Birthdays!

June is the birthday month for most of our family! We have had a great time celebrating. Sunday June 13th was my (Ashley) big day. We went to church, and then I took a WONDERFUL birthday nap, and then Greg and I went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse!

Friday evening we hosted 7 loud and crazy 8-9 year olds for a sleepover celebrating Caed's 9th birthday. It was his first slumber party and they had a blast. We finally got them all to sleep around 5:30 am!

Yesterday, the 20th we celebrated Greg and Caed's birthdays AND Father's day as a family. Here are a pics of the boys on their big day!





They are so much alike inside and out, it is only fitting that they share a birthday!

Caed's Wax Museum

Caed has been working on a big "wax museum" project for school since the beginning of May. He chose a man named Duke Kahanamoku, who is called the father of modern surfing. Caed wrote a 2 page research paper, made a poster, and wrote a speech about Duke. Greg and Caed also made a model surf board out of some scrap particle board. It looks just like the one Duke made himself!

Friday afternoon was the actual wax museum day where the kids dressed up as their hero and parents were able to go around the museum and push little "buttons" on each character to hear their speech.

It was so much fun, and the kids did a great job. I snapped a few pics.

12 inches and counting

It has been snowing steadily all day long! We have about 12 inches outside our back door.
The kids had a blast sledding and playing out in the snow today. Here are a few pic from this morning. There is a lot more snow on the ground now!






It has been snowing steadily all day long! We have about 12 inches outside our back door.
The kids had a blast sledding and playing out in the snow today. Here are a few pic from this morning.

Big Day!

When I tell people about our blog I usually tell them it is a family/ministry/encouragement blog. In my mind it all runs together. There is no way to completely separate any of the categories in our lives. Family IS ministry...Ministry IS sharing with you and others what the Lord doing here in the lives of students at Arcadia as well as what the Lord is teaching me. I hope that my silly family pics and stories encourage you (or at least make you laugh).

Today falls into the family is ministry category. A couple hours ago we dropped Caedmon off at his first sleep away camp. 6 WHOLE DAYS away from his mama.... I am having a harder time with the idea than he was! It is a Christian camp that has come highly recommended by friends. This week Caed will swim, ride horses, shoot rifles and sling shots :\, and learn about God's word. How fun does that sound?

On the packing list for Camp was of course a bible. This combined with Caed's new found LOVE of reading made Greg and I think this would be a perfect time to get Caed his own bible. He was SOOO excited. It is a bible especially for 8-12 year old boys, complete with gross facts you never wanted to know!


I know in the grand scheme of things this day is a minor blip, but in the life of a little boy it was pretty huge step towards independence as the Lord molds Caed's little heart to be more like His.

If you think about it pray for Caed this week, a worried mama would appreciate it. :)

The Author's Tea

Caedmon's class hosted an Author's Tea this morning where are all of the students read one of the books they have written this year. The Title of Caed's book was Caed's Important Book of Second Grade. It is all about how much he likes his teacher Mrs. Goldberg. Here is a short video of him reading his book.



After the program they posed for a class picture...sorry it is from the side...there were a lot of parents there!

I tried to get a little family picture, but this is what I got... Better luck next time!

What are the kids learning in school these days?

(aside)
For those of you checking this blog for ministry news please click here or scroll down to the labels bar on the sidebar and click on ministry update. Most of the students have gone home for the summer so most of our time these days is spent doing behind the scenes stuff like raising support, connecting with local churches and planning for next semester. We are also enjoying some "down" time as a family.

On to the actual post... I HAD to take a picture of this yesterday. Part of Caed's homework was to try to write his name with his toes!



Ummmmm...Ok!?!

Two Peas in a Pod

Caed really is the sweetest big brother ever.



This picture makes me smile.

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!

Today makes 3 days in a row that it has been rainy. We are all about to go out of our minds! Here are my three monkeys who are about to start climbing the walls!

A Day in the Life

We have had a fun day today so I thought I would share it with you!

After breakfast Abby organized a dance class for all of her stuffed animals. She allowed Cole to watch. :)



Later on Abby and I made some yummy S'mores Brownies for the ACF afterparty tonight!



Then after Caed got home from school we had an earthworm race on the kitchen table!


I need to go fix dinner now, but I just wanted to share. :)

Basketball!

Caed had his first basketball game on Saturday. He is playing in an Upward Church League. He is on a team with 2-3 graders. Some of them had played before but for most it was their first game ever.

It was a lot of fun! Caed did well. He only went to the wrong goal once!:) He has the whole guarding thing down, but he does that on both ends of the court! We will have to work on offense a bit! Here is a picture of them right before the game started. They lined up to establish who was guarding who. Caed is on the black team.

Other way buddy! The ref helped Caed figure out which way to go!


Caed in action.



Here is a short video of Caed playing defense.

Seriously...

What kind of world are we raising our kids in? :)

Caed has a report to do this week on a famous woman. So he picks TAYLOR SWIFT. WHAT?



Then he goes to the computer to do his research...on WIKIPEDIA! Because we all know this is the source of all knowledge!:)



Don't worry we are going to find someone else, but I guess I just wanted to comment on the state of the average kid's mind!

Caed's Last Game

Saturday was Caed's last T ball game. It was a fun season. He was super excited to get his trophy. He could not stop smiling all day! Here are a couple pics.

New Bunk Beds!

I (Ashley) bought a set of bunk beds on ebay last week. We picked them up over the weekend and Greg put them together while Caed was at school. HE LOVES THEM! The set will eventually have a bottom bunk perpendicular to the top for Abby. We are going to wait to put that together so they can stay in separate rooms until we set up the nursery. Anyway, here are a couple pictures...

Caed's First T Ball Game

Caed had his first T ball game today. It was a lot of fun. His first time at bat he hit it over the coach's head and then ran all the bases...nevermind the fact that his team members ahead of him were still standing on 2nd and third! They only let each kid run one base at a time so he had to go back to first! Here are a few pictures!

Caed's first time at bat.



On Second Base




Coming Home!

Spring Fling

This afternoon Arcadia held its annual Spring Fling. It was an outdoor event with food, inflatables, face painting, and LOTS of other things. It was a BEAUTIFUL afternoon so we made it a family event! Here are a couple pics of the kids with their faces painted.

Proof that they DO love each other...

Caed VOLUNTEERED to read Abby her bedtime books tonight! Awwwwww! BUT Abby wasn't so sure...notice the toy sword she had ready just in case!

Toothless Wonder

I have always though it was cute when I see children missing one or both of their front two teeth...well now I have one of my own! Caed lost one of his front teeth last night and thinks it is the coolest thing ever!