Abby turns 2!!!

Our precious baby girl turned 2 today! It has been a blessing to be her mother and watch her grow and learn. Here is a glimpse into her life...

My Favorite Toy is...little & big trampoline, Radio Flyer jumpy horse, and anything that plays music

My Favorite Book is...My 1st Word Touch and Feel Book

My Favorite Food is...avocados, cheese, tomatoes, blueberries, mandarin oranges, pretzels, fruit snacks

My Favorite Song is...'If You're Happy and You Know It...'

My Favorite Things To do are...wrestle with Daddy, jump on the trampoline, play with Drew Drew and Kate

My Favorite Word is.....NoooOOOOoo

My Favorite Time of Day is....early mornings with just Mommy

I Can't Go To Sleep Without...glo worm, ru ru, and at least 4 mimis

I Am Most Happy When...I can run and play with no restrictions, especially if it's outside.

I Get Angry When...someone tries to help me when I don't need help.

7 Words That Describe Me...social, driven, enthusiastic, demanding, outgoing, independent, stubborn

Interesting Vocabulary

Pacifier = Ru Ru
Blanket = Mimi
Andrew = Drew Drew
Yes = Uh Huh (said with great enthusiasm)
Please = Pleaaassseee (high pitched, squinty eyes, with sign language)
Jewelry, Hair Bows = Prebbies

In just 2 short years, Abby has worked her way into every one of our hearts. We all adore her. She has a smile that will brighten up a room, she gives the all-time best hugs, and she makes us all laugh everyday. Her joy and enthusiasm for life is a reminder to slow down and enjoy the 'now'.

Happy Birthday baby girl. I love you.

Kate's Last Day of School!

Today is Kate's last day of school! We are SO excited that summer is here! This school year has gone by so fast.

   This is Kate on the 1st day of school!     

                                     

And here is Kate on the last day of school!

CRAZY hair day!

Awanas Awards Night

This year our family has been fully involved in our church's first year of Awanas. Kate is in Cubbies and Andrew is in Sparks. Josh and I volunteered to be Sparks leaders. We each had a group of 8 kindergarten thru 2nd graders. Our role, other than to keep them under control, was to help them learn their verses each week. Throughout the year each clubber learned over 30 Bible verses as well as the New Testament books of the Bible. Even though Wednesday nights were CRAZY (getting everyone fed and out the door before 6), we are so glad that we participated. A child's heart is so open to God and Scripture and it was a blessing to see these children grow and learn.

The last Awanas meeting was the Awards Ceremony. Each clubber who finished their book was awarded a ribbon and recognized on stage. The Cubbies (Kate) stood up on stage and sang some of the songs they had learned throughout the year. Kate was in the front row and was the most animated one on stage.

Andrew is the exact opposite of Kate when it comes to being on stage. He says being up in front of 'hundreds' of people is the one thing he hates the most. It helped that Josh was his leader, so they were on stage together. It was special for Josh to be the one who gave Andrew his award. I am very proud of Andrew for finishing his book this year. He had a very busy year with starting kindergarten. He had a weekly memory verse, as well as a poem to memorize once a month for school. Add memorizing 2 verses a week for Sparks, and I was overwhelmed. It is really amazing the ability that children's minds have to memorize. The best part is that he has retained everything that he memorized. Here are some pictures of Andrew receiving his certificate and award ribbon .You can see in his eyes how excited he was!

Tulips in Bloom!

Last weekend we went to Warde-Mead Park to have some pictures taken of the kids. Abby is nearly impossible to get pictures of these days. She just wants to run as fast as she can in the opposite direction of the camera. It can definitely get frustrating. I haven't gotten the professional pictures back yet, but since they were all dressed up, I decided to bring my camera and take some pictures afterward. I just followed Abby around the park snapping pictures as often as I could.

The next picture is what happened when Abby got in trouble for biting the tulips!

Happy Easter

This Easter season was one that I will hold dear in my heart forever. Andrew has grown to an age that he can fully comprehend the true meaning of Easter. While bunnies, candy and egg hunts are fun, he now knows exactly what happened two thousand years ago. I was able to teach him with a set called Resurrection Eggs. There are 12 eggs and inside each egg is a key part of Jesus' death and resurrection. The great part was that not only did Andrew and I go through this, but he was able to put all of the eggs in order and tell the rest of our family the Easter story with great detail. It was such a blessing to see him excited to learn and teach about Jesus' life. We went to Good Friday service with Andrew and he took part in his first communion. Since we had been learning all about the last supper, he knew exactly what he was taking part in. It was definitely an Easter to never forget.

Of course we still did the 'fun' stuff, dying Easter eggs, baskets, and egg hunts. Abby was all about looking for candy filled eggs. As soon as she'd find one, she would want to open it and eat it before looking for more. She definitely has her mommy's sweet tooth! And nothing could be more fun for Kate than to be able to wear the prettiest dress in her closet. She had her eye on it for months!

Spring Break 2010

This year for spring break the four of us were blessed with the opportunity to go to Estes Park. We were able to leave Abby with Mimi and Papa (thank goodness, since it's a 9 hour drive!), and spend 4 days in the mountains. We went hiking, snow shoeing, snow tubing, and rock climbing. We all had a fabulous time. The first day was sunny and 55 degrees. The next day it was a serious blizzard with at least 10 inches of snow. And the rest of the time was snow covered, sunny and beautiful. We were able to see the mountains in 3 different landscapes. It was great to spend some one-on-one time with the 2 older kids. They are growing up so quickly and it's such a blessing to slow down and focus only on them.

We were driving in the middle of the city and right in the middle of a field was a huge heard of elk. Later the same day when we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park we saw more and more with bigger and bigger antlers.

Since it was snowing so hard, we headed into town to let the kids try rock climbing. Andrew is always climbing trees, so we knew he'd be good at it. He flew to the top in no time at all. Even as the walls became more challenging he never slowed down.

The surprise during the rock climbing was how good Kate did. She had no fear and never slowed down. Quite impressive for a 4 year old.

Throughout the entire trip we kept seeing that Andrew is such a natural in the mountain enviroment. He loved every minute of it and was so coordinated with it all. While Josh and I were slipping and sliding all over the path, Andrew was treking through with no problems whatsoever. We really look forward to going back in the summer so we can hike to different lakes and waterfalls that were still frozen.