"Tangled"

 This past Saturday, Sydney and I had some "girl time" together. And of course top on our list of girlie things to do was to go and see the new Disney movie entitled "Tangled." Sydney wanted to get all dressed up for our outing by having her hair fixed, some pixie dust on her cheeks, and a pretty dress. She started out in her own seat but about 5 minutes into the movie she was sitting with me, eating a hot dog and a few treats I had stashed in my purse. We laughed, I cried, we laughed some more, answered a few pertinent questions from Sydney about events taking place and then I cried and we laughed until the end. We both loved the movie and Sydney has started saving money in an envelope entitled "Rapunzel" in order to purchase the movie as soon as it hits the store shelf.

Our new favorite character: Pascal

"Rapunzel's one true friend is her silent, color-changing sidekick, Pascal. Pascal may be just a small chameleon, but he plays a big role in Rapunzel's decision to leave her lonely tower. This supportive and encouraging companion's true colors just might hold a key to unlocking a royal mystery."

Lizzy Turns two!

 Daddy's first hold.

 This is one of our precious pictures we have of Lizzy-Grace in NICU. She developed pneumonia in her left lung 12 hours after birth. If she had been born only a century earlier she would have died from it. But God in his mercy and grace had her born at the right time, in the right place, in order for the pneumonia to be diagnosed and treated. 

 Lizzy-Sunshine at 4mo.

 Sunbathing at 6 months

 Pumpkins at 10mo.

 Traditional Jordan family birthday breakfast at 1 yr.

 The "balloon monster," as Sydney and Noah have affectionately named the mysterious creature that fills their rooms with balloons on the eve of their birthday's, made another appearance last night to surprise Lizzy-Grace. And as you can see by her response...she was surprised!

 Cute as a button while enjoying a pink sprinkle donut.

Taking care of "Piper" her birthday penguin.

Happy Birthday Lizzy-Sunshine! You have been a joy to all of us these past 2 years.

Love- Daddy, Mommy, Sydney, and Noah!

Our New Home

 The 2 month blog break was because of what this picture holds. My amazing husband bought the sprouts and I our first home. The past few weeks have held house hunting trips, paperwork, inspections, appraisals, phone calls, money, and last but not least, signing our life away! That was followed by packing, cleaning, address changing, moving, unpacking, etc. Then a week and a half after we moved, we opened the doors for our family to come celebrate with us. The Sensel's, Grams & Grandad, Crowdad & Lambie, Punkin & Granny, and a Pastors' conference in Maryland fit somewhere in there. This house has been a gift from God and we are having a wonderful time putting it to good use. 

 This is the welcome you can expect after the front door is open.

So come visit!

 Beautiful & Handsome

 Liz is acting prim and proper while Sydney is enjoying watching Noah's sideshow.

 Silly.

 Goofy.

All done!

"Annabel Lee"

Discovered this poem today while reading to Sydney. I think it is one of my new favorites. Be warned...you might cry.

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.


-Edgar Allan Poe

G.B. League

Our first Lunar bowling with the G.B. league

From left - Lauren, Amanda, Anna, Rose, and Danielle.

Just to give you a little hint as to how good we are, our collective team score was around 400.

And this is not to brag, but I did win the G.B. score of the night!

"Womanly Dominion"

A friend sent this quote from the book "Womanly Dominion" to me as an encouragement in the tasks of what my calling entails. I wanted to pass it along in hopes that it will spur you on to higher ground.

pg. 154-

"It's my understanding that every biblically committed wife and mother must pass through a personal Gethsemane of sorts, needing to come to grips with the cup her Father has poured for her.

Think, dear sister, how the Lord Jesus selflessly served you.  He laid down His life to make you look good. He laid it down on crucifixion day, so that you'd look good on judgement day.  He was spat upon, beaten, scourged, mocked, stripped, spiked, hung, and forsaken.  Then He breathed His last so that you wouldn't forever weep, wail, and gnash your teeth in hell.  He was born, lived, and died with the sole object that you would look good forever.  Could it be that this wifehood and motherhood thing is calling you to higher ground, conforming you more to His glorious image?"  -Amen

Presents!

Thanks Grams & Grandad!

Thanks Lambie & Crowdad!

And the grand finale...

Hermie the hermit crab!

Our Little Man Turns Four!

Newbie to the world

6 months - Also known as the no neck stage.

1 year!

2 years!

3 years!

4 years!

Happy Birthday Noah! We love having you as a part of our family!

Sydney Ballerina

As requested by her grand-parents-a picture of Sydney dressed for her first day of ballet. The hairdo was a bit challenging, but with a lot of gel and a little bit of pixie dust, it stayed up. 

Sydney had a fantastic time in ballet class! Almost as soon as she walked in the front door, she began to show me everything she had learned in class. Precious!

Noah, Sydney, and Lizzie sharing the limelight together. 

Time For Ballet!

  June-bug starts ballet class tomorrow!
She has been talking about wanting to take ballet for months now. She is bursting at the seems with joy that the day has finally arrived. Yesterday, we had a blast picking out her ballet shoes, white tights, black leotard, and pink tutu together. It was definitely memory making girlie time with my little ballerina! Now, all that is left is for me to master the ballerina hairdo!

What's a Dishwasher?

Sydney loves to sing and talk with me while we clean the dishes together. One of our many conversations this week consisted of what our new house would have; one of those things being a new dishwasher. I was trying to explain to her that we wouldn't be hand washing the dishes in our new house when she interrupted me with, "Mommy, we can't eat on dirty dishes!" I then explained to her further that no, we wouldn't be eating on dirty dishes because we would be using a dishwasher. She then looked at me with a perplexed expression on her face and asked, "Mommy, what's a dishwasher?" Hopefully she'll learn soon enough!

Makeup Truck

Lipstick (ascending) on Caterpillar truck 1969

 What does lipstick and a truck have in common? I don't know, nor do I understand why there was actually a picture that came up when I did a Google search. But what I do know is that for some reason my son has gotten the word makeup confused with the word pickup, and has now switched them out. So, if you happen to be standing near us to hear Noah yell, "Look Mommy, there goes a makeup truck!" you will understand.

Mr. Tumnas?

One morning as Joshua was helping Noah get dressed, Sydney came in to play. She walked over to give Joshua his morning hug when she noticed something under his arm. She asked, "Daddy, what is that under your arm?" Noah then added his comment about the underarm hair discovery with, "Eww, gross!" Both sprouts then lifted up their arms to check to see if they had any underarm hair and then they checked each others. Once Sydney realized that neither her or Noah had underarm hair she said, "Daddy, your weird. Your like Mr. Tumnas!"

Offering Anyone?

Noah will be turning four next month, which means he will be graduating out of the nursery and into "big church" with us. So in order to prepare him for the transition, we have started having him come for the singing portion of the service. On his first Sunday to come in with us, we prepped him of what he should expect and what we expected of him. Just one little problem, we forgot to tell him about the offering. Joshua passed the offering plate around Sydney and Noah to me. As soon as it made it into my hands, Noah's head dipped down and his face went into full pout mode. I leaned over and asked him, " Noah, what's the matter?" Noah raised his face just enough to look at me with his sad puppy dog eyes and a protruding lip to say, "I thought I could have some money!" Joshua then leaned over and tried to explain to him that the money was for Jesus and the church. Noah did not like that answer and gave Joshua the look that said, "Why isn't Jesus sharing?" And then it was off to the nursery so that we could hopefully avoid a scene. I don't think we succeeded though, considering we were sitting on the second row from the front, and Noah maintained his "it could go either way face" (cry or throw a fit, maybe both) all the way down the aisle. Ah, the first joys of being a PW with a little PK.

Funny Man

This is a glimpse into Noah's funny personality. He will go to great lengths to make us laugh, even going a little overboard with the alphabet stickers.

Summer Vacation

This year for our vacation, Joshua and I enjoyed some alone time on the beach at Rockport. A breathtaking view of the ocean, accompanied with the smell of the sea breeze, and nothing but the sound of the waves and the seagulls to break in on the oasis of our serenity. Blissful.

A window view from the beach condo our friends let us borrow during our vacation.

Magnificent storm cloud formations covered the sky, and brought with it light showers that kept the temperatures cool and the breeze refreshing. Perfect beach weather for a couple wanting to sit and relax while enjoying a few good books.

Our shelter from the sun.

Our last night there the moon rose over the ocean and the sea turned a brilliant blue.
The seagulls came alive and started circling around were the tide was coming in.

One of our little friends who took some interest in our presence on his beach.

So pretty. If only vacations could be more than once a year. :)

New Roommates

Sydney and Lizzy are now roommates and loving it. The girls new room looks like one of "Fancy Nancy's" books exploded in there with all the pink, lavender, and accessories that cover every surface.

Noah is also enjoying his pink free room and the classic car prints and signs that now hang on his walls.

Growing Up

Here is an after summer picture to show how big my sprouts are getting. 

Sydney has started Kindergarten, Noah preschool, and Lizzy is the cute tag along.

Showing off their new school clothes.

Grasshopper Tears

This story starts out with a very excited boy as he discovered and captured a very large and active grasshopper that was playing in the backyard. For a little over an hour, this boy took great delight in playing catch and release with his jumping friend. But this all ended in tragedy, when his new friend was spotted by a black bird. As the little boy was chasing after his friend to catch him again, the black bird swooped down and stole his little grasshopper. The black bird then perched himself on the fence in front of the little boy and maliciously crunched down his little friend. In turn the boy was screaming at the black bird with tears running down his face, and shouting, "Bad bird, bad bird!!!"

True story.