Luke REALLY Enjoyed This Cookie

Luke really enjoyed this cookie. He propped his foot up and went to town.

Luke Can Walk!

Today Luke took his first steps. He has taken a one or two here and there, but today, he took four or five several different times. It won't be long now before he is running after his sisters.






Apparently I was logged in under Will's name when I uploaded this. But this post is by Kate.

CentriFuge 2010: Tuesday

As many of you are aware, there was a last minute problem with one of our church's youth chaperones and I now have the unique privilege of spending this week at camp. I, along with 38 other youth and chaperones, am spending the next week at Mississippi College for CentriFuge 2010. It has been an exhausting couple of weeks. After the excitement of Vacation Bible School last week, I am now expecting around 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night based on the Fuge Camp schedule.

Today was our first full day of camp and it has been filled with excitement and spiritual challenges. Our Camp Pastor, Tim Wheat, challenged our youth to have the heart of God. This means demonstrating the love of Christ in all we do. My prayer for our students and leaders is that we might leave Mississippi College this week looking a little more like Jesus in the way we live. I covet your prayers for our group this week!

The New Pool

On Monday, as we were getting ready for the first night of Vacation Bible School, a typical Florida afternoon thunderstorm came through with strong winds and heavy rain.  As usual, it only lasted around 30 minutes and we had VBS going in full force.  The next morning, I noticed that inflatable ring on the girls swimming pool was deflated and I went out in search of the problem.  Apparently, the strong winds blew something into the ring to cause a leak.  I found the leak but after many attempts at patching it, I decided it was a lost cause.

I was determined to get the girls another pool since summertime in Florida is simply too hot to play outside without one.  I was equally determined that the next pool would not have an inflatable ring that could be easily punctured.  After searching around, and using some of Kate's couponing skills, we deiced on a 15ft. metal frame pool.  Kate and I spent yesterday in the blistering sun setting it up and the kids waited patiently by playing in their sand box and running through the sprinkler.  Once the pool was set up, they decided to start playing in it even though the water was not completely full.  This is probably the only time this year that Luke will touch the bottom of the pool. 

One of the best parts of the day was that Kate wore an FSU visor the whole afternoon.  I tried to get a picture but she simply refused.  Since I value my marriage, I did not force the issue.  Nevertheless, here are a few pictures from the day and I have even posted a video below that shows the kids enjoying the new pool.

Isabelle & Anna VBS 2010 Summary

   This year the girls had a blast participating in Vacation Bible School.  Our church used Lifeway's Saddle Ridge Ranch as the theme and everyone had a good time dressing in their western attire.  We averaged a little over 60 kids per night and almost the same amount of workers per night.

On the final night, Tim Russell, one of the deacons in our church, brought his 3 week old mule for the kids to pet.  All the kids loved getting this opportunity to get close to the animal.  Even Luke got in on the action.  I have attached four videos of the presentation that our kids made to their parents last night.

(You can click on the pictures to the left to view them larger)












In this first video, the preschool group sings "If Your Saved and You Know It."






In this video, the preschool class presents "In Right, Out Right, Happy All the Time" and "I am So H-A-P-P-Y." As you can see, the kids had fun.








The children's classes presented four songs during our VBS commencement ceremony. Here are two of those four songs. The first song is "I am who He Says I Am" from Lifeway's Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS.






In this video, the kids sing "Don't Be A Tumbleweed" from Lifeway's Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS. I think this was their favorite. I know it was Kate's favorite.

NOT from Our Garden!

Thanks Mrs. Robbi! And Jonathan!

Outdoor Fun!

After work on Thursday, we decided we would grill hamburgers and swim.  It was a nice evening and the kids had a blast.  Luke and the girls enjoyed relaxing in their floats while I worked my magic on the grill.  I have not had a home cooked hamburger in a while so this one was really good.  It was complete with bacon and cheese.  Kate even topped hers off with some home grown tomatoes.

We also learned that Anna is no longer afraid to put her head underwater.  She is now an underwater swimmer like her sister.  Anna insisted that I take a video and put it on the website so everyone can see her swim.  I expect they will spend many days in the pool this summer!

Anna's Graduation Videos

I finally got a chance to post a couple of videos of Anna's graduation. The lighting was not very good so the videos are dark, but dark videos are still better than no videos at all. The darkness in the room also caused the camera to have a difficult time focusing.

As a part of the graduation ceremony, each student received a letter and then reported the letter to the audience. Anna's letter was V, but she was so shy you could not hear her talk. I was still proud of her. I had my doubts as to whether she would even be willing to stand in front of everyone without covering her face.




Throughout the school year, the kids in Anna's Pre-K class learned various memory verses. In the video below, Anna and her friend, Josie, team up to say their memory verse. It may be hard to hear, but if you listen closely, you can make out the words to John 3:16.




After the demonstration part of the ceremony was complete, the students were then called up individually to receive a diploma. This video shows Anna and a couple of her friends walking on stage to receive their diploma.





It was a very nice ceremony and I was proud that Anna did as well as she did. She is really looking forward to Kindergarten!

Anna's Pre-K Graduation Cake

The teachers at Anna's school asked if I would make a cake for the Graduation Reception. This is how it turned out.

Anna's Graduation

Here are a few pictures from Anna's Pre-K Graduation last night. The first picture is Anna in the processional - just after that she put her hands over her face and walked the rest of the way like that. The second picture is Anna holding the Bible for the pledges. The third picture is Anna and her friends Mykiah and Josie. And the fourth picture is Anna and her teacher Mrs. Marcia. I will be posting some videos soon.

Mr. Potato Head

This potato was in a bag of baking potatoes that I bought the other day. It was huge. Almost as big as Luke's head.

Luke's First Cup of Coffee

One of my Dad's favorite memories is drinking coffee with his Grandpa as a small child.  He couldn't wait to make those memories with his grandkids so... it has always been a battle to make him (and Nana) wait until my children were a little older to try a sip of coffee. After 10 or 11 months, I figured it was okay. For all of you worry warts out there, please keep in mind that it is 95% milk and 5% coffee; just enough for him to taste. Needless to say, I think he liked it.

Family Photos

Here are the thumbnails from our family photos yesterday.