Self Improvement

So here's the thing...Luke never wants me to engage in self improvement!  I made the mistake of take him with me to have my eyebrows waxed one time and I think I traumatized the poor kid!  Ever since then, when he hears me talk about going to the nail shop or getting my hair done...he gets upset!  He says, "Mom, promise me you will not go to the place that gets your eyebrows ripped off!"  "Mom, don't get your hair a different color...I like you like this!"  But today, we had a break through!  He told me, "Mom are you going to get your hair done today?"  "Yes..." I said.  

"Oh, you're gonna look so pretty!"  I was shocked...but I'll take it!  It's so great to know your children would love you even with bushy eyebrows, gray hair and over grown toenails!  Isn't it?

A Day At Grandma And Grandpa's

The kids spent the day with my mom and dad on Sunday.  They had so much fun together.  They picked apples from the trees on the ranch (a few hundred)!   Then they made a pie!  Grandpa Bob and Belva were there this weekend and Belva helped Mariah make an Apple pie and cinnamon crisps!  Mariah loves to bake.  Later in the day they traded and box of apples for two trout that the neighbor caught on their fishing trip earlier that morning...so Grandpa Bob, Mario and Jake cleaned them and cooked them for dinner!  I love that my children get to have those experiences!  Thank you mom and dad for having them over for the day and creating such fun memories with them!  They had a wonderful time!

Silly Girl

I guess Mariah has been using the camera recently!  This is what I found this week when I went to load my pictures on the computer!  That girl keeps us laughing...

Disneyland

We spent the afternoon at Disneyland today and it was very fun!  We even got to meet some characters this time.  We didn't tell the kids we were going until after church!  We like to surprise them every so often and Luke was so excited!  Check out his huge smile!  We all had a great time together.  I always like to reconnect as a family before the busy week starts!

Soccer Season

It's that time again!  Mariah is playing soccer again this season and we are really enjoying it so far!  This year she moved up a division and it's much more competitive.  The field is so much larger and the girls are so much bigger!  She is really having a good time with Mario coaching. It's something she always looks forward to doing with her dad. Plus, Steph is helping out with practices and Dylan has been the Line Man for the games this year.  It's a family affair this time around and that has been really nice.  Soccer is definitely her thing. Today she got kicked right in the stomach with the ball and after a short fall to the ground, she got up kept going even though she was crying!  Now that's tough!  I would have been sooooo done!  I hope it's something that she decides to stick with for a long time.

My Little Billy Graham

If you know Luke, you know that if you even look at him and smile, he will start up a conversation with you.  These conversations can be about anything!  Well since starting school there has been no exception.  A couple of days after school had started his teacher pulled me aside to let me know that Luke had told her all about how much Jesus loves us, that he died for us, and listed all of the things he has made.  The look on her face told me that it was probably the last time she wanted to hear about all of that!  I told her I was glad that he had shared that and didn't think much about it again!  Then today happened...it's one of those moments in life when you are so aware that you have been entrusted with your children and you realize they are not yours but just "on loan" if you will.  I saw the teacher's aide approaching me as I came to pick up Luke and something told me "she needed to talk to me"!  Sure enough she said," I wanted to tell you something really quick".  She proceeded to explain(with tears in her eyes) that life was hard right now for her and that while on the playground today, Luke ran up to her and said, "Do know that Jesus died on the cross for you?  He was dead, but not now!  He went to heaven to make us a home and he's coming back someday!"  She said she was so surprised to hear him saying all of this and told him, "Luke your pretty incredible!"  He responded, "Well, I think you're an amazing girl too and God made you that way!"  Now I don't know all of the details of this woman's struggles but it reminded me that God can use ANY of us!  It doesn't matter if we are three years old or thirty years old, we can ALL make a difference in someone's life.  Plus, if the whole...rock'n'roll gig doesn't work out for him...it looks like he's got a back up plan!

Morning Bike Ride!

We didn't have much planned for the the long holiday weekend this time.  So, we decided to take a bike ride this morning!  It was really fun!  We all love bike riding and it's one of those things we can all still do together.  We went pretty far.  Mario thinks it was about 5 miles!  Luke isn't quite big enough yet to ride his"big boy" bike that far(he thinks he is though), so he hitches a ride with daddy still.  He told us while we were riding "Man, this is the most fun ever!"