There has been so much going on around here, I don’t hardly know where to begin to get you caught up!  We have been very busy traveling this past month and have a little break before we go to see family at the end of this month. 

Our Travels

At the beginning of spring, I was ready to travel!  I was so looking forward to a road trip!  And now that we have had a few in a short period of time, I am so glad to be back home and settling into our routine again!  (Isn’t that how it goes though?) 

Spring Youth Retreat

We had a great group of girls from our church that went to the retreat this spring.  It was the first time for some of them to be out of state,  so that’s always fun.  I pray that the truths taught to them during this week have a lasting, transforming impact on their lives. 

(Here we are pictured with the group from my Dad’s church.  We were all in the same cabin :)

Conference and Visit with Family 

Each year in the spring we head to the mountains of NC for our annual conference for our denomination.  It is always a wonderful time of refreshing for us and a time to visit with other pastors and their wives. 

On the way to the conference center, we stopped for lunch and my daughter couldn’t wait for her food to come out.  So she started eating a lemon ;-)  By the time she was done, there was a little bit of the peel left, about the size of a quarter.  Yuck.

Here is Isaac and his “cousin Emma” who he absolutely adores. 

When the conference was over, we took a few more days and traveled to KY with Aaron’s parents to visit with his sister and her family. 

His sister and her husband own a restaurant with a family fun center attached.  Our kids loved to run around and play.  Here is Isaac (with daddy’s help ;-) playing his first round of ski ball. 

Here is Isaac with one of his cousins.  I’m thinking they look like they might be related ;-)  Isaac loves his cousins and still talks about them!

Discipleship Summit 2011

Myself and two other ladies from our church went to a Ladies’s Retreat hosted by the Francis Asbury Society.  After about 10 minutes on the road together, we were laughing so hard I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to drive!  It was a wonderful time of relaxation and refreshing for all of us. 

We stayed at the Amish Door Inn in Wilmot, OH in the heart of Ohio Amish Country.  There are lots of fun little things I could tell you about this weekend, like for starters, the food was DELICIOUS!!

The Inn was beautiful . . .

The countryside was gorgeous . . .

And the company was exceptional . . .

(Our “table buddies” from Ohio :)

But the most memorable and special part of the weekend was the presence of the sweet Spirit of God and a life (lives!) that were transformed because of it.  As we walked into the comfortable conference room for our first service, I felt the sweetness of the Lord like I had not felt in such a long time.  I couldn’t keep the tears back!  Silent tears streamed down my cheeks during the prayer, the singing, and the message.  I knew that God was here and he wanted to do amazing things in the lives of all of those who came seeking Him.  

The theme of the weekend was “The Making of a Disciple”, what does it truly mean to be a disciple of Christ.  One of the things that stuck out in my mind during that first message was that Jesus called his disciples to Himself, just as He calls each one of us to follow Him.  During the time of discussion at our table after the message, one of the ladies mentioned just how amazing it was that God had called each of us there, and that each of us were one in the 107 ladies that were present that weekend. 

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend, reflecting on the “Enoughness” of Jesus (are you allowing Jesus to be enough for you, or are you trying to have Jesus + something to bring you fulfillment)  and having a surrendered heart to Christ.

Our Easter

Easter came upon us so quick this year! I could hardly believe that it has already come and gone! We had an Easter Egg Hunt at the church again this year, and it was so fun to see my kiddos really hunting for eggs this year! Last year I had to point the eggs out to them, but this year, they did it all on their own!

All the kids were attentive as they heard the true meaning of Easter.

And Miss Miriam especially like her cupcake :)

So then Easter Sunday I tried (and failed) to get a good picture of them in their Easter clothes.  Maybe next year?

Our Family

I realized it’s been quite a while since you’ve heard how we are actually doing!  In a nutshell, we are all doing good :)

Aaron

As usual, Aaron is staying on the go most of the time.  ;)  Of course, I’ve never met a pastor yet who wasn’t.  Pastoring a church takes so much time, that is often not realized to the lay people in the church.  They never know the late night/early morning phone calls that he gets, the difficult situations he has to handle, or the long hours spent in preparation for sermons,  let alone the time just spent in administrative details of the church.  Even in all of that, he does a wonderful job taking care of our family and as you can see, his children adore him.  He is their hero.  (And mine too :~) 

In his “spare time”  he is working on relearning his Greek and also has a few extra projects going on here around the house.  We are working on gradually finishing the upstairs to give us a couple more bedrooms (I’m so excited about this!). 

This was the start of the project. . .  the dormer on the front of the house originally had no support, and so the back side of it had sort of “sunk” and put alot of weight on the main roof.  So Aaron had to go in and gradually raise it back up to get it squared up before he could build the walls under the dormer to stabilize it. 

Here is where we are now, with most of the framing done.  (The only framing left is to frame in some closets, when we figure out where we want to put them ;)

We have new windows ready to go in, and new siding to put on the outside on the front of the dormer, to freshen it up and give it a nice little face lift.  (The old metal siding has “bled” white onto the brick, ugh!)  Then next on the list is the electrical and insulation!!

Isaac

My children never cease to amaze me.  Isaac is talking much more now and some of the things he says absolutely cracks me up.  For example . .

• sister is screaming . . . again!
• What are YOU doing?

He is so light-hearted and relaxed.  He has done well with potty training and is officially in “big boy underwear” all the time now except sleeping.  (Hallelujah!)  He knows his colors and is all the time pointing out what color something is, without our prompting.  He is doing well counting, although he still likes to skip #4.   And he knows most of his alphabet and what sound the letter makes.  He loves to help out with anything!!  One of his favorite things to do is to help mommy “wash dishes” after lunchtime before his naptime.  He is such a precious gift.

Miriam

My little precious girl, where do I begin?  Well, for starters, she is a talker!  I am absolutely blown away by how quickly she is developing, especially in the language department.  She has been saying phrases for a while now, and is getting really close to saying short sentences (just within the last week or two!)   

She is a very spunky and fiery 21 mth old who has a mind of her own and adores her big brother.  She is quite vocal when there is something going on she does like  (aka  temper tantrum, which we are working on….continually!)   She is both a daddy’s girl and a mommy’s girl, and is a little bit more cautious around strangers than her older brother.  But she is absolutely precious and loves to snuggle!!  She is our Baby Girl :)

Hannah

Miss Hannah will be 28 weeks tomorrow!  I can’t hardly believe it!  Time has flown by so quickly this time!  She seems to be a bit calmer than her sister was and doesn’t kick me quite as much :)  She seems to be growing on schedule and not giving mommy too rough of a time :)  We are all so excited to see her!  I think Isaac is really catching on this time, and will say that Baby Hannah is in mommy’s belly.  Just a little less than 3 months to go!

Me

I have been doing well and feeling well overall.  This pregnancy has been a bit rougher on me than the previous ones, but from what I’ve heard from other women, not too bad, so I’m not complaining!  I’m staying busy with things at home, trying to keep up with everybody.  Currently I’m still teaching the youth SS class, the children’s Wednesday night class, and leading one of the ladies’ Bible Studies.  Come the first of July though, I will be gradually handing these over to someone else as I get ready to pick up a newborn!

Well, I think that’s about it!   I’m sure there’s lots of stuff that I left out, and I will think about it later.  ;-)  That’s the way it always goes isn’t it?

There is one particular gardening season that stands out in my mind when I was a child.  That year in our little plot my mom planted corn, green beans, tomatoes, etc.  The main thing that I remember her planting was zucchini.  I remember my dad telling us that we needed to pray over the garden and ask God to bless it.  In our childlike faith we prayed expecting God to bless it and he most certainly did!  That was the greenest, healthiest looking garden I think I have ever seen even to this day.  Everything grew and that little garden plot produced and produced and produced, even though many of our neighbors did not have any success with their gardens at all that year.  I remember my mom canning and canning and then when she couldn’t take any more, she gave and gave and gave the produce away!  I remember the zucchini  because it was absolutely huge! It was the first time I was introduced to this shiny green vegetable and we ate so much zucchini bread that year I was sick of it!  I still do not care much for zucchini bread!  As I grew older and remembered that year, I never really had a desire for tending a garden of any sort. (Of course, now I realize that my mom did 99.9% of all the work)  But now as an adult, it has somehow become a lifelong goal of mine to learn how to garden and preserve its produce.  I’m not quite sure where the switch came, but non the less, I am excited about gardening.  The biggest obstacle for me at this point is taking the time, especially when it comes to harvest time.  (Miriam was a July baby and Hannah is due in July also this year!!)  So for the last few years Aaron has tilled a garden plot, we have planted it, he has harvested, and I have worked in getting the produce used up.    Each year we learn a little more and it is so fun to watch the things grow that you have planted from seed.

When finished, our garden boxes will have our tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and I would love to find someplace to plant cantaloupe!  That was my favorite new thing from last year!  They were so yummy! We also added a new flower bed around our mailbox that we finished up last night! So pretty!We are so excited to be expanding our garden and trying new things this year. 

This year I thought it would be fun to include the kids in on it.  Isaac always wants to “help” us do anything we will let him around the house.   When I saw that Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations was offering a free Garden Preschool Pack, I thought, this is perfect for our Tot School for the next month or so.  Plus we are working on the letter “Gg” so what better word to go with it then “garden”!   Along with this fun preschool pack, the Homeschool Village is offering a fun Garden Challenge with a link-up, which encourages teaching your children about gardening.  So, in the works for the coming month in Tot School, we will be working through our Garden Preschool Pack,  making a garden themed sensory bin (my mind is already swirling with possibilities!), having a family fun night, and having the kids by our side as we water and tend to the garden.  (I so wish I had my camera with me while we were working on the new flower bed and planting the garden.  The kids were very much involved and loved every minute of it!)  I am so excited about this, even though I know the kids will mostly be excited about playing in the dirt,  but hey, we have to start somewhere, right?

Isaac is 37 months

Miriam is 20 months

Well, it’s finally happening . . . I am posting my first Tot School post in um . . .months?!  We have still been doing a very informal Tot School, because after all, every day we are learning and talking about colors, shapes, our alphabet etc.  You just haven’t seen it b/c I’ve been napping instead of blogging.  (Us pregnant ladies can do that ;-)  But this afternoon, I am wide awake so I am going to let you have a sneak peak at a few of the things we have been up to while the blog has been silent. 

Learning Our Colors

Coloring continues to be a favorite around here.  Although I think Miriam enjoys it more than Isaac does ;-)  I am amazed when I look back how quickly Isaac is learning.  Right around Christmas, he started verbally naming all of his colors!  He is doing great at this! 

One fun way we have been working on our colors is through games!  We have a neat game board that has many different games, including Chinese Checkers.  I got Isaac started and he finished matching all the colored marbles. 

We also had fun learning with paper plates and foam letters :) 

We had fun sorting the alphabet by color while also working on letter recognition.

Since this was a new bag of letters, he also had fun poking out the little pieces from the letters.  ;-)  He looks like he is concentrating hard doesn’t he!

We have been enjoying an early spring here, which also means we are getting lots of good use out of our sunroom!  It has officially become the kids playroom since that is where I keep all of their big bulky toys.  This particular day we got another a different Chinese Checkers board that had pegs instead of marbles.  Again, more color matching, but also the extra hand-eye coordination as they had to put the pegs in the holds.  Miriam loved it!

Here’s a cute video of my kiddos in action :)

My Little Bookworms

This bookwormish mommy is so happy that my little ones like books!  They sat here happily, on their on and “read” for quite a while!

Magnet Fun

Mamie and Papaw brought this magnet board and tin of fun magnets down with them on one of their recent trips.  Isaac loves playing with it. 

The tin is filled with letters, numbers, and fun pieces for a farm scene!

Playing with Puzzles

Isaac got some fun new puzzles for his birthday this year.  This train puzzle is still pretty challenging for him, but he brings it to me all the time to help him with it!

We picked these Melissa and Doug puzzles up at a Consignment store also for Isaac’s birthday.  (Gotta love those places!!)  Below Isaac has a buddy helping him out.

At the same time we also picked up this fun Melissa and Doug barn set.  Isaac’s favorite part is to have me build the barn and then he likes to knock it over when I am ALMOST done!

Miriam is stacking the round block to make the silo :)

Isaac working on building a fence for his animals.

An almost completed barn!   While we are putting it together, we also work on our shapes.  I ask Isaac to get me another “triange” for the roof, another “square” for the walls, “circle” for the silo, etc. 

P.E.  ;-)

We are blessed to live in a nice quiet neighborhood that hosts one of the city parks! 

This was Miriam’s first time on the “big” playground.  She marched right up all the steps and went right for the big slide. 

To see what other moms are doing in Tot School this week, check out the official 1+1+1=1 blog!

Can you guess who he is?  He came up to me the other day and said “Mommy, I’m Larry Boy!”  He makes me laugh . . all the time!

I ran across this on Facebook and had to share it. It made me honestly laugh out loud!   I’m also posting this at Tot School this week, even though it not the “normal” post.  I just thought you other moms of tots would enjoy it.  I have everything ready to go for this week of Tot School though and now that the holidays are over and I am almost through the first trimester exhaustion, I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.  So, without any further delay…..  11 Step Program for Those Thinking of Having Kids ;-)  Enjoy!

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Author Unknown

To see what other moms are doing this week with their Tots, head on over to the official Carisa at 1+1+1=1.

Yup . . Baby # 3 is on the way!!  We are extremely excited and I’m still insanely exhausted ;-)  This ultrasound was taken at 7 1/2 weeks and I am now 11 weeks! (I seriously think the time does go faster with each one.  Must have something to do with running around after 2 little ones!)  I am finally past the point of being in shock and disbelief, even though we were ready for number three.  The exhaustion, lack of appetite, horrible gag reflex and clothes that don’t fit anymore help with bringing you to reality ;-) 

So the official due date is July 25th which is 2 days after Miriam’s 2nd birthday!  I mentioned to Aaron that Miriam is now 17 months, which is the age Isaac was when she was born.  He about dropped on the floor saying, Could you imagine if this one was being born now!?!  So we are glad we spaced these two a little farther apart ;-)  Yea, it would have been insane.

But mom and baby are doing great. . and so are daddy and brother and sister :)

Well, I took what you might call an unintentional break from blogging during the Holidays.  ;-)  But I’m  back.  So here’s what I’m working on today that should show up in the next week or so…..

• December in Review – so the last post I made was about our Thanksgiving and now we are after New Year’s!  I am currently downloading the MANY pictures off my camera as I type this.  We have been so busy I had already forgotten half of what we’ve been up to! 
• Exciting News – but I’ll tell you all about that soon   ;-)
• Christmas with Family! – Originally we were going to stay home for the Christmas season, but due to my dear Uncle Charlie passing away, we were with my family for the funeral up close to Christmas time.  It was a hard time but yet a great time getting to see some of my family again. 

So I will leave you with my favorite pic of the season (there are MANY more to come, I promise!)

Here are my ever cute kiddos with my Grandma :)