109 degrees ALL week???

Ye p - that has been our forecast.  Soooo, what do you do when it is this hot??

Spend the day at the Water Park

 And end it with a slush :)

While the Parents were here....

We were super busy!!!  Our time with them is always so jammed packed and we certainly do not want to miss one second with them!

Friday -We got to pick them up at the airport and my kids were so excited to be there and watch them come through the doors.  We took them to my sisters because that is where they stay.  We all hung out (Neil had even taken off work) and just were so glad to be together.

Saturday - I dont recall just what we did, but Im sure swimming was involved and lots of family time.  Oh and a movie that night with my mom and Kaleigh - Snow White and the Huntsmen.

Sunday - We went to church.  I had to go to work that day so I missed out on some special time.  But it had to be done.

Monday - My dad took J to go visit a friend and my mom took all the girls to get their toes done.  That night we had dinner at Ruths Chris.  Yummmy!!  Our good family friends joined us as well.  Fun times!!

Tuesday - My dad took J and Ali golfing while my mom, sis, Kaleigh, Haven and I went shopping.

 Wednesday - 4th of July!  Enough said :)

 Thursday - We all got to go out on my sisters boat.  Fun stuff.  This was the kids first time out on a boat and in a lake.  They loved it and were not afraid one bit.  Perfect!  That night we had dinner at Lunas.  Another yummy spot!

 Friday - We had breakfast at Sandys.  Then Neil, my dad, bro in law and bro in laws dad went golfing.  The kids and I swam at Katies with the rest of the gang.  That night was time to say goodbye.  It always goes too fast!!  But they headed out early in the morning....

July 4th, 2012

Always love July 4th.  So great nostalgia that comes along with it.  Late summer nights, homemade ice cream, swimming, fireworks and of course a GREAT reason to celebrate!

This year was fabulous.  The older the kids get the easier late nights are :)  My parents are in town and we all celebrated at my sisters house.

Cute kids!

But before the late night, we had an early morning.  We headed over to Gigi and Papas where they have a parade.  Papa is in it every year, so we watched him and cheered!  The kids loved it!!  They got candy and balloons and everything was so fun :)  After a relaxing time there we headed home to gear up for the late night.

Getting ready to see Papa

Here comes the parade

Hey Papa!

Balloons!

Candy!

 The kids swam most of the day.  Then we all ate BBQ and waited for it to get dark.

With Grammy

 Then the fireworks.  We got some of our own but also what is great is from Katies house we can see Buchanans fireworks.  Fun times with family, food and fireworks!

Watching the home fireworks

Thanks to Gigi, my kids had fun light-up spinney-things!

Ooooh, aaaaahhh!

us :)

Buchanans fireworks

VBS take 1

This past week the kids attended a VBS that was at night.  I have to say, it was great having date nights with Neil, but not so great having bed times for the kids at 9:30.  But overall it was great.

The kids really enjoyed it and we were able to have lots of great discussions.  This morning we talked about needs versus wants.  That God provides our needs, but we may not always get what we want, and that is ok.

Haven also got to go up on the big stage and say her memory verse into the microphone.  Her teachers and Neil and I were very proud as well.  Haven was super excited and did a great job.

Another Mark for J

The day Neil took Justus out for his Man time, was also the day that Justus Tae Kwon Do belt ceremony was going to be.  So that night we took our White belt to the Dojang and we brought him back a Yellow belt.  Talk about a great accomplishment!  We are all so proud of Justus hard work!!

Here he is at home with all 7 tips on his white belt which means he is ready to be promoted.

 As part of the ceremony each student has to tell what they appreciate and why.  Then they are given a rose to give to someone special.

 Justus gave it to Gigi.  I was so not surprised :)

Each student also has to show their skills by breaking a board with either a kick or a hit.  It varies by belt level what options they have.  Justus gave a straight punch hit.  He broke the board on his first try :)

 And he is awarded his yellow belt.

 They had to close their eyes and envision moving on to the next level.

 Here are all the students that were promoted.

Great job!!

Hitting the Mark

Neil and I have enjoyed reading books such as Tender Warrior and Wild at Heart.  In doing so, Neil has had a desire to bring own son into Manhood at the right times with the right markers and themes.  So with finishing Kindergarten and stepping over that hurdle, Neil took Justus out for his first Manhood experience.

They went out to a field and Neil spoke to Justus.  Here is what Neil had to say:

"We started around 6:30am to find a good spot up the hill from our neighborhood, a place where we could get by ourselves to talk about life and what God is doing in us as father and son.  We opened up the back to the Jeep and there Justus saw the target on a large box, the bow & arrows and of course a bible.  He sat next to me full of excitement, ready to grab that bow and start shooting.  Before we started, I grabbed the bible and reminded him how important God’s Word is in our lives, that it contains God’s instructions to us and helps us to know God more and more as we read and know it.  I started with Proverb 22:6 which talks about how we should train our children in the way they should go.  I mentioned to Justus how mom and I are always looking to train him properly.  This will help him as he grows and starts to “go” on his own such as big recess time in first grade or playing a sport or even leading his sister.  I then transitioned to the arrows and turned in the bible to Psalm 127:4 which talks about how children are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.  Justus seems to grasp that one!  I told him how the bible was comparing him to an arrow.  As my son he’s what I’m aiming to hit the right mark…that if I train him properly, aim him properly, he’ll hit the bullseye.  But if I aim him in the wrong direction, he’ll miss that mark.  In hitting the mark, he’s being a leader and he’s helping to defend.  We spoke about what he’s defending…1) his family  - specifically his mom and sister, 2) his heart and mind – as he’s aimed at Christ and God’s Word to better know God and come to a point of humble obedience and faith in Christ, 3) others in the world that he comes along side whether at school or in the neighborhood.  Lastly I turned to 1Corinthians 16:13 where I explained Paul the apostle was urging the people of Corinth to be on guard, to stand firm in the faith, to be strong and do everything in love.   With that I asked him if he was ready to act strong and take aim at the target…and after a couple tries Justus nailed the target.  This will be first of many I told him.  I want him to his many targets in his life, like recently completely kindergarten, or the Tae Kwon Do ceremony we were headed to that evening for his next “belt”.  On the way him I told him we’d take one of the arrows and put it up on the wall in his room to help remind him of how God wants him to hit the target and not stray.  With that we grabbed some oatmeal at McD’s and stopped by Starbucks to take home a treat for mom."

Im so glad for a husband like Neil who is such an amazing father!!  

Fathers Day 2012

For Fathers Day Neil wanted to go to Wild Water Adventures to beat the 108 degree heat we were having. So he and the kids headed out while I went to church to serve.  After church I headed out to meet them.  It was a fun time, playing in the water and going down the slides.  Both kids are big enough and can swim very well so we dont have to stay in the kiddie area the whole time which is nice.

After WWA we headed home for a little rest and then BBQ with Rog and Gail.

Other than me running Neils Jeep into the side of the garage on accident (scratching the Jeep and the side of the house....oops), Im pretty sure Neil had a great Fathers day!

3 generations of Pettit men

Neils cards