Growing Up and Graduating

Well, my baby is moving on up to the big leagues. We've been at The Cherub School the last 4 years (2 for MM and 2 for Frazier), and I will miss it! It is a wonderful school that teaches well and loves well. I'm not ready to think about Kindergarten and those long days without a little one by my side. Right now, I'm excited about summer and making some great memories. Frazier and his peers welcomed summer sun together in their end of year program and graduation. 

Receiving his diploma from Mrs. Morgan. He told her he wanted to be an artist when he grew up. :)

He led us all in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

I can only smile for so long!

Two proud parents. 

Two proud grandmothers. 

My grocery-shopping, errand-running, church-helping, lego-master is going to be sorely missed by this momma. 

And I'm sure he will be missed by his teacher, Mrs. Bowen. She shared that he was Mr. Popular and always making people laugh. Sounds like someone I'm married to...

We're proud of you Frazier John!

May Days

What is it about May? Why is it the month when all field trips, field days, fun days, school projects, retreats, graduations and spring celebrations occur? There are 8 other months in the school year y'all! While it has been busy, we've made some great memories and created some memorable moments (aka not always fun but definitely memorable). Here it is in pictures.

Enjoying the beautiful weather on our playset. We've had some sweet daytime moments now that both of his sisters are in school. Love my little man!

Mary-Michael's take on the Washington Monument on the 4th of July. This was displayed at the King William Fine Arts Festival. Great job, honey!

Mary-Michael also performed several songs based on Aesop's Fables at the arts festival. 

And to top it all off, she submitted a poster for a themed contest entitled, "Believe There is Good in the World." And she won for her school! We are so proud of her. She drew her and Addison selling cookies and lemonade to raise money for her cousin, Caleb, when he was battling cancer. And he won, too!

Strawberry picking with my MUMS group. Frazier and I picked 4 pounds of strawberries, which were gone in 24 hours. Yum!

Playing with one of our favorite buddies, Mr. Carter. 

I took the girls on a weekend kids retreat that our church and kids ministry hosted. The girls and I thoroughly enjoyed the rock wall, which they quickly became pros at.

The retreat was great, and they had some sweet moments with friends...but the girls and I really butted heads. I was bummed. We ended up leaving early. It was a big learning lesson for all three of us, and we had some good conversation after the fact. Too bad it didn't happen when we were there. Oh well! You can't win them all. 

I enjoyed chaperoning Mary-Michael's class to Henricus Historical Park. It rained a lot!

The kids are visiting the church and attempting to follow orders by the military colonel. 

Loved spending the day with this one. 

I always enjoy the Saturday before Mother's Day with my own very special momma and our shopping shenanigans. I surprised her and invited my brother to join us for lunch at Maggiano's. So fun! 

And here's our hard-working Leila who is loving her new school. Here she is presenting a project on the African elephant with her teacher, Mrs. Tignor. 

Great job, little lady! You have gone from not knowing your sounds to reading Magic Treehouse books. You have made such great strides, and we are proud of you. 

What can I say about these 2 incredible studs?! Geoff did a great job serving as the head coach for Frazier's t-ball team. 

We had a great little team of 9 kids, including 3 sweet, tough little girls. 

Nonnie, Uncle Zach and Aunt Christina enjoying the end of season game and celebration. 

Because after all of this crazy, we all need a moment like this. Farm life is a blessing. 

JBQ Superstar

We are so proud of our Mary-Michael who has worked hard all year to learn over 250 Q&A's from the Bible through Junior Bible Quiz. We enjoyed her award ceremony on Sunday where she won the award for being the most Christ-like in her division (Grades 1-3) and the most improved in her division. She worked so hard and definitely earned these! And in my personal, Mommy opinion, winning the Christ-like award is the best one a momma can ask for. Forget first place, God's word is life-changing, heart-transforming and freedom-giving, and it is already changing her from the inside out. We love you, Mary-Michael!

Here are a few examples of Q&A's she memorized. She had to memorize both the question and answer because they could buzz in during competitions in the middle of questions. 

Q: What is justification?
A: When we accept Jesus as our Savior, God accepts us as though we had not sinned.

Q: What happened to the kingdom of Israel upon the death of Solomon?
A: It was divided into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah?

Q: QUOTATION QUESTION: What did Peter say to the lame man at the temple gate?
A: Acts 3:6 "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."

Q: What did Jesus teach about material possessions?
A: Don't be greedy. A person's life does not consist of what he owns.

 

Easter 2017

Because Easter is the crux of our Christian faith yet often gets overshadowed by Christmas, my heart has been to set a few traditions in place for our family. I love traditions because they help us remember, they put rhythm in our lives and they mark the truly important things. So, we continued our tradition of a Messianic Seder (Christian Passover) this year. The kids were so excited, and they don't even like the food we eat! It's the candles, and the goblets of grape juice and the words Daddy and I read that remind us of Jesus' last supper. It's powerful because God's Word is just that - powerful. And how can you not find glory and God in washing one another's feet? Tickles and comments of stinkiness aside, it is simply special. So, Leila and I made our matzoh, the girls made the tin foil plates, Frazier lit the candles (boys love fire) and we all prepared the meal. I'm so thankful for this moment and this remembering.

We awoke on Good Friday morning to new life in these sweet triplets. New life on a day that signified Jesus' death. In his death and triumph on the cross, we have new life. We are made new! Praise the Lord! Having walked without Jesus for many years, I can remember the angst in my life before Him, and I'm so thankful for how different I am because of Him and His love for me. I have purpose and hope and identity!

We continued our celebration and remembering at our church's annual Remembrance Walk on Friday night. This has been a tradition for me and Geoff for as long as it's beein going on, and it's awesome now that all the kids are a bit older to do this is a family. We walked through different scenes as Pontious Pilate, Judas and Peter reflected on Jesus' death and what that meant for them and the burdens they now carried because of their actions and inactions. Our fine arts team rocks and never fails to amaze.

And then Resurrection Day! Woo! A beautiful day of weather for a lovely day of celebration - a great reminder that every day, we, as God's children, live with the promise of new life and have the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwelling in us. Every. Single. Day. Not just Easter. Come on! Thank you, Jesus. 

And thank you, Jesus, for these awesome kids you have blessed me with. Aren't they beautiful? I just love them.

Happy 7th Birthday Mary-Michael - 3/6/17

To our Beautiful, Super-Smart Rockstar,

We are so proud of you, and all you have already accomplished in your first 7 years. You are a bright, inquisitive, creative and feisty young lady. Did I say feisty? Yes, you can be quite feisty, little firecracker. 

To celebrate your birthday, we went as a family to Cracker Barrel for breakfast (at dinner time) and to see the movie, SING. You've had some fun outings with other family, as well. Nonnie took you to get your hair cut and styled, to lunch, to the library and to get your first pedicure. My little lady! You enjoyed a weekend at Mimi and Poppy's going to the Science Museum, shopping at Kohls, helping Poppy in the greenhouse and having lots of snuggle and movie time. Such fun!

This year in first grade with Mrs. Allen you have continued to blossom and succeed. I spoke to her a few weeks back and she shared that you were definitely one of the leaders in the class. You set a strong example and quickly walk away from conversations and moments that are headed in the wrong direction. You are in the highest level reading group and continue to get straight A's. At home, we have to ask you to put down books sometimes, so you will focus on others things. You love reading your Bible at night and underlining anything and everything. Being a lover of reading is huge, and I love it. Keep working hard. 

Tomorrow is your final JBQ (Junior Bible Quiz) competition. Your team placed first and you tied for 3rd at the last meet, so you qualified for districts. We head to Northern VA to help and cheer you on in the morning. It is amazing that you have memorized over 250 questions and answers about information and truths in the Bible. Wow.

Speaking of Jesus, I love hearing you pray and asking to pray when you hear about friends that are sick or going through hard times. Sometimes, I am amazed at your maturity. I love how God is capturing your heart.

You still love to color and create and give things away. I love this about you. You are starting to care a lot about your hair and your clothes, which can make mornings..eh...not fun. We are working through that as I'm sure we will for the next 10 years!

In the sports world, you keep asking to play basketball and have decided you want to try soccer again in the fall. In the meantime, I'm trying to get you to run with me because you have great endurance. I hope we can do a kids fun run again this spring. 

Your favorite things to eat are anything with sugar (you inherited my sweet tooth), pepperoni, bell peppers, oranges and almost anything with cheese. You are growing well - 75% in height and 25-50% in weight. Tall and thin - maybe we better consider that basketball aspiration?

It has been a treasure to watch you grow and mature. You have so many questions and ideas about life, and I have loved our conversations and connections over this. I enjoy those moments when you get up early and come snuggle up while I'm reading. You are so special to me and your daddy, and we are incredibly blessed to have you as a daughter.

All our love,

Momma and Daddy