Prayers Needed

Please pray for my friend Jodie. Her 3 year old daughter, Jordan, was diagnosed with Leukemia on Thursday. They are making decisions very quickly and Jordan started chemo today. Pray for mountains of peace and most importantly, complete healing. Thanks!

Baby Jake

Well, the arrival of the babies is coming quickly. Julie went to the doctor today because her blood pressure was rising. She was sent to the hospital for some testing and is now on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. Looks like Mr. Jake will be making his appearance long about the 37 week mark. Fun stuff. I think the reality of bed rest hasn't really hit Julie yet, but she is sure excited about the shortened pregnancy!

Happy Easter from the Family

We took Caroline to the Arboretum in Dallas today. She was so busy!!! We had to park in the remote parking and shuttle to the Arboretum. Apparently Dallas Blooms is a big deal around here. She made friends on the bus and laughed and giggled while I sang "The Wheels on the Bus." When we got to the park Derrick and I let her out of her stroller and she was off. Keeping up with Caroline is becoming a more and more appropriate title. We took a ton of cute pictures, but Derrick and I decided we really need to invest in a new camera. The pictures were OK, but they should have been so much better....could also be user error...nahh.

Caroline had a great time looking at the flowers and the fountains. She is so intrigued by water falls and fountains, but she HATES to have her hair washed or step in the shower...weird. In addition to all of the fun with the flowers and the fountains and the Easter Bunny, she had her first root beer float. Derrick and I hardly had any. She can be a greedy little thing!

We have lots of other fun stuff happening right now too. Today is her 16 month "birthday." It seems like she has really had a "learning spurt," is there such a thing? We went to have lunch with my Granny this week. Caroline started mimicking the hand motions for The Itsy Bitsy Spider. gg spent the night on Tuesday and Caroline started learning This Little Light of Mine. She is a hoot. She will cover my finger and hold her breath waiting for when we hide it under a bushel. Then she gets really excited to blow, Don't let the devil "whoo" it out. Funny stuff in Caroline's house. Appropriately, she is also working on Jesus Loves Me. So far she says,"Yeh chee bi buh." Precious.

For all you Aggies out there we are also working on the Whoop. She'll be ready for yell practice and football season this year! Watch out Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2028.

Hope everyone has enjoyed the beginning of Easter weekend. He is risen and we are blessed!

Happy Easter from Caroline

The First Easter

Click here to hear a great sermon.

http://www.gatewaypeople.com/index.php?action=res_podcast


Happy Easter!

Snow Day

It took a while to remember to post these. Thanks Kelli for reminding me. These were from our snow storm a couple of weeks ago.

An Afternoon with the Guys

The Museum

Yesterday was so rainy that Derrick took the afternoon off and we took Caroline to the museum. It is under construction right now, so there isn't much to see, but she had fun in the kids exhibit.


Rolling the ball

Pulling up to the ATM

Playing with paper fliers

Grocery shopping

Date Night with Jack

Rainy Days

I was thinking that a good list of rainy day activities could be a lifesaver! Here's what I have come up with. Please leave any ideas that you have in the comments!

1.Visit a museum or aquarium
2. Make an indoor obstacle course
3. Make puppets and put on a puppet show
4. Bake cookies
5. Have a "film festival"
6. Set up an indoor picnic
7. Have pajama day - Breakfast in bed, books and movies in bed
8. Indoor camping - roast hot dogs and make smores in the fireplace
9. Play board games
10. Make a music or exercise video
11. Help the kids redecorate their rooms
12. Have an indoor treasure hunt
13. Make a card or picture for a relative or friend
14. Have a "photo shoot"
15. Do puzzles
16. Make a family newsletter
17. Finger paint
18. Draw in shaving cream
19. Pull out the craft box and let the kids invent
20. Draw pictures
21. Have tea party
22. Plan a theme party and invite a few friends over
23. Go to the library
24. Visit a neighbor, and elderly friend, the nursing home
25. Go ice skating
26. Practice the piano
27. Make paper dolls
28. Make a felt board and tell a story
29. Make bean or pasta mosaics
30. Make a diorama about a book that you like
31. Make sock puppets.
32. Make a scrapbook page
33. Play in the rain/puddles
34. Sit in the rocker on the porch and watch the rain or read books
35. Make a life size outline of your child and let them decorate it
36. Go to a movie
37. Play cards
38. Play 20 questions
39. Do science experiments
40. Make a volcano
41. Make a slide show on the computer
42. Make baseball cards for your favorite storybook characters
43. Make a gingerbread house
44. Color in coloring books
45. Make a bookmark
46. Make a popcorn garland
47. Make a paper chain to countdown to a special event
48. Read a chapter book - Record yourself reading it
49. Go to the local bounce house
50. Bake bread from scratch
51. Ride the merry-go-round at the mall
52. Go bowling
53. Paint your own pottery
54. Go to the local children's theater