Date Night!!!

The kids have played Wii and watched movies today. I just hung out and didn't do much. Then this afternoon Hope had an appointment with a friend of ours who is a dermatologist. Sara has been a regular at Cheryl's office because of all of her skin issues. The kids love Dr. Cheryl. She's kind of a celebrity in our house. (I think I might have said that before in a different blog!) She is so wonderful and sweet to our kids. We had dinner with her and her husband recently and Hope took to Don! It was hysterical!

But today Hope had to see Cheryl at her office. She has some bumps all over her face and neck. Turns out they're not that big of a deal, but Lance wanted Cheryl to check them out. All the way there, Hope kept telling me, "Momma, I tell Dr. Cheryl not to poke me with a needle." Bless her heart, she was scared! I took a couple pics on my phone, so they're not great but here she is.

Sitting on the "princess chair"

Her true personality! It's hard to see, but she's pouting really hard trying to make a face for the camera!

We got home and I packed up all the kids. Leah (my sister in law) wanted the girls to spend the night at their house with her brother's daughter. And I asked Mom and Dad if Luke and Emma could spend the night at their house so Lance and I could have a date. Woo Hoo!!!!

We met some good friends for dinner and then we went to see Avatar. It was amazing!!!! We were so glad we went. We were sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start and both of us were about to fall asleep. But when it started, it kept our attention for almost 3 hours!

Now we're at home and about to head to bed. I don't have to worry about anybody walking into our room in the middle of the night so yea peaceful sleep! And I plan to get some good cleaning done around the house in the morning. It's snowing outside right now, so who knows! Maybe we'll get to play in the snow again this week!

Merry Christmas! (a day late!)

Well, Christmas has come and (almost) gone. We are getting together with Lance's mom's family tomorrow and then it will officially be over. We had a great Christmas this year. It was a short Christmas season, and I felt rushed the whole time and was looking forward to Christmas with a little bit of trepidation. We had a lot of things scheduled. But I think the Lord knew I needed some down time with my family. We didn't make it to 2 extended family get togethers because of SNOW! and we had a relaxing Christmas. The kids loved it.

Luke was ecstatic to get a Nintendo DS gaming system and a camcorder. He has bugged us for months about wanting a DS. He has had his head buried in it since he opened it!

We got the girls a Cinderella castle when we were in Disney and Sara LOVES it! She has played with it for hours. And Santa brought her a magic glow board. I thought she would have loved it, but she was just ok with it.

Hope asked Santa for a Fur real cat. The thing is freaky! It is life size and moves and meows and purrs. It is SO lifelike! She is in love with it. The only problem is, Sara and Emma love it just as much! There have been many tears involved over who can play with it!

Emma has really enjoyed the season! She loved opening her presents. The funny thing is, she really wants Hope's cat!

We had a white Christmas this year! The first one I can remember in years! Mom and Dad came over for breakfast and then we went out in the snow! The kids had a blast! Even Emma! I didn't think she would like it, but she cried when we made her come in.

It's been a great past few days. We've made some great memories. I am so blessed to have the family God has given me.

The proudest time for me was Christmas morning. All the kids spend the night in our room. When we all wake up Christmas morning, Lance reads "THE Christmas Story" from the Bible and then we open the first present. Luke opens it first and in it is another wrapped present. Sara opens it and there's another present; then it's Hope's turn. Finally there is the last present and Emma opened it this year. Inside is baby Jesus. We take him to our manger. He hasn't been there all Christmas season. He is THE Christmas gift. The whole reason we have Christmas.

My kids were so excited to open baby Jesus. It was such a thrill for me to see them get so excited about it. What special gifts He has given me!

I'm Baaack!

It has been a crazy couple weeks. I've started a home business and I have had so much business the past couple weeks that all of my spare time has been filling orders. I love it, and it has given me a great creative outlet, but I have been overwhelmed the past few weeks. I'm ready for the Christmas rush to die down. :)

We have had several memorable things happen the past 2 weeks. The most memorable of which was this...

We are so blessed. Words cannot describe the emotions while watching your child be baptized. And we were doubly blessed because our dear friend Mark Maier baptized Luke. Mark, Lance and I went to college together and he and his wife are some of our closest friends. He is the worship pastor at our church and was able to baptize Luke for us. It was such a special day.

It has been such a privilege to watch Luke grow in his faith already. To see the Holy Spirit speaking to my son is such a humbling experience. The Sunday afternoon that he was baptized, we went home after lunch at my parents, and were having rest time. Luke was in his room watching a movie on our portable DVD player. When Sara got up from rest time, she went to his room and wanted to watch it with him. He was being ugly and didn't want her to. So I told her to come in to the living room with me. In a couple minutes, Luke followed us and said, "Sara, you can come watch it with me." I looked at him and asked him, "What got into you?" His response? "The Holy Spirit." Just as serious as can be. It was so cute and so pure.

I checked his book bag yesterday after he got home from school for Christmas break. I found a folded piece of construction paper. On one side was Jesus on the Cross. Lance and I couldn't make out the other side. When I asked Luke what it was, he said it was Jesus on the cross and baby Jesus. (then I could make out a manger scene :) ) I asked him why he drew it and he said that his teacher told them to. I asked him, "Mrs. Powell told you to draw Jesus on the cross?" He said, "No, she told us to draw a Christmas picture."

PROUD MOMMA!!!! If only everyone understood Christmas like he does.

We are looking so forward to the next week. Luke is home for 2 weeks. I have sugar cookie dough, gingerbread dough, we're going to do our family Christmas baking tomorrow, and we're going to have several movie nights! Can't wait!!!

What a Weekend!

I have been so busy lately, I can't see straight! I'm beginning to realize that my life is just going to stay in a state of constant chaos and commotion! It's starting to wear on me, but I hope after we get through this weekend, I'll be able to get more control on things.

Our church is presenting "Christmas Lives in Me" this weekend. We had two performances today and one tomorrow. I'm singing in the choir, Luke is in the children's choir and sings a few songs, Sara is an angel popping out of a wrapped Christmas present during one of the children's songs (and is the absolute cutest little thing!), and Lance is a shepard and leads a live donkey through the church. It's been a lot of fun. I love that most of my family is involved this year. Emma was baby Jesus last year. So Hope is the only one who hasn't been in a Christmas program. Next year! :) And my Mom and Dad are in it also. A true family experience!

Tomorrow is another big day. Luke is being baptized! I am so proud of him. Several family members are coming and he is going to be so happy. Then Mom is fixing lunch for everyone at her house. It will be a wonderful day.

So Much to Be Thankful For

I meant to blog yesterday. It was Sara's actual birthday. It pays to have your party on a different day than your birthday in the Faddis house! It means 2 days of celebration! We started the day with Chuck E. Cheese's. Several of her friends met us there to help make her birthday special!

The Gang!

The Birthday Girl!

Sara, Hope and one of her best friends, Katie

Then after Daddy got home from work we headed to Shogun for dinner. Mom and Poppa met us there. We usually go there once or twice a year. Only for special occasions. And turning 5 definitely qualifies! The kids love Shogun. Although the fire freaks them out a little. They can't decide if they like it or if they're scared of it!

Thanks Poppa, for taking a picture of all of us!

Then it was home for birthday cake! Aunt Leah came over to have some with us. (Thanks Aunt Leah!)

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I cannot even begin to count my blessings. My husband. God blessed me with a man who loves me like Christ loves the church. He is an example of God's love for His bride and His love for His children. I love him with all that is in me. My children; Luke, Sara, Hope, and Emma. I never dreamed I would have 4 children!!! But each one of them is such a blessing and inspiration to me. They all have such unique personalities and gifts. Each is a joy to me and I couldn't imagine my life without them.

I thank my Father for the life He has given me. I don't deserve the family He has given me or the grace that he shows me day to day. I just pray that I can pass that along to my children and be and example of His grace and mercy to them and to my husband each day.

Praise God From Whom ALL Blessings Flow!

I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in truth. 3 John 4. This is my favorite verse. It is my greatest desire that my children come to the Lord at an early age and follow Him throughout their lives. Well, my heart is full and couldn't be happier right now. This is what happened at church tonight...

My Son is following Jesus!

He has prayed to ask Jesus in his heart several times in the past 2 years. The first time was when he was 5. We were at the table eating lunch and said the blessing and then he bowed his head and prayed silently. He wouldn't tell me at first what he was praying, but then he told me he asked Jesus into his heart. I didn't push the issue and there have been 3 other times the past couple years that I know he prayed "the prayer." But Lance and I both agreed that walking the aisle to profess his faith in Jesus wasn't something that we wanted to push him into. We wanted it to be between him and the Lord.

About a month ago, he wanted to go to "big church" (will we ever grow out of calling it that??? :) ) with us and we let him. Our pastor (who is a friend of ours) led the congregation that day in the sinner's prayer and I heard Luke whispering the prayer along with him. During the invitation, I was trying to get him to walk down the aisle, but he wouldn't do it. He kept saying he was scared. I admit that I pushed him too much and should have just shut up. Lance gently stopped me from talking to him anymore about it. (Thank the Lord for a wise, Godly husband!)

The next weekend, the kids were staying at my parents and Luke got up about 11:00 crying because he didn't want to go to church the next morning. He had lied to one of his friends and he didn't want to face him. He was under conviction. It wasn't just an instance of knowing he'd done something wrong; he was broken over it. It was further confirmation of his real conversion experience.

Then tonight, the girls preschool choirs were singing at church. We don't usually go on Sunday nights, because it is family time for us when Lance is home with us. But we were there because of the girls. (and they did GREAT! I was so proud of them!) Luke sat with us during the service and when it came time to close the service, Wes said he was going to give an invitation. He led the sinner's prayer again and I heard Luke whispering it. When Wes said "amen," Luke looked at me and said, "Momma, I'm going down this time. I'm not scared anymore. But I'm going by myself." Then he looked at Lance and said, "Daddy, I'm going down, but by myself."

When will I ever learn that I'm not in control? God has everything under control and doesn't need my help. My son's salvation was between him and God. And God is big enough to talk to Luke without my interpret ting or prodding or interruption.

Luke was so proud. So many people came up to us and him after church and hugged us and told him congratulations and told us how happy they were for us. Luke said to everyone, "I gave my heart to God." We called both sets of grandparents and aunts and uncles. He said the same thing to everyone!

Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow! My boy's name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life!

Now on a funny note. :) We went to get something to eat after church and Sara heard Luke say that he "gave his heart to God." She got this funny look on her face and said, "No you didn't!" Later, she looked at me and said, "Momma, does Luke really not have a heart?" haha! How literal children are!!!

Nothing Like Celebrating 2 Times!

Sara doesn't turn 5 until the 24th, but because my parents live here now and we don't have to combine her party with Thanksgiving anymore, we celebrated today! She's never had a whole lot of friends at her party because they've been out of town for the holidays. And what a party it was today!

But first, the day started with Momma/Daughter pedicures! I've been promising her a pedicure since this summer, but we were never able to get it done. So today was the day. And we LOVED it!

Girls at their best!

Then Daddy met up with us and we gave the Birthday Girl her big 5th birthday present. Ear Piercing! We handed her a box with a set of pierced earrings. Her mouth dropped open and she looked at me and said, "Are those pierced?" (with her cute little, can't say r's just right accent!) I said yes and that she was going to get her ears pierced and she automatically put her hands to her mouth and said "I'm scared." So after we got to the store and 15 minutes later, this is how she looked...

It took about 30 minutes of total persuasion and piercing time. She wanted them so badly, but was so scared at the same time!

Finally! Pierced ears!

Then it was on to Build a Bear. She's been wanting another one since Hope has two and today was her day. She got a Hello Kitty and when she got to pick the sound to go in it, she didn't let me down. Her's says, "Hey Girlfriend!" haha!

My mini me!

Then it was party time! I've been planning her party for 6 months! I want to do something big for all the kids 5th birthdays. Luke had a party at Pump It Up and got a horse. (kinda hard to top that!) But getting your ears pierced kinda ranks up there! And we had a huge Luau. I bought all the decorations and supplies in June and have been waiting. :) There was a great turnout of all her friends, and everyone had so much fun. When do you get to swim in November?!

Her flipflop cake

Party Time!

My sweet, sweet Sara. So unlike me in so many ways, but so like me in so many others. I can't believe she is turning 5. Where has the time gone? I've gotten emotional some this week anticipating her party. My little girl is growing up. Once this week when I was fixing Luke's lunch it hit me that in a few months I'll be fixing hers for school, too. She'll be in Kindergarten next year and won't be around as much. It's a truly bittersweet feeling. She is becoming a big girl instead of a little girl. It's weird to enjoy her as a friend in so many ways. I love showing her new outfits I get, or new jewelry. I always get a "Oh, Momma. That's beautiful."

I praise the Lord for the blessing that she is.

Happy Halloween!

Well, our Halloween didn't turn out like we had planned. Our church started doing Trunk or Treat last year and it was a huge success. We were planning on working a booth with our Sunday School class and spend a couple hours letting the kids get candy, play games and eat. We thought we were going to be able to go because Sara is better and so are Lance, Luke and I. But, last night Emma started running a fever and then Hope started one this morning. Arghhhh!!! We started them on Tamiflu so hopefully they will kick this by the time the weekend's over. But since they are both not feeling well, we just went to my parents', my brother and sis-in-law's and a few houses on their street. Luke and Sara went down our street when we got back while Lance passed out candy, but Hope and Emma stayed with him.

The kids had a blast. Emma LOVED it! I didn't think she would really care, but she loved holding out her bucket and having candy put in it. She would grin from ear to ear!

Sara loved it more than anyone I think. She kept running to houses, saying "Halloween is fun!"

I think Luke had as much fun giving out candy at our house as he did getting the candy! He's my little social bug!

And poor Hope. She was so cold, she just wanted to be held. She would walk up to the houses, but then want to be carried to the next house. She was a tired princess. But so darn cute!

Aurora, Snow White, a cowboy and Dr. Faddis :)

OK, so Lance got me in a tizzy. We were herding kids to the garage. I was coming from the living room and he fell in behind me from our bedroom. I turned around, took one look at him and said, "What are you doing?!?!" He was all decked out in old timey western wear. He responded, "dressing up." I looked at him and just freaked! I ran into our room; grabbed some of his scrubs and old lab coat; found his stethoscope; and presto chango! Dr. Faddis!

at Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Leah's house (that's Luke Skywalker!)

trick or treating Mom and Poppa

Cinderella and her cowboy!

So Tired of Sickness

Ok, so Lance was home again today sick. And he had to come home early yesterday to take care of me and the kids. Sara is still running a fever, and I'm TIRED! I hope that we can get well soon. I'm on the upswing, so I hope that tomorrow will be better.

Luke is going to school tomorrow so that's good. He's excited that he gets to wear his Halloween costume. I'm actually pretty proud of it. He wants to be Luke Skywalker from Return of the Jedi. Mind you, there are several Luke Skywalkers. He wears something different in every movie. So, I'll post pictures Sat. But I came up with something and all I had to buy were 2 shirts. (and two only because I couldn't find a long sleeve polo shirt) All the kids are excited about Halloween. Sara is going to be Snow White, Hope is going to be Aurora, and Emma is going to be Cinderella.

Speaking of Hope. Oh, that Hope. This is what Lance found in our bathroom trash after I pulled up her hair at dinner.

I went to pull her hair back to keep it out of her food while she ate. I told Lance, "Look at her hair." Thinking it was baby hair growing in and then it hit me. She cut her hair!!! I sat down at my seat and asked her why she cut it. "I don't know." Then Lance asked her where her hair was. "In your bathroom in the trash." Then I told her that she will look goofy when she cuts her hair. "No, I'm pretty. Luke likes it." (Luke had tried to tell her he liked it so I wouldn't get on to her so badly.) It never phased her. It didn't bother her in the least. She did say, "I'm sorry Momma." Then I tried to get on to her for hiding and she said, "I didn't hide, I sneaked." What do you say to that?!?!?! I swear! I don't know how I'm going to raise her!!!

Pumpkin Carving 101

Tonight was Pumpkin carving night! The kids had a lot of fun. (Despite the sickness running rampant. Luke bit the dust tonight. Arghhhh!) I was proud of the kids. They all had their own idea of what they wanted their pumpkin to look like. I started last year telling them about how we are like jack-o-lanterns to God. We have all this gunk inside us and he reaches in and scrapes it all out. Then he puts His Son in us to let His light shine out of us to be a light to those who see us. I know they are a little young to get all the symbolism, but I hope that as the years pass, they will understand it more and more.

And Lance roasted the pumpkin seeds so the kids could have a treat! Yum!

Hope drawing a mask on her pumpkin

Emma just wandered around wondering what was going on!

Luke scraping out the gunk!

Sisters!

The finished products!

Illness has struck. Boo.

Well, we put up a valiant fight, but the Faddises were beat. Sara and Lance have the flu. Arghhh. Which means it will probably be a month before we're out much by the time it goes through the entire family. And Luke threw up yesterday at noon so our plans were changed even before we knew about the flu.

We had a busy weekend before we discovered Sara had a fever. Luke had a Boy Scout campout that he went to on Sat and an Upward football game. We missed a family reunion because of Luke throwing up and that disappointed us. Lance had family in from Colorado that we only get to see once a year. Thankfully we saw them for dinner Tues or we would have missed them all together. But since we didn't go (we didn't want to get Lance's sister sick because of her recent surgery) we went to my brother's in-laws for a bonfire for his birthday. Happy 34th Jeremy! We had a great time.

So now we've been in the house all day having a movie marathon. I downloaded a ton of movies from netflix so we watched several of them. One of them was Annie. I loved that movie when I was a kid and I got a little emotional watching it with my kids. (corny, I know!) But I was shocked that it had 2 curse words in it. One of them bad. The kids didn't know what was being said (and obviously I didn't when I was a kid or I would have remembered!) Why do they put that in a children's movie??? Seriously?!

Oh, and before I forget, I have to write something Hope said yesterday. It was the cutest! The girls and I were headed to a birthday party that Sara was invited to. We always listen to our local Christian radio station. (My kids love music and sing all the songs they hear and I just want them singing songs that worship the Lord.) At that moment in time, the station manager was talking about fundraising. Sara asked me if KLRC was a Disney station. I told her no and then Hope pipes up from the back, "No, Sara, that's God talking." hahaha!!! I loved it!

Close!

This afternoon I was working with the girls on their Cubbies verse before AWANAS tonight. Their verse was "I am wonderfully made." We read the little story that goes along with the verse. Then we started reviewing their verse. Sara got it right away, but had a little bit of a hard time with the reference. She eventually got it. Hope was hysterical. We started rehearsing and serious as a heart attack she looks at me when I asked her to say her verse and says, "I am beautiful." I about died laughing! Close, but not quite! And she kept saying it the same way over and over. It took a few times, but she eventually got it!

Proud Momma!

We had Luke's parent/teacher conference today. I couldn't be prouder of him! We had a rough start to the year, but he has settled into things and is doing GREAT! He has all A's (which isn't a BIG deal, but it just means that he is concentrating because he has the smarts, but sometimes doesn't apply himself) And he is reading 8 levels above the top of the testing. His grade tops out at a level 20 right now and he's on a 28. That boy LOVES to read. There are many times that he will "go to bed" only to turn his lamp on and read for a couple hours! And he is one of the very 5 top writers in his class. 20 out of the 25 in his class are at basic and he's "proficient" which is as high as you can get! That is a miracle! Last year, he hated writing lab! Who knew he'd be so good at it!

I'm not saying all of this to brag, but this is my blog to remember the things of our lives that I want to remember when my kids are grown and I want to remember how proud of him I am and how good he is doing at this point in school!

Way to go, Luke!

Vinyl, Vinyl Everywhere!

OK, so I've started a home business and it has been consuming my time at night. I'm doing vinyl personalization and decals. It's a lot of fun, but I have not had the time to blog at night like I want to because I save all my orders until the kids are in bed. So, I'm busy for the couple hours after the kids go to bed before I go to bed! It's been a lot of fun. My first order was for a boutique in town and it was huge. It paid for my machine and computer so everything I'm doing now is just for fun! I'm going to try to be better about blogging even just a little bit before I go to bed!

So, what's going on with the Faddises??? Emma is beginning to turn into a toddler from a baby. It's sad but exciting all at the same time. She has gotten really good at the sign language we've taught her. As a matter of fact, a couple weeks ago when I picked her up from the nursery at church, her worker asked if she knew signs. She had been doing them for them at church! Just this past week, I was holding her in the living room and she pointed to the kitchen and then signed "eat." I was so proud! She is really wanting to play with the big kids, too. And this weekend was craft fair weekend in NWA and I bought all the girls crocheted hats. I gave Sara and Hope theirs while my Mom was holding Emma. Emma started grunting and reaching for me. She wanted a hat, too!! It was hysterical! I gave her hers and she immediately tried to put it on her head! When I did it for her, she just grinned from ear to ear. She's growing up!

Luke is doing great in school. We had a rough start this year, but he has settled in. I've been really proud of him. We missed the entire week for Disney and when he got back, his teacher sent home all his work to make up. He did an entire week of science in 30 min., and the whole week of math in about the same time! And he has been in 2nd place in their reading competition in his class for several weeks now. He keeps bringing home prizes he's won each week. He's proud of himself, too. I told him it's time to knock Sadie (the 1st place child) of the #1 spot! Ha!

Sara is changing before my eyes. She turning from a little girl into a big girl. I cannot believe she is going to be 5 in a month. That just doesn't seem possible. I kinda don't want her to. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm not ready for her to go to school next year. We're planning her party and we're doing it up big. We are going to have a LUAU at an indoor pool. She is so excited.

And Hope. My crazy, into everything, turning me gray, sweetest thing in the world, Hope. :) She continues to crack me up and stress me out all at the same time! I know this is gross, but it cracks me up so I want to write it down and remember it. Lance was buckling her in the carseat the other day and he saw her picking her nose. He told her not to do that because it was nasty, and she said, "Daddy, I ate it, too!" And then just laughed and laughed! I don't know what to do with her! She will do something so annoying and then walk up and start kissing me repeatedly and say, "tisses. tisses"

Ah the joys of parenting!!!

In the Dark

I am so convicted tonight. We had a storm system move through this evening. We lost power for about 2 hours. It was the best two hours. Lance and I talked about the fact that we should turn off the lights every night. Luke found glowsticks for himself and the girls. Emma was pitching a fit for one, so Lance found her one, too. It was sooooo cute, she started shaking hers like the big kids. She's turning into a little girl so fast! She wants to do what the big kids are doing.

Then we place I spy shapes in the living room. I was really proud of the kids. They were finding squares, circles, rectangles and triangles all in our house.

I had started some brownies in the oven before the power went out. They didn't quite get done, so we had some brownie goo by flashlight in the kitchen. The kids loved it.

Then we made animal shapes in the flashlight on the wall. Sara was loving making duck faces and Lance made a giant dog that ate her duck! Hope was mesmerized by her shadows. She thought her hands were the coolest! And Luke put on a super hero performance in shadow!

Right before bedtime, we all laid on the floor and talked. It was sooooooo much fun. Why do we have to wait for the power to go out to do this?! We truly enjoyed our kids and had great family time. It's something the kids and us will remember years later.

Then it was off to bed with the glowsticks. Everyone has a glowstick lighting up their room. Even though the power is back on!

with flash

without flash!

A Child's Perspective

So we were driving to church tonight and had to stop by some friends' house to drop something off for them. When we go there the kids stayed in the car while I ran up to the door and sat it on the doorstep. They have the cutest homemade scarecrow sitting in one of the chairs on their porch. It is really cute. It is life size! When I got back in the car, Luke said, "Momma, I thought that was a man on their porch waiting to get their kids!" I about died! I think he's thinking about an America's Funniest Videos episode a few years ago when there was a man dressed as a scarecrow and scaring trick or treaters. Ha!

Then Sara said, "Momma, I thought it was an old man. I thought, why is that hairy old man sitting on their porch." She cracks me up! She is so serious! When we were at Disney and watching the fireworks at Cinderella's castle, they start the fireworks with a person dressed like Tinkerbell, all lit up "flying" down a zipline. It's really cool. It's dark, so it's hard to see the zipline and it looks really neat. My daughter, ever so practical, said: "Momma, that was just someone with a hook on her back and going down that string." She definitely doesn't live in the fantasy world!

She absolutely cracks me up with her seriousness. Tonight in the car on the way to church (after stopping by my friends) we were listening to the radio. The Brandon Heath song came on that says, "Give me Your eyes for just one second, Give me your eyes so I can see...Give me your love for humanity..." Sara said, "He's not being nice. He's not asking nicely." Luke tried to explain to her that it was ok and she just argued with him. "Luke, he should say, 'God, can I have your eyes, please?" I had to hold my laughter in!

When You Wish Upon A Star...

I haven't blogged in a while. We just got back from DISNEY!!! The week before we left, it was crazy! Trying to pack 6 people for that big of a vacation is ridiculous! I finally just had to let go and realize that I was going to leave my house in a mess!

We had soooooo much fun! It is absolutely impossible to recap all the different memories and share all the pictures. So I've included 2 family pics and I'm going to write down 1 memory of each child.

The Faddises in front of Cinderella's castle!

With the big guy himself!

Sara getting ready to drive a race car!

Hope getting into the spirit of things in Mexico at Epcot!

Emma LOVED Mickey!

Love that grin!

We had the absolute BEST time. It is such a wonderful place to take kids. It truly is magical. We went 3 years ago and told ourselves we would go back every 3 years while the kids were little. Sara wasn't even 2 and Hope was only 3 1/2 months the last time. It was such a fun experience with them now that the girls are a little older. We plan on going back in 3 more years. Emma will be 4 so it will be a totally different experience. No diaper bags! We want to wait 3 years because we don't want it to be routine. We want Disney to be special.

This trip was so much fun! Luke loves fantasy and he comes alive at Disney! One of his favorite things was getting to make a custom lightsaber at the Star Tours in Hollywood Studios. IT is something he's always wanted to do and he got the chance to. He was grinning from ear to ear!

Emma loved Mickey! I was worried about the characters scaring her. They didn't! She loved it! When we met Mickey the first day at Hollywood Studios, she automatically reached out and grabbed his nose and wouldn't let go. The only character she ever got scared of was Lilo. I think it was because she had a "human" face except it was HUGE! Ha!

Sara loved getting the characters signatures. She loved her autograph book! And I was so proud of her riding Big Thunder Mountain! She, Luke and I rode it at night and she loved it! I thought that she would be scared, but she laughed the whole way! I was a proud Momma!

And the memory I have of Hope will stand in my mind forever. We had a great spot for watching the spectacular parade at night at the Magic Kingdom. All the floats and people are totally lit up in lights. It was amazing! I was holding Hope up so she could see and she was yelling at the top of her lungs at all the characters. At one point, I was turned to my Mom and Hope grabbed my head with both hands and turned it to show me a character. She came alive during the parade and loved everything about it.

It is a trip that I will treasure forever. I love sharing those experiences with my kids and doing things that bring smiles to their faces and hearts!

My Boys!

So proud of my Cub Scout AND my Eagle Scout!

Here they are!

Luke wanted to do the Cub Scout Salute.

This is the day that Lance has been waiting for for years! Most of his fondest childhood memories involve Scouts. Tonight was Luke's first den meeting. Lance is his assistant Den leader. The funny story is last week was a Cub Scout meeting. They had already gone to an informational meeting the week before that, so we assumed last weeks meeting was the first den meeting. Lance took Luke to the Boy Scout store and got his uniform and patches, I sewed the patches on, and they went to the meeting. Only to find out it was the 2nd informational meeting! No one else was dressed in their uniforms! Talk about the eager beaver! Lance just laughed and told the others, "You have your soccer dads, and your football dads; well, I'm a Scout dad!" HA!

Luke is so excited his Daddy is doing it with him and is so impressed with Lances patches. Tonight Luke had all Bobcat badge requirements done so he got up on stage and recited everything. He came home all excited that he was on his Wolf now. And no one else earned anything the 1st meeting! They are going to have a lot of fun this year.

on stage reciting his Bobcat requirements

God Answers Prayers!

Do you know what that is????? That's a dry bed! And it's been that way for 3 nights!!! I'm doing a new Bible Study at church. Freedom For Mothers by Denise Glenn. I highly recommend it. It's not about how to be a good Mom, but how to let Christ live our lives for us and tapping into His power. Part of that is about praying for specific things. We have had some blessed prayer time on Tuesday mornings! This week, my specific prayer request was for Luke, that he would stop wetting the bed. We prayed Tuesday, and he was dry Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights!!!! God Answers Prayers!!!

He has had a dry night on occasion, but never 3 in a row. I waited until 2 nights in a row before telling him that my Bible Study group had started praying that he would not wet the bed anymore. I told him yesterday morning after he woke up dry again. He grinned and said, "That's a silly thing to pray for." It was a great opportunity to explain to him that God wants to know even the small things that bother us and that He will answer even the smallest of prayers. It was so cute last night before he went to bed, he turned to me and said, "Momma, is your Bible Study still praying?" Yes buddy, they are and you have a Momma who is going to be better about bringing our day to day struggles to Him as well.

Oh my! That boy of mine!

OK, so I have no idea how to say this! Today we had a choir retreat at church. It was also Luke's first Upward Football Game. All the kids went with me to church and then Luke and I left to go to his game and Lance met me there, watched the game and then took Luke home with him. So, Luke and I were headed to the game and he started playing his gameboy in the back of the car. He never looked up from the game when this came out of his mouth..."Momma, Amanda makes me feel tingly inside." I about hit my brakes! I asked him where he'd heard that, and he said, "Nowhere, I just thought it." Then he said, "We like the same things. She likes books, I like books. She likes games, I like games. She likes candy, I like candy." It was hysterical!!!! Gotta love that boy!

Ready to go!

Checking plays on his wrist!

Making sure Momma and Daddy see him!

Grab your Partner and Dosie Do!

OK, so this will be a blog with the most pictures I've ever posted. This past weekend was the culmination of a very long month and a half of traveling to Prairie Grove 1 and 2 times a week for square dance practice. The Clothesline Fair and the square dance exhibition and competition. I was soooooo proud of my kids. Luke took it so seriously and did so good. Sara didn't freeze up and get embarrassed in front of the huge crowd. And Hope did every move she was supposed to do! She didn't miss a beat! I was one proud Momma! So here are some of the pics from the weekend. Two days of dancing. It was a long but wonderful weekend. When we were leaving Saturday night after watching the competition Sara said, "Momma, I'm sad." I asked her why and she said, "because square dance is over." They can't wait until next year!

swing your partner

Sara and her partner Wil

Ladies to the center and backs to the bar!

Sara and Wil

Hope and her partner, Cousin Evan

Sara, Evan and Hope

awwwwwww!

Promenade!

Luke and Cousin Clayton

Luke and his partner Tatum

Too cute for words!