My boys, my heart

This is another picture from Natalie.  I absolutely love it.  I think I will be buying this camera! Don't worry, i know that I won't get pictures like this just because I have the camera, but maybe I can learn.

Bryce is 6 and loves First grade.  He is still adjusting to sitting down a lot more than he had to in Kindergarden, but his grades are good and he seems to be making friends.  He has typical boy humor and a compassionate heart, but is generally kind of a serious kid.  He is out by 12:30 everyday and I actually really like it.  We are all home everyday by 1:00, which means some down time before all the neighborhood kids get home from school, and it also means I don't have to interrupt Levi's afternoon nap to do a school pick-up.  

Ethan will start his pre-K class on Tuesday and he will go M-TH from 9-1.  He had a blast at his Open House this past week and is looking forward to school starting back up again.  His personality is definitely  "Life is FUN all the time" and I love watching him go through his days. 

Levi is changing each day.  He is walking all over the place and into EVERYthing!  I just looked down the hallway and I see him eating an oatmeal bar he just found in a cabinet... don't ask why there was an open bar in the cabinet... I am pretty sure it's Ethan's fault.  :)

I promise to do a ministry update soon - thank you for your prayers for our family and all these precious people the Lord has brought into our lives.

So perfect

I spent the afternoon with my sweet friend, Natalie.  She has a son right between Bryce and Ethan that my boys adore.  They love to go to their house to swim, climb trees, find bugs and just run crazy!  I love to go because Natalie is someone I really connect with.  She loves to talk about the Lord and what He is teaching her through each phase of life.  I learn so much from her honesty.  I am so thankful that the Lord has brought us together as friends.

Yesterday, as the boys played, Nat decided to try out her new camera... and I LOVE the results! I only have this one picture of Ethan now and I can't wait for all the others.  When I say she captured the spirit of this kid, I mean she did it perfectly!  She was standing right in front of him asking him things like, "What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?  Who is the funniest person you know?"  And it really worked.  He just cracked up.  

Thank you, Natalie, for you friendship and for trying out your new hobby on my kids!  love you!

The Reality of Life with Boys

I've read a few posts lately where people feel that they may be posting "too much information", so I thought I would join the crowd... for the sake of remembering all the hilarious things that go on in my house each day.

This particular story is about Ethan:

The latest "thing" at my house, is that several of our neighbor boys have taught Bryce how to do the "underarm poot" - you know, the thing where you put your hand under your armpit and pump your arm thus producing a noise that makes everyone laugh.  It took Bryce a while to get it, but now he is a professional.  Just what I wanted in my house.  

Well, it wasn't long before I saw Ethan attempting to learn the same trick.  Then one day, I heard it.  He was SO proud.  He would pump his little arm, and out would come THE NOISE.  Then I happened to notice that THE NOISE was a little bit delayed... the arm would stop pumping and out would come a little....pfft.  

"ETHAN!!!  Are you REALLY pooting????"  

"NO mommy!"  

"Are you sure? "

Turns out, Ethan is able to pass gas, for real, on demand.  Just what I wanted in my house.

"Ethan, How are you able to have that much gas???"

"Cause God made me that way!"

enough said.

Back to Reality

We are safely home!  

I really do like being here, but considering that we rolled in last night at 2 am and Bryce had his first day of 1st Grade... I am a little pooped.

I am trying out the slideshow feature at the top of my blog, but it is really small.  I am using Picasa, so if you just click on the slide show, you can view them on their website where they are bigger. 

I sure did have a fun summer, and kind of hate that it's over.  But I REALLY love the Fall... so part of me is excited.  

Please continue to pray for all the relationships that were deepened through all the Bible Studies and hang-out time.  Pray as Nicole and I talk through the next steps and as the Lord continues to surprise us with His agenda!  Two of our girls in the study are having babies this month, so keep them in your prayers as well.

On Vacation

I am thrilled to announce that we are ON VACATION and have been for a week now!

We will return home on Wednesday, and real life will SLAM me in the face after so much leisure time.  The day after we get home will be Bryce's first day of school, so I am pretty nervous about that.  

Today, I am actually in Orlando, without kids!  Bryan's family is keeping them until tomorrow morning so we could come visit old friends and rest a little bit.  It has been a precious 24 hours so far, for so many reasons.  :)

I will blog again, probably this weekend, with some awesome vacation pics.