Ephesians 1:18-19

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe."

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Ephesians 2:10

These 2 verses have been on my heart, engraved on my heart, for the past few days. This week has been amazing. I'm changed forever. Can't wait to share more...here's a few more photos in the meantime.

The journey has begun

We are almost midway through our Lighthouse trip and I wanted to give a little update. The journey for spiritual growth has begun as well and I can promise that God has already brought numerous blessings and growth opportunities so far. I will give the big report when I return but here are a few prayers requests and pictures of our adventure.
Prayers requests:
Just really prayers for health of the little girl Eric and I are taking care I this week. And also for her family to have renewal and just a time of being able to feel God's presence.
Physical strength for me. I am very tired. I want to be at my best this week and I just really need the strength and energy so I can serve at my best.
For my children. Noah has had a few episodes of being homesick and Nathan had been testing his limits every chance he can get. And I miss them. A lot.
For the volunteers and families present in this retreat. There have been so many smiles and laughter so far and it is all genuine. God is here and I pray each and every person here is moved to a point that it is life changing.
I will come back and label pictures later since I can't figure out how to do it on my phone. I can tell you one thing this week that has been so funny. Last night the volunteers did a flash mob style dance, look it up if you don't know what this means. I was mortified to have to do this rehearsed dance in front of everyone but I did it! I was horrible and I was totally uncoordinated. But our worship leader told us to remember this for this week, "it's not about you". What great lessons in humility that cannot be taught in normal daily life.

The balance act

Here's my goal for this summer...a perfect balance between productivity and FUN!!! I want to be a cleaner and organizer. I want to work on academic things with the boys. But I also want to have the most fun ever!!! My prayer is that we can do it all this summer, the fun stuff and the not so fun stuff. Here a few pictures of things that make my productivity more fun for me....And things that are just plain FUN for the O boys.  Here's to a fun productive summer for you also!

I enjoy this so much for daily cleaning

Movies with friends on rainy days!! The boys love this!

This is a random elf that has been thrown way high, fun for the boys, not so fun for short mom

Starbuck's - way fun for mom

Newly organized pantry made fun with my label maker! Yay!

I love these little guys and they make me want to do laundry every day

Bubbles - what's summer fun without bubbles?!

Great Wolf Lodge summer trip

Here are some pictures from out latest trip. This was our summer family vacation to the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC. We had a blast in the waterpark, went kiddie bowling, mini golf, ate way too much food, and laughed a ton! It was not relaxing at all, but we know the memories made plus a super fun time made it ALL worth it!

The boys loved the wave pool, it was their favorite!

Mini golf and beaver faces

Yes, that was me on the big scary slide with the boys

This time we were upgraded for FREE with our own private bedroom, the boys had their own room

It's hard to say who was having more fun here

Pizza dinner

Cuddle time

Free chocolate popcorn at bedtime! The Great Wolf always spoils us rotten!!

May recap

May was full of lots of activities here and there. Here's a little recap (and if you're on facebook you've seen most of these pictures already).

The boys had their very first sleepover with friends here at our house. Above they are watching a movie right after warm cookies right out of the oven! We are so blessed to have friends, that are really family to us, who watched our boys for the first time overnight in April. We returned the favor for them and can't wait for more sleepovers in the future! I know the memories for the boys are priceless and the time away for the mom and dad is crucial!

In May we also celebrated Eric's 40th birthday! We are so thankful that he is feeling healthy and that we can spend every moment we can with him...because he's a great guy! My favorite actually and I am so blessed to be married to this man.

Noah had his Kindergarten graduation! We are soo proud of him and how far he has come this year. Some things we are thankful for are his improvements in his speech (thank you speech therapy!) and also his fine motor skills (specifically his handwriting).

Beginning of the year

End of the year handwriting

Some other things we've been up too...a trip to see my sister and her children. Nathan had an eye dr. appointment at Duke (we got really good news on his eyes!! YAY!!) so we stayed over with her and had a little overnight fun. And finally, we've been outside a lot!! We have planted corn, sunflowers, tomatoes, and a huge butterfly garden. The boys like to play with the water hose when we are out most days!! I'm so glad that summer is here...bring on the good times!! :)

Swimming with cousins

Build a bear fun with the cousins

Natey after 3 hour long eye appointment

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redneck waterpark back at home

Lighthouse Family Retreat

Eric and I are planning our first mission trip together as a couple to a wonderful seaside retreat. The mission of this group, Lighthouse, is to restore family relationships and find hope in God in the midst of childhood cancer. We will spend the week serving these families, washing their clothes, feeding them, pampering them, showing them God's love and helping them find time to relax and be renewed. We will be going with an outstanding group from our church and are just so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this amazing ministry. Here's a little more on Lighthouse:
http://www.lighthousefamilyretreat.org/

One of the things I am most excited about is having a week away with Eric! We haven't done this since we've had children. We actually just took our first kid free overnight trip away a couple of weeks ago when we celebrated Eric's 40th birthday! I think there is no better way for us to spend time away from our children, than serving God right beside each other. So I am encouraged by these thoughts! I am also very anxious about leaving my boys for a week. They will be staying with their grandparents and I know they will have a GREAT time! I just have never been away from them for sooo long! I pray the week goes fast for all of us and wonderful memories will be made by all.

So if you're reading this, we would appreciate all the prayers we can get for this week in June that is fast approaching! If you feel led, here is a site where you can donate toward our pledge goal:
http://lighthouse.pledgeraiser.org/p/Ogrodowczyk/lighthouse-fundraiser
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

My Favorite Book

I had someone email me the other day who wanted to know what I have been reading lately. I love to read, I wish I had more time to do it. Today I received this book from Noah, and I'm convinced it will be forever my favorite book. Take a look why...

Next page...

I love you because you plant plants with me. 

We planted our bushes and plants this year with Noah and apparently it made an impression! I love that he made sure we both had green eyes.

You give me medicine

I don't drug him or anything! But I guess he sees me as his personal nurse! There's a tiny purple pill in the middle of the brown table. That's the ibuprofen I give him when he gets a headache.

You watch movies with me...yeah I like that too! Check out the enormous popcorn!

you read me the bible

This has to be the best! I love how he drew the beds, Noah with his blue blanket and Nathan with his green. I love that he loves when we read him the bible. I ask him if the teacher helped him with these and he said he came up with them on his own. I believe it, and that is why this is my favorite book of all time!

*speaking of Mother's Day, the last few days are left on the drawing of the getaway. Not many people have entered so the chances are pretty good, it could be you! Take time to add your name, scroll down 2 posts below and read more.