This GUY!!!

Evan participated in his very first karate tournament in October.  He had only been in karate since August and he did soooo well.  He won both a first place medal and a second place medal...so proud of this kiddo....and so excited to see him really enjoy an activity....his focus clearly reflects his interest.

He really is a little artist

Because of our eVan Gogh's interest and talent in art, Chris and I decided to sign him up for art class with Jayne Morgan .  She is a local artist in Bluff Park and offers art classes for Bluff Park Elementary School students at her studio after school on Tuesday afternoons.  He has made us so proud with his paintings.   He has been the youngest one in her classes, and he has impressed us with his work.  He enjoys it so much.  For our active, does not always prefer to sit still, little guy, the fact that he sat still and focused for Jayne's classes and produced such beautiful work, tells Chris and I this may be his thing.  For his birthday his grandparents all chipped in to pay for a week of art camp with Jayne in July....the perfect gift for this gifted artist.

Sophomoric Salvation Chapter 2

A couple of weeks ago while reading the Bible to the boys, heaven and salvation came up.  I mentioned that truly surrendering your life to Christ and asking him to be your Savior is the way to have eternity with HIM in heaven.  As soon as I could get the last syllable out of my mouth, Evan pipes up with "I have already done that"  with complete conviction and sincerity.  So I asked him, "You did?" and he said - very seriously - "Yes, I told GOD that in my bed". I dug further, "what did you say?"  He answered, "I said 'GOD, I love you.  I want to be with you in heaven when I die'".  I was amazed at this private moment he had with GOD, and touched, also unsure - with his age - the level of sincerity of this encounter.  Does he truly understand the seriousness and depth of what had occurred.  I do not know but I know I do not want to minimize this moment in his life.  I said "Evan, that is awesome! That makes my heart so happy."

LORD, I pray for this salvation and surrender to be genuine in all three of my boys' lives.

Sweet Nothings

My Madman is such a sweet snuggle bug.  He is so thoughtful and precious in his little sweet nothings to his momma.  Earlier in the summer - we had a rare moment - Maddox had a sleep over with me.  Chris was out of town for work.  Grayson & Olivia Kim spent the night so their parents could go to the Dave Matthew's Band concert.  The four older children had a slumber party in the den.  I did not want Maddox to feel left out so I invited him to have a slumber party with his Mommy.  He was lying next to me and he reached over and patted my back and - very sweetly - said "I love you Mommy".  Several times throughout the night, he patted me and draped his arm across me to hold me.   It was SOOOOO precious!  I love this little angel.

Tonight while watching a movie with the boys, Maddox snuggled up to me and said I like this movie, Mom.  He then said I LOVE you, Mommy.  Short pause - "and I LOVE GOD!"

LOVE this sooo very much!

The Protector of the house is....

Evan.  I just overhead Evan - while getting ready to try Karate (his chosen Fall "sport") - "Brady are you coming to my karate?" Brady - "yes, I am coming." Evan - "I am excited to try it.  I can't wait to see how strong I am.....how strong I need to be to protect this family.  Because that is what I want to be - the Protector of this Family" ❤️ it!

Proud of this kiddo!

Brady has played t-ball since he was four.  However, this Spring was his first Spring to play rec ball - instead of Upward.  Needless to say, the difference is obvious from what he experienced with Upward and what the kids in rec ball have experienced.  There was an obvious difference in his baseball abilities and the other boys.  It was a lot of fun to watch him play, grow, and learn during this season.  We were blessed with awesome coaches and great families to cheer the boys on with.

I have discovered, in my almost 9 years as a mom, that we can learn sooooo much from our children.  Watching his attitude, patience, joy, and overall fantastic attitude during this baseball season has been so refreshing to watch.  On multiple occasions his coaches said something to either Chris or I about his great attitude, respect for the coaches, willingness to do anything asked of him, and constant smile. 

I love baseball.  Watching Brady play has reminded me of how much I enjoyed playing softball and of how much I miss it.

BIGGER - I love Brady and watching him do life makes me want to be a better person and how much I am missing.

He is a GREAT kid that has a lot worth emulating....when his coach handed Brady his trophy he told him what a great kid he is and told him "any chance I get, I am going to have you play on my team". 

On a baseball note he told Brady that he was the team's most improved player.  He told him that in all of his years of baseball experience, he has never seen someone improve as much as Brady had in just one season.

My MJ

 This little star did AWESOME at the Bluff Park Elementary School Living Museum.  All the third graders are assigned to choose a famous person that is either retired from their known profession or deceased.  They have to create their background and research, write, and memorize their biographical speech.  They are all lined up in the halls of the school and as visitors approach them they introduce themselves and then recite their speech.  Brady chose to Michael Jordan and he rocked it....absolutely nailed it!  He enjoyed this school project a lot!  He was one of the only ones that memorized his whole speech and he had A LOT of facts!!!