Today marks 4 years

Four years ago today, my baby, at just 7 weeks old, had open heart surgery.  The surgery was performed by Dr. V at Johns Hopkins.  Looking back, so many things fell perfectly into place that I know it is only by God's grace that his surgery was performed on August 30th.  We were scheduled for surgery at the end of September, but he was under weight (only 7 lbs 3 oz) and failing to thrive.  I was a wreck.  It had been just less than 2 years since I had lost my first son.  Seeing my newborn son struggling to eat and stay awake broke my heart. 

 

 

Today, he is a happy, healthy, amazing 4 year old.

 

We love you Paxton

 

Book Review: How to pick up a Stripper and other acts of kindness.

So when I first saw this title, I thought this was a book I had to read.  I knew the author had to have a great sense of humor and....he did!  Todd and Erin Stevens started Friendship Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee.  The book introduces Servant Evangelism and reaching out to people where they are.  Todd makes fun at himself often throughout  the book, making it not only a fun read, but also driving home the point that we all make mistakes and miss opportunities.  

The book tells a story of how Erin, after much prayer and fasting) decided to minister to local strippers.  She didn't go in preaching at them, but through kindness-with no strings attached- she modeled God's love and eventually helped a young single mother named Katie change her life. 
The book is about outreach and gives several great examples of how to show kindness and God's love to people in the community in our every day lives.  Some of them include washing windshields, buying lunch or gas for someone, and taking money and detergent to the laundry mat to help people pay and fold clothes.  They (not only Todd and Erin, but members of their church) do this with no strings attached.  They do it to demonstrate God's love.

For me, this book makes sense.  It's something I've thought about, but really never thought about practicing in my every day life.  I have always paid it forward, donated to charity, helped friends in need, etc., but I realize now that it's not enough.  As Christians, we are called to love everyone, even those people we do not like.  As someone who is pretty reserved and introverted, this is definitely out of my comfort zone.  However, it is something I will work on. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.

A Day in DC- Walk to the WWII Monument and Lincoln Memorial

All week I've been documenting our day in DC.  This is the final day.  The first thing we did when leaving the Air and Space Museum was ride the Carousel.  It's always a huge hit with the kids. 

We took some time to play in the grass on the way to the WWII Memorial

I love that my kids really love each other.

It was a great view. 

 

This monument is very special to me.  First, I saw it for the first time with my Dad.  He loved history and especially learning about WWII.  Second, my great uncle (my Dad's uncle) was a Pearl Harbor survivor.  It's a special memorial and a great way to honor those soldiers.

Our next stop (and the last stop with pictures) was the Lincoln Memorial.  The kids were not impressed.  They were pretty tired by this point.

 

Exhausted...

Overall...a really awesome day.

A Day in DC- Air and Space Museum

Paxton LOVES airplanes so we had to check out the Air and Space Museum.  I wish we could have spent more time there, but it was crowded and we had a lot we wanted to cram in a short amount of time.  We will definitely go back.

First we had a picnic lunch.  BTW...if you are ever in DC, please do not feed the birds or squirrels.  They then expect food from everyone.  We had a squirrel who stalked us during most of our lunch.

So, at the museum, Mia got to see her weight on Earth, Mars, and on the moon.  Very cool!

Pax loved the model planes...

 

Mia was starting to get tired so she tried relaxing in the stroller.

 

Pax and I loved looking at the old planes.  They were awesome and I can't wait to go back.

A day in DC - Natural History Museum

Our second stop in DC was the Natural History Museum.  The kids really wanted to see the dinosaurs.  Unfortunately, that second was under construction, but we were able to see a few exhibits.  It was fun.

The walk with dinosaurs was really cool.

 

 

A fun museum, but I think we will wait to go back until the dinosaur exhibit has reopened.

 

A day in DC- The Washington Monument

Before school started, we decided to take the kids to DC for the day to see the monuments and museums.  I'm going to break this post up into a few posts as to not inundate you with pictures.  Mia had been asking to see the Washington Monument for a while so they were really excited.  They loved it and are both asking to go back.

Mia is doing her I'm excited dance while waiting to get in.

Just after walking through security

Looking out of the window of the monument.  It was really cool.

While waiting for the elevator to go down, there was a model of the inside and some fun facts. 

Overall, a great visit and really interesting. 

Fun times in Soloman's Island

A couple weeks ago, we spent a few hours walking around Soloman's Island.  It was fun and the kids had a great time.

We took a walk on the boardwalk

and played on the playground...

 

The ice cream was delicious

A fun summer day...