A Big Deal

I think all moms try to get their kids to like healthy food, or at least sneak it into their diet somehow.  The other day I was pretty clever and mixed some of William's pureed baby food with our spaghetti sauce!  Ok, my secret is out, just don't tell my kids :)  I try and try to offer Laura Cate carrots and cucumber.  Her big brother loves them...he would eat them at every meal, but she will not touch them. The other day she started to actually lick the cucumber, which I am not even sure I would want to do, but I told her she could not be excused from the table and get a brownie until she tried one bite of each.   She finally took one very, very small bite of each, and swalled it. Success!! We were so excited and applauded her for trying and then we had a very funny dialogue. Me: "Laura Cate, you did take a little bite of your food and that is a big, big deal. We are so proud of you."  Laura Cate: "I took a tiny, tiny bite, and its a big, big deal, so I get a big, big brownie!!!" Kids say the funniest things.   I don't really like to applaud efforts with sweets, but this time was worth it!

I'm back

So I have had some computer/ blogger/ user error problems for a while because I had two blogs, but was really only using one. Some things got lost, but I am determined to keep up.

Weddings

I just love weddings. Celebrating two people united in the Lord is so much fun. Yesterday we got to attend a local friend's wedding. We, the whole family, took a two hour train, which Cameron and Laura Cate loved, to our old city. It was fun being back and thinking about where the Lord has brought us since 2009 when we left. I still miss that city, but I know we are where we need to be. Cameron was the ring bearer and he did a fabulous job! He looked like a little man in his tuxedo with tails. Of course it was his third wedding he's been in and he has one more in a couple of weeks. He did ask why was he the ring bearer if he didn't have to carry a ring or the pillow...maybe because he is just too cute! By the way, he still has his loose teeth and he keeps pulling at them. I told him please don't pull it out until after the weddings :) I guess it wouldn't be the worse thing that happened at a wedding. Oh by the way, William just started crawling! Babies and kids really do grow up way too fast.

Easter

We had a wonderful day celebrating our risen savior. Somehow , this year, it really felt like a celebration. I am not sure if we did anything differently, but we enjoyed reading a lot about Easter, making resurrection cookies, and Alan did a great job of teaching about the Holy Week using Cameron's Playmobil castle and soldiers...the kids loved it! The kids woke up to "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" and it was so fun. We enjoyed attending a city-wide church service, which we have not had since Christmas. What a wonderful way to praise the Lord. We also did a fun little Easter Egg Hunt at a park nearby. The kids had a great time running through the grass and shrubs and were oblivious to the local people staring at them the entire time. It was sprinkling rain and a little chilly, but that didn't stop us! Thank you so much for visiting our blog!

Growing up

Laura Cate just turned three years old on March 24, William will be 8 months old on Friday, and Cameron, a wonderful six year old, has his first loose tooth. I almost cried when Cameron ran in excitedly wiggling his front tooth, telling me, "it's loose, it's loose!" Time sure has flown by. I have had my hands full the past several months as I dove into the, difficult, unclear waters of homeschooling. And now my baby boy (who is definitely not a baby anymore) is about to loose his first tooth. I will let you the the progress and story of the tooth! Thank you so much for visiting our blog!

A car!

Alan's parent have been so gracious and generous to always let us borrow one of their cars whenever we needed it. But, with traveling and the kids involved in activities and doctors appointments we knew it would make things a little bit easier if we had our own car over the next five months. We had been praying and working on getting a car for over a month and had not heard anything for a long time. Then last week Alan and I were praying for a car one morning and about half an hour later we got a call from someone that could help us buy a used car. So, we all went to pick it up today! We were all excited. We are sooo incredibly thankful that the Lord provided us with a car. It is perfect for us.

Two wheels and one big step

Cameron is officially a bike rider and I do not know who is more excited and proud, him or me. I loved riding a bike and always have, but especially now in East Asia. There is so much to explore and it is free, good exercise. Cameron had training wheels on his bike for the past year. Last fall we took them off and practiced a lot, but then winter hit and we did not get outside as much. We practiced more in the spring and he was doing well, but then we came back to the States. Thankfully his Papa, Alan's dad, made sure he had a bike just his size (he actually got two just to make sure)and although it was tempting to hop onto Laura Cate's bike with training wheels, Cameron was outside almost everyday practicing. It helps to have a driveway without lots of cars and with grass to fall into (unlike our apartment complex). So, as of May 6, Cameron is cruising! Now he goes all around the yard and last week I took him on a date to a big park which had a big circular walkway to ride on and good grass to practice on. It was so much fun seeing him go! Now I can't wait to ride with him. Way to go, Cameron!!