Bugs and More Bugs

Brad has been enjoying some gardening this summer and we have been "helping" right along with him! On more than one occasion we have had some run-ins with BUGS! Faith is absolutely delighted by the little creatures, in great contrast to her big sister who will run across the yard to escape from them. :-)

Faith is having her first Roly Poly crawl up her arm. 

Then we found a slug! Can you see Faith's excitement?

Even Jillian was brave enough to come have a closer look at the slug! 

They aren't the prettiest things but they sure are fascinating! :-)

Cubbies Awards Ceremony

Last month, Jillian "graduated" from AWANA Cubbies with a very special ceremony at the church.  AWANA stands for "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" and the mission of Awana is to help "churches and parents worldwide raise children and youth to know, love and serve Christ." 


One of the biggest draws for us visiting Derwood Bible Church when we moved back from the UK was knowing that it had an AWANA's.  When I was still a young child, our church had GA's (Girls in Action with a missionary focus). I really enjoyed GA's, but I can still remember when AWANA's came to our church when I was in 3rd grade; it was BEYOND AMAZING!  I participated in the AWANA Olympics (balloon volley and the three legged race were my events), Backwards Day, Twin Day, Crazy Hair Day and lots of other fun activities. I loved being in AWANA's so much that when I graduated from Guards (its now Truth and Training) in 6th grade, I began volunteering with the 1st grade Sparks and stayed with them for another two years.  I feel extremely blessed that my daughter is now participating in this fantastic program, but what really makes AWANA's AMAZING is the dedication of the gifted teachers who desire to share the love of God with the kids.  I am so thankful for all the work they do and believe that their time is very well invested! 


Jillian often tells me, "Mommy, I love learning stories from the Bible" (which excites me greatly)!  And I think in large part, Jillian's enthusiasm comes from how engaging Bible learning has been at Cubbies!  During their meeting the kids do a craft, have a puppet show, play games, have a yummy snack, and recite their Bible verse, as well as get lots of loving from their teachers! :-)


We are super excited that next year we will not only have Jillian as a SPARK but Faith will be a CUBBIE too!  Hooray for AWANA's! 

Faith, Xandra, Ava, Jillian, Julie, Jon, and baby Joey ready for the award ceremony to begin!

Saying the pledge allegience to the American and the AWANA flag.

Trisha, Aliyah, Me, and Anna sat in the back row together.

Jillian heading up to the stage for her performance with all the the other Cubbies!

I love when kids sing! It makes me so happy, especially when they are singing songs about God's love and hiding God's Word in their hearts. 

Buddy (Andrew) and Faith

I love this adorable photo of them smiling at one another.  A couple of Sundays ago, Buddy gave Faith a picture he had drawn and said, "Faith, I made this for you, so it can help you remember me."  Both Julie and I thought it was the cutest thing ever.

Little Faith also ADORES Buddy. Their friendship really blossomed (nearly a couple of years ago) when he and Ava stayed with us a couple of days when their daddy was in the hospital.  When he left, Faith cried aloud for a long while, saying " My Buddy! My Buddy!"; she wanted him to live with us forever!  It broke my heart to see Faith miss her friend so much, but it was sweet to see how much my two year old loved her friend.

Faith, Miss Julie, Joey, and Jon- this pictures cracks me up because neither Faith or Joey are their kids but it looks like they expanded their family by two more kids!!!

Little Anna resting between her daddy's legs.

Buddy with his two Cubbies leaders Mr. Brad and Miss Sadie

Kaylee, Amy, and Xandra with their Cubbies leader Miss Marti

Audrey, Miss Weber, Ava, and Jillian (Jillian told Miss Weber all of her Bible verses for the year)

The girls got a special gift that had a stuffed animal Spark inside and a bag too for her book next year! 

A sweet photo of Miss Weber with both the girls

A lot of the kids playing with balloons after the fun ceremony.

Anna walking to her Daddy! 

I love Brad's face in this photo, it was a little emotional for him (and me too) how grown up our little Anna is getting!  Before we know it, Anna will be a Cubbie too! 

Grow up to be a Mom!

Brad and Faith were sharing a tender moment on the couch cuddling together. Brad looked at Faith and said, "Don't grow up, okay?"  Faith responded, "But I have to...I want to grow up to be a mom (then she pointed to me)...like YOU!" One of the sweetest moments ever. So thankful for my Faith! :-)

A Good Morning

These photos were taken when it was a little cooler outside (its amazing how hot it has gotten in the last couple of weeks).  Anna is still in her pajamas (because her mama had not changed her into her clothes for the day yet), whereas Jillian immediately got dressed for the day and Miss Faith is wearing one of her princess outfits. Its fun just being together at home without any agenda to be anywhere at a certain time.

Jillian and Anna watching the aquarium make bubbles with music. 

Jillian and Anna both holding onto a baby dolls and "talking" about the aquarium! (Anna is constantly  borrowing one of her big sister's dolls!) 

Jillian holding her baby sister.

Meanwhile, Faith dressed in her Snow White dress is playing with the Doodle Pro! 

Pretty girl!

It is HARD picking up two babies at the same time! Anna, you can tell me all about it, I know your pain (except for my babies weigh a lot more!). ;-)

She did it! Can you tell Anna is proud of herself?

I love this photo where Anna is examining her baby's hand!

"Hi Mama"

Anna moving on to making some animal noises on the barn!  Oink! Oink! :-)

A House Inside Our House

Even as I write this post today, the girls have created another home using a box of finger paints, a Thomas the Train suitcase, the kid microwave with their green frog on top it, and one pillow!  

Jillian explains they do all kinds of things in their house, they sleep, color, play and even eat (mostly play food) in there!  Jillian has a special request today because we are talking about the letter "H" this week. She thinks it would be special to have their 'H'ot dogs for lunch in their 'H'ouse! 

Anna has become one of the big girls now. She is always finding a way to be included in the fun and games that her sisters create in our home!  

Jillian and Faith are reading their Richard Scarry book while Anna is "babysitting" the babies for them! 

The girls find all kinds of object to make a door or wall ( in this instance they are using our pillows on the ground, other times they just use a window curtain and tuck it under a pillow on the couch)! 

I feel so blessed to be at home with my girls to watch their creativity at work. They are such neat kids and they fill my life with so much fun!

HOORAY for my girls learning to make a HOME filled with HEART and HAPPINESS! :-)

Our Wiggler

While I was looking through some recent photos we have taken these last couple of months, I came across this short 15 second video!  I had completely forgotten that we even had this video of sweet Anna!

Mother's Day Weekend

This was the best Mother's Day weekend ever!!! I know I have had only 6 Mother's Day so far, but none has even come close to as much fun as this one.  I do not know when I have had more pictures taken of me by my husband, nor have I ever felt more spoiled by my sweet family.

Jillian and Faith took the job of spoiling me very seriously and asked me several times throughout the weekend, "Mommy, what can I do for you that would make you feel special?"

Jillian and I even had a serious discussion about gifts for Mother's Day.

She said, "Mommy if you could have ANYTHING for your gift what would it be?"

I answered immediately and without hesitation, "It would  be having Daddy and my girls with me to celebrate!

She said, "Oh!", and smiled a big smile, but then she thought about it some more and her face became concerned. She said, "Mommy, someday, I might live far away from you!"

I said, "I know, that's true and I would miss you so much."

She said, "I have an idea, how about I buy a house right next to your house and then we will always be close and then Faith could live on the other side of your house too."

"That sounds great but what about Anna?"

She said, "Oh, I forgot!"

(I get the impression that the girls sometimes believe that Anna is going to be our baby always!)

She said, "Oh yeah! She can have a house next to me!" :-)

Throughout our whole conversation, it was so much fun to watch Jillian's animated face as she planned out our family's future together! I am one blessed mommy!



On Saturday, we went for an early Mother's Day celebration to Copper Creek Canyon at the Washingtonian Rio.  While we were on the bridge, Brad took a picture of all of us girls together. 

I forgot to take off my sunglasses for the previous photo, but by the time I took them off, Anna was done looking at the camera and started eating her apple! 

The fountain

Faith was so excited when she looked at the fountain. She exclaimed, "It's a 'M' for Mommy!!"

Almost to the restaurant...I love these candid moments! I was very impressed by my hubby and all the photos he took to commemorate my 6th Mother's Day!

Outside sitting on the patio at Rock Creek Canyon. We thought this was where we were going to sit, but as you can see by Jillian's expression, she was a little cold! 

So then we moved inside for lunch.  I had meatloaf with vegetables and mashed potatoes, Brad had crabcake sandwich with fries, and the girls had Rotisserie chicken.  It all was delicious!

As were walking out of the restaurant, we decided it would be fun to make a wish in the fountain! 

Anna even threw a penny in the fountain!

Sunday Morning:

I was awakened by the girls, Brad, and breakfast in bed!  The lamp light and the flash on the camera was very bright and a little overwhelming to me; I cried quite a few tears from the excitement of it all! :-) Brad with the girls help prepared a big cinnamon roll (from Ikea), bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns for my breakfast.  

I realize that these are not frame-worthy photos, and my husband even assured me it wasn't necessary for me to post these pictures on the blog! LOL!  But I seriously thought these photos were super sweet,  EVEN with me looking a little scary in the morning.  

Jillian and Faith each made a card too and made a beautiful mosaic butterfly on a stone for our garden!  The girls were so excited it was my day, it made me feel so special.  Jillian and Faith got a beach towel and sat on the floor with their food, so they could join me for breakfast. :-)

On Saturday night, our friends the Glenn's called us to see if we wanted to make the trek up to Frederick (its about a 30 minute drive) with them to go to Olive Garden to celebrate the moms!   Brad and I both really enjoy Olive Garden but never get to go because of the distance, so it was an especially special treat for Mother's Day! 

I don't know if Andrew knew we were going to share this photo be on the blog, but he has the perfect expression of "post-finding out" we have a 80 minute wait!!  

It was the perfect opportunity for the kids to play in the rocks! 

The mommies and all five (almost six) of our beautiful blessings! 

Jillian, Madeline, and Faith- Such Sweet Friends! 

Brad chilling with Anna on the bench

Faith and Mommy after we finished our yummy lunch.  I had Fagioli soup (its my favorite) with salad and breadsticks. 

The Glenn Family.  It was wonderful lunch with our friends the Glenn's.  I especially enjoyed Naomi and I getting to talk about our favorite thing about being a mom!

Naomi answered, "the eternal value of investing into the lives of my children". It was really beautiful and I loved hearing her heart about being a mom.  :-)

I said something (perhaps) less meaningful, but it was my honest answer.  I answered, "I love that I am the one that my children call mommy.   I love that they are my kids and I get to bring them home with me.  Also, I feel blessed to have the privilege of caring for them and loving them more than anyone else does!"

On the flip-side, when asked what was my least favorite thing about being a mom, I answered, "The responsibility of having to make decisions that affect my children."  Yuck! Sometimes, it is so hard to know what the right thing is for your child and/ or family. It was a lot easier (but not nearly as fulfilling) when I was just making decisions for myself, because I was the only one who was living with the consequences of my decisions.

But this big responsibility, definitely causes me to seek the Lord;  I pray every day for God's wisdom as a parent.  And yet, I know too that in this process of parenting I will make plenty of mistakes (I have already made more than I could possibly count)!   My hope is that I am teaching my children that all of us are imperfect; every one of us is in need of grace and forgiveness.

Naomi answered, "Waking up in the middle of the night".  :-)

On the Way Home from Olive Garden:

Sweet Faith 

Adorable Jillian


My handsome husband, Brad (This was the fourth or fifth picture I took of Brad because I couldn't get the lighting right, he very sweetly humored me by smiling! :-))

I took this photo of Anna and me, aren't you impressed?

Sunday Night:

The Pull's and our family have made a weekly tradition for the past couple of months of having game night. We have been rotating whose house we meet at on Sunday night. Its a very relaxed time, we share dinner and dessert and then play games.  Our "older kids"(Jillian is the "oldest" at five years old!) are awesome at entertaining one another, and for the most part, all we have to worry about are the two littlest ones.  It is one of my favorite highlights of the week!

Trisha (the mommy to four) and me with Anna with the Tower of Babel all set for the grown-ups to play. We gave this Rio Grande game to Joe for his 30th birthday and all four of us have all really enjoyed it.  It's a lot of fun and I can highly recommend it! We have played it at least a dozen times and it only seems to get more complex with each play.  (Trisha, Joe, Brad, and I are a lot alike in that we all really like those sort of challenges!)  

Trisha wowed us with "Knock You Naked Brownies" for dessert.  They have caramel, pecans, chunks of chocolate and powdered sugar on top! DELICIOUS! 

It was the perfect ending to an amazing Mother's Day 2011!