The Kids

I have been bad about taking pictures... I am sorry, Hannah, that I haven't been as good at that lately.  I am charging the camera as I speak (er, I type and you read).  So, enjoy the picture below that was taken before we moved from Ohio, when I was inside nursing Hannah and my mom was there to help me out.
It seems like only yesterday...

What's new?  Not much... only, we just put interest money down ON A HOUSE!!!  :)  I am so in love with the house, and it is nicer than anything I ever thought we'd be able to afford.  It's a beautiful house, with a great floor plan, and it has granite counter tops!!!  I love it so much!!  Plus, we may be able to have Nick and Bethany as our neighbors, which will be great.

What else is new?  Jon Mark is enjoying his job, and we feel fortunate to be able to work for JacksonWhite. They are a wonderful answer to prayer and we are so pleased.

Joshua is getting even better at reading and amazes me with how great he is at playing with his younger siblings, in particular, Hannah.  He is so gentle with her.  He loves playing hide and seek with her, and she gets to laughing quite hard when he does so.  He is really into drawing "monster trucks" right now, and he's really good at it.  He has been signed up for a flag football team, and he is excited about that.  The other day he went hiking up the Usery Mountain and I heard he is quite a great little hiker.

Mercedes is really into praying silently right now.  She says, "I close my eyes and then all of a sudden my throat starts talking without my words coming out."  It's cute.  She is also really sweet and will randomly kiss me and Jon Mark and tell us very enthusiastically how much she loves us.  She loves dressing up like a princessNeverland Pirates" with Sawyer.  She enjoys sleeping on the top bunk with Joshua.  One weird little quirk, is that every time I wipe her after she goes number 2, she then asks me if she has snake poop or diarrhea.  Yeah, kind of weird, and maybe kind of cute... I guess??  She has also gotten very good at swinging by herself.
, she loves playing "Jake and the

Luke is a little brewster.  That's a made up word that I use to describe him.  He's quick to get back up after he falls.  He is a dare devil on his bike and rides it down hills at dangerous speeds.  He is sensitive and quick to cry, something that I hope he will eventually grow out of.  Much like his father, he needs his snuggle time with me in order to be fully functioning.  The other day my mom took him with her to see her mother (my grandma) and she said he was soo good with a blind lady.  He is quite a cute little guy.

Hannah is crawling everywhere and loves to stand with assistance.  She stands in her crib, while holding onto the couch or chairs, and one time she stood all by herself.  She babbles and talks like crazy.  She says, Mamamama, dadadadadada, and one time she mimmicked, night night.  I swear she mimmicked, I love you, as well.  The other day, Jon Mark lost his keys.  We searched every little nook and cranny (or so we thought) and we couldn't find them ANYWHERE!!!!  We prayed for assistance and three days passed.  I was beginning to question my sanity and Jon Mark's, for that matter.  I remembered thinking, "why haven't we found them?  I have prayed to find them and yet we still can't.  I am almost always able to find something I have lost once I have prayed to find it."  Needless to say, I was baffled, and annoyed because replacing them would cost a pretty penny.  They were our only set of keys for the car.  I remembered that answers come after the trial of our faith, and I felt that that applied to finding keys as well.  Well, I just about gave up, I went to the computer in my parents den and started researching how to go about replacing lost keys.  When I saw the price, I was discouraged.  That's the exact moment when I started hearing a banging sound on the wooden floor.  I thought to myself, "sheesh, I cannot ever do any work on the computer without the kids coming in here and interrupting me.  Wait a minute, that sounds like keys banging... keys?  KEYS?!"  I turned around and saw Hannah banging the keys on the floor with a big smile on her face!  I was so happy I jumped out of the chair, picked her up, and exclaimed her name over and over again.  I imagine she was like, "Mom, turn around, I was supposed to pick these up from underneath the table that has an inch clearance off of the ground and give these to you.  Not sure why, but the angel said it would make you happy.  Sheesh, you took forever to turn around and notice."  I am thankful that the Lord watches over us in even the small things.