Family & Friends, Bats & Leaks...

School is just around the corner.  Isn't it funny how we anticipate the next season in life?  I remember looking forward to summer.  Then it came.  It was wonderful and incredibly busy.  Now, we look forward to the re-establishment of school schedules so that we have a little more consistent ordering of our days, ha ha.  Meanwhile, this is how the past couple weeks of our summer were spent...
James went home to Virginia with my parents for a week.  When they weren't working on projects, James' favorite past-time, Granddad took him on a tour of our old stomping grounds...
Lone Star Steakhouse in Fredericksburg, a former brief workplace of mine.
 Back in NC, enjoying the birds...

 After a new workout routine = T25.
"Don't run from the work, feel the work!" ~ Shawn T.
Lord, help me... :-)

 My workout audience.

 Time for a new costume?!.


 Enjoying friends and ping-pong....





 More friends...

 One of Tony's best friends from college, Jamie, came and stayed with us while taking one of his doctoral seminars...
 Meanwhile, back in VA, PopPop took James to the Transportation Museum at Ft. Eustis....


 The fun of having friends from the younger days: random pictures and memories like this one...
 With James in VA and the girls at a G3 sleepover, Joshua had his own fun...
 Boys' night: burgers and movies...

 A glimpse or two from the girls sleepover extravaganza...

 Met mom and dad halfway on Saturday to trade my older two girls for James... His first service upon arriving at home?  Fixing the garage door keypad.





 Papa was out a couple days for a conference in Memphis.  Titus was eagerly awaiting his return...
 Joshua out with friends for the Durham Bulls' game...
 Angela at Aunt Amanda's house enjoying cousins...
 It was just Victoria and I representin' the girls so we went out for a mother and daughter date (for none other than chips and salsa)...

 Our Imago Dei Church growth group (a glimpse of some of our time together)...
 Love all these people...


 Our group has an interesting imbalance of Yankees' fans... love them too, I suppose... :-)
 Hanging out (literally) with friends... boys.
 So, in case you've missed the story from instagram and earlier posts, we had (hopefully no longer have) a community of bats in our attic.  The story of discovery in a nutshell is that last week James fell asleep on the third floor finished watching a movie.  He was awakened by something on his leg around 11:45 PM.  When he opened his eyes, he discovered two things: a bug crawling on his leg and a bat flying around his head! He wrapped the blanket around him and hobbled over to the light switch.  Then he heard more sounds coming from the attic portion of the third floor.  He opened the door and saw what looked like 10 bats flying around!  He ran downstairs (like any boy would, except maybe my Ethiopian, ha) to grab a camera.  I awoke at midnight to hear stomping around.  When I went upstairs and asked "WHAT in the WORLD are you doing?!."  I, within a few minutes, saw one bat hanging from the blinds.  So, I said, it's midnight.  Let's go to bed and deal with this tomorrow!  What an experience!
 Jana and grandma, meanwhile, enjoyed a bat free dinner back in Virginia (ha)...

 The two youngest decided to have a slumber party in Batman's room...
 The next day I treated this smaller crew to some BBQ while they helped me run some errands...


 The wildlife removal man... future job for James?!.

 He would be really good at this!  He was so concerned for the bats' safety and health.  I was more concerned with getting them out!
 A removal from a previous call: raccoon.

 The night following the bats, we awoke to a leak over my desk in our bedroom... thankfully, just a stuffed gutter and flashing issue.  Lord willing, this too is remedied!
Grateful for handy and skilled friends! 
 Dinner with friends...
 Dinner with grandma...
 Rendezvous with Grandma...
 A great purchase from Cracker Barrel...

 Time for new washer and dryer...
 Last week, I organized a screening hosted by SEBTS' Center for Faith and Culture highlighting the issue of modern day slavery for new student orientation.
 Following the film, I interviewed a trafficking survivor and aftercare ministry leader.  Good times...
 Following a week of here and there and everywhere, I treated my kiddos to an afternoon of fun to reward their patience.  Their choice?  Jellybeans roller skating.




 Then James used his allowance and work money to buy a pet anole (small green lizard and terrarium)....
 He named him 'Jamie'.
 Saturday, our friend, Brian came over to give Joshua a good barber shop haircut.

 Handsome.
 Brian and Sonia's oldest son, Spurgeon...
 (a.k.a. Batman)
 Dentist appointments and school supply errands...

The summer is drawing to a close...
God is ever faithful and so gracious to us.
Back to final preparations for next week!
More to come...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To blog or not to blog, that is the question...

Image
Thankfully, my pondering is a bit lighter than that of Shakespeare's Hamlet .  The last blog post I managed to put together was nearly eight months ago!  Can it be?  I suppose turning forty had something to do with wanting to hit the pause button, to freeze time, to be still and reflect.  Alas, the days kept moving along at a pace that at times seemed too quick to remain in step.  So here I sit, considering what to share, whether to continue sharing through this platform, and the possible frequency at which to share.  Meanwhile, I'll reenter the bloggersphere with a few experiences gone by... "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 6:19-20       Sister tats : In honor of my baby sister's birthday last August, we four girls decided (perhaps a little spon
Read more

Vulnerable: Rethinking Human Trafficking (A Book Review)

Image
Hello, it's me again... I thought I would reenter the bloggersphere briefly to share a recent book review I was asked to write on the subject of human trafficking. Below is my original draft before undergoing helpful edits before final publication (which you can find here ). I commend this book to you and hope you will find my thoughts below useful to you. ******* Vulnerable: Rethinking Human Trafficking by Raleigh Sadler A BOOK REVIEW “What can I even do to help?”  When confronted with the overwhelming problem of modern day slavery, this question often serves as a stumbling block for responsible engagement.  When the unfathomable enormity of the issue of human trafficking is revealed, hearers are often left lacking a clear vision for how to leverage their lives toward an effectual course of action. In his book, Vulnerable: Rethinking Human Trafficking , Raleigh Sadler seeks to answer the question of how ordinary people are to fight a global injustice such as
Read more

Seriously, September?!.

Image
September: a month of craziness and relying on God's grace....  ( Above : Jana showing off the size of gigantic chocolate bar our friend and house guest, Steve Timmis, gifted us with from England during his earlier stay.  My kids were quite wide-eyed at the sight of it. Below : Leading worship with sweet, gifted, godly girlfriend, Jenni Price at SEBTS connecting point one evening earlier this month.)  Tony preaching the Word at SEBTS chapel...  Our car full of kiddos headed to their growth groups at IDC... too much cuteness for one car, ha....  September has us running from one side of town to the other for softball and baseball games... too much fun....  Squeezed in a night with my T25 workout girls' support group :-)... So grateful for these sisters...  He looks like a professional, doesn't he?!.   Setting up at Imago Dei's new place of gathering for corporate worship...  A few candid shots from our IDC growth group... love
Read more