Family Pictures

Oh yeah - I have a blog don't I?

Well, we had a family picture made this past week. It was a lot of fun (right Granny and PawPaw)? Here are some of the shots.

The entire family

Jenn and Brian

The Kids

Coleman

Emmie

Calvin

Ellerie

My Calling...

This morning I was reading the latest ejournal publication from 9marks. The topic for this journal is marriage.

A pastor's wife was sharing what she has learned in her role of being a pastor's wife. "My call to be my husband's helper means I'm called to help protect his reputation by cultivating my own character. What an unexpected blessing it has been to be held accountable in such a sobering way. This high calling is sobering, yes, but it is also a kindness from the Lord to my sinful heart, because I need the extra accountability! When I meet with other women, I need to be able to say in good conscience how I spend my time and how I'm redeeming the time. It's not only for my reputation, but most importantly for my husband's and the Lord's!" (Laurie is the wife of Paul Alexander, pastor of Fox Valley Bible Church in St. Charles, Illinois.)

Wow! This truth applies to all wives, whether our husbands are in ministry or not. How do I spend my time? Am I cultivating my character in the situations I face each day? Much to think about from this quote!

My Goal

Brian preached a sermon a few weeks ago on Psalm 100 and I just found my notes while I was cleaning. I was looking over them and was reminded of the richness found in just the first verse: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

All the earth, including little ole me, is commanded to praise the LORD. I am commanded to make a noise, and not just any noise, but a joyful one. That's where it gets me. I can make noise, in fact, I can make a lot of noise (just ask those around me) - but can I make a joyful noise? Those who find their delight in the LORD are those that can make a joyful noise.

There are times when I don't delight and that is when I am reminded to get in the Word, to get on my knees and to pray for that delight. We praise what we enjoy - my desire is to enjoy the LORD and to make a joyful noise to Him through that enjoyment.

How can we do that? Well, Brian pointed to 4 affirmations for us to stand on when obeying this command:
Know that the LORD is God
Know that He made us
Know that the LORD is good
Know that the LORD is faithful

So - let's make some joyful noise!

Yumm-O!

Most of my friends know that I love to bake. Part of the fun of baking is licking the bowl, spoons, beaters, etc. Well, guess what I found at Wal-Mart the other night? Ben and Jerry have a new ice cream flavor - and it is called "Cake Batter."! Here's the description: yellow cake batter ice cream with a chocolate frosting swirl!

Oh my - it is yummy indeed!!

Sweetness!

Well, I finally got Ellerie's 1-year pictures done (good thing since she's already 15 months old - but technically she's still 1)! Here are the results:

Love those little curls!

This one is my favorite! I love black and whites and her expression is so Ellerie!

This is Daddy's favorite - he thinks she looks like the Precious Moments girl.

Our Weekend...

The great thing about Brian having a blog is that I can just link to his post if I don't have time to write my own! He wrote a post about our weekend fun - check it out!!

Summer Fun

This summer we were 'strongly' encouraged by a friend to join our community pool. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not, since I had 4 kids who couldn’t swim. But the pool website claimed that we could use “coast-guard approved” flotation devices. So that made me feel a little bit better. We decided to take the ‘plunge’ and join. We thought it would be good for our older ones to be in the water more often as they were learning to swim.

I can now say I am so glad we joined the pool. When we first started going, I wasn't so sure. Our first day there we found out that the kids couldn't wear any type of flotation device in the pool (even though that's not what the website said). But I decided to be mature about it and hang in there. The shallow end is only 2 feet so Calvin has done great there even without his swimmies. We also found out that our pool has all-kind-of-rules. I mean, we're not opposed to rules - rules are good - we like rules, really we do - but we've been to other pools in the area that only had a 'few' rules. So, we had to adjust a little bit to all of the rules ...

and I have to say that I am so glad that my arm was twisted to join the pool! Rules and all. They do have a smooth-running operation over there at the pool (which is probably because of all the rules). The lifeguards are top-notch and don't take their eyes off the pool - the swimming instructors are great - they have a great snack bar with fried foods - and the fun has been endless.

We have been participating in Float Night every Monday (which is a blog post all it's own, Kim -you wanna explain it?), Noodle Night every Friday, and going several other times during the week. Coleman and Emmie have turned into little fish and I couldn't be more proud of them. Emmie is even going off the diving board all-by-herself!

So this has been a lot of what we have been doing this summer:

Happy Birthday Calvin!

We were a little overwhelmed 4 years ago when we had 3 babies 3 years old and under ... but what a sweet baby you were/are! You have brought us so much joy and laughter and we can't imagine our lives without you. Happy birthday my little cuddle bug!

What a tiny little bundle!!

Such a big boy now...

A new toy...

Eating yummy cake!

He wanted a Wall-e cake ...

(Note to self: don't make another cake with sooo much midnight blue icing ... don't get me wrong, it's still the same yummy buttercream icing, but it makes everyone's mouth turn blue... - so people might notice if you try to sneak an extra piece of cake later on - I'm just sayin')