Bowen's Heart

I have been listening to KLove this week on the radio.  It's 101.9 for the local Indy folks.  I can't seem to get enough of it!  They were talking about a website today that is following the son of a Christian artist who has a rare heart defect.  They were discussing his blog.  I looked it up and found it very interesting and enlightening.  Please add Bowen to your prayer list.  You can see the post here.  If you want to read their backstory, click here.

Children's Museum with the Craft's

Yesterday, we met up with Dainah and Izabela Craft at the Children's Museum.  Of course, Ryker couldn't wait to see the dinosaurs and choo-choo trains, but I think he was most excited to see Bela!  The kids moved pretty fast and we were able to go through the Dinosphere, Trains, Egypt, Barbie exhibit, have lunch, and some time in the Playscape!

Ryker digging for dinosaur bones...his goggles needed a little adjusting!

Checking out the trains together

Feeding the donkey in the Egypt exhibit.

Dainah and Izabela were having a tea party in the tent.  So cute!

Cooking us a delicious meal

Dainah and I were talking, I turn to check on the kids to find them camped out at this table sharing a snack...so funny!

Bela "taking" a picture...check out the 3 different skirts!

So precious!

Ryker styling Barbie's hair

He loves cameras!

Gone fishing...he was "casting" the line and everything!  He's ready for Papaw's new boat!

As we were leaving, we came across these flashing lights.  I think it may have been their favorite part!

Amazing Race- Week 2

This week of the Amazing Race: Around the Word in 90 Days had us reading through all of Leviticus, Numbers, and most of Deuteronomy.  I'm not going to say this was an easy week.  These books are pretty dry reading for the most part, but I made it through right on track! 

Overall, the one thing that stuck out to me most was just how thankful I am to not have to live like the Israelites did!  With the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we no longer need to make another sacrifice to satisfy God's law of blood atonement.  Reading through these books makes it clear that God's law requires a blood sacrifice to atone for our sins.  That was true then and it is still true today.  The big difference is that we have the opportunity to turn to Jesus, accept him as our Savior, and the sacrifice He made for us on the cross satisfies all of God's requirements!  Also, I want to note that in the days of the tabernacle, the high priest was only able to see the Lord once a year.  The rest of the population just had to wait to hear what the Lord shared with the high priest on that day.  Now that Jesus has died for our sins, we have the Holy Spirit with us at all times and can commune with Him whenever we want.  AWESOME!

 I just finished Beth Moore's Psalms of Ascent study this summer.  One of the things she encouraged us to do was to get on our knees with our heads down on the ground at least once a day to pray.  She said that the physical posture of getting facedown with the Lord would affect the mental posture as well.  In Leviticus 9:24b it says, "And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown."  I thought this was a great example of exactly what Beth was talking about!

In Deuteronomy the command to love the LORD Your God was stated a few times.
- "Love the LORD Your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deut. 6:5-8)

- "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deut. 11:18-19)

I've heard many times before, if it's repeated, it must be important!  These two passages say almost the same things and yet are only 5 chapters apart.  It must be important!  I love how it emphasizes teaching them to your children.  It's so important to pass on the heritage of faith our family has instilled in us!

I'm knee deep in this week's reading and loving it!  More to come next week!

Hanging with Nonno and Nonna

Today, after church, we headed north to meet Nonno and Nonna for brunch.  We had a yummy meal and then heading back to Nonno and Nonna's house to hang out for a bit.  Ryker got to "ride" Uncle Dave's motorcycle with Nonno.  He also got to pick some pumpkins out of the garden.

Ready for a ride

Picking pumpkins with Nonno

"Ryker got it!"

Checking out the rest of the garden

Ryker couldn't wait to see Roxy and then when we go there, he kept saying, "Ryker scared."  Goofy boy!

Country Living Fair

Country Living magazine held their 5th annual fair in Columbus, Ohio.  Some friends of mine invited me along.  My friends, Emily and Anna, and their mom, Carla all went.  This was the first time for all of us and we had a great time. The fair was huge and so much fun.  There were so many cool antiques, crafts, etc.  We didn't purchase much but got tons of great ideas of things we could make for ourselves.  We had lots of great laughs and some fun conversations.  For example, the question of what your top 5 favorite books of all time were.  None of us were able to come up with our final top 5 in the 6 hours we spent in the car.  If any of you know, I'd love to hear!  Anyway, here are some pictures from the trip.

Clowning around at the hotel.

Laughing so hard!

Anna was laughing so hard she was crying

We were trying on different shades of lipstick and puckering up...obviously my self-portrait skills are lacking!

Emily and I in our matching hats ready to go!

Carla and her girls taking a breather

All of us in one pic...yay!

This super cute hat I wanted for Ryker, but they only had it for adults.  Anyone out there know how to make one like this for me?

Fun with Grandpa and Grandma Sheepie!

Friday, Ryker got to play at Grandma and Grandpa Sheepie's house while I cleaned a client's house.  Their house is one of his favorite places to be.  He loves going down to the barn and seeing the sheep.  He helped Grandma in her flower beds, fed the sheep, and took tractor rides with Grandpa.  When I got there, he was down by the barn with Grandpa on another tractor ride.  I took this picture real quick on my Blackberry.  Grandpa Sheepie thinks Ryker is pretty great and Ryker thinks the same of Grandpa!

Bike Ride

I bought a child carrier seat for your bicycle at a garage sale this past weekend and was super excited to try it out.  Robert finally got it all hooked up for me and Ryker and I took a quick ride around the neighborhood the other night.  He really seemed to like it.  That extra 35 pounds on the back made for a good workout!  I made a few adjustments when I got back to make things a bit more comfortable, but hopefully, it'll be something we enjoy doing together!  WARNING: These pictures of me are in "all my glory", meaning NO makeup!  A little scary, but oh well!  :-)

Ryker all hooked up and ready to go!

And we're off!

Savvy Source

A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook today that is just awesome!  It's a site called Savvy Source.  You can get weekly emails from them with deals on fun things to do with your kids at up to 75% off!  This week they are running a deal on a membership to the Children's Museum at 50% off!  That is an awesome deal!  Anyway, here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.savvysource.com/psn/web/localSavings

The Amazing Race: Around the Word in 90 Days

Our church, Brookville Road Community Church, or BRCC, is having a new series called The Amazing Race: Around the Word in 90 Days.  Our pastor challenged us to read through the entire Bible in 90 days.  Over 275 of us took the challenge, which means Pastor Hubert (who is turning 55 this year) will be running a mini-marathon!  I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the things that stuck out most to me over the past week's reading.  We are now through Genesis and Exodus.  I started in with Leviticus today.  I hope you can be spurred to dive into the Word like so many of us are doing.  I hope some of what I share will resonate with you too.

A few things really stuck out to me this week.  First, in Genesis 15:6 it says, "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."  So often in our walks with Christ we doubt God's plans for us.  I thought it was such a wonderful affirmation that when we do believe in Him, no matter the circumstances, He will look upon us with favor.  I want so deeply to be righteous and good in His eyes.  Knowing that having an unwavering faith, even through trials and tribulations, will achieve that is so nice!

The second thing that stuck out to me was in Genesis 18 when the Lord is telling Abraham and Sarah that He is going to give them a child in their old age and Sarah laughs.  The Lord says, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." (Genesis 18:13-14) Again, I say, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"  What a wonderful reminder!

Third, the mercy of the Lord was so evident to me.  God made a covenant with His people and despite all their sins against Him and their lack of faith, He remained true to His word and did all that He said He would.  I also found it important to note the time in which the events took place.  God promised Abraham that He would be a father to a great nation, but it took 25 years before Abraham and Sarah were blessed with a child.  In our culture, we get so impatient for everything.  I often fall into the trap of thinking praying for something for weeks or months should somehow "earn" me the answer I request.  Reading about all the promises God made and seeing that He came through on all of them, even after much time had passed, was a great reminder to remain faithful and steadfast in my prayer life. 

This challenge has been such a blessing to me already, and we're only one week in!  I wasn't sure how I would do with finding time, but I've been managing great! I can't wait to see what He has in store for me this week! 

Sarah's Wedding

Saturday afternoon we headed out to Thorntown, IN for Sarah's reception. Sarah and I have known each other since the 6th grade.  It was honestly one of the nicest receptions I've ever been to.  Sarah and her mom, Cheri did a fantastic job planning this event.  There were so many personal touches.  It was so unique, very classy, and oh so much fun!  Mom and Dad went too and we all had a great evening. 

A new family pic...I think it turned out pretty good!

Nana and Papaw wanted a picture with their boy too.

Me and my handsome little man

The gorgeous tables

The beautiful centerpieces

All the kids had gift bags with a coloring book, crayons, bubbles, etc. in them.  What a great idea!

The pretty mums along the side of the tent.

The archway the wedding party came through.

A better look at the urns.

The big tree provided the perfect spot for the string quintet to play.  Ryker absolutely loved listening to them!

All the flowers were attracting butterflies.  Ryker loved watching them!

Then, he decided he wanted to touch one.  It didn't work out, but he sure tried hard!

They had flip flops in all different sizes in case your feet were sore and you wanted to keep dancing.  Mom and I both took full advantage. Once again, what a neat idea!

Ryker and Daddy playing with the football from Ryker's gift bag.

Cutting the cake!

Ryker got a hold of the camera and snapped some shots of Nana.  Silly Ryker, or should I say Silly Nana!?!

Making Nana laugh

The awesome lanterns on the tree...so beautiful!

They had a photobooth where you could dress up and take pictures.  This was Ryker's favorite costume.

They gave you a copy of the pictures you took and the other strip went into a scrapbook for the bride and groom.  You could write them a message too.  Ryker made me do it 4 different times! :-)

Me modeling the glasses

Dad's turn

Sarah in her gorgeous dress getting down on the dance floor!

Ryker and Nana dancing too...He liked the spins!

Probably my favorite of the night....so funny!