"I have some questions about God"

so last night i was tucking garret into his makesift bed on the floor of our room at Grams house and he asks me if i am busy. i kind of was, it seems like i always am, i was trying to get the girls into bed too, but he looked so serious so i told him i needed to get the girls into bed and that i didnt have a lot of time but he could ask me one thing. he said it would take a long time because there were a lot of things he wanted to talk about. so again i said he could ask me one question and then we talk about the rest in the morning. he said he had some questions about God. since we have been here in Florida and garret has been with kenzie, they talk about god all the time. i sometimes here parts of their conversations and it makes me smile. so last night the question he chose to ask me was "if we have questions for god, how come he cant answer us back?" so WOW how do i answer that one. i told him the best i could that God hears us whenever we talk to him and that he even knows what is in our hearts and heads and that God doesnt have a voice that we can hear but that he gave us the Bible that has lots of answers for us. he still looked really confused. there have been a lot of things lately i have not been able to answer, not just about god but life in general. i hate that i dont always have concrete answers for him. he is wanting to know so much right now.! i pray that the lord will give him some clearity (as much as a little 4 year old mind can manage) as he thinks and talks about God with mackenzie. we are so proud of you garret!

Sebring- Memorial Day Weekend

Well I am a little behind on my posts but hey life is busy. We are in South Florida now at mom and dads house. We drove down to Sebring on Friday night. We drove through the night and arrived at sebring just in time to throw on some bathing suits and get on a boat. Sebring has such great memories for me. It was my 17th year going there! I am excited that it is now becoming a tradition of my little famiy's as well. We all really enjoy our time there. there are no watches, no schedules, you eat when you are hungry, sleep when you are tired, it is just so relaxing. i have to say it is a lot different with kids but it is a good different. garret loves to ski on daddys skis. he also has a set of his own skis but doesnt like to do that as much. raelyn loved playing on the beach and in the water. she called the sand "snow" and the water a "pool". we cracked up the entire weekend. both of the girls got really sick right before we left for our trip so raelyn wasnt feeling so well but she hung in there and had a pretty good time too. brenna loved the sand and water too. there were clams all over the beach and in the water. she couldnt take her eyes off of them. she was so intent of getting them. it was cute to see her concentrating so much. she also skied in daddy's arms and i got to come along for the ride too. these sebring weekends are such a blessing to me, i enjoy every minute. even now as i write this and i feel the sunburn on my back i smile and thank the Lord for letting us enjoy such a wonderful place.

raelyn getting some breakfast

Kenzie and raelyn playing in the water

brenna touching the water and digging for clams. she loved it.

Brenna loved to float in her little raft. She enjoyed splashing and bouncing in the water.

my big boy. he is really growing up

skiing on his own skis with daddys help

a much happier boy skiing on daddy's skis

daddy taking brenna on her first ski run. i got to join in too :)

We loved seeing uncle scott but missed aunt nicole. brenna loves her uncles.

papa p and raelyn hanging out on the boat.

Potty Training = Cavities

well sweet little raelyn has finally started using the potty. it seems like it has been forever but she is just now 2 and a half. my goal was to get her out of diapers before brenna was born, now that brenna is 7 months she is getting the hang of it. she used to scream when we set her on the potty, she just didnt want to do it. she wasnt scared or anything, she is just strong willed and didnt WANT to. we tried all sorts of things to entice her to use the potty. all we had to do for garret was offer him a jelly bean and he did great. we tried stickers, toys, candy, mini marshmellows, anything and raelyn just didnt care about any of those things. so one day i was folding laundry and she took one of her shirts upstairs to help me put it away. when i was done folding everything i went up to check on her and she was in the drawer with all her panties. so i asked her if she wanted to put some on. she said no, i said yes, and then we put some on. she had a a lot of accidents that day but i think it was starting to click with her. she liked picking out which panties she wanted to wear and then we did make a chart with stickers and she got a jelly bean each time she peed. she really is doing great now, so that is where the cavities come in. i started thinking i had created a pretty bad habit. one of my great friends suggested giving them pennies in a jar and then when they earned 10 or so you could take them to the dollor store. i think that is a great idea and it wont decay their teeth! so we are now moving on from candy and on to another fun treat. the Dollor store, everybody loves the dollor store, even me!

Girls Weekend at LEAHS

I just got home from an amazing weekend full of friendship, fellowship, and fun. Me and my best highschool friends meet in GA at Leahs house this weekend. Last October me, leah, lauren, lori, heidi and katie meet in Chattanooga with a bunch of very big bellies. The six of us had a wonderful time and we wanted to plan another time to get together now that the babies had been born. This time lori and lauren couldnt make it and me missed them TONS! katie and i drove about 4 hours and ended up at leahs house around 4 on friday. she cooked us an amazing dinner and we stayed up til 2 am talking. It was so fun having all the kids together. they sure are all great babies. saturday morning heidi came over, we had a nice lunch at leahs, did a round of yoga and then went to mellow mushroom for dinner. we enjoyed a bottle of wine with our dinner and then broused Target. we stayed up late again saturday night and then slept in on sunday. we had a nice breakfast and then headed back to the real world around noon. it was such a blessing. i thank dave so much for watching the "big Kids" and making it possible for me to go.
here are some pics of our fun weekend.

mothers day

What a nice day! Mother's Day has been wonderful this year. Dave and Garret worked on making me a work station to do my art, scrapbooking and sewing. It has tons of storage and lots of work space. I will take a picture of it soon, right now it isnt painted or anything yet. This morning we went to RYAN's Breakfast Buffet. I love breakfast food so it was so Yummy! Then we went to church and just spent the rest of the day hanging out at home. The weather hasnt been great but the day was really nice.
I feel so blessed to have the family that the Lord has given me.

it's been awhile

Here is my sweet little Raelyn with her new big girl haircut. I cut it myself. i think she looks so grown up and sweet. daddy would prefer it to be long but it was just getting so shaggy. i was pretty proud of myself with how it turned out and we saved 10 bucks.

i think we are finally getting the hang of potty training. it has been a tough road for me and raelyn but i think we are getting it. she has been wearing big girl underwear now for three days. was have had a few accidents but i think it is starting to click in her little head. we have long road ahead of us i am sure, but at least she doesnt pitch a fit when i sit her on the potty any more. we made a little chart and she gets a sticker and jelly bean every time she goes :) yeah for raelyn and only one kid in diapers!!!!

my little monkey.... one morning last week garrets calls my name for me to come and see something and this is what i find. this kid is such a strong boy! he would be a great gymnist! the joys of boys.

he is also a great helper. we made him a chart too. his chart is for doing chores around the house like feeding the dog, taking his plate to the kitchen after meals, and folding his pj's and putting them away in the morning. he loves the chart and getting to put stickers on it.

last but not least is baby brenna trying to CRAWL. i cant beleive it. i just dont want her to grow up and change. she is such a sweet spot in my day. i love her so much. she also finally had her first tooth break through this week.

so that is the update on us. looking forward to a great mothers day weekend.

mini vacation

so this week Dave and i flew over to Raleigh to visit Tara, Jamie and the twins, Natalie and Nathan. yep, that right, we flew. now that dave has his pilots license we can sneak away for short trips. what would normally take 5 hours of driving only took us 2 hours of flying.

it was so nice to hang out and fellowship with some great christian friends. tara and i were best buddies when we were little kiddos and we have kept in touch for all these years. the Lord is good to have kept us so close. we were only there for about 24 hours so we tried to make the most of every minute. we played with the kids, walked over and saw the new building for their church Stoney Hill, had a good lunch at home, caught up on lost time, looked through scrapbooks while the guys talked about guns, had an awesome dinner at Texas Roadhouse, yummy dessert at Goodberries, and then stayed up and played games til almost midnight. dave and i both had a great time, we both felt like it was a little hectic tyring to get back so quick and wished we could have stayed longer, but we also felt like we were refreshed after being with good friends, having good conversation and relaxing.

we brought brenna with us and she was awesome as usual. the big kids stayed with grandma kay and grandpa george.

here are some pics of our little trip.

Brenna attacking her new friend


bath time fun


tara and i with brenna, natalie, and nathan


the kids... notice brenna and natalies matching outfits.... just like the old days. tara and i would play baby dolls for hours and loved dressing them up like twins, just so happened that i brought a shirt for brenna that natalie had also. so fun!

to see some other great pics check out taras blog at www.2dewdrops.blogspot.com