KA CHOW!!!

Our little buddy, Parker, turned 3 years old on July 4th!  I don't know where the time has gone.  It has truly flown by way too fast!  When we heard that the new Disney movie, Cars 2, was coming to theatres at the end of June, we immediately decided to celebrate Parker's birthday at the movies.  We sent out invitations to family and his sweet little friends:

On June 30th, we had everyone meet at Regal Riviera in downtown Knoxville.  Lily has become a little mommy to Parker.  She was so sweet to help Parker up the escalator:

Parker was so excited to finally be seeing Cars 2!!!

He loves the letter P!

Everyone met at 6:15 and we were supposed to take a tour of the projection booth and then watch the movie at 7:00.  There was a little mix up with the show times, but the theatre was so accomodating since we had lots of 2 and 3 year olds that were ready to see the movie!  They found an empty theatre and set it up for us to have a private showing of the movie.  We had the entire movie theatre to ourselves!  Parker got to go up to the projection booth and start the movie for his family and friends!

The only thing he wanted to do at his party was to pass out "Cars chewies" (fruit snacks) to all of his friends:

Our birthday boy all ready for the movie!

Edan and Parker are such good buddies!  They are just 6 weeks apart and so sweet together!

And of course we love the Sharits twins so very much!

After the movie, we got to take a private tour of the projection booth.  We learned all about how movies are run.  It was very educational! 

Maddy was fascinated with the projector:

Each child got a strip of the new Winnie the Pooh movie to take home. 

This was the sweetest picture of all the kids trying to look at their film strip:

Parker loved his new McQueen cars!

Sweet friends! 

We had lots of fun celebrating Parker's birthday at the movies and would definitely recommend it as a party idea.  Thank you to those who came and helped us celebrate our boy!  We love you, Parker Levi, and thank God for blessing our family with you!

Praise the LORD.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 106:1

We're On a Mission!

Our church, FBC Powell, chose to do Vacation Bible School differently this year.  Instead of holding a church-wide VBS on campus, we chose to do VBS in the form of Backyard Bible Clubs.  These clubs would be held in various neighborhoods or communities.  The name of our VBS is “Mission 19”, which is a 3-day club that focuses on Creation, Revelation, and Salvation using Psalm 19 as the framework.  I chose to lead a team at Gamble Mobile Home Park this year from June 27-29.  Our team was made up of our family, the Hodson family, and Debbie Jones.  We had the best time and God was definitely at work that week!  He blessed us so much through this VBS.  Our first night we had 4 children from Gamble, and the 2nd night 3 more came! 

Here are pictures from our club:

Brent designed our T-shirts!:

 Sweet girls:

 Joshua from Gamble:

 Kayla from Gamble and our Katybug:

 Jonathan had a blast doing games with the kids:

 Amber from Gamble praising God during worship time.  We taught the kids hand motions to "God of Wonders.":

 We planted seeds during craft time:

 Debbie did the lessons each night.  She was a huge blessing to all of us!:

This water game was a favorite!:

The kids made treasure boxes to hold their greatest treasure...their Bible!: 

 Edan and Parker did so well at the club.  They joined right in like big boys!:

 During Investigate time, the kids played "Get to Know You" Bingo:

Our last night we invited the families to join us for pizza at 7:30.  We were so happy that they all came early at 6:30 with their children to do the entire VBS with them!  To God be the Glory!!!
Jonathan led the Investigate time in which the kids put together a "Ten Commandments" puzzle:

We had a total of 26 our last night and Debbie did a wonderful job teaching them all about Salvation!:

 Game time!:

 Pizza Party!:

 We ended with a water balloon toss and ice cream!

We all agreed that we enjoyed this type of VBS so much more!  We were able to really get to know each of the kids that week and were sad that it had to come to an end.  We are definitely looking forward to doing it again next year. 

The instruction of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.
Psalm 19:7

20 Weeks!

Half-way there!

How far along?: 20 weeks

Total weight gain?: 10 lbs

Symptoms?: Nausea when I get really tired.

How big is baby?: ~5.5 - 6.5 inches (crown-to-rump) and ~9 ounces

Gender?: Girl!

Name?: Josey Hope               
Josey means "God increases"
Hope means "expectation or belief"

Maternity clothes?: Yes! 

Stretch marks?: No-very blessed to not have any at all!

Belly Button?: In right now....barely!  It popped out with Katy and Parker!

Sleep?: I sleep very sound but get up 3-4 times to use the bathroom.

Energy?: Finally have my energy back, especially in the morning.

Exercise?: Does taking care of 4 kids count? :)

Movement?: Most movement is in the late evening when I am finally still!

Food cravings?: McD's Mango Pineapple Smoothie (so yummy!), slushies and red meat.

What I'm looking forward to?: Having another little princess!

Preparations?: Making plans of what we'd like to do...but nothing has been done just yet.  Going to be moving Katybug in with Lily and Maddy and turning Parker's room in to a "big boy" room!

Labor Signs?: None.

Best Moment this week?: We've had the best week...it's hard to choose!  But I'd have to say the Fourth of July.  It was Parker's 3rd Birthday, we got to see Lily dance in her first parade and spend the entire day with our family and friends!  Feeling very blessed!

Please continue to pray for our Josey Hope and that the LORD will knit her perfectly together just as He imagined her to be!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13