A day with Nonnie and Pop-Pop

Nonnie and Pop-Pop drove over today to spend the day with us and it was so good to visit with them.  They brought Karis' birthday present which she of course was excited about.  They gave her an art organizer and a kit where she could make her own beauty products lip gloss, lotion etc....right up her alley!

Karis had an absolute BLAST making lots of things with Nonnie.  I loved that they got to spend literally hours together.  I was of course there snapping pics, but it was a project for the two of them.  They made lip gloss, body butter, a face scrub, shampoo and even did a mask together!

Trying out the lip gloss...

Shampoo the finished product...

You can tell they are having a blast!  Nonnie was such a trooper and tried out ALL of the products with Karis.  You can tell in this pic that Nonnie has a laugh that is just so contagious, you can't help but smile!

Trying out the face scrub...

Below they had just put a peel-off masque and it was drying and their faces were shiny and tight.  Beautiful ladies with NO makeup!

"Don't you make me laugh...you're going to mess up my masque!!!"

The best part was getting to peel off the masque...it is so addicting!

I thought this was a beautiful picture, both literally and figuratively.  They were both looking into different sides of a mirror.

All the while the boys were fishing...Pop-Pop, Jay and Brayden.  Brayden had fun doing one of the things he loves the most with 2 special men in his life!

Nonnie getting her Lucy snuggles....

This below pic is way overexposed but it was too precious not to post.  Sweet!

Thanks Nonnie and Pop-Pop for taking the time to come visit us today and make Karis feel special for her birthday!  We love you!

Chronological Bible, a long run and yummy steak!

Friday night I went to a Chronological Bible Discipleship class with a friend and it has been one of the most beneficial classes I have ever been to.  Just to give you a little background...I was raised in a Christian home, was saved at age 6 and have been pretty consistent with my quiet times over the years.  I should have the Bible memorized by now but after this class, I realize how much I DON'T know about scripture.  This is a study (along with the Chronological Bible) that basically goes through the whole Bible as one complete story instead of separate stories.  It takes about an hour to go through the whole thing and to say that I was overwhelmed was an understatement.  I was amazed at the Bible knowledge of these women and want that so bad!  I want my children to grow up understanding scripture and want to be a good role model for them.  My prayer is that I will be the Deuteronomy 6 parent that I need to be and that the Lord will be pleased with me.  The Lord has given us scripture for a reason and He expects us to know what He says and I have failed miserably!  I am determined to be consistent, obedient, and purposeful in my studies and with my time and I look forward to all that the Lord will reveal when I earnestly seek Him.

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."  Hebrews 11:6

It is written by Iva May, who is the wife of one of Jay's advisor while in Seminary.  Dr. May has been such a blessing on my family in the time we have known him.  He started praying for me before Jay even met me and continued praying for me once we met, dated, engaged and married.  He kept up with Jay even after he graduated and still to this day prays for us and our children by name every day.  Every time he sees us he asks about the children by name and it amazes me.  OH how the Lord must bless such a fervent prayer life!  Needless to say, he has a pretty amazing wife as well.  They used to be missionaries in Africa for years and are now back in the States and God has used them greatly!  She wrote this discipleship course to correspond with the Chronological Bible.  It is not an "easy" Bible study and it is time consuming and a huge commitment, but it is straight scripture and it causes you to dig deep to get the meat of the WORD and that is why I love it!  If we don't know the "whole story" of the Bible then we will never completely understand His redemption story and the big picture of salvation.

His story...My story consists of 14 eras of the Bible and there are certain stories that fit into each era that walks you through the entire Bible.  It may take me years but I so desire to learn this!

Using the CBD plan, you could have started on September 28th and still read through the entire New Testament before the end of the year.  So since I just got it last night, I had a few days of catch up today. Lolli took the kids for the weekend so I was able to lay out all of my stuff without interruption (Bibles, charts, graphs, timelines, Bible study) and truly dig deep.  It was wonderful!

There is still time....who wants to join me?!?!

This wasn't supposed to be my long run today but this next week is going to be super busy for us and I didn't want to have it hanging over me next Saturday so Jay and I went up to Arkabulta Lake and ran there.  It was beautiful!  The weather was perfect and I ran across the dam where I was able to view the lake...it was perfect.  I almost felt like I was at the beach (minus the waves and the relaxation ha!).  I ran 9 miles and was struggling by the end! (Yep dates still wrong...I need to fix that today!)

Afterwards, we hit up happy hour at Sonic for a 44 oz. Vanilla Diet Coke.  I have never tried one but it was really good, almost tasted like my Dr. Pepper minus lots of calories!  Of course the ice may have been my favorite part...I always crave ice after I run!

Then we had a date night in and Jay grilled us some steaks that were amazing!  I am tellin' ya, that man can grill!  YUM!

Wonderful and relaxing day (at times...not the 9 mile part)!  Looking forward to church in the morning and a visit from my in-loves tomorrow!

Friday afternoon

Friday afternoon the weather was perfect and I was having cabin fever so before the kids left, we went outside for a few minutes.  But I had to capture this moment beforehand of Lucy and Ax while watching part of a movie...sweet!

Everett was having tummy time and posing...

This was too funny not to post.  Lucy put her hands down so he could lay his head in her hands and it looks like she is about to catch his spit-up haha!

Unfortunately Landon and Hazel had already left and Trey was out sick so they didn't get to see the cool tractor.  This tractor has been parked outside our house for several days.  It was out cutting limbs off power lines and broke down in the process so we have been waiting on them to pick it up.  Landon especially has looked, talked about and breathed that tractor and I so wanted him to see it.  :(  It was HUGE!

We even got to play on the playground and swing some before momma's came.  :)

It's so good to get out of the house!!!

Happy National Coffee Day!

I am not too sure why we have a holiday around coffee although I am a huge fan of it!  I am all about my coffee...maybe I need some more of it today because my energy level is way down.  I can't get in my groove ugh!  I usually have a day like this about once a week where I...just. can't. get. motivated.  The next day I usually pay for it because I have to play catch up for my laziness.

But I have gotten lots of kid cuddles today and I love it.  Axton and Lucy both say to me, "I want a hold you!" :)

OH and speaking of cuddles, this is a conversation me and Lucy had the other day:

Lucy crying...

Me: "Lucy, what is the matter?"

Lucy: "I MAD!"

Me: "Why are you mad?"

Lucy: "I mad at YOU!!!"

Me: "Why Lucy?" (trying not to laugh out loud)

Lucy:  "Because I want to HOLD you!"  

Me: "Well Lucy stop crying and I will hold you silly!"

Here are some pics I have taken over the last few days of the kiddos and will round them all up in one post. Some pics have been taken when other kids had already left so some are missing.   :(

The weather has been so pretty Karis loves to take her "stuff" (and she has a LOT of it believe me...she is my pack rat!) out onto the fort and play.

Everett is into chewing on one or two fingers...beginning of teething maybe?!

Ev and Lucy were both wearing polka dots so I had to take a picture!

Sweet Ax after nap...that is when he gives the BEST cuddles!

Sweet hugs...

We found a caterpillar outside the other day and the kids wanted to keep it.  Lucy called it a snake haha! Look closely on the stick...it is small and green.

My (almost) 7 year old...can't believe she will be 7 on Tuesday!

Hugs before school

Karis put Lucy's hair into pigtails the other night after bath and Lucy has wanted them ever since.  Her hair is not really long enough but she wants them anyway.  She keeps saying, "I want pigtails like Sissy!"  She was quite proud of these!

Playtime!  How many toddlers can you get in a play tent?!  LOTS!  Believe me, we've tried!

Brayden went fishing with dad last night and picked a persimmon off the tree and brought it home to eat it...

Karis always has playtime with Everett before she leaves for school...

Axton was "helping" Lucy pick out some of her panties this morning and I turned around to see this....bahaha!  Silly boy!

These kiddos keep me on my toes! :)

Now off to maybe brew some more coffee for this special coffee day.  I have a long night ahead of me...cook dinner, run, bathe kids, get everyone in bed and do my grocery shopping.  My energy better come back in a jiffy!