beautiful kids :)

more to come.....just a few from the weekend. some friends from church :)

you don't see this often!!!

it's not very often you see a chicken that is ALLOWED TO EAT NEXT TO THE ENEMY!!! jackson is such a good and polite dog....he doesn't care they are there :) he truly isn't even bothered by these chickens.... he never chases them or even acknowledges they are around....

Sheep Showmanship!!!!!

oh my goodness!!!! we couldn't have been more proud of our little girls this summer :) they had an awesome year at showing sheep!!! olivia won champion showmanship of her age division several times and reserve champion too! then at the end of the year, they gave awards for an "overall"......and she won Reserve Champion Showman (2nd) overall for the entire showing season!!! now, of course, we don't expect every year to be quite so good.....but she obviously does well......and will have good years and bad.....but we couldn't be more proud of her :)

then there was sophia.....! ha! that little girl had a sheep just her size, and that thing loved her, and she loved it!!! and she showed it like a champ!!! she too will follow in her big sister's footsteps w/ showing......sophia won peewee showmanship EVERY single time she showed :) WHAT A FUN YEAR!!!

the above pics are just of the awards banquet held at the state fair grounds in august, where they distributed the awards for "overall". the good mom i am.....never once took my camera to the shows!!! stupid i know....but i was always so busy working w/ the sheep and watching, i didn't have time for that!!! so if i get their pics from someone else, i will post them :) btw- nathan says sheep are stupid and he wants to show pigs!!!!! LOL

Memories.....

so you are probably wondering why on earth i am posting a picture of a basket of clothes!!! seeing this triggered a wonderful memory of mine. when i was little, i had the pleasure of having a grandmother just down the road. grandma marcella johnson......now let me explain what that has to do w/ the price of eggs!

one day this week, all the kids were gone, the windows were open, a refreshing breeze coming through, i was listening to the radio, and just "working" in the house. of course, one of the things i was working on was laundry. and all of a sudden that memory hit me! i have the fondest memories of getting to spend as much time as i wanted with grandma johnson. all i had to do was call, and she said "i don't care....come on down." anyway, one of the things i have burnt into to my mind, is watching grandma work in the kitchen from the time she got out of bed, until she went to bed. and folding laundry at the kitchen table was something i saw her do all the time. she had a special chair she sat on with a basket of clothes beside her. and of course she had on the radio most the time as well. and therefore, i felt like i was getting the pleasure to do as she did, which delights me thoroughly!!!

School is in session!

this is n&s's best friend delaney kate! they go to church together and now school too! they are all 3 pretty tight at school :)

we always have so much fun during the summers.....and for the most part.....my kids play pretty well together! but it DOES always feel good to get back into routines!!!! this year nathan & sophia are attending preschool at Little Stars in rushville......and so far THEY LOVE IT!!! so 4 days a week i have 2 1/2 hours ALL TO MYSELF!!! and this time next year, ALL 3 KIDS WILL BE IN SCHOOL ALL DAY!!!! YIKES! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!! while i'm no excited at all about that...(cough cough).....it is sometimes scary to think about how fast time really does fly by...... it's easy to want to "hurry up" and get through certain stages in life....especially when they are challenging. but then you realize you never get that stage back! so right now as i'm typing, it's easy to sit here and enjoy my kids........but ask me again about 6 oclock tonight!!!

Summer Fun!!!!

this past july, we visited the beaches of ft.walton beach again........AFTER several weeks of debates on what to do in regards to the oil!!!!! but.....we went anyway, and the beaches were JUST FINE and the water was too! we did find a few tar balls, but they are NOTHING like what you would expect. other than a little too much seaweed, the whole vacation was PERFECT!

this year, the Carmony family joined us :) for a couple of their kids, it was the first time seeing the ocean!!! how awesome to get to share that experience!! we had the BEST time and hope to do it again next year :) so here are just a few pics from that.....

Out With Old, In With The New....

I can remember being SCARED TO DEATH of these things when i was young!!! these shells were everywhere......but i specifically remember seeing them stuck to our front porch!! the shells just looked CREEEEEEPY to me as a child!!! and i don't remember really seeing the "live" ones. my kids, however, think they are cool!!!!! i'm no longer "afraid" of them, but by NO MEANS do i think they are cool! ha!

on the flip side of things.....these little creatures are such a good representation of what our Christians lives should be like. "out with the old, and in with new" this can definitely be challenging!!! it's hard to change old habits and ways.....especially ones that We may particularly like but God does not :) or.....we may even have something we DON'T like about ourselves, but is STILL sooooooo hard to change because we have been that way for years!!!! whatever the challenge is.........we must continually work toward what is good in the eyes of the Lord.

p.s. - not sure these pics are in the "correct order"....but you get the point! ha!