Sadness

I often forget how fleeting our life here on earth really is. We received a sad reminder last night. Mark got a phone call that one of his good friends from college, Darren, was killed in a car accident yesterday afternoon.

We had been getting reacquainted with Darren and his wife Kelly since we moved to Alabama, and had been looking forward to spending lots of time with them. Kelly has really been a blessing to me during our six months here in our new home. Her friendship has meant so much to me during a time when I really needed a friend! I went to see her last night, and it truly made my heart hurt to see her grieving. I wish that I could somehow lessen her pain.

Please pray for my sweet friend Kelly and her precious boys Ben and James, as well as all of their friends and family. Darren will be greatly missed.

Our Brave Cowboy

Isaac's real feelings about the recital (notice the eye rolling!)

What a brave boy!

Isaac has been taking music classes the past two years, and he participated in his first recital last weekend. To say that he was less than thrilled would be a huge understatement. The thought of getting up in front of a lot of people made him nervous. The teacher then announced that everyone would wear a bandanna and cowboy hat, and his eye rolling intensified. A week later, the class made up a dance that the students and "partners" (mothers) would perform on stage. That sent him over the edge (it just about pushed me over the edge also!). He looked at me in class and said, "I am NOT doing that!" It took a lot of encouragement, prayers and bribery to get him to agree to participate. I was a little nervous that he might back out in the few minutes before the big performance. He did get up on stage, and he did great. We both survived the "Swing your Partner Round and Round" dance, and he performed his solo wonderfully! I was so proud that he stepped way out of his comfort zone and did a great job. As we were walking out, he said, "That was not so bad. When is the next recital?" As a reward, we all went out for Mexican food, and then he and Mark went to see Prince Caspian. It was a great payment for a job well done!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

We celebrated Olivia's fourth birthday two weeks ago (I am a little behind on my blogging!). She was very excited to "get up in her fours" (as Grand-Bob would say) and leave three behind. We were blessed by a visit from her friends the Tuckers, who stopped by on their way to visit family. They joined us for a fine dinner at the Golden Arches (Olivia's restaurant of choice) followed by cake and ice cream. She was very happy with her Loving Family Dollhouse and her other treats our friends and family blessed her with. I am so thankful for my sweet Olivia. She adds lots of life to our house!

Piggy Back Ride!

Can you seen a two year old in this picture?

The children love spending time with Mark! One of their favorite Daddy activities is getting a piggy back ride! He puts on of them on his back and then chases the others (he gets quite a workout!). What a great Daddy he is!

Happy Mothers' Day!

I had a great Mothers' Day! I went out for several hours on Saturday while Mark watched the children. We had a bit of a rocky night on Saturday night, with tornado sirens going off twice during the night, but Sunday turned out to be a pretty day. We went to church on Sunday morning, and then had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. I then had a nice afternoon nap. What a great way to spend Mothers' Day! Mark gave me a couple of hanging baskets and some plants for Mother's Day -- just what I wanted!

Our sweet "Littles" are early morning risers. They usually wake up somewhere between 5:45 and 6:30 and make their way to our room. It is a mixed blessing to have them up so early. Mark never needs an alarm clock to get him up for work, but sometimes my pregnant body craves a few extra minutes of sleep! Anna Grace's first request is always juice, followed quickly by the Wiggles. We have gotten into the habit of watching the Disney channel in our room for a few minutes to allow me time to transition into the awake world. I cherish these early morning smiles and minutes of snuggling before we get into our daily routine!

Praise God! Our severe weather only amounted to a little thunder and some rain. We did hear the sirens, but the worst of the storm passed to the south of us. There was more severe weather not too far away, but I have not heard of any fatalities. Isaac told me that God answered his prayers. We are very thankful!

Mission Accomplished!

OK, so the title should read, "One of the many things on my to do list was accomplished!". Mark and I had serious doubts that our new "bus" and our old van would both fit in the garage. I had wanted to organize the garage sometime in May, so with the threat of hail later in the day, I decided that this morning would be a good time to tackle that project. It did not take as long as I had expected, and both vehicles fit! Mark promised to bring me a Diet Coke after work as a reward! Yippeeeee!

Head to the Laundry Room!

Hurricanes were the big weather news in Louisiana during the time that we lived there, and here in Alabama it is tornadoes. We have heard the tornado sirens twice during the six months that we have been here, once in the middle of the night and once during nap time. It was a scary thing to get the children out of their beds at 3:00 AM and drag them to the laundry room, while hearing that "funnel activity" was seen not too far from our house.

These experiences have made a big impact on our two older children, especially Isaac. His standard question every night is, "Any storms tonight Mom?" Checking the weather has become part of our nightly routine. He has asked numerous times if we could move to an area that does not have tornadoes. We ate lunch out yesterday, and Isaac overheard some ladies talking about the possibilities of severe weather today. Apparently, the conditions are just right for strong thunderstorms, hail and potential tornadoes. So, my little worrier has been working overtime. I suspect that he will stay on high alert today.

I am praying that God will help me to teach all of my children to pray and be informed and prepared when life's tornadoes come our way, but not to live in fear and worry. That is a hard lesson to learn!

Farmer Kim

Isaac, Bailey, and I have been trying our hand at Square Foot Gardening. Mark built two four feet by four feet boxes, and two small ones for Isaac and Bailey. So far, I have planted tomatoes, cucumbers, bush beans, peppers, carrots, zucchini, parsley and Marigolds. Bailey chose three different kinds of flowers and carrots. Isaac planted carrots, cucumbers beans and Marigolds. Olivia planted Zinnia seeds in a pot, and I planted a few herbs in pots as well. It has been very exciting to watch our seeds and plants grow! We are about to start a science unit to go along with our gardening. I will post more pictures as our plants grow.

Our New Bus

Mark and I had the opportunity to go on a date on Saturday night. We were in Knoxville, and my sweet parents kept the children for us. We ate a yummy dinner at Connor's Steak House, and then decided to "run into" Car Max to take a look at a car I had seen on the Internet. "Running in" turned out to be a three hour car buying experience. With the price of fuel on the rise, Suburbans are not currently very popular. We were able to get a good deal on a 2005 model, with less than 35,000 miles. We kept our van to drive until October when Johnson #5 makes an appearance. It was not quite the date that I had expected, but we are thankful for our new bus!

Dollywood

We took a family "vacation" to Dollywood on Friday. We drove to Knoxville to stay with Nanna and Grand-Bob on Thursday night. We (Nanna was brave enough to go with us!) got up early on Friday morning and headed for Pigeon Forge. We met Mamaw for breakfast, and we all headed to Dollywood. Everyone was very excited! Anna Grace seemed to pretty tired, but we assumed it was because of our late bedtime the night before.

We headed straight for the rides. We started out in the Country Fair part of the park. Olivia and Anna Grace loved the Flying Elephants, Bees, Pigs and Ducky rides, while Bailey and Isaac tried out slightly more adventurous rides. From there we headed to our first water ride of the day, the River Rampage. Nanna kept the two littles while the rest of us managed to get soaked.

Nanna, Anna Grace, and I went to watch a gospel show while everyone else headed off for more water adventure. Anna Grace slept on Nanna's lap through most of the show. Afterwards, when we were getting lunch, Mark noticed that Anna Grace was feeling pretty warm, so he took her to a first aid station. It turned out, that her temperature was 103.2. He left the park, and took her to a doctor (what a dad!). Her ears and throat were red, so he prescribed and antibiotic for her. She was really a pleasant little person, despite how sick she was.

All things considered, the day went well. Mamaw was quite a trooper about riding the wild rides with Bailey and Isaac. It was wonderful to have an adult for every child. As we were leaving, Olivia said, "That was a great Dollywood!"

Quote of the Day

"At a gas station" -- Bailey (when asked where her daddy works!)