Future Men

Our church hosted an event called Future Men. It was a seminar for parents, leaders or whoever has a role working with boys. It was great! To hear the podcast click the following link: http://www.gracechurchsc.org/resources/teaching/
Calahan was in the promo video (seen below) for the event.



We were taught about 3 different stages for future men.
Stage 1: Authority, ages birth- 9. This stage is about giving direction. We need to teach our sons to obey authority all the way, right away and with a happy heart.
Stage 2: Responsibility, ages 10-13. Giving our sons responsibility like washing dishes or cutting the grass. Moms are supposed to stay out of the way and not help or fix it. They are to own it. Our sons need guidance and responsibility in this stage.
Stage 3: Partnership, ages 14 and up. Asking your son what he thinks about things. Giving him room to make choices and suffer the natural consequences. Partnering in his life while our sons are owning the mission.
There was so much more we learned. Let the above encourage you to listen to the entire seminar!

Lastly, our good friend Philly put together a hilarious video that was shown at the opening of the seminar (see below)! Props Philly!

Sarcasm and Sons from Joseph Osborn on Vimeo.

Hairstyles and school

On Calahan's football team there are several boys who have "mohogs", but Isaiah got a hair cut, he just got his "mohog" cut off. Harper's friend Malachi just got a "mohog" on his head.
Harper also told me today after school "Mom, Sinia E. got a HAAAAAIR DOOOO". You really needed to hear her say it. I lauged, hard.
I love to hear about their days at school and the friends they are playing with. I have spent some time the last couple of weeks in Harper's 5K class. I really don't understand how the teachers get anything done. I had forgotten how funny that age is. They really say whatever, whenever things pop in their heads. Harper's BFF since day 1 of school is Sarah. She is coming over for the first time Saturday to play. Her parents are TarHeel fans. I think she may be a keeper. Calahan is happy with all the boy's in his class. He talks about Isaiah the most, they have football and class together. Big news! They got to play tackle football at recess yesterday. He came home very dirty!

Modesty! Come on women!

The Lord has been opening my eyes to the lack of modesty in the Christian culture. He has shown me why modesty is crucial and what it does to our "brothers" in Christ when they have to be around women who are not clothed modestly.

I don't expect women who don't love Jesus to be in agreement or have the conviction to dress appropriately but I am stunned when women who claim to love Jesus dress immodestly!

I am working on my heart to make sure that I am not judgmental, bitter and mad at women who don't cover up. I am also working on my heart to determine why I dress the way I do.

I am married to a man and covet his attention to be focused on me and not all the other women at church who have lots of skin showing, dresses or shirts that are strapless, shirts which plunge way to low, skirts/shorts that cover barely bottoms and/or all the bras that show when you bend down or when you have on a shirt that doesn't cover the straps. I have a son who like all men is visual. I want to protect him from certain images and it is really sad that at church I am not able to do that.

So please women, look at the link below and take time to examine your heart and then make some changes in your wardrobe!
http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/files/modesty_heart_check3.pdf

For great articles to further challenge you click the Girl Talk link in my blogroll and then click their Modesty link.

Thanks for your time and assistance.

Firsts

Calahan started 2nd grade on Wednesday, August 19th. His teacher is Mrs. Benham. There were several girls from his class last year but no boys. Thankfully one of his football teammates was also in the class. I cried leaving him. He has done great! Loves the class, reports that Mrs. Benham is very kind, gets to play football at recess, and is making new friends.




Harper started K-5 on Thursday, August 20th. Her teacher is Mrs. Winetroub and Mrs. Newell is the assistant. She was super excited and went right in doing as the teacher instructed her to put up her lunch box and take a seat on the rug. It was precious picking them up. They both skipped out to the van with big smiles on their faces. I didn't cry until the next day with her. She wanted to go in from the carpool line. She just looked so big.




Calahan also had his first football Jamboree. Jeremy was out of town so my dad (Papa Lumpy) came and went with me while Katy kept Harper at home. The Greenville Gladiators were the best uniformed team there! It was hot but the boys played 3 teams, 2 quarters each. The vote is still out to determine what I think of my 7 year old playing full contact football, but Calahan loved it. I could tell he was timid and not aggressive at all, which made me happy. We'll see as the season progresses.
Could he look any cuter though?

Keever Family Fun Day 2009

This is the day we take together right before the start of school. This year we decided to do Frankie's Fun Park. It was a blast! Jeremy and Calahan raced against Harper and I on our first ride. There was only one other car on the track. Harper had a
huge grin on her face the whole time and never once asked to slow down or acted nervous. Calahan on the other hand was super nervous. Jeremy reports him saying "We're not going to crash, are we Daddy?" and "Don't pass Mom and Harper, I don't want to hit them".


They did decide they wanted to do it on their own! Umm... who knew that 5 year olds could drive a race car on their own? Harper was fast and had NO fear! She just didn't pay attention to where she was going too well. :) Calahan was a little timid but eventually passed his sister. The guy running the race was super nice and let them go around for twice the allotted time!


(I can't get my pics in the right place)








Jeremy then gave the kids $5 Frankies Fun Cards to use in the arcade. Harper just wanted to win a lot of tickets so she could get a lot of junk. Calahan wanted to try out new games. When our fun morning was over at Frankie's we headed to Pizza Inn for lunch. I did it. I went to Pizza Inn and only ate 2 pieces of Chocolate Chip Pizzert, of course that was after the 5 or so pieces of the other kinds of pizza.

Really?

• Is summer vacation really over next week?
• Is my daughter really going to be gone all day long in K-5?
• Is my little boy really going to be in 2nd grade?
• Is that same little boy really going to play football for the next 4 months?
• Am I really going to have to figure out what to do with myself all day, every day?
• Am I really going to have my first 2 co-chair positions on PTA?
• Do we really still not have the brothers home from Peru?
• Do I really get to have Fridays 8-2:30 alone with my husband?!?!?!
• Does that precious husband really plan to play in 3 golf tourneys this month?
• Do our amazing friends really get to become first time parents to 3 children whom they have been trying to adopt from Peru for 3 years very soon?!?!?
• Do I really want to start going back to the gym after the wonderful vacay all summer?
• Do I really want to go to Lexington to see my bffs baby girl Sutton?
• Do I really want to plan a trip to NYC this fall with some girlfriends?

YEP.

The People I love doing the things we LOVE!

We had a fabulous annual trip to Fripp Island with my mom this year! It was a true vacation. Mom did most of the cooking and cleaning. (Thanks mom!) We played hard, ate well, read lots of books and just enjoyed being together. My little brother and his family joined us for the last few nights and it was great to have the cousins together.
Can't wait until next year!
(**Please note, my sister in law, Tish, would not agree to be photographed)

Kassady, our niece, playing

Harper, Hudson (nephew), & Calahan

We try to do this yearly

Jer, with Harper on shoulders, Chad and Hudson
(Calahan is the splash in the middle)

My Junior golfer
(Fripp has a Wee Tee program that is great!)

At the top of the Hunting Island light house
(Harper is not scared, she has a hard time with pics in the sun, says her eyes hurt a lot)

Kids with Lala

Burdened

I have had a heavy feeling recently. There is so much "bad" going on in the lives of people whom I love. I only want my friends and family to have "good". I don't want them to deal with the fear, abuse, neglect, depression, pride, addiction, confusion, doubt, sickness, etc. I know this is not the reality of the sinful, broken world we live in. I am thankful that Jesus has provided HOPE so that we can make it through. I am proud to "bear one anther's burdens" (Galatians 6:2) but I am sad. If you feel up to it please ask Jesus to intervene on the behalf of my friends. He'll know who you are talking about.

Hell Week (is it considered a bad word in this setting?)

It is high school graduation week and Calahan's last week of First Grade. When you work with students graduation week is ummm.... busy. We had 3 graduations to attend in less than 24 hours. We also have been invited to 8 graduation parties. Calahan had Awards Day on Tuesday, 1st Grade fun day on Wednesday and his last day of First Grade today. He won 3 awards on Monday. One for Accelerated Reading. He explained that he read books and took tests on the computer and if you got a certain grade you got a trophy. He also won the PE award for his class, yes perfect for him. The PE coach described the award as going to the student with the best sportsmanship. Jeremy and I looked at each other and busted out laughing. If you know us well, you understand why. Finally Calahan received the Good Citizenship award. This was awarded to one student per class who demonstrated kindness and leadership. I was so proud. I did get a little prideful. Wondered why he didn't get the Art Award or Music Award... oh well, can't win it all! :)
Harper and I helped with First Grade Fun Day. It really was fun! The teachers had several stations set up outside and I manned the color on plastic visors with sharpies station. Harper was allowed to go to each station with Calahan. It was precious to see how he involved her amongst all his friends!
When Harper and I got home I found her in the playroom laying down with pink baby. I asked her "are you tired"? She started crying and says "no, I just really want our baby brothers to come home!" It was one of the most sincere, heartfelt moments we have shared. I pulled her into my lap and we prayed and asked the Lord to allow them to come home to live with us. I cried as we asked the Lord most importantly to allow the brothers to know Him so that if they are not able to live with us now that one day we would all be together in Heaven. It took us several minutes to recover. It was amazing. I know that God IS love and that the love our family has for our 2 Peruvian brothers is only from Him. I pray that He will answer our prayers and if the answer for our hearts desire is "No" that He will change our hearts desire to line up with His will. Please pray with us!

Contentment

I am content.
I mean this in the broad sense of the word.
(There are 2 little boys in Peru who if they could come home would allow me to be even more content!) I was able to spend time today with two of my precious nieces and my sister-in-law. Playing with an almost 2 year old and holding a 4 week old is wonderful. I treasure our time with them, especially when there are no grandparents around to "share" them with. :) However, it did leave me thinking about how much I love parenting an almost 5 year old and 7 year old. I love this age. At this point the desire to go backwards and have babies is gone. We don't have diapers, they eat with out assistance, ok they do most everything without assistance and I love it. I rarely say "share", "don't whine" or "don't hit". It's just so much fun! I am so thankful that I experienced all of Calahan and Harper's stages but this by far is my favorite. It does make me sad to think about how we missed the baby and toddler stages of "the brothers" but really excited that if they do get to "come home" they will fit right in to the stage we are in now! I am looking forward to what the Lord has for us in the future! Will I love adolesence just as much?

Am I Crazy?

I am going to be part of my first international Mission trip this summer. It is also the first time that I will do a mission trip with Jeremy. We are going with a team of 10 high school students and 4 adults to Nicaragua to join with Mary Ezzell (her blog is in my blog list) a missionary who our church supports. I love spending time with her!
Those are the exciting parts. What leads me to wonder if I am crazy is.... We are going to Nicaragua where it will reportedly feel like 120 degrees. We will stay with different Nicaraguan families in their homes, eat their food, use their bathrooms. We will both be away from our kids for 7 days. We will be teaching leaders about Bible study methods, ect. We will visit a volcano. We will take a 2 hour bus ride. I don't speak spanish and then all of the unknowns!

I am really excited, just a little anxious! This is really far out of my comfort zone. I know that the Lord will challenge me and I pray that I will handle it with grace. The students who are going are amazing. I look forward to connecting on a much deeper level with them. It has been tough for me the last 5 years to send Jeremy off on mission trips, I have always wanted to be part. The newly engaged Laura and Anderson are the other 2 adults and I always have a blast with them. See? I think it's going to be ok.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

The past couple of weeks presented a health scare for me. I found a lump. Went to my Dr who sent me for a mammogram and ultrasound who sent me for a biopsy who made me wait 4 days for results. My mom is 9 years in remission with breast cancer. Scary.
From the beginning when I realized something was not "normal" my friends and family have been amazing. The first person I shared with was my gym buddy. She encouraged me and told me to get it checked out. Jer had to put up with my constant questioning and he was so gracious and encouraging. 2 different generous friends kept my kids while I had all the tests done. One precious friend dropped what she was doing two times to drive my kids from place to place while Jer was with me during tests. My mom drove up 2 different days last week from Columbia to go with us to appointments. Another amazing friend brought a meal the day of the mammogram and ultrasound. In the mean time all of my friends and family were calling to check in and let us know they were praying. The Lord used all of these people, it would have been a very different experience with out them.
The Lord promises us in scripture that He provides "peace that surpasses understanding". I have experience this truth first hand over the last couple of weeks. The experience was hard, frustrating and scary but I felt that peace every step of the way.
Through out this "suffering" I have grown in my relationship with the Lord. I realized that He is in control of the results and that He knew long ago what this situation held. I trusted Him to know what was best for me and my family. I wanted to walk with Him. I wanted to glorify Him no matter the results. I did wrestle with Him to get to this point. The trust was not automatic.
It is benign. It's really strange. I don't believe them. I am waiting for them to call and say "Sorry, we messed up". Jer says it's because I allowed myself to believe that it was going to be cancerous. Now I have to turn my mind around.
Don't get me wrong. I am very thankful that the Lord allowed this lump to not be malignant. Very thankful! Thank you friends for praying for me and my family. Thank you also for praising the Lord with us. I challenge you to think would we be able to praise the Lord even if the answer was different? I pray so.

Another new Blog we follow...

The Children's Ministry of our amazing church (Grace Church) has started a blog geared towards parenting children from birth to 10 years old. They are currently discussing a book, Shepherding A Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. The blog will also answer parent's questions. How neat! The spot is: www.childrenatgrace.blogspot.com
Enjoy!

Watch out! New blogger in town!

So, "our" blog was not good enough for my precious husband! :) He has started his own. He is thought provoking, funny, intelligent and biblically sound. Enjoy! (but check in on the rest of the fam every now and then!) See my blog list on the left for his blogspot.

Words from the mouths of our kids

*Calahan has been told the difference in "beard" and "beer". I was not too happy. He was calling them both "beard". He still says "remoke" for "remote" though!
*Last night at dinner we were having a family discussion about money that we could use to help people in need. Jeremy was explaining what that meant and Harper said to him "can we skip this part?" Hilarious.
*This morning Harper asked for a vitamin. I told her "Just a minute" and she told me to "hurry up." She then started to make cards (one of her favorite pastimes, usually for her bday party) and I called to her "come get your vitamins" she came and told me "you are wasting my time!"
OH MY!!!! What to do about her?