Knibb High Football Rules

I should know; we went to the game. Ok, so it wasn't Knibb High, it was Moorpark College. But it was still pretty great. (If you aren't a Billy Madison fan, I'm sure you are already lost.)

On Saturday, we went up to Moorpark for a faculty tailgate party and football game. Dan and Carmen met us there, but I'm not sure Carmen knew there was a football game going on. She just wanted to play with Mad. Understandable.

Who Needs Pants?

The other day, Maddox noticed Daddy putting on his belt while getting ready for work. Maddox was hooked. From that moment forward, he has been wearing a belt as much as possible. Even wearing pants is not a prerequisite for the belt. Fortunately, Mad was willing to relinquish Daddy's belt for one of Mommy's which is a little better size-wise.

As a child of the 80's, I must let you know that every time I see Maddox walking around like this, I hear Belinda Carlisle singing "Heaven is a Place on Earth" and I start looking for the nearest belt to wear around my shirt. Do you know what that's worth?

Simplicity

Life has slowed down considerably for us now that the summer is coming to a close. (Does California's summer ever really end?) Jeff's in his fifth week of instruction and loving every bit of it. He loves training at his gym in Norco, and he also has some opportunities to train with a club volleyball program that we're really praying about.

Maddox and I find ourselves at home a lot these days. We only have one family car which is currently getting a very good workout because Jeff drives about 200 miles a day. It leaves Maddox and me at home to play at the park, go for walks and bike rides, go to story time at the library, take toddler classes through the city, and just be slow. And you know what, I love the simplicity. I love that we are enjoying just being together. Life will move too fast again soon enough. For right now, I'm content to play with Mr. Potato Head and watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

And this is what Clubber does with his simple days. Clubber's just a simple kind of guy ... in more ways than one.

As Promised...

Here are videos of Maddox and Abby underwater. Ted, I'll trade you my old crummy camera for your cool underwater camera. Straight trade ... I won't charge you a thing. Let me know.

Blond or Brunette?

Sometimes when I look at Maddox, I just can't believe how blond his hair is. I was a blondie as a kid, but his hair is almost white. His blond hair has become such a part of him now, that when I saw this old picture of a dark-haired Maddox baby, I almost didn't realize who it was. Weird.

What's Not To Love?

Ever had an experience like this? Today I was looking through pictures of the Hoggard's visit and other pictures of my wonderful husband and son, and it just hit me... what's not to love?! I'm such a lucky girl.

Birdie slept in this very same bag at this very same water park. Oh how time flies!

Look at that concentration. I take family volleyball very seriously.

This is what happens when you ask Maddox, "where's the goat's ear?"

"Sorry I pulled your ear, Mr. Goat. Here's a kiss to make up for it."

Abby's post-ear piercing photo.

The grown-ups had a date night at Dave and Buster's while Aunt Alicia babysat. At one point, Mandy and I lost the hubbies, but we figured we would just look at all the alien shooting video games until we found them. That did the trick.

Sites I Love

Confession: I love blogging! I love posting pictures and stories about how Maddox is growing up, and reading our friends' and families' blogs. But what I'm really talking about now is reading other blogs out there in the blogosphere mainly about Biblical womanhood and Christian living. I spend about the first hour of Maddox's naps reading inspirational blogs and reveling in the wisdom and humor of others. It's my time to refocus on what's important.

I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some of my favorite blogs. You might not have the time to read all of them, but if you find a moment to peek at one or two, you will be blessed. I know I have!

Crystal's blog Biblical Womanhood is always inspiring. I love reading about her tips on simplifying our lives and honoring our husbands.

Girl Talk is a great blog written by four women (a mom and her three grown daughters). It has really encouraged me with practical tips for spending time with God.

If you need a laugh, read Big Mama's blog. Hilarious, wholesome, and well written.

Finally, in the midst of a heavy trial, I have found inspiration to hear God's whispers to me at Bring The Rain. Angie writes honestly about her life with her family and the loss of her youngest daughter. Unbelievable. One post, Blink, has refocused my eyes. It's a long one, but it's a must-read!

I hope you get a chance to check these out. These sites are daily blessings to my heart.

Hoggard's Visit

WARNING: HUGE POST!!! Ted, Mandy, Nolan, Abby and Evan came down for a visit last week and we had so much fun! It's so easy to take pictures now in the digital age that we ended up with about 350 photos between the two families. I did my best to narrow them down, but there were just too many adorable ones. And since I don't know how to do that scrapbook thing where your pictures just revolve, you'll just have to look through the incredibly long post. I also usually try to put the pictures in some order that makes sense, but there were just too many to mess with that. So, here are our jumbled up pictures from a week of family fun...

Alicia has access to a ton of fun critters because she works with Science On The Go. Here's Mad playing with a tarantula and doing the sign for spider.

We got to go fishing for carp in a lake in Yorba Linda. The picture above is how Evan fishes.
Ted, Nolan, Abby and Alicia paddling past the rest of us while we were fishing.
Daddy taught Maddox how to fish. It was seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

We caught a Maddox!!

Squishy baby Evan.

Contrast this with fly fishing waist deep in the Russian River growing up in Alaska!

We got to go to Disneyland three times while they were here. It was definitely one of the highlights for the kiddos. (The photos are out of order, so there are more D-land pics below.)

A trip to California is never complete without a lot of trips to the pool.

Evan and Grandma Great
I have a picture of Nolan kissing Pooh's nose when he was about this age too!

Maddox and Abby at Wild Rivers Water Park
This was Mad's face on the little drop in Pirates of the Caribbean. He loves that ride, but every time we go down the drop, he reaches over and squeezes my leg.

Ted has the coolest underwater camera. We also got a video of Maddox under water, but I'll have to add that in a different post.
This was a picnic with Aunt Alicia after the kids played in the slip-n-slide all afternoon.
This is what the dads did during the picnic.