A Typical Sunday

Now that I have a working camera, I'm going to try to blog more. I still love looking back on old posts and realized that I have gotten worse and worse about posting lately. I do this to preserve our memories and want to make sure I keep up.
This is my old digital camera, so the pictures are not quite as good in quality as my other camera. As I've said before, the old card reader and rechargeable battery on my regular one went out and, because we are doing the Dave Ramsey plan, I just can't justify replacing them when my old camera will do just fine. Oh, by the way, because of the plan, we now own Nathan's education! Just 2 more pieces of debt (besides our home) to go!

I thought it might be fun to show what goes on in our house on a typical Sunday. First, of course, we go to church, then come home and eat lunch. Then we all take naps (Nathan only sometimes). Maddie especially likes this as she and I take a nap together in the "big bed" which is a special treat because she and Will do not sleep with us in our bed any other time.
After the naps, we try to truly have a peaceful relaxing day of rest as God intended. We try not to schedule anything.
Here I am after a stroll around the neighborhood. Notice, I am growing out my hair. I was originally going for the angled bob but am enjoying having some length after so many years and think I might like to let it grow more and get some long layers. It's kind of hard to see what it really looks like because I pulled back the front for my walk due to the windy weather.
Nathan did not really want me to document his Sunday, as he is kind of camera shy when he is wearing his glasses. Here he is loading the dishwasher. He is such a good husband. When I went back to teaching we agreed to split the housework more evenly. He took the dishes and I do all the laundry. It's a pretty fair trade and he is good about it. We cook more on the weekend so it's hard for the poor guy to take a break from the dishes on Sunday. I had to sneak this picture:)

A little bit later, I snuck this picture of him taking a rest on the couch. He was not happy, poor guy is so mistreated:)

Madeline likes to just play freely with her toys on Sunday. Here she is in her room with all of her baby stuff spread out all around her. She is such a nurturer. Excuse the hair. We also don't worry too much about such things on our day of rest:) This is how it looked when we woke up from our nap, and this is how it stayed:)

Will broke the day of rest by sporting his Handy Manny gear and doing some home improvement projects in the living room.

Notice the Spray N' Wash in the background. Laundry is the one chore I do on Sunday. With 2 busy adults and 2 busy kids, there is just no way around it:)

I am so thankful for Sunday's with my family. I can't think of anything better than spending the morning worshiping God and the afternoon enjoying His blessing of a day of rest. It's always just what I need to prepare my self for the week ahead.

A 2009 Recap. . . Sort of

Okay, I've noticed that many bloggers are doing a recap of their year. Now, mine will be a little different. I'm just finally catching up on pictures considering I haven't posted any since Will's birthday in July. I decided to do them in separate posts based on the holiday or event. They go backwards because that was the easiest way to do it. You may notice that I am missing Thanksgiving and that is because Blogger is having trouble uploading those pictures. I have no idea why it could upload all of the other ones, but I will try again some other time. My dad has not uploaded Christmas pictures yet, so those will come later too. I have hyjacked my old camera from Nathan's classroom to use until we have room in the budget to get a new battery charger and card reader for my current camera. So, hopefully my blog will stay more updated.

Maybe one of my resolutions needs to be having a more organized and updated blog, ha!
Happy New Year!

Christmas Program 2009

The kids' preschool does a great job of putting on a Christmas Program every year. Both kids really enjoy it and, I am proud to say, don't get stage fright at all. They were so excited to be up there!

Here is Will singing his little heart out! "Jesus Loves Me" was the song and this is the first time we have seen him really sing during the program since entering daycare.



They had the kids wear pajamas and Madeline's group also wore Santa hats.

Will's class also sang, "Jingle Bells" and rang their own bells. When Will saw us, I was terrified he would start crying like some of the other kids in his class were doing. But, not our Will. He just waved and yelled, "Cheese" like always and kept singing away!

Here he is singing, "Twinkle, Twinkle" with his own little star.

Madeline's favorite song was, "Jesus, What a Wonderful Child" and we all know it well as she practiced it often during the month of December. She did such a great job of singing. She knew where we were sitting but would not look directly at us. She was so focused. This year was the first time she had to memorize and say several lines. We thought she might get nervous, but she said them perfectly and made us so proud!

Even though I would prefer to stay at home with my children, I am thankful that they go to a wonderful, Christian school where Jesus was the focus of the season instead of all the more secular things. We do celebrate Christmas with Santa and gifts but still focus more on the birth of Christ and all that God has done for us.

We also focus on giving and adopted a family whose father has been laid off and is really struggling. Madeline and Will had a good time picking out clothes, toys, and food for the family. It meant so much to see how happy that father was when we pulled up with everything. He had tears in his eyes and said we were an answered prayer at a time when he was about to give up hope! That was one of my favorite memories this year!

Halloween 2009

It was so fun to have both kids really get into Halloween this year. Last year, they were Dorothy and the scarecrow and Will was not into it at all. I'm not sure how to link to old posts, but if you are curious about those pictures, feel free to check Oct. 2008.
Madeline received a fairy costume from her Uncle Robbie, Aunt Gina, and Emma and decided it would make a good costume. I went to Goodwill and found all the pieces needed to make Will into a precious pirate. He also had a pirate hat but would not wear it.
I love this picture because, if you look on the left side, they are holding hands. Will was excited every time we put the costume on and just kept saying, "Cheese!" when we took his picture. Again, this was a nice change from last year!
This next shot actually caught him saying, "Cheese" with his little lisp. It also showcases his sword that I am still amazed he kept tucked into his belt at all times.

Here's Maddie showing off her beautiful wings. She was a little upset that she had to wear a sweater due to cool temperatures. I still think she looked adorable!

Again, just adorable!!!

Here's a full shot of Will. This may be one of the most practical and cute costumes I have ever put together, yet so simple and inexpensive!

They loved doing some quick trick-or-treating and enjoyed their parties at school as well. We are already planning our costumes for next year!

Madeline's 5th birthday and party

My sweet girl, Madeline, turned 5 on September 22. I still can't believe that she is already 5! It sounds a lot older and now, when people ask her how old she is, they also ask if she is in kindergarten. I really feel like time has just flown by and my baby girl will be starting kindergarten next year!
Unfortunately, she woke up the morning of her birthday with a fever, so I stayed home from work with her, thinking it was just one of the 24 hour fever viruses my children are prone to catching.
Luckily, she perked up enough by that evening to open some presents. One of her favorites was a cute pink stroller for her baby dolls that she loves to play with.

I also kept Will home, so he was all smiles about his day off from school and enjoyed the extra "Mommy time." Here he is showing off his very handsome smile. It just melts my heart!

Even though she was going to have a birthday cake at her party the following Saturday, I made her some cupcakes to celebrate the day she was born. This picture, for those who know her well, shows just how poorly she was feeling by this point.

The next morning, her fever got very high and she was diagnosed with swine flu! Later that day, Will started coming down with the same symptoms and was also diagnosed with swine flu. Their daddy kept calling it "Razorback Fever." We were so worried that she would not be well in time for her party with her friends on Saturday but, thanks to Tamaflu, she was back to normal by Saturday.
Her best friend, Haley, happens to have a birthday on the 26th. So, we decided to have their party together since they would be inviting all the same people. We had it at Madeline's gymnastics/dance studio and the kids had a blast. I enjoyed the fact that the staff does all the planning. We just had to show up:)
The trampoline was a big hit! Here is Maddie in the pink and her friend Katelyn. I'm not sure who the little boy is. They also played some games and generally just ran around on the springboard floor and played on all the different equipment.

Haley and Madeline shared a princess cake and had lots of fun opening all the wonderful gifts from friends and family. It was such a nice way to celebrate these special girls! Thank you to all who came and helped us make it such a special time.

Labor Day

We celebrated Labor Day at my parents' house and were excited when Aunt Gina and cousin Emma made the trip down from Little Rock for the day. Even though our South AR heat was intense, the kids still wanted to play outside a lot especially with Will's t-ball set his Aunt Lindsey and Uncle John got for his 2nd birthday.

Here is Will retrieving his hit (unfortunately it is still very close to the tee).
Madeline and Emma decided to take a quick break in the shade and watch Will and his Daddy play in the yard.

Madeline took to this game right away and made us start thinking about signing her up for a league next spring since she enjoyed it so much.

Emma also loved taking a turn with the tee. Hmmm. . . this might be a good gift idea!

As usual, we grilled out and had a great time enjoying a day off with family. Thanks mom and dad for the wonderful day!