Coloring Easter Eggs

This year was the first time that R was really able to enjoy the Easter activities. He helped the girls color Easter eggs, and he had his first Easter Egg Hunt! He enjoyed both A LOT. The video shows the fun coloring eggs, but you can also hear how his speech is developing so much!!

He got a little tuckered out during the egg hunt. Grandma & Grandpa Willis' back yard is HUGE!!

What gives you hope??

Easter weekend was amazing! We went to a great church service on Saturday evening. We colored eggs with the kids. We spent a great Easter Sunday with family...good times and good food. Memories were made! I spent a lot of time this weekend so grateful for the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was a great Easter!! I felt joy in the fact that we have family and friends and Jesus in our lives.

Then came Monday, and that joy just seemed to be sucked away. Monday I faced orthodontist appts. with the girls. Result: Over $5000 worth of braces needed SOON for T. Since we don't have $5000 laying around unused, that equals $230/month for braces! I am still stressing over where we can possibly make enough cuts in our budget to cover $230/month for braces. Then I had to go to school on Monday evening and face a midterm that I knew I had done poorly on. This is my first semester back in school, and it is tough! And, I was right...I did not do well! So by last night when I got home at 10:00, I was pretty defeated. My joy from just one day before was buried in the worries of my world right now.

But then this morning, I see this:

And I have HOPE!! We have been watching this little tree that sits outside little R's window all winter! He has grown fond of this tree, and we have just been waiting for some sign of life from it. And the pink flowers belong to our neighbor, but they still bring me hope! These are signs of life!! They bring me hope that this long, hard winter is finally coming to end! And that may sound overly dramatic, but it HAS been long and hard!! These small signs of life in the trees and bushes are proof to me that they were watched over through this long winter. And that gives me hope that I am being watched over, too! Even through financial concerns and school concerns and family concerns, I have hope!! Warmer days are coming (literally and figuratively) and we will come out blooming, too!!

So for today, I am not defeated! I have hope! Hope that we will find the money to pay for braces. Hope that I will do better on my final, and my grade will be fine. Hope that little R's tree will grow and thrive. Hope that soon I will be enjoying the sunny days with all my kids at home with me. I have hope!

Look Who's Talking!

R has really been talking a lot lately, and his speech is so much different than the girls' was at this age! He has so many funny ways of saying certain words and letters, but it doesn't keep him from trying! He and Daddy have really gotten into the NBA team here (the OKC Thunder), so he likes to cheer the Thunder on with Daddy quite often! Anyway, here are a few short clips of some his favorite things to talk about!

R's creativity

R is always lining his cars up nice and neat and making loads for his tractors, and he is always very proud of his creations. This day he came running in to where I was saying "Mama, come look at this BIG load"! Of course, there is plenty of frustration when the tractor buckets give way to all the weight and drop the load!

This one's for Uncle Kenny!

We were flipping through the channels one night, and caught some motocross action. R LOVED it!!! Thought this would make you proud, Uncle Kenny!!

A's First Military Ball

R had an ROTC ball that he had to attend, and since we didn't have a babysitter, he took A instead of me. She enjoyed getting all dressed up, and she got to meet the former Miss USA, who sang the national anthem at the ball. She is a student at the college where R works, and A thought that was just wonderful!!! We had concerns about her getting bored sitting through the speaker, but she did great!! Everyone there was talking about how good she was! It's nice when you can take your children out in public and they know how to act...Lord knows they don't always act that way at home!!

PaPa Turns 60!!!!

Mom & Dad came down last month to watch the kids so R and I could go to a concert, and it just happened to be Dad's birthday! The girls and I made a cake, and attempted to light 60 candles on the cake. By the time we had them all lit, some of them were melting onto the cake! Moral of the story...60 candles is A LOT of candles for one cake!! Thanks for spending your birthday with us PaPa!!!!

Question: What does R love??

Answer: Pretty much ANYTHING with wheels! And he LOVES to line them up in a row, so one Sunday morning before church (with Daddy's help) he lined up every vehicle he owns. I have to say I was a little shocked at how many he actually has...when they are spread out all over the house, you can't really tell how many there actually are! He is also pretty darn crazy about the brown-eyed girl in the pic...I think A definitely comes directly behind me in little R's list of "very important people".

Crazy Socks!

Thanks Uncle Toby & Aunt Robyn!!

Christmas Catch-Up

A's birthday party in AR, with BFF Maddi

Our white Christmas!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

The girls decorated a gingerbread house for the first time!

Little R helped make Jesus' birthday cake this year...and got his first taste of cake batter!

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! We had a great Christmas, and even if I wasn't wishing for it, we did have a WHITE Christmas!! (It's still white here...I'm beginning to think it always will be). We had Grandma & Grandpa Willis here for a day visit on Christmas Eve, but because of the weather and closed roads, they had to stay until Christmas day and then go home! We went home to Arkansas right after Christmas and celebrated A's birthday there with family. Then the girls and MiMi & PaPa were off to Branson until New Year's Eve! We rang in the New Year here at home with the girls (MiMi & PaPa & little R didn't make it till 12:00, they were sound asleep). All in all, a great holiday season!