I remember those cakes too.

So H and I are riding home from school today and we were just talking. I told him he that we moved to GA the day after he turned one. His little faced lit up in wonder. Then he said "mommy, remember when I was 3 and I had all those basketball cakes?" What in the world, I thought. I literally turned and looked at him and said, 'what did you say?' He said, "you know mom, remember all those basketball cakes when I turned 3?" oh my. Actually H was turning 2. It was a little over 2 weeks before L was being born and the Ranslebens arrived the day of his party. His very large, very hot party. Kim arrived to an undecorated football and a big bowl of brown icing. And like a hundred (time has made the number grow) of cupcakes that I wanted to be baseballs, soccer balls and basketballs. So there you have it. H's earliest memory that he has expressed. Mom and I have talked many times wondering what will be remembered. I always hope it wasn't the tantrum in Kroger over cookies or the fall off the slide at the park. H remembers cake. He is my son!!! Well I must say that I remember Kim decorating them. I remember her wanting to settle into the corner of my kitchen and I told her "no! you must come to the center so I can see your face while we talk." I remember her not being able to leave until she saw L's face. So I remember weeks of my dear friend here. I remember all the honest talks when I could share my heart and know she would tear up quicker than I would over my woes and speak truth that would take me right to our Lord. I remember the morning we talked over the Trinity and we stood in her driveway with amazement over the majesty of our God. I remember watching Brennan run into the house for the last time in the fish dress and cutting it apart to make it into a blanket very soon. I remember repairing that blanket after a few months of love. I'm so grateful that I could call my dear Kim today and tell her 'hi' and 'love you' and 'we remember you.' Can't wait to see her again. Love to see her in my life all the time because of the impact she made on me. And so glad H remembers her cakes.

Racing

We tried not to let the rain completely wash our day away Saturday. We had big plans to enjoy the Criterium events all day. The 5K was at 8:30. The forecast called for 100% chance of thunderstorms. J decided while eating his pancakes at 8:15 that he wanted to do it anyway. We ran out the door to start the race. He registered at 8:26, got to the start line at 8:29, found Ronda at the first turn after the 8:30 start and finished 21 minutes later. whew! I was so proud to see him come around the final turn to finish that fast. I was under the umbrella with 2 cups of Starbucks to give away when they caught their breath. J received a perfect prize of a can of coffee for his 3rd place age group finish and Ronda finished first in her age group. She gathered her prize while we held her bike at the start line of the bike ride to start 5 minutes later. We went home and gathered the kids and came back for their bike race. Ek won her heat!!! I couldn’t hold that in any longer. Ok, from the beginning. H had so much fun warming up on the course. It reminded me of a rollerskating rink. The kids were riding their bikes round and round the course. It started to rain as soon as the races started. Ek seemed a bit nervous, but dIdn’t want to make it worse by asking if she was. She was cold. H went first and rode great but did not finish first. It was not easy riding down hill and around the cones

in the rain! But he did great and was proud of himself. He was equally as proud to shake the ChickfilA cows hand while waiting for Ek to race! Ek took off down the hill quikly but not first, one little girl didn’t turn, another girl crashed and Ek methodically went around the cone to head up the hill in first place. She had the sweetest, happy little smile on her face as she knew she had won and peddled her way across the finish line. Oh we were so excited!! We were excited too to see them make the big loop in front of the crowd in the kids parade that night. Ek finished ahead of H. J was with H and declared while out of breath that they were much faster than last year! H was very proud of that. We hung around in the rain for a while under a huge tree that posed as our umbrella and watched some of the women’s race. It was raining so much thought, that we were cold and a bit unenthuased, so we left a bit early but full of fun memories of the day. Can’t wait for next year. Wait! One more thing, when we got to the car and buckled L in, she exclaimed, “hey! where’s my cow?!” The kids got ChickfilA cows when they crossed the finish line in the bike race. L suddenly realized she did not participate. Next year, L, next year.

Singing

We had so much fun at a youth rally the other night. Shane and Shane came to play and minister to the youth of our community. We are so grateful when we get opportunities like these. We took Ek and H to the First Baptist family life center and settled into the second row. One of the moments that I hope to remember forever is, there were two guys that opened up for them. One of the guys wrote “Oh how he loves us.” He said it had been taken by many artist over the years and has many versions. That was funny for me to hear because I have two versions on my ipod, John’s fav and my fav. H was in J’s arms with his feet on the chair in front of him. He sang “Oh how he loves us” with such joy and such enthuaism that my heart just soared the rest of the night. He also enjoyed very much dancing along to the music and even played along with his air guitar and drums a few times. There was such a peacefulness there that night. The music was so wonderful, they were so talented and we just enjoyed sitting and listening and singing along. Ek laid her head in my lap for a long time and watched thought the shoulders of the kids sitting in front of us. I was playing with her hair and there was something in her part, I asked her what it was and she shrugged and said, “paper mache?” Oh I laughed and laughed! It was a delightful evening.

Gift

My sweet Ek loves her teacher now. We had a tough fall with teachers, but I think it was all worth it to get the one we have now. She is wonderful! She is kind, joyful, peaceful, encouraging and firm. Ek wanted to write her a letter and tell her how w

onderful she is. The letter has yet to be written, but she did take her some flowers for her desk. Ek was so excited to give her such a gift. I was so happy to share some of our beautiful yard flowers with the one who takes care of my sweet girl at school everyday!

Butterflies

Ronda blessed us with an opportunity to watch caterpillars grow and turn into butterflies. It really was amazing. We got this little jar with these tiny little caterpillars that were as big as as piece of string. They ate and ate and grew and grew until they wrapped themselves all up and we waited patiently until they emerged as beautiful little butterflies. We were not very patiently to let them go though. I just was sad that their beautiful new wings couldn’t spread wide and go exploring. We waited until our sweet neighbors were home and HH graciously transfered them one by one to their beautiful Lantana. I had heard that those were their favorite. It was really something special to see 6 beautiful butterflies on one plant. They were so beautiful. We all stood around and just stared at them until one by one they got their courage to fly. What a gift to see these beautiful creatures. Butterflies always remind me of a craaft one of our friends did in Venezuela when the children glued little pieces of tissue paper to a butterfly with the verse “For in Christ you are a new creation, the old is gone, behold the new has come!” And I can say that when I first came to know the Lord for myself way back in college I did feel light as a butterfly. Knowing God loved me made me feel like my feet were off the ground. I will never forget that.

Let the celebration begin!

Last night I got a gift. We began out celebration of our 10 year anniversary by taking pictures with our wedding photographer, ML, where we took our wedding pictures. It was so wonderful. My my my how 10 years have brought some big changes in our life. But amazingly, with all thanks to God, for all His provision and love, I was so so excited to take pictures with my J last night as a huge marker in our lives. It is a bit overwhelming to think about and I have months and months to think about the marker that it is, so I won't do it all tonight. But how awesome to return there with our 3 amazing children and each other, full of joy and life! Our photographer asked if it was more awkward to take on our wedding day or now that we had our children. I think I am so much more comfortable in my skin now than I was then especially when I am next to J. There were several comical moments. At one point we were taking pictures just the 2 of us and H comes running over begging us to pick him up because a dog had come along. ML told us to just keep smiling, he was laughing saying this was probably more what our life was like! I'm sure he had some real smiles out of us for those. H was fine, the dog was on a leash, once we told him that, he was happy again. Another time, he had us behind our children, he was trying to focus on them and have us kissing in the background. He told us to kiss and hold it, we got to giggling because he was taking forever, i peeked my eyes open, ML was looking at the images on his camera and the children had run away! I guess he only tells when to start kissing, not to stop! Oh we laughed! The kids were beyond hilarious. When they realized we were not taking stiff, sitting still pictures, they got happy, they continued to get happy until they reached delirium and went a bit beyond that. They laughed and smiled and played and jumped and bounced and climbed. Thankfully we were outside and not in a studio. We would have lasted in a studio for about 10 minutes. We played outside for hours. I cannot wait, cannot wait to see the images. I am soo sooo soooo thankful for my family. All of it. And am so grateful for the 4 I get to live with. Can't wait, too, to see what we look like in 10 more years!

Prayin' and Walkin'

After the watercoloring Saturday morning, we jumped in the car and headed off to prayer walk with the good folks at First Methodist. They actually had a great turn out, a wonderful prayer card inviting them to visit the church and the prayer we prayed over their house, and a strategic map of the city to head out into teams. We partnered with the P's and let the kids take turn praying for the people of the homes in a neighborhood pretty near the church. The kid who prayed got to put the prayer card in the newspaper box- which was sooo exciting! They were amazing and prayed wonderful prayers. I love that they didn't even question why we were doing a prayer walk, but we did tell them anyway. As we walked I prayed for my kids too that they would find great comfort and assurance as they prayed that they God who made them, hears them. I will mention too that it was a gorgeous perfect morning and so fun to enjoy the beauty of all God's flowers. Oh I wish they would stay a bit longer!

New rule leaves time for more fun

There is a new rule at my house. I'm not sure what the number is. It has actually been in place for several months, but I thought I'd write about it a bit. "No TV before 10." am that is. On school days, its a no brainer, we just don't even think about turning it on. But days off, its a bit more difficult. It's easy to turn the TV on. Sometimes even snuggly. But. It is very hard to recover from. Once they get going, its really hard to turn it off and they sometimes are very grumpy when they turn it off. Now they may have been grumpy anyway, but I hate to blame it on them, so I'll blame it on the TV. I guess I could blame it on sin or the fall or the apple for that matter. Wow, I digress. So that means, up and at 'em at my house. Saturday morning, J was off riding his bike very early (50 miles before 10am- defintaely no TV time in there for him!), so I broke out a new shiny set of watercolor paints for the kids. It was not without difficulty or tears, but it was beautiful to see them so close and having so fun. Not sure why they chose to sit all on the end of the counter, but it did help them share paints, which was part of the drama, but it did make for good pictures (photos- that is). Wow am I rambling. Enjoy the pictures, again photos, of them painting pictures.

Swinging

Sometimes when I do things for/with my children, the thought crosses my mind-- is this something I want to do everyday? So sometimes I say-- this is a special treat, we are not doing this everyday. Well we did not say that several weeks ago when we swung H into his bed while blessing him and so now everynight, J takes the kids feet and I take their arms and while we say, "May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may He turn His face toward you and give you peace," (Numbers 6:24) we swing them toward their bed with a dramatic fall into their bed. Oh how things begin. It is pretty funny. Sometimes they like to push each other on the hip to make the swinging even bigger. Several night ago, Ek said we blessed her too quick and she didn't get her full swing. Most nights before we can bless Ek, L is already back out of her bed and wants to swing again. I wonder how long this will last.

Garden Ponders

Speaking of weeds... I know of at least one sermon I have heard comparing weeds to sin. I'm sure 100s have been preached. Of course there is the parable of the seeds in the Bible too. About seeds falling on rocky ground, weedy ground and good soil. So I've been pulling some good weeds these last few days. So here are my weeding ponderings~~

It is amazing how quickly they spring up. That ground was so tilled, raked, cleared, etc. It was looking pretty good. 4 days later and grass and tiny little leaves everywhere. And how quickly do old thoughts pop up after a good tilling at church, in the word etc. You get some good encouragement, conviction, resolve to get back going good and hours later, back to the old. We got to keep that tilling going, keep in the Word, keep Gods truth stirring around in our minds in hearts.

I have been so impressesd with some of the roots I have pulled out. Sometimes a little dead looking stick will be 3 feet. Or a tiny blade of grass will be a huge root system as big as my hand or as long as a foot long. Wow! Somtimes what you think looks dead and will come right out will not budge. And I think there are some tiny little habits that run deep in us. You gotta dig deep sometimes to get stuff out so the good stuff can grow. I keep telling H yesterday, we need our good plants to get all the water and nutrients and sunshine. And it is quite satisfying to get some big stuff out.

Its dirty. Like Ek said, its hard work. I thought so many times about the fall, now work is hard. Its sweaty and a struggle. Its encouraging to know life isn't just hard for me. And I'm just having a garden for fun, to see what can grow! I'm not desperate for it. I'm just looking to learn something new. Maybe one day I will need it. I am so thankful for Grady and Dave and Emma Jean coming to help me. I definatley could not have done this on my own. So true of life. We just can't make it alone. And I can't wait to share the fruit of our labor. Can't wait to give away the blessing from the work.

Always good to have some time, in God's beautiful creation, pondering his ways.

Not a weed. Its a squash. pretty sure, too bad L took up all the labels. hahahah

Garden Goodness

Ooooooo am I excited. Last summer I mentioned to G and Ej that I thought a garden would be fun and a good experience for the kids. Well that is all it took! G came over several weeks ago with his gas powered tiller and tilled and tilled until we have a beautiful huge rectangle to plant our hearts out. He came again and tilled some more. Raked, axed, cleared, fertilized, tilled some more and then it was ready. 4 squash, 4 cucumber, 4 strawberry, tons of tomatoes and 4 watermelon are in. We have been petting, weeding, clearing, weeding some more, watering and raking. The kids have been very helpful. H can pull some weeds! He loves pulling out roots that are taller than he is. L collected and rearranged all the labels. Today she planted them all in a circle and sang 'happy birthday.' hilarious. Ek watered today and said, 'mommy, this is harder than I thought!' hilarious. Right now, they all our little plants look close to the same. I can't wait until they don't! Can't wait to see what pops out! (Especially since L rearranged all the labels.)

H rode a horse!!

Henry rode a horse.

Wow. That one just needs to sink in a minute.

I was so proud of my boy. Here is how it went down. Friday was Cowboy day. I'm not sure I've ever seen a cuter cowboy than he was. SP got crafty and made JP some chaps. So I followed suit and did the same. Oh they were adorable. Too bad I left my camera at home. Pictures will come around as soon as Dana gets around to it. So we got to school. Played wonderful cowboy games including a pony race (on a broomstick pony), pony lassoing (hollahoops tied to a rope to toss over a chair with a pony on it), s'mores and a story around a campfire. I mean, that would have been enough. But all morning, we had a glorious view of the K5 kids riding ponies in a circle out the window. And then came our turn. Oh I was hoping he would do it. His teacher, who is amazing, offered to put him on. J and I were close by but not involved. She put him on that pony, the lead pony, "Lightening." He wasn't named for his speed though, I'm sure. H's face almost wrinkled into tears the first circle, but after some cheers from us, he setteled in to a look of mild fear. Suddenly I thought, Ek can't miss this!! I looked at my watch and she was 5 minutes from going to the lunch room, so I took off to her classroom and hollered her name, didn't even explain to her teacher and we were out the door of the building before her best friend C realized she had followed us at top speed as well. It was well worth it, H's face competley lit up when he saw her. Ek was so pleased and excited for him. He had his full turn and was cautiouly proud of himself. Much later in the day, he declared it was so great. Wow, H rode a horse. Didn't think I would say that of my boy. So proud of him. Can't wait to see the pictures.

Top Secret Personal Beeswax

I love field trips, I rival my kids in excitment over them. I love getting to do special things, go special places, be with my special kids. Last Tuesday did not disappoint. We were headed to the big city, hahaha, to see Junie B. Jones live. wow. Ek about popped out of her booster seat and through the roof of the car when I first told her about this one. And it did not disappoint. It was a musical, fabulous, in a fabulous theater. We were on the third row. ahhhh. So delightful. We knew the story lines of all the scenes from our at home reading, which was just wonderful. So fun to see the books we had read and laughed over in front of us to song! What a day. One difference of this field trip was~~ no moms on the bus. Cat and I rode together and had such a nice time visiting for a hour in a quiet car. After the show we took the girls out to lunch with several other friends. And then took the girls home with us. Just an absolutely wonderful day.

The play was centered around her first grade journal and that has really stepped up her journal writing. She has enjoyed writing in a journal for the last year. Her entries ususally begin with 'this was the best day ever.' So glad her life is getting better and better! She took her journal to dinner the other night and BH even taughter her how to draw a dog- good stuff. She says her journal is private, but not to me. thank goodness.

"Smile!"

I try not to, very often, make my kids sit, look at me and smile for a picture. Am I lying? hmmmm. Well not every day. I mostly try to take action shots with the occasional "look at me and smile!" thrown in. And maybe that's because when I tell them to sit, look at me and smile, suddenly- there isn't much to smile about. Well, Sunday I had lots to smile about. Being free from the power of sin due to the resurrection of Jesus was at the top of the list. Having a delightful family was up there too. Having a delightful lunch with my delightful family, there too. Beautiful children looking especially beautiful on a beautiful day- hey why not get a quick picture? Good try. Most all the pictures were entertaining, not one was quite what I had in mind. Here are 2.

Sigh. Could they look any more bored? Like they were sitting for hours waiting for me. I can't wait to watch them take pictures of their kids one day. I will not help.

Now that is much better, but can someone please tell me why L chose to stand behind Ek? She has enough personality to tower most people, but she is still very small. I love that she barely made the frame and yet has the most adorable smile on her face. Love 'em.

Amazing day

It really was an amazing day. So wonderful to celebrate sweet wonderful D's 3rd birthday. Oh, I loved getting to be a part of it!!!!! So wonderful to see M's sweet parents and sister and fam. And my fam- hello! So amazing to see my kids so happy to see their cousins, maybe close to as happy as I was to see them and not quite as happy as I was to see B & M. Don't even get me started on how beautiful the weather was, or the scenery. We were all in such a content, peaceful, happy mood. I'll let the pictures tell the rest.

Boys playing- happy- together! Great game for them- ball for H, target practice for W's chops and kicks!!

So glad I managed to get a picture of 2 of my children touching an animal- this is rare indeed!

Their faces say "The sun is too bright to look at you while smiling, but deep down we are-- we have cupcakes!!-- D's birthday cupcakes!!"

blowing out his candles. Sorry to miss the candle but so happy to get the sweet face~
I think he liked his cupcake.

Mom was still laughing over the great bunny chase of the day, in good company.

a bunch of basket heads waiting to fill them.

My favorite thing about L hunting eggs was how much she enjoyed wearing her perfectly picked basket on her arm, adorable.
sweet girl.
I would love to know what H was saying to D here, I think he was being silly, although the pic looks like he is screaming and mad, I do not think he is because D looks so pleased, so really, H- what were you doing? I'll ask and report back if her remembers.
Wow- these were 5 happy and yet very uncooperative cousins. Really, not one picture of them smiling at, or near, the camera in the whole lot. So here we have documented that 1. they were together. 2. they had just hunted eggs. 3. d and L have on interesting shoes. 4. the older 3 must enjoy each other because they so quickly devised a game that left the rest of us out. 5. there were bunnies. 6. it was a beautiful day. 7. we really like them a lot, enough try to line them up for one, just one, adorable picture of the 5 of them worthy to be put in a frame or maybe even a photo puzzle. sigh. maybe next time.

My silly one

My mom said the funniest thing the other day when we were in Athens. The kids were tucked safely away, I can't remember if they were asleep yet or not, it wasn't a quick process there, but a very happy giggly one to listen too. I said to Mom and Dad that Ek was a bit of princess too, just like her mother. Mom replied, 'well with 2 girls in the family, what does that make L?" after a moment thought, she said L must be the court jester. ! so true. She is the bubbliest, happiest, funniest, most curious little thing I know. She says and does more funny things than I could ever recount or retell. What a joy she is.

Satisfied

Tonight is the last evening of our wonderful spring break. Yesterday, on Easter afternoon, I read a book, the entire thing, I do better that way, whose main point was encouraging us to enjoy the life God has given. I really enjoy hearing believers say the same message about our God in different and unique ways. This book, by Brennan Manning, was a work of fiction that told the story of the his life. I have heard Piper say for years that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." As I am thinking on our week, I hope not only God, but also my children and the people around me see that I am enjoying the life God has for me. I enjoyed so much walking around the pond in Athens and watching my kids collect interesting rocks, pine cones and nuts; I loved watching them climb and jump, I love watching them eat ice cream cake and seeing how it gathers all over their faces, hands and clothes, I love holding their hands through a tense movie and seeing and hearing their pondering of the story, I love seeing them sleep (they probably don't see that one), I love playing games with them, I love to read with them, I love knowing them, I love being surprised by them, I loved watching them pet the bunnies through the security of the cage and seeing them run when the door was opened, I loved seeing them so happy to sit next to their cousins, I loved watching them play with their cousins, I love hearing them play, I love watching them swing. What gifts they are. What a gift this time is. Sometimes I think I cannot pick up another toy, or shoe, or wrapper. But I hope, when I get back to them, and can celebrate a successful relay race, and the joy on our faces gives that strength to my back to lean over again and lay out those school clothes for the next day and say, "It was a really great day," or as my Dad would like to hear me say, ''that was a really great game." Lord strengthen my frame tonight with your word and your presence to call all my day good that is spent in your will caring for the gifts of my day.

Spring

Spring is here! Blossoms, sunshine, shorts, flip flops, pollen, swings, open windows, smiles.

Love these almost blooms on the dogwood tree.

And love these happy faces.