All Tuckered Out

This is how we feel when we are in Alabama-tired! With four sets of great grandparents, a set of grandparents, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins to visit it is exhausting getting around to see everyone. This is Squirrel in between visits with great grandparents. She had fallen asleep in the car and when Joel got her out she walked inside and leaned over on the recliner and fell smooth asleep again. There are just so many people to see and so much to do in such a little amount of time that the kids have to sneak a nap whenever and apparently wherever they can!

Monkeys in the Park

We went to visit a friend today and the kids got to spend the afternoon in the park while the adults visited. The kids had a blast! Possum was like a monkey swinging from the bars and climbing on everything. Squirrel tried her best to hang with him. Joel and I were really impressed with Possum's coordination and motor skills. Possum on the balance beam was the most impressive. He truly takes after his Daddy and poor Squirrel takes after her clumsy Mommy!

A Muffin Morning

This morning the kids wanted to make homemade banana muffins. They measured all the ingredients out, poured them into the bowl, and mixed them up. They even carefully carried the muffin pan to the oven and placed it inside. Then they watched for a long 20 minutes as they baked. When they came out of the oven they put butter on top and watched it drip down the sides of the muffin. Possum proclaimed "These are the best muttins ever". As you can see from the pictures, Squirrel is particularly fond of butter!

What's Going On

This is Squirrel and Priss after I painted their toenails!

Joel requested that I post something new since it has been a week since it was our anniversary. Not that I haven't had anything to post about, just didn't have any cute pictures to post with it. This past weekend my sister Cricket had to have emergency surgery to have her appendix removed. The kids and I went over to help with the kids. She is doing well and is at home recovering. We have had some pretty nice weather (until today) and the kids have been getting some much needed fresh air. Of course we have stuff going on at church. Tonight is our monthly nursing home service and tomorrow night we have a teen activity. We are having a "Food Fight". This should be a fun night. Check out the First Youth Group blog this weekend for pictures of this event.

Happy Anniversary!

I have been married to my best friend for nine years today. Wow! Were did the time go? I know the wedding picture isn't a close-up of us, but I'm sure you can tell that we have aged! I am very thankful for the marriage that God has blessed me with. No. We aren't perfect, but we have a wonderful relationship. Joel, I love you and I'm so thankful that I am your wife.

Fishers of Men

Our 2009 season of Fishers of Men started this weekend. What is a lot of work for me and Joel is a vacation for Possum and Squirrel! This weekend we were at Dale Hollow Lake and stayed on Trooper Island. This is a camp for underprivileged kids that is owned by the Kentucky State Police. It is located on an island on Dale Hollow. We had our Friday night meeting there and then any of the anglers who wanted could spend the night in one of the cabins. The island had a great playground for the kids and of course they could go down to the bank and fish. We had such a good time staying on Trooper Island. The kids didn't want to leave.

By the time the 3:00 weigh-in came today the kids were worn out. The last picture shows how tired Possum truly was. He quickly cheered up when the fish started rolling in. His job was to sit on the counter and count the fish to make sure Daddy and Mr. Bill didn't mess up. He took this job very seriously. When the weigh-in was over and we were all packed up to leave, Possum and Squirrel didn't want to leave. They wanted to go back to our cabin on Trooper Island! We packed them up anyways and we weren't five minutes down the road and they were sound asleep. When we had gotten home and were unpacking they kept thanking us for the fun time they had this weekend. They are already looking forward to their next "vacation" at Fishers of Men!

School Days

Possum's first word to write (the A is sideways). Give him a break. He's only 3!

Squirrel's shape worksheet. If I could only get her to stay inside the lines!

And yes, I give stickers. What can I say? I'm a teacher at heart!

After slacking for a few months, Joel challenged me to start having school with the kids again. We are working on shapes, numbers, letters, and having a Bible lesson every morning. This morning we worked on the letter C and the number 4. The kids were eager to show their new skills off to Daddy. Joel asked Possum to write C and A (which was our letter yesterday). I quickly remembered that Possum already knew the letter T and could now write a word. He was so pleased with himself when he spelled out loud and wrote the word CAT. We were all high-fiving and cheering for him. Then we realized that he knew the letter H as well and could also spell and write HAT. I guess he will be reading "The Cat in the Hat" before we know it! Squirrel is also doing great for a 2 year old. She is learning everything Possum is with the exception of writing the letters. She can recognize them, but I'm not ambitious enough to teach her to write them, plus she gets tired and just wants to color! I'm very proud of my little scholars!