Birmingham

After Chattanooga, we headed to Birmingham to hang out some more with James and Steph (they came to Chattanooga too to be with us and help watch the kiddies while we went to the graduation festivities).

It was, of course, awesome to be with them and hard to leave. But we will get to see them again in about a month, so that always helps!!

Graduation!

This past weekend, Ginny (Nelson's youngest sister) and their cousin Liz, graduated from Covenant College (pretty much the best school ever, in case anyone was wondering). We got to go and celebrate her big accomplishment with her. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but definitely worth it and something I did not want to miss. And in the words of Tripp, in reference to Ginny's graduation weekend/celebrations "I gotta be there for that!" We are so glad we were!

Congrats Ginny and Liz!

Tripp's Birthday (or birth-week)

We had an interesting week leading up to Tripp's birthday, but I am pretty sure he did not mind. We celebrated his birthday with his friends at his party the Monday before:

Then he got to celebrate at school a few days before his birthday. Of course, in keeping with the crazy few weeks we had had before, he almost missed this celebration because as soon as he walked into his classroom (after I had dropped off his special treats, he was wearing his special "4" shirt and got his crown from his teacher), one of his teachers noticed a rash all over his neck, back, arms and heading onto his face. So he had to leave immediately, go to the doctor's office, and get checked out before he could go back to school. Thankfully it was just the end of the virus showing up as a rash, and we made it back to school just in time to pass out his treats to his friends! Then the next day we headed to Chattanooga for Ginny's graduation (more details to follow in another post) and Tripp got to celebrate again, this time on his actual birthday! He enjoyed breakfast with the family, lots of presents, and then a cake after dinner. I think the highlight of his day was his new costumes that he got plus the anticipation of getting to use all his new water toys outside when we got home. 

It was a great birthday (birth-week) and I can not believe we are celebrating the fact that he is four! 

When it rains, it pours

It's been a loooong almost two weeks. Everyone (except the dog, thank goodness!!) has diarrhea, vomiting, pink eye, etc and it has been that way for 13 days. But who's counting? Oh me, I am! I'm tired- tired of sickness, tired of rain, tired of laundry, tired of feeling like I am barely making it by. But I am also amazed at God's provisions through it all- amazed at the strength He gives, the mercies he show, the grace He pours on our daily lives. We've also had some good laughs through it all:
Lily threw up right on the remote so I had to wash it out and soak it in some rice. And now it works great (except if you shake it you can still hear some rice rattling around in there).

We had to postpone Tripp's birthday party due to rain and sickness but again, God worked out every detail- every person could still come, the cake could be postponed, and the pavilion/park was still available. The only major bummer was that Nelson couldn't come since it was during the week. He already missed a lot work last week tag teaming taking care of the kids and me so he just couldn't miss another day (and good thing too- since today he is home from work sick). But here's one tired, happy boy and his little sister who had just as good of a time playing on the playground. Boy, are we ready for a break!

The World's Best Babysitter

Just a shout out to the world's best babysitter (and more to come soon on Tripp's birthday party)! We love you Sally!

Hand-me-downs

My mom keeps pulling out my old dresses and handing them down for Lily to wear. Of course Lily refuses to smile, let alone even look at the camera. I still got a few sweet shots to at least document her wearing them.

And not to be left out, there's this handsome boy

So thankful for these two!

Christ is Risen!

He is risen, indeed! What a glorious thing to be able to celebrate! We have been reading through the Jesus Storybook Bible with Tripp (if you do not have it, you need to get it. right away!). I can not read the chapters on the crucifixion and resurrection with out tearing up. It is also a pretty awesome thing to get to read it with Tripp and watch and listen as he tries to understand and grasp what it means to be loved with a "never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever" (to quote from the Storybook Bible) by God. While Christmas is a pretty great holiday to celebrate with kids, I am pretty sure Easter is my favorite. Answering questions like "what does it mean that Jesus's body broke for me?" and "well, why do we not have lamb's blood to put on our door cause I love God?" will never get old. And although Santa is pretty cool, we made sure the Easter bunny did a good job with the eggs and Easter baskets! I also loved watching Tripp help his sister find eggs and watching Lily totally get what she was supposed to do after finding a few eggs with Tripp's help.

We attempted to get some good ones of the kiddies together, but that did not really happen. Oh well, that is why we will need to get some professional ones done soon (hint, hint Katy :) ). 

Happy Easter everyone!!