Sweet Friends

I feel continually blessed by the special friends the Lord has given us in North Carolina. Our lives are so rich and it is wonderful to watch our children in relationship with other wonderful families and children.

Last week our sweet friend Conor was over while his Mommy was at the doctor's office. He was an absolute joy to have and I loved this picture of him. He is holding a machine gun and wearing Princess Bell, high-heeled shoes. And thank you Conor for teaching Ryan to pee pee standing up! If only he could teach him to hit the bathroom everytime he has to go. . .

Today we met some sweet friends at Triangle Town Center to play and have lunch. Madeline is sitting between Emily and Ava, with Claire across from her. These girls are all so sweet. I was especially grateful for our time together this week, as Ryan really needed some rough and tumble time with his buds Jackson and Ty since Daddy is away. Something funny. . .Madeline told me on Saturday that she likes to call Emily "Emel". I asked her why and she told me that it was a special nickname for her. Where that came from, I have no idea!

Paint, Paint Everywhere

When Daddy travels, Mommy pulls out all the big guns to keep Madeline and Ryan entertained. After reading a book to Madeline about a little girl who paints a picture, Madeline wanted to paint. Since Ryan was napping, I thought it would be a wonderful time for Madeline to paint outside with the easel. Madeline is very neat, orderly and clean, so I knew there would be little mess. Ha, ha, ha. Because Madeline is meticulous, her painting was a beautiful mosaic of patterned colors that took her a long time to paint. As a result, Ryan awoke from his nap while Maddie was still painting. As soon as Ryan saw what Madeline was doing, he wanted to join her. I convinced him to try finger painting, which Madeline then wanted to do. My neat and clean girl, got elbow deep in finger paint. At one point, I was helping Ryan, with my back to Madeline, and when I turned around Madeline had painted her shirt and her face. At this point, I knew the battle was lost and I let them go to town. They had a blast and it was a mess, but great fun. Thank you Crayola for making washable paint!!!

10 Things I Love to Do

I never knew there was such a thing as blog tagging, but Jen Joyner has introduced me to it, so here goes my first tag (thanks Jen!):

10 Things I Love to Do:

1) Spend time with my family.  I love the special times the Lord gives us as a family, whether it is taking a walk or a vacation.

2) Dates with Matt.  There is nothing that gets me more excited than looking forward to a date with my husband.  I love getting to connect over a meal undistracted and enjoy quality time together.

3) Working Out.  I can not imagine life without running, doing other aerobics or lifting.  I love getting sweaty and red faced and pushing myself to my limits.

4) Reading the newspaper.  When I get alone time, I usually find a coffee shop and read the paper from top to bottom.

5) Spending time with friends and meeting new people.  I love being social.  One of my favorite things is hearing people's stories.

6) Taking long, hot showers.  Strange, perhaps, but I LOVE it.  There is nothing more relaxing than standing under scalding hot water.  My wonderful husband is wonderfully cost conscious, so I try only to indulge in this "love" while traveling in a hotel or at mom's house (thank you mom, sorry Steve :)).

7) Going to bed at night.  Since having children, a night has not passed that I have not looked forward to going to bed.  Every night I am completely exhausted and I love nothing more than crawling under the covers, praying with Matt, and folding the pillow over my head.

8) Visit my mom.  I LOVE spending time at my mom's house.  She almost always takes time off from work and we go, go, go.  We both love being outside, so we take the kids to playgrounds, amusement parks, hikes, camping. . .  And there is nothing more relaxing than being at mom's house with your favorite foods and comforts.  Thank you mom, I love you!

9) Hang out in the cul-de-sac with my neighbors.  The Lord has blessed us with an amazing group of neighbors.  Most of the women stay at home, our husbands enjoy one another, and our children overlap in ages.  We love connecting while our children play, and we are also a great support for each other.

10)  Have Quality Time over a meal to really connect with a friend.  I love deep conversation and really connecting with a girlfriend.

So there it is.  Tara and Bonnie, I now tag you.  Looking forward to seeing your posts!  

Easter in the Cul-de-Sac

Ryan on the hunt!

Maddie counts her eggs.

Madeline and Ali check out the contents of their eggs.

After church, we enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship with our neighbors at our third annual Easter potluck and egg hunt. It is always a wonderful spread of food and a relaxed time with friends. Of course the children love playing together. After eating, we send the kids to the Brister's backyard and the adults then hide eggs. My favorite part is watching the older kids help the younger kids find eggs once they have "basketed" their quota.

This cul-de-sac get together is the last with the Coulters, as they head to Omaha in three weeks. We will miss them, but know the Lord has good things for them.

Of course, the day did not pass without stress. As I was putting something away in the fridge, a two quart glass pitcher broke, spilling Elmo red juice all over the refrigerator and onto the floor. Knowing this would totally stress Matt out, I hurried to clean everything up before he came home. I even managed to pull the refrigerator all the way out, clean the floor under it, and push it back into place without leaving a single scratch on the floors!!!

Easter Morning

Today we joyfully celebrated the resurrection of Jesus and with that the forgiveness of sins and hope of eternal life. This morning, as I spent time with the Lord, with Ryan beside me watching the Wiggles (because he decided to wake up at 6am), I was overcome by the Lord's purity and righteousness in comparison to my sin and humanness, making me more grateful for His gift of salvation. I spent some time mediating on the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. How different I would look if these "fruits" were an intrinsic part of me. I yearn to look more and more like Jesus, dying to myself each day.

Though the Easter Bunny does not come to our house, we do still celebrate Jesus' resurrection with baskets of goodies.

After much hunting, Madeline finds her basket behind the curtains. We learned that the "cold, warm, hot" clues do not work so well with a 4 year old. Words like, "check behind things", as she walked past the curtains, were much more effective.

Ryan almost had us rolling on the floor laughing. When he realized that the basket was for him, he was elated. Concerned that we might change our minds or that he might have to share with his sister, he collected as much as he could in his arms and ran for a safe place to stash his "loot". He was carrying so much that he continually dropped things and would have to stop and pick up items every few steps. It was hilarious.

Our pretty princess with our studly, mohawk man.

Here are many of the sweet children from our church eating bagels together. Sweet Claire and Madeline are becoming buddies. From left to right, we have Jacob, Ty, Ryan, Madeline, Claire, Ava, and Jackson.

Morrisville Egg Hunt

Where, you might be wondering, are the pictures of the egg hunt? This year Morrisville changed the location of the egg hunt from the community park to the Cedar Fork District Park. Since the Cedar Fork Community Center is only 2 miles away, I thought it would be a great idea to run there, thereby avoiding traffic and getting my workout in early. As I turned onto Town Hall Drive, I immediately sensed that something was wrong. Not many cars were whizzing past me and I knew this would be a crowded event. As I approached the Community Center, I realized that the Cedar Fork District Park was not located at the Cedar Fork Community Center or Elementary School. By then it was 9:30 and I knew there was no way I could run home and get to the right location in time. Of course I felt horrible, as Maddie and Ryan were anticipating an egg hunt. I profusely promised them an egg hunt as soon as they woke up from naps that afternoon (of course that meant I had to go on a frantic shopping trip during nap time to purchase candy). Thankfully, there was a playground in back of the Community Center that Madeline and Ryan enjoyed. Soon the egg hunt was history.

Here is Ryan about to shoot the ball.

Here is Ryan after shooting the ball. I think he's baffled as to what just occurred, as the last time he attempted shots, Mr. Jamie was holding him and he did not end up on the ground.

Madeline jump, jump, jumping.

Madeline and Mommy played a fun game of hopscotch.

Madeline and Ryan are perfect see-saw partners since they weigh the same amount. Mommy did have fun "poofing" them up in the air when she sat across from them.

Check out the puffed cheeks. Ryan is intent on bubbles coming forth from his wand!

Date with Daddy

Last Saturday, before things began to fall apart, Daddy took Madeline on a date. Sweet Madeline got all dressed up in her new Easter dress for their breakfast at Bojangles (a blueberry biscuit) and trip to the observation deck at the airport.