The End of a Season

In April 2012 I finished school! Woohoo! At times it seemed to never end, but looking back it really did go by quickly.

God has shown his faithfulness in so many ways during this season. Providing not only the finances to pay for it, but also the time, energy, support and "brains" to do it. He gave Wesley supernatural patience and understanding, and even the kiddos didn't appear to be too frustrated.

Currently, I am blessed to have a job as a Physical Therapist's Assistant at a local pediatric outpatient clinic. It's so great--I work part time, setting my own schedule so I have the flexibility to still be actively involved in my kids' school. I'm seriously overwhelmed sometimes.

Lemonade Stand

Josie has been after us to have a lemonade stand for a while now, so Wesley and I decided to go for it.  Using a puppet show stand Nana had given the kids, we  set up business at a nearby school and were ready to serve up some super yummy lemonade and lemonade cookies. 

The first clients were Aunt Lou, her roommate and Yaya.

We told Josie that she had to do the work if she wanted the money...i.e. she had to talk to the customers herself. She was kind of shy but we were really proud of her.

Sampling the product.

More sampling.

It was very hot and very windy.

Our little entrepreneur made about $10 in 2 hours. Not bad for our first try, but I think she's kinda gotten it out of her system. Overall, we count everything a success.

Ballet Recital

May also gave us Josie's first ballet recital. We love the ballet school she attends and Josie had the opportunity to dance with her best friend Adelaide. They make a great team!!!

Too sweet.

The ballerina received many flowers from family and even from our dear friend Whitney!!!

Our sweet Amanda came to see Jo dance!

Finally Caught Up: May

Here's a review of May...mostly in pictures. (Aren't you lucky.)

One last get together with many of our Life Groupies.

L.O.V.E. these kids! We are missing them so much this summer.

Caleb and Eli.

 Caleb finished up his year in gymnastics.

 Wesley and a friend of ours found some really great spots to catch lots of fish.

Experiencing pioneer living at the museum on a rainy day.

Dinner out for our 9th anniversary. Sorry about cutting Wesley's head off.

I took a day trip down to College Station with my mom, dad and sister to see the newly remodeled Memorial Student Center. It was very, very nice. We walked in the doors and my jaw dropped. 

Yep, that's me.

Caleb loves to snuggle up. This day when he asked for some water, I brought it to him and all I could see was a little hand come out of the blankets and then pull the cup back in. It was absolutely adorable.

Messy.

Messy-er.

Silly.

Our new favorite spot to spend Sunday evenings.

Pirate Caleb.

Sir Caleb.

Evidence Caleb was here.

How we spent the afternoon after Josie's last day of school. Don't worry. They were COVERED in sunscreen and this lasted about 3 minutes...just long enough to get a little dry.

April

April was full of refreshing rain, beautiful breezes, and more madness for our family. We entered the last few weeks of my school and possibly the most challenging emotionally. For my last  6-week clinical rotation I was driving quite a distance (relative for our area) on the interstate. And for someone who has driving anxiety, this was definitely a drive of faith. This added time brought more time away from my family and an increase on our gas bill. But as with all steps of faith, God responds in faithfulness. We all grew and He allowed me to conquer some of my driving fears.

My last rotation was in a Skilled Nursing Facility. This was another area in which the Lord has been faithful to provide strength. Years ago, I could not stand going into nursing homes because they made me too sad. When Wesley's grandmother was dying, I was able to overcome some of that selfishness. Since then I've gradually become more comfortable in some of these settings, especially going to visit his other grandmother who lives in a great facility in East Texas. 

Here I had the blessing of working with older adults in a setting where our goals were to get them strong enough to return home if possible. I truly loved my patients. They brought me so much joy but at times heart ache when I saw them in pain or in need.

We did have some laughs...

This was my "teacher" or clinical instructor. 

Yep. That about sums it up.

Also in April, we had the joy to celebrate a traditional Passover Seder with our Life Group family. It was such a special time! Our dear friends the Blevins are very knowledgeable of Christians' Jewish heritage and they were generous enough to host and lead us through it. It was absolutely beautiful! If you'd like to know more about the Passover celebration you can click here.

This is a picture of Josie helping to dry people's hands after they wash them. She also had the important role of reading certain questions that children are supposed to ask during the meal. Caleb also had a job. He was supposed to hide a special piece of unleaven bread called the Afikomen and he did a great job. He decided to hide it on the toilet.

 We also enjoyed fun days with the cousins! 

 Our baby girl FINALLY lost her first tooth...even though her bottom two adult teeth were already coming in behind....she even pulled both of them herself!

I just love this picture. It's too sweet.

A fun evening with our friend Eli!

Another picture of our fabulous Life Group!

Since my clinical was winding down, I had the chance to try out some of my Pintrest stuff for a banquet at church. So fun! Can't wait to do more!!!