snow!!!

This weekend we got our second snow of the season! During the first snow both of our kids were sick with ear infections and fevers so we didn't brave the outdoors. But we were all healthy for this fun and fluffy snow which started on Friday night and snowed into Saturday morning. I was working on Friday night when it started but thankfully it didn't stick to the roads until the wee morning hours. While Andrew was taking his morning nap on Saturday we wandered out onto our porch to see the snow.

And Adam walked Bailey who was super hyper when she saw the snow. After Andrew woke up and we ate a quick lunch we bundled everyone up to go outside. By the time we got outside the snow in the sun was already melting! Andrew attempted to make his first snow angel - but wasn't a big fan. He was much happier when he was being held. Caleigh LOVED the snow. We were surprised because she is such a girly girl - she hates to be dirty, cold, wet, etc and snow is most of those things - wet, cold... But shockingly she actually loved it. This snow was perfect - about 3 inches of very fluffy, dry, perfect snow for playing and perfect snow for not sticking to the roads. After this pose Caleigh freaked out because there was snow on her face and when she tried to wipe it with her other hand she got more snow on her face. Gosh - love these big blue eyes... Sweet face... Leave me alone Mom, I'm trying to play. Thank you, Lord for a beautiful and fun snow - what a great way to enjoy God's creation!

cheering for carolina

On Wednesday we cheered for Carolina by dressing up and supporting our team!

Crawl this way, Andrew! Wow, Caleigh - you are heavy! Cutest cheerleaders I have ever seen. Mom - quit with this camera stuff... Playing with the doorstop = endless entertainment.

finally... pictures from the country

I have finally stalked enough blogs to track down several pictures from our trip to the country in January. We had such a fun time at the Jacksons' country house celebrating all things southern, including, but not limited to: the Hunts, camo, guns, sewing, all things fried/fattening (shown here at Lone Star - a fabulous all you can eat buffet of southern heaven)...

Carrie and I bonded over our love of bad childhood movies (yes, Melissa, I stole that line directly from your blog)... We went on a fun hayride in the freezing cold (to help acclimate Melissa into what the cold Prague days would feel like)... In a hilarious dichotomy, the guys spent their time doing manly things like chopping down trees (and finding them infested with giant bugs, prompting the quote: "That's your problem right thar.") and then cutting them up with a hilariously small chainsaw... and shooting pumpkins ("Take it!") While the women perfected their suzy homemaker sides with a sewing lesson from Carrie Dirks. I did learn important things like what the heck a bobbin is and I actually sewed for the first time in my life. Although as I think Mary can also say, neither of us have sewed since. We spent some great time in fellowship with each other and especially enjoyed a giant bonfire that the guys slaved over. Thanks for a fun weekend!

good friends

Adam and I attended a Johnson and Wales University Reformed University Fellowship (JWU RUF) fundraiser/dinner/silent auction. It was a great time with good friends - I like this picture of Adam with Tyler and Dave.

a love of shoes

Caleigh seems to go through little phases of loving dress-up and putting on our shoes. Lately she has been super into wearing shoes. Whenever Caleigh is a little too quite (Moms, you know what I mean!) she can always be found doing one of two things, either climbing on the back of the toliet lid to our tolietries and getting some of my lotion onto her hands (usually), or in her room taking off her current shoes and putting on either her church shoes, pink boots, crocs (which don't fit and therefore always provokes a crying fit), or our shoes.

making dumplings

Dumplings, as in the southern kind with chicken - not the western kind with pork (though I love those). Caleigh's absolute favorite pasttime is helping cook in the kitchen. Any time she sees us (me) in there she says, "ya-ya help" (ya-ya being the way she pronounces Caleigh). So last night we had chicken and dumplings which I make the same way my mom and her mom did - using homemade chicken broth and homemade noodles (and no veggies!). I have such fond memories of helping my mom make the dumplings by putting the noodles in the pot of boiling broth (and eating many noodles in the process). So it was really neat for Caleigh to join in on that tradition too. We donned Caleigh's apron (and an old t-shirt for me) -

And then set out to rolling, cutting, and dropping the dough into the broth. Caleigh did some rolling and she put the noodles in the broth. Every noodle that she picked up she brought to her mouth and said, "ya-ya eat" to which I would say, "No, not that one - put that one in the pot" - she did end up consuming several noodles after I told her it was ok! If there has ever been a worse back shot someone please make me feel better - I look like an ogre in this one - but it was cute and so I posted it anyway... I am that humble. We had so much fun and a great (albeit, late) dinner!

the song on my heart this morning

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of my sickness into Thy health,

Out of my wanting and into Thy wealth,

Out of my sin and into Thyself,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of my shameful failure and loss,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of earth's sorrows into Thy balm,

Out of life's storms and into Thy calm,

Out of distress into jubilant psalm,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of unrest and arrogant pride,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into Thy blessed will to abide,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,

Out of despair into raptures above,

Upward forever on wings like a dove,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into the joy and light of Thy home,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of the depths of ruin untold,

Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,

Ever Thy glorious face to behold,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Give me more of you, Jesus.

Andrew talks! and he moves!

A little update about our sweet little 7 month old bruiser boy - Andrew moves! The Saturday after Andrew turned 7 months (Saturday, January 16th) Andrew started moving backwards. He sees a toy, reaches hard for it, gets frustrated that he can't reach it, pushes chest, tummy and hips off the ground, and then makes an effort to move towards the toy - and so far all of his efforts have resulted in him moving further and further from said toy. Literally that same day he has also started pivoting fast in circles on his tummy - still not getting up on all fours at all. And then - after all my worry - Andrew rolled over - on Sunday, January 17th - from back to front - and once he realized how easy it was and how he has been missing it all along he is always flipping over. His favorite is to flip onto his tummy the second you remove his diaper - thus making re-diapering rather difficult. We are so excited for Andrew to reach these new milestones - even though he isn't crawling he seems so mobile because when you leave him for a little bit he is never in the same place upon returning.

Also sweet baby boy talks! Here is the video. He says 'dada' in a kind-of successive babbling way... but we will take it.

We are so in love with this sweet cuddly little baby boy!

the Hunts head out...

Our good friends the Hunts are heading out of the US today on a plane bound for Prague, Czech Republic to work with World Harvest as missionaries that will help plant a daughter church of our church in Charlotte. We have been friends with the Hunts since just before Caleigh and Sam were this big...

We have love living everyday life with them, from impromptu gatherings at Chick-Fil-A... to chili and trick or treating on cool fall evenings. We have been friends through the birth of lots of babies. Mary, Melissa, and I have been in a prayer square - a small accountability and prayer group and have met every other week for at least the past 2 years.

We have been through pregnancies...

and Melissa even helped induce my labor with Andrew at this fun and hilarious concert.

We have enjoyed playdates -

And we have loved getting together for random picnics at the park... even ones that involve cupcakes being accidently turned on their ends - but still thoroughly enjoyed. We have celebrated birthdays - and other fun holidays - Halloweens... Christmases... and awesome Christmas traditions/memories. We will miss you Hunts. But we are thankful that this goodbye is really just a see you later. We look forward to the day (in this life or the next) that we can live day to day life next to you guys. We are so thankful for your ministry and have loved being a part of the praying, planning, preparations, and now the sending of y'all. "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can the preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Rom. 10:14-16 Hunts we are thankful for you guys - thankful that you are taking the good news to those who haven't heard. Godspeed!

Hunts head out...

Our good friends the Hunts are heading out of the U.S. today on a plane bound for Prague, Czech Republic. We have been friends with the Hunts since Sam and Caleigh were about this big...

We have loved just living everyday life with them - from impromtu gatherings at Chick-Fil-A...

to chili and trick-or-treating fun on cool evenings.

We have loved living everyday life with them - from impromptu Chick-Fil-A outings...

to trick-or-treating and chili nights. Mary, Melissa, Carrie, and I have been in a prayer square for quite