yes, God is still in control.... even in 1st grade.

I was starting to experience a panic attack.

I thought 1st grade would be SO MUCH EASIER than Kindergarten.

The problem: Isaac transferred to a new school in our district and will be taking the bus.

The solution: Visit the school with the kids and cast my cares upon the Lord.

We walked in and were welcomed by the nicest office lady in this world.

She gave us a wonderful tour... the 1st grade classrooms (complete with smart-boards), the beautiful art room, the amazing music room, the HUGE gym, the fun science Olympiad room, the updated computer lab, the cool lunchroom, etc

The lunch-lady asked us who would be attending the school and I replied "All of them, eventually." Such a weird feeling.

I can't explain it... because it wasn't anything I saw.... but I had a peace.

In fact, that peace quickly turned into excitement.

Why do I always worry?

You would think by now I would remember that God is always in control... especially when we are not.

So here's to a brand new school year, in a brand new school.

Isaac can't wait to meet new friends on Tuesday!

Sidenote: Part of my panic started when I read an amazing post from a mom whose son went with Isaac to Violet last year. He told his mom he couldn't wait to "tell his friends about God this year." THAT'S the kind of friend I wanted Isaac to have so that they could make a difference together in their school! WHY DID WE TRANSFER HIM?? Then it hit me.... maybe that's one of the reasons he is transferring... maybe he is needed in this school to tell his friends about God this year, because God already has one at Violet. Just some of my thoughts....

here's to 4 years of ZoZo!

Happy 4th Birthday to our favorite daughter in the whole, wide world!

Zoey, you have the ability to make your father and I smile and cringe at the same time. Last night you put on all of mama's jewelry right before bed and then asked to have your ears pierced. You love to dance, sing and make up new songs and those dimples of yours get to your dad's heart at warp speed. You are our cuddle-bug, you love babysitting your brothers while mama works in the office and you are always up for an adventure! We love you girl! Keep making a stand for Jesus!

...and it's OFF to Small Town!

This past Sunday Isaac graduated out of our church's Preschool/Kindergarten class into "Small Town, BIG GOD" elementary age class. He can barely contain his excitement. We have been so blessed to have our kids surrounded by teachers that expose them to the heart of Jesus. It was such a blessing to hear the teachers go around and say all the things they see in Isaac and how much he has grown. I couldn't agree more!

{phone photo dump}

cinnamon rolls

Today someone fed Jacob some of our cinnamon rolls.

Bad idea.

hahaha... he has cinnamon roll at the top of his mouth, but to me it looks like he has some crazy teeth!!!

the boys.

ichi...ni...san...yon

Today Isaac got to join his cousins Jordan, Connor and Kaeden at their Tae Kwon Do class. He LOVES learning new stuff! (Sorry for the awful and blurry pictures, I didn't use my flash so that I could be somewhat inconspicuous!)

Guys Night OUT - Girls Night IN

Last night after LifeGroup, all the boys had a camp-OUT and all the girls had a camp-IN. The Brady's took all the boys and we took both girls... I think we got the easy end of the deal! I love that these kids are growing in God together each week and having a blast doing it!

(I taught the kids last night and I have to announce that Andrew is our "Dance-Off" Champion with his killer break-dancing moves!)

Zoey's 4th Birthday

We had a ton of fun celebrating Zoey's 4th birthday.

Have I already mentioned how much I LOVE summer birthdays???
Thank you to everyone who came and loved on our little girl.
She is still on cloud 9 looking through all her stuff.

Special thanks to Aunt Nina for the amazing Mermaid Cake!

my grand plans

Believe me when I tell you I had grand plans for my daughter's 4th birthday.

I convinced her earlier this year to have a "Mermaid Party" because I had so many fun ideas that would make the festivities a huge success.

I was going to do this... and this... and even this.... and that is only the tip of the iceberg. I bought real starfish, mermaid necklace beads and I was even going to weave streamers in and out of the entire fence around the pool!

What did I end up doing?

Nothing.

Well, that's not entirely true.... I had a semi-clean house and a pretty good attitude... that should count for something! I was so bummed I didn't end up having time to do all my fun mermaid projects. The reality is that some things happened this week that we weren't planning on and the first thing to go were the streamers!

I guess we did something right, because our baby had this on her face the entire night-

There's always next year....

I'm thinking Pink Lemonade Stand!

Eliana Grace

Baptism Sunday

Our annual Baptism Service... one of my favorite Sunday's of the year.

I'm so excited for the things God is continuing to do in our congregation.

I am also so grateful for the incredible people in my life and in my children's lives!

friendship.

I mentioned before that Isaac will be attending a new school this year for 1st grade because of our move. The thing that bothered me the most about this transition was all the incredible friendships both Isaac and I made, and having to face the fact that the time allotted for those last year would not be the same for this upcoming year. There are a few friends that have added so much to his life... and their beautiful moms have added so much to mine. Kristen and I were pregnant at the same time and met out of our sympathy for each other. We ended up carpooling each others kids and texting each other for prayer throughout the week. Crystal's son and Isaac went to Preschool together, so it was a relief when they ended up in the same class at Violet Elementary. We ended up getting to know each other's families much better this past year and she is now getting ready to have her 3rd child. (She is one gorgeous pregnant lady!) 

I am so grateful that we have stayed in contact over the summer and that our boys are still able to hang out and do life together. Tonight we celebrated Skylar's 6th birthday at CJ Barrymores. The boys had a blast, but I think the parents laughed harder than the kids! Thank you ladies for continuing to be a blessing in my life.... God had perfect timing for your friendship!

almost 9 months

Jake is almost 9 months old.

Time flies when you have 4 kids!

He is standing in his crib... all the time.

He can climb stairs.

His army crawl is the fastest I have ever seen.

He will eat anything... green beans, spinach, paper straw wrappers.

He loves to clap.

Laughing is his favorite pastime, and if you look at him directly he will give you a cheesy smile.

He loves to kiss.

He hates being left out of anything.

He is our Jak-a-dee and we love him... so much that sometimes some of us squeeze him a little too hard.

Fill me up!

We were driving home from a long day.

The kids were going nuts and I was about to lose my mind.

Then this song came on.

I turned it up as loud as I could.

I started to  sing at the top of my lungs to God.... "Fill me up, God!"

Once I composed myself I turned down the music.

My kids continued to sing without the music... "Fill me up, God!"

It's like God was winking down at me.

Summer REACH 7...9...16

At the beginning of the summer we made a list of things we wanted to do to REACH out to the people around us. Here is our 3rd round of adventures:

Number 7:  Make a meal for a busy family 

We went grocery shopping and loaded up the truck with everything we needed.... then we made the contact. The recipient was grateful almost to tears. I know how busy things can get, and not having to worry about dinner for your family is a huge blessing. I'm so glad we were able to be that for someone we love.

Number 9:  Color pictures to send to service men and women

I explained the sacrifice these men and women make on a daily basis... men and women who have families worrying about them at home. They had a couple of questions on why they would do that, which I proudly answered with words like "committment" and "freedom." I took some time to write my own letter, which I have to say, got me a little choked up. Thank you to everyone who has selflessly sacrificed for our freedoms!

Number 16:  Buy fun groceries for a family in need. 

We picked a family that didn't have a lot of spare time to run out and get groceries. Their need was more time-oriented. We didn't have the smoothest time in the grocery store, and there may or may not have been some happy meal bribes, but we finally made our purchases and headed over to drop them off. Groceries are a lot more fun to buy when they are for someone else!

my heart is raw with emotion.

Such a neat night.

She's my girl.

She made so many incredible decisions to grow in Christ.

She wasn't able to make the church baptism this upcoming Sunday.

She was scheduled to give her testimony tonight in our LifeGroup.

We then walked to our backyard and baptized her in our pool.

No words will do this night justice.

Family Fun Day: Thunder Over Michigan

Today we headed to Willow Run for the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show. We got front row seats on the other side of airport in a hanger where Uncle Justin works. It was so much fun to see! I told the kids that they were experiencing something new, the same time I was experiencing something new: being inside an airplane hanger! (I knew they would think that was pretty neat.) Thank you Uncle Justin!