Boy Scout Campout #1

Sunday morning the sun greets the campers as they tumble from their tents to meet together to worship God together, at least the ones who are not frozen in their sleeping bags. I think this must have been record lows this weekend. It did not get above 35* during the day and it was around 28* that night. Saturday afternoon, the boys were working on badges and that night they did a campfire with skits, marshmallows, and also a ceremony to retire some American flags. It was very fun. Samuel, our cub scout, had a great time. At around 9:00, when everyone was turning in, I turned toward home. Yes, I admit, I could not take it, so my dear husband sent me home with the blessings of both sons. So I came back in the morning to help wrap up and pack up. The boys had a great time. They are looking forward to the next one in the spring. Hopefully the weather will be a little more cooperative.

Jewish Tradition

This year, we have been studying the Old Testament, and along with that Jewish customs and traditions. We started by celebrating the Sabbath as they do on a Friday night and finishing on Saturday. There is a lot of ceremony that accompanies this dinner. It is a celebration to honor the Lord and the day of rest. Ours had a focus on Jesus, as christians, that the Jews do not have. We were all struck with how much it affected us to be solely focused on honoring the Lord throughout this meal.

We also had the opportunity to tour a true to life replica of the temple that traveled with the Isrealites during their years of wandering. At each place within the temple, the group who does it, presents the information about what you are seeing. For instance, below is the alter and the water basin. This is where the sacrifices for the people were made. It is humbling to see how the Jewish people had to live by the law of sacrifice to be presentable before God, knowing that we are not bound by that because of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross. Amazing!

In the end, the group presenting shared the gospel, which I thought very appropriate and bringing it full circle to why we as gentiles can be called children of God. We have an amazing God who created us and redeemed us all according to His plan.

September Beach Trip

The beach is always great. It was beautiful and we had a blast. Matt even bought a boat for the girls to use so we could float and sun. However, it turned out to be a bust, due to the waves that kept trying to flip us. Yes, we did take a dive once into the very cold water. My dear husband, who was supposed to be helping us get out past the breakers, helped us into the wave and the water and then pulled us out of the water spluttering, soaked and cold. Bad Matt! All in all it was a blast.

The Maize Maze

This is our fearless group, Daniel R., Daniel H., and Christopher and Sam, and their fearless leaders, my friend Tara and myself. We started with much confidence in the ability of our team. All the teams were named after Greek and Roman gods, and we were the warrior gods, Mars and ?. (Yah, just drew a blank...Hmmmm) Anyway, the goal was to get through the maze in good time while collecting map pieces and answering questions you find along the way.

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(whose kids are those anyway....)

So, off we go with our flag and our arrow of leadership. The arrow was to determine whose turn it was to decide which direction to go,and the flag was so that we were never entirely lost to the world. It worked out great. The boys worked so well together, no fighting or bickering about directions. They were so compliant, no one questioned any direction, even when we went in the same circle 2 times in a row. Even still, Tara and I had decided this was the boys' thing and we would just follow. So follow we did, for almost 2 hours. At about the 1 hour 45 minute mark, Tara and I both decided Starbucks was calling and we stepped in to ask for help.

The boys were getting a bit weary of not finding the end, but they still didn't want to ask for help. That's a group of boys for you. We were in there so long, even the maze masters were mocking us from their towers, very sad. However, we did ask for help to find our way out to find that we were the 4th out of 5 teams to finish. The first team finished in about 50 minutes (very impressive!), and the last team stayed past the point of getting out so they could find all the map pieces. They knew how to get out, but didn't so they could go back and find ALL the pieces. Alas, that really made us the truly last place team. (We didn't even have half our pieces AND it took us forever to get out.) When all the points and times were considered and honors handed out, we earned, the worked together best honor. Very nice, but I don't think I would have minded the quickest out award. :)

You've Had a Bad Day....

You know you have had a bad day when your children dig their own graves in your flower bed. Hmmmm......

Fortunately, it was only to be funny. I had run down the street to pick something up and this is what I saw as I walked up the drive. They think they are soooooo funny.

The Hummingbird

Today, we found a hummingbird in our garage. It was fun to watch at first, until you realized the only direction it would fly was up. It kept bumping into the ceiling, rest on the garage door and keep trying to fly up, up and away. As Sammy and I stood there, Sammy commented, "If only it had a bigger brain." I just started laughing to which Sammy continued, " You know their brains are very, very small." You gotta love my Sam, so literal. Christopher joined us and tried to help me direct him out of the garage. It didn't work, but then it decided to fly down and actually was flying out of the garage, until it tried to fly up, again....and knocked itself silly on the door ridge. It fell straight to the floor, dazed. Of course, we went to try and help it. As the mom, I thought, this thing is not long for this world. But my Christopher, with his compassionate heart for animals, picked him up and cared for him. We got some sugar water and a towel. Christopher helped straighten it's wing and watched over it. And believe it or not, the little fellow flew away. Christopher said later that God had answered his prayer, and saved his hummingbird.

Pepper, My Peppers

Check out my peppers!!!! The big red ones are mine, and Matt has the small, red, hot peppers. Hee, hee, hee...it only took 4 months, but I have red peppers. I may learn to garden yet...

We LOVE legos!!!!!

Oh yes, we do love legos. Never in my girlie world did I ever imagine there could be such passion over small plastic blocks. And yet, I find, even I love legos. They must be the best toy ever invented. They can be anything you could ever imagine, and let me tell you, young boys' imaginations are endless. So when Lego decided to open it's Concord store, we, of course had to be there. Poor Matt had to work, so that meant me and the boys had to go it alone. First, we went to the store to buy our legos that would enable us to get our commemorative r2-d2 lego block. Then we lined up to be a part of building an 8 ft. R2-D2. Then back to the store for our certificates of participation.

(Building the r2-d2)

(Huge pile of legos to build with in the classroom at the lego store.)

Oh my goodness, how happy can 2 boys be with a 6ft. lego clone trooper....his name is Rex.
(Talk about mom points... :) )

The Fourth

This is how big boys play.....

And this is how little boys play...

And this is how all the kids play...

On the fourth of July.....

Thanks to the Bumgarner's and their parents, we have been privileged to be a part of a fabulous fourth of July celebration. It starts with a trip down to the border of SC with loads of fireworks, food, and family. Where many friends congregate to cook out, hang out, and blow things up. It is quite a time. The boys have actually toned down the fireworks from the orininal 6 hours of fireworks to a mere 2 hours, give or take. They do a great job.

Easy Bake

Sammy may one day be a chef. However, today he is an "Easy Bake" chef. They made cinnamon cookies with frosting and one chocolate chip. The best part is he did it ALL by himself, including clean up. Good Job Sammy!

Pizza! Pizza!

Why do I post a picture of a pizza? To remind myself to be thankful for what we can eat. For those who don't know, Christopher recently tested positive for gluten intolerance which we think has been the cause for some past issues he has had. His genetic testing also showed that it runs in the family. I would also adhere to the gluten free diet due to the autoimmune issues I have experienced which we believe are linked to gluten intolerance. So there is the long and the short of it. So as we seek to change life in this way, I have done a lot of cooking to try and find good alternatives for my boy's favorites. But at this point, as good as it looks, it is still "homemade" pizza. Sigh.... So this is where I remind myself that this is an answer to prayer, and thank my good God for providing a way to help my baby feel better. As hard as this diet may be, it is all worth it when my 10 year old has all his old energy, no stomach aches or other odds and ends feel bad stuff. Thank you Lord for the provision!

Beautiful Days

Christopher reading in his homemade hammock.

Samuel reading in his homemade hammock.

And this is where I spent the next 1 1/2 hours reading, quietly and undisturbed on a most beautiful day.

The Rest of the Story

So in the end, he pulls the tarp onto the porch, fills it with water and plays there with the little toad he happened to find as well. And that's the rest of the story.

A Commentary on Boys

So you see your son playing in the drainage water around your house in a thunderstorm. You say, "come in, you can't play in a thunderstorm, and you are tearing up the grass we are growing in the drainage area", and the reply is "why?", but he comes onto the porch. You go back in and a few minutes later see he is off the covered porch again. So you walk out and see him playing in the water that drains off the house. Again you say "out of the drainage water, it is thundering, and again you are making a muddy mess....". So you go in leaving him to "clean off his feet in order to follow you in", but he never makes it in. You go back out and find him playing in the water that has collected in a tarp he pulled into the rain. Hmmmm... Ok, so you go back out and tell him "you are killing the grass and you are still playing in a thunderstorm, get on the porch and don't get off again..". He then asks, " why don't you ever let us have any fun?" To which you reply "because I am really an ogre dressed up like a mommy!"

More pics

Can you tell two boys live here???? I must love you all to show you how things really are.... I'm sorry to say that I am not super mom with perfect kids. (Well, let me rephrase that...my kids are perfect :), just not perfectly neat.)

The guest room for anyone who would like to stay. Just make sure you bring pajamas, that curtain rod in the corner is still in the corner.

And these are our great outdoors. These are taken off my side porch. God is so good. I still can't believe I live here.

So there you all have it, my house and my mess, all in one. We love visitors, so just give me a call. (Tours daily from 9-6, reservations not required. :) )