A little something to brighten your day

We began a tradition of singing this song at bedtime when Levi was just a baby, and we have continued to sing it with all the boys as we tuck them into bed. Obviously, they know it well now, and we wanted to make sure we had Ben on tape, as he sings the song with such great facial expressions. Levi sat by to "help" his little brother. I promise it will be better than the bagworms. Enjoy!

Bagworms

Lovely title for a post, huh? Just wait...it's going to get uglier.

Last night we were enjoying a nice evening in the backyard. Levi and Ben were running through the sprinkler with Michael while Graham and I hung out on the deck. The night before we had noticed that one of our shrubs was turning brown. We looked at it but couldn't figure out what was happening to it. We assumed that since we had been out of town so much lately and it had been extremely hot, the plant was just in need of more water. I will admit that most of our plants looked a little sad.

Back to last night. So Graham and I were sitting on our deck steps and I noticed that the shrub was now very brown. All the sudden I saw things moving on it. I quickly called Michael over, and we realized that there were things crawling all over the plant. They looked like pieces of the shrub, but every now and then you could see a little worm poke out his head and start moving. There were hundreds. I know I have a tendency to exaggerate, but I promise that I'm not this time. You can ask my level-headed husband and he'll agree. We then went to the side of the house and discovered that a couple of our evergreen trees were pretty much dead and also covered with these nasty creatures. Now we no longer had hundreds of these things but thousands. And remember - I'm not exaggerating. We then found them all over our deck and even hanging from our house.

We first tried to call my mom because she always seems to know everything about everything. She wasn't answering either phone, and we were panicking. So we went straight for the trusty internet and found out that we have bagworms. They are the nastiest things I have ever seen. Here's some evidence. (I know - who takes pictures of worms? I guess I do.)

Here's one crawling across our deck. See how they make "bags" for themselves that disguise them? Sneaky little guys.
Here's a picture of a bunch of them covering the tree.
Here's the bush that started the discovery.
Our lovely new evergreen trees.
This is what we found all over the ground this morning.
I told you. Gross, huh?! Long after we came inside Michael and I couldn't stop itching. I felt like my entire body was covered in worms. We were mad. We felt violated. Ok, so maybe now I'm exaggerating. But, we have spent a small fortune on our backyard and now these nasty little things have started their own colony in OUR backyard. Michael rushed to Wal-mart to buy some spray and quickly attacked the little guys. This morning our trees were covered in the bags, but the worms seemed to be dead. However, there are still worms hanging from our deck and slithering around. Most importantly, our everGREEN trees are now BROWN. Grrrr.

Moving on. Late last night Michael and I started to discuss our calendar and plans for a trip to Colorado in August. We have been so busy lately and have hardly had time to talk. People laugh when we tell them that we're going to Colorado for a week in August but don't know when or where. Who has time to plan such things?

So we realized last night that we needed to make a few plans. Looking at all of the dates that Michael will be out of town and thinking about how we are going to take another trip, I began to vent. I told Michael that I felt overwhelmed. Not because we were too busy, but I just felt like there was too much on my mind. I remember using the word "crowded". I know that seems strange, but that's the only way I could think to define it. My mind felt crowded. Our family felt crowded. I had been trying to do so many things that the important things weren't getting the attention they needed. So I told him that I didn't want to go. We needed to stay home. (Remember that I often exaggerate!) If you know my sweet hubby, you know that he rarely puts up a fight, but I could tell that he really wanted to go. And the truth is that I wanted to go also. We went to bed with absolutely no decisions made and feeling more "crowded" than ever.

I know. How does one bring about a life lesson from a bunch of bagworms? It's annoying, I admit. But, as I was in the shower this morning trying to wash away the feeling of worms all over me and thinking about how we were going to get rid of them and not allow them to take over all our trees and shrubs, it hit me. My life is just like the trees in my backyard...crowded! I have allowed too many things to enter my thoughts, to occupy my time. They have disguised themselves well, but when I look closely I see them for what they are - sin! Thoughts and decisions based in insecurity, perfectionism, pride, jealousy, etc. When left untreated, these things will kill me, and they will kill our family. Ouch!

I guess I can't run out to Wal-mart for a quick fix for this one. Just like the bagworms, preventing the problem is a whole lot easier than fixing it after the damage has been done. I'm feeling crowded because I haven't been filled with the one thing that truly matters. I was convicted this morning with my lack of time spent in His word. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 .

God sent Jesus so that we can have an abundant life, not a crowded one. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for using something as disgusting as bagworms to reveal the state of my heart and my family's life. I don't want a crowded heart, sucking the life out of me. I desire to be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). Thank you Lord for your Word, for the life that is found in it. Give me a heart that longs to know your Word and teach it to my children so that there is no room for worms.

Another lake adventure

What a wonderful weekend we had! I know it's already Tuesday night, but I'm just now getting around to the blog. We spent this past weekend with our community group from church at a lakehouse in Nebraska. We had such a great time! I can't even begin to explain how much we treasure this group. Michael and I consider community to be vital to our family's life, but because we have moved so often in our 9 years of marriage, there have definitely been times when we have not had a strong community of friends. This last move (already 2 1/2 years ago!) proved to be the most difficult, and we were beginning to feel like we would never have good friends. But God's timing is always perfect, and He has blessed us beyond belief.

Our group consists of 5 couples with 13 children under the age of 6. Yes, we all stayed in one house, and I think we still like each other. Things were understandably a bit crazy at times, but there was also such a sense of peace. There is just something about spending time with a group of people who love the Lord and want to glorify Him in all they do.

Here are all of the kiddos looking so happy to be getting their picture taken. I actually bribed them with ice cream. Can you believe that there were hardly any squabbles all weekend? Clearly it was a miracle.

All the men...

All the sunbathing beauties...

Hanging out in the lake...




Making s'mores...

Eating some homemade ice cream...

I just couldn't resist adding this one. Isn't he just the cutest little thing?


On the way home Michael and I decided that we weren't exhausted enough so we decided to stop at the Omaha zoo. It is such a great zoo and although it was blazing HOT, we had a great time. Did I mention that it was hot?

Graham was more hot than impressed with the animals

We did lots of walking and the boys got really tired! We had to carry Graham and let Levi sit in the stroller.


After the zoo, we were all thoroughly exhausted and really excited for the 3-hour drive home!

Beware of picture overload

We're home!

Our family returned last night from a 10-day trip to the lakehouse at Bay Lake in Minnesota. We go every summer, and it seems like each year we have a new little baby boy. Not really, but it sure does seem like it. This is a place so rich in tradition with Michael's family. He grew up spending his summers here and has so many great memories. I love watching him share this special place with his boys.

We had such a great time! The boys absolutely loved it. We had perfect weather the entire time...warm and sunny during the day and cool at night. Levi and Ben played outside all day - in the sand, on the boat, on the swingset, trampoline, and with all their second cousins. I think they each ate about 20 popsicles a day. I was laughing as I looked through the pictures because I don't have a single one with popsicles in their mouths. I don't know how that happened since they had one about 80 percent of the time. And the boys did better than we expected with all of us sleeping in the same room. I've already forgotten about the fact that Ben woke us all up at the crack of dawn every morning. Well, maybe I haven't forgotten.

I have so many fun pictures from the vacation that it's hard to choose just a few. So, here are LOTS of pictures to recap our time at the lake.

My little beach bums...

A true little beach "bum"...

Taking a paddle boat ride...

Fishing with Daddy...

Ben and Daddy tubing...

Playing in the sand...(This is where the boys spent most of their time - making sandcastles, rivers and lakes. We didn't allow them to take any toys with them to the lake so it was lots of fun to watch them get creative and just play.)

Boating fun...

Playing on the trampoline with Papa...

Just being boys...

Another family picture...

The entire Rothwell family...

My hubby still has his barefooting skills...

Levi wants to be just like Daddy...

Graham is ready to go tubing (Just kidding, Grandma!)...

Papa is such a great babysitter!...

Taking a nap on the beach...

And here they are playing putt-putt...

This was the first year that we were at the lake on the 4th, and we had such a great time. We had a family "Bay Lake Olympics", complete with relays, uniforms, prizes and medals. We shot off our own fireworks on the 4th and then watched the awesome fireworks show on the lake from our yard on the 5th...

One of the highlights of our trip was having our friends, Chris & Sarah, and their 3 little boys come to visit us for about 24 hours. We were good friends when we all lived in Fort Worth, and they recently moved to Minneapolis so they made the 2 1/2 hour drive to spend some time with us at the lake. We hadn't seen each other in about 3 years, but it felt like we had just hung out last week. They are pregnant with baby boy #5 (they left #4 at home with the grandparents), so I was full of questions for them. I just wanted to sit and learn from Sarah because she is such a great boy mom. Oh how I wish I had more time to watch and learn from this precious family. And don't think the fact that we hadn't seen each other in years kept us from getting close. In fact, all 10 of us slept in one room. 4 adults and 6 kids in one room...now that's good friends!

As we were packing for the trip and making the long drive with 3 little ones in the car, I wondered if it really was worth all the work. The answer is Yes! It was definitely worth it. There is nothing like getting away from it all and just spending time together as a family. No phones. No television. No computer. Just us. I treasured every moment. And now we're back home where our lives are filled with distractions. But home is also a good place to be.