That's just not me...

 It's funny because I don't post a lot on Facebook.  I love to look at my friend's pics and read their status' because I love them, and I love keeping up with a part of their lives this way.

But, to be honest... much of my life isn't polished or pretty.

It's just not me to have my kids all dressed (in matching clothes) holding signs that were made with according to a cute DIY Pinterest project.  Please don't think I am bashing those that can do this.  It is simply not me.  I am not crafty, or creative on my own.  I don't have time to do the pinterest project because I am not exactly the best manager of my time.  I do good to make sure they are wearing shoes.  And, to be honest, we did forget Jude and Mia's backpacks.

So, I feel like a horrible mother if I compare myself to other mom's on social media.  I forgot to take first day pics of my littles... and the baby was still in the clothes she slept in.  We had other priorities.  Eating.  That was important.  Bible study... oh Lord help me to continue to be faithful in this for this year with my kiddos!  And, the ever popular getting them to school on time (we were probably late 35 days last year).  I wish I was kidding.

So, I just don't compare.

I love my family.  I love my hectic life.  I love the areas in me that need growth.  I am not perfect.  I don't have it all together.  I more agree with the meme's that you see that say something like this:

Seriously.  Yes.

I do not love Maddy and Jared more because I managed to get their pictures on FB.  I literally hesitated for a minute to post them since I didn't have all of my kids together.  Heaven forbid someone take that to mean something it doesn't.  It just happened, that at the moment I had a minute to pick up my phone, they were the only two dressed and ready for pics.  And so it was.  

Anyway, all of this to simply say... be you, and be happy with who God created you to be.  With all of your strengths (which people will praise) and your WEAKNESS (which people will NOT praise).  Never quit growing and learning to be better.  Listen to God when He wants to strengthen you in an area that you are weak.  But, I would rather see the real you - and hear your real life in person or on social media than I would to see a bunch of staged pics that don't capture even the broken pieces of you, or the imperfections in your day to day.  .  

This is one of my favorite pictures, not only because I ADORE the girls that are in this picture with me, but because it was a candid photo.  Everyone was acting just how they are.  And how they are is absolutely precious and beautiful to me.  

So, today, my one encouragement to you, is simply to not only allow yourself to just be YOU, but actually learn to like who YOU are.  No one else is made just like you.  And, you were made the way you are for a reason.  Here is one of my favorite verses that reminds me that God isn't gonna give up on me any time soon.  Philippians 1:3-6 "I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." 

Praise be to God.  He will finish what He started.  And the work He started was good.  :)

A Birthday of Blessings!

I woke up to a hand-made (sweet and of course, witty) card from my husband. 

I snuggled on the couch with my babies and ate breakfast.  :)

We met a friend at the movies for the incredible 50 cent Summer movie clubhouse!  (Loved seeing you Tiff - even though it was only for a bit!)

I was spoiled and treated to lunch by my beautiful friend, Mary.  Who also brought me my favorite coffee creamer, the beautiful flowers in the picture, and a new book!!!  I praise God because she knows me so well  - it was perfect - all of it.  My favorite part was getting to chat with her - I am always so blessed by her friendship and love.  Beautiful.

Another precious friend (Thanks Trish!) from our home group treated me to a massage!  Oh man, did I really need that.  It was simply delightful!

Then, my amazing personal chef (also known as my hubby, Ken) made me a steak dinner and his famous Cobb Salad - which is outstanding!  To top it off, he baked me a Red Velvet Cake and lit all 35 candles :) 
Then, I went to work out at BoomFIT with my sweet friend Debi (whom it has been entirely too long since we've hung out!).  I wanted to puke (after eating steak) - but it was really great and I felt good about it after the nausea wore off  :)

Countless friends called, emailed, texted and wrote on my FB wall - with birthday wishes.  So blessed. 

What a day!  My kids sang to me and loved on me all day.  I had sweet fellowship with friends and time to just relax (and pray and read). 

It was a perfect day!   I found myself being so grateful for my family and friends. 

I was especially blessed when my phone rang at 10:20pm!  My friend who lives in East Asia called me to wish me happy birthday.  We got to skype for over and hour and I just cried because of how good it was to see her face and hear her heart.  I have missed her so greatly over this past year!

I couldn't have designed a better day.  It was simply beautiful. 

I am so thankful for the gifts the Lord has given me in my friends.  I can't imagine not having a close group of people who I can share my dreams and my hurts and my heart with!   Each birthday wish, every sweet gesture and the time invested in my life from these precious people is priceless to me. 
What an amazing God to have planned my life before I was even created!  To think He knew every person I would come in contact with - each person that would enrich my life in some way or another...  wow.  What a good and gracious God! 

Today I am still just reveling in the goodness of God.  And, today, I got to enjoy coffee with a new dear friend, Dayna.  It was so exciting to hear how similar some of the desires in our hearts are.  Sweet!  Really sweet! 

I am so thankful for the hand of God in my life.  I am so thankful to be His child.  I am so thankful to have the friends that I have (every single one of you!) 

What a joy to hope in the Lord and have fellowship with others who are like-minded! My heart delights in the great things He is doing.  He is so worthy of my adoration.  He has surely done great things... and He will surely continue to do great things. 

Hey there - it's been a while!

Well, it has been a while since I've been here.

I haven't had much "spare" time. Life is altogether too busy.But, even in the midst of the busy-ness, we have managed to do some pretty great things!!

We have played in the snow.

We have been to a birthday party!

We have had a work day at the daycare - where I made my kiddos work hard!

We have worshipped and prayed. We have cried and laughed. We have snuggled up and watched movies. We have argued. We have hugged. We have yelled. We have done nice things for each other. We have lived life...

I have worked on my book. I am excited about that. Even busy, I have managed to tweak a few things here and there. There are two things that bring me exceedingly abundant joy.

1. worship

2. reading God's Word

there are two things that bring me exceeding joy:

1. My husband

2. My children

there are three things (okay a lot more than that, but 3 for now) that make me happy:

1. Chocolate milk (I mean, it makes me REALLY happy).

2. Reading in a "sunroom" on a beautiful day

3. Reading bedtime stories to my little ones.

I love Jesus. I know that isn't much of a surprise, but I really LOVE Him. He changes everything for me. Everything. Today in church, we talked about Hezekiah, and how God literally turned back time for him - as a sign of His faithfulness. It reminds me of the day the sun stood still for another Biblical friend - Joshua.

It doesn't amaze me that He can do those things - literally - the earth and the sea and everything in them are subject to Him.

What amazes me is that He does them for us - broken human beings who are going to fail Him every time.

He knows that, and yet, He never gives up on us!

Never.

What comfort is found for me in that! It makes me sad for my sweet Candice (our birth-mom). Very few people in her life have not "given up on her". It is really what she expects. People expect her to fail. People refuse to believe that even she can change. It is hard when you see her actions.

But, I know the way that God has (and is) pursuing her. I am just praying it won't take 10 years in jail for her to come to her senses. Mia would be 12. But, I believe that God knows best, and if that is what will save her life - then ultimately, that is what I desire. I love this girl, and I want her to know Jesus and love Jesus more than she loves life.

God will never give up on me, and by His grace alone, I will never give up on her.

She is His beloved child.

His daughter.

She is a daughter of the King, and she is living in the slums.

She needs a rescuer. She needs Jesus to show up and rock her world.

Has He done that for you? Has He rocked your whole world yet? If you know Him, I challenge you to ask Him to show up in an area of your life that seems so complicated - in a way that is undeniably Him. You will never get enough of Him. I pray that you will find Him in a way you have never found Him before. And, if you will - could you say a prayer for my Candice while you are with Him? Pray that He will move in her heart, and in her life in a way that is perfectly Righteous.

That's it for this beautiful day. I am going to read, and write a letter to my Candice, and I am going to thank the Lord for time to spend in His Word - and I am going to pray for my precious friends Mary and Don as they are spending this weekend with his very ill parents. God is faithful - every single day, in every single way.

FAMILY UPDATE!!!

When I originally began writing this post I was just going to give a family update as a prelude to the deeper things in my heart. As I have written, and seen how many words are on this page, I have determined that I will make this ONLY a family update and the deep things of my heart will have to wait for another time. :) So, here goes, settle in, it is quite an update!

We moved (by the GRACE of God) into our new house in the last few days of June. We have two wonderful roommates that we met through our church’s website! They are a delight to have living here and it is fun to see how the Lord provides for us at every turn. It is a beautiful house and we are so thankful for so many things about it. We love the back yard. We love that it has NO carpet in the living room. We love that we have space enough to have roommates. It is a blessing in so many ways.

I will start with Christian (Mia’s biological brother). Well, I must let you know that his name is now Kohbi. It is a strong name, and a perfect name for him. He is over 20 pounds, 6 months old and one of the happiest babies I’ve ever seen. He is with his new family. The coolest part about that - is it is my family too. My sister, and her husband Chad, and their two precious children are Kohbi’s forever family. There are too many cool details to list out, but I will explore that more fully at a different time. For right now, just know that God’s hand moved in a mighty way and we all knew that His Sovereign plan was for my sister to be Kohbi’s mommy. Wow. So, we are back to only 5 kids - but we get to have a very close relationship with Kohbi forever - and that is dear to my heart.

Jake is 13 and in the 8^th grade. He is 5’7 and is such a great kid. He is going to be an amazing man. I love watching him grow up and I am so blessed by the youth group he attends. God has His hand on this boy. What a privilege to be his mom. I got to watch him today as we all (me and the 5 kids) waited for an hour to get 4 of them a haircut! The first 20 minutes was a piece of cake... After that, it was a bit hectic. Just as I was about to have to go full out mommy mode, Jake stepped in to help out. Before I even asked him, he was taking care of his tiny sister and keeping his brothers out of trouble. What a treasure to my heart. And, when all but one haircut was finished - he offered to take everyone to the car to start a movie so they wouldn’t have to wait in the shop. Precious.

Maddy is 10 and in the 5^th grade. It is her first year in Intermediate school. She LOVES it. She is so social (I have no idea where she gets that from?) and she is always hugging someone, or smiling at someone, or I am hearing someone yell her name from across the playground. I love that she loves people. And, I pray that she knows that apart from their approval she is an amazing little grown up girl. That is what she is... A little girl that is grown up in so many ways. She is very helpful with the babies - and she always knows when I need a hug. She can tell if I have been crying even when I “cover” well. She knows me and I know her and I am delighted that I get to be her mommy.

Jared is 8 and is in the 3^rd grade. This is his first year without his sister in the same school. That is tough, but he is doing so great! I forgot what a tough age this is for boys especially. I don’t know if it is hormones, or just a time for testing limits, but things are surfacing that make me so sad. God’s Word is true, and I will not spare the rod, but it breaks my heart that it seems like this will be a tough season for him. It will be a time of discipline. And we will both make it out alive. It will just teach me a lot about God’s unconditional love and it will teach him much as well. He is a very funny boy - and he is doing really well in school. He is the most amazing artist I know. He delights in drawing and I delight in being the recipient of many of his works of art. He still has one of the most tender hearts I have ever seen. This makes the spankings much harder on my mommy heart. I can’t wait to see the man he becomes. It is a wonderful thing to be his mommy.

Jude is 2 and a half. Almost 3 in fact. My sister pointed this out to me the other day. Thanks, sis. He is so smart. Scary smart. And he is so fun! He is strong-willed, very focused, super-silly and stubborn headed. He makes me tired. He cries loud and acts so foolish when he is tired. That reminds me of me. I am so foolish when I am tired. There is a constant pulling in my heart - one way that I do not wish to spend one minute without him, and one way that I could send him off at any point for a few days just to get my head on straight. How I love this about him! He is a joy to my heart. He makes me so angry and so proud so many times a day that I can’t describe it well. Taking him to Disney made me see how grown up he is becoming. His comprehension is just amazing and he was so precious the whole trip. I literally felt sorry for everyone who doesn’t get to be his mommy. I have that feeling with him often. And, I am humbled to actually be his mommy. This kid is gonna do great things. I know it.

And finally, there is Mia. Ahhh my precious Mia baby. She is hardly a baby anymore, but don’t worry - we don’t tell her that! She will be 2 in December. Wow. What a ride this last 21 months has been! We had no idea what all would be in store for us 2 years ago. I will leave that to a different post, but it will be hard to put words to everything that is in my heart. Mia is really starting to talk a lot. She is so funny... So much a diva! She hollers when she doesn‘t get her way. She is sassy. She is beautiful. She is a delight to my heart. She is constantly ready to “hold” me. She snuggles me in a way that reminds me how much I love to be hugged tight. I can’t describe how much she was made for me. I know that she needed me... But I needed her more. That is the truth. Her hair is super curly and amazing. Her smile is infectious - and the faces she can make are really just crazy! She loves to read - probably more than anything else she loves to sit in my lap and read while snuggling her blanket! That was the most dramatic thing of the month. We lost her blanket. Her pink, soft, wonderful blanket that I made her before she was born. So, naturally, I had to make her another one. Just like the first one. And she carries it everywhere! She is my Linus. That reminds me of me. I loved my blankets when I was a little girl. But, I will still praise the Name of Jesus when we find the first one. I think she will too. It is just a blanket. Just a piece of soft pink wonderfulness. But, it carries a story. A deep story of God’s faithfulness and His love and mercy. And she and I both know the story. It is a beautiful story. So, I hold hope in my heart that it will be found and we will rejoice. Being her mommy has taught me more about the Kingdom of God than any other thing in my life. I praise God for the privilege, the blessing of being called mommy by her precious little voice every day, and I praise God for His gift to me of this little girl.

So, that is the kiddos. All of them a tremendous blessing to me. Each, in their own way teaching me everyday how messed up I am, and yet, how much grace God has to extend. I love that His mercies are new every single morning.

Ken is busy busy with Burger Boy. Our sweet manager left for maternity leave :) yay babies! And, he has become the new manager. He is a great manager. God made him to lead. He is a very strong leader, and an excellent one at that! I find myself thinking more and more often how handsome he is, and how much I am thankful that 14 years ago he chose me to be his bride. God is good.

I am back full time at the daycare, and am looking forward to whatever the Lord has in store for me today, tomorrow, and as long as He wills me to be on this earth. I am praying that He has a buyer for the business soon, but His plan is best, so I will hold on to the truth that He knows what He is doing. Pray for us to have wisdom in each aspect of life. Daily we need His provision and His guidance. Daily we count on His hand leading us to the places we should go. He is so good to us. He is our Mighty God.

Big Happy Family

Look at those beautiful kids! All 5 of them. Wow! We are so blessed. SOOO Blessed!!! God has been so sweet with us. Ken and I are constantly amazed at how blessed we have been in the "kid" department. God is good. So, here's an update on all kids for the summer (since I have some friend that keeps nagging me about us only "spotlighting" Mia...) ;)

Jake is turning 12 in two months. He has officially begun the process of turning into a teenager! Ha! He is already sleeping longer in the mornings. He is taller than me. He is an AMAZING helper and great big brother to all of these brothers and sisters ;) He is so witty and constantly making me laugh. He is such a good kid. What a blessing he is to me every day!

Maddy is turning 9 in two weeks! She is in the middle of a bunch of changes. She wants to be grown already, and yet, she still wants to be a kid. She is a great help to me with the babies... now if I can just get her to be a help with the laundry ;) She is about to cut her hair again and she is constantly amazing me with her fashion sense. She can do her hair (and always could) better than I do her hair! She is a little DIVA and a great big Sunshine! She is constantly making us smile. We were watching videos that she had taken on her camera - and this girl is CRAZY! She is "just like her momma" they tell me. And yes, she is.

Jared just turned 7! He is a snaggletooth right now! 8 teeth have fallen out in the last few months. They are all growing in, but still... there are lots of holes in there!!! So cute. We have taken so many pictures of him because of that. He is absolutely precious. He loves to color and loves to give things to people. He has the gift of giving. What a doll! He is enjoying his summer in the pool and playing games with his big brother.

Jude is a handful! Oh he is a naughty one. But, he is so dang smart. That's what it is. His main problem is that he is smarter than a lot of 4 year olds... and we can tell. For example, he got in trouble for hitting his sister and Ken got on to him. He then said, "Say yes, sir." Jude stares... looking like he has no idea what Ken is saying. Drama insues and he gets a spankin. Two minutes later I ask him if he wants to go outside and tell him to say yes, sir and before I even get it out... he says "Yes sir." ugh. little punk. He makes you think he doesn't know when he is being stubborn.. but if it is something he wants.. oh yes, sir or yes ma'am comes flying out of his mouth. He is absolutely precious. A mess, but precious. He can tell you he is going to be 2 on his next birthday, but he holds up one finger (or sometimes 5) ;) Precious, I tell you. He is ever helping his little sister Mia. He brings her her bottle, her toys, her pacifier (which she doesn't even take) and anything else that is little or pink. It is precious. And he is constantly kissing her on the head. Oh man. That melts my heart. Jude is also not afraid of water at all! We have to watch him like crazy at the pool - or at the river. He will stick his face under and bounce up and down and he is constantly trying to drown himself. He is crazy about swimming! We have our hands full!!!

And then, there is Mia. I know, you already know most of it... but she is the one who has been changing the most in the last few months. She now has pierced ears and she is trying to crawl. She LOVES her jumperoo and hanging out with her daddy. She is just an amazing little girl. At the adoption ceremony we all were crying. What a miracle baby she is! Even the lawyer started crying. My favorite part was when the judge asked our lawyer if he needed to ask the questions because she was too choked up to talk! LOVE IT!!! What a precious day! Granny Joan and Pawpaw bought her a necklace and bracelet to wear. She looks stunning in them. Just stunning. She is a little captivator! What a joy she is too! She is constantly cooing and smiling. She LOVES the water - cold or warm. She doesn't care... she just loves the water. We are going to have a great summer!

That's about it! We are going to Disney in August and until then we are just hanging out and having a great time being a BIG Happy Family! We love it! God is good. He is so Faithful!

Been a while...

So, it has been a WHILE since I updated... I am sorry. Mia is beautiful and growing more beautiful everyday! She is learning to belly laugh - mostly at Jake - and still smiles almost all the time. Jude is hilarious! He is saying words like, "eat, up, down, Jude, Joc, Momma, Dadda, more..." and several others. He will show you his belly if you ask him (and sometimes if you don't)... he will show you where his nose is and his mouth (one of my favorites). He also blows kisses and knows how to tell his brothers and sisters he is sorry when he hurts them. He is really something else!!! Jared is doing great in school and is becomming quite the artist! He is so good at drawing and just being sweet!Maddy made a 100% on her TAKS test. Yep, she didn't miss one. Oh brother, brains and beauty... what do we have ahead of us??? And Jake - well... he finally did it. He is as tall as me. He measures exactly the same height as me... but not for long I am sure! I will be looking up to him very soon I am afraid!We have taken the whole family camping once and we are going to go again soon. I am really looking forward to it! The kids really do well... and Jude LOVES the outdoors! We don't have a date yet for the finalization of the adoption... but we know it will be June. So we are really excited about that! That is all for now... got to go tuck in kids... WAYYY past bed time now :)

Ho hum heart...

So, lately I have a ho hum heart. I think it is hardened. I think that there have been so many areas that I have shut down - unknowingly, and unintentionally... but shut down none the less. I get angry when people speak truth about things that God has promised in my life. It is unbelief really. And unbelief is sin... I am apathetic in some ways, and then the fact that that really bothers me means that I am not totally apathetic... which would be to not care at all. I am ready to awaken my heart again. I am ready to have God take me by the shoulders and shake me a little... and yet, even typing that makes me shudder... literally. He desires to be desired. He desires that we put Him first in our hearts... in our soft and willing hearts. Praise Him for His grace and His glory. He is full of compassion and mercy - and of course - unfailing love.

Things are rockin around here. We can't keep from being busy. We have had trips out of town almost every week, or family coming in... we have boxed up boxes in case we move... we have looked at land... and so many other things I can't list them all... including two birthday parties- sheeesh! I am tired thinking about it all...

So, anyways (I say that with my best Nacho Libre accent), Jude is almost 8 months old. Jake turned 11 today... Maddy just turned 8 last month and my Jared turned 6 the month before that! My kids are great! I have loved having them this summer... I am approaching the school year with mixed emotions. I am excited for them... and in ways for me... but I will be sad to send them back. I am certainly not "tired of them". Hopefully they aren't tired of me either. Ken is busy trying to catch up on the days he is here, and I am searching for a lady to help me clean... I can't tell you the difference it makes in EVERYTHING! Ken was wonderful to think of that for me for my birthday! What a gift!

Adoption things are still pending. We have three more papers to turn in essentially. I am hoping we will have all of that taken care of before the end of the month. Life is busy, and life is wonderful, and my heart is ho hum. Oh Lord, help. How is it that I have lost the fire in my heart? I know He will restore to me the joy of my salvation. I know He will move in ways I can't even imagine. I must have belief. I really must

Life for us in March...

Life in the Simmons family is certainly busy these days. Too busy. I am not in the Word nearly like I want to be and I NEED it! I wanted to post a little something about our Jude. Oh, he is precious and sweet and wonderful! But, he has a small bump on the back of his head. He has had it since birth – and the doctor says it is a cyst. We are taking him on March 18th to Texas Children’s to have it looked at by a specialist. It isn’t supposed to be a major deal, but they will do surgery to remove it and they will need to put him under anesthesia to do it. So, please pray for it to go really well, and for Ken and I to be an encouragement to other people through this process. I will try to post again when I am more certain of the date of the surgery.
I am getting some pictures ready for our Lifebook and I am really excited to see how it all comes together. The kids are excited to be on Spring break! I am glad not to have to get them ready for school for a week J! Other than that, it is just laundry, dishes and trying to get dinner cooked before 7pm. We love your prayers!

Family Update... School has begun!

All three of my precious kiddos are in school now! Wow! What a fun time this is for our family! Jake is doing so well in intermediate school. He rides his bike to school everyday and has a routine for his homework. He is making wonderful grades, and I couldn't be more proud of the way he is keeping his things organized. Praise the Lord! He is really growing up. If you don't believe me, just call him sometime and talk to him for a minute on the phone. He sounds so grown! He is showing me this year that he is really very capable of keeping up with assignments and turning stuff in on time. He is also such a help to me at the house. He helps me so much. I never dreamed that he could take so much off of me - but he does every day! He officially has an extra hour of awake time after his brother and sister have to go to bed. He needs it most days just to finsih up homework and have a little down time. What a blessing he is to his Momma and Daddy!
Then there is my Maddy-Bella. Oh she is indeed a beauty! She is taking her new challenges and running with them! Her Spanish teacher this year ONLY speaks in spanish! Talk about full submersion! She is doing great! Yesterday she said, "Mommy, I wrote in Spanish in my draft book today!" I am so proud of her and excited for the opportunites that will come in her life from this program! My favorite thing that is going on in her life right now is the way that she is listening to God. She hears His voice and it is so encouraging to this momma! Please ask me about this if you want to know more. I promise it will be an encouragement to you to. It has really made me want to have a more child-like faith. I want to feel conviction as quickly as she does. I don't want a hard heart - and I see the ways that God is protecting her from that. Wow! She is a delight to my heart and my spirit. What a breath of fresh air!
And last, but not in any way less than my first two, there is Jared. Oh what a joy! I asked him what his favorite part of his first day of school was, and he quickly said, "the whole thing!" He is feeling so grown up, and loving his school. He is going to learn so much about being a big kid this year. That is a little hard on me, but he is no longer a baby, and it shows. He is so precious. I am so proud of him! The first day of school he also said, "Hey Mommy, there is a girl in my class - in a yellow dress - and she doesn't love God." I said, "Oh, were you talking about God today in school." His response, "No ma-am". So, I said, "Oh. Well, how do you know that she doesn't love God?" After much talking, I am still not certain how it all came about, but he and another little boy were telling her she was rude because she doesn't love God. Oh boy! I had to explain that if they ever wanted her to love God, they had better stop telling her that she is rude and start loving on her. It was such a hoot! Yeah that he is already talking about God - one way or the other. Ha!

Family Update

Jacob starts "intermediate" school this year. 5th grade. That's right - my firstborn is ten in less than two weeks! Unbelievable! He has been such a blessing to me over the last few months. He is now the resident dishwasher, garbage man, and sometimes cook. He is amazing! My favorite thing that he does right now is rub on my ever growing belly. He pats it, kisses it, and rubs on it several times a day and asks me things like, "Are you sure the baby can hear me?" Precious boy!

Maddy is going into the 2nd grade. She just turned 7! That is scary to me! She is growing up faster than I know what to do with. She is so smart, and of course, so beautiful. She is my prayer warrior. She prays with me and for me and for her friends. What a joy to God's heart to hear her lift her voice in prayer. She is also an amazing ice-skater! Oh my goodness! She is certainly on her way to becomming my real ice princess! She is an incredible girl! She is always making up new dances and new "plays" to perform for us. And praise the Lord - she is way more graceful than her mother!

And of course, Jared. This boy starts school this year! Kindergarden! Wow! We are so excited that he got in the dual language program. He will be learning Spanish every single day for half of the day. In fact, his teacher won't speak a word of English to the class at all. Talk about a good way to learn quickly! He is certain to be the class clown, and I am praying that I won't have to frequent the school for discipline! He is such a funny boy. What a joy to my heart! He is also my encourager. He saw me painting my nails just yesterday and said, "Mommy, your nails look pretty." Wow! He notices everything.

Ken and I are planning a get away for October because we remember pretty well what it is like to have a new baby in the house. So, we are looking at taking a cruise and having a little "us time". He spoils me!

The daycare is going well, we're gearing back up for the fall. Patty does an incredible job of keeping everything running smoothly.