Hi!

What a weekend!

This past week Kristopher had Summer CHAOS at Park Avenue and had a BLAST! This is his first year he can fully participate because he's now going in to FIRST GRADE! YIKES!

Wednesday was a family night and we brought all the kids to the church. The 5 older kids each went on a horse ride, and I have pic's of most of them on it-- I didn't have the camera and I think we missed one!

We also went on a family Hay Ride through the church property. The kids all sat and just looked and watched. I don't know that the little ones 'got it' as far as what the big deal is, but they enjoyed not having carseats and going :) They sat great!

There were all kinds of bouncy houses that Kristopher had a good time on and the other kids were VERY well behaved and enjoyed people watching and visiting with friends there.

On Friday Kristopher sang some songs on stage during their final production and just Michael went up to watch. It started at bedtime so wasn't really very practical for us all to go to. Plus, we'd "used up" our babysitting time (the amount we wanted to leave the kids for-- not the amount that grandparents WOULD stay) during the week by going OUT BY OURSELVES on Thursday night!

Yep, we did! It's been a month since James moved in and it was time for a little adult time without a cute little blond boy in tow! So we waited until just about bed time and Mike and I went to Orlando for a quick bite to eat and to pick up some things he needed for work then came back home. The drive was relaxing and it's always nice to just sit and talk without any interruptions :).

Saturday we worked all morning on moving furniture around the house :). We've had Lynae in a crib in our room for the last month, and in a playpen and bassinet before that. James has been using Lynae's crib, so rather than assemble and disassemble 2 cribs, we put James' crib in our room temporarily for Lynae. Now that we were moving her to the guest room, we decided to swap out cribs... but quickly found that the new 'tent' for James wouldn't fit on his crib. We still decided to go ahead and move multiple cribs around just because Micah's crib is the only one that doesn't "sleigh" at the top and the space in the guest room for Lynae's crib was pretty tight. So... Micah now has James' crib, Lynae has Micah's, and James still has Lynae's crib. I guess at least he's had that consistency!

Now Lynae's set up in the guest room along with a queen bed (yes, we'll still have guests!) and the bookcase, 'school' cabinet, bean bag chairs and a dresser with extra diapers in it. It's quite a useful room :). Not only is she now on her own turf, but the guest bed is quite handy for those midnight visits that we continue to have... which we're working AWAY FROM (hence the bedroom change!). Lynae just wasn't doing so well with the idea that when she woke at night and was hungry and could SEE me, that she still couldn't nurse. Go figure. We'll see if this helps!

Saturday night Mike and I watched a movie that was hilarious and yet some parts of it we just looked at each other and thought- I can't believe they put that in there. Hmm... Still not so sure how I feel about that one. Enjoyed the time with my husband, though. Two evenings this week we were able to spend some good time together :).

Sunday was church, lunch, naps, and some picking up around the house. We had my parents over for dinner. They've been out of town for 10 days and came with stories and gifts (and NO pictures of family??) :). It was fun to relax one more evening. I like having the down-time to spend with family sometimes!

Monday is here already, and today's PT was great for James. I'll share more about the ways the kids are each improving in another post, but let me say that I really like this PT :) . She is encouraging to him, gets right on his level, leads him where she wants him to be without him realizing that she's leading, but will also take his 'learning opportunities' when he shows great interest in something and turn her therapy in that direction to work on skills using what he's interested in at the time. I think it's going to be a great summer for him working with her. Emma will also begin working with her in 2 weeks and will go every-other week for the summer. And, let me just say, there was very little baby talk at this session, so that is good :) . Maybe it was a fluke. Or, maybe she reads my blog? Or... I have no idea. But I enjoyed the session and James did too :)

Tomorrow brings ESY for Emma (day 9 of 12). She's been getting these lovely notes home every day just about that say Emma was hitting a lot today. Emma keeps spitting. Emma has been throing things. Emma is kicking the other students. Emma is... I finally called the school today and spoke to the teacher's voicemail. How is it that she has none of these behaviors at home more than once in a blue moon? She must feel she's getting away with it there... So even though there are only 4 days left, I hope to get a call from her teacher to address the behaviors before it's allowed to continue another 4 days. *sigh* In a way, I'm amazed because who'd have ever thought that this little girl would exert her independence in this way? Yes, she's growing and changing. And giving me pains because of it :).

I've been spending a lot more time in the Word lately, a lot more time in prayer. And I'm always reminded at just how FAITHFUL a God we serve. How loving He is, and how He can bring all things together for the Glory of His Kingdom. And remember that, I will, because even when we feel like darkness is overcoming a situation, it is an opportunity for God to shine.

A few weeks ago Brad, our senior high youth pastor, spoke on a Sunday morning about brokenness. He said the fastest way to the throne is through brokenness. To be broken about a situation that tears your heart and tears God's heart is the heart of Christ. He also said this-- Sometimes the things we see as set-backs are really set-ups. They're a moment where we feel like things aren't going our way and we have the opportunity to make a choice. Take charge, or Let God. When things aren't going our way is the biggest opportunity we have to let that faith have feet- and to walk it out. Let the set-backs of life be used as set-ups for God to do great things!