Letter to Daddy.

Nate left yesterday with Phillip to MN for a fishing trip with one of his best friends from Highschool Andy Hanson. He won't be back until Monday. I am excited that he gets to go and do something fun with the "guys" because he really needed that. On the other hand, I have 2 boys here in Arkansas who are very close to their daddy and already miss him a lot! Needless to say, this is why I'm posting.
So, last night when we were on our way home, Matthew began to tear up and say that he missed daddy and he wanted him home so he could snuggle with him. I informed Matthew that daddy would be back soon and that he would snuggle with him then. By the time we pulled in he was really crying. I told him that we could call him when we got inside...that held him over for a little bit....he talked to Nate for awhile then when we hung up he began crying again...i told the boys they could have a "special night" tonight. Which simply means they can sleep in mommy & daddy's bed. After their bath we all hopped in bed. Matthew told me he wanted to write a letter to daddy to show him how much he loves him. He told me what he wanted and I wrote it down...here it is....yes, he wrote this TOTALLY on his own..I did not help him!!

Dear Daddy: I'm thinking about you, and I think your thinking about me. I miss you in Minnesota. I love you! I miss you. I miss you really much. I wish you could come home tonight. I wish you could come home in the morning. You can pick whatever one you want night or morning ok? I hope we catch a raccoon when your in Minnesota. I wish you could eat pancakes in the morning with me, bubba, & momma. We are praying you catch fish. I wish you could bring home the Pike you catch and put them in the pond so we can catch pike too! I'm thinking you'll get exercise and get more strong. Then you could come home & fix your hair cool (matthew tells me I bet he'll like that one huh mom?!) I bet you'll miss me in MN. Get dressed really cool with your cool hair. I bet you miss momma in Minnesota too. Take pictures really cool of fish in Minnesota. Samuel and me will never get spankings we'll be really good and obey. We get to sleep in your and mommies bed. We'll take cool pictures for you too. We'll make pancakes with you when you get home! Love you, Matt

*matthew is so thoughtful and such a sweetheart....this made ME tear up! I can't wait to show it to Nate!!

Memorial Weekend.......

So this weekend is a long weekend and for that I am SO excited! Nate is able to take off on Monday too which will be so nice considering how busy we have been lately. So, here's some of the things the weekend entails...
*finish fixing/painting up his new boat that he bought. (it was a total God deal!)
*fix up his other boat to sell
*fertilize/weed garden
*plant more corn (doing it in stages so we can have a long time of harvesting instead of all at once)
*fix & redo our chicken coop (only have 3 chickens now due to being eaten by various arkansas animals (fox, coons, possums, hawks-all these except the hawk we have trapped.)
*mow/weed eat our lawn
*grocery shopping
*relax
*family movie night & pizza (tonight)
*grill out (Memorial day)
*Maybe do some fishing in our boat w/ the boys...they LOVE this!
Looking forward to a great weekend with the family!!! So what special plans do you have this Memorial weekend??

It's that time of year again...

Garden time....which is Nate and I's favorite part of the year! On Wednesday Nate took the day off to finish studying for the youth service that night as well as finish up some yard work and plant the garden. We did just that and we have the sunburn on our backs to prove it!

It was a BEAUTIFUL 90 degree day outside. The boys LOVE being outside and playing in the garden. Matthew has turned out to be a big helper this year and seems to like gardening as much as we do! He helped us do a lot of the planting. Samuel is still little and enjoys pushing around his trucks, rolling around in the dirt (and eating it too), and stepping on the newly planted plants!! (he doesn't even know he's doing it) :)

So we planted everything we usually do, just in a little different order in the garden. Should be a great year for veggies, since we actually will have time to spend in the garden. Last year we had just moved in and there were so many little projects we were trying to finish up.

Here's the list of what we planted: peas, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, beets/parsnips, peppers (green, yellow, hot) beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet corn, squash, zucchini.
Do any of you do a garden? If so, what are you planting this year??

Endurance....

On Wednesday afternoon i decided to take a run up and down our long driveway.  As I was running I soon noticed that our new puppy (yellow lab) Grace was running with me.  Remember she is not a full grown dog...in fact she is just a few months old.  I kept running and thought she is so little and so tired and yet she is STILL running....even when her tongue was practically hanging to the ground....yet she still kept going.

The Lord then began to minister to me on endurance and perseverance.  How many times do you see a dog stop because there to tired, worn out, or just no plain drive?  Never.  why? Because it's in a dog's blood to keep going even when it's tough or they're tired.  The Lord began to show me how in our pursuit of Him and the call that He has for our lives it is so important to have endurance and perseverence.  Even when it's tough.  It's "in our blood" so to speak, we just have to tap into that Grace that God has given us.  Even when we don't feel like it.  Keep going.  Keep pressing.  Paul talks about this in Phillipians 3:12-14 "Press toward the mark...." pressing means it takes energy, work, or we could say endurance & perseverence.

When we were at Rhema Pastor Hagin would always tell us (basketball team) "If you don't quit you win."  This is so true, what's the only thing that will keep us from fulfilling the call that God has for us individually?  If we quit.  Give up.  I am determined to press and keep at it even when it gets tough.  I have endurance.  I am GRACED to run my race!!  How about you?

FULL weekend....

this weekend is very full for us....but in a good way!!  Here's what's in store...

Tonight:

Grocery shopping

Sam's- to stock up on our youth snack shop

Dinner

Saturday:

Work Day- here at the church we are doing some MAJOR remodeling.....lobby area. (will post some pics after tomorrow) It's looking SO different.  They are also remodeling our children's area.  It is SO exciting!  So after tomorrow, let's just say LWRV's lobby/entrance will be what can i say....RAD!  Nate is semi in charge of this whole remodel project.....there's been a lot of planning, buying, drawing, etc.  In fact, he is out getting duct supplies right now for tomorrow...he does love doing this though....def one of his giftings!

Bowling & Pizza- we will be taking our youth group out for pizza & bowling in Fort Smith...we are so pumped about this....nate and i have a little competition lined up.....let's just say if i'm going to win this i'm going to have to bring my BEST skills in bowling....

Sunday:

Prayer- WOO HOO

Church- excited to see what AG's have for this week, and expecting to receive great revelation in service

Basketball- the guys are getting ready for a tournament coming up this next weekend...oh, and Nate's team is SO going to win....they're stacked!

Outdoor work....involving garden/ lawn (hopefully)

Family time w/ boys....our favorite time!

So what's in store for you this weekend???

He's 26!........well tomorrow....

I had to do this post today even though it's not his birthday until tomorrow (21st) but I won't have internet access tomorrow!

So, Nater will be 26!  It's so hard to believe.  Well, just wanted to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY babe!  I love you SO much!!

WHY?

This is some randomness.........but it's fun to think about.  Someone sent me this in an email.....

1. How do dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures.

2.  If people evolved from apes why are there still apes?

3.  Who's idea was it to put an "s" in lisp?

4.  Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

5.  Why do Kamikaze pilots where helmets?

6.  Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are almost dead?

7.  How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

Just some stuff to think about!