November and December so far

It's been a full couple months, OK a full year :) Back in September Isaac started his first season of soccer, which he just loved. It wasn't a team with games, just learning basic skills in a fun way once a week. He wasn't very thrilled with the idea when we told him about it, but after the first practice he could hardly wait for the next Monday. The season wrapped up in the beginning of November. Another wonderful means of expending the kids energy is the 13-foot trampoline I got off freecycle! It's in great condition, we just need to fix the net, but so far no one has fallen off :) Don't worry, they aren't allowed to jump without us there! I love freecycle :) My parents came up in November in the middle of the pastors' conference at our church so they could watch the kids for part of it anyway. We had a great time together, as always! Never a shortage of house projects to work on either :) We spent Thanksgiving with some friends here in town since all our families live far away. Plenty of kids to play with and lots of food to eat. We all had a great time, but it's just not the same as being home with all the family! No Black Friday shopping for me this year! All I heard was how crazy it is up here. Well, we did stop at Wal-Mart in the small town near us to buy a Christmas tree stand, but it was just about like normal there. Gotta love small towns :) Then it was on to get our very first live tree! Some friends had told us about a nursery about 30 minutes away that gives you a free tree when you buy a gift card of equal value. So we'll go back in the spring to get grass seed and our garden veggies. We were super glad not to have to pull out every little branch of our artificial tree, plus it makes me sneeze and itch from the dust! The tree is so pretty and smells so good! Another first was having an actual tree topper and not a bare branch! That was an after Christmas deal last year :) Since Luke is into everything we put the tree in the foyer to minimize temptation for him. So far he's only gotten to it once :) And the latest big event was the kids being in our babysitter's wedding yesterday! Sarah has been watching the kids for at least two years, and she's just so dear to us all! She and her now husband came over a few months ago to talk with us and ask about our courtship and such. When we had shared how we so quickly felt sure we wanted to marry the other, and both shared such similar visions and desires for life (including seminary), they looked at each other and said "that sounds like us!" They got engaged the next week I think :) I think Sarah must have told the kids something when she was here b/c they weren't very surprised when i told them they were engaged! So Samy has been counting down the days until she got to be a flower girl, while Isaac, on the other hand, would say, "It's so girlish!" They both made it down the aisle, no stage fright at all! Isaac forgot who he was supposed to take the rings to when he got down front though, causing one of those classic AFV moments when he calls out "What??" as i tried to tell him where to go :) oh well! We were so happy to be part of their big day, but I was totally exhausted at the end of it. Luke was cheery for all but a few minutes of the 5 hours we were there! Thank you kind God!!

While Daddy was away

Keith got to go to the NEXT conference in Orlando over Memorial Day weekend, which meant me alone with three kids for four days.  So I purposed to do lots of fun things we don't normally do, knowing that my temptation toward anger would be that much greater without Keith here to help.
As soon as Keith left Saturday morning we headed out to pick strawberries!  They weren't nearly as sweet as last year, but maybe it's because it's the very beginning of the season.  Samy had only one strawberry in her bucket at the end of it all because they all went straight to her mouth!  No wonder she had a tummy ache :)  When she had had her fill she started picking flowers instead.  Isaac lasted a little longer, and Luke slept the whole time.  We'll have to go with friends later in the season so they'll be more distracted and I can get more berries!
That afternoon Isaac's best little buddy from school came over along with him mom, and little brother and sister since his daddy had gone with our daddy to the conference.  The kids  had a super time running around and I got some time talking with my friend.  Then mac-n-cheese for dinner (their fav!) and ice cream for dessert.
Sunday after church we went to a little deli for lunch and ran into a couple Keith met through his evangelistic bible study last month.  They were so happy to meet the kids as they had already dubbed themselves Aunt Gloria and Uncle Peter :)
Oh, I should also mention that I woke up Sunday morning with no voice!  It was almost gone Saturday night, but I could scarcely speak by Sunday morning!  Allergies are in full bloom here ya know!  And then I must have pulled something in my back putting Luke in the car after lunch b/c I couldn't get the car seat out when we got home.  I could barely move without shooting pain!  I was finding all this somewhat humorous since Keith was gone when I lost my voice and could barely move :)  God's grace was quite evident that I was reacting in laughter instead of anxiety or anger!

Since it was blisteringly hot Monday I got out the Slip-n-Slide for the kids and they had a blast, though Samy was to afraid to actually slide, she just scooted herself down :)  Before he left Keith had gotten the A/C unit in the kids' room but forgot about the one in our room.  It was an adventure getting that heavy unit to our window, especially with my back out of whack :)  but Luke and I needed to sleep in the cool, it had to be close to 90 in our room!  Again, laughing that we were having a heat wave while my hubby was away, as well as our neighbors, so no help there.
Tuesday Isaac was back to school, which means out the door by 7:30 to pick up our friends' kiddos and make it on time.  Well, getting three kids out the door that early after a rough night (because Luke was in the room with me) was hard enough, and we were already a few minutes late, but then I went and locked my keys in the house after getting everyone in the car!  I called Helen and said I was so late and she took her boys to school.  And I was just grateful that it was so hot that day because I had already opened all the windows downstairs, so I pried off a screen and climbed in :)

Let me just tell you, I was so happy to see my dear hubby that evening :)  But truly, there was so much grace in the midst of all the hiccups in my plans!  I know how I have reacted to such things in the past, with anger and harsh words toward my children (whether it be their fault or not), but the Holy Spirit was working miracles in my sinful heart this weekend!  I truly was finding humor in the myriad of difficulties and seeing all the good gifts of friends and fun and not setting my expectations too high.  It was only by the grace of God! 

Here's some pics of the weekend and lots of little Lukey :)

Monday happenings

Been a fun day already and it's only 2 o'clock :)  I had my usual time out by myself while Isaac was at school and Samy was with Keith.  Enjoyed my time at Panera going over yesterday's message on Isaiah 55 and also seeing some friends from church there.  When I picked Isaac up he could hardly contain himself and told me he had a surprise!  Each student in his class has a little money box that the teacher occasionally gives them pennies to put in when they do a good job on something, and then she holds a "school store" where she lays out little toys they can buy with their pennies.  Well, today was the first "store" and he was so excited to get a little plastic Theodore (from Alvin and the Chipmunks)!  It's like a toy from a Happy Meal, but he thinks it's the greatest!  You push a button and it says, "My name is Theodore." and then laughs.  He would push it and laugh hysterically and then started saying, "Whose your name?" (His version of what's your name) and push the button and laugh again in that great, genuine Isaac laugh of his :)  All this is happening in the back seat while I'm driving and just smiling from ear to ear.
Then we got to go on our date together.  He wanted a ham sandwich (yeah, he doesn't get those at our house) so we went to Jersey Mike's Subs (one of my favorites anyway!).  After we had sat down to eat the man who had helped us brought over two cookies for us :)  The best part was getting to talk with my little guy.  Hearing about school and friends in class, getting actual answers to my questions!  I can't believe how much he's grown up.  Wasn't I just seeing him for the first time on an ultrasound screen??  Can this really be my baby boy?  Now I'm crying :)
We got home and he was so excited about showing Samy Theodore and they immediately set up their own "store" to buy things from.  Keith and I started talking about moving Isaac in with Samy since the baby will be taking over his room, and decided to do it this weekend since Isaac will be off school the next two weeks.  I told the kids and Isaac asked if we could do it today :)  It's precious what sweet friends they are!  At least most of the time :)
Oh, and our ultrasound will be this Thursday!  We're going to enjoy the extra anticipation of not finding out if it's a boy or a girl this time around!!  Keith still isn't convinced that I'm not going to cave in when we get there, but I really think I can this time :)  Only 19 more weeks to wait, no problem :)

So there were a few of my joys in there, though they aren't numbered.  There are so many more than I can remember when I sit down to the computer!  My memory was bad enough before getting pregnant again!

Catch up: The Fair

So blogging has been pretty far down the list lately as I spend a lot of time on the couch nauseous.  House work has definitely taken a hit.  Cooking is just unpleasant no matter what it is.  But it's good to know my body is doing what it's supposed to and baby is growing!  I had my first OB appointment today and she did a sonogram (which I guess is normal up here), so I got to see the little bean and hear their heart beat.  And I must say I was thankful there is only one little bean :)  all this sickness has made me wonder.  Oh and the due date is the end of April--20th according to the sonogram or 24th was the original.

Ok, so onto some catching up :)  We went to the county fair last month with the kids and had a good ol' time!  It just adds to feeling like country bumpkins to go pet livestock and sit on tractors.  The pig races and magician Steve Trash (he used lots of trash as props, supposed to encourage recycling I guess) were definitely the highlights!  They had a little corral with giant stuffed horses for the kids to sit on, and dozens of tractors.  There were even camel rides!  Enjoy the pictures :)  oh and a cutie pic from a visit from a friend from the PC class before last :)

Photo tour of our new home

Well since the house was relatively clean from having our dear friend Melissa over last night (I'm almost certain she was the reason I cleaned the last time we moved and i finally posted pictures) I took some pictures this morning for all you too far away to come visit us. And I thought I'd give you some commentary with it :)

So some of my very favorite things:
original doors in the bedrooms (including a skeleton key that works, and the fabulous knobs)
the huge mantel (though I don't know what to put on it yet--it is currently home to everything pretty that comes out of a box)
the etched glass doors on the book shelves (so maybe I should just include the entire fireplace wall!)
the molding all over the house--it's so big
the front porch--oh those swings are just wonderful
kitchen cabinets with those pull-out drawers and built in spice rack
the giant exposed wood beams in the basement that are actually holding our house up :)
the many nooks and crannies that come with an old house

We only painted one room so far, the master bedroom, but my head is full of ideas! Those will be taking a backseat to the long list of practical projects.
The basement is currently in shambles (not that it was super nice before) b/c Keith is trying to make sure the floor and walls are all sealed so we can suck the radon out. We're hoping we'll be able to get it fixed up and have someone live with us. We bought a wood-burning stove to replace the very inefficient fire place and heat this big ol' place. We need a new chimney liner anyway. My parents will be up in less than two weeks to help with radon, electrical stuff (don't know if you can see the mess of wires in the basement), and mom will help me with the pretty stuff :)

Oh, so the video store in the basement was from the previous owners. He works for the Boys and Girls Club and spoke at some video distributors or producers thing way back. Someone found out he had kids and started sending him videos. He said they would frequently get movies before they were even in the theaters (we've watched one and it frequently reminds you "This film is for screening and not to be sold or copied" or something like that). There is definitely alot of junk but lots of good films in there too (many still in shrink wrap--like 8 copies of Return of the Jedi).

I didn't make it to the backyard and out buildings, that will have to be another day and another post. Hope you can all come to the "Welton Country Resort" (this is what Melissa has deemed it) and stay a while :)

Mark and Kim's visit

My big brother and his family came up for a visit a week after we moved in. It was good because it made me get unpacked super quick instead of putting off all those boxes! We had a wonderful time with them that went by way too fast! I didn't have my camera out much though.

The kids had a great time playing, we hardly saw them after their arrival. They went into DC on Monday, and Isaac cried and cried that Mika had gone without him. So, the kids and I joined them on Tuesday at the Smithsonian. We managed to make it through American History and Natural History, plus a stop at Georgetown Cupcakes on the way home.

One funny from their visit:
Isaac: "Oh, I don't want ..." (in a whiny voice)
Keith: "Isaac, no. Try that again." (meaning the right way)
Isaac: "Oh, I don't want..." (same whiny voice)

Kim could hardly keep from laughing :)

Busy, busy, busy

We have been busy little bees around here this past week, so sorry for the lack of photos still :)  I've actually only taken one picture since we moved in!
We all worked hard this past week to get our new place mostly in order because my brother and his family came up to visit Saturday and are staying until Wednesday.  And I spent all day last Tuesday and Wednesday cleaning our old house (seriously 10 hours total!).  There was a disgusting amount of dirt and grime hiding behind our furniture :)  So while it was a bit stressful last week, we're now all moved in and moved out (with the exception of our satellite dish that's still mounted to the old house--we're regretting that decision to get cable for football season!) and now can just enjoy our home and begin on the long list of things to be fixed and prettied up :) 
Yes, our perfect house is full of problems from serious (like the roof) to just annoying (like the ice maker that always spits ice on the floor).  It's been a wonderful reminder to me that our eternal home will not have a sagging roof or faucets that all turn on in different directions or rotten boards on the porch.  But we are still so very grateful for our new home here!  We are grateful that we could host my brother, his wife and their three kids with plenty of room for all and lots of fun to be had in the yard.  We are grateful for our new neighbors who the kids have made fast friends with and get so excited when they get to go out to play with them.  We are grateful for our front porch swings and tomatoes and cucumbers already growing in the garden.  We are grateful for the apple tree and raspberry bushes and grapes all growing in our yard.  We are grateful to our heavenly Father for providing for our every need but most of all for our greatest need--for providing a Savior from the punishment that we deserve!!  We pray this home would be used to honor and glorify Him everyday! 
Drop by anytime :)  Pictures to come soon, i hope!!

In every change, He is faithful

Change seems to be always in the air, though probably all of you who read this already know :) Keith has a new job! Well, he's accepted it, but won't start for another month or so. He's just moving upstairs to Covenant Life Church (Sovereign Grace is in the same building) to work with one of the pastors, Mark Mitchell. We'll let you know more what he's doing once he starts but the part he's most excited about is a ministry called Marketplace Ambassadors, aimed at encouraging folks in the secular workforce, which is most people. He has a real heart to connect theology to this everyday task that often becomes tiresome and a burden. He longs to see folks realize the great privilege and responsibility God has entrusted us with in work! I should let him blog about that sometime :)
Oh, and he'll continue teaching Greek at the Pastors College at least for a while, which he loves doing!

So, now that we know our wanderings in Maryland aren't through yet, we're house hunting!! It's fun but discouraging at times. You would not believe how expensive houses are here (unless you live here, then you know)! Let's just say we're looking at houses that cost TWICE as much as we sold our house in Orlando for!! And they're not that nice :) But we're confident God will provide exactly what we need (even if it's different than what we think we need) at exactly the right time (even if it's not when we'd prefer)! He always has and always will. The Lord's faithfulness has been our confidence throughout the last two years in particular as we made the major move up here (with a job offer we truly only thought would happen in our dreams!) and as we've walked through knowing Keith was going to need to change jobs again at the end of this year. We have seen such particular answers to prayer over the years that it's hard to doubt God's faithfulness. The answers didn't come as quickly as we would have liked, but to look back is to know that God knows much better than we do, and that it was perfect timing. I love to reminisce and recount the many small and great works of His hand in our lives.

So, we'll keep you posted on the house hunt :) We love seeing all the old houses up here and would love to have "an old house with character" but so far the few in our price range haven't worked out.
The kids have been troopers going with us to look. Their favorites are the ones with the best toys or that have playgrounds in the yard :) And the first thing Isaac looks for when we walk into a house is the basement, because that is a must for him :) Samy frequently has her face buried in my shoulder saying, "It's stinky." Many have been stinky, in her defense :)

Graduation for this year's Pastors College class is a week from today! Every time it's mentioned my eyes well up with tears. I'm going to miss these dear ladies! I have learned so much from them during those usually brief interactions at gym day or in the 'hood, but lots through email after email (these gals know how to email!!). Seeing their faith in action as they have had many significant trials (and in the everyday temptations as well) this year has only served to strengthen my faith in the greatness and loving kindness of our God! Thank you gals :)
Wow, I didn't mean to write so much, but it's been a while :) Hopefully more soon...

Results of 2 blizzards and our Valentine's Day

Here are some pictures of the kids playing after the second or was it third (I've lost count) of snow and after the plows came. 3 feet of snow + snow plows = GIANT mounds of snow! Our neighbor and one of his friends made a fort out of the plow pile at the end of our street, which the kids have enjoyed for a few days. Now Isaac doesn't even want to go out. After the melted snow refroze on top of the rest of the snow, there was no more sledding b/c you just get stuck.
One plus of being stuck at home for two weeks is Samy is potty trained!! Today is day 5 in undies with no accidents so far :) She just decided one day she really wanted to wear those princess undies and that was it!
Isaac has been working hard on his reading lessons, much more out of motivation for the Cars toy he gets when he finishes the 100 lessons than out of desire to read :) Everyday he wants to do two lessons, sometimes he asks for a third. He's doing really well with it too, and i can hardly believe it when I'm listening to him read 4 sentence stories!

On a totally different note, we had a wonderful Valentine's day! I awoke to a Starbucks latte at my bedside then we went to church and were blessed to have CJ Mahaney preaching (we get him next week too!). It was phenomenal (as usual)! This is actually the first time he's preached at CLC since we've been here! He spoke on Jude, reminding us of the Father's great love for us in that we are CALLED to salvation, LOVED by God the Father and KEPT for Jesus! Keith and I have been so refreshed this week as we've continued to contemplate the amazing love of God for us in choosing to give us salvation when we were still enemies of God.
Sunday night was the Pastors College Sweethearts Banquet--what a blast! There are like 100 people who serve at this event, giving up their Valentine's evening to serve us and it was just overwhelming. Dinner and an array of skits to inspire us in romance and intimacy from poetry, to reading Song of Songs, to singing famous love songs, to singing Fiddler on the Roof's "Do you love me?" And of course there were fun surprises for the students! What an excellent way to spend Valentine's Day :)

Our Christmas travels

So I still have plenty more to share from after our snowy adventure on the way to Tennessee. We had a wonderful (though short) time with my family in Knoxville. Presents, food, games, lots of playful children, and a dress for every princess Samy could think of :) The kids had a great time with their cousins! We only got to stay a couple days then we were off to Georgia. Our first stop was in Woodstock to see our dear friends from Orlando who have relocated to Georgia. What a rich time, but way too short!!
Then we were on to Macon to see all of Keith's relatives--all of them! I love how we get to see all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins at one location! The kids had a blast with Grandan & Bubbe and Grandma! Dan and Linda had planned some little "treasure hunts" for the kids on their property ("Grandan's woods" as Isaac calls it), which was just a hoot for all of us. Samy was gung-ho on digging up her treasure until we got there. She held the little shovel for about 2 seconds and declared, "I can't" in that sweet little voice of hers :)
Isaac had way too much fun riding the four-wheeler. You could hear him laughing even though you couldn't see them. And apparently four-wheeling isn't so good for hernias (Isaac has one that is getting fixed this month) because Christmas night we had a good scare when he woke up in serious pain. We had him in the car ready to go to the emergency room when his surgeon called us back and said to put him in a warm bath and see if that helped. We certainly had our doubts that it would, but I guess the surgeon knows what he's talking about :) after about 10 minutes Isaac was calm and feeling better and asked, "Can I have something to eat?" Our little eating machine :)
We were off to Knoxville again, but stopped in Atlanta on the way up to hear my older brother preach! What a treat that we got to be there for his "debut" :) It's so encouraging to see God's work in Mark's life going from "Gaston" likeness in college (a very proud, vain guy in Beauty & the Beast) to such a humble man of God! We're so grateful for the example Mark and Kim and their children are to us!
So, then Keith was able to work remotely in Knoxville for a couple days and I got to have more time with my fam :) What a blessing!!!

And since then I've been trying to recoup and get our house back in order. Here's lots of pictures from our journey (though none from our motel b/c I wasn't willing to go dig it out from the back of the van).

And we're back!

My new (old) computer is up and running! Another story of God's gracious provision--a dear man Keith works with, who just loves computers, offered to help us shop for him. Well, long story short, he gave us his brother's old computer (which is only about a year old) so we just had to get a monitor! God is so kind :)

Here are pictures from the last month :) yes, it's been a whole month. Keith's birthday, our afternoon at the Agricultural History Farm Park, a visit from Jerry Bridges to PC gym day, our early Thanksgiving with my parents and brother (including our trip to Annapolis, see previous post), Thanksgiving part 2 with the Purswells, the first snow of the season, and a fabulous surprise date to see Handel's Messiah at the National Cathedral and dinner on the top floor of The W Hotel!

That's the long and short of it :) Oh, one more wonderful surprise of the month was being asked to share at my dear friend Laura's MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. She asked me to share the gospel through sharing my testimony of God's grace in mothering. It's been a long time since I spoke in front of a group like that, but the Lord definitely used the preparation and the morning of to draw me nearer to Him! I was so blessed to share the good news of God's saving grace through Jesus Christ and how Christ's perfect righteousness affects my everyday!

Ahhh, fall.

Fall is certainly in the air up here! Many trees have just a few beautiful red leaves remaining, others haven't changed at all, but most are covered in shades of yellow and red. It is so amazing to see God's perfect design in the seasons changing, everything dying to be made new again with the spring. Another beautiful picture of how we must die to be brought to life again--as I read this morning: 1 Corinthians 15:36 "What you sow does not come to life unless it dies."

Last week Samy got her first black eye. I was just glad it wasn't her brother who gave it to her :) She ran into one of our bar stools in the kitchen, which she does often, but this time got her eye. She's looked like she's wearing eye shadow all week!

I also had to put in a picture of her with all her bracelets and groovy headband making me think of the 80s (especially with her "blue eyeshadow" right now). Sister, that one is for you :)

Saturday afternoon we headed across Maryland to visit my college roommate and very dear friend and her hubby, Laura and Joel. Always so good to see them!

Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch and ended up picking apples as well since we were there. It was so much fun, but picking apples went way too fast. The kids weren't ready to stop but it was getting expense :) Then the kids each picked a little sugar pumpkin so we could eat it.

And we're off!

The new Pastor's College year has officially kicked off with Ladies' lunch and Orientation almost two weeks ago (I have been so slack with blogging!). We're enjoying getting to know all the new families and being re-envisioned for this year.
Isaac is, of course, eating up meeting all the new friends in the neighborhood (there are 5 townhouses in our neighborhood where PC families live every year). One funny story...when the first family arrived way back in June, they moved into our old sitter's house. Well, I knocked on the door to introduce ourselves and as soon as it opened Isaac ran in and took his shoes off and headed straight for the basement to play :) It's always been Rachel's house to him!
Keith is back in the swing of things and preparing for his first Greek class of the year this Friday. You guys better watch out, he's brutal :)
We have had no shortage of things to do this summer (mostly the pool) and now that the Pastor's College year has begun, our calendar looks almost ridiculous to me :) But God is so very faithful to order and provide in the midst of what He calls you to!! We are so glad to have found a sitter who has courageously agreed to serve us regularly! Yippee!!!!!!
Many more posts to follow soon I hope :) I have tons of pictures to share and lots to catch up on.

Places to go, people to see

We had a whirlwind of a trip last week, all well worth it! We set off for Knoxville Friday afternoon to see my family--my parents and all my siblings and their fams. And then Saturday our very dear friends from Orlando (now living in Georgia) came up with their kids (such a special treat)! So for 24 hours there were 11 adults and 12 children running around my parents house. It was a blast :) We had a cookout Saturday night and Isaac decided to pick blackberries on his own and slipped down the hill into the bush, which sent us in to pick out the stickers and get him a bath, so we missed out on the campfire we had planned.
Monday we went to the mountains and played in a little school house, then let the kids play in the river, had a picnic and took a short hike up to a look out tower. I was too concerned with keeping Isaac's feet on the ground to enjoy the view at the top :) And we ran into our dear friends, the Coopers, while we were there! They were our care group leaders before we moved to FL, Craig was the first person Keith met when he went to UT, and Craig also told us about this job. Where would we be with the Coopers :)
Keith and I left the kids with my parents on Tuesday and took a two night "personal retreat" at a bed and breakfast nearby called Whitestone. They have hundreds of acres of property right on a lake. We got to enjoy lots of uninterrupted conversation as we strolled the beautiful grounds, went canoeing and paddle boating, had a picnic, got some planning done, lots of reading in the hammock, and some wonderful time praying together!
We picked the kids up Thursday and headed for Lake Lure, NC for our own little family vacation. The kids had a blast playing in the pool that allows floats (ours doesn't) and in the lake. We checked-out Saturday morning and headed for Chimney Rock park before making the long drive back home.
We certainly made lots of memories!

Sad & Happy Goodbye

The day finally arrived--the Pastors College graduation was this past Sunday. While we are so sad to see our new, dear friends go, graduation was a wonderful reminder of why we're sending them out--that the gospel might go forth! The reason the Pastors College exists is summed up well by 1 Timothy 4:16 "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."

Here are some pictures from the graduation celebration!

Zoo adventure

Last week Jen and I loaded up the kids and headed to the zoo in DC. It was a perfect day to be outside all day and especially fun with our dear friends "Charis and Trogge" as Isaac always refers to them. We enjoyed the aquarium, farm animals, giant pandas, elephants and even got to hear the male lion roar! The highlights of the day were finding a monkey perched in a tree so close we could have pet him (though we didn't try!), watching the orangutans walk across the ropes high over the zoo, finding out the goats have their own playground (Isaac really likes goats), eating lunch by the seals' tank, and hearing that lion roar. Boy was that lion loud! I splurged and got the kids snow cones just to make sure they were good and hyper before we got in the car :)

I'm always thankful for any time I get with Jen but I could have done without such a long ride home as we sat in traffic for almost two hours--at least I had good company, though talking over our exhausted and napless children kind of hindered the fellowship :)
I'm so grateful the Lord allowed us to be their friends for the short months they're here! And I'm so glad they'll only be a few hours away.

PC Open House

The Purswells very kindly opened their home for a near the end of the year party for the PC class and staff. We had authentic Mexican food and also some Tex-Mex in honor of our Mexican and Texan students. The food was excellent including home-made flan and pecan pie for dessert! What Mexican/Texan party would be complete without a pinata? It was hilarious watching these guys take on a paper mache boot! They managed to break the rope three times, but I think it was the fourth or fifth guy before the pinata finally broke. Julie and I were laughing that anyone who has ever watched America's Funniest Home Videos wouldn't be holding the rope, but Jeff managed to escape the bat :)
We ended the evening watching the guys presentations from their Eschatology class, which may sound boring but they were even funnier than grown men hitting a pinata!! I must say Darrel Schiel is one heck of a Matt Foley impersonator :)

Here mousey, mousey

Some little critter has been leaving behind evidence of his presence in our house the last few weeks. So we finally bought a mouse trap complete with fake yellow cheese. The mouse didn't go for it, so last night Keith put some peanut butter on the "cheese" and this morning we found our little house guest :) We'll be putting another trap out tonight just in case he has friends. Thankfully it's a cute little mouse and not a big ugly rat.

Last Thursday my sweet hubby and my good friend Jen's husband, Stephen, planned a surprise double date! Jen and I were ecstatic to find out we were going out together. We went to an Irish pub in Bethesda. About half way through dinner Keith announces to us that a mouse had just ran across the floor! Sure enough, we watched the little mouse run under the table next to us and then back across to another row of tables! We flagged down a server to tell him, but he was disturbingly nonchalant about it. A manager came over to apologize a few minutes later saying they've been driven out by the construction next door and sometimes run under the door, but assured us there were none in the kitchen. Yeah. We expected at least a free dessert or something :) Needless to say, I didn't put my feet down until we left!

Samy's birthday and Grammy & Papaw's visit

Hard to believe, but our little girl is 2! We celebrated last Friday with my parents. Every time someone mentioned birthday she would say, "George!" in reference to her cake with Curious George on it (or my best attempt). She had her candles blown out before we even finished singing. She carefully opened her presents in her usual gentile way. My parents got her a Cinderella doll and an adorable rain coat and boots, which she wouldn't take off. We got her a bigger ride-on truck for outside and she has been wearing it out!

We had a PC picnic Saturday afternoon that was just a blast! Baby goats and ducks for the kids to pet, a playground, lots of food and even bluegrass music!

The kids of course had a wonderful time with Grammy and Papaw and were sad to see them go.

April's full!

It has been one wonderfully full month so far, with no signs of letting up :o)
The month started with the Sovereign Grace Leadership Conference, where we got to hear some incredibly encouraging messages and see some old friends including my sister and brother-in-law. It was a jam-packed couple days, but thankfully I got to squeeze in some sister time and Matthew and Michelle both got to have dinner at our house one evening. Times like those spur me on to pray one day my siblings and I will all be in the same city again, or at least within reasonable driving distance :) I am so very grateful for my dear sister and the very sweet time we got to spend together! It's been way too long since that has happened! Love you sis :)

Spring has finally sprung up here and there are beautiful blooms everywhere! Tulips, daffodils, cherry blossoms, tulip poplars, and an assortment of other flowers I don't know the names of line the streets. I'm amazed at God's creativity. It's no surprise that everything is in bloom because all it has done the last few weeks is rain (and we did have snow flurries one day). Whoever wrote the saying, "April showers bring May flowers" must have lived up here :) so we've been stuck inside alot again, but taking every opportunity to ride bikes and play in the sand box as we can.
Easter Sunday was spent with all our dear PC friends. A wonderful lunch and then egg hunts for the kids and some crazy games for all of us. They made the men do a dizzy bat race! Nothing like watching a bunch of grown men fall on the ground after making themselves dizzy! Then a three-legged race as couples. Keith and I almost caught the leaders and I have a massive bruise on my leg to prove it :) I included the picture of us as we neared the finish line even though someone stepped in front of the camera. The looks on our faces are just too funny :)

My parents are coming up tomorrow to celebrate Samy's birthday with us Friday, and hopefully my dad will be able to help Keith (or maybe I should say Keith will help him) fix his truck. That may take some serious prayer :)
Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.