A Time of Refreshing--and Adventure!

     Well, I made it back from another great ladies retreat renewed and revived!  Although, I must admit, I didn't feel very revived when I got home...late nights+early mornings+intensive listening+long drives=tiredness!  But after a night of sleeping in my own bed, I felt much better. 

     It was good to see family there, and also some returning attendees that we see every year.  One of the blessings of the Christian life is that no matter how much time passes, you always feel a certain kinship when you spend time with fellow believers.  Catching up on their past year, sharing struggles and blessings that have happened since you last saw them, and time spent in fellowship are always highlights of the retreat. 

    There was a brand new thing at the camp this year.  Over the summer they had installed a zip line.  So, during free time, my cousin and I accepted the challenge and suited up for the ride!  Here we are almost ready to go:

This is the view from the top of the starting point looking across to the other tower where you end up:

After you climbed the stairs to the top of the tower, the line attendants hooked you to the cable and then off you went!  There was no sharp drop; you just sort of sat down and gravity did the rest.  (Free-fall type rides are NOT something I enjoy!)  You zipped out over the lake and up to the next tower where you were unhooked and climbed down.  There were actually two different lines to ride, a long one and another smaller one.  I did both, and enjoyed it very much.  Plus, the boys were pretty impressed to see how high it was and so they think I'm cooler than ever-haha! 

     As always, the speakers at the conference were a timely blessing to me!  They had so many things to share that one blog post would barely even scratch the surface!  But I did want to share some of the things that I found especially helpful, maybe in a short series of posts.  So be on the look out for those as they show up over the next little while. 
 
     Well, it's time to get myself out of the air and my feet back on the ground, so I will wrap this post up for now.  Hope everyone has a great day!  Keep looking for the "Lego moments"--sometimes they're even found zipping through the sky! :)

It's Fall Ya'll!

     My favorite season is here!  Cooler days, fire in the fireplace, colorful leaves--I love lots of things about fall. One of my favorite traditions of fall is coming up as well...the annual Ladies Retreat I attempt to attend every year.  It is such a time of spiritual refreshment, even though is a packed schedule!  I always come away renewed and revived and ready to tackle the craziness of life again.  I would encourage you, if you ever have an opportunity to attend a conference, retreat, seminar, etc. that you try your best to go at least once.  There is something about being away from the daily schedules and demands that really allows you to focus on hearing what the Lord may have for you to learn.

    We have been as busy as usual around here!  School has successfully completed the first quarter of the year.  We have had some "growing pains", but the Lord has seen us through them.  The boys are doing well so far this year.  I have been reminded this year especially that school really begins at home and learning should be a part of every day.  The littlest things can be "teaching moments."  Take advantage of them as they arise through the day--count things with your littles; talk about words and what they mean with your middles; give your big guys real-life applications of math skills they are learning.  Your kid's teachers will thank you!  Mommies and Daddies are the first (and best!) teachers their kiddos have--jump in there and share!

  One of the things I like best about fall is the great photo-ops that arise!  I was able to get some cute pics of the kiddos on a recent field trip to a local farm.  Yay for pumpkin pics!

*Sigh...they're getting so big!  I think these pics really capture their different personalities pretty well.  Not always easy to do!







































  Little Sister started crawling last week.  The big brothers are discovering a mobile baby is quite dangerous to their life of ease!  Lego creations are now in grave danger!  Here's one that had to be rescued several times--a port with several ships.  They spent a lot of time on this one!  (We do our best creating in jammies!)

 

  Because of Little Sister's new found mobility, we have had to make several adjustments to our family schedule.  She is no longer content to hang out in her carrier or stroller, so school was getting to be a little more of a challenge for Mommy and Little Sister.  So, Mommy gets to stay home with Little Sister, and she gets to have the run of the house practicing her new found skills!  She is much happier, and so is Mommy, who always had some amount of "mom guilt" for bringing her to school every day anyway!  There will still be the random day we both go, but for now I am content to remain "behind the scenes" and tackle the paperwork aspects.  Added benefit: more time to handle house stuff that had been let go simply because there were not enough hours in the day!  So, maybe, just maybe, that means more time to blog as well!  I've been working on several drafts of things I just haven't had time to polish up and publish.  Fingers crossed...

    Well, hope you enjoyed this quick catch-up, and I hope to spend more time on here in the future!  Enjoy the fall season...I know I will!  :)