Soccer season has begun!

I just call this Portrait of a Boy -- notice all the dirt and the smirk...there's a lot of attitude and personality in the this piece. ;-)

This is Abby after she cut in and took the ball away from two players on the other team...go Abby! She rocked!

This might be the one time Ryker kicked the ball during the game. Don't be fooled...he is cute and all, and it looks like he enjoys what he is doing. However, his sole motivation was candy!

It was a tie game...so they're off to a great start. They didn't win any games last year, and it was a fight to keep Abby in the game. So, why, you might ask, are we letting her play this year if she hated it last year. Well, she begged...and begged and begged some more. We told her if she whines or refuses to play, we'll take the $40, plus money for shoes, shin guards, etc., right out of her piggy bank. She has done great at practice and went right after the ball several times today. She also picked her butt and wrestled with her brother, but this is preschool and kindergarten soccer. They HAVE to show off like that or it wouldn't be real. ;-)

Missy Doty

This is Missy Doty in front. She is an amazing 16-year-old girl and one of our former babysitters (the other was her sister, Jessica in back) until her family moved to Spokane. She has already decided to devote her life to mission work and was a real leader on our trip to Mexico last year. She is currently studying in a foreign country as part of the exchange student program, and she really needs your prayers, as well as her parents. I would be a wreck if I were them! I'm posting her dad's note below. Hi,Just a quick note to ask for your prayers. As some of you may know the Bolivian President kicked the U.S. Ambasador out of Bolivia today. Missy is in Santa Cruz and riots have broke out in the streets and they have been burning government buildings. We talked to Missy tonight and she is safe and assures us that the neighborhood she is in is safe. They did however close her high school early today because of the riots and school is cancelled for tomorrow. Missy is taking it all in good spirits and compared it to a "snow day with tear gas". It is a little hard for us to be so far away and not know exactly what is going on. Please do us a favor and keep her (and us) in your prayers. ThanksBob and Tammy

Financial Peace miracle

God's timing truly is perfect.
I was recently remarking that our finances were truly miraculous from Sept. '07 through Feb. '08. We lived in a house we could barely afford when I was working full time. Yet I quit my job in August '07 to concentrate full time on a very new business that didn't generate much income and had a lot of expenses. Throughout that whole time period, we paid every bill on time, tackled our debt, didn't use any new credit at all and got much closer to a true tithe. Every time I say these things, I don't even understand it; it doesn't make any sense. And yet it does. Because God was honoring our commitments to Him. We had signed up for Financial Peace that fall. We were scared, so scared in fact that we didn't even attempt a zero-balance budget because it was not even conceivable. We were so scared, we had no options except God. So we put 100 percent of our faith over our finances in His hands. And he honored that. He allowed us to sell our house in a market that was rotten. He allowed us to do the FPU plan, paying off debt, avoiding new credit, paying our bills and giving. He is SO awesome!
Recently, we've been struggling. And that didn't make sense to me. I earn more, our house payment is smaller, we've cut back significantly on expenses (no cable, no cell phones, no expenses related to a second car). I didn't understand it. We started our budget and made some pretty impressive changes in our lifestyle....you know, to live like no one else, so later we can live like no one else. Except it wasn't working. I was scratching my head. And then it occurred to me. I took back all control of our finances. I snatched it all away from God. I left nothing at all for Him. I don't think any of the decisions we made were bad, but we didn't include God in on them. When we left Him out, we also left out a way for Him to honor our decisions.
Today, I started the envelope system. It has taken us a year to get to this point....better late than never, right? It was so empowering. I came in on the mark on groceries and managed to add a couple things that should have come out of other categories. I have prayed about this, and I know that if I continue to pray over our finances -- in earnest -- God will honor us! That is just such an awesome feeling, and I couldn't help but share. :-)

Ryker starts PreK

Daddy wanted pictures of Ryker coming off the bus...this almost made me cry! He looked so tiny. He told us at the PreK open house the night before he didn't want to ride the bus (they do rides to let the kids see what the bus will be like) and he wouldn't be taking it home either. Ha! But he ended up loving it! He's the first one off...if he was the last one, I'd probably have to pick up since some kids are on it for nearly an hour! They have an aid, and it's a good way for the kids to get acclimated to bus riding. I still drop off both kids every day, which I'm so grateful I'm able to do!

Ryker sitting on the "R" -- his place at circle time in Miss Jan's room.

This is a self portrait Ryker drew when Miss Jan did her home visit. We hadn't seen it before the open house, and frankly, we were really impressed! All he does for us is scribbles. This actually resembles a person. :-)

Ryker is pointing out friends. If you click on this to enlarge it, you will see Ryker's photo on the "4," with his lovely hair and "wife beater" shirt I couldn't talk him out of wearing for his home visit.

Yesterday was so weird! I suddenly found myself in an empty house for 2 hours. Last year they both went to PreK, but Ry went in the morning and Abby went in the afternoon. Thankfully, our Mexico home group was preparing dinner at church, so I went straight to the church and stayed there most of the time he was gone. Today I'll be running errands -- child-free!!!

Laughter: The BEST medicine!

Let me introduce you to my mentors -- fellow Christian moms and friends from my MOPS group. Aren't they adorable??? This year's theme is "Adventures in Mothering," so we're ready to have fun with lots of circus and carnival-like ideas. Nancy Dixon, our amazing hospitality coordinator who's also worn just about every other hat imaginable, is apparently the one responsible for the clown noses that were in our welcome bags today. Nancy is being released from the hospital today after several days of complications from a surgery. So, to let her know we're thinking about her -- and to prove that we CAN laugh at ourselves -- we (OK, I) snapped this photo. The nice thing about taking photos is that you don't actually have to wear the clown nose. Oh, who am I kidding....I've been wearing it all day. But, there's no evidence, so nobody can prove a thing!!

Abby goes to kindergarten

That's her seat with the pink and purple backpack on top. This photo is taken from the loft, which houses the writing center. Anyone who knows Abby knows she goes nowhere without a notebook and pen or pencil. She'll spend lots of time here honing her "craft."

Here's Abby playing with dolls and dressup clothes. Kindergarten looks like a lot of fun! I'm hoping to volunteer one morning every week!

Here's Abby trying out her seat during orientation. We all got to experience kindergarten and a bus ride on Wednesday.

Here's my grownup girl in her "back-to-school" outfit. Tie shoes for recess and the shirt from grandma. She had a huge fit when the skirt didn't fit (too big!), but we still managed to make it to school on time -- miraculously -- after our late start.
Abby stopped to wave when she got off the bus a couple hours after school started. First full day is tomorrow...lunch at school???? Where did my baby go? I can still remember my own first day of kindergarten, butterflies in my stomach, pigtails in my hair. It's hard to believe Abby has been in my life nearly six years. The time has simply flown! I'm excited for her new adventure, but yes, I was misty-eyed when I watched her file out of the gymnasium into her classroom this morning. Her chin turned down, a sheepish grin widening in part elation, part embarrassment (there weren't many moms there!) as she passed by me on her way to kindergarten class. She certainly has grown up a lot, but as long as she still snuggles, hugs and loves on her mom, I'll be OK with that!

Abby's debut modeling job

Check it out!
http://www.shopshoetopia.com/

A year of Ryker

I found my pregnancy journal while we were making this slideshow for Ryker's birthday, so we combined it with the images for this fun little presentation!

Fishing on the Fourth

Here's my little tomboy, all dressed in pink, catching her first fish with Papa on July 5. She is not afraid of worms or fish. In fact, she will hold them without the slightest hint of squirming. Her brother? Not so much!

Catching up

Photos from Fourth of July...Ryker really got to know and bond with Jack Morino, the son of one of my college girlfriends. They had a blast together, swimming, playing and collecting candy at the parade in Towanda. The photo of Abby is a cute story. She just crawled up on Jill's aunt's lap and started singing to her. I guess they really bonded, too! How cute is Baby Ben??