Farewell Fort Bragg!

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

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

Congrats LTC!

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

March Pics

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

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

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

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-