Jesus Book

Mike discovered that Hannah had snuck into our room and found my Bible.  She was turning pages and singing "Jesus Loves Me".  Anytime she sees me with the Bible she points and says "Jesus Book".  Makes me so happy!

TEN

Yesterday marked our 10th Wedding Anniversary.  The day itself was very low-key as we already celebrated together last week.

Ten years of Joy.  Ten years of friendship.  Ten years of serving our Lord side-by-side.  I love my husband very much.

And even after all this time, he still surprises me. I'm educated enough to know that you do not go into a marriage hoping to change any aspect of your spouse.  However, a part of me not-so-secretly hoped that I would be the one to win over his heart for vegetables. 

Yes, vegetables. 

Not starches (corn, potatoes) nor iceberg lettuce (which is essentially water) that he will eat. I thought surely there will be one healthy vegetable that I can prepare in a different way that he would like. 



And for 10 years I have not succeeded in the veggie quest.  Not fried.  Not stir fried.  Not smothered in cheese.  For 10 years there has been none.  Oh, he'll be a good sport and eat a bite in front of the kids.  But, it was never enjoyed.

And then, just this week, he ate a vegetable and remarked, "This is probably the best vegetable I've ever eaten". 

Confession: I almost cried.
Stir fried Sugar Snap Peas is the winner!  (Which, for the record, I have made before but they were probably not touched).  Even Jackson ate them without much hesitation.

Looking forward to a lifetime of more surprises & joy!

Mountain Get-Away

Mike and I were able to do a short get-away together to celebrate our 10th Anniversary a week early.  Mike's mom graciously stayed with the kiddos for two days for us.

Tuesday morning we drove up to the Boone area and hiked. It was an incredibly gorgeous day for April in Boone... 72 degrees and sunny. After grabbing lunch in town, I took Mike to Hebron Rock Colony for the first time. It's basically a river bed full of gigantic boulders that you can jump and climb on while taking in some awesome small waterfalls. Since last Saturday's flooding, the water was up and made for some interesting crossings. After Hebron, we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked a little more. Being there and able to hike in such beautiful weather makes me so ridiculously happy. I forget how much I love those mountains! I am so blessed to have a husband that enjoys them as much as I do.

my mountain man!

After hiking, we checked in at the Baird House Bed and Breakfast again in Valle Crucis.  The owners, Tom and Deede, are wonderful and we enjoyed catching up with them!

The Sarah Jane room, where we stayed

The Baird House, circa 1790. 

We then drove into Blowing Rock and had a nice dinner at the Storie Street Grille (thanks for the suggestion, Katie!), walked around the shops and downtown park, and then grabbed some ice cream at Kilwins.  We even ran into our friends the Hoots at Kilwins.  It was seriously a day FILLED with all my favorite things and beside my favorite person.  :)

Wednesday morning we were blessed by a huge breakfast spread and conversation with Tom and Deede.  We sat at the breakfast table for 2 1/2 hours, mostly chatting away!  The weather was much more typical of springtime in Boone (overcast, cooler, and rainy), so we went to the Mast General stores in Valle Crucis, including the Candy Barrel for some treats for the kids.  Later that day we drove around my old campus (which looks NOTHING like it did when I was there), ate lunch in town, and took a drive out to Todd, NC.  Mike likes to take the adventuresome drives to "see where this road goes".  It made for some beautiful scenery and we luckily were able to navigate back to the highway.  :)

It was a blessing to have this time alone with my hubby.  It was the PERFECT get-away!

miscellany

Having quirkly little kids makes for lots of smiles... 

Hannah: I pwincess puzzle.
Me:  You want to do the princess puzzle?
Hannah:  No, mommy. I pwincess puzzle. (as she sashays about in a pink dress)
Me:  You are a princess??
Hannah:  Nanna a pwincess a puzzle.
Me: Oh! You are Rapunzel?
Hannah:  Yesth.  Pwincess a puzzle.

Loves any kind of dress-up thing she can get her hands on.

Hannah is going through the hoarding stage of toddlerdom.  She totes all her most beloved possessions with her from room to room. I dubbed this the "Table of Love".

Daddy's girl - completely enamoured with corn on the cob and macaroni and cheese.

[Sorry for the poor quality shots.  Our camera is on the fritz... some of my most favorite shots from the last week are a blurry mess...and yet somehow others are perfectly clear.  Time to camera shop, I think]

Zoo Crew

Our family finds fun, adventures, and activities together all the time.  I love doing things with my kiddos.  But, there are a handful of days that I can look back and think "that was one of the best Mom Days".  You know the ones... when everyone (mommy included!) is at their best... when meltdowns are few and laughter is in abundance.

Last Friday, Jackson, Hannah and I had one of those best days.  We went to the zoo.  The weather was perfection.  The kids did not whine, argue, or pester each other at all -- not on the hour + ride there and back, not for expensive zoo snacks, not when hoards of field trip kids blocked their view -- seriously, amazing! 

Since we have a membership, I never feel pressured to do the WHOLE zoo.  Our zoo is quite big and to cover all territory takes some hiking.  We usually use the trams and skip sections.  But, that day was the exception.  The kids were so well behaved that I determined we could see and do more.  We did every exhibit.

Chimp smooch!

Super excited about the tram ride.

Being silly as we wait for the tram... terrible pic, but proof I was there.  :)

Top moment of the day was watching these 2 black bear wrestle and chase each other around.  At one point they were both on their hind feet and looked like they were dancing.  Jack was chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and laughing his head off.

We learned.  We laughed.  We took it all in.  We were silly.  It was just a fun, fun day together. 

Making memories.

Even on the tough and trying days, I would not change my role as their mom for anything.  Investing my time, energy, and love into these two cuties is the most precious thing in the world to me.

Spring Track Out

I admit, I am loving this Year Round school calendar!  My little guy in on a 3 week track out from school.  I love having him out this time of year when we can be outside and do so many fun things.  We made a list of things we would like to do during this time and have been plugging away at them...

We went to the Spring Day football game at UNC.  See previous post.

We hosted a Scavenger Hunt with a some friends at our neighborhood park and greenway.  There were about 12 kids.  It was a blast and I was surprised at how much Hannah got into it!  The girl LOVES bugs, rocks, sticks and dirt. After we collected a host of things from nature, we had prizes and a picnic lunch.  Jackson is still talking about it.  Wish I had pics, but I forgot to take the camera out of the bag!

We've had many different playdates with buddies from school, church, and dear old friends.

We went to the zoo again.  Jack missed out the last time I went so I promised him another trip.  More on this later.

We've spent countless hours at parks, playgrounds, and in our backyard. 

We've been to the library.  We've read lots of books.

We He has played Wii.

We have played more hands of Uno than I can count.  He LOVES this game and is pretty good at it.  And, I am uber thrilled to not play Candyland or Chutes and Ladders for a few more years.  :)

We've seen Tangled twice and think it is one of the best movies to come along in a long time.  All four of us loved it!

And we're not done yet...

April 16, 2006

Five years ago the doors were officially opened to a new church in our town - The Bridge Community Church.  A year had been spent in preparation for this event.  There were countless hours of prayer, launch team meetings, paperwork, planning, praying, dreaming, investing, and more praying.  My feelings of fear and inadequacy faded as we were certain of our calling to start up a new church and eager to be used by God in this endeavor. 

But the real test was on Easter, April 16, 2006 - would people show up?  Praise God they did, and they continue to do so.  For five years we have been blessed beyond measure to have front row seats to God's hand at work in our community.  Yes, it has been a hard 5 years with lots of sweat, tears (at times), and financial testing.  All pale in comparison to the lives we have seen changed by God. 

Just look at this video for a glimpse at this life-change.

Today at church we celebrated.  A large crowd of beautiful faces.  It was wonderful!  During the lunch, a self-proclaimed atheist man who occasionally attends with family came up to me to congratulate me.  He commented on how wonderful it was to see our "business" grow the way it has, especially during such tough economic times.  He marveled at how we can do it when most of the workers aren't paid - just volunteers.  And, he said we should be proud that we really had "something going". 

I kindly thanked him, but insisted we owe it all to the Lord.

And, I can say that with 100% certainty.  It was and is by His grace, His strength, and His provision alone.  And today our goal was for God to get ALL of the glory.  It is His alone to have.

I am blessed beyond words by my church family.  They are much more than a face in the crowd.  So many coming from unchurched or warped church experiences.  Nothing is more beautiful seeing those far from God come near.  Bridgers, you are my heartbeat.

I am so grateful for those who have come along beside us and partnered with our ministry.  Those who left perfectly good churches to come serve sacrificially to launch our church.  Those who lifted us up in prayer, who financially contributed, and who served many hours without complaining.  Those whose came to know the Lord and jumped onto our vision to grow the church. 

Like me, I pray that they feel as blessed to be used by God on this mission field.

Daisy

We love our sweet kitty! Her nicknames include Dayz, princess, and furball. She spends 80% of the day asleep, often on our bed. She has a keen internal clock and as soon as it is 8:00PM, she ventures downstairs to have time with Mike and I without the threat of small hands.

Her relationship with Jackson has been sketchy at best - until the last year. She has decided that he's pretty OK and often comes to him for lovin'. He LOVES this and they are finally developing a special little bond.

And, Daisy is more tolerable of Hannah than she was of Jackson at 22 months of age. Hannah has a much gentler hand! But, if Hannah had her way, she would make Daisy her very own baby doll. Good thing Daisy is way too fast and smart to have any of that.

Hard to believe that she'll be 10 later this Summer!

UNC Spring Game

Last Saturday we headed to Chapel Hill for the Annual Spring Game. Although we missed the autograph and meeting time with the team, due to a birthday party and class, we made it to some of the Kidzone fun and the game. Both kids enjoyed the inflatable obstacles and slides.

It was Jackson and Hannah's first time in Kenan Stadium and they were amazed! We saw the Blue and White teams scrimmage. Hannah, unprompted, said "Go Heels!" over and over. We got to see the new addition being built to close the stadium into a dome. It was impressive.

Jackson with Ramses statue outside the stadium.