Easter

I know it's been awhile since I have updated the blog, but I thought better late than never!

We had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday! The Saturday before Easter some friends from our Bible Fellowship class invited everyone over to their house to color Easter eggs, and have an Easter egg hunt and a cookout. The weather was perfect, and it was such a fun day. Thanks Kim and Kurt!

Owen coloring his eggs

Daddy and Sophie looking in her eggs

Watching Kurt grill our lunch
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Look at all my eggs!

The boys coloring eggs at our house

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Easter morning

After church we went to my mom and dad's for Easter lunch.

Peek-a-boo I see you!

Reed and Grant were at my parent's. The kids LOVE to play with them. Thanks guys for being so great with our kids.

Grandma and Owen after we did our Resurrection eggs.
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After lunch we went over to Heather and Garrick's for an Easter egg hunt with the cousins. Nana was there too! It was rainy outside but the kids still had a great time searching indoors.

Nana and the 6 kids

Trying to get all 6 kids in a picture is not easy!

Elizabeth

Our Daughter is TWO!

Our baby turned two on March 7th, and boy is she ever two! She is very independent and thinks she can do ANYTHING her brothers do (even standing up to go potty! :-) ) As soon as she turned 2 her language exploded. She started saying 3-4 word sentences this week. The first one she said by herself she held up her cup and said "More water in it" out of the clear blue. She hasn't stopped talking since.

What a joy these last two years have been having a daughter. God has blessed our family with three precious, healthy children. Sophie Lynn has been such a fun addition to our home. She keeps us smiling, laughing, and moving! I love having a girl. When I first had Owen I questioned whether or not I even wanted a girl or just a houseful of boys. I wouldn't trade my girly girl for the world. I love that she loves chapstick and purses, strollers and babies, bows and necklaces. I can't wait to have tea parties with her, I love to paint our toenails together, and I love that she loves to look pretty. Thank you, God, for my little girl.

Sophie had a fun birthday party at our house on Sunday, the 8th, after church. She had a "ladygub" birthday. Sophie says bug backwards "gub", and we call her our little ladygub. So we got on the internet and she picked out the kind of ladygub cake she wanted.

Here is Sophie with the Elmo that Daddy and Mommy gave her. She loves it.

Our birthday girl with her birthday hat that Grandma and Aunt Gail made her last year.

Sophie with her ladygub cake

Daddy's little princess

Happy Birthday, Sophie!

We were so excited that Sophie's little friend Layla came to her party.

Elizabeth

Sophie the Climber

Here is where I found Sophie when I got off the phone with my grandparents last night. She is sitting on top of my jewelry box on top of my dresser. She must have climbed on my dresser from our bed. She looked so proud of herself. I hesitated taking pictures because I didn't want her to think it was funny, but I couldn't help myself!

Round Rock and Valentine's

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Three kids sometimes takes all of my time! My mom, sister, me and the kids were able to go to Round Rock, TX last week. We had a lot of fun visiting my Aunt Gail (my mom's sister) and cousin, Staci. Staci's husband is deployed until May. They are stationed in CA, but Staci wanted to be closer to her mom while Joe was gone. We took that opportunity to go see her and their three kids. Aunt Gail and Staci both have dogs, so that took my kids awhile to get used to. The boys were okay with the dogs, but Sophie hardly let us put her down. She would scream if the dogs even looked at her! On the trip I finally went to Ikea. It was a little overwhelming, but I loved it! I especially loved their kitchen section. The kids were perfect in the car. It took us 7 hours to get there because of a traffic jam. It only took us 6 hours to get back. 

Owen and Evan watching a movie with Duke

Watching Aunt Gail make the kids pancakes. She made them dinosaurs, a seahorse, baseball bat, ball and glove, a little girl and boy, a seahorse, a shark, and an octopus. It was such a special treat!

Aunt Gail made Sophie a necklace. She loves it! My little girly girl.

Sophie and Faith - they are only three days apart. Aren't they cute together?

We went to Aunt Gail's jewelry shop on the way out of town. The boys loved trying on the bracelets.

Sophie with her "neck-neck" that Aunt Gail made her.

Valentine's Day was a lot of fun. I did my traditional thing with Matthew where I give him a gift every day of the week that leads up to Valentine's Day. I always look forward to doing that. Friday night was the night before Valentine's Day, and it was Date Night at our church. Date Night is such a blessing. One Friday night a month they have childcare from 6-10p.m., and it is only $5! Sometimes there is a planned Sunday School party that you can choose to attend, and the rest of them are just for you and your spouse to reconnect. The kids love to go because they get to be with their friends, play in the gym, watch movies, and get fun snacks. And, of course, we love it because it gives us a night without the kids. So we had our Valentine's date a day early which we loved because it was not nearly as crowded as it would have been. We had a nice dinner and then went to Cuppies and Joe. It is a darling cupcake and coffee shop that some friends of ours have just recently opened, and we love to go there when we can. Matthew gave me a short sleeve cardigan and a 3/4 sleeve tunic. I love them both and cannot believe what a great job he did of picking them out! I love that man! He is so good to me.

Saturday morning I made a Valentine's brunch. Here are the strawberry, banana pancakes that we enjoyed. We also had some homemade fruit and yogurt parfaits.

The kids enjoyed waking up and seeing the fun little Valentine's surprises.

Elizabeth

God Bless Our Mothers

We are blessed with our two precious mothers who love our kiddos almost as much as we do! We were able to have two fun dates within 4 days of each other. What a treat!  Matthew's mom had all 6 of her grandkids last Thursday night, and they had a blast! They played games, watched a movie, and ate popcorn and cupcakes. I then met them at Journey Church on Friday around noon. Journey church is in Norman and has an awesome indoor playground that is bigger and cleaner than one at McDonald's, so we go there quite often. Matthew and I were able to go to a late movie Thursday night and sleep in on Friday. Thank you Mom H.!

On Sunday I went and cleaned my bro-in-law's dental office and my parents and brother kept the kids on Sunday night. Matthew and I went home and watched the Super Bowl and The Office in a quiet home. It was very nice to be able to hear the TV!

Monday we were able to sleep in a little bit and then we went and walked/jogged at the Oklahoma River trails. We are both participating in the OKC Memorial Marathon in April, so we are trying to get ready for that. We had a quick lunch date, and then I went grocery shopping before I met my parents to pick up the kids. They had (and always do have) a great time with Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle. The Zoo was free that day, so that is where my family took the kids. It was Sophie's first time to really notice the animals, so she was excited. Thank you, Mom, Dad, and John, for always being willing to watch the kids. 

I started Beth Moore's Esther Bible Study this morning, and I am very excited about taking it! I have been looking forward to this study since I heard about her writing it. I almost cried while reading the dedication, so I think I am in trouble! Can't wait to dive in! Esther has been one of my favorite characters in the Bible since I was a little girl. We had a cassette tape of the story and would always listen to that in the car.

After Bible Study I took the boys to get there hair cut. Talk about some long, disheveled hair! They were long overdue.

Signing off for now,

Elizabeth

Snow Day!

What a fun day! Owen and Evan were so very excited when they woke up this morning and saw snow. I somehow talked them into waiting to play outside until Sophie took a nap. I was very reluctant to take the time to bundle them up knowing that they might only stay outside for a few minutes, but they LOVED the snow and stayed out for about an hour. They made snow angels, threw snow at each other, and, of course, ate some of it. When they finally came in, their cheeks were bright red and their hands and feet were freezing! They enjoyed warming up with their hot chocolate.

I somehow managed to squeeze Evan into his 18mo. size snowsuit!

Our Tomboy and Our Princess All in One

Sophie came down the stairs in this last Friday. Just had to share. This picture totally describes our Sophie Lynn! She loves everything girly but also has a lot of influence from her brothers and a very busy and mischievous personality. We still don't know how she made it down the stairs safely with the helmet being so top heavy!

6 Kids = CRAZY

Last night we went to Hideaway Pizza with Matthew's mom and the McAnear kids (our nieces and nephew). Sounds fun, right? It was fun - just plain crazy! Mom has the kids this week while Heather and Garrick are in Cambodia doing missions work. The kids had fun. They are always so excited to see each other.

Evan and Lynnley

Sophie and Benjamin

Madi and Owen

We usually don't even try to go out with all of our kids anymore. But last night we thought it sounded like fun. We went around 7:30 and since it was a Sunday night there was hardly anyone in the restaurant, so that made it a little better.

As I am writing this I realize that Sophie crawled up in our bed and has fallen asleep. I guess she knew it was time for her nap! Sweet girl.

Elizabeth