Carlyn

   Calvin James turned 2 years old the beginning of this month, just 2 short days after we moved to Arkansas.  we actually had his birthday party the weekend before we moved.  but we did some smaller family celebrating on his real birthday too.  i rented a bouncy house for his party, made an ice-cream cake, James grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and we invited everyone we knew(so we could see them one last time before our move).  Calvin is not really a fan of crowds but he did really enjoy his bouncy house. he also ran an fever for the next few days, so i don't think he was feeling well at his party.  he liked his real birthday much better when he got to help mommy make breakfast(chocolate chip banana muffins) and then eat outside on the balcony of our new apt with his brother and sister( see video ). and then for dinner, we went out to eat at the Purple Cow where he really enjoyed his purple ice-cream sunday( see video) .  Calvin is such a joy. ...

we haven't had any "real" pictures taken since pearl was a baby so it was really about time!  Luther's sunday school teacher, Vinh Duong is an awesome  photographer, so we had him take some family pictures of us our last week in Alabama.  I can't wait to hang some of these up in our new home in Arkansas. yes, that is right!  we moved on saturday and have been settling in over the last few days.  we are in a two bedroom apartment on the 3rd level of a large apt complex.  it has taken lots of downsizing of stuff and organization but we are fitting quite nicely and really liking our cozy new home.  we will miss lots of convenience of our "big" house in Alabama but we are finding lots of perks of apartment living as well.  since it has been over 100 degrees since we moved, we have discovered that the pool that is just right below our apartment is our favorite perk for now. pray for us as we continue to adjusted to our new surrounding and are already ...

We have been staying busy this spring, per usual.  We took a trip down to visit my parents at the end of March.  Candice and I decided to take the kids down to the beach on Friday and then get a hotel room for the night, so we could have 2 days at the beach.  Our first beach day ended up being a wash due to severe storms.  But, we did manage to get a little sand play and a walk on the beach that evening when the weather finally cleared up.  We also went to eat at Flounders that night, so that made up for the nasty storm!  We took the kids out on the beach bright and early the next morning and my mom, Catherine and Patrick met us.  It was the most beautiful beach day!! We played all day long and then Granddaddy joined us and we returned to Flounders for dinner!  The kids had a great time the rest of the week playing at my parents’ house.  They love the gator there my dad got for them. They can all ride it together now.  This ...