Wisdom Nugget

Wisdom Nugget #329
Your worth doesn't come from how beautiful you are, how talented you are, how succesful you are or how wealthy you are. The worth or value of something is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it.
Jesus gave his LIFE for you, the ultimate price.
Your worth and your value comes from what was paid for you!

Think of a painting that--to you--is useless and ugly--but to a certain person (who understands the value of it because they know who created it)--it is priceLESS! People pay millions for paintings, that to the untrained eye, are nothing more than splatters on a canvas.

RECOGNIZE who YOUR creator is!

Don't look to people to validate your worth or your value. Look to your creator and remember the price that was paid!!!

Birthday's and School

August 2nd was my mom's 59th b-day. She had been out of town and when she got home, we surprised her with a little party. Here she is opening her gifts, and then one of her sitting out on the patio enjoying the little gazebo that my dad got for her while she was gone. (bummer, you can't see it though in this picture!)

Here is one of me stealing a kiss from my hunky hubby at the party!

Yesterday was the kids first day of school. I decided to start taking a picture of them by this bench every year so I can try to compare and see how much they've grown. I just think they are the cutest kids! I let them pick whatever they wanted to wear on the first day. Grant picked out his favorite shirt rather than wearing any of his new school clothes. Just like a guy to go for his most worn and comfortable shirt than his most new and stylish! I just noticed that he is wearing the same shirt in those pictures of my mom's birthday! HA HA--SEE! I told you it is his favorite shirt (that he's had for over a year!)

Brooklyn found those WILD boots at Journey's Kidz and HAD to have them. They were a splurge for sure...but they are SOOO HER that I couldn't resist. Her style these days is LOUD. She told me when we were talking about buying school clothes, "Mom, I don't want to look all sweet and cute--I want clothes that go BAM!" Ha ha---ohh my girl! Sure enough when I walked her into school yesterday, about 4-5 people stopped us to ask about her boots! (which she LOVED). I don't know if you can tell from the picture but they are black sequined!

yes! Yes! YES!

Matt and I have been reading Colossians lately. And when I say that I mean...chapter 1-over and over and over. You may think...why would you keep reading the same chapter again and again?? Well, I'll tell you. It is SO PACKED with treasures, that it takes some T-I-M-E to unwrap it all.
Get a load of just this "chunk" of scripture:

Colossians 1:9-14 (btw--the "we" is Paul and Timothy--writing to the church at Colosse)
(9) We have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. (10) Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
(11) We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, (12) always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. (13) For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, (14) who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Man--is there ANYTHING else? I mean...this is so good...so WHAT I WANT, that I just can't fathom going onto the next chapter yet. I want every word of these 5 scriptures to just SOAK into my brain and into my heart!

Sorry---it's one of those my-heart-is-pounding-in-my-chest-and-I'm-just-so-pumped-right-now-that-I-can't-even-get-the-words-out-straight days for me. I hope--I PRAY--that you will catch this fire too. Let it burn in your heart. Let it change your life!!

$4 a day for 30 days

If I said "I have something that will change your life--that will enable you to get healthy and fit FAST--and will add years and vibrancy to your life--and all it will cost you is $4 a day for 30 days." Would you buy it? Is your health--your life--your future worth that?
Have you been telling yourself you'll join a gym or start an exercise program just as soon as you can afford it? (I know several of you have told me this.)Could you give up your daily cappuccino for it? Maybe down-grade your Dish subscription for a month? Eat out a few less times for a month?Well, I do have this thing. It's P90X. I know, I know...you've heard me go on and on about this for over a year now...but I'm telling you people...you need it in your life. It is SUCH a minimal cost for such a HUGE investment.
WORST case scenario is this: You buy it, you try it, you quit, you sell it on Craig's list.
MORE LIKELY scenario is this: You buy it, you try it, you see that you CAN do it and you lose some weight and get in better shape.
BEST case scenario is this: You buy it, you try it. You find a sense of determination deep inside you that you didn't even know you had. You dedicate yourself to it (no cheating) for the full 90 days and have phenomenal results that shock everyone who sees you.
BESTEST case scenario: Best case scenario PLUS you decide to become a Beachbody Coach and help others have the same success you have had.
Even with the worst case scenario, you've lost a whole lot less than many of us do in one month on eating out alone. Not only is eating out expensive, but (most times) it is also unhealthy. Or, maybe you're one of the ones who could cut back on cable. What kinds of return or payout do you get from investing your time in front of the TV?
Whether you realize it or not--one of your most precious assets is your TIME. What you do with it is an investment. Maybe you invest your time into your job. Maybe you spend it investing into your children's lives. Maybe you invest your time in a hobby. (all good things) but MAYBE you invest (too much of) your time in things that don't offer ANY kind of a pay out--or even worse--a BAD pay out. (tv? video games? fictional reading?) I am NOT saying that those are bad things..I am just saying that from my experience, no one ever said "I am so glad I spend 3 hours a night watching tv...that has just enriched my life in so many ways!"
But...what if you could take just an hour of your time each day and invest it into something that WILL give you a good pay out and enrich your life and change your future? And...we're only talking about a 90 day commitment here folks.90 days from today is Nov. 3rd.
I know several people right now who are about to start P90X who, despite the tough economy and being out of shape, have decided that THEY ARE WORTH IT. They definitely "didn't have the money" and they definitely didn't wait until they were in "better physical condition" (which I've also heard a lot of you say). They picked NOW to start. Hooray!
I remember back when I got my laser eye surgery. The only thing I regretted about it is that I didn't do it sooner. I kept waiting until I had the money. Eventually I realized that I was never going to have such an excess of money and that if I was ever going to get it done, I was going to have to just MAKE a way. Looking back, I am SO GLAD I did it...but I just wish I hadn't waited all those years. All that time I spent fidgeting with contacts and struggling with glasses.
Your health is the same way. Don't waste more and more time being out-of-shape, breathless after climbing a set of stairs, exhausted by everything and uncomfortable, unconfident and unhappy. Make today the beginning of your new life.
I'm not saying P90X is the only way, but if you're not currently doing something that is paying you out amazing dividends on your investment...then consider making a change. This program comes with a guarantee of success--and all you have to do is DO IT. Click HERE to make one of the best decisions of your life!

Better late than never right???

I am FINALLY going to post the pictures from my birthday (July 10th) and from our river rafting trip (July 12th). Also, a few pics from my week "off" when we went to a family night at the bowling alley, camp and my back. (yes, you read that correctly--my back) :o)

First of all, on my birthday, my mom, aunt and the kids and I met a couple of my girlfriends at a waterpark nearby for some water fun. Here I am with Rachel (on the left) and Rene (on the right).

After our fill of the sun, I went back to my mom's house for dinner. She made me my FAVORITE "Hot Chicken Salad" and "Pear Cake". YUM! (sooooo not diet food though!) Here I am blowing out my candles. It was good enough to lick the plate--literally! One of me and my sweet girl! The kids (with grandma's help) had gotten me all kinds of fun gifts!

The next morning we left for our river rafting trip. There were 15 of us in all and it was so much fun! I have TONS of pictures, but I'm going to try to narrow it down to only a handful. Here is one of our whole group. I look kind of goofy becuase I was putting my camera on the 10-second timer on the back of my brothers pick-up truck and then RUNNING to get in the shot in time!

Here is one of Brooklyn before we left the house that morning. She looked so cute I had to get a picture!

I thought this was a fun picture of the rafts as they were being brought back up from the river for us to get on.

Here is one of both of the kids waiting in line to get on our raft. Aren't they so cute when they're not fighting!?!

Me and Matt on the bus trip down to the beginning of the river.

The water levels were really low, so it hardly ever got any more than waist-deep. In several places we had to either get out and pull the raft or else use the paddles to try to get un-stuck. Thankfully Matt and I pack some mean guns!

Lastly, here is one of the mountainside. Isn't it just glorious?

The next day, Sunday, we went to a Family Bowling night at our bowling alley. For $9.99 we got a lane for 2 hours, free shoe rental, a large pizza, drinks for 4 and a $5 game card to the arcade!! We had a LOT of fun! (and what a bargain!)

This past Friday, we sent Brooklyn off for her first ever week of summer camp. She was soooo excited, but it was a little sad to say goodbye and watch her drive off away from us! She ended up having a BLAST for the first 3 days and then we made the HUGE MISTAKE of going up to visit her. She cried and begged (called home 4 times!) for us to come get her and bring her home. We decided to make her tough it out, which in hindsight, probably wasn't the best choice after all. She's had a tummyache and been in bed since she got home on Tuesday. She hasn't eaten hardly a thing and she doesn't want me out of her sight. What have did I do to the poor girl?? I hope I didn't traumatize her for life!

Here is one of Brooklyn and one of her best friends, Fallon--about to get on the bus.

Saying "Bye" to Daddy. sniff-sniffLastly, I'm going to leave you with one of me I took today of myself. I explained WHY I took it on my other blog, but I just wanted to say to those of you considering P90X---that my back looks like this BECAUSE of doing that program. I can help you get in this kind of shape in 90 days---just click HERE to check out my website!

Don't wish away what you'll someday wish for!

I was just reading one of my good friends' blogs and leaving her a comment about something that happened to me yesterday.
My friend has just given birth to her second child. She posted about how her sweet little Audrey (who is now about 7 weeks old) loves to be held while she sleeps--and while she and her husband are enjoying it right now, before too long little 'A' will have to start learning how to sleep in her own bed.
My comment back to her was "Ohhhhh, how I would LOVE to have a night cuddling with a 7 week old infant in my arms!"
Yet, I am positively certain that when my kids were 7 weeks old, I was WISHING for a night without them so I could get a full night of SOUND sleep. Not that there is anything wrong with that...but how much of our time do we spending wishing away what we will evenually wish so desperately for?
I don't want another child...yet I would give almost anything to feel that amazing feeling of a child kicking inside my belly again! How fabulous it would be if we could somehow take travels back in time to those precious, priceless moments with our children in the different stages of their lives. I would LOVE to have Brooklyn at 2 years old again, when she was waddling around in a diaper yet talking with the personality and vocabulary of a 5 year old! There was NEVER a dull moment then! What I wouldn't give to be back in that hospital bed holding my baby boy again--the son that I couldn't imagine loving as much as I loved Brooklyn--but who INSTANTLY had me wrapped around his little finger from the moment he arrived.
I remember one time when he was about 10 months old, rocking him back to sleep in the middle of the night slightly aggitated that I was missing yet another night of rest, when it suddenly occured to me that I needed to FREEZE this moment in my mind forever. It was like a sense of urgency came over me and reality hit hard and fast that in the blink of an eye...this would be gone. I remember analyzing EVERY detail of his face. Holding his tiny fingers in my hand and tracing every nail and every knuckle with my eyes. Staring at his delicate ears and neck and kissing every square inch with tears in my eyes because as bad as I wanted to...I knew that I would never be able to remember EXACTLY how he looked--how he felt there in my arms. There is no way to caputure it completely. It was bitter sweet.
As I type this right now, there is a gigantic tear running down my left cheek. Even right now, Grant at 5 years old and Brooklyn at 8, I find myself growing weary with the stages that they are in. Always thinking "boy I'll be glad when ____________ is over."
But will I really?
The "thing" that I mentioned happened to me yesterday was just a simple little conversation, but it sparked a flame inside of me that I hope just grows stronger and stronger with time.
I was at Wal-Mart getting a long list of groceries. Grant had been chitter-chattering NON-stop for hours asking questions and commenting on any and everything. He hardly stopped talking long enough to take a breath. While his personality was adorable and almost everything he was saying was cute and funny, still...there came a point where I was said "GRANT! You are about to WEAR me OUT!" (not in a mean way...but with a big sigh...like WHEW!) At that time a sweet-looking older lady came over to me with a warm smile and said "To a grandmother, that is the sweetest sound ever. Someday you'll miss it!"
She is SO right! Sometimes when I wish my kids would just SHUT UP....I remind myself what a mother who has lost a child would give to just hear her beloved child's voice one more time.

We really should make every effort we can to enjoy these moments. You'll never regret it if you do. I promise you--no one ever looked back at their life and said "I wish I had spend less time enjoying my kids."

Motherhood is...

Finding out that your daughter used BUBBLE GUM to post all her art work up on the walls!

Finding eaten-up peices of nerf darts in your dogs BM!

Dipping spiderman underwear up and down in the toilet to try to release the turd that is adhered to them!

Picking up your 7 pound dog to find that your son has attached a heavy pad-lock to her collar. Who knows how long that poor puppy has been hauling that thing around on her neck!

Finding a 2-week old baggie of grapes in your daughter's sleep-over bag!

Opening a coffee can in your sons room to discover a gigantic LIVE frog inside!

(and that's all in just one morning!!)

Outta Here!

Hey Peeps!
Just a quick note to tell you I'll be gone for the next week. No phones, no computer, no facebook. I have LOTS of pictures from my b-day on Friday and our river rafting trip on Saturday to show ya'll...but it'll have to wait until we are back from our little vacation. Hope ya'll have a great week! Just choose to and you will!
Love ya!
Jen

All the present I need!

Psalm 138:8 says:
"The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever--do not abandon the works of your hands."

I want to thank the Lord for sending this scripture to me this year on my birthday! I don't need material things. This year, I just want to let God fulfill His purpose for me. No gift wrapped up in a box can compare to that!

If I were going to create a birthday list, here is what would be on it:
1. Salvation of my family.
2. Victory over fear. (ie. courage)
3. Insatiable hunger for the Word.
4. Enormous increase in my finances entirely for the sake of being able to GIVE.
5. And if God was feeling extra generous, I would LOVE a text-message from Him every morning with a to-do list for the day, so I could be sure to be walking in His perfect will at all times. :-)

I can't leave this post without saying this: God really has already given me (and you) all of this already, I just have to adjust MYSELF so that I can receive and walk in the fullness of it!

Old Fashioned Fun

We are officially declaring Monday evenings as "Game Night" in our house. We've been doing this UN-officially occasionally anyway, but I decided that we might as well make it a rule. It's special time for the kids to get our undivided attention and surprisingly, we enjoy it maybe even more than they do! One of our FAVORITE new games we've gotten is Cadoo. It is seriously the funnest game I've ever encountered that very young children AND adults can both enjoy equally. If you don't know what it is...well, it's kind of like a mumbo-jumbo of lots of other games. There are trivia questions, charades, drawing, go-find-the-article-in-30 seconds, make something out of clay, etc. For instance, the other day Grant got a card that said "You have 30 seconds to find 2 things in the house that have strings you can tie together." It's harder than you think!! One of Matt's cards said "Using clay, make a Big Toe". He has like 1 minute to make it and then we have to try to guess what it is. The trivia is fun stuff like "How many omlets could you make from an Ostrich egg?" and they're usually multiple choice. Anyway, if you have small children, I highly recommend you get this game!! Sorry I didn't take a picture of it. If you want to see what the box looks like, leave me a comment and I'll post a pic. Here are the ones we played last night though.

Last night though, we got out some games that the kids had gotten for Christmas this past year. The first one we did was Twister. Man! I had forgotten how fun and HARD that game is! Here are a few pics from our workout/giggle session. We found ourselves falling down equally as much from laughing as from losing our balance!

If you read my P90X blog, sorry you're reading about this twice and seeing the pics twice...but I just couldn't choose which blog to put this on!

Mellow Yellow

Yesterday morning as I got up and got everyone "around" for church, I realized that by coincidence, 3 out of the 5 of us (Matt's dad is here visiting) were wearing shades of yellow. I couldn't help but "happen" to pick out yellow clothes for the rest of the group (shhh...don't tell the guys that I premeditated this!) so we could take a group picture. Before church would have been a better time to snap the shot since at that time Grant's shirt was still tucked in and Brooklyn still had her shoes on...but...we all know that doing anything "extra" before church is out of the question. It's a miracle all in itself to get everyone ready, dressed, fed and in the car on time--let alone trying to capture it on film. So...after church I gave the orders "No one gets in the car until I snap a picture!"
Here is what we ended up with. Not too shabby!

wow...

http://vimeo.com/5271209
A friend of mine sent me this link yesterday and asked me to watch it. And as ashamed as I feel to say this, my initial thought was "I really don't have time for this." My guess is...you're thinking the same thing.
Well, I'll tell you what: It's worth it. I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes throughout most of it. Not sad tears...just tears of identification. Happy tears really. I know...at this point you have no idea what the subject matter even is.....
Well, the title of it is "Being A Mom" but really, it's so much more that just that. It's short and I guarantee it will encourage you.
Then when you're done watching it, you'll be hooked enough to want to watch the next one "Being A Mom: Part 2" so I won't even bother trying to talk you into that one!
Be sure and let me know what you think!!

What's been happenin...

Last Thursday, one of my good friends offered to have BOTH of my kiddos spend the night at her house! It was Grant's first time to ever spend the night with anyone (other than grandma). I wasn't sure how he'd do, but apparently he did just fine and definitely didn't want to come home early (I checked in with her before we went to bed for the night).

Anyway, since it was just the two of us, we decided to see if my parents wanted to join us for a double-date. We hardly ever get to do anything with them without the kids because 99% of the time, THEY are the babysitters. I had heard about a great deal going on at Zio's where 4 can eat for $19.99. It included 4 salads, unlimited bread, spaghetti-n-meatballs and chicken parmesean served family style. I was a little concerned that it might not be enough food since we were all very hungry (and I thought it might have been talking about 4 people=2 adults, 2 children) but WOW! We all ate until we were stuffed and then had enough to bring home to feed my whole family dinner the next night! Since we all drank water there..our total bill for all 4 of us was $ 21.67. LOVE A BARGAIN! After that we went to the movies and saw The Proposal, which was cute but not making it to my favorites list.
On Saturday Matt had to work ALL day (17 1/2 hours straight) so me and the kids loaded up some lawn chairs and went off to our town's freedom festival. They had a petting zoo and Brooklyn and I both decided to HOLD a SNAKE! The look on her little face is priceless! The whole time it was in her hands she was saying "okay, take it take it take it!"
Me on the other hand, I look like one of the girls off of The Price is Right like I'm posing with the fabulous prize! ha ha I promise, I wasn't enjoying it nearly as much as it looks like! So...in other news, I'm about to climb another rung on the ladder of age. 8 more days until my 31st birthday. Crazy! Either I've matured a LOT over the past year...or I just don't care anymore, but turning 31 is totally no big deal to me this year. I think once I hit 30...the whole "oh you're so young" thing was over instantly and now I'm just "in my 30's". Whatever. I'm just happy to be happy with who I am. God has CERTAINLY been busy in my life over the last year and I wouldn't go back to 29 for anything after what all I've discovered in the past 365 days!

Anyone know God's e-mail address?

I wonder if God reads my blog...? Wouldn't it be awesome to get a comment from Him? I could do a whole post on whatever crisis I'm going through at the moment and then He could leave me a comment saying "Jen what I would suggest you do is ___________. "
Just the thought gets me giddy inside. A clear, concise answer from God Almighty! Who DOESN'T want/need that???

Go with me here. I know that I am being somewhat "carnal" minded in this post but I'm fairly certain all of us, even the most spirtual ones, have at one time or another just wished it was as simple as getting a comment or text message from God about what to do. I know that God has given us his Word---basically the instruction book of life. I know that He has given us the Holy Spirit---our teacher, counselor and friend. I know that He sent His son Jesus to live and die for us, giving us healing, forgiveness and rightousness. As a matter of fact...there is nothing else we need that He didn't give us. The problem is: We don't know what do do with it.
What good is a tool bag full of the best tools if you aren't familiar with them, how they work and what they are used for?
I can just imagine a new carpenter beginning his first job. He's excited and ready to go. He reaches into his tool bag and pulls out something that he know's he's seen before...but just can't quite figure out how to use it to get the desired result.
That is exactly how I feel right now. I know I'm equipped with everything I need. I am totally excited and ready to 'get to work', I'm trying to use my tools (the Word, prayer) the best way that I know how...but for some reason (which is extremely frustrating to me)...it seems that nothing is happening. Or even worse...what IS happening is that I'm making the problem bigger.
Oh me, Oh my.

I know this post is probably somewhat of a mish-mash of thoughts and words that may not make any sense to any of you...but the bottom line is this: I know I am at a crossroads. Some choices have to be made. My life, for the past 30 years, has been preparing me for this moment--this time--when I will step out in the calling God has on my life, whatever it may be. I'm not satisfied to 'just exist' anymore. I want it more than life itself (to be living out my destiny) and yet I'm stuck in a state of confusion. I'm not afraid to 'step out of the boat', I'm just not sure which direction to step out.

If only it were as simple as a quick text message up to Heaven saying "Hey Dad, what was it again U wanted me 2 do here?"

Anyone else feel like this sometimes?

Unforseen unfortunate blessings

We came home last night to find our house has no a/c! That is not good news when the forcast for the next week is 103.
The good news (which I am trying to focus on) is that #1: We have a pool and #2: We bought a seperate a/c unit for the upstairs game room.
Worst case scenario is that we spend all of our time either in the water or upstairs, which I actually think will be kind of fun (for a day or two anyway). If we are "stuck" up stairs, I might actually take some time to play games with the kids and get some scrapbooking done! What a thought! And if we end up having to all four sleep up there...the kids will think that is the coolest thing EVER! It'll be like a big family slumber party!
Isn't it crazy how something has to go wrong in order for us (me) to do things like this? On a normal day (when the a/c is working) I would NEVER spend the whole day swimming or playing upstairs. I would be concerning myself with laundry and dishes and computer work and phone calls and such.
I remember last year when we had the big ice storm. We were without power for like 5 days. It was ridiculously cold (and dark) in the house as we have no alternative heat source. We ended up spending the night at my parent's house (next to their fire place-they didn't have power either) and spending the night with some friends who had a generator. The kids thought that was the BEST TIME EVER! Now when we mention anything about the "power might go out" they get SUPER excited! ha ha ha
I have to admit it----shhhh! don't tell.....but I get excited too! It's like mother nature's permission slip to me to just have fun and forget all the responsibilities! I mean...it's not like I can actually do computer work, laundry or dishes without electricity or lights!

I love my a/c and I thank God all the time for it...but for today...I'm looking forward to being "forced" into swimming and playing all day. The kids won't know what to think with mommy all to themselves!!

You are my business!

I got my Beachbody business cards in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I've been handing them out but I thought I'd share them with you all as well, just in case there are some of you who didn't know I am a coach.

I am anxiously awaiting my first "victim." ha ha....no...just kidding. Honestly though, I can't wait to finally have someone to coach and encourage along their fitness journey! Beachbody offers so many great programs that take all the thinking out of it for you. That's what I loved about P90X the most, I think. There were no "I wonder this...and I wonder that...". EVERYTHING you need is included. You know exactly what workout to do every single day. You know exactly what to eat every single day. And, just to be positively sure you have ALL your questions answered, they even provide you with a FREE coach (me!!) to help and encourage you every step of the way! What could be better than that??? How about this: You can have the results you're wanting in only 90 days! That means that by September of THIS year...you can be walking around in the body that you're only dreaming about right now! I mentioned something to Matt the other day about not having time to work out. I said "If I quit working out then I would have time to take care of the house." You wanna know what he said back to me? He said, "then you wouldn't be taking care of THIS house!" and he pointed to me.

Wow! He's right! Of course I need to take care of my home...but this body that God has given me is also my "house." God requires us to be good stewards with what He has given us and I think that includes the life and the body that we were given! I love it when my work-out habits are justified!! hee hee

Anyway, I really do want to help you! Just click here!

May we never forget!

This morning while I was making Matt's breakfast and lunch, I turned on the radio. A song came on that has stuck in my head and I just keep rolling the words around and around. I can't quit thinking about the simple chorus which says : May we never forget the cost of His blood. May we never forget the cost of His love.

Lord Jesus, let me NEVER forget what you gave up for me!

It seems like here lately, when I finally get to post, it's like a hodge-podge of subjects and stories. Anyway, here's another one to recap the last couple of weeks around our place.

First of all, a couple of weeks ago, Matt and I got up early on a Saturday morning and decided to start building the kids a play house. We've been wanting to do this for a long time but never could decide on a layout. After going to visit my friend Kandy and seeing the clubhouse her husband built their boys, I decided we needed to 'Just Do It'. My dad came up and helped and we got the 4 corner poles set in the ground as well as the floor on. Then last weekend Matt and I sanded and painted all these iron bars and we got 2 of the 4 sides up. This next weekend we hope to finish that part, put on the roof and build the steps. Eventually this thing will have a rock-climbing wall, a slide and swings. We are going to enclose the bottom of it and use it as a little storage building for all our pool supplies/rafts. It's taking longer than we thought--but the cool thing is that we have built it almost entirely from wood that we had laying around (left over from when they built our house). So far we've only had to spend about $50 on some treated lumber for the handrails and some screws. Yay!

Here is a pic of the kids in the 3 foot hole I dug for the first pole!

Matt singing "She thinks my tractor's sexy!!!" ha ha

Last weekend Brooklyn got to have 2 of her girlfriends over to spend the night. They played "spa" and even got Grant in on the action taking off their toenail polish! Thankfully he is only 5 and still considers it an honor to be involved in whatever his big sister and her friends are doing. He can be talked into doing almost ANYTHING for her for a small price (usually a quarter! ha ha)

Here are the girls 'at the spa.'

You didn't know I was a pedicurist too, did you?? haha

Here is one of them signing Brooklyn's "Slumber Party Pillowcase". We'd gotten it a few years ago and it came with markers for the girls to write messages on it. I finally got it out and they decorated it all up. It turned out very cute!

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day and my parents 34th wedding anniversary! Afterwards, we went home and started working on the playhouse again. By the time we were ready to quit we were soaked in sweat and burning up so we hopped in the pool. To our suprise, Kinley climbed the pool ladder all by herself and hopped in with us!!

Grant started feeling sick that night and was running a fever. I held him like this the whole time we were in the pool. Poor guy! (we took him to the doctor today after he woke up with his eyes sealed shut with green crusty stuff (Wed.) and found out he has a BAD case of pink eye! ick!)

On Monday, one of Brooklyn's other friends invited her to go to the Jonas Brothers Concert!! What an honor!! I wasn't sure about letting my 8-year-old daughter go somewhere that HUGE and BUSY without me..but I also knew this was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. (the tickets were $87.50 and we were being offered it for FREE!)

Since she was getting to do something SO fun and SO cool, Grant was pretty disappointed. He says she always gets to do all the fun stuff (and he's really right). Soo....Matt and I decided to give him his first "date night" with the 2 of us. He could choose anywhere he wanted to go to eat and anything he wanted to do. I also let him ENTIRELY pick out my outfit, jewlery and hair do! He was very specific about his requests. He said he wanted me to #1: Wear my wedding ring. #2: Wear this specific dress (that you see in the picture). #3: Wear high-heels.

Ha ha. I thought it was so funny that he had totally picked out EVERYthing for me to wear, told me how to fix my hair and even picked out earrings and a ring to match this dress. I felt WAY overdressed but I didn't care. This night was ALL about him and I was willing to do/wear just about anything his little heart desired. He also got himself all spiffied up (dressed to match mommy). He put his necklace on, gelled his hair (as stiff as a board!) and put on some cologne. He looked like a little replica of his daddy!

For his date, he picked that we would go out to eat at Barbies (Arby's) and we would order chicken, curly fries and a 'mocha shake. Then it was off to the movie theatre to see "Up."

The poor little guy pooped out on us before we even got to the resturant and I couldn't resist snapping a quick pic of him snoozing!

It's a lot of work taking mommy out on a date, huh buddy? Maybe this is why daddy always conks out early on date nights too!? ;o)

It's Tough Being a Woman!

Last Tuesday I began a 10-week Bible study with the women in my church about the book of the Bible, Esther. It is a fascinating story that would draw even the least interested person in. If you've never read it, you should definitely do so. Then once you've let your imagination run freely with all the vivid descriptions upon those pages, you can go rent "One Night With the King". Esther's story is a completely captivating one that will be every bit a page-turner as those Twilight books you've been pouring over! ;)
Anyway, the subtitle to our Bible study is "It's Tough Being a Woman" and for the first week we finished that sentence by saying "It's tough being a woman in another woman's shadow." Each week we will look at another aspect of why it might be "tough being a woman." During our small-group time they had us list out 3 reasons why we personally think it's tough being a woman. I had a harder time than I expected with that assignment. I found that I was able to sum it all up in one single word (for me anyway). I'm not going to tell you what it is yet though...because I want to see what your answers are first. So....if you will indulge me...leave a comment and tell me: What are 3 reasons you think it is "tough being a woman"?
(guys-feel free to answer this as well--I'd love to see your "take" on the whole female thing!)

Family and Friends and Fun!

A couple of weeks ago we saw a sign on the side of the road by our house that said "Free Kittens" and beside it was this little kitten locked up in a little cage all alone. No people around anywhere. Guess they just left her there hoping someone would pick her up. Well...we did! She is one of the sweetest kittens I've ever been around. She LOVES to be held and played with and NEVER runs away from us. She even tolerates Sam and Kinley who play a little too rough with her I think...but she just keeps purring and laying there. We haven't really decided on a permanent name yet...Brooklyn wants Pebbles and I liked Kit-Kat. We'll see what ends up sticking.On Friday we went to visit my newest great-neice (almost 2 weeks old) Kenzi Maria.

She is so precious and I just LOVE her head FULL of hair! I got to be the first to put a headband in it. (don't think her daddy liked that too much) but hey--I AM her great-aunt--I have to have SOME priveledges! he he

On Monday, I got to go visit my buddy Kandy and her kiddos at her house. We had so much fun working out and then chillin' by her pool while the kids swam! Here is one of us right in the middle of a cardio work out all hot and sweaty!

Here are a couple of the kids having fun together. They had a blast playing in their awesome playhouse and of course..swiming in the pool!

Monday night we got together with my sister and her daughter (my neice) and HER daughter (my other great-neice) Alexis. She is 2 1/2 and she is SUCH a doll! Grant was completely infatuated with her and spent a good portion of the evening just staring at her! He carried her blankie, Nemo and sippy cup all over for her wherever we went! They even held hands on the way into the Cheesecake Factory for dinner!Here is one of me kissing her sweet face. Isn't she gorgeous?? Those EYES!And lastly, one of my kids MIRACULOUSLY hugging each other and smiling! (They're probably pinching each other behind their backs!)