this and that

the moving truck arrives in 11 days.  in the meantime we have been busy little bees.

for her birthday, hallie received a butterfly garden from her cousins.  teeny tiny caterpillars arrived in the mail and grew into fuzzy crawlers which then hung from the lid and spun cocoons.  next we will transfer them into a net and wait for butterflies to emerge.  it has been very fascinating to watch them grow.  

my sister also hooked us up with this fun activity.  the kids made chia-pet like grassy hills to represent the hill of calvary.  on easter morning we will open the lid to reveal the empty tomb.  it has been pretty fun to watch the seeds grow.

i have been wanting to take pictures manually for a long time.  i hope to eventually take a photography class but for now am relying on this awesome e-book i purchased.  i just need my camera back from the darn shop.

kinsley and i had fun making a rainbow cake for her birthday party.  can't believe the girl turned 5 today!!   she won't stop growing...despite the promise she made 3 years ago to not get any bigger.

parenting 101: never allow your kids to start a sticker collection on the inside window of the car.  it will last for many years then take the better part of a week to scrape off.  thus, for their easter baskets i made them little sticker books by laminating pieces of tagboard.   problem solved.

sweet caroline is happy to be eating real food.  so far, she highly prefers yogurt and bananas over my batches of broccoli and sweet potatoes.

i couldn't resist posting this pic of hallie.  with pigtails.  yummy.

dedication day

the day caroline was dedicated was special for so many reasons. let me count thy ways.
1.  it was a sweet thing to dedicate her at hillside.  a place we have called home since before we had kids and people we have loved since before we were married.  with them, we have gone from young marrieds to expectant parents to rookie parents to still-trying-to-figure-this-whole-parenting-thing-out-3-kids-later parents.

2.  it was an honor to share our heart and our prayers for caroline.
i shared this little story:  ben was out of town the week before the dedication.  when he returned, kinsley excitedly told him that we get to "raise caroline up" in church on sunday.  it only took me a second to connect the dots and figure out how she came to that conclusion.  i had an earlier conversation with her about the meaning of a dedication.  i told her that we want to raise caroline up in a home that loves jesus.  in a home that serves him with our whole hearts.  that prays for each other and with each other.   how very precious that she took it so literally.

3.  my heart still warms up when i reflect on who was standing up with us.  how amazing that my 3 best friends all had babies at the same time as me.  we got to dedicate them together.  something i will never forget.

girls--i love you more than you know.  i remember everything you said about carter, isla and wyatt.  thanks for the precious memory.

4.  2 little bonus memories from that day:   it was awesome watching ben help lead worship for the last time.   the church also surprised me with a sweet goodbye and video tribute for coordinating children's ministries.

a pic of our clan.   these friendships---husband to husband---child to child---wife to wife will be deeply deeply deeply missed.   (carter, kinsley and mason are apparently MIA)  and yes, that would be 10 kids between us all.

3 Years!

hallie ann,

today we celebrated you. you made my heart melt from the moment you woke up till the moment i tucked you in bed. i loved celebrating you!

your morning began early, when you discovered your room was full of balloons (your unchanging favorite colors....yellow and orange).

you whispered to me, "i turned 3 last night, mommy!"

first thing, you got to open your presents from grandma jane and gramps.  as always, i read aloud the "mushy" letter grandma jane wrote and have stored it with all the others.  you opened books, a movie, a dress and a super fun lego set.

i told you about the day you were born and we looked at your scrapbook.

papa made you his specialty...yummy platter for your birthday breakfast.  extra syrup.

the 5 of us went to the park and we were blessed with a beautiful sunny day.  we had a picnic and your daddy chased you and kinsley around and around.  so fun for me to see.

your cousins came for your party...my little pony...your special request.  boy, did you know it was your day. your smile made me smile.

we played a game, opened presents (puzzles, a butterfly garden, marble tower, cash register), had dinner and ate cake, with some march madness going on in the background.

today, you told me that i do not need to carry you anymore because you are a big girl.  just like that, seemingly in the blink of an eye.   today was so fun for me. i adored concentrating on you, admiring you, treasuring you.   you are one precious child.