Bella in Derrick's sunglasses

For the birds? Samantha didn't think so! We were making birdfeeders this day (taking pine cones and putting peanut butter on them and then seeds for the birds to eat) and then Derrick surprised us by dropping in from being "in the neighborhood" after running a work errand. Then he took his bike to work to ride it home (he's crazy!) Anyway, after making the birdfeeders, Samantha was licking the peanut butter off of the pine cone. Bay had already learned that pine cones didn't taste good and had been spitting peanut butter out of his mouth. Sam (notice her licking her lips) acted like she didn't mind if she did taste anything yucky! ;) Also, Derrick gave Bay his new haircut. It looks so professional! I can't believe he can do it so well! Many of you know what happened when I cut it! Never again! That is a true talent!

Memorial Day with the cousins

Our little puppy dog! Alyssa and Caden think it's fun to wear that around our house too! What was really so funny about this is he came in so seriously to talk to Uncle Ryan about something as if he wasn't in a goofy dog costume!

To the left is the look Isabella gets when anyone takes her one inch away from me! The cousins were pretending to take her with them! Below are Bay and Sam waving bye to the cousins. We always hate to see them go! The offer still stands that they can move in with us (maybe we would have too much fun)! We just love them!

This is too cute! Caden & Sam

This is the boy who rarely lets anyone take his picture but I got him!

The cousins and Lili (my mom) came over on Memorial Day and we spent much of the day together! First, Derrick grilled hot dogs and bratwursts. Lili made her famous strawberry cake. The cousins even got us pizza for dinner. It was fun! I just love a full house!

Calling All Prayer Warriors

"No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me." Charles Spurgeon

With that said, many of you know caring for 3 small children takes a lot spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Please pray that I would be disciplined in all those areas. Derrick is one of the greatest examples of a disciplined person so I am very blessed to have him. You see, to bring glory to God as a wife and mother it is so important that I get enough sleep, eat healthy foods, exercise, and most importantly not just read the Bible everyday but to truly seek God's guidance and obey the scriptures ("Be a doer of the word and not a hearer only"). If just one of these gets neglected the others fall. I guess the exercising is the most difficult one because I don't have the energy to start but I know once I start the energy will come. Then I will have more energy to do the other things. I used to be able to get by with eating whatever I wanted, little sleep, and little or no exercise! Now, my body cannot function so well because of how much I need to care for the little ones. Thank you and please let me know how I can be praying for you as well. Also, may I encourage you as well as myself to pray daily for our loved ones? Carolyn Mahaney writes, "And who better to pray for them than us? No one knows our family members the way we do. No one is more familiar with the unique temptations and pressures they face. No one can pray for them with keener insight or greater compassion."

The kids at Mia's birthday party

It was fun! They painted t-shirts to take home.

The kids sitting on Lili's lap. The other day Samantha said, "Is Lili (my mom) Gigi's (my mom's mom) friend?" It was cute! She knew they were friends but didn't realize they were mother and daughter! Also, after Gigi left the day she came over & saw Sam's trophy, Sam was looking around for her trophy and didn't see it. She said, "Mom! Gigi took-ed my trumpet!" She cracks me up!

Our trip to Kansas

G-ma Joy & G-pa Glen sent the kids home with a dancing chicken and cheetah!

This was at a mexican restaurant called Carlos O'Kelley's that we ate at with Derrick's boss. To the left is our nice hotel. Below is a picture of the kids "mad" faces. Derrick taught them a song to sing to me! It is to the tune of, "Jesus loves me." It goes something like, "Mommy loves me, this I know for she always tells me so ... even when I'm mad, yes, mommy loves me..." They make mad faces, sad faces... It was so cute!

Samantha eating her S'mores.

We stayed at the McConnell Air Force Base and it was really nice! It was more like an apartment than a hotel since we got a family room. We stopped by Papa Rick's on our way out. He gave Samantha her present of many pink things (see her pink hair below)! We got to visit G-ma Joy & G-pa Glen and, of course, we had a fancy dinner with them! To the left is Bay with his fishing pole of candy from Papa Rick. It was only the beginning of all the sugar and unhealthy food we ate on this trip! ;)

Our Wednesday

We had a great Wednesday! I will be putting pictures of it on here soon. We are going out of town this weekend to stay in a military hotel. I am interested to see how different they are! Derrick has a class in Kansas and we are going to go see G-ma Joy & G-pa Glen while we are there. It is always a lot of fun visiting with them! They are sweet and she is a great cook and even pulls out her prettiest china most of the time! I thought it was so great when she let us eat on it! Most people keep it locked up! It made me feel fancy! Then we will come back for Mia's birthday party Saturday. Well, today was a really fun day for the kids. You always know they're having a great time when they out of nowhere say, "I love you, mom!" like Sam did today. I love that when you know their hearts are brimming with joy. It started with gymnastics. The kids got trophys today and Samantha will be moving up to Bay's class now. That was exciting for them. Last time they got medals. This is their first trophy. Then we went to Chik-Fil-A with Gigi & they played, had ice cream cones, & got balloons. Then, the kids & I went to LaFortune to do school. We have a light day of school every 6 days where we are supposed to just enjoy God's creation, read a book, and do a light activity. I love LaFortune. Derrick and I used to go walking (really he would run circles around me and I would walk, jog, or push a stroller) when we used to live closer. What he would give to live right by it but the houses around there run pretty high! It is the place he proposed to me and the place I told him that baby Sam (boy or girl the baby would be named that!) was on the way! Okay, okay, back to Wednesday...So we read some Bible verses about God sending quail to the Israelites (birds are our unit study right now) and Gertrude McFuzz (and how she was complaining about the way she was made and how she learned to be content with how God made her). Then we fed the geese, ducks, and birds. Then we got slushies from Sonic and played at the playground. Aunt Kay Kay met us up there and that was fun! Then later Gigi and Papa came over to look at our garden's and give g-pa's expert advice. He really learned a lot from his mama, Greatmother. She is amazing at 97 and has the prettiest flower gardens and is an awesome cook. She has taught me age is really relative.

Bay making sure Job's food got blessed!

This morning Bailey ran off to feed Job. When I walked up Bailey was on the floor next to Job's bowl. He said, "Mom, I prayed fo Jobi's food." ;)

Mayfest with the cousins

We were all tired afterward but especially the girls! Look how much they look alike!

Ryan and Derrick. The guys were too sweet pushing the strollers!

Bell had a great time just hanging out!

We colored little bears they were giving away. I made a little Hildebrant bear with all our names on it and Hildebrant down the middle. St. Francis was there and they were putting name bracelets on the bears and bandaging them up.

Bay hugged this bear 3 different times. Sam still won't come near the things!