Our Lil' Bear is 3!

Our last birthday of the season was Bear's. He is now 3! His (and Sweet Pea's) party was the week before his actual birthday and he celebrated in his MDO class with a cookie cake the day before his birthday. He was so excited to have his friends sing Happy Birthday to him both times. For the big day, we went to a family picnic at their school and Chuck E. Cheese's that evening.

Oh, and when we woke up the morning of his birthday, this is what we found in the yard. Thanks MeMe!

He is so proud to be 3 now. It's been so fun to watch him progress over the past year. He is speaking more clearly, putting thoughts together, playing with bugs, jumping on and off of everything, loving Buzz Lightyear, liking Max and Ruby, throwing, kicking and bouncing anything round, casting a fishing rod (better than I ever could) every chance he gets, and snuggling so sweetly! He is all boy, but he has the most tender heart. My favorite words out of his mouth so far are "Mommy, you are my best in my world". Of course "Mommy, I love you co much" (he hasn't quite mastered his s's yet) and "Mommy, you are gorgeous" are right up there, too.

I am learning so much about little boys and I am loving every minute of it!!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! I love you to infinity and beyond!

Sweet Pea is 5!

Our first little blessing is growing up so fast! I really can't believe she is 5. It's a big milestone, right? She is really changing from a preschooler into a young lady. I am so proud of her - she is writing, reading a few words, adding, solving everyday problems, getting along with her brothers and she loves learning Bible stories. But, on the flipside she is dealing with conflict and girl drama at school. She is doing a good job dealing with it, but I can see her struggling with being sweet, while still standing up for herself. I know it's inevitable, so I am praying and making sure I spend extra time with her now, while she is still young enough to listen to this old lady. Her daddy is also doing a great job with her - they go on dates fairly often and he recently took her to a daddy- daughter dance. They both had a fabulous time and I hope it will become a tradition.

Here's a pic before they left:

And here's a pic at the dance - do you see the smile on N's face? I LOVE this pic!

So, on her birthday, she had a cookie cake at school and we went to Chuck E Cheese's for dinner. She was excited to get lots of phone calls from family and friends, too! She has such a feisty personality AND the most tender heart - the little signs of love mean sooo much to her. Here are some pics from the big day...

Sharing some birthday love with Bear:

Sweet Pea was so excited to ride with lil' bro:

Chuck E. brought a birthday cake out:

Sweet Pea playing air hockey with Bear:

Celebrating Jesus

"I can't wait for Easter, so we can celebrate Jesus". Yes, my little Sweet Pea said this a couple of days before Easter Sunday. I was so proud of her. I was proud of her for knowing that Easter is about Jesus and not just an oversized bunny that hops from house to house (seriously, how can we tell our kids this silliness? Isn't it an insult to their intelligence?). Of course we had the conversation about how we should celebrate what Jesus did for us everyday, not just Easter. She has actually been asking to hear stories about Jesus a lot lately. She even told me the story about when Jesus healed the 'blond' man and when Jesus fed thousands after he prayed over just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. But, last night she asked me to read James chapter 3. I asked her why she chose that one and she said, "It's about how our tongues can get us in trouble." Sure enough, I opened her Bible to James 3 and the heading said "Taming the Tongue". Apparently she is getting a lot out of Chapel time at school. I love it!

So, the kids had a school-wide egg hunt at their school, they each had a hunt with their class, and we went to an egg hunt at our church. So, by the time Easter morning came around, they were good at hunting. Although, we did have to give Bear a few hints to help him find the last few.

After all of the morning fun, we dressed the kids in their Easter clothes. As soon as Bear saw his clothes he said, "I am not wearing that - Pink is for girls" N and I were cracking up, but Bear was serious. N decided to take this chance to teach him a lesson - "You will do what the woman in your life asks you to do". I think the struggle was worth it - the kids looked pretty cute :).

So, then we headed to church. The service was AMAZING! I think I got the chills about a dozen times from the music. Easter is by far my favorite holiday. I can remember watching the Passion Play every year when I was younger and just being in awe. I mean, Jesus loves us so much that he suffered and died for us! I always get emotional when I think about it.

Here are some more pics

Andy isn't a big fan of Sunday School...

Afterwards, he was just fine...

Our Lil' All Star is One!

Baby A hit the one year mark and we celebrated! On his birthday we took pictures in the morning and had cake with the family and MeMe that night. You'll notice that he stayed clean all three times that he had cake. The boy would not dive into the mound of fluffy goodness, no matter how hard I tried to get him to. The first time that he touched the icing he started crying and shook his hand to get it off. I finally had to get a spoon and feed the inside of the cake to him before he would even try it. After a while of convincing, he eventually decided that he likes cake... just not the mess.

On Saturday we had some friends and family over to celebrate. The theme was sports. We were so excited that Pappy, Nana and Poppy were able to make it! He had a great time chasing the older kids around, eating a little cake and opening presents. Somehow, I didn't take too many pictures, but here are some that I did take...

See, he was not very impressed with the sugary treat sitting before him...

Here's the cake (with his name blurred, of course)...

He loved the slinky from a goodie bag...

He loves his new ride from Grandma A and family...

Posing with Daddy...

with Nana and Poppy...

with Pappy...

with MeMe...

Some of the kids taking a break from swimming to enjoy some cake...

At one year he is 21 lbs and 29 inches long

You've come a long way, sweet boy. We have enjoyed watching you grow and we look forward to watching you become the man God has intended.

We Love You Bubs (Gus)!