Cultivate Service!

Dustin preached in our church's Cultivate service this morning.  It was a very inspirational Word for me.  I was even challenged to step out & share part of my testimony at the end of service.  It was a beautiful day.  Thank you, Dustin, for your obedience to the Lord.

Happy Puzzle Boy!

Ethan had a great time doing puzzles this afternoon.  He always likes to play with his easy wooden puzzles, but today wanted to try a jigsaw puzzle for the first time.  He loved it!  Once he did one, he needed to keep going until he did four Cars puzzles.  He is a happy puzzle boy!

Fun with Dad!

Dustin took these sweet boys out to play at the playground this morning.

Mommy has had a busy few weeks & he knew I needed some time to myself.

They had a great time!

I think they were pretending to be Ninja Warriors!

Daddy had a fun time with his boys as well.  They love having fun with Dad!

Girl's Day!

My friend, Joscelyn, told me she wanted to take me out on a girls day.

She picked me up & then surprised me with a free pedicure!  I so needed that.  It was so nice & relaxing.  We then went out to lunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe.

Lunch was yummy & such fun.  Joscelyn makes me laugh so hard & really encourages me in my daily walk.  I love her!  We ended our time together by stopping by for some sweets.  She had a coffee & I had a chocolate covered Oreo.  Yum!  What a great Girl's Day!

Baby Beluga!

Josiah's favorite book when he was little was Baby Beluga!  I would sing that book to him multiple times a day. Even when company came over, he would sing it to them.

Now Baby Beluga is Ethan's favorite book.  I love that it is his favorite, just like it was his big brother's favorite.  I really enjoy sitting down with him & singing.  He now wants to read it multiple times a day as well.  I'm going to miss these moments when he's grown up.

Happy 11th Birthday, Issac!

Eleven years ago today, I delivered our first child, Isaac Anthony.  Isaac had a birth defect causing him to pass away half way through my pregnancy.  I think about him every day & miss him.  I am thankful, though, that God allowed me to deliver him so we could hold him for a while before saying goodbye.  I can't wait to see him again one day in Heaven!

Every year our family chooses to celebrate his short life by going out to dinner on his birthday.  Tonight, we went to Olive Garden for dinner to celebrate.  It was yummy!

After dinner each year, we stop by Party City to pick up a couple of balloons.

This year Ethan chose a brown balloon & Josiah chose a gold one.

They then sent them into the sky as a birthday present for Isaac.  We know it is simply symbolic, but it is important for us to think about life beyond this world.  This is an act of hope & trust in our Maker.  We can't wait until that day when our family is all together.

After sending our balloons into the sky, we went inside & our boys had a balloon fight in the hallway before getting ready for bed.  What fun they had!

We love you Isaac Anthony & always will.  Happy 11th Birthday, Isaac!

Lunch with Josiah!

I decided to surprise Josiah today by bringing lunch to his school.  He loves Taco Bell, so I brought some tacos, fruit, & water.  He also needed to buy a cotton candy ice cream, too.

I had a wonderful lunch with Josiah!

Painting!

Nothing like a little painting in your undies!

Promotion Sunday!

Today is promotion Sunday at church.  My baby, Ethan, was promoted today from one of the nursery classrooms to a preschool classroom.  He was excited about the new class.

He seemed to have a good time in his class & with his new teachers on promotion Sunday.

It's Football Time Again!

This weekend is when football starts back & my family couldn't be more excited.  We are ready to root the Seahawks on to another victorious season.

The first Seahawks game came on TV last night, but we recorded it so we could watch it with our kids.  This morning after breakfast we told them about football starting back & gave them new Seahawks t-shirts for the season.

They were so excited to watch the first Seahawks game & to wear their new t-shirts.

So were Mom & Dad.  We had a great time watching, playing, & wearing today!

We are so happy it's football time again!

Stud Muffin!

My little Stud Muffin!

1st Day of 4th Grade!

Today is Josiah's 1st Day of the 4th Grade!  I can't believe it.  I know people say it all the time, but it blows my mind that I have a child that is that old.  We are so proud of the young man he is becoming & can't wait to see how God uses him in his school this year.

Josiah has two teachers this year.  Mrs. Triko (left) is his Homeroom, Reading, Language Arts, & Social Studies teacher.  Mrs. Mayfield (right) is his Math & Science teacher.

We picked Josiah up at 11:15am today because the first day is a half day of school.  Josiah had a great first day & is excited about going back tomorrow.  We took him to lunch at the place of his choice.  He chose Outback for his first day of school lunch.

I think we were all excited about having lunch at Outback.

We are so proud of our two boys & don't know what we'd do without them.  We are excited about this new year & to see what it brings for our family, but especially for Josiah as he starts a new school year.  I'm so glad he had a great 1st Day of 4th Grade!