A concert, some new shoes and cutie patootie is 7 months old

Suzy played her trumpet in the last Lighthouse Christian Homeschool Band concert of the year. It is always amazing to me to hear how much the students have improved over just 9 short months. Owen didn't cry when the strings played this time - (note: this is not a reflection on talent, he also cries when Suz turns the keyboard into an organ :-)

Lily has wanted a pair of Crocs 'forever' but her super narrow feet just won't fit in them... that is until Nanny Elsass suggested Cali Gear by Sketchers! She is super thrilled to have her own pair of bejeweled plastic footwear ;-P Ben is equally thrilled with his spiderman version!

Owen's pic say it all - he is soo cute I could just eat him up! A friend told me she calls babies like him "whipped cream' - so soft and squishy and huggily snuggily...

Please Pray for the Steven Curtis Chapman Family!

Words cannot express the sorrow and grief I feel for this precious family right now... Please pray for them.

Christian singer, Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child Maria died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s home. New reports said that the teen was driving a SUV down the driveway of their rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her-it appears to be a terrible accident. The accident was witnessed by two other children and the entire family was home at the time.

Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth have long been supporters of international adoption, having brought three girls from China into their family. Maria was the youngest. The couple is so active in the cause that they formed an organization, Shaohannah’s Hope, to aid families wanting to adopt. With his latest music tour, which came through Nashville in November, Chapman started a campaign called “Change for Orphans”. He asked audience members at each stop to bring spare change to the concert, where it was counted and given to a local family to aid in their adoption process.“I don’t know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension,” said John Styll, president of the Nashville-based Gospel Music Association.“He talks about his kids all the time. That’s his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that’s for sure.”

WITH HOPE

1 Thess. 4:13-14 / Heb. 6:9, 10:23

This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything God promised us is true, so ...
We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

Words and Music by Steven Curtis Chapman (for friends whose young daughter died in a traffic accident)

Here is a link to a blog in memory of Maria Chapman.http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

Benny's Sticker

This is how Ben looked upon our arrival home from a grocery shopping trip to Kroger - he planted the sticker right smack dab in the middle of his forehead :-).

Mother's Day

Max brought me flowers - aren't they lovely!

My boys and their new 'looks'

Don't know what got into my boys the last few days, but Max dyed his hair and Ben experimented with Lily's lipgloss... Oh my!

Ben 'reads' to Mommy

Ben asks for this book daily and almost has it memorized :-)

Olde English Tea Room

Ben's 3rd Birthday

Ben decided he wanted to go to Jumpin' Beans (indoor inflatable playspace) for his birthday - this was after changing his mind about a million times - had a hard time choosing between that and putter golf or Chuck E Cheese... After that, we ate dinner at his favorite Thai restaurant (his favorite food is Pad Thai)and then home for presents and chocolate cake with strawberries!