Tiny Dancer

Anyone who knows Lily knows that she feels VERY at home on a stage. ;o)

I remember years ago as we walked into the sanctuary at church, she thoughtfully and quite seriously asked me, "Mommy, how do I get them to give me one of those microphones?"

Well this girl loves to dance!

This was her third recital and she just loves them.

She loves the costumes, the stage, the music - all of it!

Her class danced to "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins. We love that movie and that song!

Lily loves taking ballet with her friend, Elli!

I'm so thankful for this little lady!

She was THRILLED to receive these flowers!!

She grinned from ear to ear and felt so special. Oh how we love our Lily girl! She is so expressive and has such a wonderful imagination. We love seeing her use the gifts that God has given her and pray that she will always use them for His glory.

Big Apple Adventure

Vacation Bible School is truly one of the highlights of our year.

I am so thankful to attend a church that values children and wants them to learn about how much God loves them.

The kids love the music.

Even Emma Grace has been running around singing, "Bi-bi-bi, bi-bi-bi Big Apple Adventure!"

Strawberry Pickin' =)

One of our favorite traditions is picking strawberries and making jam.

The children were devastated earlier this year when we ran out of jam - they lead pretty rough lives. ;o)

We have had an extremely rainy spring which resulted in a less-than-stellar crop.

We still had a great time picking, though!

Lucy wasn't too interested in the strawberries...

The girls alternated between eating and picking.

We always joke that we should weigh them before and after we pick.

Caroline was really helpful this year.

Andrew had a great time in the field with his buddy, Caleb.

A good time was had by all!!

Washing berries with two of my favorite girls...

mashing them....

adding the "shug-uh" as Caroline would say =)

Unfortunately, we bought generic sugar this year.

Apparently this is a big no-no when making jam.

None of the FIFTEEN JARS set. =(

On the bright side, I've got some amazing strawberry ice cream topping. ;)

Being Intentional

Oh how I long to live intentionally! Thoreau said, “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die discover that I had not lived.” I love this! I intend to live deep. I want to use each and every day that God has given me to bring glory to Him and love others well. I do not want to waste any of the precious time that He has lent to me.

This leads to one of my goals for the year - do something fun with the kids each day. This may seem like it goes without saying; however, it's crazy how easily I get caught up in all of the "to do's" and find myself at the end of the day wondering if the kids actually had any fun WITH their mama that day. I want to enjoy every moment of their sweet childhoods, make memories to last a lifetime and build relationships that will do the same. God has blessed us abundantly with these sweet children and we SO appreciate the gift. =)

So here are some of the "fun things" we've done this year:

We planted a garden together. Andrew got a "big person spade," Lily got a princess one and Caroline and Emma Grace got Dora spades. I was really impressed by Lily's great work ethic! She stuck with me long after the other kids had left to play in the barn.

The kids love to help in the kitchen! Here we are making a blueberry pie for Memorial Day.

Ice cream cones on the front porch!

This was one of my crazier ideas - taking the kids to play at the creek by myself while 40 weeks pregnant. Fortunately some friends joined us later. The next time we went, we took Daddy - lesson learned. ;o)

I taught Andrew & Lily how to make balloon animals using a kit he received from our wonderful friends, the Stahl's.

Easter Egg hunt at church with friends

I'm trying to make a point of going outside with the kids rather than always using that time to get stuff done.

We love going to Young's!

Tea time with my Lily. =)

Playing with baby chicks at Henderson Farm ;o)