Blessings from Above!

This blog is for those people who don't think God hears the desires of your heart.

Tonight we were surprised by some friends of ours who wanted to stop by & bring something to us. Well, we were curious as to what this "gift" might be. Boy were we surprised when they brought us a brand new dining room table. Whoa! What a gift! Anyone would be thrilled that they received a new dining room table.

Not only were we thrilled, but we were stunned to find out all of the information that went along with this gift. I have always wanted a dining room table of my very own. I have always envisioned big family gatherings & meals one day in the future. So, when we first moved into our house I went looking for one because we finally had our first dining room in order to put a table in. Of course, tables were way out of our price range. So, I shopped everywhere & had the tables narrowed down to three. One of those three was from World Market.

I kept this secret little desire to myself & talked with Dustin about it occasionally. We did not, however, talk to others about this wish.

Well, have you guessed it yet? Yes, our friends felt like God was leading them to buy this table for us. Yes, this table is from World Market. Can you believe that??? Not only is it from World Market, but it is the VERY ONE I picked out & we didn't tell them anything about it! Isn't God so cool! To keep going down the "God is cool" route, the table was on sale & was the last one in the Lynnwood (where we live) store . How great is our God!?!?

We are so thrilled to be enjoying our new table. We even had enough chairs around the house to place at the table for company without missing any from our kitchen table. (The chairs were NOT on sale & NOT CHEAP either...who knew chairs could cost so much!?!?)

We cannot wait to begin gathering our friends & family around this table to grow closer to one another. What a great gift! Thanks to our wonderful friends who acted as angels on Earth! We love you!

A Night with Jerry Seinfeld!

For those of you who know Dustin well, you know that he isn't a fanatic about many things. He just rolls through life so easy going & doesn't go crazy about too many things. He is just generally happy with anything. Well, there are a few things in this life that he IS fanatical about. They are as follows: Jesus, Carla :), Josiah, Steven Curtis Chapman & the man himself, Jerry Seinfeld.

Dustin has been a Jerry Seinfeld fan since his stand up acts on the Johnny Carson show & was hooked on his TV show since the pilot. Needless to say, we own all 9 seasons of the TV show Seinfeld & have seen every episode multiple times.

We recently found out that Jerry Seinfeld was coming to Seattle, WA on his stand-up comedy tour. Well, as soon as Dustin mentioned it, I knew I had to get him tickets. I went online & searched & searched & searched. I could only find tickets that cost NO LESS than $350 a piece! Whoa! I don't care how much of a fan you are, Jerry isn't worth that much! So, I gave up my quest knowing that it was impossible.

About a week after I gave up, Dustin's cousin, Jon, called & said, "Hey man! What are you doing April 24th? I got us tickets to see Seinfeld." I was in the room when Dustin got this phone call & I kid you not, I thought he was going to either pass out or jump out of a window from excitement. Somehow, Jon had gotten tickets for much cheaper through a radio station & was giving one to Dustin as a gift. WOW! That was such a blessing for Dustin. We never could have afforded that for Dustin.

He just returned from the show & said it was WONDERFUL!!! They didn't want a lot of pictures taken during the show, so this was the only shot he got. Blurry, but still you get the idea!

Soccer Time!

Josiah has always shown interest in kicking balls instead of shooting or throwing them. Dustin & I both have always enjoyed playing soccer, too. So, this past Christmas we decided to get him two soccer goals. We thought we would teach him how to play the game so we could start playing more family sports other than basketball (my favorite which he plays all the time).

Since the weather wasn't optimal for playing soccer in the winter, we just put the goals in the garage & kind of forgot about them...until today. Dustin put them together & the boys played some soccer.

Here is a picture of Josiah scoring a goal!!!! YEAH JOSIAH!!!!!

He seemed to enjoy the idea of playing the game & getting cheers for kicking the ball into the goal.

He was more excited, though, about the funny hats that you are supposed to wear while playing the game. HA! These are actually soccer cones, which we tried to explain, but they made better hats. He even thought the soccer ball needed to wear one, too!

How cute! Three year olds do the funniest things!!!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Today Josiah received his first kite. He was so excited about it. He's seen kites in books & on videos, but never flown one in real life.

He thought the lizard design was so cool. He kept talking about his lizard.

The tail of the kite has 9 more lizards on it. Josiah & his Daddy are sitting here counting all of the many "cool lizards." "Mommy, there are 10 lizards total on my kite!!!!"

Dustin helped Josiah get the kite into the air & Josiah took it & ran!

It went higher & higher & he kept laughing more & more!

Whoa baby...the kite is so high in the air & Josiah is loving every minute of it.

Josiah had so much fun & talked about it the rest of the day. I guess you could say that he was "flying as high as a kite."

Josiah's Easter Shopping Spree!

Today was so much fun! Granddaddy & Grandma Moody gave Josiah $25 in his Easter card. Today we cashed the check for twenty-five $1 bills. We sat Josiah down & explained that he now had $25 from Granddaddy & Grandma that they wanted him to spend on something he wanted to buy. He looked at the money & then counted all 25 bills (he can now count 1-to-1 correspondence up to the number 40).

He was so excited about going shopping. We talked to him about some of the options & he was ready to go. We first stopped by the Christian bookstore to buy a DVD from one of his favorite series, "Hermie." He found the DVD he wanted & then we went to the register & waited in line. Once she rang up the DVD, he counted out $7 & handed it to her. She gave us some change & then handed Josiah his bag. He was so excited! He held his DVD all the way to Target.

Our next stop was Target. We felt that Toys R Us might be too overwhelming for him to buy anything he wanted. So, we went down all of the toy aisles & let him put anything in the cart that he wanted to that were less than $18. He was surprisingly frugal. He found things that even we approved of & put them in the cart. At the end of the very last aisle, we headed for the patio furniture.

We found a large patio table & spread everything out. We made piles of things that he could purchase that added up to $18. After figuring out that he couldn't get everything & that some items in the piles were interchangeable, he picked one pile & then switched one puzzle for another. He actually chose the three items out of the pile that we would have chosen for him...& we genuinely did not influence him at all! How did he do that?

So, the items he chose were an "I Spy" book to go along with his Tag Reading System, a "Cars" jigsaw puzzle & a squishy dolphin. He was so thrilled. I am also excited that I had two coupons as well. We got $37 worth of toys for $25. How exciting!

Josiah had a wonderful time on his Easter Shopping Spree!

Easter Sunday at Holy Seed Community Church!

Today was our first Easter having service at Holy Seed Community Church. Last year we were having services every other Sunday & it did not fall on Easter. So, needless to say, we were VERY excited! Dustin & I felt this wonderful energy the entire night before & all morning before church. Josiah could feel it also. He woke up 2 hours early that day.

Josiah felt very good about himself when we got him dressed. He asked, "Mommy? Do you think I look handsome?" How sweet. Then, when I got dressed, he said, "Mommy. You look handsome, too!" HA! How funny!

This Sunday we started at 11am with service first instead of a meal. So, I headed down to Kid's Church with the children. They looked so cute all dressed up in their Easter duds.

Here they are hard at work after studying, "The Happiest Day: A story of the resurrection of Christ." Josiah said, "Mommy! It really was the happiest day!"

After service & Kid's Church was over, we had an indoor Easter Egg hunt. Yes...I did say...indoor. We ARE in Seattle. It had been beautiful weather all week & then it decided to pour down raining on Easter Sunday. So, we split the kids into two groups. The little ones hunted downstairs & the older ones hunted upstairs.

They had the best time. They were so excited! After the hunt, we went upstairs for a picnic. Again, we had scheduled an outdoor picnic, but had an indoor one instead. We rearranged the furniture in the living & dining rooms so everyone could spread out their blanket for a nice meal.

This picnic was so wonderful. It was just a time to sit back, relax & enjoy each other's company. The day really was uplifting, exciting & rejuvenating for both our family & the church.

Thank you Lord for a wonderful Easter celebration at Holy Seed Community Church! Thank you mostly, for dying on the cross & saving us from our sins!

Josiah's Easter Basket!

On Easter morning, we got Josiah up & had a nice breakfast in the kitchen. After breakfast, we told him that we had a surprise for him in the living room. So, he got up from the kitchen table & walked into the living room.

This is the face we saw when he came around the corner. He was so excited! He immediately ran over & started going through the basket.

He has really been into jigsaw puzzles lately. So, we found a "Cars" jigsaw puzzle for him since that is now his favorite movie.

We also found 5 cars from the movie that Josiah doesn't already have (The Sheriff, Boost, DJ, Snot Rod & Wingo). We hid each car inside an Easter egg. He thought that was pretty cool!

We were also able to find a Cars pinwheel, paddle ball & notepad. It didn't start out as a "Cars" theme, but it kind of worked out that way.

After he went through everything, he asked if he could take his new toys to his room to play with. He was SOOOO excited when he got his new puzzle together, as you can see from his cute face.

Here is a picture of all of the goodies that were inside his Easter Basket! Boy oh boy, what a great surprise for Josiah!!!

Dying Easter Eggs!

Tonight we decided to dye some Easter Eggs with Josiah for the first time.

As you can tell, he had a blast! He was very careful with the eggs & did a great job dying them!

He chose not to draw on the eggs this year. He was just interested in placing stickers on them. So, that's just what he did. He was so cute about it. He wanted matching stickers on each egg & he wanted those stickers strategically placed on top, not all the way around! How funny! He is just like his parents.

Here are the Lee Family eggs! We each dyed & decorated 3 eggs. We all had a blast dying Easter eggs & can't wait until next year!

Joslyn's Birthday Party!

Today was Joslyn's 3rd birthday. She celebrated her special day by having all of her friends & family over to her house for a birthday party & Easter Egg Hunt. We had a wonderful time there. There was a very special surprise at the Egg Hunt, though. A six foot tall Easter Bunny arrived. How great!

To our surprise, Josiah couldn't get enough of him while the other children were hiding behind their parents! Here he is, ever so happy, beside the Easter Bunny!

Then, it was time. The time all of the children had been waiting for. The Easter baskets were provided for & handed out to each child & the bunny said, "Go!"

Remembering how the hunting went last year, he ran around & got as many eggs as he could in record time. I think he was more interested in there being prizes inside the eggs than he was the eggs. He picked every egg up & shook it first. If he heard something, he put it in his basket. If there was no sound, he threw it back down to the ground for someone else to pick up. How funny! How do they figure this out at 3?

After the big hunt, we sang to sweet Joslyn. Josiah loved singing to his good friend. He was trying to get as close to her as he could. Then, we feasted on cake & ice cream, followed by a time for opening presents.

These two really do love each other. You can tell in the way they are hugging & smiling. How sweet!

Happy Birthday Joslyn! We love you!!

A Wonderful Day with Dad!

Today my boys decided to bless me with some time alone at home to get some work done around the house. That was just an excuse for Dustin to get some alone time with his favorite boy in the world. The boys headed out excited with an adventure in mind...they headed to the beach!

When they got there, Josiah just headed out into the stream to just stand & look at the view. How precious is this picture!!!

Then, they found a live crab on the beach. This was both exciting & scary to him. He's seen a dead one before, but not one that's alive.

Josiah is truly a boy. He looks for sticks everywhere he goes & boy did he find one today. This stick is HUGE!!! Dustin said he was very excited!

Then, before they left, Josiah wanted to leave his mark on the beach. The letters are just as big as he is.

If that wasn't enough, Dustin took him to the mall for some lunch & then playtime on the mall playground. WOW! What a great day!

Tonight as we tucked him into bed & he was saying his prayers, Josiah thanked God for "A wonderful day with Dad!"

Josiah on the Construction Site!

Our family is sad this week. Behind our house there is another house & then just a ton of trees. Well, this week those trees came down. We were so sad. They are building a retirement home on that property, which will be good for those people, but the pretty view is gone.

So, we decided to make the most of all of the backhoe & truck noise today! I got out all of Josiah's construction trucks & he played while he watched.

If you look in the background, you can see the backhoe through the trees. He had tons of fun pretending to work on the construction site, too!

A sun-shiny day!

Today was yet another GORGEOUS day in Seattle! YEAH!!! So, we headed over to Amanda's house first thing for another haircut. She is awesome! It came just in time too, because it got up to a whopping 70 degrees today. I know that doesn't sound like much to some of you, but that's like middle of the summer weather for Seattle.

In honor of the beautiful day God gave us, we spent it outside. We hopped in the car, picked up some lunch & had a picnic at our favorite park.

The boys had a blast swinging, sliding, seesawing, etc. We were out there for over 2 hours. It was wonderful!

We hope & pray that God will keep this weather around for a long time to come!!!

It was a sun-shiny day!

Is this REALLY Seattle???

The weather in Seattle the past few days has been UNBELIEVABLE! Today it was about 70 degrees & gorgeous!!!! I am so used to the weather being cold & wet that I dressed Josiah in long sleeves for church. So, don't let the long sleeves fool you. It was warm & beautiful!

After church was over we just said, "We can delay nap time. How often do you get to enjoy this!" So, the three of us headed out for some family fun.

Josiah had a blast because it was beautiful & he had our undivided attention. That's a great combination in the life of a three year old!

Here are just a few pictures of Josiah enjoying his afternoon outside!

After a lot of running, playing, swinging, kicking, etc. we headed in for some rest. All day I was thinking, is this REALLY Seattle???

Smarty Pants!

Ok...let me begin by saying that I know every parent thinks they have the smartest child on earth & they really don't. It's just that our love for them & hope for their future makes us biased. The other night, however, proved something to me that I wasn't aware of. Josiah really is a very smart boy.

Josiah has been very interested in the alphabet lately, so we have been embracing that. So, I went out to my old Kindergarten teacher boxes to dig out some games & flash cards. Of course, I have a million boxes & couldn't find what I went after. So, I grabbed a few things I did find & decided to give them a whirl.

The first thing I found was an old interactive bulletin board that was ALWAYS hanging in my classroom. It was a simple game of matching uppercase letters to lowercase letters. The uppercase letters were glued to library card pockets. The lowercase letters were glued to Popsicle sticks to make them look like lollipops. The idea is to stick the lollipop into the corresponding pocket.

As soon as I began laying the materials out on our area rug, Josiah began to jump up & down. He had already figured out what to do before I gave him any direction. He immediately grabbed "lollipops" & started sticking them into the RIGHT pockets.

OK...let me explain further. Josiah is 3 years old. I had some Kindergartners that still had trouble with this when they were turning 6 years old.

OK...Let me explain even further. The #1 problem with this game is that the kids cannot figure out the difference between the following lowercase letters because they look so much alike: b, d, p, q. Josiah named EVERY letter & put them in the correct pocket the 1st time WITHOUT any help from me at all! I never even gave him hints.

Here is Josiah placing the last two letters in the pockets!! Boy was I proud!!!

"Ok," I thought, "That was just a simple game of matching. Maybe it isn't as hard as I think it is. Let's try this next game & see how he does" (never thinking he would be able to do it).

I didn't think this next game would be exciting to him because it is just flash cards. I really wanted to see how smart he was, though. So, I began flashing the cards & saying, "What's missing?" I didn't read any of the letters to him or anything. I would show him a card that said, "H__ J." He would say, "H and J. Hmm...I is missing!" WHOA! So, I continued. At first I only showed him the cards that had uppercase letters on it. Then once I saw he could do it I showed him lowercase letters. Then, I began mixing it up by both uppercase & lowercase letters on one card.

I was so shocked to find that he didn't miss one. He got them all right within seconds. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I have had some of the smartest Kindergartners in my class have trouble with this game. After 26 cards, I could tell that his brain was getting fried. I have over 100 cards like this, so I thought I had better stop.

I knew my son was smart, but I had no idea what a smarty pants he was!