What a summer!

I cannot even believe my last post was at the very beginning of the summer!!! It has been such a wonderful two months that I cannot begin to encapsulate in one post (especially if I want to keep readers until the end!). I don't even know which highlights to pick, but I will do my best to give you all a taste. Since most of you started reading this blog because of Selah, I'll start with our littlest peanut.

I'm so illiterate about computers, so since I stole this picture from my brother's facebook album it is really small! I just had to include it, though, because it's one of my new favorite pics of Selah and I still don't have our vacation ones uploaded. Selah is doing amazingly well. She turned one driving back from our 2 1/2 week vacation in South Carolina, so we have yet to do a celebration justice, but I'm planning on doing that next week! She is just a perfect member of our family. She's babbling like crazy, saying things like "Thank You," "Gentle," "Good Girl," "Hi," "Drink," "Ball," and "Boom." She also signs "More," "Please," "Drink," and "Thank You." She is starting to walk around furniture, pull herself up and crawl everywhere. She has become quite the little drama queen (according to Daddy, especially, who is used to 3 boys and baffled by the emotion). She has been in a little funk since vacation, waking up after being down for the night, but we started trying to break that habit last night and are seeing her more stubborn side :)

Braden and Kole started school last Tuesday. With a highly sensitive kindergartener who isn't getting on the bus with big brother (since Braden is going to a different school where the P.roviding for E.xceptional P.otential program is housed), we weren't sure what to expect, but we were so proud of KoKo. They're both liking school and making new friends. Kole's teacher said that he brings a smile to her face every day, which does not surprise me a bit. Kole is most upset when, according to him, big brother forgets to tell him a school or bus rule so he gets "reminded." What a sweetie. Braden is also loving his new school. He transitions so easily and just has this incredible self confidence. He blows me away. He already has a play date this Friday with a new friend. Luckily, he also has one good friend from his old school that went to the program, too, so that has also helped ease the transition. On vacation, he got stung by this MASSIVE jellyfish and had this MASSIVE mark to show it (you could actually see the whole line of tentacles down his leg!) and didn't even cry!!! Speaking of our vacation (a Christmas gift from my parents who own timeshare), it was AMAZING. The first 1 1/2 weeks was just our family of 6 in Edisto Island relaxing at the pools and beach and having good quality time. We missed our vacation last summer/year and don't ever want to do that again! The second week was with the whole Lugbill clan in Hilton Head. Perfect! I really do have an amazing family and it was just so good to all be together in such a BEAUTIFUL place! Thanks, Mom & Dad!!!!!

Okay, back to the kids' updates: Owen is hanging in there. I should probably mention he broke his arm jungle gyming on his brother's loft and just got it off a week ago. It was waterproof, though, and it didn't manage to slow him down at all. He is such a spirited kid!!! Speaking of that, he is having a rough time with our latest change--our friend and her two little girls moving into our basement. They needed a place and while it didn't make tons of sense if you think about (especially after you read the next paragraph which happened in the same 5 day time frame!), I felt more confident than I had in a LONG time that this was what God wanted. (That is another story in itself. God is so good!) Anyway, it's very different than what we're used to, and Owen is understandably struggling. BUT, he's getting a lot of extra Daddy and Mommy time since the boys are at school and he gets to stay up later, so hopefully that will help. He especially loves his Daddy time :) Can you blame him?

Last big change/piece of news. Our wonderful house is up for sale! We do not know what the future holds, but we know that God is directing and faithful and good. Karl's dream for a long time has been to get his Masters, and it looks like God may be leading him to do that more full-time. There are tons of different scenarios, but since regardless it would involve less hours at the church, Karl's salary would really go down, so....our house is up for sale and we wait for God to direct more. We are a little scared, but very excited at what God is doing. It would be a miracle for it to sell for even most of what it's worth, but that is what we're trusting it will do and in the meantime, we wait and pray.

Okay, precious Owen has been waiting patiently for a game of Operation, so I must go. Sorry to disappoint with so few pictures (the starting one is our new Lugbill family picture taken at my parent's house), but now that we're back in the swing of things, I'll try to post more faithfully! Sorry I've been so awol lately....and that I haven't been reading my friends' blogs either! Life just goes by so fast!