Cute & funny

These boys of ours are such blessings and have kept us having fun and laughing this summer for sure. I had this goal of posting more frequently this month, but I guess life takes over sometimes. And then a computer goes nuts and won't let you login to your fave accounts. We still have a dinosaur computer to work off, but I don't dare try to upload pics/videos with it. I'd be here til next week. Therefore, no pics with this post. (I love to include pics...because I just love pics!)

Brent has spent much time with the boys lately. It's been so spoiling and has allowed me to have some shopping time and a chance to get things done that just need to get done. I had a doctor appt. last week and ran several errands that day too. Later that night, we were all driving in the van and our little guy piped up out of the blue,

"Hey Mom, how was your dr. appt.?" I didn't realize that he even knew what I was doing today.

"Great! Thanks for asking! I really like my new doctor." He melts my heart sometimes. My boy that is...not really my new doctor.

"What was your doctor's name?" He really wanted to keep chatting about this.

"Dr. Raymond is his name and he loves Jesus! That means a lot to us!" I said.

"Oh. I know a doctor and his name is Dr. Bob!" (The boys love their pediatrician.)

"You're right and he loves Jesus too! That's really special that both our doctors love Jesus."

"Yeah. And I love Jesus too! I will love Him for 100 days!"

Apparently that's a long time for a guy his age. He just makes us smile!

Then today, I asked the boys to help me clean up a bit. I was assigning them a task and the big brudder said,
"It would be great if I got to make all the rules around here."

"Oh really? What one rule would you make first?" I asked.

"You would be the one to do all the work around here." I guess that's his idea of a rule.

"Great. Then what would that make you?" (I was thinking he would answer "A spoiled brat" as that's what we tell them they'll be if they always get exactly what they want.)


"A dad."

Wow, how did he make the coorelation?? The one who does little work ends up being the dad? Hmmm....very interesting! Ha! Obviously, based on Brent's awesome involvement lately, he's not deducing that from our household. Not sure who else he's been watching though! :-)

"New" friend in the blogosphere

As of late, several friends have started blogging and I'm so excited to hear from them! It's really cool that even when you know someone personally, you can get to know them even more through a blog and how they write. God had made people with so much depth...He's made so many sides to each person.

Enjoy the writings of a sweet friend, Heather, and what God's doing in her life and her family's life right now. She's always been one to keep ears open for God's voice. It sounds like He's speaking in His "loud voice" to them right now. :-) And they're following one step at a time. Her husband's been blogging for quite some time now and now he's got her connected! It's quite contagious, so be careful...you may be the next one to sign on!

Creation Education

We're going to rewind a couple of weeks back to our VBS week...

Operation Space: A Close Encounter with God's Word

...an excellent week and one of the most memorable each year for our family. Each year the curriculum is written around the truths of Creation Science and how God & His word relate to and fuel our lives today.

This year we focused on....SPACE (you guessed it) and the amazing way that God created our planet to be the perfect & only known place to display His glory in His own image - humans!

Our boys LOVED it and were so thrilled to start a new day & arrive at VBS each morning. We usually struggle during our busy weeks. So it was "somethin" that they didn't whine & throw fits when we had to get out the door in the am. Clearly the hand of God helping out in our daily lives and drawing our boys to love what they were learning about Him!

During the week, our good friend mentioned her son has been listening to a set of CD's called "The Jonathan Park Series." I wondered if they would be more appropriate for older kids, but we picked up a set at the VBS bookstore anyhow. Well...BOTH boys are HOOKED on them!

They ask to hear them in the van, no matter the length of the trip & as they go to bed at night. This 4-CD set is packed full of 12 episodes of adventure. While these made-for-radio dramas are classified as fiction, they are based on actual places & scientific discoveries. Brent and I have really enjoyed listening along and have learned a lot ourselves!

If you're looking for come good ear-candy for a road trip, we suggest Jonathan Park to keep the whole family in tune & learning more about defending our faith in God & His creation!

(Note some new sites that "grow me" in the sidebar!)

Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin

No, we aren't growing facial hair already...if it weren't so bloody, it might look a little hairy though. We had our first encounter with sutures the other day. Poor guy took a good fall (with the help of his brother) and did a chin-plant. He had just finished up his 2nd day of swim lessons and was warming up in his towel. Therefore, he had no arms to catch himself. I can still hear the sound of him meeting the pavement. But we're thankful that his mouth didn't catch the fall. Brent and I were both expecting to see teeth laying on the cement after we picked him up. Thank you Lord!

Unfortunately, one of our little buddies just had stitches in his head a few days earlier, but it helped us know a little about what to expect. And unfortunately, this means he didn't finish swim lessons. Keeping us away from the pool is not an easy task. Hopefully we'll be making a splash next Monday, if all heals well. Til then, we amuse ourselves and fake it!
Even "Turdee" needs to protect his eyes from chlorine! (We are very literal in naming our pets in this house. One would hope that we could at least annunciate this one a bit better!)

"Donate" a recipe!

This post is coming from a girl who doesn't really enjoy cooking, but realizes it's a necessity b/c I have a family. My husband is quite possibly THE most finicky eater in the world (can I get an "Amen?" But he's growing by leaps and bounds in the "expanding your palette arena") So...finding a GREAT meal to make has not been easy for almost 9 years of marriage. I also realize that if we want to socialize, I have to be able to provide an appetizer/goody-of-some-sort now and then at a get-together. Baking...not my forte nor a strong interest.

Hopefully that preface served it's purpose to prove that I am not a great cook, yet even I contributed to my friend's work over at It's me...jen. Jen is collecting recipes to publish and send out to anyone that would like to contribute. What a great way to gain some fresh ideas for the kitchen. Who can't use a tried & true recipe every once in a while?

(Brent would like to ask that all recipes omit any cream cheese, cream sauces, tomatoes, green veggies, mushrooms...yada, yada, yada. But if any of the aforementioned ingredients won't be detected...go for it!)

Videos...

Alrighty, this was easier than I thought it would be. Had to post a couple of great videos of the boys. I included them in the slide shows earlier, but I guess they don't play fully when you watch the slide show. They just appear as a picture. Lots to learn here! :-) I've been trying to figure out how to rotate a video.


I did too much talking on this video and didn't even let him answer my questions...poor lil guy. Mommy needs to shut her mouth while videoing.

Our little TKD master! It was so fun to watch all the kids break their board.

Back Home

We've kept super busy this week with Vacation Bible School and Safety Town for Braden. So busy that we haven't paid much attention to the news. Several people asked us this morning if our families were affected by the floods in Iowa. We were so ashamed to say that we hadn't heard about it yet.

It's not looking good right now. I did call my mom and thankfully my parents & grandparents don't have a lot of water in their house yet. We'll check in on Brent's parents soon too.

After looking online, there are so many people affected by the flooding there. The rivers are cresting above flood level. Many cities with any type of river running through them are trying to build up their levies. 83 out of the 99 counties have been declared disaster areas. They keep referring back to the floods of 1993 (which I do remember being devastating for many) and this year is much worse.
Pray for those people if you think of it, because this becomes your life when you are in the midst of it. Pray for their safety and especially for the farmers. They had a very rough spring trying to get their crops planted in the fields. I can't imagine where this puts them.

More on VBS later...