Natives and immigrants.....

This summer while at Pine Cove family camp one of the speakers was talking about using technology for your families benefit. Sometimes it is a turn off to see how things are so electronically driven. She said that our kids are natives in this technology driven society and we are immigrants so they will always have an edge. They will never know a life without it. We all remember life before any of this was even a thought in our mind! When we went to pick out several infant products before Sam was born I was so turn out by how many things had gone electronic. The bouncy seats that used to have fun beads and spin toys now had on and off switches with songs that would play and lights to entertain the infants. I wanted my baby to do the work and learn through play not sit and stare. That began my hunt for used items that were older and a bit more manual. Having said all that there is a place for all this techie fun! Sam will grow up using Iphones, Ipads and all sorts of things! He already has the slide bar down on the Iphone. His favorite thing to do is sit and listen to music and dance to it. Grandma has put some fun apps on hers and he has greatly enjoyed those.

Project time......

Our home has been on the market for a little while and our market is a bit saturated on our side of town. Our realtor suggested painting our red back to a neutral tan so we hired a painter to do that. When we painted a couple of years ago we let the boys pick one color that they wanted to do a accent wall and we turned those back to tan too. For a while we wanted to do laminate flooring in our family room so Trae did that too. It was a tough project and had more difficult cuts than the LR/DR he did 2 years ago. He is very, very glad to be finished! It looks great BUT we are still hoping we only get to enjoy if for a short time more and that we have some movement soon. Sam really enjoyed being apart of it all and praise God all the pounding didn't wake him! Still blows my mind how during the day the phone or door bell will wake him from a nap but nothing wakes him at night.

Sam mini update.....

Sams newest, cutest fun toddler things to do are fake sneeze, raises his hands and says, "touchdown!" and dancing.....lots of dancing!!! His vocabulary has sky rocketed and he has a huge heart for people, love and being apart of what is going on. He is enjoying building, books, being outside, running at the park (not sitting in the swing) and still anything to do with water. I just made his 2 year well check up for January. It is hard to believe our sweet Sam will be turning 2. He is a gift, hugely loved, celebrated and savored. This time flies by.

Carefree Mondays.....

Mondays often get a bad rap! This fall it has become one of my favorite days of the week. Actually Friday comes in at #1 because that is the start of the weekend, time together and Trae being home. On Mondays I drive our carpool that morning and take the boys to school. After Sam and I get them dropped off we have an open day. We often run a few errands and than return home. It reminds me when I just had one child and the ease and quietness that comes with one. I love the one on one and we savor those mornings. Cooking and baking is a creative outlet for me so I often find myself spending part of my day in there and Sam finds creative ways to enjoy it too.

Sentimental Sunday.....

Visits.....

We love our visits with Andrew. I often think about how it won't be to long and he will likely be to far away to pop in for a visit. Sometimes his visit includes bringing Shelby too. They have been together about 6 months and she is precious and really good for him. Sam adores spending time with them too. When brother leaves he always peeks out the tiny window and it is so sweet to see that Andrew always take a minute or two to stand outside and touch the window and wave some more because Sam loves that long goodbye. Babies help us break out of our routine and get outside our self. It blesses this mama to see the love they share. Oh and Shelby loves to bake! She is delightful and a blessing in so many ways.

Weekend fun....

Jacob loves activity, friends, keeping busy and having fun! This picture was taken at his birthday party at Laser Quest this past July. He is going this weekend on a retreat with his youth group at Great Wolf Lodge. It is a very cool indoor water park about 30 minutes from our home. They will have lots of swim time, small groups, worship and teaching and hopefully some sleep! He is excited to get to room with one of his good friends and this mama is grateful for our church and all they provide for our youth.