The Family Vacation

Anybody who knows my husband, knows he is big on family time. He is the epitome of the word intentional. The family vacation is like the culmination of that for him each year. He does not care if we end up camping in the backyard, he is bound and determined to give his family a vacation each year. A time to reconnect, to pray together, to thank God for creating our family and talk about who God wants the Vincent Family to be. So after Silvercliff, we headed out to the mountains. A lot of Daddy's talks usually involve one of these...They always pray for God to bring them fish and then they spend hours out there fishing and talking together.And since according to all the boys, fishing is not for girls...they indulge me between the hours of 10am and 5pm(when the fish aren't biting) with activities and cheesy pictures like these...
And this is at the top of the pass, 11.000 feet up with a hungry 5 year old, a 2 year old who refused to put his shirt or shoes on, and a crying baby! They love me. Geez, I am a lucky lady to be surrounded by all those handsome fisherman.

Silvercliff Ranch

Last week began with this...The FDB was playing Silvercliff Ranch for the Rockwall First Baptist Church Youth Group all week!
These were our digs..Yeah that's right, bunk beds...2 adults, 3 kids, 2 bunk beds...tons of fun!

My favorite part was putting these sweet little guys to bed each night. I hope that I can keep the image of them reading stories and eating snacks in this little bunk forever. It was such a sweet time for me.
Matt said he just loves his boys because this was their favorite part...they had 3 extra mattresses in the big community room that were the hit of the week. Caves, tunnels, cowboy hideouts, fires to put out in big buildings, a stage to perform on...the possibilities were endless.
Daddy played in the morning and evening. In between...


Here's the part that struck me in the middle of all of it. My husband was there using the gifts that God has given him to perform worship for high schoolers and show them who Jesus is and God was pouring out blessings on him and his family for it. It is so beautiful out there. We just soaked it up. Went on drives, fished, hit a couple of antique stores, played in the pool. We were so blessed by that experience. God is so good!

Homeschool

It's officially started here in the Vincent house...Summer Preschool!!! I am starting off slow, two to three learning times a day and Bible time 3 times a week. Matt had the brilliant idea to stick to the activities that Jack did in Preschool on the same days which has really helped him. He has struggled since school has ended with their not being "a plan" for each day. To help that I have also started making a schedule of the day and writing it down for him. That way he can carry it around and at any time during the day see what we are doing (it doubles as a reading activity too :)
I am still seeking the Lord on whether or not I should continue into elementary school, but I have found that the He is meeting me at each turn of the corner. For example, today we were supposed to go to the "big O" as Jack calls it (which Matt finds hilarious) and go play in the water to celebrate finishing the first 3 days of creation and recall Day 2 when God made the sky and the water! However, today was the only day that Matt could get the car an oil change so we were without wheels all morning. God had a plan though...he provided a perfect 10 minute rain shower to play and dance in. We even got Boston out of his bed to join in the fun!



I did steal this prayer chart idea from Mandy! I am not gonna apologize about it either, my boys love it! Boston especially likes it because he feels like a big boy picking out his color and leading a prayer.

It's gonna be a good summer, I can feel it!

A Short Time

We began our week with this little guy in our backyard. The boys noticed him on Tuesday afternoon walking around unable to fly. Mommy wasn't too sure how to help him, so we waited for Daddy to come home. When he did, Daddy talked to the boys about him, made him a nest, and then they prayed together for his Mommy & Daddy to come down to help him learn how to fly.
About an hour later as we were eating dinner, we watched his Mommy & Daddy come down from the large tree in the middle of our backyard. They fed him, loved on him, and tried to get him to fly. The boys sat with their dinner staring out the back window for about an hour. It was so beautiful to watch these parents do all that they could to help their little baby. It was as they did that Matt explained to the children how our new little friend was in God's hands. God could decide for him to heal or he could decide another fate for him.
That day had been particularly hard for me. Do you ever have those days? You are trying so hard but everything is going wrong and every time you leave the room a new fight breaks out, a spill happens, or someone runs into the dining room table unexpectedly. But it was in that moment of watching this sweet little family that I was reminded...we feed them, teach them, rock them to sleep, play with them...we pour our hearts out knowing that ultimately they aren't our children, they are His, and they are in His hands. They are ours for such a short time and it is up to the Father how long that will be.

The next couple days did not seem to get better. One began like this...
It went on to include a 2 year old stripping down in the doctor's office and peeing inside the toy box as the doctor walked in, a 5 year old repeating "excuse me" over and over as I tried to talk to the doctor, 2 shots for each of the little boys, crankiness due to shots, a dinner taking way too long to cook because I forgot to thaw the meat, a husband working late nights.

But I have learned that all the chaos isn't that important especially when the days also include this...
This is Jack's regular quiet time routine. He puts his tent across the chair, lays down a blanket as a saddle, puts his toy horse head at the front of it, adds a holster & rifle, and dresses in full cowboy gear.

And this....
THEY ARE ONLY OURS FOR A SHORT TIME.

Thankful Wednesday

Thankful that this day happened and that my firstborn is "running the race with endurance always keeping his eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects his faith."

VBB Day 3

DAY 3

Judsen and Boston!!

Hannah, Boston, & Jack with "Staten Island Team" faces painted!

Taxicabs made out of Zingers, Oreos, M&M's and frosting...now that's a good day!

VBB Day 2

Day 2



This girl inspires me to be a better mother, a better friend, a better wife, and most importantly a better leader for His Kingdom.
One of my favorite parts of VBB every year is watching Mandy lead the kids in worship. It's so powerful and amazing to watch 300 kids worship Jesus led by someone who truly knows the meaning of worship and wants with all her heart to teach that to others.



Now that he's got the motions down, Jack's having a pretty good time worshiping now too!
And making awesome crafts!

More to come...

Vacation Bible Blast

THE BIG APPLE ADVENTURE

DAY 1

Even Boss got in on the fun!


To be continued...

Baptism Day cont.

We took Jack out afterwards to celebrate. Matt and I wanted to do something really special with him so we took him out on a date just the 3 of us. It didn't even seem to matter to him where we went, just that we were together. We ate BBQ and got some ice cream. We sat in the car eating ice cream and reading all the cards and letters that people had given him. I was kinda concerned we would lose him on the card reading part but it seemed to really mean something to him. He quietly listened to each one and smiled as we read the words of affirmation and love that people shared with him on this momentous occasion.

We already had life group scheduled that night and instead of canceling, they asked if they could bring over Jack's favorite foods to celebrate. Spaghetti pie, Ms. Virginia's bread (yes I have the recipe, one of my most treasured wedding gifts), watermelon, rainbow confetti cake, and some soda. Soda is a big deal in this house!

When Jack went to bed, we prayed with him and told him how proud we were of him. And when I laid my head down on my husband's shoulder to go to sleep, we agreed it was the perfect day.

God has given me such a gift in being able to stay at home with my children. And sometimes in the day to day I can lose sight of its significance. Sunday morning on June 5th during the 9am service is why I do it. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to invest in my children every hour of the day, watch my husband love them with reckless abandon, and to witness my firstborn give his little heart to you.

Jack's Baptism

Yesterday was an amazing day! I don't have pictures yet...the wonderful Kim McKenna took pictures for us all morning and as soon as I have them, I will post them!

We all woke up extremely excited for the morning. Jack was excited but it seemed that his nerves started to kick in right away too. What will I have to say? Who will be there? How long will I be in the water? How hot will the water be? The temperature of the water was a big concern. Jack was ecstatic that his cousins were coming, so that seemed to help him a little.

We arrived at church promptly at 8:30 (and if you know us Vincents we are never on time, so that was a big deal.) Jack and Matt talked to the band, got the lowdown on the events of the morning from Rod and of course, checked out the temperature of the hot tub.

Service began. I stood worshiping beside my wonderful husband and my five year old, both in swim trunks...knowing that within minutes, my little boy's life would be changed forever. He was going to tell the world that he loved Jesus and that he wanted to follow him all the days of his life. Matt read his testimony.

Some highlights...
- Jack’s first 'win' for the kingdom happened on the day he was born, when he led his own mother to Christ.
- Two years later God used Jack to create our family by winning my heart before I had ever even met his mother.
- Last fall Jack heard God’s voice for the first time during a fast we were doing as a family.
- And last winter Jack prayed and received the name of his new baby brother, Moses, from God.

He then asked Jack if he wanted to be baptized. At this point you could tell Jack was pretty scared in front of all the people so he just shook his head yes. Matt "dunked him" and his life was forever changed. We will forever remember June 5, 2011 as the day that our firstborn son was baptized. The day that he felt the Lord wanted him to share with others how much he loved Jesus and that he always wanted Him in his heart.

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

Rolling Over

My little MoMo doing his first big milestone. Soon he will be running after his big brothers....

Thankful Wednesday

This week has been crazy! Matt has been working 12 hour days for 3 weeks now and we are all missing him. And it literally seems like the moment I get something cleaned up, it is dirty again. Do you ever have days like that? I just washed all the sheets and within 24 hours two potty accidents occurred and I had to wash them all over again. I cleaned the bathroom and within 20 minutes a potty accident happened on the bathroom floor. I cleaned the floors and Boss walked through the house in mud covered crocs into the newly cleaned bathroom and stepped up on the potty to wash his hands. Clean hands, muddy bathroom. I washed all the cushions on the couch, only to watch ice cream fall all over them today. I got Mo all cleaned up and dressed for the day just to watch him spit up all over the outfit 30 seconds later. I got to the trail to take the kids on a ride, changed Mo's diaper, only to realize that I had no diapers left in my bag to put on him. What can you do? You can choose to be thankful...

-The two oldest boys had a fight at the grocery store this week. It was our last grocery store of the trip (yes, I am one of those 3 store frugal shoppers, crazy I know). The fight was over blueberries. Jack picked out blueberries for the week as one of his snacks and the Boss decided his raspberries were crap now and he wanted blueberries. They proceeded to have a tug-a-war over the carton. It seems like an odd thing to be thankful for, but it really just made my heart happy that they were fighting over fruit.

-Thankful for the little girl who had a rockin birthday party at the park on Monday that provided a mid-day break for my kiddos who were desperately missing their Daddy who had to work all Memorial Day.

-Thankful for my mama who brought ice cream yesterday because I was having a hard day. Ice cream and a little girl talk on a hard day can make such a difference.

-Thankful that my husband's project ends tomorrow and we get to spend the weekend with him!

-Thankful that the Veggietales cake turned out for Boston's birthday party.-Thankful that my little Boston has so many family and friends that came to celebrate his life.

-Thankful that I have got to spend the week teaching Jack about baptism. I know that I was called to be a children's pastor but there is nothing like pastoring your own children and watching God work in their hearts.

-Thankful for my dear friend Laura who I got to have a dinner date with tonight. I have known her for 5 years. We met on staff at Vanguard and I think out of the whole bunch of us children's ministry gals we were probably the least likely to forge a bond, but that's what makes our friendship so unique and special. I LOVE her heart and I love how she gets me and speaks into my life. I love how she asks the hard questions and gives the hard answers. She inspires me, she speaks truth, and she loves me oh so well. She's a treasure.

And one thing we talked about tonight...
-We are thankful for godly husbands. Ones who know what's best for us even when we don't always know it. Our family has been through two decisions this year that have made me so thankful for my husband's leadership. In each decision, I was sure that I knew what was best and when he said no ma'am to my requests (which may or may not have involved an unwarranted hissy fit on my part)...months later I see how God completely led him and had His hand upon my husband's heart as he made choices for our family...hissy fit was then apologized for, to husband and the Lord!

-Thankful for a warm bed, a soft pillow, a little house, and 3 happy, healthy, sleeping children.