Not to brag...

...but I forgot to mention that M has been reading for a few weeks now! We have really kind of been in shock about the whole thing. We first noticed it when she started asking if she could read to E before she went to bed. Of course we thought "how sweet"! And then we realized she was actually reading the books and not just making up her own story according to the pictures, as she used to "read." So, we started paying more and more attention. She has surpassed the reading level 1 books and just finished reading "Mr. Brown can Moo" to us a few minutes ago. She does struggle with some of the "hard" words, as we used to call them growing up, but that is to be expected.

I told her tonight that she learned to read before I did...meaning that I think I was 6 when I started to read. Her response..."Yeah, I'm better than you." So we still need to work on that whole pride thing :) We're also still working on needing to be the first one for everything. This morning I told her that the Bible says, "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first." She said she didn't like that!

Adventures in an Odyssey with Miss Patty Cake, Cousins, and an Earthquake!

This post is long over due...please accept my apologies once again. We've had an exciting few weeks to report. A couple of weeks ago we broke down and got a mini-van...I feel like I am an official mom now! We had been toying with the idea for some time as my Explorer was packing on the miles, jam packed with car seats, and literally falling apart. We decided on the Honda Odyssey and I can't tell you how much I love it! I feel like my life has been revolutionized by this car...my kids aren't touching each other, M can buckle herself now that she isn't squished by her siblings, no one is slamming our car doors into other car doors, it has an Ipod jack!, the DVD player is in the ceiling, there are at least 16 cup holders!, and the list goes on. I didn't want to do it, I did NOT want to give up my Explorer, but I am thrilled that I did...I may never go back to an SUV again...shhh, don't tell Kris that :)

So less than 24 hours later, we packed up the new van (we seriously could have packed in the kitchen sink if we needed it!) and headed south to Memphis. There were a few reasons for this trip: 1) we didn't go anywhere for spring break because Kris had to travel, 2) Miss Patty Cake was going to be at my sister's church, 3) Kris had business meetings Sun-Tues in Memphis, 4) we were so tired of the St. Louis weather that we had to go south!

Miss Patty Cake probably wins the prize for favorite part of our trip...if you don't know who she is...please check out her website www.misspattycake.com. She is a fabulous Christian artist who performs for preschoolers. We LOVE her at my house! We all had a great time singing along (even Daddy!) and afterwards we got to meet her and take pictures with her. She was so sweet and in awe that we drove 5 hours to see her. We're hoping to get her up this way sometime in the next year for a fund-raiser for our school.

The rest of our time in Memphis was spent having fun with my parents and my sister's family. The cousins had a great time together, as usual, and we all enjoyed eating at my mom's table...seriously, good food. Here are some more memories of the weekend:

And M even had a little guitar lesson from cousin E...

At some point during our trip, I had talked with my mom about the future possibilities for earthquakes in Memphis and in St. Louis. She had recently seen a show about how to be prepared. As we were discussing it, I couldn't help but think that it seemed a little presumptuous to prepare for an earthquake in St. Louis. Well, obviously the earth took offense to that and gave us a little rumble, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale, last Friday morning! Dixie had already been acting funny, wouldn't lie down on her bed, kept wanting outside, stood by the side of our bed, etc. So we were already kind of awake when the whole house started shaking, our bed in particular...it felt like one of those old coin operated beds in those old hotels. I turned to Kris and said, "Um, what was that?" He said he wasn't sure but it felt like an earthquake...I agreed and we rolled over and went back to sleep. Obviously we weren't that concerned....maybe next time we will be! And sure enough when we got up a few hours later it was confirmed that we indeed did have an earthquake. When M came in our room she said, "Did y'all hear and feel that thunder last night?" We think she probably felt it as well but didn't know any other way to describe it. When I told her that it was an earthquake, she asked what that was. I said, "Remember in Miss Patty Cake's song about how the 'earth went to quaking'?" She said, "Yes, and Jesus rose again!" She was excited...I didn't want to steal her thunder because what a cool thing to relate an earthquake to. But I had to explain that we haven't had the 2nd coming yet :) Sorry no pictures of our earthquake!

Spring Training

We have entered a whole new stage in our lives...kid's sports! M has started softball and so we have entered the world of little gloves, cleats, softballs, bats, uniforms, water bottles, going to practice (with 2 "littles" in tow), and early Saturday morning games. We're excited about this new phase...but probably not half as excited as our little player! She is thrilled to be doing what the "big" kids do...actually playing a sport! The team is composed of little girls from M's school and our sister Christian school and one of my friends is the coach. This is going to be fun...


Our first practice was yesterday after school. I had no idea what to expect. The first thing we noticed was lots of pink on this team of girls ages Pre-K to Kindergarten. And after lots of giggles and running around, they got down to business.

First the girls practiced throwing and catching and not 5 minutes into it, M got a pop-fly to the face! Ouch! After that, she wasn't so sure she wanted to play sports anymore. She took a pretty good time-out and then after much encouragement from Momma and Aunt KK, went back to practice. Let's hope she got her game injury in early and will be safe the rest of the season :)


Next they practiced running the bases...

And then it was batting practice...

M did great...had a few hits, and no injuries! They also took turns playing catcher and playing in the outfield...although not many balls headed into the outfield :)

This is going to be fun...really fun...and funny, really funny! Hope you can make it to a game so you can see for yourself!

One Boy, Many Faces

Little C got his first buzz-cut (compliments of Daddy) on Saturday. Daddy had been wanting to do this for several months and I asked that he at least wait until it was spring. So, the weekend after Easter...the clippers came out! We like the new "do"...kind of masks his receding hair line just a little :)

When the camera comes out so do the many faces of C. He is a ham to say the least...check him out!

And my little friends have found a nice new place to play while I write this blog...under my computer desk!

A Little Easter Snow

So, you know we've had a pretty miserable (or fabulous, if you are my daughter!) winter here in the mid-west. Well, just when we thought it was over...we woke up to this lovely (or not!) view outside...It continued to snow off and on all day...melting in between...and then covering the ground again. I have to say, that's a first for this ole southerner...snow on Easter!

The weather did not prevent us from enjoying a glorious day celebrating our risen Lord! We rejoice in the "empty tunnel", as M put it! The kids enjoyed their Easter baskets before breakfast...and all cried as we put swapped them out for real food.

I suppose the funniest part of the day was putting on our Easter outfits for church when it was snowing outside...c'mon kids, get your hats and mittens...I didn't care, we were wearing our spring clothes...that snow wasn't stopping me!

May you find joy in the empty "tunnel"!

Huge Snowfall and Memphis Cousins

I have been a little blog negligent and so I have some catching up to do! First, here are a few pics of the huge snowfall we had last week. I think we ended up with somewhere around a foot of snow. M is the only one who ventured out into the blizzard. The snow covered her boots, almost up to her knees! We're hoping this is the last one of the season...we have spring fever!

This past weekend our Memphis cousins came for a visit for the first part of their spring break. We were all so excited to have them here. It's amazing to me how well the cousins all get along and love each other considering the age differences: 17, 14, 10, 5, 2, and 1. Saturday was spent at the City Museum in downtown St. Louis. We ALL had so much fun, even the adults :) Here are a few memories:

Cousin B & E up in the trees

C hitching a ride with Uncle T

Cousin Z finally making it through the log
M taking a spin on the rope

Chickens on a train ride

Cousin Z way, way up there!

Cousins big and small

I wish I had more and better pictures to share with you so you could really understand the awesome slides that we all went down! They were really high and long and some were dark and curvy...my sister and I squealing like we were little girls all the way down :)

After the city museum we headed to Union Station for lunch and Cousin E and M got to play on these huge trampolines while being strapped into bungee cords. They had so much fun.

On Sunday evening we took the crew to Ted Drewes...you can't visit St. Louis without a little T.D.'s now can you?! It was a chilly night so everyone huddled inside our car and enjoyed their tasty treat.

Thanks for visiting us! We had so much fun with all of you! We can't wait for Cousin Camp in Memphis this summer!

Barefoot for Bethany

Last year Bethany Christian Services of Missouri started a new fundraiser in which Bethany babies of the past put on a fashion show. This year the girls were not only in the fashion show, but their picture decorated the program! We had a nice "big girl" lunch with our friends, enjoyed watching the girls model two outfits each, won a nice prize during the raffle, and won first place for most sponsorships for the girls! All in all, a great day!

E's first outfit (it was a little long!)

K's first outfit (in the dressing room)

E's dancing dress (her favorite!)

M's dancing dress (another favorite!)

Sweet Friends

And again, not to leave out our little guy...here he is enjoying his first "spring" day in the backyard. He wasn't too sure that he wanted to leave the "concreek", as the girls call our little pad of concrete by the door. He was content to watch the girls and feel the breeze. Another good day.