Seven Sisters

On Saturday, we headed south to the beach for a little outing.  The month of February has been spent mostly indoors with colds and stomach issues.  So, it was nice to get out.  The weather has started to get a little warmer so it was a nice day to get out.  Unfortunately the sun did not come out till we were about to leave, but we still had a great time.

Heading out to the cliffs on the ocean. 

Allen and Ben exploring.

Nate and mommy, poor guy has really been struggling (He has gotten three teeth in the last 2 weeks).  Plus, his hands were cold and he refused to wear his gloves! 

The cliffs...

When Ben is looking at something in the distance he has started putting his hands up to his face like they are binoculars!  He kept pointing out stuff that he saw like sheep and birds, etc.

Wiped out after a fun adventure....

Ben is getting to be such a big boy.

Nate's first haircut

Nate got his first haircut on Saturday.  He is 19 months old and this is all the hair that he has grown since he was born (I have trimmed up his neck once)!  Glad he is a boy not a girl.    His hair was starting to look like a mullet in the back and was touching his ears (which Allen says all Hawkins men do not like, whether they can verbalize it or not!).  

He did great!  He played with his "sand" and an extra comb. 

My sweet boy!  I got the camera out this morning and he said, "cheese". 

SNOW!!

Growing up in Kenya, I very rarely saw snow and when we did it was from afar and had fallen along time ago.  Snow is amazing to me, so beautiful and just another reminder to me of our AWESOME God!  So much beauty in this world! 

It started snowing last night about 8 pm and snowed through the night.  This morning we woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland all around us.  We put the boys in the stroller this morning and headed off to church.  We are so blessed to be able to walk to church.  It was a fun walk and we did show up a little late but so did others. 

After we got home from church, we headed over in our little subdivision and met up with some friends who have a sled.  Allen asked me to buy a sled on Friday but to be honest, I know absolutely nothing about buying a sled!  Are all sleds created the same?  So, I didn't buy one.  Plus, I knew we had friends that had one. 

Nate's first sled ride

Ben's first sled ride

The boys with their friend, W, they think he is awesome!  He is 5 and just enough older then them to be really AWESOME!  He is sweet and acts as a big brother to my sweet boys. 

Allen has been super excited about the snow and building a snowman.  It is so much fun because Ben knew that we needed a carrot for the snowman. 

The guys with the snowman.  This is close to our melting pointing, the boys hands and feet were really cold at this point!  More pictures to follow of our after nap snow time.  The boys took great naps!  THANK YOU SNOW exhaustion. 

Dealing with the Interrupted Life...

So, two weeks ago, I started a new bible study by Priscilla Shirer called Jonah, Navigating a Life Interrupted.  As a mom, I feel like my life is continually interrupted in small and big ways.  Two weeks into the study was a great time to put into practice what I am learning in this study.  How we should look at life's interruptions as divine interventions and God's hand on our lives.  On top of this, the Lord has really been bringing to mind, Joshua 24:15 "Choose you this day whom you will serve... as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." 

Well, Monday morning, I woke up nice and early, had a great quiet time with the Lord.  Got some coffee and then the boys woke up...and it just seemed to go downhill from there.  We had two coffee/play dates scheduled plus I was preparing a meal for a family who has had a sick kids for the last week.  It started off with Nate having a massive diarrhea diaper, the kind where you have to put them in the bath and wash them off because it is EVERYWHERE. We got that cleaned up and I called and canceled the playdates.  And I heard that little quiet voice asking me, "who are you going to serve today?  Yourself or your God..." 

Then, the boys were playing in their room while I got ready to take Ben to preschool.  The next thing I know, Nate is screaming.  I run in to see what has happened and I see big teeth marks on Nate's face.  That is right, Ben bit the crud out of Nate!  So, of course, I try to stay calm and not administer the discipline Ben recieved out of anger but because biting is totally unacceptable!  At this point Ben is wailing and so is Nate, bless his heart!  He now has a nice bruise on his face.

We take Ben to preschool and Nate and I enjoy a quiet morning at home. We picked Ben up from preschool and come home to get lunch.  Then, the boys start playing with one of the only things they KNOW they are not supposed to play with in our living room.  A nativity that we received as a wedding present and somehow the leg of the sheep gets broken.  REALLY?!

The boys both took pretty good naps, once they finally went down.  Nate has learned to climb out of his crib and so we are playing the war of learning to stay in your crib right now.  Once they were down, I started to work on the chicken noodle soup and bread for dinner and to take to friends.  I had no idea how sick Nate really was...well they both woke up from naps with upset stomachs.  Nothing like trying to clean Nate up, when Ben starts yelling, "Mommy, the poopies coming...."  So, I called Allen and he said he would take something to our friends instead of me taking our germ infested food over to our friends.  Who wants food that has come out of a house where there are two little boys that have diarrhea?! 

Allen gets home from work and I took off for a run.  Because at this point, I knew I needed a break.  When I get back from work, Allen is now sick and in the bathroom!  AWESOME!!  I have to give credit to Ben though.  For a kid who was just potty trained he navigated diarrhea pretty well.  We had two accidents but then he figured it out.  He was so apologetic too!  Poor guy. 

Fortunately Ben and Allen got it out of their system and they were fine.  Nate on the other hand had a VERY rough night and very sore little bottom by Tuesday morning. 

So, my life this week has been totally interrupted.  I have had to pretty much cancel and move anything that I had planned for the week.  However, in the midst of all this, I have seen the Holy Spirit move in such a sweet way in my heart and mind.  Continually bringing to mind scripture and songs that I needed at the time to stay focused on the One who gives strength!!  So, a life interrupted or divine interventions?!  As I was chanting out load Joshua 24:15 to my boys, Ben would say, "say it again mommy!" What a priveledge I have to raise these boys and show them that it is a daily choice to follow after Christ!

A few pictures from our week...