Happy Easter!!

From the Thomas Crew!

It’s been a really low-key day for us today. Ben, who got sick on vacation, was totally exhausted from the past 2 days of driving and not feeling well so he pretty much slept all day. I dressed up the crew and we headed off to church this morning with one of the neighbor kids.

The service was really beautiful and powerful and something I really needed to shake off the heaviness I was feeling and focus on the amazingness of the hope of Jesus! It was really sunny today and warm enough for the boys to go outside without coats and play. They’ve been playing for hours! We would still trade for the vivid colors of Florida in a heartbeat but for now, we’ll take our Midwest sun!

Prepare yourselves, Florida pics begin tomorrow:)

Sneak Peak!

Just got home a few hours ago from a tedious journey home! Traffic yesterday and a little girl extremely tired of traveling today. Screaming tantrums in a small space are not fun.

But. We made it and are happy to sleep in our own beds tonight! We were struck by the dullness of the Midwest as we entered Chicago after spending a week in the vivid colorfulness of Florida. We miss the sun! And my grandparents:)

For now, a sneak peak of pictures to come!

Onward we go!

Long time, no see! We’ve been so busy having fun and trying to soak up the sun through the cool temperatures that I’ve been too busy to blog!

Plus, I really enjoy having a break from the computer and internet!

We are on our way home. We were very sad to leave this morning, especially as the weather finally started to get warm and perfect just as we were leaving. It was so beautiful this morning!

We sadly traded palm trees and gorgeous 70 degree sunny weather for terrible traffic (adding 2 hours onto our trip today) and cooler temperatures with no promise of coming warmth.

At least we have our memories to fuel us on towards spring! And pictures as soon as we get home. Should be home tomorrow night.

Another 10 hour day ahead of us……

Here we are!

Florida!! We arrived safely yesterday around lunchtime, after driving through pouring rain for about 3 hours. It was sunny and hot here though!

Today it’s overcast with rain but the next few days looks sunny and if not as warm as it usual is this time of year, way better than 30s and snow! Sorry Chicago and Ohio!

I’ll take some pictures and post them soon. For now, our white, sun-deprived skin is practically shrieking in delight over being uncovered to receive the sun (when it’s out) and the fresh air. Good-bye winter coats!

At least for a week:) Be back soon!

Kentuckiana!

We moved up our Florida time table a smidge and decided to drive a chunk this afternoon/tonight to spare ourselves a 14 hour trip tomorrow!

So here we are, in Elizabethtown, KY, 6 hrs from home, trying to get the kiddos settled and to bed. It’s going so well so far! right…

The good news is, our car got fixed bright and early this morning and everything was covered under extended warranty!! We didn’t have to pay a dime and our car is back to normal! So thankful for answered prayers!

Tomorrow we head to GA, where we meet the rest of my family and then Saturday we’ll make the last 4 hour leg of the journey and be in sunny and hopefully, WARM Florida!!

For now, I’m signing off and praying that no bedbugs find me……

Disjointed..

* Tonight at bathtime, Eliana was talking to herself while playing and she said, “Mama is so beautiful.” Ben came in and I told him what she said and he asked her, “Are you beautiful, Eliana?” She said, “No! Missy is cute. Mama is beautiful.”  Melt.

* We have to get our car in for a repair before leaving in a couple of days. Please pray it is covered under extended warranty and that we can drive safely on such a long trip!!

* Cannot wait to see my family, even if we will be a wee bit crowded for a week:)

* Sun and warmth should go hand in hand.

* Zakkai saved up some allowance money and some bday giftcards and we ordered him a new toy off of amazon to go with a Christmas present we gave him. It’s a snap circuit set where he can make different projects (electricity, noises, lights, etc). He and Samuel finished their homework, ignored several knocks on the door from neighborhood friends and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with it!

* Samuel spent some of his allowance money (they each have give, save and spend jars) on a new origami set, which he is anxiously waiting to try out on our long trip. He’s really been interested in origami lately!

* My tip for feeling more productive: Make a list of all the things you have to do, as detailed and minute as possible, then cross off each thing as you accomplish it and you’ll feel really productive!! Even though I have some of the simplest tasks in my head, it still feels really good to cross them off a list:)

* Headed off to bed early with my slumbering family, as we have lots to do in the next 2 days!!

More Concerts and Trash Picking.

 Man, oh, man, we had such a busy weekend! Parties and dates and all sorts of things going on. It will be a busy week this week with getting ready to leave on our trip (goodbye snow and 30s!) and Ben is working hard on some deadlines for his dissertation. Hopefully we can get everything done so we can relax a bit!

 
This cute kindergartner had his spring concert tonight. Thankfully, it was barely a half an hour long, as opposed to 1 1/2 hours like Samuel’s. The kindergartners looked so cute and little up on the stage!
 

Since Zakkai’s school is made up of all kindergarten (9 classes), they divided the concerts up into different days and had 2 or 3 classes sing at a time. Zakkai was so excited to have us come; he was bouncing off the wall tonight!

Thankfully, I had fresh batteries in my camera this time. Too bad my camera absolutely loathes the lighting of these events and no matter WHAT setting I put it on, it takes blurry pictures! grr.

I did capture a couple short and cute videos, though:)

 
 
And, I have inherited a wonderful, rare and slightly embarassing skill from my mom. You can call it a gift, a talent or as Ben likes to say, a curse. Ha!
 
I totally took something off the side of the road today. I trash picked. People just put their stuff out on the curbs that they don’t want and you know what they say, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure!”

Look how cute this is! I spotted it as we pulled up for school and knew it belonged with me. Of course, I was really embarassed and told myself if it was there later, maybe I would get it. And look, here it is! It was meant to be:)

How cute is this little table! The sides extend and it has a little drawer and everything. Perfect for my crafting area!

Ben thinks I’m crazy and I cannot confirm or deny that charge…..

10 years!

 Today, okay I guess yesterday (as of 11 minutes ago), my wonderful husband and I celebrated TEN years together as a married couple! Wow. Where in the world did 10 years go??

As Ben said, some went really fast and some were a little slow. Some were filled with challenge, some with lots of joy. Some with seasons of big change and trusting, some with laughter and ease. All blessed by God. All amazing!

Tonight we were blessed by a few couples from our former housegroup with a wonderful gift! A date! They sent us for dinner and a theater show nearby and it was SO amazing!

We saw “Sunset Blvd” which is definitely a tragedy but it was so well done. The singing, the acting, the sets, everything! We’ve never gotten to do anything like this before and we have no idea how to thank our wonderful friends for such a thoughtful, wonderful, unexpected gift!

So very thankful for friends, for life, for a faithful God and for this wonderful man I get to spend my life with!

Happy 10th Anniversary, Ben!

Spring Concert and PB&J!

 Tonight Samuel had his spring concert! He was very excited to have our whole family come watch him, as last year I was couch bound recovering from my surgery. Ben took Eliana home after Samuel’s grade sang but she just loved it! She was clapping with everyone and saying, “There’s Samuel! Samuel’s singin’!”

I tried every blasted setting on my camera to get a good picture of Samuel, to no avail:( This was the best I could do. He’s in the blue/white striped shirt standing next to the kid in black. They were supposed to wear “spring colors.” haha.

And then….my battery died before he started singing! Boo hiss. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that’s happened to me. It also happened during Samuel’s kindergarten graduation. so sad. Anyways, the 2nd graders sang 3 songs from “The Little Mermaid.” They had movie themes: “Cinderella” for 1st graders and “The Jungle Book” for the 3rd graders.

Samuel was so proud and he did such a good job!

Yesterday, Eliana was sitting across from me eating one of her new favorite foods: PB&J. She loves to be liberated from her highchair to sit in a big chair like a big girl. And…she looked so stinkin’ cute as usual that I had to break out the camera:)

Really, can you resist this cute face?

Today I was cleaning out the refrigerator, trying to locate the source of the unpleasant smell, and she spotted the peanut butter and jelly on the table. She immediately said, “Missy have peanut butter and jewy, Mama?”

Gosh, I love this little person!

The Easter Bunny Arrives!

We love getting packages in the mail! Really, who doesn’t? Today we got a total of 4 packages. Wow, what a day:) One was an origami kit that Samuel paid for with his own money and is so excited to bring for the long (very long) car trip to FL! The smallest pkg was the Dramamine that the above mentioned child has to have for every car trip to avoid getting very sick and possibly throwing up all over the car.

We learned that the hard way.

But the very best package of the day was timed just right! It arrived after the kiddos were home from school and homework was done. You should’ve heard the gasps and yells of delight when they realized that Grandma had sent them an Easter box!!

Now I thought about forcing them to wait and driving them up the wall but I was under strict orders from Grandma to put these kiddos out of their misery! I wouldn’t have made them wait too long:) See that big box behind them?!

Grandma found some cute Bunny ears for each of them. They thought those were pretty cute and wore them around the house til bedtime. I looked at this picture and decided to torture them some more since Zakkai looks angry and Samuel looks a bit cheesy. Such a nice mama!

Two out of three ain’t bad! The table was a wreck of tissue paper and wrappers and special surprises. The boys said to tell Grandma “THANK YOU!!” They are especially excited about using their new beach towels in FL next week!