Jello Jigglers

Andrea is teaching Abby the different colors of the rainbow and she started with the color red.

One of the activities Andrea did to reinforce the color red was to make Jello Jigglers with Abby. Abby had fun mixing the Jello, making the jigglers shapes, and most of all eating it!

In addition to the Jello Jiggler activity, Andrea made a red box filled with numerous red items such as a red car, a red YoYo, a red crayon, a red apple, a book about red, a red spoon, red Legos, etc... I thought that was a really neat idea and Abby loves it!

For more pictures go to my Jello Jigglers Picasa Web Album.

Super Fort

Andrea created a massive super fort for Abby that spans our whole living room.

There are places for all of us to sit in the fort, to read books, and a tunnel to crawl through.

Abby gets very excited about the fort and refers to it as the "Nunnal" ( in reference to the tunnel ).

For more pictures go to my Super Fort Picasa Web Album.

Papa's Sabbatical Visit

My Dad came to visit us for a while.

He is currently on sabbatical from Harding this semester. He and my Mom just got back from touring Israel together.

He is in the process of writing an Archeology book. While I was at work he went to Starbucks and was able to write 6 new pages in his book. Now that’s the way to work :)

We enjoyed hearing about his and Mom’s adventures as they trekked through Israel together.

We were very pleased to see Abby warming up to my Dad. She has been in a phase where she is scared of all men other than me, so it was a really big deal for her to open up to him like she did. He is very sweet and gentle with Abby.

For more pictures go to my Papa's Sabbatical Visit Picasa Web Album.

Easter Lunch

This Easter we had Andrea's parents and paternal grandparents over for a special lunch after church. As you can see, we were well fed and full by the end of the meal.

While we were waiting for dessert to finish cooking we each took two Resurrection Eggs and went around the table telling the Gospel. We started this tradition last year and Andrea and I plan to do this every year with our family.

We're Debt Free!

As we mentioned in an earlier blog entry, we have been attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University since the beginning of the year.

On behalf of our family, I am proud to say that we are DEBT FREE (minus our house)!

We are now working on Baby Step 3, which is saving up 3 to 6 months of take home pay for a fully funded emergency fund.

I'd like to thank Dave and his staff for their ministry, Marshall for teaching our class, our fellow classmates for their encouragement, and our good friends and financial counselors the Crowleys.

Resurrection Eggs

Abby, Andrea, and I have been opening a couple of Resurrection Eggs each day this past week. The Family Life Resurrection Eggs are a special collection of colorful plastic eggs that tell the story of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

Abby gets so excited about opening the eggs that she can hardly wait until bedtime. The eggs are a tool to help teach Abby the true meaning of Easter in a fun and memorable way.

Easter Egg Hunts

This year Abby has gotten into the whole Easter Egg hunt activity. We started her off in our house to get used to the whole idea.

Then she progressed to the outdoors and then into the realm of candy filled eggs. We haven't really given Abby any sugary or chocolate sweets, so this was indeed a real treat!

By the end of the Easter Holiday, I think Abby will be a seasoned egg hunter.

Weekend with Pops & Nana

While Andrea and I were at the Weekend to Remember marriage conference, Abby had a weekend away with her Pops and Nana in Jackson, TN.

They had a great time together. While she was there they went to see a model train display, visited an artisan well, and had a picnic at the rotary park.

Thank you John and Freda for taking such good care of Abby while we were investing in our marriage. It is truly appreciated!

For more pictures go to my Weekend With Pops & Nana Picasa Web Album.

A Weekend to Remember

Andrea and I went to A Weekend to Remember marriage conference in Franklin, TN.

Family Life put on another great conference combining both great lectures and most importantly many opportunities for us to communicate and grow in our relationship.

For any of you looking for a great way to grow your marriage I would encourage you to find a conference near you.