Finally a Post!

Well there are a myriad of reasons that I haven't posted to the blog in 2 months!
A few include: first trimester pregnancy! (due Mar 4th), hardwood floor installations (in other words - turn your home upside down and then try to put it back together, vacations, travels, and Craig joining the pastoral team at Cornerstone Church (more about that later).

With all of that, here are some new photos of the children, and I promise... more to come!

This morning Karis had hot chocolate in the "special cup"! This cup was mine when I was a child. I loved drinking from it on the weekend at my Dad's house. Christmas five years ago, when I was expecting Karis, my Dad gave it to me. I brought it out this morning for Karis. I told her that as she drank her hot chocolate , she would see a suprise.

She was so excited as she sipped her warm yummy treat to find the frog in the bottom of the cup!

All gone! Thanks Dad for passing the cup on for another generation to use!

Wedding

I am VERY behind in posting photos to our blog. But, I am behind on a lot of things! Travel has come upon us. Anniversary trip, suprise birthday trip, and our beach vacation have been wonderfully exhausting, and we are just getting things back to normal. Or, maybe I should say, we were just getting things back to normal. Right now, our house is in complete disaray. We have having hardwood floors installed as I type. I didn't anticipate how messy this project would be! I will post some photos of the process, and finished result in a few days (hopefully!)





Last month, Karis was the flower girl in a wedding. It was such a sweet weekend. Our good friends Adam and Holly got married, and it was such a tender and joyful wedding. Karis loves them and Holly has babysat for our family for at least 3 years.





I don't have many photos because our camera battery died, but here are a few:

Karis and Griffin walking down the aisle

Holly before the wedding

Karis loved getting her hair done before the wedding. She so wanted to wear make-up too!

BEACH!!

We are enjoying our family vacation this year with our good friends Jayson and Shanon Sanders at Folly Beach, SC. Today is our last day, and as the children are napping, I decided to post a few photos. It makes me sad that we are leaving tomorrow. At breakfast this morning, we all were saying that we wished we could stay another week!

This has been so much fun! We are staying in a condo at the beach outside of Charleston.

The children have had a blast playing in the surf and at the pool. We enjoyed an evening out in Charleston one night while the Sanders watched the children, and were able to return the favor for them.

Charleston is one of my two favorite cities. Ironically, I got to go to both cities within one week! Last week I turned 30! Augh! I cringe writing that! Craig pulled off a masterful suprise and flew us up to New York City for the night for my birthday. He planned for more than a month, and had so many people involved in the planning process. I had an amazing birthday - dinner on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Center at the Rainbow Room - a ride through Times Square - an a night's stay in Mid-Town! What an amazing husband!

I am truly the most blessed of women!

Strawberries

The strawberries here in Tennessee were bit by the frost in April, but not the ones in Maryland! My mom and I took the children berrry picking early in the morning while we were visiting up there. I was so glad to be able to do that late spring activity with the children. They loved it. Joshua ate more than he collected in the bucket. Ok... he didn't collect any that we are aware of. He only ate berries!
But Karis, she was a serious berry picker this year! I think she only tried one berry in the field.
She was intent on picking a lot of berries and filling the bucket!

Thanks Mom for taking us to the berry patch - or as Karis called it, the berry farm!

Our Maryland Trip

We returned a few days ago from our 10 day trip to Maryland to visit family. It was an eventful week and a half! We spent some time at my mom's house, then a few days with my sister, back to my moms, then to my dads, and then to my moms... then we flew home! Needless to say, we were worn out when we got home! I don't know who was happier we were home, Craig or me!

The children and I did so much while we were gone, but I think a highlight for Karis was going to the National Zoo. This time we didn't let Joshua have peanut butter - so no allergic reactions this year, Thanks God!

We saw the tigers, lions, and panda bears - all awake! This was a wonderful suprise since we were there around noon - the sleepy time of day for animals at the zoo. Joshua growled at the lions and tigers, but they didn't seem to take notice.

More photos to come....

Joshua and Philip

On friday I watched the cousins while Jenny ran some errands. While Madie and Karis played pet shop - where they took turns being a doggie or doggie butterfly and a kitty cat (accordingly), Joshua and Philip discovered the cabinet in our front room. I had opened it to pull out the cardboard blocks for them to build and knock down towers, but they found that hiding in the cabinets and busting out was much more fun!

In a few days we are off to a week in Maryland to visit my family and then to Pennsylvania to see my sister, her family, and my new niece Rachel! Photos of the visits soon to come...

Popsicles

Last weekend we enjoyed a Cooper Family Night with Stuart and Jenny. The children played outside most of the evening, and we pulled out the baby pool for the first time this season. It was a hit for all of the children except Joshua who seems timid of the water. But the biggest hit of the spring season so far is the popsicle! On Sunday night, the children had two each and Joshua runs to the freezer at the mention of this sugary frozen treat!

Karis and Madie dressed up in costumes for their popsicles

Joshua

Philip and Joshua

Umbrellas

The children love to play with umbrellas. Last Saturday was the first real rain shower in a while and we let the children play outside with their umbrellas for a bit. They were thrilled. Especially Joshua - who loves umbrellas!

Note the hip kicked out in the second photo. That is classic Karis - (posing with a silly face for the camera)! She's four!

Cousins

How fortunate are we that we have family in town? To top it all off, the cousins are the same age! Karis and Madie are thrilled to play together and go on many adventures together. They typically involve being Dogs, princesses, pirates or Mommies - depending on which girl you ask.
The boys - well they are learning to share and play together. This is something that definitely does NOT come naturally! In this picture, Joshua and Philip were playing together. But, Joshua insisted he wanted Match box cars to go down the ramp and Philip was wanting to use only the cars that came with the ramp to go down the ramp. Both were very ardent in their intents! These children really are a blessing and a joy. I can't imagine life without them.

I was struck yesterday as I read Psalm 96 :2 Sing to the Lord, Praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. This sums up my joy and obligation as a mother. Delight myself in God - (sing to the Lord and praise his name), and tell my children of his wondrous grace - (proclaim his salvation), I will be full of joy. What a delightful duty to day after day tell them of his salvation!

Back in the USA

After almost 8 months in Brazil Larry and Alice are back in the United States!


We welcomed them home last week and are over come with joy and thanksgiving . We are so thankful for all of the prayers from so many people. I never thought that this day would be possible, but in His kindness, God has healed Larry's body and he is still gaining strength.

A few faces of Joshua

Joshua has many funny faces. They are hard to catch on camera. His expressions are so sweet and funny. Here are two faces that I was able to catch on camera.

Last week Joshua had a bad virus. He was a pretty sad boy for several days. Karis didn't mind it though. She was able to watch more TV than normal, and had several popsicles a day. He is completely back to normal, and we are very thankful. Karis is still asking for popsicles!

A few photos

Today, the children and I stayed inside all morning - in our PJ's! It was wonderful. With all of this warm weather we have been having, we have been outside usually right after breakfast, and staying out until lunch time. Then, back out after lunch and rest time only to come in for a bath and dinner. Today, I decided we were going to have a slow and quiet morning inside. It seemed to be enjoyable for the children too. We sat in the playroom and played all morning. It was as if the toys were all new to the children because we have been playing outside so much!

These are a few photos of the children in the playroom. Joshua smiling at Karis.
Karis posing for the camera.

Joshua playing a musical instrument

Karis - posing again! She loves to take pictures and see them. She has been playing with our old digital camera. It is mostly broken, but since she doesn't know how to zoom, it works for her. She spent a lot of the morning taking pictures. We looked at them later in the day and I laughed at what she took pictures of. Anything downstairs that was three feet and under she took a picture of it. What was even more funny to me, was that while we were looking at them together, she gave a running commentary... "The red wall... The brown wall... A crayon... A toy... Another crayon...More crayons..." I love that little girl.

Joshua, I discovered today, is a chatter box. Just like his sister. I have been trying to take away his pacifier except during naps, and the little guy chatters all the time! It is funny to hear recognizable words mixed in with words that aren't recognizable. The best today from him was, "Joshua, time to go night night (for a nap)" And his reply was a very clear, "Nooo, jabber, jabber. No!"

Outdoor Play

The children are loving the warm weather that has arrived! First thing in the morning, Joshua runs to the door to the backyard and says, "side" which means outside! He does this before having breakfast or even a diaper change. The boy loves to be outdoors!

Karis loves it too. She is very interested in gardening and would love it if we could plant flowers every day - without her brother there to mess them up! Money and property prohibit us from doing this daily, but I anticipate that we will have many fun times this summer doing some gardening projects.

Joshua on the trampoline

Karis and Joshua love to swing while they hold hands. They laugh the whole time - especially when they get going at slightly different paces. Since Karis weighs more than him, they naturally go at different speeds after a short time. Joshua, especially thinks this is funny.

Karis on the trampoline

Joshua usually ends up laying down while Karis bounces him around. He gets to laughing so hard that he gets the hiccups!

30th Birthday Celebration!

Last weekend we celebrated Craig and Stuart's 30th Birthdays. Jenny and I planned a suprise getaway to the mountains. What a fun weekend! Jenny and I planned for weeks to suprise the guys and bless them with a weekend like none other.

We suprised the birthday boys by having a few of their buddies pick them up at their offices mid-day on Friday. They had an afternoon of bacheloor activities including go-carts, cigars, wings and lots and lots of laughter. Craig said that he couldn't remember a time when he laughed so much.

The guys were led blindfolded into our cabin and we had a wonderful evening with them. What a hoot!! Jenny and I made up new lyrics to "Rocky Top" about our husbands. I'm not sure which was more fun, planning all of that, or acting it out for them.

The next morning we trecked down the mountain (in our mini-vans!) to enjoy a pancake breakfast. Later that day another suprise came - Tyson and Niki and their children came up and spent the next night with us. Again, more laughter!

God richly blessed the weekend. Craig laid in bed after the weekend and sighed, "I had so much fun!" That was an answer to prayer and I was so glad for my husband! I am so grateful to be married to the most loving, kind, godly, wise, forgiving, funny, faithful man I know.

Karis and Madie shared one King sized bed! They loved it and talked late into the night. What do two little three year old girls giggle about anyway?

The Cooper Cousins on the fireplace hearth

Joshua and Philip

Girls hanging out!

The Castro Family

Meet the Castro Family! These dear friends of our drove 8+ hours to Knoxville to stay with us.

I am having trouble thinking of words that would describe our week together. Here are a few:
Hillarious, Joyful, Tremendously tiring, full of learning, refreshing... did I mention hillarious?

We loved having Dave and Heather here. We tried to convince them to move here from Gaithersburg, MD. Unsuccessful. Dave and Heather are incredibly godly. They are one of the most delightful couples to spend a week with. There was a distinct lack of complaining - even when their 8 month old daughter was up many times one night. Heather is a wonderfully patient and gentle mother to their three year old McKenna. Dave is supremely leading their family. We can't wait to do it again!

The children had a blast too. Karis and McKenna (though they didn't fully grasp Phillippians 2:14 "Do everything without arguing and complaining") played very well together. Here are a few photos of the children. I will post more soon.

Selah Grace
Karis and McKenna in the tub
Joshua on the slide

Let it Snow!!!

We had enough snow to play in a few days ago. My northern family and friends are laughing at us now... enough snow to play in here was about 1/2 an inch (if that) of snow that was gone by 11 AM, but we still bundled up and played for a half an hour. Karis loved it, and I thought Joshua did until the snow ball in his hand melted. It took me a while to figure out what he was so upset about, but once I realized he had held his snow ball for 15 minuted until it melted, then I understood his cry - Pain! His little hands were very red and cold!

I love those big brown eyes!!

Maybe we will get enough snow next time to make a snow man- at least a miniature one!