Dancin' Duncan

Okay, so I have all of these beautiful pictures of my beautiful daughter at her ballet recital, but I'll work on those tomorrow. For now, I had to share these pictures of my adorable husband and his sweet little girl! Larry's daughter got married this evening. It was a beautiful evening wedding with dinner and dancing. I was looking around for Scott to get ready to leave and Melinda Shelton told me he was on the dance floor. Thankfully, I had the camera in my purse and I went tearing through tables to catch a shot of him dancing. Why is this such a big deal? Because in the almost thirteen years we have been married, I have never seen him out on the dance floor. As we were walking to the car, I realized that Anna Kate has succeeded in getting two men out on the dance floor that don't dance...her papaw and her daddy. Hmmm...Anna Kate's going to have to get more fingers to wrap the men in her life around. FYI--Ben wouldn't dance with me this time!

Our New Home

Okay, so here's the "Full Sun" room. It's Ben's Ligtning McQueen room and he picked the paint color. He also is choosing to have a red wall with a lightning bolt on it, but we haven't gotten the wall up yet. That wall will separate Ben and Anna Kate's rooms. It was originally a three bedroom converted to a two bedroom for a large master.
This is our room. We have decided to carpet it, which will be Monday. That means we have to move all the furniture out of it!
Okay, so here's the main bathroom. Can anyone say "yikes"? I think when it's done, it will be rather nice, however, right now it's a little on the rough side. A little secret...I haven't had a REAL bath in a couple of days. I definitely need to make a trip to mom's tomorrow before choir practice for a shower!
Yes, it's a bathtub in the living room...patiently waiting for it's home in the bathroom. If we could figure out how to plug it up, I guess we could bathe here? Well, maybe not!
Yes, go ahead and have a laugh at our expense! This was in the flower bed out back when we bought the house...a little added bonus, I guess. I was teasing Ben and told him he had an outside toilet to use and Anna Kate thought I was being serious. She asked the other day when we were putting the bathtub out in back with the potty!

Just had to put this in...isn't he cute?
God definitely blessed us with a nice big living room! It's great for all four kids. There's lots of room to run and lots of places for Colton to get into something...you gotta love that kid!
Not much to say...kitchen! Except, praise the Lord for cabinets I didn't have to refinish!
Dining room...
Anna Kate's Tinkerbell room. Mimi got her the canopy above her bed. She loves it! She actually is starting out in her own bed now at night...I'm just wondering when she'll stay in it all night. Truth be told, I love to snuggle with my kids at night! They'll only be this young once...and they are growing so fast!

Even more painting!!!

This is Beth Calvert from church. She is on staff with Scott and is the Life Skills Coordinator. She and Scott work alot together and she's great! She also leads the Bible Study I go to on Friday morning. She came over on Memorial Day and helped me paint the kids bedrooms and paint primer on the extremely BLUE bathroom! We had a great time talking and getting to know each other better while we painted. Thanks Beth!

Movin' In

Here we are. We just started piling everything in rooms. Thankfully, I had already been unpacking some things slowly when I would come over to work. Thanks to the Hall's! You guys were a huge help getting everything else in!!!!
I'm not real sure how Bobby could maneuver this trailer around. He just pulled it right up to the front porch and started unloading. I would have taken out a tree or two if I had attempted it.
Elizabeth and Anna Kate passed the time coloring. That's the way to move in my opinion. Let all the adults do the work!!!!
A very odd combination for lunch but they loved it! They had pizza, chicken nuggets and Doritos.
Here is Scott bringing in his beloved couch! He loves that thing because he can stretch out on it and relax and sleep...that is, if he doesn't have a honey do list!

Movin' Out

Scott had the breakfast of champions on moving day. 24 ounces of coffee!!!!! It was an early morning, but we were excited!
Bobby, Wanda, Cody, Josh and Elizabeth Hall came to help us move. How grateful we were for them. Bobby even let us use his truck and trailer.
Everyone pitched in! Even Elizabeth and Ben. Although, I think Ben was just having fun running up and down the ramp.
Of course, Scott had to give poor Elizabeth a hard time.

My Little Cubbies

Ben and Anna Kate got a late start in Cubbies, but their leaders got them through it so they could get some awards. They were both very proud of themselves and walked right up on stage to receive their awards. Next year, Ben will be a Spark...I can't believe it!

Painting...

I have been working at the house all week. Eight days straight to be exact. I'm absolutely the most tired I've ever been. Dad has been helping some and Scott has been there when he could. Now, it's almost done. We could actually move in with no problem (except for the yucky bathtub which will be fixed next week). We still have to put the wall back up in the one bedroom to make it into a three bedroom home again, paint Ben and Anna Kate's rooms, carpet our bedroom and fix the door facing to the bathroom, fix the plumbing in the half bath, paint a few doors, hang a few more curtains and redo the main bathroom. Overall, it's gone pretty well. I'm going to try to post some pictures next week but I was so overwhelmed with work this week that I didn't get around to it.

We really are blessed and I'm looking forward to moving into the house and making it our home!

My Sonic Hero

Okay, so Ben role plays all the time! Scott introduced him to the game Sonic and he loves to play the game, watch the cartoon and pretend he's Sonic. Ben doesn't need toys! He has his imagination. He asked me if I could make him look like Sonic and, thankfully, his hair kind of stands on end if left alone. All I did was use a little mousse and hairspray and there stood Sonic!

Ben's Schoolwork

Ben was very proud of his schoolwork this morning. Of course, I'm as proud as can be of him! He's doing very well and he's so willing too, which makes it easier on me. Anna Kate on the other hand, will probably not be as willing!
These are the first words he has written. And, yes, he knew what the words were without me telling him. As a matter of fact, we were driving through Huntington yesterday, and he said "Hey mommy, there's the Fun Factory." He sounded it out on his own and he's very quick to correct me if I'm a little lazy with my "or". I'm a little concerned...maybe he should start teaching me!!!!

My Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! Not only do I have a great mom I have two great kids that God has blessed me with. I am so thankful to God for giving them to me. As Larry was praying for all the mom's yesterday and for all those who had lost their mom's, he also prayed for all the women who couldn't be moms but wanted to be. I so appreciate him! Even though God has blessed me with two beautiful kids, my heart literally aches when I hear of a couple that are going through infertility. I am so thankful that God heard our MANY prayers for children and chose to bless us!

This is my favorite time of morning. Look at those eyes! Neither of my kids wake up quickly and Ben just couldn't get his eyes open.
Anna Kate was patiently waiting for her breakfast on Mother's Day...she's beautiful even when she just gets out of bed...or at least I think so!

Anna Kate was in a Mother's Day program at church and I thought she was adorable. Ben didn't want to do it. I'm trying to talk him into being in the Father's Day program and dressing up like a tie. I do know he wasn't about to be a Gerbera Daisy like his sister!



Here she is asking her daddy if he thinks she's beautiful. Of course, you know daddy's response. Everytime we get ready to go somewhere, when she's finished getting ready, she runs straight to Scott! Daddy's little princess!

Yes, we closed!

At 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon, we sat and signed, or should I say Scott signed, his name away!!! For some reason the bank didn't put me as a person on the loan although my name is on the deed. Worked out pretty well for me, didn't it? I asked Scott how it felt to owe all that money? At that point in the game, we figured we'd leave it alone. I sure didn't want to put a wrench in things. Of course, being the great guy Scott is, he would take on the world for me...and I mean that.

We got immediate possession, so we took the kids to see it before we had dinner with a couple from our church, and when we walked in, I smelled cigarettes. I'm not sure why I didn't notice it when we looked at the house (maybe it was all the potpourri jars she had burning!). It was overwhelming! Now, that would not have kept me from buying the house, however, we need to air the place out. That's one smell I really loathe, so I'll be taking every cleaning agent I have to that house. My dad came in and he and mom said they would get the carpets cleaned for us. Kind of a housewarming, I guess. Thanks dad and mom!

There's also a little more work that needs to be done than what I thought. We really do need to paint just about everywhere and both bathrooms need some work. The bathtub is pretty bad in my opinion. It's not one I can sit in and relax...not that I get around to that very often. The doors in the house are white and they are absolutely the filthiest things I've ever seen! It really could be worse but as I peeled a little wallpapaer in our half bath, I teared up. There I go feeling sorry for myself again! Don't get me wrong, the house is great and it has awesome potential of being a great home for our family, I just dread the work and the way my body feels in the midst of the work.

Well, enough complaining, there are so many positives to our new home. It's a great location, it's only one floor (yeah, yeah, yeah!), my dad is going to help get a little of the painting done. The yard is the perfect size too! So, overall, it's a wonderful beginning and praise the Lord that we were able to sell and buy a house in a matter of a few months. That was definitely a miracle and I want to say to all that no matter what the work of moving entails, God has been so gracious and has met every one of our needs!!!! He never ceases to amaze me!

Psalm 103:1-5

Karley and Colton

When Ben got this mask, Colton was terrified of it. Now, he loves it! Sharlene, the identity crisis of being the real Batman must run in the family!

They love to play on the piano. I normally don't have the lid open because once one starts the other three inevitably want to play too!!!!! It's a bit overwhelming with four sets of little hands on there!

I have told Marisa a couple of times that it's a good thing this little booger is as cute as he is. He's into everything!!!! So, while I'm making breakfast, lunch or snack, this is where he is. I have found that a pot lid and spoon keep him busy for a while but cheezits and milk keep him quiet even longer!

My Hero!

For those of you who are unaware, we have a superhero living with us. It's Batman...I can never reveal his true identity. He claims to be very brave but still sneaks in our bed occasionally in the middle of the night...

WAHOO!!!!!!

Praise the Lord! We are officially mortgage free...at least for a couple of days. We finished up with the house in Lucasville this morning and received our big fat check! Boy does it feel good to hold a big check in hand, if only for a few days. But, we can praise the Lord that He has provided the way He has! Well, our closing on our new house should be, Lord willing, on Friday. Ben and Anna Kate have already picked paint colors for their rooms and we can't wait for Pop, Mimi, Nana, Papaw and Granny to see it, as well as all our friends. We'll keep you posted!

Hey, also want to wish a big congrats to my friend, Amy, a.k.a. Maunt Mamy! She's a new homeowner! How happy we are for her!!!!!!!

Sweetness

Anna Kate LOVES chocolate pudding! I let her have some this morning and when I went back in to check on her, she had the cup to her mouth trying to lick the leftovers out. This is my graceful and proper little ballerina! Notice the chocolate even on her nightgown!

I have a couple of cute stories about her I'd like to share. On Thursday, our church had a cookout and prayer time for the National Day of Prayer. Dave Calvert gave Anna Kate a balloon. On our way out of the gym that evening she said "Mommy, I want to send this balloon to Jesus." So out we went and let it float to the sky. Anna Kate is convinced that Jesus enjoyed that balloon that evening!

Friday evening Anna Kate and I were talking and she asked me why God made Daddy and Bubby boys and the two of us girls. I explained that God made Daddy a boy just for Mommy and that God made Bubby a boy to be her big brother. She said "No, God made Daddy a boy to be my hero!"

Here we go!!!!!!

Ben was practicing some t's here and I had him practice writing "to". It was his first day writing two letters together. He said, "Mom, can I just write toe?" Of course, I obliged! He's already reading and adding and subtracting, even though he's never been formally schooled in that. As a matter of fact, he read his first book he'll be learning in kindergarten to me the other day. It has 58 words in it and got them all but 2! Am I bragging? Certainly!!!!

For those of you who haven't heard, we have chosen to homeschool Ben and Anna Kate. Our decision has been prayed over and, honestly, God had to change my heart about it. Scott came to me last summer and asked if I would consider it and pray about it. There were so many negatives in my mind. I was troubled about social interaction, whether or not I could do it and whether the kids would be sheltered too much. I prayed about it for a couple of weeks and did some research on internet (have you ever tried to research something that important on dial-up?). I finally came to the conclusion that God was changing my heart to what Scott had always felt was important for his family. He had always wanted me to homeschool but I was always negative about it so he didn't push it. That's just like him...

The final straw was when we went to a local private school in the Portsmouth area. In order to send them there, I was going to have to go back to work, figure out how to get another car, figure out how to get them there and back with no other family in the area and after we checked it out, I realized I could do what they were doing. So, I relinquished. Now that I'm into it, I must admit, I am a little excited about it. Now that we are in a bigger town, I already have him involved at a local homeschool group that allows me to take Karley and Colton along and he loves it. He doesn't see me all day so it's good for his "socialization skills" and what's absolutely wonderful is that the group uses the gym area at River Cities!!! How great is that?

There has been one drawback so far...the negative comments I get! In my heart, I know how prayed over this decision is and I have total peace about it so I've quit giving all the excuses. Was it my idea in the beginning? Absolutely not! But I know that Scott and I strive to make decisions based on what we feel is the way God is leading in our lives. I know that Ben and Anna Kate are going to get a biblical based education without the cost of sending them to a christian school. I will still get to stay at home and do the "career" I always wanted so I say "Praise the Lord!"