swimming at "grandma's"

grandma is "camping" - in a tent - next to Disneyland. who knew there was such an opportunity?!? so she invited us over for a swim in "her pool". we had a blast, got a little burnt, and went to the beach the next day, (because we didn't get enough of that sunshine)! grandma is always so much fun - she's got the great ideas!

ky's been begging for a sister, and...

God decided she could have one.
meet our newest addition. (better pics to come). she's 19!
this is angela. we met her last week and she moved in 2 days later. she loves kids and likes to clean! she was homeschooled and is yet another testimony of a well-adjusted, beautiful, fun-to-be-around homeschool graduate. she fits in perfectly.
here's the story: when the boys were in big bear, they stayed with some friends we'd not seen in a couple years. They mentioned that they had a fabulous babysitter who would be going to college in our city who needed a place to live. hmmm... scott & i were just talking before he left about our empty room and wondering how God might have us use it. we knew of a family who was in need and thought about moving the office downstairs to allow 6 people to move in upstairs. we also knew of another mom with 2 little ones who could use the space. but in the end, our hearts and minds were prepared. the room was ready to be used. and there was a person in need, who we could not have thought of to use it - because we'd never met her.
it is a blessing to see God at work!



some pics of the boys and some friends we had over moving the big stuff...

the Bible bee is back

i waited to sign up, but finally gave in.
last year jojo memorized 50 "passages" (1-4 verses) and 100 "Bible knowledge questions". this year they've changed it up. there are two tracks. the timothy track requires 100 verses and the national track requires 250 verses. both require and intensive study of colossians. since we did more than 100 verses last year, i thought we better do the 250. and kik is old enough to join, but i wanted them to do the same thing, so both boys are memorizing a LOT this summer.
we began our preparations monday and the bee is on August 28th. basically we have 76 days to memorize a ton of scripture. am i crazy???
yes and no.
since last year, i have used EVERY verse we memorized in witnessing to others. i have been able to answer questions, not with "well, somewhere in the Bible, doesn't it say..." but with "well, God's Word tells us in John that "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."
i know the bee is for the kids, but i have so benefitted from memorizing with them and i know that in the future, they too will benefit from this investment!
this is what we've been doing... my house is covered in scripture.
we introduce a new passage, start erasing words, practice with songs that i made up (in the car or when going to bed), and then stick the verse on the review pile once we get it! if you're not ready to jump into the Bible bee, just grab a white board and start memorizing a verse or two at home. you'll be surprised how easy it is AND how God will start using his words that you have hidden in your heart to impact you and the world around you.

kik to the oral surgeon

kik inherited my extra teeth that i inherited from my mom. it figures, since he also has her blond hair! anyhow, monday was the day the teeth had to go. he was so brave. when he came home he was treated to pudding and jello,

but quickly (within a couple hours) was eating regular foods. a day later, you'd never know he had it done. we spent the day at the park riding bikes, climbing on the playground, and playing soccer with friends.
hopefully, we don't get any more "bonus teeth". it's fun for kik to get "bonus bills" from the tooth fairy, but the surgeon's bill is not so fun.
praise the Lord for keeping kik in his care and healing him quickly!

beach bonfire

and earlier in the day... our church had the first summer outing - to the beach! we had dinner, played in the sand and enjoyed spending time with friends.

as a side note: i had my first "Nathan's" hot dog - it's the new grubb standard. :)

boys to big bear & girly things at home

scott took jojo & kik to big bear this past weekend. the annual big bear bronco bash is a treat for all the guys. they do crazy things in the bronco. the boys actually claimed they were fearful several times that the bronco would flip over - sounds like they were having fun! sorry - no photos from the hill.

ky & sy & i did girly things. we were working out of her "little keepers at home" manual. we worked on the sewing skill and the cookie baking skill. for sy we went to the pet store and bought crickets to feed the lizards. (my regular cricket catchers were in big bear - and since i'm not so great at catching bugs, we opted to buy them).

ky got a new "sewing box" which holds her supplies. we used them to measure and cut fabric. then we ironed and sewed our cute aprons!

we wore them the next day while baking cookies.

it was a fun weekend and i realized that i have missed working on projects with the kids. i commit to be more intentional about creating fun and useful projects with my kids. i'm excited about our keepers at home and contenders of the faith books. they have a lot of fun and useful ideas and help us keep our eyes on Jesus.

in memory of...

Tiny,kik's lizard, died today. and kik just cried himself to sleep :( we still have 6 lizards in the tank and jojo gave kik one of his, so he seemed excited about that, BUT he still made a "headstone" for Tiny. It says: Kik's Lizard Died. and has a boy with a sad face and an arrow pointing to the grave where we buried him in the backyard. (i asked scott if we could keep the body and quick-decay it so we could use if for science, but judging by kik's crying tonight, it was probably not a good idea.)

i love my tender-hearted boy!