Good times.....

We are in Colorado for our Watermark's family camp that begins tomorrow, but we came a few days early to visit our friends Trevor and Cassie .
We've had so much fun and it has been great to see our kids together. We met them when we lived in VA and Trevor worked at another church in Charlottesville. We both had very few couple friends and we instantly connected. Ellie and Ellis are about 3 months apart and they have a baby girl who is close to Anna's age. I will have to post a picture cause when we go out it looks like we have two sets of twins. Trevor now works at a great church in the suburbs of Denver. It is so nice to see mountains and snow. I've always loved Colorado and the culture. I feel like I need to put my teva's on and have a nalgene bottle with me! We are excited for camp that will be in Estes Park and I know our girls will have a great time. I'm sure it will be so fun all sleeping in the same room for a week, but we will survive! I will try and post some pictures at some point. I know I am enjoying not being in the 100 degree temperature. We are going to Boulder tonight for dinner and because we've always wanted to go there. We love college towns and they always have great restaurants. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Baptism Day!!!

I've watched this video 5 times now and I get a little teary eyed everytime I watch it. There is an amazing story behind every person you see getting baptized. The last person you see was addicted to Heroine for years and came to Christ at Watermark. He's clean now and is loving every minute of his new life. One other quick note, Steve Vanderheide our video guy at Watermark put this together (shot it, edited it). He is AMAZING!!!

Baptism Spring 08 from Steve V on Vimeo.

$2 for two Britax carseats....

I am so excited cause both girls are now riding in Britax Carseats! I've never liked Ellie's for numerous reasons. The straps are always getting twisted or the seatbelt buckles pinch her legs etc... I found Anna's at a garage sale for $2. I took the cover off which is super easy and washed it. It looks brand new and I have always loved it. I've dealt with Ellie's even though I was constantly annoyed at it! Tonight, my next door neighbor brought over her daughter's that she doesn't use anymore and asked me if I wanted it? I don't think she knew how much it blessed me. It is also super cute with a leopard print. I recommend anyone to pay the extra money and get one. It is so worth it and they are super safe. Our summer travels just got a lot more easy!

Our Memorial Day Weekend...

This weekend we found our town's best kept secret; the swimming pools. There's one down the street and we spent a good portion of the weekend there. They have this amazing splash park that both our kids enjoy and it's separate from the normal pool so we don't have to worry about them drowning. The other plus for me and mom is that we get to just chill there in the lounge chairs and watch the kiddos. Some serious sabbath was had this weekend! I took Ellie by myself tonight; we stayed until 9:00 p.m. when they closed, and there was hardly anyone there. Here's a pic...

A Must Read.....

I was so encouraged by this post and I encourage you all to read it fully..... Amazing and just what I needed to read. You can go back and read all of her posts and then it will make much more sense, but have some tissue ready..... Click here to read it now!

We all need a shower...

I feel like this has kind of been a "germ-filled" week for us. I feel like all I have done is clean things up or get the "shout" out for another stain . Ellie often times doesn't remember to go to the potty and just goes wherever. Today, I just started to laugh about our week probably because I'm going out tonight with Mike and won't have to clean anything up for 3 whole hours! Today, my play group met at a park/nature area... The playground was really busy with a group of kids on a field trip. We could not keep track of all our little 2 year olds and Anna was getting fussy in the stroller. We decided to take them on a walk through the nature area which has a  paved path. It was so nice and we all felt better in the shade. However, it was really humid and windy this morning. We were all sweating, but the kids were much happier walking on their adventure. We stopped off by a creek and Ellie was all about throwing rocks in the water. We were there for awhile and then decided to keep walking on the path. We knew it looped all the way around back to the playground. We take off and it ends up being really long at least for 6 toddlers and 4 mommies. We walk for a long time and towards the end many melt-downs were happening etc....The sippy cups were empty etc... Ellie stops at a rock and I see something trickle down her leg. She had her first adventure of using the potty in nature. I have to admit I was kind of proud of her. She then proceeds to pick up dog poo (yuck) and Anna is ready to take a nap. We make it back to the car and are all starving cause it is almost 1:00. I try and think where we could go that would be fast. I decide to go for pizza cause it was a buffet and it will be fast. Ellie decides to go again at our booth. I'm thinking oh well we are almost home and we can all take a nap! They are sleeping hard and I'm excited about going out tonight with Mike so a  long morning ended well.  I want to remember all the stains I have cleaned this week for the future so here's the list:

3 times in the carseat

1 time on the bathroom floor and then Ellie decided to splash in the "water"

1 time at pizza inn

1 time on our chair and ottoman

1 time on the nature trail

crayon on the fireplace

lipstick out of my purse all over the face

Anna found a fun ink pen to write on herself

I really do pay close attention to the girls! It has just been an interesting week! Have a fun night!

Was this really just last year?

Anna May 07
We've grown up a lot since last year


I found these pictures from our vacation to the OBX (Outer Banks, NC) last year. The girls have changed so much in one year. I look back to those times and think we've done a lot since last year. Anna is now a toddler and Ellie is a great big sister. I kind of wish I was at the Outer Banks today with our family. It was a wonderful vacation and perfect timing as we moved a couple months later. I am so glad we got to experience one of my favorite places in the U.S. for a whole week in Duck, NC!

Life this week...

I don't really have much to post, but it has been a pretty good week so far. Here are some highlights:
* Ellie is pull-up free this week except for bedtime. She has been wearing them everywhere and has done pretty well! She has told me twice in the car that "the car-seat is yucky"! However, it was because she had held it to long while I was doing errands. It has been interesting taking them into public places cause I have to hold onto Ellie while she goes potty and Anna is touching everything. It is a whole new world!
* It was 95 degrees here yesterday so we got the baby pool out and went out twice yesterday. It was really fun and nice to get some sun. I'm sure I will be sick of it come October.
* I had some friends over this morning who all have babies around Anna's age. It was fun to see them all start walking and playing together.
* Ellie has "fifths disease" don't worry it is no biggie. We all have it at some point and most of you had it as a child. It is where they get "red cheeks" and a little rash on their necks and arms. She got it most likely from another little girl. Once you get the rash you are not contagious so I am guessing that Anna will have a little rash soon since they share everything.
* We are so excited about AI tonight and hope David Cook wins it all. I really like David A. as well. I just would rather listen to David Cook in my car.
* We are leaving for CO next week for our church's family camp in Estes Park. It is going to be so fun and I know the girls will love being in the mountains.
* We have 3 plane trips in June. The last one I do by myself and I am already dreading that one. I've never been one of those moms who say "my children travel so well" cause they do not enjoy any form of travel except for whenever we get off the plane or out of the car.
* "Dan in Real Life" was so good and you all should rent it if you haven't seen it. We both really liked it and Mike said he even liked it better than "Iron Man" which he saw the night before.
* Mike and I get to go out on Thursday night and even have a free baby-sitter which is even better! I'm already looking forward to Thursday and the time we will get to spend together.

Have a great afternoon...

Long Day....

We're tired and it has just been one of those days that was long in toddler world. Anna is teething really bad. She has only been this way 2 other times and she was teething both times so I know that is the problem. She is so fussy and has a low grade fever. She basically just wants me to hold her all day.  We've had to end up taking a short drive at night time to pass the time away for bedtime. She loves to ride with the windows rolled down. We are both exhausted tonight and put the girls to bed early. I have so much house work to do, but I putting it off till tomorrow. We just rented "Dan in Real Life". I've heard great things about it and need a break! Good Night!

Life of Anna....

I've been telling Mike that it seems like in the last month or so that Anna has gone from baby to toddler over night. She seems to add new things to what she can do every day. She is a tiny thing, but she is sure full of courage and no fear. I can already see how she is like Ellie and how she is so different. She is 15 months and now weighs 18 lbs. However, she is on the growth chart for height. She seems bigger than Ellie for sure even though their weight is similar. Her little feet are not so narrow and she wears clothes that are not far off of her age. I think Anna might be our "stong-willed" child. She wants to try everything which I am learning that life is easier sometimes cause most the time she can figure it out. When I restrain her she sure does have a little temper, but she responds so sweetly to me after I have to discipline her. Here are some of the things she has picked up lately:

She is now saying in her own little language that I for sure understand: Water, Baby, Bye Bye, Hi, Ball, Drink, MINE (new this week), Doggy, Ducky, Sissy, Mama (new last week), Daddy (her first word), Play, Bottle, and Diaper

She wants to feed herself most of the time now although she hasn't quite picked up how to use a spoon. She doesn't eat very much unless she really likes it which is any fruit. She loves to drink anything and really likes it when we are out and I give her a cup with a straw in it.

She can now climb up on our fire place mantle and stand up. She also climbed all the way to the top of the play area at chick-fil-a today and went down the twisty slide. Ellie and our other friend Anna Kate who was there with us do not like to do this and they are almost 3!

She is all about running and playing. She doesn't like to sit still for a minute. She had never watched any TV show or let me read her an entire book. She is very creative and loves her toys. She will go strong from 8-1:30 or so and then crashes from 1:30-4:30 or 5:00! She has always been an incredible sleeper. She takes after me on that area! 

She loves soft things and would love to have a blankie if I would give her one! I just don't want to keep up with it or take it on trips. When she gets really tired she will find anything on the floor like a pair of soft pj pants and cuddle up next to it. She loves to suck her thumb in bed and hold onto a blanket. My mother-in-law and Aunt K will know who also loved to do this when going to sleep!

She loves Ellie and they have a very special bond. They spend all day together and share a room most nights.  I love it that they are so close even after they fight over the same toy or Ellie pushes her down. Anna is starting to hold her own that is for sure.

I love little Anna and can't imagine what God has planned for her. She has so much energy and determination. I hope I can always be creative in letting her use it and not hold her back. She is a sweet little girl who is very much a mama's girl. She just seems to be growing up so much!

Can I freeze time?...

I had the best Mother's Day. I love this day cause it is in May and not in December after Christmas like my birthday. Mike was so sweet and really thought everything out. We made it to early church which we rarely do so that we would have most of the day. Mike had Shoreline last night so we wanted to have time after church to do something. We went to Boston Market cause there was no way I was going to face Mother's Day crowds with our two toddlers! We decided to go to the Dallas Arboretum which is a botanical garden similar to Duke Gardens for all my Carolina readers. It is much larger than Duke Gardens and it was beautiful. I tried to put the girls in somewhat matching outfits so we could get some good pictures. They had so much fun running around in the fields of flowers and exploring all the neat little houses. I told Mike I wish I could freeze time so that they will always be wearing cute dresses and hair bows. The picture of Anna running is what she loves to do now. She is so fast and strong. Today, she figured out how to open the door handle. My life is getting more interesting every day! I did pray for all my friends yesterday who have experienced loss this year. I could not stop thinking about you all and know that yesterday must have been difficult for you all. I've had 2 friends experience their baby dying in the past year. One was stillborn and the other died shortly after birth. I've had at least 5 friends have miscarriage and they've all encouraged me to enjoy every day with my children. You are all such incredible examples of God's grace and mercy. He has given you all such strength to move forward with such hope. I hope you've all had a great Monday! I look forward to reading all your blogs this week!

Ellie is the CUTEST!

Take a few minutes and check this video out, Ellie is the best!!!

Vida Loca! Volunteer Appreciation Night!

The staff performing "La Vida Loca"
My favorite Alamo Guy!
Mike, Bode and David! Ole'!

We had such a fun night last night! Watermark does a volunteer appreciation night every other year where all the volunteers from every ministry are honored. The theme was an Alamo/Cantina night. We ate yummy mexican food outside with a live mariachi band and hung out with friends. Then we went inside where all the volunteers were entertained by the staff doing their version of "La Vida Loca"! It was hilarious and Mike was so thankful he was in the back during the dance. Then we had a hilarious stand-up comedian guy tell us all kinds of funny jokes for 45 minutes. It was a great night even for the kids as they were in child-care till 10:00 P.M.! We are so thankful for our church and how good it was to laugh together!

Our trip to Arkansas!

Nana and Papa with the girls!
They have so much fun together!
Pop with his great-granddaughters
I got to see my good friend Marilyn
Ellie and cousin Avery

We just got back from a trip to Arkansas. We went to celebrate my grandpa's 80th birthday. We had a great party with lots of friends and family. I got to see some great friends and the girls go to play with their cousins. They all have so much fun together and get along really well. They were exhausted every night and I think we are all still recovering. We had a great time with my family and it was nice to be back in my old home state!

You have to watch this video...

Service Day from Watermark Student Ministries on Vimeo.
Two sundays ago our church didn't meet in our normal building. We (about 12 busses full) went out and served all over Dallas. It was amazing, take 2 minutes and watch this, you'll be blessed!

Home Sweet Home....

Well, the girls and I are off to my great home state of Arkansas. My parents came into town today and we are driving up to AR for my grandpa's 80th birthday party! We will see lots of family and Ellie is sure excited to see her cousins. I will get to see my good friends Marilyn and Catherine
on Thursday with all 5 of our kiddos. We were all super good friends in high school and I haven't seen Marilyn since shortly after our weddings almost 7 years ago. She just moved back to AR. I will also get to see the Hurley's and their new baby boy! We were good friends in Carolina and they also just moved to AR for work! I am really excited for this trip and I love AR. I know many people think it is just a rural state, but Fayetteville is such a great place. It is beautiful and where I spent the first 21 years of my life. We will miss Mike so much, but I know he has a busy week planned with lots of fun things going on. I will be back to the blog world next week!

Ellie Moments...

Ellie has said some funny things lately that I wanted to make sure I record on here. I think that someday as they get older I will print the blog out for them. They might get totally bored and humiliated by it, but oh well!
We are going to my grandpa's birthday party on Saturday in Arkansas. I'm actually leaving with my parents on Wednesday for it. Ellie is very into parties right now. I told her she would have to wear a party outfit and her cousins would be there which added to the excitement. Last night she kept taking off all her clothes to get dressed for the party. I think in the future if anything fun is coming up I won't mention it until the day before we leave.

I asked her this morning if she slept good and she said yes. I asked her what she dreamed about and she said "God" and then added that her and God "went to church". She says this every morning and it is a good reminder that these toddler days are short and one day I might wish she would dream about going to church!
Have a Happy Monday!

Highs and Lows

I am totally stealing this title from my friend Stephanie. She's like the best blog writer and I can never think of titles. I really liked her idea of telling her high's and lows of the week. We've had a pretty good week so far and I've tried to have more purpose to our days and also in my personal life.
Low's:
Tuesday was beyond crazy with the kiddos. It just started out bad and did not get much better. My patience was kind of short and Ellie was really struggling with the potty. She would want to go and would try, but not much success. I think we spent at least 2 hours in our little pink bathroom together while Anna was also needing much attention. Our afternoon got worse when I put Ellie down for her nap and she decided to "go" and then pull off her pull-up to then create a huge mess that I'll just let you imagine what her crib looked like. I could only laugh at that point and almost cry when I walked in her room and she goes "sorry mommy".

Tuesday night is a continuation of Tuesday afternoon. We have been really busy and I'm about to be out of town next week. We haven't been on a date in quite awhile. Mike called our sweet sitter and she could come over. We had plans to go to Pei Wei and then we've had free movie tickets that we really wanted to use. We go out to dinner and then to the mall where the movie is supposed to start at 8:45. Mike had his phone on silent and he looked down to see 3 missed calls from our sitter. He calls her back and finds out Anna had swallowed some AirWick liquid freshener that I had plugged in right by her changing table after the "afternoon surprise" that really stunk up the girls room. She maybe got a tiny drop, but our sitter had called her parents and then she called poison control who sent an ambulance. Anna was totally fine and our sitter did the right thing. However, one of us had to go home to sign the release that Anna did not need to go to the hospital etc...We still had a great time at dinner, but I don't want that kind of Tuesday for a long time.

I was so bummed that Carly got kicked off of AI. I really liked her voice and her sweet spirit. I really liked it when she wore her long-sleeve shirts!

Highs
Wednesday was so much better for Ellie. She's like a new girl and is telling me most of the time she needs to go before we have an accident. The whole reward thing was starting to click for
her. I normally just arrange the reward for what we are doing that day. I will tell her you will get to go to the library if you go potty or I will buy you a cookie at the mall.

Today, I met my playgroup at the mall playground. I am so thankful for these girls. It is really neat how God brought them into my life. They all have 2 year olds and some are pregnant with their second. Those first 6 months here were pretty lonely at times and I finally feel like I really connect well with these girls. We meet every Thursday and do something different with the kiddos. Ellie loves it so much to see friends.

I just started Beth Moore's David devotional. It takes you 90 days and it is her short form version. It is great and I always love anything Beth writes. I also just finished this incredible book that Mike's mom gave me called "The Glass Castle". It is a true story and you need to go check it out at the library. I am so bummed though cause I found out from a friend that she spoke at the high school that is a block from our house in October and I missed it. I think my next fun book will be "The Kite Runner".

I better go get some work done. Have a great day!

Fun time in the flowers....

We were at the library today and outside they have a courtyard area with a fountain. They had planted some beautiful wildflowers so I decided to take some pictures. Anna was to fast to get very many good pictures. I am so glad we did it!

Show Up!

I went to a thing yesterday at church called Building Blocks. It is once a month for moms of preschool age children. The lady who spoke was amazing. She based her talk on Deuteronomy 6 and really walked us through it with practical examples. Her main topic was that as mothers we must be walking with God daily and then everything will fall into place more easily as we try and raise our children. She encouraged us to "show up" daily and be prepared with Jesus to face the battles with our children. I have been thinking how on the days where I am up and ready for the day with plenty of sleep etc... how our day goes so much better. When we start our day with prayer for good attitudes, gratitude etc... how I can transform our day from constant fussiness and me getting frustrated. Anyways, I am so glad that I went and I think I can post a link of her message on the blog.
Well, I am so glad it is Friday. We had a very normal week where we were home more in the evenings and able to get the kids to bed on time. I love it when Mike is home and we can spend extended time together. We are going on a date tomorrow night. I think dinner and a movie. We've had these free movie passes for a long time and thought it would be good to use them. We worked in the yard this morning and it is something that I am enjoying more. I even offered to mow the backyard this morning. I did most of it, but I don't think I am very good. Mike mowed the front yard and it looks much better!
Ellie has been going on the potty since Wednesday. It has been challenging at times and easy at others. She basically runs around all day without a diaper and then at naptime or when we are going out I put a pull-up on her. She's not so great at telling me that she has to go so we have spent a lot of time putting her on it. She's such a sweet little girl who makes us laugh and smile so much during the day. Anna is now running it seems like and loves climbing up anything especially at the playground. She's eating so much more now that she's done with her bottle! She is very fond of her mommy and would love it if I carried her around all day. She is fine anywhere we take her, but if she sees me she immediately wants me to pick her up. I remember though telling Mike when she was in the womb that I felt really close to her. I think we had so much transition going on while I was pregnant that I just remember praying so much for her to be healthy etc....
Anyways, I hope you all have a great weekend and get to do something fun with friends or family!

Official P.T. starts tomorrow....

Well, tomorrow is the big day for Ellie. I have waited to start potty-training until now. She will be 3 in August and we have lots going on this summer so I knew I had to start this spring. We have 2 weeks before we have to travel and most of May we will be here. She is really starting to show readiness and excitement. I tried once before and she would just scream and protest against the potty and undies. She has gone 3 times already today, but tomorrow we are saying bye-bye to diapers. She has always been one on her own schedule and will tell us when she wants to try something. Anna is the complete opposite. She has no fear and loves to try new things. Anyways, I know it will take much longer than 2 weeks to really have it accomplished, but you have to start somewhere. Any advice? I hope you all are having a great week. My mom has been here for the past week while Mike was at a conference in Chicago and we had a great time. It was great to have extra help. I have lots of pictures to post soon!

The Chick-fil-A Project

A fun video project of Mike and Bode driving to get free Chick-Fil-A for a year. There will be more to come and he did get free chick-fil-a for a year. Can you believe it?!

Am I dreaming???

Did any of you catch the end of AI tonight where they are singing "Shout to the Lord". I must say they are doing a very good job of one of my all time favorite praise song. However, I sang it in 1996. I was a little disappointed that they said "My Shepherd, My Comfort" instead of "My Jesus, My Savior". Oh well, at least Hillsong and the Lord are now getting props on AI!

Pray

I found this link from someone's blog and I read there story today. A family who needs peace and has encouraged me greatly today.

www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com

And then there was ONE.....!

You can tell we've had a couple of exciting days. Mike said I could not blog about KU till it was over! We are so excited and shocked. There was much yelling, frustration, joy, nerves, etc... in our house tonight! We really did expect the Kansas "Choke", but it didn't happen! Maybe, cause the curse of Roy has been lifted. You can tell we were at the Final Four on Saturday. We saw KU destroy UNC. It was awesome and we had to go once we found out it was KU/UNC. It was only 4 hours from us so we had to go! More soon! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

THE PAUL MITCHELL SCHOOL OF COSMETOLOGY...

So I went to get my haircut today and decided to try a little something new. I heard a rumor that I could go and pay way less than I normally pay (10 bucks) and have someone in training cut my hair. Sounded like a great idea, and it really worked out good. My coworker David Penuel tried to talk me out of it, but my hair student did a great job today (Thanks Maria) and I got a great deal...Here's a couple pictures of her and her instructor...Mike

KU VS UNC...

Enjoy...our trip to the Final Four! ROCK CHALK!

A quiet night....

Well, I'm just catching up on A.I. while Mike went to a late movie with a friend. I love it that he's watching whatever guy movie without me. He rarely gets to do this, but has somewhat of a slow day tomorrow. I can't say I have a total favorite this year on A.I., but I guess it would be Brooke White. I love her voice and she seems so normal. It has been a crazy past couple of days. The girls both have colds and just don't feel that great. We haven't been able to get out like we normally do which leads to Ellie being crazy. She tends to just walk around all day looking for something to knock over or pull down from a shelf etc....My patience has been stretched which leads me back to "I can't do this on my own". I have to rely on Christ all day. Tonight, we had our community group and it has been so encouraging to walk through life with one other couple. We are a "small" group and are thankful to meet with them twice a month. The other great thing is in a month or so they will live about 6 houses down from us. They are renovating a home in our neighborhood and we are so excited to have them so close!
Mimi and G-daddy (Mike's parents) came to visit us over the weekend. They had not been here since December so we were excited to see them. We had a great time watching basketball. It is now Mike's dream game. Can you believe both of his favorite teams are playing each other! He picked Kansas over UNC. He will always pull for the Jayhawks over the Tar Heels, but the great thing is we are for sure going to be cheering for one of our teams in the national championship game! We are so pumped for Saturday! We took the kids to the Dallas Zoo on Saturday. They loved it. We've been to the the Ft. Worth Zoo, but it is much further and the kids do not know a difference. I really liked the Dallas one. Mimi bought us a family membership so now we can go whenever we want! Yea! Our girls both love it and it is nice to be outside all day. We are so thankful for our parents/grandparents!
I will post some pictures soon from our weekend. I hope you all are having a great week!

Changing my world....

We got a double jogger! I am so excited and have already used it almost every day. We had been looking for one forever on Craig's List. I wanted a good one cause I've heard pretty bad things about the cheap ones. The one we got is similar to the "Bob". It is a Kool Stop and originally they sell for $450 and we got it for super cheap. The lady selling it had used it about 3 times. The tread on the tires was not even worn at all. I tried it out at her house and then went to our local Bike/Running store to see if they had any used ones and they had a Kool Stop new one for $469 so I knew it would be good. It is really light of course so are our kids, but it is really not hard to push or turn at all. It helps on the days when it is nice outside and I don't want to drive to the gym. Anyways, I recommend it for those with two!

Easter Pics...

Our second family picture of 2008!

Mike looking handsome and Anna so cute!

Ellie on the way to church

Ellie quickly found out there was candy in the eggs!

Happy Easter and more...

We are back to the blogging world after a weeks vacation. I've enjoyed catching up on all your lives! We celebrated Jesus this morning at Watermark. It was a great celebration and then we went to a brunch/egg hunt at a friend's house. Ellie was all over finding all of the eggs and especially loved finding out that many of them had candy. We just got home from a short trip to Arkansas to stay at one of our timeshares. It was a great trip and I think I'll leave you our "Top Ten" of the week!
1.)One of our students from Raleigh came to visit us for the week. She is an awesome girl who will be transferring from Wake Tech to UNC-Wilmington in the fall. She picked a great college don't you think?
2.)Spending time with Mike and the kids w/o cell phone, internet, laundry, etc..I would have said T.V., but it is March so you know it has not turned off.
3.) Ellie playing her first mini-golf game. She loved it and preferred it over the playground. She "played" all 18 holes.
4.) My children sleeping till 9:30 everyday. We put them in the bathroom(it was really big) and it had no windows. They had no idea what time it was!
5.) Reading the book "Same Kind of a Different Me". It is set in Dallas and is a true story. It is sooooo good. You can find it at Barnes and Noble or the library.
6.) Anna is officially walking! She's been taking steps forever. However, she now walks more than crawls so I guess we have a toddler.
7.) I love to see the joy in March on Mike's face when UNC and KU win. He also is very happy when Duke loses.
8.) Our timeshare was in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas. We loved it cause it was so nice to be out of the city. It was in the mountains on a lake. It was so nice to see deer and drive on the winding AR roads. We almost floated away with all the rain we got in one day. I think it was like 8 inches. It was crazy, but so much fun.
9.) We got to see our good friend Sean from college. He is one of Mike's best friends and they live in MO. He drove down for a day and spent the night. We enjoyed eating mexican food with him. He and Mike always loved going out for mexican.
10.) Happy Easter... I was reminded again today of the hope of Jesus. How could we ever do this life without Him? It would all be so complicated, but with Jesus I have such peace and know that no matter what my hope will never be destroyed.

Blogging Break....

Well, it is spring break here like it probably is everywhere. I am going to be on a blogging break for the next week. Mike is taking off work and we have a friend visiting from NC. She was one of our students at WellSpring and is now in college. She wanted to come visit for her spring break. It was her first flight etc... really fun that she is here. Our girls are totally in love with her. It is so cute how someone new really adds some excitement to our house. Church was amazing this morning and a message that I totally recommend listening to sometime. A pastor at our church spoke on pain and suffering. His son was diagnosed with leukemia last summer while his wife was pregnant with their fourth child. His son is only four years old. He really spoke well on what to do with our pain and just when we don't get what God is doing in the midst of it. He did an amazing job and I know it related to everyone in the room in some sort of way. I don't think it is up yet on the web, but will be by tomorrow. Check out:
www.watermarkradio.com
I hope you all can reflect on this passion week about the incredible hope we have in Jesus!

DTown Commercial

We recently had Dtown (DNow) and the "sponsor" for the weekend was deodorant. There are some other really funny videos on youtube. However, I thought this one was so funny especially with Baby Penuel!

Nice day, Girls Night, and Baby...

It is a beautiful sunny day here and we have been able to spend so much more time outside. We play in the front yard a lot. I can sit on the porch and the girls can run around in the grass. We see the neighbors and lots of people walking outside. I know in just a few short months it will be to hot to do this during the day.

Last night was a girls night and we had so much fun! It has been on the calendar for 2 weeks or so and the timing was perfect cause I really needed a break from the kids and be with adults! I got to go out with Julia Morrison (aka old seminary friend) they go to Watermark and her husband finishes up seminary in May. We are also friends with 2 other couples that the Morrison's told us about and Mike works with them. It was so great and Mike got to hang out with David. They took the girls out for dinner and Anna actually fell asleep at their apartment so we ended up being that their place till after 11. It was so fun to spend time with them.

Anna's favorite word and her first word was "baby". She says it all the time and it is so cute. I am now a nanny PT for a sweet baby that comes to our house a few days a week. It has been a really great job and the girls have done really well with her. Anna loves to make her smile and Ellie likes to give her the paci. She reminds me she's a big girl and doesn't need a Paci. It is really nice to be a paci-free home. I do not miss looking for that thing! Anyways, I hope you all have a great day and that you get to enjoy nice weather!

Our not so snowy day....

Ellie and her favorite friend next door!

Anna looking cold!

Love this picture!

Sweet Anna

A picture to frame

Mom, Is this all the snow?

Well, we only got a 1/2 inch of snow and it has already melted. However, so many other places near us got tons of snow. Oh well, I did get some great pics this morning at 7:30 A.M.. I don't think I've ever been out this early to play in the snow!