we have a red stripe in the house!!!

Well, he did it! Bennett took his test today and earned his red stripe in Tae Kwon Do! He amazes me every time... such confidence and determination!! I'm so proud of him!!

Here he is getting his belt...

and here is his best pose...

Watch out! He's tough!!

This week has been a fun one. Bennett has been at the McWane Science Center camp learning about 'the science of super heroes'. He has come home with a handmade cape, mask, jet pack, and today a flying disk. I've been able to get a few details out of him, but mostly I just know that he had a GREAT time and that they had good food and snacks. Oh, and that they watched a Batman cartoon (which he isn't allowed to watch at home) and that he told his teacher that he wasn't allowed to watch that (but only after watching it for the first day :)

I'll leave you with this last picture of the week:

I spend time and effort on the unending laundry...

apparently for Roger to sleep on

(and yes, he's on the dining room table.

and no, he's NOT allowed to be up there.

and no, my rules don't stop him from doing whatever he wants to do...)

How'd we get so lucky???

Bennett tiptoed down the stairs this morning and tapped me to wake me up. As Brad pretended to be asleep, Bennett and I snuck into the kitchen and prepared breakfast in bed for Father's Day. Bennett had the menu all planned out: 3 pieces of french toast, cut half with syrup and white sugar (aka powdered sugar), waffles, pancakes, and eggs. After calculating the amount of time I had to cook, the number of eggs in the fridge, and the amount of food Brad could consume, we settled on french toast, an egg (mc)muffin sandwich, and hot chocolate. Bennett helped me at every step, even 'waking' Brad up to see if he wanted syrup or not. He wasn't quite sure of Brad's choice of peanut butter, so he got both :)

As Bennett climbed into bed with Brad (with his own breakfast, of course) I could see the love and admiration that he has for his daddy. They are an amazing pair. They do everything together. They swim. They camp. They spy. They garden. They read. They go to church. They talk on the phone. They play on the playground. Watching them together brings me so much joy.

Brad has blessed my life by being such a wonderful daddy. When I dreamt of being a mother, I never really thought all that much about what kind of a father I wanted my children to have. But God thought about it - and He sent Brad to be my partner in raising Bennett. Brad's love for Bennett is amazing. He took Bennett as a baby without any hesitation or fear. As I went through my post-partum ups and downs, he and Bennett bonded. And it was strong bond. Brad is a natural daddy. He never complains about spending time with Bennett or any of the duties that are involved in his care. He's nurturing. He's stern. He's fun and adventurous. He doesn't mind getting dirty - and he loves to give hugs and kisses. He gets down on the floor and plays. He tells good made-up stories. He snuggles at bedtime. He prays. He's everything I could have ever asked for for Bennett. Bennett and I are so lucky to have him.

June 2003

June 2009

Bennett is so lucky to have Brad as a daddy - and I'm so lucky to have him as my husband!! I praise God for how wonderfully He created Brad. Happy Father's Day!!

in the good 'ole summertime...

Each year for the past 5 years, Bennett and I have had a great time at Asbury's Vacation Bible School. Yes, you read that right, since Bennett was 2 years old, we have been at VBS each year!! I started volunteering so that we could get out and meet people - and it worked!! I met so many great friends - and Bennett did too!!

This year our theme was Camp EDGE, and once again it was a great time for both of us! Kelly and I headed up crafts and had awesome volunteers that helped 600 kids make popsicle boxes and paint canvases. Bennett had a great group with Mrs. Julie and Mrs. Susie as leaders. Here are Bennett and Connor singing on Thursday night.

There is NOTHING like seeing Bennett worship God in song. Love it!! Here we are are at assembly early one morning...
Each day the kids filled out prayer cards and then exchanged them to pray for each other at night. Twice we got a card from Connor saying 'I hope Bennett stays safe'. So sweet :)

On Wednesday night we had a huge first at our house... Bennett had a friend spend the night. The boys had a GREAT time - and I was a nervous wreck :) It was so strange having another child in the house!! They had so much fun - playing the wii, star wars, taking a bath, eating dinner (burritos and quesadillas), and sleeping in Bennett's bed.

And, yes, they did actually sleep. In fact, they were asleep shortly after 9!! No kidding!!

We are off to a great start for our summer. It's getting too hot to do anything except run in and out of air conditioned buildings or go to the pool. That's alright by me :)

I've been scrappin'...

This slide show has some CKU projects as well as some good ole scrappin' that I've done (most of it recently :)

Are you feeling scrappy? You should check out the 'Layout a Day' challenge over on the Scrap Etc. forums. If only I can get a little time in each day - that would rock!!

enjoy :)

My life. (in pictures)

...mostly in pictures - I have to explain where I've been for the last 2 weeks!! You wanna know, right? :)

CKU Nashville... totally fun. We were known as the girls with all the wine. So much fun with Laci! I'll have to post the finished projects... when I get them finished, that is! :)

I wasn't gone to CKU  for 12 hours before Brad called and told me that he bought a new truck... When I came home from CKU on Saturday, this is what I saw in the garage:

I'm pretty sure that his civic would have fit in the bed of this truck! The color is right. The make, not so much. But, I'll learn to love it, I'm sure... Needless to say, Bennett likes the truck as much as Brad. Must be a guy thing?

On Sunday we left for Sandestin. We {heart} Sandestin. We rode jet skis (and saw dolphins in the bay - so close that, as Bennett tells the story, 'We could see their BLOW HOLES!!!) awesome.

Brad and Bennett rode the zip line in Baytowne Wharf. I, thankfully, remembered to wear a dress that night, so I 'couldn't' do it.

As Bennett approached the 2nd tower he screamed 'This is TOTALLY AWESOME!!'  He was so proud.

Anyway, the beach was a blast! We were so lucky to meet up with some friends - it totally made Bennett's vacation special (and ours too!)

So, that's where I've been for the past 2 weeks. School got out, I went to CKU, the beach, and now we are in high gear at VBS at Asbury (which, by the way, is rockin'!!). Next week is an unscheduled week. Not sure that we'll know what to do!!  

I hope your summer is going as great as ours!!