I have been babysitting everyday this week (just in the mornings), and yesterday we had a water day outside with the next door neighbor and the kids she babysits. We were planning to have another water day and then a picnic afterwards today, but it was raining, so we improvised and had a picnic in my living room floor! I think the kids had a lot of fun. Yes that's Isabelle right in the middle with no pants on. She's a no-pants kind of girl.

I took this video tonight of Isabelle. She picked up Ben's bible and carried it around singing "Jesus Loves Me" for quite a while. :)

Isabelle's 2nd birthday is Saturday. I can't believe my baby is two!

Motivational Poster...

Thursday Thoughts: No Form or Comeliness

I have been reading (slowly) through the book of Isaiah, and this morning I read chapter 53. This chapter is a prophecy about Jesus, and I have heard some of the verses from this chapter quoted during the Lord's Supper many times. This morning, something in verse 2 jumped out at me. It says, "For he shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him." So I decided to do a google search for images of Jesus, and here are a few that I came up with:



Do you notice something about all these images? They all depict a tall, thin, attractive, caucasian-looking man with long flowing locks and a perfectly trimmed beard. But that verse in Isaiah says "He has no form or comeliness" and "there is no beauty that we should desire Him." So I was wondering, what did Jesus really look like? Did He look ANYTHING like these images that we have created of what WE think He should look like? What if He was bald? Or had crooked teeth? What if He was short and stout? I think He probably was not what many of the Jews were expecting a Messiah to look like. Maybe that's part of the reason why He was rejected and mocked by so many in His day. Another thing about Jesus: He wasn't born into a royal family or even a family with high social status. He was a carpenter's son. Mark 6:3 says, "Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?' So they were offended at Him." I guess some people couldn't understand how someone so plain and who came from such a humble backgroud could possibly claim to be the SON OF GOD. But if God had made Him rich and beautiful, do you think He would have been able to minister to the poor, wretched, and outcasts of His society the way He did? God is God, so He could have done whatever He wanted, of course, but I think He made Jesus the way He did for a reason.

I Corinthians 1:18 & 27-28~ "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God...But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are."

Anyway, just some thoughts I was having that I thought I'd share. Hope you're all having a great day. If you have any other thoughts or scriptures that would go along with this feel free to share.

Fun at the Fair

First I am throwing in these pictures from the movies on Tuesday. Every Tuesday, one of the local movie theatres does a free movie for kids. This week it was Madagascar 2. This was Isabelle's first time at the theatre, and let's just say I'm glad it was free! We ended up sitting on the VERY front row because it was so crowded, so there was no way to trap her in. She lasted maybe 15-20 minutes and then wanted to get down and walk around. She did enjoy the popcorn, though!

Leaving the movies (a little early) with her two cousins:

Then we went to Chick-fil-A and she had a meltdown there because she didn't understand that she had to climb up into the playarea to go down the slide. We got some looks as we were leaving. That was a great day.


Here are couple pics from VBS this week: Ben got to be the "farmer" this week. Here is he and Izzy watching the puppet show.

Last night we went to the fair with our next door neighbors. This was another first for Isabelle. The first thing we did was ride the merry-go-round. She wasn't too sure about it at first but ended up having a good time I think.

Then she and Daddy rode the "Wiggle Worm". I think it scared him more.

Then she got this awesome glittery heart painted on her face for $1. She imediately stuck her finger in it.

Riding the elephant ride:

Then we hit up the petting zoo:

Giant sleeping turtle:

The last thing we did (and Isabelle's favorite!) was the super slide. Daddy took her down twice. I think she would have done this all night if we hadn't run out of tickets. She was very upset when we had to leave.

Anway, it was a fun week! It seems like all these summer weeks are packed full of fun! Hope you all had a great week too!

4th of July Weekend

This is going to be a long post! It was a busy but fun weekend. I'm starting with a few pictures from Thursday morning. We went next door for a sprinkler day with the kids that my neighbor keeps in her home. Izzy was wearing her "baby soups" as she calls it. :)


Then Thursday night, some of our very best friends, the Lesters, came to visit from Georgia. Thursday night we had dinner and then just chilled around the house.

Here are a few pics from Friday morning...Isabelle and Riley rekindled their summer romance.

Then Ben and Larry took the kids outside to fly Isabelle's kite.

Yes, that is my child in the backyard running around in her diaper...we are classy folks.

Doesn't Riley make a cute little farmer?

Friday evening, we drove to Floyd because we wanted the Lesters to experience the Jamboree. Well the last time we went, we were sans child, so we didn't realize that it probably wouldn't be very child friendly. It was a little too crowded in the country store and our children were tired of sitting still. So after eating dinner at the Mexican restraunt and then walking down main street a little bit, we found a huge field behind the country store. We could still hear the music and the kids got to run wild and play frisbee. They loved it. Several other parents with toddlers ended up joining us.

I gave Ralston my camera and he took this cool picture of the sky and the picture of Ben.

Don't they make a cute couple?

Riley was a GREAT frisbee thrower. He's going to be an athlete.

I gave Isabelle what was left of my ice cream cone and let her carry it around. She was a happy girl.

For some reason I just love this picture of Riley playing in the grass. Oh, to be a kid again.

BFF's:

Belly shot at 24 weeks: I think the camera added a few inches to my belly. Or maybe it was the ice cream.

Mmmm, frisbees are yummy.

Ralston was a good frisbee catcher.

I guess all that kite flying and frisbee throwing wore Larry out, because the next morning after breakfast he passed out on the couch cuddled up with cow. A sleeping angel.

For lunch on Saturday, we went to one of our favorite places, called Macado's.
Riley being silly:

Isabelle experienced ranch dressing for the first time and she was eating it like it was chocolate. A girl after Mommy's own heart.

Ralston being silly:

The whole gang: (check out the dessert in the middle of the table)

We got to witness a bike race that was going on downtown on our walk to and from lunch.

Isabelle got to ride on Daddy's shoulders.

Saturday evening, we went to my Mom's house for a 4th of July cookout. Miss Sarah brought some cool bubbles.

My mom bought some new goldfish to go in her pond, and while we were there, we got to witness them being released:

My brave husband climbed into the pond to set them free while the kids watched.

Looking for the goldfish:

I'm telling you, Ralston is a great photographer. He took this picture of Isabelle and I on the swing, and I don't think it could have turned out better.

He also took this picture of me trying to get Isabelle off the swing.

Riley and Isabelle sittin' in a tree:

My brother and his fianc`e Suzanne:

My brother took all the kids for a ride on the 4 wheeler around the property. Here's Ralston getting his turn.

Riley enjoyed the lawnmower.

Since we can see fireworks from our backyard, we went home and sat on the backporch to watch them:

Isabelle LOVES "Miss Sarah". She wanted to sit on her lap during fireworks, until Riley booted her off. She was very sleepy, but all the kids made it through the fireworks great.

Here is a little video that Ralston took of the fireworks. I think he is going to be a moviemaker or a photographer when he grows up.

(Nevermind. The video is taking too long to process, so I took it out. Just believe me when i say it was really good.)

We had a great weekend with the Lesters, and can't wait for them to come back! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!