uber quick

Just a super quick post for now! I'll try to do a bigger update in the near future. Here are a few pictures until then!

Here are the boys eating their Spiderman fruit snacks and drinking milk for a quick snack!

Luke showing off his "orange boat" he made in Caravans. It was so sweet to hear him recap the story of Jesus calming the storm!

The last two days, it's been nice enough to go outside and play for awhile. I couldn't resist snapping a few photo's of the boys!

I love this series of pictures - I love to see how much these boys love each other!

And I must post a few pictures of my sis-in-law, Jamie. She is now full term and we are all anxiously anticipating the joyous birth of a wee little one! We are all super excited for Randy and Jamie and can't wait to hold and love on this new little miracle!

Randomness

It's been an entire week since I've taken a picture. Though this probably isn't significant to anyone - it's extremely rare for me! =) I tend to take picture of the boys at least a few times a week. I suppose I got in to doing that so that Chris would have a plethora of pictures to look at so that though he's away - he can still see how the boys are growing and developing and what things are keeping them busy. So to say that my camera has lay dormant for an entire week speaks to it being a busy week!

This week I was at the store WAY more then I like to be...let's face it...shopping with kids can make for an exhausting day. There was plenty of cleaning, laundry, dishes, cooking - and of course taking care of the kiddo's - which pretty much takes up all of my time anyway. A few meetings and events - video work and planning - a couple projects - preparing and giving a short workshop over the weekend - hmmm, no wonder I'm tired! =)

Annnyway, I'm guessing no one really cares to look over my weeks schedule - so moving on! =)

Chris is back to his camp and getting back into the routine of things. Maybe he'll write a blog about his time at home in the near future. =)

The boys are adjusting to daddy being gone again. It's taking Luke longer to re-adjust, but he's doing ok. We made sure to take him to the airport with us the morning Chris left so he could see him physically leaving. I wasn't sure how he would take going to bed one night with daddy home and the next morning waking up and daddy just being gone again. So we thought it was important for him to see Chris get on the airplane and fly away. I think this helped Luke understand immensely!

Since it was a very early morning flight, it was just Chris, Luke and I. Chris had bought both the boys a stuffed animal to give to them before he left. He gave Will a little elephant the night before and he gave Luke a little polar bear at the airport. It was a really cool thing for the boys to have something tangible to hold on to from daddy. Luke sleeps with his polar bear in bed every night and proudly proclaims that it's "fwum daddy!"

Will was 2 1/2 months old when Chris left. So when Chris came home - though he's seen pictures and video of daddy - he really didn't know how to make the connection. By the end of R&R, he was enjoying his time with daddy - but will still need more time to get to know Chris. He'll be a few months from his second birthday before he gets a really good opportunity to bond with his daddy. Until then, we'll just continue showing him pictures, video and talking all about daddy to him.

Short of being completely and overwhelmingly exhausted - and obviously missing my hubby - I am doing fine. I knew it was important to get the boys and myself back into a routine as quickly as possible. I am slowly trying to get Will to sleep through the night...because he has not slept through the night - ever - not even once in his entire life....I'm not sure he's even come close to it! The accumulation of sleep loss has really started to add up and fatigue is really starting to be a daily battle to fight now. So - since I don't want to be completely drained of energy due to sleep deprivation for who knows how long - it's time to start working with him to sleep for longer periods of time...and one day...hopefully sooner then later I hope he'll sleep the whole night through...sigh - I've completely forgotten what it feels like to get more than 2-3 hours of solid sleep at one time.

Anyway - this was an extremely random post - speaking of sleep deprivation - this is the kind of post you get when it's late and I'm running on fumes. So please forgive me if this post made no sense at all...I'll try to post the next one during the day!! =)

Anyway, Will is screaming and I can barely hold my head up - so here are a few pictures before I sign off for the night:


Before we headed off to church, I attempted to snap a few pictures of the boys. This is always easier said than done!

Luke walking to the house after church this morning - he thought it was so cool that he could hold the umbrella and walk through the rain!

Luke wanted to wear his Yankee's shirt today - which lead to Will wearing his too. I thought it'd be cute to get a picture of them together - but neither of them can sit still long enough - it's hard enough to get one of them...but getting both of them at the same time is work!

Mr. Cheese Doodle!

Good Night!

Teaching kids how to pray...

Mom Judy and I will be co-leading a short seminar session about teaching kids to pray this weekend. Though Judy has plenty of experience in this - I don't. =) I have been working with Luke on praying at mealtimes and bedtime - and he has just now started to branch away from his "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer at night into a "Thank you Jesus" prayer. But that's about it as far as my experience in teaching children how to pray.

I believe in many ways that in teaching our children how to pray, we must lead by example (as I learned from my parents, grandparents, family and friends.) As I consider this, I wonder if I have been leading by example for Luke and Will. Sure they're young - but they do pick up on every little thing that happens. Luke misses nothing - he hears everything - observes everything - and is super perceptive in his surroundings. It makes me wonder if I have just assumed that spiritual matters are "above his head" at his age...when in fact - he is probably quite capable of understanding more then I give him credit for. I mean, I'm not talking about reading him Kierkegaard's theological ideas on the "Works of Love" or anything like that...but talking to him about knowing Jesus - learning about Him - reading bible stories out of his Children's Bible on a consistent basis...maybe he could begin to grasp that a bit?

During the Advent season, I tried to reiterate the nativity story and that Jesus is our Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. I was surprised at how quickly he learned and would repeat what I told him about Jesus. It's pretty cool to see how much their brains soak up! It has really made me think about the example I am to my children. Do they see me living out a life completely devoted to God? Do they see me turning to God in prayer in the good times and bad? I guess if this seminar session helps no one else - it's opened my eyes to my need to live my spiritual life out in view of my kiddos.

Anyway, the real reason I wrote this post was to see if any of you would be willing to share any sort of insight - I would love to hear it!

Did someone teach you how to pray? If so, who and how? Was it more by example or some other way?

Did you teach your children how to pray and if so, what did you do? Do you have any ideas on creative ways to teach children how to pray?

Any testimonies about people who were prayer warriors in your life or testimonies of how you've seen prayer work in the lives of children?

Any insight you may have would be very helpful to me as we prepare our notes and layout for this seminar session.

Thanks!!

Local Ministers License

As most of you know, one of the main reasons the boys and I chose to ERD was so I could continue to pursue my passions of Visual Arts Ministry and continue working towards Ordination in the Church of the Nazarene. The only way I could do that was to come back home and begin my work in the church. Once Chris made his final decision that this would be his last year in the military, we knew that this would be the right time for me to get back into working towards my ministry goals.

It's been since our time at Manhattan Church of the Nazarene - (We miss you guys so much!!!) - that we've been actively involved in church work. It was very hard to go from being super involved - to not being involved at all in Georgia and Germany- short of attending church services.

Just like our church in Manhattan, this church has been incredibly gracious and open to my desires to pursue the ministry - which I am so greatful for! I feel so blessed that they have plugged me into the Visual Arts Ministry! On February 8, 2009 they presented me with my local ministers license! Though it was granted after my interview last Fall- the church waited to present the certificate to me until Chris was home for R&R. It was so special to be able to share that moment with Chris. He has bent over backwards to support my calling and my pursuit of ministry. I can't even begin to count the hours he has spent helping, encouraging and working alongside me. So it was extraordinarily appropriate to stand by his side at that moment.

So here are a few pictures my family snapped from the balcony during the presentation. The next step is to complete some ministerial study courses, prepare for my district license and continue to serve and work in the church. Once Chris returns for good and we get settled in - I will be able to commit more time to all the above - which I'm super excited about. I can't wait to see what the future holds!

Bittersweet

R&R was definitely bittersweet - as we both knew it would be. Oh so sweet to be together again. Oh so bitter to taste the harsh reality of being separated again. Was it worth it? Absolutely. We had a wonderful time reconnecting and fellowshipping as a family again. Luke remained Chris' shadow the entire time he was here. Will definitely started warming up to the idea of daddy being around by the end.

We are glad to be on the last half of this long separation. Chris's departure this time was not nearly as daunting as his initial departure in April. Now we just have to get through the rest of the deployment and the mandatory stabilization time in Germany. After that - we'll finally be together again! YAY! So we're still looking at a rather significant chunk of time - more than 6 months - less than a year (sorry for being so vague - but I'm a bit hesitant to give out too much info for security reasons)...which still seems like forever - but at least we're closer to the end goal! =)

Though I could fill up many more paragraphs about things we did over R&R and how nice it was to be together, I'll upload some photos so you can see for yourself!

I think this is where we left off from the last blog I wrote about our R&R...

We were able to take the boys to the zoo - we had a blast checking out all the animals and playing on the playground afterwards.

Luke was in a Caravan program - he loves the stage! It's really funny to watch him because he's fairly shy otherwise...put him on the stage and the boy shines!

Chris was able to go to a fight with his brother Randy. From the sounds of it, it was a pretty cool experience. The fighter they went to see was Fernando Guerrero - who hails from around here! The rest of us watched it at home! Everyone was excited when Guerrero won!

A family picture before church...

We turned Will's carseat around last week. Though he wasn't sure what to think at first - he's loving it!

The boys!

Visiting the horses...

Awwwww!

Mom and Dad Scott walking our cute little furry pups!

Wagon rides are fun!

Throwing rocks in the river...

Heading home...

We decided to take the boys to see the ocean one day. Though it was a might chilly - we all really enjoyed the day!

Will was quite perplexed by the sight before him...so much water!!!

Luke loved having a giant sandbox at his disposal!

Watching the waves...

Mommy and Will!

Daddy and Will playing in the sand...

Sand is fun...until you track it into your house...

The boys at the beach...

The family together!

More sand castles!

Smile!

Playing in the sandbox at home...I guess they just can't get enough of playing in the sand!

Riley - my sweet dog!

On the back patio is a slab of cement that has Chris and Randy's hand imprint from when they were kids. Here Luke is measuring his hand with Chris' imprint - how cute!

Hey batter batter batter! Saaawiing batter batter batter!

We celebrated Chris' birthday with a very small get-together of family. Fun was had by all!

I let Luke pick out a present for his daddy - and he picked out some Cars...what else is there? =)

Go Phins!

More presents!

I have been working on a scrapbook of all the months Chris has been gone. I've made it up to September...so I gave him what I had completed and will finish the rest over the next few months. It was pretty fun to see how much the boys have changed over the last 10 months...

Luke trying out his new T-ball set...let's just say it didn't last inside very long...it was moved outside about 5 minutes after Chris gave it to him. =)

Will's gotta try too!

Happy boy!

T-Ball Rocks!

Vrroooommmm!

Chris and Luke playing Candy Land...

Chris leaving for the airport...

And lastly, we took this picture today. Luke was dressed in his sweater vest and tie for church...and here he's rocking in the chair leafing through the Bible. Will he be a preacher someday? Maybe!