Friday Photos

The kids were riding their bikes outside and then all of a sudden it began to downpour.

And then the sun came out.

And then the rain stopped.

And then it got cloudy again.

But between all of those sudden changes THESE two beauties made an appearance!

I can literally see the sun shining through the clouds making the colors.

They were GORGEOUS!

Meet Dan.  He's Josh's summer intern.
He likes jumping THROUGH trampolines, playing with kids and telling really corny dad jokes.
Just ask him, I'm sure he's got a few good ones up his sleeve, ha!
We're glad you're here Dan!  Welcome to the fam.

Sometimes I feel like weeds are like "bad words".
I mean, who really gets to say whether they are actually good or bad?
These beautiful weeds make my favorite arrangements to place around our home.

Jude decided that it would be fun to strip down and roll around in the grass NAKED the other night.
Needless to say he broke out all over, and I guess Josh got tired of scratching his back and found the next best thing...
my spaghetti  tong, picker-upper thingy spork (don't worry, I had to google what the heck to call that thing too, lol)

Josh also made Zeke a personalized "brain food" snack for Zeke's EOG's
He said it wasn't his favorite, but that it helped his brain, so we'll call it a #win

These rain showers this week have made for an awful lot of fun for both Colony kids and chickens alike.
It has also resulted in twice as many loads of laundry, but whatever.

I captured this yesterday afternoon.
You can see the very edge of the nasty storm that literally went right around us
 and the sun that danced right above the storm clouds.

When we began Rainy's science at the beginning of the year I promised that she could have all the leftovers
from the experiments to play with (outside).
You would have thought it was Christmas when I handed her the box of "treasures".

Don't worry, she didn't do any testing on animals.
She prefers living humans.

Zeke's new thing this week has been to take orders from the kids in his class who don't have coloring books or printers at home.  He then comes home and WE print the outlined images so Zeke can use the printed pictures over and over as he traces coloring pages for his friends.  Man I love this boy's heart!
We will be asking for printer ink for Christmas this year, lol.

I mean, come on, look at all these vibrant colors!

Last day of 6th grade selfie with my girl.

Two Colony kids down.  Only three more to go.  COME ON SUMMER!

Story In Pictures ~ Josh's Graduation

Josh had toyed with the idea of going back to school to get his doctorate off and on for several years.

Three years ago he felt like the Lord gave him the green light and he dove in.

He was placed in a cohort with 3 other guys.

Over the course of these three years Jacob, Josh, Kelly and Jeff would create a friendship that would keep each other accountable in school and 

encourage one another in their own ministry and mission fields.

They would later find out how rare it would be to all make it through to the end at the same pace.

Jacob, Josh, Kelly, Jeff

Each graduate is invited to the President's home, Magnolia Hill, to visit with the professors

before graduation.

Dr. Robinson, one of Josh's panel professors

Dr. Akin - President of SEBTS

This is Magnolia Hill

the "hooding ceremony"

Dr. Reid - Josh's Major professor

Dr. Akin got to meet all the kids.  Jude was being compliant as always, ha!

The cohort Doctors

Josh and his dad

Josh and his parents

Josh and my parents

Josh's brother, Jared, and his family made it down for the graduation.

along with Josh's sister Joy and her family.

the hat got passed around quite a bit among the Colony kids.

Even Uncle Ray came to support Josh!

So thankful for this opportunity for Josh and even the rest of us as we get to glean from all that God did and is doing through this season.

Friday Photos

Zeke, heading up another one of his amazing inventions.
He laid a dolly down, placed a board on it, colored pedals and buttons,
added seat cushions and a wii remote steering wheel,
to make an amazing "go cart".

Amazed at how things like this can grow through tiny little cracks in brick steps and cement driveways.

Jude insisted that we take his training wheels off.
I reluctantly (after much of his persistent requests) took them off and led him to the soft grass to help with the falls.
While we were instructing him on how to get started, he jumped on, pushed his feet forward on the pedals
and rode away!  He can totally keep up with the big kids!

Reading stories to "get hot" before diving into the 3-ring 2-ring blow up pool.
I don't know what is funnier...watching Cai tell his version of stories or listening to Jude laugh hysterically at him!

Sometimes math just makes more sense when somebody other than mom explains it.

We were able to use our rose bushes to bless neighbors all around us this past Mother's Day weekend.

We've been without a laundry line for about a year and finally bit the bullet and got another one.
I.Love.Air.Dried.Laundry.

I caught Jude and Alethia playing "family" in the field.
Their relationship is SO sweet.  They rarely ever even fight.

These two love playing hand clapping games with the rhymes that we used to play growing up.

Friday Photos (on Saturday, minus graduation pics)

Not only did Zeke bring me the most beautiful weeds flowers from the field...
he brought the roots WITH them, ha!  He is such an all or nothing kid.

Rainy has been SUCH a huge help with Jude in school and helped him finish out his year this week.

They have really grown a sweet relationship this past year.
We're gonna miss Jude when he goes to school in July. But we won't mind the quieter atmosphere, lol.

Regrown lettuce is growing in nicely.

Cai, for the first time in his life, has really begun to enjoy reading.
He has made a goal for himself to read 3 books every day after he finishes his homework:-).

We found a tree frog.
And of course he became our pet for a few hours.

I.Can't.Wait.

Jude has been on an Insanity kick with SeanT the past couple of weeks
He completed three 45 minute videos this week all on his own.
It's so cute to watch, and even cuter when he yells out to me to grab him some ice water for his 30 second breaks, haha!

Oh yeah, we got a bunny this week for me!
He is TINY, although this picture of him is deceiving.
The Colony has appropriately named him Cocoa.