Backpacking

This weekend Drew and I were able to take a backpacking trip together to Lena Lake. Melissa was so kind and enthusiastic to watch our girls and is such a blessing to us to let us get this time away. The girls had a wonderful time with Aunt Melissa and Drew and I had a wonderful time enjoying more of God's creations. I just can't get enough of hiking and exploring new places. Our world truly is so beautiful and has such a fascinating variety to it that it is so exciting to explore. It's hard to know what to write about specifically for this weekend- I feel blessed for so many things: our safety, the natural beauty, the weather, our time together, knowing our girls were in good hands, returning home. I am blessed for this weekend experience and for seeing God's handiwork in an up-close way.

Helping Books

Today I feel very blessed to have a lot of my parenting beliefs and values reaffirmed through books that I love. This is probably really nerdy, but it really helps me solidify what I am doing and have more of a parenting plan, then just reacting to situations as they come. I love the Baby Wise books. A friend of mine recommended them to me when I was a new mom and they were definitely a blessing to me then, just as they are to me now. Drew mentions that a lot of what is discussed is just common parenting sense, but somehow it just really helps me to see it in print and to read it and have that resource available to me. I know that people are different and parenting styles are different, but for me, this has been a huge help and a huge blessing. Tonight as I was reading I found some of the answers that I've been struggling with for Abbie and I round reassurance that I was doing lots of things right (yeah!) because sometimes it is just overwhelming and I wonder if I am. I'm on the fourth book in the sequence, (reading each as Abbie progresses and rereading with Lauren) 'On Becoming Preschool Wise' and I've had it on my nightstand so I can read when I have time. Today Abbie picked it up and asked if she could read it... I thought that was pretty funny and snapped a quick picture. I am grateful that we live in an information age- where information is available on almost anything and is so accessible. I'm grateful for the help that we can find for different troubles, and I am blessed that I can discern what's right for our family.

Sunday School Boys

It is interesting to reflect on my perspective of my current church calling as a Sunday School teacher. At first I was pretty terrified and basically dreaded every Sunday, but now I just look forward to teaching my class and want to work harder at making my lessons more meaningful. The last few weeks I have had only boys in my class, (which is nice- because they don't act up too much when there's not any girls to impress) and I have really felt blessed and impressed that they seem to actually be listening and learning. Last week they knew all of the review material that I was asking about and today they just really got in a rhythm of reading and answering questions. I feel very blessed for the progress that they've made, and for the strength the Lord has given me to teach them, and I feel motivated to do even better and rely on the Lord even more.