What's for dinner?

Here's our beautiful cat, Phoebe. We got her last December and she's the best cat in the world!

Abbi got Jacob an ant farm for his birthday and we FINALLY got some live ants for it. Phoebe is fascinated with it!

The Path to the Octopus

The kids have all been writing stories in their free time. Caleb finished one today that I had to share. The ending made me laugh out loud. Enjoy.

The Path to the Octopus
Once there was two guys trying to get something out of the sea. Then one guy saw a hole of some sort. They they both went to check it out. When they were in it, it was just a wall - it wasn't a hole. Just then the wall opened. They went in the hole and the door shut behind. When they entered they saw a big octopus and big tentacles and they were scared so they tried to get away but the octopus grabbed them. They yelled for help but no one could hear them because they were under water. Then the octopus let go and they were free. They went out of the tunnel. A couple days later they went back into the water. They went back in the hole. When they entered there was no octopus. So they went deeper and deeper. Then they saw a octopus. At first they were terrified but then they realized that the octopus was sleeping. Then they shot it so there was no more octopus. The end.

Happy Birthday, Papa!

This was too big to email, so here it is for all to see. Make sure you watch to the end!

Twinkle, Twinkle??

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star? You decide!

Horseback riding

The weekend before last, I got to go to Gatlinburg, TN with 21 other ladies from our church for a ladies retreat. Gatlinburg is nestled in the beautiful Smoky Mountains (which I fondly refer to as 'hills' after living in the Northwest) and we had a terrific time. One of our activities was horseback riding. In the picture below, you can see some of the horses grazing and the Smoky's in the background. It was beautiful!

Here I am on my horse 'Ret.' We all had to remember the name of our horse. My friend, Mary Beth, is behind me on her horse, Diego. My horse kept trying to nip at her horses rearend. It was quite a ride. And I paid for it for 3 days.

And here I am with my buds, Becki and Linsdey. Becki is the mother of Emory (and Isaiah and Hudson) who is shown a few blogs down with Abbi. These 2 wonderful ladies have a become a very important part of my life. It's been such a blessing to get to know them and their sweet families. Lindsey and I are in charge of the nursery at church on Sunday mornings, and she has two wonderful children - Aiden and Riley.

Abbi's new room

A few weeks ago, Jon went to Japan on business. He's been traveling a lot lately, but for some reason him being on the other side of the world for a week was different. I needed a project. So, I decided to paint Abbi's room. We'd been talking about it for awhile. Her room was a boring tan color...not girly at all. So she picked out the color and we got busy. Here's the finished room!
We went to IKEA (one of my favorite stores) and got these shelves with tubs to replace her toy box. Such a wonderful change! Her room has stayed clean since we made this change. We started babysitting for our Youth Pastor and his wife on Wednesday mornings...Abbi and I were totally inspired the first day we got to babysit. Their baby girl (Ella) has the sweetest room. We loved her sheer curtain in her room and decided to copy it. Abbi's curtain has flowers embroidered on it. The wooden letters that spell 'Abbi' on the wall were also inspired by Ella's room. Abbi painted the letters white and then put a coat of sparkly Modge Podge over them. So feminine...we love her new room!

The Nails in Your Hands

Currently Listening
Mercy Me
The Nails in Your Hands

The nails in Your hands,
The nail in Your feet,
they tell me how much You love me.
The thorns on Your brow,
they tell me how,
You bore so much shame to love me.

And when the heavens pass away,
all Your scars will still remain,
and forever they will say,
just how much You love me.
So I want to say
Forever my love, Forever my heart,
Forever my life is Yours.

J - joyful
A - artistic
C - careful
O - obedient
B - blessing

C - compassionate
A - amusing
L - laughter
E - energetic
B - boy (as in all boy)

A - adventurous
B - beautiful
I - independent
G - girly
A - amazing
I - intelligent
L - lovable

I just took my shower and thought of the above. Yes, I know it's 4:00 in the afternoon, so lest you think I've been sitting around all day, this is what I've done:
7:30 - got up (on a Saturday, mind you), got dressed, brushed teeth, cleaned up the kitchen and living room, went out to breakfast with the family, came home and put the roast and veggies in the crockpot for dinner, had some girl-time with Abbi while Jon and the boys were the free Home Depot class for kids, got ready for stamp club next week and here I am. I think I have time to get another project stamped and then we're off to a birthday party at Skate Country. Then home to eat the roast and veggies.

Pledge of Allegiance

Here's another blast from the past - the twins reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I don't know why there's not one of Jacob doing it. Maybe he was camera shy. I love how Caleb says, "indibisible."