What we've been up to

We've done a lot of hanging out these last couple of weeks. Chris was in South Carolina all last week for work and I was so glad to get him back Friday night! I have so much sympathy for the single parents out there who do it day in and day out; I had a hard enough time doing it for five days. Plus, I'm kind of a scaredy-cat when it comes to being here by myself with the kids at night. It probably doesn't help that there have been several break-ins and attempted break-ins in our neighborhood in the last few weeks (two just this week!). At the first sound of anything, I am wide awake and sitting up in bed, deciding what escape route to take. haha! Anyways, I was so glad to have him home and so thankful to Mark and Cheryl for coming up on Friday to take care of the kids while I went to work.
We kept ourselves busy through the week with a couple playdates and lots of fun outside. The sand and water table is a huge hit- even without the sand! These pictures are from before Ella realized she could dump dirt from my flowerpots into the water and make mud. Cade was covered from head to toe in it!

This week was JAM Days at our church. JAM stands for Jesus and Me, and the program was just for preschoolers. Ella made lots of new friends, learned some new songs, and couldn't stop talking about "Jonah and the big fish" and all the fun she was having. I was helping out in the nursery and didn't get to watch anything until the closing program yesterday. I wish so much that I had grabbed my camera as we ran out the door. She stood right up there in the very front row and just sang her heart out. It was so precious!! She knew every word and motion to every song, and every few minutes would look over at me, smile, wave, and say, "Hiiii, Moooommmm!!" then go right back to jumping and singing. She said her memory verse perfectly. I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes, it was so sweet. She has come so far! A year ago, no way would my shy, little girl have stood up there in front of such a big crowd and do what she did yesterday. I am so proud of her!!

Ella loves to write words that are important to her and the names of all her family members. This is her favorite "list" to write at the moment:

She will draw this and say, "See? Ella and Cade are the kids. Mom and Dad are the mom and dad, and we're a family." =)