we're on a boat

while wes and i spent our evenings at bible school last week, gary spent his time giving our little boat a make-over!

we decided to take her out for a maiden voyage this weekend. as we were getting ready to leave, gary suggested that we name the boat 'little buddy' and wes' reply was 'how about big mama?'. oh my goodness! haha!

once gary got 'big mama' nice and secure, we headed out to lake adger.

wes was so excited. you could see it all over his face.

we started off with some fishing. wes made friends with a worm. 

gary and i each caught a fish. his on the left, mine on the right. naturaly, i didn't touch mine. ew.

wes was pretty bummed that he didn't catch one, so we set sail for some fun.

it was a wonderful day. can't wait to do it again!

vbs is kicking my booty

tonight is the last night of classes for vbs. tomorrow will be a worship rally, dinner and some time for parents to visit their children's classrooms. i. am. pooped. this week has been crazy long. work + life + vbs = a lot :) when i start to get frustrated or annoyed, i remind myself that vbs means so much to these kids. and, for the most part they have done great this week. i'm so glad i was a part of the 2nd grade class this year.

 left: what's keeping me going this morning. diet dr. pepper & coffee. i'm double fistin' it. 

right: brandon, who joined our class last night.

vbs 2012: amazing wonders aviation

this year my sister in law, tracy and i are teaching 2nd graders at vbs. i usually volunteer in an activity, like crafts. this year i told them that i would graze around and help whoever needed help - but they wrangled me into more of a commitment :) i am glad that i get to spend all week with tracy though!

that's tracy above teaching

front row: anthony & bralynn

2nd row: callie & brock

shuana in the purple shirt and grace beside her

here's a picture i grabbed from my mother in law of wes. 

he's obv having too much fun to look at the camera for his picture. at least she got a smile!

my favorite things: the sky

the heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  

day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.

they have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.

yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.  

in the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.  

it is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 

it rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.

psalm 19: 1-6

i love the sky. love, love, love.

i snapped this picture with my cell phone. i love that you can see the sun, the moon & the 2 birds.

amazing.   

making memories

one saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, gary woke up early and decided to go fishing. wes was watching cartoons on t.v. and i encouraged him to let him tag along because i wanted to clean out our 'junk room' and i'd rather not have wes glued to the t.v. all morning. he was a little leery because wes is not the kind of kid to sit still for very long. he wasn't sure if he'd be interested in fishing because of the down time. but, he took him anyway. they ended up having a great time and were gone until late afternoon. because of the success of the trip, gary decided that we had to have a john boat. so, off to craigslist he went... 

a couple of days later, this little gal was ours. she may not be the prettiest thing in the lake, but i'm sure she'll hold a special place in wes' childhood memories.

gary has spent his free time the past couple of weeks getting the motor running. the next step is giving her a fresh coat of paint, which i'm sure will help her looks a bit. we hope to take her out this weekend to see if there are any leaks. hopefully not, so we can spend next weekend out on the water!

aunt amy

my brother and his lovely wife found out on monday that they will be welcoming a little baby girl to their family early this december. i am so excited for them, i can hardly stand it. this will be the first of mine or gary's siblings to have a child, so we will be first time aunt, uncle and cousin!

'before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart'

jeremiah 1:5 

 ♥ this is a picture i took of tim & whitney back in 2010 for their 1st anniversary ♥  

a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

this is wes' first year participating in the vbs musical at church (he's on the right, in the blue shirt). he did great! watching him made my heart sing.

'all your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.' 

 isaiah 54:13

starting a blog, again.

well, here i go again. i've started blogs in the past but i've never kept up with them very well. this thing called life happened and a blog turned out to be at the bottom of my priority list. i feel like i've grown up so much this past year. i hit thirty and my eyes sort of opened up. there's so much happening in our lives and i want to document it. personally, i have a horrible memory for small details, so i hope this little piece of the internet will help keep those precious, small memories alive. this is us. this is our little life.

my little houseplants getting watered (iphone image)

(because posts without pictures are booooring)