are so lucky to have a loving family. Matt and I are both blessed, which makes are kids doubly blessed, to have families that love spending time with one another. 

We caught a nap after everyone left and headed to the Lake Jacomo Campsite to meet up with our dear friends, the Denglers. There were a few other families there and once again I caught myself thinking about how blessed we are to have such a great church community. Our kids love playing with their friends they have met through Lakeland and the conversation with the adults is always a fun one. We are also lucky to have the Denglers in our lives. Even though they moved to Colorado, we consider them part of the family. 

After we got home, I was putting the kids to bed and we said our prayers. John prayed for Sophia's imaginary friend Daisy and that the Denglers would have a safe trip back home to Colorado. Sophia prayed for all the people in the world and for Aunt Abbey and her wedding (then she started to retell the whole wedding scene, especially her part as a flower girl).

When I was praying for each of them and said Amen, Sophia stopped me and told me that I forgot to pray for her hair and that it would get as long as "Tangled".

I love their simple, sweet prayers. I love their innocence and worry free minds. 

It was a great day. 

A New Friend

We have a older neighbor named Claire and she is always working out in the yard. We say hello and good bye. We have short conversations such as "How was your day?" 

Tonight John saw Claire working in her yard and he went over to the fence. The conversation went something like this...

John: Hi Claire

Claire: Hi John. How are you? 

John: Good. We should go somewhere and do something sometime since we are friends now. 

Claire: She smiled and said "Well I guess we are friends."

As John walked away, he looked at me and said "I guess I have a new friend now."

It was a sweet interaction and it made my heart warm. John loves being around people and he loves having friends. He has such an innocent way of interacting with people. If you talk to him, he considers you a friend. 

I hope his love of people stays with him.