The Year of the Monkey

Today was the Chinese New Year parade downtown. It is the Year of the Monkey, so we made a monkey canvas to add to our handprint sheep from last year. 

The weather was gorgeous and we set up camp on the same corner as last year. 

G was able to go with us which is always a treat. (We missed you, Kay Kay!

Walker liked the fire truck that was parked right beside us.

EK enjoyed chasing down the candy that was thrown from the floats. 

Emma just clapped and waved. 

We love the dragons!

And the middle school band! 

Happy CNY!

This and That

We had some snow flurries last week. Since it wasn't sticking and the roads were all clear, it was a normal school day but the kids were pretty excited to get to play!. It was so pretty and they had a ball. 

Our sweet friend Kendall delivered a painting she did of our kids at the wedding. I could not love it any more!  

Sunday snaps....pictures before church and then playing on the altar and stage while J finishes up his responsibilities. Emma was singing "God Our Father" quite loudly and Walker was "talking about God."

We had a pancake dinner at church for the mothers and sons in the children's ministry. We played games, made crafts, and ate some yummy pancakes. It was a wonderful time with my sweet boy!

J spoke at elementary chapel this week for our friend's class. (Each class takes turns leading chapel and our friend Kandice asked him to speak for her class.) Anyway, EK thought it was pretty cool to have her daddy speak...even if she did say he was "a little over the top."

Walker and I got to play at the park for a few minutes before carpool on Friday. Emma was busy at speech, so I'm so glad he and I could take advantage of the one on one time!

In other news, our house is under contract again. We are scheduled to close on March 1 and then will close on the new house on March 4. Several things still need to happen in order for all this to actually become a reality, but we are cautiously optimistic that this time we will be good to go! Yay!

Lately

My blog posting seems to have taken a vacation after the craziness of December, but here's a little bit of what has been keeping us busy. 

EK started tennis lessons. She has been so excited about this! Now, if only the weather would cooperate!  She has had practiced rained out twice. 

I was able to go to Breakthru with J and our students last weekend. I think it was my 13th time to go with him. Jesus showed up and showed out and it was truly incredible to be involved in such a wonderful weekend.

This was our biggest crew to take in our years in ministry. 246 is a lot of humans to keep alive!  We are so thankful for them and the opportunity to worship and serve alongside them. 

Some of our dear Hattiesburg friends were able to join us as small group leaders. Love these sweet girls!

This was my cabin of 8th grade girls. Can we just take a minute to acknowledge the fact that people don't seem to go through that awkward middle school phase like I did?!?! They are all so beautiful, inside and out!

While J and I were away, the kids enjoyed a fun filled weekend with the grandparents. My parents took the big kids to see the Harlem Globetrotters on Friday night. Walker thought it was awesome and talked about it for a while when he came home. He was disappointed that there was no unicycle....I'm not even sure why he thought there would be one?

EK stayed the rest of the weekend in Madison and W and Em went to Columbus. EK convinced G to take her to the Children's Museum...for 4 1/2 hours!  She loved every minute. 

They practiced a little tennis one afternoon as well. 

Walker and Emma played and played with Nana and Pop. They visited the nursing home, went to see friends, and had a grand time. J and I are so thankful to have awesome parents who are always willing to keep our wild and rowdy bunch. 

How about that rainbow over EK's school?!?? Such a beautiful sight one morning this week! 

We have some fun things ahead of us in the next few weeks. Maybe that will provide me with some suitable blog material...maybe!

Hello, 2016

Happy New Year!  We have been enjoying a slower pace and getting back into our routine around here. So, here's a little recap.....

We cheered on the Bulldogs and filled our tummies with lots of gameday goodies. Haley and Robert are excellent hosts!  The game was great and we won fairly easily.  My kids were more interested in watching a show on the iPad as opposed to seeing Dak in his final game in the maroon and white. I'm not going to lie, I teared up a bit when he made his final exit from the game. Love him!

The girls got bunk beds in their room to make room for the doll house. They LOVE them and Emma has done beautifully in her big girl bed. EK wanted me to include an updated picture of the doll house. We have now wallpapered the rooms and added flooring. She is collecting artwork for the walls now and is having a blast decorating!

My parents took the kids one afternoon while our house was showing. They started out at Bass Pro where Walker got to help the worker feed the fish, they smashed pennies, played games, and admired the aquarium.

They ate lunch at McDonald's and then went to the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. The kids loved it!

After the movie, they went to make s'mores with Haley and Robert. So much fun!!!

We started back to school this week. EK had to come with me on Monday since they didn't start until Tuesday. She was a big helper. 

She played and read with my crew all morning. She commented that they don't listen very well. I had to remind her that they are 2 years old and they don't listen to me very well either. 

Emma and Robert did a little rocking at the Cracker Barrel. She's pretty smitten with him for sure!

I guess that's about it for us. EK is crossing her fingers that it doesn't rain on Thursday. She is supposed to have tennis lessons, and they were rained out this week. She was a sad little girl! Happy Saturday!