A question for you...

Alright, so I'm going to confess up front to everyone that this is not a picture post. Nor is it a post about my children, which is really the only reason I have had this blog up to now. I'm not one for sharing a lot of details about me or my life to lots of people, thus the lack of a lot of blogging. It's not really on purpose, I think it's just my nature. Clay thinks I'm an reclusive introvert in disguise... he's probably pretty accurate. But, I've been thinking a lot lately about some of the possible benefits of the world that blogging creates and I just want to throw an idea out there and see what y'all think.

As a Christian who has recently become a mother, I have had three truths impressed upon my heart.

First, my children are incredible gifts from my Creator, entrusted to me and Clay, each to raise to glorify Him.

Second, as their mother, I will most likely be the strongest spiritual influence my children will have. (I am not minimizing my husband's influence at all. He is and will be a huge influence, but he has handed over the daily responsibility of raising and teaching our children to me... that is an act of extraordinary trust.)

Third, this is my only shot. I will have no second chances, no start overs.

Ever since Avery was born almost 3 years ago, I cannot get these truths out of my head. The question then becomes, how do these truths affect my life. This is where you come in. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in having a blog that everyone can contribute to that is devoted to thoughts, ideas, questions, etc. that come up in the daily spiritual training of our children. So many times we do things just because that is always how we've done them without intentionally thinking what would or could be better. I would love to be able to bounce ideas off of a group of other moms that have already or are currently doing the same thing I'm doing.

So what do y'all think? Would that be something worthwhile to you? Would you have time to contribute? Share the idea with your friends and let me know what you think.

One more update before Peru...

For Clay's 30th birthday we got to go out to the lake (BIG thanks to the Hargis'!)... childless! Sam and Hollee got to come out and play too. Everyone got to take a shot at proving they weren't too old to trick out.

Hollee first.

Then me... oh wait, this is the Hargis' son, Carson. He looks just like me in this picture. We have very similar wakeboarding styles.

Okay, this IS me... cuttin' the surf up, or maybe just something close to that.

30-year old Sam still has it... for a little while longer at least.

Brian wins for most excellent surfing picture (When you read the word "excellent" think Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. That's how it sounded in my head when I wrote it.).

And last, the handsome newly 30-year old himself.

Clay gets two pictures since it was for his birthday. That's fair, right?

Back to real life, which is pretty fun too. Here are my little artists at work.

Avery is lookin' goooood here

This one blows my mind. How can she stand there with her hip cocked out to one side, acting all cool with panties on her head?

What do you mean this isn't cool?

Landry in her sweet Sunday outfit! I love the hat. Thanks Gwen Ann!

Kanyon and Lu in Cradle Roll together

So, one of the greatest things ever happened a couple of weeks ago... Avery decided she liked to swim! This doesn't sound like a big deal since you've probably seen pictures of her in the pool a lot this summer. Let me tell you though, it hasn't been as great as it seemed in the pictures.

The trend was we get to the pool, Avery talks about how much she wants to swim, she goes to the steps, sits down and doesn't move from their the entire time we stay at the pool. It drove me crazy (but I managed to somehow resist the urge to force her further into the water). She has had this thing about deep water/water where she can't see the bottom (i.e. lakes, bubble baths or even snow) since she was tiny. Apparently though we've pushed through the fear.

How did we do this you ask?... Well, I don't have a clue. One day she called me over to the steps of the pool where she had been sitting for a good 20 minutes and told me, "I like that water now" and pointed to the deep end. She then asked for arm floaties and told me she wanted to swim. So swim we did. Then she told me she wanted to jump off the "dock" (diving board). So she did... no balking at all. So here are some videos in celebration!

Summer update

Well... Seeing as it's been a while, there should be plenty of pictures on here to catch us up on what's been happening since, well, Easter. They are definitely not in order since the seemingly simple task of putting my pictures in order is not so simple. But you'll get the gist anyway. We start out with a sample project of my little Picasso. This was from several months ago. If you look closely, you will see a dead-on likeness of Clay... or so says Avery.

Movie time at the Spencer house. Landry is a particular fan of the pillow seating. I think she feels as if it's very official.

Avery's first haircut. She needed it to get all those whispies under control. The first 2-3 minutes she posed just like this without moving or saying anything. It was very pathetic looking. She then was informed about the sucker and trip to the pet store that was happening after her haircut and she immediately perked back up to her normal chatty self.

We got to spend some time at the Huston's lake house a few weeks ago. The water was down and it created a wonderful beach for the kids to play on. We made and decorated mud castles, mud pies, mud cakes, mud cookies... well, you get the idea.

Having fun... Where's Landry in all this you ask?

... Taking a mud bath down by the water.

She mistook the mud cookies for something actually edible.

Obviously some cleaning up was in order at the end of the day. Caden apparently brings out the fish face in Landry.

So Avery has begun the phase of sleeping with ALL of her amiwals at night. It looks as if they are all just tossed up on her bed, but in reality all of them have been placed in a specific place in a very precise way. It's a long process that has forced a slightly earlier bedtime routine to make up for the time she spends getting them all ready.

Some random summery shots... grilling with Daddy...

... a satisfied look in the middle of a long, dirty day at Camp Deer Run...

... posing in front of her sunflowers. Yes, she planted them and helps take care of them so they are hers.

I'm not sure why, but I love her little feet in this picture.

Aunt Brenna and Uncle Nate came to visit us one weekend. The girls had a lot of fun being doted on (or picked on if they were around Nate). :)

The very manly men grilling some kabobs.

Playing at the lake with Aunt Rachel.

Avery added this large accessory to her church attire one Sunday morning. She insisted on wearing it, but by the time we pulled up to the church building, she was tired of it falling down over her eyes. Close call.

John Mark, Tara, Kellan and Parker got to come in from Peru for a little while. It was WONDERFUL!!!! Here we are spending the 4th of July with them and watching fireworks.

On our way to watch fireworks with Neeno.

This is how I spent most July 4ths when I was a kid... it was fun to relive it with my girls!

Mom and Dad's neighborhood had a 4th of July Parade and cookout so we all went to check it out. Poor Parker had just recently celebrated a national holiday while they were living in Costa Rica a few months back so she proudly toted the American flag shouting, "Rica, Rica!"

We took all the cousins out to the Spencer's lake one day and Kellan was the only one brave enough to waterski. All the girls talked a big game, but no follow-up.

Can't you just hear them? They were so tough until Clint started to move them in the water.

Two totally tubular lake dudes

Lounging by the cabin. Roselyn was there too, but I couldn't get a decent picture of her. Clothing was a little too restrictive for her that day.

Swinging together

The big kid cousins found a bug on my kitchen floor. Here they are inspecting it.

Bow heads

Jumping on the trundle bed. It's just one big party when the Davidson kids are in!

Doodle got lots of good pictures one day and this is the only one blogger will let me post. She looked pretty sweet in tromping around in my shoes.

Playing in the sandbox, again

Do you think she can see anything?

We went exploring when some big rains passed through and you wouldn't believe what we caught stuck in the middle of the trails behind our house...

... 5 little fish that needed a home. They were big fun for quite a while.

Well, that's all for now. We're off to Peru in a couple of weeks so I'll try to update after that. Don't hold your breath though! :)