Graduation Day

*Lawson (Rod Stewart style) and Caleb*

*Ms. Nancy, Caleb and Ms. Christy*

*If your happy and you know it*

*receiving his diploma and Bible from Ms. Nancy*

*Eating (Caleb, Zane, Lawson, Brett)*

*Levy 2 Year Old Bible Class-2006*


This evening Caleb had his graduation party at church. They have a small ceremony for those coming out of the nursery department to the preschool department. It was a lot of fun. They had a cookie cake, juice and snacks. Then they had a slide show of pictures ranging from the cradle Roll class to the 2 year old class. After the slide show we were entertained by their singing. They sang: Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, If Your Happy and You Know It, and Roll the Gospel Chariot. They did a great job. Then Ms. Nancy handed out their Bibles and Diplomas. The parents got a wonderful treat- a picture book filled with all the photos taken while they were in class. We have a collection of Caleb from a few weeks old through now. Most of Calebs' photos are of him and Claire or Lawson. Unfortunately Claire wasn't there tonight. She wasn't feeling to good but we are going to play with the Noels on Friday for one last playdate till they come through Nashville. The teachers at Levy are so dedicated to teaching the kids about God. They have helped us so much in teaching our children and they will all be missed.

A fond farewell

Today we said goodbye to our friends. Cauy and Hadyn had their last day today and we had a load of fun. We watched Chicken Little and played games. I got some Hadyn snuggle time in this morning. She crawled up in my lap and settled in and said I love you. Talk about making me bawl!! Cauy was running around with the boys and they played hard as usual. They will be missed so much. At least in the fall Cauy and Hadyn will be at the same preschool. Love and hugs to you guys! We will miss you.

Bath for 2....what about the 3rd?

What does Riley do when I give the boys a bath? She sits in her bath chair on the floor beside the bath tub and plays with her daddys hat- of course! She had so much fun watching the boys and playing with the hat on her head. They splashed their animals at her and danced in the tub (sitting on bottoms-quite interesting to watch). Anything involving her brothers is fun to her!

Ian's first 2nd Birthday party

Last night at the farewell party we celebrated Ians second birthday with all his friends. It was nice to be able to do that before we move. After we get to Nashville we will have another party with family at the Nashville Zoo. And just in case you can't see it there is a baseball glove with a baseball cake on the table.

Good Bye Party

We had a "Good Bye" Party last night at the Bewley's home. It was real nice to get to see and talk with our friends. Caleb and Ian got to play with their classmates from church. It was a good time had by all. I didn't get any of the outside festivities but the kids did some swinging, some wagon riding and some tennis ball throwin'. After the adults were tired of pulling the wagon around Lawson and Caleb pulled the kids around. Meme (Emilyn in Ian speak) tried to pull the boys but I think they were a little to heavy for her. We truly appreciate the friendships that we have here. I know the boys will miss their friends immensely and Matt and I will as well. It has been a great 5 years here. Thanks for all the memories!

Sitting up

Riley has been sitting up real well the last few days. She can sit up for at least 5 min at a time. It make her happy because she can now sit on the floor while her brothers play and still feel included in on the fun.

Then and Now

Our sweet baby boy turned two today. I guess that means he can't be my baby any more. He went to the dr today and is in the 50% on height and weight and the 98% on his head. Big head means really smart! :) From being a tiny baby to the toddler that he is today- God is so amazing! Lift a prayer up for Ian today- for a healthy life, to grow in God's wonder and to love unconditionally as he does now. We love you sweet boy!

Family Reunion

This past weekend we had the chance to head to my parents house for a quick family reunion. My cousin Jeremy was graduating from High School and all of my moms family was there. It was so nice to get to see everyone. We hadn't seen my Aunt and Uncle from FL since Matt and I got married and they had never seen the kids. We all had a great time and plan to get together more often. It will be easier when we are actually living in Nashville. The boys put on a show and everyone played with them. They loved all the attention. Riley didn't get spoiled at all! ;) We all got together the day after graduation at my Uncle Gerry and Aunt Candys house and ate ham, wild turkey (which Matt will start hunting soon) and a ton of other food. The boys got a ride on the 4 wheeler and played baseball with pine cones and sticks (Country baseball!). They really wanted to play football with Jeremy and his friends. The guys actually played with them for a while then had their own game. We were all wore out after that whirlwind weekend but it was worth every ounce of sleepiness! Look for pictures coming soon!

Riley update

Well baby girl had her apt last week and she is growing steadily. She now weighs in at a whopping 14 lbs 13 oz (only 8 oz heavier than Garrett who is 2 months) and is in the 35%tile in weight and 30%tile in height. She is sitting up real well now and loves to play with her toys and watch her brothers run around her. We are on meats now. She LOVES to eat. We don't think it will be too long till she is trying to crawl. She pushes up on her hands and has made it onto her knees a few times. I know she is wanting to chase after her brothers. Her brother absolutely adore her and love to talk to her. Caleb gets this really high voice when he talks to her and Both Ian and Caleb get right in her face to make her smile. She is constantly watching them and laughing at them.

What is in a Name??

Caleb has recently begun calling me Marie. It started a few weeks ago when he was up stairs and needed something. Instead of calling Mommy he yelled down "Marie.... Marie......Marie I need help". Needless to say he got ignored till I heard Mommy. I then pretended to not have heard him untill he said Mommy. Caleb then appologized and said I know your mommy "but you have to listen Marie" He has only done it a few times since. But every now and then he sounds just like Matt when he says my name. Luckily Ian has not caught on.

Have to watch this!!!

Ok just got this off of Karole Anns' blog site. It made me laugh- Ahh the memories! :)




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg

2 down, 1 to go

Riley has offically eaten all her fruits and veggies. She is not a huge fan of pears or peaches. But she likes all the others. So maybe we will start meats before we move. The boys are doing great. I think they are excited about moving. They don't understand that they won't be able to go to Emmas house or to Claire and "memes" house, though. I think that will be the hardest transition. But they are young and should end up ok. If not then I guess we have a ton of therapy on our hands! ;)

Mothers Day

Today was a wonderful Mothers Day. I am probably the only woman in the world that was really excited to get exercise equipment on Moms day! ;) But I am so excited. I can finally start working out to loose all the baby weight. I am so happy. Hopefully it won't wake Matt up in the morning. But he will get use to it- He'll have to!

Today CAC had their graduation. The kids and I didn't make it to the actual ceremony but we went to Mandy's party. It is hard to believe that she is now a high school graduate. I am sad that we will not be here to watch her go through college and eventually get married. But I hope that we will still get to see her and talk to her through out her life. The boys LOVE her! In church this morning Caleb saw a girl with blonde hair and said "there is Mandy. I want to see her. I want to give her a hug". We told him that wasn't her and he was not too pleased. At her party Riley showed her exactly how much she loved Mandy- she snuggled, she cooed, she puked on her. Thats right- Nailed Mandy almost in her mouth and down the front. If Mandy hadn't closed her mouth in time there would have been other issues. Needless to say that made everyone laugh (even Mandy had a great sense of humor). Mandy's brother Matt, her Uncle Jeff and her brother-in-law Scott played with the boys and they had a ton of fun! We are really proud of Mandy and the woman that she is.

Well I am off to bed. Have to get up early to test out the new machine!

Happy Day

Happy Mothers Day!!

Happy Birthday!

To the BEST teenager/ babysitter in the central AR area (and possibly the world):



Happy 18th Birthday Mandy!!!



We Love you!

Matt, Marie, Caleb, Ian and Riley

Aahhh....sleep

How wonderful is it to have a baby that sleeps through the night??? We have been blessed immensely- Riley has begun sleeping through the night. :) I know sounds funny to be so excited, but when you usually get chunks of sleep in 2-3 hour increments you are so excited to get more than that! Although I can tell my body is having to adjust. I have been waking up tired but soon I will be back to "normal". The boys wake up occasionally (like when they think the creaking of the ceiling fan is a monster) but you really don't have to fully wake up to get them back in bed.

We will be heading to TN next weekend. My cousin is graduation HS and we are going to check out some areas and homes close to Vandy. It will be nice. My Aunt and Uncle from FL will be up and they will FINALLY get to meet my kids. Caleb is 3 and they have yet to meet him. Its sad- I know. There are lots of my family who have yet to meet the kids. We are all so spread out that when you only ever go to 2 states that doesn't leave much room to go to others. Not that only going to see the Grandparents is a bad thing, but one day they will get to meet them.

The boys and I made chocolate chip cookies on Tuesday. It was a ton of fun. Slightly messy but they had a blast! I think we will make another batch today. We have shared them with our friends so the boys want to make more. I will try to get some pictures of the baking boys soon. Love to all-

Moving Date Set

Well we finally have a date for the move. Matt will offically start on June 5th. So we will be moving out probably the thursday or friday before. I think we will have a moving company come and box things up and move them for us since the company pays for it. Then we will live in temp. housing for a little while if our home has not sold yet. It might be tight but we will make it. So we might be moving on my birthday, but that is ok. After you hit a certain age they really tend not to be a big deal anymore. I'll just make us eat at a really nice restraunt on our way there! :)

Open House

Well we had our first (and hopefully only ) Open House yesterday. They are just so hard when you have more than one kid. Matt stayed home from church to get the "little things" done and I took the kiddos to church. It was senior Sunday and I wanted to be there to see all the seniors get their Bible. Caleb saw Mandy up there and really, I mean REALLY wanted to get down and go see her. He wanted to give her a hug and tell her he loved her!! How sweet was that! Almost made me cry. Then came the slide show. I must admit- I get slightly teary-eyed at them. It is just so neat to see them when they were little kids (age of mine) and then to see them grow. I had planned on going to the lunch after church but decided I wasn't going to since Ian was crying for daddy.

We went home changed and got Matt. We then had a grand total of 4 1/2 hours to burn outside the home. :) We did what any other parents of 3 would do- Went to Chuck E. Cheese. It was nice. Not crowded and the kids had fun and ate! Ian was a little freaked out when Chuckie came running out around the corner. He bolted into Matt's arms. But he warmed up to him later and gave him a high five. Caleb was a dancing man- he boogied to the music with Chuckie. After our adventure there we went to the Soccer fields to let the kids sleep in the car. That never happened- once I turned the car off Caleb woke up and was ready to play. Then came Ian and Riley. But we had a ton of fun running around the fields. A little girl asked the boys to play soccer with her. They were so cute on the field. I know Soccer players are not supposed to be cute- but they were. They played their hearts out.

Once we finally got home we found that we actually had several couples attend and that there were 2 really interested. We are hoping that one of those couples if not both will make us an offer. I don't see us moving before the end of the month, but anything is possible. Caleb's Bible teacher asked us to be here for the 2 year graduation the last Wed in May, so we plan to stay here for that. Apparently they do a little ceremony and move them up to the 3 year old class. We found out there are several boys that ask for Caleb in there. So there are boys for him to play with there. We just need to figure out who they are! :)

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Please continue to pray that our home sells quickly and that we are able to as one family and not be spread out between here and Nashville.

Trying Hard

Riley is trying to sit up. She does the whole tummy to the floor sitting right now. But we are getting better. If we can get her feet in the right position and get her arms proped up right them she can sit like that for about 5 min. Then we tumble to the floor. She is getting to be such a big girl.

1 little peoples singing bus

2 Spiderman art tables

2 young boys with imaginations and loads of laughter


Pricelss.....

Change

Well it has been said that Change is a good thing- In this case it is. After prayerful consideration and thought we have decided to move our family to Nashville, TN. Matt has taken a job with Vanderbilt University. Although this job will lead us away from our many friends it brings us closer to family and undicsovered friendships. We are truly looking foward to what God has in store for us. I believe that this opportunity has opened doors for us. With Matt working at Vanderbilt, I will be able to return to school and get my masters and the kids could attend there at a discounted price (always a good thing). There are many churches there that will allow us the opportunity to worship and be involved in many areas. It will be hard to leave the friends we have made at Levy. Many thanks to the cradle roll and toddler teachers for teaching our children to hold and share the love of God and for loving them so much.

We will not be leaving for a little while but will be busy in the process of getting ready. Please pray that our home will sell quickly and that the transition will go well for our family.