Friday, June 29, 2018

Pink And Purple Days

Ever since last summer our lives have been ruled by Pink and Purple days. I came up with this brilliant idea when one morning the girls were bickering about what television show they wanted to watch. It was maybe just the second week of summer and I was so tired of hearing them argue and wondered how I would get through the entire summer with this! I was trying to think of a fair way to decide who picked the show and came up with Pink and Purple days.

Every other day on Pink days, Molly gets to decide what shows we watch, what music we listen to in the car, if we play outside, inside, or in the basement, etc. And every other day on Purple days, Lucy gets to decide. I thought this was a great idea and the girls caught onto it very quickly. This has worked so very well over the last year and I don't see it ending anytime soon. Sometimes we do make an exception to the Pink or Purple day, like if it's a birthday or we have something special going on. Both girls have learned that they can lose their day, too, if their behavior isn't up to par. Lucy is very aware and very good at reminding me whose day it is, especially when I forget. :)



Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Sleeping Buddies

A few weeks ago Ross was on a business trip for two nights so I had some new sleeping buddies for a while! Lucy slept with me one night and the next night Lucy and Molly slept with me. I hadn't planned for that, but our bedtime was all thrown off that week due to getting home late (8:30) from VBS at our church and this made it easier for all of us. I really didn't mind them sleeping with me, though, and was very surprised that I slept well the night they were both with me. Basically, the two of them slept on one side of the bed and I slept on the other side, just as if it was Ross and me in the bed like normal. I snapped these pictures in the morning while they were still sleeping. Such sweet girls I have. :)



Monday, June 25, 2018

Our Secret Sins

I started this post almost a year ago now and am finally getting back to it....

One Sunday our pastor preached a sermon on Acts 5:1-11:

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

He titled the sermon, "Our Secret Sins." I don't remember all of his points, but one story he told that related to these verse really stood out to me.

He said one day he parked on the street and bumped into a car. He needed to find the owner, so went door-to-door at the apartment building by the street to try and find the owner. After a while, he finally found the car owner, and was invited into his apartment to discuss the car situation.

When our pastor walked in the apartment he was immediately overtaken by a strong, pungent smell, and by what he saw. Trash was literally piled up a foot high all over the apartment and the smell was awful. He had to fight back tears from the smell and had to carefully choose where he walked. He exchanged information for the car and left the apartment.

His point of the apartment story was that the trash in the apartment didn't just happen overnight, it happened slowly over a long period of time. The people living there had gotten so used to the trash and the smell that they were oblivious to it and not bothered by it. The trash didn't just accumulate quickly overnight, but rather slowly, and over a long period of time. He related this to a callousness to sin that can build up over time. When you sin at first and don't get caught or are not convicted of it, it's easy to continue sinning and have it become your normal way of life...like Ananias and Sapphira. They lied about the money like it was no big deal.

All of us have secret sins like this that don't seem to be a problem to us or affect anyone else, but if left unnoticed or dealt with, can add up over time and cause problems. It is important to take a self-inventory of your heart and life to make sure you aren't holding onto any secret sins so your heart doesn't become full of unnecessary trash.

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Happy Father's Day!

We had a fun Father's Day this past Sunday. We went to church, had a nice brunch at home, and then went to my parent's house to swim and have dinner with them. The girls both made a card for Ross and filled out a sheet for him answering different questions, like how old he was, what he liked to do for fun, etc. It was fun to hear their answers! 







Lucy made this card by herself. It says "Dear Daddy Happy Father's Day Love, Lucy." She asked me how to spell some of the words and did a great job writing it all out. 


This was from Ross' very first Father's day in 2013. Lucy was almost 2 months old. 
Father's Day was one of the hottest days of the year, yet Lucy wanted to wear her ear muffs. :) 


We stopped at Walmart to look at a few things and Molly decided to take a ride on Daddy's leg. :) 

My Dad and me.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

The Aquarium With Friends

We went to the Bass Pro Shops Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium a few weeks ago with some friends and had a great time. Our friends have a season pass and were able to take us for free, so it was an even greater time for me! The girls had a great time looking at all the fish and exhibits, but I think they had an even better time just playing with their two friends, Amelie and Maren. We've been friends with their parents, Nick and Jamie, for about seven years. Amelie is two years older than Lucy, and Maren is in between Lucy and Molly in age, so they pretty much stair-step. These girls have so much fun together and it's just a riot to watch them run around and then listen to them giggle together. We recently went to Nick and Jamie's for dinner and the minute we got in the door, all four girls ran upstairs to play in their rooms and we didn't see them for a few hours when it was time to eat. It's so enjoyable getting together because we know we will always have a fun time talking to Nick and Jamie and the girls will have a fun time playing together. I hope they're always friends like that!





Tuesday, June 5, 2018

The Last Wedding

We was an usher in a wedding last weekend for one of his very good friends. We were able to take the girls with us and they had the best time. Both girls, especially Lucy, have been talking about this wedding since we found out about it last December. Lucy was so very excited to go and had her dress picked out for a very long time.

It was such a beautiful wedding. It was in a new venue that was a glass house and decorated like something out of a magazine. The ceremony itself was so nice and the decorations were just amazing. The girls had a great time dancing and you can watch that here!

We realized that this will probably be the last wedding we will go to for a long time. Bryan, the groom, was basically the last of our single friends. It's funny to think that the next round of weddings we might be going to will be the weddings of our nephews and even our friends' children.