We had a great day with my brother Q, sister-in-law T, and Cousins/Nieces A and T! They came to say goodbye to us us. During this day our house was being packed up so Babe and Q stayed at the house with the kiddos while my Sister-in-Law T, J, and I went on a shopping trip! May seem strange to go shopping but on their way to our house they got a phone call and found out that they were going to be getting twin 3 year old boys AND a 5 week old girl on Wednesday of next week!! She had lots to prepare and I love shopping so it was nice to get be with her as she prepared! It will be a fun memory!
After we were done shopping it was time for dinner and they treated us to a wonderful mexican meal which is really one of my favorites. It was fun and very helpful to us to sit and have a hot meal when our house was boxed up!
Nurse S is our Favorite and was really more like a friend.
Dr. S along with our other favorite nurse!
So thankful for their SUPER DUPER care for Baby B!!
Baby B went in for her final orthopedic appt. in Colorado Springs. She got a great report about her hip and she is doing GREAT but she will have to have this followed every year or two until she is fully grown but we are on the right track now!! Going to miss the orthopedic people! They were so wonderful and so caring.
Baby B has been getting up on her hands and knees rocking like she is thinking about crawling!
Can't wait till she is off exploring like Little C.
On the day we had Baby B's last orthopedic appt. "A" was acting a bit off and told us her tooth was really hurting. She ended up at the dentist getting a cavity filled. She felt much better! Then the very next day she was being silly and fell and hit her knee on a decorative item that had been taken down in preparation for our move and it slashed her knee open. She ended up in the ER and getting stitches:-) She handled it in true "A" fashion. Brother "R" didn't even know she had gone to the hospital it had happened so calmly. She is not our drama queen but we do have one of those!:-)
That night after "A" got back from the ER Babe and I had to stay up into the morning hours to get the house ready for the packers and that worked out VERY well. The little ones went to bed and "G"and "A" wanted to stay up late with us. They thought it was fun and they helped us out. "A" was so excited when it was finally time to go to bed to run and check and look at the clock to see how late she was aloud to stay up:-) . . . the excitement of moving
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
This Sunday our church did a going away service for us! So Sweet! I wasn't able to hear much of it because J had a melt down.;-) Our pastors wife has heard our story of G when he was a little kid having a hard time when a lot was going on and saying "Too many decorations!" That meant too much going on for him. So after church Mrs. K said there were too many decorations for J!! Soo true. J didn't want all the attention on him and he didn't handle it well.
Our church, I tell people, has been a balm for us . . . a healing balm. We rejoice that the Lord brought us to their fellowship and we wonder at how they embraced us with open arms even though a lot of them have been together for so many years and their church was so peaceful before us! But despite the noise and craziness and bonds between them they welcomed us with open arms as we were!! This church and the people inside, may I say our church family (I've never in my adult life been able to say that) have come beside us and encouraged us, cheered us on! I was the young mother in the group and yet these moms encouraged me on . . . so positive. . . so kind even though they probably knew a better way!
I put the video above of P giving us a wonderful word of send off. Maybe it seems weird for me to post this for others to see but here people can see EXACTLY what I am talking about!! Babe joked today that the video is proof that nice things are said of us:-) This church and its people exist. . . with Christ-like love not self-serving dictates and actions. Babe and I felt like fainting before we came to this church. We needed a dose of Christ's love with cheerleaders beside us saying "you can do . . . God is in control . . . we're here too!" They helped us through one of the most difficult times in our lives when we were living in exhaustion and craziness. But you hear P say "we were going through it with you". THAT IS NOT A JOKE, THAT IS OUR CHURCH.
Babe got some clips from the morning. A friend at church got the whole service so I'll be able to watch it later! For weeks the kids have been preparing to sing and play the piano for this special day. Our wonderful and dear friend Mrs. W has worked A LOT with the kids through the years with music. We are so grateful for all the work and time she has spent teaching them. The kids have very much enjoyed her teaching and the songs and we will all miss her a lot. She is a dear friend and she helped us ENORMOUSLY this year . . . much prayer, listening, visiting, making me yummy homemade soup, buying us groceries, and on and on. She was forever helping us and I would say "but you're so busy" and she would say "You know what they say if you want something done you ask the busiest person." Well, finally I got a chance to try and give back a fraction of what she had done, not even coming close, and she says "but you're so busy" . . . :-0 I took joy in reminding her that a wise woman once said "You know what they say if you want something done you asked the busiest person.":-)
We are going to miss our church A LOT! This church has given us Christ-like love beyond belief. They are GEMS. They lifted us up and now are sending us on our way. Our church family always had an encouraging word for us, smiles, hugs, and prayers for our family.
They sent us off showered in gifts: first Bibles for the twins, Bible games, verse plaque, encouraging plaques, sidewalk chalk, Oh and $400 to buy something special for our new house!!! Seriously. Oh and then they took us out for a VERY NICE lunch at a VERY NICE restaurant!! We had a wonderful time of fellowship. It was so fun. Mrs. W had helped the kids put together a very special card for Daddy for Father's Day with pictures and memories of the kids. MR. W gave the kids an AMAZING gift. About 50 years ago when he was plowing a field he found a very large indian spearhead in SUPER shape. He knew "A" loved all things Indian and so he gave it to all the kids. It is quite the piece and Babe said it is really museum quality.
Little C has learned to wave and I know I am biased but it is just cuter than cute! She has the perfect princess wave! She seems to be so girly . . . her wave is so cutesy and she seems to LOVE beautiful outfits and pretty things! Tonight Babe was feeding Baby B and I was feeding Baby C and Baby C kept looking at Daddy and waving. SOOO Sweet!! The girls are growing up!!! Baby B has been getting up on her hands and knees rocking and looking like she might take off crawling but hasn't done it yet. It will come in time.
Our house is really looking like we are moving! In the video above the kids mattress' are on the floor. Things are looking a bit dismantled.
A recent development is Jedidiah verbally participating in devotions. I will say something or read a Bible verse and he will often say "Okay, Mommy". VERY FUNNY! Today I was reading some of Proverbs 4 like "love her, and she shall keep thee." Little J says "Okay, Mommy." He said this numerous times as I read and talked. I had asked who "she" was and the older kids said "wisdom." Anyway, I started asking younger kiddos a question. I asked Jedidiah "What are we supposed to do with wisdom?" Of course, he responded that he didn't know. I told him that he was supposed to "hug wisdom in his heart." I tried to get it to more of a level for him and even that I know is really only planting the seeds for understanding later on. Anyway, after all this I think G asked Little J "do you love wisdom?" his response "Nay!!" Truthful for a 2 year old:-) Anyway, I am thrilled he is starting to participate in devotions and I heard him say "Bible" today pretty clearly.
When Babe was having family devotions the other day he was reading out of Nehemiah and asked Big C what the word "beseech" meant. Big C said that he didn't know but that "besiege" was something like when your trying to take over a castle. Cute.
Isaiah 28:10
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
In Other News . . .
The question of the day was:
"Mommy, what makes your body know when you are married?" I say, "What do you mean?" Child- "You can't have babies until you're married." :-) Got it :-) Me-"You can have babies when you are not married but it is not the way God wants it. It is more like you tell your body when you are married. Have you heard of keeping yourself pure? 'Yes' Well, that means that you don't do things with your body that are meant to do when you are married."
End of Conversation.
Never a Dull Moment:-)
Cute Quote of the Day:
"Sleep [slept] well. Head on pillow."
That was little J after he got up from a nap that was very difficult for him to go down for. He woke up happy!
This last Sunday our family went up to the church my younger brother pastors and spent the day there. After church we went to their home and they hosted a get to together with one of my cousins on my mom's side and us. Our family really enjoyed the day of fellowship with both my brother's family and my cousin and some of her family! The kids ran around and played and some enjoyed playing with Uncle Q's and Aunt T's chickens. We really did have a great time of fellowship and my sister in law was soooo careful to serve a meal I could eat without hesitation. I really appreciate her thoughtfulness.
Also this last Sunday morning Babe got off his last shift at NORAD! It was an exciting day knowing he was done with his shift work. Babe LOVED the job and loved the people he worked with but was so glad to be leaving the schedule. His crew threw an unofficial party for him. One lady baked a cake and wanted to make it look Navy so she frosted it blue and put a Captain Hook on it and a Blue Angel aircraft. Pretty funny and kind! I read the card that was given to him and he is going to be missed. His crew enjoyed having him as a boss. The Lord was so good to Babe throughout this job. The Lord gave him strength, patience, wisdom, focus, stamina, and excellent crew members throughout his time there. Now on to the next challenge . . . Babe found out this week that he has been accepted to the College of William and Mary to work on a MBA! Lord willing, he will start his studies part time this coming fall. He has worked on and prayed about the possibility of this for awhile and his military comrades have encouraged him toward it. I am excited for him and I must admit proud of him as well! I am thankful for how the Lord is working in his life. He loves academics and is preparing himself for what the future may hold. Never a dull moment in this house!
Yesterday Babe and I were out sorting the garage and the kids were out too. G decided it was the day Big C should learn to ride his bike and that he was going to work with him! Big C was very hesitant to learn knowing it entailed falling a lot but G got him going and Big C ended up learning faster than any other of the kids!! G used a technique we learned from friends of ours. They told us about first riding down a hill so they can learn balance without having to concentrate on pedaling. It works! Big C is our 3rd kiddo to learn that way. G did a great job working with him and G told me that Big C thanked him. Our family tradition is that on the day one of the kids learns to ride a bike we eat McDonalds for dinner and so we had a McDonalds meal last night!!
Good job Big C Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! You worked so hard!
G, your a great big brother and we're thankful for the time you invested with Big C. He'll always remember that you taught him to ride a bike!
G the birthday boy. He just turned 12 years old!! My baby isn't so much a baby anymore! So thankful for G and his great spirit which to this mom means more than a whole lot of other things in life. G is a head in the clouds type kid. He thinks and thinks and thinks and reads and reads and reads. He reads A LOT. He LOVES legos and is a huge fan of Lord of the Rings (pretty much our family is). Recenty he has taken up some fun type sketching and enjoys sitting and doing that. He wants to save up his money to buy a stop-motion-animation software kit so he can put his legos to work!
My sister-in-law and my nieces were able to come with us to Hungry Bear restaraunt for Gabriel's birthday breakfast. He LOVES going to Hungry Bear to have sausage gravy and biscuits! It will probably be our last trip to the local favorite before our move:-( At breakfast Auntie T gave him his gift which was lots of different types of candy all representative of answers to questions she had asked him earlier. Very neat and fun! Later in the day we went as a family to a super mini golf place that we have enjoyed in our time here. The kids LOVED this and J was THRILLED with hitting a ball around! On the way home he kept saying "hit ball", "hit ball"! G loves mini golfing too and we actually golfed last year on his birthday.
In the van on the way down to the Springs to golf G opened his gift from us. He was THRILLED to say the least. He had wanted this lego set sooooo badly before it was discontinued. That caliber of gift is not normal for us to give but this year our kids have given so much to help us with the twins, etc. It is nice to make a childhood dream come true before they're grown up. You don't hear G thank us in the video. He was much to overwhelmed in the video but he thanked us over and over and over and over again later. The next day he told me how much he enjoyed his birthday. It was the best ever for him. I realized later I forgot to take pictures of him with his birthday cake!!!
Thanks G for being a terrific kid.
When watching the video below notice the green neck pillow G is wearing. He had wanted his sister "A" to make him one of her neck pillows which are better than store bought ones because of the stuffing she uses in them. He WAS SOOOOOO Happy that she made him one he really truly wore it around the house much of the morning and took it with him in the van. He loves it. He also got a great card from Big C and craft made pig from his brother R. R also bought him a $10 game for his Ipad which was very generous for a boy that doesn't make much money!!! G really did have a fabulous birthday.
When we returned from our house hunting trip 2 of my nieces and my sister in law came for a visit for a few days. It was great to see them and hang out. "A" really enjoys playing with her doll Kaya with her cousin who also has a special doll. I know they will have good memories playing together with their dolls. It won't be much longer and they will be far away. The kids had so much fun playing a running around with them and it was so nice for me to sit and talk with my sister in law.
