Enter Steve and Stacie. Their girls had outgrown the swing set in their back yard. Out of the blue, Stacie emailed me and wanted to know if our family would want it. We would just have to come and pick it up. Are you serious. . .yes!!
Elmer and Jackie, my inlaws are in town for the week and Elmer loves to have things to do and he is where William learned to be so amazingly handy around the house. So they went over on Wednesday to assess what kind of tools they would need, and what size truck etc. They took detailed pictures so they would know how to put everything back together. Here Elmer is checking everything out.
Then on Thursday afternoon/evening, Elmer, Jackie, and William went over and dismantled everything. This morning, they rented a truck and went to pick everything up. Owen didn’t really know what was going on, but was so excited about the moving truck in our driveway!
William had warned me that it might be sitting our garage until next summer. So I really didn’t think we’d have a swing set by the end of the day. But some bug must have gotten into these men and they became bound and determined to get it done in one day. They got everything unloaded and started the wash down process. Owen even tried to help with that. 
We picked a spot and the laying out of the boards began. Ellie was a good supervisor and Grandma helped keep the kiddos in check. 
Then things began to be pieced together:
These 3 didn’t even take a lunch break. Owen on the other hand needed a little break from working hard to play in his sandbox.
Owen woke up early from his nap and I was going to try to get him to go back to sleep. But he looked out his window and I’ve never seen a child bolt outside so fast. It wasn’t done yet, but there was enough that he could climb. Wow, did he learn fast how to do that ladder!
He spent the remainder of the day inspecting every inch of that thing. He went up and down and up and down the ladder.
Then we added the swing. I found a cheap one on Craigslist and Ellie will be getting hers for Christmas. He was now officially in heaven. 
At dinner, Grandpa arrived from teaching at church and got the tour from Owen.
Then the men spent a good deal of time figuring out how to muscle the roof on top. Owen was quite unhappy that he wasn’t able to help with the muscles. 
But then, it was DONE! And I may never be able to stay inside again. We may add a slide to it next summer. :)
S&S – We could not be more grateful for this amazing gift. Owen is so in love with it already and seeing his excitement made me tear up more than once today. Thank you for your generous hearts. We promise to make lots more memories on this swing set just like your girls did! Thank you, thank you.
But around 18 months I realized, he could repeat things back to me, so I decided to start doing Bible verses with him. I printed off a few of my favorite simple verses and decided to read one a week. We use it as his bookmark and after we read his story, we read his verse. I have him repeat it back to me and we sometimes talk about it. Then, I pray it over him. I think it’s so important to let your kids HEAR you pray over them. So for example, if the verse is “Children obey your parents because you belong to the Lord.” I would pray that his obedience would stem out of a love for the Lord. I would also try use this verse when talking to him about obeying me. I want to try to teach him the “why” behind why I’m asking him to do certain things
Sleeping: Well, she’s definitely still a better sleeper than Owen, although her night sleep isn’t as great this month as it was at the beginning. She does a short nap about an hour after she gets up. Another one around 11, and then a long chunk one from around 2-5 (with a nursing break or short wake in here). She’s been going down earlier, between 7 and 8, but she’s been getting up a ton. Like 4-6 times. Boo. But Owen’s been sleeping awful too lately and I’m trying to juggle them both so William can get up early to study. So sometimes it just doesn’t work very well. Hoping she starts sleeping longer chunks soon! At least she puts herself to sleep wonderfully, unlike her brother.
Milestones and other tidbits: She is pretty much sitting up! I still have to be close and usually have a pillow behind her, but she’s doing it. If she has something in her hand, she forgets she’s sitting up and doesn’t topple over. I have a feeling she may be moving a bit quicker than Owen. She rolls from front to back and back to front and does it on both sides!
She loves blowing bubbles with her lips and mimics me like we’re having a conversation: 
Good Monday morning to you all! Welcome to Pinned It, Did It Monday where I tell you about something I attempted to actually do from Pinterest, instead of just spending time “pinning” things. 
Picture I Pinned:
My review: Fabulous! As my first foray into freezer cooking, I appreciated the simple recipes, what side dish I could serve, and a shopping list! I made 7 of the 8 meals as I wasn’t really feeling in the mood for beef stew yet. It probably took me more than an hour, but I had 2 kiddos I was dealing with and I kinda worked on this over a whole day instead of one chunk of time. We’ve already eaten 2 of them (the cilantro lime chicken and BBQ ribs) and they were both very good! I can totally see falling in love with freezer cooking. If you're wanting to try it, this is a great place to start!
