A Weekend Away

For the first time since April Bryan and I were without children all weekend. Know what we did? PAINT and PAINT and PAINT some more. But you know what? We LOVE the colors! We are SO looking forward to being in our new house. We know that the next few months are going to be a bit rough monetarily, but we also know that we have great family and friends to help us through. Keep praying for the house!

Goodbye to my Baby

This is Luis. Luis is now, as far as Michael believes, the proud owner of all of Michael's baby blankets. We decided that when Michael turned 4, that he would officially give up his blankets . . . a real Big Boy. We also decided that we were going to Columbia Zoo (which we did last year as well) for Michael's birthday. We were going to go on his actual day, but it poured rain that day and we ended up going swimming at a local workout facility. So, since Gramma was in town today, we decided to make the trek to Columbia. Michael packed up his blankets in a little box, stuffed them in the bottom of the stroller, and off we went. When we got to the giraffes, Michael went to grab the box and said he was going to throw the blankets in to the baby. I told him that we had to talk to a zoo person first. I went and talked to the lady selling lettuce to feed the giraffes and explained the situation. She was definitely willing to play along. Michael excitedly carried the box to her and told her, "These are my blankets for the baby giraffe. He can snoodle with them." The lady told him that Luis would love them, and thanked him for being so sweet. I just about lost my stuff! We then got to feed a giraffe, not the baby, but still, HOW COOL IS THAT!?!? Bryan then went and threw the blankets away. Yes, I kept one for sentimental sake, but as far as Michael knows---no more baby blankets!

Donkey Tales

Today Michael participated in his first church play, Donkey Tales. We were pretty nervous because he had to do the 9:33 service and the 11:00 service. But, to our surprise, he did great! We videotaped it and will be sending a few videos up north for the family's viewing pleasure (it is quite amusing!). Here are a few pictures from today:

Tomorrow our baby boy will be 4 years old! We cannot believe it!!!! We were planning to go to the Columbia Zoo, but we aren't sure the weather is going to cooperate with us. We'll let you know what kind of fun we find. Happy Memorial Day!

HAPPY EASTER

I was trying to be the good Mom this morning and make sure Michael had an understanding of Easter. Turns out, I learned something! This was our conversation (me in blue, MJ in green)
So, Michael why do we celebrate Easter?
So we have Easter candy!
Well, yes, we get candy. But, what does it have to do with Jesus?
Ummmmmm
Well, when Jesus died-
Jesus died for our SKINS
Oh baby, (giggle) yes, he died, for our SINS
Oh, for our sins
and when they went to find him-
he was GONE! He went to be with God in his home that was waiting for him!

For a three year old, that was good enough for me! As my Nana would say, God love him!
HAPPY EASTER everyone. May we remember the best part of Easter as my son put it, we have a HOME waiting for us!

Let the Fun Times BEGIN!

First, let me say sorry to anyone that feels like we have been distant lately. We have spent MANY of our free moments lately getting our house ready to sell. (I am actually procrastinating on a task by doing this blog!) However, tomorrow we sign the official papers that makes it FOR SALE! We are very overwhelmed with this task. It is incomprehensible to us how we are ever going to have the house "show ready" before we walk out the door for work EVERY day. We are generally neat people, but neat and "show ready" are two separate things. This means that we are getting up 10 minutes earlier (now 5:25AM) to tidy up in the mornings---woo hoo! Whenever our house sells we will need a place to rent, another daunting task. Then we will begin to build. So in the midst of all this, we are looking for the right piece of land. There is one 6 minutes past where we live now that is BEAUTIFUL, but it is 6 minutes further out . . . something I am not excited about. We need prayer. Prayer for the house to sell, prayer we can find a place to rent, prayer we find the right piece of land, and prayer that amidst all of this we don't kill each other! If you know anyone looking for a great house---give us a call!

I Hope It's Not to Be

As many of you know, Bryan is visiting his friend Scott in Ohio this weekend (Thursday afternoon-Monday afternoon). I just want everyone to know that I am NOT cut out to be a single mom. So please know that if the day ever came---and oh how I pray that it NEVER will---the boys and I are moving in with one of you!

Thank you to everyone who fed and entertained me this weekend! I truly appreciate the help and humor.

Truly, Madly, Deeply

So this is a bit mushy . . . As many of you know my 8th grade English teacher, OM coach, and much later (4 years ago) colleague passed away Saturday night. She was much too young to be leaving us, but she is finally healthy now after a battle with cancer. It's in these times that we often reflect on what we have and how short life is here on Earth. I feel so blessed to have two wonderful sons that I cannot imagine my life without. But, in this moment I want to thank God for my husband. It is hard for me to express how truly, madly, deeply I am in love with him. He is such a blessing to the boys and I. It's so nice to be almost six years into my marriage and still get butterflies thinking about coming home to him. I love you Bryan!

On a Mission

Once again I will be on a mission to lose weight. Last year I joined the Memorial Mission Hospital's Fit4Life with three other women at my school on a team. One of our teammates has lost almost 100 pounds!!! We are SO proud of her. She amazes me. A single mom of two wonderful girls, a Christian, and a devoted teacher. This year my team is two women, a man, and myself. However, we have 4 teams total at school. I think things could get competitive (at least I hope so!). I have joined a gym and am going with the woman I carpool with most everyday. Bryan and I are also doing Weight Watchers again (it really works!). I am pretty close to the weight I was when I stopped WW last year, I just have to get back to it to lose more. It's not about the pounds for me, it's the size. I am like Colleen from Biggest Loser---I want to be able to go in a store and buy whatever I think looks cute, not have to worry if it comes in my size, or if it should! Anyone else on this endeavor?