That's Just Politics

I absolutely HATE politics!  My friend, Melissa, is probably gasping right now.  I think she is probably the biggest political guru I've ever personally met=)  Well, besides our other friend Ben who predicted, like 8 years ago, that Hilary Clinton would run for president.  Anyway, it's true.  I hate how 2 people can stare each other in the face and bash each other for months and then turn around and be best friends.  And this seems to be what unites a party?!  That's just me though.  I just don't understand.  I'm not one to thrive on conflict though...

Am I alone here?

They Must Think They're Still At The Pool

Confessions Of A Perfectionist

I thought I had our finances all figured out for the rest of the month so we would have just enough for travel expenses this past week on the road. I'm not quite sure what I did wrong, but I couldn't have been more wrong. For some reason I wanted to just check our balance a couple of days ago and to my horror we had a DREADED $88 service charge for overdraft/insufficient funds. AHHH! I couldn't believe it. I try so hard to keep everything so organized so this kind of stuff doesn't happen. After just a few short min. on the phone with the bank we found the problem and they took all the charges off and set up our overdraft protection account that was already supposed to be in place.

That's not all. One of my favorite parts of the day is checking the mail. I know, I know ... how old am I? But if you saw what I got in my mailbox everyday you wouldn't think it was THAT crazy=) I completely forgot to put our mail on hold last week before we left, another thing I could just kick myself over because, once again, I am ALWAYS on top of this kind of stuff. So, as soon as we got to VA I got on the internet to put it on hold until we got home, and after doing this so often I didn't think I needed to print off the receipt with the confirmation number. Well, we got home yesterday to NO mail so I thought, "oh, maybe I stopped the hold on Fri.", but alas no mail again today. There was NOTHING I could do about it on the internet because I didn't have the confirmation number ... of course ... so I had to drive 20 min. up the road to figure out what was going on. For some reason I didn't stop the hold until the 1st. What in the world. Oh well. Always lessons to learn, huh.

Oh there are plenty more stories where these came from but I won't bore you with the details=) Josh just laughs at me because he knows how hard I work at being "perfect" and not making any mistakes and I inevitably walk away with a mess on my hands. What else can you do but laugh, right?

Road Rules - #1

BE FLEXIBLE

With all the questions I get concerning being a mother of 2 on the road while working alongside my husband, I thought that I'd start answering some of the top questions I get.  Not that I have all the answers or even have it all together, because nothing could be farther from the truth, but I hope to be an encouragement to you through this trial and error process. 

The #1 question I get in e-mails and talking to other moms is, "How in the world do you do it?".   

Here's my answer: I DON'T DO IT!!!  I believe God has called us to do what we do and God alone will give us what we need to make it happen.  I am continually asking God to give me patience and endurance with the kids, wisdom while I try to balance everything, and above all, that people would see God through me.  

If you know me at all you know that I am a routine girl!  If I don't have consistency I feel so out of it and I'm not quite sure how to fit everything in.  You know, like exercise, quiet time, planning meals, family devotions and the list goes on and on.   I need consistency.  This is one of those areas in my life where I believe God is doing all the work and He must get all the glory.  I'm still working on it because what we do is the farthest thing from consistent and familiar but I know God is good and he won't give me more than I can handle, even when I have days like THIS and feel like I can't do it any more.

So, we finally got home tonight and are almost completely unpacked with several piles of laundry stacked up to the ceiling , sippy cups full of curdled milk sitting in the sink because we can never keep up with them on the road, and we get ready for another round.  I just smile and thank God for who He is and trust Him to give me the flexibility that our family needs.

Two|Four

This was ALL we did yesterday=(  Pitiful...

Here's just one more reason to LOVE CVS.   It's called The Minute Clinic.  My friend Jenn told me about it and I think it will be a life saver the more we travel (and get sick).  You walk right up to the clinic counter inside of CVS and they'll take your insurance info.  You only get charged the normal Dr. co-pay and they'll get you your prescriptions right in the same store.  It is so fast, easy and convenient, especially when you are out of town.  Josh ended up having Strep throat and after less than 24 hr. on antibiotics he is feeling much better.  Zeke is finally getting back to his old self too=)  Thanks for your prayers.

So, what are we in Raleigh for?  It is called Two|Four.  Check out the link and find out what it's all about.  It's at 8:30pm TONIGHT @ Richland Creek.  If you live in or near the Raleigh area you're not going to want to miss this!!!

Vacation Recap #4 - Fishing

Just had to get one more of these in

Josh caught 2 fish on 1 line

Waiting for another one

Feeding the Carp

Going out to catch a few

Yes, Zeke liked to KISS the fish ... dead OR alive!

Priceless

A bottle of Children's Tylenol for my sick little Zeke- $2.64

A bottle of Children's Motrin to alternate with Zeke's tylenol every 3 hours- $3.44

Pedialyte that Zeke won't even drink! - $5.24

Celestial Seasonings Herbal Tea for my husband's croaky voice- $2.00

A box of Sudafed PE SC for my sick little husband - $4.99 (w/ a coupon of course)

A box of Sudafed PE SN for his other symptoms - $4.99 (w/ a coupon of course)

A Venti triple shot espresso that I'm going to buy so I can stay awake to take care of them today after being up with them all night!!  Some things just don't require a coupon or a sale=) - $4.00

Hearing the voices of God's people lifting up praise to Him above the sound of a full band - PRICELESS!!!!

This is what I have to remember when I am hours away from home, taking care of my sick family, feeling too tired to keep up this pace.  

**Please pray that Josh's fever will go away quickly and gain his energy back so we can lead worship for an incredible night at Two|Four on Wed.

P.S. I just spent more money today on things that I've already got at home than I would have for a whole weeks worth of groceries.  I think I'm going to put a basket together of this kind of stuff and stick it under the seat in the car for future reference!

I Like Commercials And All, But...

Some television commercials are so funny to me and others I can do without. But when I'm at home watching TV and a bad commercial comes on I at least have a remote so I can turn the channel and help my husband "bounce his eyes".

Josh and I finally got to go see The Dark Knight this weekend. It was amazing! The movie theatre was having a bit of trouble at the beginning, though. We had been sitting in our seats for over 45min. before the movie even started! Then, after we finally get going the commercials start playing. I don't understand why we have to sit through hair and clothing commercials now. I'd much rather watch more previews than sit through terrible commercials. The very first commercial they showed was an add for Levi's Jeans. It had a teenage couple taking each other's clothes off making very strong sexual innuendos. It was awful!! Josh said it was the worst commercial he'd ever seen. Then, the very next commercial had guys lusting after the women they'd pass on the street or in the store and picturing them in nothing but their underwear. I mean, when you feel like you need to walk out of the theatre just to bypass the ads before the movie you know it's bad.

Josh and I get to go see a movie in the theatre maybe 2 times a year and I hate that we have to sit through these kinds of commercials just to see the movie we've been waiting to see.

When Boys Get Sick

I clearly remember my friend Emily posting about her husband's reaction to getting sick.  I laughed out loud knowing that the same was true for my man.  But I have come to realize that it's not just the adult male/husband .. it's male's in general!!

Poor Zeke has been sick so much this summer.  Remember when he got sick after all those mosquito bites?  Well, we now think that he had West Nile Fever.  That was the week leading up to family vacation.  This past week, just 2 weeks later, we've all had the strangest stomach bug (Rainy cracks up every time I say we have a "stomach bug" because she is picturing the little creepy crawly things that her and Zeke chase around our yard).  Out of all of us Zeke is the only one to get a fever, and he is downright pitiful.

He's been screaming so much this week, due to his temper-tantrums, that he's got a scratchy (almost non-existent) voice, which sound so pitiful when he randomly doubles over repeating "tummy hurt, tummy hurt" over and over.  It has absolutely devastated Zeke when Josh had to shut the office door to get work done.  His feelings get hurt over the littlest things.  He won't eat.  Now, like I said, we've all been sick but Josh and Zeke have been the most depressing to watch by far.

We drove into VA last night to play for Greenridge.  I thought we would NEVER get here.  We could tell what his temperature was just by the way he acted.  When the fever would break he'd sleep soundly but as soon as it would start spiking again he'd start to crying louder and louder saying "hold you Rainy, hold you Rainy" with out-stretched arms.  It was so sad.  

On a side not, Josh and I are totally stoked to play for the opening night of  Two|Four in Raleigh on Wednesday night.  We'll keep you updated on that for sure=)

This Is One Way To Settle The Kids Down For The Night

Simple Pleasures

Because of the nature of Josh and I's ministry we aren't around much to have people over very often.  Last night was an exception, though. 

Our friends, Sara and Andy, came over for dinner and we had so much fun.  They are the type of friends that you can just be yourself around.  I love friends like that!  We travel a lot (or as much as all of our different schedules permit) and lead worship together.  They are some of our favorite musicians to play/sing with.  

The best part, they love our kids.  You know they're good friends if they love your kids, no matter how they act=)  Our kids absolutely adore Sara and Andy.  I think both Andy and Sara had accumulated a dozen kisses and "I love you's" before we even sat down for dinner=)

Here's a picture of Sara, Zeke and Rainy sitting on the front porch waiting for the rain to fall on their toes.  Oh the simple pleasures...

He's 2 - #4

"Princess Zeke" 

This was his and Rainy's doing by the way=)

We probably shouldn't tell Josh that I posted this picture;)

What You Feel vs. What Is Real

I am reading through C.J. Mahaney's, "The Cross Centered Life".  What a great, quick read.  I have been reminded of so many things that I keep meaning to post about, but today I'm actually going to write about a topic that is very near and dear to me ... emotions.

I was reading one of Michelle Singleton's blog posts and she talks about some of the outward consequences of letting your emotions rule you.  One very practical one is a bad attitude.  I believe that God has given us emotions for very practical reasons and I also believe that God intentionally gave me an overabundant supply of emotions=)  I'm a pretty emotional person (although I try not to get too emotional in front of strangers).  I used to have certain friends, not prone to cry or show much emotion at all, who would laugh at me when I'd break down during a commercial or get touched when I'd hear a sweet story.  This sweet blessing to hurt with those who hurt and cry with those who cry can also be a curs if we let it take over our daily attitudes.

Mahaney describes a regular morning routine where you start listening to yourself go on and on about life's circumstances that are getting you down and it makes you just want to curl up in bed and stay there all day.  "We can either listen to ourselves and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He's accomplished for us at the cross."  

I don't know about you, but I want to use every gift given from God, even these emotions that can so easily get in the way, to exalt Him.  So, let's practice self-control with our emotions in order to speak Truth to ourselves and others instead of letting them overtake us.

Bye-Bye Motorola

That's right.  I have said good-bye to my battery-dying Motorola for the last time!  I've always heard that Motorola phones are prone to have a short battery life and I can attest to that rumor.  I had the phone for a year and after about a year the battery would die after only a few short minutes on the phone.  Ahhhh!  I would get cut off after just an introduction and I hate not being able to say "bye" when I get off the phone (there's just something to be said about closure).  Not only that, but my mom absolutely HATES getting cut off on the phone too=)  Sorry, mom!

Well, it was a glorious day when I got the message last July that I had a free upgrade awaiting me.  (It was only the 1-year upgrade so I should have waited longer to get a better phone)  I ordered it but absolutely hated the new phone so I never even activated it.  Instead, I went to the store and just bought a new battery for my Motorola because I liked my original one so much.  I know, you frugal ladies are gasping right now=)  Anyway, I asked the guy that helped me at the store if he knew why the battery life of Motorola's tend to be so...well...crappy.  He just said that I have been charging it wrong and that nothing is wrong with Motorola batteries.  

So, this past year I have done exactly what the guy said: Only charge the battery when it is completely dead (not every night, all night) and then, only 1 hour for every battery bar on your phone.  But low and behold, this July rolls around and how's my battery doing???  DEAD after only a few short minutes.  Ugh...it was driving me CRAZY.  

I do have an awesome husband that gave me his 2-year upgrade and HERE's the beauty that I got.  But here's the best part, yes it was absolutely FREE (even the shipping), but it has such cute ringtones.  I know it's bad when I judge the phone by its ringtones, but I'm a girl and my phone has got to sound good=)

So, farewell Motorola!!  

When Mommy Needs A Time-Out: Part 2

Josh and I have been stretched to our parental limits this week while we've been battling our Strong-Willed Child.  You can read Part 1 HERE.

I mentioned that "consistency, not only in my discipline, but in my attitude" is one thing that is tremendously going to help get Zeke through this.  Here are a couple of things that have helped me keep my cool during those red-hot moments...

1- Give yourself a time-out : thus the title of this blog series=)  Just take a minute to cool off.

2- Pray out-loud for the situation in front of the child:  that way they can hear that God is your sustainer and provider when you don't quite know what to do

3- Discipline with scripture - Josh and I have always had a Family Devotion at bedtime with the kids but we have been challenged to be more structured in this special time by our friends Fred and Lindsey Broome as they strive to learn what works best for them and their Family Devotion Times.  We have just recently started memorizing Bible verses with our children.  Yes, even Zeke can recite all 4 of our verses so far, with singing and motions too=)  Not only is this good to get them in the habit of hiding God's word in their heart, but it helps me when I am disciplining.  It puts personal application to the verse "Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right" when they already KNOW that God expects this from them.

I also wanted to thank all of you for your kind words of encouragement during this time and for the GREAT ideas and advice you've given us.  We now have several options that can help get us through this phase.

He's 2 - #3

Remember when I told you about our mysterious tomato plant?

YES, those are 3 baby tomatoes and NO, he knows they aren't ready to be picked yet!

If You Are A Money-Saver's Husband...

You have got to read this link.  I had tears running down my cheeks.  No, not because Zeke is screaming from behind his bedroom door again, but because I was laughing so hard.  This post depicts Josh's exact reaction to our money-saving transformation that has occurred over the past several months.  Thanks, money-saving mom, for this hilarious link=)

When Mommy Needs A Time-Out: Part 1

*I could not have read THIS POST at a better time by my friend Shannon.  You should stop right now and go read it before finishing the rest of my post. 

Zeke has got to have the worst case of the terrible two's I've ever seen (and I used to be a pre-school teacher, so I would know!!).  If you don't know us personally just go HERE to read about his stubborn tendencies.  Don't get me wrong, I love my little boy so much!!  I can't imagine what my life would be without him.  

Josh and I pray daily for our children to be convicted of their sin at an early age and realize their need for a personal relationship with Him.  We know that our children are sinners, just like us.  We also know that all children go through phases...and I have been praying every day that this phase will be over soon=)  I went on-line and ordered The Strong-Willed Child by James Dobson and it can't get here quick enough!!  

Zeke's attitude and temper tantrums have been absolutely AWEFUL the past few days.  We are trying to be as consistent with him as we can but I have started to get so ANGRY and UPSET that I just have to shut the door, walk away and put MYSELF in a time-out!  I am completely serious.  I know one of the best things that I can do for him right now is be consistent, not only in my discipline but with my attitude.  I WILL NOT tolerate a sassy little boy who throws himself on the floor and flails around just because I told him to "be patient for mommy to get him his juice" or who screams at me while violently banging on the door because I told him it was "still nite-nite time".  I do know this is just another phase and that God can work on his heart even now.  "This too shall pass".  

I do love being a parent!  It's almost NEVER easy but it is surely rewarding!  So right now, as I'm picturing a future of parent/teacher meetings with the principal and juvenile court dates I continue to pray for patience to get us through these little phases and wisdom to help shepherd Zeke's little heart toward the Truth.

Vacation Recap #3 - The Boat

All the girls!

Cana and Rainy loving "going so fast"

Zeke and Poppie taking the boat out for a spin

Cousin Ella having a blast

Zeke doesn't like rides much.  He was ready to get off=)

Rainy, on the other hand, loves the rush!

Words Of Wisdom

Areyna to me:

"Hey mom, you want to see my dad's muscles?!?!?"

What Are You Supposed To Do With These?

I HATE piles of stuff, but inevitably as soon as I get rid of something I end up needing it.

These are boxes from guitar pedals, computer programs and various other contraptions we have around the house.  It is taking up an obscene amount of space in our already crammed closet of musical gear and I don't quite know what to do with it. 

Do you keep ALL of your boxes like this?  What do you do with them?  Where do you store them if you do keep them?

I need help!!!

Vacation Recap #2 - Quality Cousin Time

Areyna - 31/2 , Cana - Almost 3, Ella - 2 1/2, Zeke - 2, Kayil - a little over 1, Ezra - 10 mon., Ilijah - born yesterday

Cana, Rainy and Ella on the boat

Cana, Rainy and Ella at Bridgewater after Icecream

Areyna and Cana giving baby Ilijah some love=)

The kids eating anything and everything at Poppie's Feeding Frenzie

Ella, Rainy, Cana and Kayil - Photo Shoot

Ilijah Gabriel Via

This Never Gets Old To Me

At around 9:30am Josh's youngest brother, Jacob (Baikes) and his wife Keesha gave birth to their first son, Ilijah.  This will be the 5th grandbaby on Josh's side (well, 7 if you count our friends-basically-family Jeremiah & Jenn)  

Jacob & Keesha called around 2:30am to let us know they were on the way to the hospital and I got just as excited as if it were our own.  Why in the world do babies begin coming at night.  It makes for a rough night of sleeping because I'm so excited!!!

Here are Jacob and Keesha at the lake last week during our annual bonfire.

This Only Happens By Accident At My House

We got home from Hungary earlier this summer and saw a little tomato plant growing out from between the bricks under the steps to our deck.  The funny thing is I tried to grow a tomato plant last year to no avail.  You can just go HERE to see what most plants end up looking like after just a few short weeks here at the Via household=)  We traveled too much to keep any kind of greenery alive.  We did grow some huge tomatoes from last year's plant but they were all rotten from the outside in.  Some seeds from a rotten one must have fallen and planted themselves and here we are with an effortless HUGE tomato plant.  

He's 2 - #2

Zeke's temper tantrums have gotten down-right unbearable with the high-pitched screams and his acrobatic stunts.  My sister gave me some great advice and I must say it has worked like a charm!

The spoon has been the main means for "consequences" in our household but we have introduced the bar of soap for screaming episodes.  Now I only have to look into those little conniving eyes and say in an ever-so-sweet voice, "soap".

He's 2 - #1

INTRODUCTION:  I was recently reading this blog and came across an on-going series she has about her 2-year old son.  I began laughing out loud because I see my own 2-year old doing some of the exact same things!  

Here's a special series dedicated to my sweet and oh-so-stubborn little Zeke=)

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO: (hang in there, they won't all be this long I promise)

Last night, I was cleaning the kitchen while the kids were in the bathtub (I know, kids can drown in as little as 2" of water, but thy were splashing so much and being so loud you could have heard them from 2 houses away.  Besides Josh was even closer by keeping an eye on them.) and I heard Zeke say "poopie, poopie".  Before you get too excited about my son's pottie-training achievements you must realize that just as quickly I heard Areyna scream "MOM, ZEKE JUST POOPED IN THE BATHTUB!!!!!!!!!!"  So, I put the dirty dishes back in the sink, go hand the kids off to Josh who ran them to our bathroom to shower them off as I go into hyper-mode cleaning the poop out of the bathtub.  I couldn't stand the thought of just soaking their bathtub toys so I decided I needed to go back to the kitchen and make room for them in the dishwasher.  In the meantime, Josh had already taken the kids out of the shower and was getting Rainy all lathered up with her exzema cream and I heard a faint "uh-oh, peepee".  I'm not talking about a TBLS or 2 I'm talking at least 1-2 qt. of pee on my floor!!  Once again I leave my dishes, and now poopie toys, to start cleaning up our sweet little boys puddle on the floor and hand him off immediately to put a diaper on him.

By the end of the night I had completely cleaned both our bathrooms, the kitchen, organized the kids playroom and finished the laundry.  The funny thing is that I had just told myself that I needed to clean the kid's bathtub.  Maybe Zeke was just giving me that little push to get started=)

Look What Zeke Learned To Do

Just a little pre-vacation entertainment the night before we left...

Vacation Recap #1 - Reading List

You may not be as excited about this post as I am, but if you know me at all you can attest to the fact that I am not a very avid reader, aside from my quiet time material.  But I actually have a summer reading list to share with you!!  (My mom will be so proud=)  Here is my normal goal...finish a book, at some point, that I start.  Josh, on the other hand, likes to read several books at one time and he finished about 3 or 4 just during vacation week.  Makes me tired just thinking about it.

The first book that I finished was Showdown By Ted Dekker.  You can read Josh's recap of the book HERE so I won't write my own.  He read it in just a couple of days after I was done with it, whereas I started it the summer Zeke was born and just now finished it while we were in the studio=)  Hey, I reached my goal though...I finished the book!!

Second, I read the follow-up to Showdown called Saint.  Ted is one of the best writers in my opinion.  I love the way he weaves the gospel message in and out of his books.  He also ties his books together somehow!  I def. recommend ALL his books.

I'm not stopping here though!  I am in the middle of a book I won on a cool blog called 1/2 Price Living by Ellie Kay.  I CANNOT wait to tell you more about this one.  She is talking about the benefits to living on 1 salary and giving practical advice to how it can work for you=)  I'll be talking about this one more in the future.

I'll let you know when I finish this book and the next one I'm about to start called Skin.  Pretty exciting.

I'll also be talking about our fun adventures from the last week and a half...pictures and all!!

To Tell Or Not To Tell

I went into the post office today.  The lady working behind the front desk was clearly working hard.  As she was weighing my package I noticed that a very important button was unbuttoned on the front of her shirt.  She is a larger woman and she is, well...very well-endowed.

Do you tell her that she is showing a large majority of Monroe things that shouldn't be revieled in public and risk embarrassing her in front of everyone or do you just try to keep your eyes fixed on her face and smile politely?

What would you do?

Couple Questions

We are home!! The kids are finally in bed and Josh and I are watching the Olympics.  I love watching the Olympics.  This is the only time I have the TV on all day, even if I'm not necessarily watching it all day.  It's so exciting to me.  

Anyway, swimming is currently on and Josh and I have a couple questions that maybe you can answer.

1 - How in the world do the swimmers breathe while doing the backstroke with all that water in their faces?

2 - How do the swimmers not run into each other?  I've never even seen anyone hit those floating divider lines.  This coming from someone who ran into a cement wall as a pre-teen while swimming under water.  Let's just say that swimming is NOT a gift that I've been blessed with=)

3 - Why don't they have more flattering bathing suites for the women swimmers?  Just wondering=)

Link Love, Or Somethin'

I just got tagged (well, I just stumbled across is last night from Feb.) by Mrs.Nespy's World for some additional Link Love.

Not exactly sure what it is for, but I'm always up for finding new bloggy friends.  

You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!) It’s real easy! Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially! I tagged 5 of you guys so check the end of this post.

The benefits of Viral Linking:
One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode
Attract large volume of new traffic to your site
Build your community
Make new friends

The List:The Strategist Notebook,Link Addiction,Ardour of the Heart,When Life Becomes a Book,The Malaysian Life,Yogatta.com,What goes under the sun,Roshidan’s Cyber Station,Sasha says, Arts of Physics, And the legend lives,My View, My Life,A Simple Life,Juliana RW,Mom Knows Everything,Beth & Cory's Mom,A Mind Forever Voyaging,enjoying the ride,Jennifer's thoughts,Mom of 3 Girls,Amanda,Don't Make Me Get The Flying Monkeys,ExPat Mom,Just Jessie,Wilson Six,Krisitn,Nuttier Than You,Shonnte,Summer's Nook,Laura Williams Musings,Melissa's Idea Garden,Confessions of an Everyday Housewife,Blah Blah Blog,Stop the Ride!,Soap, Blings & Girly Things,It's All for the Best,Keeping Feet,Junky Love in Freehand,Getting Out of Debt,Free From Broke,Money Matters,Arohan's Investing Life,My Investing Blog,Finance and Fat,Iowahippiechick,Cathlawson.com,Making Cents Of Debt,DebtDiet,MakingMoneyJournal,Life Liberty & The Pursuit Of Money,Mrs Micah,Brightside of Debt,Fiscal Musings,Paid it Down and Moving Forward,Phoenix from the Ashes,Canadian Saver,The Good Life on a Budget,Last One In Line,Finding Financial Peace,CT Mom,Dimples Divine Domain,Mrs Nespy's World,Afraid Of Failing

Here's Who I'm Tagging:

Natalie

Gale

Kristin

Jen A.

Joy

Time Line

*Keep in mind that we've been sleeping in the same room with our kids for over a week and none of the following events had ever taken place prior to last night.

1:00am - Went to bed

1:45am - Areyna starts singing in her sleep

2:30am - Zeke walks out of his closet/bed with his arms held out in front of him, like a zombie, screaming  like he just saw a ghost.  (we had 2 small closets in our room at the lake that we put sleeping bags in for the kids)

3:15am - Areyna talks and sings some more

4:04am - in mid-sentence while talking in her sleep, Areyna jerks up and starts complaining about her tummy hurting.  She begins to get a fever.

4:07am - Zeke walks out of his "area" again, looks and me and Rainy cuddling in bed and turns right around to stumble back in his bed.  Hmmm, he was sleep walking

4:12am - Zeke walks back out of his bed stumbles around and falls on the floor and just lays there.  Josh picks him up and we all just lay in our bed.  All of a sudden Zeke is WIDE AWAKE and ready for the day.  He wanted to start singing and playing=)  What in the world!!

4:15am - After some cuddle time we put the kids back to bed

4:20am - Areyna starts randomly talking about something and then begins throwing up

By now I've lost ALL track of time and felt like I got NO rest.  We are supposed to be packed up and out of the lake house by 10am this morning.  I couldn't seem to get myself up so I continued to drift in and out of consciousness after the kids got out of bed at 7:45am.  That is the last time I looked at the clock.  

THEN, I woke up all of a sudden, sat up and looked at the clock and it said 9:40am.  WHAT???  I still hadn't packed the kids suitcase or anything else for that matter!!!!  I start frantically scurrying around.  I told Josh that I couldn't believe he let me sleep so late.  So an hour or so goes by before I realize something wasn't right.  Nobody else seemed as concerned about the time as I did.  I asked Josh about it and he started laughing.  He told me that about 10 min. after the kids got up he went in and set the clock an hour ahead "just for fun" to see what would happen=)

That was by far one of the wierdest nights EVER!  And, Josh's little "joke" got me moving pretty quickly this morning=)

Favorites

It is Wed. morning and we've had a great week so far...

Rainy's favorite things so far are riding "oh so fast" on the boat and in the inner-tube, holding intelligent conversations around the dinner table with the other 5 kids (she is the oldest grandkid of 6 kids that are here), going fishing and playing in the mud at the bank of the lake.

Zeke's favorite things are watching the other kids go riding in the inner-tube, watching the other kids swim, letting Areyna and Cana cover him in mud at the bank of the lake, holding dead fish that he's found and eating everyone's food.

Josh's favorite things are reading, going diving for treasure, reading, fishing with Zeke, reading, being with his whole family, taking the boat out for a spin, and reading.

My favorite things so far are laying out, riding on the boat, laying out, not having to cook every night (we are each responsible for 1 dinner for the week and we have already done ours), reading, swimming with the kids and eating my favorite things that are in overabundace here this week.

I'll post some pictures later=)

We're Out

Me and the fam. are headed to Smith Mountain Lake for a well deserved family vacation.  We are SOOO excited to relax for a few days and just be together...

Are you done traveling for the summer?  What was your favorite thing you did or the best place you went?  I'd love to hear about your adventures=)

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival - Winner

We have a winner for the CD and Sticker Giveaway:

CUPLLUM

I'll e-mail you to give you your CD this morning=)

Thanks, everyone else who entered to win.  If you didn't win you can still order your own copy HERE along with my husband, Josh's, new book that just came out HERE!

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, You Didn't Know?

Have I said today that I LOVE what we do?  I love traveling (not so much the packing), I love being with my family all the time, I LOVE music, I love PLAYING music, I love to WORSHIP to music for a living...

Last night we played for the first night of the collegiate conference.  It wasn't AWESOME from a worldly perspective, but for some reason I wasn't discouraged.  I LOVED it.  I had so much fun worshiping with the band and feeling the music as we worshiped our GREAT God!