Guitar Hero

Okay, I admit it. I love Guitar Hero. If I didn't have a life, like kids, a job, husband, school, church, you know stuff like that, I would play this game all day long. This is the third Guitar Hero we have gotten and it is definitely my favorite, because of course I grew up in the 80s and I know all the songs, (and all the words too, unfortunately). Jordan is a big show off because he can play on expert with his eyes closed. I can play pretty good on easy. Poor Scott, he likes to play but because he plays real guitar, he has trouble getting used to the game guitar since it is so small. He still does better than me though! Nathanael plays great too. What a great family past time!

The dentist...

Why is it that I take my kids to the dentist every six months, but neglect my teeth by waiting every couple of years and regret it every time and say I will never wait again? I went to the dentist yesterday and spent three hours and 15 minutes being tortured! Bottom left, three back teeth, one needed a new crown, the other an "overlay" which is not quite as bad as a crown but worse than a cavity, and then the tooth next to that needed a filling. He really is a great dentist, and it is all very modern and digital, and it technically didn't "hurt" but sitting there for that long with your mouth wide open and strangers sticking strange sounding things in your mouth with stuff flying everywhere isn't the way I want to spend my morning! I was so numb when I got home that I wanted it to wear off, but then by dinner my mouth was so sore I wanted the numbness to come back! I couldn't sleep last night because it was throbbing so bad. But, I think I am finally better this morning. My teeth feel weird, and of course I keep touching it with my tongue (gross, I know). But, that is what I get for waiting so long to go to the dentist!!!!!

Caleb's new bed

Caleb finally moved out of his crib into a "big boy bed." I really wanted to buy him the actual Thomas the Train bed, or the big firetruck or race car bed, but I controlled myself. Scott said I could if I wanted, but I knew I wanted those beds more than Caleb did and it would have been a silly waste of money. He is so excited about his new bed. He slept in it for the first time last night. He did great. We only found him on the floor once!

Anniversary Weekend

Last Saturday night, Scott and I went to stay at the Embassy Suites in Brea for our anniversary. We stay there because that is where we had our wedding reception at. I didn't take my camera because I didn't think I would need it, but I wish I had because when we went to check in at the hotel we were upgraded (for free) to this absolutely huge suite. I used to work at Embassy Suites and I didn't even know they had bigger suites than the standard size. This room was huge! Anyway, we had a great time. We shopped and ate and shopped and ate and then shopped and ate some more! I can't wait for next year when we can go again!

Seal Beach

Last Friday, we went to Seal Beach. We met a couple of friends there who brought their kids. It was perfect beach weather. It was hot, but not too hot, breezy, but not super windy. We only had an umbrella fly away one time. The boys had a great time, especially Caleb. I am still finding sand everywhere! I loved just sitting there soaking in the sun and visiting. I wish we would have gone more often this summer.

Ordinary Women Extraordinary God

We started a new book in our Bible study called, "Ordinary Women Extraordinary God." I just finished the second chapter and I loved it! It is a collection of Bible studies on different women of the Bible written by wives of pastors from Calvary Chapel. The second chapter is on Hannah written by Kay Smith. It spoke to me sooooooo much. I highly recommend this study to any woman looking for a Bible study on women of the Bible.

Here is just part of the many, many sections I highlighted in the second chapter.

"Can you see God's overall plan? God didn't let Peninnah provoke Hannah for no reason. Likewise, He has a divine purpose for us in every situation, even though it may originate from Satan or an adversary. It could be for our growth. God uses trials to cause us to come to a place of consecration that we've never come to before. He can then use us in situations where we will be effective for Him. Without those trials, we may never have been as effective. See that, realize it, and be blessed by it." - Kay Smith (Italics from me.)

Summer boredom...lifelong problem?

I subscribe to an e-mail called "The Patriot Post." It is a collection of quotes and newsworthy events. This one caught my attention yesterday as it is something my family struggles with, especially in the summer. I have talked with different people with different view points over the years, but this quote by Dennis Prager summed it up so perfectly, I thought I would post it here.

FAMILY
“Today’s young people have the ability to experience excitement more than any generation in history. Outside of school, excitement is available almost 24/7. MTV is exciting (MTV has done far more damage to this generation than has the tobacco industry); video games are exciting... The list of exciting things many children experience is as long as there are hours in the day. But all this excitement is actually inhibiting our children’s ability to enjoy life and therefore be happy. All this excitement renders young people jaded, not happy... All this excitement in their lives bodes poorly for the future happiness of millions of American children. Real life, let alone daily life, will seem so boring to them that they will not be able to enjoy it. And more than a few of them will opt for lives of constant excitement, often in ways destructive to themselves and others. The solutions are as simple to offer as they may be difficult to enforce. Limit the amount of excitement in your children’s lives: the amount of video games, the amount of non-serious television, the amount of music whose only aim is to excite. If they are bored, they will have to remedy that boredom by playing with friends, finding a hobby, talking to a family member, walking the dog, doing chores, reading a book or magazine, learning a musical instrument or foreign language, memorizing state capitals, writing a story or just their thoughts, exercising or playing a sport, or just thinking. The younger the age from which children are deprived of superficial excitement, the longer they will remain innocent—i.e., not jaded—and capable of real happiness.” —Dennis Prager

Scott is 38!

Scott's birthday was yesterday. He turned 38. Finally, all of our birthdays and our anniversary are past and we can start focusing on getting ready for school to start.

Caleb loves birthdays. He loves when people sing the happy birthday song and he loves to help blow out the candles. Of course, know one wants to eat the cake when Caleb is done, ha ha.

Before the cake at our house, we met some good friends at Black Angus for dinner. It was so yummy!

Rusty and Michelle.

Dave and Karen.

Paul and Shelly.
My mom watched the boys while we were at dinner.

Karen, Dave, Luis, Beth, Shelly, Paul, and Rusty.

A close up of the group at the other end of the table.

Karen and Dave again.

Victor and Ellen.
Arlene and Tony.

Everyone had a great time. It was so nice getting together with no kids! After we ate and ate at Black Angus, we went back to our house for birthday cake and coffee. Then we played cards. It was so much fun. Scott had a blessed birthday. Another year has gone by. I can't believe how quickly time passes. I feel like it was just last summer and now here we are winding down this summer. Only a few more weeks left until school starts, sniffle, sniffle.

Guitar lessons

After a year of prayer, we finally found someone to teach Nathanael how to play the guitar. He is officially taking lessons from someone at our church, which is where I really wanted him to learn from. I know absolutely nothing about the guitar so Scott is the one who really has to make sure he is practicing right. It is so great to see them playing together. I can't wait until Nathanael can really start to play. I love listening to the guitar!

Nathanael's summer camp experience

Okay, this picture is actually a video but I can't figure out how to make it play, so for now, it is just a fuzzy picture. But it was actually a really gross video of their own version of "Fear Factor" and people drinking really GROSS stuff!

Nathanael took some fun pictures at camp. Here is one when they went on a hike. Besides hiking, they swam in the lake, went night swimming in the freezing cold, and while they were hiking, they saw bear tracks everywhere and even bear caves. They had Bible studies, an after glow service, worship music and had to get up at 6:00 in the morning!!!

Here is a group shot waiting to enter the dining hall.

Here is the group picture he came home with.

Here is the baptism at the swimming pool.

Here is a picture Scott took before they left Sunday morning. This is the picture that made me cry :-(

Where do I begin?

Well, our summer is in full swing and we have been soooooo busy this past week. I spent the last few days of last week at the church getting ready for our VBS going on this week. Friday and Saturday night Scott worked the Harvest Crusade and Saturday night Nathanael went to the crusade with a friend. I have been working for Kim A LOT! And then Sunday morning Nathanael went to camp, sniffle sniffle. The above picture is of him before he left that morning. He had to be at the church at 8:00 a.m. I made Scott take him. When he went to winter camp I was the only mom in the parking lot crying when the bus drove away so I didn't want that to happen again. So, I cried when they drove away. And then I cried again when Scott showed me the picture he took of him getting on the bus, and then I cried again when I talked to my friend on the phone about how I had been crying earlier. Well, he is back now safely and he had a great time. I will post more pictures from his camera. After he left for camp and I was getting ready for church our dryer DIED. All I ever do is laundry so that isn't a good thing. So, since I was going shopping with Michelle on Sunday for our birthdays, we made a stop at the Sears Outlet and bought a new dryer. They delivered it Monday and it works great, yeah!!!!!

Our VBS theme this year is like "Spy Kids" the whole secret agent thing, etc... Today was dress up like an undercover agent. Jordan was a big hit in Scott's jacket and glasses. I didn't even recognize him :-)

Oh yeah, and then Scott and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on 8/7. He sent me these beautiful roses. That night he and Jordan went to the Angel vs. Red Socks game. They had so much fun. It was a great game and they actually won since I didn't go! It was a special time for the two of them. Jordan doesn't get much alone time with Scott, so I am glad they went. Scott and I will celebrate our anniversary in two weeks. Each year we try to stay at the Embassy Suites in Brea for our anniversary. That is where we had our wedding reception so it has special memories for us :-)