What our crew has been up to lately....

We had three big birthdays at our house during the month of May!  Isaac turned 6 (he is so sweet first thing in the morning.... complete with "bed head"!)

Audrey turned 1.

And Scott turned 40!!!

I had some big surprises to pull off for Scott's 40th!  I put together a trunk full of letters for Scott that he opened on the evening of his birthday.  He was so surprised....and so blessed!  It took him three nights to read all of the letters!

Our dear friend, Bobbi, called me early in the month to ask if she could plan a surprise party for Scott in Warsaw with old friends.  It was such a wonderful night.... and yes, it was a SURPRISE!  YEA!

Our boys loved camping out with their daddy earlier in the month!

I loved joining Aaron and his class for their field trip in May.  We learned all about the history of our town, and it was really fun (all except riding in the back of the bus with a bunch of 3rd grade boys.  I think that 3rd grade boys are from another planet!!!)  I loved having 1-on-1 time with my oldest kiddo!

We dedicated our little darling at church the week of her birthday!  It was such a special day!  Seriously, how sweet is she?!?!

And we have spent a WHOLE lot of time at the baseball diamonds.  We are in tournament season now, so we are getting ready to wrap up for the year.  Aaron has learned so much during his first year in the "Minor League" (AKA kid pitch!)

Although blurry, I LOVE this shot that Scott captured of the ball flying off of Aaron's bat..... under the lights.... to the fence.... HOME RUN!!!  :)

A little reminder at the park tonight....

We love to walk to the park with our kids.... especially on a gorgeous night like tonight!  At the park tonight, I received a vivid reminder about how important it is for us to parent with intention.  The reminder did not come from my own children....

Here is the conversation that I witnessed between two 8ish year old boys....

Boy1:  Hey, we should swap video games sometime.
Boy2:  My parents won't let me swap games.
Boy1:  Well, we could just do it and never tell them.  They don't have to know.

LONG PAUSE.

Boy2:  Character.
Boy1:  Huh? 
Boy2:  Character.
Boy1:  What do you mean?  Like Pokemon?  He's a character.
Boy2:  Character.
Boy1 proceeds to name a few other cartoon characters while Boy2 just keeps saying one word, "Character."

Because I was standing very close to this encounter.... and because Boy2 actually made eye contact with me as he was growing frustrated and longing for Boy1 to understand, I gently said, "I understand what you're trying to say.  Why don't you teach your friend what 'character' means?"

Boy2 turned to his friend and boldly said, "Character is standing up for what is right even when no one else is watching."

WOW.  WOW.  WOW. 

Now, I'm very aware that Websters wouldn't exactly define character like this but hello.... this was an 8 year old!!!

Standing up for what was right AND bringing his friend along, trying to teach him and set a good example.

I loved talking about this experience with our kids at the dinner table tonight.  What I witnessed was a big, big deal.

The Biblical values and Biblical virtues that we are pressing into our kiddos' lives are SO important.  We've got to invest in the next generation intentionally..... we've got to parent with intention!

I wish I could have found the parents of Boy2 in this scenario to brag on their kiddo to them.  It was a simple moment that was so, so profound!

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 6:4-7).