swimming lessons and VBS

(I'm sorry the videos are kind of crummy quality. . .but it's better than nothing!!!)

The end of June was a CRAZY week of Vacation Bible School (Tanner's first time going, and he LOVED it) plus swimming lessons in the afternoon (in addition to karate!) We were EXHAUSTED!

I helped out with Bryce's class, so I was able to sneak this video of Tanner and his class, a few rows in front of us.  He did such a great job on the songs and the motions for them! 

Here's Bryce's group up front, leading one of the songs.  (This made B incredibly miserable!!!) 

And swimming lessons. . . this is how Tanner spent most of his days.  Huddled over the side trying to avoid the entire thing!

He was willing to kick his feet and splash. . .but blowing bubbles was NOT his happy place!

 Bryce did really well floating on his back, and swimming under water.  (But he hated it nonetheless! What a stinker!!!)  Despite their protests though, I felt like they both made some good progress, and it was worthwhile!!!! 

And karate. . . .

Tanner is really hoping to start karate lessons when he turns four.  He likes to follow along, by our seats in the corner, and punch at the bags that are stored over there.  {Tanner would love karate lessons for his birthday, if anyone wants to contribute to his karate fund!!!}

And in the midst of it all. . . .there's always time to be a half-dressed superhero.

{happy easter!!!!}

(SCROLL DOWN!  I added more Easter pictures to this post!!!)

Bryce informed me, that this is his "International Super Spy" face.

We managed to squeeze the boys into their suits from Steve's wedding, one more time.  At least, when Tanner turns 6 or 7, he'll be able to wear Bryce's suit.  And then we'll all say, "I remember when Bryce wore that suit!" and by then Bryce will be . . .well, gigantically old and big. (But I digress . . . .)

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Here are some of our Easter festivities. . .

first up, the Easter egg hunt and activities at church.  We had lunch, cotton candy, and the boys played games, hunted for eggs, and went in the bouncy houses.

Next up. . .decorating Easter eggs, and then opening Easter baskets!

(I don't know why B looks so concerned about his chocolate egg! He loves them, and he was excited about them! You just can't tell!)

and finally, one more egg hunt at the condo . . .

(sneaking jelly beans)

"I think I need more hands, Mommy!"

Whit and Bryce checking out their loot!

Just another St. Patrick's Day

So far, the boys have created a pretty disturbing St. Patty's Day.....
Tanner is continually mixing up leprechauns with Decepticons (from Transformers....not that he's even *seen* Transformers)

The boys are currently using army men and tanks to fight the leprechauns that they're convinced are going to attack. (Leprechauns attacking.....really?) They've turned leprechaun-hunting into a military-ninja-style battle. It's actually pretty disturbing. What happened to trying to catch the cute little buggers in a hand-made little green sparkly shoebox?
Sigh.
Boys.

In other news, Tanner has concocted some interesting questions and comments, based upon sermons about Jesus and the Easter holiday. Today after church he asked me if "all of the church is going to die." (Ummm, NO!) And then he followed it up with, "I'm not going to die today. Then I couldn't pick up garbage."
Very true Tanner.
And a good reason to stick around :)

Sweet Trinity

This past Sunday was our last Sunday at sweet Trinity United Methodist. After much prayer and consideration, the church has decided to close. If you have been to Trinity with us, you know what a very sweet. . .and tiny church we have been attending. It is also a church with LONG roots in the community - it was 97 years old, and there are a lot of people who have attended there for their entire lives. They've grown up there, married there, some moved away and came back, and some have been there all along.

It has been a STRANGE week. We packed up Eric's office yesterday, and we'll try to find a home for everything here in the house. Seeing the sign out front taken down was incredibly sad, but we know that this was the best decision and God has a plan for us, as well as all the dear friends we've made at Trinity, as they find a new church home.

Here are Nana and Gil with Bryce (and his sweet lion, that our friend Ms. Beth gave him!) on Sunday, our last service at Trinity.

After church we had a reception downstairs in the Fellowship Hall - how amazing is this cake!? In case you couldn't guess. . .that's the church on there! I love it!!!

Sooo, you might be asking what our plan is now. Where are we going? Well - your guess is as good as ours at this point!!!! Thankfully, Eric still has his part time job at Lakewood United Methodist, where he is on staff. But there isn't another church in our district that Eric can be assigned to at this point. We never anticipated this process, in getting a full-time appointment, to take quite so long. Every year we hope THIS will be the year. . . .but not nearly as many pastors are retiring when they thought they would, thanks to the economy. And there are more pastors than there are positions.

So we wait.

And we trust.

And we pray. . .that maybe NEXT year will be the year.

If any positions open up throughout the year, Eric will be considered for them. and hopefully next summer when everyone is up for reappointment, Eric will get a position (a FULL time position is what we are praying!!!)

So in the meantime, Eric has to find another job on his own. We haven't really been able to start looking much yet, because we needed to get things done at Trinity. The closing process happened quite quickly, so he's had to scramble to get everything done, and help the congregation through this process. So now that we are officially done there, we can focus on what to do next.

Anyone want to hire a fabulous, good looking, multi-talented guy? I know someone who might have some time on their hands!!! ;) (I love you Eric!!!!)

XOXO

adventures in basketball, water, and space

Last Saturday we went to do some work at church, and Bryce played his own little version of basketball. All was well and good until I had to rescue the makeshift basketball from the hoop! He made two whole baskets though, (both of which got stuck) so he felt pretty proud!

Tanner was his faithful sideline coach, fan, and cheerleader.

The swimming lessons are continuing on, and we are slowly making progress. The boy who would NOT put his head under water, is suddenly a big fan of it. . .. after his last lesson, he just kept dunking his head over and over again just for the heck of it! Wahoooo!!!! But with each step, there's a new fear to conquer, so we are hoping today he will take another step and make a little progress. Today we are taking seashells to put on the pool steps, because the money, although motivating, is a little tough for him to pick up. We think seashells will be easier to grab. I am hoping they are going to work on some floating, kicking, paddling. . .some sort of MOVING along with the going-under-water part. He has three more lessons scheduled right now, but we may have to add a couple more.

And tomorrow he is signed up for a morning long camp day at The Little Gym. Each week they have a themed camp during the summer. Tomorrow Bryce will join in for Space Week! It's been almost a whole YEAR since he's been there for classes, which is hard to believe! He is really excited. . .I hope he won't fuss when it's time for me to leave him there!!! We're also hoping to sign Tanner up for class in the fall. (We were thinking it might be a WONDERFUL birthday gift, if anyone is interested!! ;)

Easter/Spring Break recap

Spring Break is winding down . . .we had a fun and busy week! Here's the recap!

*We celebrated Nana's birthday on Easter, with lots of family in town - which means lots of yummy dinners at Nana and Gil's, wayyy too many desserts, and lots of cousins running around.
*The big cousins hosted a BIG Easter egg hunt for the little cousins (Nana might find eggs hidden in strange places throughout her house for months!) Bryce had a BLAST playing with his cousins and hunting for eggs.
*The Easter bunny came (he always visits our house the day BEFORE Easter, so that Daddy doesnt have to miss out on baskets, since he leaves so early for church.) The bunny even remembered Tanner, and left baskets at both boy's doorways.
*We went and painted pottery with some of our friends, and we are looking forward to picking up Bryce's rainbow colored mug next week after being fired.
*We spent lots of time outside, washed the car, had a bunch of squirt gun wars, went for walks, and did a little more planting in our garden. Our rose bush has grown TONS in the past few weeks, and I can't believe how many flowers are blooming!
*We went to the library, and got twelve books . . .dinosaurs, outer space, and volcanoes were some of the topics of choice!
*While Eric was home we did some reorganizing, closet cleaning, budgeting, and decluttering. (If you know me, you know the decluttering and reorganizing was one of my favorite things!!)
*Oh - and one of Bryce's highlights was probably the day we realized that the refrigerator/freezer wasn't working. . .we ate ice cream cones at 9 in the morning! (But yes, it's fixed now!!)

Big thanks to Nana for feeding us for so many meals this week! And to Meghan, Katie, and Michael who are SUCH wonderful big cousins to Bryce.

Easter Day

I still have Easter basket, and Easter cookie photos to share, but since these are ready to go first, here they are. HOW cute is this little man in his BOWTIE!? (Thank you Lizzie!!!) He told me, "Mommy, I felt very grownup in my church outfit today!"
And yes, it's finally the first pregnant belly picture too. So there ya go, for all of you who have been waiting for it.
After church, Bryce got to blow bubbles and run around with his pal, KC, while we caught up with Kellum and Sarah, who came to our church this week. (That's the bottom picture. . .they got a little out of order!) KC and Bryce even had matching outfits for Easter. . .how cute!!! :)

After church, the adventure continued, as Eric's car decided to STOP WORKING. Thanks to jumper cables (three times) and Eric's dad, we were able to get his car to the mechanic today, where it is getting a shiny new alternator (whatever the heck THAT is.) Later in the day, we had a big Easter dinner, and egg hunt at Nana's house. (Pictures coming soon!)

So that about sums up our day! It was REALLY hectic, but a lot of fun. We hope YOU had a great day too!!! XOXO

family photo at church

Sweet Beth from the church emailed this to us last night, taken a few weeks ago at church. Cute, cute - huh!? We have been working hard over there, and lots of great stuff has been getting accomplished. The building needs quite a bit of work, but people are really fired up to get things cleaned up and some renovations done. Bryce and I have made the nursery/"big kid room" our mission . . .there really wasn't much to it, and what was there was either 20 years old, broken, or disgusting. . .Remember, Bryce is the only child right now, and no one has been using that room for quite some time! It's all cleaned out now though, and just needs some new toys and some fun stuff on the walls and bulletin board!! (Oh, and perhaps some more CHILDREN!!!!) Right now we are functioning under the principle of "If we build it (or fix it or make it functional and pretty) they will come!!!"

the new church!

Eric started at the new church this week! Bryce and I went over to check things out today, and I of course tried to snap a few pictures! I haven't edited these yet, so pardon any red-eye, and dark photos! At least I got them posted!! :) I'll be back tomorrow with some fun 4th of July photos!!! XOXO