Deep Thoughts?

Sometimes I feel like 10 times a day I'm asking myself if anyone else thinks like me. You know, when you are totally nodding your head while your kid asks you a question and your mind is off in Jumanji.....those kinds of thoughts. Brian has to sometimes physically pull me back into the present because I'm off somewhere thinking of the deepest, weirdest, craziest, saddest things that human beings can possibly think of. Have you been there? I think that it takes being around someone who is so not a deep thinker that makes you feel one of two things: a psychopath or a genius. So lately I've had moments of feeling very intelligent, or very unstable---wonderful options if I do say so myself. I think I've passed on this gene to Noah. That kid asks me some pretty insane questions and I can see just where his mind is headed after I answer.

Why does God make some people think so dang differently than others? Ya ya ya, there's the whole bit about challenging one another and revealing new things/ideas/answers, but most of the time I think it's just frustrating. And no, I have no direction for this post whatsoever, so if you are searching, don't. For instance, there was recently some legislation that passed here that allows the Athiest Society to post ads in the city buses that read "You Can Be Good without God". Really? Now what are they hoping to gain by posting these signs? A bunch of people suddenly leaping for joy and saying "Phew! What a relief!"? I mean, I'm totally baffled by this. I think those of us that are true believers feel we really aren't capable of being good without God---because afterall, all good things come from Him. But the world of course is quick to believe that yes, naturally, you can be good without God. I know "good" people that have no relationship with God whatsoever---but that doesn't change the fact that He created them--and created them in His image. Anyhoo, just something I've been stewing over for the last 24 hours after reading the paper. Oh and to touch on that, there's the whole story of the guy in NC that was supposedly the nicest, wisest, most helpful neighbor around and turns out he was orchestrating some major terrorism plot. So maybe you can be "good" without God but not all good. And does any of his good really matter at all if he was planning on blowing multitudes of people up somewhere down the line?

I know, heavy stuff. And yet, right in the middle of these thought patterns I'm given a net by one of my sons and told I'm a princess and to put it on my head. So I do, and then I act like a 5 yr old and laugh and then boom---I'm back at the brain business. It. never. stops. I just wonder at what level of conscienceness God really intended us to be at. Why did he give us levels of thought, if you will? Why are deep thoughts considered to be usually darker, sadder, more serious, etc?

Anyway, totally not a pick-me-up post. But I do have one more recognizable "deep thinker" for ya to wrap up this odd segment. Closing thought, but Jack Handy:

"Any man, in the right situation, is capable of murder. But not any man is
capable of being a good camper. So, murder and camping are not as similar as
you might think."

Backyard Campout

We went to the lake last weekend and saw all the people camping and it got our camping juices flowing. We are hoping to have our first "real" camping trip in the next month or two after we've purchased a few necessities. Until then.....................




....our backyard worked like a charm! The boys had the best time ever and Noah and Brian even slept all night in the tent. We had a crazy cold front come in and it dropped into the mid fifties. They stayed toasty in the tent and woke up with some great memories made. It was fun for Brian and I to see the tent up since it hasn't been since our ole married-no-kids days. Now we're all ready for the real thing sometime soon!

Summer Fun and 4th of July

We've spent a lot of time outside in July. The weather has been gorgeous and we have enjoyed God's creation so much. Oh! And Wesley threw away all his pacis!!! Just a random factoid I thought I'd share. :) It's been 2 weeks and he is doing great. He saw a pic today of him sucking on one and he got a little sad, but that's it. We're so proud of our growing boy. So here are some pics of July.
The boys pouring water on my feet. They are such good sports!



Best buddies, Drew, Wesley, Noah and Rachel.
Cuties at the park having a pow-wow.
The Spicers on the 4th of July.
Noah swimming confidently in his floaties on the lake.

The Highs

****I started writing this post on 7/7 and am determined to finish it tonight. I apologize for the ridiculous delay!

After working out in the garden (a new pumpkin patch plot I'm digging up) and getting sweaty and dirty and nasty, I would much rather sit back and look at a magazine or watch TV while the boys are still sleeping. HOWEVER, if I don't come back around and write my "highs" from our Texas roadtrip, I just may never do it. So here are some pics to complement my words.

First off, the road trip was fantastic. Really, it was. The boys were amazing---didn't flinch at being in the car that long. We stopped in Memphis for the night which is 7.5 hours from Bloomington. It was perfect timing as it was midnight TN time. Then the next day, we headed the final 6 hours to TX. Because all of the suggestions my amazing friends gave me on Facebook, I came prepared with so many things for the boys to do. However, they didn't even get into a lot of it because they were content to just be. They didn't even watch much TV which shocked me cuz I got a bunch of new stuff from the library.
This cross was HUGE!!


Next we got to my parents house and it was such a wonderful welcome. Unfortunately, I took no pics of the boys in the garden, or playing with Mee-ma and Papa which was such a bummer. I just can't believe I forgot. But here are the boys playing in Mee-ma's bath after a super sweaty Texas day.
On our way out of Tyler, we stopped at this awesome park/museum that is owned by Brookshires---a large grocery store chain there. Once again, I should have taken pics of this museum. It had real stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes from practically every continent. The boys were amazed. Then we went outside to the park where they have an old train and firetruck that you can climb on.




Then we went on to my sister Kasey's place which is in big D. We had a great time visiting with her and the boys of course savored their time with cousins, Connor and Payton.






We spent the next couple days visiting with our good friend's the Chapman's and the Ashlocks. The Ashlock's have been mentors to Brian and me in many ways and we miss them dearly. We had a blast being with them as they prepared to send their first daughter Amber off in marriage. Pics of that in a minute. Here are some pics of Noah, Taylor, Bubba (lil' David) and Wesley. They are the best of buds and we enjoyed thoroughly hangin' with Kristen and Dave just relaxin. Too bad I took pictures of no grownups!

The Woodwards are some of our best friends who we've traveled with on mission trips in the past. We had a nice splurge of a dinner at Morton's one night and then we visited later in the week again. Pitifully, the ONLY pic I took was this one of Amber reading to Carter and Wesley.
We spent a few days at my oldest sister, Kim's house. Noah and Wesley were in heaven having unlimited time with their cousins. I of course, loved watching them play and relaxing with my sisters. We also got to spend Father's Day all together with my dad and that was incredibly special. We don't know when the last time that happened---maybe 15 years or more!




We left my sisters and headed for a quick visit at the LST office. I loved seeing some of my old co-workers and catching up on all their happenings. It is almost impossible for me to believe it's been a year and a half since I've worked. Amazing how time has flown. But I am completely sure that God has me doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing----teaching, loving and caring for these 2 little rascals I call Noah and Wesley. :) We spent 2 nights with my good friend Stephanie and her 2 boys (her hubbie was out of town). It was so nice to catch up with her as I had not been very good at keeping in touch. The boys had a blast with her 2 little boys Jake and Cole. They spoiled us with all their neat toys as you will see below.




We closed our trip with the wedding of Amber Ashlock and Trevor Cates. It was a beautiful night and the wedding was perfect. We saw many familiar faces and the boys had so much fun. Noah kept saying, "I can't believe I'm at a wedding!" It was so cute. Here are couple pics of the wedding. Unfortunately I could never get a good pic of the boys. They looked so cute in these outfits Aunt Kasey bought them.

So there is FINALLY the summary of our trip. It has been 3 weeks since we got back and July is flying by. We loved our time in TX and even the road trip parts of it. It was nice to spend time together as a family even if it did feel weird being a "visitor" in TX. :) Thank you again to everyone who hosted us!! We love and miss all of our family in TX so much!