Homeschool Co-op Program

Bell Choir Public Reading

Original Short Story

The Bible Boys

Young Bell Choir

Cooking Class

Cousins

I have alot of cousins, more than anybody else I've ever met. On my dad's side, there are six of us grandchildren, but on my mom's side, there are 30, which means I have 30 cousins. That is alot. I always felt kind of gypped when it came to my cousins. We never lived near any of them, so we didn't have that kind of familiar relationship. The most we saw any of them was on average once a year. There was also the age differences. Between my oldest and youngest cousins is about a 40 year age gap, which means I have cousins younger than my some of my children. Most of the cousins lived spread apart, some in other countries.It was this way up until about 6 years ago when one of my younger cousins got married. Now, this was no ordinary wedding- she included so many family members in her wedding party, and just about all of the family was able to make it to her wedding. It was one big party weekend! I was able to talk to and get to know several of my cousins that weekend.
Enter Facebook. About 2 or 3 years ago, a bunch of us got on Facebook, and (to me anyways) it seemed to open the door to getting to know these relatives better. Now instead of waiting 5 or so years to get to talk to everyone, I knew what they were doing on a daily basis. I could look at their current pictures and see how big their kids were getting. When my aunt died unexpectedly last summer, we were able to rally around and pray for her husband and children even though some of us were unable to attend the funeral. It's the most I've ever talked to some of them- I feel like I know the majority of them so much better.

I received a box in the mail a few days ago from one of my cousins, who before Facebook and blogs, I did not know. She sent me some baby clothes, hand me downs from her daughter born last summer. It was such a sweet surprise and while the baby clothes are awesome, what meant even more to me was the thought behind the gift.

Family is a wonderful gift from God.

The Last Few Days in Pictures

Our church co-hosted an outreach event last Saturday in our community. We had well over 400 people stop by, have fun, and receive a copy of the Gospel. Benjamin and Samuel had a wonderful time!

He loved getting his face painted.

Anna (nee-nee) took great care of Benjamin and made sure he got to do everything he wanted to.

Sam enjoying the sno-cones and face painting.

Ben loves to read and look at books and this basket seems to be a favorite place of his to sit and read.

Did you hear that?? This is Ben's way of cupping his ear to hear something better. He doesn't realize he does it backwards!

This is what he does when he really wants to hear something!

Sam with his favorite toys- sticks!

The big five year old!

Ellie and Schnitzel

two, three, two, four, six...counting for hide and seek

Ready? I coming!

My flowers from my little boys.

Here's a Peek...

Here she is in all her glory! Miss Emma Grace, 27 weeks into the pregnancy. If you look at the top picture, you can see her face, like you are looking straight down on top of her. The bottom picture is her profile.

It is interesting how we agreed upon the name Emma Grace. If Benjamin was a girl, that would have been his name, so going into this pregnancy we knew we already had a girls name we loved and, more importantly, both agreed upon. We knew if we had a girl we wanted her name to start with an A or an E to go along with Anna and Ellie. Interesting enough and without any planning, all my parents granddaughters have names that begin with A or E. Even more interesting, all the girls names alternate A and E according to their ages: Amy, Emily, Anna, Ellie, Andie Mae and Emma Grace.

But it is hard coming up with a girls name we both agreed on that started with A or E. Finally, Paul suggested Emma. I loved it. I came up with Grace, because I love that name too and because we wanted her to have a Biblical part to her name. After we decided on that name, I realized that I have a great-grandmother and an Aunt with the name Emma. And just this week, Paul found out that he has a great great great grandmother with the name Emma also. So it turns out it is a family name on both sides.

How cool is that??

Grandpa and Grandma's Visit

Silly Sam!

Ben loved Grandma- he called her "G-Ma" and ran right out to the car and into her arms when she arrived. After he greeted her, he went to greet "Canpa" and then asked for Gabby, Grandma's dog!

Sam was the entertainment one night.

Sam and Grandpa wrestling.

One of the many games of Skip-Bo.

Paul and Sam's Birthday Party

Sam's Spiderman Cake

Guess who wanted to help blow out the candles?

What a nice brother to let Ben blow out a candle.

Helping Dad

Really helping Dad!

Lots of nice presents

A crossbow from mom and dad. Guess which one of us picked it out???

A rifle lighter

The tongue!

Paul jokes about it, but I think he really enjoys sharing his birthday with Sam.

A Good Day

I'm sure everyone knows the "big news" by now- word does travel fast when you post it on Facebook! Paul and I found out yesterday we're having a baby girl. If you remember back a month or so, I had an ultrasound and we had anticipated finding out the gender then, but the baby was in the wrong position.

When I went back to the doctor after that, I asked about having a Level 2 ultrasound. I had one with Sam and one with Ben and just assumed that I'd have one with this baby. (A Level 2 ultrasound is just a normal ultrasound, but a lot more in depth. They look at everything and measure everything. It is standard procedure for women over 35.) The doctor said that they normally only give 1 ultrasound, but that she would ask. Well, they must have realized my "advanced" age and decided to give me one.

This was 2 weeks ago. I decided then and there on the spot that I wasn't telling anyone except Paul. The first ultrasound was a bit disappointing for everyone and honestly, I felt pressured. I didn't want to go through that again, so I decided to keep it a secret. This meant I told alot of lies. I'm sorry if I lied to you. I tried not to and avoid the question, but sometimes there was no way around it. I figured everyone would forgive me if I could tell them the gender.

So yesterday found us bright and early at the hospital. I knew as soon as the tech walked in that we would have a better experience. She asked right away if we knew the gender and we said not yet. She got started, and within a few minutes she made the announcement. "This baby's a girl".

I was shocked. I mean I was really shocked. With the last 2 being boys, I guess I just assumed it would be a boy. Paul was elated! I never realized how much he hoped it would be a girl until just that moment. Don't get me wrong, I was very happy it was a girl; but, I would have been very happy with a boy also. I was kind of neutral on gender as long as the baby was healthy.

She weighs 2 lbs., 7 oz., and is measuring a little big for her age, which is totally normal for my babies. We were able to get a nice picture of her face and profile, and see so much of her.

After the ultrasound, I had a doctor appointment where I found out my blood pressure and my blood sugar were great! I had also lost 4 lbs since not eating sugar and limiting carbs, which means I have only gained 2 pounds this pregnancy. (Before you get all over me about depriving the baby, remember, she is BIG for her age. She's getting exactly what she needs.)

So, all in all, it was a good day. I'm still a little in shock that I'm having my third daughter. It's been a long time since we had a girl- over 11 years. We have boxes of boy clothes, but very, very little girl clothes.

God is good. And I don't say that because it's a girl. I say that because it's true. He'd be just as good if it was a boy.

Lots of Pictures