It is Finished!

My wonderful husband has finished a grand project in our backyard! I am so impressed with him! I would love to share a picture journal with you...

It all started when we sat outside on our wonderful cement patio baking in the sun. We got the brilliant idea to build a patio cover!

So began the project. My fabulous husband worked so hard on the framing and building of this great idea...then it came time for the painting...oh yuck...

So, last weekend we promised each other that it was going to get done! So, we papered EVERYTHING and prepared it to be sprayed.

Then M rose bright and early on Saturday to spray his little heart out. He sprayed and he sprayed and he sprayed. Doesn't he look pretty?

I was SO impressed with the finished product! We then went and purchased a table (which took me 2 1/2 hours to put together - totally worth it). And here it is! My husband is my hero!

Loving Being Home

So, I called M at work yesterday and said, "Have I told you how happy I am being at home?" I know without a doubt that God has called me to be at home with my children. I am having a BALL! And I'm getting a lot done around the house! Go figure! It is fun for M to come home and look around to see what crazy little task I have gotten accomplished that particular day. :)

Today a few of the tasks included changing sheets and sweeping and mopping the floors. Little B is SUCH a big help! In order to make Z's bed, I have to climb up the ladder and "sit" on his bed. Of course Little B wanted to "help" me. She climbed right on up, sat down across from me, and said, "I have special time with you." :) That is what A calls just sitting with me on my bed and talking. I asked, "What do you want to do during our special time?" She laid on her back and said, "Um.......Um.......sing songs with you!" How could I resist? Later while I was sweeping in the hallway, she squeezed by me and said, "Excuse me!" I asked her if I was in her way. She replied, "Just a little bit." My days are filled with special conversations like this!

Little B LOVES to play in the water in the sink! She was making a birthday cake here...

...and washing with BUBBLES here!

The boys are enjoying VBS this week. They are learning about Jonah! We are so blessed to attend an amazing church where the boys have many friends with whom they learn about Jesus! I am so proud of their desire to memorize their verses and tell others about what they have learned each day.

Many of you know about the devastating fire that we had near Chico. Many families lost homes. It has been a very hard time for many. Little B asks to pray for the fire every time we pray. And the boys ask what we can do to help. M has had many curious customers the last few days asking about fire safes. Please pray for him to be a light in his store!

Couldn't Resist...

Hello again! I just couldn't resist adding this video. Little B got a new tricycle at a yard sale at a student's home (of all places!) She loves it! She is still a bit too little for it, but you can't tell her that! :)

Where God Guides...

I realize that I have failed to update you on some important aspects in our lives! Let me take this time to do so!

Little B had her ENT appointment one month ago. There we found that she will need to have her tonsils and adenoids out as well as have tubes placed in her ears. Her hearing test showed that her hearing is poor! That is due to the size of her adenoids and the fluid behind her ears that is not draining. Our bodies are SO amazing! Only an Almighty God could have created such finite beings! Today we went to the doctor for ANOTHER sinus infection. I have lost track of how many times she has been on antibiotics in the last six months. Absolutely crazy! We are praying that this procedure is going to help! We are waiting on authorization and then will make our appointment. It looks like it will probably happen this summer. Even though her tonsils are TOUCHING, she is still talking up a storm...the doctor said today that she sounds like she has a potato stuck in her throat. That sounds comfy! She obviously is not letting it stop her...she sings and talks away!

Z is SO thrilled for summer to be here. He is mostly excited about the fact that he is finished with homework. Then when he realized that he will not have homework next school year, he almost passed out! :) I told him that ALL of the work that we will be doing will be at home, therefore no homework. He is a happy guy! Z is starting to attempt "tricks" on his bike. He follows in his daddy's footsteps...you should have seen them this evening!

Baseball season is over and A had a ball! We were so proud of him! He learned so much. A is also excited to be out of school, although he misses his friends SO much! He is having a sweet friend over for a play date in two more days. He was thrilled to be able to talk to her on the phone yesterday. It was all that he could talk about for the rest of the afternoon!

As a family, we were blessed to head to Brookings, OR to visit my grandparents last week. B was thrilled to see the ocean and play on the beach. Her favorite part of the trip was driving through the tunnel (we honked the horn and she thought it was hilarious)! Now anytime we drive under an overpass she yells, "Tunnel!" The boys' favorite part of our trips to Brookings is watching cartoons...grandma and grandpa have a lot more channels than we do. They get their fill while we are there, that's for sure! M and I enjoyed spending time with my grandparents, resting and relaxing away from reality for a few days, and painting B's fingernails for the first time! (Ok...that was one of MY favorite parts.) :) B could not wait to go to grandma's so she could have her fingernails painted "PINK"!

So, we are looking forward to our summer of fun and relaxation before we begin the journey called homeschooling. :) I'm sure that we will have lots of blogs about that too! As we pray about finances and wisdom in this next journey, we hold onto the truth: Where God guides, God provides!

Crazy Morning

As we near (4 more days) the end of the school year, we are ALL looking forward to not living by a SCHEDULE! So, the last few weekends we have been trying to enjoy some lounging time in the mornings. But little B just hasn't gotten the memo. Last Sunday, she meandered into our bedroom sometime around 6...we were NOT ready to be awake. We asked her nicely to go back to her bedroom to play...sometime later we woke up to our beautiful daughter looking like this:

She was trying to undress herself...and put on a swim diaper...we had just purchased a kiddie pool earlier in the weekend...her new favorite place to be! What I was unable to capture on film, was the MESS that she had made on one of our couches. She decided to put "medicine" (desitin) on the couch and proceeded to RUB it in. This upset M a little bit...before he could see the humor in it, he began to clean it up...so I have no evidence to show you. Let's just say, the couch will not have diaper rash for quite some time!

Changes, Changes, Changes...

Our poor little B has suffered from tonsillitis (again). She is being referred to an ENT to check things out further. She has been on many antibiotics over the past six months. In the above video you might be able to "hear" just how swollen her little tonsils were. She is doing much better now...so is mommy. We had a few nights of sleeping upright in a chair to allow the poor little one to breathe! When B wasn't laying around feeling yucky, she was singing her little heart out. I finally got it on video and am thrilled to share it with you!

A is still enjoying playing baseball. He is having a great time and is learning the game quickly! Our class is going on a skating field trip this week and we also have our annual speech meet in our classroom. He is VERY much looking forward to each day of school!

Z just got a new pair of glasses. He was so proud as he went to school for the first time with them. Unfortunately, no one noticed, but he was sure to tell as many people as possible. :) Z is looking forward to what we have in store this summer...VBS, flag football camp, and a trip to Six Flags with my family! Woo Hoo!

M just biked the Flat Flower...a bike ride put on in Chico every year. He rode 60 miles on Sunday morning and had a ball! I am SO proud of my husband! We are now calling him King of the 60 miles etc... Z would sarcastically ask, "Now, how many miles did you ride?" because M told us many times how far he had actually gone. That IS pretty amazing though!

Ok...ok...now for the changes that I have been talking about! Through many circumstances, we have decided to home school next year! We are all very excited about this new chapter. God has opened EVERY door possible. I just have to stand back in awe of all that He has done to bring us to this place. It also brings with it a little bit of anxiety. We would love your prayers as M makes decisions about his store. He feels that God is telling him to wait for now...we just don't know how long that will be. Please pray for wisdom for my amazing husband. He SO desires to lead his family where God wants us to go! I know that God has opened the door for me to be at home with all three of our wonderful children, so He will provide for our financial needs as well. We are just not sure what that is going to look like!

Spring is in the air...

Spring is such a wondeful season! You should see the trees here in our hometown...they are blooming brightly with very colorful flowers. What a sight! In our family, spring also means bike riding, baseball playing, and lots more outdoor fun!

Our Big Z is now 9. I can hardly believe where the time has gone. He is growing in every area of his life. We are so proud of him. He has officially grown out of his "little kid" bike. Daddy was thrilled to have a mission of finding him a nice "new" bicycle. Daddy was successful and Z was SO excited to find his new treasure in the back of his daddy's truck. M had asked him if he wanted to go for a bike ride...Z excitedly ran out to the garage to discover that his "little kid" bike was nowhere to be found. He began to panic, but followed M's suggestion to go searching for it. Upon opening the back of the big truck, Z was surprised to find a very exciting replacement. What a fun birthday surprise!

A is playing baseball this spring. He is having a BALL! He is doing "coach-pitch", which is a perfect starting point for him. We are so proud of his great sportsmanship and the huge smile that he carries throughout the entire game. Z and B are his biggest fans. They make up quite a cheering section!

Our little B is quite the singing sensation. She always seems to have a song in her heart. Whether it is the ABC's or Jesus Loves Me. Boy does she melt our hearts when she sings away. You can often find her coloring (with her left hand) while she sings and sings and sings. On some days her ABC's end like this...Q, R, S, Y, and Z..now I know my ABCD next time won't you sing with me. On a good day she actually sings the whole thing through! I can't believe the things she knows!

We are looking at a lot of changes in our future. Through all of the prospects, we know that God is in control and that He has a MIGHTY plan for our little family. Sometimes it amazes me to sit back and think that God can hear my prayers (my problems) at the same time that He is listening to others' as well! We serve an amazing God. We are so thankful that He listens to us and wants what is best for our family. Please pray that we will see what He has for us!