10:30pm

At 8:25 last night, I gave the kids two options...  Clean the basement or head up to bed.  They opted to clean the basement.  After cleaning the basement, everyone was still in such great moods that Bryan and I weren't in any hurry to get the kids to bed.  Ultimately...  Here's what we were doing at 10:30pm.

I hope the kids will remember their childhoods fondly.  I know I will.

Diving board

Call me crazy, but I don't take my camera to the public pool...where I would leave it unattended for hours, in a pool bag, with soaking wet, splashing kids everywhere, not to mention hundreds of strangers who might like to have my camera.  But Bryan did take his phone, allowing me to take this picture.

So fun.  He loves the diving board!

Summer Fun...

...According to my cell phone photo album.

Luke's favorite fashion statement.

Goofy faces.

Good friends after dinner (and soccer practice).

Pool wresting.

My school supplies

And my Public Speaking class doesn't even have a textbook.

Swim. Dive. Play.

Bryan has been a member of our local IBEW for 14 years.  I think we've attended one Christmas party and one other celebration in the 8 1/2 years that we've been married.  Neither were on IBEW property.  The have annual celebrations for Independence Day and Labor Day, including parades, picnics, swim parties, etc...  The grounds are actually quite nice!  Bryan's a union guy no doubt, he's just not the kind of guy who desires to hang out around work outside of work.

Then one day he took the kids with him to run something out to the hall.  The boys spotted the swimming pool.  The swimming pool with a diving board!

So...  On July 9th we headed out to the hall to swim.  And jump off the diving board.  And play at the playground after.

This is the diving board; however, this picture is taken from the playground.  I was too busy swimming and playing to take pictures while we were at the pool.  Duh.  So, this marked the day that each of the boys went off the diving board for the first time.  They were fearless.  They had a blast. 

The kids loved the playground too.  I'm pretty sure that this jungle gym is homemade.  I can just imagine a couple of electricians building this with their own hands, for their children's enjoyment.  I love that image.

And I love this pump.  It was perfect for rinsing mulchy feet.

I suspect we might actually venture out for future work parties and parades after that great day.

Guard your heart

As I came across this in my Bible study this morning, it caused me to think about my boys.  I immediately went to get a sheet of paper to write on and post on the fridge for their reading pleasure.

"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."  Proverbs 4:23

The footnotes in my Bible expand with beautiful eloquence, so I will let them do the talking...  "Our heart - our feelings of love and desire - dictates to a great extent how we live our lives because we always find time to do the things we enjoy.  Make sure your affections lead you in the right direction.  Put boundaries on your desires:  Don't go after everything you see.  Look straight ahead, keep your eyes fixed on your goal, and don't get sidetracked on detours that lead to sin."

Boys, from the moment you threw your first temper tantrum, you've heard us explain that our "rules" are to keep you safe and to mold you into the men God wants you to be.  We are not out to torture you or make life miserable.  Our insistence on honesty, integrity and good manners is not meant to impress people, but to genuinely form your heart so that your love and respect for friends and neighbors shines through.  I love how the Bible footnotes use the word "boundaries".  The Wii is good fun, but if you play it too much...we find that that is where your heart is.  As you get older, the same might be said for friends, sports, popularity, girls, a job, and wealth.  Mom and Dad's teachings, boundaries, and rules are all about guiding you toward godliness.  Guard your hearts, boys.  Place God above all else and chase Him - He is the one truly great and worthwhile thing to chase!  He will provide you with every thing else you could possibly need...and more!

"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."  Proverbs 4:23

"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.  For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.  And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. " 

1 John 2:15-17

Daddy and I are crazy in love with you boys and, remarkably, God loves you even more than we do.  (That is hard for this mother to comprehend, but I know it's true!)  The boundaries...limits...rules...whatever you want to call them are not rigid restrictions, but merely God's asking on your life.  He is a mighty God and He has chosen you as his child.  Guard your hearts.

{Clifford the Big Red} Dog days of summer

With back-to-school open houses in a week and three first days of school within a week of that, I am feeling that chest-tightening pain of summer winding down.  It will be nice to get back into a routine.  It will be excellent to feed our brains with new information.  It will be wonderful to return to classrooms with old friends and make new ones.  New school supplies and fall wardrobes are things to get excited about it (as are cooler temps, and eventually snow).

But I will miss the lazy days of summer.

Days like this.

Whoever loses his life for me...

I got a little behind on my Bible study with all the birthday partying last week, and I am so grateful that happened!  If I wasn't behind, the timing for what I read this morning would not have been perfect and it wouldn't have smacked me in the face with marital conviction the way it did this morning.

Bryan and I don't argue often, but we can easily become snippy and impatient.  A few days ago, snippy and impatient boiled over into a full-blown argument, complete with finger pointing, complaints and accusations.  By all worldly standards, everything we argued over and said to one another could be justified.  If I ran off to tell my girlfriends about it, I'd certainly find several who could jump on the "my husband too!" bandwagon and we could have a grand time of husband bashing.  (Praise God, this did not happen.)

Anyway...  As I was reading my Ruth study, I came across this:

Luke 9:24, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

Kelly goes on to write:  "You may be laying your life down for your children or maybe for your husband.  Perhaps you're about to get married and enter an altogether new level of self-sacrifice.  Or maybe you're single and you're giving your life to friendships, family, and ministries.  Maybe you've been asked to take care of your parents, or you've taken in a family member, or you've adopted a child.  All I know is that laying down our lives for others, for the sake of Jesus, is never wasted.  No matter how quiet, how humble, how thankless, God is making a name for you - one that will last an eternity.  Go in the sweetness of this truth."

In bold are the precious, convicting, attitude-changing words that smacked me this morning.  Our argument was entirely selfish.  My desires began with "I want (for me)" and my accusations began with "you (fail)".  All I was thinking about was myself, what I wanted, and what I was not willing to sacrifice.  I love and adore my husband.  I sincerely do try to place his needs above my own, but there are times when I fail miserably to even consider his needs!  And when I do that, I am not only failing him, but I am not sacrificing for the sake of my savior, Jesus.  I'm just thinking of, and fighting for, Tonya.  Not at all self-sacrificing.  And, surely, completely wasted.

Lord, create in me a heart that is willing to lose my life - my selfish desires and finicky, ever-changing expectations.  Help me to become the godly woman - specifically the godly, self-sacrificing wife - you created me to be.  Bless my husband with a loving, pleasing, thoughtful, patient, gentle wife.  Amen.

Art Museum

We've visited the art museum several times this summer...  Here are some pictures from our most recent trip.

We love this piece.

I like to tell the boys that this guy has been freaking me out since I was a little girl!  He has.  Wax people are just weird.

We think it looks like a rocket, but it's actually a paint brush.  Either way, a win-win for our crew.

Art we can dance on!

I let Luke take pictures...

And the kids let me take a couple of pictures!

Collective effort

Here is the completed piece that we painted at Luke's family party.

It's out of this world.  Just like Luke.