If a tree falls in the woods on our fence...

Quite a storm (make that several storms that were quite doozies) rolled through this afternoon. Now, I normally don't mind storms, in fact, I usually enjoy them. But.not.this.storm. I probably seemed like a huge wimp calling Marc too often wondering when was going to be home. I was trying to be calm and cool while I had little boys falling me around like puppies whimpering everytime the thunder exploded. In between one of the storms, I did a damage check which included removing our large garbage can from the middle of our front yard and discovering this in our backyard...

...that's one way the meet the neighbors.

Now it's late, Marc ended up going to Detroit to pick up a friend who is stranded at the airport. And what do you know - more storms rolling in. Meaning Marc is driving in it and I am home alone with the boys and more lightning and thunder.

Fear not, for I am with you.

Isaiah 43:5

There is a first for everything...

The day has come, my friends. Kelli has her very own fishing license.

Still kickin'

Just a quick update so you know we are still around. We had an amazing (God is so Good!) vacation and just got back Saturday night. I did a quick load of laundry, repacked and headed down to Ohio with the kids the next morning. My long lost cousin from Texas was in town. We got back home this afternoon. Our house was decent before we left and now looks like it exploded. I am not feeling well and therefore, we postponed our marriage couseling meeting and the house will probably remain chaotic until tomorrow when hopefully I can get more laundry done, pick up the house, do a little grocery shopping and try to get back into a somewhat of a routine. Marc went and got our new laptop this afternoon. So hopefully in the next day or two, between work, church meetings and doctor appts, we can be officially back up and running with pictures and everything.

I will post more about vacation later. It really was great (don't let this downer post fool you... I'm just not feeling great).

Belated Father's Day Pictures

This is what happens with no crib...

This is how Marc found AJ the other day during nap time. (We move the rocking chair over to where the crib used to be.)

Bad News - Good News

• The Bad News is our laptop is dead. Dead-dead.
• The Good News is we will get a new laptop thanks to the warranty we bought.
• The Bad News is everything on there is lost.
• The Good News is I was able to back up quite a bit of stuff the last few days when the it would actually boot up for a few minutes before crashing.
• The Bad News is we still lost more than I would like to think about.
• The Good News is I have my blog, so not all that I lost is completely lost.
• The Bad News is even though the new laptop is covered, we will still have to buy the extended warranty for it which will run about $400. (I know we don't HAVE to buy it, but this will be our second new laptop we've gotten now when our old one died - for us, it's worth it.)
• The Good News is we are leaving on vacation soon, so I won't have to think about it for a while.

So, when we get back from vacation, we will have to go pick out a new laptop and spend a while getting it all set up to our liking again. (I feel like I should be excited about that part, but I'm really seeing it as more of a chore.). Ugh.

Milestone Update

Marc thinks he found the rough patch on the bunk beds and sanded it down a bit. And we officially took the crib down. The room still needs an overhaul, but having the one big piece of furniture out really helps. So, last night, AJ had his official first night in the big boy bed with no crib back-up. His feet seem fine. He did get in trouble for being out of bed once and he was crying the middle of the night once, so Marc laid with him a bit, but other than that... he did fine.

And I thought it was just gas...

Yesterday at dinner, Andrew was explaining to me how much he liked one of his cars. In fact, he likes playing with it so much he has be been "playing with it for one thousand days!" I explained to him that 1,000 days is a really long time and that means he would have started playing with it when he was a little bity baby. He explained that, yes, he did start playing with it then. In fact, he went on to explain how he had it with him in my tummy before we got him from the hospital and he played with it "while rolling around in there."

Maybe their's was just a 'special' truck.

For a couple years now, ever since Andrew was old enough to peek over the windowsill, we always get excited when the music truck slowly rolls by. It's right up there with the garbage truck and the mail truck. Really anything with wheels catches the boys attention, but the music truck is extra cool, because, well, it plays music and drives real slow. They run from wherever they are playing, yelling, "Music Truck! Music Truck!" as they bolt to the window.

The other day, we are at our friend's house. All the kids are playing outside, when we hear their neighborhood music truck in the distance. The dad announces, "It's the ice cream truck! Who wants ice cream?!" He then proceeds to treat all the kids, including mine, to ice cream from the side of the colorful van. While, I was thankful for his generosity, I kept thinking, "Uugh - now they know." The gig is up.

In the Presence of My Enemies.

Yesterday, I finished the book In the Presence of My Enemies by Gracia Burnham. What a good book. Well, I don't feel right saying it was a good book since it's true account of being kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists in the jungle for over a year. Here's Gracia's website synopsis:

For American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, what started out as a relaxing, once-in-a-lifetime anniversary getaway at an exotic island resort turned into one of the most horrific nightmares imaginable. Kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group with ties to Osama bin Laden, the Burnhams were snatched away from friends and family and thrust into a life on the run in the Philippine jungle. During a perilous year in captivity, they faced near starvation, constant exhaustion, frequent gun battles, coldhearted murder—and intense soul-searching about a God who sometimes seemed to have forgotten them.

Wow. I have thought so much about Gracia and Martin this last week. I've even dreamt about the jungle more than I ever imagine I would. My mother in law has even met Gracia. What amazing strength God gave these two when they felt they had none on their own. I'm reminded of a verse I just found in our Psalms of Ascent study:

Psalm 84:7 - They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

God only gives us the amount of strength we need for that moment until fresh strength is given.