Back to school

Cameron went back to school last week. We love his school and I do think he was a little excited to go back. I do prefer all my kiddos at home so I have missed him this week. He was home for four weeks for Christmas and New Year. Cameron was such a huge help with William and Laura Cate, playing with them and helping me.

I was hoping Laura Cate would sleep in week, but she got up with her big brother, and cried every morning when he left.


Thankfully some great friends just came back from having a baby and we had lunch with them on Sunday. Laura Cate and their daughter, Riley, held hands the entire way to lunch. So sweet!

Valentine' s Day..my blogging site has had some problems so I am slowly posting updates from a while ago!

I had plans for a few things for the kids for Valentines Day but since we had just returned from being gone for a month I was shockingly overwhelmed with laundry, unpacking, and cooking. I decided I would rather choose peace and joy then try yo do more than I was able, so I didn't give the kids their Valentines gifts (memory verses on hand-prints) or "Valentine Verses" as I call them until,  yesterday! (February 16) A few years ago I got an idea from someone to make hand-prints of the kids each year as sort of bookmarks. That morphed into me writing out a verse that we hope and pray for them throughout the new year. Last year I decided to give the verses to them on Valentines Day to remind them how much we love them and are praying for them and how much God loves them too. I make two sets of hand-prints for each of them, one for them and one for me.  Thankfully the bombardment of commercialism of this holiday has not hit Asia widely yet, so I don't have to compete with Hallmark or candy companies to win their hearts on February 14... yet!  Also, homemade brownies still go a long way as a special treat!! William will have to wait till next year to get his first handprint :) but we love him sooo much!

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Planning weekend

Alan and I are away just to a hotel in town for the weekend to have some much needed planning and rest time! We try to do this every six months, but it's been over a year. We are so so thankful for our dear friends the Crosses who are staying with our kids. We pray our kids are a blessing to them and they have fun too! We miss the kids but are enjoying our time.


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Thailand 2013 Update #2

We are coming to the end of our development week. My parenting class has been excellent as we have looked at holistic wellness for our children. Our teachers have been so gracious to allow us to ask lots of questions and seek advice as we maneuver through on this wonderful, difficult journey of parenthood!
William recently tried Papaya and liked it. He also slowly began crawling in the sand and loves it!!! All the kids have also enjoyed seeing the moon and stars, which they rarely see back home :) Laura Cate felt right at home cleaning.

The kids missed our usual family time of pizza and game night, so we improvised and found a restaurant that we could order pizza from and we found this big chess game outside!! Watch out... Cameron is getting pretty good!! Laura Cate had a blast helping us move the pieces.

We are so grateful for folks who flew all the way from the States to do childcare so that we could attend classes. Our kids felt so loved and had a great time!! Everything on Laura Cate we got to keep... Very special for her! She wore this exact outfit for several says in a row and even slept with her cape!

Thank you so much for visiting our blog!

Location:Hua Hin

Thailand 2013! Update #1

We are so thankful that the Lord provided the resources for us to go to Thailand for a conference and personal development time. It is such a treat and blessing for us to be around other coworkers and friends for mutual encouragement, refreshment, teaching, and learning, not to mention beautiful sunshine and blue skies, which we have not seen in a very long time! We left and it was 35 degrees and grey clouds.


When we got off the airplane, it was 85 degrees!
The children have enjoyed being with friends from our city, and making new friends. William has realized the joy of ice cream with his siblings





and Cameron and Laura Cate have had a blast with old friends and making new ones.


We had a week of meetings and now we are at different hotel near the beach having a week of classes.


Alan will take one class in the afternoon and I will take one in the morning.
We are so thankful to be here and we feel so loved and cared for. We hope to return home more equipped, refreshed, and more in love with Jesus.

Thank you so much for visiting our blog!

Thailand

We are getting ready to go to Thailand for little while. It comes at just the right time as it has been cold for a looong time. I actually slept in my long johns under my pajamas for the first time ever last week.  It is not easy packing for three kids for several weeks, but it will be worth it. It is fun to pull out summer things and see how much the kids have grown since then! Wow. Laura Cate is definitley in 4T and William is tall enough for 18 months even though he is slender. I took  him to the doctor yesterday to get him caught up on his vaccinations and asked the doctor about his weight. I told him, "He eats a ton!" Both of our boys have been great eaters, so I am so thankful. He said of course not to worry, which I wasn't really worried, but just needed a doctor's reassurance :) William is talking more and more! He just started saying Gege, (means brother here), LaLa (for Laura Cate), and Nana (for Mama I think :) ). He goes on dialogues and  then looks at you and smiles as if we know exactly what he is saying.  Speaking of him, he didn't sleep as long as I expected during his nap, but I better go get him.

Happy New Year!

Our new years celebration is pretty low key. But we did enjoy the day at  home with the kids. Alan and I gave each other some time to get away for a few hours and I am so thankful for that! I have started running again. It is not really a New Years goal, but it is somethig I realize I really enjoy doing that I can check off and say, goal completed, unlike so many things as a mom, where the fruit is not immediate and I can't even tell how I am doing with this huge task of shepherding three kids!

I am not competitive, but I am trying to run a 5K on my own by March..It only takes about 8 weeks to train for one, but as mom, I am holding that schedule loosely.

Alan and I asked the kids what they hoped God would do for in their lives. We were encouraged when Cameron said he wants to desire to be more obedient. So thankful for seeing God at work in this young  man's heart!

Laura Cate with as much excitement and passion as you can imagine said she really wants a new robe...this is coming from the girl who got two for Christmas! Though she does not desire the things of God yet, I am hoping and praying that He will take her passion and excitement and change it to passion and excitement for Him, His word, and His people, for His glory.

We are so thankful for how unique and special our kids are!