John 20:29b

Caleb's memory verse for September...

John 20:29b
"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 

 

Caleb starts AWANA this week, and we are really excited! So...in addition to his monthly verses (from Sunday church), he'll have different ones to work on memorizing for AWANA as well.  It's great to see God's Word being stored up in his heart (Psalm 119:11) at this early age.

32 (Shhh.....)

Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday in a simple fashion, but with extraordinary people.  

After I dropped Caleb off at school, I went to Panera with 2 of my 3 favorite kiddos.

Meredith & Muffin...

Baby & Bagel...

Around lunch time, my mom came out to watch Meredith and Shane, and Caleb and I went to see Winnie the Pooh in the theater with our friends Lisa and Coralyn!

Buddies.  

Silly Caleb...

Auntie Heidi babysat tonight so that Kris and I could go out for dinner....it was really extremely nice wonderful to eat a meal without little hands reaching for plates and utensils and food and glasses and so on and so on.  Love my kids so much, but it was oh-so-nice to get out.

Golf Lessons

 Golf is by far Caleb's favorite sport (at this point, anyway!), so he was super excited that we signed him up for golf lessons at a "real" golf course (as opposed to a mini-golf course).  

Kris took him for his first lesson this past Friday...he did a great job.  He listened well to his coach, and learned some new things.  And, Daddy bought him an ice cream cone afterward.  Golf and ice cream....it doesn't get much better than that for our little guy!

Here's our little golfer, all ready to go!

And, here are a few shots that Kris snapped during part of the lesson...his coach is an Australian golf pro!

 

 

I'm sure we'll post more photos from his remaining lessons....on the last day, they actually golf a full 9 hole course.  So fun!

Rainy Day at the Beach

We went with some friends today up to Lake Geneva.  Though the forecast looked a bit daunting, we were determined to get out on the boat and play on the beach.  Risky goals when there are thunderstorms on the radar, but like I said...we were determined!

Well, after about 30 minutes (tops) of being out on the lake, we had to come back in as a thunderstorm approached.  We spent some time in the shelter of our cars, and managed to let the kids play at the little beach for a bit (in the rain, once the storm subsided), and we were hoping to get back on to the boat, but the weather only got worse.

As yucky as the weather was, the kids had a blast taking a quick boat ride, and playing in the water & sand, despite the rain and not-so-warm air.  And, it was great to see friends, even if for just a little while!

So excited for the boat ride!

On the boat.  In their life vests! You can't see it here, but Max's had a fin on the back...so cute!  Oh, and Shane's is on backwards...oops.

Love this one...

Caleb had his arm around Meredith while the boat was going.  Such a protective big brother.  Although, she doesn't appear quite as appreciative.

 

Diggin'... apparently, he was making birthday cake.  Yum.

Our girl,  loving the beach...

Caleb and Max, hard at work...

Building sandcastles...

What's a little rain when you're playing in the water anyway?

The duckies came to see us...the kiddos loved them!

Max, Meredith, and Caleb...

Throwing rocks...

Gettin' Around...

Shane is slowly but surely learning the navigate the floors.  He has been getting on to all 4s and rocking for the past few weeks, and he has finally learned to actually go forward!   He uses a combination of creeping on his belly, crawling on all 4s, and scooting on his bottom to get around.  And so begins the days of getting stuck under furniture and learning that the DVD player is off limits to little hands!

Here are a few quick clips of him gettin' around this morning...

The Water and the Trees

This morning, we drove by some water fountains.  Meredith said, "water!"....then, after a few moments, she exclaimed, "God made water!"

Later today, after her nap, I opened up her curtains and blinds, and she noticed the trees outside her windows.  I said "aren't the trees so beautiful?"  And she replied, "God made trees!"

As a Christian mom, I am constantly talking to my kids about God.  His creation.  His character.  His ways.  His love for us.  While we set aside times to pray and read the children's Bible to the kids, I want them to know and trust that God is everywhere, all the time.  Not just when we pray to Him or read His Word....while those disciplines are obviously very good things, there is so much more...... 

It's so encouraging to see that God is already working in the hearts of my little ones.  I see it in various ways at different times through our days together.  Meredith's exclamations today were a simple yet profound reminder to me that even at the age of just-barely-two, a child's heart is soft to the presence of God.  

What a great privilege it is to have been entrusted with these children.  I pray that the ways in which I teach them, train them, and love them always reflect our Creator and that as we go throughout our days, we acknowledge Him in all things, even if it's simply by remembering that He made the water and the trees.

Genesis 1:1 - "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
(Click here to see a video of Caleb reciting this verse last Fall.)