In Eight More...

....she'll be asking for the car keys! I'm almost a week late getting this posted, so for all of you {grammies} that were anxiously awaiting, here it is.

Last year sometime, Karis wrote us a note and, with tears in her eyes, made us promise not to laugh when we read it. The note told us that she was the only girl in her class that didn't have her ears pierced. We told her we weren't going to run out and get her them pierced just so she could be like all the other girls in her class, so she patiently waited...and waited. We decided to let her get it done for her 8th birthday if she wanted. As the day approached, she showed a mix of excitement and nerves {I have to admit I was super excited myself}. We went right to Claire's after school on Tuesday, and she played brave as she climbed up in the chair, but didn't make it through without quite a few tears. A week later, she's taking care of all the cleanings and can't wait until she gets to change them for the first time. I think they've added the perfect sweet little shimmer to her beautiful face.

I'm pretty sure that in another eight years, we're gonna be pretty glad her daddy knows how to use a gun :o)! {Of course, I'm kidding...maybe. a little.}

For EVERY Parent

I came across this blog post the other day, and even though it is geared toward {Christian} Homeschooling parents, I am confident that, no matter how you educate your children, most of the points of this article pertain to you. I'm storing a copy to come back to, as a reminder for myself in the coming years.

Even There....

Psalm 139:10...Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

I'm having one of those weeks where I need to remind myself of what the Lord has shown me in the past year and half....what He's assured me of about who I am, and why I'm doing what I do. Because it's one of those weeks where I'm feeling like we are the Hunter Family Cyclone. One of those weeks where I'm sure you'd judge me on the condition of my house {No, really....you would}. One of those weeks where I wash loads of laundry twice because they sit in the washer too long and four other loads of laundry sit in the baskets waiting to be folded for two days and yet another load waits at the top of the steps since the weekend to be put away. One of those weeks where the battle cry for Mark and me is "Divide and Conquer". One of those weeks where I can't keep up with any of my email accounts. One of those weeks where I look back on last week and look ahead at the one to come, and realize they aren't any better. One of those weeks where the piles of papers multiply and divide and then multiply again. One of those weeks where I ask the Lord {again} if we're really not supposed to homeschool and why our kids can't stay pre-schoolers forever.

In May, I shared a testimony about how the Lord is right where I'm at. So I'm reminding myself, He's in the questions and the hurry and the shortcomings. He's in the group hugs and family cheers. He's in the school morning prayers. He's in the bleacher conversations at the soccer game. He's in the scheduling of gymnastics classes during the same hour. He's in library books on the swing in the backyard while dishes are put on hold. He's in poems that Karis reads to me each night before bed. He's in MOPS steering team meetings where huge prayers are answered. He's in the in the van on the way home from school. He's in the trading off of keys to get from one activity to the next. He's in leftover pots of potato soup and sauce and meatballs that are shared with friends. He's in Story Time connections. He's in the kiss good-bye in the morning and the kiss good night, too.

He didn't bring us to this week by accident and we didn't get here because we ignored Him. We've walked hand in hand to this place...and I know He's got plans to use it.       

Halfway to 18!?!?

We celebrated Ethan's 9th birthday yesterday. It was a sweet day. I love that kid. There was nothing extraordinarily amazing about the day. Surprisingly, Karis, Natalie, and Levi played together around the house, while Mark and I played a game of LIFE with Ethan, which he handedly won {he's just lucky I had to give up my career as a doctor to become a hairdresser so I could spend more time with my four kids}. We had the dinner of his choice {breakfast, of course}. He had already gotten on of his presents last week {an MP3 player that we wanted to give to Karis and him at the same time since they were both getting one and we wanted them to be able to load them before school started}, so the only thing left to open was a card {which he read each word of with a smile and assured us it was going on his dresser so he could save it...I love that he "gets" the message in it} and a game for the DS, which he was thrilled to see under that wrapping paper. And, of course, we all enjoyed huge slices of ice cream cake.

As low key as the day was, at bedtime, we put to bed a 9 year old boy who was absolutely satisfied with his day. He said good night to us with a huge hug and kiss and an "I love you, Mommy and Daddy...thank you so much." I pray we still hear those words nine years from now, when we put an 18 year old to bed on September 4th.

Mark and I played around with creating this video for a while yesterday. We still can't figure out why it cuts off the "e" on the end of cause on the last slide when it publishes {it's not cut off when you preview it in the creator software}. Oh well...still makes me tear up after watching it 25 times yesterday.

In the Blink of an Eye...

...this...

...grows into this.

I thought for sure I'd be able to hold it together, seeing as this is the third time we've sent a kid to pre-k. Then I turned around and walked out that door, and it was hopeless.

Summer's Over...Already?

Being that I'm  teacher's wife, I always think that summer passes by too quickly. This one has been a record breaker in my book, though! We jam packed the past three months with a flurry of activities, which made the weeks fly by even faster than we expected.

We started the summer off by giving the house a face lift since our front porch was cracked and the brick facade was falling off. Hopefully next summer we'll be able to reside the rest of the house. We had two out of town weddings for friends that we've known since childhood. Baseball stretched throughout the summer, with Ethan being asked to play in a couple of tournaments. Mark and I got to celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a trip to New Hampshire, Maine, and New York City...thanks to the three free hotel nights I won from Sevenstar! We took the kids to Niagra Falls and rode the Maid of the Mist. Mark headed to Cross-Country camp for 5 days...we joined him in a tent one of the nights. I headed to Tennessee for 4 days to enjoy MOPS International Convention. It was great time with 8 wonderful ladies...we got to hear from Max Lucado, Sara Groves, Mandisa, and Steven Curtis & Mary Beth Chapman.  Two hours after returning from that trip I headed to Hocking Hills with the kids to spend a couple days with my mom's side of the family for our annual Barbaro Family Reunion. This past week we squeezed in a Backyard Bible Club and now we're jumping in to inservices, welcome calls, orientations, and cross-country meets.

Here are a few picture highlights some of the things we've done:



 

He Truly Does

Really, he's simply amazing. Not sure what we did to deserve Mark, but we thank God He loved us enough to put him in our lives!