The new school year.

The text books, notebooks, and pencils are purchased. 

Our students are 9th, 5th, 2nd, and K.

We love homeschooling but to be honest, it is harder than you think.  We have to guard our homeschool time closely.  Which means the phone goes unanswered and sometimes the door.  Any good teacher will tell you that answering the cell phone during class time is a BIG no-no!  Of course, we're not all business.  You see, we are probably still in our PJs.  There have to be some perks, right? 

It's exciting to begin anew.  New pencils, new crayons, new markers, new paper, new books...  There is excitement in anticipating the unlimited potential of a new year. 

We want to ask God's blessings as we embark.

Father, we thank you for the gift of these children.  May we show them through our words and our actions our love for them but most of all your love for them.  May we demonstrate to them our love and faith in you.  As they grow on the outside, may they grow on the inside in knowledge and character.  Be with them and help them learn.  Help us to teach them the things you desire.

Friends, may your school year be blessed (whichever way you choose to school your children and whenever your school year starts)!  May all the wonderful promises of a new year be yours!  May your children grow and learn and may God be glorified!

Chief (22) and Me (19) 

16 years ago, today, at 1:00 in the afternoon (barely on time thanks to the hairdresser that I literally had to beg to not make me late for my own wedding) I promised to love and honor the chief.  I promised to grow old with him.  And I meant it. 

Here's the thing - as much as I meant it, I didn't really think it would happen (the growing old part).  Or at least I didn't think it would be happening so soon? 

On August 10, 1996, I promised to love him for richer and for poorer.  I just didn't know that we'd really experience the poorer. ha! 

In sickness and in health.  He had no idea that he'd love me through five pregnancies that would include puking every single day.  ugh.

We just knew we loved each other enough to last a lifetime.  And it is.  Lasting, I mean. 

I've kinda made this our song over the years: (Hey, Chief!  Remember that card I found that actually played this song?  That was an awesome card!)

(Pretend you don't know she got a divorce.)

Has mastered crawling.  Pulls self up to standing and coasts around furniture.  Has stood alone momentarily.

Five teeth with three more on the way!  Ouch.  He has been our earliest teether.  The girls didn't have their first tooth until nine months.

He enjoys eating.  Likes most everything he tries.  Gerber puffs and yogurt bites are now a staple.

Sleeps through the night more than he doesn't.  We'll have a couple good nights and then a bad night.  Teething may be to blame. 

The kids are moving all their belongings to higher ground.  Look out world, Josiah is mobile!

My computer is sick.  I will not be around for a few days while I am getting it up and running again.  Hope you are fine and dandy sweet friends.  Be back soon.

Deep South + Late July = HUMIDITY! 

I had planned to show you the pennant banner I made for our front porch but it is so humid my camera lens fogged up.  We have the weather to thank for this post. 

This is my humid day hair braid:

Long hair is new to me.  The last time my hair was this long was our wedding almost sixteen years ago.  Shortly after our honeymoon I got it cut. 

This is a simple twist braid to the side.  Just the thing for days like today! 

Hope you are staying comfortable and cool!  Happy end of July!

Reaching new heights here. 

Baby proofing has begun.

In other news, we're also sleeping through the night.  It's uh-mazing what a night's sleep will do for you. 

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy. - Psalm 65:8

Through all the hardships that you are experiencing, do not be shaken, stand firm and always remember that the place of your greatest resistance will be the place of your greatest victory.

God always proves before He promotes. He is not looking for qualified people but rather those that He can work through. He may anoint someone long before appointing him, as He did for David, but He will never go back on His word or what He has purposed for your life.

1 Thessalonians 3:8 says, "For now we really live if you stand firm in the Lord." Now there's a promise. You want to make life enjoyable? Stand fast in the Lord. 

1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

YUMMY!  Bought corn chips scoops to go with this. 

I was so excited to learn the fishtail braid!  My girls have been wearing fishtail ponies. 

This book is awesome.  Read it.  Seriously.

And this book should be required reading for all the unmarried peoples, especially the teenage unmarried peoples.  It's gooooood stuff.

That's it for July (so far)!  Happy Pinning y'all!