A fun Weekend in pictures

Watermellon!!!!
Grilling out with the boys...

A family pic at the farmers market...

The stroller club...

Take me out to the ballgame...

Sam and I went to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals game for "Faith and Family" night with our church. Bud was supposed to attend as well, but he had some issues with the Atlanta airport. We had a great time with our friends!

Sam and "Cake" (Kate) in their matching outfits...

Baby Sarah's first baseball game...

Rough housing with "Es" (Wes)...

Fun times!

Bella Vista

Some of the things Sam likes about his new apart-a-home...

Stacking his toys and rocks on these boxes in the backyard...
Playing at the nearby park...

Watching cable... I wish Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was on more frequently because several times throughout the day he asks for "Mu Mouse" and "DooDles" (Oh Toodles) (those with the Disney channel know what I'm talking about :))...

Playing with sticks in the backyard and rocks in the front yard...

...and putting all his toys in Clara's cage...

Goodbye First Home :(

Last week we moved out of our first home! :( We have loved our first home and made so many memories there, but it's time to say goodbye. I am so glad that we are just saying goodbye to the house for now and not Bentonville... although it's a little weird driving around town and not going to our house!
Walmart hired movers for us and, I must say, it was wonderful! I packed a few suitcases of clothes, toys and books and that's it! They packed and loaded everything else and did a much better job than I would have done. :)

This is the crate they built for my large harp (Gertrude). They built a second one for my little harp too (Penelope). The harps are not moving an inch in their little cocoons!

Samuel couldn't care less that all his toys are in those boxes as long as he has his "gee" (blankie).

Advice Needed...

Any of you out there have ideas for getting a toddler to sleep more?!?? I need some advice. I have a lot to be grateful for about Samuel's sleep... he sleeps all night and loves to talk in his crib for quite a length of time before going to sleep or after waking up. So, I'm not complaining, just looking for some tips for tweaking his schedule :)

How do you get a toddler to sleep later in the morning? Samuel used to sleep 'til about 7:30, but for the past month it's crept earlier and earlier. This morning he was up at 5:45! He's happy when he wakes and just talks in his room and kicks the side of his crib until we go to get him, but then a few hours later it's obvious that he didn't get enough sleep!

Some things I've tried...

-I've tried putting him to bed earlier, but he talks in his crib until almost 9 most nights regardless of when we put him down. He also usually wakes from his nap around 4 (which I don't want to change!!) so it would leave a short evening if we put him down much earlier.

- I've tried leaving him in his crib until wake up time... about 7:30. He'll stay in there happily until whenever I go get him, but he's not getting the sleep he needs.

Any other ideas?

Happy Mothers Day!

My boys sure spoiled me this Mother's Day! They took me to a nice brunch at Mimi's Cafe... one of our favorite breakfast spots around here. Then, headed to the book store to read while Sam played with the train. We relaxed for quite a bit of the afternoon. Then did a little packing and finally Sam and I snuggled on the couch to watch some tv past his bed time. I told him he could snuggle or go to bed... he chose to snuggle :) And, to top it all off, Bud changed all but one diaper (he would have changed all of them, but I beat him to one)! I have such a great family!

Happy Mothers Day to my mom and Bud's mom too! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family!

New Game

Samuel's new favorite activity is to crawl on the bed and pull all the pillows and blankets on top of him. He often lays his head down in the middle of this game and says "nigh night." So much for having the bed made before Papa gets home! But, I really like this game because I get to lay down on the bed while he's entertained... although it's not real relaxing having him climb on me like I'm a jungle gym :)

The Upcoming Move

I guess I should update my faithful readers on our upcoming transition to the north land. Things have been busy around here as we prepare to relocate. We've been selling houses, signing leases, getting repairs done, and making zillions of phone calls to arrange all the details.

Our house has a contract on it! We listed it the week we left for our trip to Philadelphia and we had an offer when we got back. We had accepted an offer within two weeks of it being listed! Which was wonderful, but kind of changed our timing a bit! We originally were hoping to stay around Bentonville until July(ish), but our closing date was set for May 11th! So, we quickly started finding a place to live after May 11th...

We found a GREAT rental home in Philadelphia! It's actually bigger than our current home and has a great yard for dogs and little boys to play in! And, the location is supurb... about 20 minutes from downtown, only minutes from all the shopping I could ever want (Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and much, much more), in a great neighborhood with playgrounds and tree-lined streets, and less than 10 minutes from Bud's work. However, the house is not available until mid-July...

So, in the meantime, we will move to Bella Vista, AR (about 10 minutes from our current home) next week. We found a furnished townhome to rent and the moving company will hold our possessions for 60 days while we are in transition. So, we'll stay there until the end of June, when we head to Nashville...

My parents are leaving for Kenya at the end of June for about two weeks. So, we are going to house-sit/dog-sit for them while they are gone. And, hopefully, be able to hear all about their trip when they get back (as long as they aren't sleeping the whole time from the jet lag :)). Then, the day after they get back, we head to our new home. I am excited to get settled in, but am not looking forward to leaving Arkansas!

It has been amazing to see God work in all the little tiny details along the way. He provided us a buyer, a place to rent in Philly, temporary housing, and we know he will continue to work in every detail of our transition. What a mighty God we serve!