HaPpY bIrThDaY David!!!

I am soo thankful for my husband. I Thank God for His sovereignty!! Words just can't express!! So I leave it at that. Here are a few pictures of our little celebration as he not at all into us making a big deal about it. But we have to do a little something :) David I love you and pray God gives you many more birthdays for me to make "not such a big deal" over you!

SPARKS and CUBBIES

Here we come!!

Luke has started CUBBIES- can it be... is he really old enough. The answer is yes. He is so excited to have his vest and his bag. He loves it!! He is doing okay memorizing his verses. He and Nathan are very different so we are excited to see how God is going to develop Luke.

Nathan has moved up to SPARKS and he is beside himself!! He loves listening to his CD and working towards earning patches and jewels. He has done really well. I confess I was a little worried - wondering if he would be able to handle all the work - but he is of course exceeding my expectations. This week he is bringing his good friend Madelyn along. He is very excited.

I am so happy my boys are hiding God's word in their hearts. So thankful we live where we can read the Word wherever and whenever!

Happy FIRST Birthday Ethan!!!!

It seems just like last week I had this sweet baby boy and brought him home and here I am a year later!! What happened?? Let me tell you what happened - Ethan "E-bear" as we affectionately call him as developed a personality!! He is so sweet and loving and at the same time has a flaring temper. He reminds us a lot of Nathan - he is very people oriented and does not like to be left alone in a room without people. However he does like to be left alone by his brothers - if he doesn't want to be bothered watch out! And if the food has run out - beware!!

But for the most part he is sweet and silly and sooo lovable!!

He has gained 4 pounds in the past 2 months. He officially weighs 20 lbs and is 29 inches long. We all thought he was going to be so little!! He is a very healthy boy and as I mentioned earlier he loves to eat!! I think he would eat all day long if I let him. And he isn't picky he will eat just about anything and of course he loves CFA chicken nuggets and waffle fries :)

He had his first haircut last month in our church bathroom!! David was threatening to cut it himself so I had to take action quick!! Thanks to Lita for giving up her fellowship time to give him his first haircut.

Ethan is all over the place!! He is finally crawling on all fours after doing the army crawl for awhile. He is pulling up and crawling up a few stairs. He isn't cruising yet and if he doesn't want to use his legs he won't!! In fact we joke that he is a little lazy because instead of cruising from one place on the couch to another spot he will sit down - and crawl over and pull up to where he wants to be. It is rather humorous. He babbles a lot! He is very vocal. He can say dada and mama (he only says that when he is mad - go figure!) He also says uh-0h and bye. And of course like his brothers he is obsessed with phones. It must be in their genes!

We did have a little party for E-bear but he wasn't so into all that!! He cried a good bit!! I think he was overwhelmed. I made him a monkey cake and a smash cake - but he didn't like that either. Oh well we enjoyed the time together and watching him when he was happy.

Oh I have to say it again - how has it been a year!! This is so sentimental for me. As I look through pictures of his birth I am once again reminded of how great my God is. That He knit this precious boy in my womb - and He continues to grow him physically outside, He chose me to be his mother and care for him and love him. And He gave me the huge task of instructing him. My heart is full and like Mary does in the passage in Luke 2 - I too treasure the moments I have with Ethan in my heart. Ethan we love you soo much. We are so thankful to God for you and I am very thankful He chose me to be your mommy. We pray that God will draw you to himself and that He will use you in a mighty way to further His kingdom. May you always seek to follow Him and be a man after Gods own heart. Thanks be to God!

Update

So its been awhile.....a LONG while. So here is the big news - I took a job - one day a week teaching music at Nathans school. I wasn't looking for it - it just kind of fell in my lap. The preschool director called me because she had heard that I used to teach music and wondered if I would be willing to think about coming on staff. I talked it over with David and he was very supportive and I even get to take Luke and Ethan with me. They have a class that they go to while I teach - it really has been great!! It has been soo much fun and rewarding!! I had forgotten how much I really loved teaching!! It kind of makes me want to go back to school and get my masters. But the deal is David gets to go back to school first so if this urge to further my education continues it will have to wait awhile!! I teach on Wednesdays so that makes for a really long day since I teach childrens choir on Wednesday nights at church - but its my passion!! Not only has God given me a gift he is allowing me to use it!! Having this job has definitely opened my eyes to be more grateful for the gift of being a stay at home mom!! I don't know how women work full time and be wives and mothers. I work 4 hours a week and feel behind some days!! Hence the absence of blogging. So what else have I been up to you ask?? Well I go to Ladies Bible study on Tuesday and we are studying Heaven; you know what I do on Wednesdays, and usually Thursday nights I meet with a girl from church here at my house - its a week by week basis - but we go through a book (currently Instructing the Heart of a Child) encourage and pray for one another. So that's whats up with me!!

Now you are probably wondering what is up with everybody else!! Well David is still working hard so I can be a wife and mommy!! He is hoping to get into a hunting stand soon - tis the season!! He is still very involved with helping wounded soldiers returning home. He has a busy next few months which means travel. I have enjoyed having him home for a bit.
Nathan is loving school!! He is doing so well and I have just loved watching him learn new things!! He is starting to sound words out and of course he thinks he can read!! He likes having mommy work at his school. We love his teachers!! Ms. Alleta and Ms. Suzie are perfect for him. He has lots of friends and seems to get along with all his classmates. He especially enjoys doing things with his good friend Madelyn which is a perk for all of us!! He has his first loose tooth - so stay tuned because I am sure it won't be long! Soo funny to me - one is losing teeth and one is cutting teeth!!
Luke - our silly "LuLu" loves going to "school" with mommy and usually gets a bit frustrated he can't go the other 3 days a week!! He is my character!! He is so full of life - there is never a dull moment at home with him. He especially likes to be read to right now and I love that I have the time to read with him. Mostly he just likes to play and love on Ethan- oh to be so carefree again!!
And last but not least Ethan - well he just turned 1!!! Can you believe it?? Well you will have to hold tight - because he deserves a post alone for this milestone!!

So what have you been doing??

"Falling" Behind....

I am soo behind in the blog-o-sphere!! I haven't forgotten about you my faithful blog readers - life just happens. I do so love to blog - it is my way of scrapbooking but as you can see I haven't really had much time for it. I read blogs written by others and they have such cute ideas and posts and it just reminded me of how much I enjoy blogging. So for you readers out there hold on this weekend I hope to get on the blogroll. I have been adding pictures to the computer this weekend - maybe I can have the blog updated before the weekend is over!! Stay tuned..........

Apple Pickin'

Nathan: "Dad I didn't know apples came from trees...... I thought they came in a bag..... like at Kroger."

Guess what day it is?

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Caved...

One of my favorite things to do is read. I could easily get lost in a Borders or Barnes and Noble if I were ever to be alone in one of them :) A great cup of coffee in a bookstore with a great book sounds soo exciting too me!!

I could never understand how so many of my friends could read multiple books at a time - especially my husband sometimes he has 5 going on at the same time. I would always say to him "you are never going to finish any of those books!!" Well guess what I am joining your ranks. I think I have 3 that I have started and am wanting to start another one!! At least all three of these books have the same subject matter so I am not getting confused. But someone help me - how do you keep up and how do you finish any of them. Remember I have 3 boys of who are age 5 and under. Can someone share with me how I can finish these books and possibly be successful at reading multiple books at a time! TELL ME PLEASE!

Imagination at work....

I love the age my boys are right now!! Nathan and Luke play so well together and Ethan just observes them giggling every now and then. One of my most favorite sounds is hearing them make each other laugh - there is no other sound quite like it! And of course I myself and secretly giggling as I hear them play. They love to play "ertend" as Luke so preciously calls pretend. "Let's go to Monkey Joes mommy!" "No Luke we can't go to Monkey Joes." "No mommy just ertend!" It is just so cute!! They make up tents with blankets and call it their secret clubhouse and there is a password you have to use to get in. They play firemen and bug guys and army men. Oh their imagination just soars!

Yesterday as we were on our way to school Nathan informs me that one time with his mimi he saw a "pedicure truck." He continues to talk about seeing a "pedicure truck" and then he mentions seeing police cars, ambulances, fire trucks etc. So finally I asked him what is a "pedicure truck?" To which he replies : "you know mom it's like an ambulance." AHA - he is trying to say a paramedic truck!! I just thought this was soo funny and I knew if I didn't write it down I would forget one day.

So what is going on in your world friends?

LOVE being a stay home mom!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

And We're Off!!

To kindergarten!! Today was Nathan's first day of school. He is attending kindergarten at Fayetteville First Baptist - which is where he attended pre-school last year. He will go Monday - Thursday from 8:30-12:30. Yesterday we had orientation and met his teachers Mrs. Alleta and Mrs. Suzie. Nathan is soo excited. His class has 8 boys and 4 girls - wow!! We have good friends from CFA Madelyn and Andrew in our class. When we got home from orientation yesterday Nathan said - "oh mom Mrs. Alleta is great - she is going to be such a great teacher!"

He was so excited about going to school this morning and had such a great time he wanted to go back after lunch! We are so thankful for Nathan's eagerness to learn!! I can remember when he was a little baby wondering what it would be like when he was 5 and here it is!! I did well - no tears just a little nostalgic! We are so blessed that God has given us wonderful teachers to help Nathan through kindergarten. I am praying that Nathan will be an example of Christ and His love for us.