September 2016

This Month: 

Judah now has 4 teeth, pulling up, babbling, and loves blueberries

We have been enjoying the last days of summer fun

I spy a Benjamin

He is getting better at climbing trees

It was a late night but we had to take advantage of the free rides at the Zoo night with friends! 

Hannah and Corrie Ann dancing to music at the Memphis Zoo Sea Lion Show

Thankful to have a go-with-the-flow baby

Loving the new Zambezi River Hippo Camp

Not sure what Judah thought about it - ha!

Captured a sweet brother moment as they were watching the sea lions

Creature of the month:

Benjamin found a Spicebush swallowtail caterpillar at the park

Sensory play with shaving cream

You might be an OT if...

What a blessing to know your great-grandparents

We always enjoy our visits with Mamaw and Papaw

Judah and Papaw are 96 years apart

Judah playing airplane with Pops

Loved getting to hang out with my sweet friend Lindsey at the park - my how things have changed since our college days : )

Want to know how I got such a beautiful picture of all my kids?

I bribed them with a jellybean...just being real. Jelly beans are the new currency at our home - it's amazing the cooperation I can buy with them - ha!

No jelly bean required...just being her silly self

"Look Mom, I made a rabbit!"

Grocery shopping with my 3 little helpers

Benjamin found out how fragile a grape jelly jar is...clean up aisle four! 

Go Ape Adventure at Shelby Farms

What an adventure it was! 

We had a blast with some of our good friends from church "hanging out" in the treetops all morning.

And zip lining across the lake five times. 

Fun night out with our closest friends.

We escaped in record time! 

#901rocks

I love our city! A beautiful campaign has started to bring people together through a creative activity where people paint rocks and hide them around Memphis for others to find. The joy that comes from a child finding a painted rock is priceless. 

My kids enjoyed painting rocks to hide too

Hannah put sprinkles on her rocks then I mod-podged it to make it water proof.

Join the fun!

Free entertainment

The face you make when go on your very first date with your Daddy. 

One on one time, Chick-fil-A, flowers, balloon, and a cupcake. 

Hannah you are cherished!

This month we talked about the Judges of the Bible. Benjamin loved pretending to be Samson with his long hair. Check out the full era study HERE

We have soaked up every last bit of summer...

...and now we are ready for fall!

Fun in the Sun

Side by Side: Benjamin and Judah at 8m

The hair, the eyes, the nose, the mouth...Undeniably brothers

...and such sweet friends : )

Benjamin and Hannah "building a treehouse" in the garage.

I have fond memories of playing in my dad's workshop growing up

Now Judah can join in the fun at the train table

Hannah and Pops at the Children's Museum

I love how spunky this girl is - she keeps us on our toes!

Benjamin loves riding his bike on our after dinner walks

I love the way she trusts her Daddy

1st day of PDO

Pure JOY

This girl has Frank wrapped around her cute little finger

Life skills training: How to make your own lunch

This may be more valuable than potty training!

Hannah loved helping Frank move stones to the curb

We hosted a cop-stop this month. 

It is a practical way to say "thank you" to the officers who daily put their life on the line for us. 

We had 30+ neighbors help with providing meals and donate toward gift bags. 

We had the honor of feeding 15 officers in our home and took the leftovers to the percent for the night shift. If you are interested in hosting one in your home I would love to give you more information on how to host! Check out http://cop-stop.org to see how it all started.

The kids have now finished learning the story of the Bible from Creation to Conquest Era. I saw this great idea for making story stones on pinterest and made my own set. 

I found a picture that represented each story and made a timeline for the kids.

I lay down the picture while telling the story of the Bible (Benjamin is able to help) and then they match the stones to the pictures. It has been a great review! 

We are currently learning about the Judges like Gideon, Samson, and Samuel. If you want to find out more about learning the eras or teaching it to your kids check out my Kid's Era Blog

Learning the framework of the Bible for myself was a game changer for me. If you live in the Memphis, TN area and desire to learn the framework of the Bible for yourself, you are invited to register for my fall Era Study Class that I'm teaching at Bellevue Baptist Church starting September 7th. 

I had the honor of writing a guest post for one of my favorite blogs, Missional Motherhood. I wrote about something God has laid on my heart recently. You can check it out HERE

Rio Summer Olympics 2016

We got into the spirit by bringing down some old medals that were in my attic and making a banner

I had the kids swim relays in the pool and awarded them medals

We hosted a Kid-Olympics during date night. The kids had fun doing relays and being awarded a medal at the end of the evening. Yes - we did participation medals to keep the peace : )

I got to reconnect with some dear friends this month - Thanks for being my wedding date Beth!

My childhood friend and former bridesmaid Kate got hitched!

Fun girls night out in midtown with my OT friends

We had many creature adventures this month starting with this signature spider in our garden.

This moth still gives me the hibby jibbies!

On a less creepy note...we caught a beautiful butterfly

A very tolerant one at that

Benjamin found this box turtle in the woods with Frank while setting up tree stands. We had him for about 12 hours before we lost him in our backyard. Oops...guess turtles are faster than I thought. 

We spent a morning at the Lichterman Nature Center learning about "O"possums...that's right not possums but "O"possums. Did you know there is a difference?! Learning new things every day.