Chillin

We have to get a new air conditioner. That totally stinks. It won't come until next Thursday. It's really hot in here! So...we've had to come up with some ways to cool down.

Our bigger pool is broken so they are chillaxin in the bitty pool.

Popsicles, of course!!

Nudies!

Or...just sit in the fridge. I kid you not, Anna walked over to the fridge, hit it until I opened it and then sat down in it. Hilarious!

Thankful Thursday

You know, there are just some moments in life that, as a mother, you want to hold forever. Being a mom can be so difficult, and you have days when you think, what were we thinking? But of course, you remember, they are truly blessings from the Lord. I had one of those moments yesterday...

I was putting Lilla (4) down to sleep, we were doing our normal bedtime prayers, when she suddenly said to me, "Mama, I won't bow down to a King, I'll only bow down to Jesus."

Which, of course, absolutely took my breath away. My prayer over her so many nights has been that she would love Jesus and follow Him all of her days. It's difficult sometimes to see that in a four year old though, as they are very sinful and selfish. Um, a lot like a 35 year old I know.

I digress, I honestly don't remember talking to her about the passage in Daniel when Daniel and Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego said this, so I'm assuming it happened in Sunday School. I know it wasn't this past week as they talked about Peter in prison for being a Christian. Apparently during the lesson she shouted out, "That's not right! You shouldn't go to prison for talking about the Lord." Amen sista!

All that to say, it warms me that somewhere she has stored up in her heart these beliefs and theologies. God is working in her. He is answering my prayer, and I, I am thankful.

Captured

We played outside today.

I took these pictures.

They made me smile.

Hope they give you a little chuckle too!

Wordless Wednesday

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10 Smile Tuesdays

Even though I was sick for a number of days this past week, there was lots to smile about. Here are some of them:

1. Learning to swing. Lilla has finally learned the art of swinging by herself. Yet another right of passage as a child. She was so excited yesterday to go back and forth, back and forth. You could hear her over and over, "Look at me, look at me!"

2. Baby birds. We have two little nests in our yard, well, at least two, we have lots and lots of mature trees so I'm sure there are more, but two that we see. Anyway, here's one of the nests:

3. Speaking of lots of trees, it's so nice to have all of the leaves growing back again. We have so many mature trees in our yard it just is beautiful when you are surrounded by all that green!

4. Awana. We love Awana in our house. It's taught Lilla so many great lessons this year and lots of bible verses. It's over for the summer, so we can't wait for it until the fall. Here she is in her award ceremony this week.

5. Well. Just feeling better again is something for me to smile about. I was feeling pretty bad for some number of days and to be able to move around and be me again is a great feeling!

6. The zoo. I already posted pics from last week you can see in my last post, but it bears repeating that we had so much fun at the zoo this week. It's always a fun day to go with friends and just enjoy the exhibits and gardens.

7. I'm walking. Anna is walking more by the day. It's been that zombie kind of walk she does and it totally cracks Michael and I up. It's such a big deal to see your child on their own two feet. Just one more step towards independence.

8. My camera died right after this picture, but all this to say is that we went to my friend's daughter's softball game the other day and it was so fun. I love little league sports, just fun to watch the unadultered kids play something they enjoy.

9. Garden time. We finally have all of our garden boxes tilled and we are ready to go! Got the zucchini planted yesterday and I'm going to try to get all the herbs done today. I need to head over to home depot for the rest. So excited! We made Lilla her very own little box too where she got to plant exactly what she wanted, sunflowers!

10. Family Dinner. Saturday night some family was driving through on their way back to Chicago so they stopped for dinner with us. We went to Uno's pizza and they actually let kids make their own pizzas! How fun is that?

What are you smiling about this week?

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

We have a season pass to our local zoo.

It's a smaller zoo, but it's clean.

It's easy to navigate.

It's a perfect place to spend a day with friends.

And since we have a pass, we can just stay a short time and not feel like we need to get our money's worth.

So we go a lot.

And bring PB&J's to enjoy in the garden.

And visit our new friends, the butterfly's.

We love our zoo, can you tell?