Remember the time when everything you encountered was new and exciting, something worthy of careful inspection? Bring back the kid in you and pause long enough to discover something new today. I am entering this photo in the Nestle “The Kid in You” Photo Contest over at 5 Minutes for Mom for the chance to win a Nintendo Wii. (I played a Wii for the first time this weekend at the house of Muthering Heights and let’s just say the prize is appropriate because playing tennis really brought out the kid in all of us) !

This weekend we went camping with 2 other families. (More to come on the adventure later)! As we sat under the stars Friday night, I was in awe of our awesome creator God. Sitting around the fire, I could see the big dipper and I saw 2 shooting stars. The stars were so bright. Thank you Father for the beautiful picture of your handiwork. Psalm 8:3-4 When I consider your heavens,

Ever had one of those days where you take one step forward only to take two steps back? That’s what my days felt like this week… the good news is that my older two have been playing very well together, so well that I haven’t felt the need to go to playgroup or find a play date to get us all out of the house. They’ve enjoyed playing their various pretend games in one section of the house, while I was able to work on something productive in a different part.

Have you or someone you know ever gone on a short term missions trip with the desire to make a difference in the world at large? Not sure exactly what you can do but hoping that the Lord will use you to help however He can? Well, when I was 15 years old I went on a 2 week missions trip with MTW to Mexico City, Mexico. We were there to help with building a church addition.

This weekend my girls demonstrated a newly acquired skill for our circus act… Meet my Sword Swallowers For more Wordless Wednesdays, visit 5 Minutes for Mom. Click here to check out more of my Life Under the Big Top.

Today my son spontaneously came up to my 2 year old and gave her a kiss. Afterwards the following discussion took place. Daughter: “No kiss, Only Daddy Kiss.” Mommy: “But he’s your brother and he was being nice.” Daughter: “No, only Daddy kiss.” Mommy: “So, the only boy that can kiss you is Daddy?” Daughter: “Yes” Daddy was a happy man when I shared this anecdote.

With three children under 4, it isn’t always easy to get out for a date night. Sometimes we do date nights at home. We feed the kids a simple dinner… chicken nuggets or hot dogs. While I am getting the kids ready for bed, my husband grills us steak for dinner. We light a candle and enjoy a leisurely dinner together. We get to talk, uninterrupted and enjoy our food while it is still warm.

Last night we were walking along the beach in our neighborhood and someone walked by with her two dogs. One big dog passed to our right, the other between my son and I to our left. As this was happening she asked if the kids were ok with dogs. It was then that I realized how I’ve taken this fact for granted. I am not a dog person. When I go to other dog owners homes, you won’t see me sitting on the floor playing with the dog or cuddling them on my lap.

Driving home the other day my 2 year old, called from the back of the van, “Excuse me mom, where’s baby?” I would have panicked had I not just heard her babbling moments before. Since, it was obvious she was there, I answered with something silly like, “Driving the car.” She erupted in giggles and thus began our newest comedy routine. This was our conversation all the way to church this morning, in the parking lot after church while we were waiting for Daddy to finish talking, on the way out to lunch, on the way home….

This weekend we are celebrating my husband’s 29th birthday. As I look back at some of his baby pictures, (isn’t he such a cutie) I am so thankful for the man he is today and feel incredibly blessed to call him my husband. There are many things I respect about him, but at the top of the list would be his integrity, his perseverance, and his wisdom. We’ve been married almost 7 years now and since I get to live with him day in and day out, I truly get to see all sides of him and I can honestly say that he is consistent and that he genuinely strives each day to glorify God in all he does.