Andie's 3rd Birthday

Our sweet girl is 3! She was very excited to eat a pink princess cereal and pink princess yogurt for breakfast. Today was water day at school - which she loved! Then she got to share pink mini cupcakes with her classmates. We will celebrate her birthday in a week - and she has been so wonderful about understanding that her party will happen when our family gets into town. Which I think is huge, because she has been very excited for her pink care bear birthday party for 3 months!
Andie @ 2 weeks old. She a beautiful and very easy baby. She started out sucking her thumb, which was incredibly sweet. I loved how she would roll & roll & roll. Sometimes I would loose her under her bed or a table.
Andie @ one.

Why she makes my heart warm:
Her sweet soft voice.
She loves to snuggle.
I love how she says,"I wuv you Ewan (Evan)."
She is sweet & girlie, but can find dirt and be covered in it faster than any kid around.
She lets me play with her hair.
She loves to twirl in her dresses.
She can seem in her own world, not really paying attention, but can repeat any "mommy phrase" with 100% accuracy.
I love how she puts her blanket around her face and sad says, "I'm Mary."
When something scares her at night, she is comforted by a whispered prayer of protection.
I love how she smells her blanket when she tired.
She meows a lot. She is always very sweet when she is a kitty, so sometimes we encourage her kitty personality to come out - she was 2 afterall, she couldn't be sweet all the time.
She loves the nickname her daddy has for her, "Baby Smalls" or just "Smalls". If daddy ever has to correct her and say,"Andie stop doing that." Andie will say, "No Daddy. Say, Smalls stop doing that."

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

Plain Busy

We are going full speed ahead around our place. Trey & I have had many conversations about not over-involving ourselves or our kids. We are really close to being over-involved. There are many good things to take part in, so it is difficult to know what to say no to, and what to stick with. The only activity we are involved in that has nothing to do with church or family is gymnastics, and that's only one hour a week. I hear it only gets worse as the kids get older. It's one thing for Trey & I to say we won't be taxi's for our kids, and another to see their face light up as they learn to play a sport and experience teamwork.

Daddy is gone this week. I have had to do about 4 "man jobs" in his absence. We are very traditional in our home. I do all kid stuff, cooking, cleaning, shopping....He does all yard, car, repair work.... I've been out of the habit of doing anything that falls under the "man job" category. Anyway, I needed to move some furniture out of our room because it was being replaced. I was doing pretty good moving our matress down the hall - until I knocked over the bed frame and made a good inch long gash in the wall. It entertained my kids anyway. They point it out to all who come over. My 15 month old loves to dig his sweet fingers in it.

Conversations with my 4 year old: "Momma, where is God?" "He is in Heaven." "Where is Heaven?" "Heaven is very far away." "Momma, how can I talk to God?" "We can pray to God." Would you like to pray?' "Yes momma....but I don't hear him." "Momma, let's get in a plane and go to heaven." My favorite heaven conversation with him is when he tells me he wants me to go to heaven with him.

Andie's sister

Evan got to have a friend spend the night last weekend. They had so much fun. Non-stop trains and planes! Andie left the boys to play, as though she knew it was "a boy thing". She seemed ok at first, but I could tell that she was becoming down, not having a place. I called her to my room and gave her a pink crown and purple magic wand that I had bought for her a few days earlier. She was so pleased. I loved watching her face light up. She told me her name was Cinderella. She waved her wand a few times. Then told me she made a sister. She went on to tell me how she was going to take good care of her. I was really taken back that she created a sister. A sister! How sweet and how sad! I only entertained the idea for a quick second of truly giving her a sister. I'm sure she truly is wanting a playmate. She did help me realize that we always have boys over to play. I will be more mindful of her desires to play princess and care bears. Anyway, after she made a sister, she went into the boys room. She waved her magic wand over their heads and ordered them to be a chicken and a pig. "Now you cluck, and you oink." How I wish I would have known to have a video camera going!

First Day of School

Evan and Andie proudly posed for their 1st day of school picture. They had a hard time falling to sleep last night being so full of excitement for today. We went to open house last Thurs. Both of them had a hard time leaving that night - they were ready for a full day, not just 30 minutes. Well, today was the day! They both happily went to their classes. I love my sweet babies. I love how excited they are for their backpacks, their lunches, and the much anticipated playground. Andie has never been on this playground. But Evan has talked about it so much she can't wait.
Andie's teacher, and my dear friend, Ms. Shana. God has blessed Shana with an incredible gift of teaching young children. Words cannot express how thankful I am that Andie gets to be in her classroom every Tuesday and Thursday.
Evan's big 4 year old class! Here he is with his teacher, Ms. Nicole. Ms. Nicole was just showing Bryce, Kyal, and Evan where to hang their backpacks. Apparently,when you're 4, it's an esteem building experience to find your name marking the exact place for your backpack and nap mat. Evan's eyes sparkled everytime he found his name. "E-V-A-N Evan!" he would shout. I left Evan looking like this and picked him up with yellow paint all over his shirt, two skinned knees, a skinned chin and cut hand. He says it all involved a yellow truck. He had tons of fun! It makes my heart warm to know my kids are in a great place with great people watching over them.

Labor Day Weekend

Today we went to Trey's parents house. We were so excited to see Montomery, our nephew. Trey's sister, her husband and Montomery came in for Opening Weekend (that's a big deal to hunter's.....figure I have some fellow non-hunter's out there that need splainin'). This is only my 2nd time to see Montgomery. He was born with a fairly serious heart condition. He has done well, considering - but we have always been on the cautious side and kept my kids away. He actually just had a heart cath procedure done a couple days ago. He is full of sweet sounds and big smiles. I enjoyed holding him for a long while. Holding him, you can feel his heart murmur. I am used to feeling a heart beat, and that is not what he has - he has a powerful swish. I couldn't stop kissing his head and praying for him. Montgomery gets at least three prayers offered up a day from us. Lord, please heal his heart. You are All Powerful to do so.
This is Papa's new riding lawn mower. All the kids love for Papa to take them for a ride. I just might be willing to mow the lawn if I got to use this cool thing.