Family Mission trip!

This past weekend we had the privilege to go as a family on a mission trip to Tracy city, Tennessee to Mountain T.O.P. We weren't sure what we were in for with the kids and mission but we were excited to share a weekend of service with our kids.
We were given the project to work on a 100 year old house. We were to paint the exterior of the house but it was raining. Luckily we were able to spend the day with the owner of the house socializing and doing odd jobs around her house. She has
4 dogs and 2 cats that love kids
so the kids were in heaven.






Family style eating!





Huckleberry won James heart! Not sure James stopped talking e entire 6 hours we were there. Jennifer was very patient and loved listening to James!


Henry made himself comfortable and took a nap. Poor guy had a oozing ear:( That was the only medicine I didn't take to the mountains. Go figure!!


Yes the dog looks frightened but he was very content in her arms.


My hubby drilling some board above the shower. This picture is proof that he can do home improvement!


The kids behaved well and slept well. We had a blast playing cards and having fellowship. We can't wait to go back again. I have been wanting our kids to better understand the meaning of service to others and this weekend was a great start!

Christine

Gymnastics

One of Henry's favorite things to do these days is gymnastics at the YMCA with Mrs. Emma! After 45 mins of running around with this guy I am sweaty and beat! He gets to hang, climb, and roll. All things he loves to do! Today was the last day of the session so he and his girls posed for a picture.



Don't forget the stamps on both arms!


Christine

Our first child!

As most of y'all know we had to say goodbye to our first child last week. He was only 9! He had been battling kennel cough or so we thought. As the weeks went on he started breathing bad. Come to find out he had lung cancer and it was bad:( boo!! Within days he was not doing well. Thursday and Friday were rough! I am so thankful that Ansley has an amazing support system at school. They were able to help her grieve. We decided we needed to get out of town and go up to the lake. Every turn we took at home reminded us of Oscar. Here are a couple pictures my sister took two days before he passed. Unfortunately I was unable to get him groomed for a month so he has some long hair:)









And here are some favorites...





The kids have been doing better this week. We read a book called Dog heaven. This week Oscar has gotten a lot of prayers for him about playing in heaven! Henry is the only one that doesn't get where he has gone. He still calls for him when we get home or when he drops food on the floor. Bless James' heart he tries his best to get Henry to understand!
Oscar was the best dog. He will be missed. Even his cousin (Caroline's golden) peanut search for him for a good 10 mins when I kidnapped her to hang with me yesterday. She ran around the house with oscars duck in her mouth.
I feel blessed to have such a wonderful mom. She brought us a beautiful picture frame and picture of Oscar in it!!! We love our doodle and are sure he is sitting with Great Grandma and getting spoiled by great Aunt Mary up in heaven.

Christine

Father Daughter Dance

Ansley had her second father daughter dance through the Girl Scouts! Bob took her shopping for a new dress and some sparkling shoes today! She looked gorgeous and was smiling from ear to ear! Here are some photos from my phone. I will upload my camera later.






Christine

Oh Henry

Henry's face is finally looking like I don't beat him! Lets rewind back to the snow days. Henry was protesting taking a nap mostly because he had hit the overly tired mark! In the midst of him kicking and hitting I placed him on his floor (which has carpet). While he was flailing around his leg got caught under him at the same time I put him down. So he went to bed and woke up with a limp. The next day he was still limping. My friend advised us to wait until we got back from our weekend retreat to worry about his leg. We got back Sunday and Henry was still limping and had a tip of his finger missing because he stuck it between scissors that his brother was using! Finally that Friday I took him in and the doctor eased my concern about a toddler fracture. The day after the doctor visit Henry fell on the driveway and scratched his face from the top of his forehead to the top of his lip. So now he not only has a limp and a hurt finger but he has a fabulous conplexion! We are on week 3 and nothing to report. He has gotten his bounce back in his step literally. And we only go through 3 band aids a day!
This is what it looked like before the scab took over!





We like to call him a cat because he has an amazing ability to balance and fall gracefully! He usually walks away laughing but not the past two weeks! Hopefully he will just keep his helmet on he next week!

Snow again

Round 2 decided to come through at the beginning of the week and keep us home bound until Friday. We are lucky enough to have family and friends live in the hood so we were prepared. First night we had a soup cook off! Yummy! The next two days we had fun play dates and even fit in a workout while the kids played together. By the end of the week I was ready to stay in:) So thankful for the trillionth time that we live where we do!!
Waking up to beautiful snow. Watching the snow come down!


Henry helping to build the snowman.





James adding the petite nose!





Snow Angels was more like ice/slush Angels!


This is how you make snow boots in the south. Duck tape is useful for everything including covering up at hole in your pants.


Glamour snow man!!


As much fun as we have had during snowmagedon round 1 and 2 I am ready for the spring cookouts!!
Christine

Snow!!

Within a few hours Atlanta was shut down due to snow and ice! I was on my way to pick up Henry from preschool, by the time I made it in to pick him up and was back on the road to get James the roads turned icy and crazy. Ansley did not make it home until 5:30 and that was only because her Aunt was so gracious enough to pick her up. The bus didn't get home until close to 7.
Right when we got home from picking the boys up from school I sat Baylor down to take a picture to send to his mom. Looking back I should have dressed him right so his mom didn't see him in the snow with barely anything on. The moment I put a jacket on him he wanted nothing to do with the snow!


Henry was all about touching it and then screaming in pain because his hands were numb. After 4 days if this you would think he would stop.


We are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with great friends!











As you can tell there is a difference between these pictures and the ones up top. That's because Caroline arrived.








We ended the snowmagedon week with dinner and a movie with friends!