We have a new nephew!

Elijah Matthew
April 26, 2008
8 lbs.
Isn't he sweet?

Family Friday: Maddy

I thought I'd try something new, and do a little update on each child on Fridays.

Over Spring Break, David and I decided to give each child a little one-on-one date with one of us. Being in a large family, the kids don't get a lot of individual outings with us, doing something they want to do. Maddy was the first to have her "date", and she chose to go to the "Barbara shop" to get a haircut! Her hair was really long, and really pretty, and all I have ever done is trim the ends.




We talked to the hairdresser about "Locks of Love" and she said they needed 6" for children with hair loss. Maddy was excited to hear that a little girl or boy would have the chance to have a wig made from her hair.



She loved being pampered, and getting a new look!



Maddy is such a sweet girl, always ready to help and sensitive to how others are feeling. Gabe absolutely adores her, when he hears her voice he whips his head in all directions to see where she is.
This year Mads is going to play t-ball. She is hilarious out on the field during practice, she cannot stand still! Playing first base she is dancing and twirling...what a girl!
She is also extremely smart. She is in the top reading group for her class in Kindergarten, and is one of the youngest there. This morning she was counting while getting dressed and ended up getting to 432!! The part that cracked me up was how at each '9' she would draw it out..."three hundred and twenty niiiiiinnnnneee...three hundred and thirty!"
She fills our days with a lot of love and a LOT of laughter.

Things we love about spring...

sunshine and warmth


blowing bubbles


my favorite kind of bouquet, picked with love from little hands


rubber boots, in pink of course


bumps, bruises, bug bites, and bandaids. (we don't love the owies, but we do love an assortment of "cute" bandaids!)

making cookies...

our cookie jar has been empty for a while now, so this afternoon I made some chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough. This is a new recipe, and if you can judge a cookie from the taste of the dough, it's going to be a good one! I offered Luke a beater after I mixed the dough, and he (very nicely) asked if he could have the spatula instead. I told him he could have the beater first, while I finished mixing the chocolate chips in with the spatula. A minute after he put his beater in the sink I hear his sweet voice say, "now can I have this?" How can you say no to that face? (notice how he is holding it like a baseball bat!!) He wasn't all that happy that I wiped the majority of the dough off first, but he licked it clean!

Wordless Wednesday

(happy 8 months, baby Gabe!)

Easter fun

22 hard boiled eggs! Once Gabe starts eating them I'll have to do at least 2 dozen! Maybe we should have our own chickens?





Plenty of candy was consumed, before 9am (and after)!



A little boy enjoyed his first Easter...even though the Easter Bunny didn't bring him any candy!


We went to Grammy and Grampy's house and spent the afternoon eating delicious food and spending time with family.
I sat the 5 cuties down for a group picture and this is what I got...I think it shows their personalities very well!


Gabe loved snuggling Grammy and Grampy:



Lukey snuggling his Aunt Anna (isn't her hair fabulous?)


Cousin Katie, a self portrait. *smile*


Great Grandma was there too, it was so nice spending time with her!


I got to drive Grandma home to the farm after dinner and we had the nicest time visiting in the car. When we got to her house her two little kitties were waiting at the door, very hungry. Grandma is so funny, she makes macaroni and cheese and keeps it in the refrigerator for them. She opens a can of cat food, puts some m&c in the bowl with it, and warms it in the microwave. Talk about spoiled kitties!!! She is so cute. After the kitties were fed, we danced to some big band music, although I did not inherit the ability to dance. Especially with my crippled foot. Grandma can still cut a mean rug at almost 83 years old!
On my way home I passed a field that had AT LEAST 50 deer grazing and romping...I have never seen anything like it in my life. I took some pictures (stopped the car first, of course), but they didn't turn out very good.
It was a really good day, a holiday full of fun with family.
Most of all, celebrating the true meaning of Easter. I am so grateful for the life that we have because of what Jesus has done for us!

Is this spring?

Merry Christmas...I mean Happy Easter!! I promised my inlaws that I would show them what they're missing down in sunny Florida! On Good Friday we literally got about a foot of snow, much to the childrens' delight! Here are some pictures of them happily enjoying the beautiful white snow, perhaps for the last time this year!






Our streets were plowed early Saturday morning, and it is a good thing we have 4WD on our Suburban. David spent a lot of time shoveling Saturday morning, and I hobbled out with my broken toe to take a few pictures. Hard to believe it is almost April!