Universal

This past weekend we joined Andy on another work trip.  This time we dropped off both Ellis and Davis in Ocala to enjoy time with Mimi and Papa, which they did!  Ellis went yard saling with Mimi and Davis worked in the garden with Papa and made him many cups of coffee.  Making Papa coffee is one of Davis's favorite things to do.  Since neither Andy or I drink it, he thinks it's a special treat when Papa is around.

We arrived in Orlando fairly late Friday night, but we checked into our hotel and had time to head downstairs to enjoy some ice cream.  I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to debut my new boots and I figured that this was the perfect time since it was a little chilly out.  : )

The next morning we headed to meet our group.

We started with breakfast muffins while watching Despicable Me 2.  Boys were loving it!

We were split up into groups with a tour guide.  We were paired with the sweetest family from Savannah.  I had the best time visiting with the mom all day.  Andy and the dad had fun talking college football.  : )  If we lived in the same town I have a feeling we'd be good friends.  :)

We began our day on the Minion ride.  (Fyi...it was probably my favorite ride).  There's something about those little minions that just bring a smile to my face.

On our second day, Knox and I ended on this ride while everyone else rode Twister.  I couldn't believe he wanted a picture with the Minion!  This from my kid who is usually apprehensive (understatement) of anything dressed up.

We ran into a few fun floats.

We took this picture (below) for Ellis and Davis to show them Diego, but then decided it might make them sad to realize what they missed.

The boys said maybe we can tell them when they grow up.  I hope they don't feel left out of all the fun!

Side note: On the way back to the hotel as we were walking I said to the boys, "Isn't it wonderful to have your brother as your best friend?"  

To which Drew replied, "brothers..."  So even if Davis isn't always there, he isn't forgotten. :)

We stopped to ride Jurassic Park.  The tour guide said we would get a little wet, but then we watched soaking wet people get off of the ride and decided we didn't want to walk around like that the rest of the day.  All of the women opted out, and then the tour guide ran and got ponchos for the guys.  They didn't get wet at all! : )  I will remember that in the future.

Later that afternoon, our new friends decided they had had their fill of fun, and headed back to the hotel.  We still had the tour guide for a few hours, so first things first, Andy and I (mainly Andy) decided it was time to ride The Hulk.  We were able to leave the boys with the tour guide at the parent swap location and Andy and I loaded up into the front row.

I didn't even really think about what I signed up for, but the launch certainly left much to be desired for me.  The rest of the ride was great!  Even if I was screaming for most of it.  :)

Here we are while waiting to meet up with a friend at the end of the day.

As I uploaded this picture I noticed the ladies smiling in the background.  Since the boys were taking the picture it took a while, so our kiss lasted a little while.  ;)  I'm not complaining, but I didn't realize we had drawn attention to ourselves.  : )

We joined up with friends and hit one more ride before heading to dinner.

I wish I had taken a picture of dinner.  We went to an Italian restaurant on City Walk and it was delicious!  We were also starving, so I don't know if the food was that delicious or I was just hungry.

  I don't know the last time I ate so much.  I could have eaten just their bread for dinner it was so good!

The boys each had a kid pizza that came out looking like a large from any other pizza joint.

We left VERY satisfied and then on the way back to the hotel room decided we needed a sweet treat, so we stopped and grabbed some candy bars.  It was a good night!  ;)

The next morning we got up and met our friends to go back to the parks for a little while.  We stayed until about lunch time and then headed back to Ocala to pick up the littles.

I was so happy to see them and hear about the wonderful time and to see my parents, who looked a little tired. ;)

On the way back into town we stopped by the house to check the progress...

It was definitely a fun weekend!  Hope you enjoyed yours!

It's a start

Today as I was leaving my knee doctor's office, the nurse said to me "I don't know how you do it with 4 kids."  To which I smiled and quickly replied, "me neither." : )

That would typically be the end of that conversation

But as soon as those words left my mouth I said, "I can only do it because of the Lord.  I have to constantly go to Him during my days for help."

We chatted for a minute more before I headed on my way, but I was struck with the thought of how I've been wanting to share Jesus more, and how easy it really was. 

I have had moments where I've hesitated and missed opportunities.  I've had moments where I wasn't willing to be bold and say His name in case I would offend.  I've had moments where I pondered who it is I am supposed to share with.

What I realized today, is that all I have to do is say His name.  It's much simpler than I made it out to be in my mind.  All I did was open my mouth and I allowed His words to flow through me. 

Consider saying His name to someone today.  Maybe it's someone you have been praying for or maybe it's someone you just met.  Say the name of the Lord, and allow Him to do a mighty work!

Fret Not

Today was picture day at our co-op.

 

Last night I laid out all of the outfits, ironed shorts, packed shoes, a brush, and my camera, so that we would be ready.

 

We headed up to the room at the appointed time and when we found out pictures were a little behind I knew I'd have several opportunities to snap a picture of the kids in their matching outfits.  I was so glad I would have time to get just the right picture of my crew.

 

So I tried....

 

 

and I tried again....

 

and again....

 

We even switched locations!

 

NOPE!

 

Finally Drew said to me, "I don't think you are going to be able to get a good one." 

 I realized that he was right, so I put my camera away.  (Btw-these are only a few of the outtakes!)

 

I don't know why sometimes I'm so insistent on having my own way.  Everything is not always going to go as planned.

 

I did my best to be prepared today as I brought everything we could need for pictures, yet when it came time to snap my pretty picture, I couldn't get the one in pink to cooperate.  :)

 

This past Sunday at church, I picked up Ellis in the nursery and they told me she went potty.  (and earned an extra cookie for it too!)  I thought, "what a good day she had."  Big girl.  :)

 

 

 

Then we walked out to meet up with the boys and I got to hear their Sunday stories.  Usually I just hear about what they did in class but I was met with...

 

...Davis, who was wet from spilling water all over himself...

 

 

 

 

...Knox, who made a get well card for our dog, Rex (who was put to sleep in the Spring)...

 

 

 

....and Drew, who got stung on his finger on the playground.

P.S.  He's showing his hurt finger.  : )

 

 

So church didn't go as expected, but they still had a good time in their classes, and we enjoyed a fun family lunch at Panera's after.

 

Tonight I was listening to Pastor Jon Courson teach on my favorite verse, Psalm 37:4.  He was actually teaching on Psalm 37:1-7.  It's his most recent teaching from this past Sunday.

 

Click here to listen.

 

I planned to only listen to 15-20 minutes, but it was so good I couldn't turn it off and listened to the entire message.

 

Pastor Jon explained that David was writing this Psalm to his son Solomon to prepare him to be King.

He opens this Psalm by telling him to fret not.

 

Courson said there's a saying about worrying.

 

Worrying is like a rocking chair;

 it will give you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.

 

I fret all of the time.  I fret about the house we're building, I fret about how things will go while Andy's out of town, I fret about getting school done with the kids, and I fret about getting a good picture.  : )

 

But, sometimes life just doesn't go as you planned.

Courson said we are either fretting or trusting.  Life goes fast and this is the only opportunity we have to walk by faith and trust the Lord.

 

This made me think of the movie UP.  It was on TV this afternoon and the kids and I watched part of it before we left for football practice.  We didn't see it all, but we did see the beginning.

 

The beginning gets me every time!  When it shows the life of Ellie and Carl from the time they met as children until she passes away, it makes me tear up.  (and sometimes cry)

 

 

 

 They had so many dreams and it didn't go as planned.  But, they always seemed to make the best out of what they were given.

 

Yes, I know this is a cartoon, but I love the message of this part!

 

It's late so I won't get into everything Courson taught, but I did learn something new about the beginning of verse 4, where it says to "Delight yourself in the Lord..."

 

He went into detail about this and talked about what it truly means to delight in the Lord.

 

He said, what if we were asked what our passion or hobby was, and we were able to truly answer with, the Lord.

 

"Delight"

He is my pleasure, He is my hobby.  When I have free time I desire to spend it with Him.

 

This is not where I am, but where I desire to be.

 

Last year one of my main hobbies became running, but that has been taken away at this time due to an injury.  I haven't been able to run for months, but I still go to the gym, which is a hobby, but now (with the wise counsel from a workout buddy), I'm also going to take a break from that to see if my knee will heal.

 

Slowly I am feeling like my hobbies are being stripped away.  I know that's a pretty strong way to put it, but it's how it feels.  I'm not choosing to put them aside.  I physically can't participate in them.

 

So what better time than now to draw closer to God, share my desire with Him to truly "delight" in Him, and let Him become my biggest passion.

 

Courson closed by sharing the first words of these 7 verses. (KJV)

 

Fret Not

For

Trust

Delight

Commit

And

Rest

 

What wisdom and power there is in the Word.  When life doesn't go as planned, I pray that we will all remember to fret not.

"Treasures"

We had a pretty great end of the week.  Going into this week I will admit I was a little anxious knowing that Andy was only going to be home for 24 hours since he had travel the majority of the week.  In spite of my nervousness about this week, we really had a fun time. 

Andy and I went into this week fresh after having attended a marriage conference last weekend.  The teaching was really good!  We didn't have any earth shattering moments, but instead we felt like it was a time where solid, grounded in the Word truth was taught.  We had a lot of good talks this weekend as we prepared for being separated for most of this week.

At the conference, my friend Lexi was taking pictures and she grabbed us on our way out Saturday.  I'm so glad she did, so that we have these fun pictures to remember the weekend. :)

 



 

 

By the end of this week I was afraid I was going to be dragging, but instead, when Andy left again on Thursday I was feeling pretty good. :)

 

The littles had gymnastics that afternoon, which is always a good time.  It's so cute to watch Davis and Ellis.  I am so surprised at Ellis's ability to pick up on the skills.  I really signed her up just so she didn't feel left out, but she's been loving it!

 

Currently, my Thursday nights are spent with some ladies from my homeschool group as we are working through this Lysa Terkuerst book together.

 

 

I love these nights as the ladies come over and we share our hearts and struggles and encouragement with one another.

 

This week during our study there were several moments that stood out to me, but one of them I wanted to share was when we were talking about the responsibility we feel for our kids.  We can regularly fall into the trap of feeling like everything is up to us, and forget how God has his hand on each of our kids.  I can so often get the mind set (without even realizing it) that my kids' happiness, experiences, salvation, relationship with God all rest on my shoulders.  No wonder I feel exhausted! :)

 

So my friend shared how her daughter has a treasure box and was looking through it the other day.  What struck this mom is that only one of the objects she saw, she would have considered a "treasure".  In her opinion, all of the other items did not represent a great memory.  For example, she told us that one of the items was a hospital bracelet from when her sister's bunk bed fell on her head.  : )

 

We try so hard to create these wonderful moments for our children.  And we place such pressure on ourselves to create special memories for our kids, but we really have no idea what will stick out in their minds as a "treasure".

 

The Bible has much to say about "committing" our plans to Him.  How important it is for me to remember to "Commit to the Lord whatever I do..." (Prov. 16:3)  A big part of what I do is to parent, so I need to continually "commit" that to Him and trust that He will give them "treasures" to store in their hearts and minds.

 

I have a "treasure" memory story from Thursday night, that at first was NOT fun, but now I look back on it and smile for a few reasons.

 

When our bible study ended, two ladies stuck around and we hung out for awhile.  I walked them out when one of the moms needed to leave, but my other friend and I got to talking so we hung out on my porch for awhile, until we heard a noise.  It was all a blur, but the next thing I knew we had rushed inside and locked the door behind us.  So here we were trying to figure out what to do.  How were we supposed to get her to her car?  We verified with one another that we both heard what I thought sounded like footsteps and she described as rustling in the bushes.  Well, Andy's out of town and it was really late and we really didn't know what to do!  I even offered to let her spend the night, :) but she had groceries in her car in the cooler.  So we had to come up with a solution.  I thought of my neighbor across the street who gave me their phone numbers when we first moved in 9 years ago "in case of an emergency", so I tried to text them.   Apparently, after 9 years some people change their numbers, but I'm kind of glad because my message went something like this....

 

"Hey, it's your neighbor and I was wondering if you're still awake!"

 

As I was searching to see if I had another number for them, we watched their lights turn out.  Fail.  Then I offered to drive her to her car.  Which, by the way was out front, out of our line of sight, in front of some woods.  But, then my friend brought up the point that I would have to get back inside.  At this point we had verified about 5 times with each other that we heard a consistent noise and so no one wanted to step outside alone.  Then I said maybe I could put "911" in my phone and walk her out, which then brought up the idea of a cop.  Now, as I'm telling you all of this it seems pretty extreme, but it was very late and we were very scared!  So the idea of a police officer made me think of my friend whose brother is a cop.  So I texted him and asked him if he was on duty and he said he was! After I explained the situation, he said that would head on over.  Hallelujah!!  So he got there, and told me the first thing I should do is take my sign off of my door. : )

 

 

He walked my friend to the car and even took out his flashlight and looked around.   I was so thankful that he was able to come!

 

I feel like this story is a treasure because for one, I am still laughing about how I was "inviting the bad guy in".  Number two, I'm thankful for a friend who came as soon as we needed him.  I also laugh to myself as I think back to how my friend and I were trouble shooting and how neither of us seemed to have any idea what we were going to do.  We both just stood on either side of the door staring outside waiting for an idea to hit us.  : )  But, most importantly this night was a treasure because it helped me "feel" what one of my kids is struggling with.  He is terrified of storms and so we have been praying and reading verses on fear, but often times I just get impatient and tell him that there is nothing to be afraid of and he will be fine!  That night I felt fear and it made me have more compassion for what he feels when these storms come.

 

The next morning was a beautiful day, so we decided to pack up our books and drive out to our new neighborhood to do school at the community lake house. 

 

We brought some yummy donuts to enjoy!

 

 

 Here's Drew working on memory work with Ellis. :)

 

 

Knox was coloring in his science folder for class.

 

Knox working on his presentation for Monday.

 

Davis got tired, so Drew made him a bed and he rested for a little while.  He was up the night before coughing quite a bit, so he (and I) were both a little sleepy.

 

Ellis was helping Drew with his math.

 

Ellis began to pass out more napkins, because she thought if everyone had a napkin, that meant they were all getting another donut.  No such luck.  :)

 The kids spent a few minutes enjoying the lake before we had to pack up to head home.

 

 

The big boys decided they wanted to sketch the scenery.  They have never asked to do this before, and I thought it was neat to see how God's beautiful creation can evoke a desire to capture it.

 

As we packed up, I first put the littles in the car and went back to get all of our things, but Drew and Knox had taken it upon themselves to pack everything up and take it to the car.  Many times I think about how I try to train them to put others first, and I wonder if it's sinking in, and then, without being asked, they do something that they know will be a great help.  It makes my heart smile.  :)

 



 

The rest of our Friday included a trip to my favorite store, Target, and a trip to the mall where we ate dinner and played in the play area.

 

So my week goes back to my last post where I shared...

For me this verse was intended to remind me not to be anxious about all of the house decisions, but instead it's helped me to remember not to be anxious about Andy's travel and not to be anxious about being afraid (I kept repeating this verse as I went to bed Thursday night).

 

Once again I see that the Bible is ALIVE, and I can't place God and His Word in a box.  He will use His Word to encourage me in all areas of my life.

 

I hope that you all are having a wonderful weekend!

(Let's just not talk about college football) ;)