getting sad...

it's actually kind of sad posting things about my visits with my brother and sisters. it just reminds me more and more of how much i miss them. it's weird, because i think that part of me just always thought that we would live near each other, ya know? now that we are all living far apart, well. it just stinks.

anyways...monday was a rainy day in virginia.

we started the day with school. i had brought the boys work, and they seemed to enjoy a little different way of school!




so bri, erika and me all went shopping. it was really fun. bri got an easter dress, and me and erika got some new clothes too :) then we all went to the ymca and the kids and adam played some basketball then got to go swimming for a while. they had so much fun!






alright, i may be getting days messed up. i really can't remember.
i will just leave you with this.


can you even STAND it???

next day in virginy

sunday morning we got up and had a nice breakfast




and then got to go to church with the curriers. it was great to be able to go to church and just ENJOY it!! we didn't have to be running around, working on the power point, getting ready to teach sunday school, adjusting the mics or anything! we had a really great time and enjoyed the day.

next stop...virginia

after visiting my brother and his wife, we left on saturday morning to go to virginia and stay with my older sister.

we got stuck in some traffic. we are not fans of I-95!!!!

anyways, the kids were thrilled to finally get there and see their cousins! we got settled a bit and then all went to the park. it was FREEZING! but the everyone had a great time.





leah is such a little peach, you just NEED to take pictures of her all the time!! she has big blue eyes, and is so tiny! she is such a doll

our vacation

we decided to go and visit my brother and his wife in pennsylvania. then we thought, why don't we just keep going to virginia and see my sister? then on the way back stop at my other sister's. so...that is how our vacation began.



we packed the car (including the boys bikes) and started out thursday morning at around 10. we did hit a little bit of traffic on the way to philly, but nothing too terribly bad. we were in good moods, and had no need to rush. my brother doesn't get home from work until 10:30, so we took our time getting there.



we stopped at subway and let the boys eat outside. adam stayed in the car...he thought it looked like rain :)

the next day was FREEEEZING but my brother is a really good sport, and took us into the city anyways. bobbi had to work at 1, so she couldn't come with us. i'm sure she wasn't too upset!! haha.
we got to see the liberty bell

(portfolio babbyyy!!)

and then we went to the terminal and ate. and ate.





we had a lot of fun and i was so thankful that my brother was driving in the city...people are crazy, i tell you!!

ronnie spoiled my boys rotten, like he always does. he is so generous, and always wanting to get them whatever they want.

i have always been really close with my brother. it about broke my heart when he moved to philly 4 years ago! hopefully him and bobbi and my new niece will move a little closer some day...hint hint. (free babysitting ANYTIME bobbi!!!)

the wisdom of this world is foolishness...

i was reading in I Corinthians today. in chapter 3 it talks about the wisdom of this world. it calls it FOOLISHNESS with God! wow. that is pretty strong language, don't you think? verse 18 warns of deceiving yourself in thinking that you are wise in this age. this is what it's all about...my faith stands NOT in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. i love that i can teach that to my boys. we played a little game that i came up with the other day.

it went a little something like this.

me: riley, aj is having a hard time with a boy from awana who is being mean to him. what verse could you give him to help him?

ry: ummm...maybe think of others as better than yourself?

me: great riley!

me: now aj. ry is having a hard time going to sleep at night because he is so afraid. what verse could you give him to help him?

aj: hmmm...what time i am afraid i can trust in Thee. oh, then he can even sing it!!

me: awesome!

this went on for a while, with me giving life situations, and the boys coming up with scripture to solve it. see, to me...this is more important than any other lesson i can give them.

if riley can solve every math problem in 5 seconds, but has not gotten over his anger issues. i have failed.

if aj can rattle off every fact about the civil war, but can not control his emotions. i have failed.

the main thing i would like to teach my boys is the the Bible is ALL-SUFFICIENT. did you get that?? just in case you didn't hear it the first time, i will type louder.

the Bible is ALL-SUFFICIENT

people do not get that. even christians sometimes. they think that the Bible is good for...spiritual things. but when it comes to health, finances, marriage, parenting, depression, you name it. THOSE kind of things you need a doctor, a shrink, a super-nanny, a pill.
that's not what my Bible says. don't get me wrong. i am not against doctors or anything like that. but you get my point. the Bible is what we go to for everything - FIRST.

2 peter says "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him Who called us". that's pretty clear.

i got a little teary this morning when i saw my boys doing their devotions.


they are already...at 7 and 8-years-old, learning that everything you will ever need comes from God's Word.

ducks

riley loves ducks. loves them. i think he has at least 700 ducks...stuffed, glass, um. what else is there? ok. anyways, he has a lot of them.

my brother got him this towel for his birthday.




oh, so i guess that's what else there is. a duck towel. thanks unca!

riley likes to climb

snapshot

sometimes i get so concerned about making sure that the settings are right on my camera, and the background is perfect that i don't just take snapshots of my boys anymore. but, ya know what? this is it. my life is not a book in the making. it just...is. and i mean that in a good way. so here is a snapshot of my boys on their way to church.



we taught our boys the verse "i was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord"
me and adam decided before we even had kids, that church would be a priority for us. not an option. a priority. we were both raised that way, and we wanted to raise our family that way. it would not be...are we too tired? is the day too snowy? is the day too sunny? it is just our life. if it is sunday morning (or night) i guarantee we will be at church. period. and you know what? we love it! our boys do not see us grudgingly attending church because we have to. they see us doing it as an overflow and expression of our love and dedication to our God. it is not a ritual, or a chore. it is just what we want to do. i think that when kids watch their parents complain and argue all the way to church that is when it starts entering their minds that maybe it would be easier if they didn't go! maybe that's why they stop going all together when they are older! if we are making it our goal to please Him (2 cor. 5:9 niv) then we will want to go to church so we can grow!
alright. gotta go to bed. goodnight!

religion

first of all, i don't like the word religion because of what it represents to most people. i have a relationship with Jesus. He is my Father. He is my God and He is my Savior.
that being said, there is a verse in James that talks about religion. it says
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
i think that it is this exact verse that reminds me of my problem with "religion". see...the problem is, that people claim to have something that they don't even know the definition of! is this crazy or what. religion is not going to church or even memorizing verses and doing good deeds. it is taking care of orphans and widows, and keeping yourself from being polluted (or spotted - nasv, or stained - kjv, or corrupted - nlt) from the world. what does that mean? have you ever thought about that? how do you keep yourself from being stained from the world? i am pondering it.

some of my thoughts...and there are a lot, have to do with the first part of the verse. if you are looking after orphans, you are most likely not thinking of your own feelings and "needs" and comforts. right? ok. i am going to save all of those thoughts for another post, (consider yourself warned) but i just wanted to give you a little food for thought. think about that. think about how you are keeping yourself from being polluted.

what is your life saying that you are? not your words - your life. i don't think that anyone should ever feel like they can stop growing spiritually. we should always be moving forward. i liked this quote i found today.
"If your religion doesn't change your behavior, change your religion"

think about that.

saying goodbye

adam officially has no more family left in NH! (besides what he married into of course, and even that is dwindling!)
his little sister and her husband and girls left for iowa this week.


now our little boys have no more aunties left here!


and we have no more nieces here to spoil!


wishing we could all just be together...

super heroes

adam kept his daddy-promise to play super heroes with the boys...



even though it was well past the boys bedtime (whatever that is)...



a promise is a promise.


and that is just one more reason that i feel so blessed to have adam in my life.

i just spent too much time on this.

i am tired. i should have been reading my Bible, and instead i was trying to figure something out with some pictures i wanted to post. i even was going to post something clever. instead. you get no picture. and nothing clever. and i have to go and read then go to sleep!!

hello time change...

this is what riley thought of the time change sunday morning.

what defines a life...

last night as i sat in "the village" gym (those of you who don't get that can ask me, and i might feel a big post coming on about that one!) watching my little very big boy play his semi-final game, i was struck with such a feeling of not home. before the game i was thinking about how much i wanted aj to play his best and give it is absolute everything without becoming so consumed with it. i do not ever want my kids to think that a sport, or a thing defines them! ever. it does not. sitting in this building, with a whole lot of parents who do not have a passion about raising their kids the way i do, made me feel...alone. i know that this world is not my home. i know that we are here for such a short time. but at the same time, we have to live life! and Jesus said that he came so that we could have not only life, but ABUNDANT life! i wanted aj to have fun. but i wanted him to win.

he didn't.

i could see his face across the court with about 45 seconds to play. he knew the game was over. he was shifting from one foot to the other, and he kept rolling his eyes with the hope to try and dry his eyes. his face was getting red, and i could see him struggling to hold it together. i hurt for him. he so badly wanted to win, and i knew that he also did not want to cry. part of me wanted to just run over and hug him to death (i didn't :)) but i also wanted to prove that this game was not that big of a deal. you know what i mean. it WAS a big deal, but it is not in the grand scheme of life.

see, at the same time my little boy was trying to discipline his body like an athlete training it to do what it should, (I cor. 9:27) i was doing the same thing, but in a different way. i was resisting the very strong urge to say how i was really feeling to the lady behind me. how my stupid flesh just wanted to say...a lot. but i didn't. and you know what? i found myself thinking that i was doing right by not saying what i was thinking, but i was doing wrong by not thinking of others as better than myself. does that make sense? i was keeping my mouth shut while thinking that i was the "better person" for doing so!!
the whole point is that when i am disciplining myself to obey Christ, it involves more than just strong will. it takes humility. it is taking verses that i have hidden in my heart and applying them.

so i did. i looked over at the few moms who i feel like a 16-year-old around and i struggled to remind myself that i have to consider others better than myself. then i quickly walked out of the gym!
oh the struggles. amazing how you can even make something look "righteous" when in reality you are being "self-righteous"

but back to my boy.

he is amazing. he is humble. he is sweet. he is an extremely gifted athlete. he loves his Bible. sometimes he still calls me mommy. he still walks up to me and hugs me for no reason. he loves his family. and he already knows that basketball does not define him. he is a new creature. he is a child of The Amazing King of Kings. That is who he is. so he happens to be a really good basketball player too, but that is just one more thing.

he will be fine. there will be more wins, and more losses. and we will all continue to be given opportunities to...not be the better person. but to consider someone else a better person.

and i pray that this little boy, who knows more moves on the court than any 8-year-old i know, will continue to grow closer to Jesus every single day.
that he will never forget what truly defines him.
his relationship with Jesus Christ.
only that will last forever.
what are you letting define your life?

school days school days dear old golden rule days...

i love when the sun comes pouring in the window and splashes happiness all over everything in sight.



it makes school easier...


it makes the day smoother...


it just makes the whole day brighter!