Summer VACATION - a little late!

So I am a little late in updating everyone on our fabulous summer vacation! This was our first "family vacation" outside of visiting family members, although we did meet up with Joe's mom, grandmother, and siblings! We were VERY blessed to be able to go to beautiful Cape May, NJ and stay in a beautiful home - Seaside Home. It is only about a block from the ocean - a short block!

Each morning around 7 am if you went out you could hear the waves come crashing in... it was amazing to me. The detail that God put into everything he created is amazing. As I heard the waves I thought about the details of the ocean, then the details of the beautiful sunset we watched, and EVERY grain of sand!!! It helped me to remember that God cares about the DETAILS of MY life!!! That is sometimes hard for me to grasp - that an amazing God so mighty and powerful, so amazing would care about measley lil ol' me and my details! So we went to the ocean at least once a day for a swim and lots of playing in the sand, we had morning and evening devotions at the home with a local pastor (it was sort of like a family camp), often I walked into the center of town while the boys napped for some shopping or testing and buying the most wonderful fudge and salt water taffy, and just totally relaxed! Joe and I truly enjoyed our time with Joe's family, and the boys, and just being together without the busyness of life. I am so thankful that God allowed us to go on such a restful vacation. That is what its supposed to be about, but often that does not always happen!!

CURIOSITY. IMAGINATION. A HEAVY HEART.

Here I am once again, Ryan has stumped me again. We have been trying to gear Ryan up for Awana, which he will be starting on Wednesday... (I'm probably more excited than he is!) so we've been working on memorizing verses. Also I do not have a stereo in my car at the moment, so that is what our conversation consists of each morning as we go to daycare. His innocent little voice reciting verses is such a great way to start our day! (especially mine!) So as we are learning Romans 3:23 and we are talking about sin... and heaven and hell(for the 1st time hell)... Ryan spouts out "Dont worry mom, I'm going to heaven!"... me: Well Ryan thats great, but do you know why your going to heaven? RYAN: because Jesus is in there... and points to a cemetery. Wow.... We have ALOT to work on I thought. Next was what really caught me up... "Mom, I am going to die on Sunday." I quickly replied, "oh no I dont want you to die before mommy".... Then in his sweetest voice he says "Its okay mom. You, me, dad, and Logan are all going to die on Sunday and go to heaven. That makes me happy."..... WOW. Where did that come from? Well, it was just amazing to me that he would think of us all dying as a family. We do everything else together why wouldnt we all die together in his mind?... So... all of this conversation has really stirred up an feeling of urgency in my heart... an urgency for him to understand the "why" of salvation. As offensive as it is, it is very difficult for me to believe there is an "age of accountability" as it does NOT say that anywhere in the Bible. This is a very hard thing for me to wrap around my brain. Our church recently did a study on where do babies go when they die.... and even though I've been told all my life there is an "age of accountability" I just cant come to grips with the fact that it is only assumed, not confirmed biblically. So there you have it. There is my heart. I'm certain there will be someone offended...and rightfully so...I'm offended. The word of God is offensive.

Antics of RYAN.

My Ryan, he is well... 3. I love it! And if you ask Joe he'll say "I wish they were born this way, I don't like babies." Ryan has fully developed quite the personality! He is strong willed and loves to do things on his own. He LOVES pretending... he likes to pretend he can't hear me! (not something he's allowed to do!) He is also VERY much a first child, with first child syndrome: beat up younger siblings. NO really, he adores his little brother and is very protective. He recently had a panic attack when we were disciplining Logan. Logan received a light twack on the hand as I told him "no no"... all of a sudden Ryan started WHALING as if he were serioiusly hurt! "DONT HURT MY LOGAN- MOMMY YOU MADE ME SAD AND MAD".... so yes, he loves his brother. But most importantly is his understanding of who Jesus is, and what He's done for us. He goes to Sunday school and loves his little friends, likes to do the crafts and sing the songs. His favorites are B-I-B-L-E, The wise man who built his house upon a rock, Father Abraham, and Deep and Wide. Recently after returning from vacation we went to Granny's church before heading home... he brought his craft and showed us the picture he colored of Esther. When asked what the story was about he replied "zip your lips"... and I was a little angry. ME: RYAN, you do not tell me to zip my lips, I am simply asking you about your story. RYAN: MOM! MY STORY SAID ZIP YOUR LIPS!!! I died with laughter, not necessarily the best thing to do, but I realized he must have been asked to "zip his lips"...
Then just today i was asked him if he remembered the verse we learned yesterday - Gen. 1:1 - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".... he recited the verse to me, and then said "Mommy he made the dark too. That's my verse too, dark is from God." Oh how I love his innocence... his childlike faith, creativity, unconditional love, and the cutest things that come from his mouth! I want him to stay this age... well, forever.

LIFE WITH THE BOYS - Jan. 08

1-23-2008
Today, nothing out of the ordinary. A quiet day at home with the boys so far. Let's see.... Ryan requested (more less demanded) popcorn for breakfast. That was fun. We just traded lunch for breakfast pretty much. Then as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I looked over to see Ryan using his elephant hand puppet to entertain Logan with his many voices. It was cute... and as always I tried to capture it with the camera as soon as I could, but the "story ended" as I was raising my camera. Those are the moments I must cherish... I will never get them back. Later in the morning we decided to have a "dance party" in the living room, which can't be anything but fun... until someone gets hurt of course. Ryan got a little dizzy to say the least and threw himself right on top of Logan. No worries. He's fine. Logan let out a little yelp, then all was good. He was ready to go again! I wish adults were like that with life. Something gets you down... you get right back up again! We ended our morning by watching Little Einsteins and 1/2 of Peter Pan... while Logan was napping. I got some cleaning done and a shower too! I have been a little under the weather the last few days so it feels good to get some stuff done and be refreshed. I have been so back and forth (Joe's pretty sure of his desires) about having one more to complete our family... we'll see how I feel about that this afternoon when we go to Chucky Cheese! Well.... as I said before - a quiet day around here... SO FAR.