Take the Quiz here!

This was a fun quiz. I love Jane Austen, and Elinor Dashwood is one of my very favorite characters!

Our Family Vacation

We finally took our very first family vacation. We have taken lots of fun trips to visit family, but this is the first trip we have ever taken just for the sake of taking a trip together. It was just the five of us, and it was wonderful! We went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and spent two days hiking around and in the magnificent caverns. The last day of our vacation, on our way home, we stopped in at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. It was relaxing and so much fun. We all wore cowboy hats and bandanas, and we each bought a necklace (a tradition we started on our last roadtrip to visit my family.) We got some really great pictures, and I wanted to share some of them with you. I think you can tell from the pictures that we all had a wonderful time. We plan to take many more family trips throughout Europe and Africa in the next few years!

Braden's Fine Arts Night

Braden's school did a Fine Arts Night last week. A local author did a reading, and then we went to his classroom to see some of his work from the past year. They had worked hard to have a representation of their writing and artwork ready for their parents to see.

Lydia Has Been Busy

Lydia graduated from Cornerstone Preschool two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the ceremony was during her dress rehearsal for ballet, so I went to their practice during school and took pictures and videos. She was crying because she wanted me. So I didn't get any happy pictures that day. It had been a really long week with ballet rehearsals every night, and she was really tired.

She was so happy when I gave her these flowers on closing night. She played a dragonfly, and looked darling on stage with her class. The ballet was "Cinderella" and all of the lead roles were played by the older students at the Academy of Ballet where she does lessons. The owner of the school needed someone to play the king, and asked Morgan to do it because he enjoys performing. He had never done ballet before, but did a really good job. What a good Daddy! It was so sweet during the curtain call when Lydia came on stage and looked up at Morgan.

After the ballet was over, and she didn't need to have her hair in a bun anymore, I took her to get her hair cut. So in the next post watch for her cute new haircut!

Play Along!

Here is a fun game my friend Mendy started on her blog:

Okay, as a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Soccer is over for another season

Braden enjoyed this season playing with his friends Alex and Abby. He absolutely loves soccer, and it is so fun for me to watch his progress. He started a few years ago when he was only four, and it is great to watch as he becomes more bold, aggressive and skilled. I love it when he is on the field -- even when the ball is nowhere near him he is always moving -- jumping around and cheering for his teammates.

After only two weeks on the market, our house has sold! We are happy and releived. There had been another offer on our house, but they didn't accept our counter-offer (they had offered 10% lower than asking price, so we decided to hold out for someone willing to pay closer to our price). A few days after the first offer our realtor called and asked how we would like to come in and sign a full-price offer. We were so happy! Everything is really coming together now. I am constantly busy with move preparations. We all have such mixed emotions, but I think everyone is excited about our new adventure.

Extra! Read all about it! Liam Hanners Sleeps Through the Night!

After nine months of Liam sleeping in my arms in bed with me every night, he has finally taken to his crib! I really was beginning to think that he would never sleep in the crib, and that it had been a colossal waste of time to even assemble it. Every time I tried to put him down in it he would look at me like I was the meanest mommy alive, and then scream until I picked him up. And I always obliged, because I couldn't stand to hear him cry. But I think there was more to it than just that. After witnessing the lightning-fast growth rate of Braden and Lydia, I know just how short this precious time is. If he didn't want me to put him down, I was fine with cuddling as much as he wanted. But I also knew that he needed the quality sleep aforded him in his own bed. So we slowly started to put him in his crib for bedtime and naps, even if we got him back up again shortly after. He was still spending most of the night in bed with us, but he was learning to be on his own. Then, one night last week (Wednesday, May 2nd to be exact), he slept for 4 hours in his bed. The next night he slept for 7 hours! I was so proud (after I rushed to his room to make sure he was still breathing)! Now he still comes into bed with me for a little while at about 4 a.m., but he goes right back to his crib. And he loves it! I am so proud!

Happy Fifth Birthday to Lydia!

Lydia celebrated her fifth birthday on April 2. The celebration actually lasted for a few weeks as we had a small party on her actual birthday, cookies and singing at school, and a big party on the 14th after all of her friends had returned from Spring Break.

I am so grateful for my little princess. She is such an imaginitive, thoughtful, creative girl. I love how she is strong (even though it is a challenge for me sometimes). She loves to dance and sing, and often makes up her own musical production numbers, usually singing about God (between church, her pre-school and VeggieTales CD's those are the only songs she has learned). She is fearless, and willing to try new things. She didn't even hesitate when offered the chance to mount Bert, a big old horse in Maryland. She also honestly believes that she is a grown-up -- just not big enough to drive. I have tried to convince her otherwise, but without success. She is such a blessing in our lives, and I hope she knows just how much she is loved by all who know her.

Happy Birthday, Princess!