St. George Island Trip

We were so blessed to be able to spend a week at a Beach House in St. George Island, Florida with our family!! It was a fun-filled, memorable week and we all had a blast! The kids loved playing in the sand and finding shells, and the beach was absolutely gorgeous!

Summer Fun With Friends

The kids absolutely loved playing in this Slip-N-Slide at our friend's house! It was so much fun!

Our Garden...

Isaiah 58:11
And the Lord shall satisfy thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Cute Little Turtle

This little guy was trying to cross the road when we were coming home from the grocery store one morning! We stopped and "rescued" him!! The kids were totally fascinated and had so much fun playing with him. We showed Daddy when he got home from work, and then (very unhappily on Ellie's part!) released him back into the wild. Ellie was sad because she didn't think he would be able to find his mother and she "wanted to be his new mother!" :)

MFW - Insect Unit

We really enjoyed the Insect unit in the My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum we are using for Ellie's school!! She has learned so much, and Chris and I have been so thankful for her teachable spirit. Our just-turned-four-year-old has started to read many things on her own and it is very exciting! She asks to do school time everyday (although we're taking it slow and doing Kindergarten in two years and just schooling two or three days per week). We are half-way through the curriculum now and excited about what Ellie has learned. For the insect unit we enjoyed setting up an ant farm... it was pretty funny that we were killing unwanted ants in one part of the house and feeding them in another! Josiah also loves joining in on the fun activities that we do and especially enjoyed the ants!

Mother's Day 2010

What a special and memorable Mother's Day I had this year! Ellie and I sang a duet in church during the morning service that we learned together called "My Mother's Gentle Love" and she did such a wonderful job!! (I didn't get any pictures of this, just video!) We had a wonderful lunch at our house with my sweet in-laws and Chris' grandmother. The night before Ellie and I went to a Mother/Daughter Dinner at church with my mom and also had a special time togther. Chris and the kids gave me Starbucks gift cards and several (six!!) sweet cards! It was a wonderful day and I'm so thankful for my family!

Friends

God has blessed us with many wonderful friends. What a blessing it is to get together for encouragement and fellowship! We are so happy they Ellie and Josiah have little friends to play with and pray that these relationships will grow and thrive as they get older!

My Little Homemaker!

Ellie is becoming such a wonderful help to me in the kitchen! There are several jobs that she loves to do and actually does them well - chopping bananas for the freezer to use in smoothies, scrubbing potatoes for dinner, prepping squash and zucchini to fry, rinsing dishes... I am really amazed! My prayer is that in a few years she will learn to do many more things by herself and enjoy helping. Titus 2:5 talks about older women teaching the younger to be "keepers at home". I am thankful that my mother taught me these skills, and I am excited about teaching Ellie!

Mommy and Josiah Date!

Ellie spent the day at Dollywood with Granna and Papaw, and Josiah and I enjoyed a fun morning together just mommy and boy! :) We went to storytime at the Library, did some shopping, rode the train at the mall, and met Daddy for lunch! Love my sweet little guy!

Playing Together

Ellie and Josiah play so well together.... most of the time! :) I love watching Ellie's imagination run wild and Josiah joining in on the fun! They love playing with the laundry basket on laundry day... these particular times they used it to sit on and watch a video, and to pretend to go fishing like Laura Ingalls!

Elliana's Fourth Birthday

Our precious Elliana turned four-years-old on April 20, 2010! She is one of the most wonderful blessings God has ever given to us! Her cheerful disposition, loving heart, hunger to learn about the world around her, and her spunky attitude brightens our day and brings a smile to our face! We love you, sweet Ellie Joy!!