"Daddy drive school bus Momma?"

As most already know...as well as being a college director of a Baptist campus ministry here @ the U of A, Patrick drives a bus for Springdale Public Schools before and after school each day. He was trained and certified @ the beginning of this past Fall semester and has already been driving for 2 semesters now. He has a "set route" each afternoon esp., which makes it easier to see him on his bus if we get the chance to.
Due to running errands one day last wk., we got home late and K was getting down to her afternoon nap much later than normal. Therefore, I called Patrick to quickly find out where he was @ exactly on his route thus far. Since he drives the street directly behind our house each afternoon and since he was only a/b 8 min's. away from that street...K and I made our way upstairs to the window in her bedroom to keep a look-out for Daddy. It was VERY exciting for both of us to get to see him, but K esp. loved getting to see him "drive the school bus" that she's always heard a/b!
After 2 false alarms (w/ other buses and drivers passing by first)...there he was! He slowed WAY down for her to get a real good look @ him waving to her, AND even let the students who were on the bus @ that time lower their windows and wave to us as well.
It was all extremely exciting to finally have a picture of what else Daddy does each day! And needless to say...Kennedy DID NOT want to go down for nap immediately after all of the excitement. She kept saying, "Come back Daddy" and "Where'd Daddy's bus go?". It was very sweet!

(Note: K was wearing a pull-up over her panties for nap that day. They're used as more of a precaution, but she's done SO great-even through nap & we're officially fully potty-trained now in "big girl panties" and all! Hooray! I'll post more on her potty-training process very soon!)






(Another note: the recently expanded road behind our house is finally paved! Yippee! It's been more than a yr. coming and we are so thrilled to see the progress they've finally made on it. It's been a very loud and noisy process, but it'll be worth it in the end...or that's we tell ourselves at least. You can even notice in these pictures that they've started laying sod next to the sidewalks and in the center median as well now.)

Linnie/Matt's wedding in Tulsa

One of my best friends from h.s. just got married @ a beautiful campground in West Tulsa, and I was honored to be a part of her special day/wknd. Her sister, another friend, and myself made up the 3 bridesmaids in the wedding. It was a lot of fun (even 8+ mos. pregnant) and I couldn't be more thrilled to see her so happy! K and I traveled to the wedding without Daddy, since he was in Little Rock that same wknd. doing some MBSF outreach/recruiting @ the annual Arkansas Youth Conference. Thanks to a whole handful of our students who volunteered their Fri. night and Sat. to travel to LR and help "man" the booth w/ Patrick! I know he appreciated the company as well as the help so much!
Linnie made SUCH a gorgeous bride w/ her all-natural, beautiful, red locks! She was so calm & relaxed the day of...which also made the "getting ready" process so much more fun! It was a great wknd. to catch up w/ old friends and meet some new faces as well.

Thanks also to my friend, Jen, and her husband, Michael that live here in NWA! Michael let me borrow Jen on the trip to Tulsa and home that Sun., so I didn't have to make another road trip w/ just K and myself. Kennedy REALLY enjoyed the extra company and the extra attention she received, and Momma MOST DEFINITELY enjoyed the wonderful adult conversation and help along the way as well. It was nice to have someone w/ me being very pregnant and all on a road trip.

(P.S.-Some of the more "professional" pictures were taken by my brother-in-law the day of the wedding. Just had to give credit where credit's due! He did a great job!)

More MBSF outreach on campus

We're almost @ the end of the '08-'09 school yr. w/ MBSF and we always like to go out w/ a bang each yr. Therefore, Patrick has coordinated several outreach opportunities even towards the end of this semester to hopefully reach even a few more students b/f they leave for the summer. We have some VERY involved, faithful students in the ministry this yr. that were reached out to @ this point of the sem. last yr. They went home for the summer and jumped in full force once they returned this past Fall for school. So...it's been pretty successful in the past & hopefully will be again!

Many of the outreach opportunities (lemonade stands/booth set up in the student union/etc.) fall during the day while I'm home watching the toddlers. And as much as I know our students would just LOVE for me to bring the toddlers up to campus in a stroller or such each time (he, he)...I don't usu. make the big trek on my own.
Last wk. one night, the students signed up for 30 min. time slots (most signed up for multiple slots of course) of outreach @ the Intramural fields on campus. Kennedy and I headed to go help and see Daddy after we finished dinner that night. And thankfully, there were 17 different students who signed up and volunteered a little bit of their time that night to help pass out water bottles and MBSF info. cards @ the fields. Praise the Lord! We have been blessed w/ such an awesome group of students involved in MBSF this yr. and couldn't be more appreciative of their willingness and boldness!

Oh, and let me just say...NO ONE passed up our MBSF card/handout when Kennedy was the one who handed it to them. All of the students as well as Patrick and myself enjoyed watching K really start getting the hang of what we were trying to do. Can't you just imagine a sweet lil' blue-eyed, blong-haired, innocent girl holding a card out to you saying "Take the card please"? It was precious and we'll certainly use her "help" again in the future I'm sure! : )

Young Ladies' Brunch @ FLMBC

Last wk. our pastor's wife prepared a beautiful brunch for all of the young wives/moms in our church. She shared her heart w/ us through a wonderful devotion on leaving a lasting legacy. She also expressed how important she thought it was (and is) to spend some quality adult time together @ this stage of our lives. Some special time every once in a while for us ladies to be able to relax, swap stories a/b our families and/or children, and learn more a/b each other. We discussed all that we balance on a daily basis @ home as well as in our other responsibilities outside the home (to church, work, MBSF, or whatever else the case may be). It was a wonderful couple of hrs. together and we look fwd. to the next time we're able to do it again!
Thank you also to the wonderful ladies from church who volunteered to watch all of our children free of charge for those couple of hrs., as well as those who brought and prepared food for us all! It was such a blessing! We hope even more ladies in the church can join us next time we get this opportunity!



The childcare workers and kiddos enjoying the leftovers after our brunch

WHAT a "cheese" face, huh?

Resurrection day/Easter 2009

K didn't wake up feeling real great on Easter Sun. (runny nose, eyes watering, etc.), but she acted like she felt better and better as the day went on. We try to explain the importance of special days such as Jesus' Resurrection day, however, we look fwd. to the day when K's able to understand it completely. What a special day that will be too!







K looked very sweet in the beautiful Easter dress that Gammi found her on Easter Sun. After a VERY rainy (yet wonderful) Easter service @ church, the 3 of us headed to Huntsville to spend some time w/ P's family. His Mom fixed a delicious lunch, the 3 granddaughters had an Easter egg hunt around the house (due to the rain), and we all had some annual fun dying eggs together. We even decided to stay and attend church out in Huntsville that night w/ his entire family. K had a wonderful time w/ her cousins, Taylor and Courtney the entire day!
It was a very blessed Easter and we hope that yours was as well!

36 wks. now!

I'm officially 36 wks. along w/ our baby boy now (as of yesterday) and getting very anxious to meet our lil' guy! I can't believe I'm already @ my weekly appt's.! The dr. told me yest. that I'm dialated a fingertip and 50% effaced rt. now, so we're just waiting for him to drop completely. Looks like I'm adding a little more length to my walks to make that happen! : )
These pictures were taken the wknd. b/f I turned 35 wks.

On a very exciting note...we got some maternity/family pics taken recently by some of our closest friends, Jon and Emily Beaty. We've only seen a preview so far, but the handful that we've seen are AWESOME!

Go here to see them:
www.beatyphotography.com

(They're posted on the opening 'home' page under the title 'Lindsey-maternity'.)

Play date w/ Bentley and Logan

Kennedy got to spend a little time w/ Bentley and Logan Kendrick the other day and talked a/b it for days! It was SUCH a rainy day that we resorted to meeting @ the mall, letting the kids play in the fun area, and eating @ the food court. Lindsey K. and I both enjoyed some adult conversation time as well! We're going to have to do it again real soon when we can spend even more time together OUTSIDE in the beautiful Spring weather!

Oh, and YES...K still HATES anything w/ a mask or costume on! The Easter bunny made a trip down to the play area to say "hello" to the kids playing there. And needless to say, 1/2 of the kids LOVED the spontaneous visit and 1/2 of the kids HATED the unexpected visit! My daughter was definitely in the second 1/2 along w/ many other kids hugging our legs, but Bentley immed. greeted the bunny. How funny that K wouldn't stop talking a/b him for several hrs. however! Hmmm...?