Jastef

I've not been blogging much on here for a couple reasons:

1. no camera. 2. we've been insanely busy.

This has been VBS week at our church and even though its over by 12:30, it means I'm way behind on everything else around here. The kids have been enjoying their classes, learning a lot and having fun with friends! Ethan says his favorite thing so far has been, "being at Papa Griffith's ranch." I had no idea he was such a nature boy until this week. Rachel has been enjoying all the songs, the verses and what she calls "school". Jason is on travel for work, so the kids and I are winging it here alone. Its funny how much I miss him, even being so busy with our kids. I'm only half a person when he's not here and I think my kids can feel it. I was reading something sad in my book earlier today and when Rachel walked in and saw tears on my face, she rubbed my arm and said "Oh Mommy, don't worry... Daddy will be home soon!" :)

We have a family reunion on my mom's side of the family this weekend, so we'll be leaving town for that, bright and early Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to seeing my Uncle, Aunts, cousins, siblings, etc... should be a fun BBQ and pool weekend! Looks like we'll hit some awesome weather too.

I've been reading some good books lately... really good books. Finished my 500+ page one (excellent read!) and moved on to Dear John (another good read, but not nearly as long) now I'm in the middle of The Appeal (John Grisham) and its just ok. Maybe it just shouldn't be measured up against such great novels? Its kind of long winded, with a ton of info and I feel like its taking the story a long time to get going. I'm also enjoying John Piper's Desiring God. Wow. That book is killer (in a good way) I've loved every page so far!

Jason, Kara and I are flying to Seattle next weekend. We're looking forward to visiting our friends and enjoying time away, just the 3 of us. Kids are doing well... Ethan has entered a tough stage, just as he passed his other tough stage. Maybe this is just how raising kids is? He's become very defiant and tries to demand having his own way. Its been showing Jason and I areas that we've slacked off in; I tend to bargain too much and Jason tends to give too many warnings. So along with the trials of parenting, God is teaching us a lot, which is awesome. Rachel is just around the corner from her 3rd birthday and has the whole thing already planned out. Most excited birthday plans? She and her cousin Emma are going to a Princess Tea party at our local Scoops Play N' Cafe. She's beyond thrilled; going to buy a princess dress-up and everything. I'm enjoying having a girl and I love that Rachel is SO girly. I wasn't this way at all when I was little, so its been fun seeing the world through her "pretty & pink" eyes. Kara is crawling absolutely everywhere, loves to clap for herself when she thinks she's truly accomplished something great, and still adores her big brother. Ethan is the only one in the family that has gotten a true gut laugh out of Kara and its priceless. He is so in love with her, its made me cry a few times. I love seeing the gentle, kind side she draws out of him. He wants to help with her so much, it can be quite annoying for me sometimes. His new thing is carrying her around. I'm not very comfortable with it though, so I try and discourage it, but he feels like such a strong champ when he carts her around, room to room.

Just to give you a mental picture... you know what it looks like when a small child carries a big cat around and you feel bad for the cat because its just hanging there, practically by its throat? Yes... that's what it looks like when Ethan carries Kara. She seems to enjoy it, but I'm convinced he could drag her around by her toes and she wouldn't complain. Just like the big cat never seems to mind being half strangled by the child. We're enjoying our summer, even though its been terribly busy. Still can't believe we're going into the 3rd week of June! Hope you're all having a great summer so far!