Hoola Hoop Mania

We found our video camera. It's been MIA for a few months now. It was actually left in the bag we took on our beach vacation (Woolly Hollow:). This video is of the boys playing on the Wii Fit. It was SO funny! They were trying to Hoola Hoop :). At the end of the video, Andrew is running. I think we may need to get a defibrillator if he sticks with the running;).
Cam wouldn't let me video him hoola hooping :(. I can't imagine why not... :)

Are we going to the North Pole?

I told Andrew and Parker this morning that we were going to go see Santa and get our picture with him. Andrew said, "Are we going to the North Pole?". My good ole pal Diana found Santa for us and gave us the heads up to where he was. The boys had never met Mrs. Claus before so it was an extra special treat. Parker was really shy and didn't want to sit with Santa until mommy did :./ SO... we had a family portrait made with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Piper was giving her usual "you're a stranger" face until she got a good glimpse of Santa and then she melted into tears. All in all, it was a wonderful visit to the North Pole.

Too funny not to share

I found this video on John Rosemond's website and thought it was too funny not to share. John calls it the MicroManaging Mom Song :)


Also, Piper rode like a big girl in the cart at Target this weekend. She was so cute. She had the most serious look the entire time and held on for dear life:).

Can't wait to read this..

John Piper has a new book coming out. I love John Piper's books, although they do take me FOREVER to read and not just because of my lack of time but because his writing is so deep I have to read and reread and then still don't fully "get" it all.
I've pasted a review of the book below. It looks amazing!
“Have I been born again?" is not a question to be answered hastily. In John Piper's new book, Finally Alive, expect to be challenged. Piper strips away our complacency, arguing that many people falsely believe they are Christians. He begins by arguing that many who claim to be "born again" today are actually not, and that statistics demonstrating that so-called born again Christians are morally indistinguishable from unbelievers only demonstrate that many who think they have been regenerated actually are still on their way to hell.

Have you carefully examined yourself lately to see if YOU are truly saved? Being wrong about this issue will have eternal consequences and Jesus warned us that there will be those in that day who will have thought they were his followers but actually were not:
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
By examining the Bible’s teaching on the new birth, John Piper shows us how to be certain our faith is genuine. Because no issue could be more critical, I believe this is the most important book Piper has written. It could be the most important book outside of the Bible that you or your loved one will ever read. I was privileged to have the opportunity to read this prior to launch and it moved me profoundly, challenging me once more to be sure of my own salvation and to appreciate more fully what God has done for me.

Relaxing Saturday

Ahhh... a moment of silence. Parker and Piper are sleeping. Andrew is out helping daddy clean the garage.
This morning I took Parker and Andrew on a play date at Chick-fil-a. They were really excited about it :). Before we left, Andrew said he had a fortune cookie and the note said that he and Parker would get some ice cream to celebrate their play date :). They were very good and enjoyed playing with the other kids.
Last week we started giving the boys an allowance. We've been using the Tessy and Tab sheets and they're GREAT! They each have a chart with their family contributions listed as well as jobs listed. They have the opportunity to earn $1.00 a day (a quarter for each job). Their jobs include making their beds, picking up toys, putting up clothes and getting ready for bed on time. They get paid right before bed every night and they're always SUPER excited. Before we began this, we told them that since they'll have their own money, mommy and daddy will no longer buy
"things" for them. They would have to save their money to buy what they "wanted". We explained what type of things mommy and daddy would provide but all of their wants will have to come from their money. They are both saving up for bicycle helmets:). They're so excited about it. They made 75 cents the first night and Parker said, "do we have enough for our helmets?" They both have over $6.00 right now so it won't be long. They also have to save 20% of their money (they already have an account at the credit union so they'll go deposit some monthly) and they will give at least 10%. Andrew said he wants to give his to the kids in Africa :) so we may just add it to our sponsor child.
This week was Andrew's first week to be back home... bless Mrs. Mindy :). I'm sure it's a lot more work for her to keep them together. They are excited about being together again though. They do well together for the most part but sometimes get a little rowdy OR get a little mean. Parker is so excited to have Andrew back home. Every morning before I leave he says, "is Andrew staying home today?" I am so relieved that we decided to keep Andrew home and start him in Kindergarten next year. As a mom, I was really worried about sending him when he was still 4 and so much younger but being there and observing I felt confident that he definitely would benefit from being home. My main concern for him was being the youngest when he was older. I had no idea how much younger he would be than everyone. About 1/2 of his class is 6 already (most of them are older b/c their parents kept them home a year) and there's only one other child that is within 5 months of his age.

Yesterday while Parker was getting ready, he grabbed some socks out of the drawer and apparently there were three folded together. He was a little perplexed and held all three up and said, "WHAT.... do I have three feet?" Park is always good for a laugh:)

An apple for the teacher...

One of my old students emailed me on facebook tonight and it was SO sweet. I had asked about his grades and this was his response:
about my grades, well i have all A's except in one or two classes, but other then that there good. Oh.. and my GPA is last time i checked a 3.7, but all i know is that its not no lower then a 3.5, hasnt been since iv been in high school.And while i am talking about school and good grades, if u have not of made me do my homework when i had to, or study for my test when i had one, then i prabably would still be goofin off and not taking school seriousely. So i just also wanted to tell u thank u for getting on to me and making me do everything even thought i somtimes did not want to.
... a little background about this kid. School does NOT come easy for him, he literally works his tail off! He has matured so much since I met him a few years ago. We butted heads almost daily in the beginning. Slowly he came around and really wanted to learn. I taught him a few methods to help with his study skills and he amazed me over and over again with his hard work and determination. I'm so proud of him! When I go watch high school football games, he's the number one reason I'm there!

Consequences and Secret Millionaires

Some days I feel I'm saying, "Stop Andrew/Parker".. all day. They really are pretty good kids but sometimes choose to deliberately disobey. Cam and I are brainstorming consequences for them. We're big fans of John Rosemond and his deal is that you need to make consequences memorable. I've heard several of his examples for older kids (door off the hinges, early bed time, etc) but what type of consequences are memorable for a 5 year old? I'm really wanting to teach them to obey the first time and to not continually get onto them for the same thing. Anyone have any good consequences that are memorable that have worked for you and your family? and yes, we do spank when we need to but we're also looking for other ideas.

A new show called Secret Millionaire came on tonight on Fox. Ugghhh... it is SO good!! I love this kind of show. It's all about millionaires living a week in poverty. I just LOVE it!! The millionaires then choose some people they would like to give $100,000 to. It was so neat to see their eyes open to how different their lives are. You MUST watch it next time it's on....

Parker funnies:
The other night I was cutting up some meat and sliced my finger open badly (I even made a trip to the ER). While I was running water over it, Parker came up and started to cry and said, "mommy, I thought grown ups knew how to use knives". How cute! :)