June 2014

In June, we celebrated Emma's 4th birthday and the last day of school (both on June 13th), and enjoyed a visit from Baba, Meemaw, and Abby, who also flew in the night of June 13th. We went down the Kitty Hawk, NC, to see Kill Devil Hills, where the first flight was made, drove up to Williamsburg to see the historic town, and took a tour on the Victory Rover of the naval base areas in Norfolk. Abby stayed through the weekend to see Emma's first dance recital at the Sandler Performing Arts Center on June 21st. June also signaled the end of the Awana year, and a break in dance classes for Emma after her recital. She loved dancing on stage. I was afraid she'd get nervous or freeze up (the theater seats right under 1500 people), but she had a blast. Her class was very cute, and we enjoyed seeing the other performances too.

We had Vacation Bible School (themed Agency D3: Discover, Decide, Defend) June 22-26, while Jered was on a work trip in Fort Worth, Texas. I taught the grades 1-3 Bible Study class with our pastor's wife, and really enjoyed the curriculum. Each kid was a "secret agent" investigating the evidence of Christ's saving power. The kids were very excited about it, and Will was totally on fire about the study. They gave the kids a song CD to take home (definitely not the same kind of VBS songs I remember - think secret agent movie themes!) that they listen to in the car a lot. Will had been asking us about baptism for a couple of months prior, and attended a class on baptism the week following VBS. We are very happy that he has decided he wants to be baptized and make public his personal relationship with Christ.

We also started Summer Reading programs through the Virginia Beach Public Library (and partnership with Will's school, Shelton Park Elementary), and the JEB Little Creek base library. The kids read a certain number of books per week, and they get prizes. Will finished all 20 of his books for both programs within a couple of weeks, and Emma and I have about 15 each, so we're still getting some prizes.  They also have programs like weekly crafts, movie afternoons, puppet shows, and other weekly activities like Lego Club that we have been enjoying this summer.

May 2014

Trying to play catch up from all the summer activities - starting with May. In May, we had our 11th wedding anniversary, Mother's Day, and I took a 2 night girls' trip to the oceanfront with Abby for her 30th birthday. We stayed on the boardwalk at the Surfside Inn, and had a lot of fun enjoying the oldies and cover bands out that weekend for the "Beach Music Cruise-in." Will received the May Student of the Month for Self-control award at school. We also found out in May that Will passed his gifted exams, and will in the gifted cluster classroom at our neighborhood school next year in second grade. We are very proud of him! Emma spent a lot of time in May getting ready for her first dance recital in June.

Easter 2014

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful day celebrating the risen Savior. It was the quietest Easter we've spent in the last 6 years, not having a young families party to host or attend. It was also the coldest - it only got up to about 55 today!

Easter weekend started out on Good Friday with a wonderful conversation with the children. We were talking about Good Friday in the car. Emma wanted to know why Jesus had to die for our sins. Will said, "so we can go to heaven." We talked about how we alone will always sin and never be good enough to go to heaven, so Christ came to pay for all our sins by living a perfect life and sacrificing himself. Emma said, "and so God can live in our hears, right? I want Jesus in my heart." I said yes, the Holy Spirit lives inside you if you ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior. She said, "I want that, I want him to save me." So we prayed together, right there in the car. It was a wonderful, sweet moment.

After church, we did our little Easter egg hunt at home. I printed out verses with pictures for each section, and cut them into pieces for each egg. So the kids had to find all the parts and put them together to make 3 verses "For God so loved the world...", "He is not here, He is risen," and "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (the first is Will's favorite verse, and the last is one of Emma's two favorite verses). They had a lot of fun finding the eggs, and opening them to find the verse clues and also some candy and coins.

Springtime!

Over the last couple of weeks, Spring has gradually crept up, then suddenly bloomed in Virginia Beach. The first signs were the beautiful white flowering trees (we don't know what they are called, they look like crabapples). I took some pictures of them and the blossoming cherry trees in our neighborhood, but they got erased somehow. Let it suffice to say that the landscape is just as beautiful here in the Spring as it was in the Fall.

Will started soccer at the end of March. He really likes it, and it is easier for him than basketball. I enjoy it because I get to sit outside to watch him play, and Emma can wander around and sing without bothering anyone! His first game was yesterday. The weather was perfect and the kids had fun.

 

Emma's June recital outfit came in recently. She is "so excited for this beautiful dress." Her recital is June 21, and she has the routine down pretty well already. I downloaded the song (Sugar, Sugar by the Archies) on my iPod so she can practice at home.

 

On Friday Will's class celebrated Easter with an Easter egg hunt for the first grade, followed by a class party. Emma and I helped hide the 1400 eggs, and Will's teacher let her participate in the egg hunt. We also ate lunch with Will, and went the auditorium afterward for his reading time. Will was a great big brother: he held Emma's hand the whole time, and took her around the lunch table to introduce her (although we've been there a few times already!), read a book about stars to her, and helped her find eggs during the hunt. This coming week is Spring Break, and we are looking forward to the time off from school, and also soccer, ballet, and Awanas, which are all on break. The weather the last few days has been SO nice, in the high 60s and 70s! We have spent many hours fishing, at the parks, and playing with neighbors. Next week it is going to be back to the 50s and rainy, but at least it's not snowing anymore!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My valentine is 3000 miles away in California, but my little sweethearts, Will and Emma, had fun opening their presents this morning before school! They were so excited that even Will woke up without me pulling off his blankets and flipping on the lights. Will's class has an ice cream party later today; Emma and I are bringing ice cream and sprinkles. We had snow again this week, but it all melted off with the rain afterward. Today is cold, but bright and sunny finally!

 

Addendum: Jered got home safe and sound Saturday morning after a red eye, all night flight. Will and I were up all night Friday because he was throwing up. He stopped shortly after Jered got home Saturday morning, and is doing well. We're all still trying to catch up on sleep, especially because the dog woke us up in the middle of the night last night. I won't say what was wrong because it's too gross to blog about! Thankfully, Jered was off today, so at least he didn't have to go to work after another night of very little sleep! The pleasant parts this weekend were a nice church service Sunday, followed by a friend's birthday party, and then the Valentine Heart2Heart banquet at church last night. Childcare was provided, and we enjoyed a good meal and a great speaker.