licking the brownie batter spoon...

birthday boy privileges...

happy birthday, tysen!

my baby boy is 3!! he is such a lovable sweetheart...he can make anyone in our family smile! we brought him a honeybun with candles in bed...he LOVES people to sing 'happy birthday' to him! then he got to open his presents before we had to get the older boys off to school.

a few things about you at this age:

--your favorite movie is 'monsters inc'
--you love any kid of drink...you even said you liked coffee when you took a sip (though i'm not sure you really did). you don't get sodas very often but if you get a sip of mom or dads, you always say "hey! i like it!"
--you can walk in my heels better than i can
--you have the sweetest demeanor...everyone just melts at your words
--you still LOVE watermelon
--you are very 'pattern' conscious. you find 3-4 patterns in your surroundings every day. "mommy look its a pattern! sit...stand...sit...stand!" ...."mommy look its a pattern! sandwich...fruit...sandwich...fruit!" its a huge revelation to you every time you think of it!
--you want to touch every pregnant woman's belly...and some who aren't pregnant! (yikes!)
--you sing all the time...making up songs about whatever you happen to be doing at the time
--you can whistle (which is actually quite impressive at your age)
--your favorite tv shows are 'diego' and 'the backyardigans'

there's so much more....but we are soooooooooo proud of you!!!

just some fam time...

logan was begging for a family wii night...so we had dinner, and made our favorite snack, 'flavors' (chex mix, animal crackers, popcorn, and chocolate chips) ....andy and logan started to face off in wii tennis while ian, tysen and i made the snack! we took a break from wii to eat our 'flavors' and watched america's funniest home videos. i love watching the boys laugh so hard at the videos!

from ian...

I'm the luckiest mom...

spring break

spring break came fast. and went fast! everybody in the family got sick at some point during the week. thankfully, there was 1 day (wednesday) that everyone was feeling good all at the same time! so, we headed out to the gainsville zoo. i was a little disappointed as we finished the entire zoo in less than an hour...but there was a fun park across the street where we stayed for awhile and had our picnic lunch. here's a few pictures from our short adventure!

listening to the words...

music moves me. all kinds of music, and i mean, really moves me. its always been a part of my life. as a kid, i dreamed of being a singer. and still to this day, on the songs i love, there's pretty much a concert going on in my head. its why, when i actually go to a concert, i just sit and watch.

i especially love worship music...it stirs something so deep in my heart that it often brings me to tears. at the very tip top of my favorite singer list (just underneath celine dion) is christy nockels. she's the lead singer for watermark...and i've loved her songs for years.

but today...as i was working out and listening to one of my favorite songs by watermark...it was like i heard the words for the first time again. so moving...so inspiring...such truth....
it got me through the last 10 minutes of working out...just meditating on the words...

"It is time that we give you honor...
this is the day to give you all the praise that you deserve.
A Holy King...of everything...inhabit the praises of your people...
Have we waited far too long now to surrender. Forgive us, oh God, the years we failed to seek your face. Oh, Lord your mercy turns us into grateful people. We can't seem to find the words...so take our lives that they might be enough...
to show you how grateful....
Lord we are grateful...."

"Bless the Lord...oh my soul...and all that is within me, bless his holy name...."

fort time....

well, andy found a bunch of huge boxes being thrown out, so he grabbed them and has been saving them for a "fort day". i went to canton, and the boys built a fort. i must say it was much more extravagant than i expected...with tunnels and windows, and towers. it was pretty awesome. sadly, we didn't check the weather, and we didn't get to keep it up for today due to the storm coming (as you can see). we did salvage half on our porch, so they can continue the fun...