Isaac's New Walls

This house renovation has been a slow and tedious process. I picked out this color when we started last Oct (isn't that insane it's been almost a year!!!) and so when the kids were going to be gone over the holiday weekend I thought I would take advantage and get Isaac's room repainted! The only dilemma is that he really, I mean really, wanted his room to be painted green...but that just wasn't my vision! So, Jason and I worked hard and go his room painted, the baseboards almost finished (we are making them all the same throughout the house) and the doors switched out (again, so they're all the same). I have bedding picked out for when we find a full/queen bed we like, but since the only thing I can find that I love is at Pottery Barn Kids it's going to be another long process! The color for sure continues with our theme of dark colors, but I personally think it's amazing with the white trim, I am very happy with it! As for the fate of the green (Isaac was happy with his blue too) we are going to paint the inside of the closet green if he still wants something green.

First Day of School

This is Isaac's second year at CCLS and with Mrs. Berner.

He loves going to school and has made lots of great friends.

We are still slightly undecided about what we are going to do

next year, but probably a third year of preschool only because

he would turn 5 in July and then start Kindergarten in August,

it just seems really young to me, but we're still talking so any

suggestions would be appreciated!

Sampson

8 weeks

9 weeks

11 1/2 weeks

This is the general attitude of Annie ("Why does he keep sniffing me?")

There is a new boy at our house, his name is Sampson and he is going to be BIG! He is a Great Dane, Jason has wanted one for a long time and I finally conceded. I got the best end of this deal: I don't get up with him at night or in the morning when he wants to wrestle at 6am. He is a really sweet dog and learns very quickly and within two weeks was sitting by the door when he needed to go outside. The kids love playing with him and he is learning to keep his baby teeth to himself!

Family Camp and the Lake

Crabby Pabby kiddos

Our residence for FC

Jason and Isaac

My studly hubby showing his skills

Kadyn tired from swimming

Warning: This is long! This year Jason had the opportunity to play in one of the worship bands for St. Louis Family Camp (stlfamilycamp.com) and I am sad to say, but that was probably the only way we would have considered going...so we made the decision to go. I was my usual cautiously optimistic self and found myself focusing on all the negatives: jason has to practice during the day preventing us from really having free time, we will be staying with 6 other families so the kids are going to never sleep, the kids are not going to sleep well, they are providing food so it's just going to be fattening junk, I am not going to be able to get my runs in, etc! So going into this I was already crabby, but Jason (being the amazing, go with the flow man he is) reassured me that everything was going to be fine. We left for FC on Friday morning and as you can see by the first picture the kids were mildly crabby. We had prepped them for some of the things we would be doing and we all prepared our hearts by listening to the kids worship CD from Seeds Family Worship (seedsfamilyworship.net), which is the band Jason was helping with.

When we arrived at Windermere (on Lake of the Ozarks) we were pretty excited about 4 days together and the opportunity to spend time with the kids doing new things. We got there early so Jason could help set up sound stuff and found that our living arrangements were pretty neat. We would be staying with 6 other families in one large house that had a common kitchen/eating area. We got settled in and Isaac was thrilled that there were bunk beds for him to sleep on! We tried to lay down for a nap, but there was too much going on and so started day one of no naps...despite my fears God completely worked in us and the kids were amazing to be around and there weren't any of the usual tired problems. We found that this house was so great for us, it gave us the freedom to put the kids to bed and still spend time playing games and getting to know other Journey families. The first night we heard from Bryan Chappell who is the president of Covenant Seminary and we knew that God was going to do awesome and challenging things through this camp in our family.

During the mornings we had family worship that was led by Seeds Family Worship (see above website, I mean really look at it) leader Phillip Morlan, who Isaac likes to call "Mr. Phillip," even now as we listen to the CD's, and his wife Jess and their 5 incredible kids. The entire basis of SFW is implanting scripture in children's hearts and this is done by writing songs that are entirely scripture. It really is amazing to see Kadyn singing scripture and already letting those truths grow in her heart. Not only during that time was this family amazing, but just seeing a family whose desire is for their kids to know and love God intimately was amazing. Morlans: we want to be like you someday, please move from Nashville to St. Louis! Everyone reading this should go to the website now and get all their CD's, it is an amazing way to worship with your kids!

We had the opportunity to spend time together as a family at a place that Jason has so many memories at and that was incredible too. Jason worked at Windermere for two summers so he let us in on all the little hiding places where we could completely stand in awe of our amazing Creator. Jason and Isaac spent some time playing on these giant inflatable water toys, I didn't get any pics b/c I forgot my camera, but they had a blast. We got the opportunity to go out on a boat for the afternoon which was tons of fun. Isaac went tubing for the first time, which he wasn't super thrilled with, but was a trooper none the less...Kadyn said "no thank-you." Jason spent some time skiing and tubing and I just sat in the sun (one of my favorite things to do!)

After four days at camp we headed to our friend's house (Jamie and Andy) for a few more days of lake time. This was total relaxation! We hung out at the dock, did some fishing, and swam in the lake. The kids were totally exhausted!

Coming home from FC we have been challenged by how we parent. God is our ultimate Father and looking to him to see how to love our children as the ultimate example is challenging for most of us. Expecting our kids to be sinful should be in our minds and the unconditional grace and love shown by our Abba will change you. We are excited by what God has shown us through our kids and hope that more families can experience this next year!

Isaac's 4th Birthday

The spread

Isaac and Graham chowing down on jello aquariums

Friends helping with the presents

The cake

This year for Isaac's party we headed to the pool. The kids and I spend lots of time at the pool so it just fit. We had tons of our friends there and everyone had a great time. It was a great day for those not wanting to swim, I think the high was 89 and breezy, which for July 10th is AMAZING! It was almost cold in the water! We had a picnic dinner and then an amazing fish cake for dessert (same lady that does all our cake/cupcake needs...wish I could take credit, she's amazing!) I can't believe I have a 4 year old! Happy birthday buddy, you are a wonderfully made kid, God does great work!

4th of July

Learning about water and dirt

Our super silly boy

The ultimate princess

Racing for candy at the 4th of July

Like last year the kids made the trip to Springfield for the 4th of July. They had a blast and got to attend several days of my parent's VBS, which they loved. The night before we came down (I came down with the kids 2 days early b/c Jason was in Nashville for a few days) my parents had a flood in their kitchen. So when we arrived the restoration people were taking out everything from the kitchen so we spent lots and lots of time outside. Thankfully it was a gorgeous week and we spent tons of time in the pool. The kids stayed the weekend and enjoyed the parade and fireworks while mom and dad enjoyed sleeping in until 10am!!!

Kadyn Turned 2

Kadyn turned two at then end of May and her princess themed birthday party was a blast. I have the most amazing cupcake lady and she outdid herself this time (you can see from the few we had left. I got so caught up in eating them I forgot to take a picture of all of them!) I can't believe Kadyn is two until she begins to display her independence and then it all comes rushing back.