Snow Day

We had one good snow day in February, Rodney even got to stay home! We suspected that we would have a light winter because we finally had an awesome sled. The boys got it for Christmas from my in laws and they loved it!!! It still got some use as a "boat" in the house. But we hope next year we get a few more times to use it in the actual snow. :) The boys had a blast in the snow. They really enjoyed going up to the local school and playing on the icy playground. It was a fun day that ended with two very tired boys. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

The boys looked so precious on Valentine's Day. Carter Wayne had school and he was so excited about the party. Sawyer and I were headed to Tuesday Bible study. I just love the pic of them hugging! I looked all over for a plain grey long sleeve t-shirt for Carter Wayne to wear under this red shirt. Nowhere to be found. There was one in the girls' section at Wal-Mart - the shoulders were ruched-but it would be under Carter Wayne's shirt so I went with it. I mean no one would see it, right? Well, half-way through Bible study I see that Carter Wayne's teacher is calling. I go out of the room to call her back and CW has thrown up and is super sick! I pick up Sawyer and head to pick CW up from the school. The whole way over there all I can think is my poor baby has thrown up all over his shirt leaving them to remove the top shirt, only to find that his mother has dressed him in a girls' shirt!!! Mortified! I get to the school and they have not removed his shirt but he looks horrible. He tells Ms. Tera and I that he felt sick all morning but didn't want to miss the party. Bless his heart! Sweet Ms. Tera promised to save all his goodies. We went home and got a doctor's appoinment.The pic of him in the car is coming home from the doctor. I mean, how pitiful is that?? He was out the rest of the week. This began 3 months of sickness that I do not want to ever repeat again. We just passed that bug around and even ended up with me getting the flu. Yuck! But at least no one at CW's school thinks his momma dresses him in little girls' clothes (I threw that shirt away!)

Playing Catch Up Part 1

Let's start with February, shall we?? Here are a couple of pics from a typical cold weekend. Loots of train track building went on this season. This makes me sad because here in July, just a few short months later, my boys seem to have left the trains behind. How did that happen. Now they are in to Angry Birds and Power Rangers. Breaks this momma's heart. Sweet boys are growing up too fast!

I have been a horrible blogger! We got iphones in February and I didn't use my camera for a month and I barely got on my computer. Well, the new has now worn off - with the help of my kids' new obsession with Angry Birds - so I will be attempting to update in the days to come. Afterall, this is my only scrapbook and it would be a shame to not have it for the boys! So updates coming soon! I promise! :)

DDD

The boys have been so excited all week for DDD. Daddy, Donuts, and Dinosaurs. Rodney and Carter Wayne came up with that. :) Saturday morning they met their buddies Shawn and Peyton at Krispy Kreme for donuts then went to Lowe's to build dinosaurs. They picked up icees on the way home to round out the perfect morning. They had a blast. And me sleeping in wasn't so bad either.

Haircuts and Jesus

I took the boys to get their haircuts on Friday. We tried out a new place just for kids in Fayetteville. During the drive there Carter Wayne started asking me about Heaven. He wanted to know if we would have our own house or if we would all live in the same house. I told him I wasn't sure, but it wouldn't really matter because we would be with God and Jesus and it would be so wonderful that we wouldn't care what house we were in. He thought about that awhile then asked where the "bad guys" would be. Well... I told him about hell and that it was a place away from God where people went after they died if they decided that they didn't want to follow Jesus. Insert Holy Spirit here. I mean the boy was coming up with questions faster than I could answer. Not just about heaven and hell, but about God, Jesus, the cross, and the Holy Spirit. He wanted to know if God was mad at us when we did wrong and we talked about Jesus' life and how him dying on the cross and raising from the dead covered over the wrong things we did. We talked about what it meant to have Jesus in your heart. We talked about Jesus living on earth and never doing anything bad or wrong - this blew him away! He was amazed that Jesus had lived a sinless life. He wanted to know who in our family had gone to heaven. He asked about how God talks to us, about the Bible, and what the Holy Spirit was and how it worked. At one point I shared the whole plan of salvation - I truly felt the holy spirit speaking through me - and because God knows I need encouragement - every time I said God or Jesus little Sawyer would echo me and say "God" and "Jesus" in this sweet little voice. So sweet. When I was talking about us believing Jesus and that he was the son of God - Carter Wayne said "I believe"- and talking about following Jesus all the days of our lives - Carter Wayne said "I do believe and when I say that mommy it makes my eyes water like this." Bless his heart! This Gospel affects all doesn't it!
At this point we were at the haircut place and Sawyer was out cold. I had Carter Wayne come sit in my lap and I asked him if he wanted me to pray for him or if he wanted to pray. He wanted me to pray and I prayed that he would choose Jesus and he would follow Jesus all the days of his life and that he would look to God's word to lead him. I also prayed that God would show Rodney and I how to teach Carter Wayne about God and his son Jesus. We hugged and I asked him if he had any more questions and he said no but that he would want to talk about it more later too.
I didn't press things there. I don't want him to be scared or coxed into following Jesus - I want him to do it because he understands and wants to. I would have never even dreamed that this kind of conversation could happen until we saw how well Olivia Grace understood her commitment to Christ. It is like God was opening my eyes to how these questions are going to start coming, even at this young age. I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit and his leading Carter Wayne to ask these questions and giving me answers to give in a confident way. What a blessing.
Last week Carter Wayne and I were watching some cartoon where the kids went to China and he asked if daddy had ever gone to China and I said no. He said he couldn't believe that because Daddy always went exploring to far off places. A few minutes later he said, "Do all the kids in China already know about Jesus?" I said no and he said well Daddy needs to go there. I talked about missionaries and how they go different places to tell people about Jesus. He actually said "Who will go to tell the children in China about Jesus?" Oh yes Lord - who will go? I said maybe him, or me or Sawyer or daddy. He liked that. I prayed before he was even born that he would have a heart for the nations and that he would love God all the days of his life. To see these prayers starting to be answered is overwhelming. I am so grateful to see the gospel being played out in my own home. It is more than I could ever have asked for. I never want to forget these beginning conversations that I hope and pray are leading to my son's salvation. In our small group we have been praying that we would all have the opportunity to share our faith this week. I never dreamed I would get the chance in my van on the way to a haircut. SO thankful for these past few days and praying for the ones ahead. Thank you Lord that you are working in the lives of me and this precious gift of a family you have given me.

Olivia Grace's Baptism

Our sweet little friend Olivia Grace accepted Jesus in to her heart over the Holidays and we are so very proud of her. We got to go and see her get baptized and it was such a special time. We went out to eat with her whole family afterwards and had a great time. We love Brent and Leslie and are so excited that they got to lead Olivia Grace to Christ. It is all of our number one prayer for our children. To know that they have Jesus in their heart and they are choosing to follow Him all the days of their life. Congrats Olivia Grace - our new sister in Christ! That night I was giving the boys their baths and Carter Wayne said I get appetized every day i take a bath. At first I had no idea what he was talking about - what does he know about appetizers? Then he dunked his head in the water and said see I am getting appetized like Olivia Grace. Well, I do look forward to the day both my boys follow Jesus and then get "appatized". :)