Mother's Day 2013

Today was such a great Mother's Day!  I got to hear Josh preach an amazing sermon this morning, had lunch with my family, and then just sat outside reading my book which is my ultimate relaxation! Then tonight we had a cookout with friends and even made s'mores.  We also got to spend time with Josh's mom who we had not seen in a while.  The only thing that could have made it better was if we could have seen my mom but we know we will see her soon!

I also forced my family to take some pictures which is never an easy task but always worth it!

So thankful I get to be their mommy

Isabel was so excited to give me the gift she made at school



Will was so proud of his hand print flower

Isabel and Will love their Nana (and Grams too!)

This would be our family picture....with our children "being dinosaurs"

 

Us trying to be normal

On Friday before Mother's Day Will told me that since it was so close to Mother's Day that could be my special day too.  He said that I didn't have to do anything because he and daddy would do it.  About an hour later he needed my help with something and said, "sorry mommy.  I just don't think mommies can have a day where they get to do whatever they want."

big kids

The other day Isabel and Will wanted to take pictures of themselves to send to friends that moved away.  We ended up with some pretty cute pictures.  I just keep thinking about how big they look! My babies are definitely not babies anymore.

My little diva enjoying the sun one day after way too much rain

Josh's first Wedding

A few weeks ago Josh was asked to perform a wedding......which was his first wedding to ever perform.  I think he was a little anxious going into it but he did a great job!  It was an outside wedding and rained all day but luckily the rained stopped just in time.  The kids and I went and had a good time!

Funnies

If only I could remember all the things they say and do that make us laugh regularly....


*We were listening to some praise song in the car.
Will: Is that Jesus singing this song?

*We are constantly having conversations with Isabel about how to spell words that do not follow all the rules.  Most of the time she believes us however she was sure we were spelling the word "doing" incorrectly.  My sweet southern girl could not understand why there was a "g" on the end of the word she pronounces "doin." :)

*Will and I were snuggling in his bed at bed time one night.
Me: Will are you still going to snuggle with me when you are bigger?
Will: Probably not but I will let you sit next to me

*I am trying hard to get the kids to work things out themselves so that I do not go insane from the tattling.  I'm not sure it is working.
Isabel: Will just... (i have no idea what he did because I tend to tune out at the "tattling voice"
Me: Just work it out yourself
Isabel: Don't you think you could do something that would help a lot more though?

*Another tattling story (because seriously, there is a lot going on at our house. any advice??)
We were in the car on the way to Chick-fil-A.  It had been a long day. We were dealing with traffic because of construction that was supposed to be completed a month ago.  I was trying to talk to my mom on the phone and the kids were constantly telling me what the other was doing that they didn't like.
Will:  Isabel just..............
I interrupted with: Don't tell me anything else your sister did unless she has hurt you so badly that you are bleeding
Isabel and Will: complete silence for about 30 seconds (which is like an hour when dealing with a 4 and 6 year old who talk NON STOP)

*For some reason Isabel is an extremely loud runner.  She isn't a huge kid but somehow it sounds like she is an elephant when she runs through the house.  One day Isabel stomped ran through the den
Josh: I think maybe gravity just affects her more than most

First field trip

Isabel's first field trip was last week.  She was beyond excited and counted down the days for weeks after their teacher told them about it.  Although she has been to the zoo tons of times, she had never driven there on a bus or gone with her school friends.  I was so excited to go as well.  We had great weather and had such a fun day!

I think Isabel's favorite thing about the field trip was riding the bus.  She had never been on a school bus before and was completely shocked that there were no seat belts!!

There are way more boys in Isabel's class than girls but I love that the girls are all pretty close.  She is going to miss these sweet girls over the summer.  She already asks daily about having sleepovers!

Our fun little group trying to see the elephants.  They usually come a lot closer but maybe they heard there was a big group of kindergartners and stayed away. ha!

sweet girls

Isabel has never been a big fan of petting the animals so she and Chloe had fun posing for pictures instead.

Her kindergarten class. 

At the time I took this, I thought I had a great picture of her class.  Then I came home and looked at it closely and could not stop laughing.  I'm not sure if you can tell but we obviously had them looking straight into the sun.  Most of the kids are not even looking at the ones that are looking are making hilarious faces.  oops! sorry kids

 

 

Isabel really enjoyed her first field trip and I am so thankful I got to go with her.  The only downside was how bad her allergies were after a full day outside.  Her eyes were so red and hurting by the time we got on the bus that she just laid her head in my lap and closed them the whole way home.  We went straight to the pharmacy to get some allergy eye drops to add to her daily claritin. Gotta love spring!



April catch up

I just realized that I have not blogged at all in April and it is April 23.  Woops.  Sorry about that!  It has definitely been an interesting and busy month.  Our pastor resigned at the end of March so Josh has taken on many new responsibilities at work.  He has preached every Sunday in April and will preach in May as well.  Luckily he is great at preaching and enjoys it but his schedule is definitely a little busier.  The kids and I have enjoyed the weather and have spent a lot of time outside which makes everyone happy!!

I don't think I have taken a single picture with my camera all month so a catch up from with pictures from my phone will have to do....

 

I have been taking care of two sweet kids since January two days a week. We spend a lot of time at the library or the park or just playing at home.  One day I also found that $1 sunglasses from target make everyone happy!!

My little man got spring pictures taken at school.  I cannot stand how old he looks in these pictures!

Isabel went to a tea party birthday party for one of her best friends and had the best time.  The girls dressed up and brought their dolls with them.  

 

They made hats and were given gloves, pearls and pink boas to complete their outfits.

We signed Will up for tee ball.  He doesn't start practice with his team until May but of course he and Josh have already started their own practicing.  Will has always been great with a wiffle ball and plastic bat but it took him a little while to get used to hitting a baseball off of a tee with a metal bat.  He is getting better and better though.

Isabel finally learned to tie her shoes.  I'll be honest, I just haven't really tried to teach her this skill before now.  She didn't have any shoes that tied so I didn't even think about it.  Thanks to a book from Grams, she actually learned pretty quickly.

My little man and me at the playground at Isabel's school

Isabel doing some climbing



It has been a fun month but I think we are all ready for school to be out so we can have even more fun!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter! He is RISEN!!  We had a great Easter.  I love how much my kids understand about why we celebrate Easter.  They are constantly asking me pretty deep theological questions.  The other day we were listening to the song Jesus Messiah and Will wanted to know how I knew for sure that Jesus died on the cross.  Then Isabel wanted to know if he died for her sins too since she wasn't even born yet! I'm so thankful they are really thinking it through and I'm constantly praying I explain it correctly.

It was a rainy Easter so we didn't get to have any pretty pictures with the trees that have started to bloom.  Oh well....they are still pretty cute in their Easter outfits!

My little preacher man has started having "talks" with us.  He says he wants to have bible studies like daddy so he sits on the fireplace with an old bible and starts teaching.  I love it!

After church, lunch and a needed nap/rest time we decided it was time to decorate some Easter eggs.  I have to say that although this is never my favorite Easter activity, it was more fun this year because the kids were able to do a little more.

We also got a pack that included dye to make speckled eggs.  Basically they just used sponges to paint on the eggs.  They both loved doing this.

Maybe not the prettiest eggs in the world but they had fun making them.

ready for Easter

As is our tradition, the kids got their Easter baskets on Saturday.  We have never really  made a big deal about the Easter bunny.  In fact, I don't think we have ever really even said who the basket came from.  We simply said it was an Easter surprise and they were fine with that.  Until this year when Isabel talked constantly about what the Easter bunny brought her.  Not sure what made the difference this year

Then we got ready and went to a community Easter egg hunt near us.  They had face painting, cotton candy, the Easter bunny, egg hunts and inflatables.  The kids had lots of fun!

If you had told me a few years ago that these 2 would be sitting in the Easter bunny's lap, I would never have believed it! 

Of course she had to get a bunny painted on her face.

As if they needed any more sugar....

the actual hunt was crazy!!

Will loves inflatables!!

Spring Break

Because Isabel is in kindergarten this year, I consider it our first real spring break and we definitely enjoyed it!!  After church Sunday, we loaded up and headed to Birmingham.  As always it was a fun trip.  We saw family and friends.  We went to a children's museum, ate at some restaurants we miss and Josh and I enjoyed a night out with free babysitting!!

It is always fun to get together with some friends from college and their sweet kids.

Isabel and Will love their cousins!  For some reason they all decided to take a zillion toys from the playroom and put them all on my mom's guest bed instead to play with there.  I'll be honest, it kept them busy and happy so the adults got to talk.  Win-Win!

All 4 kids are crazy and way crazier when they are all together.  Obviously decent pictures of all 4 are pretty much impossible and will be come even more impossible when we add a 5th cousin soon!!  We can't wait! :)

Too much cuteness in that little bed

We love the McWane Center in Birmingham!!

driving a submarine...

I know I will never be ready for the day when Isabel is behind the wheel of a real car!

The only thing scarier is the thought of Will driving a car someday! ha!

I saw this sign and thought I would "trick" Isabel with it. I remember learning about the "stroop effect" in school and I assumed she would have a hard time (like I always do).  Well, I was super wrong.  She read through the list of colors as quickly as possible without the slightest hesitation.  THEN I read the note at the bottom saying kids who are just beginning to read actually don't have trouble because they are actually still reading the words.  Interesting....

this kid loves playing in the water

 

so does she!

 

After our trip to Birmingham, we continued the fun at home.  We went to the movies, had movie night at home, ate donuts and went to fun Easter events.  It was so nice to have this week without school.  Is it summer yet?