I'm back!!!

Oh my!  I knew that it had been a while since I updated this blog...but 2 months?!  I had no idea it had been that long.  There have been so many things that have happened since I posted last!  My Nathan turned 4 in October. Wow!!!  I can't believe he is already so old.

My birthday boy! =)

He is such a fun part of my life.  I love how his whole body smiles when he is happy.  For those of you that don't personally know him, when he smiles, his whole body wiggles.  He can't even help it.  He radiates joy.

Today Hannah is 6 months old!  It has gone by so fast already!  I can't believe that in just 6 short months that she will be 1!!  If the next 6 months go by as quickly as the last, it will be too fast.  She is so fun and has such a sweet personality.  She is rolling all over the place.  When you lay her down in one place, you never know where you are going to find her when you check on her next.  

Hannah eating her first bite of cereal.  Can't you see how much she loved it?

Joseph is still enjoying the 1st grade.  He is so smart!  A little too smart for his own good if you ask me. =)  He loves being the biggest brother so much.  He's getting so tall and is growing up before my very eyes.  He is turning into such a sweet Godly young man and I can't wait to see what He has in store for Joseph's life.

Joseph holding Hannah

This photo captures my children PERFECTLY!!!

C.V. Pickett

  5 days after Nathan's birthday, my grandfather went to be with the Lord.  He was a wonderful man and will be missed greatly.  For my prayer warrior friends, please pray for peace and comfort for my grandmother as she learns to live life without her husband.











James is doing great!  He is working a lot, which is nothing new.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband that works so hard to take care of all of us.  He is my knight in shining armor. xoxo

James and me at Nathan's party

Anyway, that's us lately.  I'm gonna try a little harder to make sure I keep up with this thing in the future!  Blessings!

What did you say?

My boys say the funniest things.  Here are a couple of recent comments to share:

Me: "Nathan, get your foot off the wall."
Nathan:  "I like to."
Me:  "Well I'm sorry you feel that way because you may not put your feet on the wall.  You will make black spots on the wall."
Nathan:  "Some people have black walls."
:-D

Dropping Joseph off at school:
Me: "I love you kiddo.  Have a good day at school."
Joseph: "I love you.  I'll miss you."
Me:  "I'll miss you too sweetie."
Joseph:  "I was talking to Hannah."
ROFLOL!

I love those little cuties!

Joseph is a 1st Grader

Before school

I can't even believe it.  My "baby" is in the 1st grade!!!  How did that happen?!  It seems that just yesterday he was learning to crawl.  *sigh*  He has had 3 days at school and so far seems to really like his new teacher.  She is a first year teacher.  At first I was kind of iffy about that, but then a friend of mine reminded me that as a first year teacher, she still likes her job and isn't cranky yet.  =)  I also reminded myself that all of the great teachers were first year teachers once.  I have noticed that he is growing up to by the "typical" man.  I have to spoon feed him to get any information.  Here's an example of how our conversations have been going after school:

Me: "How was your day?"
Joseph: "Good."
Me: "What did you do?"
Joseph: "Um. We played and ate lunch."
Me: "Did you learn anything?"
Joseph: "Learn?"
Me: "Yes. Did you learn anything when you weren't playing or eating?"
Joseph:  "Oh. Um.  We did some worksheets."
Me:  "What kind of worksheets?"
Joseph: "The kind you work on."

I give up.  I figure that if he has any news, he'll tell me.  =)

Even though Nathan isn't in school yet, he still needed his picture taken =)

In his classroom.  Such a big boy!

A time to celebrate

A Time for Everything

 ¹ For everything there is a season,
      a time for every activity under heaven.
 ² A time to be born and a time to die.
      A time to plant and a time to harvest.
 ³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
      A time to tear down and a time to build up.
 ⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
      A time to grieve and a time to dance.
 ⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
      A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
 ⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
      A time to keep and a time to throw away.
 ⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
      A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
 ⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
      A time for war and a time for peace.

 ⁹ What do people really get for all their hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13 

What a great weekend of celebration!  Saturday, August, 21 was Faith Lynn's 8th birthday in heaven!  It's such a bittersweet day.  It is a reminder of her life, her death, and her eternal life with our Father.  The celebration started out on Friday when my grandparents came to town and stayed in a local hotel.  We went to visit, had fried catfish, swam, and just had a whole lot of fun!  The lighting was AWFUL at the pool, so I only have this one pitiful looking picture to share. =(

Of course I had to get one of Hannah enjoying the pool too...

Can't you see her excitement?

Saturday morning was a little difficult for me.  I was sitting there with Hannah, looked at the clock, then realized at that exact same time 8 years prior I was holding Faith.  Even though it was a tough moment, I'm so grateful for God's gift of memories.  We went back to the hotel and had a yummy waffle breakfast with my grandparents.  Hmmm...didn't think to take any pictures.

After breakfast, we caravaned to the cemetery where we met my brother and sister-in-law, their 2 girls, and my dad for Faith's birthday party.  For some people that might be weird...but it's a wonderful celebration of Faith's brief life here on Earth.

After we had our cupcakes, we headed over to our traditional restaurant and met my mom, sister, and niece for lunch.  Here's the whole crew:

Hannah

Ava, Joseph, Emma, Jill, Claire, & Brian

James & PaPa

Mom, Dad, & Nathan

Grandmaw & Lindy

Me, Grandmaw, Lindy, & Mom

All in all, it was a great day remembering our sweet Faith.  

James & Faith

Faith,

We love and miss you so much!!!  Eat some of heaven's special cake for us!  We can't wait until we get to see and hug you again.  Thank you for being our special baby girl.

XOXO,

Mommy, Daddy, Joseph, Nathan, & Hannah

  

Summer's Coming To An End

This is the last week before Joseph goes to school and is an official 1st grader.  *wiping a small tear*  I can't believe how fast the summer has gone.  I know several moms that are doing the countdown to when school starts back.  They are ready for the kids to be back.  Maybe I'm weird.  I don't want him to go back.  I enjoy him being at home.  He and Nathan have had so much fun together.  Don't get me wrong, they have had their fair share of arguments; and I have had my fair share of being totally frustrated with them.  But in all, we've had a great time.  Tonight we go to meet Joseph's teacher.  I have been earnestly praying about who he will have for this school year.  I pray that he will have someone that will love him almost as much as I do, that he/she will be able to teach him well, and that he/she is someone that he will have fun with.  We'll see tonight!

Here are some pictures from a couple of weeks ago.  We had a whole Saturday at home to just be together as a family.  It was so nice!

Joseph being pushed down the slip-n-slide

Nathan being pushed down the slip-n-slide

Do you get the feeling that Dad is having more fun?

Me going down the slip-n-slide

Me trying to remember why I thought that was a good idea

Nathan making me feel better

Joseph and James having fun

Nathan getting ready to take a ride

What can I say?  They love their daddy.

God's artwork for us while we ate our dinner outside

And of course, Hannah after her nap

Will you please skate in the house?

 It is no secret.  I HATE to clean!  Not only do I hate to clean, but I'm a pretty messy person.  My husband on the other hand is a very organized and neat person.  He would be a much better stay-at-home-mom than I am.  But even though I don't enjoy cleaning, it's still something that has to be done.  Earlier, my kitchen floor was so icky.  I have been telling myself for a couple of weeks to get the mop out and just do it, but then other things happen.  You know small things like, 3 kids; getting breakfast for 2 kids and myself; nursing 1 kid; getting lunch for 2 kids and myself; nursing 1 kid; getting a snack for 2 kids and myself; nursing 1 kid; getting dinner for 2 kids, a husband, and myself; nursing 1 kid.  What?  We like to eat. ;-)  Anyway, all of this eating doesn't help my icky kitchen floor problem.  So I moved my kitchen table and chairs into the living room.  Put some warm water and dish washing detergent into some plastic food storage containers and put them on the ground.  

Then my boys and I put on old socks, dipped our feet into the water, and started to 'skate' on the kitchen floor. =)  This was not the first time that we have done this, but it was just as exciting for them this time as it was the last time.

After the floor is clean, we take old towels and 'skateboard' to dry off the floor.  Now mopping the floor is their favorite chore to do.  Truth be told, it has also become mine.  I hope that these are memories that they will have for a lifetime! 

Big boy

When did my little boy become so big?  This year he has grown so much.  He is such a big helper around the house.  When Hannah starts to cry he comes running either with her pacifier or just to talk to her to try and calm her down.  He helps Nathan get in and out of the car, builds him Lego things, and pretty much anything else we ask him to do.  Last night James took him for a ride on the 4-wheeler.  After a while, James came in and offered to let me ride.  I was unsure about where to go because I haven't been on the trails at our house.  James said, "Don't worry. Joseph will ride with you and show you where to go."  I later found out that James and Joseph had already discussed him helping me before James even came in the house.  I pulled on my boots and walked outside seeing Joseph already sitting on the 4-wheeler ready to go.  Then it struck me that I was about to depend on my "baby" to show me where to go.  The same child that used to depend on me for everything was about to help me!  I climbed on and sure enough he told me exactly when to turn and kept me on the right trail.  We had so much fun.  I love how the Lord prepares us for each stage in our lives.  I used to dread the day that my kids started to depend on themselves and start to grow up.  I'm learning every day that this stage in their lives and mine can be such a joy.  That doesn't mean that it doesn't come with it's own share of headaches, but it's fun to see what a special young man the Lord has entrusted me with.  I am so blessed!

Big Brothers Rock

My sis-in-law, Angela...the Moda Home Mom, made the cutest shirts for Joseph and Nathan to wear at the hospital when Hannah was born.  Check out her blog, she has an easy to follow tutorial on how to make these cutsie shirts as well as many other tutorials on how to make various fabric crafts!

Joseph is 6!

Wow!  What a weekend!  Friday, my oldest "baby" turned 6!  I can't believe it!  On Thursday night as Joseph was getting ready for bed he looked up at me with those precious little eyes and said, "Am I going to take goodie bags for all of my friends at school tomorrow?"  I gave him my best "deer in the headlights look" and said, "Of course you are!  You're taking them cookies....M&M ones.  Yeah.  That's what you're taking them."  Thankfully, he was satisfied with what I had to offer and happily went to bed completely excited about his birthday-to-be.  So I stayed up pretty late and made him the M&M cookies and put a couple of them inside a little bag for each of his classmates.  He was overjoyed to take them to school the next morning.  I almost forgot how fun that is for a child.

On Friday we had an appointment with my perinatologist to take another look at the baby.  She is doing GREAT!  She's perfect in every way.  She was moving the entire scan and kept sticking her hand in her mouth.  Her estimated weight at this time is 4lbs 3oz.  =)  After the doctor was done with her measurements, she surprised us and turned on the 3D scan.  It was amazing.  I have never wanted one before, and if the Lord has more children in store for us in the future I still won't choose to have one, but it was so cool! 

After our appointment, we went home and put a new enclosure net on the trampoline for Joseph's birthday gift and were trying to get it done in time for him to be home from school.  No such luck there, but he was very excited that he could jump on his trampoline again after we were done.

That night we went to Chuck E. Cheese's.  I must have a deep hatred for myself to go to that place on a Friday night.  It was the special request from the birthday boy and how do you refuse that?  All in all we had a great time, spent way too much money, and were completely exhausted when we left.

Saturday morning we started to clean and get our house ready for Joseph's birthday party.  Including us, we had a total of 28 people at our house.  That sounds huge to some people, but tuck this under your cap, 21 of them were family.  The kids had a great time!  We let them decorate their own cupcakes.  It was possibly the most genius idea I've ever had.  I only had to bake the cupcakes...nothing else.  I through icing and sprinkles at them and let them do it how they wanted.  Plus it was fun to see their creativity at work.  By the end of the party I was EXHAUSTED.  This pregnancy seems to be taking it's toll on me lately.  My husband being the wonderful man he is, took me to dinner that night so that I didn't have to cook.  I'm so blessed!

Sunday was fast and furious until after church.  Then we came home, at lunch watched a couple of movies and chilled out all day!  It was wonderful.  Joseph had a little bit of the "it's no longer my birthday" blues, but is doing better now.  Anyway, that was our weekend in a nutshell.

Snow day!!

We had a record snow day in Dallas yesterday!  I'm not sure what the official measurement was, but I got 6 1/2 inches in my front yard after it had already had a chance to melt a little.





The schools were closed today so my husband and kids went outside and played in the snow a bit.  Here are a few pics of what they did.

And of course, it's always important to remember....never and I mean NEVER eat yellow snow.