Memorial Day Weekend

We had a fun weekend with our friends, the Strong's, who came to visit us. The sun was out and the kids had a blast playing outside, especially down at the beach!

Josiah and Maddeck in matching sunglasses

Amy and Livi Mae down at the beach

The kids found some starfish...


...and a crab!

All 5 kids (Maddeck, Josiah, Evan, Hope and Livia)

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17

Here's the story of our recent move:

In recent months I have had a burden on my heart to see Andy back in school. I know how much he desires to finish his Master of Divinity degree and how much he loves learning and reading and just plain old loves school. I have been crying out to God and asking for that opportunity for my husband, not really knowing how He would answer it. At the beginning of April we received an answer like none other, an answer only our Heavenly Father could give us. He gave us an opportunity to move and significantly lower our monthly bills, which in turn we see as an answer to our prayers and a chance for us to afford to send Andy back to school. God is good and we praise Him for His continual faithfulness to us. I wake up each morning with thanksgiving and praise on my lips never missing a chance to thank Him for what He has done for our family. Our prayer now is for wisdom and stewardship of the things He has given us.

Here are a couple pictures of the new place:

The BEST moving crew you could ask for! They loaded and unloaded all of our stuff in 2 hours!!! This is in our backyard with a view of Birch Bay.

This is the front of the house...Hope is drawing with chalk and Livia is napping in the stroller.

Here is Josiah being a "worker man" in the back yard...notice the stick behind his ear, he's just like his daddy!

A verse that I recently read in my Beth Moore Bible study really spoke to me "Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you have planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare". ~Psalm 40:5

To those reading this today, God Bless you!!!

"4 month check up" -- almost 5 months

Livia had her 4 month check up yesterday. She is a healthy girl, weighing in at 16lbs 8 oz and she is 25 1/2" long. She is all smiles all the time. She loves watching Hope and Joey and is starting to copy sounds and faces we make.

Her new favorite toy is the exersaucer

Livia's first taste of rice cereal. She really liked it and figured out the spoon thing right away!

Sunshine and Cabin Fever

It's been 6 days that we have been stuck inside! Well, not literally. Thankfully we have had lots of sunshine this week so we have played out in our tiny backyard some...but the kids have been sick with some icky spring colds, as well as Hope having the chickenpox.

It all started Monday morning at 4am with Hope coming into Andy's and my room wheezing and barking like a seal. Then, as our day progressed Josiah starting coughing more too. At some point in the day I noticed Hope had two "bug bites" on her wrist...hmmm...she must have gotten those while playing outside? On Tuesday morning I noticed the 20 or so red dots covering her torso and more on her wrist...that seemed like quite a bit of "bug bites" and the more research I did on the internet and talking to others realized that Hope had come down with a mild case of the chickenpox! This was a surprise because she was vaccinated when she was 12 months old, but now come to find out that the vaccine is only 95% effective and Hope seems to have fallen into the 5% to actually get the chickenpox. Thankfully since she was vaccinated, her case is very mild. She has no more that 30 "lesions" (as they're called) and hasn't been too itchy. She has had a low grade fever, headaches and loss of appetite, but overall has still had a great attitude. As the week has continued on, Hope and Joey have developed runny noses with their coughs and just today (Saturday) Hope has complained that her ear is hurting, which I am guessing is an ear infection. I gave her some Tylenol and asked her tonight how she was doing and she said, "You mean how is my ear doing?" and I said, "Sure, just how are you doing in general?" Hope replied, "I'm good....(pause)....my ear still hurts, but I'm good." What a week! Andy did remind me that this is part of the excitement of being a mom, and he is right, it's kind of monumental to take care of a sick kid with the chickenpox (seeing that most kids are vaccinated and don't get them any more these days).

The highlights of my week include watching "Bug's Life" EVERYDAY with Hope as we cuddle on the couch while Joey and Livia nap, celebrating Livia's 4 month birthday, and having TWO picnics outside in the sunshine! I LOVE being a mom and will endure cabin fever for my kids any day!

(it's late, so there will be no editing done, sorry if there are misspellings or run-ons or fragments etc...) :)

Josiah's Sentence

On our drive into Lynden today we passed a motorcycle and Joey said,
"There is a white helmet on the man driving the motorcycle on the road."

He's 2 1/2 going on 7 I think.

3 Months Old

Today Livia Mae is 3 months old. She LOVES smiling and has the cutest little giggles. She has just learned to blow bubbles and will put quite a bit of support on her legs now that she has more head control. She is sleeping through the night (10pm-7am) and is entertained throughout the day by her big sister and brother. She has a very peaceful nature about herself and is such a joy in our home.

Hope is 4!

Hope is 4 years old today. What a special day she/we had. As her mommy, I had much time to remember the day of her birth (which really seems like yesterday) and marvel at the young girl she is becoming. Just lately I have been put to shame with all of the LEGO buildings she has been constructing. They are large, complex and creative. I'm also in awe of how her prayer life has been growing. Her prayers have changed from "Jesus, thank you for this day" to "Dear Jesus please keep daddy safe at work today and thank you for letting him like his job". She has also been fervent in prayer especially when her friend Noah was going through brain surgery a couple of weeks ago and would remind us every night (and throughout each day really) that we needed to pray for him. I love my Hope and thank our great and awesome God each day for her and the blessing she is in my life.

Here is a look at our day today:

This morning started out with Hope getting a new movie "Gigi-God's Little Princess" (one of her favorites).

Waffles, Whip Cream and Sprinkles (at Hope's request).

(I missed getting pictures of us painting our toe nails and making brownies, those were our mid-day activities).

We went to Red Robin for dinner. Hope wanted a cheeseburger and for them to sing to her. As you can see she enjoyed the cheeseburger...

along with the singing and ice cream! Yum!


Here is Daddy assembling the new doll house.

Hope is very excited about the new doll house! I think especially because it's pink. :)