4 Ever For Now: April 2013

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Champ Andrew is 3!!

With every child we think "what would life be like without them!!" And we've said that countless times since Champ was born. He is the funniest and happiest of all 4 kids. At the slightest hint of being in trouble he starts running with his arms open for a hug, wanting to reconcile as soon as possible. He is so great at puzzles and this has occupied the entirety of his Tot School time lately. Because he is the "baby" of the family, and though is only 18 months younger than Canon, he's always been smaller for his age and behind in speech. Because of this all of the kids have really made him "their baby". They care so much for him and are so proud of all of his accomplishments. When he puts 3 words together in a sentence they all cheer and come and tell me. I love how they love on him. What a blessing he has been to our family. Definitely worth every sacrifice and the months on bedrest, and time spent separated as a family to get him here healthy. We are still amazed when we recall all the Lord brought us (and our immediate family) through to bring this sweet child safely into the world. And then when he was born and got an apgar score of 10, it was like the Lord was just showing off. Our cup is overflowing and we are filled with JOY! We are so in love with ALL our children and SO blessed the Lord has allowed us to care for them. What a humbling and hard job it is, but worth every second. Champ Andrew, we are so proud of you. We pray with all our hearts that Jesus would capture yours. That you would find your security and hope in Him, and spend all your days following the very special path He has intended for you. Loving God and Loving Others. And we LOVE you:)! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Easter 2013

I am so thankful for the resurrection eggs we have. What a simple and effective way to teach our children about the true meaning of Easter! I also got THIS book this year and we read it along with an egg (or 2 or 3 if we forgot or skipped a day). I saw all kinds of activities on Pinterest and sort of felt guilty for not doing more. Until one day Atley brought me her drawing journal and showed me her story called "The Easter Story" and there were 12 pictures of each of the contents of each egg and she explained to me the description. She did this all on her own prompting, which shows me she ACTUALLY learned it, retained it, and it meant something to her. Praise the Lord. Sweet and Simple always wins for me:)! And thank you Lord for working in the hearts of our children at young ages to help them understand the true sacrifice you made for each and every one of us.

Brotherly love, squish...always turns into a wrestle...

Sisters growing up too fast!

For those who are not into coordinating and matching on Easter, I'm sorry. I've always been slightly into it on this day, regarding my kids anyway. But this year all I did was think about the girls dresses. They were super easy to make and gladly less expensive than buying. We got the boys a new shirt and were done. On Easter morning I remembered I bought these ties for $1 each at Target, oh yay they are yellow:) I had another dress I was going to wear but remembered this one in my closet from 2-3 years ago. Phillip had gotten his shirt to match the boys. And wallah, it all came together. This was our first year not to have the girls in white Easter dresses, but having made them it was well worth it and fun.