Everyday Fun

I found these letters at one of my very favorite places.... www.Timberdoodle.com . They're just perfect for teaching Jonathan his letters. Each week, I take random letters and stick them to the fridge (or the dishwasher, oven... never know where they will show up). Eddie makes everything into a game. One morning, Isaac and I found where Dad had left us a funny note on the fridge. We now see who can leave the most creative message with the five or six random letters. But I do believe that Isaac deserves Most Creative with this face he left for us.

Jonathan is more "reserved" than Isaac has ever been. Isaac is a daredevil that will try just about anything. Jonathan on the other hand won't try anything until he feels safe. So on our last trip to the park, big brother had to prove that the slides were fun. Can't say I blame Jonathan because he first trip down the slide ended with a splash into a deep mud puddle.

And this one... well, I have no earthly idea what he was pretending to be. And how about that clothing combination? Mr. fashionable, huh?

F4

You know, I had no idea what an F4 was. Until this week - when an F4 tornado ripped through Cleveland and Athens doing indescribably damage.

Laiel was at our house when we started to realize that "bad weather" on the way. The weather broadcast issued a warning for our area to take shelter. So I took everyone to the basement. Soon afterwards Eddie came home from work. There was a break in the storms around 4 o'clock. Long enough for us to come upstairs for some dinner and to send Laiel home. When I saw this rainbow in the back yard, I had no idea what was was coming.We spent the entire evening in the basement watching the weather on TV. Funny- we never lost electricity. It was amazing to watch one storm after another. They seemed to just keep coming. IT was so scary. Especially when they would tell us it was going to hit Clearwater in 9 minutes or in 7 minutes it would be in such and such area. Even when bedtime rolled around, we were still being battered. Eddie and I decided to go ahead and put the children in their beds. However just 15 minutes later, we were grabbing them and carrying them back downstairs. We did that two more times before the tornadoes were finally gone around midnight. Our home didn't suffer any damage beside a shingle missing here and there. Isaac did find strange things in the yard the next day (like baseball cards!). Dionne and Kevin even found bills from Alabama at thier house. But oh the damage! This morning when I talked with April to see if Laiel was coming back, I was surprised at her description of their community. Ended up that it was one of the hardest hit. Not only that but a friend that had just been at Dooley yesterday picking up her grain order from April lost her little child last night to the tornados. My heart is heavy trying to understand why were were so protected while so many suffered. It's days like this I must trust God's character and not what I see around me.

Tortilla lessons

I've had a tortilla maker sitting in its box- begging to be used! My sweet friend April- over at http://www.scatteredgrain2.blogspot.com/ had explained the process to me and also encouraged me on how simple it is to make delicious tortillas.

Well, today when Laiel came over (BTW- April's daughter in case you didn't know), the boys and I met her at the kitchen door with a request to please make us a batch of "real" tortillas. We immediately saw the difference in Lai's and mine. That girl was aggressive with them. I gently flatten the iron. Laiel slams it shut with a vengeance!

But what do you know.... perfect tortillas. Guess what we had for lunch.

Adrian said....

If we believe what we believe,
Why do we do what we do?

"Love You Forever"

"The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two
years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the
shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his
mother's
watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother
would
say, 'This kid
is driving me crazy!' "

My sweet little boy brought me one of Isaac's books this morning: "Love You
Forever." We curled up to read - just like Isaac and I did... not so long
ago.

Of course I made a comparison for Jonathan that he is now two... just like
the little boy in the book. When we compared Isaac to the "teenager" in the
book, I turned turn the page and realized that the next season was, "He left
home and got a house across town." Wow!

Since the day Eddie and I became Mommy and Daddy, we realized our "job" (if you can call it that) is to raise our children to leave our home and become godly adults. The completion of that goal is in sight!

As a dear friend once told me, "The days are long, but the years are short."

7 Months

"Father, I have so little to give, for all I hold dear comes from You. But Your Son, Your Passover Lamb, deserves my highest praise and adoration. Worthy is the Lamb." John Hagee "His Glory Revealed"

Passover

Clean up....no wonder I don't mind pulling out all the china becuase my sweetheart is the master dishwasher!

Jonathan with Mr. Cnossen

Jonathan looking for hailstones during the plagues.

Look who found a hail stone!

Getting ready for the affikomen....

We had a seperate table for the Leaply children since we could not all fit around the dining room table.

Passover Plans

"The first Passover is fully described in Exodus 12. Jesus celebrated it with his disciples. The Passover Seder as celebrated by the Christian family commemorates the death of Jesus Christ as our Passover." (Sue Gregg)

Each year we celebrate the Passover Seder with special friends.

It's time for a very special meal.

The Feast of Passover

Excitement is in the air as we prepare for Passover! So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

Exodus 12

Library Week

Well, well. Look who got his first library card... and during National Library Week! Jonathan and I were both so very excited. Jonathan because he was getting his own card and could take home books and videos. Me becasue Ms. Caroline was there to be part of our special day. Ms. Caroline (the best librarian in the world, by the way!) use to help me find things over at the "old library" when I was a little girl. I think she was even the librarian that got my first library card for me... I was just much older than two!

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Thanks, Daddy!

Since the price of UT football tickets rose beyond our budget (and besides the fact we would much rather snuggle up with our own popcorn and watch the game on TV!), we decided to purchase season tickets to Dollywood. Isaac still qualified for a child rate and the little ones still get in free- so it looked like a good deal to us. And it was! Our first trip to Dollywood was a blast. Isaac rode the newest ride- Barnstormer. I thought I could handle it, but my wise young man advised against it. Guess that is just more evidence that I am aging.

Can't wait to ride this with Isaac though-in warmer weather of course. He was the only one on the ride. No wonder, you get soaked.

I learned that our Jonathan loves the water. Shouldn't surprise me since bath time with Dad is one of his favorites. Jonathan even took a dive face first. Thankfully, Isaac was close by and "rescued" him. It scared me more than anyone. I remembered to "stay calm" and not let him know he scared the daylights out of me. So, he thought it was great.

And check out Little Lady- sitting in a high chair at Chick-Fil-A ... like a big girl!

Thanks Daddy for the tickets and for taking a day off from work to take us. I love being with my family!