Why Worry?

This is how Logan dressed this morning and I definitely thought it was worthy of a snap-shot from my cell as we were heading out the door!

First of all, in case you can't tell, he has a NAVY shirt and BLACK pants, with a nicely worn hole in the knee. He's got his Thomas sandals, red "glubs" and magnificant zip-up tie! Isn't he stunning!?

And, immediately, I had the passage in my mind where Jesus says, (my paraphrase) "Why worry about clothes?" I was half tempted to undo this style and get Logan some clothes that were a little more conformed to my way of thinking about style and where he would be better recieved in the world (we had to drop his brother off at football camp, and I was a tad nervous of reactions). What would people think- of me or of Logan? Would they think we were poor and couldn't afford clothes that matched? Would they think I didn't care about my kids enough to pick their clothes out? What would their judgments be? Sadly, I fretted about this for the hour we were preparing to get out the door, and finally this verse came to mind, and while I am sure Jesus didn't quite have "style" in mind when he was speaking about clothing and not worrying because God sees things much differently than we do and His priorities are much bigger than what we're wearing.

Is it weird that I'm getting this message from a 4 year old? Shawn and I have just started a program to eliminate debt from our lives and while worry lingers about "what people will think", Logan has shown me to not conform to the ways of the world. I know Logan didn't have this biblical revelation as he was picking out his clothes, nor did he intend to send us a message about his style today, but he definitely did. So, yes, I did let him wear this outfit out in public. And, he got many compliments on his gloves, which then he would turn to me and say, "mommy, what are gloves?" and I would correct him in saying, "well, you call them glubs, but they are really gloves." (Which I just thought all along he couldn't pronounce it correctly!)

After I dropped Zachary off at football camp, I returned home and found that familiar Bible verse (verses actually) and in case you're wondering- Matthew 6:25-34. Basically Jesus is saying to us "DON'T WORRY!" And, thank you Logan for reminding me of such an important aspect in my Christian walk.

Logan, Logan, Logan . . .

I feel as if I only need to mention Logan's name for you to get the gest of the situation- Logan is Logan and he's actually hard to describe in words. He's a one of a kind, odd little boy. Here is his latest style fad:

And don't forget to keep your shirts BUTTONED all the way up!

This was at Applemarket last week.

As you've seen over the past, well, uhm .. . . life of this blog, Logan has a style all his own. And what's beautiful is that he is very proud and confident no matter what he's wearing. He's oblivious to the way the world thinks "should" be and "needs" to be looking like. He adds such excitement, curiousity, wonderment (is that even a word), and laughter to our lives.

So. . . . with Logan's style, tonight was the first time I witnessed him giving advice or rather asking leading questions to try to understand others' style. Our friends were at a ball game with us and Logan noticed that one of them was wearing a shirt with a button-up shirt over top of it- a very stylish thing now-adays. However, remember, Logan has his OWN style, so he was quite inquisitive and wondered why her shirt wasn't buttoned up all the way and why she would wear a shirt and not button it up. His little mind was spinning a mile a minute until he finally gave up and changed the subject by noticing her pretty glasses! Ah. . . . . Logan . . . . you try so hard to rub off on people! :)

We got Shawn a Nintendo Wii for Father's Day- but honestly Zachary and Logan have played it much more than Shawn has. Malachi even gets excited to watch. The other night, as they were driving MarioKart (a game where they actually have to "drive") I walked past (in front) of them to go to the other room. Logan shrieked, "Mommy! You're making me drive crazy!" (I thought, uhm. . . nice try to blame me for that crazy driving!) He also refers to the Wii (pronounced "we") as a "he". So, today at the doctor's office, he said, "We got a he at our house. I drive the he." Yeh, our doctor, though very educated and intelligent, had NO clue! Ah. . . . that's life with Logan.

Malachi's appointment today went really well. He got 3 shots, that kinda made him a bit more grouchy than normal. The doctor (and nurse) kept asking, "do you have any questions or concerns" and I seriously was speechless! It was amazing because in the past we've had chronic ear infections or some ailments and with Logan I would walk in with a sheet of questions that I'd been working on, but with Malachi, it was such a nice feeling to NOT have questions but mainly to NOT have concerns. We are so very very very blessed.

Here are some pictures of Zachary's game LAST week (I just found them when rummaging through the hundreds of pictures I've taken).

Shawn's surgery is scheduled for July 22nd, so it looks like I'll soon be learning how to run the ropes at mowing and doing more around the house. As my favorite Winnie-the-Pooh character, Eyeore says, "ah, bother". Its alright though because I love Shawn and normally I'd sit here and gripe about it (and who knows- afterwards I might complain a tad), but he is my husband and I will be glad to take care of him because I didn't just sign up for healthy times and Lord knows he's gotten me through a lot of unhealthy times (especially lately) so bring it on. I'll adjust to having 4 kids- that is TEMPORARILY!!! (Don't be getting any hunches or crazy thoughts!)

And . . . . speaking of my lovely honey- well he had a nice surprise for me when I walked home tonight from picking up Zachary. He met me outside and said, "honey how much is the deductible for our house?" I immediately thought our house had been broken into- and not that we have expensive things to steal, I'd be most terrified of losing sentimental items. Oh, it wasn't that bad, or maybe it was worse, according to him. He ran his old truck (that he KNEW didn't have brakes!!!!) into our new (within the last year) garage door!!!! Ah. . . . love that boy too, even when he causes me a tad bit of stress. On the bright side of it, I'm off during the summer and well, have time to deal with insurance and all that muck! :)

Off on a Busy Monday!

Today is Monday and it's already a very BUSY one in our date book! We have lots of running around to do and then both of the older boys have their last t-ball games tonight. Logan's really excited that his game from last week got to be rescheduled. He really enjoys playing t-ball.

Here is Malachi a few weeks ago at a park. He was looking at me like, "Geez mom! NO more pictures! "

Here he is with proof that he can take a nap AND. . . . in his toddler bed!

He really enjoys hiding in the cubby by the computer. It should house the computer, but we were told that it could over-heat, which is something that happened to our old computer.

Logan as always, dressing stylish:

with an angry face:

Shawn and I have started a new "program" in our lives to get completely out of debt and to make some very positive changes. However, many (including family) are not used to it and have already started to ridicule us. While this is difficult considering the source, we have decided to continue with the changes we've been making and pray for those that decide to persecute us for trying to make our family better. So, in case you notice some radical, not-like-us, weird changes around please don't be offended. We are working together to do what is best for our family right now and you may judge us as you wish.

Our family is our focus point. We are truly dedicated to each other and to our children. For Father's Day, Shawn and I went out and we bought the book "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. I'd heard a TON of good things about it and was ready to delve into it full throttle. Thankfully, Shawn was on board with me too and we've decided to "live as poor as we can" right now to have a better lifestyle later. And. . . as much as I thought we were totally NOT materialistic, we really are! As we examined things, we looked at how the money came in and the money went out in not exactly lavish spending sprees, but we certainly have lived comfortably. Now, in the interest of our children, our family, and especially our futures, we're trying the program to become as secure as possible and experience some "heart changes" along the way. Already, we've started to realize how many "wants" we thought really were "needs"! Its amazing how much we splurge on our children.

So, today, we're running into town for Malachi's 15 month appointment (with shots- EEK!) and then coming home to prepare for t-ball. Shawn has Friday off, so we are especially looking forward to family time this weekend. No word yet on date of the surgery for him. We're hoping it will be the middle of July, but still haven't heard back yet.

Miss Kimmy's Park

Last summer, when Taige (my nephew) was 2 years old and Logan was 3 and a half, they were working on potty-training together. Logan obviously was having a much harder time with it, so one afternoon that my mom and her friend "Kim" took the boys to Miltonvale to the park, they promised Logan that if he went a "big one" in the big boy potty, he could go back to the park. Well . . . . we learned our lesson to not promise things to children that we can't follow through on. Logan LOVED that park, but immediately after he started to go on a regular basis, he would say, "Ok, NOW can I go to Miss Kimmy's park?" And, I'd have to explain (yeh, I know - what was I thinking) to a 3 year old: "No, I'm sorry, its too hot. . . today we are headed a different direction. . . . we don't have time to go there. . . . . I'm all out of energy. . . . the park really isn't as fun as you remember (ok, that's a stretch because it is pretty neat for the kiddos). . . . " Ok, you get the idea, I had to constantly make excuses, because it wasn't really me that made that promise to him. Well, we had a day of "nothing" today- a blank spot on the calendar (besides Shawn being on call) and so we decided to take a trip after church and just be done with it. So, we came, we saw, we played, we napped on the way home!


Malachi got stuck in the fire truck!

They all wore their Jayhawk shirts! (Which I need to wash for tomorrow since Malachi has his 15 month dr. appt.)







My boys in a train. . . . who would have thought! :)

I LOVE Logan's expression!



















My grandma's brick in the entrance to the park:

My Grandpa's brick:

The irony of our trip today was that Logan isn't "going" anymore as a big boy and we are diligently working on that. He'll have a good day, but it seems like for the past 2 weeks, he's had trouble, so we're again keeping a close watch on his fiber and trying to up the doses as best we can and keep him on a regular diet (not cardboard ya know). He's had enemas for the past week, EVERY day, which is NOT a fun thing for him or us! With this slight set-back, it kinda scares me a little about his transition to kindergarten and more closely, my return to school. Last year, when I returned to school, Logan started to have "issues" again and it was in August the previous year that he started to prolapse frequently. So, I'm hoping we'll get on a good regime by that time and it will go much more smoothly this year.

Fishing at the Lake

We are getting ready to head to church and then on a family outing to the park. Here are a few pictures from fishing at the lake yesterday. They didn't catch a thing, but it still was a nice bonding moment for Shawn and the boys.







Malachi and I stayed in the van with the AC.











Hope you enjoy the cooler weather today.

Milford Nature Center Fun

This afternoon took us on a "detour" to the Milford Nature Center. We're frequent visitors of that place, especially during our visits to the lake. The boys love to see the animals at the center, play at their playground, and walk on the trail. Here are our pictures from today. Notice, I said, "Detour" so my boys aren't dressed in "picture" material! :)

baby birds waiting to be fed:



























Malachi woke up from his nap and was ready to explore! :) Here he's still in his swimwear:

He loved the ducks! Go figure!



Malachi- your belly's hangin out! :)

Hope you are enjoying this "cool" weather! We're excited to be able to explore our outdoors again with the absense of the awful heat!