Pickin Berries

My other babies

These are my snap peas that have just started popping up the last few days. It is so hard to keep the kids from eating them every day so we can let it produce enough to gather for dinner.

This is my little vegetable garden this year: snap peas along the back wall, regular peas on the left, cucumbers on the far right, and the middle is jam packed with tomato plants (possibly too many for them to thrive - we'll see how that goes..) We finally got a hose hooked up to the rain barrel so I can water the garden for free. There's just something about growing plants from seeds that gives you a sort of proud and protective feeling...

More Easter shots from Church

We had a great morning! A wonderful sermon at church, a potluck afterward, and then a third egg hunt for our kiddos. Don't worry it's not getting old.

Oh, why won't they look up, this one could be so cute...

Precious, truly precious

Samuel was quite the comedian, he did this for laughs and it worked on me :)

Sweet Kate

Happy Easter!

Kate showing off her ballet barbie from the "the rabbit", which is what she has been calling the Easter Bunny.

And Charlotte showing off her favorite things from her basket, cotton candy, pink necklace, and pretty headband

Egg Hunt at the Children's Museum

We went to the Childrens' Museum yesterday and met up with the Laniers and Powells for the toddler egg hunt. Charlotte was very excited to wear the bunny ears, that is until we got there. Kate dyed eggs and got her face painted and all the little kids just ran around :)

Here is Oliver, in true boy fashion, maybe more interested in the mulch than in the egg hunt

Here is Lily Kate enthralled by the yoyo she found in an egg. The things I would never think to buy that capture their attention!

Here is Samuel "cheeseing" for the camera. He was delighted to have his picture taken while we were begging the others to be still for a moment. Maybe there's a modeling future??


We had a great time. We also have an egg hunt at church tomorrow and Parks and I are going to do one at home in the afternoon, so this is the first of three. This has been a great Easter season, we bought a couple great childrens' books for the girls that talk about Jesus' death and resurrection. Between those, the Veggie Tales Easter movie, and our sweet toddler conversations I feel like we have really been present in the meaning of Easter this year.

Visit from the Coleys

We had such a great visit with Becca and Brent this past weekend. Becca and I have been very close friends for 17yrs and it feels so comfortable to be together. It was really great to be with her but also with Brent and sweet Emory and get to know each of them better too. Miss em already. We hit up all that Wilmington has to offer in the spring: walk on the beach, dinner downtown, Airlie Gardens, some park time, seafood by the water, all the good stuff.

Proud parent moments....

I feel like I'm always so emotionally exhausted by Lily Kate's 4yr old amount of self control and trying to encourage her to fight against this selfishness that she was born with.... tonight we had a sweet moment that I was so encouraged by..... I was putting Lily Kate to sleep, we read our devotion book and then I asked her if there was anything that I could pray for her about her day tomorrow at school. She said, "well, tomorrow is our Easter egg hunt and we should pray that when we hunt for the eggs it doesn't make everyone fight and say THAT'S MINE (said in sincere dramatic LK style). " Then she cut herself off and said, "I'll just pray for that, I'll go first". First she prayed to avoid any "THAT'S MINE" incidents and then she thanked God for all of us in the family (including Margaret Lee, who lives with us & LK thinks is in our family). Then she asked God to make her be a helper for Mommy and not to be mean to Charlotte anymore and for God to make her good. How precious, God is molding her and changing her. I was so proud of her and when I told her she was just beaming. As I left she asked (with hopefulness) if I was going to tell Daddy that she did a good job........how precious! Thank you, Lord for that encouragement!

Master Bedroom Makeover

Really, this is a post to show off more of my hubbys handiwork, I am constantly amazed and what he can do in that garage of his. Here is our bedroom before, sorry about the blaring windows, I forgot to take "before" pictures and I was actually thankful to find that I had this one from a year or so ago. This is the bed that he made us for a wedding present. We weren't using the space well, lots' of it was empty and wasted.

...and AFTER. It's hard to tell but the room is shifted, the headboard of the new bed is on the left wall (from the above picture). The bookshelf in this picture is on the wall where the old headboard used to be. Make sense??

This is my favorite space in the room, we found this little down filled loveseat (with slipcovers - the only way to do white) at World Market on sale. I wasn't sure I would use a sitting area in my bedroom but I do ALL the time. It's such a peaceful, secluded reading spot (2 words that are almost foreign to this mom of little ones)

Nice little low-profile bookshelf that Parks made. I loved the end tables with turned bases that I found for bedside tables, but they left us in need of some practical storage space.

I really wish I had a "before" picture of the dresser. Parks stripped and stained it to match the headboard, bookshelf, etc. It used to be a honey color. It looks brand new, you would never know I bought it used when I got out of college. I love giving furniture a new life.

Well done, Parks, well done!

Simple Treasures

Came across this picture when I was cleaning out the nursery, I think it was on the bulletin board in there when we used the nursery for Lily Kate. Its about 4yrs old, a precious memory to us now. Winship & Lily Kate on the lawn by the lake at Tate

It's A...

We had some trouble posting this video, but 2 weeks ago we got to have an extensive ultrasound with a specialist and learned that our baby is very healthy. For weeks Lily Kate was convinced that we were having a girl, we would say, "Friday is the day we get to find out if the baby is a girl or a boy." and she would say, "no, Friday is the day that you will see that you're having a girl!" She was convinced and there was no changing her mind. Here's a clip of us just after we picked Lily Kate up from preschool that day, telling her what we're having...

Charlotte's Prayer

I heard Charlotte pray for the first time last night. Parks has heard her once before because he puts her to bed but it was my first taste of that sweetness. We were about to eat and instead of asking Kate to pray, Parks asked Charlotte and she said,

"Sure, Thank you God for my mommy and my daddy....and my mommy and my daddy.... and the turtle and Sissy"

So, she's done and I said, "Good job, Charlotte umm....the turtle?" And she said in her sweet little high voice, "Oh yea, hi tiny little turtle." I followed her gaze down to her plate to one tiny piece of broccoli slaw that she had separated from the rest and put on the edge of her place and was gently touching and calling "turtle". Wow, she's special!

Beautiful Weekend

The weather is getting nicer by the day, I hope it's not going to backtrack. Saturday we went to the Arboretum and met up with the Phelps family. The kiddos were mesmerized by the fish. There were a couple of moments when Ben or Charlotte could have easily taken a swim if they hadn't been intercepted.




My wonderful friend, Lauren, spent Saturday with us and we even got to have a ladies night out. Good food, good conversation, it was wonderful.

Dress Making

I've been so busy sewing curtains and pillows that I have neglected making dresses. I cleaned out my closet the other day and found the fabric and ribbon that I had already bought for these long sleeved dressed for LK and Charlotte. Now they each have one to wear while we still have some cool weather.

Also, I just couldn't resist making these for my friend, Shelley's twins. They turn ONE today. The gift is more for her to say congrats for surviving the hardest (most wonderful!) year ever :) Who can resist the matching clothes.

Pudding

Some of these are blurry, but what a sweet moment to capture. Dessert of chocolate pudding from the big bowl in princess dresses.

Pictures I stole from my sister-in-law

Ashley not only has a great camera, but she takes the best pictures. I love this moment she captured between Nona and Lily Kate

Here are all the cousins on my mother's side of my family. Can you tell which one is my brother? It's pretty obvious.

Conversations in the car

I spend a LOT of time in the car with the girls. Sometimes they read, often they sing, mostly we talk.

Yesterday
Kate: Mom, how come no one in our family is a movie star?
Me: Umm, well. We just aren't (I'm quick). I mean, we just have different jobs, that's not what God has us doing. Do you know what a movie star is?
Kate: Yea Mom, like Scooby Do, he's a movie star.... I think

The other day
Kate: Mom, I'm four now because I had my birthday but I don't feel four.
Me: You mean, you don't feel any older, like you still feel the same as when you were three?
Kate: Yea (lost in thought)

Today
Kate: Let's pretend I'm a visitor at your house.
Me: Ok, Hi, where are you visiting from
Kate: Oh, I live in Wilmington. Tell me about your garden at your house.
Me: It's pretty empty right now, I'm waiting for Spring to start, I planted some see -
Kate: (interrupting) Yea, (I guess I was boring) I won't be going back to my house for a long time, I'm really sad about that. I have some beautiful flowers at my house, I really miss them.
Me: Hey visitor, I don't even know your name
Kate: My name is Liz Carpenter
Me: Wow, that's my name
Kate: (sincerely) Hmm, you are going to need to get a new name.

He, he. Little nut.

New Do

Lily Kate was long overdue for a new do. Her hair is thick and wavy and looks like this most days.

Here's her "after" shot

And one more because she likes to model. I love it, I wish it was my hair.

Beautiful day at the Park

We have had a streak of beautiful days here. We went to the park on Saturday for a family picnic and saw lots of friends there. Here's Maddie, Ava, & Lily Kate

Nathan

Sweet Charlotte

Happy Heart Day

Lily Kate and I made some chocolate covered strawberries for Parks while he was at work.

They turned out pretty well, a little coconut added for fancy factor

Parks and I have had a tradition of ordering take out on VDay for the past four yrs. We never do it so it feels like a treat. Neither person cooks, we put the kids to bed and eat in. BUT, this year Margaret Lee told us at the last minute that she would be around if we wanted to eat out. We grabbed that opportunity and had a proper date like normal people :) I love my Valentine!

Little Sponge

I just had to note this conversation we had with Charlotte last night. I was going through her papers from church and she had colored a picture of Bartimaeus, the blind man that Jesus healed. I asked her who was in the picture, expecting the usual, "I don know" that I often get. But, she said, "that man hurt his eyes, he was so sad. Jesus fix his eyes and he was all better. He was so happy!" Then in true Charlotte fashion, she yelled "YAY!" I was shocked. I often forget how much they "get" at this age, she's such a little sponge.

On a random note, my latest favorite thing that Charlotte does is, if you do anything to change your appearance (add sunglasses, take down a pony tail) she says, "oh Mom, you take off your pony. you're so precious." and she'll come and stroke my cheek. It's so funny but she really means it. Nothing like being called "precious" by your 2 yr old to boost your confidence.

She also sings Little Mermaid songs and tunes from our church Christmas play very loudly (and in totally wrong keys) to herself while she plays or rides in the car. There's a mini update on Charlotte, love that girl!

Houston Trip

Last week my sweet Nana passed away. It was a hard week saying goodbye and celebrating her life. We went to Houston and Corpus Christi for the funeral. We had some good times sitting around with the whole family in the hotel. (this is the best hotel ever, by the way, with an indoor pool, hot tub, and playground complete with a ball pit). Here's Nona and Lily Kate.

Our nephew, Scotty

Aunt Carrie breaking the rules with Halo. PS, Carrie, yesterday Lily Kate asked, "what does it mean to be allergic to kids? Your aunt Carrie said she's allergic to kids" I was laughing and curious what the context of that conversation was....

Kyle and Mom

My favorite little ones. The girls slept in bed together all week. We put Charlotte to bed and Kate would join her about 30 min later when she was alseep. I came in to Kate saying, "look, Mom, isn't she precious?", hugging little sleeping Charlotte.