4th of July

Okay, so I'm finally posting our July 4th pictures a month late. Sorry! I go through periods where I feel like I've accomplished all I needed to do so I have a moment or two to sit down at the computer and then other times I stay so busy that I don't get a chance to update as much as I liked. We have stayed incredibly busy this summer and visited lots of family. I'm not exactly for sure where summer 2009 has gone. All I know was that it was fast! We had a travel-filled July 4th weekend. We started by going to our Hayes Family Reunion. It was so good to see everyone for the first time and for them to meet Blake. Last year he was kicking in my tummy and this year he was running around on concrete.

5 generations:

My great-grandmother, which makes her Blake's great-great-grandmother. And great she is!

They have a duck pond by the pavilion and Blake loved watching the ducks. We were going to let him feed the ducks but we didn't have anything to share.

We left that afternoon and made it back home in time for the fireworks downtown and to hear the concert. It was awesome! Blake liked the fireworks. He didn't even get scared. Raun's mom had picked out the perfect spot on the walkway that was shaded by a tree. I couldn't believe how packed it was and how much food was there. People brought stakes and staked out their area, which was a little dangerous because people almost tripped on them and you couldn't walk through their space without being yelled out. I kid you not. They INVITED people to come into their space. I do hope that they change that rule next year.

Earlier that week, we had went to our friend's, Walt and Jaime's, house to eat and then to walk to a nearby small town to watch the fireworks and hear the music. It wasn't as crowded there so Blake got to run around. But boy was he tired!

**I put up a lot of pictures for my family so they can right click on them and save them to their computer. It's so much easier that way! Sorry for the delay in posting them. There were just so many!

First Haircut

Blake had his first haircut yesterday. He did so good. He sat completely still and let her cut on his hair. I saved it and am putting it in his baby scrapbook. He looks so grown up now! In Raun's words, he'll be starting college soon! This is my favorite picture of him. It looks like he is doing the hair check in the mirror to make sure his hair is just right for the girls.

His hair cut was the best price: FREE!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

What do you think? Can you see a difference in my little man? I'll admit, the after picture wasn't as cute, but he had food in his mouth.

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My cousin, Ashley, and her family stopped by on their way to their new house up in the northern part of the U.S. We loved having them. Blake got to play with John Paul a little. I couldn't believe how much he had changed in just 2 months. I never saw the difference with Blake since I was with him all of the time, but I really see it now in other people's children.

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Imagine I saw to you, "Will you please go and feed Blake his breakfast?" What kinds of food would run through your head? Perhaps yogurt, cheerios, a banana, strawberries, blueberries, oatmeal, possibly cheese. This scenario was carried out yesterday morning before Raun left for work. However, instead of that long list of healthy options, he decided upon a new one for his list. I walked into the kitchen and what did I see in the tray of his high chair? TEDDY GRAHAMS! I love my husband. I do. But it led to a talk about how teddy grahams are NOT a breakfast for any child or adult. I proceeded to name the list above and he still felt very adament that teddy grahams belonged on that list. Anyone agree?

Challenged

I had such a wonderful weekend. I spent the first part of my weekend with one of my mentors from my home church and the last half was spent with my parents. I loved having Beka over to catch up on things and to talk. She is such an encouragment to me and I learn so much from her. I am so blessed by her. We went to a homeschool curriculum fair on Friday and Saturday morning. Most of you know that we are planning on homeschooling unless God changes our hearts and minds. Many of you know why we have chosen to do this. I'm excited about it and am learning all I can before I get started. One of the sessions we went to yesterday was a Charlotte Mason session on "Habits." I felt that session was definitely for me and it was challenging and in some ways, convicting. She talked about how habits are formed constantly. It just depends on whether it's a good habit or a bad habit forming. I never really thought about it that way. Then she talked about all of the character traits that Mrs. Mason used to teach her students. Incredible. Overwhelming. Taking small steps towards them. Some of them I had never thought of before. Some of them weren't very important to me at all. I'm excited for Raun and I to make three lists of the ones that we definitely want to teach, the foundational ones, and the ones that would be great if he had, but it's not going to ruin them if they don't have them. I have been completely challenged to teach myself some of these good habits that I wish to enstill in our children. After all, I know I lack in so many areas. But how great would it be that he had a habit of neatness, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, health, music, honesty, and so many more. I can't wait to go through the Bible and put Bible verses with all of the ones that I feel are important and to help our children learn the habit of memorizing verses and applying them. And not doing things just because mom and dad told him, but because our children love it. I know it will be so hard, but well worth it in the end. Will I fail in some of these? Probably. Am I overzealous? Some may say "yes." Do I feel as though some of things things are lacking in society today? Yes. Am I weird for doing and teaching these things? Some would think so. Am I willing to be different and go against what's acceptable and normal these days? Yes, despite the fact I will in fact fail in so many ways. But I will keep trying.

Since I'm speaking of challenging and God has spoken so much to me on this, I found the perfect song for my kiddos tomorrow. I can't wait to share it with them and to have our lyric discussion and to see their drawings and their descriptions. I am praying that God changes lives in some teens tomorrow. I posted the video so you can see what it is. Wonderful message. And by the way, in the end, it turns out good.

Happy Birthday to me!

I know it has been a week since I experienced my 10th anniversary of my 16th birthday. Doesn't that make me sound so incredibly young? It brought back so many childhood memories because I had to share half of my birthday cake with my brother (who has a birthday a week later to the date). Memories of shared birthday parties with shared friends and double the presents flashed in my head. Instead of all of the presents this year, though, there was lots of family. Which was what I wanted. We have officially grown too old to receive presents! It was funny, though, because God has been talking to me a lot about materialism so what greater way to prove His point than through the lack of things that I probably don't need! As far as the cake goes, I didn't mind sharing my half of the cake because at least I got a birthday cake this year! John and I thought it would be funny to pretend to cut our cake together like they do in weddings. What a funny brother I have! Oh...and I was mean. I slathered it all over his face.

I spent the morning with my old college roomies, which was wonderful. I was a little sick, but they made me feel so much better. We grew our friendship in new ways and even went on an unforgettable shopping adventure. I will always remember this birthday, needless to say! We made Jen pick up Everett and her mother-in-law so we could go to our house to show off the babies. Blake liked Everett. He kept wanting to touch him. We've decided that Nessa needs to babysit for us so we can get a night to ourselves. And so her house won't be as clean!

Every day should start out with a moment as sweet as mine did on my birthday. I love my precious boy!

As for birthdays, we have Blake's 1st birthday coming up on August 7th. That will be a post all in itself because I have so many emotions when it comes to that! We have planned his party and I'm in the process of sending out the invitations. I can't believe that it's almost here! Why does it all have to go by so incredibly fast?

What Dad's Are For...

I don't think words are necessary to explain what I found when I came upstairs this afternoon. Explanation from Raun: "It was windy and getting cool outside and thought he'd like to play with it in here. Our parents would never have done this for us, would they?" There we go.






Can't get mad at me....Daddy said I could!

Inside the Revolution

Tractor Fun

I visited my parents at the end of June and before we left, Dad got to take Blake on the tractor for his first tractor ride. He loved it! And to tell you the truth, I think Dad did too. He smiled and laughed as Dad drove around. And as a side note, the tractor you see in these pictures is the mowing tractor. Dad wanted me to make sure to clarify that he does have a bigger one! Blake has been to see the cows before and enjoyed watching them and listening to them. However, he hasn't been to the very back of the field on the tractor to see them in their favorite spot...the shade! I'm not so sure he knew what to think about these creatures that were bigger than the ones that live in our house and smelled just a little. He did watch them intently, though.

Meet some of the members of Dad's herd. There's the bull...

There's Sox and her mommy....

There's the newest baby and her mommy...

Then there's the nosy girls...

Someone had gotten us this shirt specifically for my dad. I made sure to bring it with me so Dad could see it on him. I found it very fitting for riding the tractor.

I like playing with the panoramic feature on my camera, so I got a few pictures of the land. I thought they were pretty and so green despite the lack of rain. These are just a few of the super cute pictures I got of Blake and my dad. Isn't he so adorable? I may be kind of partial....slightly....

Blake was so tired after a fun afternoon of riding around that he just couldn't stay awake anymore. Between the heat, being tired, and the consistent hum of the tractor, he was a goner!