Adventure Time

These two guys

are great buddies. Always playing games and making up contests for each other. I love watching the two of them together--the big one showing grace and love to the little one, who eats it up and is learning what "family" really means along the way....

Last week Nick made up a challenge for Joshua. It was an epic adventure

stretching over two days, and involving clues hidden around the house, yard, and even neighborhood.

There was problem-solving, lots of walking, and even binoculars were involved. 

In the end, Joshua was rewarded with a "Congratulations!" note and a sense of accomplishment.

He was so inspired by the adventure, he decided to make up his own for his brother and they soon set out again....

I'd like to stop time about now...

Real Winter

When we got in the car after the gym this morning, the thermometer said 63degrees F. January 27.
We did have winter once, though. I promise. Do you remember?
We had some fun today looking back through old blog posts.
Check this out! We ended up with over 100 inches of snow that year.
Now THAT was winter!

Well, I'm glad that's over!

Winter finally came. The wind howled, the temperatures plunged, the snow fell. Trains were delayed due to ice on the roads, my kids went snow-sledding all day (with 1 1/2 inches of snow, it soon became mud sledding...), we made hot chocolate with spray whipped cream. It was awesome.

It was awesome that it only lasted 3 days! Now we are back to fake-winter! Sun shining, temperatures warming up, snow is all melted. What on earth? With the crazy winter the rest of the country has been having, I am LOVING this non-winter we've had! It's almost like being back in the South. Without the sweet tea....

So far we are sticking with our commitment (I'm not using that "r" word) to go to the gym more regularly. We've got a good routine down and feel like we are actually getting our money's worth!

Nick is busy filling out his application for a service trip he wants to go on this summer. The group is going to a church in the Midwest to help them with some maintenance projects and also to encourage their youth group. He's really excited about the opportunity.

We broke out the pocket knives last week with our Cub Scouts and earned the Whittling Chip, which is a card they must have with them in order to carry their knives to a Scout function. We are glad to report that there were no injuries and that the Ivory soap as a carving medium worked great!

And, for you military-types, we have an RFO. :) One step closer....
Oh, and Joshua got Naked at the Mall. (heh heh...)

I'm a busy chick

Well, not yet. But I will be when I get some wire to make these little peeps:

source



Riverdance

 

And this is Thriller......


But Joshie and I did make these this week:

So I guess, technically, we're just monkeyin' around.....

Living in the Now

Even Joshua commented this morning, "This week flew by!" True, we are not barricaded into our house by mounds of snow (sorry, Mom and Bachmans), no one was ill or had surgeries like several other people we know. The boys and I had a few good times at the gym and with school, church, Scouts, and a couple other appointments, had a pretty normal week. But for some reason it just went so fast.

We are going to PCS (civilian speak: move) in a few months and I have to admit, I am SO EXCITED. It's hard to think of leaving certain people and things (church, Scouts) and I know it'll get even harder the closer it gets, but I find myself already moving on mentally. And I know those few months will fly by!
I have a pretty good idea of where we'll be living and I am constantly decorating the house in my head (thank you, Pinterest!). I have to stop for a minute here to share this photo:

source

See that blue ceiling?? Mark my words--I WILL have that one day. I looooooove like it a lot. (trying to save that other "L" word for things truly worthy of it)

Back on track.

We have lived here a long time. It will be almost 5 years by the time we move! And the entire time in the same house. That has never happened in the 22+ years we've been in the Army. I'm antsy, ready for a new adventure. There are so many things that I look forward to about our new duty station--unit functions, clubs, camaraderie....back in the "real" Army.

But you know what? Spending all my time looking ahead to what's next means that I am missing out on what's NOW. The Lord placed us here. He knew how long we would be here. He knew we needed to be here for the access to medical care for Nick, for the opportunity for spiritual growth for all of us at our church, for the chance for Dave to enhance his skills (and resume) by working for some important people with important agendas. He gave us time here to develop relationships with people and to share His love. He doesn't want us to waste the time we have left by letting our hearts be moved away before we are. God doesn't place us someplace just to take up space. We are to be salt and light wherever we are. And in our life, that means we have a lot of new opportunities. We must remember to stay rooted where he has placed us, and not wander away from the things that matter the most.

Acts 17:28 says, "In Him we live and move and have our being."

Our home is in Christ alone. Our eyes should be fixed on Calvary, not on the next best thing here on earth. If we remain focused on Him--honoring Him, working for Him, praising and thanking Him--and not allow ourselves to get swept away with thoughts of how much better things will be at the next place, we not only make the most of the TIME He has given us, but we make the most of the BLESSINGS He has given us.

I am going to purpose to make the most of these final months. To live out my focus verses (Colossians 4:6, James 5:16) for this year where I am NOW.

Things Floating

around in my head, that is.

It's been so long since I updated--I have no idea why! Lots of stuff has been going on--I just haven't been documenting it. So here is a collection of pictures and stories of things we've done and random thoughts I have that may or may not turn into full-blown blog posts in the near future...

Christmas happened. It was a really lovely weekend-I loved having Christmas eve service and then church again the next morning. There is something special about singing of Jesus' birth on the exact day we've set aside to celebrate it. I am extremely thankful to the leaders in our church who sacrificed some of their own family time to make the service special for the rest of us.
We missed Alyson this year--she went to Washington state with Danna to celebrate Christmas with my sister and her family.



jammies







This is for Grandma and Grandad. It was his favorite gift before he even opened it! (wink)



Joshua made a replica of "Wilson" from Castaway for Nick. Pretty awesome!

After Christmas we took Jarrett back to Raleigh and spent a couple days at Fort Bragg enjoying the sunshine. We got to meet Jarrett's gf, Rachael, and her mom for breakfast at a great southern restaurant. Yum!

We have a semi-tradition of meeting this guy on New Year's Eve. Waaay back when Jarrett was a little boy and Dave seemed to always have duty on NYE, we were passing the time until his bedtime and found Mr. Bean on BBC or something. We laughed our heads off! I can still remember the episodes that were on that first time we watched him. So we usually try to meet back up with him for a couple of laughs each year. This year we watched him then headed into Annapolis to watch the fireworks above the Naval Academy and the Capitol. We met a sweet retired-Army couple and had fun comparing our Army lives with theirs. It was a fun night. Joshua didn't bang on any pans, though. I'm not sure why, exactly....





Basketball has begun again!

Psyched up

I love this picture. You can't see his freckles well in the photo but they're there. And see those top teeth? They are going to fall out soon. And then that little boy will look completely different forever. I love baby teeth.....

We don't have the early game this year, which means we can't continue our tradition of having Chick fila for breakfast with our friends after the game. :( We went for lunch, but it wasn't quite the same...

We went ice skating with a bunch of friends. Our legs were SORE the next day...

It has become apparent that SOME of us indulged a bit too much over the holidays...

...so you can now find us at the gym. It hasn't been pretty, but it's effective. Dave works out at work or at our gym or with this tortuous personal trainer he has. I work out at our gym and while I am wheezing and gasping, Nick and Joshua have a Nick-designed basketball skills clinic on the court. Then  maybe a little weight lifting for Nick if I don't have to lay down and have IV's attached yet....

Other things that I am thinking about:

• My Bible verse(s) for the year. I'll talk about these later, but if you want to look them up, I have chosen Colossians 4:6 as my personal goal this year and James 5:16 as a reminder of God's promise to answer prayer and a commitment to better my prayer life this year.
• We have lots of changes coming up this year. I have lots to do to get ready!
• 20 bags continues...we cleaned out the garage which may have been 20 bags itself.
• That half-inch of snow we had the other day was perfectly fine with me. Now let's move on to spring!
• Speaking of spring, K-Mart took down their Christmas decorations and put up lawn furniture. :)
• Does anyone remember the Taco Snacks and Pizza Snacks they used to sell at K-Mart at a little concession area that was right by the registers?
• I need to update Nick's blog
• Lots of babies coming this year!
• Carolina basketball- AWESOME
• Trying to find time to focus on my shop

I think that's it for me. I sound like those commercials for internet searches where the person just keeps shouting out semi-related terms....

 I'll be back...