It's about time!!!

Upward Awards Ceremony

Wade just finished his first season playing Upward Basketball. What a great program! As a Kindergartener his games were Saturdays at 9am. I keep thinking about the fact that in a couple years I'll have to be sitting in that gym for three hours each Saturday. Triplets would have been so much easier. :)

Wade (in the middle & jersey-less *nice one mom*) with the other members of the Grasshopper Team. And, according the Wade, the best coach in the world ~ Daddy!

Jake hanging with his big brother and the other Grasshoppers

Jake's emotions

So which is your favorite??

Mine is definitely SAD. How incredibly stinking pitiful does that kid look?!?!

You tell him it's time for bed.... I don't want to.

Hallie Jo

I'm an aunt again!!!!

My little sister, Kendra, just gave birth to her second daughter. We got the phone call that we'd been waiting for on Wednesday morning. I had just walked into my office when Kendra called to say *this is it!!!* I struggled through the day, texting her constantly, wanting updates!

By 4pm Jake & I were on the road headed to Michigan. My dad (who hates having to watch *not literally* his daughters give birth) volunteered to stay at the Butlers that night and babysit Jake and the new big sister Ella. So my mom & I headed to the hospital around 11pm. And at 1:57pm on Thursday little Hallie Joanne entered the world. She weighed 7lbs 11 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. Kendra, who delivered her via VBAC, was such a good laborer!!! I am so proud of her!!! Way to go Kendra :)

I will always remember the moment when Ella met her baby sister and I was honored to get to witness it. There's nothing like a sister. I love you Kendra ~ you're a wonderful Mommy!!!!

Rearranged

Have you ever rearranged a room? Ever moved the couch over there? Or put the chair on that wall? Maybe tried the bed under the window? Sometimes throwing in a new accessory makes a huge difference. Sometimes removing a piece helps.

And after you're done it's like seeing that room with a new set of eyes.

Same room.

Just totally rearranged.

That's the best way I can describe my heart lately.

Rearranged. God's moving some stuff around. I'm seeing things through new eyes. And Colby is right there with me. To be honest he was there before me.

It all boils down to one thing. Money. Do you know there are over 800 verses in the Bible dealing specifically with money. Why? I think it's because God knew how important money would be to us and how tightly we would hold on to it.

I'm a CPA. Budgets are in my blood. I love numbers. I've always made sure that our financial picture as a family was a healthy one. We don't live beyond our means. We act our wage. We tithe to God's church.

Our "room" looked pretty nice.

But God wants to rearrange it and make it look amazing. And we're listening. Finally.

While we've never made it a priority to pursue the American Dream, I believe we have been by default... college, marriage, good jobs, kids, nice house. But we want to make sure the only thing we are pursuing is our relationship with the Lord.

The one tangible thing that we've decided to do is sell our house. I LOVE our house. We built it. We picked out everything in this house. I love the woods in the backyard. I love the neighborhood. I love God more. We don't need this house. We don't need this much room. We don't need to waste this much money each month on a mortgage payment. Just thinking about what we could do with that extra money has us excited... we want to give more... we want to simplify... we want to raise generous kids.

I love my husband. He patiently waited for me to shut down my analytical thinking and helped bring me to the place where I am right beside him saying, "Yep. Let's do this God. We're ready. Rearrange our thinking. Rearrange our finances. Rearrange our hearts."

And my prayer is that we are continually rearranged.

Everyday.

I'm getting old

Last week I had the privilege of reading a Dr. Suess book to Wade's Pre-K class AND getting to eat some (cold) green eggs & ham. Oh, what we moms do for our kids.

Wade's class wrote me a wonderful thank you note... the envelope is pictured below.

Really.

Who is Mrs. Atkins?

It certainly can't be me.

Sigh.