First Signs of Spring!

We had our first blooming flowers of the year yesterday. How refreshing it is to look out the window at all the brown and all of a sudden notice these beautiful and vibrant yellow flowers. God knows just what I need and I needed to see these bright blooms yesterday. I know Spring isn't here yet, but this will hold me over until then.

Jack's Africa Play

Jack had his annual class musical today. It is always so much fun to see Jack in his plays. He is so serious about it, no smiles from him. He had Jonathan, Joel, me, Grandma Janet, Papa David and Nana Ila all attend his musical. We all enjoyed it and I held it together pretty well, just a few tears. Anyway here's a video for all of you to enjoy.

Before and After

Jack has been growing his hair out for quite some time now. It has gotten very long and looks pretty cute but it drives me crazy! I can't stand for his hair to be in his eyes all the time. I have bit my tongue because I know it is just part of him getting bigger and wanting to do his own thing. Finally Saturday he agreed to have it cut. It looks so much better and I had forgotten how pretty and big his blue eyes are.

He is also ready to get braces. He is growing up too fast. He has been asking about braces and I told him he has to take really good care of his teeth to get them and so he has started flossing everyday along with brushing morning and night and mouth rinse. He does these things on his own I don't even have to tell him anymore. It will be a while before he can get braces but I think it's great he is wanting to take care of himself so well.

Cuddles the Kitten

As I've said before Jennah and Joel have become great friends over the past few months. They imagine all sorts of crazy things together. They really remind me of the cute little books and cartoon Max and Ruby. She bosses him around, but in the end he only really does what he wants to do. Saturday they were off in there own little world playing something that involved a kitten. Well then they decided they wanted a real kitten and both thought they could talk us into it. Jennah cracked us up with her plan to get a kitten. First she tells us this year she wants to get rid of Gravy. She has a friend at school that she wants to give him to for her birthday. Then she said for her birthday next year she wants to get a kitten. She promised to feed, water, and walk the new kitten. Jonathan explained that kittens don't have to be walked and that blew her mind and kind of distracted her for a few minutes while she processed the fact that they didn't have to be walked. Finally she was back with us and told us she would name the kitten Cuddles and that's where Joel came in and they started begging and then instead of asking for a kitten they started asking when we were going to get the new kitten. They knew all along we weren't going to get a kitten but I guess they knew it wouldn't hurt to try. Haven't heard anything about Cuddles since, so I guess they decided they didn't want a kitten after all. So funny!

Will and Rachel's Visit

This past week Will and Rachel were able to come home for a brief visit from Honduras. It was so good to see them and spend some quality time with them. The kids were so excited to see them and had been asking for two weeks when they were coming. Every plane Joel would see in the air he would say Will and Rachel were on. We got to spend several evenings with them. This picture is of all of us at Will and Rachel's favorite restaurant in Glenpool called Speedy's. The picture is a little dark but you can see we enjoyed ourselves. We also played Balderdash for hours and cried our eyes out with laughter. One evening they cooked a typical Honduran meal for all of us. The last evening they were with us we had a family and friends potluck dinner so everyone could see them and visit with them without them having to make a trip to every one's homes. Having them here and visiting about all their work there really made Jonathan and me want to go back again and visit and the kids can't wait to go to Honduras now. I consider Will and Rachel to be our best friends and it was so refreshing to visit with them and hear of all the things they are doing there.

Quality Cousin Time

The month of January has been filled with lots of time with the family. It's been a really busy month starting with little Ben staying with Joel and me on Tuesdays and some Thursdays while Aunt Amy is in school. Then the last week we had Ben I also had Abram for the week while his family took a trip to Disney World. Then this past weekend we had Cooper and Wyatt stay the night with us. It has been a great month and the kids have really been able to get some great cousin bonding time together. It has also been great for me to get to know and talk with Amy and Jenny more. I grew up close to my cousins and I am so glad my kids get to also.

Where to Start

It has been so long since I last posted that I have to think about what I have missed blogging about over the past two months. I do know I never posted about our ten year anniversary so I'll start there. On January 2nd Jonathan and I celebrated ten years of marriage together. That means we've actually been together for twelve and a half years! Crazy! I have always teased Jonathan about ten years being the big one and that I should get a huge diamond ring or a trip to Hawaii for making this long. Well I didn't get that huge ring or the trip to Hawaii, but what I did get I treasure and it means more to me than the other material gifts I wanted. I am always asking Jonathan what he's thinking and most of the time he replies nothing then we go through the old Seinfeld scene with Elaine where she argues with her boyfriend about him not thinking anything. You have to be thinking something, I always say to him. Anyway, for our anniversary Jonathan made me a book of our journey over the last twelve and a half years in his words and his favorite pictures and memories. I don't know why but for some reason just like when I ask him what he's thinking and he actually replies by telling me what's on his mind it meant so much to hear him tell our story. It was the best gift he could have gotten me and it brought back all those butterflies that I had when we were first dating. One of the best parts is how hard he worked to get it put together. He couldn't get our scanner to work then the computer crashed the last week he had to work on it before it needed to be delivered for the big day. Isn't he the best!