Our crazy lives: March 2014

Remember us?! Im sucking it up and just putting a little catch up post on here in hopes that it gets my butt in gear to write more and keep people (OK lets be honest, my parents are probably the only one reading this at this point!) updated more :) So, in an effort to get a little caught up, Im going to just put in brief birthday pictures from the past year and then we can go from there later. Great! OK, rewind with me to October!!!

Keenan Boy!!!!!

6. My boy is 6. I mean almost 6 and a half now. Wowzers!! I love watching his little mind develop and seeing his world open up more and more as he is learning to read and do math and write a little bit. He is still super tender hearted and longs to be a blessing to others. He is wise in observing other people and gauging where they are emotionally. I am amazed all the time at how he does listen and take things into consideration when it comes to how to love others well. But he is the boss at the same time and is quick to sternly correct his brother and sister when they are not doing something right. Good ol' responsibility. Never had that one! :) The other day he informed me that he wanted to start getting to school earlier and that we cut it close too often. I told him that he could help me in the mornings by getting himself dressed since he is 6 and knows where his uniform is. The next morning I woke up and came out of my room to Keenan fully dressed including socks and shoes, Elliot fully dressed minus the shoes, and even Lucy was dressed and ready for the day even though it was not a day that she went to school. By 7:05 he had everyone outside standing by the car waiting for Craig and I to get outside. Another day that the kids didn't have school I woke up to Keenan sitting at the kitchen table by himself working on his math homework. Where did he come from?! But I love it, and I am crazy about that boy!!! He still struggles with living so far away from his family in America and dreams of the summers when we get to go back and be with everyone. He still says his best friend in the world is Cameron Brown and is still obsessed with super heroes. He has a new dream of being a surfer and has now grown his hair out so he can sweep his sun bleached highlighted hair to the side. :) Favorite colors now are gray and turquoise and his favorite show is a Disney show called Henry Calimonstre that we have on the French channel. So, here are some pictures of his 6 year celebration and 6 year pictures. We went to the beach to celebrate the day and then had everyone over to our house for a little spaghetti and cake time! Here's to my huge guy who I love more than words could ever say!!!

Birthday morning loot!!

blowing out the candles

checking out his bright cake

Crazy man on the beach

Handsome face

little smirk model face

he likes manly model shots these days :)

SURPRISE!!!!

Princess Lucy Mae <3 u="">

On to the next birthday for the year and the beginning of the birthday madness month, we reach February. Our sweet little Lucy Mae turned 2 and I could not be more in love with this little drama princess girl. She is spunky, giggly, snuggly, and girly to the max and she makes me just love having a girl! I remember when we found out she was a girl there was a part of me that was so nervous because we just knew boys and our boys were crazy monkeys. :) But she has held her own, demands in her own little way to be treated like a princess, and she will fight back in a heartbeat! She gets down and wrestles with the boys at any given moment but then as soon as music is on she cannot help but shake her little hips and reach to grab someones hands to dance with. She and Elliot are partners in crime and conspire to get into trouble together, but they laugh the hardest when they are together. The word "go" causes her heart to race and then a look that is a cross between extreme excitement with the hopes that she gets to go somewhere and sheer panic that she will be left out is on her face. Really you can say "go" in a sentence not even talking to her and not in an excited voice and she screams, raises her her hand and yells "Yeah, MEEEEE!!!" She is still not really talking, but gaining words little by little. So far her list of words she is consistent with is: Mama, Daddy, Bobby (who is on our team and she talks about non stop. Her world is Bobby), Ni (for anyone else who she doesnt know their name or refuses to try to pronounce, including both boys), no, yeah, woah, chaussure (shoe in French. She cant say Keenan, but she says chaussure?!), meeeee (for please which is typically accompanied with her trying to do the sign language for please, but it has always ended up as a slicing motion across her neck which is really more threatening than polite :)), my, Mickey, hi, bye, bonjour, au revoir, ah-ti (which is used for thank-you since merci is thank you in French, but is also used for sorry), apple, ball, Baby (she is super attached to her baby doll and calls for her all the time), meow, allo (the French way to answer the phone), and moooooo. She does do some motions to communicate as well so she gets her point across for the most part. Here are a few pictures of our little two year old!! We just hung out for her birthday and had the team over for cupcakes in the evening. I had fun taking pictures of her for her two year old shoot. She's starting to like the camera more especially when she can see the pictures after :)! Enjoy this precious little face!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday morning!!! She looks like she is still asleep a bit! :)

Mmmmmmm... chocolate!!

Cheeeeesee

lady like manners are so overrated!!

Silly faces

Keenan was making her giggle behind me

Practicing her surprise face to be like Keenan.

Cheese ball!! But oh, how I love this!!

CRAAAAAAIIIGGG!!!!

Oh man, Craig!! We got to celebrate this great man the end of February and had a blast! Its so fun to celebrate someone when it's not hard thinking of things you love about them!!! We are coming up on 10 years of marriage and then you can add 5 years before that of sweet friendship. I could not imagine sharing life with anyone else and I would never want to. He challenges me to be better and grow, he encourages my heart in tender ways, and continues to pursue knowing me all these years later. At times he is impossible to keep up with even in conversations as his mind goes faster than his mouth can even keep up with. His deep passion is matched up with boundless energy and he dreams of conquering the world in a million different ways. All at once. Right now. I mean it, its very urgent!!!! :) He keeps me dreaming for greater things and reaching for more when it comes to my relationship with the Lord and pouring into the kids. He is an incredible dad and can make the kids laugh until they literally cant breathe anymore. I just really really love this guy and am proud to be his wife and will proudly and confidently follow him because he loves the Lord and his family so dearly. For his birthday we went out to lunch with the team to Craig's favorite hamburger place. The team had the idea to all dress up in his favorite sports gear and colors and even the restaurant gave him a free milkshake (and if you know Craig, free things are the thing that show him the most love, so he was giddy!). The team made him a giant card and a birthday madlib wish and it was such a fun time with lots of laughter. We had dinner together just as a family and of course some german chocolate cake. Then Flora stopped by with a present for Craig which was so kind. She gave him a traditional outfit that is worn for special occasions. He was so honored since this is his first traditional African outfit! Here are a few pictures from his celebration.

At the Hamburger House with his giant homemade card

blowing out his candle

With Flora and his new outfit

Elliot Michael!!!!!

A few days after Craig's birthday was Elliot's big day! Man, this kid melts me and I just cant help myself. He drives me crazy beyond belief too, but it's all part of the fun of El-dot. :) He is me in a small package and because of that he drives me bonkers. Everything just slides off this guy and he is happy go lucky which makes it hard to discipline and I wonder all the time if he really gets it. Only time will tell, I guess. He is stubborn, sassy, silly beyond description, and the best snuggler on the face of the earth. He is the first to say thank you for everything from big special days to the play place on the other side of town to simply serving him dinner. He tries out everything that you tell him not to and refuses the smallest, silliest instruction to do something. When you go to sternly correct him, he tilts his head down slightly and stares at you with his sweet big brown eyes that Im pretty sure he trained himself to fill slightly with tears, and you are a puddle. He is quick to say sorry and beg for a hug and has to have snuggles and prayers for his dreams every night before going to bed. If either of those things are rushed or missed, he will come out and remind you of them after lights have been turned off and he is supposed to be going to sleep. He shares everything. He picks a flower from the bush at the enterance to the school for his girl in class, Mari, every morning, and one for me every afternoon when I pick him up. His high pitched quick giggle can be heard all through the house and he just brings life to every situation. He makes us all laugh so hard with his random comments and endless facial expressions. This crazy boy is so much fun and such a challenge all at the same time and I adore him!!! Here are some pictures from celebrating him! :)