Maisie Graduates from Preschool-MDO End of Year Program

Last Saturday morning Maisie had her graduation from preschool and Ainslie and Finn and I also participated in the End of the Year Program at MDO (Mother's Day Out). The theme was "A Day At MDO." Maisie and her 23 classmates, from 2 classes, took the stage and sang "Our God Is An Awesome God." Maisie received her own picture Bible and graduation certificate. Ainslie's class sang (and jumped) "5 Little Monkey's Jumping on the Bed," and Finn's class (sort of) sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider." The classes I taught sang and danced to "Imagination Movers." It was a fun morning!! After the program, there were just 2 more days of school left until summer.....see next blog!

Let's Swim

Today reached almost 100 degrees and certainly felt like a summer day!! We got out our kiddie pool and let the water festivities begin. It was Finn's first time swimming and he even got to try out his 1st swimsuit. He looked like a little surfer dude (and it's even got 50+ SPF, how cool!) He did NOT want to get out of the pool, even though it had been 2 hours!! The girls had a blast too and they loved having their little brother to splash with.

Mutter's Day (Mother's Day) 2009

Mutter's Day is the official pronunciation for Mother's Day in our house by our toddlers!! I heard it all day long, Happy Mutter's Day Mama, and I didn't care how it was pronounced, just that it was so heartfelt!! (This blog promises to be mushy and generally brag-full of our kids, sorry!)

The girls' have been asking for DAYYYYS, "When is Mutter's Day Mom?" They were so excited to 'take care of me' and give me their "surprise" craft that they created at preschool. I didn't have the heart to tell them (and I hope they never read this...hmm) that I already knew what it was that they had created b/c I created them with my preschool class as well. I still was taken aback when I opened the gift, not b/c I was faking any excitement, but b/c of the JOY in their faces when I opened it. Uncle Gary was explaining yesterday why kids at that age are SO excited to give their homemade gifts. He said it's b/c for them, it's all they can give as a tangible present that is 100% THEIRS, not store bought. Well, I liked that thought and it sure rang true this morning when (as Craig later told me) they were begging to take it up to me and Craig told them to wait 'just a few more minutes' so that I could finish my annual breakfast in bed, all by MYSELF, enjoying the paper and a cup of coffee...ahh, allow me to enjoy that moment for a minute longer...ok, back to reality!! Anyway, you'll see in the pics that the kids' art teacher painted their feet green and stamped them on a large carpet square, making the leaves of a flower. Their hands were painted various colors to make the flower itself and the words "Love Grows Here" was stenciled at the top. It's supposed to be a door mat, which led to all sorts of jokes among us teachers/mom's, such as, "A doormat, are ya kidding me, are ya saying we're doormats to our kids?" etc, etc. There is no way I'm walking on that beautiful piece of art, so Craig is going to fashion a frame out of some beautiful old fence wood we have and we will hang that doormat as if it is the Mona Lisa herself!! (I told you this would be a brag session!)

Anyway, today we remembered our mommas too. And we want to give a shout out to Marilyn, Judy and Margaret and tell you we love you!! Happy Mutter's Day to all the Mother's out there!!!!

This is the day which the Lord has made

Yesterday, Saturday May 9th, was Finn's Child Dedication Service at our church, Bandera Road Community Church. Pastor George prayed over the 5 of us, blessing Finn and praying for our family. The purpose of the service is to dedicate Finn to God, knowing that he belongs to Him. By acknowledging this, we dedicated ourselves to raise him according to biblical standards. It was especially meaningful as Pastor George has dedicated Maisie and Ainslie as well. Uncle Gary, Aunt Elizabeth, David, Michelle, Bailey and Brandee were there to celebrate as well. We got an extra special treat too, as Finn's Great Grandma Thompson was in town from Illinois and was there with us!!

When we went on stage for prayer, they put a pic of Finn up on the jumbo screens, along with the meaning of his name, Finn Patrick. Finn is derived from the Gaelic word 'fionn' meaning 'fair, white'. Patrick is a Gaelic name meaning 'patrician', or 'noble'. Patrick is the name of the patron saint of Ireland. Finn Patrick is also named after Deb's older brother, Patrick.

The pastor also shared a verse that he prayed over Finn's life from Isaiah 1:17, "Learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." I love that verse and it's message of selflessness.

We thank you Lord, for our son Finn and the ways in which he has touched our hearts and those who meet him.

Finn's new eyeglasses

Today was a big day for Finbo!! He got his new prescription eyeglasses today. We took him to get fitted for them and selected the color and even got him Transitions so they would double as sunglasses. Try putting (and keeping) a pair of glasses on a 16 month old BOY. Trust me, it takes two people (or more) to put them on, and to keep them on. He is crafty at getting them off. The eye doc said it would take about 2 weeks of constant putting them on and him ripping them off before he will be used to them. We got the really durable lenses and frames, let's hope they last!! Finn's surgery to un-block his tearducts is May 20th. He'll still have to wear his glasses, but at least he won't have the gunky build up in his eyes.

Check out the pics below, our little Bo-Bo looks so cute in his glasses.

Love, Us

Bluebonnets 2009

Texas finally got our bluebonnets!! We got some rain about 3 weeks ago, enough to help sprout the bluebonnets. Last year's drought meant no annual bluebonnet pics so we were happy to see them pop up this year. We trekked out today to find a good patch and the kids dutifully sat in them as we shot about a thousand pictures. It was Finn's first time and he was so curious. The girls' did great too!!!! Maisie said, "Momma, maybe I can pick you a pretty bluebonnet." Aww, how thoughtful. Unfortunately it's illegal to pick them so Craig told her we couldn't or the cops would come get her. Of course he said it in jest, but she was really worried. Poor kid! We absolutely LOVE our bluebonnet pictures and hope you do too!

Love, Us

Rockin' the house at Sea World

Last Saturday we had our nieces over to the house to watch the girls and my men (Craig and Finn) took me to a Third Day concert at Sea World. We have season passes and so the admission was FREE!!! It's Sea World's Annual Praise Wave Family Christian Day. Third Day is one of our fave Christian rock bands.....and they did not disappoint!! It was like being at a rock concert and a church service at the same time. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many Christ followers, all praising God and rocking out. Finn loved it too. We stood in the back of the outdoor theatre so as to protect his ears as best we could. The lead singer, Mac Powell, even waved at Finn who was perched on top of Daddy's shoulders. About halfway through the concert, I looked over at Craig and Finn and Finn was sleeping (yes sleeping) on his shoulders. He dozed off for about 15 minutes and then woke up and enjoyed the rest of the concert. Only a baby could fall asleep with that kind of noise!! We had an amazing time and it was a nice break for us. We arrived home later that evening and when the girls found out where we had gone they said, "WHAT?? YOU WENT TO SEA WORLD WITHOUT US??" How dare we!! Check out our photos. Sea World rocked the house!!