Flowers Anyone?

Even though I really like getting "real" flowers, I thought the kids and I could paint some flowers and then they would last a lot longer! Flowers for all!

Pride Goes Before the Fall

After a few days of no training wheels, Karis learned how to balance and ride her bike! It is always good to cheer our children on and tell them how great they are doing. Here, out of the mouth of MY babe, she speaks God's truth, "Pride comes before the fall!"

Adventure is out there!

Two beautiful days mean two days at the park. Yesterday, the kids and I met some friends and their kids at Noah's ark park. Today, after school, waiting for our artwork to dry, we decided to go to the park with the lake to feed the ducks. Feeding the ducks was fun, but the best part was listening to Noah yell out,"adventure is out there," before he slid down the slide. Fun times!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Surprise from my Sweetheart

My wonderful and handsome husband took me out to dinner on Valentine's Day.

At dinner, he read me his first attempt at a poem:

Glorify the Lord with Me

You are my sweetheart, my only one,

You are a precious gift purchased by the Son.

I love you more now than ever,

I will never stop loving you, no never.

Thank you for your gracious care,

A great wife like you is extremely rare.

My affection for you is deeper than I can write,

When you walk in a room, things get really bright.

Glorify the Lord with me, together let us exalt His name,

May our marriage make much of Jesus and bring Him fame.

After this great surprise came another one: (a box to open, it has been along time since I have gotten jewelry from Justin). HE DID REALLY GOOD!

Thank you sweetheart for your heartfelt attempt at a poem and for my necklace. I will treasure them both and continue to thank our Savior who gave you to me!

Winter Art

After Karis expressed her love of "doing art" like Ms. Lori does, I decided it was time to reach out of my comfort zone and "do some art!" Thanks to some great ideas from some websites from Lori and my other friend Tess, we have been successful at our first attempts. (I have even realized that I like to paint and draw among other things). I defiantly still feel more at home on the a softball field, basketball court, or a workout room, but hey, branching out isn't so bad. (I have no dreams of being an artist, but maybe one day Karis will be). I am thankful for my friends who have encouraged me and spurred me on in this, but mostly I love seeing my little girls eyes light up when she is "creating her masterpiece!"

Without further adieu, here are two of our latest projects:

Our first project was a snowman family portrait. Karis and I did this one.

I am sure you can guess which one is mine, Karis' snowmen are much skinnier than mine!

Next, we did penguin in the snow after studying them. Karis and Noah did these. I had to help Noah a lot, but he really enjoyed the "paint that got all over him!"

From the hand of Karis

LOVE IS...

Rainy days mean....

running and sliding down the hallway with sock feet, with Calvin following close behind and trying to to "bust it" as they come to a STOP!

Karis' Birthday Recap

Karis' birthday fell on a Monday this year, which meant that Justin was home for the entire day because it is his day off. What a treat for Karis. Her one wish for the day was to "stay home all day," (that is the same thing she wanted to do last year, hmm, maybe we go too much?)


We started off the morning with her requested special breakfast, cinnamon rolls, these are homemade courtesy of the PW (Pioneer Woman). Yummy! After breakfast we played and enjoyed being together until we opened presents. We had a special visitor, Ms. Nancy, came and brought Karis her gift.

She was so excited to get her doll, Eva, is her name. She has not stopped "mothering" Eva since she got her!

Karis and Eva

We did go to lunch at Moe's our favorite place to eat, via her request. She got money from her Aunt Courtney, and we asked her if she wanted to go to Target and buy something and she reminded us that we were staying home ALL DAY!

After lunch we did another birthday tradition:

I measured her to see how much she has grown: almost 2 inches since last year!

After dinner of pork chops, broccoli, corn, and salad with feta, our friends the Brooks and Powells came over to celebrate and eat cake with us.

Karis and Eva

Karis decided on a "My Little Pony" cake this year. I decided to just do a regular cake instead of a BIG sheet cake so we wouldn't have so much left over!

Karis blowing out her candles with her friends.

We had a wonderful day sweet Karis, we love you so much!