He's too big...

Everytime it happens, I say I can't believe it. Has it really been almost a month since I have blogged? I don't know why I can't believe it. I have 4 kids that keep me busy enough to neglect my blog, but there are many other things too, so I will just accept the fact that I haven't gotten here in a while and hope to maybe do a bit better? =)

I cannot believe how big Nathan is getting! He is loosing his "babyness" more and more everyday. The latest evidence that we are in the toddler stage is that he is insisting he eat with a fork...all by himself....can you tell he is pretty proud!

A Salvation Story...

I listen to Christian radio alot. It's usually just background noise. Something positive for my subconscious to listen to. Sometimes it's blarring, and this may surprise you, but I am dancing and singing, maybe even using a hair brush or wooden spoon as a microphone...much to the delight of my sweet audience. Sometimes, it wakes me out of my subconscious going about my day and speaks directly to my heart. The other night on my way home from meeting with a friend over fru-fru coffee drinks (neither of us like coffee, but we both like the idea of sitting in a coffee shop enjoying some fellowship together)just that sort of thing happened. On the radio, the dj was talking about an NFL player who had been living a life steeped with poor choices...drugs, alcohol, sex...and then he found Jesus, and his life has never been the same. He said, it was his Grandma who pointed him to Jesus. She was never pushy, never preached at him, she just lived a life that made it clear that she loved and followed Jesus. The dj then asked for listeners to call in and tell who introduced them to Jesus. I sorta tuned out at this point, thinking on this sweet grandma who was such an example to her grandson, even when it was so clear that he was walking down a path she knew led to destruction. I thought about how I wanted to live a life so full of Christ that it drew people to Him. I thought about the example I wanted to be to my children. And then my thoughts went to the day Andrew gave his heart to Jesus, and then remembering when Andrew told me over breakfast one morning that he had prayed with Kelli late the night before explaining to her that she did not need to be afraid if she asked Jesus to live in her heart. I was a mom full of rejoicing, and pride too, that my young son understood the importance of a decision like that. And then I thought of our sweet Emily.

I thought about how sweet she is, and how smart she is, and how I need to be praying that I would be aware of opportunities to talk to her about how much Jesus loves her. It seems too young, just 3 years old, to talk to someone about a decision so important? But then I am reminded of the verse in Matthew 19 where Jesus says "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

That very next day, we were driving in the car and, I don't even remember how it came up, but I am sure now it was the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we started talking about good choices and bad choices that we make. We talked about how there are consequences for those choices. We talked about how God loves us so much, that he sent his only son to die on a cross to pay the price for all of those bad choices that we make that seperate us from Him. And it was just amazing to me that her little 3 year old mind, just got it. I asked her if she wanted to pray to Jesus and invite Him to live in her heart when we got home? She said, "I would like to pray right now!" Not sure why I didn't think of that! Pretty sure it's okay to pray while driving! =) So we did. Right there, driving down the four lane, Emily a prayed a saving prayer. And her mommy shed tears of thanfulness and joy resting in the assurance that her little girl would spend eternity with Jesus.

"Lord, protect and keep her; guard and grow her; may You raise her up, Holy Spirit, into an intimate relationship with Her Savior, Jesus, in Jesus' name!Amen!" ~ Prayer of a sweet friend of mine...

Back To School Outtakes...

First Day of School!

Both kids have friends from last year in their class...it's always nice to see a familiar face on that first day...it does wonders for the jitters!


This sweet girl is a friend of Kelli's from church...it is her first year at our school...they are thrilled to be in the same class!


And of course when we got home, Miss Emily wanted her own First Day of School photo!

Home

Emily turns 3!!!!

We had a low key celebration for Emily this year...home...just us...mac n' cheese and hotdogs (her request)...a simple cake...it was a sweet night...

Kane County Cougars

To celebrate Emily's birthday and Keith and Nancy's Anniversary the whole family went to a Kane County Cougars game! We love going to these games! They are super family friendly, parking is free, it's only 40 minutes from home, and it's just alot of fun! Now this was a particularly hot and humid 1pm game...so there was also an element of misery, but overall it was a blast! And super cool to hear Keith and Nancy wished a Happy Anniversary and Emily a Happy Birthday, by the announcer!

The Whole Gang




This next series cracks me up...I was going to choose just one, but I couldn't...







Thanks Keith and Nancy, for a great afternoon together!! And Dana thanks for organizing it!

WHO are our new teachers????

Brian and I had an awesome date weekend and went to Great America together while the older three kids hung out with Grandma and Papa, and Nate Dog with Auntie Dana! We had a great time, yet with the oppressive heat and humidity that day, we realized we are no spring chickens and we had to take 2 45minute breaks in the air conditioning of the car! =) But it was a very fun day together! We picked up the kids after grabbing a yummy breakfast and then headed over to their school because class lists were posted!!
They had their guesses as to who they would have, and who would be in their class that they knew, and were filled with anticipation!




Two very happy campers...both were totally pleased with the outcome~! Kelli has the same teacher Andrew had for 1st grade and she ROCKS! She is an absolutely amazing teacher! And though we don't know much about Andrew's teacher, he said she is who he wanted!



We are SO thankful for a wonderful school to send our kids to. We really wrestled with public vs. private school, and ultimately it came down to the expense. We have not regretted our decision for one second. Excited about another great year of school!

Road Trip

We woke up one morning and decided to take a spontaneous road trip to spend the day with my mom and dad, grandpa and sisters...it was a super special time, and I am always grateful to have a little time with the kids and their great papa! He is a precious man.







After lunch at mom and dads we headed over to Nikki's and the kids played the rest of the afternoon and evening with their cousins! Such great memories for them! Wish they could spend more time together! They did SO much more than play on the DS, but these are the only pictures I grabbed...

Catching up...

I want to write sometime about my couple week hiatus from the computer, but I will save that for later. For now, I just need to catch up...I have oodles of photos to share, so bare with me!

We started August off with our Annual Maillefer family picnic...the weather was perfect..the fellowship was great (as usual) and the food was delicious!!