Organization

I looove to be organized! There used to be a store called Everything in it's Place and that's the motto I live by. Everything does have a place and if you can't find that place it needs to be thrown out or given away. There are so many articles online and in magazines that can help us all get organized. Recently I bought the magazine "Real Simple." They always have ways to clean and organize in there. I literally found myself getting so excited as I was reading it's 5 steps to an organized house. The article walked me through everything from kitchen to closet. I think I did everything they suggested in the first couple of days! Actually I had already done most of the hard stuff on my own. Maybe that's why I was excited! Anyway, the picture is my new little desk caddy. I found it at Walmart. I currently have a larger one and was trying to fit everything on my desk in it, but not really able to. Things were falling out and eventually ending up spread out all over my desk. I was always frustrated until one day a light bulb wet off in my head to just buy another smaller one that could fit the little stuff. It is exactly what I needed and now I don't have any more clutter on my desk!

Tickfaw State Park

On Friday we went with our homeschool group to the Tickfaw State Park for a nature trail & picnic at the water park. It took us a little over an hour to get there, but well worth it. This is the only picture I got of it because about half-way through both Judah & Isaiah insisted on me holding them. Thank God Judah let another mom carry him because I couldn't hold both of them & Isaiah doesn't let ANYONE do ANYTHING for him accept me! But it's ok, I like it! Anyway, it's hard to see it but this is a picture of a large spider in his web. If this big guy crawled on you, you'd freak!! That zigzagy thing is something he did! Amazing!!

Tickfaw Kiddie Water Park

After the nature trail we went to the kiddie water park. They had a
blast. Check out the picts below.

The only picture I could get of Gabe. He was literally running around the entire time.

This is before they got wet. For some reason they were being a little
shy. This is all they would do at first.

Believe it or not that is his smile! He loves taking pictures. He
always says, "Take a picture of me! Cheeeeese." Then immediately after
he says, "Let me see!"

Some Exciting News!

Make sure you check out the post called New Beginnings from Aug 22nd. It is the latest blog entry but somehow got put under the one called Boys Are Definitely Different Than Girls.

Boys Are Definitely Different Than Girls

We all know that boys are different than girls and we all know why. It amazes me how different Aaron and my boys think compared to me. Yesterday after Gabe got back from his fishing trip, the boys were talking to Aaron about hunting. Gabe asked Aaron how to kill a deer and get all of it's meat out. Aaron went on to explain in graphic, over the top, disgusting detail about how to kill and basically torture a deer just for fun and then get the meat out. I won't even tell you what he said to do with the meat. Just imagine blood and guts talk. I was so grossed out and told him how he was probably psychologically damaging our kids. Apparently I was wrong. Their response was, "Awesome! I want to see that!" I definitely don't understand the mind of a boy.

New Beginnings

We are three days in to the start of a new life for us. Our lives will never again be the same as we know it today. The first big change is that I am homeschooling. I have decided to do this because we will be moving to Florida in January. We will be going to serve a ministry called The Covenant House where they rehabilitate men with drug and alcohol abuse. Aaron will be working along side these men as they do construction work and discipling them as they live life together. I will be focusing all of my time and attention on the boys. It will be a totally different way of living. Aaron will not have a job. We will be supported by The Covenant House, living in faith as they do that God will send the money to provide for us all.

Aaron has been the Youth Pastor at Life House Church for the past 5 years and we have made the most amazing relationships. We are very close to our friends and families, so it's going to be really hard to leave. It is a bitter-sweet time in my life. I am excited about the new things the Lord is going to do in us while we are there and how this will forever impact and change my boys' worldview.

Fishing Trip

Today Gabe went with the LeBlanc family on a fishing trip to Grande Isle. He usually sleeps until 8:00 but this morning he was so excited that he got up at 6:00 while everyone else was still asleep, packed for himself, got completely dressed, & put his bag & blanket by the front door. He came & woke me up at 6:30 & told me he was ready to go. Unfortunately they weren't leaving until noon! Needless to say, he's happy to finally be there.

5:00 p.m.

I love 5:00 p.m. I look forward to it almost everyday. You might be thinking it's because Aaron gets home at 5:00. Nope. I wish. It's because we eat at 5:00, and no, I'm not excited because I'm hungry. It's because one quick hour or less later it's bath time. One quick hour or less after that is p.j.'s and story time. Then very soon after that is bed time!!! I love bed time. I just wish it was as easy as it sounds. Gabe and Judah go to sleep pretty easy, but Isaiah...well that's always another story. It usually takes me at least an hour to an hour and a half of fighting to finally get him to stay in his room and go to sleep. So by the time he's done, I'm so frustrated and worn out that I wonder what it was about bed time I was looking forward to. I guess it's the hope of an easy bed time and a quiet night that I'm living for.

Pittsburgh, PA

The following pictures are of our trip to Pittsburgh, PA for an NRP Youth Conference this weekend. We had such a great time at the church and touring the city. The city was beautiful and the people were so hospitable. Right now we are waiting at the airport for our plane, which is delayed, so I finally have time to update you. Enjoy!

Aaron and I flirting after the conference. My man is so HOT!! Especially after he preaches!

Me & the guys. Stephen, the worship leader of our church, is on the left & Ashton, one of our youth leaders, is on the right. They took such great care of me. I didn't have to lift a finger or carry a thing the whole time.

We went Saturday night to see a Pirate's baseball game & a firework show afterwards. The view of the city looked like a fake backdrop but it was definitely real! It was also my first Major League game & they won!!

Aaron speaking at their church bringing the fire!!

Pittsburgh

Here we are at a scenic view point overlooking the downtown area.

Bowling Day

Today I took my boys bowling. I signed us up for a "kids bowl free" program during the summer. When you hear the title you'd think you were off to a cheap day of family fun, but NO. I thought all you had to do was bring the coupons, so I handed them to the lady behind the desk and she said, "That'll be $17.50." I was like, "What?" (Thinking it was all going to be free). Shoe rental used to be $1/person, now is $4/person. Then of course they tell you that they are giving you a discount on their kids meal, but after I got there, I found out that every kids meal is $2.99. So after renting our shoes and buying us all lunch, I walked out of the bowling alley spending $40 I didn't expect to spend! Sorry Aaron :)

Other than that we really did have a great time together. I especially enjoyed noticing how they all have their own bowling strategy. Gabe swings his right arm back as hard as he can and lets it loose down the lane. Judah gets a running start and hurls the ball as hard as he can, and Isaiah surprisingly puts it down in front of the lane and barely pushes it, so it feels like we are waiting for an eternity for it to get to the pins, watching it in slow motion. Knowing their personalities, I would have thought that Judah would have bowled like Isaiah and vise versa. But they did pretty good. Unfortunately for some, I am neither athletic or competitive, so my score was very close to theirs. I barely beat them. Gabe was VERY unhappy about this. You can see he's more like his daddy.

Mommy & Me

Today we went to a Mommy & Me Day at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton
Rouge. They had free carousel rides, face painting, & goodie bags for
the kids. They even had some free info for us moms. Isaiah's not in
the picture because he kept running off with the stroller! Overall, we
had a good day.