Starting School

Gwen beginning 3rd grade

Zeke is in 1st

My precious three

Our neighbors

We went swimming a few days before school starting.

Now I spend my days taking this little girl to the library and watching her puppet shows.

End of Summer

Summer, you take my breath away with your everyday moments of laughter with the kids and your scorching hot days.  Another summer is almost at an end.  

One day I took the kids to the zoo.  It was very hot that day so we only stayed for a couple of hours, but we will be back.  Here's Gwen feeding birds. 

Our Sunday School class we teach had an assignment to build heaven using paper plates and straws.  I laughed and laughed about that until the kids got imaginative....

Here are the trees in heaven.  They made fruit and everything for them.

Here's the throne of God and the river that runs from it.  Um... I was very impressed!

Here's the finished product with jewel encrusted gates (paper plates) and trees and throne with the river that runs from it.  These first and second graders are amazing!  Lesson- never underestimate kids.

Zeke had to try out the throne of God!

The girls being "ninjas"

 We have gotten a lot of excitement from watching the skies around here lately.  We've seen this blimp a few times and a hot air balloon.  You would think the Lord was coming back by the reaction of my kids when they see these!  

This is why we went to the zoo that day.  For me to see the new koala.  It's so snuggly adorable!!!  My theory is that it must be really low stress to be a koala.  They sleep 20 hours a day... I mean, how stressful is that?

 I've started working on potty training Romy this summer.  Here she is eating grapes on the potty.  She's a mess...

 Gwen recently trusted Christ and was baptized.  Here she is putting her handprint to the wall at church.

I went to a leadership retreat and this was a stained glass window they are going to build at this church.  Lovely!  I love stained glass!

More of the zoo.

In our "spare" time we painted my bedroom gray and I bought a new comforter for our bed.  Here's the picture of the one I chose.  This isn't my bed, but still, I'm loving this comforter.

More Summer

Here I am serving at a women's home for those that are in transition from homelessness into a new life.  Our church goes down there once a month and brings a meal and we visit with them and have a short devotional.  We thought the hair nets were funny. 

There were a couple of hawks hanging around our backyard that would screech to each other.  I'm not sure if they were learning to fly, or what but it got pretty old, even for a bird lover like me.

Here's Romy waiting for Gwen and Zeke to finish swimming lessons.  They really have done well this year with swimming.  We might finally be getting it.

There are a thousand times a day when I look into this face and think "what would I do without you?"

I've had a couple of weeks of sadness.  Not depression, but just sadness.  Sometimes when you try really hard, even then, you let people down unintentionally.  I feel like us mothers have a lot going on with raising our kids, maintaining marriages, checking in on our other family members, cooking, leading at church... well... and you mix in grief from a recentish death in the family and you get a great recipe for dropping a ball.  I'm thankful God's mercies are new every morning and that He knows my heart. I read the story of the transfiguration today.  How when God spoke and said "this is my beloved Son, whom I love" and the other disciples got face down from fear... how Jesus came and touched them and said "don't fear". I like the idea of Jesus touching my shoulder and saying "everything will be ok.. don't fear."
 

Summertime

I took a retreat with these ladies a few weekends ago.  They are the leaders of my mom's group at church.  They are a lot of fun. 

We stayed on a lake.  Pretty!

 I always look so confused when I take selfies.

My niece Chloe came for a visit and we took a walk on a trail.  It's so pretty!

why does one eye always look bigger than the other when I take selfies?

Chloe

Romy recently figured out how to do a thumb's up.

We made pipe cleaner bears!

I took Romy and Zeke and Chloe to see the fountains around town.  After all, Kansas City is the city of fountains!

Why are my eyes always closed when I take selfies?

We went to Alabama to visit my mom and sister and to bring Chloe back... but my kids were very excited to visit Izzy.. my mom's cat.

Three things when visiting the south... always be ready for a surprise around the corner, southerners are really great hosts/hostesses, and there is a lot of unique beauty in the south.

This restaurant owned by Mennonites is nestled back in the boonies on a gravel road and through some sheds.  I found myself saying "there couldn't possibly be a restaurant here".  Nope.. there was!  The Mennonite people actually came out and sang a hymn for us while we were there.  Charming!

I sang at a friend's church while I was home.  I miss going to a church with stained glass windows and columns.  I know, I know... it doesn't matter, but it sure is pretty!

Some art beside the place I dropped Romy off.  It looks like Jesus is giving a dental exam.

The campus of University of North Alabama (UNA) where my brother went.  It was close to the church that I sang at.  What a beautiful campus and charming town!  Guess what?  In this small southern town... they have lions.  Real ones.  Surprises around every corner I tell you!

Found a baby bird learning to fly.  We stopped and admired him and encouraged him.

My mom made peach iced cream.  Alabama peaches are so good!

We went skating and for once... I skated.  It's been years!  I would skate around and then I'd sit down for a break and another old song would come on and I'd be like "there's no way I can just sit here during 'Footloose'" and I'd get up to skate again. What a workout!

Every time I go to this place I make fun on the sad clowns on the wall.

We went to Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller.  It was pretty and small.  It made me realize that homes weren't always so spacious.  Glad I saw it.  Helen Keller was remarkable.

Gwen studies Helen Keller this year in school.

My sister holding Romy, and Clay and Chloe.

On the loooong ride home.  I saw this zombie outbreak response team signs on the back of this truck and it made me smile.  It seems everyone in the south has a white truck.

Got caught in a storm in Cape Girardeau.  We waited it out.

Gwen doing acrobatics

We stopped at some out of the way store and it was awesome... one of those old fashioned stores where they had one gas pump out front and you could pump your gas first and go in and pay afterwards... they actually trust you there!  Remember those days???  I barely do.

They also had some... unusual snack selections.  (didn't get this)