Safety City; Cincinnati Reds

Well Abby attended Safety City last week with her best friend in our hometown of Dublin Ohio. She had a blast learning about safety in all places from fire and policemen and Officer McGruff. She got to ride on a school bus, sit on a police motorcylce, ride big wheels thru a mock city as well as learn important things like when to call 911 and what to do about strangers. At the graduation on Friday all the kids sang songs that they had learned throughout the week and each had a safety theme. I was amazed at the memory these kids had, they sang alot of songs for just a few hours a day they attended last week. Mike was able to come and that was an added bonus for him and me as well as he could entertain Will as I tried to capture all the special moments.

After the graduation we all piled in the car and headed to Cincinnati for the Reds game. Will has been wearing his Griffey Jr tee shirt like crazy lately and so we thought we should get him to a game. The weather was perfect and so were the seats, we had a great view of Ken Griffey Jr and we think he waved at Will once. Kirk Herbstriet was also there as the honary captain and being that I adore him, this was a great surprise. The new stadium is definitely family friendly and we found lots of ways to entertain the kids. I included a video of the kids running the length of home plate to first place, one of the neat things to do on the outdoor level of the stadium. The Reds lost but we still had a great time. Thanks for the opportunity Lord to attend the game and return home safely. Thankyou for my family and the many great moments you have given us to share.

PATIENCE

I wonder how I can go 12 hours in a day being as patient as I can be with my two lovely children then all of sudden in the last few minutes of the day lose the patience I tried so hard to maintain. Yesterday we had a normal day, a few little disagreements between the kiddos, repeating requests multiple times, blah blah blah. Yet I managed to keep it all together until we were getting ready for bed, then my patience decided that it only works from 7am to 7pm and my children had one chance to get it right or mommy got upset. After I put them to bed I apologized for getting frustrated to the kids and explained why I got uspet. They both understood why(Abby better than Will) and then we prayed together.

Then as I went for a run to cool off I thought about how lucky I am that God doesn't lose his patience with me and that God forgives me so easily. Also as an added bonus God allow my kids to forgive me easily as well. On multiple occasions I remember thinking before I went to bed, man I really blew it today or I wish I hadn't gotten upset about this or that. Then the next morning one of my kids will get in bed with me and say "Your the best Mommy!!!. I know this won't last forever but I am going to enjoy it as long as I can. Thank you God for the patience you extend to me that allows me to strive to be more patient with others and teach patience to my children. Thankyou that you haven't given up on me as this seems to be a daily struggle.

On a side note I just learned that Dr. Gorden Gee's son-in-law passed away this morning. I don't even know him or his wife but being a huge Buckeye fan and the fact that Dr. Gee was president while I was at OSU makes me grieve for that family. I hope he was a believer in Christ, I hope his family continues to be believers in Christ despite this diffficult time. I pray for comfort, complete healing for his wife and that they draw closer together as a family during this time. Please place people around them that will encourage them and provide them with the strength they will need to get through this. Thankyou for the protection of my family that you have so graciously provided and I pray for that same protection today lord as we travel to cincinnati for the Reds game.

Big Trucks

Well Sunday after church we went to COSI to see the Big Trucks exhibit. They had a variety of construction equipment to touch, sit in and acutually operate. Abby and Will both got to operate a mini bulldozer and had great fun. We took some great pictures and video. After that we went to eat at Applebees because for some reason Will really wanted to go there. We had a nice lunch and got to watch some of the Reds game on TV. Will was very interested and loved telling the servers about his Ken Griffey Jr. T-shirt.

We had a really good pratical message at church that morning about the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector(Luke 18:9-14). Basically the take home point was about not just doing things for God, but to really truly love God in all that we do(even when it is not easy). In this parable we saw the Pharisee as the perfect example of doing and saying all the right things yet exalting himself rather than God. The tax collector, admitting he was a sinner, asked for mercy and humbled himself before the Lord. I always find it interesting how God works and how it is often opposite to the way the world works. In the Pharisees time they were revered and honored by men but not justified by God. The Tax collector was hated and shunned by many of the world but loved and justified by God. Here is a great reminder to me to be confident in the Lord for my righteousness and not in my self. To seek to live by God's standards and not what the world is telling me is right. Help me to teach this lesson to my kids and to keep reminding myself as well.

Fourth of July

Well it was another great July 4th up at Lake Erie. The weather was great, the fireworks were entertaining and we celebrated my father in law's 60th birthday. The kids had a blast with the sparklers and watching all the fireworks people were lighting off at the nearby piers. Abby got to stay up late and watch them with all the older teenage girls at lake erie and she was so excited. There is a great group of teenage and college girls up there who really take Abby under their wing and she was overjoyed. Will thought the fireworks were a little too loud and headed in early but he still had a great time.

We spent the following week up at Lake Erie and had such a great time swimming, pretend fishing(real poles but no bait), riding in the boat and of course a visit to Cedar Point. It was fun to see all the cousins together and Abby had much fun entertaining her 4 1/2 month old niece. I feel so blessed to have inlaws who so graciously allow us to invade their cottage for a week in July and other weekends throughout the year. Thankyou for the beauty of your creation, the sky,sun and water were so breathtaking to take in each day. Thankyou for the blessing of protecting my kids this week while we were in and near the water alot. Here are just some of the pictures from that great week.

No Training Wheels

Here is video of my daughter Abby riding her bike without training wheels. She has been doing this for about two weeks and I finally got a video of it on my new Flip video(http://www.theflip.com/) I am so excited to have videos of the kiddos doing their thing. Will is riding his tricycle and we hope to get him a bike with training wheels soon. I am very grateful to live in a cul-de-sac where the kids can play tennis, ride bikes and do a variety of other outdoor activities. Hope to post more soon. We just got back from vacation today at lake erie so hopefully I will have time this week to update on all the exciting events of the week. Thank you God for the simple blessing of portable video to capture these milestone moments, I know it seems silly but this technology has brougth me and others some great moments.