ghana

I've heard from Donathan a few times since they went into the North. Thankfully the phone works, even though it is sometimes touch and go. Everything is going well. Yesterday, he and three others from the group went to 4 or 5 schools. They started off by teaching the kids some songs, then someone would share the gospel. He said that a lot of kids raised their hands to receive Jesus. Of course, only the Lord knows the hearts, but they are receptive to the message. They rest in the afternoon, and then show the Jesus film at night. I guess it's sweltering hot and kind of drains your energy. Anyways, just wanted to give an update and thank you for your continued prayer.

toddler days

You know, it's been a few years since we've had toddlers in the household and I think I conveniently forgot many things, like:

Picky, picky eater. Kylie is by far the pickiest of the three yet. I am hoping she outgrows this phase rather quickly. She survives on pizza, dairy and pasta. I'm not sure what happened since she used to eat every veggie and fruit I gave her. I'm sure it's payback for my picky eating habits as a child.

Climbing into and onto every imaginable space (and then getting stuck). Today I found her standing on Mackenzie's play table. Guess she can climb more than I thought.

Helping with the laundry by wiping her runny nose on the clean clothes.

Emptying out the kitchen drawers several times a day and dragging their contents all over the house.

Playing with her crazy siblings who found some boxes and decided they were boats. They threw a bunch of play food in them and "rowed" around the house, which led to building tents in the living room.

Oh, these are the moments I live for. I must be really emotional since Donathan left for Ghana since I want to cry every time I see these pictures.



Oh yes, and today Kylie found a little bottle of glittery nail polish that Mackenzie got in a party gift bag. At least it was clear...

Ghana update: I got a quick 90 second phone call from Donathan to say they made it to Accra today and will be flying into the North tomorrow. They will be sharing the gospel hut to hut and showing the Jesus film. This trip will be a little more difficult since they will be camping! Please continue to keep them in prayer!!

fun times

Since today was our last full day together until Donathan leaves for Ghana next week, we decided not to do any housework and just have some fun. After Kylie's nap, we headed down to the beach for lunch and let the kids run around for awhile. Kylie is such a girly girl! She, like Mackenzie at her age, did not like touching the sand. When Brendan was first introduced to the beach, he ate sand by the handfuls. I'm sure she'll grow out of it, but it sure is funny. After letting Kylie walk the boardwalk and flirt with everyone, we headed over to visit with Gail, who graciously offered to keep the two older kids for a few hours. So after a quick trip to Lowes, Donathan and I started working the ground for our vegetable garden. Thanks Gail! I know the kids had such a good time since as soon as they got home, Mackenzie asked when they could go back :)

Nana and Papa came for a visit this week. Evan went to the Pastor's Conference with Donathan, but Sherry stayed and played with us. Yesterday we went to the park and enjoyed the cool weather. This was Kylie's first time being able to run around instead of being stuck in the stroller and of course, she loved it!

moments from our week

Just looking through my pictures and finding pleasure in the ordinary. Sometimes these "ordinary" days seem without importance, but I know that each of these moments is priceless. I know I will look back and miss them at some point. It is a reminder to me to take advantage of the time I do have with my kids, to enjoy them.

Brendan making a model of Mercury

Kylie enjoying the discoveries of being outside

Mackenzie and Jolie playing Pretty Pretty Princess

playing tag

My friend Cheryl, from All These Things tagged me...

The rules:
*link to the person who tagged you
*post the rules on your blog
*write six random things about yourself
*tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
*let each person know they've been tagged

Well, this is my first time doing one of these things, so here goes:

1-I hate nuts in cookies and I don't know why anyone would want to ruin a good dessert like that.

2-I LOOOOOOVE to read. Any really good day would involve a book, an iced coffee and some uninterrupted silence to go along with it.

3-This year I will be celebrating my 30th birthday as well as my 10th wedding anniversary. Crazy!

4-My family took road trips for vacations when I was growing up, so I have seen much of the United States. Our longest trip was from California to Washington D.C. Such good memories. We are hoping to drive with our kids up the eastern seaboard someday.

5-I'm pretty sure I never voluntarily ate any vegetable growing up. If I had had my choice, I would have survived on hot dogs and kraft macaroni n' cheese. Things have much changed since then! And I'm sure my mother takes secret delight in the fact that my two girls are extraordinarily picky eaters-retribution for all the grief I gave her about food.

6-I was confident that I would never homeschool our children and this is my third year attempting to do so. Definitely the Lord changing my heart, because it certainly wasn't me! Never say never...

I'm to lazy to tag 6 other people, so I'm breaking the rules. Consider yourself tagged if you read this!

moon watching

Donathan and Brendan have been studying the moon this week with Brendan's new telescope. Donathan discovered he could take pictures with our digital camera through the telescope and this is what they saw:







It's pretty amazing. We are really enjoying studying astronomy and seeing God's handiwork in the heavens.