Will - posing for some pics

Will's big bruise

I went to put in a load of laundry and then started hearing this little voice calling, "Moooom, Moooom". I finally found the little voice sitting in this box. I thought he had somehow gotten stuck in there so I lifted him out, but he immediately climbed back in.


So, then a few minutes later, he knocks the box over while he is inside, but he tips it toward the rocking horse and ends up slamming his cheek into the metal bar. OUCH! His face had an immediate bruise. He sure was tough though!

Naturally, I was planning to take some new pictures of Will tonight for his upcoming 2nd birthday. Here's what the bruise looked like later today... I think he might end up with a black eye... we'll see. But, now we'll always have proof from his 2nd birthday pictures of what a rascal he really is! (A very loveable little rascal!)

Goodbye Granny Dot... and say hello to Jesus for me!

I miss you already. My eyes won't quit leaking, but that's just because I'm sad for me. I'm SOOO happy for you that you are with the Lord and the ones you love who went before you. This morning Shepard said, "Mom, I don't mind if you cry for Granny Dot, but I'm not sad because I will get to see her again in God's World." Yep! Right on, buddy!

Bunk Bed Day!

Bunk Bed Day is finally here! The boys have been counting the days! So, bright and early this morning - okay we actually overslept and so it wasn't really very early - the boys moved the old mattresses out of the room to make room for the new bunk beds. Our two little helpers couldn't wait to get to work. At one point John didn't even know that Will was trying to help until he heard him grunting as he was trying to lift one end of the mattresses. Don't tell Will that he's too little... he thinks he can do anything! :)

New Bunk Beds!

Yep... there's Will on the top bunk! As soon as the guys finished putting the beds together, Will climbed right up the ladder. We're gonna have to make the ladder a "no no".


Will was anxious to try out his new bed this afternoon... as soon as I had it made he climbed right up and laid down.


Bed time!


Shepard couldn't quit giggling and laughing when it was finally time to get to go to bed! He was SO excited to sleep in his new bed and he told us this one of his favorite days. He was almost laughing hysterically out of pure joy... you just can't help but smile with him and he makes it all so much fun.

Good night, Will! Doesn't he look cozy in his new big boy bed? :) Alright, John and I are in shock... we've been waiting for the sound of little feet pittering on the floor - ready to deal out some training discipline about staying in bed for our little guy who is a big bed first-timer - and to our amazement all three boys just immediately went to sleep. They didn't even talk. I'm thinking that John did a really great job of laying down the law before the lights went out. I'm just still amazed because Will is definitely our little adventurous one... but bless his heart, he did so good tonight!

Josiah has been sick all day so we didn't take any extra pictures of him tonight... he was just anxious to get some sleep. Hopefully he'll be feeling better tomorrow and really enjoy his new bed.

Vacation Bible School

Josiah and Shepard got to go to Vacation Bible School at Miss Jolene's church this week and they LOVED it! They did the Answers in Genesis space theme... robots, spaceships and lots of fun crafts and activities and Bible stories and songs. What an exciting week they had! Here's some pictures of the boys with their VBS craft treasures.

Picnic Perfect

Yesterday was the perfect weather for a picnic lunch! We actually had a cool breeze and the humidity was gone... yeah! It was a nice break from the extreme heat we've had this summer. So, the boys and I decided to eat our lunch on our back porch and it was so much fun! I just kept telling them how wonderful it was and how happy I was to share with them the beautiful day that God had made. Shepard wanted to sit and hold my hand... be still my heart! Josiah wanted to dream about building a house out in the country... how fun! And Will... well, he was just BUSY as usual.

Shepard gets to paint

Made his day... Mom finally let him paint with the water paints.

Miss Jolene

This picture was taken recently at Jolene's brother's graduation... doesn't it capture all their personalities? We LOVE LOVE LOVE our Miss Jolene!

Shooting Fireworks

The boys are having a blast shooting their fireworks... apparently they especially liked shooting them in the water. They all said that they would rather shoot their own than go watch the big fireworks. I was a little nervous... :)


The loud noises scared Will a little bit...


Here's the biggest kid! Look at that grin...


Smoke alarm!

Favorite pics from 4th of July

This one is my favorite!

Patriotic boy...

Whale the Bing

Another treat... dinner at Long John Silvers last night. You know the bell they have by the exit door that you can ring on your way out? Shepard was so excited about having a turn to ring that bell and in his excitement he got all the words jumbled up... with a big grin and almost jumping up and down, in his excited voice he said, "I want to WHALE THE BING!" (Supposed to be: ring the bell) We loved it!

Plane Watching

This was so cool! The boys and I were out doing a little shopping yesterday and we decided to just eat a late lunch at the Pizza Hut inside Target... which was definitely a treat for the boys (who LOVE shopping!) haha Josiah and Shepard sat at the little bar by the front windows and had the coolest view of a lot of airplanes flying in and out of the airport... inlcuding a lot of military jets. They had a blast! I took these pics with my phone...

Shepard's Swim Shorts Comment

The boys went to their room this afternoon to put on their swim shorts before going swimming today... and Shepard came out in his yellow Hawaiian shorts and said, "I guess some girl is probably going to fall in love with me since I have flowers on my shorts." It was even funnier because he just sounded so serious and resigned to the fact! :)

This is the way we clean our room!

We were cleaning the house today and I gave Shepard the job of dusting his room because he wanted a job, too... Will went with him and they asked me to play some music for them while they worked. When I went to check on them, this is what I found! :) These two definitely make me smile with their fun personalities!


Sing it, Will!


A little air guitar for Shep!


Shepard asked me to take this picture of him in his "Bible Times Prayer Stance"... I'm not sure where that came from, but I thought it was cute. :)

Josiah's Standardized Test Results

Josiah's standardized test results came in the mail on Thursday... this was our first year to test because Arkansas doesn't require it until 3rd grade. Josiah felt like he did well on the test and... he was right! He scored a perfect 100 on the math section!! Way to go Josiah! He scored pretty well in the reading section of his test, too... the results for that section indicate that he's at 94% of all students who took the test. I know that test results can not give the full picture of a child's education, but it sure was reassuring to this homeschooling mom! The Lord has shown Himself to us in that He will provide what our children need as we do our best to raise them. Regardless of test scores, our main desire is that our boys learn to love and serve the Lord in all they do... and honestly, that requires a lot more teaching and training than math does. So... we're still on the journey.

Going for a Ride

Josiah is a great big brother!


The little boys are loving their ride in the wagon!
(I think they were supposed to be dressed up as commandos today... it's always something. :))




This totally cracked me up... Josiah was playing some Wii fit today and Will was not allowed on the Wii board. I was busy folding some laundry, but when I walked back into the room I noticed that Will had carried the weight scale into the room where Josiah was playing and he was standing on it as if it was his Wii board. Isn't he creative and clever?!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my #1 man! John is such a great dad to our boys and they are incredibly blessed to have him for a dad. John pours so much into their lives and always makes time to be available to them. I'm just so proud of him and I really admire the way he seeks the Lord's ways for our family. I love you, John!


Below is a picture of my dad with our boys... Pa' pa (with a french accent) is what they have all started calling him now because that is how Will says it... it's so cute. It was really great that my mom and dad could come down and have dinner with us tonight. I really enjoyed being able to see my dad for Father's Day!


And I'm so sad that I forgot to take my camera to the Hoelzemans for our lunch cookout today. :( We were rushing so much to get over there after church that I just forgot... but we enjoyed seeing John's family for a fun lunch cookout and swimming! We're definitely grateful for the legacy of Godly fathers in our families!

Wanna Ride!

We keep finding Will in the garage... where all the bicycles are! :) And we finally figured out his new phrase that he keeps repeating all day - "I WANNA RIDE!" The boy is determined to ride whatever he can get his hands on. So, daddy took him out tonight for a ride... John says they rode every toy in the garage and Will loved every one. He definitely has a fascination with bikes, wagons, cars... I got a few pictures of him on Shepard's bike and in John's old antique toy car.