.this boy....

...is WILD, on the go all the time, adventure seeking, sword fighting, wrestling maniac,ninja turtle loving, and STUBBORN, but boy am I ever so thankful for him! He keeps me on my toes (and my knees praying) ALL THE TIME!... He turned 3 on June 20th. He talks and communicates so well. He loves to tell a make believe story from beginning to end, he loves to be read to when he is tired, has a paci on a string that he loves, and he would eat ALL.DAY.LONG if you let him! He is NOT a fan of time out, loud noises, getting a haircut (see pictures below), and vegetables!

:saddled up and ready to RIDE!:

The week after HJ got her saddle we have an awesome friend that let us use his pony for her to start riding with. So Penny moved in the back half of our yard for a couple of weeks until we moved her to the pasture with our horse Lily. HJ has done great with her riding lessons and can even ride Penny on her own now. Our good friend David's granddaughter, Hannah is a horse lover and a great rider, so she has been giving HJ lessons each week. We are so thankful for her!

.Saddle Up Your Horses!.

 Andrew surprised HJ and bought her a saddle so that she could start horse riding lessons. She was SO EXCITED about this! And quickly put it to use....see tomorrow's post....

.She's 5!.

What in the world??!?! Where has time gone? I can't believe our little baby girl is 5 today!
I am so thankful that the Lord blessed us with fun, sassy, compassionate, generous, concerned, smart, beautiful, and strong willed girl. This girl pushes me to the Gospel everyday in parenting and just life. She loves to listen and tell Bible stories, she loves going places, meeting new people, making new friends, playing in her room with her toys, riding horses, helping me around the house, and coloring. She is learning to read and loves to learn new things. It has been so neat with homeschooling to see when the "light bulb" comes on with new topics. We love you HattieJo!

.We're BAAACCCKKKKK!!!!!.

  Yes, after well over 3 months of a break I am back to the blogging world! Life has been crazy. In the spring I was wrapping up my last year of classroom teacher, fighting all day nauseated pregnancy sickness, and trying to keep our household running! We survived that craziness and the summer. Life is in a good (BUSY) flow so now there is much to catch up on.
  *Baby #3 is on the way! I will be 20 weeks along this week. We are thrilled! It's going to be a boy to which HJ replied, "oh no!" and AP screamed, "dat's sooo cool."
  *HJ and I have started homeschooling.
  *The kids spent a week in Florida for cousins camp and LOVED EVERY.SINGLE.MINUTE! (a blog to come on this).
  *HJ has lost 2 teeth now!
  *We have celebrate both AP and HJ's birthdays (blog to come)
  *Mercy Hill is really growing and we have added a 4th service on Sundays.....PRAISE THE LORD! Amazing to see all that He is doing in and through the body of believers there. We are so thankful to be a part of it all!!!
   *.... and so much more....

Stay tuned for more this week: