A most important decision...

Annagrace had been talking for several months about getting baptized and the day finally came a few weeks ago. August 25th, 2013 to be exact. We invited several special people over to our house and baptized Anna in our pool. It was such a special time. We are so proud of our girl and the important decision she made to follow the Lord as her Savior. There is such joy in seeing your child say yes to Jesus. Here are some photos from our special day followed by some pictures I just took tonight at the park.

ramblings

Another month has passed since I've posted on here. We have been busy getting used to our new schedule this school year and finding our groove. We've pretty much found it but I always hold on to it loosly because I know things can change once I find a comfortable place. I'm pretty sure I've learned how to embrace change since I've had a lot of practice over the years but that's for another post all together. This post is titled ramblings because I'm pretty sure that's how it will sound. So here is the latest on what's been happening with my sweet family. Let's begin.
Why not start with yours truly. It seems the only pics I'm in are the ones I take of myself. I guess these are called selfies. I don't do many, I'm not that vain. But this was one of my last runs I took before the summer heat hit. I think I was able to run all the way up until the end of June and then I had to change up my workout plan and that's when I discovered Zumba and I LOVE it!

 While the rest of us were melting in the summer heat, this guy was cooling off on the couch with his teddy bear. Such a baby.

 Another selfie, maybe I am starting to get vain. I'll have to keep an eye on me. :)

 Best decision of the summer, the kids took over their own laundry. Best. decision. ever. It took such a load off me and I'm so thrilled to have one less thing to do around this busy house of ours.

 We had insulation blown into our attic, another great decision. We are hoping our utility bills with thank us.

 We discovered that Pepper is almost deaf. He doesn't seem to mind but he can hardly hear a darn thing. He is 10 1/2 so I guess things like this happen.

 This young man and I celebrated 18 years of mairriage on July 28th, yeah for us!!!! We went on a date to PF Changs and walked around the mall. It was a fun night.

 Annagrace started school on July 31st. She is going to school full time this year at a charter school in Gilbert. She is loving school! She goes from 7:20 to 12:30 so I still get her home every afternoon/evening and she gets to join the boys and I for some of homeschool. This picture was taken before meet the teacher.

 This was one of our last summer outings before school started. Anna and Camden love Bass Pro Shop.

 this summer we had lots of forts, this one was pretty cool. It's being kept up by a box fan.

 This was taken on Anna's first day of school. This pic melts my heart. Daddy giving his sweet girl a little pep talk before going off to school

 After Anna's first week of school, we celebrated by going to In & Out.

 Jadon has been keeping busy hanging out with friends and going to Jr. High stuff at church. This was taken on the night of the GaGa ball tournament. Fun times!

 He also made a few yummy treats this summer. When a growing teenage boy has cravings, he gets to work.

 This was a copy of a text Anna sent to her Grandma after school one day. As you can see she LOVES school.

 We had to say goodbye to Arguss, Jadon's lizard. It was a sad time but we did all we could to nurse him back to health but his body gave out and he passed away. :(

 Out for a walk on a rare summer night where the temps were actually not too bad.

 Pepper licked one of Anna's art projects and this happened. LOL.

 We went on our first annual park hopping night. Park hopping is where you go to several parks in one night only staying a few minutes at each park. It was a blast!!!!!

 Park hopping always ends at Sonic.

 Some of us are just too cool for words.

 Camden and his sweet buddy.

 Anna and some of her friends on her baptism day, more of that in another post.

 We really didn't have many summer storms, much to my dismay. We saw this one roll in and then move to the west and totally miss us. So not fair.

 This may cause some to turn their heads in wonder but it's just a normal occurance at our house. Camden was inventing a way to cook rice.

 Someone got an owie and it wasn't one of the kids. It was me this time. I hurt my elbow, had a run in with a window sill.

 I had to wear this for a few days but I healed fast and am doing fine now.

 Fall is in the air and our house is now reflective of that. I love decorating for Fall!

 Our front patio is ready for me to enjoy it once our morning temps allow.

 Nver a dull moment at our house and you never know when you will come in contact with explosive material. This was the center piece at our dining room table for about a week.

 Our beautiful palm, we gave it a nice trim. So pretty.

 Pepper has Camden wrapped around his little finger, or arm in this case.

Summer of 2013 has been awesome! Now we are ready to bring on the Fall!!!!

Quack Quack

When I was in my elementary school years I had several stuffed animals. I can remember three in particular, Quack Quack, Quick Quick, and Muffin Teddy. Quack Quack was a small stuffed duck that my dad brought home for me from one of his business trips, he was my favorite. I loved Quack Quack. He was downright adorable, soft, and was my sleeping buddy for several years.

One Saturday afternoon while my dad was reclining on the family room floor watching football, I was looking all over for my misplaced Quack Quack. I couldn't find him anywhere and was becoming quite upset about it. My dad finally decided to join the search and as he sat up and made his way off the ground Quack Quack came into full view. My dad had unknowingly been laying on Quack Quack for a good length of time and Quack Quack didn't resemble his round fluffy self anymore. He was as flat as a pancake- amost unrecognizable. (I will insert here that my dad is not a large man by any means but given Quack Quack's small size, he was an easy target to be squished over a prolonged period of time).

Upon realizing what had happened, I shed a few tears and was quite concerned Quack Quack would never be the same again. This is when my dad summoned me to go get my doctor's kit (the Fisher Price kind) and he announced he would be performing surgery on Quack Quack to make him better. I still remember the walk down the hall to my bedroom, at this point I was half smiling and half crying. I came quickly back with the doctor's kit in tow and handed it over to my dad. At this point he had me leave the room and told me he would call for me when the surgery was complete. Looking back, I'm sure my dad needed me to leave so he could laugh without me seeing him. I of course didn't see the humor in this until years later, after all Quack Quack's life was on the line. I imagine my dad probably gave Quack Quack a good shaking and fluffing up of the stuffing and reformed him to his natural state. Soon, I was called to come back to the surgery room, AKA the family room. Upon my arrival, there was Quack Quack looking just like he should, all plump and fluffy. I had instructions to give him medicine throughout the night and he would be all better by morning. All was well again in my world thanks to my dad.

I loved Quack Quack even more after his near death experience. What I also learned is that my dad loved me so much he would take time away from his football game and concentrate on my beloved stuffed duck. He could have so easily just shook him a few times and thrown him back to me, but no. My dad knew my sensitive heart and my love for Quack Quack so he knew Quack Quack deserved royal treatment. He loved Quack Quack too.

Fast forward 30 plus years and here I am a mother of a daughter who LOVES her stuffed animals. Because she loves her stuffed animals, and I love her, I also love her stuffed animals. They all have a name, and I know each one of them. I don't just say goodnight to my daughter, I say goodnight to whichever stuffed friend she is sleeping with too. When she asks me to hold one of them, I don't just hold it, I actually cradle it and show love to it. My dad taught me important lessons in life and one of the best ones is to love what my children love, it's a wonderful way to their heart. So thank you dad for being such a great dad not only to me but also to Quack Quack. Who knew that little act would be so huge in my book!

iPhone photos, April 2013

I'm not sure how I ended up with so many photos from April and early May but here they are.

Camden is trying to start a leaf on fire (under my supervision)

 Michael's car got hit by a tree during a wind storm. It was in the shop for quite some time.

 Daddy hasn't learned that working from home is a bad idea. LOL

 On a run. :)

 Family card game night, he comes prepared.

 Homeschool is in session.

 Camden took skateboard lessons for about three months. He did awesome!

 Anna enjoyed having her BFF over for a sleepover.

 Jadon busy at work.

 The boys and I did funny pictures before bed one night.

 My lifeguard duties began.

 Sometimes you just have to embarrass your kids.

 These two, so cute. From our Six Flags trip.

 The Ray superheros.

 Sweet Pepper.

 Camden working on a science project.

 Enjoying the slip and slide.

 We changed our house around. We like to do that quite often.

 Mother's Day with my lovies.

 Pepper on reading duty, making sure Camden doesn't skip any pages.

 Some new decor I got with Birthday money.

 And here we are being silly again. :)