North Carolina Trip

We just returned home from a trip to North Carolina to visit our friends Theresa and Reid and their baby Andrew.  We had a nice time and enjoyed our stay.  They have a beautiful home so we felt like we were at a resort so we enjoyed just spending time there with the Mathenys, but we also did some fun activities.  Check out all the pictures from our trip here.  I put the picture of Abbey with the dog because she loved playing with him (Bison).  We asked her the other day what she wanted for her birthday and she said "a real dog."  She has since named all her stuffed dogs and little play dogs Bison.    

Audrey Caroline

Over the past few years our family has been very blessed by all the wonderful Christian music out there today.  My days are full with caring for our kids and home, but I often put music on at some point of our day.  I love worshipping through music and we have collected so many great songs through itunes over the years of us being into Christian bands.  Some of our favorite Christian artists are David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, Selah and many more.  I say all of this to share a story with you about loss and hope.  The group Selah is made up of three people, two siblings, Nicol Sponberg and Todd Smith and one other guy.  Recently, Todd Smith of Selah lost a baby girl a couple hours after her birth.  Then, about 2 months later, his sister, Nicol Sponberg lost her baby boy at 10 weeks to SIDS.  A few nights back I was looking on-line under Selah and came across a blog that is written by Angie Smith (Todd's wife) and it is about their journey through losing their baby girl.  The babies name was Audrey Caroline and the blog site is www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com  It is an amazing journal of Angie (the moms) journey through this dark time in their lives and the way that God is working and doing amazing things through this.  I can't tell you how much it has touched me.  Just about every time I read a post of hers I sit at my computer with tears running down my face as I see the face of God through her words.  I encourage you to check it out and if you know anyone who has lost a child or who is going through a very hard time, it is an amazing story of hope.  She has many readers so it is not like we are looking at something that is only for her family and friends.  I actually think she is writing it at this point for strangers to see how God is using her baby girl for His glory.   It's so sad how three Christian artist have lost a child within the past few months, Steven Curtis Chapman, Nicol Sponberg and Todd Smith.  It is an unfathomable thing to think about, but to see how the Smith family is ministering to so many through their loss and how God truly is carrying them through this time is really amazing.  So, if you're interested in checking out their blog, I know you'd be blessed by her faith and words.  Also, the first song that plays when you open our blog is by Selah.  The guy singing is Todd Smith and the girl is Nicol Sponberg.  Please pray for them as you listen. 

We Miss You Daddy

Jim has been gone this week at a class near Columbus for work.  He left Sunday and will be home Friday.  We have had a good week, but we all miss daddy!  I haven't slept much... it is always hard to sleep when he's gone, but we are in the final stretch now so we are excited that it's almost over.  Jacob has asked me every day since Monday if daddy will be home tomorrow.  I can't wait to say "yes" tomorrow when he asks me.  Jim, I shot this picture of the kids this morning and thought you'd like it.  Can't wait for us all to give you a big hug on Friday.  We miss you and love you :)

Day at the Zoo

On Monday I took the kids to the Cleveland Zoo while Jim was at work.  It is free on Mondays for residents of Cuyahoga County and I thought it would be a good day to go before school is out and it gets really packed every Monday.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our time.  Abbey's favorite part of the day was feeding the birds.  There was an enclosed area with these birds flying around and you could buy a little cup of nectar and they would eat right out of your hand.  Jacob's favorite part of the day was the train ride through the zoo.  I think Micah enjoyed the day too since it was pretty much like a long walk in his stroller.      

Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day.  We spent the day at our house with some friends from church.  We started the day by going to a parade in Bedford in the morning (which my step-dad was in) and then all came back to our house for a cookout.  We enjoyed some great food and fellowship.  We also had a cornhole tournament which was a lot of fun.  Jim made his own cornhole boards from scratch and they turned out great (I was pretty impressed by his skills).  He finished them at 11:00 pm the night before our get together.  He made one Philadelphia Eagles colors and the other Cleveland Browns colors.  You can see them in the pictures.  We are excited to (hopefully) get a lot of use out of them this summer with friends and family. Thank you to all who have served our country!  We are definitely proud to be Americans!!  

My 4 Favorite People

Our Blue Eyed Baby

Here are a few pictures of our happy, blue eyed baby.  We are surprised his eyes are staying so blue since mine are brown and Jim's are hazel and they are both dominating over blue. My mom and sister both have really pretty blue eyes so I'm hoping he keeps them.  His hair is starting to come in the last couple weeks and it is really light... we are guessing he will be another blondie.  We think he's a good mix of all of us :) 

The Kids Making Cupcakes

Last night the kids wanted to make cupcakes after dinner.  I was surprised how well they did with filling the cups with the batter and then frosting them after they baked.  I made pink frosting for Abbey and green frosting for Jacob (their favorite colors).  It is amazing how something as ordinary as making cupcakes can be so much fun with kids.  They always love watching things bake through the glass window on our oven.  The best part of the night of course was eating them!!

Jacob's Last Day of Preschool

Today was Jacob's last day of preschool for the year.  It was a fun day for him (and all of us).  During school today they had a party with games outside and an indoor picnic.  Tonight there was an end of the year celebration where the kids sang on stage, there was a pictures slideshow of the year and each kid got a little diploma.  We are super proud of our first born and so thankful that God has blessed us with such a sweet, wonderful little guy.  Jim and I talked today about how fast this year went.  It seems like just yesterday I was dropping him off for the first time at school and driving away with my eyes full of tears.  We are cherishing these days because we see how fast time goes as these kids are growing so fast.      

Jim and Jacob

I am so thankful for a husband who takes care of his things and instills these values into his children.  Jim always enjoys taking care of our yard and he teaches Jacob how to do these kinds of things everyday.  Not only does he allow Jacob to help him do these jobs, but he talks him through what he's doing so Jacob will be able to take care of our yard as he gets older and his own yard one day.  Jim and Jacob spend a lot of time together working on projects around the house, both in and out and I know when Jacob (and Micah) are grown and out of the house, they will be well equipped to help their wives in taking care of their own homes.  I have been trying to be very intentional lately about teaching Abbey how to care for a home on the inside.  She does laundry with me, helps with cleaning and even helps a little in preparing our meals (as much as she can at this point).  It is easier sometimes for Jim and I to just do things ourselves, but in the long run, we will have lots of wonderful memories and children who know how to help in taking care of a home and how to care for their things.

Micah Rolling Over

Micah just turned 4 months old on May 4th and he started rolling over that day.  He was 14 lbs. 12 ozs. at his appointment and 25 inches long.  He is doing well and we are all enjoying each new phase that he comes into.  Here's a video of him rolling over and the kids both announcing his new trick.

Happy Mothers Day

Hope you all had a nice mothers day celebrating your moms and wives and being celebrated as moms.  We had a good day.  Jim had to work this morning so the kids and I went to church and then McDonald's for lunch.  When Jim got home, we went to visit my dad and step mom and spent some time with them. We then  headed over to my moms for dinner.  It was a fun day.

I got a beautiful new bedroom set from Jim.  I have had my eye on it for several years now and we love it!  It is a dark wood sleigh bed, dresser and nightstand.  We have been married for 8 years this summer and our bedroom has always been a mosh posh of furniture so it's really nice to have matching bedroom pieces.  It got here a few days ago and it was a perfect gift for mothers day :)      

Skype

I don't know how many of you know about Skype or not, but we recently downloaded it after my parents told us about it.  Skype is basically a program that uses your internet connection to talk to other people just like you would over the phone.  But the only difference is it's FREE!  All you have to do is go to their website and download the program for free and you can talk to your family and friends... just as long as they have a skype username too.  Another thing that's nice about it is that if you have a webcam you can see the other person.  We have been talking with my parents via Skype and it's nice because they get to see our kids (and us!) live.  So, if any of you are interested check it out and let us know so that we can chat with you sometime!  The website is www.skype.com  

Update

Well, we haven't heard anything yet from our realtor about the 2nd showing yesterday.  We're not really sure what to think, but are thinking they probably would have made an offer right away if they were going to make one.  We are a little discouraged, but are trying to keep things in perspective and focus on all that we have to be thankful for.  We had a really nice day today as a family and as we sit and look at all of our blessings (especially these three) we trust that God knows what's best for us and that His timing is perfect.     

2nd Showing

This past Tuesday we had our first showing on our house since we lowered the price (also our first showing in 8 months).  It was a young couple and they are coming back Saturday with their parents for a second showing.  We have a reserved excitement, but are encouraged that we even got a showing with interest.  Our neighbors house has been for sale for two years and there are several  on our street that have been sitting for a long time.  There are some really nice houses not selling and we know it's just this horrible market right now.  If we do end up selling during this slump we will know it is only God opening up a door for us to move into something with more room for our growing family.  Please pray that this couple would buy and love this house as much as we have.  We'll keep you posted.

Spring Has Sprung

There is nothing better for a stay at home mom in Ohio (at least this stay at home mom) then warmer weather and sunshine after a long winter.  We have had some  beautiful days lately and we have been taking advantage of them to the fullest.  We have already had several lunch picnics, trips to playgrounds and long walks.  Jacob and Abbey have also spent a lot of time cruising in the jeep.  We are enjoying spring and look forward to the summer ahead.  

Talking With Micah

Experimenting With Our Mac Part II

After the kids were in bed tonight we were entertained by taking pictures of ourselves with the camera built into our computer.  

House Update

We haven't posted anything about our house lately so we thought we'd give you all an update. Unfortunately that phrase across our sign is not "SOLD", but we are praying that will be draped across our sign soon.  We just lowered our price.  It has been extremely slow and the market is really bad here right now, but we think this new price will help generate some buyers through our house these next few weeks.  We'll keep you posted.  There are several houses that we have our eye on right now so we know once we sell we will be in a great place since it's definitely a buyer's market.   

Experimenting with our Mac

Today I was playing around with a couple pictures using the iphoto program on our Mac.  You can do a lot of neat stuff like making the edges blurry on pictures and doing a lot with color and borders.  Here are a couple pictures of Micah that I was experimenting with.  He will be three months old on Friday.  He is really starting to get into a fun stage where he is responding to us so much more.  He is getting more active and playful and is so much fun to have around.