Since the Move

A week into February we finally got to move our family to be with Daniel for work. While we are waiting on some contract work in my favorite locale (Indy), we are living in the Paducah, KY area. It's actually just over the Illinois state line in the middle of nowhere...worse than Fayetteville.

We've been staying busy with school and exploring. Avery finally has a little friend to play with, her cousin Emmery. They have a lot of fun together.

Packed up and ready for our new adventure.

Daniel's birthday was a few days before we moved, so we celebrated with brownies when we got there.

Harold has lots of fun toys. Avery's first ride on this was pretty funny. She went so slow...I wasn't complaining though!

My little sidekick humored me while we went to the Ohio River and took touristy pictures. 

Eating lunch with my favorite people. 

When we lived here in 2009 we were lucky and found an awesome church. I was so excited to go back with my little family. We found a fun diner for lunch after church.

The weather has been pretty great, so we've been spending a lot of time at the park.

Emmery invited Avery to a cheer clinic one Saturday, and she had so much fun! Emmery's mom made Avery this cute shirt and monogrammed her shorts. She got to perform a cheer and a dance at a high school basketball game. I was so proud! I got a cute video of her, but apparently it's too long for my blog to upload...boo.

We've been working hard with Avery's schoolwork. Last week we did presidents and this week is dental health. Avery is learning so much, and I'm so proud of her progress!

Harold bought some animals for his farm...ducks, chicks, and bunnies. Avery, Colt, and Emmery love to play with them! I didn't know my kids were such animal lovers...they didn't get that from me!

Since we got here Avery has been dying to take her training wheels off her bike. After church on Sunday we went to the park and gave it a try. I was shocked...she got it on the first try!! So proud of my big girl!

We are so enjoying our time together as a family, and we can't wait to see what's in store for the future.

I started a prayer journal, hoping to get my prayer life on a good track. I really stink at praying, mostly remembering to. And then when I do I feel like I talk God's ear off. I've got my journal in different sections for different people to pray for (husband, children, friends, etc.) It's helping me stay organized and hopefully not leave anyone out. 

The first section is for scripture, and this morning I found one that I think could be my life verse:

"I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

Acts 20:24

I spend so much time worrying about this and that (trivial things) when I know this place is not really my home, and my only goal in life is to bring people to Jesus. Something to work on...

Before the Move

Oh. My. Gosh. I am so behind! I just pulled this thing up, and I haven't posted in over a month. That's a lot of catching up to do. So this post will be before we moved to Paducah/Metropolis, and the next one will be since.

I have a bunch of pics, but I don't know when they happened, so they will probably be out of order. I'm sure you're worried about that, though...

I can't believe how big my kids are! They love being outside and riding the 4-wheeler with Daddy (cause this girl sure doesn't know how to drive it!)

My sister gave the kids this game for Christmas. It's called Suspend, and it is so fun!! You can't really see it well here, but you have to hang different length rods on each other and try to keep it balanced. Both kids are really good at it!

We went to Birmingham one last time before we moved, and since we will probably be on the road for a while, we celebrated both kids' birthdays. It was weird, but fun.

My mom made these cute cupcake toppers...Team Umizoomi for Colt and Sheriff Callie for Avery.

Singing for both my big kids.

We played Musical Chairs. It was actually pretty fun. The pictures are blurry because everyone was moving so fast! The competition was brutal...

We also played Pin the Tail on the Donkey. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who pinned it on the spot.

The kids each got their own soccer ball from Meme. They are having so much fun! Avery will be playing soccer in Paducah soon, and we are so excited!

One day we got so much rain I almost started building an ark. The kids had a blast! Luckily it was warm (in January!) so we could play in it. I love to watch them play in rain. Pure joy.

Oh, that face. That face is the reason he's so darn rotten.

After the nightmare that was (and still is) Avery and the potty, I'm glad to have a boy who can pee anywhere. 

Avery expressed desire to wash dishes...who am I to argue with that?! I've been waiting for this day for 5 years.

More pictures from our trip to Birmingham. Avery went to babysit with Meme, so Colt and I went exploring in Birmingham. I didn't know this existed, but I'm so glad we found it! The more I'm away from my city, the more I love it and am glad I was raised here.

Colt and I might have visited Savages two days in a row...that means two cream cheese meltaways. There's a (very) high end children's store next door, and my mom and I found the kids some awesome steals! 

We went to Overton Park one day, and the kids had fun on a new (to them) park. 

After Birmingham it was time to go home and pack for our new destination. At the beginning of February we loaded up and headed to the Paducah, KY area. Coming back to a bigger city really makes me happy. I'm definitely a city girl. We are having fun with school and doing lots of new things with the kids. More on that in the next post...