Palm Sunday Weekend

There is always something fun going on in Nashville for the weekend. This weekend, we hung out at our church for a Parents Day Out. We could only participate for a little while because we had to attend Mia's first soccer game, but Emmanuel had a ton of fun. The ladies in the church love this little boy.




Ms. Charmonad helped Emmanuel make an Easter card for Eli and me. He gave her a hug afterwards, and he made sure to pat her back three times like a good Southern boy.

The lady who took this picture was begging E to smile...he he. I've been there before--you just got to take what you can get!

Emmanuel's favorite activity of the day was playing the piano. He LOVES music...I mean LOVES music. He gets upset when the choir is finished singing for the day. If they stop playing the drums, he starts doing the sign for drums. He LOVES music.

We let him play on the piano pictured in the basement, but he desperately wants to play the grand piano in the sanctuary.

And, of course, he loves standing on the stage and singing in the microphone.

He dyed his first eggs on Saturday!

Ms. Bea worked really hard with him, and he even picked out his own colors.

Another fun part of the day at church included kicking the ball and running with it...he's got great foot-eye coordination.

And...the princess of the day had her very first soccer game! Emmauel calls Mia, "Mimi," and when he sees her picture, he reaches out his arms (she always picks him up.) She's already asked to hold Reese and promises that she will be very careful.

Her team yelled, 'Go, Purplelicious!" before they started the game.

Mia had a lot of fun playing, but I think she had more fun watching Emmanuel. He was asleep when the game started and woke up shortly afterwards. After a play, she ran to where we were sitting and said, "Ya'll woke up Emmanuel!" (I don't think she was too happy with us, she knows he needs his sleep!)

Happy Palm Sunday! We hope that you have a Holy Week that is filled with joy and that you are blown away by God's crazy love. We know that we are.

Kids and Kites Day...or Parents and Kites Day?

Nashville is starting to grow on me.  

At the end of the day, even though I miss my job and my friend in Baltimore, I must admit that Nashville is a great city.  There is ALWAYS something to do on the weekends here.  Most of the activities are family friendly or at least kid friendly.  The people are nice...even my hardest teenage cases at school are very respectful young people. There are so many parks and green spaces (I have seen some of the most beautiful birds in the middle of the inner city)...so many amazing playgrounds...and the city is crazy diverse!   There are 30 languages spoken at my elementary school.  There are Egytians, Somalians, Latinos, Laotians, and one of the largest Kurds population in the United States.  Who knew?  I still doubt that we will "settle" here...but it sure has surprised me with its city benefits.  

On Saturday, we ventured to the Bicentennial Mall for the Kids and Kites Day to fight Childhood Obesity. 

Emmanuel was #100!

There wasn't much wind early in the day, so Eli did a lot of running to get the kite started.  He said that instead of fighting childhood obesity, it should be used to fight adult obesity becaise he was exhausted after all of that running!  The first time I ran (backwards), I fell flat on my larger than life pregnancy bottom., which probably isn't a great thing at 6 months pregnant.

Emmanuel tried to figure out how to get that kite up in the air. 
(Here is my 26 week preggo shot for those of you who have been asking!)  We had fun walking up and down the ampitheatre and blowing dandelions.  

E is also fascinated by planes and trains these days (we were pointing to a plane).  Nashville should be called "Train City" instead of "Music City."  There must be a train every 5 minutes--they are in the city, the suburbs, behind schools...it's insane.  The amazing thing is that there are no passenger trains in Nashville--they are all commercial.

Eli and Jarvis had fun flying the kites for their kids (please notice that they are standing--it finally became a sunny/windy day, so they didn't have to work as hard.)

Emmanuel got in on the kite-flying action...

Here is his kite up in the air.

Emmanuel and Jamiya had so much fun playing together.  They both know baby sign language, so it is adorable watching them communicate. 

Ok--this pic is worth a thousand words.  Let's just say that our indestructible kite got stuck in tree.  No one could get it out.  Eli tried to get the kite out of the tree.  His brilliant method was to throw his keys in the tree to knock down the handle of the kite.  Well...you know what happened...his keys got stuck!  Eli and Jarvis tried to rescue the keys to no avail, but at least it made for a great picture! 

Finally, a brave teenager climbed up the tree to try to rescue the keys. 

And the five men below (Eli is not pictured) were giving the teenager instructions.  

Eventually, the teenager rescued the keys...and I would like to tell you that that was the last time the kite got stuck, but that would not be the truth.  I can tell you, however, that it was the last time that Eli's keys got stuck. 

All the while, Jamiya and Emmanuel just played in their own little world...sharing their toys and their food.  

It was a great Saturday afternoon in Nashville.  

The Nashville Zoo...sort of

My mama doesn't like animals...well, let me rephrase that...my mama doesn't like domestic animals...not cats, dogs, hamsters, hermit crabs, or anything else that people might keep in their homes.  I am really trying to change her mind...but you know my mama...she's pretty headstrong.  She says that she loves all of the "exotic animals" that God has created that aren't domestic (at least that what she says).   

We had an opportunity this week to go to the zoo with the center that my Aunt Dawn runs...and well, you know how much I love my Aunt Dawn.  I begged mama to go, and she obliged (remember, she likes looking at the exotic animals.)  Her favorite animal is the giraffe.  I like them, too...at least I think I like them...she likes them, so you know I have to hear about how beautiful and majestic they are.  I can say giraffe now, which is so funny to hear!

I think mama might frame this picture of the giraffe and put it in our house somewhere.

Joshua and I have this secret language that nobody understands but us.  We laugh and play and growl at each other.  It is one of the best friendships that I have.  The funniest thing about it is that mama always tries to get a picture of us when we do something sweet...like hug or kiss or do our karate moves...she never gets the good pictures (lol!), but we told each other that we would stop and let her take this one.  

Yes, folks, I couldn't believe it!  Mama let me use a brush to pet the baby goat.  It was little like me. She sometimes gives me a special treat, which is a ball or a lollipop or something, but I don't know what I did to deserve this treat!  I think her brain must be a little off because she's pregnant.  I think she might actually freak out if she sees that I posted this picture because I'm sure she forgot that she let me do this. 

Did I mention that I walked most of the way?  Pretty neat, huh?  I need a shirt that says, "No stroller required!"  I've got short legs like my daddy, but I'm not afraid to use them!  

This zoo was cool because it had a mini-aquarium inside of it...AND a HUGE playground for the kids.  Sometimes playground developer people forget about the little people like me...but not these developers.  There was an area just for kids my size to jump and play and roll.  It was awesome! 

This little girl kept trying to kiss me.  I ran away from her and straight to my mama. 

I had a fun time exploring, and I'm trying to convince my mama to move to a country in Africa so that we can live with the giraffes.  I think she might like that a lot.  

Give Thanks...

This is my favorite time of year.  I love the Season of Lent.  I love Easter.  (I also happen to love Spring Break, which I am on right now).  We celebrated Jesus in an amazing way at the Ash Wednesday Service at our church (more to come about this later). I love this season--I mean, Christmas doesn't even come close to comparing in my book.  

As I put Emmanuel down to sleep tonight, I sang "Give Thanks" to him.  I was overwhelmed with how grateful I am to be entrusted with this little boy's upbringing.  I was overwhelmed with the intensity of love that God has for us, His own children.  "Give thanks." 

And, well, after capturing these cheesy grins on camera...how could a proud mama not "Give thanks"?   LOL!

First Soccer Game

Joshua had his very first soccer game last week!  I must admit that I have the utmost respect for his coach...well, I have the utmost respect for any coach who chooses to teach a group of 3-year-olds the rules of soccer.  

Joshua was so cute in his little uniform, and he scored the first goal! 

I think his team won 6-0.  It was a blowout.  One time Joshua was kicking the ball towards the goal and saw Emmanuel standing on the sidelines.  Instead of kicking that ball in the goal, he ran towards Emmanuel.  

And, James IV...he was his little brother's personal coach.  It was so cute.  J4 was standing by the "real" coach and gave Joshua pointers and water whenever he came off the field.  My brother's children are quite athletic...I guess they really don't have a choice with their stud athlete parents...

Emmanuel really wanted to get out on the field and play with the big boys.  My brother and I had to scoop him off the field several times.  

Then, Michael gave him a ball...

...and for the rest of Joshua's game, Michael and Emmanuel practiced kicking the soccer ball into a goal that wasn't being used.  

Emmanuel had a lot of fun watching Joshua play and playing some himself.  I envision a future with him of many busy Saturday mornings...even if he's not playing himself, Joshua, Michael, James, and yes, even Mia play enough on Saturday morning for us to go and watch.