My Friend's Blog

Lately, I have been enjoying the blog of a friend of mine. Kara is a dear friend from Southwest Bible Church where Mike and I were married and started our family. She and her husband, Jason, were the first of our friends to have a baby. We were newly married at the time and we watched their parenting closely. We asked lots of questions. We adopted many of their methods. All this to say, her friendship and experience has been very sweet to us. I hope you enjoy her blog just as I do! You can click on the link below to visit it!
The Chuppies

I especially enjoyed her post from this morning. Click here to visit the specific post.

History Lessons

We read about Captain J.A. Sutter in history today. Here are the kids' summaries of the history lesson. Weston writes the summary on his own and then Mike or I go through it with him and help him correct the grammar and spelling. Grace and I talk about how she'd like to summarize the story and then I help her get it on paper. I thought it would be fun to share some of their homeschool work. I will try to post a few more homeschool items in the next few weeks.

This is Grace's work.

This is Weston's work.

March Update

The big news around here lately is that we are looking to buy a house and possibly rent out the duplex. The house buying process has been quite the roller coaster ride this month. Although it's been a difficult process, it's been awesome to see God answer our prayers in many ways. We also have learned more about ourselves and each other. We have learned that when we walk into a house, I'm all-out optimistic. I emotionally fall in love with everything about a house. I don't want to hear anything negative (rose-colored glasses). Mike, on the other hand, walks in and sees everything "concerning" about a house. After the first tour of homes, we left with my feelings hurt and him feeling like I was bullying him into liking homes. We learned fairly quickly to just let the other person have space to have their own opinion. We don't have to agree right away. We figured out the best way to agree on a home is to sit down together and make out a pro/con list. This makes the good and bad things about the home tangible so we don't end up arguing or with hurt feelings. After 10+ years of marriage we are still learning things about one another!
We currently have an offer in on a house very close to the duplex. We both feel good about this home and think it would be a great place for our family for at least the next 3 to 5 years. We'll keep you posted on the outcome!

Here's Elsie with our naughty puppy. Joy loves to chase Noah and steal a sock off his foot, so he'll chase her around.
We have all enjoyed having a dog again. She has a very sweet personality and loves the kids. We have to baby gate the stairs at night so she doesn't sneak upstairs and wake the kids to play with her.
The other morning, I was thinking about how Joy wakes up so excited for the day. She bounds out of her crate in a frenzy of happiness. She greets the kids and I as if she hasn't seen us in ages. She attacks her toys and rolls around on the floor in glee. I have to admit I'm jealous of her energy and spunk. :) I wish I woke up every morning with that much excitement for the day to come! Of course, maybe I would be that excited if my responsibilities were limited to sleeping, eating and playing.

Joy with her contraband sock.

The girls love to snuggle with their puppy!

Elsie is so proud of her puzzle skills. This is a 100-piece puzzle and she did really well putting it together (with some help)!

Grace loves puzzles and Fancy Nancy! This is one of her birthday gifts.

Grace is 6!

Here are a few photos to celebrate 6 years with our sweet girl!
February 24th, 2005

1st birthday party

Age 2

Age 3.5, with Noah.

Age 4

My mom threw Grace a ballerina/heart birthday party in Bend the weekend after her birthday. Her cake was a base of red velvet cake, a heart of white cake, and ballet slippers with ribbon.

Although Grace was disappointed she wasn't going to have a "friend" party this year, she loved being at Papa and Memaw's house with all the snow. My aunt, cousin, and my cousin's daughters were also able to attend the party. My cousin and her girls are from Arizona, so it was a special treat to have them there.

We are so blessed to have Grace as our daughter. I'm so thankful for 6 wonderful years and pray we get to enjoy many, many more as we watch Grace grow into a woman.