Best of the Beach

We had a wonderful time at the beach, and of course TONS of photos to choose from. My mother in law is such a great photographer, so most of these photos are hers. But here is a compilation of some of my favorite photos from our week at the beach.

More Boogie Boarding Videos from the beach

Here are some more Boogie Boarding Video clips from the beach last week. Not the greatest quality, but great memories!

Father and Sons Boogie Boarding:


Jill Boogie Boarding:


Scott Boogie Boarding:


Caleb Boogie Boarding:


Ethan and Scott Boogie Boarding:

Ethan & Caleb boogie boarding

Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zsYzprv0vY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I am so proud of how Ethan & Caleb both got out on the waves and were unafraid to boogie board, jump, and swim!

Surfside Beach Vacation

We are so happy to be on vacation at Surfside Beach. We will be here
for a week. Mama and Papa Brisken are also with us. It is really nice
to vacation together. We have help with the kids and of course the
kids LOVE all the time with their grandparents for a whole week! Our
first full day here we went to the beach for a couple hours. Alaina
seemed to think the sand was interesting on her toes, Caleb enjoyed
racing against the waves, and Ethan looked like a professional boogie
board surfer out on the waves.
The second day here, we already needed a recovery day inside and just
stayed around the condo, only leaving once to eat dinner. It's amazing
how much energy it takes to get 3 kids and all our stuff to the beach
itself. The place we are staying at is about 10 blocks off the beach
too, so we have to bring everything we might possibly need since we
can't easily go back to the house by walking. I think tomorrow Alaina
will stay back at the house and have some fun one on one time with
Mama and Papa while we take the boys to the beach.
Also, we don't have internet access here so I can't easily post
pictures or entries on the blog. I had hoped to catch up on a lot of
my picture organizing and back ups while here, but that's ok. Thank
goodness for my new iPhone that I got for my birthday which has made
this post possible today! :) Until next time when I can post more
pictures, here's a great family one that my mother in law got of all
of us at the beach yesterday.

Summer Time's in Full Swing!

The boys have been out of school for one full week, and we are already in full swing with all our summertime activities!  We went on our first trip out of town as a family of 5 to Atlanta to visit our college friends over Memorial Day Weekend.  The boys had a blast playing with water guns with their friend, Ben.

Oh yes, and I also celebrated my 33rd (can't believe I'm that old!) birthday over the weekend too, and Alaina gave me a sweet birthday smile!

We've been enjoying the weather outside, when it's not too hot!  Most days it has been around 95-100 degrees.

 And yes, that is a recovering black eye of Caleb's.  He ran into a door knob and a counter within an hour of each other.  :-(

We've also been taking swim lessons for the 4th year in a row for Ethan and a 3rd year in a row for Caleb.  They are both doing very well!  We have one more week of lessons left next week.  To see some videos of their swimming, go to dropshots.com/briskenfamily

We also visited the eye doctor after a 10 month break from wearing eye patches, only to find out that both boys' vision in their right eyes has worsened a little over the break.  They are still better than when we began the patch wearing 3 years ago (can't believe it's been that long), but not as good as they were 10 months ago.  So . . . we are back to wearing them 6 hrs a day again.  Not the news I wanted to hear, but we are hopeful that the patch wearing in the next 2 months will correct their vision quickly.  Unfortunately, it seems like a never ending process.  We patched consistently for 2 years before the break, but it seems like their brains just won't use that eye unless made to.  The eye doctor says that it is best to correct this when they are young, and that when they are 10 - 12 years old, their eyes shouldn't go back to seeing poorly after not wearing the patch . . . so does that mean we could have 5 - 7 more years of patch wearing?  It is just frustrating to me.  They both get around fine, are not cross eyed, read fine without the patch, school work fine, etc.  It just seems like a lot of work, with no promise of their brains ever using that eye without a patch.  But we will see.  I am not the doctor, so I will trust her for now.  Praying that Alaina doesn't have this same condition . . .

Scott worked outside today in the heat, putting in another drain up against our house (we had flooding AGAIN a few weeks ago, I can't even keep up with how many times this has happened, it is so many), and making a planter up around one of our trees in the backyard.  I held down the fort inside with the kids while he was working outside.  With three kids we are finding we have to split the work up more and more.  There's always another project to be done!

After swim lessons, in the afternoons the boys have been working on Summer Bridge Activities workbooks for their grade level, reading for 30 minutes, having a devotion time, and will soon start handwriting practice with Mama Brisken a couple times a week.  The days seem so busy, but it is good to have time to work on things, such as handwriting, that we don't have time to work on during the school year.  Thanks to both Mama Bailey and Mama Brisken for helping me to implement these learning activities, since I am also still working during the week, although thankful for a flexible schedule to allow me time to attend things, like swim lessons in the morning, and work in the afternoons.

And if you're still reading this LONG summer time post, I'll leave you with a pic of Alaina playing in her exersaucer.  She is such a happy baby and already 4 months old!

Playground Revamped

A few weeks ago, Scott and the boys got started on revamping the playground.  We've had the playground for around 4 years (I think) and we have gotten so much use out of it!  The boys still love it, the neighborhood kids enjoy it, and Alaina will soon get her use out of it too!  The only problem is that this is what it looked like before the revamp took place.  It wasn't always leaning like this, but through the years of settling into the ground and the swings on the other side being swung on, it was swaying back and forth too much for this Mommy's liking!

So, since we know we still have a good many years left where the kids will want to use the playground, we decided we better put forth the time and money to redo the leaning posts.  Scott, along with his handyman helper, Ethan, and occasionally Caleb too when he was interested, did a great job!

And here is the more sturdy, and straight finished product.  I am so much more at ease now with it being so much stronger.  Scott replaced all the beams, as well as all the floor boards.  Eventually we would like to pressure wash it and stain it to make it look even nicer.  But that's a job for another weekend, as this revamp took about 2 weekends longer than expected! 

Depending on God Like Never Before

I am depending on God like I never have before. 

I'm at a new phase in my life, with the recent birth of our third child, a child we were not expecting in our own plans (but planned all along by God), my life has taken a different turn than I thought it would.  I am still adjusting to the newness of a new schedule with three children, the balancing act of it all.  Getting one child to school all day, one child to preschool, one child on a routine of feeding and napping and sleeping through the night, and going back to work part time, keeping up with a household and all the chores that entails, working on my relationship with my husband to keep my marriage going strong, prioritizing time to read my Bible and grow as a Christian, fitting in exercise to keep my body and mind in shape, and the list could go on and on and on!  Any other moms out there feel the same way I do with the never ending list?  In my every day lists in my head, on paper, on my calendar reminders on my phone that pop up at me to remind me 30 minutes before a doctor's appointment for someone in the family (otherwise I am afraid I would forget it if the reminder is any earlier than 30 minutes away.  I blame the post-pregnancy brain for my new increasing lack of memory at this time! . . . my complete dependence is on HIM, my SAVIOR, my LORD, my HELPER, my COMFORTER, my FRIEND.  He really does care about the "tiny trust steps" that you take each day in trusting in Him to get you through.  

Do you have a complete dependence on Him?  Do you desire a deeper dependence on Him?  I know I do.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." - Isaiah 26:3-4

TRUST ME

From "Jesus Calling", pg. 380, by Sarah Young

"TRUST ME with every fiber of your being!  What I can accomplish in and through you is proportional to how much you depend on Me.  One aspect of this is the degree to which you trust Me in a crisis or major decision.  Some people fail miserably here, while others are at their best in tough times.  Another aspect is even more telling: the constancy of your trust in Me.  People who rely on Me in the midst of adversity may forget about Me when life is flowing smoothly.  Difficult times can jolt you into awareness of your need for Me, whereas smooth sailing can lull you into the stupor of self-sufficiency.


I care as much about your tiny trust-steps through daily life as about your dramatic leaps of faith.  You may think that no one notices, but the One who is always beside you sees everything-and rejoices.  Consistently trusting in Me is vital to flourishing in My Presence.


Psalm 40:4; Psalm 56:3-4; Psalm 62:8; Isaiah 26:3-4"""""""""

I couldn't have said it any better.  Almost every sentence above stands out to me.  I looked up the verses from which this devotion was based above, and I am so encouraged.  It is very true that sometimes in the "easy" times of our lives, we don't depend on God as much as we should.  It's comforting to know that Jesus does care about our "tiny trust-steps through daily life" just as much as the "dramatic leaps of faith."  What tiny trust-steps am I taking in my life?