Soccer

I meant to post this awhile ago, but alas, the days have gotten away from me.... Two Saturdays ago, Aaron began playing soccer on a team. And he had a great time! He gets to play with a few friends, one of which is his friend, Eli.....

Eli's mom and I were childhood friends and grew up together, so it is especially significant to us to watch our boys play together and be friends.

Some action shots.....

And some video.....

Anyway, all these pictures are from the first day. This past Saturday, the second week, didn't go so well, nor was it near as fun..... To keep it simple, Aaron was recovering from sickness and still tired. Let's just say there were a few record-breaking tantrums of frustration thrown so we called it a day and left early. There is a part of me that wished I had it on video and another part of me that wants to forget it completely. Honestly, parenting is truly a crazy adventure. Anyway, we have bribes in place for a fuss-free game this Saturday - here's to hoping for a fun season!

Copy Cat

Noel is really taking off in the sense of imitating and doing what we are doing....

I don't know where she learned this though because we don't ever use our phones around the kids; usually we are perfectly focused on our family and our Bibles, and not these worldly distractions.

(HA!)

Another example of copying.....

I hope she never feels the need to imitate this behavior....

(Just so you know this went on for about 20 minutes as I had told him I could help him with it AFTER I was done feeding everyone lunch. He chose to cry about it and insist on me helping him with it immediately instead so he was being ignored. It was really a fun time.)

So badly wanting to be out with the boys doing fun stuff.....

I took a very similar picture of Aaron when he was 10 months old also.... Here it is for fun:

More Milestones and Random

It has been an eventful two weeks since I last posted.... First of all, Harvest celebrated its 2 Year Anniversary and we moved out of the theater and into Skyline High School for some extra room. It was fun to celebrate all that God has done and so far, the school has proved to be a great fit.

We also got to have a little get together while my cousins from California were in and of course, had to attempt an all kids photo. Jenna captured the best one....

We also reached the big milestone of Noel being able to ride in the grocery cart car at Fry's with Aaron. BIG DAY. Noel loved driving with her brother and Aaron was ecstatic to have someone in the seat with him. Not to mention just a little more peace during Mommy's shopping trips....

The hair is getting longer.... And therefore, more unruly.....

Aaron also had his first day back at his preschool this week.

He gets to go two days a week now and he is so happy to be there.

This is Aaron with his two cousins, Caleb and Noah, and his friend Adam from church also.

Cousin Caleb is in class with Aaron and they are loving being together!

For some reason, Aaron is always able to make Noel laugh....

We have also noticed that Noel is beginning to able to understand more and more of what we say. Her favorite things to talk about are clapping, celing fans, "cheesy smiles".....

Greer Getaway

We took a few days to escape the heat and stayed in Greer (courtesy of Papa Bob and Grammy's groupon purchase). It was so nice to wear a sweatshirt, play outside, and just get away....

Here is the view from the cabin we stayed in.... You can see evidence of this year's fire, but it was still green and beautiful.

Aaron, Papa Bob, and Lee made a "bridge" across the creek one afternoon. Aaron was so proud of his craftsmanship. He loved playing by the water by the bridge and throwing rocks in. He always came back soaked =)

We also spent some time with my grandparents as they stay near there during the summer. The one time I tried to get a picture with them, my kids would not cooperate so it never happened. But we enjoyed visiting with them as well!

Playing Together

There have been several moments this week where Aaron and Noel have actually played together..... It has brought us so much joy to see this relationship begin to develop.

Here is one of these "moments" - I came around the corner and asked what they were doing and Aaron reported that they were playing "trumpets."

By the way, if you don't know it, those are for the breast pump. =)

A Good Day

Lee had to stay long at church yesterday, so the kids and I came home to eat lunch and Noel took a nap. As Aaron and I ate, he told me that they had learned about Jonah in his Sunday school class and how Jonah didn't obey God. He then asked me if Jonah had gone to hell because he didn't obey. We have had an ongoing dialogue the past month about heaven and hell (so this question was not totally out of the ordinary) and once again I explained to him that just because we don't obey doesn't mean that we go to hell. I told him everyone disobeys sometime and the reason you go to hell is because you don't love and believe in Jesus. Both Lee and I have wanted to answer his questions in this area very clearly, but try to not manipulate him into making a decision about believing and loving Jesus. On this occasion, Aaron expressed to me very adamantly, "Mommy, I don't want to go to hell. I believe Jesus and love him.... I want to go to heaven." I told him then what he needed to do was to pray to ask Jesus to come into his heart and be in charge of his life if he wanted to go to heaven. At first, he wanted me to pray for him, but I told him that Mommy couldn't pray it for him because he himself needed to ask Jesus. I told him I would help him and he then and there bowed his head and repeated after me asking Jesus to forgive him of his sins, thanking Him for dying on the cross, and asking him to be in charge of his life so that he could go to heaven. It was truly an amazing moment, and oddly enough, sort of simple. I know there is still so much of his salvation that is beyond his little four year old mind's capacity, but I felt strongly that there was a level of understanding and sincerity in his reasoning and what he articulated. So we celebrated and will make it a point to remember this important day....

.... with our favorite new drink right now, Fresca. Doesn't he looked so much more saved now?

And just so Noel is not left out - Here is some video of her. She loves her baby doll so much (a hand me down from our friends) and it is hilarious....

Cause and Effect

This development.....

.....is leading to some paranoia.