2011

CLICK here for a video of my 2011 year in review!! Short, sweet, and to the point, but holds so much meaning in my heart..... =) Enjoy! http://animoto.com/play/AykFPP3GJYt6XY5mHQMI4g

"fb friends unite"

It's always refreshing to meet new people who share a love for our Lord....who don't mind getting caught up in endless bible conversation....who are in a similar "season" of life as we are (you know, a house full of kids, in the beginning of homeschooling, who attend a church where there are no other "young'ns")....who tend to think outside the box a little (ex. family planning, modesty, homeschooling, etc)....who have kids around the same age as ours.....


For the past year or more, Joe and Jewell (friends who visit our church once a month...they live in KY) have talked to us about a couple they go to church with in KY, Tiffany and Aaron. Apparently they thought we had a lot in common since they were always talking to us about eachother. Ssooo....we did the "normal" thing these days and started talking on facebook.

"Hey Tiffany! I'm a friend of Jewell's (they visit our church once a month in WV). I hear so much about you all the time from Jewell because apparently she thinks we have a lot in common (big families and potential homeschoolers?) haha
Ssooo...thought I'd send ya a message on here and see if ya wanted to chat about life sometime. =)
Hope to hear from you soon!!!
Kelly"

And so it began.....recently, we decided to meet up with Aaron and Tiffany for the first time. There was only one catch: they live 3+ hours away. Hhmmm....how could we work this out? Tiffany mentioned that Aaron preaches at a church in Ashland 3 times a month. Perfect! We decided to drive to Ashland on a Saturday so we could go to church with them on Sunday. Tiffany and Aaron always spend the night with her mom near Ashland anytime he's preaching at Westwood. So,we got a hotel in Ashland and they came over to spend the evening with us and order pizza. It was so much fun!!! =)  Such great fun and fellowship with Tiffany and Aaron, and the kids had a blast.

You can imagine....no tv, no toys, only two big queen sized beds spaced fairly close for the kids (we had a couch and chairs for the adults), and IMAGINATION. Their oldest, Emma is around the same age as Isaiah and Benjamin, Brac is the same age as Gracie Belle, and then little Maggie is just a few weeks younger than Levi. =)  We had such a great time that we've invited them to drive 3+ hours to spend the weekend with us next month. Can't wait!!!
On Sunday morning, we headed to Westwood Church of Christ with them where Aaron gave a great sermon on the 2nd chapter of James. Everyone at their church was super sweet and laid back, just as we're used to where we attend church at home. After services, we all headed out to O'Charley's.....you can imagine the looks. Four adults with SEVEN kids under the age of 5. LMBO!!!!  Good times. =)  Tiffany whispered to me as we were walking in, "Yes, they're all ours and yes we know where they come from."  ahahaaaa =P

So I guess i'll sum this up to say to Tiffany and Aaron: apparently you're our "twin family"....LMBO!!!  We look forward to your visit next month. =)

Oh, and I can't forget to include our family hotel pic that we take anytime we go somewhere.....this is our first one since Levi was born. =)

daddy-o

A child's time with their daddy is a special, special treasure on this earth.....


















and a time for mommy to see into the hearts of her husband and children, to see the children look up to their daddy as if he's Superman himself (minus the cape),

to see the relationships unfold of admiration, trust, and unconditional love,

to see the laughter/rough-housing that these children associate with their daddy, to keep myself from giggling when I see the kids trying to purposely get a laugh out of daddy during nighttime bible reading just to make him smile,
and to see that honestly, there is very little "serious" time with daddy because he's just one big ball of fun.....it is such a blessing.

 

Just like Gracie's cowgirl teetering on daddy's lincoln log creation, life is just one big balancing act.....learning how to balance the most important things in this life and putting to the side the things that don't really matter.

ice, ice baby.....(throwback)

It wasn't until I was browsing back through my pics and saw Benjamin with his hat on sideways, holding a piece of ice, that I decided on the title of this blog post...heheheee! =)


The events of this afternoon began with the boys saying, "Mommy!!! The water is HARD!! Why????"  Thus a perfectly unplanned homeschool moment surfaced. I'm all for hands-on learning, so I had to run with it, right?



We shattered ice across the driveway like broken glass, just to watch it melt in the sunshine.

Then we collected a bunch of pieces of ice in a cup to make our hypothesis "How much water will be in the cup when all of the ice melts??? I put a line and initial where each child thought the melted water would be.....then we put the ice in the sun to melt.  See below to find out who made the

best guess! =)

Who would have thought ice could be so much fun!!!  They played till their little fingers were completely numb.






We also crunched ice with a big stick found in the wood pile...

Miss Priss, on the other hand, was not into the ice....she was having more fun goofing off on the swing with mommy!    

Then along came popaw with a present.....some trucks to play with. Perfect for loading ice. =)

So who guessed correctly on the water/ice??  No one, but Isaiah's mark was the closest!

And what was my little Levi  doing through all of this, you ask?? Napping through much of it, but after he woke up, he was all smiles as usual! =)