Last Day!

 The boys had their very last hour of school today. Silly to make everyone come for one hour! I guess they changed it for next year and the first and last days of school will be full days from now on.

Zakkai just loved his kindergarten teacher, Mrs Repsis! She was SO sweet and gentle and truly loved her students. She joked with me that she would have to hold Zakkai back next year just because she didn't want him to leave! What a great year he had.

This was Samuel's student teacher, who was in the classroom all spring. He really liked her! Her last day was a couple weeks ago (she came back today to say goodbye again) and all the girls in the class were crying and crying when they came out of school! Samuel was really sad, too. He made a sweet card for her.

This is Mrs Webster, Samuel's teacher. She just had a baby a few weeks ago and came back to say goodbye to her students today! She was GREAT. She really worked with us this year, encouraging Samuel and doing everything she could to make him feel heard, cared for and confident. Some of his classmates had a ton of trouble listening this year, which was hard for Samuel but Mrs Webster really took the time to encourage him and was always available to us. So thankful for her!

Zakkai worked SO hard the past 2 months, especially this month, on staying dry at night (what a battle this has been!!!) and he earned a new bike! He has never had one of his very own and grew out of the small one from last year, which also got ruined.

Look at the joy on this face! Worth every penny and sacrifice! He only had 2 big spills off of it today. One minor and the other, a rude neighbor girl tripped him and he really got scraped up on his arm:( But other than that, he was SO happy today! He will probably be dreaming about his orange bike tonight:)

One of our other neighbors asked last minute if we could watch their son, who is Samuel's age, today as they didn't realize today was the last day of school! He played incredibly well with both boys today and was so polite and sweet. He'll be coming back to play tomorrow which is great for keeping the boys entertained!

Summer has begun!

Last Full Day!

 Every Wednesday this entire year (sick days, not withstanding) I have been super busy. As in, zero time downtime period. Between MOPS or bible study (opposite weeks) in the mornings and volunteering at Z's school in the afternoons plus early release day, it's been crazy!

Until today. Last week, I did my last day of volunteering in the library and the teacher was so sweet and surprised me with a gift card for a foot massage! This week? E and I did absolutely nothing, except Skype with my sis and niece.

I felt really lazy. I was lazy. And only slightly ashamed:) I figured I maybe possibly could okay one completely lazy day before school gets out and I'm back to full-time duties, right?

This was Eliana's look for the morning. She loves to dress herself, sometimes multiple times a day! She was really into wearing the boys' things today like this ensemble and their baseball hats, too. (which she tried to claim as "hers" when they got home. Yeah, that flew with them!

Last full day of Kindergarten! Zakkai got an award for being a good role model this year! Isn't he getting so big?? I will have to do some Zakkai journal quoting here soon. He brought home some good ones today:)

Last full day of second grade! He is planning on referring to himself as a third grader as of 9:20 tomorrow morning when school gets out. Ah! Not ready for that. I will continue to think of him as a second grader until the day before school starts. What a handsome kid! His book bag weighed about 15 pounds this afternoon, filled with leftover school supplies. No one has been allowed to peek inside it yet...

Missy Moo wanted to jump in on the picture taking with Baby Anna! I caught her in mid-giggle:) Such a happy girl!

A couple weeks ago, Zakkai and a neighbor friend decided it would be a great idea to decorate the front of the house with chalk. And so, today was installment #2 of "clean off the bricks!" Punishment fits the crime, I would say! He won't be coloring on bricks anytime soon, I guarantee!!

Ben started his part-time job yesterday so the kiddos haven't seen him in 2 days! The week was off because of Memorial day so he had to work two 11-12 hour days in a row but normally, hopefully, he won't be working two in a row because no one gets to see him! He leaves by 6:30 and doesn't get home til after 8:30pm.

Eliana hasn't seen him since Monday and cried a lot for him yesterday. "I want to see my dada!!" Very sad:( We are very thankful for this work though and are praying for something else to come our way.

There was a terrible thunderstorm last night and Ben had to run through it from the train station home last night. He was absolutely dripping wet. His clothes still haven't fully dried yet! The lightening and thunder scared Eliana and she kept crying for me and saying, "Mama, the lightening is in my woom! (room)" She talked about it a lot today and was very thankful that it was all gone!

And we had to clean up yet more water in the basement. Thankfully, not completely filled like the craziness last month but the usual water seepage that comes after a heavy rain. It is pretty annoying! A few days ago, someone left on the outside water spigot that is just outside our home, overnight and we woke up to half the basement covered in water. Ugh! So this is twice in 5 days that I've had to dirty several towels and sop up nasty brown dirt water.

I'm beginning to think I'd like to have a house without a basement someday! Actually, I think I'd just be happy to have a home of my own, basement or no basement. Maybe someday.

Zakkai might have something fun to show you tomorrow!!

This Year

I know I haven't been as good with blogging lately. Sometimes, I'm just plain worn out at the end of the day and my brain is empty. And a lot of times I have no pictures to share, as I have been camera-lazy lately and I feel bad posting wordy blog posts! But here's one anyways:)

I have been thinking over the past couple of days of how much has happened since last May, a year ago. Here are some things I can remember:

*Zakkai learned to ride a two wheeler

*Samuel turned 7 and celebrated with an Angry Birds party

*We went camping for the first time!

*And the 2nd time

*We went to Colorado to celebrate my grandparent's 60th with a family reunion! So much fun! (except for the mountain sickness...)

*The boys started kindergarten and 2nd grade!

*We went on our 3rd camping trip, this time with Mugga and Papa!

*Samuel lost his first tooth

*Eliana turned TWO! And learned to run, climb, talk, tell jokes and throw tantrums!

*We were disappointed over not getting a job near our family (Nov/Dec)

*We spent Christmas in Ohio with my sister and her family and nearly flooded their house.

*We started out the new year with fresh beginnings, when God gave us a miracle.

*We found a church and Ben became a member!

*We celebrated Zakkai's 6th birthday

*Zakkai has learned to read! (really well these days!!)

*We went on a vacation to Florida

*Perhaps the most exciting thing, Ben defended!!!

*And now we are about to finish up the school year, graduate and many other little milestones. Can't wait to recap after the school year next year and see what has happened, things we expected and things we didn't!

Quiet Weekend.

We're having a pretty quiet weekend over here. Right now, the boys and Ben are playing Mario on Wii to relax after playing outside for a long time:)

 

Last summer, our former neighbors gave Eliana all these plastic barrettes and she recently rediscovered them and insisted on having 9 or 10 in her hair! She talked me into putting some in my own hair and the funny part is I forgot they were in there and greeted my friend on Friday all decorated:)

 

Eliana all beautified:)

Samuel ran his heart out in running club this spring and he added several more foot charms to his necklace. He's now up to 29!!

His goal was 30 by the end of this year but they missed two running clubs due to all the rain. So proud of him! Zakkai, as you can see in the backround, has been really into coloring lately with markers. He fills up whole pages with decorations and works for such a long time. The only time I don't like it is when he used the scented markers. Oh, how I loathe those!!! Those are a nightmare for someone with such a sensitive nose and they instantly give me a headache. I may have to ban them from my home:)

Today at lunchtime, Eliana dumped all her spaghetti noodles on the ground. I made her get down and pick them up (fair punishment, no?) and after she had picked up most and we had walked away, she ran over and grabbed the broom and finished her cleaning:)

She has been a big helper lately: putting away silverware and their plastic dishes, cleaning up after herself or helping when I ask for it. I hope this continues!

She is upstairs picking out her 3rd outfit for the day, a new favorite pastime. I'd better go supervise. Who knows what she'll come down with!!

Friday Fun

I have been avoiding doing some summer planning but this morning I got down to work! I wrote down over 40 fun simple activities on little pieces of paper and put them in a plastic jar so throughout the summer, the boys can reach in and pull out a paper and we'll have something fun to do!

The activities were compiled of ideas my friend and I came up with last summer plus some lists I have been sent home with from my MOPS groups and the school. There are all sorts of ideas like, "Paint rocks for a rock garden" or "Strap sponges to their feet to clean the floor" to "Think of something nice to do for someone today" or "find a new library." I was actually feeling pretty hopeful about the summer after doing it! There are some fun things in there I think the boys will really like and the best part is, most of it is free or requires very little in the way of supplies! It will be fun to share them as we do them this summer:)

I also went online and did some research for free museum days and free events we can attend throughout the summer. There are lots of things you can do for very little money! Thankfully:)

Then, Eliana and I were blessed with the company of a good friend and her new little baby for the rest of the day! I don't get very much quality time with friends and so I always feel like I talk their ears off when I do get time. All I know is that I was very blessed and encouraged by my friend's words, listening ear and sweet spirit. I am very blessed to know such wonderful people!

Plus, I got to hold her wee little man during one of his afternoon naps which was awfully wonderful! How I miss the soft little noises and funny little faces little ones make! I am hoping to talk them into some babysitting soon so I can get my baby fix:)

The kiddos and I finished up a busy day with a rousing round of Candy Land while eating our Friday night pizza. It was Eliana's first time playing! No clue whatsoever what was going on but she was pretty tickled over the whole thing!

Now I am going to enjoy one of those delicious little desserts I shared with you the other night.....Happy Friday!

Pics!

 I don't always have my camera nearby to capture the day to day pictures of our life but I do often have my phone handy! Here a some pictures I've taken in the past few days.

Samuel made this clay frog in art class! I absolutely love it!! He came out from school in tears because one of his friends had accidently bumped the tongue and broken it off and it had to be re-glued. He has such a sensitive, sweet heart!

 Eliana has been so busy getting into things lately! Along with her diaper changing obsession for Baby Anna, comes a new found love of opening packs of wipes and pulling out as many as she can. Woohoo! Back in the corner behind her rocking chair is a pile of about 20 wipes that I discovered right when I confiscated the 4th pack of wipes. This little tantrum was the result of mean old mommy hiding all the wipes:)

The funny thing is, the second I snapped the pictures, she jumped up and ran to me saying, "Can I see the picture of Missy cwying?" ha!

It wasn't too hot today, although quite humid, so we spent some time outside before dinner. Eliana jumped in her Cozy Coupe and took a little ride:)

My Gma and Mom found this at a garage sale for really cheap when they came to visit last year! She just loves it so much.

And of course, Baby Anna was bummin' a ride in the back:) Thought my Gma would enjoy this pic!

And lastly, I leave you with a picture of this scrumptious treat. Mmm, mmm! This is homemade copycat "Oreo Madness" from TGIF's. We had lunch there on Mother's Day, when I discovered a forgotten gift card, and this was on their menu. We never get dessert at a restaurant since it's so ridiculously expensive and can usually be made at home!

This is absolutely a keeper recipe!! You can go here for the recipe if you, too, would like to delight your taste buds:)

I am now bringing forth all of my willpower not to go down and eat one....Aren't you proud?!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

One of the best and worst things about living here and doing what we've done is meeting some really great people.

It's the best because these are seriously some of the greatest people you could ever know! We have been incredibly blessed in our friendships here.

But it's the worst because time and time again, we have had to grieve the loss of friends who have moved away. It's the kind of place where people usually move here for a little while, for school usually or work, and then they move on. And it stinks! Esp when you're the one staying behind.

And then we meet some more really great people and the cycle continues.

Last night, we had dinner with some of our very best friends here. They moved here when Ben was still in Turkey and I clearly remember telling him, you will LOVE this couple!! They are so down to earth and funny and love the Lord and they are so great! Well, I was right (that happens occasionally!) and Ben did love them, just as I did. They have supported us, cheered us on and loved us time and time again in the past 5 years. And we have really valued their friendship.

But, they are about to move on and my heart is breaking. I am SO incredibly happy for them because they have some really great things in store for them this year and we are just thrilled and excited. But of course, we are sad, too, because they won't be close by anymore.

I am so thankful for all the times we've gotten to spend with them and know it is a friendship that will last forever, even if we don't get to see each other very often.

Our kiddos just adore Mr. J and Ms. D. On Sunday, I said to the boys, "Hey, boys! Guess what? Some of our very favorite people are coming over for dinner tomorrow night!" And they immediately knew who it was:)

They will be missed.
`````````````````````````````````````
On Saturday night, we were invited over for dinner with a couple we have met in the church. They are older and wiser (!) and were chosen as Ben's mentor couple when he went through a growth/membership class at the church in February. They are SO nice and we had a really good time. Of course, they are looking to move soon, too, (see?) but we will be thankful for all of the time we can get with them for now!

When we left their house, it was late (almost 9) and the moon was out. Our kiddos rarely get to see the night and moon, much to their chagrin, because we are slave drivers and force them to get good rest. I know, I know, our poor children!

Eliana immediately look up at the moon and said excitedly, "Samuel, do you see??! It's the cow jumping over the moon!!" haha;)
`````````````````````````````````````

Eliana goes through cycles with Baby Anna. She might go through a short period where she still loves her and knows where she is at all times but Baby Anna might want to stay home instead of going out with us.

And then she has times like the past few days, where she will play with Baby Anna for hours! Today Baby Anna has received about 7 diaper changes because according to Eliana, "she is so stinky!"

I found an old newborn sized diaper that I kept and I pulled it out for Baby Anna so she could have one that fits.

But sometimes she still insists that Baby Anna where one of her diapers:) Right now, E is in her room, with her baby strapped into her old highchair seat and she is reading her a book:) I really love this little mommy side of her!!

Waiting and Hoping.

I have been thinking more about what I wrote yesterday. About dreams. Feeling uncertain about what I shared and yet, compelled to share my heart. Because I know I'm not the only one who is going or has gone through a time like this. I think it is so important in the times where you feel a little lost or you are in an "in between/waiting" period, as we are, to look for all of the blessings around you, big and small.

It's so easy to get caught up in your own desires and wants and hopes and feel disappointed that something in your life doesn't look like Joe's life or Sally's life or the Jones'. And instead of focusing on the beautiful little assurances of God's love that are right in front of you, you focus on the "why's" and the "why me's" or "why not's."

There is a quote I heard this year that I just loved right away. "Bloom where you are planted." A friend of mine painted it on a flower pot and gave it to me with a beautiful flower planted inside recently. Bloom where you are planted; where God has you, even if it's not where you think you should be or not where you want to be. That's what I want to do. I want to bloom and look for all that He has for me right here, right now.

Maybe then, I will gain a heavenly perspective and store my treasures there, instead of here on earth. And maybe the waiting time won't seem so long!

"Thing about things that are lovely, things that are true, things that are pure..." There is so much to be thankful for!

1. We had food on our table today. Don't worry about the future!

2. Our children are healthy, strong and growing.

3. We made it to a point in our life we weren't sure we'd ever see! Several students in Ben's program never made it through, or didn't make it through with marriages in tact. God protected us and made us stronger than ever!

4. We have a roof over our head.

5. We are getting to know people in our church and neighbors living around us. Forming relationships and breaking out of the isolation that held us captive for so long.

6. So thankful some family is coming to celebrate with us in 1 month!!

7. But most of all, so very thankful that we (B and I) both are trusting in the Lord together, hoping, waiting (not always patiently!!) and so thankful for today.

Dreams

 I used to have a lot of dreams. Dreams about things I'd like to be or do or accomplish. Dreams are good. They require hope and imagination and a willingness to try something new or hard. They even fuel you on through hard times.

I had so many hopeful dreams. My husband had a dream. Of getting a Ph.D. We prayed, we asked God and the people around us and we received our answer. Go and do it. Did we expect it to be easy? No. But we sure didn't expect it to be as hard as it has been. We're still waiting for the completion of this dream. Waiting. Praying. Hoping.

Somewhere over the past 8 years of pursuing his dream, I lost a lot of my dreams. First I put some of them on hold, knowing that we had to focus solely on my husband's education. Then slowly, some of them died or disappeared, not to be replaced.

The death of a dream is heartbreaking and even crushing. You've wanted something your whole life maybe, and you find out you'll never get it. You grieve. You weep. You wonder if anything can replace that dream or desire.

Maybe you didn't even realize you lost your dreams until it came time to awaken them. And then you realized they were changed or lost or broken.

I am in a place now where it is time for me to awaken my dreams. But I need to find them first. Some aren't there anymore. Some changed. Some seem impossible. Some, as I found out this week, won't happen for a long, long time. And I wept. I feel lost myself, wondering if God still has dreams for me? I am asking for them, praying for them. For new ones. For courage to fight for old ones. For renewal. For peace and most of all.....for hope.

Hope is really powerful. You can't have dreams without hope.

She was a dream once. It's good to remember times when God answered your prayers or brought dreams to life. I prayed for her, asked for her and needed a sign of God being with us through a very difficult time. He answered with her. Not all of His answers are easy. Or make sense. Or are even what you asked for. But somehow, His answers are exactly what you need.

He has dreams, too, and with all of my heart, I want to see them come true. I put mine on hold to see some of his dreams through. No, not because I'm a great person. I failed too many times over the past 8 (or 10, if you count the first Masters!) years to be understanding or patient with all of the sacrifice it required. No, I didn't do it because I'm anything special, I did it because I love him and I believed in his dreams, too. Dreams are important. And I pray, oh how I pray, that God will give my husband his dreams. And hope.

If you have a dream, one that you've tucked away for a long while or haven't pursued out of fear or uncertainty, I urge you not to give up. It may require some courage. Stepping out on a limb. Some sacrifice. Some hope. A lot of trust.  But I, for one, want to be your encourager. A supporter of dreams. A cheerleader. Someone who pushes you on when you aren't sure if you can do it.

I just need to learn to do this for myself. Will you be my encourager? Will you pray with me, that God would give me dreams, the courage to follow them and some hope, too? I want to be used. To serve. To learn to come out of my safe little shell and love others.

"Hope is a waking dream."  -Aristotle.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."  -Eleanor Roosevelt

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”   -H. Jackson Brown Jr. 

 

"Those who believe that everyone has a God-given dream just waiting to be released will see a world full of wonderful potential." –Wayne Cordeiro

 

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." -C.S. Lewis

 

“Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations. For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live. -Henry David Thoreau

 

 

Peter Rabbit by Eliana Thomas

A sweet clip of Eliana "reading" to me yesterday:)

Enjoy!

Ready or Not!

 Today, the temperature rose 25 degrees from yesterday! All this back and forth must be what caused me to catch such a nasty cold. 80, 50, 60, 87. I wish spring would make up its mind!

Pictures taken by the one and only Samuel Thomas:)

Eliana, as I mentioned yesterday is two. And by two, I mean TWO. She did something today that her brothers never did, as far as I remember anyways. (it is quite possible I blocked it out!) It was something disgusting and disturbing involving diapers and poop. Twice today.

I'm guessing, as much as I am dreading it, that we are getting close to potty training because the little lady of the house doesn't want to keep her diapers on! It took SO long to potty train a certain son of ours and it was such a nightmare that I am not looking forward to this. I hear that girls are easier and can be trained earlier but that remains to be seen. Maybe I can convince Ben to do the potty training this time! Yeah, that's a great idea!! I'll let you know what he thinks about that....:)

Zakkai's class got to go visit Samuel's school yesterday, since that is where a lot of them will attend next year. He got to see a couple of the first grade classrooms and chat with the teachers. They have been learning about the school logo and have been getting prepped in all sorts of ways. I am so glad they do that. Zakkai has been chatting away with a couple of the first grade teachers after school when we are waiting for Samuel to come out. It's very cute to watch him. He has always loved to talk with adults! It will be strange to have both boys in the same school next year but also nice, since they'll be on the exact same schedule.

But first comes summer and I'm not even quite ready to face that yet. Only 11 more days of school and ready or not, home they come!

Me Do It!

 There is a lot of "Me Do It" going around the house these days, courtesy of Little Miss E! She is the most emotionally conflicted, independent, dependent, spunkiest, sweetest little 2 year old I've ever met! Or maybe girls are just that way??

Eliana decided she wanted a banana the other morning and she wanted to cut it herself.
So we got her set up at the table with an Ikea knife and her banana and let her have at it!

She did a pretty good job! I will now be double checking to make sure sharp knives are far, far away from her! She is into cutting with scissors these days and if we aren't careful, will cut up bills and homework.

She's full of mischief and full of life! And adored:)

Happy Mother's Day!

 I always feel terrible when I neglect my bloggy blog but I have been sick and not feeling like doing too much! I was fighting a cold for several days and in the middle of last week, it took over! I was pretty miserable for a few days with an aching ear/head and body, crazy congestion and a cough.

Now I'm left with crazy congestion, a cough and no voice! But I am so glad I felt well enough to go out with my precious family today.

Here was our Friday night family fun:) Eating homemade pizza and playing Scrabble Junior!

This morning the boys brought special gifts to me when I was still in bed! They both made books at school and they were SO cute! I will be saving them forever.

Samuel's was a flip book with several reasons why he loves me. A few reasons were that I help him with his homework, I snuggle with him and give him kisses and hugs at nighttime. He drew really great pictures!

Zakkai's was a very cute fill in the blank book. According to Zakkai, I am 60 inches tall (I claim my 3 extra inches!!), weigh 10 pounds, have tan hair, love pizza and hate yogurt (true!) and love to spend time outside with him. He had a really cute picture of the two of us sitting in chairs facing each other. Z was saying, "Let's talk." and I was saying, "Yeah, let's talk." So cute!

You know, I often lamblast myself on my failings as a mother. I am not patient enough, I don't look them in the eye enough when they're talking, I don't spend enough one on one time with them, I say "NO" too much, and on and on. It is so easy to see the negative and focus on it.

But then you get a book from your son telling you he loves you because you kiss him when you tuck him in and help him with his homework and that's enough for him. He still loves me, despite my shortcomings and failings. They still see good in me and want me, ME, to be their mother, even though I don't always do it right.

Wow. It's humbling and gracious and amazing! I love these kiddos SO much. Eliana fell asleep in my arms when we got home from lunch and I held her and just thanked God for even that simple gift; holding my sweet baby girl. I pray this year I can learn to be an even better mother. One who cheers on my children, encourages them and builds them up, shows them how very important they are, one who is a little more patient, a little more quick to say "yes" instead of "no", one who models for them the love of Jesus.

This morning on the way to church, Zakkai said, "Hey! I have a great idea! How about we listen to Mommy every Mother's Day?!" haha!
``````````````````````````````
And to my own Mama, I already told you in the card what you mean to me but let me say it again. You have cheered me on, encouraged me, lifted me up when I needed help, prayed for me, battled with me and for me and have been such a constant love in my life and have shown me Jesus. I love you SO much.

To my Grandma: when I was little, you were my sweet, soft Grandma who spoiled me with sleepovers, McDonald's hamburgers, Snicker's ice cream bars, trips to the cabin and when I grew up you became my friend. You pray for me, encourage me, share your wisdom with me and love me unconditionally. Thank you! I love you!

And to Ben's mom: You gave me your son. A man you raised to love God. A son you prayed over and taught so many values and wonderful things to. He often remembers things that you told him over and over; things he wants to pass down to our children. You also took me in as your daughter with no hesitation. You have loved me, faults and all, over these years and I am so thankful for our relationship! I love you!

Happy Mother's Day!

She's Got Style!

Two years old and she's got a definite opinion about what she wants to wear!

Such flair. Such style. Such fashion!

 

She bounds into a room or we carry her downstairs from a nap and she declares to any family nearby, "Here I are!!"

 

 

She loves to "accessorize"....with book bags, hats, her brothers' shoes, anything she can get her hands on.

 

Can't wait to show these pictures at her graduation or wedding someday! Haha:)

The Buddha and other stories.

Some more pictures from this weekend:

Eliana has a Buddha like her big brother Z used to have:) He was famous for his Buddha belly!

Samuel loves to climb and jump and is so active!

This afternoon, Ben headed out to a group he goes to at church on Tuesdays and as he was pulling the door shut, he said, "Bye, little chitlins!" To which Eliana turned around and said, "Bye, Wittle Daddy Chicken!" haha!

Today was Joke Day on the ABC countdown and Samuel shared this joke: "Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Dent
Dent who?
Dent you hear me knockin' at the door! (in Scottish accent:)

And he came home saying, "Mommy, why was 9 afraid of 7? Because seven ate nine! (seven eight nine)" haha

Zakkai just loves to play sports with his daddy! He really thrives with positive attention and especially from his daddy!

Recently, Ben was explaining to the boys about graduating and how he wouldn't be in school anymore; he would be a teacher soon, etc. Zakkai's eyes filled up with tears and his lip trembled and he said in a quavery voice, "You mean you won't be our daddy anymore?"

We have no idea what gets in his head sometimes but Ben quickly reassured him. It was heartbreaking and a little funny all at the same time.

Hope your week is beautiful and spring-like, too!

Spring is in the air!

 I went out with Eliana to some stores today, searching for a few things the kiddos need for the summer and I just loved seeing all the bright, happy, spring colors all around! It's so refreshing to see stores filled with pinks, yellows, blues, bright greens. Just like the outdoors:)

I love dressing my little angel girl in cute spring dresses! Her hair is getting SO long! It doesn't look the greatest in this picture but I was trying to get a pic of the curls. She always has curls and ringlets in the back of her hair, especially after she wakes up from a nap!

She was staying safe inside this day while the boys and some neighbors were having a water gun fight:)

 
I have a good friend who sends me all of her little girl clothes and I send her all of my boy clothes, since the ages of our kiddos works out just right! Eliana is loving picking out "new" clothes to wear! She usually fights me in the morning about getting dressed and wants to stay in her jammies but I can entice her by pointing out clothes with butterflies or strawberries on them:)

Getting so big!

I found a huge thing of sidewalk chalk at Aldi last week, which is disappearing rapidly! The kiddos have decorated all the sidewalks and porches nearby with endless tic tac toe games and drawings. Today Zakkai wrote in big letters on the sidewalk, "God is inportint." (important.) He's so cute!

Eliana is very territorial about the pink chalk! Every time you ask her what her favorite color is, she says pink! She loves to have us write her name in chalk. As soon as she sees an "E" anywhere, she said, "E L I A N, Ewlyiana!"

Samuel has been doing his alphabet countdown at school and today was "Interesting Fact" day. The kids all had to share an interesting fact about themselves. Samuel chose to share that he was born in Indiana and we moved here when he was a baby so his daddy could go to school and that his daddy has been in school his (Samuel's) whole life and is about to graduate! (finally! ha)

We talk about that sometimes; the fact that our kids know nothing different. Heck, (pardon me) I know nothing different! Ben has been in school our entire married life. 10 years! He graduated with his Bachelor's right when we got married and 4 months later, we moved to good ole Indy so he could get his (first) Master's. Crazy.

It's so exciting and even a little scary to be done with this. Our whole life has revolved around school. We live around the academic calendar so our "year' begins in September. I suppose when B gets "the" job we will still be living off of that calendar but it will be different. We're going to start a whole new phase of life. It's exciting, hopeful, scary, new, adventurous, you name it!

This afternoon, I was researching some information about the graduation next month and I found a video of the diploma and hooding ceremony for the Humanities department from last year. I was totally teary and emotional and it wasn't even his graduation! ha:) It will be such a great day and I guarantee that Ben's mom and I will be handing each other tissues throughout the ceremonies!

We have a lot to look forward to and we are so very thankful.