Drew's Birthday Bash

Happy Birthday to my favorite little boy in the world!!!

because I can say that :)

I couldn't help but dig into the past and get some cute pictures of the birthday boy.
He is an awesome big brother.



He is a good friend to his sisters.

He loves fishing and outdoor adventures.

Drew turned 7 years old earlier this month. He got the motherload of K'Nex for his birthday. He is a hard worker and a good builder--something he gets from his dad!--so it was the perfect present.
Jed stayed up late putting this coaster together to show Drew.

It turned out awesome!!

Even though it was late, Jed couldn't resist getting Drew out of bed to show him what his k'nex could do. Drew was in awe, and I think Jed won some "awesome daddy" points for this one! Even though k'nex can be pretty tough to put together, or atleast tough to follow the given instructions, Drew has built some pretty cool dragsters. We had this roller coaster set up on our counter for several days, it was fun for Lily to watch while I made dinner....that is always nice!

Drew really wanted a lemon flavored Go-Kart cake. I'm not all that skilled with cake decorating supplies, but Drew said it was cooler than he imagined! That is all that mattered to me!

We had family over on his birthday, then he invited his best friend from school over on Saturday to have a pizza/wii party.

Lily looking chipper and cute early in the morning as Drew opened presents!

We also got Drew a microscope. I wasn't really sure how much he would get into it, but he was very excited to be a real scientist.

We haven't even scratched the surface on what all this k'nex stuff can do. We're excited for more fun!

Drew has been saving his money for awhile to buy a spy watch, so he was way excited to get further along with his saving when he received b-day money. He also got some spy gear and some great books to read. He finished one of the books and is reading it again, so thanks grandma for a great pick!

I also stole Drew from school on his birthday and took him to lunch. It was SO much fun, I'm tempted to do that way too often now..... I took him to pick out some treats for his class then took him back to school. He got to open a present at school and bring a bag full of his favorite things from home to talk to his class about. I think he had a great birthday!! I love that birthday boy and he is growing up SO much!!!!

Photos with No Particular Theme

Hannah dumped half a bottle of my bulk bubbles into the bath.

Hannah giving a train ride to her pickle.

This is what happens to Lily when she wants to go outside and can't because it is too windy!

Lily doing her first chore.

Lily's first mischief. Sorry its not the cleanest, we were just getting to that when this happened. Seriously.

Ummm...anything "chick" themed melts my heart.

Hannah in dress up clothes boogying to "I had the time of my life" early 90's or something song we have on a random CD. This is something we see every single day. They love this song.

This pictures is funny. Lily was having a good time dancing with Madelyn, but she looks like she is in hysterics. This is the other girls dancing to our tradional every day song.

This pictures shows you what an attempt at having any sort of family naptime looks like. To put it briefly: it does not happen.

Drew gets "money" at school for good behavior and on some Fridays they can "buy" things. Well, this particular Friday Drew came home and instantly called for Hannah. He bought her a pair of sunglasses!! What an awesome brother.

Drew and Jed built this dinosaur together. And it is motorized!! It walks and everything. Totally cool.

Madelyn loves to cook with me. I try to be mindful of that and include her in my meal making.

Madelyn and I in our aprons cooking together.

Moments, revisited

You know how I've been thinking about moments lately? Well, I have actually been hoping that these "moments" go both ways. I am not a perfect mom, I definitely have my share of weaknesses. I have those moments that I wish I would have handled differently. I hope my children can see shining moments with me, their mom, and be able to look past my rough spots. As much as I don't like making mistakes, I do. Perfection was never part of The Plan--at this point of the game anyway, but mistakes are. As long as I fix those mistakes and keep looking forward, those mistakes are there to help me! I definitely think that one of satan's most effective tactics with mothers is discouragement--feeling like they don't measure up, not _____ enough, not doing enough for their children, or just to be so hard on themselves that they feel paralyzed. Once he can get us to feel those feelings, we lose so much of our effectiveness. Sister Beck explained, "The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. . .When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children." I love that. It just makes me want to be a mother of action and to not dwell on my weaknesses so much that I become debilitated. I just had to write down some of my thoughts; it definitely helped me. I feel better.