Tulip Festival

We made our annual trip up to Mt Vernon yesterday for the Tulip Festival. It was beautiful! We were a little early this year for the blooms, so we didn't see quite as much as we normally do, but we found a field that had several colors and we were very happy. We also discovered the Mt Vernon Children's Museum and that was awesome. We made 2 trips! They had some amazing activities and play areas. The kids had a blast and that made it a fun trip for them too. The Burlington Outlets also came through for us again with Easter outifts. :) And new this year, we visited an Alpaca Farm. The kids loved trying to decide if the noises they were making meant they liked us or wanted to be left alone. All in all it was a great road trip, we all had a great time. Here's some of our favorite pictures!

She's In!

We turned in Lily's registration at Grant Center for the Expressive Arts today. I think she was one of the first one's. We were there at 9:00 am and happily turned over all the paperwork we slaved over last night :) And she's in! Yaay! What a journey this has been, praise God for answering our prayers for a miracle. Praise Him for being with her as she begins this new part of her life, one that will probably shape her more than anything else so far. We are so blessed to not send her off on her own. More info to come for sure!

Volcano

Lily gave us the recipe for a volcano yesterday:

Bakers Soap (Baking Soda)

Food Coloring

And uhhh Vinegar

Yaay for preschool!

Also, Beau and I went to Lily's open house for kindergarten on Tuesday. It was so great! I just felt so happy and relieved that Grant is staying open. It seems to be the most perfect place for Lily to go. I am so excited about the way they take state requirements for academics and make them entertaining and practical through the use of art. I'm so glad Lily will get that exposure. She will have 2 days of KE (Kinetic Education) like PE, but with more emphasis on Health and Movement, 1 day of Library, 1 day of music and 1 day of dance/art/drama. I also found out that they have a preschool program. I don't exactly know how it works, but Beau would be considered a Peer Leader, he would be in a class with kids who were developmentally disabled in a variety of ways. I don't know for sure if this would be a good fit for Beau, but I think what a wonderful oppurtunity for him to learn leadership and compassion. As well as a multitude of other skills. (He's happy because they have a slide in the classroom .... and tools)

So there's an update on that. Registration starts on Monday, so we'll turn our application in then and go to another open house, with Kyle and hopefully know for sure, soon, that she can go there. Keep praying!

Lily and Anna at Soma

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:!4

I have been meaning to post for awhile about something special that happened in our family. A few weeks ago, Lily proclaimed at dinner .... "Last night when I was talking to God in my bed, I asked Him to live in my heart" Well to say we were shocked is putting it lightly. What a lesson and blessing this is to me for so many reasons.

I've tended to have a dark view on the subject of little kids receiving Christ. I've always really believed that it came from their parents or other influences. Now not to say that Lily hasn't been influenced, but we certainly haven't been telling her that she needed to ask God to come into her heart. This is really a testament to God taking the words we have said and making them known to a little child. This was all His doing.

Also, to have something like this come during such a dark time spriritually for myself is another gift of God. It wasn't me that led Lily to the Lord, He did it himself. What a declaration of his glory. How can I not be transformed by His love for me when it is demonstrated through my own daughter.

I am so thankful for her special year at preschool. I know this has been such a foundational year for her, she has learned so much about God in her life that she is certainly not going to get as clearly in public school. I'm also thankful for AWANA. I pray that she learns to value memorizing Gods word and never turns from that. Another beautiful lesson to me!

So praise God for His work in my daughter. I couldn't have made her who she is without Him.

Friday's Questions

Alright ... here they are:

What makes you sad?
Beau: Fighting
Lily: When Beau hits me :(

Who do you love?
Beau: God and mommy
Lily: God and mommy

Who is your favorite superhero:
Beau: Superman
Lily: Batman

Where do we get money:
Beau: IKEA
Lily: We buy it at the store

What do you like to shop for:
Beau: Hot Dogs
Lily: Carebears and Ariel Jumpropes

What's your favorite game:
Beau: Hide and Seek and Don't Break the Ice
Lily: Princess Monopoly

What's your favorite thing about Daddy?
Beau: I love him
Lily: When I play outside with him

Do you wish you had a brother?
Beau: Yes, like a baby

Do you wish you had a sister:
Lily: Yes, I wish we were twins.

I've decided to start a little installment of questions, that I'll do each Friday to get to know what's inside their little heads. Lets see how this goes.

Lily

Who is your best friend?
Grandma

What is your favorite color?
Red and Pink and Yellow

What is your favorite food?
Pizza with cheese and pepperoni and Spagetti

What is you favorite thing to talk about at dinner?
School

What's your favorite part about school?
Going to the Gym and playing "On the way I dropped it"

What do you pray for?
Nana, When I get married, No bad dreams


Beau

Who is your best friend?
Grandma

What is your favorite color?
Orange and Green and White

What is your favorite food?
Chicken and Oatmeal

What is your favorite thing to talk about at dinner?
Fire

What is your favorite part about school?
Snack

What do you like to pray for?
Fire

Well there you have it! I'll try to think of some better questions for next time. Let me know if you have any ideas or if there's anything you want to know.