Trip to Sc

We decided to take a trip south this winter mainly hoping to get to see Becky and Adri since it's been two and a half years since I've seen them. But the Lord had other plans. I got a little cold so going to Virginia got cancelled. So we left a couple days later for part two of our trip and stayed at Seth and Tara's for a few days for the SC part of our plans. Overall it was a great time! The kids did really well, Caroline loved playing with cousins, it was warm and summer like. ....but best of all I just really enjoyed the time of adult conversation with the family and felt I got to know folks much better than before. We also attended two baptisms, David and Nehemiah, and got to attend GPC. I hope someday we will have a church like that up here. Oh and I can't forget that Tara watched the kids for us at nap time one day so we could run an errand which happened to include a Starbucks run :-). And we got two Chick fil A lunches - yum! The trip ended on a sad note with us heading home several days early since Becky's family came down throwing up :-(. So we ended up not doing any of our original plans, but the trip home went well. However we left behind summer and came home to 8 inches of snow. John had to clear the driveway before we could even get in!

When your kids sleep in the car on a long trip you must document it.

See above caption.

Exploring at our hotel in Lexington, KY. It was wonderful, we got a suite so the kids had their own room and we all slept well!

What we came home to. For some reason blogger got my order all mixed up.....

We drove from winter, to summer, and back to winter again.

Exploring at the Evins.

Playing at the Ervins.

Playing at our hotel on the way home, in Indy.

Cookie Duke. How we kept Luke happy in the car.....

At the Greenville zoo.

At the Greenville zoo.

At the Greenville zoo.

At the Greenville zoo.

Cousins at the Greenville zoo.

Cousins at the Greenville zoo.

Sunday evening family get together at Seth and Tara's.

Sunday evening family get together at Seth and Tara's.

Cousins.

Cookie Duke.

At the Greenville zoo. Caroline liked the farm yard the best!

13 months old

Thirteen months old! He's close to walking, often will take a step with one foot, but has yet to make a full step on his own. He gets called Trouble Duke, or Challenge Duke all the time because he is adventurous, and always into things. He loves drawers, and doors, and exploring, playing cars, reading....He says a few words here and there, but isn't talking much yet. He loves to be held and snuggled :-). Sleeping hasn't been going so great, though it's always better after a visit with Dr. Brooks, and happily nursing is going very well. I hope to keep him nursing at least through the winter. We love our little Dukie very much!

New boots

I've been wanting, and looking for a cheap (in price, not quality!) pair of brown boots that would work well with non skinny jeans, would be comfy, warm, and cute since last winter. This past week John surprised me with a pair and they are so warm and comfy. Just what I wanted! And since part of the fun is the hunt, my next item I am searching for is a tall pair of dressier brown leather boots. I already have a black pair so would like some brown for when I wear brown skirts. Boots are one nice thing about living in a cold climate :-). At least you can look cute while trying to keep warm!

Interrupted plans

Today is a sad day because I've come down with a cold and our plans to drive to VA tomorrow and visit Caleb and Adri are over. We haven't seen Adri since August of 13! But trying to trust the Lord, and hope that we are all healthy enough to go to SC next week. It's good to know that He will do what is best.

Organization and trip plans

A hopeful attempt at keeping my sanity this week. I feel like I'm juggling a million different things in my brain as I try to organize a two week trip for 4 people driving too many miles for me to remember right now, including 6 different families we are visiting, two birthday parties.......So one sheet has every job I can think of that I need to do each day before we leave. The other has everything we need to pack. And yes, the backs are full too. Remembering the Elisabeth Elliott quote, "Trust God and do the next thing."!

New family pictures

Caroline and Luke said and did....

Caroline just told me to sit down on the couch and she would pick up all the toys in the living room. She then proceeded to do it, even digging under the furniture for toys, and making sure everything was in the proper basket. A girl after my own heart smile emoticon

 Luke took his first half step yesterday! I know this is probably only a big deal to his parents, but I'll enjoy seeing it in my facebook memories a year from now, Lord willing
smile emoticon

 The moment when you hear your two year old singing, "Oh give ye praise unto the Lord," to herself as she is playing. We're working on teaching her Psalm 117 and it seems she is getting it!

Caroline asked me politely to be quiet and stop singing because she's trying to read. LOL.

Luke's favorite thing to say, "Ah, bah!" He's trying to say, "Ahh, boom," which is what I say when he falls on his bottom and I'm trying to be all encouraging so he doesn't cry. He loves to hit things, say that and laugh, but we're having to teach him that hitting people is not acceptable, lol.

November days part 2

I'm not feeling well so Dukie and I stayed home from church and are hanging out reading together.

Birthday toys.

Fun moms let their kids eat cake for breakfast sometimes smile emoticon

So I have to brag about Caroline for a minute. She just decided on her own she needed to clean her room, gathered all the toys, put everything away, even the things that belonged in other rooms, and came to get me to check her work. I didn't find a single thing she missed!

Talking to his animals.

Caroline's new hat from Grandma.

Big boy carseat.

I'm looking forward to dinner tonight, I just made manicotti for the first time! Caroline watching said, "Mama, you make such good stuff."

One of Luke's favorite things to do, empty out the drawer of leftover containers.

Caroline got to watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving with Grandma last night and is now obsessed with watching it on youtube.

Caroline asked me to be quiet because she was trying to read.

Ready to go out in the first snow of the year.

What I did with the potato skins after making potato soup.