Woodchuck

Dad, I (Katie) don't know why all my clothes keep ending up on the floor.  There must be a woodchuck that lives in my room.

A Date With My Big Girl

Katie and I recently went on a date.  It was such a great time.  We've been anticipating a date together while Owen played with his friend Noah. Thanks Kristen for watching him! 

The photos below show HOW much FUN we had!

And even though this date was supposed to include a hair cut for Locks of Love (which will happen next Friday) for Katie we still had a lovely time.

We had lunch at a cute cafe called, Zest.  And Katie ate an entire adult meal-whew, she is sure growing!  We loved our burger, Autumn salad and homemade veggie chips.  Oh and she got her own large glass of apple juice and loved every drop.

We also did some reading from the Little House on the Prairie Series while sitting outside and it was a picture perfect date.

Katie, I love you and was so very thankful for our time!

Hope Reins Camp

I dropped the ball....

I completely forgot to blog about Katie's adventures at Horse Camp this past August!

We were super happy to have Katie do an extra chore over the summer days to earn her trip to camp.

Katie LOVED camp.  She came home everyday and just raved about which horses she rode, the barn chores she did, the craft she created and the snack she ate.  :)

This is the first year that Hope Reins had horse camp for kiddos.  I think it was a good camp and I am even more sure that next year will be better!
Everyday they had a lesson that pertained to the work that is done on a horse farm and the Fruits of the Spirit.  She memorized a few scriptures and we hope those stay in her heart!

Katie, you look great on a horse!  Keep up the good work!

 One day Owen and I stopped by to take a few photos and Owen started to play with this huge soccer ball!  It was only a few inches shorter then him!

 Katie's counselor and a friend.

 One of Pippers favorite things, out of the whole camp was getting her face painted on Wednesday and Thursday.  She looked so old with black eye liner for her fairy!   

Keep riding, Katie, horses can teach such great lessons about life!

Jolly Well

I just over heard Katie say, "I jolly well won't want to bonk my head."

What?  Where did she learn those words?

:)

Party Fun

We had the blessing of going to a poolside fall party last Saturday!  We had a great time and are thankful for the relationship we build with Ms. Judy and Mr. Larry back when we lived in our apt-seven long years ago!  Judy and Larry have a beautiful home towards Youngsville and their party did not disappoint!  Carribean music, delicious food (even a smores station!), beautiful weather, a kickball and play set all made for a festive evening.    The only bummer was that Ella, their granddaughter, wasn't able to come since her parents (their daughter and son in law) was out of town.  But we are excited to play with them soon. We've enjoyed your play dates! :)  Thank you Judy and Larry so much!

PS...Aunti Pie, thanks for the outfits for the kids.  They were great!

Fantastically Fun Family Fridays

We are trying a new tradition at our house--to have Fantastically Fun Family Fridays!

This is a CELEBRATION at the Hime home.  

How it goes...

Katie normally decorates and goes all out.  :)

We have a kid friendly yummy meal.

We play a game or go and get a treat like frozen yogurt.

We laugh a ton!

And we make memories.  I love looking over the kids at Justin giving him the eye because the kids are so funny. 

I don't know how long this tradition will last, but so far the kids and us have had a blast!

Below are photos from two Friday celebrations.

The first we celebrated Daddy as a hard worker and that we love him!  It was a surprise!
The second we simply ate hotdogs, french fries, fruit salad and scones for dessert.  

Then we played Uno-whew the kids are getting good!

It was fun to see the kids excited all day.  

For these Fantastically Fun Family Fridays I have been trying to actively plan with the kids in mind.  Our Fridays are a very limited running errand day.  They are about kid friendly activities.  It is about trying hard to listen to them and say yes to their ideas-because I have made space to let them explore and try things.  It is about clearing my schedule to simply play.  These days are going sooo quickly.  I want to be intentional to be just with them.  Not juggling five things and barely listening to their stories or imagination.  I want to slow down and enjoy my kids!

Katie, Owen and Justin, you are my very favorite people to be around!

on to the photos

This is Daddy's chair that Katie decorated for him.

Katie's note...

Love, Katie

A Mom, and Owen and Daddy.

Owen's place setting from Katie

For dessert Katie made an 'ice pie'.  She saw Curious George make one and just had to do it herself.

And they licked and licked and licked the ice pie.

Then she decorated again the next Friday and made each of us a sign that we found by playing 'hot and cold'. 

This sign is for Owen of a fish and popcycle made out of pine needles.  :)

Owen made some yummmy scones with me.  My favorite recipe with spelt, granulated honey and almond milk!

his bowl, my bowl

It has been soooo fun!

A Bit of Fun

 A few Saturdays ago we went with TCC to the Durham Bulls game!  The kids soaked in every moment.  Owen HAD to bring his glove for any balls and Katie HAD to look sporty.  I am so excited as our kids get a bit older to do things like this.  They got to stay up until it was way dark.....fun times in the Hime home!

 We stayed for about 1.5 hours and thoroughly enjoyed it!

For Your splender

For Your Splender by Christy Nockles

Our Budding Artists

Katie drew her own picture, by herself...pretty good little lady! I was so impressed with your painting inside your lines. Love those blueberry bushes, apple trees, two cute kiddos (O and K) and the pink roof on your house. 

And Owen...your dump truck is awesome too!  There is also a purple storm cloud on top hindering the driver, says Owen.

2 Recommendations

If you want great Books on CD then buy these and I think you will LOVE them...you and the kids!  They have been awesome. We haven't listened to much else except these in the car.  Owen and Katie have both enjoyed this immensely! Thanks Bee for telling me about them!

They are from Radio Theatre of Focus on the Family.  I found Amazon has them the cheapest.  

Easy Peasy Delicious Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from Paula Deen)

1 cup peanut butter-(I used one that was only Peanut Butter and salt)

1/2 cup sugar (I used granulated honey)

1 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla

1 egg

(optional-mix or press on top, chocolate chips into them)

Hand mix these all together

Make into golf ball size balls on ungreased pan

Criss Cross them with a fork for that traditional peanut butter design

bake for 10-12 minutes at 350

allow to cool for 5 or so minutes

Makes approx 12 cookies

Happy Eating! 

Owen is getting married.

Tonight at dinner Owen told Katie, "Katie, I am going to marry you."

To which Katie responded, "You silly boy, you can't do that, I am your sister!"

I LOVE that they are such great friends and I guess we should start looking for a bride for our boy.  :)

A Good Day

Today was a good day.  It wasn't that something special happened.  It was just that we chose to have a good day and God blessed it.

I asked Justin about his day and he said, "It was good, it actually was a great day."

Owen and Katie both said today was the best Friday ever.  It helped that we had hotdogs, french fries, bananas and then walked up to get frozen yogurt too.  :)

Me? It was a good day because the rest of my family thought so.

And...
By the Grace of God I trained the kids today with patience and encouragement.
I thought ahead of them to have a Friday Fun Night.
I worked hard to be focused on the tasks that the kids couldn't help me with and then allowed them to help me with a few things they could.
I prayed today while I ran for others.
I considered how I could serve.
And...God is here.  He is refining me.  And I am thankful for days like this.

Wordless Wednesday

Journaling, I Timothy 4:8 and Psalm 115-118

As I was jogging today this verse came to mind-I Timothy 4:8,

"7Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. " 

These verses were the verses I have on my 8th grade confirmation braclet.  Amazing how the mind works to recall things.  8th grade was 20 years ago!

God used this verse to convict me.  Justin, took the kids out to breakfast and I was using this quiet time to jog and not to be with Him.  But God who is ever gracious allowed me some quiet, clock ticking time when I got home before two monkeys and handsome husband burst in the house.  I am thankful.

I have come to realize that I haven't spent much time alone with God.  Sure I have had a 10 minutes before the kids wake up or the 10 minutes before my head hits the pillow at night.  WHICH IS GOOD. I have had moments of decent time during naps and quiet room, but I haven't really sat with Jesus and listened much. I have been living on crumbs and not on a whole meal. 

Katie and I are reading, Little House in the Big Woods and we finished the section where Laura and Mary ask about why Sundays are so hard.  Why they can't play. Why do they have to listen to the Bible or only play hymns on the fiddle. The story doesn't say why it is like this, but Katie and I concluded that the Sabbath is God's day, it is a holy day so one must be respectful of His day of Rest.  My mind went back to college and the days or 1/2s of sabbaths we were encouraged to have.  As a culture we don't have Sabbaths anymore.  Stores are always open, technology is always beeping at us, we run from church to errands to small groups etc...And I think now if I have an extra 3 hours I spend it keeping the house or running errands or jogging.  I am in the rut of the world.  'Do something', don't just sit, listen, journal and read  But I do desperately want to cultivate the disapline again of time with Jesus. I would love it to be everyday or once a week, but I am praying to have one day a month. Time where I sit, quietly with my Bible and journal, for two or three hours listening and thinking through what life should look like with Jesus.  I want to study life giving words! I want to put down my idols and turn to Jesus.  I want to have a soft heart to hear Him lovingly correct me and the strength to trust and do what He asks of me. And I know to do this, I need to be with Him.  We also desire our kids to have this relationship with Jesus. And therefore our kids need to see us desperate for Him. 

A few Psalms that I have read a lot lately are Psalm 115-118.  They are life giving.  I have  been pondering them, chewing over them throughout the day and it has been so good.  In these Psalms there are words like, trust, lovingkindness, truth, call upon, thanks, fear, death and love.  These passages are rich with truth and have brought perspective back into my life.  They have slowed me down to truth in Jesus and not in myself.  They have pointed me to Him and His purposes.  They have grounded me again in what is right, true and lovely.  

This post is really a post for me.  A way to hold myself accountable to spending time with Jesus.  And, if you want, feel free to ask me if I am actually spending time with the King of Creation and ask me what He has been teaching me.  Hope you all are able to sit and be with Him too soon. 

-PS, Justin gave me an extra 2 hours on Saturday morning.  Refreshing and thankful am I!