Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Luke's Point of View

Luke received a digital camera for Christmas from his Grandpa and Grandma, he has loved taking pictures for a while now and is so very excited to have his very own way to capture what he sees.
Hopefully, regularly, I will be able to feature some of his photos here, he will also share something about each photo (why he took it or why he likes it, etc). 

Enjoy Luke's point of view:
I really like it because it has trees in the front yard. 

I really like new cars.

I told Dad to hold still so I could take a picture of him.  I took a picture of him because he is so special to me.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A page from my journal

Am I ready to date?
How do I know?
I've been asked this question more than a few times and here is one version of my answer:

My worldview translates that questions into: Are you ready for a relationship with someone that you hope will lead to marriage?
My question to you is: Are you at a place in your life where you need to be investing in a human relationship?

Love is hard.  Love is a choice.

Are you prepared to love?  Love that suffers, patiently enduring under provocation (1 Cor. 13:4), not seeking your own benefit (1 Cor. 13:5), to forgive any wrong (1 Cor. 13:5);  are you prepared to love in such a way that covers all things, in a way that endures all things (1 Cor. 13:7)?

Did you think about your love needing to "endure"? Not the "romantic" endurance of time, but the endurance of life: pressure, pain, persecution or ill-treatment (which is what that word actually means). Or do you focus on the enjoyment you hope it will bring to you?

I say look to your spiritual maturity before you look to marriage! For He is love, and you cannot know love if you do not know Him.

Look to your life-do you see God's love being displayed through you?

Are you ready for a relationship with someone that you hope will lead to marriage?

You can only answer that after honest evaluation of your personal walk with the Lord and how you see that actively being displayed in your life specifically as an outpouring of God's love toward others.

So, my question to you is: Are you at a place in your life where you need to be investing in a human relationship?


Note: As with most life, you can prepare only so far without being within your role.  But I believe we are called to preparedness; also, I do not encourage deepening your walk with Christ for the sole purpose that He will then provide you with spouse. 

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Football with Aunt Em

Before Emily left this summer she had a football game with her nieces and nephews:
Em with the kiddos
Joel has the ball!
Pile on
Loving this
Are we done yet?
Hannah sacrifices so Madison can score
Hannah with the ball
Joel tackling
Cutie football Joel
the sisters have turned on each other
Luke getting in on the fun
the boys running the ball
Luke with the ball
 So much fun! We miss you Aunt Em!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Best. Ever.

yummy
I make the best granola bars ever. I'll share them with you if you are nice to me.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Now we can get serious...

Earlier this fall we found some shoulder pads and helmets at the metal building-here's some pics of the kiddos being awesome:
Down, set...
Luke
Lily
Joel
Football kids
Football boys

Thursday, November 24, 2011

A page from my journal

A Series of Questions:

Do you ever find yourself believing old lies?

How often will you find yourself believing old lies?

How often will you allow yourself to believe old lies?

How often will you continue to allow yourself to believe old lies?

Why do you choose to allow yourself to believe old lies?

Why do you chose to believe old lies?

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Spanish IN Spanish! Mindblown

Luke: Mom, what does espanol mean?
Me: It means spanish in spanish.
Luke:......COOL! espanol, espanol, espanol (as he walks away)

Monday, November 21, 2011

We took the road less travelled by...

 The boys and I went adventuring with Aunt Em in the back property.  Here we are starting out
we got our sticks, we're ready!
 Still remnants of society around us-doing good, lets explore
Deer stand
 These are really wide trails, this is awesome! Lets follow them.
Boys leading the way
 Yeah, there are no pictures here because we were too busy trying to figure out where we were and where we were supposed to be going. These pictures would've included carrying the boys on our backs, sliding down mud hills and crossing creeks, climbing over massive trees, attempting to direct ourselves by the sun-at noon, and quoting Robert Frost.  Basically the fun part!

But then we came out of the woods! A clearing, a clearing! We'd been walking for hours, with children!
Wait a minute, where the heck are we?! Where is there a cotton field??

Just keep walking, it has to end somewhere....can  you even see a  tower?
or a telephone line?  Where ARE we??
 We called Aaron, figured out where we were and he came and picked us up, we'd been walking for miles!
Corolla in the cotton field

Wilderness Survivors
It was a great adventure! We had a ton of fun! And made a great memory.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Fires and stars and smores, oh my!

We have been taking advantage of our cooler weather and amazing deck!  Lots of stars and a borrowed fire pit (thanks "cousins"!):
Star-gazing and hot chocolate
Our lovely deck
look at his clean plate!
J enjoying his smore!
smore setup


Saturday, November 19, 2011

Always learning

Luke is enjoying his guitar lessons from our dear friend Mr. David

Luke playing guitar
 And Joel has learned all his letters and their sounds! Good job kiddo!
Joel learning letters
On a related note: we highly recommend Leapfrog's Letter Factory DVD!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Definitive Fall

What are piles of leaves for but for jumping?
Full speed ahead

Luke

Joel

My cute boys