April 2016

Well, it's been a while again since I've blogged. With battling pneumonia and wanting to enjoy as much warm sunshine as possible, blogging has been very low on my priority list. Today is cool and cloudy, so it's the perfect day for catching up on indoor activities. In February, Blake completed a reading challenge of reading 20 minutes/day, so he received a coupon for a free meal at Boston Pizza. In April, we went out for supper so he could finally use his coupon that he had been asking about. When we were leaving, the kids all picked fake teeth from the basket of trinkets. There is usually at least one or more puzzles that are being worked on between the kids and me and Jared. These are the ones Jared + I completed in April, plus one that Blake did. Most of the ones that Jared and I work on have 1000 pieces. Occasionally we do a 500-piece one.They are a fun challenge and one puzzle usually takes a few days. Our church did something really neat at the end of March/beginning of April. We first had Humble Sunday where we were encouraged to dress down as much as possible and not do our hair or make-up and just become before the Lord as we were, without the things that make us feel comfortable or pretty. I was super blessed and although I felt exposed, I wasn't alone. The next Sunday we had Glory Sunday where we really dressed up as the bride of Christ and everyone was given paper crowns. At the end of the service, everyone went and laid their crowns down at the cross. I was teaching Sunday School that Sunday, so I didn't get to see the end of the service, but I was touched by what I heard. I wore my bridesmaid dress from my sister's wedding and my wedding tiara.

On April 15, my life changed as I got laser eye surgery! Going from not being able to see properly for 24 years to seeing 20/20 within 24 hours of the surgery was incredible...a total gift from God! It's also amazing how quickly I've gotten used to it, but I try to remember to thank God regularly that I can see. I LOVE IT!!!!

Every now and then, we get to see a glimpse of Blake's sweetness and this was one of those moments. There was no special occasion, which made it even sweeter.

The kids had their last day of Awana at the end of April, which included a family bbq and then a program. They had an open mike time where kids could come say one of their favorite verses that they had memorized during the year and to our surprise, Blake went up and said a verse! He is at times quite timid so I thought that was very brave of him! Here are the Cubbies (Haley's age group) and the Sparks (Blake's age group) doing some songs. Looking back, I can tell that the weather was cold as we got WAY more puzzles done in April than we've done in the past month. I can't promise I'll blog again any time soon but we'll see what the weather does and if I make time for it! Happy summer everyone!