A first time for everything...

Our little daredevil girl...

took a nosedive off the monkey bars at home...

it involved a lot of tears...

a lot of blood...

a lot of rushing around trying to figure out where we were going to go...

the hospital vs. urgent care...

since the cut was on her face and all...

and since Dad was out of town, it involved a phone call to him saying "guess what happened today!"...

but all in all, we are so so thankful because it could have been soooo much worse...

sweet girl is still smiling...

even with a few stitches and a possibly broken nose...

and I'm sure it comes as no surprise to any of you....

she smooshed her glasses. :)

Happy Monday, friends.

Happy Easter...late as always...

As usual, I am running late! We always do the obligatory Easter picture of the kids togther. Love this one. Thanks, Miss! I love Tate's look. I'm sure I was doing something goofy behind the camera. :) Charlie is in Easter outfit #2 in this picture as somehow a squirt gun fight started between church and lunch. That's what happens when the cousins get together--and somehow Charlie was the only one wet!

We have enjoyed--finally--a gorgeous weekend. Tate insisted on wearing shorts both days. That child is a summer boy to be sure. We have some very nice new neighbors and the kids spent lots of time together this weekend running in and out of each other's houses. I'm sure we'll have a fun summer together!

A busy week is on the agenda. Lots going on with baseball/t-ball times 3 kids and a dance recital this weekend PLUS my grandparents are coming to town. Yippee! My grandpa's 90th birthday is a week from Monday--we are celebrating quietly due to my aunt's recent death but recognizing the momentous milestone nonetheless. It's hard to be helping my mom plan when really my aunt would be reveling in the planning...they had some fun things in the works. No doubt this is going to be a HARD weekend but I am so thankful we are going to be together again. When all of us are separated by many miles it's not often we see each other. To see each other again in the span of just a couple of months will be nice, and this time to celebrate...even though Leslie won't be there. This is life now--yuck. I am glad the little cousins get to spend time together again. Max is talking about Ella and Lydia and Calista--I know they will have fun.

And finally Happy May Day! Thank you to our wonderful neighbors who sugared up our kids for the week again since Easter wasn't quite sufficient! :) Ha!! Just kidding, we have the best neighborhood! It was fun to have lots of doorbell rings today and lots of fun treats--hard to keep Tate's sticky fingers out of the baskets though. Have a wonderful start to the week.

The things that come out of my mouth...

Seriously, the things that are said around here sometimes...

At Sunday School last week, as I am teaching, I ask enthusiastically (and rhetorically) "Who wants to talk about the miracle of Jesus raising from the dead?!" And my sweet precious Charlie yells "Not me, Chickadee!"

Again during Sunday school--"Kids, please don't use the crosses [that they had made from popsicle sticks] as guns."

After asking Zoe to come upstairs one morning and do her normal routine--make her bed, brush her teeth, etc. She was kind of stomping around and I said "Lose the attitiude, sister." To which she replied "I have an attitude, Mom. I can't just LOSE it."

Here's wishing you a very blessed Friday.

The Good and the Bad

Life is all about taking the good with the bad. I felt like today was a pure example of that. It was a great day. Busy day but a great day. The kids at church led worship and it was awesome. Like bring tears to your eyes awesome. After church, we ran over to a fundraiser/bone marrow donor drive for my friend Brenda. It was so good to see her and see some high school friends we hadn't seen in a while. It was awesome to see over 150 NEW donors get added to the Be the Match registry! Brenda looks great, she was in great spirits and looked like the "hostess with the mostess" :). But at the same time it was sobering to realize why we were all there. She's not in remission yet. Her sister (her only sibling) isn't a match for her and a match hasn't been found on the registry yet. So we pray for a miracle!


Isn't Brenda beautiful? Aren't her children beautiful?? I wish you could see her in person and see her dimples. :)

And the other good...wow...my grandparents celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary today. Yes you read that right. Sixty-nine years! They are vibrant and strong, and more in love today than they were 69 years ago. I talked to them tonight (after we sang "Happy Anniversary to You" on speaker phone!) and even after having just lost their precious daughter, I can't tell you how many times my grandma said "We are so blessed. Our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren--we are so blessed." I am so thankful to have them in my life!! They are truly an inspiration to me and to our family. I love them so much. Here they are at their "heaven on earth"--their lake home, with their Leslie side of the family last summer:



So we take the good with the bad, the happy with the sad, and you just keep going. Happy Monday friends.

The irony of names

We have said before that Zoe's name picked her more than we picked her name because her name means "life"--and that girl is more full of life than anything I've ever seen! Anyway, I was driving on Saturday and saw an advertisement for a local dentist named Dr. Tooth--seriously?! Do you think he always wanted to be a dentist or do you think it was just his destiny? But then it got me thinking about some other funny ironic names...

The cardiologist I know named, yep...Dr. Hart
My elementary school music teacher named Mr. Van Note
One of the best ones ever...our neighbors in our first house growing up were The Nabers!
A funny one that doesn't fit at all...the OB that delivered me is Dr. Bone...I think he missed his calling in ortho!

Anyone else know any great ironic names? Happy Monday!

It's that time of year!

So it was a gorgeous spring day today. Right around 60 degrees, sunny, a nice cool breeze. Wouldn't you know, I--the mostly stay-at-home-mom--spent the whole stinkin' day inside at a continuing education conference?? Seriously. The best part of my day was having a fun lunch with my former business partner. She's a hoot. :) Anyway, about 2:00, I get a text from Buck: "I want to go to the Lake." Seriously, I think he's more related to my family than I am. It gets a little bit warm out and a little bit sunny and he wants to hop in the car and head north. Forget the fact that it is probably 30 degrees colder 7 hours north of here. It's so funny--that is EXACTLY what my grandparents are like. They live their whole winter waiting to get to the Lake. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE it there. It's just a lot of work to get us there. Trust me. Before we get to the Lake, we have to get through baseball season!! And of the children who are actually playing baseball this year, guess who is practicing? This guy:

You got it. Tate is a machine with a little bat. And when batting doesn't work, a bat always works nicely as a golf club. Max is a great ball-chaser.

I just had to throw this picture in for my husband. Buck if you're reading this, there is no way I am cutting these curls. Just FYI.

OK, maybe I could be talked into heading to the Lake now. Happy day, friends.

An adventure of the mind!

Max took a new step this year and joined an Odyssey of the Mind team, along with 5 other newbies--1 girl had done this fun adventure before. Here is their team at another competition earlier in the year. You can tell their team had fun together! Elizabeth was gone this day.

Here is a cute shot of Elizabeth "The Mad Scientist" and a nice shot of Max's behind. :) He was playing a wide receiver in their skit. Their skit is a little hard to explain--but they did a GREAT job. It was a problem-solving competition. In their age division, they didn't get judged but received feedback on how they did. We were so proud of them!

Here is Max running for a little costume change. He had a little problem with one of the props but he just improvised and kept going. It was awesome! He was nervous beforehand but so excited afterward. :)

Way to go, Horizon team! What a fun day. We are so proud of you!