Friday Favorites

I thought I'd do a quick catch-up of some of my favorite things that have been happening around our household in the last few weeks.

First up is the swing set addition.  For a while now, Kevin and I have said that we wanted to expand the swing set because Kate was sort of starting to outgrow it and we knew that Karsten would be in the same situation before too long. I found this purple tube slide on a Facebook buy/sell site for $50 and knew I couldn't pass it up! Because our weekends are always filled with activities (or laundry), we spent a few week nights and got most of the addition built. The girls love it so much! We still have to add a roof (and in this picture, the floor wasn't done yet). When we're finished, there will be sort of a clubhouse on the bottom and they will have a roof on the top.  We're determined to have kids that love to play outside. And even if they don't love it, at least they'll have somewhere to go when we tell them that they HAVE to play outside for a while.

FINALLY it is warm enough to start our after church tradition on Wednesday nights.  Last summer we started taking the girls to get ice cream after church on Wednesdays pretty often. We'll sometimes go to Dairy Queen or Sonic. These pictures weren't on a Wednesday night but just a random weeknight. We'd eaten dinner and Kate had already put on her PJ's to get ready for bed when we told them to go load up in the car. I think they approved.

I lead a women's small group Bible study that meets about 3 times per year.  We do 6-8 week studies and meet in the fall, winter and early summer on Mondays at 8pm. It is such a great time of fellowship. I'm so excited for our upcoming Bible study that starts next week! I can tell you, this is one that I definitely need. I mean just listen to the descriptive of the study: 

Women today are in bondage to busyness. One of the greatest challenges among women in our culture is taking time to cease from all the activities and just breathe. We constantly strive to complete the limitless to-do lists that hinder us from experiencing all that God has for us. This June we'll be starting a 6 week study by Priscilla Shirer called "Breathe" to explore how we can build margin into our lives for God. If you are weary, worn out, and exhausted, the concept of Sabbath will change your life.

Kevin and I are part of a small group for 20's and 30's.  We have been together for so long, this has actually turned into the "20's, 30's and then some" small group since some people have aged out!  Anyway, Kate caught a yucky stomach bug that had been going around and so she and I missed our last meeting before we break for the summer.  It was Mexican night (my favorite!) and thankfully our sweet friends sent home food for me so I didn't miss out!

Karsten has become the queen of excuses for getting out or bed at night.  You name it, she has used it.  On this night she said she needed some cuddles, so who am I to complain about that? I mean she isn't going to want them for too much longer so I better take them while I can and just ignore the fact that it was 10:30pm. 

Kate and Karsten will soon be wrapping up swim lessons for the year and yet again they have had a BLAST.  Here they are, ready for their 2nd to last lesson!

Ever have a song that just speaks to you every single time you hear it? This is one of those for me. I love it. 

Y'all.  Last Wednesday as we were leaving church, I got a taste of the teenage years. I looked over to see Kate (who is SIX), propped up against a car, talking to her friend Connor.  They are 4 months apart in age and go back and forth between being best friends, and fighting like cats/dogs. You'd think they were siblings.  

And that's just a taste of what's going on around here. Life is busy, but FULL in the best possible ways. And just THREE more days till summer break! Woohoo.