Band Nerd...grrr

We were riding in the car coming home from a wonderful meal out. If you have not eaten at Pei Wei- you must ABSOLUTELY google one close to you. It's run by the same company as P.F.Changs, but cheaper. Thanks Pei Wei (pay-way)... or as Dave says, Pee-Wee. Giggles from the backseat.

Radio playing. Kelly Clarkson bustin' a song.

me: "Oh, Aiden! This song is in 6/8 time! 1,2,3,4,5,6,....1,2,3,4,5,6.."

Now, I am trying to have an impromptu learning moment since I am Aiden's piano teacher, after all. No such luck.

Aiden: "BAND NERD!!!!!"

Flat out belly-laughing ensues. I give Dave the evil eye.

Thanks Dave. My kids now think it is HIGH-larious to make fun of their momma, even to my protests that I was a 'cool' kid in band.

Don't laugh.... there are such kids.

And I was one of them. :)

We're having words... sorta

Just a quick one as I'm waiting for Dave to hurry home to a dinner of leftovers...some how I don't think he'll be too excited. That's why I haven't told him! hahaha. Anywho....

I threw Dax into the bath quickly, dried him and carried the ALMOST 30 lb. 8 month old to his room. You read that correctly. He's 29.5 pounds. Sheesh.

As I'm changing his diaper and whispering sweet nothings to this angel, I start hearing him verbalize. Now, you have to realize that he doesn't just babble all the time. He's very content to just sit and chill.

I just think the babbling is so cute until I really listen.

Dadadadadada...Dadadadada

No he did not just babble that when Dave has barely just changed 5 dirty diapers. (And wet diapers do not constitute as DIRTY. Amen?!?!?!)

I looked at this sweet child and leaned over... "Mamamama..."

He honestly laughed, SHOOK HIS HEAD and continued, "Dadadadada."

He did this TWICE.

Totally not fair.

New life

It's been one of those days where you have prayed for the Lord to work in your child's life. I was trying desperately to catch up on 2 weeks worth of Bible study in just 3 days. WOW. But the study was great and I have had a solid time meditating on the Word today. And prayer... for God to work in our lives and the lives of our children.

It's been a prayer since they were born; one of salvation but more importantly, a prayer that God would use each boy for His glory and that many people come to know Christ through their lives.

So I was driving home with the 3 young ones after having a quicky meal with Dave (elder meeting tonight... wouldn't be home until late). Drew pips up with a question.

"Mom, what's murder?"

Whoah. Where did you get that one, kid?

Glancing in the rear view mirror, I see that he is reading his children's Bible. Sweet. He was apparently reading the Ten Commandments.

The conversation moves from the definition of murder to the consequences of murder, then to the consequences of sin. I had one of those 'God moments' where I knew that the kids were really taking in this whole spiritual conversation.

We've talked plenty about God and Christ's work on the cross to our kids. But up until this time, they would always answer, "I already did that mom. Long time ago... like when I was 3."

But this was a time where I knew Aiden was thinking. So as we were talking, I asked him if he was ready to pray to Jesus to forgive him of his sins.

He said yes. :)

We decided to wait until dad got home so that he could pray with us.

And that's what we did... right after watching Wipeout.

We told Dave about our conversation in the car and asked Aiden again to share with us about his decision. Kneeling down beside the couch, Aiden prayed.

New life in Him. Coming as a child. A moment anticipated for years.

Family and angels rejoicing. :)

A pic from the birthday party: Aiden praying in front of approx. 100 people. Now we're looking forward to God fulfilling the second part of our prayers for him: that many will come to know HIM through this little boy.

Orlando and back and back again....

Dave's first week of vacation has come and went. :( boo.... back to work he goes. We've enjoyed our "staycation"- I hate the sound of that word. But in reality, we decided to dump vacation money into his 1997 Honda Civic. That piece of junk really does run quite well but I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love the fact that it is paid for and runs well, but HATE the fact that it has no AC (and has not had AC for the last 2 years) and is very, very... ahem... dirty.

So vacation money went to air conditioning. And a new headliner. And soon to be window tint. Apparently Dave thinks that his beat-up car is now worth $4,000.

Doubt it.

But we have visited the parents in Orlando. Twice now. And what do you do in the car ride there and back?

Glad you ask.

We take silly pictures. :)

I'm hot. I know you're asking, "Wow. No wonder Dave fell for her."

Aiden has a glimpse of what he'll look like in his late 20's: Bald and beautiful like his dad. :)

Somehow this is the most disturbing to me.

Hello Grandpa Lowery.

Drew's graduation

It's really summer and I am such a slacker! Really, we've been running from one thing to another and just loving the break.

BUT: I need to show pics that Drew DID pass kindergarten with straight E's (excellent). WAHOO!!! I never thought this day would come. This year has been crazy.

A pic of the proud parents. :) You can't tell but we were practically sharing one seat. Apparently, every parent wants to see their proud graduate. Who knew?!?!?!

Drew's class. Confession time: I don't know half these kids. This class was crazy and it grated on my anal self. So I spent more time in Aiden's class. Better luck next year....

I did miss Jupiter Christian especially on this day. JCS has such a wonderful graduation ceremony with full cap and gown. (Yes, it costs about $70 some compared to this measly $3 cheap-o cap.) Renaissance has 10 full kindergarten classes which rotate graduation times in a small cafeteria. ***Sigh***

But the deed is done and it is SUMMER!!!! YAY!

Randomness and Haiti

A little ramblings:

But first-some pics!

Drew is growing bigger and bigger. No longer a squeaky little voice. Almost done with Kindergarten! WAHOO!!!

But he's still our fun-loving middle child. He's his mother's child, what can I say.

Drew with Dax. Dax is now 6 months old and weighs close to 26 lbs. WOW. People ask me how I hold him. Well, I don't. Not for any length of time without sitting down. :) But we get plenty of cuddle time on the floor or in the rocking chair. What a sweet baby.

Dax just started baby food this week and is still getting a hang of it. He definitely prefers 'real' food over the canned baby stuff. (Who wouldn't?!?!)

I was digging through the bib drawer which houses about 50 bibs (no lie) and came across this one. I can't remember which baby this was originally given to, but I believe Heather gifted it to either Jackson, Aiden , or Drew. Love it.

Other news: Dave is heading to Haiti this Sunday night and won't be back until Thursday. He's traveling with 3 other guys from the church to scope out a couple ministries down there. One in which is an orphanage. I think Dave's a little apprehensive since he's never been out of the country. (I laughed just for my family's sake....hahaha!) I expect God to do some great things in the hearts of the men who are going. How can you not be impacted by the sights and sounds (and smells) of a third world nation?

Anyways, prayers are obviously appreciated. :) I look forward to spending some time listening to Dave talk on Thursday night/Friday morning as he digests the trip.

Tomorrow is also another day full of prayer as teams are hitting Port St. Lucie to participate in servant evangelism. I'm expecting God to do some great things tomorrow through the people of the church.

Talk about God doing great things, a friend of mine had one of her friends accept Christ this past Sunday. So neat. This girl has been coming to Financial Peace University and finally attended a service this last weekend. She prayed to receive Christ and has commented that this week has been a week of great peace. AWESOME.

This is the reason why we do what we do: to see people impacted by Christ. LOVE IT!!!

Time to party

It's over and it was fun!!! I can't believe how many people we had at the house. Had to over 100 crazy Floridians in this heat. One of my friends took pics and I'll try to get them up soon. I need a new version of iphoto or something. So we'll see.

We rented 2 bounce houses, had one HUGE slip 'n slide with tons of soap, and a little slip 'n slide for the little guests. Add some water balloons and shaving cream.... ahhhhh, the life. Plus one youth pastor veteran: Dave Carroll. He is crazy, did ya know?!?!? He even had some of the other men join him on the slip 'n slide.

Just from talking to Dave and my dad, it seemed like the objective was reached: to gather a mess of unchurched and churched together and let God work. Dad had the opportunity to talk to another father about raising children in love. Dave had the chance to talk to several about the Lord too. So neat.

But the coolest thing to me was Aiden's prayer right before we cut the cake. Dave leaned down and asked him in his ear if he would like to pray, and Aiden said yes.

What a prayer from my 7 year old. In the back of my mind, I was hoping he wouldn't say something about how he wished he would get tons of money or something! But he didn't.

He said something to the effect of thanking the Lord for all the people that came and for the opportunity to worship God. So awesome. It was truly a time where everyone was focused as he prayed loudly and unashamedly. Afterwards, the crowd murmured a quiet 'wow' and then broke into applause.

If people left and just had a taste of what God is like through my little boy.... then AWESOME.

On a lighter note, we had plenty of food and goodie bags. I asked God ahead of time to multiply and divide. He did! We had just enough of everything.

Thanks for those who were praying with us. We're looking forward to the next time we can do something like this. :)