A Few More March Moments

Reagan took ballet and tap again this year, and in March I got to attend her class and take a few pictures.  She’s still not a brilliant dancer, but I could definitely see an improvement from last year!

The kids also participated in their first Bible Bowl this year.  Why I don’t have a picture of them, I’m not really sure, but here’s a picture of Jake at Bible Bowl.  My kids looked just like him!

JonZReaTom ended up all on a team together, and their team leader named them God’s Quads! They did REALLY well, especially considering they were competing against lots of older more experienced teams.  In fact, I think they may have been the only team from our church that made it to the final round!  They didn’t win, but we were really proud of them and can’t wait to see what they do next year!

Here is another cub scout adventure.  This time we went hiking at Concord park. 

And finally, one of our newest skills—doorframe climbing!

The Snow that Never Ends and Some Random February Moments--2014

Did I mention it snowed a lot this winter?

In all my years in Knoxville, I don’t think we’ve ever gotten this much snow at one time!

But it sure was fun!  And not just because we got to miss more school!

Cheers!  Mugs of hot chocolate to end the fun!  Well, not for Jonathan.  He still doesn’t like chocolate.  He just had a mug of milk with some marshmallows thrown in.

Other February moments:

Sweethearts Dinner with our “small” group from church

Valentine’s Day gifts for the kids

And my new favorite thing!  Jim added this mudroom area to our laundry room!  Isn’t it beautiful!  We love it!  Each child has a place to put his or her shoes, jackets, backpack, etc!  It’s wonderful!

Christmas events 2013

Usually when I blog about Christmas in the middle of the summer, it is hot as blazes outside, but right now it is unseasonably cool for the middle of July.  The last two days were gorgeous, mild and sunny.  Today it’s overcast and rainy, but still nice and cool.

Anyway, the first part of Christmas prep is always the tree.  Every year we let the kids do a little bit more and every year they do a little bit better.
This year we got our first real tree since the kids were born.  We worried a little that it might cause Jonathan some issues with his allergies, but he did fine.  We put the fake tree in Jonathan and Zachary’s room upstairs so the lights could be seen from the street.  The kids really enjoyed having a tree upstairs!

Jonathan’s year to put the star on the tree!

The kids went with their church group to sing at the nursing home.

We went once again to see our Santa at the Bass pro Shops.  It’s always a treat to see him!  The people in line behind probably don’t think so though, since he always wants to spend a little extra time talking to us!

Right after school got out, we spent the night with Josh and Cris.  That is an event we always look forward to!

Christmas Eve we had dinner with the Bakers and Borsts, and I snapped this picture of Reagan and Lily just as my phone died.  I think that’s why Reagan blurred a little.

Cookies for Santa!

Santa came!

The giant remote-control Angry Bird was Dad’s favorite!

The boys with their Beyblades

Reagan and Saige

And finally, a few highlights from this year’s Christmas card photo shoot!

Merry Christmas!

What’s in a Name?

Apparently quite a bit!
Today at VBS we learned about how Jesus has a name, that he received his name from God, and that it means “God saves.” 
Jesus’ name is special and we all have special names too.  As part of the theme of the day, one of the activities the kids did was find out what their names mean.  Apparently God secretly influenced the naming of my children because they are quite appropriate, one in particular!
I admit that what the kids’ names mean is not something Jim and I considered when we picked the names.  We both liked the name Reagan and chose three more presidential names to go with it.  (For the full story, read HERE.)
Little did we know…
Zachary means “remembered by God” as in “God remembers Zachary every day and protects him from incurring the complete wrath of his parents who are driven absolutely bonkers by his whining and constant car noises.”
Jonathan means “gift of God” and fits him perfectly.  God knew how rough it would be sometimes to raise quads, but at least He took pity on us and gave us Jonathan who often makes the rough times just a little bit easier.
Thomas means “twin”!!!!!  How cool is that?!?  Not only does it make sense because he’s a multiple, but also because according to JIM’S ENTIRE FAMILY Thomas is practically a clone of his daddy.  Daddy’s little twin!
Reagan.  If you thought the other names made sense, wait til you hear this one!  Reagan means “little queen”!  Are you kidding me?  It’s like we waited until after she had been around a couple of years and then chose the exact name that matched her personality!
Coincidence?  Oh, no, no!  God knew exactly what He was doing when He picked these names and put them in our heads!
What about you?  Does your name fit you perfectly?

Sing Your Heart Out

When we arrived at church this past Sunday, we were surprised to learn that the kids would be singing a song before the congregation that morning! (With their class, not just them!) Due to other engagements, we had not been at church the two previous Sundays, so we didn’t know this was happening and were a little concerned that the kids wouldn’t know the songs, and then what would they do when they got on stage in front of ALL THESE PEOPLE!!

Happily, our fears were unnecessary! The songs were unfamiliar to me, but very simple, so the kids must have picked up on them well enough to not be too nervous. Or maybe little kids just don’t know to be nervous when they are unprepared. I don’t know. Either way, JonZReaTom showed not a moment of hesitation when they marched up front with the other kids.

Thomas and Reagan led the line and stood at the far end of the group. Jonathan and Zachary were more in the middle. The teachers and song leader started the song, and all the kids joined in, and their sweet voices brought smiles to everyone!

But it wasn’t just the voices that we smiled at! The video system was on so that you could watch the kids up on the screen too, so everyone could see them as well as hear them. This allowed everyone to get a great view of our precious Reagan who was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She was singing away and swaying with the song, and ever now and then she’d do a little joyful jump into the air! It was so adorable!

Jim and I were so proud of the great job they all did! I wish I had it on video! Not shy, those kids! What a joy to see all those beautiful children singing about their best friend Jesus, with such joy and innocence! If only we could all live our lives with the joy of young children!

Going to Church

We recently started bringing all four children into the worship service with us on Sunday mornings. For the longest time, we only brought two and left the other two in the nursery.

Technically, the toddler nursery at our church is only for kids up to age 2, but they kindly let us continue to leave our kids there even after their second birthday...WAY after! However, as their third birthday began to draw closer, I knew we had to stop. It just wasn't fair to the toddlers who were of the right age for the nursery to be in there with my big 3-year-olds! No one ever said a thing to us about it, but my conscience just wouldn't let it continue.

So we bit the bullet and went to church with all four kids. The first Sunday, we stayed for the entire service, and it was awful! I'm sure it seemed much worse to me and Jim than it did to anyone around us. It's always worse to the parents, no matter how many kids you have! The worst part of all was that it ended badly. The memory we carried with us as we fled the building as soon as the service was over was that of four simultaneous meltdowns because they couldn't have the same toy that the little girl in front of us had. It was an unfortunate way to end the morning. The whole service wasn't as bad as that, but that was the lingering memory.

After that, my friend Betsy gave me the idea to back off a little and work our way up to staying the whole service, so the last two Sundays, we have only stayed through the end of the Lord's Supper. After the contribution, everyone stands up to sing, and we head for the door.

It's been a little better. The shortened time is easier for the kids to handle, and therefore easier on us too. It's just so hard to keep four 3-year-olds entertained and moderately quiet for any length of time, much less an entire church service. And at the end, Jim and I have spent most of it either shoving anything at them that we think will keep them happy and quiet or whispering angrily at them to hush. We're mad at them and irritated at each other. It's not a pleasant experience for us or for them, and that makes us sad because that isn't what a worship service should be about.