job update.....sorta

We are still waiting on the official word from Accenture about Brian's job. This is completely expected, but it will still be nice to have it.....anything can happen between now and then. In the meantime we (Brian especially) has been keeping busy by packing. We don't know exactly what is going to happen other than we are probably most likely, maybe going to be moving. :) SO, since Brian is here right now, why not pack, right? We are trying to go ahead and de-clutter somemore and pack up all non essentials....though Brian can get in a mode where it seems like everything is non-essential!! :) I like to be a little steadier about things where he is more like a roller coaster.

Harrison's birthday party

Harrison has had a very exciting week. First his karate testing and then he had his birthday party last night at a local pizza place. He was debating between that and a pool party at the house....until he saw the new projection screen at the pizza place. It also worked out well that there were 2 NFL football games on - one being the AZ Cardinals - Harrison's favorite. We let him open his gift from Grandma and Papa McAlister early, and he was very excited.

He got chocolate cake on it at the party, so we washed it so he could wear it to church tonight.











Obviously - here he is blowing out the candles. We had Costco make a football cake with Clemson colors!










His buddy, Andrew, lives pretty far away so we picked up earlier in the day for a playdate before the party.



















Here's the whole crazy crew....minus Elijah who wanted nothing to do with this picture. Look behind them and you can see the projection screen. I think Brian was envious - it's bigger than his! :)











opening presents....I think he's holding the money he got from Aunt Amanda and her crew. He had a lot of fun. Harrison is not a child who minds having a lot of attention on him. :)

Harrison - karate testing

Harrison tested tonight to get his brown belt in karate. He's only 6 years old! I know he will be 7 next week, but it is still a huge accomplishment. He has so much to remember.















Elijah was sitting by Brian while Sensei Shannon was speaking to the kids testing. This was cute because Elijah usually sticks by me and doesn't go near Brian a lot. :)
















Here is Harrison and his buddy, Jacob, after testing. Jacob received his advanced brown belt tonight.












Harrison, so proud, with his new brown belt and Sensei Shannon.

Groovy Baby

So, I just wrote my last post and I was thinking again about how much fun my boys had a Family Fun Night. The message Chris was speaking about is a hard one for most of us to swallow and practice in the real world. How many times have we avoided eye contact, walked a different way, pretended we were doing something else - all to avoid someone that seems undesirable or 'lesser' than we are? It's an ugly trait, but I think we all have it. With my boys I really try to stress that we should love all PEOPLE, not necessarily love what those people DO. (I have a very specific instance from my childhood related to this very ideal) I wonder how, in their eyes, I act this out.....or not?

I hope in the coming week I can be conscious about working on this.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 8:34

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."
Romans 12:9

Family Fun Night at church.......Enrichment Program begins

There is a wonderful enrichment program homeschooled kids in Mesa that is funded by our tax dollars. This year Zachary is going on Mondays while Harrison & Elijah are going on T/TH. This is a picture of Harrison and Elijah's first day - Harrison going into their 2nd grade class and Elijah into Kindergarten if you can believe that!!!

Elijah was SO excited. The night before he picked his own outfit out. This all Clemson orange ensemble is his absolute favorite thing to wear.









Here he is sitting at his desk in Mrs. Skipper's class (isn't that a great name for a K teacher?!). The room was full of parents and kids, but as I left he still yelled out to me, 'I love you Mommy!'













Our elementary pastor, Chris Hedrick, is wonderful. He has great enthusiasm and knows how to do goofy things but bring them full circle to help re-enforce Biblical principle that we, as parents, are hopefully teaching at home.
Every quarter he tries to have a Family Worship Night at church. Everyone is in the worship center, and he has fun games and crafts centered around a theme.
Here, Elijah is waiting with Summer to hear what Pastor Chris has to share.






Me, Harrison, and Pam Cooley taking a close up group shot! I promise - we were paying attention to the lesson!










Kris Miele, Summer's mom, is apparently an expert at using toilet paper. Chris was giving a lesson on loving everyone and spoke about the leper Jesus touched......how dirty they probably were.....smelly, etc. BUT, Jesus still reached out to him because he is a child of God.

Harrison served as our leper and Kris wrapped him up well! He wasn't happy that I was taking his picture like this though.

Perhaps the ends is near?

Well, as I write this Brian is getting to enjoy being with Amanda and her family who have just moved stateside from Japan. While I am a wee bit envious, I am very thankful that he is so comfortable with my family that he doesn't mind staying alone with them for a couple days. Truth be told, when it comes to family we have both hit the jackpot! We constantly hear of hardships growing up or not-so-nice in laws from people at church. Overall, I think Brian and I had the best childhoods possible, and we are both happy with our in-laws. Joan, if you get around to reading this, I really do mean that. I know I'm not the best at verbally expressing my gratitude in person. :(

The reason Brian is staying with Amanda is a good one. He had an interview with Accenture (in DC) on Friday and has an interview with Sun Trust (in Richmond) on Monday. He's also in the final running for a job with the Post Office (also out of DC), but since it's a government job, the potential hiring process is slow.

My emotions are so torn right now. I've been feeling myself EXTREMELY resistant to moving. I think it's mostly because of how deeply rooted I am here now, and also because we have 3 boys who will absolutely be affected (which we've never had before in a move). Elijah is tearing up about it almost once every other day now. It's very sad to see him try and contain his emotions about missing his friends.

With Brian's current job opportunities, I keep trying to figure out what God wants me to see. Am I supposed to be thankful he has interviews and just continue to be patient even though it's been over 8 months now? OR, am I supposed to see where these opportunities are and see that God is bringing us closer to family?

These trials we are going through are very trivial compared to other's. But it makes me wonder how anyone can go through a trial in life and not have God? No matter how crappy I feel on certain days about this whole mess, at least I have hope. Hope that this is happening for a reason....hope knowing that God won't let us drown.....hope realizing that God has surrounded us with wonderful people.....I could go on, but I have 3 sweet little boys that need to go to bed.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Elijah's 5th birthday

We had a swimming party at home for Elijah's 5th birthday. He is such a big boy now. Beforehand we talked about how to treat all of his guests, but he was sweet to everyone. I made him take a little nap before the party, and I think that helped (we had already been to 1 swimming party that morning, so he was tired!) There were no meltdowns today! Yay! All of the kids at the party were very well behaved.

We let all of the siblings/parents come if they wanted. Elijah, however, only wanted the girls to come! :) He is fond of the little ladies! We all swam for a bit. Then Brian grilled some hot dogs and hamburgers. Then it was time for our homemade pinata, cake, ice cream, and presents!

The night before his birthday, I kissed him saying that this would be the last time I kissed him as a 4 year old. He asked me if all of his clothes would fit him tomorrow - if his 4 year old clothes would fit him now that he's 5. :) Then when he woke up on his birthday and we were all commenting on him being 5 now, he said, 'But I don't feel any different!" Innocence is precious.


Here is Harrison in the pool with one of his best buddies, Ethan.














Zachary and his buddy, Nicholas, had fun with the water guns. I don't think they did anything else!










Elijah jumping in....again. Between our party and the one we had in the morning, I know he had to be tired from all the jumping / swimming!









Getting ready to whack the pinata. We made it from paper mache. He helped a little until his hands got too icky. Zachary helped a little too. Elijah did help paint. He was very specific about the colors. When we first made it, there was a small dent in one side that made it look like the Death Star. Zachary was going to help him paint it to look like that, but Elijah told him it had to be pink or the girls would not like it!










Here is one of the many cool presents he got. This one allows him to make different animal footprints on the sidewalk!









Here he is with his piece of cake. He asked for the purple balloon piece, but ended up not being able to eat very much of it at all!










Here are all of the party guests!













Here are my sweet boys...Aren't they so handsome?











I had to try the party hats too.