I'm a "feedback" kinda gal

Hello to those of you out in blog world. I know you're logging in and checking things out (especially the extended family...). Take a little time to share your thoughts and any other things you want to share in the comments section of any of the blog entries. I know it's silly, but it makes my day to hear from friends and family (and to know that you're enjoying the pictures of the girls as much as I do...).

Chat with you later. Have a happy weekend! We are!

(And...shocker...I haven't taken any pictures since Thursday night! And we were even out at the main street festival and I STILL didn't take any pictures. I guess the 1500 will have to do for this month. *sigh* )

(But you know, it's really the girls' fault that I take so many pictures. If they weren't so stinkin' cute then I wouldn't be trying to capture it so much. )

Lydia's bedtime prayer last night

God, I love you soooo much.
And I like boys.
And I like girls.
And I even like Swiper the Fox!
In Jesus' name,
Amen!

Our Little Artists

Rebekah's school had an art show tonight and every child in the school had art on display. She was very proud to show us her class's paintings. The first paintings are "mud" paintings (for the April showers). The kids had a fun time finger painting.
They also painted dinosaurs. This is a T-Rex. (I don't know why Bekah is making that face!)
And last but not least, Lydia drew this picture of herself with Diego today. She worked really hard on it and was very afraid that it would get erased before I got the chance to see it. She's so proud of it, I thought that you guys should see it too.

Anybody know what this is?

Rebekah made this in school. I didn't know what it was at first. Any guesses? Just add them to the comments section...

*** Answer: It's an umbrella. You're looking at the back of a person walking with an umbrella (with the two legs sticking out of the bottom).

Thank you to STEPHANIE for being willing to take a guess!

Please pray for Nepal & our friends Dan & Sheryl!!

We have been keeping tabs on Dan & Sheryl, missionaries who, with their 8-year-old daughter Kristi, are currently serving in Kathmandu, Nepal. We received this quick note from them last night:

"Thanks for your concern. We are not in any position to leave right now for many, many reasons. Rebecca is stuck in South Nepal and cannot get here. I need her to stay with our girls - I will not leave them alone - and there is literally nobody else to do that. We cannot leave this house empty. We are in the process of getting our new business visas- we run the risk of losing our opportunity to do that if we leave now. There are more - but those are the most pressing issues."

Dan & Sheryl have adopted three Nepali girls that cannot leave Nepal. Rebecca (a Nepali Christian) is one of their student interns and Sheryl's right hand women. Her brother-in-law died and while Rebecca was out of town for the funeral, the transportation strike began and the curfew was enforced throughout Nepal. Rebecca cannot make it back to care for Dan & Sheryl's girls. Although Dan & Sheryl planned to connect with the US Embassy should they need to leave quickly, they cannot leave their girls alone with the country in such turmoil.

We also received this update from Dan & Sheryl last night (which would have been this morning for them in Nepal):

In The Gap - April 25

The sun is rising here on, what looks to be, a very beautiful day in Nepal.
As you end your day in the USA. Would you pray for the Nepalese people and those of us who are living and serving here?

Two days ago, we witnessed an amazing miracle. It was a miracle of compassion, mercy and grace for the people who are caught-up in the protests and power-struggles of the last 3 weeks.

The news (BBC, CNN) focussed on more than 100,000 demonstrators who had pushed to within 500 yards of the royal palace. But there were no cameras covering a crowd of the same size who had surrounded the Singa Durbar complex (a walled compound containing the vast majority of essential Govt. offices).

In recent months we have seen the crowd-mentality take over as demonstrators burned and looted the homes and offices of the focus of their displeasure (and many, many innocent victims who had the poor misfortune to have homes or businesses nearby). Had these huge crowds broken-in on these gov't installations there was only one inevitable outcome: burning, looting and rioting. The police and military would have opened fire killing hundreds... They have to, they cannot allow the destruction of essential govt. documents, land titles/deeds, tax and utility information, etc., etc.

A few moments before the inevitable massacre took place, the heavens opened and a hail storm poured out! Sizable chunks of hail mixed with cold rain dispersed the crowd within 5 minutes. PTL!

Yesterday, many wounds were treated and less than 10000 took to the streets - it seemed like a calm before the storm. The King came on the air and threw out more concessions in a brief speech. But it seems again that he said too little - too late to save his throne. Many are calling for a new constitution that takes the Monarch out of the political sphere of influence.

The agitators have promised 2 million protesters will gather near the palace today. We don't know if that will happen or not. But, we do know if those crowds march on govt. facilities there will be a horrible bloodshed today.

I cannot advise us to pray for a specific agenda because their are no heroic guys with white hats and clean hearts on any side of this movement. If we are near an end ... it is only the end of the first event in a long, long process. But, I ask you to pray with us here for a PEACE and protection for the manipulated masses. For whatever that happens today to happen quickly and with minimal bloodshed.

The hearts of the Kings are in our Father's hands. What looks like chaos to us does not escape conformity to HIS will and HIS plans. We intercede today for HIS body, all over Nepal, to be seekers of truth who act on what they hear from the H. S. There WILL BE a great harvest because the Father is drawing all men unto himself. We don't want to miss our parts in that.

Thank You from Nepal,
Dan

We can see God's hand in some events and thus far, all of the Naya Geet Kathmandu (New Song Kathmandu) members seem to be safe. So, please remember Dan & Sheryl as they stay with their family in Kathmandu. Pray for safety from the various political parties, the Maoist rebels, and any lawless Nepalis who may be taking advantage of the current turmoil to pillage and loot.

Here is a photo of Dan & Sheryl's family in Nepal from last October. Their daughters are Sharmeala, Shaunti, Kristi, & Junkeri.

Thank you for your prayers!!

David & Jayna

Anybody out there?

This blog has 12 members...at least 12 members that have accepted invitations. I know there are others who are checking the blog but haven't officially accepted the invitation by creating a user name and password.


So, where are you? I know that you're checking the blog because the blog has been visited over 200 times in about a month. But only a few are leaving comments...


I would love to hear from you. The girls would love it too!! Please feel free to post comments by clicking the comments link at the bottom of each entry. For those family members that are new to blogs, I would be happy to walk you through it. Just let me know.


Bye for now! I'll post more later. We've got a birthday party to go to tonight.

Jayna

Rebekah is feeling better.

Rebekah stayed home from school yesterday and we took her to the doctor. She has an ear infection. She's back at school today, her second dose of medicine in her before she left. So far so good. I think she's on the mend.

And here's a picture...

just because a post isn't really complete without a picture...

It's from last Thanksgiving.

Only in Nashville

Only in Nashville could you find the White Trash Cafe. We drove by this yesterday on our way home from lunch.

I wish I had a picture...

I wish I had a picture of this, but you'll just have to imagine it in your mind...

We were eating at a Mexican restaurant after church yesterday and Lydia was eating a tortilla. I was talking with a friend, so I didn't notice what she was doing with it. But I turned to look at her and she had the tortilla on her face. She had bitten out little holes for her eyes. She looked at me through the tortilla and said, "Rrraaaarrrr!" Then she giggled hysterically. She is SO funny!

And our little Bekah isn't feeling very well today. We think she has an ear infection. We'll be taking her to the doctor later this afternoon. We'll keep you posted

Woo Hooooooo!

Woooooo Hoooooo! I just got an AWESOME scholarship from the APSU Women's Club! They have offered me $700 per semester....

But that's not the best part...

You'll never guess....

Well, try....

Okay! The best part is that I have the scholarship every semester

UNTIL I GRADUATE!!

I'm still looking into all the requirements to keep the scholarship every year, but I'm super excited right now!

Yea!!!!

Happy Friday!

I'm impressed!!

I'm impressed!! Rebekah is learning so much! Check out these pages she brought home from school yesterday. She told us that she made this for Daddy. They've been learning about dinosaurs. (She even corrected my pronunciation of one of the dinosaur names!!

This first one I think is supposed to say "pterodactyl flies."

The second one says "Tyrannosaurus Rex runs fast."

The third one says "Parasaurolophus ."

The fourth one says "Brontosaurus has a long neck."

The fifth one says " Triceratops has 3 horns."

The last one says, "Stegosaurus plates."

"Let's shop it!"

David & Lydia were out and about yesterday and they saw a pretty shirt. David said, "Lydia, don't you think Mommy would look pretty in that shirt?" And Lydia said, "Yeah! Let's buy it." David said, "You're just turning into a little shopping fiend, aren't you!" And Lydia said, "Yeah! Let's shop it!"

Genesis 1 according to my girls...

Last night, when choosing books to read before we went to bed, Lydia chose the new Bible that Rebekah got for Christmas. So, we read Genesis 1 and the creation story. Rebekah was so cute, taking it all in. When I said that God created the light and called it "day" and called the dark "night," she said in amazement "That's what WE call it too!"

Then we talked about how God created the grass, and trees, and Rebekah said, "And God made 'jamas!" (pajamas) And then we talked about how God made fruit and seeds, and she said, "And God created long hair, and beautiful eyes, and beautiful eyelashes, and backpacks, and candlesticks, and hats..." She was so cute!

Then, when we talked about God creating everything that flies, Lydia said, "Butterflies?" And I said, "Yes, butterflies fly. That's right." And Rebekah chimed in, "And Peter Pan, 'cause Peter Pan flies too...and Tinkerbell!" Then Lydia said pink bumblebees fly, because pink bumblebees are the "darlin'. "

Then, when she prayed, Rebekah said, "God, bless our home. I love you SO much God, and I love the whole world, and Easter bunnies and Easter bunny chocolate. In Jesus' name, Amen. "

A hat for her "curlies"

Last night Lydia put on a dress up hat, saying that she needed it for her "curlies." So cute!

When I tucked her in bed last night, Lydia picked up her Dora doll and said, "Mommy, Dora's hair is kay-zee" (crazy). I looked at Dora and said, "Dora, is your hair crazy?"

Lydia looked at me with the straightest face and said, "She can't talk, Mom."

I about died laughing. Silly girl.

Oh! And I caught Lydia putting toilet paper on the toilet seat last night when she went to go to the bathroom. She sees me do that in public restrooms. I had to explain to her that we don't have to do that at home.

Jason the Boy

Rebekah calls my cousin, Jason, “Jason the Man.” She does this to differentiate between our cousin Jason from her friend, Jason, dubbed “Jason the Boy” at our house. For those of you who were curious, this is Rebekah’s good friend, Jason (the boy).

For Mammy & Pappy

The girls got these out of one of those machines for 50 cents. They thought they were so hilarious and we thought you’d get a kick out of them. Rebekah even wanted to take them to school to show her teacher!!

Easter

This was the first time that the girls decorated Easter eggs. They really had a good time. We colored the eggs with crayons first and then dyed them. We decided not to go to the community Easter egg hunt this year because last year there were 1000 people there. David asked the girls if it was okay if he just hid some in the yard. Rebekah said that was fine as long as he put candy in the eggs. So, the girls hunted for both real and plastic eggs. After the egg hunt, Rebekah was on the phone with her grandma and said, “We had candy in the plastic ones, but we didn’t put anything in the real ones.” (She kept wanting us to open one of the real eggs so that she could see what was inside of it. We’ll have to show her tonight so that she will understand that even Easter eggs are just eggs…)

Lydia woke up grumpy, so the first Easter pictures are of her with a frown on her face. She was in a better mood after church, so the pictures turned out much nicer. Church just created a class specifically for older two year-olds and Lydia was able to go to that yesterday. She loved it. She was very proud of the craft she made. And her teacher said that she was very good, that she shared, and that she listened and obeyed. We were very happy to hear that, since last time she was in the nursery she hit another child.

I’ve posted the Easter pictures at Shutterfly, so you can check them out at the link to the left…

When I tried the girls’ Easter dresses on them, I only tried on the dresses and not the bloomers underneath them. The bloomers were more like little shorts. Well, yesterday morning when we got ready for church, Bekah couldn’t keep her bloomers up. They were too big in the waist. I think Lydia’s were a little too big too, but her diaper helped hold them up. So, you’ll be able to see their bloomers in some of the pictures. Oh well. The pictures are cute anyway!

Good Friday at the Zoo

As usual, we spent Good Friday at the zoo. The girls had fun and we did too. It wasn’t too hot, but we all got some sun. Lydia & I especially. We went in the lorikeet tent and bought some nectar to feed the birds. (It cost $1 for that tiny little cup that barely had enough nectar in it to cover the bottom…but that’s a different rant…) They had been eating all morning, so we weren’t sure if they would be hungry enough to let us feed them. But they were and the girls got to feed two of the lorikeets. It was really great. We had a good time. Then we had a picnic at the zoo and relaxed the rest of the day.

We had some friends over as well and spent some good time in fellowship (and me taking pictures of their kids…you know, since mine are so tired of me taking pictures…). We were good and tired by the time the day was done. Here are a few pics from the zoo.

PICTURES, A PICNIC, A PUPPY & A PARK

It was an absolutely gorgeous week and weekend and we went a little nuts with the picture taking… Now I know that you’re thinking: Don’t you always go nuts with the picture taking? Yes, I do. I admit it. A friend suggested that an intervention might be needed and that I should go to Pictures Anonymous: Hi, my name is Jayna, and it’s been four hours since I’ve taken a picture. But as of last night, David and I have taken 1,370 pictures during the month of April. (And it’s only the 17th!) We have kept 800 of these. Of these 800, about 200 of them are David’s. I guess with the beautiful weather and time off for the holiday, we got a little carried away…

So, here are a few of the fun pics from this past week…









*Note: Mammy & Pappy, the tan flower skirt is one of the things Bekah bought with her birthday money.

Here’s one of Lydia with a friend’s puppy. His name is Hershey. I actually left my house without our camera (because I didn’t think I would need it at Bible study!) and had to borrow a camera to take these. So, thanks, Renee, for emailing these to me!!

My point of view

Just a quick post of my point of view whenever we’re in the car. I just look through the vanity mirror and see what my girls are up to.

Daddy, You're My BEST!

Lydia is getting so BIG! And more beautiful every day. Last Tuesday, David & Lydia were out running errands, etc. and every place they went, someone commented on how beautiful Lydia was. David said that all he could say was, “I agree. She is beautiful.” The other day, Lydia gave David a big hug and said, “Daddy, you’re my BEST!” It just melted David’s heart…David took Lydia to the zoo the other day and got these great shots!

David was commenting this weekend that it seems that we have inadvertently removed all things “baby” from our house over the past month. Without even realizing it, our home has moved from being a house where a baby lives to a house with two little girls. As in GIRLS, not toddlers, or babies. Two little girls! We’ve moved to storage our high chair, double stroller, changing table, crib, and cardboard books. Now we have all four of us eating at the same table, a big-girl bed for Lydia and a castle bunk bed for Bekah. I guess it just kind of snuck up on us…

Here’s my little model. Isn’t she so PRECIOUS! I still can’t believe she was once my little baby!! She’s getting so big!

My Sweetie

This is me with my sweetie. He is SO good-looking! And he was so sweet to let me take pictures of us using the timer on our camera (you know, since I tend to over-do it with the picture taking)!! Just wanted to post this because it makes me smile…

Cupcakes for Rebekah's Class

I had a little trouble posting pictures earlier, so I wasn’t able to post these pictures. These are from Rebekah’s birthday party at school. We took Barbie cupcakes. Rebekah helped me make the Barbie picks that we stuck in the cupcakes. She was very proud to hand them out to her friends. And they all sang happy birthday to her. She was also so excited to show all of us more of her classroom (even though we’ve been there many times…).









This was also a great chance to get some pictures of Rebekah with her teachers.














This is Ms. Laura Lee.















This is Ms. Karen.















And this is Ms. Kathy.

Just a side note: Each of the kids had a little dinosaur necklace on. (They’ve been studying dinosaurs this month.) Each had their name as the name of a dinosaur. Rebekah’s was “Rebekahosaurus.” Just wanted to point that out if you noticed all the dinosaurs in the pictures.

I guess this would be a good place to post the pictures of the dinosaur egg that Rebekah made at school. Inside is a little dinosaur that Rebekah named “Jessica T-Rex.”