So far, we've learned that it is our responsibility in parenting to see past behaviors and identify where the heart has gone astray. In short, we must identify sin and then engage our children and ask heart probing questions to help them realize their own sin. We must side WITH our children against sin and always work on behalf of God in discipline.
Then, in chapter 2 we learned that the "shaping influences" (circumstances) in life are a part of what creates the person our child will become.
And in chapter 3, we will discuss what Tripp refers to as "Godward Orientation".
Essentially, our godward orientation is how we view what "life" gives us. People are either positive in their reaction to life's circumstances, negative towards it or plays victim to it. (this was not stated in the book, it is simply my opinion/view). Some people make lemonade out of lemons, so to speak, and others cry that they didnt want the ingredients for lemonade and demand something different. They never learn to take what is offered and make the most. (I'm being reminded of the parable of the talents [found in Matthew 25]... anyone else?!)
Tripp reminds us to constantly keep Proverbs 4:23 on our hearts and lips: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life".
As a side note, I think that for the sake of being knowledgeable regarding what God says about our hearts (since so many of us do tend to want to listen to it and make decisions based on it.... well, that and hormones ;-) ) that we also keep reminding ourselves of Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all else and desperately wicked. Who should know it?".
OUCH! So, lesson number 1 for all of us: DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR HEART. Do not trust it. Unless it lines up with the Word of God, it cannot be trusted. We must keep our own hearts in check, friends! Before we can recognize the falling away of our children, our hearts must first be attuned to God!
I love how Tripp relates our children's heart's to "the world's smallest battlefield" (pg 22). How true!
We are ALL created for worship and WILL worship something. We are never neutral. We must remind ourselves of this when we feel we are just in a "lazy" period of life spiritually...
One of my very favorite books (which i may do another series on, if we all enjoy this one) is "Changed Into His Image" by Jim Berg. In it, he talks about how we are never neutral because life is never still. Spiritual battles are always waging and we are caught in it. Our relationship with the Lord in life is like being on a river. The current of the river is likened to our flesh/sin nature. Its easy to go the way of the current. To go against the current we have to FIGHT. We have to put in effort! And when we get "lazy", the current takes us away, because it is naturally strong. Lord, give us the strength and the DESIRE to move forward! Even in this study, sharpen our focus and help us to pursue you!
Ok, so that was what we call a "freebie" :-) The point? Our children are not neutral. They are worshiping. And lets face it, the easiest thing to worship as a child is ourselves. I mean, the world does kind of revolve around us as kids, right?! I distinctly remember my daughter hitting a point around 2 years old where her favorite/most used word was "mine". And my response (daily, hourly, etc...) was always the same, "sweetheart, nothing in life is yours. the air you breathe is not yours. the toys you play with are not yours. Everything is Gods or Mommy's. But its not yours" :-) haha....
A review of Psalms 58:3 and 51:5 instruct us that we are born sinful. "Man sins because he is a sinner" (20). And just in case we want to believe that this is true of anyone but our sweet, precious child, the bible discusses subtle idols of the heart being "fear of man, evil desires, lusts, pride... embracing earthly mindsets...setting affections on things below" (21). Who has not seen their child take a toy (evil desires?) or refuse to obey (pride?) or lie? We all do this!
"Part of the parent's task is to shepherd him as a creature who worships, pointing him to teh One who alone is worthy of his worship. The question is not "will he worship?" It is always "whom will he worship?" ". (21, 22).
I also LOVE that Tripp points out that we want the "quality of relationships in your home to reflect the grace of God and the mercy for failing sinners that God's character demonstrates." (22) Punishments need to be appropriate! I have a wonderful patient (have I mentioned that I'm a dental hygienist?) who advised me once to pray that the Lord make known to me some times when I need to extend grace to my children in order that they might know God in a more intimate way. We would not want to do this during initial "training" times (consistency is key) but the Lord can help us recognize a time when our children have been working towards dependence on God and yet fall back into their sinful nature and we can choose to offer grace. This is done with a conversation (ie: Rhyan, I noticed that you did not xyz today. Mommy wishes that you would not have made that choice. You know that when you make that choices, you have to xyz (punishment), however, this once, Mommy and Daddy are not going to punish you, but we want you to know that we did see that and we hope very much that you will make a better choice next time you have the opportunity). I love this and have used it a couple of times with Rhyan and it has been so effective in encouraging her! I was afraid it would have the opposite affect and cause her to misbehave more, but she desired to do good and it was obvious! I am convinced that this is a part of what (at least in our home) has built on the quality of our relationship with Rhyan and I am so grateful for that piece of advice :-)
KEY POINT!
I think that we should all have page 23, 2nd paragraph highlighted!
Selfishness is not outgrown. Rebellion against authority is not outgrown. These things are not outgrown because they are not reflective of immaturity but rather of the idolatry of your child's heart! (sin!!!)
Interestingly enough, I learned this very early on in life. As a child, I watched some family members make the same mistakes over and over and over. And I kept thinking "when they're older they'll grow up". But they never did. Well, I like to think that they have now, but WAY past the age of "adulthood". See, i learned that AGE DOES NOT EQUAL MATURITY. But what I now realize is that maturity was not the sole issue to begin with. It rarely is.
I know that in our conversations regarding shaping influences, some of us had concerns over some things that are out of our control that will undoubetedly be a factor in our child's lives. Well, friends, find hope in biblical stories such as that of JOSEPH, JOB, ESTHER, etc... Time and time again, we see that it is not only the circumstances that impact a person, it is their response to what God is doing! And for this reason, what Tripp states at the end of this chapter is critical! "In all of this you must pray that God will work in and around your efforts and the responses of your children to make them people who know and honor God" (25).
Weekly Application:
1. Consider your child's Godward Orientation. Are their responses reflective of a heart that trusts, honors and loves God or one who feels restrained by Him? Are they seeking approval of others or God?
2. PRAY! Ask the Lord for guidance and discernment. Continue to ask for your heart to be discerning of sin vs annoyances and for perhaps an opportunity to show and share grace with your child.
3. As we reflect on our childrens behavior and responses to correction, we need to once again look at our own lives. Are we rebellious regarding authority figures in our lives? Remember, children will learn behaviors even though their own heart may be softer and they may naturally desire to be in submission to authority... if they see their role models consistently ignoring instruction from a pastor, boss, mother/father, spouse, etc., they are much more likely to replicate that behavior.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Liebster Award!
Liebster is a German word and means,
sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued,
cute, endearing and welcome. The award is given to followers with less than 200
followers(copied from Julie)
I have to answer questions about myself and then create new questions for others.
1. What made you decide to start blogging? This is hard to remember because its been so long ago that I started blogging! I do remember when I switched to blogspot and really became consistent in my blogging.... when i had our first baby, Rhyan! I think prior to her birth, I wrote because I love to write. After, I wrote to brag about my baby :-)
2. What makes you laugh? My husband. Hands down, his dry humor gets me every time.
3. Do you own any rare or weird items? Jeff owns an army issued 45 pistol from WWII. Its really cool and was his grandfathers. Let me rephrase... it is Jeff's dad's gun and we have "borrowed" it. Indefinitely ;-). We also have a house full of sentimental furniture/photo's from our families. We're suckers for that kind of stuff and it makes our house feel like home to us!
4. What song/songs do you have an emotional connection with and why? As a lover of music, this is a TOUGH one for me. 1. Desert Song by Hillsong is an all time favorite. Not long after I lost my 1st baby and we were having trouble conceiving Rhyan, I was in a bad place spiritually and this song came to me. I dont even remember how! But the lead singer shared her testimony on youtube about how she lost her baby at 6 months gestation and that after getting out of the hospital, she had this concert she was leading and while everyone told her she didnt have to do it, she said that it made her feel whole to worship God in the midst of her troubles. That, for her, to be able to stand and sing songs about how God is still God in the desert, that the song itself ministered to her and that her heart was lifted as she was faithful to do as God called her to do, no matter how painful it was. Her testimony and this song is what broke me out of my own "dark place" as I once again realized that it's important to be faithful and to not trust our deceitful hearts/emotions during hard times, but that instead we should cling to the Lord and His truths. 2.Best Friend by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill is such a sweet reminder of mine and Jeff's relationship. It came out around the time we were engaged/married and it was such a precious song that was/is so true for us! 3. Strawberry Wine takes me back to high school and fun times spent with friends (um, but not with wine). Homecomings, Proms, etc... oh, good times!!!
5. When or at what age did you consider yourself an adult? Hmm... i guess when I became a parent? But I was 29 then so I'm PRETTY sure I was an adult before then :-)
6. What do you do to stay in shape/healthy? Until a month or so ago, my answer would have been "nothing". lol! But I'm proud to say that for more than a month now, I've been doing "bootcamp" at my church on Monday and Thursday of each week for an hour. I'm also taking the kids for a walk around the neighborhood 3 days a week and *trying* to run once a week at least. But, i run like a 40 minute mile or something so i'm pretty sure babies crawl faster :-) And i'm trying to watch what I eat, although i'll admit that i just ate 3 freshly baked cookies. But i'm sick and injured from working out so i "need" them :-)
7. Would the person you are now be friends with the person you were as a child/teenager? Probably not. I was such a know it all :-( And I was so bossy! Keeping up with everyone and making sure they were behaving. Just a *tad* legalistic, I'd say. HA! But that was as a teen because, DUH, teens know EVERYTHING! But as a child, I think i was pretty tender hearted and sweet. I wonder what happened to me?! ;-)
8. Do you think Modern family is so funny or what? If not, what is your favorite comedy? I wouldnt know because I dont watch it. My favorite comedy is the office or scrubs. But i only watch them in syndication, never the current season.
9. What do you do for "adult time?" Whats that?! Hmmm... bootcamp?
10. How many cm is your head? (running out of questions here - ha!) I have NO idea and dont know where my measuring tape is!
11. What is
more powerful than God? More evil than the devil? Rich people want it,
poor people have it. And if you eat it you die? NOTHING! (or so says google :-) )
PS. Rules for the Liebster Award are as follows: (1) Post 11 things about yourself, (2) Answer the questions that your nominating blogger has set for you and then create 11 questions for your nominees, (3) choose up to 11 blogs to nominate and link them in your post, (4) go to their respective blogs and let them know, and (5) no tag backs
PS. Rules for the Liebster Award are as follows: (1) Post 11 things about yourself, (2) Answer the questions that your nominating blogger has set for you and then create 11 questions for your nominees, (3) choose up to 11 blogs to nominate and link them in your post, (4) go to their respective blogs and let them know, and (5) no tag backs
Ok, so its my turn to nominate! Hope yall dont mind!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Shepherding: Chapter 2
Your Child's Development: Shaping Influences
A short review so far: Our primary concern is to unmask our child's sin and help him grasp how it reflects a heart that has strayed. In order to do this, we must first unmask our OWN sin (our motives and previous forms of discipline). We must, true to biblical principle, put off those ideas of how children should be raised that were offered to us by the world (even our own family!), put on that which the bible instructs us in and finally, renew our minds daily. Continue to choose to walk away from your children if you feel anger towards them during discipline. This is an action step of faith! We MUST trust that loving discipline, while it may not always bear immediate fruit, is indeed the only discipline that will touch the hearts of our children, therefore producing LASTING change!
In my Small Group last night, the discussion moved towards the topic of parenting (ok, maybe because i brought it up because i'm living and breathing Shepherding ;-) ) and how parenting is related to having an authentic faith. This topic (authentic faith) is one the Lord is bringing into my life and conversations regularly, lately. I am being challenged in ways I've never anticipated! Anyways, we were discussing what authentic faith looks like in general and it occurred to me that seeing as how parenting is SO much of what we do and defines so much of who we are, it is only natural that our faith SHOULD guide our parenting. More than in the general terms of "i want to raise my kids to love God"... we all want that. But how does that translate into action? See, that (the action part) is what sets "faith" (i use this as a general term) apart from a GENUINE, AUTHENTIC faith in my opinion.
The world is full of "cultural christians"; people who do not identify themselves to be hindu, buddhists, muslim, jewish, etc and most closely identify with the beliefs of Chrisitianity. However, the world (and hello, the church) is FULL of these christians who do not look to the God-breathed Word of God for how to do anything, much less raise children! Oh, Lord. Let US be different. As you open our eyes to all that you have to say about bringing up the next generation, allow us to hold one another accountable to not settle for less for our children. For YOUR children! Help us to realize that you have entrusted us with your creations and that their lives are for you to mold. Use us as your instruments, Lord. Help us to be the servant leaders you have called us to be! To lead with humility and grace, love and compassion. Teach us to hate sin and to embody a righteous anger when our children are separated from you because of such sin. And help us to lovingly guide them away from their desires, into a disciplined faith and walk with you!
Oh, my heart is heavy today, friends. But alas, we must get to chapter 2! Interesting stuff to discuss!!!
Did anyone else relate to Tripp as he shared the story of the time he spent helping his sons to make a concrete trough for the pigs, relating their lives to the trough and that when he paused for a breath, they ran off, unimpressed?! Or was that just me ;-)?
I, too, can be a bit too serious and discerning at times! HA! What a great reminder that while the Lord reveals things to our hearts, we should not be offended when our children do not yet "get it". After all, its taken 30 something years for me to catch a glimpse!
Shaping Influences simply defined: the events/circumstances in a childs developmental years that help shape or mold him into the person he is. (paraphrased from pg 10).
The person your child becomes is a product of two things 1.life experience and 2. how he interacts with that experience.
In other words, it is not JUST your childs life and circumstances that determine who he will become. How he reacts will play a role, as well.
I will give my own life as an example: My grandparents raised me. My mom was not quite ready to be a mom when I was born, and so my grandparents offered to take me. They took me home from the hospital and while my mom did live with us for the first several years of my life, my grandparents were my steady guardians. There are some downsides to this, of course. My "parents" were much older. As i grew up, they were not likely to attend my school functions due to illness, tiredness, etc. I'll not lie, that did make me sad. However, I have ALWAYS seen being raised by my grandparents as a huge blessing. I see clearly how the Lord allowed me to remain in my family and have stability where I would not have otherwise had it without having been given up for adoption (which my 1/2 sister was). My grandparents were older, but they were also wiser than a typical parent. They knew when and where to pick battles. They just knew what they were doing!
I know people who have grown up in similar situations (raised by an aunt/uncle or given up for adoption) who have, because of their circumstances, felt entitled to life. Like someone owed them something because they did not have the typical american family. This has ALWAYS perplexed me as to how 2 people with similar backgrounds can have such different attitudes about it.
But as Tripp states, it is how we respond to such circumstances in life that play that role in development. We will discuss more in chapter 3 about exactly what this means and our responsibility to it. For now, we need simply be aware that our response and our kids response does influence development.
For today, our focus will be on those influences which are (to some extent) under our control and how they shape our children.
I love his breakdown of shaping influences: Structure of Family Life, Family Values, Family Roles, Family Response to Failure, Family History, Family Conflict Resolution.
All of these are GREAT for us to think about, pray about and ask the Lord to help us understand (and potentially work on). However, it would be difficult for us (in a blog post) to go through all of these. So, i'll look forward to some discussion on our fb page! :-)
The biggie in Shaping Influences is being sure to avoid 2 big mistakes: becoming "Deterministic" in your approach or living in "Denial".
The tendency of most of us who are "control freaks" is to think that if we can closely control our childrens lives, the people in their lives, etc, that we can somehow determine the outcome of who our children will become. But this takes away from the fact that THEY will respond to life according to what Tripp will call their "Godward Orientation". But nor can we pretend that our childrens circumstances will have no effect on them at all!
I love the example Tripp give on pg 15 of the potter who states that "...he can only create the type of pot the clay he is working with will allow him to create. The clay is not merely passive in his hands" (pg 15). Some clay is harder to shape than others. But do not be discouraged... it can all be molded to some extent.
As a brief reminder from last week, I want to encourage you to continue to pursue Christ in your own daily quiet time. If you're anything like me, this is a struggle to prioritize. So I'd like to challenge each of us to get up 15 minutes before we normally do and simply pray, ask God for guidance and patience for the day. For discernment between what is sin and what is simply annoying. And pick up the Word and spend a few minutes reading. I know a lot of people are all about a proverb a day, but in our pursuit of Christ-likeness, I think it would be beneficial to perhaps be exposed again to the gospels. So pick your favorite and try reading a few verses or so a day. Lets learn from His example in how he treated others! After all "Unless the Word of God dwells richly in you, you will be ineffective in using it as a means of helping your children understand the overflow of their hearts".
Application for the Week:
1. Daily Devotion
2. Side with your children AGAINST sin. To do this, I'd urge you to acknowledge sin with the words "Uh Oh!" (this is a great tip from Andy Stanley). This helps us to remind ourselves that we are simply instruments in the process and not the ones sinned against and helps our children to know that we, too, are grieved when they sin. This puts us on the SAME team instead of on opposing sides working against one another. "Uh Oh. It looks like you didnt obey mommy. That was a bad choice, sweetheart. Now you'll have to XYZ" (whatever punishment you feel is adequate). Side with your kids, not against.
3. Discipline can be a never ending marathon, depending on the stage of your child. In times that we grow weary or wonder if we should or should not discipline, remember that there should be three NON-NEGOTIABLES in our homes. 1. Disobedience (remember to set your kids up for success, not failure... meaning, dont ask them to do something at a time you know they are tired, sick or hungry) 2. Dishonesty (wow, we can navigate through anything as long as our relationship is intact. dishonesty breaks relationship so its pertinent that we ingrain in our kids how important honesty is in life) and lastly 3. Disrespect (the bible instructs children to HONOR and OBEY).
A short review so far: Our primary concern is to unmask our child's sin and help him grasp how it reflects a heart that has strayed. In order to do this, we must first unmask our OWN sin (our motives and previous forms of discipline). We must, true to biblical principle, put off those ideas of how children should be raised that were offered to us by the world (even our own family!), put on that which the bible instructs us in and finally, renew our minds daily. Continue to choose to walk away from your children if you feel anger towards them during discipline. This is an action step of faith! We MUST trust that loving discipline, while it may not always bear immediate fruit, is indeed the only discipline that will touch the hearts of our children, therefore producing LASTING change!
In my Small Group last night, the discussion moved towards the topic of parenting (ok, maybe because i brought it up because i'm living and breathing Shepherding ;-) ) and how parenting is related to having an authentic faith. This topic (authentic faith) is one the Lord is bringing into my life and conversations regularly, lately. I am being challenged in ways I've never anticipated! Anyways, we were discussing what authentic faith looks like in general and it occurred to me that seeing as how parenting is SO much of what we do and defines so much of who we are, it is only natural that our faith SHOULD guide our parenting. More than in the general terms of "i want to raise my kids to love God"... we all want that. But how does that translate into action? See, that (the action part) is what sets "faith" (i use this as a general term) apart from a GENUINE, AUTHENTIC faith in my opinion.
The world is full of "cultural christians"; people who do not identify themselves to be hindu, buddhists, muslim, jewish, etc and most closely identify with the beliefs of Chrisitianity. However, the world (and hello, the church) is FULL of these christians who do not look to the God-breathed Word of God for how to do anything, much less raise children! Oh, Lord. Let US be different. As you open our eyes to all that you have to say about bringing up the next generation, allow us to hold one another accountable to not settle for less for our children. For YOUR children! Help us to realize that you have entrusted us with your creations and that their lives are for you to mold. Use us as your instruments, Lord. Help us to be the servant leaders you have called us to be! To lead with humility and grace, love and compassion. Teach us to hate sin and to embody a righteous anger when our children are separated from you because of such sin. And help us to lovingly guide them away from their desires, into a disciplined faith and walk with you!
Oh, my heart is heavy today, friends. But alas, we must get to chapter 2! Interesting stuff to discuss!!!
Did anyone else relate to Tripp as he shared the story of the time he spent helping his sons to make a concrete trough for the pigs, relating their lives to the trough and that when he paused for a breath, they ran off, unimpressed?! Or was that just me ;-)?
I, too, can be a bit too serious and discerning at times! HA! What a great reminder that while the Lord reveals things to our hearts, we should not be offended when our children do not yet "get it". After all, its taken 30 something years for me to catch a glimpse!
The person your child becomes is a product of two things 1.life experience and 2. how he interacts with that experience.
In other words, it is not JUST your childs life and circumstances that determine who he will become. How he reacts will play a role, as well.
I will give my own life as an example: My grandparents raised me. My mom was not quite ready to be a mom when I was born, and so my grandparents offered to take me. They took me home from the hospital and while my mom did live with us for the first several years of my life, my grandparents were my steady guardians. There are some downsides to this, of course. My "parents" were much older. As i grew up, they were not likely to attend my school functions due to illness, tiredness, etc. I'll not lie, that did make me sad. However, I have ALWAYS seen being raised by my grandparents as a huge blessing. I see clearly how the Lord allowed me to remain in my family and have stability where I would not have otherwise had it without having been given up for adoption (which my 1/2 sister was). My grandparents were older, but they were also wiser than a typical parent. They knew when and where to pick battles. They just knew what they were doing!
I know people who have grown up in similar situations (raised by an aunt/uncle or given up for adoption) who have, because of their circumstances, felt entitled to life. Like someone owed them something because they did not have the typical american family. This has ALWAYS perplexed me as to how 2 people with similar backgrounds can have such different attitudes about it.
But as Tripp states, it is how we respond to such circumstances in life that play that role in development. We will discuss more in chapter 3 about exactly what this means and our responsibility to it. For now, we need simply be aware that our response and our kids response does influence development.
For today, our focus will be on those influences which are (to some extent) under our control and how they shape our children.
I love his breakdown of shaping influences: Structure of Family Life, Family Values, Family Roles, Family Response to Failure, Family History, Family Conflict Resolution.
All of these are GREAT for us to think about, pray about and ask the Lord to help us understand (and potentially work on). However, it would be difficult for us (in a blog post) to go through all of these. So, i'll look forward to some discussion on our fb page! :-)
The biggie in Shaping Influences is being sure to avoid 2 big mistakes: becoming "Deterministic" in your approach or living in "Denial".
The tendency of most of us who are "control freaks" is to think that if we can closely control our childrens lives, the people in their lives, etc, that we can somehow determine the outcome of who our children will become. But this takes away from the fact that THEY will respond to life according to what Tripp will call their "Godward Orientation". But nor can we pretend that our childrens circumstances will have no effect on them at all!
I love the example Tripp give on pg 15 of the potter who states that "...he can only create the type of pot the clay he is working with will allow him to create. The clay is not merely passive in his hands" (pg 15). Some clay is harder to shape than others. But do not be discouraged... it can all be molded to some extent.
As a brief reminder from last week, I want to encourage you to continue to pursue Christ in your own daily quiet time. If you're anything like me, this is a struggle to prioritize. So I'd like to challenge each of us to get up 15 minutes before we normally do and simply pray, ask God for guidance and patience for the day. For discernment between what is sin and what is simply annoying. And pick up the Word and spend a few minutes reading. I know a lot of people are all about a proverb a day, but in our pursuit of Christ-likeness, I think it would be beneficial to perhaps be exposed again to the gospels. So pick your favorite and try reading a few verses or so a day. Lets learn from His example in how he treated others! After all "Unless the Word of God dwells richly in you, you will be ineffective in using it as a means of helping your children understand the overflow of their hearts".
Application for the Week:
1. Daily Devotion
2. Side with your children AGAINST sin. To do this, I'd urge you to acknowledge sin with the words "Uh Oh!" (this is a great tip from Andy Stanley). This helps us to remind ourselves that we are simply instruments in the process and not the ones sinned against and helps our children to know that we, too, are grieved when they sin. This puts us on the SAME team instead of on opposing sides working against one another. "Uh Oh. It looks like you didnt obey mommy. That was a bad choice, sweetheart. Now you'll have to XYZ" (whatever punishment you feel is adequate). Side with your kids, not against.
3. Discipline can be a never ending marathon, depending on the stage of your child. In times that we grow weary or wonder if we should or should not discipline, remember that there should be three NON-NEGOTIABLES in our homes. 1. Disobedience (remember to set your kids up for success, not failure... meaning, dont ask them to do something at a time you know they are tired, sick or hungry) 2. Dishonesty (wow, we can navigate through anything as long as our relationship is intact. dishonesty breaks relationship so its pertinent that we ingrain in our kids how important honesty is in life) and lastly 3. Disrespect (the bible instructs children to HONOR and OBEY).
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Friday Fun
A couple of weeks ago, we had a PACKED weekend. We usually like to stay pretty close to the house and pretty low key, but this weekend was BUSY! But with FUN stuff!
On Friday, the kids and I decided to go have lunch with their Daddy! The kids in his class all oooo'd and ahhhh'd over them and it was fun for them :-) Here, Mack was waiting patiently as I got us checked in at the front desk... ready to go with his sister's "pack pack"
The kids were kind of in shock of all the students in Jeff's class :-) And Jeff is laughing about the fact that I take pictures of "EVERYTHING"! He'll love it when we're old, i tell him!
After lunch, we headed home for naps. And after naps? We used a groupon I purchased months ago for some bowling, games and bumper car rides at Oasis in Dacula!
Rhyan was "hiding" b/c she didnt want me to take her picture. Geesh, 3 year olds! haha
My mom went with us. Just because :-) And she had fun (i think?!) with us and the kids!
Mack was NOT liking that he couldnt run up and down the lanes. In fact, he DID get onto one of the lanes once and Jeff had to (literally) chase him. I was DYING that I didnt have my camera in my hand b/c BOTH boys ended up on their butt's. Those lanes are slippery! Jeff was acting mad that I wasnt watching him better (I was helping Rhyan bowl, dude... you can keep up with Mack too, youknow! lol) but when he saw that we were all laughing at their falls, he got tickled and laughed, too :-)
We decided pretty quickly that Rhyan would probably have more fun (and more success) if we used the ramp. She liked it and it was easier on our backs!
Her face CRACKS me up here! That ball was HEAVY! lol
To keep the peace in the alley (Mack tends to scream if he doesnt get his way, like getting to run on the lanes) AND in the family, I took mack to walk around and check stuff out. The place was surprisingly pretty empty (probably because we went early... 4pm) so he had the run of the place!
And clearly he has no respect for peoples space. These people were nice enough to let him crawl around while they played, though :-) Nice people, i tell ya!
Of course he HAD to try Dance Dance Revolution :-)
Yeah, that'd be him doing a poopie :-) Oh joy. 5th for the day, i'm sure.
Jeff always LOVES it when i take pictures :-) I've mentioned that, right?!
Rhyan was pretty much over the bowling thing in about 20 minutes. We had the lane for an hour! Oops. So Jeff enjoyed bowling for both he and Rhyan for a while and Rhyan came out and walked around with Mack and I (Mama kept Jeff company for a bit). When Jeff was done, it was off to the bumper cars!!! Rhyan is still a tad short, but the nice lady let her drive anyways since no one else was there! Pretty awesome!
We laughed and had a blast.
For about 2 minutes before Rhyan decided she was done with that, too! I convinced her to stay on for another minute or two. Geesh. The attention span! I mean, this was FUN and she gave out so fast!
At the end, she was over it so i let her join me on my lap and the nice lady turned a blind eye and let her ride with me for a second (again, no one was there but us in the bumper car area!)
My mama is addicted to skii ball so they tried their hand at that for one game before calling it a night!
And Jeff pretended I was a cool wife and let him have another motorcycle. Yeah, i'm not THAT cool. Yes, he had one once (well, he's had 2) but not with kids! Maybe one day, babe!
A couple of cropped pics from the night...
And we even saw a TRAIN on the way home! One of Rhyans favorite things!!!
We hit up "Old McDonald" for dinner. This was our 1st time in Dacula's mcdonalds and i must say, it ROCKS! The playround area has tables set up right there with it so you can eat and let the kids play and they're not separated by glass or anything (a huge plus when you have little ones as little as mine). And they have a toddler slide that Mack loved!
And Rhyan LOVED the big girl slide!
We had SUCH a great/busy day that we were all wiped out and headed home and to BED! :-)
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