Soccer and Family

This Saturday my mom and dad came up to watch the kids soccer games. We were so lucky that we only got a little wet even though the forecast predicted rain all day. Here abby is snuggling with grandma during Will's game. Will was on fire today and scored like a bazillion goals. It is so fun to watch the kids his age, all the boys kept falling on the ball or trying to grab it with their hands, it was quite entertaining.



The above pictures were taken at their first spring soccer game when it was sunny, Abby always has a cute little pose now when we take her picture. Then after the soccer games my sister in law came over with my nephew Colton. Colton is three months old and a pure joy to be around. My kids loved him, acutally Abby smothered him.


I am so grateful that my extended family lives only a little over an hour away. It is so nice to have them just pop in for the day.

Miracles!!!

I wrote a post over a week ago about the little boy who nearly drowned while we were on vacation in Sanibel at the end of March. I am so happy to update that he is having a recovery that only God could orchestrate. The little boys name is Cal and he is from Minnesota. He left Florida with the prognosis that he needed to be taken off life support because he was brain dead. I am happy to report that he is now breathing on his own, talking some, moving his arms/legs and is to start rehab in the next week. While the extent of his brain injury is still yet to be determined I can only imagine the hope this family is experiencing after weeks of despair. Thank you Lord that Cal's recovery was part of your plan all along. I pray that you continue to be with him and his family as they navigate this new lease on life that he has been given. You are truly an amazing God and I am so glad his parents had faith in you when the world told them otherwise.

Show us your Life- Teacher Gifts

Over at Kellys Korner she is doing a great post on teacher gift ideas. I struggle with these every year(actually twice a year). There are some great ideas from other bloggers and I have a few that have worked well for me.

Gift cards/Visa cards- I think if you talk to alot of teachers they love all the thoughtful gifts, but how many bottles of lotion from bath and body works do they really need. Luckily our kids classes usually groups money together to give them a good size gift card to Target or a visa gift card to use anywhere. Then I usually add a little something personalized as well.

Christmas Ornaments- I have found a cute Christmas ornament for teachers at Bon Bon Charms. She has alot of cute jewelry as well but the teacher ornament is so cute. You can personalize it with your teacher's name and your child's name. Another site I use is Exposures for personalized ornaments. Last year I took a class photo and had it scanned on the following ornament.


I also think that if you really had a great experience with a teacher you should let her boss know. Last year I loved Abby's kindergarten teacher Mrs. Fisher. I wrote her principal a letter letting him know how great she was. I know that she really appreciated me taking the time to actually pen a letter rather then just telling her that she was doing a great job.

Make sure you pop over to Kelly's blog, I am so excited about all the teacher gift possibilities.

Sanibel 2010

HERE IS HOW OUR VACATION IN SANIBEL STARTED, WE HAD A THREE HOUR DRIVE TO GET TO SANIBEL FROM THE AIRPORT SO THE KIDS SLEPT THRU THE ARRIVAL.

THE KIDS ARE CHEESING IT BIG TIME FOR MOMMY AT THE BEAUTIFUL CAPTIVA. WE HEADED THEIR FOR LUNCH AT MUCKY DUCK AND A WALK ON THE BEACH, THE WATER IS ALWAYS PRETTIER THERE FOR SOME REASON

NO VACATION WOULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT A PICTURE OF SANIBEL'S BEAUTIFUL SUNSET. ALTHOUGH IT WAS A BIT COOLER THAN MOST YEARS WE WERE ABLE TO GET OUT ALMOST EVERY DAY AND LAY ON THE BEACH AND BY THE POOL.

HERE IS A FAMILY PHOTO, I ALWAYS HAVE A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WIND AT SANIBEL. NO MATTER HOW NICE MY HAIR LOOKED UP IN THE CONDO IT ALWAYS TURNS OUT BAD IN THE BEACH PHOTOS.

WE TAKE A PICTURE OF THE KIDS IN THIS CHAIR ON CAPTIVA PRETTY MUCH EVERY YEAR, WE STARTED WHEN ABBY WAS ABOUT 18 MONTHS. IT IS FUN TO COMPARE HOW BIG THE KIDDOS HAVE GOTTEN

ONE OF THE MORNINGS WE HEADED TO FORT MYERS BECAUSE THE MORNING WAS COOL AND RAINY. WE HEADED TO THE IMAGINARIUM WHERE WILL ABOUT DOVE INTO THE PETTING POOL WITH THE BABY STINGRAYS

WE ARE ALWAYS SO GRATEFUL FOR MIKE'S COUSINS. THEY LOVE OUR KIDS AND PLAYED A FUN GAME OF CHICKEN IN THE POOL

WHAT CAN BE MORE FUN THEN A BIG HOLE ON THE BEACH!!

WILL GETTING SOME SERIOUS AIR TIME THANKS TO HIS PAPA

MY TWO BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN, HOW I LOVE THEM SO!

WE REALLY HAD A FABULOUS TIME AGAIN IN SANIBEL. WE HAVE MANY FUNNY AND PRECIOUS MEMORIES WITH OUR FAMILY. I AM SO GRATEFUL THAT WE ARE ABLE TO HAVE A FAMILY VACATION TO SANIBEL EACH YEAR, THERE IS SUCH COMFORT IN GOING SOMEWHERE YOU'VE ALWAYS GONE.

WE OF COURSE ARE STILL HEALING FROM THE NEAR DROWNING WE SAW AND CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THAT LITTLE BOY. I HAVE LEARNED HIS NAME IS CAL AND HE HAS RETURNED TO MINNESOTA WITH HIS FAMILY. HIS FAMILY WAS EXPECTED TO TAKE HIM OFF LIFE SUPPORT BUT I AM NOT SURE IF THAT HAS HAPPENED YET. TODAY MIKE SAID SOMETIMES I WISH WE HAD GONE TO THE POOL AT THAT TIME SO THAT WE MAYBE COULD HAVE SEEN HIM STRUGGLING AND HELPED OUT. I KNOW IT WASN'T MEANT TO BE FOR US TO RESCUE HIM AND GOD'S PLAN FOR THAT LITTLE BOY IS GREATER THAN I WILL EVER UNDERSTAND. PLEASE CONTINUE TO KEEP THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS AS WELL AS THOSE WHO MIGHT BE STRUGGLING WITH WHAT THEY SAW THAT DAY.

So Sad

This past week we enjoyed a wonderful spring break in Sanibel with my husbands extended family. I am going to include some pictures in an upcoming post but my heart is heavy with how our vacation ended. We unfortunately witnessed the aftermath of a near drowning at the pool at our condo. I can not describe the images that my husband and I saw/felt that Wed evening. According to the surveillance cameras at the condo the little boy was holding onto a beach ball and slipped off the ball and into the water where he sank under. We have no idea how long he was under but he was discovered by a brave boy. There are so many questions regarding how this could happen but they really don't matter now. This six year old boy is now brain dead and to be taken off life support soon. I feel so deeply for this family. I wish I knew their names so I could let them know how much we have been praying for them during these difficult days.

It hits so close to home as I have a 5 and 7 year old. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers, pray that they feel God's presence during this time. I also continue to pray for a miracle, one that we know God(not medicine) can only provide. I pray that if they are believers that they will draw closer to God and closer to each other, may these circumstance not be a wedge between them. I pray that they have the comfort and support of loved ones and friends who will share God's love with them. If they do not know Christ I pray that he will be revealed to them thru this. I pray that people do not judge them, we all make mistakes and they will be dealing with enough pain/loss without the added burden of condemnation by others.

We did have a wonderful vacation and I want to post about that but as I learned last evening of this little boys fate I felt the need to send out this prayer request first. Hug your kids tonight even tighter then before, they are a treasure to behold each day.

Easter 2010

Happy Resurrection Sunday as my pastor would love to rename it. I hope you all had a wonderful time of celebrating our Savior's death and resurrection as well as time with loved ones.

Here are a few pictures from our Easter, here the kids are dressed in their Sunday best for Easter. It is a big deal that Will is in a collared shirt and wearing Sandals.

Here are the kids before an Easter Egg hunt at my parents. We had a great lunch made by my mom and I contributed my first ever apple crisp, it was all delicious.

These next two pictures are kind of an inside joke. When my kids always ask my mom what's for lunch or dinner she usually says broccoli to tease them. So she placed carrots and broccoli in two of their eggs, as you can see Will was less than thrilled.



I would be remiss if I also didn't include what happened the night before Easter. Will lost his first tooth, it was so loose that I just gave it one little twist and it came right out. Will knocked this tooth loose over a year ago so I wasn't surprised that it finally wiggled it's way out. He will probably have a toothless grin for a while.