Going outta town

Going out of town to my friend's, Betsy, house. C-ya!!! Be back Tuesday!

pigtails

This was my first attempt at pigtails for Makenna. I've gotten a little better since then. My part is a little straighter anyways. She's pretty cute, huh?

Oh,and this always makes me laugh. If she wears the pigtails all day, this is how her hair looks even after they've been out. They're pretend pigtails!

hot date

Eric and I went out Tuesday night alone for the first time since I think....February. We went to Penn Station. (YUM!!!) I love their subs, and it had been so long since I had been ther. After eating, we were off to the new Indiana Jones movie. (It was in the cheap theater.) I was soooooooo looking forward to Indiana Jones, and we were both a little disappointed in it. I mean, it was good until you find out what they actually found.....spoiler alert!!......We're just not into alien things. It just didn't seem to go with the whole Indiana Jones theme. But Indiana himself was still pretty awesome! Regardless, we had a good time together. I think we need to do it a lot more often though! Six months is just too long to wait in between dates.

a new game

Here's the boys' new game. It was cracking me up. They played for HOURS, and I'm not exaggerating. Here's the rules/object of the game:
1. Check out the couch covered with toys and other stuff.
2. Choose which one thing you would like to keep.
3. Pay for it by running laps around the house.
4. Then rest and wait for your turn again.

Here's Luke after doing his 20 laps.
And here's Makenna watching all of the madness!!

I'm gonna be posting one more video of this on the sidebar where you can see Kaleb running too. It's pretty cute!

Oh, and Blake decided came out the next morning while they were still playing and wanted to show everyone up. He did 55 laps!!!

Check out these sleeping cuties!

Pretty cute, huh? (And, yes, for some reason they decided to take the sheet off of their mattress and sleep. I know...GROSS, but they still pull off being really, really cute!)

newest additions

Big Red and Little Red...We've been babysitting fish for the Carter's while they are out of town. We've had them for at least three weeks, maybe longer. It's amazing that we haven't killed them yet. They love to keep close to the top of the water and wait for food.

An ordinary day

We did a little shopping today, and then went to a park. Tonight we were oustide for a little bit.

Poor Makenna doesn't stand a chance, huh?



all four fighting over the wagon, and poor Makenna stuck in the middle

Baby Dedication Day

Yesterday morning was our baby dedication day. Wow it was amazing how many babies our little church has! It's an amazing oppurtunity to be a parent, and we are so thankful to have God on our side to guide us through the decisions that need to be made. We pray that God will be a huge part of not just Makenna's life, but all of our children's lives, and we pray that it will start at an early age.

What God has done for me

God has been working on me for quite some time now. I have been struggling with my salvation for quite some time. I remember when I was at camp when I was about 16, that the preacher was preaching about going to hell. I remember being terrified of going to hell, and well, frankly...I believe that I said the prayer to get out of going to hell. I mean I knew that Jesus died on the cross for my sins....but well..... I just didn't take him personally that day. I did a little cop-out....I said the prayer so I could get into heaven.
Recently in the past year or so, I've been struggling with that prayer that day. Did I really get saved that day? Did I really take Him as my personal Saviour? Did I really mean it? It seemed like I would solidify that I was saved only to doubt the next day. It was a back and forth battle. Every now and then a preacher or speaker at church would say something that would make me go crazy with doubts. I was floored one day when Jared was in Master Club teaching the little kids and simply asked if you believed with your heart. He went on to explain that you can easily believe in your head. Shoot Satan even believes that Jesus is who He says He is, but Satan isn't saved. I had never really thought of that before, but it was true. That got me to seriously thinking even more. Sure, I grew up in a Christian home and I knew that Jesus paid the debt for my sins, but maybe it was just in my head. Maybe it never quite reached my heart. It was more of a head knowledge for me.
This past week I asked my Sunday School teacher and his wife to pray for me and he sent me an email with a couple of questions on it that got me thinking even more. He asked do I serve Jesus because it was what I was raised to do? Do you serve because you know you should? Do you have joy in serving Jesus? I failed all of these questions miserably. I did do my jobs in church because they were what I was supposed to do. I didn't have true joy in doing them. Half of the time they were a burden that I didn't even want to do.
There were a couple of verses in the Bible that would get me every time I read them. The one in Acts 8 when Philip is witnessing to the Ethiopian and he says, "If though believest with all thine HEART, thou mayest." And then again in Romans 10 where it says, "That if though shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine HEART that God hath raised Him from the dead, though shalt be saved. For with the HEART man believeth righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation!"
Well, I was on my way to girl's night out yesterday (I had to stop at Walmart first to get some snackages.) when I turned on the radio. There was some preacher guy on the radio. I'm telling you...I do not like listening to talking on the radio....especially preaching, but for some reason, I left it on. This guy was talking on the radio about .....get this....... How there are many people who are full of the head knowledge of Jesus Christ, but it just hasn't ever reached their heart. WOW!!! It was like he was talking to me. He went on to say how there were lots of "almost Christians," and how you must have a private belief.....and then a public confession....how you couldn't just say the words unless you meant them from your heart. It hit me then, that I had never done that. I had never seriously, accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour. I had never allowed Him into my heart. I had never believed with my heart. So, right there in the Walmart parking lot...Jesus called me to Him, and I accepted Him as my personal Saviour. I'm saved now, never to have to doubt again. And let me just tell you. I feel different. I feel changed. I feel the joy of Jesus in me, and well, it feels great.

Did someone say P-A-R-T-Y????

Hung out with some friends last night. Lot and lots of fun!! Too bad I forgot to pull out the camera!!! GRRR......

Swimming

My kids have been swimming like maybe once in their lives..okay, let me fix that. Blake and Luke has been swimming a couple times as babies, and once as 3 and 4 year olds. They hated it. I mean they had a death grip so hard on Eric and me that we literally had to pry them off. We have not been back since. When Blake went to camp, he wouldn't go swimming because he was scared. He was probably the only kid that didn't go swimming in the whole camp, but he still didn't.The younger boys don't like to even go to the little spray water park that much although they are warming up to it a little. So basically what I'm trying to say is...my kids do not like water.
Now, the cousins are here and they love water. Michael and Stacy's anniversary was Tuesday, so they left the kids with us, and they went out to dinner and got a hotel. The next morning they invited us to the pool. I was pretty hesitant. I did NOT want to deal with four boys whining about getting in the pool, but Kaylee and Andrew really loved swimming, so we went.
OH my word, they had a great time. Even Blake will say that he had a good time. They were all a bit hesitant at first. In fact, Luke was the only one who jumped in, and he almost freaked out after that. Jakeb and Blake were a little slow warming up to the water, but they did. Michael, my brother, was great with them. He was helping them the whole time, teaching them how to kick and paddle and of course....how to jump in. Everyone jumped in at least one.....everyone that is except Kaleb. He didn't love the water very much. He got in two or three times and completely had his fill of it. He instead decided to sit with a towel wrapped around him. He also ended up getting in trouble and had to go stand in the corner......not cool.
Anyways, the kids had a blast. I was so happy that they enjoyed it. Jakeb wants to have a birthday party at a pool for his 7th birthday. (Note: He's only 5. I guess he needs a couple years to get warmed up to the pool idea again.) And since we've been home, Luke and Jakeb have both asked to go back. So, the pool is cool now!

Monday Afternoon Football

Well, since Uncle Michael is here....the kids know it's time for some MONDAY AFTERNOON FOOTBALL!!!!! They love playing football with their uncle and cousins!!!

Happy Birthday, Christopher!!!

My nephew on Eric's side of the family just celebrated his 4th birthday!!! Happy BIRTHDAY!!! I just couldn't get over how grown up he looks. Last time I saw him, he looked so little, now he's huge and stinkin' adorable!!!

Christopher and his sister Alexandria

Check out their pool party

Cousins have arrived!

They were on a church planting trip with their church, and came over to see us for a few days when they were done. The boys were stoked to have them here!!! They always have such fun when they're here.

Shaved Head

...and I'll just leave you with this. I dared him to shave his head in exchange to be his maid for an entire month. (What stinks is that I actually like it! So, I got nothing out of the deal, well except for a nicely shaved head!)

Wedding

I went to a wedding last Saturday. I have known the bride almost my entire life. She used to go to college with my dad, and she would baby-sit us kids when we were little. The groom was a good friend of my dad's. He was always one of my favorites. What was unusual about this wedding was that it was a deaf wedding. Everything was done in sign language....the songs, the vows, the "I do's", absolutely everything. And it was beautiful.

(Sorry the pics are so bad. I've never been great at getting good pictures inside a church building.)

Unity candles

A song is being sung by the lady off to the left of the bride.

A funny part of the wedding was the kiss. Barbara has never been married. In fact, she always said that she would never get married. So she was a little embarrassed to be kissed in front of so many pictures. Check out the wedding kiss in front of everyone.

Ralph and Barbara Francini

Creation Museum

Last week, my kids and I met up with my brother, his family, and part of his church at the Creation Museum. This was our second visit, and I thought it was just a fun place to go. I really loved the walk thru the Bible part best on the inside and loved the gardens on the outside. Oh, and also......they have a petting zoo now.....Check out this MONSTER pig!!! Kaleb got a little scared of it and started running away. I think the kids loved the bridge part the best. They had this awesome bouncing bridge.

Bad Blogger

Wow, I have been a bad blogger lately. I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've blogged!!! I have some stuff to blog about. I really do. I'll get to it soon, hopefully tonight.

Blake's funny

So, the other day, we were doing some errands when Blake saw this gas sign and said, Look, Mom, gas is pretty cheap!" He definitely knows a good deal! (This picture was taken while turning a corner, so that's why it's blurry.)

And this whole past week, Blake has been at camp for the first time! He claims he had an okay time (although he left all of his dirty clothes and sheets there. GRRR....) Man, I missed that boy!

I hope to have some picture to post some time in the future of that!