Lewis Family

Thankful

2012-02-14T22:57:00.000-05:00

I've always enjoyed reading Janelle's gratitude journal entries. I've often thought I should do that. So important to be thankful of all the blessings I have instead of thinking about what else I'd like to have. Kind of like Peter walking on water and then when he focused on the wind and other problems he sunk. I always loved that song "Fix your eyes upon Jesus." And tonight as I relearn Colossians. I typed over and over on scripturetyper.com "be thankful" "in all things give thanks" "sing with gratitude" ...

so here's the beginnings of my thankful journal
1- God loves me so much He sent His only Son to die that I might have eternal life
2- I have a terrific husband who loves me
3- I have 4 wonderful children here with me
4- I have a great family- parents, brothers, in-laws
5- I have some wonderful friends
6- my husband works hard to provide for our family
7- I get to stay home to teach our children and care for our home
8- my husband is living here with us- not deployed far away
9- we got to make Valentine crafts today
10- I get to spend eternity in heaven
11- we live in a nice warm house
12- we have plenty of good food to eat
13- we have two paid for vehicles that work well
14- we have plenty of clothes, toys, stuff...
15- I get to go to Bible study tomorrow morning
16- we're making friends here in Baltimore
17- there's tons of fun stuff to do here
18- I still have some great friends in NC
19- I think we'll get to see the Cole's several times this year
20- C is very excited about his new watch from Uncle Steven
21- we're planning another beach trip with my parents
22- I got to sleep for 7 uninterrupted hours last night

so many more but i better go to sleep now. who knows what the night will bring.
12-

family movie night

2012-02-10T18:42:00.000-05:00

I love traditions. Here are a few of our favorite:
Sunday morning cereal
Friday night pizza night- usually homemade- tonight we had one BBQ meatball and one white crab
Saturday night game night
Sunday night family devotion with 1 Pet 2:3

Friday night movie night- usually with popcorn- we've recently switched to popping it in the wok- so much yummier than microwave!!

here's our recent movies- do you see a trend?
Annie 6 JAN
Bambi 13 JAN
All Dogs go to heaven 20, 27 JAN
Prince of Egypt 3 FEB
Fox and the Hound 10 FEB

Awakening

2012-02-05T16:51:00.000-05:00

My friend has been reading and reviewing tons of books. I enjoy reading and finally decided to review too. When I read the book list, I selected Awakening: 21 Days That Will Revolutionize Your Walk With God by Stovall Weems. I have not fasted much before and was interested in learning more. But I left the book on my shelf until James asked if I was planning on doing the fast that our church was doing. He said Awakening and I thought that sounded familiar. Turns out it was the fast described in this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought I would breeze through the early chapters and hurry to the how to part of fasting. Instead I enjoyed each chapter. Stovall’s premise is that most people have bought into the lie that we can’t always have newness and excitement in our relationship with God. He says “we’re constantly bombarded with images, sounds, and counterfeit experiences that demand our attention … and we settle for these cheap substitutes.” In part one, Stovall describes four steps of awakening- experience surrender, experience passion for God, experience God’s goodness, and create space for God to fill. As he describes those steps, he includes scripture to reinforce the importance of fasting and life stories to show God’s work in people’s lives when they fast.
One of my favorite chapters was “God is a Filler, not a Forcer.” This was a great reminder of how although God does pursue and woe us, He does not force us. We must carve out quiet time so that we may hear Him. Fasting is one of God’s ways to do that. With those thoughts, Stovall leads into Part Two- the Awakening Lifestyle. After an excellent chapter on unlocking the secrets of prayer, he outlines the differences between OT and NT fasting and how that understanding is very important in how we relate to God. With scriptural support, he also explains that fasting is a command from God. I love his statement that fasting disconnects us from the distractions of the world and prayer connects us with God.
Stovall completes the book with the 21 day Awakening plan which includes some specifics on fasting such as acceptable and unacceptable foods, different types of fasts, and a 21 day devotional. I loved the devotional which was scripturally based and included motivation for times you may struggle during the fast and help focusing your time with God. I loved when he discussed the importance of disconnecting and how you can nourish our souls through talking, socializing, playing, and entertainment. He says “When our souls are full of those things, we don’t often hunger for God.” How true!
I thought this was a great book on fasting and how it can help “awaken” your relationship with God. Stovall did a good job of explaining the steps of awakening, backing everything up with scripture, and describing different ways to fast. He concludes the book with a daily devotional for the 21 day fast. For anyone seeking to improve their relationship with God, I recommend reading this book and fasting.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Unplugged

2012-02-05T16:15:00.001-05:00

here's thoughts I wrote down during the 21 day Awakening Fast that James and I finished yesterday (just in time for the Super Bowl party that I'm so excited to go to in a few minutes.)

So we’re on day 5 of our fast. I’m’ so glad we’re doing this. I’m typing on word now. This was James’ good idea when I was thinking about whether updating the blog was okay. I’m not trying to be legalistic but the purpose of saying no internet during this fast was to disconnect from the world and connect with God so why do I need to blog now? It has gotten a little easier each day to not check internet and I’ve been amazed at how much more time there is each day. I never felt like I was on the computer that much but it’s amazing how it adds up. Most of my internet time was been checking email and looking for good home (recipes, chores, discipline) and homeschool ideas which are not bad in themselves, unless they distract me from doing the things I should be doing or the internet becomes my source of comfort. I listened to part of Focus on the Family this morning and the book Made to Crave sounded really good. The author says God created us to crave Him, but we sometimes substitute and fill our cravings with food. Sounds like in Awakening, where Weems says we settle for cheap substitutes that bombard our days instead of making space to be filled by God.

27 JAN- today is day 12 of our fast. I really do feel much better. I was pretty hungry for the first week and still am at mealtimes now but I don’t have the spikes in my blood sugar that I usually have. We eat pretty healthy but we usually start of our day with brown sugar in our oatmeal. I started off the fast putting date honey in my oatmeal but gradually changed to a little salt and fruit. Now I like it. It’s amazing how your taste buds adapt and you can really enjoy the natural flavor when you stop having processed foods and sugar. Wednesday night we had baked potatoes with salt and pepper and James said it was the best baked potato he’d ever had. Pre-fast we’d just decided to start making our own salad dressings but they had lots of sugar. During the fast James made olive oil, vinegar, salt & pepper which now I really like a lot. 1 part rice wine vinegar, 3 parts olive oil, salt & pepper.

I really think it’s true that sweet/ processed food (or TV or internet or whatever your go to item) can be distractions that can keep you from experiencing truth (like God) and really connecting in your relationships (with your spouse, your family, your friends, your own emotions). We had such a good weekend- not doing anything big- just connecting together. I think when you remove the distractions you can see more clearly too. This morning for Cereal Sunday (another great family tradition!) I had granola again but this time it was really good. I really like granola but this recipe took a little time to like. The granola is sweetened with pureed dried plums, a little apple juice, and dried fruit- our usual granola recipe has brown sugar and honey. Did the recipe change over the last two weeks? No, when I stopped filling myself with sugar I was really satisfied with the natural sweetness of the food. Isn’t that true for life too! I feel so much more content in my own life when I stop comparing my life to everyone’s perfect image on Facebook or their blog pictures of their perfectly clean house with perfect familes, perfect friendships, …

We’ve enjoyed the food (mostly). We used some vegetarian recipes we already had plus Susan Gregory’s books the Daniel Fast: feed your soul, strengthen your spirit, renew your body and Daniel Fast on a Budget. Some of our favorite meals have been quinoa hash, crepes with spinach filling, pasta with broccoli and almonds. We’ve eaten a lot of salad, fresh fruit, carrots and hummus. Unsweetened almond and soy milk has been good too for smoothies and granola. No we’re not planning on becoming vegetarians or vegans, but we do plan to have more meatless days (even James agrees now!), less sugar (love our new oil- vinegar salad dressing), and less processed items (we didn’t have much before but even less now.)

Last night

2012-01-15T23:02:00.000-05:00

So we got home from a wonderful week in the OBX today that I'll blog about later. James is looking at some of our many pictures- I'll add those later.
but tonight is my last night for the next 3 weeks for internet surfing & sugar. wwww.awake21.org we're starting no sugar, no meat, no internet.

here's some of the links i found tonight in my stocking up internet time before the fast (in case you wondered, we had cupcakes for K's 1/2 birthday and reese's white chocolate to fill up our sugar stores before the fast too!)

http://www.freebie-depot.com/birthday-freebie-list/

http://www.torchlighters.org/index.php/resources/series-preview/

The mathematics of sin are always the same:

sin

(+) ADDS to your sorrows,

(-) SUBTRACTS from your energy,

(x) MULTIPLIES your troubles,

(/) and DIVIDES your loyalty.

- Jon Cour

Nativity

2012-01-01T15:43:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful Christmas Eve- celebrating the birth of our Lord. We enjoyed baked chocolate oatmeal and quiche for breakfast, enjoyed time with family (Grandma, Uncle Brian, and Pops Leon drove up from NC yesterday, and practiced our Christmas play. The kids were amazed by our grapes and pretzels lunch and that they got to watch a movie during naptime (well KG napped.) the perfect time to watch Nativity Story. I was so glad Janelle told me they liked it- we saw it years ago but hadn't thought the kids might be ready for it. it was terrific and really helped bring the story to life.

After a yummy lunch of ham, meatballs, and fruit salad, we went to Trinity's Christmas Eve service. The music was all beautiful but what really struck me the most was watching Mary and Joseph comforting baby Jesus who was not "silent". Especially after watching Nativity Story and being reminded about young Mary. I was reminded how Mary chose to submit to God's plan even when it was hard for her, something she wasn't totally prepared for, it wasn't the timing she would have picked, ... She trusted God and learned as she went. She said "May it be to me as you have said." I pray that I will follow that!

Another near teary moment was watching a wonderful woman of God from here singing "All is Well." She looked and sounded like an angel. I think it would have been beautiful anyway but knowing how she and her family are in the middle of such a hard time made it even more beautiful.

KG and Pops Leon

T right before church

Mary did you know?

Uncle B and the gang

Christmas Books

2011-12-26T22:08:00.000-05:00

Besides reading the Nativity story in the Bible Nativity, we love reading lots of other Christmas books. We've gotten quite a collection over the years and are still growing more.

Last year we checked out and loved Amahl and the Night Visitors. That's definitely one I want in our collection. Of course part of my love for that book (besides it being a great story) is my memories of my brother playing the part of Amahl way back when in Madison.

This year we read This Way to Christmas by Ruth Sawyer and really like it too. We read a chapter each day and the kids loved hearing the stories within the story.

We also really enjoy our children's classic Christmas story book- which has stories like The Nutcracker, the Littlest Angel, the Match Girl, ...

I still get teary eyed each time we read The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree- which is set in NC at Grandfather Mountain and includes Tweetsie Railroad. We just went to Grandfather and Tweetsie last summer so the kids remember.

Christmas

2011-12-26T21:49:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. I'll write more later but wanted to post some pics now:

Children's Christmas play at Trinity- K was one "handsome" sheep

Star Wars fan!

Boys' gift to Daddy- handwritten copy of Christmas story from Luke 2

K &C gave T & C karate uniforms (they thought of that on their own- so sweet!)

T thought of this too- putting on every piece of clothing he got for Christmas!

K sporting the super scarf Uncle B made him

T trying out his Cars bubble bath!

Christmas afternoon football- Go Army!

Christmas dinner tradition- cornish game hen

T listening to brothers say what they're giving Jesus for Christmas before enjoying Happy Birthday Jesus cupcakes!

more of our super scarves from Uncle B

beautiful afternoon at our favorite park: Sherwood Gardens

More Christmas Pics

2011-12-16T07:52:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving visit with Nana, Papa, and good NC friends

Christmas presents with Nana and Papa

Celebrating Christmas!

2011-12-14T21:47:00.001-05:00

We had a terrific Christmas celebration with Nana and Papa over Thanksgiving weekend- we went to a Christmas tree farm and picked a tree, decorated the tree, opened gifts, sang Christmas carols, went to Mount Vernon's Christmas. Since then we've been enjoying egg nog & Christmas carols, Polar Express with hot hot chocolate, handprint Christmas tree crafts, tons of baking, reading Christmas books, choir practice, ... I've also been reading posts like The Christmas Conundrum and Whose Birthday is it? which started me thinking and praying...how can we make our celebration of Christmas more a celebration of Christ? we love our Jesse tree ornaments and singing the 12 days of Christmas each night with our advent calendar. (After each gift, the kids shout the "hidden meaning" and at the end eat their yummy tiny chocolate. I wasn't planning on those chocolate calendars this year-I saved our Halloween candy and planned on using this calendar. But in Fayetteville our neighbor always got them for the kids, and when we saw it at Aldi's, K's eyes lit up so I had to fork out the dollar to continue that tradition.

Jesse tree quilt

hand print Christmas trees

decorating Christmas tree- James always hangs the angel on top last

Thanks Nana & Papa for the handsome sweaters and pretty dress!

What's Polar Express without hot chocolate?

We've really enjoyed the activities on Focus on the Family's advent calendar. We also had a wonderful birthday party for Jesus where we picked out toys to pass along to others. Freecycle was wonderful for passing along the toys. We gave a few toys to people who work with autistic children, a family whose dad is unemployed because of PTSD- I say all this not to toot our own horn but because there are so many people out there with so little and it's so good for kids to learn the joy of sharing.

The kids loved picking out gifts for Operation Christmas Child. This year we took them to Chick-Fil-A and enjoyed free chicken sandwiches when we dropped them off.

the kids have been earning (and finding around the house) money to buy rabbits from Gospel for Asia

When the kids came home from church with Christmas cupcakes, we had another Happy Birthday family party- you can never say it enough can you? This time we counted our money and ordered rabbits and Bibles.

I think Advent Conspiracy website says it well: It is not enough to say no to the way Christmas is celebrated by many; we need to say yes to a different way of celebrating.

We will continue some of our traditions, continue to tweak others, and invent (borrow) others that add to our celebrating the birth of Christ! More to come ...

Overindulgence, too ambitious, ... over zealous Sunday

2011-12-05T23:12:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure what the right title is but I definitely overdid it. It all started so innocently. After a good church service, Sunday afternoon seemed like the perfect time for Christmas baking. The boys have super cute Christmas aprons (thanks Janelle) We could take some cookies to our neighbors. KG was taking a nap. James took T to Giant. Well I kept seeing yummy recipes and before you knew it we were baking a pumpkin pie and in the middle of 7 other recipes. If they didn't taste so yummy, I would have said we could have filmed "cooking gone bad." Well bad isn't the right word- just too much!

So many lessons learned Sunday- (for cooking and for life)

-do a few things well (instead of lots of things okay)

-have a plan

-stick to the plan

-there is such a thing as too much of even a good thing

-I don't have to make everything that looks good on pinterest!

-read the directions

here's some of the recipes we used- I wouldn't recommend making them all the same day!

Christmas bark

Chex Mix

Peanut Butter Cookies

Butterscotch Brownies

Didn't Make

why I won't make chex mix in the microwave again (or try to bake it at 350 with my pumpkin pie!)

we did end with a good family devotion- how do you get to heaven?

Christmas bark- yummy!

one cute Christmas wreath

Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T21:57:00.002-05:00

We're sitting here watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving- well the kids are watching it while James and I watch the kids. Hillarious to hear them cracking up! OK- that was almost 2 weeks ago but we've had a blur of excitement celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with my parents this past week. Here's some pics:

popcorn on the cob

Family Time about Thanksgiving

Fun turkey snack- but where are all the pics of our turkey pancakes?

Our wonderful Thanksgiving book and our new Thanksgiving tablecloth

Papa and kids enjoying beautiful weather outside

James during our 15th anniversary celebration at Ravens Game

The good weather was a great time to put everyone to work- 35+ bags of leaves

We went Friday morning to a tree farm and decorated our tree Friday night

Christmas books are great!

James smoked 1 turkey breast & 1 chicken and deepfried 1 turkey and 2 chickens- next year- we're buying more turkey!

Nana helped Kayleigh decorate our nutter butter snowmen

Monday we went to Mount Vernon- the kids loved seeing Alladin the camel

watching (and smelling) the chocolate making demo was fun

KG in Martha Washington's wedding dress

Papa bought the kids old fashioned chocolate bars- best hot chocolate every!

"Hot Hot Hot Hot Chocolate. Yeah we got it!"

Fall Fun w/ Friends

2011-11-25T21:44:00.001-05:00

Wild Wagon ride at Sharp Farm

Cow herding

Bee class

Wizard of Oz kids

Church FallFest with Super Friends

Trick or Treating with Neighbors

rest of reunion weekend

2011-11-12T21:10:00.001-05:00

Kids sporting new USMA shirts from Nana

Janelle's last day we enjoyed brunch at Broadway Diner (a DDD diner)

enjoying free day at Baltimore Zoo

boys' hiking trip with Daddy

it's fall!

tractor driving at the zoo

While KG and I were off in NYC, James and the boys had some boy time. I joked that they were going to eat lots of vegetables and go to bed early and they laughed.

3 generations of girls

2011-11-12T21:00:00.001-05:00

I started to title this USMA 15 year reunion but 3 generations of girls really fits better. We'd been planning this trip for a little while now and I'm so thankful that we went. What a great trip. The two day reunion stretched into 10 days of fun with friends and family. Janelle and her little girl flew in a couple days early and we got to see our other roommate from West Point. Janelle posted tons of great pics here and here but here are a few

Kristen, Nana, and KG at the awesome new tennis facility

the whole gang- two Nana's, two roommates, two cute little girls

enjoying lunch in NYC on Thursday- KG loved the squid

three roommates and our youngest girls

Inner Harbor- we had a great trip to aquarium

6 USMA 96 grads

me and Coach Peck- Patriot League Coach of the Year many years in a row

We had such a super trip- a few days here in Baltimore with Janelle and AG. a terrific day in NYC with 3 generations of girls. a wonderful 2 days at West Point, then a couple fun days with Nana here in Baltimore! Good times!

beach trip

2011-11-12T19:22:00.001-05:00

we're loving homeschooling- especially when it means we can go on a super beach trip when it's not so hot & not so crowded. when we can learn math through nightly battleship games, learn music through gospel brunch at the House of Blues, practice PE through swimming in many different pools, ...
we were blessed with good traffic as we drove down Friday to Myrtle Beach and met my parents here. it was chilly here our first day so we enjoyed the playground and indoor pool. James got here Saturday night and we went out to a yummy brunch Sunday morning for "church." After relaxing and board games, we went to the cottages for swimming, bocce ball, shuffleboard, and a cookout with birthday cake. Then ended the day with more games and 1940s cartoons.

we had several more days of fun in the sun and sand. we're loving days with no housework! but lots of time to enjoy swimming, sand castle building, floating down the lazy river, & KG's favorite: hot tubs. Tuesday night we became pirates- at Pirates Voyage. We even got to be part of the show: C got to go meet Kim the sea lion; Nana and I pulled K and T across the sea on a boat. Wonderful trip!

salute to heroes fall festival

2011-11-12T19:14:00.002-05:00

We were so blessed to be able to go to Summers Adventures Heroes salute. We had a wonderful trip to a pumpkin patch, complete with hayride, pumpkin donuts, big orange bouncy thing, tons of farm animals, apple shooting, hay maze, beautiful weather, pumpkins, ...

State Fair!

2011-10-15T21:19:00.001-04:00

We are having a great first week of school- Monday birthday celebration, Wednesday end of August celebration at B and O Railroad museum, and today- the state fair! It was terrific- everything you think of at a fair: tons of animals, tons of rides, yummy greasy food, the only thing missing was the crowd! There was a crowd as we were leaving but not really until then. We really had a great time. We got there before 2 and headed to the 4H booth first. The kids (and James and I) were really amazed by some of the things the 4H kids made- tables, chairs, neat displays, amazing cakes, ... K is counting down the days until he can join.

Then we saw tons of animals- cows, pigs, alpacas, sweet baby ducks, sheep, chickens, rabbits. We watched sheeps being sheared, cows being showed, but my favorite was the baby animal section. We saw a 2 hour old baby calf. We got to watch him trying to figure out how to nurse- he got to try to learn with C cheering on the sideline- "you missed! That's a knee!" He finally figured it out so we were able to continue our day at the fair. The kids pet chicks and a baby pig. K and C even milked a cow. They loved the soybeanbox (like a sandbox with lots of digging tools). The kids each got to do a ride and game. Time to eat! We tried lots of yummy fair food- popcorn, chips, a turkey leg, a lam gyro, a lamb BBQ sandwich, fried nutterbutter, fried oreos, fried buckseye (PB & Chocolate), french fries, a funnel cake, cotton candy. And on Sunday one nice green leaf.

Washington DC

2011-10-15T20:39:00.005-04:00

we went on a short trip to DC this weekend. Although this year's Ambleside history isn't focused on the American Revolution, my boys (especially K) and our area (Baltimore) is, so I am too. We've all (especially K) been reading tons of books on Revolutionary War, we've been many times to Ft McHenry and civil/ revolutionary war reenactments, so when James was able to take a day off work, we immediately thought of lots of great places to go- Philadelphia, Harpers Ferry, Valley Forge, ... we finally decided on Mount Vernon and we were not diasppointed. DC isn't very far from here but somehow it seemed harder than a day trip- the traffic can be horrible. when James told me we had enough hotel points for a free night, we were sold.

We decided to get the yearly pass to Mount Vernon and I'm glad we did. Mount Vernon was so pretty and the yearly pass was less expensive than going twice. We spent about 6 hours there- we saw most but not all of the out buildings. We went on the quick, but interesting mansion tour. We really enjoyed the farm area- I knew George Washington was a farmer but didn't know how big a farmer we was. The wool spinning, dying, and barrel making spots were really neat. We only got to see part of the Education center since it was closing time- how did the day go so fast? We did eat a late lunch in the Inn- I wish I had a picture bc it so fit our kids' eating- K ate a hamburger and didn't really want to try anything else, C and T ate everything in sight including their turkey pot pies, James' duck and sausage cassoulet, my salmon patties, and bowls of peanut soup and strawberry soup.

worn out baby girl napped through the end of Mount Vernon

Off to bed after pizza, cookies, and family movie night so we could start early today. It was amazing how empty DC was at 9 am on Saturday. We found tons of empty parking spots and parked right across the mall from the Smithsonian castle. Our plan to learn lots of American history in museums went out the window as our kids were so excited about all the monuments and we had absolutely perfect weather. So off to the monuments- Washington, World War II, Lincoln, Vietnam, Women's Memorial- then the White House, and finally we did make it to the Museum of American History. We got to see the original Star Spangled Banner, a few more history exhibits, and a play spot- Inventions. Then we dragged 4 tired kids back home. What a great trip!

the only picture we got of the six of us (that's my shadow!)

Camping

2011-09-06T21:40:00.001-04:00

We had such a great time on our camping trips this spring (other than KG screaming all night long.) We decided we would go camping once a month. Well right after we decided to camp once a month James left for Army work for the summer- most of it in Fort Lewis, WA. I do lots of things with the kids by myself but camping isn't one! During our crazy weather week last week (earthquake followed by hurricane) one of the boys suggested camping in the basement. But the weather was so nice so we decided to camp in the back yard.

We got into the camping mood with a trip to Seneca State Park for Park Quest #10- we're invited to the Park Quest Finale now! We played some rainy disc golf- which was a blast! Played in the park for a little while and then headed over to Larriland Farms for apple picking. We picked 80 lbs of apples- Gala, Smokehouse, and Honey Crisp. I think the boys' favorite part was climbing up the ladder to pick the Smokehouse apples or maybe picking from on Daddy's shoulder.

Zipline was the favorite and we had 3 super sharers!

He loves monkey bars- we should get some in the basement!

one of our apple pickers up high!

When we got home we set up tent. By we, I mean James and the kids while I tried to find somewhere in the kitchen to put 80 lbs of apples, a peck of peaches, and the other assortment of fruits and veggies from the farm. We grilled hotdogs for dinner and then the real fun began: campfire songs, stories, s'mores, singing apples, and sparklers. KG was sure she was ready for sleeping in the tent this time. She set up her blankies and pillows, practiced napping, and after a few games of Uno, she was ready to stay up all night. So KG and I went inside. The worn-out boys went right to sleep and James and I got to sit by the fire with a yummy drink picking out recipes for all our apples!

Daddy's set-up helpers

learning to build a fire

The next morning the kids enjoyed some camping cereal (any junk food cereal.) This time they had Captain Crunch- because we were making the Blue Moon Cafe's (from DDD) special: Captain Crunch French Toast . It was super yummy- if i do say so myself. The fun didn't stop there- after breakfast, we went to our terrific church and then to Bay Day United. The church picnic was great- good food, beautiful weather and spot, fun people, lots of bouncies for the kids, great worship music... All the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. We woke them up for a yummy dinner of popcorn, peanuts, and peaches, a family movie night- Torchlighter's William Tyndale- and then to bed. Praise God for a terrific weekend!

Happy 4th Birthday!

2011-09-06T00:43:00.001-04:00

How did our little man turn 4 already? seems like just yesterday we were out in Kansas driving to Overland Park Hospital for our resort baby to arrive. (It was a super nice hospital and did seem pretty resort-like!) How he's grown? Little T has a terrific laugh, he's our first true lefty, he throws a mean fast-ball, he's super cuddly, crazy about his baby sister, and just a terrific kid!
I asked what kind of cake he wanted and he wanted a red bear cupcake cake. We planned to have a dinner he like and his cake but no power made that a little harder. So we went to Ikea for fun playtime. We got there and the kids play area was full so we went to get my free cup of coffee (thanks Ikea Family) and found out Monday was free breakfast day so we ate another breakfast. Then playtime. KG and I did some shopping and then picked up our free yogurt (thanks Ikea Family again). Who knew hot dogs there are only 50 cents so we got 5 hotdogs and 2 yogurts for $3.50- that's a celebration!

After naps, per T's birthday request we went swimming at the Y and then picked up shrimp and sausage to grill for dinner. For his birthday dessert, T helped me make soy milk rice pudding which was a great idea for using up milk (no power) and cooking on gas stove-top instead of baking. T was also super excited about his birthday presents- a leftie glove from us and clothes and preschool books from Grandma. A wonderful day for a special boy.

Rice Pudding Birthday!

Summer School complete, back to school

2011-09-06T00:32:00.002-04:00

We were lacking one very important thing this summer- James (Daddy) was away all summer for work. We are so happy he is back! Of course, when given lemons, you make lemonade! so besides missing James we had a great summer filled with park quests, Tuesdays at Days Cove, visits from friends and family, Bible Bee, and chess.

This was our first summer doing Bible Bee. The final contest was canceled bc of Hurricane Irene but we had our own Bee at home which was probably better for our ages. We all learned tons from 1 Peter and lots of Bible verses. It's so cool when we read a verse and they get excited because they know it. I think Bible Bee is something our family will continue. here's a link to a great website where someone uploaded the Bible Bee verses to help memorize.

We also played a lot of chess- again I was amazed how quickly K and C learned. I thought we'd spend a lot longer on learning how the pieces moved. But I had to find a chess book to teach them- we learned strategies for opening and practiced different checkmates. Watch out Bobby Fischer.

We celebrated back to school with fun school boxes from Ikea that are really handy for holding the kids' books. They loved having their favorite color notebooks and a new puzzle each. We met friends at B and O Railroad Museum last week and had such a good time that we went back Wednesday to celebrate the last day of August. (B and O and lots other museums were free for military over the summer thanks to Blue Star Museums)

B and O railroad museum

Loving homeschool when we can go learn all over! The kids are super excited about history (especially K) so all the 150th anniversary of Civil War exhibits are super interesting.

New School boxes

Even with all these great places to go to learn, we are actually squeezing in some school at home :) we're using Ambleside Online Year One which covers history, literature, and more. We're loving the books so far- today we read about the 300 Spartans which is pretty exciting and some from Little House in the Big Woods which the kids are loving. They're ready to get a pig so they can make a bladder balloon! We're also using Math-U-See, Rosetta Stone Spanish, and lots of time out in nature. We went to the fair today and the kids knew tons about the animals in the Maryland Park service exhibit from our park visits. We're continuing our Bible verse memory using this easy system, reading Leading Little Ones to God and Missionary Stories with the Millers, and spending lots more time outdoors.

I just uploaded our booklist to scribd- check it out here:

And one of the things I'm most excited about is our new Lewcrew Sports Team. We were thinking about signing up for soccer, karate, swimming, something, ... but nothing seemed the right time, distance, price, ... so James suggested Lewcrew sports. He got cones for practicing soccer or baseball, a pink Dora tennis racquet for Kayleigh, and a tee for some tee ball. Our first practice was a great success Wednesday! Right time (whenever we want), right distance (at home or wherever we want), right price (free except equipment which we'd need anyway), and most important time with Daddy teaching kids. Yeay!!!

our leftie

Armor of God

Big Armor of God!

More of God's Armor

Fun with Friends

2011-09-02T21:32:00.002-04:00

Our super week with Nana & Papa was followed by a super weekend with friends. Some of our closest friends in Fayetteville moved away 2 years ago and we'd been wanting to get together but hadn't- until this weekend! It came together at the last minute and was terrific. C and her oldest were like peas in a pod- they played and giggled and made kites and just had a blast. (But don't worry, C still knows who he's going to marry!)

KG was pretty excited about Kelly's daughter's Dora tennis racquet. I was amazed at how Kelly's son plays- at 3 he's pretty amazing! It did get us excited about tennis so we've been playing lots of backyard tennis since their visit.

So awesome that even though we've been separated by time and miles, when we were back together it was like we'd never been apart- well except for new stories. Great friend, great weekend!

Lemonade?

2011-09-02T21:28:00.001-04:00

We've been having a good summer but some days I've given myself a little pity party for being in a new big city where we don't know many people and James was gone pretty much the whole summer. So even though we are so blessed I was thinking about my lemons. I was even ready to write down my "lemons" just to add to one of my lonely days, but thankfully a good friend suggested I think of all the "lemonade" so here's some:

Lemon Lemonade

Left the church we'd gone to for a long time We found a new church where we still feel God's presence

We don't have many friends here yet We've had a lot of good family time

James has been gone a lot Not as much laundry or cooking :) (but I'd much rather have him here)

Arthritis in my knees My ~~reason~~ excuse for not getting up early to run

4 flights of stairs in house Feel less bad about not getting up to exercise

I started this a while back and never finished so now I have more lemons and lemonade to add
Lost power for 3 days from Irene We had a a gas stove so we could still cook, we had James' frig at work so we didn't lose much food, we had no damage, we had 4 kids who had a blast racing plasma cars in the basement by lantern light and said how glad they were to have no power so they'd have that much fun. (Oh and no computer/ TV was an added bonus!)

We have power!

2011-08-30T18:41:00.001-04:00

Yeah! 2 1/2 days without and I'm so glad its' back- mostly for the refrigerator and freezer. But again we were blessed it so many ways
-great weather- not too hot, not too cold
-we have a gas stove so we could cook
-James' office is super close and has several refrigerators so we took almost everything to his office
-the basement was a terrific plasma car racetrack

Trash, trinkets, or treasures

2011-08-25T21:51:00.003-04:00

"Trash, trinkets, or treasures…how are you spending your time?" I saw this quote on email and thought I had to share. what a great question to ask as we go through the day.

catching up

2011-08-13T23:32:00.001-04:00

I'm really behind on my blogging and want to catch up with our fun trip to Boone, Grandma & Pops Leon's visit, Kelly's visit, and capturing the other memories here ... but
before I do, here's some great things heard from the kids recently:

KG: where's Daddy?
Me: Kentucky
KG: Kentucky Fried?

after I prayed over C the little girl God has planned to be his wife, C: but Mommy I already know who is going to be my wife.

Little T tried his hardest but didn't quite make it to "No Hugs until Saturday". Today he says "every day is a day for hugs and kisses"

We've all been enjoying our Friday night movie nights- pizza & then a movie- some of our recent favorites- Benji, Charlotte's Web, and tonight we started The Black Stallion (although we probably should have fast-forwarded the whole ship sinking part- there was much weeping during that tonight. KG- where'd his daddy go?)

Tonight we had a terrific treat which the boys named "Smoothie Cream"- the boys (& Papa) have always loved frozen bananas and I really stumbled upon a recipe for banana ice cream. Tonight after dinner I got out frozen strawberries for the kids- not quite so yummy & hard to eat so I thought I'd try strawberry/ banana "ice cream"- I pureed 1/2 frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana in the vita mix- I did add a tiny bit of coconut milk because I didn't chop the bananas or strawberries first and I was impatient. Super yummy! Can't wait to try more flavors.

banana can be used as a base to get the creamy texture. I add frozen berries, frozen peaches frozen ANY fruit.. making sure you always have at least 1/2 the quantity of banana total.
For a special treat I like to add chocolate chips, or make a chocolate ganache and pour it over like a sunday. YUM! and healthy :)

Nana & Papa Visit

2011-07-25T21:41:00.001-04:00

We had a great visit with my parents. They were very happy to arrive at our house- especially with their car trouble.

The kids were excited to see the tow truck in action.

After lunch Sunday we headed out to Park Quest #8: Susquehanna.

C and KG as early 1800s children doing chores

boys watching their corn being ground into cornmeal

corn meal ground, mail delivered, water carried, time to enjoy the mansion's AC :)

outside the Rock Run mansion at Susquehanna: Park Quest #8

Hiking is always the kids' favorite part of Parkquest

Sunday night we celebrated K and Papa's birthdays with a Turtle Cake. Most years we've celebrated their birthdays together so K always looks forward to that.

Happy Birthday to K and Papa!

Monday we went to Park Quest #9: Sandy Point. I probably should have read more about the park & packed for the beach. but we improvised and everyone had a blast. The treasure really was the beautiful beach and the molting crab we saw in the nature center. Even little KG suddenly decided she likes the water- "Go deeper Mommy". I wish I'd taken my camera- although I don't know that a picture could fully capture the joy on the kids' faces as they played in the water.

Tuesday we went to Days Cove- we've really enjoyed our Tuesday Park Pals and Sprouts there. And the boys were especially excited to have Nana and Papa go with them.

Wednesday we went to K's speech. It was great to be able to go in with him while Nana and Papa went on an adventure with the other 3. They didn't see our friend the cat but they did find all the letters of the alphabet. Then off to our first Diners, Dive-Ins, and Drives restaurant: G and A Restaurant. We had a great time there. The food was good- coney island hotdogs, sliders, and fries with gravy- and the waitresses & owner were terrific. After lunch we went to the American Visionary Arts Museum. Part of the Blue Star Museum summer free museums for military. We had a great time. It was so neat. The kids really loved the toys hanging from the ceiling when you come and the whoopee cushion bench. There were lots of other neat things too. The only downer was spraining my ankle.

Thursday we celebrated Dad's birthday with another DDD- The Blue Moon Cafe. Everything was good but the Captain Crunch French toast was amazing. Then we hunted for the Charm City Circulator but did a scenic driving tour of the waterfront instead. We had berry crisp topped with chocolate banana "ice cream" for another celebration of Papa's birthday. Friday morning, Nana, Papa, and K headed towards Florida. K is super excited about his birthday trip. KG keeps asking "where's K?" When I tell her Florida, "Why he not here? Miss K" So sweet! What a great week!

Seven!

2011-07-22T14:55:00.001-04:00

I can't believe my baby boy is seven! Seems like just yesterday we got to hold him in our arms for the first time. Wow! He's grown fast.

we had a fun birthday- even if the kids' early morning dentist appointments were canceled. our Baltimore friends came over to play, have lunch, and hit the pinata that K made. I showed him several and he wanted to make the paper bag kind which was okay with me since it was less messy and took less time, but I think he just wanted something he could make all by himself. He planned on filling it with all healthy things but was pretty happy to use the Easter candy too.

All three boys were very excited about the hamburger for dessert. And K was so excited with his presents- a book and cool game from friends, clothes & drawing things from Grandma, and Nana & Papa coming up soon. We did have two very sad parts of the day: Daddy couldn't be here & our friends from Fayetteville got sick and couldn't come. Otherwise a good celebration to the beginning of another year!

Tuesday Fun!

2011-07-16T22:00:00.001-04:00

We are enjoying our summer. When we found out we were moving to Baltimore, I was excited about exploring a new city and area, but also sad and a little anxious about moving somewhere and not knowing anyone (although it turns out 2 friends from high school live near here). We've always moved to a military post where we'll probably know some people and the small Army connection means you almost always meet people who are friends of friends. But it's funny amazing how God puts things together for us ahead of time. Like leading us to Royal Rangers in Fayetteville which lead us to our wonderful church Trinity Assembly of God which lead us to our terrific new friends. We also found ParkQuest which lead us to Days Cove which has been a lot fun especially with our new friends this summer. K & C are in Park Pals with their good friends. T and KG are Sprouts with me and their friend and her Mommy. Our 2 families are always the first to arrive and the last to leave. Here's some pics of our summer fun-

sshhh! Don't tell the park rangers we've been climbing trees before & after class.

Our cool leaf collections- every week we act like a tree, do some crafts, have a snack, read a book, go on a nature walk, ...

our friends!

I see you!

Watch out frogs, bugs, lizards, toads, ... here come the herd of scientists.

rock throwing is always a favorite

poor frog

Baking Days

2011-07-16T21:55:00.001-04:00

We found a new family favorite at the Civil War Encampment: Hard tack!
The boys were super exited to make it, all enjoyed it for dinner, and KG wouldn't even cheese for the picture bc she thought it was so yummy!

Frying the hardtack in the bacon grease (although turkey bacon doesn't leave much grease!)

I got a little carried away making pancakes and waffles (I usually x4 the recipe but this time x8).

At least I'll have them in the freezer for a long time!

Happy Independence Day

2011-07-07T00:00:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful 4th of July. We celebrated "An Old-Fashioned Fourth of July" 1814 at Fort McHenry A terrific day- we arrived at 11:30 expecting to park far from the visitor's center because the overflow was half full but found a spot right up front. (C said God said that one for us!) Then really enjoyed the movie- I must confess I didn't know or remember the history of The Star Spangled Banner. I did know that Francis Scott Key wrote it but didn't know he wrote it about the view he had of Fort McHenry from aboard a British ship. He was an attorney aboard a British vessel to negotiate release of a prisoner. He (along with most of Baltimore) watched as the men of Fort McHenry defended for 25 hours and strained early in the morning to see what flag flew over Fort McHenry.

When the movie ended, someone gave me one of their entrance stickers which meant I didn't have to pay, I didn't have to stand in line, and we got to march out with the Fifes and Drums. The boys were very excited about that- although they did point out that some of the people were walking not marching.

We enjoyed hearing the Fife and Drums go through their jobs throughout the day- reveille, meal calls, meeting calls, drill, ...

Then we got to hold the out-stretched American flag with its 15 stars and 15 stripes- 30 feet wide, 42 feet long. We heard the story of the defense of Fort McHenry. Then marched to the cannons.

We watched them load and fire the cannons a couple of times. Pretty loud and smokey!

KG was finally out of the backpack but she's missing from the picture because she didn't want to fall in the water. This is as close the boys could get to the seawall without KG bursting into tears and screams. (Much like her fear of the dunking booth last week.)

Despite her fears, we had a terrific day. I think we'll be back there next Fourth of July!

Educating the WholeHearted Child — A Giveaway for the Best Book Ever!

2011-07-03T23:37:00.001-04:00

Book giveaway

ITJ Giveaway for the Best Book Ever! Ends July 6 (11:59pmMT).

Farm Days

2011-06-25T22:52:00.007-04:00

We left Texas with 4 worn out kids- especially the big boys- they all four were asleep in the car before 10 am- a few days of running around the farm, staying up late, sleeping in the tent will wear you out. The tired kids made for a pretty quiet 2 day drive home and we were ready to go to another farm- One Straw Farm. We joined their CSA and pick up veggies every Sat from their stand at the Farmer's Market down the street. We had a great night there- they invited people out for music on the lawn and to check out the farm. It was great- we had farms in our hearts especially after our trip to the Cole's and we loved the land, the hayride, the animals, the music, the kids dancing, ...

Our Trip- NC, MS

2011-06-24T21:40:00.011-04:00

We drove from Baltimore to Grandma's house. We were just there overnight but packed clothes and a recorder for their graduation. the kids were excited to graduate to 2nd grade (K), K/1 (C), and Preschool for T and KG.

Here's LewCrew Christian Academy with diplomas

saying the Pledge of Allegiance

We left the next morning for MS. We'd been talking with Grandmollie about her family working on the railroad so the kids were excited to see the train at a new park.

A carousel ride (or two) is always a tradition when we visit Grandmollie

This time we got to see lots of baby ducks, a duck sitting on eggs, and some big scary turkey ducks.
there were huge fish in the lake just waiting to be fed
Another MS tradition is a snow cone- these aren't your regular grape, cherry, ... I think I got Mounds Bar, someone got blueberry cheesecake, ...yummy!

the long list of flavors

KG got some extra reading time with Grandmollie since she and I stayed with Grandmollie. The boys and James all stayed in the hotel. We all did some swimming at the hotel.

Here's a pic of all of us after church and a yummy southern lunch out. We always feel like family at Mollie's church. The boys all sang with the church's children's choir. K even sang his first solo. Then Grandmollie treated us to a super yummy lunch- the kids were amazed by all the deserts out on the bar.
The kids loved the carousel. the boys wanted to ride every different animal while KG wanted to ride the sleighs.
More precious reading time. I don't have pics of all our fun skip-bo games or the tons of yummy food we had. Wonderful meatloaf, delicious cakes, ... A great visit!
We were really excited to get to see Aunt Penny and Uncle Joe too. We went to their house where Aunt Penny had packed tons of good food and drinks for lunch. We drove to the wonderful park and the kids played for a while- the zipline was a favorite- but the MS heat was too much so we went back home for lunch.

We had a wonderful visit before we got on the road again.

Our Trip- TX part

2011-06-24T21:38:00.004-04:00

somehow my pictures aren't all loading but here's a few from our photo shoot :)

The Kids

The Photographer
The Dad getting the kids to smile
the two we're making wedding plans for
We had such a great trip. Only bad part was it was too short- well there was a lack of sleep but that just made for a quiet drive home. :) We loved being out in the country, loved that we didn't go anywhere (except Janelle & I had a great trip to Walmart & Sonic and we took the kids to church Wed night), loved the yummy veggies from the garden, homemade bread and jam, late night treats, and awesome school building. But even more than all those great things- I love that we've kept our friendship alive and growing. Crazy to think how much things have changed since our West Point roommate days back in 92-94. But also amazing to see how we've stayed close. On our long drive back from Texas, James and i had time to think through the years since West Point graduation and how we've gotten together almost every year. We couldn't remember a time in 2005 but other than that every year for almost 15 years- and a lot of visit when we lived close (KS & TX- we made near monthly trips to see each other.) It was really neat to see the kids pick up where they left off- like old friends who can not see each other for a long time but still remain close.

We had a blast and filled our couple of days with fun. We didn't take a ton of pictures but have lots of fun photos in our minds

- all the kids trying to round up chickens

-8 kids & 4 adults in tie-dyed shirts

-late night settlers games

-a school house filled with fun and learning

-kids holding hands to help each other on the race

-two families living far apart in miles but always close at heart

Park Quest #5 & 6

2011-06-19T14:08:00.004-04:00

What a great weekend: 25 pounds of blueberries & cherries picked. Park Quests 5 & 6 Complete.

We headed out to Cunningham State Park. After picking up our packet, watching neat turtles, and a brief scare from a vulture ( one of many birds in the aviary), we went on our search to find out what the fox saw. We hiked from the aviary to the tire park, enjoyed lunch and playing (especially the zipline), and then hiked to Isabella's Rock which was pretty steep so we found an alternate way back down (very thankful for no poison ivy off that path)

Next we hiked over the highway (very high bridge) to Isabella's Furnace (part of Catoctin Furnace).

Then we headed on our drive/ nap to South Mountain State Park.

Our GPS led us through strange small roads but we eventually found our way to the Washington Memorial- no, not in DC. The first memorial to Washington was built July 4th 1827. We climbed to the top of the 30 foot memorial. Then drove to our first leg of the Appalachian Trail. One mile down 2164 to go!

We loved hiking. We're not quite ready for through hiking yet! But we're excited for lots more days of family hiking! It's awesome to be out in God's beauty!

Oh and we did end the day with buy one get one free icecream (thanks park quest and South Mountain Creamery) See the chocolate face!

12 states, 2700 miles, 9 days,

2011-06-11T12:50:00.004-04:00

4 kids, 1 Mommy, 1 Daddy- one great trip especially when you add

1 graduation

1 Grandmollie

1 aunt and uncle

1 college roommate, 1 college friend, 4 more great kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 3 turkeys, 2 guineas, 18 chickens, and a fishing pond!

Memorial Day Fun

2011-06-11T12:34:00.004-04:00

We were so excited for Grandma and Pops Leon to come visit Memorial Day weekend. They drove up Friday and were happy to see a little girl with a pretend haircut and 3 boys with brand-new haircuts from Daddy. We enjoyed lots of time hanging out around the house enjoying all our neat birds (see our nature blog for more pics) and took them to our favorite hang-out, bird watching, tree-IDing & climbing spot: Sherwood Gardens. James and I got some much appreciated time out alone too (Friday night to Cheesecake Factory for lettuce wraps and cheesecake, Saturday morning a bike ride to the 32nd street Farmer's Market, and Sunday morning a bike ride to/ around Druid Hill Park). James' smoked yummy pork Saturday and Sunday we went to church and then strawberry picking. We picked 45 lbs of strawberries (that's a lot!) The kids did great- the big boys both filled their buckets and then helped grandma and KG & T both did super picking too! It was a lot of fun- a picnic there, trailer ride to the fields, lots of picking and then a playground. We didn't even make it to the petting zoo.

Then Monday we completed another Park Quest #3 for our family. We'd been camping in Patapsco State Park but headed back this time for a hiking trip. We did the GPS course for bigger kids and loved it. It's so great to be outdoors!!

Camping Fun

2011-05-21T16:02:00.004-04:00

We went on our second MD camping trip last weekend. We're excited to be a ParkquestTeam- we've completed two quests so far. A pirate/ nature compass course at Elk Neck State Park and letter box hike at Fair Hill NEA. We even braved rainy weather for the Fair Hill hike- I'm loving all the time outdoors (although this week was pretty rainy so we didn't get out as much.) We still went on a walk every day and we only got in the car to go to church. We're definitely enjoying our city living. So much you can walk to!

a muskrat we think- I'm going to start adding to our nature blog We've been watching and reading about tons of birds, squirrels, flowers, ...
the view from way up top of the lighthouse (31 feet)- the boys and I climbed up. The pic shows KG and James by the bay.

Marshmallow roasting was a big hit. We can't wait to go camping again.

Pics Finally

2011-05-21T13:05:00.004-04:00

I've been doing a little bit of posting and a very little bit of picture posting. But we have been taking pictures- here are a few. This morning we went to the Farmer's market about a mile from our house. After the farmer's market, we stopped a local church's community festival for hotdogs, bouncing, and face painting. Here are my two little warriors (K was busy bouncing & KG wanted to hang out with Mommy while she's recovering from her ear infections.)

KG still wanted in the pic even if she didn't get her face painted. She's quite the talked now. Yesterday James was dressed up in a sportscoat and tie for work and when she saw him, all on her own, she said "Daddy you're handsome."

This is the sign at the entrance to our neighborhood. Guilford Gateway Park- the big boys have been enjoying playing baseball there with James sometimes after dinner. KG & T and I go explore the park- we haven't let the big boys in on the secret that Cold Stone Creamery is walking distance from our house.

This video belongs with the camping pics but it's already here.

Beautiful Spring

2011-05-15T22:01:00.007-04:00

Our neighbors told us we arrived in Baltimore at the best time- the peak of it's beauty. I'm sure they're right bc it's beautiful right now. They are lots of neat museums and other things to do here, but we're loving spending most of our days in pretty green areas. The boys are pretty good walker/ hikers now since we do a lot of it. Most days are not too far- we've been going to Sherwood Gardens (beautiful tulips, then azaleas, now roses) & Guilford Gateway- where the boys practice baseball with James when he gets off work on time. Now we've been branching out to walk to the library, grocery store, and YMCA playground some days and Stony Run Park others. One of these days I'll send my MANY pics of squirrels, robins, flowers, cocoons so I can upload them, but not today. but it is really neat to see them all and to see how different city animals are from out in the country. On a bike ride the other day, we stopped under a trip and watched a robin sitting about 3 feet from us for a long time. We get super close to the squirrels too. We picked up a book about birds and have been reading some about them each day.

2011-05-06T21:09:00.005-04:00

We've really been having a good time here in Maryland- other than being far away from our friends and family in other places. The kids were so excited about Easter they got dressed without being asked. K and C came in my room dressed up in their nice jackets and white shirts, T decided T-shirts and shorts was the best Easter look!

Happy Birthday James! We had a wonderful Easter celebration at church including the Eggspress and then a family bike ride to Baltimore Museum of Art- we had the place to ourselves- I guess everyone else knew it was going to pour! We listened to lots of the family talks while we looked at the art and then came home to celebrate James' birthday!
I was too slow with my camera- we had seven kids (all 6 and under) intently gathered around some really cool bug in the backyard. I'm glad these "scientists" avoided the poison ivy we found later! Our first Maryland friends- with kids the same ages as ours! How fun!!
Here's the gang (minus one little baby) gathered after our Easter Egg hunt.

Living Life!

2011-04-23T17:56:00.008-04:00

and haven't been blogging about it. We've had an exciting- mostly fun-filled few weeks in Baltimore- going on a month now. the first few days we spent unpacking- although we did sneak in a quick trip to Ikea- pretty easy since it's only about 15 minutes from here. we went to church our first Sunday here and knew we'd found our Baltimore Church home at Trinity Assembly of God. We went back Wednesday night for dinner, prayer meeting, and Royal Rangers/ Rainbows. I was also really excited to get to go to the Trinity Women's Conference: Dare to Dream. It was great- I enjoyed several hours of wonderful worship, dynamic speakers, and great conversations with neat ladies. The kids had fun with all the empty boxes- they made TVs with some, boats with some, and James helped make a giant castle in the basement.

My Mom flew up Saturday night and we switched from unpacking mode to tourists. We had a really good time. We went church Sunday and had a wonderful brunch- eggs benedict, pancakes, ... That afternoon we went to the Baltimore Museum of Art. It was great to be able to see great art, for free, less than a mile from our house. And they have family/ kid programs each Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure who enjoyed drawing more- James or the kids. Monday we went down to the Inner Harbor. We joined the National Aquarium Baltimore and had a great time seeing everything, including the dolphin show. Tuesday we went to the Baltimore Museum of Industry and were happy to find we got there on their Wee Workers morning (cheap to get in and a program for kids). Then enjoyed a table-full of crabs. Wednesday we headed to FL- we were planning on a 2 day trip but it was going well so we kept on driving. We made it in 14 hours.

and more

2011-04-23T17:55:00.006-04:00

we had a great time down in Florida. I now have 3 little cowboys and a little cowgirl after getting to see the rodeo. They loved watched the bull-riding and calf-roping. At the playground, C said he wouldn't "barrel ride bc that's for cowgirls." K was so excited to get to ride in the parade with Papa- a great surprise for all of us. Nana and the rest of us were watching the parade and saw Firetruck #3 with K & Papa go by. How fun! We also got to see Nana's friend's 25 chickens- the boys picked up a dozen eggs which they dyed for Easter. We also got to see & pet sweet baby goats. The one in the picture is about the same size as our little girl. Then enjoyed our first mulberries out at Becky's and watched hummingbirds. A great trip!

We left Tuesday to drive back north. We saw some of the damage to Fayetteville from the tornado but also got to see and hear some of the good stories of families and churches helping each other. It was great to get to spend some time with really good friends from NC before heading back to MD. We got home and had good weather so we decided on a last minute camping trip. We are so excited to have great camping and hiking places so close. We went to Patapsco State Park- just about 20 minutes from our house- and had a great trip. Thursday we went to the tire park, hiked to the swinging bridge & Union Dam, set up camp, had a rodeo at the playground, and enjoyed yummy dinner including hot chocolate & camping cherry pie. All fun- except the sleeping- KG and T weren't sure they were happy about sleeping in a tent. Friday we hiked to the water fall and then headed home to have a warm lunch.

Hello Baltimore!

2011-04-08T22:48:00.002-04:00

We're here. and we have internet now!

I've written posts in my mind several times but didn't have internet to post plus we've been so busy unpacking boxes, driving to Fayetteville, going to the symphony that I didn't have time for posting.

Some of the titles I planned on writing

-101 uses for moving boxes including castles, slides, chairs, and more

-More or Less in Baltimore:

-More: stairs, museums, traffic, people, violins, new friends

-Less: nature, old friends

-Missing our wonderful forever friends

-Our awesome new church

-Fun stuff we're planning on doing in Baltimore

off to bed. I went to a wonderful women's conference tonight and go back in the morning, then pick my mom up from the airport!

Farewell Fort Bragg!

2011-03-29T21:53:00.005-04:00

I can't believe it's time to move. It's been a great 3 years. We've been blessed with so many great friends, such a wonderful church, a terrific house and neighborhood, great visits with family, ... I could go on and on but we still have to finish packing and it's after 10 (and I haven't slept much lately- we're so blessed by staying in this 4 BR duplex but Kayleigh says "Get me out of here" and I rescued her from her pack n play and got little sleep!)

we really will miss our friends and this town which has become home. I guess it seems like we've lived here a long time since we were here for 6 years before our 2 year trip to Kansas and then back again. we've also had great farewells with friends and family and an amazing scrapbook of our Fun Fridays. Here's a couple pics from our last days here.

We went to visit Great-Grandma, Grandma, Uncle B, Pops Leon, Aunt Velma, & Uncle Greg. I don't have pics but the boys each loved their lunch dates with Pops Leon- big 2 each went to Golden Corral and little boy to McDonalds. Here's KG's first 2 year old cake from Grandma, Uncle B, and Pops Leon

"Cake" # 2 for KG's birthday- friends came over for hotdogs and marshmallow roast (but the movers packed marshmallows)

"Cake" #3- ice cream at Mash House- our favorite Fayetteville restaurant

Back to packing, then to bed, then to Baltimore!!

Happy St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T22:35:00.006-04:00

What a day! Who knew we could have such green fun! Here are a few pics of our green fun:

yesterday we made leprechaun traps. the kids (and neighbor friend)were very excited to color, tape, glue, ... all things Irish to the box, windows, walls. We made shamrocks, Irish flags, rainbows, ... all in hopes of catching a leprechaun. turns out they were too fast- they did leave behind a messy house, green footprints, gold coins, and when we opened the fridge we found green oatmeal and green coconut milk. They also left a note with some fun things to do on St Pat's Day:

-Make shamrock cookies- very fun & yummy.

Make green playdough- the kids made all sorts of things with this good playdough

Here's green oatmeal pic
I didn't get pictures of dancing an Irish jig or doing Irish Olympics but those were a lot of fun too!

And here's the green gang.

a couple ideas for next year: Shamrock Shirts

Freezer Paper Stenciled Valentine's Shirts. We used the same technique this month to make some Shamrock Shirts for St. Patrick's Day! Because the shirts, paint, and supplies can be purchased very inexpensively at most craft stores, you can easily come together to make fun shirts like this for every holiday!

Congrats James

2011-03-12T21:31:00.002-05:00

Congrats LTC!

The boys were excited to help pin on Daddy's rank. We're proud of you.

March Pics

2011-03-12T21:12:00.004-05:00

Yes, I've been a horrible blogger lately. But there are lots of pics on the computer. I'm going to try to get some more posted before we move since I know it's going to be a little crazy here soon. Less than 2 weeks left living in our house. Then about a week of hotels and into our new house in Baltimore. we're praying for peace amidst the chaos of moving. And praying to enjoy our last days with our good friends here in NC. It will be hard to move bc we have some super friends but I know we'll keep in touch with our close ones and Baltimore is just a short drive away!

Here's K and James headed to K's Ranger of the Year competition and awards banquet. K was really excited about his new uniform and about going to a special dinner with Daddy. He loves Royal Rangers- we're looking for a church with Royal Rangers in Baltimore.

Princess KG wielding a shield and sword like the boys.
Painting mascot Champ.
T says he's ready to ride his bike with no training wheels. I don't know if I'm ready for that.
Our newest climber taking a break in the tree.

Painting Project

2011-03-12T20:47:00.005-05:00

I really like our new shutters. I really like our house here in NC a lot- I fell in love with the yard the first time I saw it. The yard is still my favorite but with new carpet, newly painted trim, and cool blue shutters, the house is great! I am glad we waited to replace the icky carpet until this year. We enjoyed tons of get togethers with lots of friends with lots of small children without worrying about the carpet getting messed up. Now we have awesome friends who came over and painted for us!

can you believe our friends painted for us and brought us an apple pie? And today Christy brought homemade hummus. The kids thought the painting party was a blast- miss naps, play with friends all day, eat hotdogs. The knights of Pine Valley protected the neighborhood. It doesn't get much better than that.

Amy Lynne even went up on the roof to paint!

Funnies

2011-01-27T21:41:00.002-05:00

So I've been watching KG toddle around- she's at such a cute age- (most of the time it's cute.) And thought she says so many cute things that I'm sure I'll always remember, except I don't remember all the boys said and did. I think of them at the age they are now. so I'm trying to do a good job recording these cute things.

Here's a couple from T:

one day this week, C came in my room in tears bc his rubber band bracelet broke. T said when he's big enough for one of those he wants one with bones inside so it doesn't break.

then today we were talking about birthdays. I said mine is in June. He started laughing and asked why grown-ups have birthdays.

This isn't funny but I thought I'd added enough posts today so this goes in funnies. I'm going to a new Bible study- and we read the verses from Isaiah 40:29-31. When I read the part about soar like wings of eagles, I was reminded of our trip to Wright Brothers last week. In the movie, they said the Wright brothers noticed there were two types of flying birds- flapping and soaring. Eagles soar. As I read Isaiah 40:29-31 I thought I spend a lot of time flapping- when God wants me soaring. I also thought eagles usually soar up high, while flapping birds are lower down. That fits me too- I spend so much time, energy, focus on lower things- not focused high. Now I'll strive to soar like eagles!

Walk for Vasa Previa

2011-01-27T21:28:00.004-05:00

Every October since C's birthday, we've done a Sophie's Walk for Vasa Previa. Some years were big ones with lots of people, other years just the family. But this year we just couldn't seem to make it work. I kept having it in the back of my mind bc it really is a passion of mine to tell people about vasa previa- this condition we'd never heard of until it almost took our baby's life. Then amazing how it worked out that the weekend of C's 5th birthday turned out to be a great time for our family to do out walk. We had such a nice morning. The boys were all big enough to walk, KG loved riding and napping in the backpack. We had good weather. We walked in the woods behind our house and stopped midway for a prayer and little talk about vasa previa. The boys all know that C making it is a miracle from God. Here's some pics from our walk-

More OBX and birthday x 3

2011-01-27T20:27:00.006-05:00

OK I'm not quite smart enough to put the pics in backwards order so this is backwards. we had a great trip. James was there the first few days and then Nana and Papa the last part. We spent days at the park, swimming in the pool, visiting lighthouses, sliding in the sand, playing on the beach. yes, too cold for swimming but a great trip. Here's the kids out on the beach the last day.
I'll put some pics of our beach finds on our nature blog.
Sweet little ones headed down to the beach.
C's bday celebration #3- w/ Nana and Papa
Bodie Lighthouse- boys got badges- 3 Junior Rangers. I don't have pics of Wright Brothers, but we had a good visit there too. The boys enjoyed getting their badges and learning about early airplanes.
This tree (or one near it) by Currituck Lighthouse has lots of memories- from way back in 2001 with a little baby boy through this year & lots in between.
We hiked all around Jockey's Ridge- boys were so excited to find each number.
Sliding down Jockey's Ridge. Last year T couldn't go up by himself. This year he didn't want to stop.

Our kite- KG napping in the backpack.
T ready for some duck hunting. We had a great visit to the wildlife center by Currituck Lighthouse. Got to watch fish feeding- a little class about fish. A great movie about the history of the area, dressed up like duck hunters, and went home with new fishing costumes.
Bday celebration #2- w/ Grandma, Uncle B, and Pops Leon
Celebration #1 with the Lewcrew. We had pancakes for dinner & C requested carrot cake which we made from scratch (peeled the carrots, opened vanilla beans, ...) since we were snowed in and couldn't buy any shortcuts! Can't believe he's 5! Wow! It seems like yesterday that we were praying for him to make it. And now he goes a million miles an hour.

5 years ago (yesterday) our little miracle arrived. what a night! what a boy! We're so thankful for him. We went on our family walk for vasa previa this weekend- still praying for all the vasa previa angels and their families.
Chase's miracle birth

Outer Banks/ Snow Days

2011-01-23T21:12:00.005-05:00

Here's one of our two snowmen from the last snow- the other wasn't dressed so no pic!
these turtles from the aquarium on Roanoke Island- could go on our nature blog but they were just so cute

you can really see how much they've grown when you compare pics. last year KG was too little to sit on the turtle. We were really blessed to go to 2 years in a row of free day at the aquarium.

More Christmas Pics

2010-12-31T22:27:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T21:10:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it's 2011 already. well, my watch still says 31 DEC but the ball dropped, the whistleblowers blew, the fireworks sparkled here several hours ago so it must be 2011. It's been a great year and we ended with a wonderful day. We started off the morning with a Manna Multisports Family Run. KG and T ran their first races- 1/4 mile each while K & C did their first races- 1/2 mile. C thought it was so much fun that he did the mile with James and finished it 10:20!! he turns five in 2 weeks and that's faster than some of my old soldiers ran. Then James watched all our kids plus a friend (definite good husband points) so I could run the 5K by myself. Five families from our Tuesday morning run group were there plus another 3 from Manna Multisports- nice end to the year.

We had planned a quiet evening at home until a good friend turned our evening more fun by inviting 25 people over to our house for a New Years' Eve party. Between the two events, we were happy to have Pops Leon & Grandma work hard with us in the garage repairing the hole I put in the ceiling. And Uncle B to hang out with the kids.

The New Year's Eve party was a great success. I offered to provide meat and drinks but realized we didn't have any and called everyone coming asking them to bring those too. Great to have friends who are close enough to plan a party at our house and then I can ask them to bring everything for it.

Christmas

2010-12-25T18:57:00.005-05:00

We've been blessed with a terrific year: James home except some short TDYs, all well except some colds and stitches, near family for lots of visits, blessed with lots of good friends, the good news of James' promotion and our move this spring, ...

we went to Boone, NC for my cousin's wedding and had a new twist of Boone Christmases from the past. Then we spent a couple days with James' family and back home for a quietish Christmas at home. here's some pics from our recent trips-

T making his house in our gingerbread village
K's house
C reading to great-grandma
visiting Great-Grandma
Uncle B and the kids sporting new clothes
T sledding- we had a great sledding spot. many hills ranging from bunny slopes to black diamond!
Uncle Steven helping C with cool new magnet building toys
Kids showing their new Christmas PJs
James showing his sledding skills
the kids ready for some snow!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Decorations

2010-12-01T22:28:00.005-05:00

We got home tonight from our church's Christmas Eve service (& from a week away with family and friends- more on that later.) It was awesome to come home to beautiful flowers & a kitchen stocked with food for the weekend- what a great friend. I'm looking forward to some time over the next few days to upload pics from our trip but here are a few of our decorations this year. I'm pretty excited about our Advent Calendar and about these stockings that my friend made.

the flowers from the friend- aren't they gorgeous?

Merry Christmas!

Advent calendar

His Eyes

2010-11-27T22:04:00.004-05:00

You've got to watch this video. My friend sent it to me- definitely changes how you look at people.

Veteran's Day Trip

2010-11-27T11:09:00.008-05:00

We were so blessed by our wonderful trip up to Baltimore, MD & Williamsburg, VA. We had been trying to find a good time to go neighborhood hunting in Baltimore before moving next spring. We were able to use our timeshare in Williamsburg VA- a few hours drive from Baltimore but we thought we could at least spend a long weekend. Then we found out that James had to go TDY near Williamsburg that week so we stayed the whole week. We had a wonderful trip. We didn't take any pics from our 2 days in Baltimore but it was very good to just to drive around and see different areas. It was so pretty with the leaves changing colors. North of Baltimore was really pretty but super hilly- definitely would make bike riding and running harder. Thursday night we went to Bass Pro shop- the kids all loved the Christmas wonderland- they made an ornament and got to see Santa. One of James' good friends from high school invited us over for lunch Friday. The boys were so excited to meet their first Baltimore friends- 2 sweet little girls about T & KG's ages. After lunch we drove through a few more neighborhoods and then headed to Williamsburg. We learned a good lesson about checking the GPS directions before following them as we took the slow way straight through DC traffic.

We were very happy to find out that Colonial Williamsburg was thanking the military Veteran's Day weekend by giving free 2 day passes. We'd planned to just walk around and see the sights from outside but it was so much for fun to go inside. We started out the day with a neat movie about early Williamsburg and then headed out on the children's walk- K & C really liked it. T & KG liked riding in the stroller. Then we used the kid's passport to go see lots of the tradesmen- blacksmith, furniture maker, brick maker, tailor, hatmaker, ... The kids got stamps on their passports and we all enjoyed seeing how things were done back in that time. We had lunch at one of the taverns and stayed at Williamsburg until about 5. KG & T's nap let us stay to see the afternoon reenactment. We went back the next morning and got some great pics of the beautiful fall. We did the maze behind the governor's house and saw some more.

the kids had a great time Monday morning in the kid's barn- they were the only ones there and got to play all the games.

Tuesday we went to Jamestown Settlement. K was so excited that it was about his middle name. We knew it was supposed to be child friendly but didn't expect it to be as nice as it was. We were also blessed with good weather- predictions were for rain but we had a beautiful day. The only bummer was that we forgot our camera. All of us loved the Powhatan Indian village- great reenactors, lots of stuff to touch- every different kind of animal skin, pinecone fire starters, turtle shell bowls. You could even lie down on their beds. They also had lots to do. We scraped bear hides with oyster shells, grinded corn, watched Powhatan cooking, and played an Indian game. Then we went to the ships- replicas of the 3 ships that sailed from England in 1606. We learned the beginning of phrase- go potty- chamber pots. We have one here (we don't use in the same way now:) but never thought of that. The next section was showing how the colonists and Indians used the rivers- their tools for fishing, boating, farming, ... They got to scrape out part of a burntout canoe and climb in another.

Then the James Fort was really neat. K &C went with James to learn about muskets while KG & T looked around. KG was fascinated by the chickens walking around and T went to a 30 minute baking class with a group of 4th graders. The teachers were amazed by the little guy's concentration. He even got to help make corn rolls. The kids all dressed up in colonial armor and looked at the different buildings. Really neat that they're building the settlement just like the original one. We rushed through the building bc kids were all getting tired but it was really neat. We'll definitely go back sometime.

Wednesday James went to work and I took the kids to Norfolk to meet Erin. We went to Nauticus museum. We saw a cool movie- Living Seas- learned about 500 pound clams, jellyfish that don't sting, and a place in Canada where high tide & low tide change by up to 4o feet each day. The kids loved using the sub arms & the stingray tank. then we went to the U.S.S.Wisconsin- a retired battleship that was in WW II, Korea, and Desert Storm. The men working on the boat all served on the ship when it was active. Really neat- even if it was pretty hard getting up & down the stair/ ladders with T & KG. We met Erin at a park & then enjoyed a yummy dinner together at Applebee's. Brownie bites rock!! It was great to hang out again with a good friend- get to see her & hang out with her sweet baby girl.

We were also blessed with a wonderful park really close to our timeshare. We'd been there 4 years before when K was almost 2 and C a baby. We had picnic lunches there almost every day. We also spent lots of time in the pool- K & C are getting better at swimming. We played lots of games too- Jr. Monopoly and Racko were two of our favorites. It was so nice to get away and to have no internet interfering! unplugging is so good.

Camping

2010-10-16T19:34:00.007-04:00

We went on our first family camping trip last weekend. Pilot Mountain State Park was absolutely beautiful. We had such a good weekend- perfect weather, yummy peanut butter S'Mores & chilli & cornbread (my smart husband suggested that for the first night- made them at home & just heated there. I made a big pot & put some in the freezer for a day like today!) We did have a rough night sleeping the first night- well T, KG, and I did. The next morning we had blueberry pancakes and then headed up the mountain. Hiking was great- the boys did really well hiking. even little T hiked all the way up the mountain. At the top we had a picnic lunch- yummy quesadillas & trail mix. Then we headed back down & drove to the river for fishing. That night we made pigs in a blanket over the fire and camping donuts. Another night for campfire songs and we added stories on a log- the boys each took turns telling stories. After all the excitement (and we pumped up the air mattress), we all slept well. We ended our trip with "junk food cereal" and more donuts and headed home. We got to see Grandma on the way home to tell some of our camping fun. I'm excited to go on lots more camping trips!

More pics

2010-10-03T20:53:00.003-04:00

kids at the Denzel carousel in MS

out on a walk, little brother got tired so big brother went to help. priceless moment.
T got in a little trouble at the history festival
baby girl is sure she's not a baby anymore- who needs a stroller?
Faithful Feet at Rock N Roll Half Marathon in VA Beach!

Good weekend

2010-10-03T19:47:00.006-04:00

We had a super weekend. firsts time for lots of things- K & C's first overnight trip with Daddy- they went to Camp Rockfish for Dads, Lads, & Gals weekend. They had a blast building boats, doing archery, going on a night hike & hay ride, ... James took a few pics but mostly was busy hanging out with the two big boys.

C giving K a congrats hug when K got a prize for the boat race.

More firsts- T got to be "the biggest brother" for the first time. He was so excited. He was a super helper & doing a great job all the time. Every once in a while he would act 3 and I would ask if forgot that he was the biggest boy- he'd go right back to acting super. He even got a playdate with a good friend of the boys. KG enjoyed having everything a little calmer & quieter for a little bit too.

Our first Heritage Festival at Cape Fear Botanical Garden- the boys did lots of chores (made butter, dug up vegetables, took corn kernels off the cob, ....) and played games like marbles, hopscotch, checkers. KG even joined in on the egg race. If I can figure out how to get pics off my phone I'll post some :)

And our first family race. Stop Child Trafficking Now 5K. I ran by myself and James pushed the running stroller with KG & T while K & C rode their bikes. KG thought it was a great time for a nap. We were all very happy with our race. And a great cause too. It was wonderful to see so many people (and lots of friends) joining together in prayer and running to save children.

Soccer, Wildlife Expo

2010-10-02T19:53:00.007-04:00

we're really enjoying this fall- we've enjoyed visits from family to watch the boys play soccer. Here's the Yellow Dragons getting ready for a game.

I had a couple assistants for my bench coach job.

last weekend we had a great time at the John Pechmann Fishing Center Wildlife Expo & the Fayetteville international Festival.

K was so excited to catch his first fish- he did it all by himself. James was helping one of the other boys and looked over to see K pulling the fish in. K learned some fishing tips from the magazines he got at the fish hatchery in Georgia- he said he learned to "play the fish." James did help put the catfish back in the pond for next time!

C shooting his first BB gun- they even brought their targets home.
K & C did the casting contest. K got one in the farthest ring by himself- one more and he would have won. We did win a fishing pole in the drawing- C was soooo excited- wish I had a video of his running all the way to the stage screaming!
T had a good time too- here he's wearing 2 pencils- like Pops Leon.
K & C also got to do some archery. It was pretty tough but they enjoyed it.

Papa helping T catching his first fish- C's a little excited for his brother!

KG hung in as long as she could in the stroller but was super happy to have some shade & Nana's lap for a nap.

After the wildlife expo, we headed over to the International Festival. we watched the Native American dancing for a long time.

C & T and I did some round dancing- made Nana remember when I was 3 and was picked by the Chief to lead the dance at a festival in Mississippi when we were visiting Grandmollie.

After watching the dancing, we headed to find some yummy food. The boys were real excited to try food from so many different countries. The only disappointment of the day was missing the Panamanian dancers. but at least we got a picture!

We went home super tired but had a great day.

North Georgia Trip

2010-09-21T20:08:00.005-04:00

the top of one of many waterfalls

on top of Brasstown Bald mountain
Nana & Papa made T a great Gordon birthday cake for his 3rd birthday!
beside a beautiful waterfall our last day in GA

I'm way behind on my blogging- busy living life! I do want to catch up but my best time to do it at night I seem to want to sit and not do anything or have things I need to do it. Of course, there are things I should be doing tonight but I really want to catch up.

so I thought I'd start with the wonderful trip we went on a few weeks ago with my parents. We went to North Georgia. It was beautiful- I wish James had been able to go too but we really had a good time. We drove down Monday morning and got into a good routine-

-we started each day with a nighttime adventure- hiking under the stars (it really was only 6:30 but still way dark except sun & moon- which the boys thought was awesome!)

-Then a big breakfast- oatmeal, eggs, bacon, even french toast one day- thanks Papa.

-Then an outing- one day we went to the Alpine Town of Helen, then the highest mountain in GA (Brasstown Bald), another day to a Fish Hatchery and state park, and the last to super pretty waterfall. The boys really loved being able to see 4 states from the top of Brasstown Bald. Kayleigh just thought it was cool to ride in the shuttle to the top unbuckled.

The Fish Hatchery was great- a private tour complete with getting to feed the fish- trout of all different sizes. If we'd been there longer we would have gone fishing in the pond next door. We did get to go canoeing which the boys thought was awesome.

-KG & T took car naps on the way back every day and then even more fun back at the condo. We played tennis (the boys did great- got me back motivated about tennis!), went swimming, played ping-pong, shuffleboard, mini-golf, and frisbee golf. Good tired boys each night! What a great trip! Thanks Nana & Papa for the fun & memories!

T's Three!

2010-08-28T20:33:00.003-04:00

the birthday boy- he loved wearing his Lewcrew birthday boy shirt
Grandma, Uncle B, & Pops Leon came down for a morning bday party- T had an Elmo Turtle party
Yummy Turtle Cupcake Cake

We had a great birthday party today for T- family, hotdogs, baked beans, turtle cupcake, and presents. and then went to K & C's first soccer game. It's hard to believe our baby boy is 3 (well in a few hours he will be.) He's sure he is a big boy. He speaks very clearly now & lots. He has his own sense of humor and is definitely his own person although he copies his big brothers.

Visiting Grandmollie

2010-07-27T20:38:00.006-04:00

We had a great visit in July to our Grandmollie. It was so sweet to see the boys reading books with Grandmollie. KG and I stayed at Grandmollie's house and we had precious hours together at night of KG scooting across the floor full of grins. The boys stayed with Daddy at a hotel. We went running and made some trips to the park to get some little boy energy out. The boys I mean kids loved riding the carousel and eating snow cones- some of my favorite childhood memories. We also were really glad we were able to schedule our trip to go to church with Grandmollie- her church has such loving people who feel like an extended family. I just wish we could make NC & MS closer together!

Grad videos

2010-07-22T21:55:00.005-04:00

Graduation

2010-07-03T13:44:00.007-04:00

We're having a great summer. June was filled with afternoons in the pool with friend. We started July with the boys graduations- K's Kindergarten graduation, C's preschool, and T graduated from toddler school :)

boys getting their certificates. We had a wonderful graduation- The boys all said the Pledge of Allegiance. K read Ps 23 and the Pledge to the Bible. C sang "There were 12 Disciples" T sang "Awesome God." and KG looked cute scooting around. Then we had a great cookout with a red, white, and blue jello flag & the yummy lunch that Grandma brought.

Pictureless Wednesday

2010-06-09T21:13:00.002-04:00

so is it really middle of June already? How time flies. Memorial Day Weekend was a blur of fun- cookouts, swimming with friends, a birthday celebration with Grandma, Uncle B, and Pops Leon. Then James headed up to DC for a few days and my parents, Becky & David spent the night here on the way to a 100 mile bike trip. Another great birthday celebration and visit! And we found out James was selected for ROTC PMS. We're moving to Baltimore, MD next summer!

We've spent tons of time in our backyard pool with friends. We've had lots of fun & eaten lots of watermelon. The boys play Marco Polo, run circles around the pool, practice swimming, play sharks, and splash lots!

Every few days we have a quiet (as quiet as it gets with 4 small kids) day alone at home to recover from all our hot weather fun. We got to eat breakfast with James one day this week before he headed back to DC. We got to learn more about free range chicken eggs. And then enjoyed a nice morning outdoors- We got to watch a spider catch, wrap, eat his bug breakfast. We found more blackberries around our yard and checked out our apple tree. K asked if it was okay to read his Bible because he wants to read it in the morning like Mommy & Daddy. I heard on the radio a comedian talking about how we take pics of the good times bc we want to remember the good memories. I want to do that with this blog too.

Then back to the loud splashing fun of more cookouts and swimming with friends. Mixed with the researching of Maryland. Sometimes the internet really is great. You can "meet" people from somewhere before you go!

More May Pics

2010-05-12T20:43:00.003-04:00

We've had a fun May (other than James having to work too much but at least he's here!) The boys really enjoyed soccer. Here's a pic in their soccer uniforms.

We're super excited about our new tent- we've done some practice camping. We set up the tent in our living room. Then did daytime camping in the backyard and then one night of camping in the backyard. Plan was James and the boys- turns out it was James and the biggest boy. The rest stayed inside with me and KG.

Here's the gang dressed up again.
K's first Field Day- we had a blast. I stayed with the younger kids in the playground. I wish we had a picture of me & the other 3 moms pushing several double strollers with 3-4 small ones hanging on each stroller up the hill. We got back to the field just in time to see K finish the distance race- he came in 3rd! He did super! We were so proud he kept working hard!
Here's us sharing a yummy treat at the Dogwood Festival- another fun day. We also went to Got to be NC fair up in Raleigh which was great. The boys loved seeing all the animals. The all you can eat BBQ was great too.

More May Fun

2010-05-03T20:08:00.007-04:00

I guess it's been a while since I was on here. we had to send our camera in for repairs. so here's the ones I didn't post yet.

K lost his first tooth- it came our about 10 min after he said it was loose.

yummy strawberry picking with friends

I have 3 good berry pickers now. we went 3 times this season and wish we'd gone more. I made 2 batches of strawberry jam- well one is strawberry syrup since it didn't set. now we're ready for blueberries!

May

2010-05-03T19:58:00.004-04:00

some of the Royal Blue Sharks during a game. K & C are having a good time playing with their friends.
We visited the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens before one of the games- beautiful out!

checking out a lake with a friend

Spring Pics!

2010-04-09T13:49:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe it's been a year already, but baby girl was much easier to keep still then!

Happy Easter! Happy Birthday!

2010-04-03T19:34:00.006-04:00

We are really enjoying this spring weather. We had a wonderful 1st birthday celebration for KG today and have enjoyed Easter egg hunts and lots of time outdoors over the last couple weeks. It was terrific to celebrate our baby girl's birthday with Nana, Papa, Grandma, Uncle Brian, & Pops Leon. KG got some super cute clothes, a bathing suit, an adorable Briana bear, and a Dora & KG book.

Here are some pics-

KG knew she wanted some polka dots (chocolate chips!) She about jumped out of her chair to get them!

here's the boys enjoying KG's yummy bday cake in their new Easter shirts!

KG loved her cake- she ate lots! We used the cake pans that my parents used for my 1st birthday and then we've used for the boys- back to pink today!

our first family bike ride- we rode to the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt.

KG in her scooting pose! K in his getting ready to eat some candy pose!
All the boys decked out for church! Aren't they cute!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2010-03-26T20:30:00.003-04:00

Our baby girl turned 1 today. She got lots of birthday hugs & kisses from all her brothers. We celebrated with some family traditions. Here's a pic of KG with the same white bear that we've taken pics of all the kids each month from 0 to 12 months.
We had Friday night pizza night. Here's KG trying to eat the pooh 1 year old candle that each of the boys has had on their 1 year old birthday cake. Over the years he's lost an ear and the wick so tonight's candle wasn't lit. We also didn't have cake- we're waiting for the big celebration until next weekend when our families can come. Tonight the candle was on a cookie- the boys helped make lots of cookies yesterday.

Wonderful Wednesday

2010-03-24T20:28:00.004-04:00

I started to write wordless Wednesday since that seems to be the trend and I mostly just want to add some pics since I've been behind on pics, but they can't be wordless and today was wonderful!

I love the spring- the beautiful flowers outside, awesome weather, fun things to do. Today we went to Farm Days in Raleigh with friends. They had lots of animals- pigs, cows, turkeys, chickens, horses, ... The boys got to hold baby chicks, pet rabbits, pigs, and a baby goat and play on lots of tractors. Then a beautiful picnic and free ice cream! What a nice day!

who says hospital gowns aren't cute! Here's K before his surgery last week.
we've spent lots of time building outside- race tracks, obstacle courses, parks, houses, ... good thing we're packrats so we kept the scrap wood from when James built the deck.
KG's shirt was green under her jacket. can you guess when this was?
KG's first playtime at CEC- a birthday party for a friend.

I don't have any pics from yesterday's birthday party at the skating rink. The boys all had a great time. Even KG got to go out on the rink- I skated and she rode in the stroller. Lots of fun!

True Confessions

2010-03-14T13:20:00.012-04:00

In my DINK (Dual Income No Kids) life, in addition to making new friends, every time a friend had a baby, I also frequently wondered what stay at home moms could possibly do all day. I figured the bon-bons & TV on the couch must be true. 4 kids later I know that's not true. I recently had a friend (who is going back to staying at home after being out working) ask me what things make my life easier. That made me think about what things help me make the most of out of the day instead of hoping to make through it most of the day.

here are a few things that came to mind- including a piece of chocolate which I ate as I sat down to write this:

-decide what things you want to get done- like what you want to teach your kids plus the obvious things like taking care of the house/ feeding, dressing, bathing

-think about what things your kids can do by themselves (like take a nap, blanket time, and our new family favorite- watch a 30 minute movie after naps)

-think about what things you can do with the kids (either while they're doing something else or things they can help you with) I recently saw this post on ways young children can help around the house which has some good ideas. I do most of my cooking & regular kitchen clean up while the boys are playing after meals or coloring, doing puzzles at the table.

-decide you want to do without the kids help (like personal devotion time, weeding through the growing pile of artwork & toys)

-develop a routine/ schedule which matches those up & fits your family. Don't be a slave to your schedule to let it help you. I really think routine helps most people esp. kids. Know that your schedule will change over time especially with young kids

our day generally looks like this

7 am kids up (I plan to get up at 6:30 to shower/ read my Bible before they're up but I haven't been great at that)

7:30 eat breakfast/ read Bible together

8:00 chores/ get dressed/ clean rooms

8:30 kids play/ I finish cleaning kitchen

9:00-11:30- our time for outings (parks, libraries, Fun Fridays, stores, ...), blanket time (I never read this post before right now but it explains a way of doing blanket time & a few other good suggestions- I think I'll have to remember sound off TV once I have more readers), puzzles, crafts, bath time, outside, book reading...

11:30 lunch

12:00 play/ cleanup

13:00 nap (my quiet time if I didn't do it early. much better when it's my time to listen to a podcast and get stuff done)

14:30 read with oldest (we just finished Teach your Child to Read in 100 easy lessons) which K & I both liked. it was fast & easy. now we're reading different things each afternoon- Bible, easy readers, Starfall reading )

15:00 Math/ snack- I'm trying to bribe my kids to like math :) there are just so many great things to count & add- like pretzels, grapes, ... some days we

15:30 The prize- 30 min movie for boys who did their chores & a good job at naptime (my time for doing something with quiet/ still kids)

16:00 play outside with good weather, walks lots of days

17:30 get ready for dinner/ boys play. I almost never cook dinner late afternoon- too many tired people. I usually pull it out of the freezer or make it in the morning and stick in the oven in the afternoon. A huge help has been planning out meals way in advance with a meal plan

1800 dinner

1830 ready for bed, playtime or family time (game night, movie night, family devotions)

1900 bedtime books, prayers, bed

of course, that is the plan. sometimes someone doesn't nap or doesn't get a prize or naps at the "wrong" time, and it doesn't work out. but this is the plan

what else helps?

-a wonderful woman recommended getting out of the house at least once a day- a lot of days that means getting out in the back yard or for a walk around the neighborhood. some days it's a trip somewhere- walmart, a friend's, a park. good for everyone!

-most of the time "less is more." I started out the year with the good idea fairy adding tons of school plans- now we usually do Bible, math, & reading and anything else is bonus. the same goes with stuff (shoes, books, toys, clutter)- the more you have, the more you have to clean, dry, put away, ... decide what you & your husband are comfortable with for tidiness. I don't like having many dirty clothes so we do a load (or 2) a day but the clothes may not get put away every day. That's okay with me but might borrow some. here are more tips.

-There are tons of great curriculum out there. I have looked at some but I've tried not to look at too many because I really like what I've read and heard about Ambleside Online and I'd rather spend my time & energy doing that than deciding. Right now we're doing grapes, pretzels, lego math but I'm leaning towards Math-U-See. We have been borrowing Decimal Street with our building supplies. We've also opened several toy stores to practice buying & selling. K & C like to draw lots & do deductive reasoning puzzles. We have some preschool workbooks- Spiderman made math very fun for a week or so. We're going to start handwriting.

-don't waste time and energy comparing yourself to others. Just because I see someone who has as many responsibilities as I am but still is able to make beautiful things like these and many more, doesn't mean I'm not doing or being enough. :) I can only be and do the things God calls me to- I should not try to do more or less.

-"academics" doesn't take very long when they're little & you only have a child or two to teach. Don't feel like you have to spend all day doing it- you're not in a race to see whose child knows what first. Teach them more than facts. Teach them to learn. Look for teachable moments. the boys were so excited today to read the Operation Christmas Child Special Report and see one of our boxes in Africa. K recognized the wrapping paper and tried to figure out which boy or girl is getting that box- that made it real to him.

I learn something new every day. I have learned that bon bons and TV on the couch isn't true but a little chocolate helps :) (not as much as trusting God though!)

oh and turning off the computer during the day helps too!

Field Trip Ideas

2010-03-04T20:32:00.007-05:00

CiCi's

Auntie Annie's

Great Harvest

cold stone creamery

Chili's

yes, I should have been cleaning/ folding laundry something but I got on a googling field trips kick

museums near here

Is it really March?

2010-03-01T19:55:00.006-05:00

Is my baby girl really turning one this month? Where did the time go? I mean I know where it went- lots of nursing, trips to the beach, Disney, enjoying Thanksgiving and Christmas with family, doing diapers, making bread, learning to cook without wheat, milk, eggs, reading books, going on walks, ... but how did it go so fast?

I do have to tell the story behind these cute dressed up boys. I woke up one Sunday morning to big boys already dressed in button down white shirts and corduroys handing me ties for them to wear. K found T's shirt too and asked for a tie for him too. Thankfully we had 3 ties. Then they found sweaters by themselves and asked so sweetly if we go eat at a restaurant to celebrate Valentine's Day. How could we say no to such cute kids? even if this one looks like he's up to something.

What else have we been up to? we had a great weekend at the ROC (Reach Out Celebration) . We went to the banquet Friday night and saw the Children of the World Choir- they were so good. Saturday James went to the Men's breakfast and I went to the Ladies Lunch. Then we all went to the CHAT. Great to hear the stories of all the missionaries at work around the world. The boys really got into acting out missionaries. Now they've added that onto their list of what to be when they grow up- the current list includes construction worker in Sri Lanka (because they have a lot of dirt there), crossing guard, animal rescuer, Army man, school bus driver, and hot eater.

We've also had some new cooking- learning to cook without milk, eggs, and wheat- what's left? Most of the time it's gone well- although the cupcakes & brownies didn't turn out so hot. We also caught the tummy bug going around. Other than that all is well. K is doing terrific at reading and math. C is so full of life. T is becoming his own little man. and KG is super sweet (especially if she's on a lap!)

Snow Days

2010-02-13T20:34:00.003-05:00

We had a great weekend- James didn't have to work at all. We had a blast Saturday playing in the snow- snowboarding down the hill in the back yard. Even KG took a turn. Plenty of snowball fights- C learned about those on Wii- Fit. James, K, & C built a snowman. KG & T ate lots of snow.

Boys are growing up!

2010-02-10T21:07:00.003-05:00

KG giving her Daddy lots of sweet kisses!
T's first shave- fun with Daddy!
C is very serious about his shave.
K was so excited about this practice shave with Daddy- all the boys talked about it for days.
T helped me make this fun lunch- we hid hotdogs in cornbread muffins. (That was before going gluten free!)

Around the Word

2010-02-02T20:47:00.002-05:00

As a church, our vision is to Advance the Kingdom of God across the earth. One of the ways we accomplish this vision is by equipping people to change their sphere of influence. We believe the blueprint for this change is found in the Bible. Nothing can change your life like regular contact with the living Word of God. Taken in daily doses, your life cannot help but align with His plan, purpose, and direction. As you draw closer to Him and learn more about His purposes, He will be faithful to lead you into the very fullness of life He has destined for you. Join us on this journey over the next 360 days as we read through the Bible, deepening our individual walks with Him. As your pastor, I am excited to see what this year will bring to you and to us as a church as we worship Him together in our daily life.

Michael P. Fletcher

I'm really excited about the Bible reading program that we've been doing with our church this year. Well, I'm glad for the program and really excited about the great passages I've been reading. It's amazing how the Bible really is living- you can read the same verse over lots of times and it's ok, but then you read it and wow, it just speaks to you. I could write tons about what I've read over the last month but will just write about the last couple days. We've been reading in Exodus- the 10 plagues, the crossing the Red Sea, God providing for the Israelites...

God showed His power over & over (the 10 plagues). God provided for the Israelites (he caused the Egyptian people to grant them favor in giving them items.) He provided guidance for them in different ways based on their situation and ability to see (cloud by day, fire by night- interesting that at night time, dark hours, He used more powerful guidance.) After all that, the Israelites still feared when Pharoah chased them- God was still much stronger just like when He brought all the plagues on Egypt but in the panic of the moment, the Israelites feared. (Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Ps 20:7

Then God met all their needs in the desert. He poured out blessing after blessing on them and they groaned (I groan). I should trust that God who meets my needs will provide me with enough ____ (time, energy, friends, sun, clothes, ...) God provided but the Israelites still had to go gather what He provided. When they hoarded (took more than they need), it rotted. The Israelites had to do their part at the right time or it melted. Those things are all still true for us today. So many truths to find in His Word!

Snow Days

2010-02-01T20:18:00.005-05:00

We finally got the snow that C wanted for his birthday and we spent the last few days enjoying it. James got to go play outside with the kids a little while this morning before work. K & C both said their favorite part of the day was sledding with Daddy. This year the snow boots, hat, and gloves take up more room but at least 2 kids can mostly dress themselves. Although you can see that T never kept all his warm clothes on.

during some time warming up inside, we did some spur of the moment science- mixing water & oil. I should have gotten a pic of the boys pretending to be water & oil molecules.

Even KG enjoyed sledding. James like it until he slid into the holly bush.

T dressed up as a construction lion.
Baby girl's 10 month photo.
C tried to turn the sled into a snowboard- maybe next year! The boys did do some sledding with the kids down the street- which made me think we should probably get a couple of sleds (instead of recycling container lids.)

I don't have any pics of Decimal Street but we did enjoy that for math the last couple days. K was doing great adding up all the people living on Decimal Street.

Meal Planning

2010-01-25T20:37:00.005-05:00

so I started this blog a few days ago and only knew how to put a couple links on it and then tonight Janelle (my computer savvy friend) filled me in on how to put a link to my main recipes from our recipe planning- here are Janelle's recipes.

Here is my meal plan and my recipes. Now I just need to get started doing this great plan!

A few great websites I found when recipe hunting: Heavenly Homemakers

Tammy's Recipes

Crockpot Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Bourbon Brown Sugar Flank Steak

Chicken Enchiladas