Video 4

Luke has already memorized his new Thomas the Train book. A chapter book! You can pretend you are here letting him read to you-can you keep up?

Video 3

Joel laughing

Video 2

Luke singing Only Grace by Matthew West
(I only caught the end but it is still so sweet)

Video 1

Update!-Pictures

Joel wants to be like Luke-here he is drumming like Luke

Luke and Mommy followed the directions from Thad and Ian to make our own crayon discs

that was fun!

Oh, and did you know Joel is pulling up now!?

And for those of you who remember...does this pic of Joel look like his mommy when she was a baby?

Yes, by the way, that hair is red, but I promise it looks more brown in person.

Today.

really more of a question...

"If a turtle loses his shell, is he naked? Or homeless?"
Mrs. Helen's "Flair"

Another Thankful.

I am also thankful for watching our kids in the youth group grow and be impacted by the Lord in their lives! So many ways we get to see it. What an encouragement to us!


I would like to share one example with you today.


One of our teens, "Miss Dustfinger" has a cooperative project with another teen we love, "Miss Phoenix". Their desire is to each take a picture every day this year, and they are following themes...you can keep up with their project HERE if you desire.


I have been given permission to highlight one picture and caption from their faces theme, this was taken on our missions trip to Friends of Alcoholics:

This is the face of one man of the millions in the world who have struggled with addictions to alcohol and drugs. One man who lost so much because of the simple choice of yielding to temptation. One man who has suffered the extreme consequences of the darkness let into the world at the beginning of time. Although the face of this man can represent the countless lives affected by the negative consequences of addiction, it can also represent hope. It can represent hope because this is the face of a man whose life has been changed forever after years of addiction to drugs and alcohol. How did this miraculous change come about? Through one thing alone - the hope offered to us through the sacrifice that God made when He sent His perfect Son to die the most painful death known to man so that we people can be forgiven of our darkness called sin, so that we people could have true life.

When I asked him for permission to use his photograph for my 365 shoot, he agreed with one request - that if I talk about addiction, I must talk about the forgiveness, help, hope, and change that God offers to any who choose to believe in Him.

God loves you. He wants to help you.

Thankful list

1) Waking up this morning to Luke and Joel giggling at each other like crazy-so great!

2) My recent visit from ANNIE! from Mississippi. I felt so honored that in the midst of examining the area for her future, I was included!

3) Luke is THREE years old. He is such a great kid, I can't even say enough. I am so thankful for him. And praise God for how healthy and strong he is.

4) Mary Ellen Sprayberry's granddaughter and namesake: Zoe Ellen Sprayberry was born on Tuesday (Harold and Mary's 37th wedding anniversary). 6 Lbs 4 oz and 21 inches! Welcome baby girl. Love you. Congrats David and Emmi!

5) $10 off coupons in the mail to both Khol's and JCPenney's-yay!

6) Speakerphone button on my home telephones-my boys can talk and hear their family, and I think that is great!

7) Meijer. Come on people-you gotta love their sale ads, the people are nice that work there, they have a (albeit frequently broken) horsey ride that is free, icees for less than a dollar and free cookies for kids under 7 in the bakery department! Plus their meat guy wants to be a missionary one day-go say hi! :)

8) Luke saying kindly, "No Joel, you can't play with that." and taking "that" away gently...what a good big brother!

9) Joel starting to pull up now! Yes, this changes my world. Again. But it a huge developmental jump for him! so Yay!

10) Luke will be an AWANA cubbie this year! OH MY! I am so excited for him!!

Made by Kay

Source: Vegetable? Nope, fruit

"You never have to be afraid to do whats right."
-Pa Grape, Veggie Tales, Esther

Luke's stories

After lunch, the other day, Luke was telling me stories and I wrote them down. This is exactly what he said....

"Once upon a time, there was a Mommy and she was a little engine. And she wanted Thomas to help her. Thomas wanted to drink Luke's apple juice. Gordon, James, Edward and Henry were fixing the track where James was supposed to spill the apple juice. And Mommy wanted to drink Thomas' apple juice. Henry crashing with the coach, and Henry's feeling better. The End."

"Once upon a time, there was a little engine named Red and he wanted Mommy to help drink Luke's apple juice."

"Once upon a time, there was a little engine called Stanley. And she (transcriber's note: "Stanley" in this story is a she...I asked.) wanted to drink that pomegranate-pomegranate all. Henry wanted to help drink apple juice and pink lemonade and Mack wanted him to help. Stanley helped Henry and he wanted her to help him. Then a bouncy pencil came over to see Henry and it went to go see Lightning McQueen and Doc. Then Mac pulled the pencil's face off and then it was gone."

At this point we were getting a little too graphic so we stopped telling stories...hope you enjoyed!

Luke's Birthday

We woke up and had PANCAKES! yummy.

Joel didn't eat pancakes, but he liked his breakfast too.

Then we opened a few presents right away:

(no, no, not him...)

Luke is so happy he did it!

...what? don't you usually get your hair cut on your birthday?

A few more gifts (yes, there are even MORE)

Joel wants to read the bee book too

Veggie Tales! ALOT of Veggie Tales

Joel after his bath

And then we went to church and had a little "party" there too!

Ice cream cones and Lightning McQueen!

Lots of friends and church family came

Luke may be shorter, but he feels right at home

Some people surprised us with presents!

And he got a balloon!

The sticker book was pretty exciting for him-he had to show it off

Luke also got a wiffle ball set

complete with a helmet

how cool is he now?

Luke's sticker artwork (he's so proud)

Luke had a very Happy Birthday-thank you all for the cards, gifts and thoughts. THE BIG 3! I hope to get a video or two up soon as well-come back soon.

Thank You

I had a happy birthday! I can't wait to tell you all about it-but in the meantime:

Love- LUKE

Piercing.

"Nothing makes us as lonely as our secrets."
-Paul Tournier

Wordless Wednesday

To my Siblings

Happy Coast Guard Day!

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday wednesday..."
-Luke to Uncle Cody

"I pray for you and baby Olivia"
-Luke to Aunt Courtney

Blogger application?

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
-Eleanor Roosevelt