The Letter

Yesterday, I got a letter in the mail.

Just look who it was from.

My girl.

She mailed it from school.

I was delighted so I opened the letter and started 

reading it as I was walking back to our house.

     Bo was next to me and peeked at it.  He read aloud, 

"Dear Mom," Then he took off like a lightning bolt, booking it back to the house.  I glanced up to watch him run and he was looking back at me angrily.  He yelled to me as he ran, "I'm going to go tell Annie you have another kid!!!!  I saw it said Dear Mom!!!"

As his hand hit the garage door knob I just spoke his name, 

"Bo,"

He stopped to listen.

"This letter is FROM Annie."

You should have seen the relief flood his face and he chuckled and let out a long. "Oooooooohh."

We had a gooooood laugh.

The Golden Day

Here in Minnesota, it was a gem of a day,

so right after school, I kicked them out to play.

The boys were surprised to see me tag along,

but I had a mission I'd been planning all day long.

I sent them to gather the tallest sticks they could find.

Then we tied them at the top,

 with a little ball of twine.

With a stretch and a flap,

and some tying here & there,

The boys watched their tee-pee rise high into the air.

Well thankfully for you, my little poem is done,

but for those little boys their adventures had only begun.

I wish you could have heard their giggles & their conversations.  

They were so busy building, exploring & protecting.  

And when the "men" went off to build a bridge across the creek, Mama & her babies held down the fort.

And just when I thought they couldn't get any cuter...

...I raised my camera to take a picture from further away and 

caught the sweetest moment:

So many moments today my heart just burst with love.

I dreaded the sun setting on this golden day,

but then the flashlights went on 

& the giggles spilled into the night.

And when I stuffed them into bed 

I wanted to put it all here so I never forget.

Ever.

Hearts & Prayers

Thank you all for your prayer and love for the Kerrs.

Every heart you posted on Facebook & Instagram & blogs tagged #loveforthekerrs touched my heart deeply.  
To see complete strangers praying around the world 
is a such a blessing to that family.  

Family & friends are spreading the word to pray 
for Shannon & Kyra.

Ria in the Netherlands has posted a heart on her blog 
to encourage others to pray.   
Bloggers Tammy in Kuwiat, 
Sarah in Minnesota, Heather in Tennessee, 
& Theresa in Michigan Instagramed.

Stepping Stones Daycare Facebooked their love.

Thanks to everyone who is spreading their story.
~You are multiplying prayers~
They are being prayed for in other states & even countries.

My friend Mary had her girls make 
hearts to pass along to the Kerrs,
 like the hearts Kyra's 2nd grade class made.

That got us thinking how amazing it would be to 
"shower them with love & prayers"  
They know we are praying but how wonderful would it be to show them how many people are praying.  Hearts from prayer warriors are a tangible way for them to see the prayers.

While we are rejoicing in progress with Kyra she still needs much healing.  It has been 6 days now since the accident & Shannon still has not woken, we are praying that Shannon will begin moving and showing signs of responsiveness.  

May God be glorified through it all.

Tomorrow the kids will pray with their Sunday School classes & ask their little prayer warrior friends to color a heart to pass along to them.  And tomorrow they are going to take hearts to the neighbors to ask them to pray and sign a heart.  
It's so amazing to see kids take action. 

Please feel free to join in and round up 
prayers & hearts to shower them with. 
Any heart.
There's one HERE.

But really the most dearest thing you could do is continue to pray.
Thanks friends.

Thanks for hashtagging #loveforthekerrs it just makes it easier for the family to see the love.

If you round up hearts and prayers it might be nice if the heart was signed and has a town or state name so they can see where love is pouring in from.  Can be on front or back.  

P.S. Would love hearts from all ages!  My kids had never even seen their Dad use crayons before & loved to see their Dad sit down next to them and color a heart.  If you would like to mail some hearts you can email libbiedoyle@gmail.com & I will happily give you my address and I'll pass them along.

Getting Ready...

     I hate getting ready for the first day of school because it means summer is over & that it's time for me to send them off to school, so I always put it off until the very last week.  I don't buy a single supply or uniform until Monday before school starts.  And by then...it's rough.  The stores are cleaned out and I have to run all over town collecting the goodies we need.

This year my friend Beth sent the HUGEST box of school supplies!

She's an honorary auntie to my kids.  

She loves them & they love her.

She made my job soooooo easy!

All that was left was backpacks & tennis shoes.

Annie had been dreaming of this one all summer:

And I had my heart set on this one for the boys:

Can't you picture it with my boy's names on there?

Cute City!!!

My problem is that the particular boy who 

I picked it out for didn't like it.  

He said it wasn't cool enough.  

He said it wasn't cool like this one:

I'm not even kidding.

He wanted it so bad!

Not happening.

I mean the name of it is "Hairball Backpack".

Every time we'd go to Target he would run to it.

It took me awhile to get him to stop making googoo eyes at the kitties. Then, I finally had to explain to him that between the rainbows, bows, and hearts he might get teased, 

and then he might not want to carry it. 

( I didn't even mention the kitties in the pink glasses cause he loved them so)

So, he showed me his 2nd choice.

No.

Poor Kid.

In the end (after 3 stores) 

we finally had to order one off the internet 

to find one he loved.

(I'm a big believer in love your backpack.)

Even though I'm not crazy about their backpacks, 

they are, and everyone is happy.

School starts tomorrow and although we avoided "Hairball" teasing...I can't promise the same for the folders they picked out.

Bless their hearts.

(Please if you see my boys...don't mention the kitty backpack

...I don't ever want them to be embarrassed by what I post.)

Always up to something...

Annie has her eye on a camera:

She has decided she want to be a photographer, and since she borrows my phone to take pictures...I agreed, 
she needs to save up for a camera.  
She's halfway there.

Her latest venture was a rootbeer stand.

Last week she got busy making signs,

washing down the stand,

and after 2 days of prep she opened for business!

It was a REALLY hot day.

For the first hour she waited patiently.

Rocco waved signs and hollered "Rootbeer for sale!"

Her only customer actually WAS Rocco.

After his one free rootbeer he spent 

3 bucks buying everyone another.

Annie was happy to take his money.

And Kit...

well he just drank,

and drank,

and drank rootbeer,

alllll afternoon.

And just when everyone was getting a little discouraged,

The customers started rolling in and everyone perked up.

The next hour she made 32 bucks! 

Thanks to some very very kind & generous tippers.

She's already scheming what she can do next.

And I'm sure she'll have her little Nikon before she knows it.

(Kit was sent in to brush his teeth)

I Should Have Known...

I have blue eyed kids.

Annie

Bo

Rocco

Roo

Kit

I name my baby Blue & BAM!

Brown eyes.

And they are getting darker everyday.

Guess God had fun with that one!

I've got myself a brown eyed Blue.