What happens when....

you have a six year old boy.  Nathan had his field trip today.  He went to an area Children's museum and had a picnic in the park.  Then a friend invited him to go to the local splash pad after school.  It sits right near the playground equipment.  So, of course, we must play on it too.  So Nathan decided to go down the slide, wet, in his swimming trunks, no shirt...on his stomach.  As he told my friend who was there with him..."I went a little fast."  He slid right off and stopped himself with his chest.  I actually thought it was going to look worse than it did.

Before and After

We got a new driveway!  And it looks amazing.  Here are some before and after shots.  These make me appreciate both my new camera and the new driveway.  (The before pics were taken with Joe's phone.)

You can kind of see the old, decrepit driveway

when they were starting to take out the old one

the finished product

we love our new gravel almost as much as the new cement

The bunny, the bunny, oh I love the bunny....

Being a mom of four, I can never seem to talk about bunnies without singing Veggie Tales.  These are my nemesis.  As I was planting more green beans in my garden this evening where they had eaten my broccoli, they emerged for their late evening snack.  I figured since I couldn't exactly go have a little chat with them, that I might as well make use of the scenery and practice with my camera. I took all of these with my super zoom lens. At least they are good for something....

Joe's favorite pic of the rabbits

My favorite pic of the rabbits

Trying out my new camera

My girls

One of the first pics I took

I was blessed to have my mom visit this weekend!

Joe was getting dinner supplies so I played with my camera in the car.

Nathan getting ready for movie night.  We introduced them to The Man from Snowy River.

My dad and John

The sunrise this morning

Nathan and Ashley contemplating how to find and catch a toad

My rosebush

Playing with the settings on my camera...these are flowers from my flower beds

Love the daisies in my yard this spring

Pictures!

Like I mentioned in my previous post (I am sure you are tired of hearing about it, but I am super excited) my new camera arrives this afternoon.  But my parents are in town and brought their camera.  They got some good shots of the kids last night that I thought I would share.

The official "Horn Herd"

The boys in front of the dirt moving equipment.  We are getting a new driveway!

My sweet Ashley

LOVE this kid.  Not sure if you can see them, but his blue eyes are awesome!

The first of many

Last night was Sara's fifth grade band concert.  Joe and I calculated that if all our children are in band (which is most likely) that this is the first of 8 spring band concerts that we will attend.  And that is just through junior high.  However, this one will rank among the special ones and not just because it was the first one.  Sara won an award!  I didn't even know they gave awards. She was named Outstanding 5th Grade Musician. Thankfully my parents were in town and brought their camera so I actually have recorded memory of the night.  (My camera arrives today!!!)  Enjoy the pics.

Before the Concert

Playing her flute...doesn't she have great posture??!!

Sara with her award

Stay tuned!

For those of you who have been missing some photo shots of the Horn herd, there is hope!  My birthday/Mother's Day gift is right now on a UPS truck on its way to my house.  It is a new camera.  I am so excited about this camera.  So hopefully, after I figure out how to use it, you will see more pics.  Stay tuned!

Do I really trust with all my heart?

Life is a big struggle at times. And I think maybe the only thing more difficult than struggling myself is watching one of my kids struggle.  It has been that kind of a view from my kitchen lately as I hear one child in particular struggle with life.  I would fix it, but in this case, I can't.  It is just not possible for me to fix it.  And so we do what we do (even in the situations that I can fix it) when we struggle, we dig into the Word and we pray.  I felt so much comfort and warmth fill me yesterday as I saw the child with Bible in hand and heard the mumbling of scripture memory from the child's lips.  This wasn't an AWANA kind of scripture memory; this was "I am hurting and can only be comforted by God's presence" kind of scripture memory.  Then today decisions were made.  Decisions that I disagree with.  Decisions I would have made completely different.  (At least I think I would given the circumstances.)   And I found myself asking "Can I trust this child?  Should I step in more?  Should I 'command' more than 'advise'?"  Almost immediately I feel that still, small Voice in my soul.  And it said "The child is seeking me.  And even if the child wasn't, isn't the question 'Can you trust me?'"  Ouch, so true.  I honestly cannot fix this.   Do I trust the Lord with my child?  And I was once again brought back to the verse I have been meditating on this year:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding."  Proverbs 3:5

Such simple truth and one that is so very applicable to my life as a mom.

A brief moment

I had one of those brief moments of brilliance this morning.  You know the kind where you think "Wow, I should write a book and share my wisdom with others."  So instead of writing a book, I'll just record it here on the blog so that one day my kids, when they are trying to figure out the parenting thing, can read it and get some ideas and have their own moments of brilliance.  My kids hate going to the grocery store.  I really can't state this strongly enough.  It is perhaps their least favorite thing to do.  They would rather go to the dentist then follow me around our grocery store.  I think I spoiled them (and myself!) when I was just babysitting one child last fall and was able to get all the shopping done while they were at school.  Now that I have 4 kids, 3 and under, I do not venture out to the store while they are at school.  So, since everyone seems to be convinced that they need to eat 3 meals a day, I do have to drag them to the store.  And, yes, I mean literally drag them.  We came to one of those moments this morning and suddenly I had a light bulb go on. (I think there really was one that popped up over my head).  I decided that we would make personal pizzas today...regular pizzas and dessert pizzas...mmmm.  (Daddy's away so the mice will play!)  So I had them sit down and figure out what they wanted on their respective pizzas, make a list and then at the store, while I went down the aisles filling my cart, they would go together and shop for the things on their list.  Wow, is all I can say.  We had shouts of joy at the prospects of shopping by themselves at the store.  And, as a bonus, it didn't take me long to get everything on my list because I was by myself....definitely a win, win for everyone involved.  So, while we may not have personal pizzas every time I need to go to the store, you can bet I will definitely be dividing up the list and letting them do some of the shopping for me.

On the nightstand

I rarely read one book at a time.  I find that even with good books I need a break occasionally.  Thought you might like a glimpse at what I am currently reading.

Fiction:  I have a fluff mystery that I am reading on Joe's kindle. I don't remember the name of the book or the author and, since it is Joe's kindle, I let him take it with him on his fishing trip.  How kind of me, right?  ;) I just finished an Agatha Christie....I can't remember the name of that one either.  It was good, but not one of her famous Miss Marple or Inspector books.  It took place just after the Lusitania sinking.  Good read.  I love Agatha Christie.

Non-Fiction:

The Unofficial Guide: Walt Disney World 2012  Yes, we are headed to see the Mouse this summer.  I got this book before Christmas and looked through it then.  Last week (and this is the complete truth) I had a nightmare that we were at Disney World and I had decided to "wing it" and didn't plan anything.  It was awful.  I woke up in a cold sweat.  I got the book out the next day and am prepping for our trip.  (Joe thinks I may have a problem...supposedly most people don't have nightmares about Disney World)

Bonhoeffer:  Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas  I found this book in Joe's truck on my way to the doctor's office.  One of the dear women in our church had loaned it to him.  She has a rich German heritage.  I am really enjoying it and it is working my brain.  When you spend most of your days with babies, you need something that will work the brain. I am only about an eighth of the way through it and it is a thick one, so I will be reading this one for awhile. It gives a lot of his personal history and you get to see how his upbringing impacted the direction he went theologically.  And then those beliefs are what lead him to his actions. I am in the late 1920s and looking forward to getting to the point where he confronts the evil of his time.

The Good News We almost Forgot:  Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism by Kevin DeYoung This book is not nearly as "heavy" as it sounds.  Pastor DeYoung spent a year writing devotionals based on the Heidelberg Catechism for his church.  This is a compilation of those devotionals.  He writes his thoughts on each of the  "Lord's Day" questions.  I am thoroughly enjoying it.  I have developed an appreciation for the catechisms as my children have been growing up.  I enjoy going through Big Truths for Little Kids with them and it has been a great tool for teaching them some theological truths.    And while I don't agree with all the teaching in the catechisms, they are designed so that it is easy to skip the ones I don't believe.  The Heidelberg Catechism is much longer and I have enjoyed reading Kevin DeYoung's thoughts on it.