Pro-Life Rally

On Thursday, my good friend, Karri, and I loaded up our kiddos and headed to the State Capitol building to take part in a Pro-Life rally. Many legislators were in their offices that day and West Virginians for Life are hoping to get a bill passed that will require that women who are seeking abortion will have the opportunity to see their child via ultrasound before they determine to end their pregnancy. There were many of us "pro-lifers" in attendance and we're hoping that our legislators "heard" us as they prepare to vote on this important matter. The Capitol building is BEAUTIFUL! The dome on the top is made of real gold. The pictures below show what it looks like on the inside. They spared no expense with this building as much of the interior, floors and walls, are made of marble. It truly is breathtaking! Our governor spoke and stated that he is pro-life! Praise the Lord! The display below is for the Pregnancy Resource Center that I volunteer with. It is the only one in the Charleston area and is completely run by volunteers. I really enjoy working with the moms who come in for counseling. Many of them are so young and in such tough situations. What an awesome cake! The black bear is West Virginia's state animal. Audrey loved looking at these. She kept calling them teddy bears. :) It was very warm in the capitol building so before getting back on the bus to head toward our vans after the rally, we decided to let the kids get some fresh air and burn off some energy outside of the Capitol building. The kids were determined to run up the steps and get to the top! They made it up all the steps - great exercise, especially for Audrey's short little legs! Also had to snap a quick picture of the flag flying. On their way back down - I love this picture looking up at the building. Riding the bus around town was the highlight for the kiddos. Anna was beyond excited! The girls' shirts are just a little long but they love to wear them. They make perfect night gowns! :)

Upward Basketball

Anna only has a few games left of Upward Basketball. We've really enjoyed watching her learn and play and she's had so much fun with her friends and coaches. Warming up Guarding her "man" Anna brings the ball down the court several times during each game. Her dribbling has really improved since the beginning of the season. After each game, the team gathers and their coach gives out colored stars that can be ironed onto their shirts. Each color stands for something different. Anna has gotten the stars for Christlikeness, Best Offense, Best Defense, Best Effort, and Sportsmanship. In the picture above she's getting the star for best Sportsmanship. Her coaches are so good with the kids, we are very thankful for their guidance and patience. :) The videos (click on the play button even if they appear black, they should still work) give you an idea of just how chaotic the games can get with several 4-7 year olds all trying to learn how to play the game and go after the ball. Anna's not overly aggressive but she does have a lot fun playing and that's what matters.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The following was taken from a blog that I love to read by Jill Savage (http://www.jillsavage.org/). She is an incredible woman with an incredible ministry for Mothers. It's too good not to share. Immature love is a noun. A thing we long for. A feeling. An expectation of what someone will do for us. Mature love is verb. An action we take. A decision. A choice to do something for someone else. Unfortunately too many of us have yet to mature in our love and our relationships bear the scars of that fact. But it’s never too late to grow up. And if we want our love to last a lifetime, we can’t afford to keep believing that love is a noun. The feeling of love is short-lived. We have to transition to understand that long-lasting love is really a verb. But what does this English lesson of nouns and verbs have to do with real relationships? How do we take this concept and apply it to real life? Maybe these scenarios can help paint the picture.  Love as a noun spent all last week wondering what your spouse was going to do for you for Valentine’s Day. Love as a verb spent all last week preparing your expression of love for your spouse.  Love as a noun feels despair when you no longer feel “in love” with the person you are married to. Love as a verb understands the ebb and flow of feelings. It focuses more on expressing love than feeling love.  Love as a noun demands its own way. Love as a verb works to understand differences and is open to new ways of doing things.  Love as a noun finds faults in others. Love as a verb gives grace and forgiveness.  Love as a noun expects others to serve them. Love as a verb serves freely.  Love as a noun expects to always feel warm and fuzzy and “in love.” Love as a verb realizes that often we have to choose to love even when we don’t feel like it.

Happy Birthday Michael!

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband! He's the big 3 0 today and we're not letting him forget it. =) I'm so greatful that God chose him for me. He is my best friend and a wonderful father to our girls. They are very lucky to have such a hands-on daddy but most important, a daddy who strives to please the Lord each day.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Fun in the snow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Audrey's Masterpiece

What is it you ask? It's a mass of panty liners that Audrey thoroughly enjoyed taking the paper off of and sticking together in one big pile. For some reason she is infatuated with feminine products, panty liners are just the start. Guess I need to start locking them up in high places that she can't reach although knowing her, she'll just climb up to wherever they are and help herself. Sigh... I was shocked to see her bending over and sticking them to the crotch of her pants. Yes, that's a panty liner hanging off her hind-end as she reaches up to turn the t.v. off to tick off her sister. Anna couldn't help but join in the fun.

Anna's Cafe

Welcome to Anna's Cafe! She loves to pretend to do big people things and Audrey and I have fun playing along with her. She did a great job in her role of waitress. She loved taking our order. Audrey's typical restaurant face - she's almost always a handful whenever we go out to eat. She even got to color at Anna's restaurant. Here's a short glimpse into our fun. Anna cracked me up as usual and Audrey was zoning in on the letters that spelled "Start" on the kitchen microwave. She's a letter wizard right now. :)

Mommy's Helper

Anna can be such a great helper and she really enjoys doing things for me, most of the time. Yesterday she pulled grapes off the stem and rinsed them for me and then unloaded most of the dishwasher. What a great help! I could get used to this! =)

Lovin' Dresses

Anna thinks it's fun to pick out what Audrey's going to wear. She almost always picks the same type of outfit if not the exact same outfit if they have matching ones. She better enjoy it while Audrey tolerates it! They do both enjoy wearing dresses... I'm glad leggings are in style with it being cold outside.

ABC's

Audrey is all about the ABC's right now. She knows 16 of them and we're working on learning the remaining 10. Whenever she sees letters regardless of where they are (on walls, in stores, on cups, in books, wherever), she has to point to them and tell us what they are. She loves to count as well, so far making it to 10. Anna has a fun time playing the role of teacher and "quizzing her". :)

Upward Basketball

Anna had her first basketball game today playing in the Upward Basketball League (click on link for more info). The Upward league is a Christian league that focuses not only on learning how to play sports but also on what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We are so impressed with this league! The focus is not on winning and being the best athlete but on having a personal relationship with Jesus and exhibiting Christlikeness in all you do, even sports. The teams pray together (as seen below), memorize scripture verses, and talk about what it means to follow Jesus. At each game the players get little stars for something they did well during the game. Today Anna got the star for being Christlike and to me, there's no better honor or trait I'd want her to have. Her coaches are so good with the kids (they must have lots of patience) and do a great job teaching them how to play and encouraging them often. She had fun and we had fun watching her and the rest of the team. I was amazed at how much I resembled my dad... I was hollering like crazy (coaching from the bleachers) so much so that Michael had to give me "the look" a few times. I refrained from screaming at the refs or saying anything negative. :) Here she is sticking with her opponent... like glue! She even guarded him when she was on offense. :) They put a colored tag on each child's jersey (see the yellow tag near her shoulder) and it matches up with the same colored tag on the jersery of a child on the other team so that they can easily see who they're supposed to be guarding. Anna was all about matching her color to a child on the other team and she NEVER left his side. :) Trying to dribble, she doesn't do too bad. This is how they introduce the kids before the games start. You can hear them call her name as soon as the video starts. I wasn't sure how Anna would do with the loud music and adrenaline of it all but she did well as you can see. She was a bit uneasy but for it being her first time I thought she did great. I tried to rotate this video but I can't get it to work so if you have a laptop, turn it sideways to watch. Anna did lots of running and did well sticking with her man but obviously needs a little bit more understanding of how the game works. She'll get there with time and practice. I couldn't help but laugh several times at the kiddos trying to figure it all out. We were proud of her for listening to her coaches and doing a great job on defense. This is big stuff for a 4 year old! =)

"Oh Cool!"

This shirt is perfect for Audrey (a hand-me-down of Anna's). One of her favorite things to say is "Oh cool!" and she loves snowmen.

Snow, snow and more snow

What a week of snow! The girls have been our "helpers" as we've gone out each night to clean off the driveway even though more just piles up. We've not stayed out long with it being so bitter cold but fresh air is always needed! The snow has been dry enough that we've been able to use our leaf blower to keep the snow blown off the driveway and sidewalk. We've both shoveled around the edges and mailbox but for the most part the leaf blower has saved us lots of time and energy.