Newport Aquarium

For my sister's birthday, she wanted to go to the Newport, KY Aquarium. Pretty much, she wanted to do something that would be fun for the kids.
We had a blast! Unfortunately, they are no longer allowing strollers anymore, but they did offer a free 'backpack' to carry James in. He looked so silly in this contraption! He's so little itty-bitty and this thing came up to his chin. He sure loved it though!





Here's a creepy little creature. . .not sure what it is, but Peter liked looking at it! SO GROSS!!!!!

Glorious Ruins Photos

Some more pictures of our band, taken by Ryan Cleary.

Play-Day

I know it looks like Peter is getting ready to whack James, but he's really just playing with him, promise! We bought this stick-looking thing at a store, and it makes this incredibly annoying sound, but James loves it, therefore Peter loves it!

New Sitter

Well, for the FIRST time, ever, I had to hire a babysitter to watch Peter the other night. Tim was on his second shift and I needed to finalize some photo shots, so I called a spunky young lady at our church. She knows us and Peter really well, so it was a perfect evening for him!
She watched him for 2 1/2 hours, and they had SO much fun. Afterwards, while I was taking her home, she told me about some funny things that he had said to her.
She had her sweatshirt on, and was getting warm (he likes to run A LOT), so she started to take it off and he asked "What are you doing?" She replied, "I'm taking my sweatshirt off. . . .is that ok???" Peter said "Oh, sure. . . . .you're cute!"

Later, Peter was running laps around his train set and stopped and told her "When I growned up, I want to be a mother", then he went back to running around the trains. She kept asking him "You mean, you want to be a DADDY?", but he just kept running. Finally, he stopped running, put his hand up and said "Stop a second. . . .I need to do this" (running) What a weirdo!!!
After I dropped her off at her home, I called my mom to tell her some of those funny things he did and said. He heard me talking about it and corrected me. . . "Mom. . .she's cute AND pretty". Well, excuse me.
What a charmer. . . . . I think we're in trouble.

Promo

Here's our newest picture, that will be going on our Album Cover.

More Pictures. . .

Today is a 'picture day'. I LOVE picture days. This is a day where I don't have a lot of stuff to do (i.e. lessons, laundry, dishes, cooking), so I try to get as many candid moments on camera that I can. They love it too!!! (sometimes, a little too much!)
I do have slightly vain children.


Peek-a-Boo!!!

Giving Kisses. . . .

James loves touching (and pulling) on big brother!

This is a personal favorite . . .what a fat face!

My Sweet Boy

Smiling with his new found love, . . . . his thumb!

stretch!!!!

Most common: Peter too distracted by the television and James looking at the camera playing the cute card!

I hope they remember how much they loved each other as kids

I thought I would post some pictures of our #1 guy. We tell him that he is our favorite 'first' son, it sure makes him feel special.







Our new thing that Tim and I are contemplating is sending this guy to school, preschool. He's getting bored at home and he is so excited about learning. He has started writing out some 2 and 3 letter words and he's sounding out words when Tim and I read to him. We are just afraid that he will be bored out of his mind at a preschool, since he knows most of the things that they would teach him in kindergarden. So, I have been going through some pre-kindergarden books with him and he's been picking up on things at a very impressive rate. We, obviously for being our first child, don't know the ins and outs of the schooling system, or if they have even changed in the last 25 years, so if there's any advice that anyone would have for us, we would sure appreciate it! Thanks!!!

Sleepy Head

Our friends gave us a baby 'swing' for James. We kept thinking he was too small for it, but gave it a shot the other day. Turns out it's his new favorite thing! He played and bounced in it for a good half hour, at least. All of a sudden, he got quiet. . .and this is how we found him!




Who knew he could rock himself to sleep!!!

hee, hee

I was looking at a friend's blog, at pictures from their recent trip to Sea World. Peter was in awe of the pictures of the whales and sea creatures. So I asked Peter to ask Daddy if he could go to Sea World. Peter asked, "Daddy. . . .can we see the WORLD??"

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Today, James was dedicated at church, so my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law all came this morning. Peter wanted so badly to introduce my mom to his Sunday School class, so he got his chance today. My mom walked him to his room, and Peter said to the class, "This is my friend, Grandma. . .she plays dinosaurs with me at her house".

Dealing and Learning

I have been dealing with the loss of a dear friend, as you may know. It's the strangest feeling in the world. I'm completely torn in two. On one hand, it's so sad, for obvious reasons: she's no longer here, she lived a hard life, she had a serious disease, I miss our visits, I miss our conversations, etc. BUT, on the other hand, it's such a relief: she's in Heaven, with our Lord, dancing with Jesus, pain-free, she has a new and perfect body. I'm struggling with focusing on all of the positive things. It's so strange, I KNOW these things, I know how good she has it, I'm just not able to swallow the concept that she's really gone. It's like, I need constant reminding of this truth.
In our Thursday morning Bible Study, this morning, we talked about the life of Elijah and some of the trials he faced, as a prophet and as a follower of Christ. He had to do very courageous things and talk boldly to some pretty important people. In one of the scenarios, he was reminding a king of his sins; disobeying and ignoring God's commands and worshiping and following Baal. I thought to myself, "Wow. . . what a idiot! How obvious is THIS. DUH!. . . .don't follow a fake god. . .he's not doing a THING for your people, he's not even a real person. . .he's a statue for crying out loud. If you would ONLY follow Christ. . ."
How similar it is in my own life, however, right now. I know that Suzi is with Jesus, I know that this was God's plan for her. She could not be in a better place or with better company. I'm actually a little jealous of her right now. But, like King Ahab, I need a good reminder every once in a while. Something to keep me on my toes, and my head out of the clouds.
We are supposed to miss people when they are gone. It's perfectly fine to do so and, honestly, I would be a quit concerned if someone close passed away and people could care less. In fact, the shortest verse in the Bible is about our Savior grieving over the loss of a dear friend (John 11:35 "Jesus wept")
Anyway, I thought I would share something personal that I'm been struggling with, and to ask for your prayers. Not only for me, but for Suzi's family, for I am sure they will, if they have not yet, struggle with similar things. Thank you!

Conclusion . . .

Well, I had just talked about dealing with my thoughts about Suzi, . . .and the Lord knew EXACTLY what I needed tonight.
In our nightly prayers, Peter and I bowed our heads, I prayed first, for Daddy as he is at work and to thank Jesus for our Bible Study at John and Lisa's. Peter, then, prayed as well. Here was HIS prayer. . . .

"Dear Jesus, thank you for Daddy being at work.
Thank you that Suzi is in Heaven,
and that she is seeing Jesus
and she gets to have pancakes and chocolate milk.

Thank you for Jesus. . .
and my birthday.
In Jesus name, Amen"

What a great little 'reminder-er'!!!!!