My Little Water Bug

Today was yet another proud day in the Lewis house. My little Carter bug, who has been terrified of getting his face wet even in the tub, graduated from his water bugs class at TTU. Uncle Mark signed him up as a present for his birthday, and this kid did phenomenally well! I am just so very proud of him.

This is his teacher, B. And while she might seem a little haggard, she does wonders with these little ones!

Here he is proudly receiving his certificate during his graduation ceremony today.

While I realize that he is only spanning a distance of 4 or 5 feet here, he is doing it by himself and this is such a big deal for him!

For those of you that are super dedicated to the blog, a short video will follow this post!

Feeling Indecisive

I had Evyn's 9 month pictures made last week. I love the stage that she is in right now. Her cheeks are so chubby and sweet and she is still definitely a baby. Her hair makes me smile and I love the little noises that she is making. Precious, I tell you!

So here is the problem. I can never decide on which picture to order and end up spending way too much money. This time I will only buy one. I can do it. So, I scanned in the proofs (sorry Family Photo) to have a scientific poll.

This is the one I am leaning towards right now. I love that it shows that she can sit up now and it is sort of classic Evyn.

I adore her expression in this one but wish that she was sitting up.

This one is not favorite but can you believe that she is standing up by herself?

And then there is this one, which just makes me smile.

What is a girl to do? Any opinions would be appreciated!

Just Say No

Carter makes me laugh. Here are some funnies from today:

1. While at the park today, he invited a complete stranger (approximately 40 year old man in a leather jacket) to spend the night at our house when Smokey the Bear is in town. What? The man looked to me for clarification and all I could say was "You are apparently invited to spend the night at our house when Smokey the Bear is in town."

2. After swimming lessons today he saw a man on the sidewalk smoking. We got in the car and were driving home. Here is our conversation:
C: Mommy I want one of those white things to put in my lips.
K: What?
C: You know. The ones that shoot smoke out.
K: A cigarette? Baby those are nasty.
C: But it looks like fun.
K: (Launches into instructional lecture about why smoking is a bad choice and not healthy for your body, will make you smell yucky and puts yucky smoke in your lungs instead of clean air, etc etc etc.)
C: Did his mommy not tell him that it is a bad choice?

Other highlights from today include his recently acquired pet roly poly, his newfound ability to ride his bike both up and down the driveway (the slanty part), his mad underwater swimming skills that he has tapped into the last three days in swimming lessons, and a fierce insistence on eating crab for dinner. He had mac and cheese. He just makes me smile.

On a serious note, I can't help but be amazed at how much he has grown up this summer. I am so proud of him. He is completely potty trained (praise the Lord), takes showers instead of baths, buckles his own carseat, dresses himself, rides a bike and swims, is so amazingly articulate, pours his own juice, and was so very brave at the doctor yesterday when he got four shots. I stood back and watched him do his first hearing and vision test, have his blood pressure taken, and pee in a cup, and it struck me that my baby is a little boy now. Officially. And I love him more than I can articulate.

Family Camp

We got home late Sunday night from an amazing week at Family Camp in Branson, Missouri. I absolutely cannot say enough good about this place. They ministered to us from the minute that we walked on campus until the minute that we drove away. The counselors poured their hearts into my kids and our family and were such a blessing. The accomodations and food were wonderful, and we enjoyed every minute of our time there. If you have elementary age kids or younger, I highly recommend this as a family vacation. Check out this website or feel free to talk to me if you are interested or want to see more of the hundreds of pictures we took!




There is so much to do that it is hard to know where to start- putt putt, swimming pool, water park with slides and lazy river, playground, jumping pillow, crafts, archery, bb guns, canoes, pontoons, bluff jumping, water skiing, etc. Every morning we left the kids in their class and got to go to a seminar with Greg Smalley that was fabulous. Then the afternoons were ours to do with as we pleased. The evenings all had activites to participate in too- luau, parties, pirate night, date night for parents, gospel walk, and island olympics! We were completely exhausted every night by the time that we fell into bed. We loved the time with friends and the time with our family. I could go on and on.


Here are a few of the highlights from our week!

The family outside the water park.

Playing putt putt right outside of our room (Carter's favorite).

Hanging out in the hammocks.


Pontoon ride.

Joe cool on the pontoon.

Swimming in the lake- we jumped off the boat.

He seriously drove the boat back to camp.

Mike jumped off this tower into the 57 degree water.

All dressed up for pirate night.

Carter posing with one of the counselors on pirate night.
Evyn on pirate night- it was soooo hot.

Carter and daddy playing "monster golf."

Going on a canoe ride.

Carter and daddy in the canoe.

Shooting BB guns. I actually was a pretty good shot.

Carter doing a little archery. He actually hit the target all by himself.

Date night! The kids had activities while we had a candlelight dinner and rode a boat to the Branson landing where we watched a water show and shopped. Super fun.

Evyn chilling in a hammock.

Having fun with the family.

Carter in the "muscle beach" competition at the Island Olympics.

Our family in our Tech stuff for "be true to your school" night.

Some of the countless counselors that invested in my kids this week (David and Callie). I cannot thank them enough for the way that they blessed my heart by genuinely loving my babies.

I seriously have countless stories and several more pictures. We had such an amazing week. I feel completely refreshed physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We are already planning the trip for next year! Anyone else interested?

The Many Faces of a Fireman

Every now and then Carter decides that he likes having his picture made. This was one of those lucky days. It is with pleasure that I present the many faces of a four year old fireman.

Mister Mysterious and Miss Priss

Carter (aka Mister Mysterious)

Evyn (aka Miss Priss)

The Great Outdoors

We love camping! On Tuesday afternoon, we headed out to Roaring Springs and packed as much fun as possible into 24 hours! It was so nice to be away from home for just a bit- no phones, computers, TV, or dishes to wash! It is so much fun to watch Carter soak up new experiences- we have taken him camping before but I don't think he remembered it. And Evyn, of course, was an absolute doll.

We set up camp, went swimming, cooked dinner, played in the creek, went to the playground, made s'mores, caught fireflies, watched the stars, caught bugs, collected cicada shells, caught a pollywog, went on "adventures," and had an all around wonderful time. We saw a ton of wildlife including a deer, rabbits, raccoons, frogs, lizards, catfish and croppies, pollywogs, and lots of different kinds of bugs.

Here is the crew setting up camp.


And testing out the air mattress.

Collecting his cicada shells. Please notice that he is wearing his "smokey the bear" button with pride. He would wear that thing every day if I would let him.

This cicada must have latched onto our tent bag and come out of his shell overnight. We thought that was cool. Carter caught the bug in a bottle and took it with him all day. We finally talked him into letting it go so it would not die and we had lots of tears after our "launching" ceremony. He is nothing if he is not tenderhearted.

Eating dinner. (Please ignore how camp-licious I look in these pictures.)

Playing in the creek.

Evyn discovered her love of graham crackers.

Carter with his ladybug friend.

Cooking marshmallows. (Check out that squat, Brigitte.)

A picnic breakfast of donuts. This kid was in heaven.

We have decided that we might be getting too old to sleep on the ground so if anyone has a pop-up that they would like to donate to our cause that would be great! I think that this will be a summer time tradition for a long time! We had a wonderful time just being together. I am blessed with such a sweet family and the opportunity to watch the ordinary become extraordinary!