it was magical

we planned this trip in october 2010.  at the time, we had no idea what god had in store for our family and that his plans included charlotte, north carolina.  the timing of this trip was nothing short of divine.  we did not choose any of the following dates and i smile at how perfectly it came together.

house closed on may 6th

left for disney may 8th

returned may 13th

ben left for charlotte may 14th

disney gave us a chance to celebrate making it through the past few months and most importantly gave us concentrated time together before we are separated for the next month.  

before suitcases were unpacked, swimsuits were on and the fun began.  

i had big expectations of disney and the details and charm did not disappoint.   we walked onto many rides and even found ourselves grumbling when a wait entered the 25 minute mark.  we were rather spoiled.  no complaints.

how many moms ask their kids if they want a certain character's autograph then turn to their husband and ask the same question?

 walking up the swiss family robinson treehouse.  mental note to have a movie night.  kinsley loved this place.

 the jungle cruise is a classic.  it was my favorite as a child and i LOVED watching the expressions of the girls.

hallie shed a couple tears on her first ride on pirates of the caribbean.  after 3 times she was a pro and now sings, yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me.  

 near this little nook is a baby care center that i was able to escape to for nursing...hello air conditioning.

the curls drew comments from strangers and made my heart pitter pat.  lovely lovely curls.

thank heavens she is not too big to do her classic crazy grin.  she can't do it without clenching her fists and bringing them to her chest.

hallie has a bladder the size of a walnut.  that is probably an exaggeration...it is more like a bean.  this was a common scene.  many many many trips to the potty.

cooling off in a sprinkler.  can you see the joy?

caroline became a speedy little crawler on this trip.  she also got two bottom teeth.  she was an amazing travel companion.

i'm impressed with the form of these jumpers.  (each square was a different instrument)

hallie has always had sensitive ears.  this is how she watched the fireworks.

"it's a small world" gets a bad rep.  we were going to skip it but when there was no wait how could we refuse. (however,  ben sacrificially volunteered to wait with caroline while she napped so he missed out).  surprisingly, it stands out as one of my favorite memories.  riding on the boat hearing the girls point out all the sights was special and the details were amazing!

we realized we were snobby when we were waiting 30 minutes for peter pan and felt annoyed.  at least it gave hallie time for a tiny nap.  hello sweaty curls.

a million thanks to my wonderful in-laws!  the attention and love they gave the girls was priceless.

tom was constantly carrying someone and was always on the lookout for characters/princesses/anything the girls would like.  i loved listening to jane's conversations with the girls.  they giggled and shared many sacred moments.

they also gave ben and i a chance to sneak away on several occasions.  we went on rides together and also went out at night.  by ourselves.  it will be a long long time before that happens again and we relished every minute of our time.  we played in the pool, soaked in the hot tub, and enjoyed late night dinners.   thanks so much!

within these walls

we lived on morning glory for seven years.  before we had kids or even furniture.  every one of our babies came home from the hospital to this place.  milestones were reached and memories were made.

it seems like nearly every night for the last five years we would rock a little someone to sleep in this room.  transfer her to a crib, sneak out the door, hear her wake up and start the process again.  oh, the 100's of hours we have spent in this place.  

this is the room where our two oldest girls giggled and built a friendship.   where they would orchestrate elaborate plans to delay bedtime.  it's the place they learned to work together, play together, and share together.  lots of bedtime stories, working out problems and snuggling with mom and dad.  one would be surprised that until the very last day they would play hide and seek in this room---and seem genuinely shocked to find one another despite the few options.

 
today kinsley and hallie went from room to room saying goodbye.  they marked boxes with stickers so that they will be certain that the boxes that end up in north carolina are indeed our stuff.

we have been so thankful to have spent this time in this place.  i sure am going to miss it.  

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.

first love

my heart beats a little faster, my tummy feels queasy and water wells up in my eyes when i reflect on moving away from the kinsley and mason friendship.

who could have guessed that a little boy and a little girl could grow up together and remain buddies despite his "all boy" and her "all girl" passions.

maybe it's because i adore his mom and we created playdates so that we could spend time together.

maybe it's because the dads have an awesome friendship and text more often than ben and i do.

or maybe, just maybe, it's because they have a rare bond that is all their own.

they were in diapers together. diapers. 

mason has always been kinsley's protector.  

we were in the mountains a few weeks ago and one morning ben walked in their room and witnessed kinsley standing on her tippy toes while mason hung down from the top bunk.  they were sharing a good-morning kiss.  it wasn't the first.

these pictures don't even scratch the surface of all the memories and fun they have had.  what a complete joy it has been.  we are totally teaching them to skype.