Summer Fun

10 fun, free things we did this week!!!

10. We fed and petted singrays.
















9. We dug for dinos!

8. We had the entire zoo to ourselves.

7. We walked, crawled, and jumped through a giant mouth.

6. We met the clowns from Barnum and Bailey Circus

5. Nathan transformed into a firefighter and he and his friend saved the museum.

4. We got to crawl through tunnels like ants.
3. We went to Cirque de Cabrilla














2. We made bubbles of all shapes and sizes. Some as big as Kalea and some as small as a mouse.
1. We watched hotair balloons light up the sky.

There's No Charge for Awesomeness....

View from our Retreat Center

I am not really in a bloggy sort of mood, but I feel like I should probably write something.....

Steve and I just came back from a Capturing Kids Hearts Conference. It's all about how kids don't care about what you know until they know that you care. It was pretty good, but what was even better was the fact that Steve and I got to spend three days straight together without our beautiful babies. It's been 4 years since the last Steve and Sarah Retreat, and just being together without the constant diversion of our kiddos was amazing. The thing that really bothered me though was the amount of people who told me in the stillness of secrecy that we were an inspiration to them, that their marriage was on the brink and that they were just about to give up. I got whispered complements, scribbled down notes in my bag telling me that out of everything taught at the conference, Steve and I were what inspired them most, and people cornering me in the bathroom to ask me marriage advice. It really made me think about our 8 years of marriage and the rapid growth and change that we've gone through within the last 5 and a half months. The change didn't happen over night, it took me changing everything about how I thought about love and marriage and most of all my commitment to Steve. It took me forgiving Steve and tossing away my mara/bitterness and recommiting to that promise I made to God a million years ago. I didn't try to change Steve, Steve changed in reaction to God working through me and the changes that he saw in my life. While we are not perfect, we are working on setting a good example for our children. Something that made the biggest difference was the journal that we now keep. Every night before I go to bed, I write Steve a love letter affirming who he is and why I love him. Every morning he wakes up, reads it, and writes to me with words of love and affirmation. The words he has said and the gift he has given me through them has carried me through the toughest times. I may be a girl without friends up here, but I am a girl who is loved by a man and that means so much to me.

Hippoblababob

My band at field day 2008 Austin, Texas

A super, super, super zippy quick update. As I am typing I am getting two kids ready for bed and reading them books.

Nathan: Just finished up his last day of school on June 4th. His teacher had an awards ceremony in his classroom and gave him his award last. She said "where's my boy?" and Nathan jumped up without a moments hesitation with a huge grin on his face. She proceeded to tell everyone about how funny Nathan is and even demonstrated how they did the pledge every morning (Nathan stands really close to her and she knocks him out with her hip, so he zips around to her other side where she knocks him out with her other hip. This continues throughout the pledge.) I think she spent the most time talking about Nathan. He went from a DRA score of 4 in December to a score of 20. His success and growth in 1st grade had been amazing and I think it's mostly because his teacher is amazing.

Kalea: Kalea started "Princess School" back in April and was placed in a 4 year old class (she was barely 3). I don't know if she already had it in her or if it was being held under 4 year old expectations, but her maturity and verbal development has expanded greatly. She wants to learn how to read. It's been the source of all fits lately because she only wants to learn at bedtime when she is way past tired. I started doing phonics boot camp with her so she should know all of the letters and their sounds by the end of this summer. She's been working really hard and has this insane drive to learn them.

Steve and I: We're doing good. We played a show last night and the booking agent liked us so much that we've been invited back to play with a lineup of bands that are all signed and on tour. The turn out for these bands has been up to 500-600 people per show. Apparently there have been about 60 bands who have requested to be in this lineup, and ours was chosen. Yea!

Thanks so much for reading my blog. I am sorry that I have not kept it up-to-date. I started teaching the 1st grade a while back and keeping up with my new class and trying to keep things together on the home front were exhausting. I'll be so happy when I get back into the ministry (no, I won't be there anytime soon, but I know that I was called to be there a long time ago, it's a long story, but I know that I will be back there after a stint in the educational world.).