Christ is Risen!

Happy Easter to everyone! What a great day. I hope you got to worship our Savior this morning at your church. We had a great morning of worship and great day of family time. Usually my parents are here this weekend but since they are coming on Thursday they decided to wait until then.

We had a long to-do list this weekend. I am happy to report everything got done except cleaning our closet and getting the lawn mowed. The rain kept Nate from mowing and laziness kept us both from purging things from our closet. I am ready to just give it all away! I mean how many shoes can a girl really have? I am ready to simplify.

Last night we had the Krenn family over to dye Easter eggs. What fun!! I think the best part though is getting to eat the hard boiled egg! Ha! We had some pretty eggs after we were done. Ava was more interested in going downstairs to play. She is so cute. She lets me get my girl fix since I am in a house of all boys.

I hope you guys had a wonderful Easter!

Nate, Ava, and Liam

The Mom's and their boys

Louis the instructor

Weston hard at work

Liam always looks funny after the flash goes off

Family Picture-Easter 2011

Jessie and I

Easter Baskets 2011

Dying Eggs with Krenn Family

Landon and Ava

Louis the instructor

Do you like the trash bags as tablecloths? It works!

Wordless Wednesday

What Are They Doing Now?

My boys are now 5 years old and ALMOST 1 year old. Time flies when you are BUSY! This is what my boys have been up to since turning 5 and ALMOST 1.

Landon Andrew:

*Starting to say words that people understand. (For those who don't know, Landon is affected by Fragile X Syndrome.) Fragile X Syndrome is the most common cause of inherited mental impairment. This impairment can range from learning disabilities to more severe cognitive or intellectual disabilities. FXS is the most common known cause of autism or "autistic-like" behaviors. Symptoms also can include characteristic physical and behavioral features and delays in speech and language development.

*He has over 100 signs to communicate. He understands everything but has a hard time processing it and expressing it.

*Loves his brother Liam. He would spend all day entertaining Liam if we let him. Such a great big brother!

*He can write all the letters of the alphabet and sign them. He loves writing his name on everything!

*He loves chips and salsa. This has been his favorite food for a while now hence why we frequent mexican places a lot.

*He can play basketball and is actually really good! He seems to make the shots pretty often!

*He loves his friends and has to pray for them before quiet time and bedtime as part of his routine.

*He loves routine and thrives on it.

Liam Eli:

*He can sign more and please.

* He can wave hi and bye.

* Plays peek-a-boo.

* Claps and loves to listen to music.

* Gives the best wet kisses.

*He can say bubba, mama, dada and many other sounds we can't understand.

*Cruising around everything. He wants to walk but is a little bit lazy in that department. :-)

*Loves his hot wheels already. He has to carry one around with him. He also likes to put them down his slide.

*He loves crayons even though all he does is eat them right now.

*He is still nursing but will go to whole milk at his birthday.

*He likes all fruits and veggies.

Blah "Metro" Week

Every year at this time we are in Destin, Florida for Metro. Metro is a student pastor's conference for bigger student ministries from all around the United States. Not only do they learn, but they get to hear wonderful speakers, ideas, worship, and catch-up with friends they only see once a year typically. As a wife I have always been able to go with Nate to this conference and participate in the sessions for wives. Each year you are so overwhelmed at the Godliness of these women. It's so refreshing and encouraging. We have made some sweet friends that are unforgettable. I remember each year and how different each year was because of where Nate and I were at in our lives in student ministry. I remember going before I had Landon and then I remember going when Landon was just 9 weeks old. My "season of life" was completely different that year. I remember trying to soak in how to still be active in student ministry but also be a Mom and learn how to balance the two. I always came back home so refreshed and excited to apply what we learned in the hearts of the students. It's a "blah Metro week" this week because we didn't get to go this year. We had so many other things going on here that we simply could not go. Another advantage going to this conference is that it is on the beach. Heavenly! I spent this week not only missing my friends but also missing the warm, sunny beach. So, I see a trip to Destin, Florida in the near future. I am already planning.

Ramblings

Well, it's Monday again. For those regular readers of this blog, I bet you know what we had for dinner. Yep, you guessed it....El Puente! It was delicious. I was so thankful after the last couple of busy days to not be cooking this evening. My husband is so great in that he doesn't have to have a four course meal on the table every night. Thank goodness!

Even though Liam has been under the weather, that doesn't stop Landon from having too much fun. He is my sweet but stubborn little boy. Last Thursday we had occupational therapy with Miss Katie. He loves going to therapy and thinks it is more of a play session than anything. On the weeks he doesn't do occupational therapy, we have speech therapy. That is also with Katie but a different Katie. Landon is so blessed with therapists that love him, adore him, and help him through so much. We are so thankful and couldn't do it without the help they give Landon and us. After therapy we ran back home and dropped him off with Nate's parents. They were in town a couple of days last week. We got to enjoy a peaceful dinner at one of our favorite restaurants called D'Arpino's. It's a little Italian place that has the best bread! We were served by one of our former students named Morgan. She was an excellent waitress. Nate and I got caught up on our weeks and planned a few upcoming events we have. It was nice to take a deep breath, sit back, and eat slow.

On Saturday, I went to aerobics at 9, ran home and showered and got ready to head to lunch with some of the staff wives from our church. We had so much fun catching up and talking! It sounds like I do a lot of social eating, doesn't it?

Landon doing his obstacle course with Katie

Nate at dinner

Of course you can't have dinner without your Diet Coke

Some of the staff wives

Spring "Fever"

This will be short because this Mommy is one tired Mommy. We had a little spring "fever" in our house the last three days. Little Liam has had a fever for three days. We took him to Dr. Hearty and she said it was just a viral infection. He has wanted Mommy or Daddy to comfort him all weekend. Here are a couple of pictures from this past weekend. His fever broke around noon today so I believe we are on the mend.

When the cat's away, the mice will play

Since Nate was gone last weekend doing DNOW (Disciple Now for those who have asked) things, the boys and I did our own thing. Landon goes to preschool Monday-Thursday mornings so it's nice to have him home all day Friday-Sunday. It's always a nice relaxing time to not have to rush around and get the boys fed, dressed, and put together before 8:15 a.m. The boys and I had a great time playing together. Their favorite spot to play is downstairs where all the toys are. I don't think they are hurting for any toys. As I was getting ready for our Just Between Friends consignment sale, I couldn't help but think how much we needed to get rid of! We have so many toys that we tend to rotate them so that everything seems new as we rotate. Here are a few pictures of our playtime this past weekend. Sometimes it's really nice to have NO plans and just play.

El P Nights

Our family has started a little tradition that we like to call El P nights. After a busy weekend, Monday always seems to come. Who really feels like cooking on a Monday evening?? I know I don't! We have started declaring Monday evenings as "family nights." It seems like Monday evenings are one of the only nights we don't have too much going on. We cherish those. We love when Dad walks in the door. Liam has started getting so verbal and excited to see his Daddy home for the evening. It's really neat to watch. Nate tends to take the boys downstairs for a bit to wrestle with them while I clean up from the day and put myself back together. I am sure you Mom's know what I am talking about as your hair looks like it hasn't been brushed and you need to freshen up your make-up a bit. We then head out to one of our favorite mexican restaurants called El Puente. I am sure everyone has an "El" something in their city. We used to love El Maguey in Kansas City when we lived there. The Krenn family seems to join us often at El Puente as they have jumped on the Monday tradition as well. Nate is usually down at the "kid" table teaching Weston and Ava sign language with Landon. It's always a funny time. The servers know our order and tend to our picky needs. I am thankful for these little traditions. It just seems to make a Monday evening brighter.

Nate's Job and DNOW

I always get the same two questions from some of my friends outside of my church. Those two questions are, "So, what does your husband do??" and "What does he do all day?" So, I thought I would share this video with you and tell you what he does all day. So watch this video and then continue reading.

So, JUST KIDDING! That is NOT what he does all day! That was a promo video for camp a couple of years ago. Lettuce, anyone?

Nate is a student pastor for 7th-12th graders as well as the worship leader for our modern service called 10:31. He does budget planning, vision casting, planning services, sermon prep, research, etc. We are blessed to have two student associates and an assistant on staff as well. Nate would not survive without the great help from them.

We just had our annual DNOW weekend this past weekend. The speaker was Sam Bhatt and worship was led by Nate Jones/Zack Atchley band. Nate looks forward to this weekend all year long. We were blessed with a lot of students and decisions for Christ. That is what it is all about people. Over the years my role as the "wife" as changed. I went from being a DNOW leader in a host home, to a wife that goes to everything but sleeps in her own bed, to a Mom who watches her kids while her husband spends all weekend away. I am in a "season" of life right now where being the Mommy is the most important. As much as I want to be involved and at everything, I simply can't. I have two little boys needing some attention. I am blessed with great babysitters that come and help out at a moment's notice and relieve me so I can be a part of some of the activities. I have loved seeing lives changed already and am so thankful for DNOW for being the avenue for these changed lives.