What?! Daddy has ice cream???

Ice cream!! Keat's favorite! Daddy, please give me some??
Ok, how can I resist? :) Like Daddy, like son. How sweet!

School's out!

This week was graduation night for the girls. Our homeschool co-op does one every year. We had a potluck and a time for the kids to show something they learned from the year. Since this was our first year attending the graduation, we just watched this time.

Taylor graduated from pre-school to Kindergarten!

Alex graduated from 1st grade to 2nd! Good, hard work this year, girls! We are proud of you and thank God for the work He has done in your hearts! Good job to you, too, Nanna! You are learning a lot, also!

Kristi Fluharty is the leader of the group. We are so thankful for all her hard work that she puts in for us every year. Thanks, Kristi! We love you!

See you next fall!

Something beautiful

Yea!! I finally have lilacs of my own! I have been wanting a lilac bush for forever because I think they are beautiful and smell yummy! Well, our old neighbors had some bushes that were planted right by our back fence that were always beautiful. I always wished I could go cut some off every summer. :) I know, a little coveteous.... Anyway, one day, they went and cut them all down, leaving a few branches on our side of the fence (cuz they started growing there...). Aaron said that it would be a year or two till I would ever see flowers on my new branches, but sure enough, I think it's been 2 years now. God gave me flowers this year! I was so happy and thrilled to see them growing there this year. I just had to pick some and bring them into our house! It smelled so good! Thank you, God, for your "little" wonders and for bringing me joy through these pretty flowers!

Mom, I saved these pictures mostly for you. I know you love them, too! I love you!

Praising Princesses - Spring 2008

The time has finally come for our recital!! Alex and Taylor had their ballet recital on May 20th. They were lovely!

Stacey and Jake joined us. That was so sweet of them to come!
Their dances




Our oldest Praising Princess

Our second Praising Princess


They did so well. We are so proud of them!
Here they are saying the Praising Princess pledge. Miss Karin has taught them that they are true princesses because they are children of the King!

Posing for a group shot.

Sooo cute. Jake brought them some lilacs to give them after their dance. Thanks, Jacob! How sweet. :)
Taylor, Miss Karin, and Alex. We love you, Miss Karin, and thank God for you and your love for us. We are so grateful for you teaching us to glorify God in our dance for Him!
Daddy bought the girls a rose, too. He was very proud of them. We love you, girls! We hope you will always want to be beautiful and glorifying to God with your music!

A special visit to Colorado

Last week, Keaton and I went to Colorado to see my nephew, Zac. God knew when I booked my plane tickets a long time ago that I would need to be there at this time. Zac ended up returning to the hospital a couple days before I came. He was losing weight and they needed to figure out why. So, I went to the hospital a few times (only a few because it was a little ways away and Keaton needed morning naps...)

Here he is!!! Sooo tiny and beautiful!
Mommy Bethany and baby Zac

I was so excited to finally hold him! I didn't want to put him down.
I got to stay and watch Elijah usually in the mornings so Bethany could go and be with Zac at the hospital (and so Keats could take his nap). This was real bonding time for us! :)
It was fun getting to know Lij more! We are buddies now. :)

Grandma thought it was special to read to both grandsons at the same time. Keaton and Lij loved it!
We took some "time out" to have a little girl time. Bethany took Grandma and I out to get pedicures. Thanks, Bethany! Our feet felt sooo soft and nice! :)
Keaton - close up. Don't remember taking this picture...
We went out to Lone Star to have dinner with my Aunt Jane and Uncle Fred. It was so good to see them again! Keaton and Elijah had fun playing with a toy egg that Jane got out from her purse. Thanks, Jane, for the entertainment during our longer wait to sit down!
Uncle Fred was making the boys smile when he would play peek-a-boo with them. They take to him really well! Bethany's husband, Jason, was able to meet us there, too. He was really busy that week, too, with staying overnight at the hospital and then getting up to work all day. What a good daddy and husband he is. Thank you, Jason!

Grandpa helped keep Keats happy while we were waiting (and he was really tired) by taking him outside to scope out all the trees and flowers and things. It helped a ton! And I think Grandpa really enjoyed it, too. :)
Grandma and Elijah while we were hanging out one afternoon.
Sweet boy!
And a silly one!
Love you, Lij.

I was so glad to be out there. My heart wishes I could've stayed longer to help more, but God knows that I needed to come back here to my family. Thanks, God, for allowing me to be able to go! What a blessing it was for me!

From the mouth of babes...

I just got this over e-mail. So good I had to share!

Jen


I remember the time that Kathryn, one of my daughter's little friends, told me that she wanted to be President one day. Both of her parents are liberal Democrats and were standing there with us - and I asked Kathryn, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'

Kathryn replied, 'I would give houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow, what a worthy goal you have there, Kathryn.' I told her, 'You don't have to wait until you are President to do that… you can come over to my house and clean up all the dog poop in the back yard and I will pay you $5.00. Then we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5.00 to use for a new house.'

Kathryn, who was about 4, thought that over for a second while her mom looked at me, and then she replied, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop and you can pay him the $5.00?'

Bingo! Welcome to the Republican Party, Kathryn.

A special Mother's Day

Aaron and the girls brought me home some beautiful flowers for Mother's Day this year. They also took me shopping to get some new clothes! Thank you for showing your love to me, family. I do feel like a special mom. I thank God for all of you!! I love you!
These came via Fed Ex shortly after I recieved the other ones from the family. This being the case, I couldn't even guess who they would be from. Well, I opened the box and found the card inside signed by my brother, Brian! I was definitely surprised and thankful for the sweetness of my dear brother. Thanks, Brian! I love you!

Been gone...

Hey, all! I was gone last week, so I didn't have a chance to post some things. Here we go.

Keaton is learning to walk!

He is taking 4 or 5 steps at a time now. What a big boy!

He sure loves playing with daddy... :)