just a few things...

oh i have so many thoughts. i am learning so much and i think i could go on forever. but i wont...for now. fair warning, though. you never know when a long,intense blog might come up :)
but for now, a recap.
*vacation in our beloved alton bay starts tomorrow.
*melanie leaves tomorrow morning to come to NH!!!
*the countdown is on for the currier's arrival for labor day
*the boys swimming lesson went great thursday
*bic and cheryl have been working wicked hard around here to make the outside look nice.

*i am just about caught up in my bible reading (only 1 1/2 days behind!)
*i STILL have not gotten the title for my car, which means i can't pick up my "new" one!!
*i am incredibly grateful for what God has given me (although i will admit, this whole car thing has caused the need for adam to remind me of this one on several occasions!)
*aj announced on sunday that he wanted to try and read proverbs through in 7 days. i smiled, and said..."ok". on tuesday he was up to chapter 9, and wednesday night i asked him how he was doing in his reading. he said "ok". i asked him where he was. "ecclesiastes 1" I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!!! i am so proud of him!

well, i think that's all for now. i have to go and pack for vacation!!! :)
hope you all have a great week!!
i leave you with a few silly moments from our family getaway. take the time to have a little craziness with your kids...always worth it!

the boys surprise

i really don't have a great memory, but one memory from my childhood i remember very clearly. my parents told us one late afternoon to get in the car. then my dad started driving. we kept saying "where are we going??" to which he replied "heaven". then we'd say "nooooo, where are we going NOW??" he didn't reply :) then we pulled into a hotel, and went swimming and spent the night. it was such a great memory.
i had the idea to do something similar. we told the boys we were going somewhere. they had no idea where (i had packed the car with the suitcase before they woke up-so they didn't know it was more than a day trip). as we headed to foxboro, about 5 minutes before we got there, we pointed out the sign for aj to read "Gillette Stadium". aj said "TRAINING CAMP??" they could NOT believe it! riley said "if i look wicked happy, it's because i am!"

we headed over, and got to our seat just as practice was starting. it was super sunny and really nice out.

we stayed for the whole practice, and then aj waited in line, (and kept running down the line) to try and get randy moss's autograph, but didn't get it.

he was ok...he said "randy moss looked RIGHT at me!".



then they had something called patriots experience. it was right outside the stadium, and they had a bunch of inflatables. the boys got to practice kicking a field goal, throwing passes, and doing obstacle courses. (this was all free!)



then we ate lunch in the car (i had packed a lunch and snacks and water - good thing, the water was $3.75 a bottle!) and then took the boys into the proshop. they loved that, and it was air conditioned!!
then we said we still had another part of a surprise. we drove about 55 minutes to a marriott that i had reserved. they were running a family special, so the package was a one night stay, use of the pool...obviously, pizza and soda, one ppv movie and late check-out. we got there and the boys were soo excited to see the pool. then we took out the suitcase, and riley said "we are spending the night here??" they were so excited and appreciative of everything. i loved that the most. everything was awesome. we went in the pool 3 times, and had such a great time. i was just talking to my friends about how i don't want to give my kids everything they want, because i want them to be appreciative. i think kids today are just so used to getting what they want, they aren't even grateful! the boys were so excited the entire time, and me and adam loved that. i am so thankful for my family!

tall ships

my mom and i took the boys today to see the tall ships in portsmouth. the boys LOVED it! it only cost us to park, and...it cost my mom a little bit more because she treated to ice coffee for us, and an ice cream and fries for the boys! it was a gorgeous day, and a lot of fun! my mom is the best! :)

hearing God speak

being raised a good, clear-headed, baptist :) i have just been trying to stretch my faith, and grow a little bit when it comes to the topic of hearing God speak. i started reading a book God.net. i have to admit that after the first 2 chapters, i was tempted to put it down, because i was like...come on. God does NOT speak that specifically to people! then i was like...you know what? maybe he does! i mean, after all. he does say "my sheep hear my voice". and there are many times that God talks about his voice in the Bible. my problem is, how do i differentiate when it is God speaking, and my crazy brain going a million miles a minute?!? does He speak specific things? i want to know BIBLICALLY, not experientially. what are your thoughts?!?!

Pawtuckaway State Park

today was another beautiful, sunny day so i decided to take the boys to the lake. actually, i was going to take them to the beach because i didn't have any cash to pay for the admission at the lake, but my mom let me borrow some money :)

we got there at about 10 and stayed until 2. the boys had a GREAT time, and they practiced quite a bit for their swimming lesson that they will have on thursday. Plus, they got to try out their new goggles that they got.

we forgot to bring a ball (imagine that??) so we found a pine cone and played catch in the water with that...worked fine!

swimming lessons

we signed the boys up for swimming lessons this summer. they were supposed to be semi-private, which would be a half-hour lesson with both boys together. after the first lesson, the instructor said that she had never seen anyone do the crawl stroke as good as aj with no previous swimming lessons. she said that she would be willing to do private lessons at no extra charge, since she thought it would be holding aj back to do the lesson together. they both really enjoyed the first lesson, but they absolutely LOVED the second lesson! riley was having a tough time getting the whole, put his face in, move his arms, AND kick all at the same time! she decided to put goggles on him to see how he would like it, and all of a sudden, he could do the crawl stroke perfectly!! it was amazing! he did a great job, and really loved it.

then it was aj's turn. he did awesome. he treaded water for 25 seconds, and learned how to dive off the diving board! she said he had moved up to a level 3, and riley was at level 2. they are so obedient and respectful to their teacher, and she has commented on that. we are very proud of their swimming but are even more proud of their attitudes that are so glorifying to God! :)

blueberry picking

this morning, me and the boys went with my mom to our friends (the boulters) and picked blueberries! it started raining a bit when we first got there, but the weather turned out to be great, and we had a really good time. we picked 2 buckets full, and aj found some deer teeth! (gotta love being a boys mommy :)) we are enjoying the blueberries in some fruit salad as i type.

new pool

i realize that we aren't quite as cool as those of you with a "real pool" but target was selling this pool for HALF off, and i could NOT pass it up! as i was carrying it to the register, riley kept saying "this is like my best day ever". i felt pretty convinced that i was a pretty amazing momma :)
they have been in it non stop since i set it up! they could not be happier. can you tell??

my boys miss their cousins...

just remembering when i could just pack a lunch, and meet my sister at the beach. i miss those days~

Do I fear God?

I stayed up late last night doing a little bit of reading and studying. I started out just needing to finish my reading to keep me up to date on the reaing through the Bible in 90 days. I was reading in Isaiah 65 and I loved how it said "before they call, I will answer". I loved picturing God being able to answer before I even call. Well, since I have a Scofield study Bible, there are always cross references, so I started going here there and everywhere, and soon came to Psalm 25:14. "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him." I wanted to know this secret!! I got my concordance, and looked up fear. (I have SO missed Faith Bible Institute this summer, and can't wait for classes to start again in the fall!)
Now let me just stop for a second here, and say how much I love my Bible. I have a real problem, at times, when people are so big into reading books. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good book and I know that you can learn a lot from other people. HOWEVER - there are so many people who are always talking about this book or that book, and how this book changed their life, and how they never really unederstood something until they read that book. I love this quote from Amy Carmichael "Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well".
DO WE GET IT???? We have words DIRECTLY from the creator of this universe, the creator of US! Why do we not understand that we do not need to rely on the words of mere humans? There is always going to be the chance that the person's words you are reading could have error in them. God's Word never will. I realize there may be a bit of irony here, since I am human, and you are reading this, but like I said, I don't find anything wrong in reading. I only have a problem when people become so obsessed and consumed with people that they forget they have the all-powerful, life-changing, direct words of GOD!
ok, I will climb down off my soap box now! :)
Anwyways, I started doing all this research on the fear of God. I have studied it before, and I "know" what it means, but the more i researched it, the more I realized how much I do not DO it! I love Deuteronomy, and there are tons of verses that talk about fear in that book. The first thing I realized is that fear is LEARNED! I mean, I guess I knew that, but it makes sense to me. (at least it did at 1am!!) Babies do not fear anything, because they have not learned to fear anything. It's the same way spiritually. We need to learn to fear. Deut. 31:12-13 has an entire 3 point sermon if anyone is ever interested! 1.Hear 2. Learn to fear 3. Observe.
Fearing always starts with hearing! 1.We have to hear God's Word. We have to be listening to know what we are to fear. 2.Then we need to learn to fear him. Read the verses that talk about the wrath of God, what He does when people turn away from Him. Am I afraid of disobeying God? Abraham was! He was so afraid of what disobedience would do, that he was willing to kill his own son! That is true fear! What else would drive you to do that? Fear drives you to do things, and usually NOT to do things! 3.Then we need to observe. Deut. 6:24 says that fearing God is "for our good ALWAYS". ALWAYS!! This is a different kind of fear that we will ever obtain, because we know that God wants what's best for us. Psalm 31:19 says "Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you" It's like He's got good things sitting there waiting for us, if we will just fear Him! So what are we waiting for?
I really believe that I will live my life so much differently if I learn to fear God the way that I should. Take a little time and look up fear in a concordance. It will be well worth your time!

Our God is an Awesome God

I have had so many thoughts about life this last month. There has been a lot going on in my life, and in my mind! Sometimes it just needs to come down to the fact that God is the only constant, and the only one we can always trust in. A good thing to think about before going to bed tonight!