Stand Up and Praise the Lord your God!

I have been going to this part of Florida my whole life and just recently found out about Shell Island. You ride a ferry to a deserted island where the shores are COVERED with seashells. Unbroken, Huge seashells. It is best to go after a storm as they get washed in. I definitely recommend it for the kids. Don't forget to wear sunscreen if you go! And take a pack mule (see Tim's pic for illustration).

You can even ride a pirate ship to get there! We have never done it but I have heard it is worth it!

The boys were dumb-founded by the size of this boat. One of them said seeing it was their favorite part of the whole trip!

It was a monster!

Tim was only there for 2 short days. As dumb as this sounds, life is just kind of gloomy for me when he is gone. I am desperately in love with him.

Reece. "The big one". He is growing so fast. He is smart like his daddy. I am so proud of him. He is very tender-hearted and sweet. He loves to play with Lake and take care of him. When Bubba can't find Reece, he panics. Reece is his world. I am so thankful for the example he is to his younger brothers.

Watching God work in this child's heart may be the most visible evidence of God I have ever seen. It blows me away to hear him pray. I am constantly learning from him.

As I was preparing for my conference call Bible Study teaching on the Word of God, I asked him why we read our Bibles and he said..

"to know God."

"to obey God."

"& because He loves us."
So, that is what I told the girls.

Here is a funny Reece quote. We were in the very back of Target and he said, "momma, I have to go to the bathroom". By the way he was dancing, I knew he meant business and that it was #2. I said, "can you wait honey? the bathroom is all the way in the front of the store and we are almost done shopping." A few seconds later he said in a completely calm but serious voice, "Momma, I really need to go and I am feeling like we need to RUN."

I giggled as we hurried to the bathroom dropping everything immediately. Anyone else ever had that same thought in the back of Target? ;)

Another quote that made me realize they don't understand me as much as I don't understand them.

Reece: "momma, why do you where your bathing suit but you never get in the water?"

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Bubba. "the middle-size goat". The only place he is called "Evan" is on his birth certificate. Reece gave him the name as soon as he was born because he couldn't say "baby" and it stuck. He tells everyone, "My name is Bubba. B-U-B-B-A... Bubba."

He reminds me so much of his daddy. He is FUN. He lives for the moment so is often in trouble.

Although, he still loves to be rocked. His dream date is to be rocked while watching Aristocats because my mom did that with him one time over a year ago. That was his total love language.

Here are two Bubba quotes for you...

After a long day of playing, we sat down to eat and he said...

"MMmmm. My tummy is full-- OF HUNGRY!"

On the way to their very first baseball practice last night, we were giving them a pep talk about a sport they know nothing about. Now, boys LET'S PLAY BALL!

Bubba said, "yeah, I'm going to get that pitch man!". Tim and I just laughed as we wondered what was getting ready to happen on the field.

I always wanted a beauty mark. Why do the guys get things they don't care about?

And finally, Lake, "my curly-headed baby." His hair was so curly at the beach that everyone stopped me to talk about it. It matches his personality. Mom lovingly calls him... a MANIAC. He is our class clown. He loves to make people laugh- especially my mom. He is a little obsessed with her. He still doesn't talk. He is a man of two words.

1. Mimi- I think I heard it, seriously over 3,000 times in one week. Maybe more. I would wake up to him screaming Miiiiiiiiiiiii-Miiiiiiiii! from his pac-n-play while banging on the wall until she came to get him out of bed.

2. His second word is "Jesus" because I lay my hands on him every night and say, "Jesus, heal this baby". His allergies are still bad. Some days terrible. He had a reaction to something at the beach and it just breaks my heart. I am trying to do my best with the no egg/ PB diet but need to read and read to really know what I am doing.

Here is a Steph quote for ya...

"So, let me get this straight... are milk and egg allergies totally different?"

Tim: "Yes, unless it is a cow egg or chicken milk."

The best part about this is that Tim thinks I am hot and encourages me to homeschool.

When I pray over Lake he says, "Dee-duh". I hope he always loves the name Jesus. I have a feeling/hunch that he is going to be a worship leader. He can sing songs in the perfect key and loves music. I hope God gives him musical talents so he can exalt the name Jesus through song his whole life. Don't tell him but sometimes I go in his room at night and get him out of bed just to rock him. I sing and pray over him and put him back and he never knows it happened.

It is one of my all-time favorite things to do.

You can see me standing in the water in Tim's glasses! Fun! I am ready to go back.

How to dress a monkey near the pool when you don't want to get in because it is too cold...

This was funny. Mom was playing with Lake while we were eating at a restaurant.

Then, he started stuffing coasters down her shirt before she knew what was happening.
We were both so tickled that we couldn't stop him. The more we laughed, the more determined he was to keep doing it.

I love my mom. So do my kids.

Homeschool elective: Oceanography 101.

Jellyfish were everywhere one day. YUCK! Look at the length of those stingers. The boys weren't allowed in the water that day. I am pretty sure they weren't tempted to disobey.
Reece drew this sign on his own. The cute part was the next day, they were all gone! ;)

Another one of my favorite things to do is to walk on the beach and say a verse we learned about a year ago. God's creation is just so majestic, worship is a natural response! It is such evidence of His greatness when you see His power and beauty on display in all the things He has made- even the fascinating jellyfish.

Pause the music if you want to hear Bubba say it.

"Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!...Praise his glorious name! It is far greater than we can think or say. You alone are the Lord. You made the skies and the heavens and all the stars. You made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve and give life to everything, and all the angels of heaven worship you."

Nehemiah 9:5-6

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This post took forever!

Blogging really is my addiction/journal/scrapbook/therapy. ;)