catching up...

we've been a little too busy to sit down and blog...so here's the quick version of what we've been up to lately.

ellington's 1st dentist visit

she was so excited to go to the dentist. a few months ago we read a Dora book about going to the dentist and ever since then she's been asking to go. i had a cleaning coming up so i asked if they squeeze her in after mine. our dentist is awesome with kids...since he has 3 of his own and they are good friends of ellington. 

 

she did great keeping her mouth open wide and staying still. we practiced before going how to open wide...helped that Dora modeled that too. can't help it the teacher in me to prep her for what's coming.

{grand}mother's day gifts: painted flower pots
ellington and beckett love to paint, so we decided to paint some flower pots for the grandmas for mother's day. then we filled them with some sweet pansies and viola beautiful masterpieces

easier to let beckett paint with nothing on! 

proud of her work

being very careful and purposeful 

just going at it

the end result


river bank run: 10k & 25K

josh and i ran the river bank run this year.
this is the only pictures i have, the others are on my phone and haven't downloaded (all 1,100 pictures) since i've had the phone.
it was mother's day weekend, so we headed up to GR friday night, stayed with josh's grandparents and got up bright and early saturday morning to RUN. josh did the 10k with his dad and i did the 25k with my sister and brother in law. it was josh's first race and mine since before beckett was even a thought :) it felt really good to get back into the training mode and have a goal to reach. josh and i have been switching evenings of who gets a run in or he takes the kids saturday mornings and i head out with my neighbor. it just feels good to get out running again. josh isn't totally sold on the idea that running can be fun, but he's at least running to be healthy. i'm so proud of him and his ability to put his mind to it and just go. he's biking a lot more too, and is getting ready to head out with his dad this weekend on a biking trip up north. some fun bonding time and enjoying the great outdoors of michigan.

our next run...
COLOR RUN GR - 5k
with powder paint thrown at you each mile!!!
now that should be FUN

mother's day

it's pure joy to be ellington and beckett's mama
they fill my days with laughter, smiles, questions, amazement and even tears at times. i feel like i'm finally beginning to understand the amount of love God has for each us as his children.

 

after naps we headed down to the beach for dinner and some playtime.
it was the perfect end to the day.

beckett loves the sand 

ellington loves to swing and take in the sights

love these two more and more each day

what a blessing to be their mom. to guide them in knowing Christ as their personal Savior someday. modeling for them responsibility, respect, love, kindness, courage, sympathy, empathy...and the list keeps going. 

lions & tigers & bears...oh my!

a few weeks ago my neighbor and  i decided to venture down to the zoo. there's a great little zoo just 40 minutes south of us. so we packed up our 3 kids and headed down for a fun morning with the animals. we were hoping for a warmer spell, but in typical michigan (and indiana) fashion it was a little chilly to start.


ellington could have stayed here for a while just talking to the tiger. the highlight for her was when he sticked his tongue out at her....so funny to her :)

mr. beckett checking out the goats. this little window was right at his level which means so were the goats!

so proud!
i touched a goat, mom!!

the crew: aaron, ellington & beckett

the lion!
this was the coolest thing, there were 2 lions and a few times while we were in the park you could hear the roar of the lion through out the WHOLE park. amazing. we had just left the exhibit when they started roaring, we ran over quickly to catch a glimpse.

this is there new thing: holding hands
and they actually do it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

looking forward to more zoo trips this summer