Growing

Riley has been testing out her jumper. I know once she figures out how to jump in it she will be off.












Caleb is growing so fast. He is very smart and loves to learn. He sings all the time and is such a good big brother.















Ian is getting to be such a big kid. He copies his brother in everything. He is talking very well and learns new things everyday.






Matt and I are so proud of our kids. We know they are not perfect but they try real hard to please us and be good. They get excited to go to Bible class and always want to go. We are so happy to have the wonderful teachers at Levy that we do. They have taught our children so much about God and we thank them for it!

Tuckered Out

All four of my sweet hearts were tired after the Levy Church Garage Sale last weekend. Matt was a wonderful hubby and got up at 5:30 to take our stuff over and help set up. After the kids woke up we went over to help out. We had a TON of stuff there and a lot of people stopped by. There were several famlies that brought stuff to sell and then many famlies at the church donated stuff to sell. All the procedes from items donated went to the Haiti mission fund. It will help people get down there to teach others about God and to help with their schooling. The boys had a hay day with all the toys there. We bought the kids some dinosaurs and a power ranger toy (car and guy). Then Ted gave us some of his "boy"toys. So the kids are all set! Matt took all the kids home after lunch for a nap while I stayed and helped man the stations a little longer. When I got home I found my hubby and sweet girl asleep on the recliner. She was so cute in her Daddys arms! We were all worn out from that day and I was a little red! :) Not being in FL for 9 years makes your skin lighter so I don't tan as quickly. I turned red but I still haven't peeled so I don't think I will. (YEAH!!!) All in all we raised about 1500 for the Haiti mission work. We made out pretty well ourselves.

Yum!

Well Riley offically loves carrots and squash. She keeps up with her brothers reputation in the eating department. So I might have 3 eating me out of house and home when they are teenagers. :) But she would eat till she popped if I let her. I have to stop her so that she will still drink some formula. But she loves that she gets to eat meals with us know. Caleb watches hereat and tells her to "chew and don't spit your food out". She just laughs at hime and continues to "buzz" her food out. She is growing quite a bit. She is starting to get a little chunky in the belly and legs but she is still small. Crazy to think she will be six months in May.

The boys are dong wonderful. Matt and I have determined that we have some jocks on our hands (the sweet and nice kind!). Everything is a sport. They are into baseball, basketball and soccer. We went to the park at the soccer feilds the other day and the boys were ready to run out there and play. So next year I think we will get them in t-ball. They also love dinosaurs. Basically they are true boys. They are a ton of fun and keep me on my toes. This morning we were in their room playing and Caleb said " Want to be a boy mommy? We have a lot of fun!". And that they do.

Prayers

There are so many things that I am thankful for: Great friends, extended family (mine and my hubbys) and my husband and kids. Life is so much easier when you have these things. Danny Sullivan taught the class last night and he was discussing prayer. I really enjoyed listening to him and it really got me thinking about it. I prayed the same way for my entire life up till about 6 years ago. Laura Bull and I were praying together and I realized at that moment exactly what the purpose of prayer was. Now some of you are going to say "Duh- you're just now figuring that out", but it was an eye opener for me. I realized that you don't have to have structure, you can say what ever you want. You can praise God for everything and anything that is in your heart and mind. It is great to praise Him. You can also "ask" for things, but the main reason of prayer is to praise Him- to know Him- to communicate with Him and to form a relationship with Him. Now I will be honest- I don't pray as often as I think I should. The business of the day gets to me and I loose track of time. There are lots of things I don't get to in my day, but that is one thing I HAVE to get to. I have to make the time. I have to set time aside to do this. So I am learning and growing every day. Slowly but surely I will get there.

Anyway, just pray for our family as we search out God's will for us. And that we will listen to it when we hear it.

Rice Cereal

Well Riley is officially on solids. SHe is doing real good at eating the cereal. I knew she would be. I had started her on some before we went on vacation and then decided to wait till after vaation to really start it. It would have been to difficult to do it on vacation. But she eats every meal with us and she likes it think so I think I wil be starting her on veggies with in the next 2 weeks!

Hoppy Easter

Easter was fun for all of us. The Easter Bunny came early for our kids. He came to our home on Saturday after dinner this year. Since Matt and I teach on Sunday mornings we wanted to make sure that we made it there on time. So they got their treats early. Then on Sunday they got to do an Easter Egg hunt during Bible Hour. It was fun. We got to head out first for the 3 and under group. They could each get 5 eggs and then the older kids would start their hunt. Matt and Caleb did good and racked up the goods. Ian saw so many eggs he wasn't sure where to start. He got his 5 and kept looking for a baseball egg. Then after the big kids came out he found a bunch of empty eggs and was so escited to get them. At least he doesn't care about the inside stuff yet! Needless to say we are in the "Candy Moderator" mode. Every 2 seconds I hear "Can I have some Candy?....I reeeaaally want some candy". Pretty cute. But we don't need some hyped up kids- they are that way on their own already. Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Pictures

Beautiful kids aren't they??

Home....

Well we are finally home from the travels. It was really nice to see everyone and yet it is nice to be home too. The boys were excited to be home and in their own beds. And they were absolutly elated when their freinds showed up on Monday morning! They all traveled good. Riley had the most difficult time. She is not use to being in the car seat for more than 2 hours. Caleb wanted to get out about half way to Kentucky. But all in all the trip went well. We got to see Heathers tummy and she is a beautiful prego woman. We spent time with the family and enjoyed attending the Southeast Christian worship sevice. It was pretty neat. They have a worship team and a band. It really was not that distracting but if you don't listen to the contempary artists you might not know the songs. They had the words so you cold catch on. Matt and I both enjoyed the preacher and his message. The boys loved class (durring worship). They were worried when it took us longer than 2 min to pick them up after the bell. They thought I forgot them and Ian was crying. But when you sit up in a balcony that takes 2 flights of stairs to get down it takes you a while! :) Anyway it was a really neat experience.
After our time in Kentucky we headed to Tennessee to visit the other half of the family. Dad and Matt spent ample time with the guns and the kids had fun with us ladies. The only not so fun time was when we lost power when all the storms went through TN. My parents live south of Nashville so they were not hit but a small tornado went down the hwy that their power runs from so we were with out power for a while. And trying to handle 3 kids when they can't understand why things don't work at the moment was interesting! But it came back on we never got so much as a little wind and a few rain drops (thank goodness!)
Matts new truck ran well for us! We are glad to have it. It make sence for us to have one since Matt will be hunting and I really don't want a dead dear in the back of the van!! :) Let me suggest that if you get a truck and you have kids- get the crew cab! There is plenty of room!

Sorry no pictures from the vacation. We left in a hurry and I forgot it.