Pictures

Well, I was trying to post the pictures that I mentioned in my last post, but we still have dial-up and it is taking FOREVER! So, I will have to do it later. I am going to mow the back yard and then we are going to the pool! So, I hope everyone has a great day. Check the blog later this afternoon for the pictures. Later.

just saying hello

We have had some crazy days here lately. We are trying to tighten the reigns on the kids. When we are out they are usually pretty good, especially with other people, but at home they have just gotten out of control. So, we are trying to get a grip on that now before it gets totally out of hand. We have just gotten too laid back and not being consistent and it is starting to show. We broke some bad habits two years ago when we took a parenting class at church, but those things have creeped back into the Shirley household.

Anyway, Claire had her first princess birthday party today. Her friend Ellie turned four. It was so fun. There were seven little princesses at the party. They had their nails painted and got to make a bracelet. Claire had a blast! She loves playing dress up, so getting to leave the house in her princess clothes and make-up was a real treat! I will post pictures of that when I get them on the computer.

We had family game last night. Our kids LOVE to play games, so we told them to go and pick out a game and we would have game night. Out of the 49 or so games in the playroom, they chose to come back upstairs with Twister. That's right, TWISTER!!! Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled, but I think I put on my happy face and played anyway. I ended up having a lot of fun. I think we played about four times. I also happen to have a picture of that, thanks to my husband. I will also post that picture later.

Anyone have any tips on cleaning out clutter? Stephen's sister is moving in with us at the end of July and we have to completely clean out our playroom and move everything upstairs. YIKES! I am really going to enjoy her living here, I just don't know what we will do with all the stuff. Anyway, any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Vacation update

I know you all are on the edge of your seats wondering what we have decided to do. We are still going to the beach for our family vacation, but for our anniversary, Stephen and I are going to DC. We had a Southwest gift card that Stephen's brothers had given us for our birthdays and we didn't want to never use it, so I bought the tickets yesterday and we will figure out the rest later. Part of the adventure. We are very excited. Our family vacation will be the first time we have taken a trip with just us and the kids. We usually go with other family. And our trip to Washington will be the first big trip Stephen and I have taken together, so I guess it is an anniversary/delayed honeymoon. 'Bout time after 10 years! Anyway, now we are excited about both trips! Yyyeeeeaaaa!

Vacation battle

We are having somewhat of a battle in our house today about vacations. I love the beach. When I was growing up, that is what my family did for vacation. Yes, I know, there is so much more to do in our country besides go to the beach, but that is what we did. So, I love the beach. I would go there every vacation if I had it my way. Stephen, on the other hand, hates the beach. His idea of the perfect vacation would be to go to Washington, D.C. While that sounds fun to me, it is not a trip I want to take with a 6,5,and 1 year old. It just sounds tiring to me. I am writing to get opinions. Am I crazy to want to go to the beach all the time and relax? I want to do those other things, too, but I would rather wait until the kids get older. So does this mean that we don't ever take vacations when they are little because he doesn't want the beach and I don't want D.C.? What do you think?

Fun day

State Farm gave all of their employees a half day off to take their families to see the new movie Cars. They rented out some movie theaters in town. It was a great movie. There were a couple of things that they could've left out, but I don't think our kids noticed. Anyway, Stephen just left to go back to work. The kids want to go to the Y to swim, so our towels and pool items are in the washer. Probably should've done that last night, but who wants to do laundry before bed? Not me. Hope everyone is having a great day.

Funny Story

We were trying to put the kids to bed tonight. Jordan is the "staller". Claire always just goes to bed and goes to sleep. Jordan is constantly trying to find reasons to get out of bed and NOT go to sleep. Well, he had gotten up about five times, and finally Stephen said, "So help me, do NOT get out of bed again. Go lay down and go to sleep." Jordan replied, "I don't know how to go to sleep." Stephen then said, "Well, number one, stop talking." Jordan waited a few seconds and yelled back in a rather sarcastic tone, "What's number two!?" It was one of those times where the discipline had to wait for the laughter.

Off to Kinder Camp!

Claire and Jordan started their summer programs at school yesterday. Claire is going to Kinder Camp. It is a two week program that prepares her for Kindergarten. Although, she is so excited about school, she doesn't really need much preparing. She goes everyday for two weeks.

Jordan's program is called Summer Spectacular. They do all kinds of activities like cooking, art, drama, computers, etc. They will go on at least two field trips. He is really enjoying it.

I can't believe my kids are so big! The house was pretty quiet yesterday without them at home with Luke and me. Jordan and Claire are both pretty constant talkers, so it was nice for the first little bit, but after a while it was too quiet. Luke took a really good nap, though. He doesn't usually do that when they are home. I guess we will have to get used to it being the two of us. I am actually looking forward to it. When Jordan was Luke's age, I was 3 months away from having Claire. While I enjoyed my babies, I didn't get to really pay attention to every little thing they did because I had two babies at different stages and it was hard to be everywhere at once. I am looking forward to being with Luke by himself because I will get to enjoy all the things I feel like I missed out on with Jordan and Claire.

Take time today to count your blessings; I know mine are many!

Milestones

Luke turned one on Saturday. I can't believe it. This year has gone by so fast. He has been the best baby and Jordan and Claire have been so great with him. LUke is just so happy and brings so much joy to everyone he meets. I can't imagine my life without him.

We spent the weekend with my grandparents. Stephen went to Memphis for a soccer tournament so I took the kids to Joelton. They still live in the house that my dad grew up in. I lived next door to them from the time I was two until I was a senior in high school. I love to go out there. I have a picture of their front porch in my living room. It is a long porch and has a swing on each end. You can just sit there all day and relax. It is my favorite place on earth. I am so glad that my kids are getting to enjoy it as much as the rest of us have.

I think it is no neat that my kids know and have great relationships with our grandparents. A lot of people our age don't have their grandparents anymore, and I feel so blessed to still have them around. My maternal grandmother, my paternal grandparents, Stephen's maternal grandfather, his paternal grandparents are all still alive and doing very well. I love that my kids know them and love them so much. Family is so important to Stephen and me and I hope that we instill that in our children as well.

What a fun week!

We have had a really fun week. On Monday, we went to playgroup at my friend Staci's house. On Tuesday we went to swim at the Y. So fun! Luke is really enjoying the water.

On Wednesday, we went to Franklin for WayFM's first Brown Bag Concert of the summer. Barlow Girl rocks! Claire had so much fun. She told me she had to wear her best outfit for Barlow Girl. She is only 5; what is 13 going to be like?! Yikes.

Anyway, Thursday we went to a pool party at my friend Julie's house. Let me just say that this is no ordinary pool. There is a big part of the pool that is shallow all the way across. Then you go under this bridge into the deep end which has a diving board, waterfall, jacuzzi (sp) and a huge concrete slide. The kids had a blast! Jordan got a little sunburned; he only got out of the pool once to eat lunch and I forgot to reapply sunscreen.

Today, we are getting ready to go to my grandparents' house. Stephen is going to Memphis for a soccer tournament, so I am taking the kids and going to Joelton for the weekend. I am really excited. It's been a while since we went to spend the night. I think my grandparents are pretty excited, too. Luke's birthday is tomorrow; I think my grandmother is making a cake. His actual party will be next weekend. I can't believe he is already a year old. I will post pictures from my grandparents' house next week.

I feel really blessed that I am able to stay home with the kids and get to do all the fun things that we did this week. I am so grateful to Stephen for working so hard and allowing me to do so many things that I want to do. He is such a great husband and father. You all will probably get tired of hearing that, but I don't feel like I tell him enough.

I have decided to not keep talking about my two previous posts. I feel like my point was made. I am still praying for our church and am really excited about what God will do. Please pray for me; I am trying to learn what God's will is for some things He has given me and how He wants me to use certain gifts. God is good. Have a great weekend everyone!

Something else...

I saw this quote on another blog today and thought it went with what I was saying yesterday.

"I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love." Henry Ward Beecher

Maybe the answer to the worship thing is that we aren't truly loving God. Sure we are trying to do all the right things, obey all the rules, etc., but are we really LOVING God? Are we falling in love more and more with Him? We are supposed to love God because He loves us first. And we are supposed to love God with the same love that He loves us with. Something tells me that I am not loving God back with the same love. Not even close. I just finished a Beth Moore study called "Breaking Free" and she talked about this in one of the lessons. I am going to try and find it so that I can make my point a little clearer. Stay tuned.

Some thoughts

I have been thinking a lot about church lately. I have been really bothered by all of the talk about whether or not a church is progressive or conservative, reverent or entertaining, exciting or boring, etc. To me, it is not about what songs you sing or how many prayers are led or if the sermon is long or short. I don't "go to church" to be entertained. I go to worship my God.

I feel like everyone today, no matter what side they are on, is worried about what the other side is doing and forgetting why we are there in the first place. Honestly, if you go to church on Sundays to get your ticket punched, then I'd rather you stay home. I know that may sound harsh, but I think that if everyone who came to church on Sundays was only there to worship God because He gave His Son for them, then the worship would be so much more meaningful.

There is this singing in Allensville, KY that I have gone to since I was a little girl. They sing "old" songs and there are a lot of older people there. It is in a very small, old country church. But I have never been anywhere that sounds like that singing does. Stephen and I were talking on the way home about why it sounds so much different, besides the wooden ceilings and other things in the building. We came to the conclusion that there is not one person there who doesn't want to be there to lift praises in song to God. No one is there because they feel like they have to be there. No one is there so people can see what they are wearing. No one is there to socialize, although it is always good to see those people you don't see anywhere else. Everyone is there with the sole purpose of singing their hearts out to God. That is the heart of worship-all about Him and none of it about me.

That is what I wish our church would focus on. Then it wouldn't matter what songs were sung, how many, if anyone clapped or raised their hands to God, none of that would matter because it wouldn't be about the people. Just about Him. I know this is a long post, but I wanted to share what has been on my heart. I would love to hear feed back.

Last day of school!

Today was Jordan's last day of Kindergarten. I can't believe that he is six and a half years old! If you had told me the time would go so fast the day he was born, I wouldn't have believed you. I knew it would go fast, but not so fast that I feel like I have just closed my eyes to get some rest from newborn Jordan and today I picked him up from his last day of school. It truly blows my mind. This is a picture of Mrs. Bargatze, who I am pretty sure will be Claire's teacher in the fall. Another thing that blows my mind even more. Claire starting school. Wow. Luke will be a year old in nine days. Am I really so blessed? Some days I think I will wake up and it will all be the best dream of my life. There is no way that God can bless one person so much. But you know what? He does love me that much and He has blessed me that much. I am truly humbled at God's grace to me. I am so undeserving, and yet through His blood, He has made me worthy. Unbelievable. But yet, I believe.

What a fun day

We had a really fun day today. Jordan had his family picnic to end the school year. We go and get his report card tomorrow, and the Kindergarten year will be over. Claire had a lot of fun sitting with Jordan; she is really ready to start Kindergarten in the fall. She will get to be in Mrs. Bargatze's class; that was Jordan's teacher. We are really excited about that. She was wonderful. Luke had fun, too. He decided he needed to smush his cereal bar in his hands. What a mess! It was pretty cute, though.
Then I picked Jordan up and we headed to the pool. Luke is really loving the water. I am so glad since we spend so much of our summer there. I guess he knows he doesn't have much choice. Hope everyone had a good day.

My husband

I often take for granted how wonderful my husband is. But tonight, I was at a baby shower and got to spend some time with some of my very best friends and was so thankful to have a break for a couple of hours. I got to thinking how lucky I was to have a husband that was so helpful with the kids. Stephen's grandmother talks about how proud she is of Stephen and the way he helps me. She said that she loves watching us with the kids because we always seem so happy. While we have times that aren't so happy, we know how blessed we are.
But I also know that all husbands don't help as much as mine. All husbands won't do whatever they need to do so they can support their families. All husbands don't give their wives all of the breaks Stephen gives me. And the best part is not that he gives me those times, but he does it happily and without complaining.
I know that he feels like he has let me down is so many ways. I know that he feels like we should be in a better position financially. But I wouldn't trade what I have for all the money in the world. I feel like our experiences and our challenges that we have been through have made us who we are today. I know that they have made me trust God more. I have learned that He always provides what we need and always at just the right time. I have learned that money and things aren't important. I have learned that every minute I get to spend with my children is a precious gift, and I need to thank my husband for allowing me and wanting me to have that dream.
Honey, I love you more than words can describe and I thank God everyday that He blessed me with you. You are what I have always wanted and needed. There is a song that I hear on the radio sometimes that says, "When God made you, He must have been thinking of me." That captures my thoughts exactly. I love you.

The pictures I have been promising

The pool is open!

Our favorite thing to do in the summer is go to the pool at the Y. Of course I forgot my camera, but o well. Luke really liked it. I wasn't sure how he was going to do because he didn't really like the kids' pool at home. But he played and played. We took his "Measure Up Cups" and a ball. Claire got to play with Mackenzie, one of our friends that I have been keeping until her sisters and mom get done with school. It was a really fun time. We will probably go back tomorrow, so I will try and remember my camera. I hope everyone is enjoying these first days of summer.

Fun with friends

We have had a really fun few days. I have come to realize even more how incredibly blessed we are with the friends we have. The kids are really getting close as they get older. They love spending time together. We went to the Children's Discovery Center in Murfreesboro this week. It is a really neat learning center for kids. We took our lunch and ate it at the playground there. They had so much fun. I am overwhelmed everyday at God's blessings on our family. It is more than I deserve. Thank God for His mercy and grace.
(My computer is going really slow tonight, so I will post pictures tomorrow.)

Our small group

We just got home from our small group Bible study. We have been meeting for 2 years now I guess. I can't really remember when we started because I feel like I have always been friends with them. We love our group so much. It is so nice to be close to people who have kids around our kids' ages. We study the Bible together. We pray together. We have common goals when it comes to raising our kids. Our kids are getting to grow together. They even have their own Bible study time. I just love them so much. They help me grow in more ways than they probably even know. We talked tonight about how we can become even closer spiritually, holding each other accountable and praying for/with each other more. I feel like God is getting ready to do something amazing with our group. I am not sure what that is yet, but it will be fun to watch. I am so thankful for you guys! Thank you for opening your lives to us.

The weekend and other thoughts

Jordan completed his first soccer season on Saturday. He was so fun to watch. He decided to really get into it for the last game. He scored several times and really had a great time. We were supposed to go to the zoo today with our friends, but the weather is keeping us home. I think we are going to postpone the trip for a couple of weeks.



I have been thinking a lot about how I am raising my kids. Most people would say they are pretty well-behaved and use their manners, etc. And they do for the most part. But I feel like we have only been teaching them the "outer behaviors". I don't feel like we are really getting to their hearts and teaching them why they need to behave a certain way. We don't tell them why they don't need to complain or argue (Philippians 2:14). We don't tell them why they have to respect others. They know some Bible verses, but for the most part, when they ask why, we just say "Because I said so". And while they need to learn to obey without arguing, I feel like if they knew the purpose behind the things we tell them, they would be more inclined to want to obey. I want to teach them to love God, love Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and to love the Word. Maybe I don't love God the way I should and so I can't teach my kids to do it. I can tell them all the right things, but unless they see me living it out, it won't connect with them. I guess the saying is true: actions do speak louder than words. Maybe God is teaching me not to complain and argue when He tells me to do something. Until I learn the lesson for myself, I probably won't be effective when teaching my kids. I just long for them to be passionate lovers of God. I long for them to have a heart that longs for a relationship with Jesus and has an unquenchable thirst for his Word. I want them to know how deeply God loves them so they will want to love him back."We love because he first loved us." Maybe I should be praying these things for myself first, and then my kids will see them in me. Then I can teach them. Just some thoughts that have been weighing on my mind.

Her true self

This is the true nature of my daughter. This was taken at the Knoxville Zoo. Thanks, Uncle Mark!