I Would Never Leave

I love the beach. Not the crowded noisy beach but the quiet peaceful beach like Currituck. This is the second time Nathan and I have taken the kids there for the day. I love driving the 20 miles from the causeway up through the small towns to the lighthouse. I could look at beach houses everyday. They are so tall and graceful. This time we took my mom and dad with us and met Maggie, a family friend, there. We had a beautiful day.
We started with a picnic lunch and then climbed the lighthouse. I love the view from the top. We also visited a nature/history center about the area. When we were just about to set out for the beach we heard thunder and felt some sprinkles. We spent about 30 minutes waiting for the weather to blow over in this gazebo out over the water.
We spent the rest of the day at the beach playing in the waves with JM and AJ. Grasshopper and Little Peanut are not so fond of the waves but in the dumping sand down your pants categories they are the top two contendors. Actually, they are the only contendors.
Every time we leave it gets harder and harder to leave. We're planning next summer to go and stay for a week. Anyone want to come with us?

Cause My Husband is Scared of Turtle Claws

Last night I was going to run out to W*l-M*rt to get a roller to finish this project which has been hanging over my head. As I was getting ready to turn off of our street I saw a nice sized turtle in the middle of the road. Nathan was in the yard so I parked the car right there at the stop sign and jumped out. I called Nathan and the kids over to see the turtle.
We took a couple of pictures and then I suggested Nathan take it back down by the creek that is a ways behind our house. He laughed at the idea of picking it up. I told him to just grab it and carry it. Nathan was intimidated by the large claws on all four legs. Here is his solution.
That turtle, we discovered, could move quite fast when it felt threatened. I was laughing really hard at him trying to pick it up with softball gloves.
We carried it back into the field near a ravine with water so hopefully he will be okay.

Fun with Friends

Our good friend Laura is in Alaska this week sightseeing after running a half marathon last weekend. Before she left we had her over for dinner and games. She decided that I should take her picture since she apparently wants to be on the blog. So Laura, this is for you. She thought it was a big deal that I actually let her help in the kitchen. That's the Pampered Chef rotary grater if anyone is interested...
We had tacos for dinner and then some of our other friends came over and we played Apples to Apples. Sorry, Aryeh, the picture Nathan took of you didn't come out...but we did not forget you were there.
Our somewhat spastic cat insists on laying on anything she can find, this night it was the Apples to Apples box.
I served some very yummy, very pretty strawberry shortcake and forgot to take a picture. It had white chocolate mousse on top.

More Hair Fell

Yesterday was AJ's last day of school for the summer. Yea! Of course, that meant that everything in his cubby and desk came home, including his pencil box. In his pencil box were crayons, pencils, and his nice little scissors. Someone found those nice little scissor and decided to do a little styling of her own. I wonder who taught her that?
She was in the bathtub when we found the hair on the floor. We didn't see how bad it was until it dried. This morning I call my hairstylist and she was able to work us in at 3:30.
Now, typically, Little Peanut will not be sweet around strangers. She gives the dirtiest looks you've ever seen and won't smile or do what you ask her to do. I knew it was going to be important for her hold still and do what the hairstylist asked so I started talking up our little outing. I told her what a big girl she was to get to go to the salon, how fun it would be to sit in the big chair, she needed to smile pretty cause mom was going to take pictures. And the icing on the cake, a green apple slushie from Sonic if she was good and held still. It worked.
She was a little princess. She marched right it with her little sunglasses. She smiled and was sweet. She also blammed her hair mess on her older brother. She talked and chattered and everyone fell in love with her.
We got to Sonic just in time to catch the end of Happy Hour, half priced drinks, less than a dollar and a half. What was that? A small slushie doesn't cost a dollar and half???? That's because I got a large cherry limeade of course.
See, it was hot....I needed something to cool off.
And in other news, JM did this to Grasshopper this morning.

Arrows in the hands of a Warrior

This past year for our extended family has been excruciating and painful to say the least. Gut wrenching and searing pain might be more accurate. On September 3, the evening before my 27th birthday, my 18 year old nephew died. And while that might seem tragic to people who didn't know him, to those of us who knew him, saw the power of God in him, it is devastating. At the moment I received the call telling me, I fell to my knees sobbing and the only thing running through my head, "When there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name."
At his funeral my 17 year old niece, Daniel's sister Belle, spoke. She shared this passage from Psalms 127.

³ Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

⁵ Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

She shared that Daniel had not just been an arrow but he had been an arrow on fire, igniting all those around him in the quiver. And while it might seem that he didn't hit the mark, he did hit it. And he plowed the way for those coming behind him.

And soon, Belle will be launched, out of the quiver, on fire. And she is the most amazing person I know. Instead of allowing this past year to rob her of her strength and purpose, she is passing through this 'valley' and becoming a truly mighty woman of God. She just finished running a full marathon, 26.2 miles. She wore Daniel's initials on her arm band and dedicated the race to him. For the last two miles of the race she wore life tape, a piece of red duct tape with the word 'life' written on it symbolizing that abortion takes away the voice of unborn babies, over her mouth. Daniel's dedication to the cause of life knew no bounds. And neither does Belle's.

Our society today tells young people, you don't have to be responsible for your actions, you can do whatever feels good. She stands for truth and righteousness. There are those who have said, 'just give her a few years of college and she'll change her tune'. I do not believe that will be the case. She is strong and grounded in her faith in God. Storms will come, some already have, but she will be victorious through God.

Belle, I am so proud to be your aunt. I pray that I will be able to lead Little Peanut just as your mother lead you. And Mama Lily, I love you so much. I can't thank you enough for your friendship.

The Difference Between a Good Hair Cut and A Bad Hair Cut is...

not two weeks. More like 3 years in this case. He did this to her. He was disciplined like this. Sigh. He cut 3 inches off of one side of her hair. She's never had a hair cut before. That was three years of very hard hair growth. I'm not happy. Poor girl. She's going to be in a wedding this summer. Besides the fact that she's bald on one side of her head. He's also not allowed out of my sight today.

Leftovers

These are a few pictures that got left out of all of our Spring break posts. Enjoy!