Faddis Family Funpage

Four Letter Word

2012-02-12T22:29:00.000-06:00

I have to write this down so I don't forget it. I was getting ready in the bathroom this morning. Hope came in and was waiting for me to brush her hair. She was standing there rhyming sounds and words. She looks up at me and says, "Momma, listen to this. *itchy, witchy."

I about choked. :) I just looked at her and said, "Hopie, that's not a nice word. Just don't say that again." She looked at me with big eyes and said, "Momma, is that the B word???" Haha! I have no idea she'd ever heard that there was a B word! It was totally innocent rhyming, but the next thing she said cracked. me. up.

"Momma, can I tell Luke I know the B word??" Hahahaha!

Just Dance!

2012-02-12T22:16:00.001-06:00

After dinner tonight, Lance and I were in the kitchen talking and the kids were in the living room. All of a sudden we heard Trace Adkins singing very loudly. We rounded the corner to the living room to find Hope dancing to Girls Love Country Boys. Hahaha!

That lead to an impromptu dance session. I taught Luke to 2 step and Lance danced with the girls. Such a fun snap shot moment in life.

We didn't get any pics of Luke and I or of Emma and Lance, but we did get these two...

2 steppin'!

The Cha Cha! haha!

Happy Birthday Dixon!

2012-02-10T22:43:00.000-06:00

Dixon is the son of our good friends Hayes and Sarah Lauren. He turned 5 yesterday. Sarah Lauren always has a shirt made for him with his age on it. Which is the coolest thing. I so wish I had thought to do that for my kids. She hadn't been able to get with anyone to have it made this year, so I told her I'd give it a whirl! I had just talked to a friend who gave me some pointers on applique, and had gotten some material to do the girls some Valentine's shirts. I did Dixon's shirt first and it turned out great!

Hadn't cut the strings yet! :)

And tonight was Dixon's party. Sarah Lauren rented a hotel room at DoubleTree and had a swimming party in the pool. 20 kids! It was so much fun! The only glitch was when Sara puked all over the pool deck. Lovely. She had been in the hot tub and I think she got over heated. I made her sit out for a while and she was fine. She swam the last 20 minutes of the party and then again after everyone left and we went back to down to the pool with the Wades.

She's not in any pictures because 90% of them she was sitting in my lap at the pool. And then she was taking pictures of Dixon opening his presents.

I spent the day today making his cake. (It's hard to see the writing. The water turned out too dark.)

Hope having a blast. She was quite the little fish!

This picture cracks me up!

Luke gave rides to all the little girls. It was so sweet!

The Birthday Boy!

Prayers and Bank Robbers

2012-02-06T21:05:00.000-06:00

We had quite the action this evening in Centerton! Some guy robbed one of the banks that's about a mile from our house. He was armed and demanded that the teller give him $8000 or he'd start shooting. Crazy! Hope and Emma were at my parents and Luke and Sara and I were at Tae Kwon Do. When I found out about it I called my parents and told them not to open the door to anyone. The police were going door to door and telling everyone to stay inside. It was a little scary!

Luke was freaked out the most. Bless his heart. He worries about things more than any of the other kids (gets that from his Daddy). He didn't want to even head back to the house after Tae Kwon Do. So when we got home, this is the first thing he did...

He was ready with his barricade. And he wasn't joking! He was serious. He thought it would hide him well! Bless his heart.

And then later in the evening, Emma yelled for me from the bathroom. (I'm seriously putting this in the blog because it was hysterical and I don't want to forget it.) I got in there and she told me she was pooping. (I have to wipe. TMI, I know. Sorry!) So I stayed in there with her and this is what I hear her saying quietly. "Help me, God, help me. Jesus helped us, He died on the cross.) HAHAHA!

Glad to know we're modeling for our kids that you can pray to God at all times!

Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-05T22:08:00.000-06:00

We had our first Super Bowl party tonight! We're not huge sports watchers, and honestly, the Super Bowl has never been that big of a deal to us. As a matter of fact, last night when Lance and I were getting the groceries for tonight, he looked at me and said, "Ya know, I don't even know who's playing in the game." Ha! I looked at him and had to honestly say I didn't know who was until I saw the paper plates at Wal Mart for the Patriots and Giants. :)

And how funny is it that Luke asked us today when we were having the kids pick up their rooms, "We've never even had a Super Bowl party. Why are we now?" Haha!

But it was a great excuse to get together with some good friends and eat some good food and have some fun. The game was on the entire time, but I can't say I saw a single play! We had such a great time visiting and letting our kids have fun with each other. Why don't we do that more often??? :)

Here's the crew...

Man! That's a lot of kids!!

Divide and Conquer

2012-02-04T23:35:00.001-06:00

Today was a rare day that our family was split up and we all did different things. I don't mind it every once in a while. :) One of the goals I have for my family is that we live our lives together. I don't want us to all just do our own thing. I want our kids to go to their siblings activities to support each other. And to have their parents at their events and activities to know that we love them.

But with a family as large as ours, that's not always possible. :) Today was one of those days. Lance took Luke and Hope with him to the farm and then to get hay at his parents' house. Emma and I went to a baby shower and to Wal Mart. I think Sara had the best time of anyone in the family today. Mom took her to Crystal Bridges for an art class. It was four hours long! She had sooooo much fun. That is right up her ally. She loves to draw and write and color.

Ready to go!

Mom took some pictures on her phone while Sara was painting. I was soooo glad she did. I hated not to get to see her doing something she loves, but I love that she and Mom got to share this memory.

I LOVE this picture. The concentration on her face says it all.

This picture cracks me up. Emma ran over to to get in the picture. I couldn't tell her no. :)

Lance and I haven't gone to Crystal Bridges yet. I can't wait to. It's really going to be such a great thing to have right in our back yard. This was the first children's art class they've done. Mom said it was packed. Sounds like it was a great success. What a great resource for exposing our kids to the arts.

2 Girls on the Town!

2012-02-03T23:07:00.001-06:00

Emma and I had a busy day today! We started the morning at Chick Fil A for a birthday party. Woo Hoo! One of her friends from preschool is the sister of one of Sara's best friends from preschool. And they all see Lance as their doctor, so we have become friends with the whole family. :) Emma has been looking forward to Anna's party for days now!

Emma with the birthday girl!

After the party we went to Hobby Lobby. I need to by some Valentine's material. I'm going to try my hand at applique. And ruffles! Gasp! I have wanted to do it for a long time, but I've been intimidated, but now I'm going to tackle it head on!

Then it was off to lunch with my girlfriends. Since Leslie is back from Dubai, we all wanted to get together like we used to. So we met for lunch and it was so good to all be together again. :)

The girls

Reunited, And It Feels So Good!

2012-02-02T22:40:00.001-06:00

Some of our dearest friends surprised us last November when they told us they were moving to Dubai, UAE in a month. God was calling them to work with the laborers that are basically modern day slaves. We were shocked and saddened to see them go, but excited that they were following God's voice.

They came home for a few weeks this summer and we got to see them for dinner. Then they went back. We knew they were coming home again for good, but 6 months is a long time to only get to visit on Skype and by text or Twitter. (Although, I have to say Praise God for technology that we were able to see and here them from thousands of miles away!)

Well they came home for good last week! Sadly, they aren't going to be in our area, but at least they are in AR! I'll take 5 hours over 20 hours by plane any day!

Welcome Home Caubble Family! Missed you!

Love you, Friend!

The Man From Snowy River

2012-01-31T22:01:00.000-06:00

We went down to Lance's parents house this afternoon so Lance could help his dad get up cows to take to the sale barn. The kids and I went in the Suburban and Lance took the truck and horse trailer to stop at the vet on the way down to get 3 horses Coggins tested. (that's a test that has to be done on horses to make sure they aren't carrying a specific virus that can kill horses)

The kids and I got to his parents' before he did and his dad and some friends had already gotten most of the cows penned up and in the trailer. Lance pulled in right as his dad was pulling out with the first set of cows.

Then we had some problems. Some of the cows got out of the trailer and had to be rounded up. One of them went way back in the woods. Lance got Luke's horse out of our trailer and went to round her up.

And this ladies, is one of the reasons I married him...

Missing Part of My Heart

2012-01-29T22:36:00.000-06:00

We watched Oprah's special tonight where she interviewed Sean Penn at his J/P HRO camp in Haiti. My heart hurts tonight. I miss Haiti so much. It's been over a year since we've been there. And coming off of a year where Lance was there 3 times and me twice, going over a year not being there is hard.

Our adoption is progressing and it looks like we will be going down this spring. I CAN NOT wait. I felt it the second time we I landed in Haiti. I was reunited with the part of my heart that I had left there. I don't know that my heart will ever be whole again. When I'm home, part of it is in Haiti. But when I'm in Haiti, part of it is home with my kids.

When the Oprah special came on and we saw the poverty that is Haiti, I looked at Lance and said, "I miss that." Then I thought how strange that was. I miss something that looks like hell on earth. But I do. Haiti is a part of me.

Soon. That's what I keep telling myself. Soon I'll be there.

Corn Dogs and Stitches

2012-01-27T23:39:00.000-06:00

Thankfully not our stitches. :) We got a call during dinner from one of our dearest friends. Their son had been bitten in the lip by a family member's dog. Bless his heart. Sarah Lauren called to see if Lance thought it needed to be stitched. It did. :( So they came out and we went to the office to get stitched up. I was soooo proud of Dixon! He did amazing! After it was all over, he got suckers and as many stickers as he could carry.

Speaking of dinner, I tried something new tonight. I got the idea on Pinterest. Home made corndogs. Why didn't I ever think of that?!?! It was so simple and a hit with the fam. Make cornbread batter and fill mini muffin pan cups about 3/4 full. Then put a piece of hot dog in the batter, bake for 10 minutes at 400 and voila! A corndog muffin!

Definately something we'll be having again. :)

Arghhhhh!

2012-01-26T23:13:00.000-06:00

That's the sound of frustration. There is one illness that I hate. STREP. It attacks our house several times a year. Especially poor Sara. She gets it at least a couple times a year. She's already had it twice since school started in August.

Emma has been coughing every night when she goes to bed for the past week or so. Other than that, we haven't thought much about it. Then 2 nights ago, she coughed so hard in her sleep that she gagged. We gave her some medicine and Lance looked in her throat. He thought she had strep, so he told me to come up to the office the next day to swab her.

I was waiting yesterday for the kids to get home from school and I was going to take her up to get swabbed. As soon as they walked in the door, Luke said, "Momma, I think I have strep. My throat hurts to swallow." It's said to me (and a blessing) that he's had it enough to know what it feels like immediately.

So off to the office we went. Lance didn't even swab them. He looked in their both their throats and knew they had it. Joy. He joked about just starting them all on antibiotics.

Maybe he shouldn't have joked. :( Tonight I noticed Sara coughing and sounding a little hoarse when she talked. And the great doctor (by proxy) that I am, I looked in her throat and saw a white spot. I made my diagnosis and called her daddy. He backed up my diagnosis and we started her on meds. That makes 3 times for her this year. Double joy.

So 3 of the 4 have it. Anybody taking bets on whether Hope has it?????

Can You Tell Me How To Get...

2012-01-25T22:36:00.000-06:00

My poor sweet Emma. I feel like I've deprived her! When Luke was a toddler and preschooler, Sesame Street and Blue's Clues were his favorite shows. Elmo was one of his first words. (well, Mamo)

And Sara and Hope watched Sesame Street pretty regularly. They can sing the songs, know all the characters, and still will sit and watch it if it comes on on the rare occasion that they're watching PBS Kids.

But Emma has never really been interested in watching it when she's home alone without her siblings. She loves Disney Jr. and that's about all she will watch. And the big kids are past watching toddler/preschool shows. So when they are all home and can watch a show, they turn it on Disney or watch something on Netflix.

Today, Emma was watching something on PBS Kids and Sesame Street came on. She said she wanted to watch it, so I was excited! That's when it happened. I felt like a failure of a mother. My daughter pointed at the TV and said, "Look, there's Cookie Cutter!"

Oh my. We're going to have to watch a lot more Sesame Street.

Mid Summer Night's Dream

2012-01-24T21:48:00.000-06:00

We have had the mildest January this year! Last year at this time we'd had 2 feet of snow! So these mild temps of 50s to 60s have been crazy. The kids had their 100th day of school last Friday. Last year the 100th day fell on Valentine's Day, so we are way ahead of the game. I do like a little bit of snow every year (and the kids are asking for some), but I have to say that the above average temps have been nice. It was in the upper 50s today so when Lance got off work and the kids came home from school we loaded up and went to the farm.

Once I got over my migraine (bummer), I was able to have fun with everyone else. Daddy and Lance have been working hard on our barn this fall and winter. They have made some great progress...

I love this picture of the two of them.

The big kids played for over 2 hours all over the land. They made forts, had sword fights, talked to the chickens, and were able to just be kids. :) Emma has developed this "fear" of things lately. She's terrified of the horses and the neighbors dogs, so she stuck pretty close to me. But she had fun throwing rocks and hammering boards. It was fun to watch her.

We are supposed to get some heavy rains and flooding tonight, so Lance was concerned about the little ravine that runs through the farm. Another heavy rain will just wash out the ravine, so he wanted to dump so rocks in a low spot. We all spent about 45 minutes loading the tractor bucket with rocks. I think Lance made about 5 trips in the tractor. That's a LOT of rocks! Even Emma was picking up rocks and throwing them in the bucket. We all had so much fun! It's moments like those this afternoon in life that I don't want to take for granted. :)

Revamped and Ready to Go!

2012-01-23T22:18:00.000-06:00

Have you missed me???? :) I have taken a somewhat life-imposed blogging hiatus. I hadn't planned on it, but life got extremely busy this fall. And I was starting to let my duties as a wife and mom fall to the wayside because of all the extra "stuff" I was attending to. The blog being a part of that. So I took a little time off. And I'm glad I did. :) I feel bad about not keeping up with our family and the kids, but I feel refreshed now. So I'm back to blogging again. And I'm happy about it.

The kids are at really fun ages right now. We're having some very fun times together just being a family. And I have made a point the past few months to focus on my family and let all the other "stuff" fall away. Let me say that I have not regretted it!

So in a very fast recap, here are the highlights from the past few months just so I'll remember them in the years to come :)

October - Arghhh! The Faddises were a band of pirates for Halloween. We went camping with our friends at Branson for Halloween and Mom and Poppa initiated their new camper!

November - Sara turned 7!!! Oh my word! We went and say Happy Feet 2 and she got another Build a Bear. Right before our family prayer on Thanksgiving, my mom asked everyone to say what they were thankful for. When it got to Emma, she announced "lipstick." Haha!

December - We introduced an "Elf on the Shelf" to our Christmas traditions in the Faddis Family. :) The kids LOVED "Jingle!" We had soooo much fun with him! Can't wait til he comes back next year. And more importantly...the biggest thing that happened in December was that my niece, Hattie Vella was born! She's a tiny little thing, but has added so much to our family!

And that brings us to January. The big news here??? We've started the home study for our adoption!!!! We are this much closer to getting our son! There have been lots of developments recently. Not any that I want to share on such a public forum yet, but things are moving along very well. We are so excited!

So there we are. All caught up! :) And I'm really looking forward to the daily/weekly recaps of our family again!

Caution: Hard Hat Area

2011-09-10T22:48:00.000-05:00

Well, she did it again. Emma has another emergency trip to her Daddy's office under her belt. :(

I helped host a baby shower for a friend this afternoon. Mom and Dad were gracious enough to keep the kids for me for a few hours, because Lance also had a commitment.

I picked the kids up after the shower and headed home to rest for about an hour before we all had to head to my sis in law's parent's house for my brother's grad school graduation party.

We hadn't been home for 30 minutes before it happened. The girls were all playing in Hope and Sara's room. I heard a bang and Emma cry out. I didn't jump at first. (any mom with more than 2 kids will feel me on that one!) But a split second later, I heard the scream. As I was jumping up to run to her, Sara came running to me yelling, "She's bleeding!"

I picked her up and she was holding her head. I took her into the bathroom to look at her and there it was. An inch long gash about 1 inch below her hair line. I freaked a little bit, because all that was going through my mind was the scar she was going to have. On her forehead. And she has curly hair. Which means, no bangs. :(

I know that is petty to be worried about. And I know that there are so many families out there dealing with real tragedies with their children. So I feel badly that I was thinking that, but I was. I can't help it.

I called Lance and my parents and told them to come home and over immediately. Mom and Dad to the big kids to the party and Lance and I headed to his office with Emma.

It was not a fun experience to say the least. But we made it through it. She's feeling fine. My nerves are shot and I'm a little emotional, but I'll be fine. I'm just praying for minimal scarring. Hoping it heals quickly. But from now on, we're putting a hard hat on that girl!

By the way...For those keeping count, that's 3 head wounds this summer and 4 in the last year. 2 gluing wounds on her forehead, 7 staples in the back of her head, and now 7 stitches in her forehead.

Snaggletooth

2011-09-07T22:50:00.000-05:00

Hope has been working on a loose tooth for a couple weeks. When she first came to me and told me she had one, I didn't believe her. :) Luke and Sara didn't lose any teeth until they were 6. And Hope just turned 5 in June. I didn't think there was anyway that her teeth were loose. But I was wrong! It sure enough was loose. The past couple of days, it's loosened up some more.

Lance tried to pull it this weekend, but it wouldn't let go. This afternoon, I tried, but couldn't get a good hold on it. She must have worked on it some more because when she showed it to me right before we left for church, it was ready to come out! I got some toilet paper, reached in and grabbed it, and gave a gentle tug.

I just stood up holding it in the toilet paper and smiled really big. She looked at me confused and then she put her tongue where the tooth had been. I wish I had video of her reaction! Her eyes lit up and she got so excited! (and the little booger bled!)

So the tooth fairy is making a stop at our house tonight. And I have a very excited 5 year old in my house!

Dosey Do and a Birthday!

2011-09-07T22:43:00.000-05:00

Labor Day is always a busy weekend for us. The 3 big kids all have square dancing on Saturday and Monday. And on Saturday morning, they are in the Clothesline Fair parade with their square dance groups. And this year, we had to drive to OK and back in between the 2 things for my Granddad's 90 birthday! Wow!

The following is a picture recap of our weekend...

Duke & Daisies

Boots & Bandanas

Emma in a sugar coma from the parade candy!

Me and my Granddad

Sara and her partner

Hope and her partner

Boots & Bandanas

Daddy took some extra pics of the girls :) LOVE!

And this one!

So proud of Luke!

Dukes & Daisies

Luke and his partner

That Boy of Mine

2011-08-25T22:34:00.001-05:00

My precious boy. We have been in school for a week and a half now. Already, the past week and a half have been better than the past 2 years of school. :) We struggled in 2nd and 3rd grade with teachers that just didn't know how to handle Luke. He has lived the past 2 years of school feeling defeated. And so have we. He doesn't fit "in the box." He is an active, energetic, curious, smart, loving handful. :)

We have taken some proactive measures this year to ensure that he is going to have a good year and not be punished for who he is. And he was blessed with a GREAT teacher! Someone who gets him and is thinking outside the box for ways to help him succeed in school. He's always been a straight A or A/B student, but last year he got a couple of C's so we knew that we had to do something this year to nip it in the bud.

Here's a little insight into how his mind works...

That is a math assignment in which he was supposed to come up with 10 "rounding up or down" math equations. He sat at the kitchen table doing it while I was washing dishes. Every time he did a problem, he would look up and say something to me. When he looked back down, he wrote the next equation. They are all over the place! No rhyme or reason to the placement on the page. No order. A little bit of chaos. But done, and done well.

God gave me that math assignment to understand my sweet, sweet boy just a little more. His brain goes at lightning speed. It's hard for him to process it all and contain it. He's a little bit all over the place kinda like that math assignment.

He is an amazing boy. He is funny, loving, caring, sensitive, and loves the Lord. I am so proud of him and pray that Lance and I can raise him into the man God wants him to be

Missing Summer Already

2011-08-24T23:17:00.000-05:00

Just had to say it. Missing summer. :( I am usually ready for school to start and to get back into a routine each fall. But I wasn't this year.

Maybe it's because we had a really short summer this year. (Only 9 weeks)

Maybe it's because Lance took off every Friday in July and we had some great family time.

Maybe it's because summer is lazy and I love not having to worry about bedtimes and setting alarms.

Maybe it's because Emma is so grown up this year and life is getting easier as the kids get older.

And maybe it's because I realized this summer just how fast they are growing up. Luke turned 9. I've had him 1/2 as long as I'm going to have him. Only 9 more years, then he's gone. :(

I miss summer. I'm ready for Christmas Break already. :)

Happy Birthday Emma! (and Me!)

2011-08-20T23:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet, funny, smart, happy, adorable, blessing from God, Emma! You are such a great addition to this family, and I can't imagine life without you. You are such a talker and impress everyone you meet. You talk like a 6 year old. You are so mature, yet you are hysterical! You understand how to make a joke and you laugh at everything. Your sister's and brother think you hung the moon, and you keep right up with them and everything they do. It's just going to be me and you at home now for a couple of years while the big kids are in school. I can't wait to see what fun we are going to have this year! I'm so proud to share my birthday with you, and more proud of the sweet little girl that you are!

We had Emma's party last night and some of our dearest friends came. Everyone had fun. Emma is truly a blessing. I heard multiple people say last night that they just love Emma and think she is amazing. Made a Momma proud. She had the BEST time opening her presents. One of my friends said we could win America's Funniest Videos. :)

She pick a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme party months ago. We went to buy the party supplies on Thursday and she was adamant that it was all Mickey, not Minnie! I had to convince her to buy some Minnie supplies since she was a girl. :)

I think she had more fun than anyone at the party. And that makes me happy!

My Mom took her around lunchtime so I could get ready for the party. They went to Chick fil A for lunch then ran a couple errands. Then my sweet mom picked up the big kids and kept them all until the party. I love you Mom!

The Birthday Girl and Mom on their adventure

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

The cake

One of the few Minnie things I had to make her buy :)

goodie cups

Ready to open presents! (Isn't she adorable?!?!)

Soooo excited!

Precious girl

Blowing out the candles

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA! I love you!!

First Day of School

2011-08-20T23:28:00.000-05:00

I have a 4th grader, a 1st grader and Hope is in KINDERGARTEN!!! How is that?!?! It was a crazy thing to go on a 10 day vacation and get back the day before schools starts, but it was worth it. :)

Hope has been so excited to start kindergarten. I just can't believe she's gone. :( It's going to be so weird to go from 4 to 1 during the days. What are Emma and I going to do??? (When I asked her that when we were camping she said, "Play in my room.") :)

Here they are. Bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go!

My big Kindergartner!

Ready for 4th grade

And 1st grade

Emma is ready to go! ha!

Gonna MISS them!

Mrs. Wallace's class

Ms. Lybeck's class

Hurry Daddy, I'm late!

Our annual "1st day of school dinner at Shogun's" :)

Buffalo Vacation 2011

2011-08-20T23:18:00.000-05:00

We had the best camping trip last week! It has been sooo hot this summer with a record breaking heat wave. We were really worried that we would be miserable camping for 9 days, but it turned out great. The Lord really blessed us. The first few days were hot, but we escaped to the river to cool down. By Tues, it cooled off and we had the best weather the rest of the week. It was amazing! We even got cold once when we were in the river. Our good friends the Wades and Maiers joined us on Tues and Wed and we all had so much fun the rest of the week.

Home Sweet Home

Here are the highlights...

Emma floating on her back in the river
Hope riding her bike with no training wheels
Catching tadpoles in the river for HOURS!
Sara and Luke digging a hole in the river bottom
Heading to the shower house and Emma trying to claw her way back into the camper when she saw the raccoons. And Hope and Sara screaming like someone was being murdered! ha!

They came every night!

The kids jogging with me and Hope hanging in until the end
Luke realizing there is no Santa :(
Sara breaking her collar bone :(
The raccoons coming into camp while we were eating

Luke navigating the rapids

The swimming hole in Cotter
Playing kickball as a family
The rain storms
The blow guns Lance made out of bamboo
Luke's doing ninja training with all the other kids
Lance's "hot tub" and rapids chute

Diving for shells
The Great Raccoon Hunt of 2011

The Raccoon trap

The hunters! Ha! (and they were air soft guns. no animal harmed!)

Our best Charlie's Angels pose

Realy roughing it with their recliners!

Raccoons eating all of the Maier's food
Storm forcing us to eat in the camper. 14 people!

Sara diving for shells and then throwing them back in the water for Hope so she could find some :)
Emma looking at me and saying "Momma, this is a great picnic" while we were eating down at the river
Luke and Lance working on Luke's Weblos badges
Hope getting her first loose tooth
Hope's excitement when she caught a tadpole and dove for shells

digging for treasure

Father/Son baseball

Couldn't find Emma. Looked in the camper and there she was!

Playing in the sand

Having fun!

The easy life!

Love Dixon!

The whole crew!

Crazy faces!

All the kids

And the parents

The Moms

LOVE this! ha!

Poor baby. It's been a long week.

Emma's Prayer

2011-07-25T22:45:00.000-05:00

Tonight it was just the girls and I. Lance was on call and had to go in to the hospital, and Luke went to a VBS at a different church with a couple friends of his. We sat down to a dinner of hot dogs and cantaloupe :) and Emma asked if she could say the prayer. I said sure and this is what she said...

"Dear God. Thank you for this blessing. Thank you for the hot dog and cantaloupe and thank you for Momma taking us to Vacation Bible School today. Amen."

Melt. My. Heart. :)

Summer Fun!

2011-07-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

I was feeling a little like a horrible mom this past week. Just stressed with housework, yelling at the kids too much this week, and wondering if I'm screwing up my kids' childhoods! I know that most all moms feel like that at times, but when you are in that funk, it's hard to not think that every one else around you has it all together and you are a loser. :) Lance pulled me into a hug and said, "Honey, you're a great mom. Sometimes, too great a mom." I pulled back from him and gave him the most confused look. He explained that I have been so concerned about doing all the fun things of summer to the detriment of my sanity and our house! Ha! The house isn't a disaster, but it is definitely taking a back seat to a fun summer. At that moment, I realized that I didn't care. I wish it was not as cluttered as it is, but I'm making memories with my kids! And this is such a short summer, I want to make the most of it. :)

So, continuing with all things fun...last night we took the kids to a drive in movie! A double feature! I really didn't care at all that it meant a late night. I told Lance today, that I live under so much stress for 9 1/2 months of the year worrying about bedtimes, that I'm not going to do that during the summer. So we loaded up the truck with an air mattress, cooler of drinks, snacks and camp chairs and had a blast! I told the kids before we got there that I wasn't going to promise that we would stay for both movies. We would have to see how everyone was doing. And at intermission at 10:30, they were great, so we stayed! Ha! Emma is the only one that fell asleep. And the air mattress was the bomb! We blew it up and put it in the back of the truck with blankets and pillows and the kids loved it. Luke announced that we had to do that more often. :)

We all slept in this morning. Praise the Lord! We ate a very late breakfast/early lunch, did chores at the farm, then headed to Tulsa for the afternoon. We went to the aquarium. We were there at the perfect time. The otter did not stop swimming while we were there, one of the beavers came out and swam around, 2 divers were in the huge fish tank cleaning and playing with all the kids through the glass, we petted the sharks and stingrays at their last open time and there weren't a whole lot of people with us!

Then a moment of sadness. Let's all take a minute to mourn. Casa Bonita in Tulsa has closed. :( Ha! That is the restaurant that we ALWAYS eat at when we go to Tulsa. The kids absolutely love it. And Lance and I like it, too. We actually used to eat at the one in Little Rock before we ever had kids. When we got there and saw it was closed, I got a little emotional. :) We will have fond memories of Casa Bonita!

After driving around trying to find another fun place to eat, we ended up at Pancho's. We'd never heard of it, but when we got in, we discovered that it's a lot like Casa Bonita! Not the same atmosphere, but the food is very similar, all you can eat, great dessert bar!, and it was cheaper than Casa Bonita! :) The kids have decided it's their new favorite restaurant!

And the best thing about the weekend, it's just Friday! We still have 2 MORE DAYS! Woopie!!

Weekend Recap

2011-07-06T22:44:00.000-05:00

Happy (day late) 4th of July! So, let's get the negative right out there so we can move on. This weekend was my family reunion. We took the camper. The air went out. Again.

Lance and I were sooooo mad. It just got out of the shop from when it went out on Memorial Day weekend. And it's a BRAND NEW CAMPER!!! Argh! It's back in the shop right now, and hopefully we'll be done with it.

Now, the good stuff! :)

My family reunion has happened every 4th of July for the past 40+ years. I can probably count on 1 hand how many times I've missed it in my life. 2 years ago we took our camper and stayed a couple of days. The kids LOVED it! Last year, Lance was on call, so the kids and I just drove over for the day. But this year we were able to take the camper again. It is such a great weekend of memory making. The frustrating thing is, I didn't get a single picture! We were so busy having fun and visiting, I never got my camera out!

Here's what I want to remember about this year...

Luke swimming 75% of the time we were there!
Emma playing on the swingset and sliding down the slide
Hope swinging on her own for hours
Sara going off the rope swing
Playing cards til 1 o'clock in the morning
Luke helping other kids get on the rope swing
Emma wanting to go off the rope swing sooooo badly!
Sara helping me set up the camper (putting away the food and make the beds)
visiting with my cousins in the river
Hope going off the rope swing after I bribed her with lipstick! :)

I love how my family has kept this tradition going for soooo many years! And I love that my kids are making the SAME memories that I made growing up. The river hasn't changed in all those years. I can't wait to do it all again next year!

Brave Girl!

2011-06-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

I got to go to the creek tonight! :) We met Lance's cousin and his family at the creek for a cook out and swimming. It. Was. So. Much. FUN!! Cold!, but fun! We cooked hot dogs, went off the rope swing, swam, caught crawdads, and had a blast!

I went off the rope swing twice. Much to my kids delight! Luke went off of it several times. Sara jumped off the "cliff" a couple of times. It's about 6 feet off the water, so it was a big deal for her to jump by herself! I was a proud momma.

But to top it all off and make me an incredibly proud momma, Emma jumped with Lance! Well, he held her as he jumped, but that is a scary thing for a 2 year old! And she asked him to do it. Then got out of the water, walked to the top and asked to do it again!

Enjoy! She's just toooo dang cute!

Lazy Days of Summer

2011-06-28T23:13:00.000-05:00

I LOVE SUMMER! I know I've said it before, but I do! Last night Lance had a meeting so it was just me and the kids. We went out to check the chickens and gather eggs and discovered we had another visitor! There was poop on top of the coop! Lance had just caught a raccoon the day before in a live trap. I called him and informed him we had another guest, so he went out to the farm and set the live trap again. (Success again today! Little boogers!)

After we gathered the eggs, the kids and I headed home. I had put dinner in the oven before we left, but when we got home, we still had a little over an hour before it was ready. The kids had played with our neighbors the night before in the water hose, so they were begging me to get our hose out and spray them. I told them to get their suits on and surprised them by getting out the slip n slide! They were sooooo excited!

Jack joined in the fun! I LOVE those kids!!!

Emma LOVED her first slip n slide experience!

We stayed out for almost 2 hours. I just turned off the oven when dinner was done and let it stay in there warming. I think we ate around 8:45! Once again, I love summer!

Today, I called Lance this afternoon and asked him if he could watch all 4 kids so I could run some errands by myself. He did and when they got out to the farm to check the chickens, he had trapped another coon! Guess we showed them! Ha!

He couldn't kill it with the kids there, so he took it far away to let it go. He knew of a spring/creek that his cousin had told him about. He decided to go there so the kids could play in the creek. His cousin and his family joined them. There is a swimming hole and a rope swing! I was almost upset I hadn't gone with them! (Then I remembered the wonderful massage I got during my pedicure and I was ok again!) The kids had a blast! They went swimming in their clothes and were all talking over each other trying to tell me all about it when they got home. I can't wait to go back with them!

Once again, we ate around 8:30 tonight. But I don't have to even worry about it! They can just sleep in in the morning. I am looking so forward to many more days like yesterday and today the next 7 weeks!

Letting Go

2011-06-23T00:40:00.000-05:00

Luke is away at church camp for the first time this week. I have to be honest. I thought this spring about looking into sending him to a camp, but they were just too expensive for me to justify sending my 9 year. I had totally forgotten that he was old enough to go to Kids Camp with our church! When I realized that, I was soooo excited for him! He is at Siloam Camp. It's run by the Arkansas Baptist Assembly. I grew up going to Siloam during elementary years! I am pumped that my son is going to the same camp that I have so many good memories from.

Tonight was family night. Lance and I drove over tonight to eat dinner with him and attend worship. It was wonderful! It started a little shaky. Bless his heart. While we were walking down to his cabin, one of the other mom's from our church saw us and said that Luke had just been hit in the eye and was wanting him mom. :( As soon as our children's pastor saw us approaching the cabin, he walked inside and got Luke. He came running out and when he saw me, he ran to me and started crying. Bless his heart. It just took a couple minutes and some hugs and kisses and he was back to his happy self!

It's been a great experience for us all. For Luke and for Lance & I. It is so good for Luke to be "on his own" in a controlled environment. And Lance and I are learning an important lesson in letting Luke be himself without us squelching him. Every single person that Luke introduced us to told us what a great young man he is. And told us something special about him. We were so proud of him. He is such a great kid.

The camp theme this year is Viking, hence the viking hat he had just gotten at the camp store. :)

I was so proud of him tonight. Everyone at camp knows him! Ha! He's been there 2 1/2 days and everyone from the camp director to the camp pastor to the summer staff knows Luke. :) But everyone of them told Lance and I was a great kid he was. Made me so proud. The camp pastor is Tommy Toombs. I don't know how many people remember Tommy Toombs, but right when Veggie Tales was getting started, there wasn't much out there for Christian Kids entertainment. Little Tommy was big! I had told Luke about him and that he was going to love him. So after chapel tonight, Luke went up to Tommy and introduced Lance and I and told him, "My Mom is a big fan!" Haha!! Awkward!

It was a proud Momma moment tonight, too. Towards the end of the service, Tommy was talking about the prodigal son. He mentioned having eaten lunch with a boy named Luke today. He told the crowd that Luke had told him about his dad. That his dad was a Doctor and that he was representing his father's name well at camp. He was very impressed with Luke! We have drilled that into his little head. That he needs to represent both his earthly father and his Heavenly Father well at all times. Glad to see it's registering! :)

He has 2 more nights at camp. We pick him up Friday. I can't wait to hear all about his week! (after he crashes and sleeps for 14 hours!)

I Love Summer!

2011-06-17T22:47:00.000-05:00

With Sara and Luke in science camp all week, it really hasn't felt like summer yet. We only had 2 days off last week then our mornings and days were just like a school week all over again. We've still had to be aware of bedtimes. So tonight kinda felt like the start of our summer.

We went and ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Smokin' Joes. The kids always love to get a ring pop after dinner. :) It was about 7:30 when we got done, and I didn't feel like going home yet. So we drove downtown. We LOVE the downtown square. It is so Mayberry feeling. :) Every Friday night during the summer, there is Pickin' on the Square. It is awesome! All kinds of different people set up and play bluegrass music while people stroll around the square. It is so fun. We haven't been down there in years, and the kids LOVED it! We'll be doing that so much more this summer!

Emma playing in the fountain!

We ran into Mrs. Neta, Emma's preschool teacher. :)

Our family portrait!

We tried to get a snow cone, but 1) had trouble finding the place! ha! and 2) when we did, the line was insane! So we'll save that for next time.

I'm so glad summer has "officially" started for the Faddises! Can't wait for lazy nights, sleeping in, going to the pool, camping, snow cones, and whatever else we want to do!

2 Parties and 7 Staples

2011-06-15T21:52:00.000-05:00

That describes my week last week! We started the week on Sunday with Hope's birthday party. It was soooo much fun! It was a beach themed party. One of my dear friends let us have it at her house. She has the best yard for a 5 year old's party! All the kids got a shovel and bucket filled with a beach ball cup, water gun, and beach ball goody bag to fill with pinata candy that came out of a beach ball pinata! :) Here are some pics to recap the day...

The table all beach ball colors! (and my brother being goofy!)

The Cake!

Love that smile!

Blowing out the candles

Time to eat!

Pinata!

Love Emma's determination!

Present time!

Next in my week was staples for Emma. :( On Tues, she was stepping into the shower and she slipped and landed on her head and had a huge gash. I didn't realize it was even cut at first until Lance grabbed a rag in the kitchen. Lots of blood and a trip to the office for Lance to put in 7 staples later, she's fine. She was so brave. We were in and out of the office in 30 minutes. And the nest day, you wouldn't have even know that she had been hurt.

Then on this past Sunday, we had Luke's party. Whew! (Now you see why I haven't blogged in over a week!) Luke's party was a blast! We took 5 of his friends to a Natural's baseball game. It was awesome! The best party for a 9 y/o boy! Kids eat free so all the boys had a hot dog, chips and a coke. I made cupcakes for desert. They played freeze tag on the berm. We tried to stay and run the bases after the game, but it went into extra innings and we had to go at 9:30. I was kinda bummed, but the boys seemed ok about it. They all had sooo much fun! And we loved it so much, that Lance and I are taking the girls to a game this Sunday!

LOVE this picture!

The cupcakes

The boys!

Freeze tag :)

It's been a busy but really fun week. Luke and Sara are in Science Camp this week and loving it. Emma and Hope and I have eaten at McDonald's, gone to the splash park, and had fun while they are gone. It's going to be a fun, fun summer! So glad it's here!

Happy Birthday Luke!

2011-06-06T22:19:00.000-05:00

Luke. My firstborn. How have 9 years come and gone??? You are the person who showed me what it is to be a mom. Who showed me what a mother's love is. I never knew I could love someone I didn't know as much as I loved you when you were born.

You have grown into a wonderful young man. You are a fun loving boy! (too much so at times! ha!) You are so tender hearted towards others. Even today, you offered up your $2 to Hope for games at Mad Pizza when Hope lost her money. You are friends with everyone you meet.

You love the Lord and share your faith openly. I have never had a prouder moment than when a teacher at your school told me that you quote scripture to friends and that you share your faith. That, son, is the most important thing. Keep the Lord first in your life, and He will bless you abundantly.

I love you, Luke. You are a light to your Daddy and me. We are so proud of you. Happy 9th Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Lance and Hope!

2011-06-03T00:49:00.001-05:00

We couldn't have planned it if we tried, but both Lance and I have a child born on our birthday. :)

First of all. Happy Birthday Lance! You are the love of my life. I could never have dreamed up all that you are. God gave me the greatest gift of my life when you asked me out, then later to marry you. Sometimes, it feels like we've just always been us, but then I think back to the science building at Ouachita and I feel like the teenager with the crush on the cute upperclassman. :) Now, almost 14 years later and 4 kids later, you still make my heart skip a beat. I long to hear your voice, see your face, and feel your arms around me. I love you!

Now, Happy Birthday to my precious Hope! FIVE years old!!!! How is that possible?!?! I love your spirit, your enthusiam, your spunk, and your loving nature. You are a blessing to all you meet! I love you sweet girl!

We started the day with balloons, streamers, and confetti at breakfast. A pink sprinkle donut with a candle and Happy Birthday at the table. :) Then Mom joined us and we went to Claire's and Hope got her ears pierced! Plus she got to pick out anything she wanted (with in reason) at Claire's. Following that, we went to lunch at one of her favorite places (Mad Pizza) and then we had a family birthday party at Lance's parents house. It was a good day. :)

Getting ready!

She laughed after the first one

Then got really nervous about the second one!

But in the end, she got them both done and was so happy!

Then lunch!

And one tired Birthday Girl. :)

Playing Catch Up!

2011-06-03T00:20:00.000-05:00

Holy Cow! It's been almost a month since I've blogged! I think that's the absolute longest I've gone. It's a testament to how busy things have been the past few weeks. I really wanted to blog all the events separately, but that's just not going to happen and today is a special day that deserves it's own post so I have to catch up to today all in this post!

1) Sara and I had a couple fun days together. First, she was getting over a stomach bug and wasn't able to go to school, so we had a girls day! Pedicures, lunch and a stop at Claire's. Then a couple days later we went to a Naturals game on a field trip. It was a little crazy, but a lot of fun!

so much fun!

love that girl!

2) Luke participated in the 3rd grade wax museum. He was Orville Wright. He LOVED it! I was so proud of him. He took it so seriously. The entire 3rd grade picked a person in history and then looked up facts about them. They had to memorize their speech. Then the all the other grades and parents came around to the 3rd grade hall to visit the wax museum. You would "push" a button in front of them and they would come to life and give their speech and then return to their wax state. It was really cool! a GREAT way to learn history and have fun doing it.

Orville Wright

3) Lance and I had the BEST. WEEKEND. EVER. Our good friend Erin got marriend in Nashville so Lance and I took a long weekend getaway to go to her wedding! We had the best time! There is no way I could sum up our weekend in a paragraph, but it was such a wonderful time for us to just getaway from being parents and just be two people in love. :)

Self Portrait! Ready for the wedding!

Us and the newlyweds! Love them!

Can't even begin to tell the whole story of the afterparty at Hard Rock with Third Day and Tenth Ave. North! Awesome!

Me and Mac Powell! (Took this one for Luke!)

4) Luke and I went on a field trip to a fish hatchery and state park in MO. It was a great field trip! The kids learned a lot and also got the chance to play and be kids. I want to go back as a family. :)

Love that boy!

I was so proud of him! He was one of only a couple kids who knew how to fish!

Love this pic!

5) Hope "graduated" from pre school. She was so excited! It's all she talked about for days. :)

Absolutely LOVE that girl!

6) Luke had his crossover ceremony with Cub Scouts. He's officially a Weblos now. The special treat was that Lance surprised everyone by dressing up in his Indian stuff that he wore when he was in Boy Scouts and and Order of the Arrow. It was awesome! Besides his salvation, I've never seen Luke so serious about something. He really got into the ceremony. I was so proud of him.

Look at Luke's face. So serious!

It was so cool!

Me and my boys. :)

7) Luke and Sara had field day at school. It was soooooo cold! Who would have thought??? But they had fun. :)

8) Lance's brother and his family came in from CA and all the Faddis clan spent the weekend in Branson for Memorial Day. We had a blast!

My American Cuties!

OK, so that catches us up on the highlights! Whew! Longest post ever!

2 Girl's Days!

2011-05-10T22:44:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness Sara got better! Today was a field trip to our minor league baseball park. We have never been. We've wanted to go for the past couple years, but with Emma so little, we were worried about her staying entertained. We've been planning on going to a couple games this year and now that Sara and I have been to one and checked it out, we are PUMPED about going as a family! It was so much fun. We are actually having Luke's birthday party there. He is going to get to invite 4 or 5 friends to the game and then we are going to to a few more as a family. Can't wait!

Me and my girl :)

Mother's Day Take 2

2011-05-09T22:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was not a good day. What a bummer. Sara was sick. She threw up every hour on the hour Saturday night. So church was out yesterday. Lance and I were exhausted. The other 3 kids and I met my parents and brother and sis-in-law at a restaurant for lunch. The company was great, but the experience wasn't. :( We had reservations for 1:15 and weren't seated until 2:15. Ughhh. And the kids were bouncing off the walls. Happy Mother's Day to me. :)

After lunch we went home then Lance and Luke headed down to his parents to get some hay and our chicken coop. They didn't get back until almost 10. I barely saw Lance yesterday.

I went to bed just wanting to get the day over with. Such a bummer. BUT...

Sara stayed home from school today. We weren't sure how sick she was going to be. Turns out, she ended up feeling pretty good. So we had a girls day! We dropped Hope and Emma off at MDO then had a day of it. Last year I let Luke play hookie one day at the end of the year. We went to a movie and out to eat. I decided a while back that I was going to give my kids a "free" day each year. Today was Sara's.

First stop of the day...

Pedicures!

That is one of Sara's favorite things! She's had a couple in her life. And she got "nail art" on her big toes. A big hit!

Happy girl. So good to see her smile after the past weekend.

Then tonight while the boys were at Cub Scouts, the girls and I did this...

Hair bows!

Now, because of Hope's new hairstyle, we needed some new hair accessories. :( Sara and I went by Hobby Lobby today and bought all the necessities and made 14 hair flowers and boa barrettes. They are so excited.

So today is what I had hoped yesterday would have been. Fun with my kids and a good time with my family.

Farm Livin' Is the Life For Me!

2011-05-07T23:08:00.000-05:00

So never, ever in my life would I have thought that I would do this...

That's me. Driving a tractor. Down the highway! Hahaha!! We did some landscaping at the house today. My brother Jeremy drove Lance to our land and he got the tractor and drove it to the house. I have to say, I laughed hard when he pulled onto the street! It was just funny. :) Lance bought a truckload of river rock to put in the flowerbeds in the backyard and he didn't want to move the rock wheelbarrow load by wheelbarrow load. The tractor was great!

I moved several loads of rock to the backyard and when it was time to drive the tractor back, I told Lance I wanted to do it! I was laughing at myself, but had so much fun doing it! Ha!

Lance posted this pic on Facebook and said, "Not the reason I married her, but one of the reasons I love her more every day."

I'm turning into quite the farm wife!

Happy Mother's Day (a little early)

2011-05-06T23:48:00.001-05:00

I love the week before Mother's Day. :) Each year the kids come home with gifts for me that they made at school/MDO. And they are so proud of them. And I'm so proud of them. And I feel so loved. Each of them, in their own way, tells me how much they love me.

My new favorite things. :)

Luke made me a clay dragon bowl. Which is special because he and I went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" together last year. Hope made me a beaded necklace with a dolphin bead in the middle. I loved it. Bless her heart, she knows how much I love dolphins. :) And Sara made me a book mark, a card, and a book about me.

Luke gave me my gift yesterday when I picked him up from school. He was soooo excited to give it to me. And Hope's face LIT UP when she gave me my necklace. I put it on immediately and she looked surprised and happy. She said, "you're gonna wear it???" I told her of course. And her smile could have lit up the night. :)

Then Sara gave me her gifts today. She's been waiting all week to give them to me. She ran in the house off the bus today beaming and handed me a bag. When I read through the book about me I smiled and then I cried. This page made me laugh...

It's hard to read but it says, My mom spends most of her time "getting or cloes and or shos."
Then the picture of me is saying, "oh my." hahaha!

Then this made me cry...

If Mom could have one wish come true, she would wish for "my brother from Haty to come now."

That sweet, sweet girl of mine.

I love my kids so, so much. I am blessed beyond words. I wonder so many times why God saw fit to make me a mom and give me four beautiful souls to take care of. They are my life and I pray that they will know how much I love them and that God will overcome the mountain of mistakes I make daily in raising them.

Happy Star Wars Day!

2011-05-04T23:22:00.000-05:00

May the Fourth be with you! Hahahaha!

I heard about this "holiday" last year and thought it was hysterical! I had totally forgotten about it until I saw a few friends on Facebook say something about it. I have to admit that I wasn't in the best of mood today (see last post!) to do anything festive but then the Lord convicted me that I can't punish my kids forever with my bad mood and withhold my affection from them. (although that's exactly what I wanted to do)

So I decided to do something fun. A friend posted some pics of a lunch she did for her kids to celebrate "Star Wars Day." So I stole a couple of the ideas.

When Luke got home from school, I told him Happy Star Wars Day! and he just looked at me with a confused expression. Then I said, "May the Fourth be with you! It took him a second but then he got it and started grinning from ear to ear! He thought it was hysterical!

We ran to the grocery store and got the supplies for dinner...

Yoda Sodas and Jedi Knight Pizza Bites!

Love it! The Yoda Sodas are lime sherbet and sprite. Then just totinos pizza rolls. The kids LOVED it. :) Next year I'll try to remember to do some decorating. Ha!

Tonight we had AWANAS awards ceremonies. Hope and Sara completed their books and Luke got a participation award. He didn't quite finish his book. And poor Emma couldn't get up with her class because she was sick. She was upset, but she still got her certificate and cup filled with candy! :)

This was the best pic I got of Emma. Bless her heart. :(

Hope was soooo proud!

Love how she was holding her award :)

Luke moved so fast I almost didn't get a picture of him!

It's Just Hair, Right?

2011-05-04T23:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a day I could have lived without. Poor Emma has been sick since Sunday. Pooping all the time and then yesterday she started throwing up. I swear she threw up at least 20 times. She couldn't keep anything down. She was soooo pitiful.

The kids got home from school and I was exhausted from taking care of Emma all day, then the day got a whole lot worse. Luke went out to the garage to throw something in the trash and tripped and fell into the chickens, bent the wire on top of the chickens, and shattered the heat lamp. So that added to my stress.

Then I went to my bathroom and saw a disinfectant wipe in my toilet. Turns out Luke decided he wanted to use a "handwipe" but several came out when he pulled them and he thought he'd flush them down the toilet. I used tongs to grab the wipe and it was like a dadgum magician's scarf! There were at least 15 wipes all attached stuffed down the hole. Add a little more stress.

Then this happened...

That's what put me over the edge. :(

I immediately started bawling. I was so hysterical that when I called Lance to come home, he thought something had happened to one of the kids. I know it's bad that I reacted so strongly, but I just couldn't handle any thing else then I saw that. Sara won a prize at school and picked some "slime." Evidently they were all playing with it and Hope got some in her hair. Luke tried washing it out with water and combing it. When it didn't work, Hope told him to just cut it out. And he obliged her.

I cried for so long that I got a headache. It was not a good day. Today, we went to a girl I know that works in the salon I go to. She was sweet enough to let us come out to her house so she could try to even it out some. It didn't help much, but at least blends in some now.

I've been able to laugh a couple times today about it. I know that it's just hair. And there are FAR worse things that could have happened. And all my kids are healthy, and it's just hair. It will grow back. But on the day I had yesterday, it was just more than I could take. :)

So, Hope will be living in headbands for a while. Ha! And hopefully she (and her brother) have learned their lesson. (I think Lance made quite a lasting impression on Luke!)

Never Forget!

2011-05-01T22:48:00.000-05:00

OK, so I NEVER post any political, but this is a night that will go down in history.

The man responsible for this...

is DEAD! I will never, ever, ever forget where I was when I watched the events of 9/11 unfold. This is a day that will live in my memory just as strong. Thanks to all our troops who have served, died and given their all to protect our country. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!

Easter (a week late!)

2011-05-01T21:37:00.000-05:00

We were able to have the Egg Drop at church yesterday. It was a great success! I haven't heard the official count, but there were hundreds of people there, if not a couple thousand! The kids had soooo much fun. And I have to say, the helicopter was awesome!

Lance and I had to divide and conquer. Ha! The field was sectioned off by age. He had Luke at one end and Mom and I had the girls at the other. I had the good camera with me and Lance used his phone to get some shots of Luke.

Here's what we got!

Love my girls!

The girls and good buddy Dixon!

Aren't they adorable?!?!

Egg relay! So much fun!

Part of the crowd! Wow!

Go Hope!

Hurry Sara!

What'd ya get, Emma??

The man of the hour

Luke got a bucket full!

So the next few pictures is a taste of trying to get a good pic of Luke these days...

Luke, quit talking!

Luke, look at the camera!

Luke, quit smiling goofy! haha!

A Little Bit of Everything

2011-04-26T23:03:00.000-05:00

So Easter was this past weekend. Our services at church were amazing! But the Easter celebrations as far as eggs go, was a bust! Our church had planned and "Easter Egg Drop." 30,000 eggs!!! And about 15,000 of those were going to be dropped out of a helicopter! But, we have had record rainfall this past week and it rained out the event. And the rain didn't stop and we had an indoor Easter egg hunt at Lance's parents. (which the kids loved and had a blast!)

We didn't even get an Easter picture as a family. :( I'm just going to do it later when it quits raining. It'll be a staged Easter pic! :)

Now, for the rain...It has been an event! It's actually been very tragic. Several people have died in the flooding and different parts of the state have had horrible tornadoes and more people have died because of them.

We lost a fence on our property. Here are some pics Lance took on his phone last night.

We've been blessed that that is all the damage we've had. So many people have had it so much worse.

Hope, Emma, and I went to Tractor Supply Co. today to get a roll of barbed wire for Lance so he could fix the fence. I left with more than barbed wire...

Yes, those are chicks. And yes, we bought some. :) We have lost our minds! By the time I got home with the chicks and barbed wire, Lance had found 5 different people on Craigslist that make chicken coops and an hour after I got home, we had ordered a custom built one! Ha! The kids are so excited. (and I have to admit that Momma and Daddy are too!)

This is going to be the kids endeavor. They are going to be responsible for taking care of the chickens. Cleaning out the coop, feeding and watering them, gathering eggs (all with a little help of course). We think it will be a great learning experience for them and teach them some responsibility and entrepreneurship. We already have 5 customers for eggs! Ha! The kids are going to donate 10% of their eggs to a ministry we know of then they get to split the profits from the rest. They are sooooo excited!

Here's the newest additions to the family in our garage! (for now)

Aren't they adorable?!?!

Dinner Time!

So in few months, we will have farm fresh eggs! (that is if something doesn't eat the chicks first! ha!)

Weekend Wrap Up

2011-04-17T21:50:00.000-05:00

Once again, a busy weekend in the Faddis House. :) Friday night we were up late making Luke and Lance's pine wood derby cars. My daddy help Lance cut out the cars, and then Lance weighted them and Luke painted his and put the decorations on it. It was long night, but well worth it! Luke's car looked AWESOME! Lance competed in the "outlaw" category. Ha! That was created to give all the dad's a chance to make their own cars so that the boys would be able to make their cars by themselves as much as possible.

Then Saturday arrived. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it again! Ha! The pine wood derby was at 9 and Sara's soccer game was at 9:30. Thank goodness my parents live here! Mom took Sara to her game. And bless her heart for it! It was 39 degrees and windy! I took Hope and Emma to the pine wood derby.

Lance's car is the Superman one! :)

Luke's car is the Batmobile! 3rd from the right on the front row. Awesome isn't it?!?!

After all was said and done, Luke place 1st in his age division & 6th overall. And Lance came in 2nd in the outlaw division. Haha! I was proud of my boys.

Lance manning the start

The Batmobile

Luke and the 2nd place winner

Lance and the 1st place winner in Outlaw!

The proud Scout

After the pine wood derby was over, I grabbed Luke and rushed to his soccer game. Mom had called me during Sara's game to tell me that she scored a goal! (sad Momma because I missed it!) And during Luke's game, he scored 2 goals! I was so proud of my kids!

Then we spent the afternoon working at the farm (Lance and the big kids), picking up the house and napping (Emma and me), and cleaning up the back yard (the whole family).

That evening, Mom and Dad came over for dinner and then Lance's parents came up for dessert and to bring the kids their Easter gifts.

And today was just as busy! Skype call this morning before church with our close friends in Kenya, church, lunch, naps, children's choir and church tonight.

And tonight was a BLESSING! Our church hosted the Mwangaza African Children's choir. So awesome! The kids (and I) LOVED it! Lance wasn't able to come because he had a lot of work to catch up on. After it was over, we were able to meet some of the children.

This sweet 10 y/o is Sara! Pronounced just like my Sara. We're finding little Saras all over the world!

And for the first time, our family is sponsoring a child. It's something Lance and I have thought about at different times in our marriage. But we just haven't done it. But tonight was the night. Our kids are old enough to understand what we are doing, they were able to see and meet some kids from the organization that we are sponsoring through, and we are expanding our childrens' worldview to now include Uganda. (adding to Haiti, Kenya, Dubai, and China)

It's been a busy, but wonderful weekend!

It's Your Move, Child

2011-04-11T14:39:00.000-05:00

Way back when, when I was single and had no prospect of a husband or children, I bought something. I got it at a flea market. It is an unframed poem. I loved what it said and thought that it is exactly what i would feel like when I had children. I found it the other day and I was right so many years ago! It is exactly what I feel about raising my children. Here it is...

It's Your Move, Child

I gave you life, but cannot live it for you.
I can teach you things, but I cannot make you learn.
I can give you directions, but I can't always be there to lead you.
I can allow you freedom, but cannot account for it.
I can take you to church, but I cannot make you believe.
I can teach you right from wrong, but I can't always decide for you.
I can buy you nice clothes, but I cannot make you lovely inside.
I can offer you advice, but I cannot accept it for you.
I can give you love, but I cannot force it upon you.
I can teach you to be a friend, but I cannot make you one.
I can teach you respect, but I can't force you to show honor,
I can grieve about your report card, but I cannot doubt your teachers.
I can advise you about friends, but I cannot choose them for you.
I can teach you about sex, but I cannot keep you pure.
I can tell you the facts of life, but I can't build your reputation.
I can warn you about drinking and drugs, but I can't say NO for you.
I can tell you about lofty goals, but I can't achieve them for you.
I can let you baby-sit, but I can't be responsible for your actions.
I can teach you kindness, but I can't force you to be gracious.
I can warn you about sins, but I cannot make your morals.
I can love you as a child, but I cannot place you in God's Family.
I can pray for you, but I cannot make you walk with God.
I can teach you about Jesus, but I cannot make Him you Savior.
I can teach you to OBEY, but I cannot make Jesus your Lord.
I can tell you about how to live, but I cannot give you Eternal Life.

-Author Unknown

Lord, I pray my children take what you and I are teaching them. I pray they learn from their mistakes and always strive to make decisions that are pleasing to you. I pray that you overcome the many, many mistakes I make daily in raising them. I pray that you draw them to you at an early age and they know your love for them.

Goal!!! (and a tractor ride)

2011-04-09T23:05:00.000-05:00

Today was the start of Upward Soccer. I forgot to take my camera (bummer, but there are 7 more games) so I didn't get any pics. Frustrating, but I can get some more later. But we were soooo proud of Luke and Sara. Sara hustled after the ball and tried hard to kick it. Lance summed her playing up well. She misses opportunities to kick the ball, because every kick has to be perfect. She wants time to line herself up and kick it. But by the time she tries to do that, other girls have already kicked it. :) She did get some good kicks and got the "effort" star after the game. The hand out different star stickers to the players after the game to honor them in a special way. Things like Christlikeness, offense, defense, hustle.

And Luke did great! He has really grown since last year. He was playing goalie when the ball was kicked right to him. He ran to it, kicked it hard and made it to our goal!! From the other end of the field! He was so excited! The bummer part was that it didn't count. :( He was a defensive player and only offensive players can score. But everyone high fived him, and yelled for him.

And later in the game he kicked was goalie again and set up one of his teammates for a goal. It was a lot of fun watching their games. The only negative was the horrible sunburn I got! All the kids have pink cheeks and my chest is fried! We've had such cold weather and all of a sudden it's hot, we totally forgot to apply sunscreen until it was too late. Ouch!

And finally. :)

Lance got a new toy this week! He's been wanting a tractor for years. It's just not something that we've been able to do until now. He's been looking for a few months, and this past week a friend who sells used farm equipment called him with one and it was a great deal!

So we are looking forward to getting a lot of work done on the farm and I am so happy that Lance will be able to get a lot of things done by himself that he's not been able to do.

Plus, it's just plain ole fun! :)

My Heart is Melting

2011-04-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

I found this tonight when I was cleaning up the kitchen...

I am a blessed woman!

The Simple Things

2011-04-02T22:42:00.000-05:00

It happens everytime we camp. I long for a more simple life. :) I have the fleeting dreams of selling our house, pulling the kids out of school, Lance quiting his job, and us just living in our camper. And traveling, and spending time with each other with no pressure or stress from the world.

And I've really thought it out. It's actually doable. Lance could pull about 4 night shifts a month in the ER and we could live comfortably. And we could homeschool the kids and take them to all the places in the US that they study about. And what better teacher than Lance??? He's so knowledgeable in so many areas. And I could do the english and reading.

I'm telling you, I've really thought about it! Ha! And times like tonight at our farm reinforce my thoughts. Life is just so much more simple there. Lance had Luke, Hope, and Emma most of the day while Sara and I went to a birthday party. Then we got supplies for burgers and went out the the farm with them. The kids played for hours outside with NO TOYS! And we sat around a campfire grilling burgers and then eating ice cream sandwiches. :) It makes me long for a life without so much stress.

But then I get to thinking about what it would mean for us to do that. The kids wouldn't have consistent interaction with the same friends. We wouldn't either, and when we did, we couldn't entertain people at our house (which I love to do) and we would run the risk of becoming isolationists! Ha!

Don't think sometimes, I don't secretly long for it anyway. :) But it does make me stop and think about what is important in life. And think about what I need to cut out of our lives to slow down a little.

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-02T22:29:00.001-05:00

Spring Break overall was fun this year. We only had 3 really good days of weather, but we made the most of those 3 days! Lance and the kids and I took a hike on Tues when it was 70! It was the nicest day (weather wise) that we had. We hiked down to the creek and Lance let the kids take off their shoes and socks and wade around in the water. They thought it was awesome!

Hope slipped in once and was wet all up one side. She looked up at me scared she was going to get in trouble and I said it was ok, that it was an accident. You would have though I told her she was getting ice cream every day the rest of her life! :) She smiled and said, "This is the best day ever!"

My Crew

A Daddy and his girls

Lance and Luke (aka: Lewis and Clark!)

That afternoon, my parents came down to spend the night with us. The kids were so excited. We played games, tried to fly a kite, cooked Hobo's, and rode bikes. Then on Wednesday, we all went for a hike. 5 MILES! Wow! And the kids did great! (not to mention the grandparents! :) ) Emma made it almost the whole way on her own. My Dad and Lance carried her the last mile, but she was a trooper!

When we got back to camp, my parents stayed a little while longer, then headed back. That evening, Lance's parents came to have dinner with us. We waited for them to come before we broke out the campfire popcorn maker! They got it for us for Christmas and it is AWESOME! You fill the popper with butter or oil and popcorn. It has a long handle on it, so you just hold it over the fire and shake it back and forth. 3 minutes later you have popcorn! We all loved it!

On Friday, we made a trip to A to Z. We did it last year, too. Great way to fill a rainy or cold day. It's an adventure in itself. It was pretty cold and overcast and threatening rain, so we stayed for about 3 hours then headed back to the campsite. On the way, my sis-in-law texted and said that she and my brother were coming down to stay with us! In a tent! Troopers! :)

So we fixed stew and cornbread and popped popcorn again and roasted marshmallows. I bought campfire marshmallows at WalMart. I'd been wanting to try them, but just hadn't. They are about 3 times the size of a normal marshmallow. Very cool!

Saturday, it was yucky rainy and cold. Leah and Jeremy wanted to go to A to Z, so we went back with them! Ha! I think I've had my fill of A to Z for a few months. :)

Our last morning at Devil's Den, Lance got up early to go take some pictures. This is one of my favorites. He is really good at landscape pics. :)

The spill way at Devil's Den

Counting the Days!

2011-03-15T22:34:00.000-05:00

The countdown is on! I have been looking forward to Spring Break for months! We are going camping! Woo Hoo! The kids are so excited. (maybe as much as me! :) ) We have only been camping once in our new camper and it was back in October. So I can't wait til Monday. I am so glad that warmer weather is here. We will spend so much time camping starting this spring and ending in the fall. It's just about my favorite thing. We have a plan to take our kids to Disney every 3 years. (We've been twice so far and are going back fall of 2012) And that's really the only big vacations we've taken. Our vacations are camping. And I LOVE it! We spend a week at spring break. Then several weekends throughout the year, and also a full week in the summer.

It is one of the best things families can do together. We love it! It is so amazing just to be. Not do, just be. I'm taking 2 books and hopefully I'll be able to read at least one of them. :)

Get Along Little Doggie!

2011-03-01T21:36:00.000-06:00

First of all, I'm bummed! I didn't have my camera this afternoon. But I don't know if I could have used it even if I had. We went down to Lance's parents to help get up cows for the sale barn. We had sooooo much fun! This is the first time in years that I was able to help. I've always been pregnant or had a baby to take care of. Emma is old enough now to sit still and watch and she loved talking to the cows!

Sara and Hope were on the outside of the fence of the run and as we let cows out of the pen that weren't going into the trailor to the sale. If the cow wouldn't run all the way down the run, the girls would run along the fence with their sticks yelling "HA!" It was hysterical! They were so proud that they were helping.

I was helping open and shut gates to let cows and calves out of the pen. Lance was helping seperate cows. And Luke was in heaven! He was getting to open up the gate to the chute, poke cows into the trailor yell at the top of his lungs at the cows. I don't know who was having more fun. Him or Lance! Lance was so proud of him.

As the last cow of the night was loading into the trailor, Luke was timidly poking it in the rear to load. Lance grabbed his hand with the stick and pushed him in. Luke's eyes got huge! Lance said, "Get 'em Luke!" Then all the other men that were helping Lance's dad starting hollering with him! It was like a passage to manhood. It was soo cute! He felt so a part of it all and felt so important. I was a proud Momma!

Sara's 1st professional hair cut

2011-02-22T21:15:00.002-06:00

I cut the entire family's hair. I started 10 years ago cutting Lance's. He needed a hair cut desperately one time and he couldn't get to the barber for a cut, so we went out on our patio with some scissors and clippers and I was going to shave up his neck and trim over his ears. Well, all of a sudden, I started clipping his hair! He looked at me with a funny look and asked me what I was doing. :) I told him I was diving in. The worst thing that could happen was he went and got it fixed! Well, it wasn't that bad and with a little practice, I've gotten pretty good! He hasn't paid for a hair cut in 1o years!

And I've always cut Luke's and the girls'. I can't imagine the amount of money we save each year on hair cuts! I'm the only one in the family who gets it cut professionally, and I only pay $20. (I'm pretty low maintenance) :)

Now to Sara. She's been trying to grow her hair out for Locks of Love. We thought when we started it, that she needed to get to 8 inches. But we found out that it's actually 10. That's a lot of hair. We've gotten it pretty long, but 10 inches would make it go above her shoulders. She didn't want that. So we talked to my hair dresser and she suggested we donate to Beautiful Links. They only require 8 inches. It's for adults and not just kids like Locks of Love.

So we both went to get a hair cut today! Her first professional hair cut. :) She LOVED it! She loves anything girly and getting her hair done was heaven for her.

So excited!

As soon as we got home, she ran to my bathroom and got a pony tail holder and put her hair up to see how short her pony tail would be! :) She can't wait to get to school tomorrow and show her friends. What a sweet, sweet girl.

Organization-What is that???

2011-02-21T20:52:00.003-06:00

I admit it. I am not an organized person. I would LOVE to be. I'm just not. I try. I really do. But it never seems to stick. I know that it would help me so much if I could get organized and stay organized. It just always runs amok after a few weeks.

So here we go again. I'm trying. I made a chore chart last year and the kids really liked it. But as time wore on, it lost it's allure. We revamped it and reimplemented it today. Once again, the kids are excited. And even Emma has 2 chores to do each week! :) Putting up some of her clothes and picking up her toys.

I made it using a magnetic dry erase board and then used sharpie markers for the grid and vinyl letters for the days and the kids names. The chore icons I printed out on magnetic sheets I got at WalMart. The pictures are easy for the kids to understand. And all they have to do is put a smiley face on the right day when they complete their chore. They get 10 cents for each smiley face. I have it on the door leading to the garage in our laundry room. I really, really wish we had a mud room, but this will have to do. :)

And now, for my newest bid at organization...My friend Christi blogged about this idea that she found on a blog yesterday. I'm a little nervous, but really excited. I bought 4 new laundry baskets today. Each kid has one and I put their names on them in vinyl.

So it works like this. Each child puts their dirty clothes in their own basket. Each person has their own laundry day. I will take Luke's basket and dump it into the washer. Without separating colors. Eeeek! That's the part that scares me. :) But, I have to admit, I mix clothes on accident all the time and haven't ever had any problems. And I've read that I can add a 1/2 cup of vinegar with my soap to help in case colors do bleed. I'm going to be careful to wash new red clothes or new dark wash denim separately for a while, but everything else just goes in! Then into the dryer and after I pull them out of the dryer, they go back into Luke's laundry basket and he folds them and puts them up.

And Tuesday is Sara's day, Wednesday: Hope, etc. Granted, Hope and Emma will need help, but they can do a lot of it! So, in theory, I should only have 1 load of laundry a day and no sorting of colors or sorting everyone's clothes after they are washed. (which is the part I hate the MOST!) Lance and I will have a day, too, and I will wash sheets and towels as needed, but I have to say, this sounds really awesome! I hope I can keep up with it!

Girls and Boys Night Out

2011-02-20T21:44:00.004-06:00

Luke has been wanting to spend some time with one of his friends from Cub Scouts. So we planned it with his mom and he came over this afternoon for Lance to take them out to the land and do "guy stuff." :) Lance called his cousin and his wife brought their son over to join them.

Let me just say, I have the best husband in the whole world! And he's the best Dad!! He went to WalMart this afternoon and bought all kinds of prizes. (pocket knives, flashlights, lures, camping utensils) and he set up mountain man competitions! Awesome Dad of the Year Award!

The boys all did an archery competition, bb gun target shoot, hatchet throwing, and fire starting. Isn't that awesome?!?! Luke won the fire starting! (which thrilled his Daddy!)

The boys had a BLAST! Who wouldn't?!?!

Luke started his fire all by himself! Survivor, here he comes!

Waiting

Winner!

When the girls found out that the boys were doing something fun, they begged me to take them to see "Tangled." We've been telling them that we would try to take them, but it just hasn't happened. We went and we had so much fun! Cute, cute movie! We took suckers in, bought a coke and some pop corn, and the girls kept talking all afternoon about "girls night out." :) Then we went to Burger King for dinner and they got to get kids meals. That's a special treat!

It has been a really great weekend of making memories for the Faddises this weekend!

GREAT night!

2011-02-19T22:05:00.005-06:00

We had the BEST night tonight! Lance had some farm work to do all day and I had a funeral to go to this afternoon, but when we got done, we loaded up the kids, called my parents, brother and sis in law (and they brought their best friends) and we all met at our land for a weenie roast!
It was in the low 70's today! Crazy considering exactly 7 days ago there was 24 inches of snow on the ground! I have Spring Fever!!! :) The kids has a blast running free and exploring in the woods, and all the adults had so much fun just relaxing around the fire. And everyone loved smores!

Getting ready to eat hot dogs. Mmmmm!

Sara and Emma

Mom and Dad

Making hot dogs!

Luke

LOVE this pic of Hope

Enjoying the campfire

Me and My Man!

I am sooooo ready for spring! And camping, and horse back riding, and playing on the farm, and cookouts!

Sing a Song

2011-02-16T22:00:00.002-06:00

All of my kids love to sing. I LOVE it! Luke goes around with his iPod in his ears singing off key at the top of his lungs! ha! And Sara and Hope have the sweetest ability to make up their own songs. :) And they are always praise songs. It's makes me smile and makes my heart happy. I've always said that when my kids are singing praise to the Lord, God and I are smiling at the same time.

And sweet little Emma. She has started singing songs now on her own. Just about every night when I put her to bed, she wants me to sing her a song. And it's either Jesus loves me, or Baby Jesus grew and grew. (a song she learned at Mother's Day Out) The cutest thing is, she combines the 2 songs. So we sing, "Yes, baby Jesus loves me!" hahaha! It makes me think about Taladega Nights! hahaha!!!

And she's learned "You're so beautiful." And it's sooooo stinkin' cute! "yuur so bootiful!!!" And she shakes her head like she's doing vibrato. Love her!

Snowpacolypse 2011

2011-02-09T23:38:00.004-06:00

So the weather guys were calling for 2-4 inches last night. I didn't think the kids would be in school today simply because of all the old snow we still have on the ground from last week, so we let them stay up late.

Well, this is what we woke up to this morning...

Anywhere from 18-24 inches!!!!!! The craziest snow I've ever seen!

Lance had to go feed our horses at our property and then I had to pick up my brother and go help get Lance unstuck! Ha! His truck got stuck in the 20+ inches on our property. We actually had to get help from our neighbors. Thank goodness for great neighbors!

There's really not much else to say except we had a BLAST in the snow this afternoon, Lance's office is closed again tomorrow, and we are planning on doing it all of the following again tomorrow!

Emma didn't know what to think!

The sledding hill! (our front yard is FLAT!)

One end of our street

The Faddis Fam!

SNOW!!!!

The sledding hill before it became the snow cave!

Emma eating snow face first!

Lance in the snow cave! Ha!

Luke in the snow cave

Sara in the snow cave

Hope, Sara and our neighbor in the snow cave

More Snow Days! Arghhh!

2011-02-03T22:46:00.005-06:00

So we're out of school again tomorrow. Ahhhh! We'll be in school til July at this rate! And they're calling for more snow Monday. 1 or so inches. I'm soooo praying it doesn't happen.

Today was warm enough for the kids and I to go outside for a while. Lance had to go back to work today. Bummer. But we were out for a couple hours. They had sooo much fun. Poppa and Mom came over to play and then Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Leah came over. And two sets of neighbors came out and played, so there were lots of snowball fights and sled rides! Here's some of our fun in the snow...

The finished snow fort. (Daddy did a GREAT job!)

Throwing snow balls at Momma!

Our poor, pititful snowman. The snow just wasn't sticky. :(

Having fun in the snow.

Exhausted from playing in the snow!

Poppa and Jack. :)

Sled rides

Recap of the Week

2011-02-01T23:07:00.006-06:00

Because of the turmoil of last week, there were several things I didn't get to blog about that I want to remember. So this post is a miscellaneous assortment of the past few days. :)

The girls came running to me on Thursday laughing and yelling that Emma was in the bathroom. This is never good! Either she is filling up her little potty with water and dumping it in the toilet, or washing her hands up to her elbows in water, or in this case powdering herself. She informed me, "I stink Momma!" Hence the need for powder! Ha!

I got all the girls this shirt, and Luke one that says, Sister for Sale. :)

Friday was awards ceremony day at Luke and Sara's school. I found out Thursday that Sara was getting an award. She got Star Student. I was so proud! It's an award given to students who are role models for their class. I knew she'd take to school like a fish to water. She was born for it!

Showing off her award. So proud of it!

Hope wanted a picture with Sara. Love how they love each other!

The kids were out of school today. More on that in a second. I told them that if they got their rooms picked up, we would watch a movie. Surprisingly, Luke was the first one done. :) He was running around the house with lots of extra energy and generally driving me nuts! ha! So I told him to get a book and read until the girls were done. It took them a while, so he had to wait longer than he wanted. He went and got his book and came back into the living room where I was folding clothes. I looked over and saw him and had to take a picture.

That's the Bible. :) When he decided about 3 weeks ago he was going to read through the Bible, he was serious! He's in Exodus now. Makes me so proud!

Now to why the kids are out of school. We are experiencing "Snowpocalypse" or "Snowmaggedon!" Haha! That's what it's been dubbed. We got about 8 inches of snow today. And some places in our area got nearly a foot! We were actually under a blizzard watch! In Arkansas! Seriously?!?! It's been crazy! So this morning, I set a bowl out and caught a bunch of snow and made snow ice cream for us this afternoon. Something the kids have never had. :)

It's so easy!

And it tastes soooo good!

We weren't going to get out in it today, because it's been so cold. About 18 with really strong winds. But as the wind died down this evening, we decided to get out because it's only going to be 11 tomorrow! And Luke has been DYING to build a snow fort. He's wanted to since last year. The big snow we got last year happened when Lance was in Haiti and I couldn't get all four of them out in the snow by myself. Emma was only 1! So he got his wish today. :)

Luke and Sara making snow balls

Hope LOVED the snow this year! (she's HATED it the past 3 years!)

Emma asked all day, "Can we go outside and play in the no???" :)

Lance bringing out the big guns to build the snow fort!

The finished product! Just in time for it to get dark. :(

Obviously, we're out of school tomorrow. And I'm betting we'll be out Thursday as well. So hopefully it will be a little warmer Thursday and we can get out and play in the snow fort some more!

Long Week

2011-01-30T21:21:00.002-06:00

I haven't had the time or energy to blog this week. I was going to blog Wed about the kids going to the dentist. I took some pictures of them all. I was so proud. Hope got her first xrays and she was grinning ear to ear and said, "The dentist is so much fun!" And Emma just layed there with her mouth open like a princess. I was so proud of them all. Then when I was checking out I got a call from Lance with some serious news. A friend of Luke's from Cub Scouts had been in a serious accident.

I couldn't ask Lance any questions because I was trying to pay my bill, so I drove straight to his office when we were done to get some details. He didn't know much except it sounded very serious. I left his office, drove home and hadn't been there 10 minutes when I got another call from Lance with devastating news. Jonathan had died.

A precious, sweet, active, 9 year old boy lost his life at recess at school. How do you wrap your mind around that??? I had told Luke that Jonathan had been hurt, and when I had to tell him that he had died, he was in disbelief. Then angry. Bless his heart. How do I explain something like this to my son when I don't even understand the why?

Lance and I went to the hospital to be with his family. My heart grieves for them. How do you process sending you son to school never to see him again? It has really hit our community hard. His memorial service was yesterday. About 900 people attended. It was such a sweet service remembering this sweet young boy.

He loved Scouts and I have to say that yesterday made me proud to be a scout wife/mom. There were so many scouts from 3-4 different packs/troops there in uniform honoring one of their own. I know it meant so much to the family.

It's been so hard to see my son come to grips with his own humanity. And see the cruel fact that life can be so short. We want the answers. Why?? The only thing I can rest in is that God is still on his throne and it broke His heart too. And that He loves us despite the sadness of this fallen world. And that He has purpose that we might never understand. But I can trust His heart and His love for us.

My Kids Keep Me Laughing!

2011-01-23T22:20:00.003-06:00

In our women's Bible study of the next year we are reading through the chronological Bible. We started Jan 1 and we'll be finished Dec 31. I'm really excited. Plus, our pastor challenged our entire church to read through the Bible this year. I've tried to read through the Bible several times in my life, but have never made it through. Lance is doing it with me, so that is making it easier. The accountability helps!

Last week on our way to church, Luke had his Bible in his lap and anounced to from the back of the car that he was going to read through the entire Bible. :) Totally on his own. Without knowing that Lance and I were doing it. So he started reading at Genesis 1:1. And everytime we're in the car driving to church, he reads his Bible.

Well, this morning as we're driving to church, Luke calls out from the back of the car, "Momma, what does c i r c u m c i s i o n spell?" Lance and I just looked at each other. Lance: "What buddy?" Luke: "What does c i r c u m c i s i o n spell?" Lance: "Circumcision" Luke: "What's that?" Lance and I start laughing to each other. Lance: "Well..." He then tells Luke about the piece of skin that covers the penis. And what circumcision is. And as he's saying the word, penis, Emma yells out, "Penis!" Hahaha! After he told Luke what it was, Luke's first words?? "Does it hurt???" Hysterical!

Then, on the way home from church, he started reading his Bible again. And from the backseat we hear, "Dad, do you remember how Lot's daughters' got their babies??" I just about died! Lance and I had just read that passage last night. I had no idea what to say! Lance and I just looked at each other and laughed. Lance said, "Yeah buddy." Luke replied, "That's just wrong!" hahaha! So the Bible is giving my son quite the education! What am I going to do when he starts reading Song of Soloman?!?!

Then on the way home tonight, Emma and Hope cracked me up! Sara had asked Luke to open a pack of crackers for her. When he did, he ate the top part of one of the crackers that had broken. Sara started whining about it and tattled on him. I told her it was no big deal and Emma pipes up: "Lukie, don't eat my sister's crackers!" LOL!!! We all started laughing! Then Hope says, "That was so hysterical!" haha! Love my kids!!!

Good Friends

2011-01-21T22:22:00.003-06:00

Some of our best friends, the Terrazas family, are leaving Monday to head to Virginia for training with the International Mission Board. They will be there for 8 weeks and then they are off to Kenya! This is the second set of close friends who have left for the mission field in the past month!

We had the Terrazases over for dinner this past week, and tonight their two oldest are over for a sleepover. Nicholas and Luke are the same age, and Katie and Sara are the same age. And they are all best friends. (They also have Nathan who is Emma's age!)

Luke and Nick

Sara and Katie

Emma and Hope

We started the night with an arts and crafts project. I thought that Katie and Nicholas would like having pictures of their friends with them in Kenya. So we took the above pictures and then we painted picture frames to put them in. They all had a lot of fun doing it. And the best part was when Nicholas said, "this is cool!"

Working hard!

The finished project!

Then we ate pizza, popped pop corn, drank root bear, ate candy and watched a movie! All the junk food groups! Ha! I wanted it to be a memorable night for all the kids. They won't be able to see each other again (except Skype) for 3 years. :(

Loving "The Little Rascals"

It's going to be so hard to say good bye to the Terrazas family. They are such good friends to us and it's hard to see our kids' best friends moving so far away. But, we are so proud of them at the same time! It is such an amazing thing to watch your friends answer God's call to do something that so many of us would think so hard. We are going to miss them terribly. But can't wait to see and hear what all God is going to do through them!

Growing Up!

2011-01-17T21:04:00.002-06:00

Nooooo! Don't grow up yet!

Sara lost her first tooth today. :( She was sooooo excited! We just discovered it was loose a few days ago. Today at lunch I asked her to let me check it and it was VERY loose! So when we got home, we pulled it. She was soooo scared! Ha! Bless her heart. She came to me asking to have it pulled, but when it came down to it, she started crying. :) Lance and I kept telling her we didn't have to do it. I told her she was stressing herself out and just not worry about it. We'd tell her to go on and play and she'd tear up again saying she wanted it pulled.

Finally Lance got a hold of it and gave a good tug. Pop! She was so happy! She couldn't wait until she went to bed. All she could talk about was getting dollar bills from the tooth fairy! She's been asking me for a couple weeks for a dollar bill. It's been so cute. She's starting to know the difference between coins and paper money. Just another sign of her growing up. :( Hope and Emma still are content with coins.

The tooth pulling has topped off a great long weekend. We had a relaxing Saturday around town. Then after church Sunday, we took the kids to Tulsa. We went to a western store we love there, then went to the hotel to let the kids swim. I was so disappointed in that. The hotel has an indoor pool, but it wasn't heated! Seriously?!?! We spend more time in the hot tub than pool! Luke was the only one who swam a lot in the pool. Sara jumped in several times and swam quickly to the steps and out! ha! Hope and Emma splashed some on the steps and Lance and I barely put our toes in!

After we cleaned up from the pool, we went to Casa Bonita to eat. We LOVE Casa Bonita! It's kinda a Faddis Family tradition to eat there when we go to Tulsa. Then today, we went to the Oklahoma Aquarium again. :) Lance hadn't been yet. We bought our family season passes today! We loved it just as much as a few weeks ago! We are really going to enjoy going this year!

We got home, had dinner with my parents and brother and sis-in-law and then came home and had the kids in bed by 7:30! Without a peep from anyone! Great weekend and wonderful memories made!

Remembering Haiti

2011-01-12T22:18:00.004-06:00

One year ago today, an earthquake changed Haiti and my family forever. I've spent the whole day wishing I was there today. To mourn with my friends, to celebrate with them, to pray with them. I've been distracted all day. Part of my heart is in Haiti. It always will be. And I know that I have a son there. And he's not here. That is hard. I've wondered all day what I would blog about on this day. A day of remembrance.

There are so many directions I could go. How proud I am of my husband for answering God's call to go to Haiti 9 days after the quake. How blessed I am to have gone back twice with him this year. How amazing it has been to see our friends and family rally behind our mission there financially and in prayer. My children's heart for a brother they haven't seen and don't know. So many things.

But I thought I would post pictures of my friends in Haiti that are making a difference for The Kingdom. My Haitian family. These people are sold out to God and to making Him known to Haiti. I am proud and blessed to have worked with them and to know them. They are truly inspirational.

This is Jacques. When Craig Miller, the director of Thirst No More, showed up in Haiti 2 days after the earthquake, Jacques is one of the first people he met. Jacques was a teacher. His school was destroyed. He walked up to Craig and said, "How can I help?" He worked for no pay. His English was good so he began as Thirst No More's first translator. Now, one year later, he in in charge of the brick construction. He is an amazing young man who loves Jesus. I am proud to call him my brother in Christ.

This is Jay Louis. He has also been a translator. Jay is has a smile that lights up! And he is so amazing with kids. One of my favorite memories of him is from my first trip to Haiti. We went to a horrible orphanage. Words cannot describe. Jay immediately went to one of the babies and held her the entire time we were there. And this last trip, he help us take pictures of all the orphans by tickling them and getting them to laugh. He is such a fun guy.

This is Ben. I met him on this latest trip. He has just recently been working with Thirst No More. He graduated from high school last year. His desire is to go on to college. I pray that he is able to. You can see his desire to learn. He is new to translating and he wanted to know exactly how to say things. Such a sweet guy.

This is Gelin. I met Gelin on our first trip. He is in charge of the translators. He is such a soft spoken, sweet man who knows how to laugh! Gelin carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. His mother and wife are both ill. He juggles caring for them, organizing the translators, and helping out the Thirst No More staff. And does it all without complaining. He is a rock. But I know it wears on him. I was able to chat with him on Facebook tonight and asked him how we could pray for him. He responded, "my soul, my future, my family and my country." He is such a special man.

This is Jean Phillipe. We met Jean Phillipe on our trip in May. Jean Phillipe wants to be a nurse. He was working as my translator while I triaged patients for clinic. Lance's translator had to do something, so Jean Phillipe jumped in to help Lance. He was in heaven. He was on the edge of his seat. You could see him soaking in all the information. And he catches things that I wrote down wrong or when Lance struggled for a word, Jean Phillipe knew what is was. Jean Phillipe loves his country. And he has a strong commitment to God and His words. Our prayer is that he is able to attend nursing school and be able to give back to his country like he wants to.

This is Dario. We called him the Haitian P. Diddy! Ha! We met Dario this last trip. The man has NO accent! I kept accusing him of being from the States! I seriously thought the guys were all pulling a joke on me. I couldn't believe he was Haitian! I had the best time getting to know Dario. We were able to talk about God's plan and how He is in control even in the chaos and unknown. Dario is very encouraged by all of the teams that minister in Haiti. He sees the love we have for him and his country and he is so grateful. I can't imagine how his faith has been tested in ways I won't ever understand. Yet it stays strong.

This is Sam. Sam worked with us on our trip in May and then again this last trip. We were only able to work with him one day this time and when we picked him up, he was wearing his Razorback shirt! Love it! Also, in this picture he is showing you his bracelet. We gave it to him back in May. He was wearing it this time too! Six months later! It has symbols on it that take you through Christ's sacrifice for us. And he can tell you exactly what they mean. I love that he still has it and uses it to tell people about Jesus.

This is John and Bailey Cordero. They are a young, newly married couple who moved to Haiti in November to work with Thirst No More full time. John is in charge of the construction initiative and Bailey coordinates teams from the US. I am so impressed with them. And jealous of them. If Lance and I were at their stage of life, we would be them! They are living in Haiti, on support and have no plans on leaving. Love them!

And finally. Erin Murphy. I love this girl! Lance met Erin on his first trip. She knows Craig. She is also a trained photographer. Craig asked her to come down and photo-document the relief efforts and the team while they were there. She came immediately. She went back to the States, quit her job, raised support and moved to Haiti. No hesitation. Just answered God's call. She is the nation coordinator for Thirst No More in Haiti. When we went in May, I just fell in love with her! She has become like a little sister to Lance and I. She is an amazing woman. She has a heart for the Lord and for His people. She is such and encouragement to us and helps us to stay connected to Haiti in a way that makes us feel like we haven't left. And the coolest thing about her! She met her fiance in Haiti! Isn't God cool?! Erin is single and didn't care about moving to a third world country where there is no prospect of men. Yet, God had His best for her in that country! Paul's parents are career missionaries in Haiti. He was born and raised there. So amazing to see someone follow God in faith and then see that He had the best plan for her! Why is it so hard for us to see that?!?!

So there you go. The future of Haiti. The people who love the country and it's people. Who have devoted their lives to making a difference. I am inspired by them all and honored to call them my Haitian Family.

Snow! (sort of) :)

2011-01-11T22:07:00.002-06:00

We got snow yesterday. Not as much as the lower part of the state, but enough to keep the kids out of school today. Emma has been begging since yesterday to go outside and play in the snow. It was hysterical! So this afternoon, we had a chance to get out for a few minutes. Holy Cow it was cold! We couldn't stay out more than 45 minutes. It wasn't much snow, but enough for the kids to have fun. :)

My beautiful snow bunny!

Seriously the cutest 2 y/0 in the world!

Luke had a blast hitting Lance with snowballs!

Emma making a snow (grass!) angel. Ha!

Look closely and you'll see Hope's snow angel! (her favorite thing to do in the snow)

Lazy Day

2011-01-08T21:05:00.002-06:00

Lance and Luke went to Lance's cousin's house today to cut some logs to take to a sawmill so he would have boards for our barn. They have a son close to Luke's age and live on a big piece of land, so Luke loves to go there and play outside with Easton. They were gone most of the day. So the girls and I had a lazy day at the house. They stayed in pj's all day! :)

We watched a Barbie movie and made crayons. The only bad part of the day was when Sara's fever spiked. It got the highest it's been. 103.1 It scared me. We started her on antibiotics today and hopefully that will help her kick whatever this is.

Other than that, it was a fun day. Emma was running around all day asking for gum. It's her favorite thing! Hope was jumping off the couch, bed, and most every other piece of furniture. Ha! And poor Sara was dancing to the Barbie movie when she felt good. :)

Love days like this.

Girl Time

2011-01-06T22:07:00.002-06:00

Sara has been sick with a fever since Monday night. Lance and Luke were at Cub Scouts and the girls and I were just hanging at the house. We had been playing and I noticed Sara laying on the couch covered up in a blanket. That's not normal. I felt her and she felt warm so I got the thermometer out and she had a fever. Nothing major. Just 99.something. Lance said you really can't even call that a temp. But then at 6:30 am she came into our room feeling like she was going to throw up. She didn't really, but she felt awful. So she stayed home from school. And every day since, she's run a temp in the morning, feels fine during the day, then runs a fever again at night.

Today, Hope and Emma had "school" so it was Sara and I out on the town. :) I had several errands to run and lunch planned with a friend. We had the best day! It's so much fun to be able to spend one on one time with each of the kids. And that time is hard to come by. So when it happens unexpectedly, it's a blessing.

Sara is such a mature little girl. It's like hanging out with a friend. I like asking her opinion on things to buy. Today, Hobby Lobby had all their Christmas stuff 90% off! That's like giving it away! We had fun picking out Christmas decorations and gifts for next year. And we went to Target to buy some shirts for Emma. She REALLY enjoyed that! She LOVES fashion! Ha!

I hate that she's sick (thank goodness nothing too bad), but it really was a great time with her, so I'll take it!

Things I Don't Want to Forget

2011-01-05T22:46:00.003-06:00

Emma roaring all the time.

Luke reading 200+ page books in 2 days.

Sara's face when she reads something for herself.

Hope mischievous grin when she gets caught doing something she's not supposed to and the "I'm sorry" kisses that follow.

Calling Emma a silly girl and her responding, "No I not! I Emma!"

Luke thinking he's going to draw/write a comic book for people to buy.

Sara playing "Jolly Ole St. Nicholas" from memory over and over and over again on the piano.

Hope loving Eli, her "boyfriend."

Not Ready!

2011-01-01T22:41:00.002-06:00

I'm soooo not ready for Christmas break to be over. We have had the BEST break! I am really enjoying the kids all being home, the relaxed mornings, the lack of stress about bedtime, doing something fun almost everyday. And tomorrow is our last day of break. :( This has been the best Christmas season. The kids have been so good the past couple of weeks. And I think it might have had something to do with me just having the attitude of not stressing. I haven't stressed about the house, the chores, all the running around for all the family Christmases. It amazes me how much my attitude affects my family. So convicting.

And now, unfortunately, we are heading back to the routine. I'm striving to keep the same attitude. I have realized, but not necessarily taken to heart, that my stress level is directly related to my worry about what other people think. Whether it is family, friends, or total strangers.

I am not one to make New Year resolutions. I'm not a very introspective person to begin with so it makes it hard. I definitely have goals for my family and my life, but I don't feel the need to make a promise at the first of the year, that more than likely I will fail at. But! I am starting a new Bible Study at church next week in which we are reading through the Bible in a year. I am excited about it! And, I am really striving now to just not care. About what people think. I want to place my family first. And that might mean a messy house. Or being late to some things. Or just not going to some things. But, when I'm not stressed, we have a much happier family.

So. There it is. My "resolution" for the new year. And I'm going to be tested on it in 2 days. We go back to life as usual. We'll see how I do!

Just Keep Swimming!

2010-12-29T21:47:00.002-06:00

Today was the best day! Leah got the kids free passes to the Oklahoma Aquarium and we took the kids over for the day. It was a BLAST! So much fun in fact, that Lance and I are going to get a family membership. It's only a couple hours over and we like to take the kids to Tulsa a couple times a year to eat at Casa Bonita and stay at Embassy Suites and go to a couple different western stores. We usually go to the zoo, but the aquarium an awesome place to go when it's cold or raining or hot.

Emma took a little time to warm up to the idea of touching things!

Luke, on the other hand, LOVED touching everything!

The stingray and shark exhibit was the best!

We were able to pet the sharks and stingrays for 20 minutes. The kids were sopping wet! Hope especially. :) Her are was wet up to her armpit and the whole front of her shirt was soaked! But it was all worth it and more when she looked at me and Leah and said, "This is the best day ever! Thank you for bringing us!"

The shark tank ROCKED!

Love this one!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2010-12-24T22:24:00.005-06:00

I feel like I've just settled into the spirit of Christmas and now it's almost over. Bummer. It's been a great school break so far. The kids and I have had a lot of fun. And now Lance is home for a few days and gets next Friday off also. That's always a bonus! I'm going to leave my decorations up until after New Year's. I've been so pleased this year with our tree and fireplace! This is the first year that I've been able to wrap presents and put them under the tree before the night before Christmas! (we've always had little ones who would get into them) :) Here's a pic of our tree and fireplace. Love it! I made our stocking hangers this year. It's hard to see them in this picture, but they spell out FADDIS. Six of us and six letters in Faddis. :)

Today, the kids and I made a gingerbread house. They had a lot of fun and did a great job of taking turns. And I was surprised at how good Emma did! She was so meticulous and placed her candy just right.

It's a miracle we were able to have enough candy without everyone eating it all gone!

Mmmmmm. Twizzlers.

Everyone loves Twizzlers!

Twizzler mustache!

We went to the Christmas Eve service at church tonight. I'm so glad we do that every year. It is such a special way to make sure we all remember why we celebrate Christmas. And it's such a homey feeling. We sang Christmas songs and then our pastor gave a brief message on the meaning of Christmas. Very much a blessing.

Then it was home to eat dinner and open presents! My parents came over to eat with us and watch the kids open their presents. It was a fun night. We give the kids 3 presents each and they all loved what we got them!

Luke opening his drum pad (he got a paper jam guitar and a heavy bag also)

Emma loved her Minnie Mouse! (she also got a blinged out denim jacket and all 3 girls got portable dvd players)

Sara obviously loved her jewelry making kit! (and her crayons and crayon maker)

The excitement over play doh! (and a sticker maker)

We forgot to make cookies for Santa, so this year he's getting fudge! ha!

putting out the fudge and milk!

I got Lance a ring to replace the one he lost in the river earlier this year. It's a Bob Siemens ring with the icthus fish in a repeating pattern around it. He got me some charms for my Pandora bracelet. I bought the bracelet for myself a few months ago :) and told him that I wanted him to add charms for me. It's a great way to have a personalized gift and easy for him to find something for me. Well, he outdid himself this year. He wrote me a letter recapping our year and then had numbered in the letter the reasons behind each corresponding charm.

The F was the original charm I bought when I bought the bracelet. For obvious reasons. The dolphin next to it, my sis in law Jennifer gave me this week for Christmas. Love it! I've always loved dolphins and it's special because it's the first charm anyone ever gave me.

Next is a horse. As I read the letter and got to #1, I stopped and opened the charm box labeled #1. The horse is an obvious choice for our family. :)

#2 is a Bible. To represent our faith. And to be a reminder to me and a testimony to others.

#3 is a V. And as Lance wrote in the letter, not the letter V, but the Roman Numeral 5. This is not something I have shared in the blog yet. And I will devote an entire entry to it at some point. But the number 5 represents our children. Yes we only have 4, but God has called us to adopt a little boy from Haiti. We knew it before Lance left in January right after the earthquake. And He has confirmed it to us several times over this last year. We have a son in Haiti. We are pursuing this, but are still in the beginning stages. It is a slow process (much slower than I anticipated or wanted). We don't even know yet who "he" is. We just know that God is leading us and has confirmed in our hearts that we have a son we have yet to meet.

#4 is a Turkshead knot. I had never heard of this before, but as soon as Lance saw the charm in the store, he knew what it was. A Turkshead knot was used on the stearing wheel of a ship to mark the King's spoke. It is what the captain used to know that he was stearing straight. Lance compared me to the knot. That I am what helps to keep our family "stearing straight." He told me that just as the knot gave the captain comfort and confidence in stearing the ship, I give him that comfort and confidence in leading our family. So humbling.

Thank you God, for my amazing husband and my beautiful children. All of them.

All Aboard the Polar Express!

2010-12-23T23:03:00.004-06:00

Tonight didn't turn out as planned, but we had a blast anyway! This year, Mom wanted to do something special for the kids, so she bought them tickets to the Polar Express! (really it's called Holiday Express at the railroad here in our area, but it sounds better to say Polar Express! ha!) She surprised the kids yesterday and told them about the fun that we were going to have tonight! As you know, we just watched the movie a couple nights ago, so the kids were pumped!

Now here's where things took a turn for the worse. Lance came home early today. He was home for a little while and then left to get some hay for the horses. On his way home, he started getting sick. And he didn't get any better. So bad, in fact, he couldn't go with us. And right at the same time, Mom called and Dad was sick with a low grade fever and he couldn't go. So I called my sis in law, Leah and asked her to go with us. (She was excited!) Then, right as we're about to walk out the door, Emma accidentally wet her pants. In her new Christmas pajamas and house shoes. She had gotten up from her nap and was in my room and was trying to make it across the house to the kids' bathroom and didn't make it. :( But after a quick run through WalMart for new Christmas pj's and house shoes ($8 total, thank you very much!) we were on our way!

Leah and me in WalMart in our pj's! You should have seen the looks! ha!

The train was the funnest thing! We picked up McDonald's and ate on the train. Then they served hot chocolate and cookies. Next, Santa came on the car and visited with every kid! It was awesome!

Love this pic of Mom and Emma!

So much fun! (& look at Luke's eyes! ha!)

The girls had so much fun!

Aunt Leah and Emma

Mom read a Christmas story to the kids

Me and Emma :)

My boy!

Aunt Leah and Luke

The conductor came by to punch every one's tickets! The kids thought this was one of the coolest parts of the night. :)

Luke had to inspect to see if he had punched a word on his ticket like in the movie! ha!

On our way back, the kids got to use a microphone and sing Christmas carols. It was late and dark and the rhythm of the train was about to put everyone to sleep, but this woke them up!

It was a GREAT night! The only thing better would have been if Daddy and Poppa could have been with us. :(

Tis the Season

2010-12-21T22:22:00.003-06:00

We got back from Haiti and hit the ground running. Our church had our Christmas concert the Saturday and Sunday that we got back. Luke and I were both in it. I missed all the rehearsals while we were in Haiti, so I was flying blind. I almost backed out, but I am so glad I didn't. It was so amazing and I love worshiping the Lord in song.

Then that Monday, Luke had a gingerbread decorating contest it Cub Scouts. We baked a 10 in gingerbread man and decorated him like Batman. Luke did it by himself! I just helped guide his hand when it wasn't steady with the decorator icing. I was so proud of him!

Bat - Gingerman :)

Then on Saturday, Luke and Sara had their piano recital. That morning, they had a practice run through at a local nursing home. It was so sweet. The residents loved it and it was so neat to expose my kids to that. I want to think of other ways that we as a family can minister at a nursing home at other times. The kids had fun doing it. Then that afternoon, our family, my Mom and Dad, and my brother and sis in law met at Wal Mart to shop for the Angel Tree program that our church sponsors. We split a family of 4 boys. We had the 7 year old twin brothers. It is something we do every year. We want our kids to grow up knowing that we have been blessed financially and that God has called us to share what He has given us. And that is what Christmas is all about. Showing His love. Then that night the kids had their formal recital. They did so good! I was so proud of them. They've been taking since Sept. They both are really enjoying it.

After the recital, Lance's parents, us, and my brother and sis in law all met went to Mom and Dad's and had a formal Christmas dinner. It's a family tradition that my Mom started years ago when Jeremy and I were both single. The girls REALLY enjoyed it. I HATE that I forgot to take any pics! Sara, Hope, and Emma were little ladies. It was so sweet!

Last Thursday, Sara had her first kindergarten program. The entire kindergarten class sang Christmas carols, then we went to the classroom and the kids gave us a present. An ornament that they had made for us. Sara was so proud. She has excelled in school this year. She loves it! She was worried because everyone kept saying, "see you next year" and she thought she wasn't going to be in her teacher's class anymore! I had to explain to her the difference between the calendar year and the school year. :)

My little snow bunny!

The weekend of the Christmas concert at church, we took a family picture for our Christmas card. After SEVERAL attempts, this is what we ended up with. Everyone looks good. (Except me. Are we ever pleased with ourselves in pictures?!?!)

My family. I am a blessed woman.

Yesterday was our annual Faddis Family Bake Night. :) Every year we bake goodies to give to our friends at Christmas. This year we made fudge, divinity, pumpkin bread, pumpkin-cranberry bread, and cranberry bread. It was a blast! Here's the funniest thing that happened all night. I had mixed the fudge and Lance swiped some out of the bowl before it hardened. He tasted it right at Emma walked into the kitchen. She looked at him, then at the brown stuff on his finger and asked, "What's that?" Lance didn't miss a beat and said, "poop." You should have seen her face! He extended his finger to her and said, "Do you want some?" She instantly started backing away and said, "NO!" We started laughing and he licked his finger again. Emma then pointed at him and said, "You eat poop!" bahahahaha! It took a little convincing to get her to believe it was chocolate! Oh my family. :)

Bake Night!

Then tonight it was Faddis Family Movie Night! A couple weeks ago, I bought a popcorn machine for our movie nights. We broke it in tonight! We watched Polar Express. It's become another Christmas tradition in our family. This was the first year that Hope really got into the movie. It was fun watching it through her eyes. And Emma sat still the whole movie. She's getting to the point that she will watch with the big kids.

Movie Night!

Everyone's ready for the movie!

We have a lot of more fun planned over the Christmas break. I am LOVING having my kids home and enjoying the season!

Haiti Day 5

2010-12-02T21:39:00.002-06:00

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40

Today we saw the least of these. We went to 2 different orphanages today, while some of the guys went back to the dorm to finish it up. The first orphanage we went to had about 20 severely and moderately mentally and physically disabled children. A 20 year old Haitian, laying on the concrete floor, in a diaper, catatonic, is definitely the least of these. I really got that verse for the first time. I was able to live it out. Blessed to be able to live it out today. God is good.

We got to love on so many kids today. Kids who don't have anyone to love on them. Kids with no one to say to them, "I love you." It was such a joy to be able to give them that, if only for a short while. And the smiles we received said that they wanted more.

And we also got to see more of our translators that we used last time and to also meet new ones. Brothers in Christ. These young men have such a heart for the Lord and for their country. Gillen, Sylvester, Sam, Ben, Jay, Jacques, Jean Phillipe, Dario. They are such a blessing to me. I have hope for this country because of these young men. They want the best for Haiti, and I challenged a few of them today, that the future of Haiti is up to them. They have to live for the Lord and be an example to their country of His love.

Tonight when we got back to the house, I told Lance that I was a little melancholy. He understood. I miss my kids so much. I want to hold them, and hug them tight, and cover them with kisses. But at the same time, I'm not done in Haiti. Once again, I will leave part of my heart here. I am already thinking of the next time that I will be here. It can't come soon enough.

Haiti Day 4

2010-12-01T19:50:00.002-06:00

We spent the day at the orphanage again. It was a very busy day for the men and a slow day for the women. The guys worked on building forms to pour concrete on top of the walls that we finished yesterday. The girls were going to be in charge of mixing and pouring the concrete, but the forms were a slower process than expected. So we didn't get to mix or pour concrete. Instead, we were runners for the guys. If they needed nails, we got them. If we needed boards, we got them. If they needed a tape measure, we got them. You get the picture.

But we spent a lot of time standing around. We were getting a little discouraged because we weren't feeling very useful. Until school got out. We have a professional photographer on the team who does nothing but children and family photography. After the kids got out of school, we got them all together and took individual pictures of them. We are going to develop them and send them back to the kids so they can have a picture of themselves. They've never had anything like that.

That was the best part of the day. Seeing those kids faces when they saw their picture on the viewfinder was worth a million dollars. And one of our translators, Jay, was so awesome with the kids. He got them all to smile so big by tickling them and teasing them. He is going be a great dad someday!

Tonight, a few of us went up the road to a missionary's house for a Bible Study. What an amazing experience. The Trimbles have lived in Haiti for 31 years. They have an incredible ministry here. Their future daughter in law works for Thirst No More, so that is how we have gotten to know them. I can't even begin to describe what it was like to worship in a house with missionaries from all over the United States and different countries here in Haiti. It was beautiful. A glimpse of what Heaven will be like. The most amazing thing was that God spoke to me in such a very personal way. It was an ordained meeting. Someday I will share what it was about, but for now, I will just say that God is faithful to keep His promises. He has been teaching me that and speaking that truth to me in several different ways over the last few weeks. Tonight was just another time that He has assured me of His plan for my family.

Capping of a beautiful night was driving down the hill in the back of the truck looking up at the stars. Unforgettable.

Haiti Day 3

2010-11-30T18:56:00.002-06:00

I'm tired! Today, we spent the day working at an orphanage building a dorm for the kids. A team before us had started it and we are going to finish it the walls this week. It was HARD physical labor! My hands ache, my arms ache, my back aches. But it feels so good! The kids have been sleeping in tents since the earthquake. To know that they will now have a safe home is so amazing.

We were getting the water for the concrete and mortar from a creek that runs through the orphanage property. It is a disgusting, filthy creek. Trash filling the creek. The threat of cholera in our minds. And here we are arm deep in it, filling buckets of water to build walls for these beautiful kids. Someone pointed out the irony that we are using the water that is laced with death to make a home that is filled with life for the children.

What a thought. Death is all over this country. Still fear from the earthquake. But these kids are smiling, happy, and so excited about their new home. It is such a stark contrast. Once again you see the glimpse of hope for Haiti. The children that are being taken care of by those who love God. Who love their children in their care. These children are being taught about the love of God and seeing it in action by the vast amount of American teams coming to help them all because of the love of Christ. I hope and pray that they will see and understand that He is the reason the Americans are coming. That they will come to a saving knowledge of Christ and become leaders in their country. That is the hope for the future of Haiti. Embodied in the smiling, beautiful faces of the children.

Haiti Day 2

2010-11-29T18:31:00.002-06:00

We found out after we scheduled the dates for this trip that we would be arriving the day of Haiti's elections. Ooops! Had we known that, we definitely would have picked different dates. But, one thing that God has been teaching me over the last year is that He is in control and all I have to do is give myself fully to Him and He will direct my path.

We did that for this trip. We kept trying to find the right dates to plan the trip and the only dates that would work in Lance's schedule were these. God definitely directed our steps. And He has proven Himself faithful.

We arrived at 4:00. It gets dark at 5:30. It takes 1 1/2 hours to get from the airport to the house. We left the airport around 4:30 and we were at the house at 5:25. There was NO traffic and no people in the streets. It has NEVER been like that. In all of TNM's (Thirst No More) trips to and from the airport. On our way, we saw a riot protesting the elections. We were able to divert and drive around it at arrive to the house before dark. Definitely the hand of God.

There was some violence in downtown Port Au Prince last night. Two people were killed. We are up in the mountains in a town called Petionville. There hasn't been any violence near us. And we don't expect any. We stayed in this morning until we knew what to expect. And once again, that was God's plan. The staff with TNM has been overwhelmed with all of the donation's that teams have been bringing. The basement was full of supplies that they couldn't get to, and there was a lot of organizing and fixit projects that needed to be done that they just don't have the manpower to get to.

We were able to do that for them this morning. The pharmacy/office has been totally reorganized. The basement is cleared out. And all the supplies have been gone through and organized for easy distribution. God's plan for us today.

After lunch, we were able to go to the orphanage that we will be working at for the next two days. We are going to finish a building that was started a couple weeks ago. This orphanage is run by a Godly man who is making a difference in these children's lives. TNM has a brick press that makes earthquake resistant bricks. It is an amazing thing. It uses, dirt, concrete and the rubble from the quake to make these bricks that will build houses that are safe.

The children at the orphanage are so excited about their new house. 28 kids are living in a 20x20 room. Sleeping on a concrete floor. Why. That's the hardest question for me to reconcile. Why. My kids are in double beds. In a beautiful home. No worry for food. So many toys that I wrestle with it being sinful. That is the hardest part of Haiti for me. The abject poverty of the people, especially the children.

But, it all comes full circle to my first thought. God is in control. He has a plan and He will make it come to pass. He love the people of Haiti far greater than I do. That is what I take comfort in. His ways are not my ways.

Beauty From Ashes

2010-11-28T19:49:00.003-06:00

I'm not normally an over the top, emotional person. I don't like making outrageous hokey comments, but right now, I feel like my heart is whole again. When we left Haiti in June, I told Lance that I left a piece of my heart here. It's back with me again.

The people, the land, our friends that live and work here. Amidst the chaos that is Haiti, there is hope. Hope because I know that there are people here that are working to make Haiti a better place. We are just a small part of that of that vision.

I am giddy with excitement right now. I'm running on fumes because of the chaos of my week before we left. But right now, I can't sleep. I'm so excited to be back in this land. Excited to reunite with friends. Excited to hug my Haitian brothers. Excited to see what God has in store for us this week.

This country helps me to understand what God meant when He said He will make beauty from ashes. I see it here. And I can't wait to see what He has in store for us tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Sara!

2010-11-24T23:07:00.006-06:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet Sara! 6 years ago today, she came into our lives and I had no idea how special that little 8 lb, 6oz bundle was going to be to me! Sara is such a little lady. We always say that she's a 25 year old in a 5 year old body. (now a 6 year old body!) We don't get a whole lot of alone time just the two of us, but when we do, it's like I'm out with a friend. She loves all things girly and she's good to have around to give me fashion advice! ha!

Sara is the momma of the crew. We joke that when Luke is 12, we can leave them alone at the house with Sara in charge! ha! God knew that I was going to need a lot of help with this family and He gave it to me in Sara.

This year, she had a Tea Party Birthday. We had her party yesterday. There is a cool place in our area that is a tea room/restaurant. They use mis-matched china and tea cups, table clothes on the tables, and they have a dress up section for girls to play with. It was so much fun! I bought all of the girls purses, necklaces, rings, silly bands, gloves, and bubbles to dress up for the tea party. And they had tea cakes, and lemonade in tea cups. It was all so girly! Right up her ally! :)

The Birthday Girl

With her sisters

The cakes. I had fun making them!

I LOVE this picture!

Opening presents

Mom reading "Fancy Nancy" to the girls

Then today, we went to Chuck E. Cheese. Where a kid (and mom!) can be a kid! ha! Some friends met us there and of course everyone had a great time!

Loving being 6!

Nathan was trying to climb inside the bowling game!

Dixon, Hope and Emma

Feeding tickets. She literally won 300 tickets today by herself!

NO Deal! ha! Luke loves the "Deal or No Deal" game

The whole crew! (except Emma really wanted Sara's lip gloss and wouldn't turn around!)

Happy Birthday Sara. You are a light in my life. I love you so much. You are a joy to everyone who knows you. Daddy and I are so proud of you. You are a beautiful person, inside and out. You are fun, kind, caring and so so sweet. I can't wait to see what the next 6 years have in store for us!

I Wanna Rock & Roll!

2010-11-23T22:26:00.004-06:00

On Sunday night, Luke had the experience of a lifetime! He went to his first concert! Our church sponsored the Hungry for Love Tour with The Afters, Leeland, and Sanctus Real. Lance and I had been talking for about taking him to his first concert and then this opportunity came up. It was perfect! VIP tickets were only $25, so that's what we got. And we got front row seats! Plus, he got to meet all of the bands. It was really cute, because a lot of the band members are dads and Luke was the youngest person in the meet and greet line. They all were so nice to him and gave him a little more attention than all the teens in line.

The Afters

Leeland

Sanctus Real (minus lead singer Matt), he was sick and resting his voice.

Which leads me to the coolest thing of the night! Some close friends of ours are good friends with the drummer from Sanctus Real. After the meet and greet, James and Ruth headed to the tour bus to visit with him and on the way out, Ruth grabbed Luke! He got to go on the tour bus!!

Hangin with the lead singer Matt

Hangin with Mark, the drummer

Can it get any better than this?!?!

I told Luke that he peaked at age 8 with regards to concerts! Never again will there be VIP tickets, meet the band, front row seats AND get to go on the tour bus!

A Fall Review in Pictures

2010-11-18T21:41:00.007-06:00

I finally bought a new card reader and can upload some of the pictures of our fall! Whew!

In October, we went camping in Branson with some friends of our. We stayed in a great campground that had all kinds of fun activities for Halloween. The kids had a BLAST! One day we drove up to Springfield to visit Bass Pro Shop. They had some fun activities for the kids.

Luke roped the "calf" on the 4th try!

Everyone got to stamp a leather key chain

Oh MY! A bear!!!

Aaaah! A wolf!

On Saturday night, we got to go trick or treating at the campground. And ride a hay ride. But the funniest thing was Luke at the haunted house. He wouldn't stop bugging me about going through it. The campground had posted that it was "strongly PG," but that didn't detour Luke from wanting to go. We didn't make it past the first spook and he was done! ha! It was a blood and guts kind of haunted house, ick. So I started hollering for the kids to not scare us and let us through. After we got out, Luke said, "Momma, I didn't like that. It wasn't PG. It was PG 13!" haha!

3 cute fairies,

and a handsome cowboy!

Fun on a hayride!

Then a few days later, we went on Luke's field trip to a drive through zoo in our area. It is the coolest place!

Ewww! I cringed taking this picture!

Later in October, Sara had her first field trip. Hope, Emma and I had a lot of fun going with her. We went to a corn maze and pumpkin patch.

Love my girls!

Cool Cow Train!

I love this picture!

Then came Halloween! We had so much fun at our church's Trunk or Treat!

My little Green Fairy

NINJA!

Look closely for Luke! ha!

Mom's booth was face painting. The girls' loved it!

No caption needed! Ha!

And the final stop on our parade of pictures...

Toyland on the Square. Lance and Luke didn't get to go because they went hunting for the first time at our deer camp. (and unfortunately, no deer) But the girls and Mom and Dad and I had a lot of fun!

The girls got to meet Barbie!!! :)

Overwhelmed and Some Potty Words

2010-11-10T21:47:00.003-06:00

It's been a while since I've had the energy to blog. Just sitting down and gathering my thoughts takes mental energy that I haven't wanted to exert. We've had a busy fall and I have lots of pics to post. I'll get to that hopefully tomorrow. I've been trying for a couple weeks to get on top of my house. It was starting to take over! Today, all of the kids rooms and closets are cleaned and organized! Woo Hoo! But. (and big but!) my room is a disaster. Hopefully Friday it will get done. On a positive note, my closet it clean, so that is one less thing to worry about. :)

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly this house can get out of control. I've been having a little bit of a pity party lately, because it gets so frustrating to constantly work in my house and it never look like I did a thing. Oh well. I'm trying to embrace it and not stress so much about it. It is what it is. This is my life right now. And I don't want to miss out on the impromptu duck, duck, goose games with my daughters and their stuffed animals because I was cleaning the kitchen.

Now, for a funny story from today! :) This afternoon when I picked up the kids from school, Luke told me he was reading the book, "Holes." I told him they made a movie off of it and he asked if he could watch it. I was thinking about the wrong movie when I told him that I didn't think he could because it had cuss words in it.

Now fast forward to this evening at the dinner table. Someone brings up the topic of bad words and I hear my precious, almost 6 year old daughter, whispering s*** to herself! Imagine my horror! I looked at her and asked, "what are you saying?!?!" She froze. I was totally and utterly confused! Luke then tells me that the girls asked him what cuss words were. He was scared that he was about to get in huge trouble, so he starts saying, "I didn't want to tell them! They wouldn't stop asking!"

He tells me that he told me them that cuss words were words like shut up, crap, and s***. Now, in his defense, the sweet boy has never said that word. He heard it as school last year and asked me about it. We had a talk about really bad words and he hasn't used them.

So, needless to say, the girls and I had a talk about not saying that word EVER! Once again, fast forward to tonight on the way home from AWANAS. The kids and I are having a good talk about holding each other, as a family, accountable to better behavior. We all were telling what we needed to be held accountable for. Luke said his (mouth, getting angry), Sara said hers (sassy mouth), and then Hope starts saying hers. Doing what she's told, not getting mad a Luke, and not saying bad words like s***. Hahahahaha! What do you say to that?!

She also told about some kids at school saying bad things like poopy hole (hysterical). So then Emma chimes in and yells "shut up!" I about choked! Hope started laughing at the fact that Emma said shut up and Emma then says, "Poopy diaper, Hope!" I couldn't do anything but laugh. It was the worst words she knew! (but she did get a stern talking to!)

Paci Free!!

2010-11-01T22:17:00.003-05:00

This is my big girl! Not a baby anymore. I have mixed feelings about it, but definitely the happy ones outweigh the sad ones! We've been trying to figure out when we were going to take it away from her. Luke is the only other one of our kids that had one. And being a first time mom, I was pretty anal about his paci! ha! I took it away from him at 12 months except for nap time and bedtime. Then at 18 months, we took it totally away. He was our only one, so I could handle the crying for 3 nights. But with Emma, number 4, it was a lot harder!

So we've let her keep it. I've been wanting to take it away, but haven't had the guts to do it! :) But this morning, when I went to get her up, and took her paci, I noticed that she had chewed a huge hole in it. That meant bye bye paci! I told her we had to throw it away because it wasn't safe for her.

I warned her on the way home that she wasn't going to have her paci for nap time, and she started crying, "My sassy! My sassy! Hope, I broke my sassy!" It was so cute!

When we got home, I told her that if she went to sleep without crying, she could pick out a piece of candy when she woke up. I hugged her and closed the door. She started WAILING! "My SASSY!!!!" I walked back in her room and told her no candy if she cried and she stopped immediately! Didn't hear another peep! Ha!

And tonight, as I put her down, she whimpered for a second, "My sassy." I told her it was gone and if she didn't cry, she could have some more candy when she woke up in the morning. Not another peep from her!

Proud of my girl! So the mixed feelings. Lance and I were talking tonight. We're not sad that we don't have anymore babies, but sad that she's not a baby anymore. I don't know if that makes sense. She's growing up and that means not much longer til we can't hold her, can't pick her up and tickle her, can't throw her up in the air, and can't fly her on our feet in the living room. :( But! On our way to no more pull ups, more independence, carrying on conversations, hiking without carrying, no strollers. Woo Hoo! It's so hard to see my babies grow up, but with each age, they are so much fun. So Emma is growing up. Sad, but exciting. She is so much fun right now. She has the funnest personality! I can't wait to see how her personality develops!

Hope-isms

2010-10-21T20:27:00.003-05:00

Hope has got to be one of the funniest little girls I have ever known! Even as a baby, she cracked us up. My sis in law has said from the time she was a toddler, that she was hysterical and it's true! Lately, she has been saying (what I call) Hope-isms. :) For instance: "Momma, when I'm a grown up, I want a goat, so I can feed it." "Momma, my arms hurt from running." "Momma, when I'm a grown up and old like Mom, I want to keep a stuffed animal." And my personal favorite, "Sometimes I lose at tic tac toe when I'm playing by myself." haha!!! She just comes out with these things at random times throughout the day.

Tonight, I thought we were going to die laughing. At Luke and Hope. It was an entire conversation that we had at dinner. It went something like this...

Hope: Daddy, when you married Momma and you kissed her on the lips, did you love it??

Luke: Did it taste like sugar? I had a dream once that a girl kissed me and it tasted like sugar.

(insert hysterical laughter by Lance at this point!)

Sara: Daddy, Hope said she is going to kiss Eli on the playground.

Daddy: You'd better not be kissing boys!

Hope: Daddy, I'm old enough, I'm 4!

Hahahahahaha!!! I love my family! And after dinner, there was some serious booty shaking going on! I'll leave you with that. :)

10 years!

2010-10-19T21:51:00.002-05:00

Who are these two little babies???

My how we have changed in the last 10 years!

We celebrated 10 years of marraige on the 14th. We've had so much going on the past 7 days, that we didn't even have time to celebrate it in style. Some close friends of ours are moving to Dubai and we organized a church wide garage sale to benefit them this past weekend, so on our actual anniversary Thursday, I was taking in donated items at the church. Then, the kids were out of school this Monday, so we planned a long weekend camping trip to Branson. And to think I have planned for the past 3 years to celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary in Hawaii! :) But we are going back to Haiti in November and I honestly can't think of a better trip to take.

So here we are, at 10 years, and it's as it should be. Life. Four kids, church activities, family time, and mission trips. That is where we are. And I love it!

I am married to the love of my life, the father of my four children, the all around best man I know. Life is good.

10-10-10

2010-10-10T20:55:00.002-05:00

Top 10 Things I Love About My Life (not necessarily in order)...

1) Being Lance's wife. I'm married to the best man in the world. He loves me more than anything, and he loves his family. He is kind, loving, and makes me wonder why God gave him to me!

2) Being Luke, Sara, Hope and Emma's momma. I never knew that I would love it so much. I was never a kid person and could not fathom how my life would change when I had my own. I was born to be a mother.

3) Being raised in a Christian family and knowing that Lance was, too. It is such a blessing to have that bond within all our family.

4) My church family. We are part of the best church in NWA! It is so wonderful to truly have a church FAMILY.

5) Spending quality time with my family. Camping, riding horses, hiking, riding bikes. We have fun together. That is special.

6) My friends. I am blessed with a lot of close friends. Godly women who challenge me spiritually, laugh with me, cry with me and support me. Everyone should be as blessed.

7) Cuddling in bed with my kids. Each of them. There's nothing better!

8) Laughing with Lance. Hard! He makes me laugh all the time. :)

9) Hearing, "I love you Momma." Melts my heart every time.

10) The fact that Lance holds my hand and hugs and kisses me in public. That was hard for him when we first started dating, but now it is second nature. I feel so safe with him.

Promenade!

2010-09-15T21:08:00.005-05:00

I'm so late in blogging this, but Labor Day weekend was square dance time again!!! The kids really enjoy it each year. It's quite a commitment each year because we have to drive 45 minutes each week for practice, but it's worth it to watch the kids have so much fun.

We start the weekend Saturday morning with a parade. It's one of the highlights of the weekend. Who doesn't like to ride in a parade?!?!

Then it's square dancing on Saturday afternoon and again Monday afternoon. It's a long weekend, but sooo much fun!

Hope, Sara and cousin Evan

The girls' group, "Boots & Bandannas"

Luke's group, "Dukes & Daisies"

Emma got to ride with Luke's group. She was so cute waving to everyone! :)

Isn't he the most handsome float driver?!?!

The girls of Boots & Bandannas

Hope and her partner and cousin, Evan

Sara and her partner Will

Sweetie #1

Sweetie #2

The girls

Luke

Luke and cousin Clayton

Dukes & Daisies