Easter 2009

Well, actually this was taken on Palm Sunday, since we were in KY on Easter Sunday.
We had to get an 'Easter' pic with Honey our Bunny.

Honey's paws were a little muddy so we just sat her in a hat to keep the dress clean.

Totally bummed

If you have talked to me in person since September then you know how much I love L_O_V_E the house we are renting. You probably had to endure me talking about the lovely space here (esp compared to our apt) and our fabulous backyard. And how I tell Chad at least once a week (if not more) 'thank you' for moving us into this lovely home. It suits our lifestyle perfectly.
So why am I so bummed?
Our landlord put the house up for sale :( I am totally bummed! I do not want to move!!!
But I think about how much I didn't want to move to GA, but ended up really enjoying it down here, so maybe a move will be fine. But did I mention how much I really like this house??
The rent for this house we got at a discounted rate with a promise for an even deeper discount next year. The owner wanted a PhD student family in here and was willing to rent at a discount to us. So even though there are other homes for rent not too far away.....we couldn't afford them.
I love this house, this neighborhood, my location to where to I live my life.

If you want to see the listing here it is....
http://www.gaforsalebyowner.com/default.asp?f=listing_details&listingid=143961&listingtype=1
Plus it is a real hassle living in a home that is on the market. People wanting to come see it, interrupting my life.

Friends

A couple weeks ago, we watched two cute kids for the day. This is a lovely family from our Sunday School class.

We did some 'school'

When I put bows in Rose's hair.....this little cutie wanted bows in his hair too.
playing...

napping.....

A few days later they brought us this delicious and HUGE meal. It was very good. And I didn't have to cook for days....

4 year old Pictures

Yes I barely squeaked in pictures while she was still 4.

The Book was better.....

This afternoon (thanks to Netflix) Rose and I watched the 1952 movie 'Robinson Crusoe' We were both looking forward to watching the movie since we enjoyed the book so much. But half way through the movie we paused it and Rose was eager to share that the book was much better than the movie. :) It always is dear...it always is.....I am just glad you can realize that at such a young age.
By the Way we just finished reading 'The Little House in the Big Woods' by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We plan on starting 'The Little House on the Prairie' this afternoon.

And since I am kind of on the subject I wanted to share....that my dear precious girl is reading on a 1st grade level....something she achieved while she was 4 years old. I am so happy to have such a lovely little girl to spend my days with and to 'train up'.

Thank you Gma and Gpa Anderson

Rose received a birthday box from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson.

She was very excited when she saw the box was addressed to her.

How in the world did they fit all this stuff into that one box?? WOW! Thank you for all the Readers! Rose was very excited about everything. It took her forever to open it all b/c she had to thoroughly look at each thing before pulling out the next.

Side note: Both my mom and my mother-in-law are good at finding great deals, markdowns, garage sales finds, thrift stores etc. They have taught me well! What a blessing to be able live more frugally and within the means my husband provides. And what a blessing for Rose to be able to have so many things in her life (especially so many books!) because of the value of getting second hand. I know some people who snob at the idea of not buying all new. I am SO thankful that my mom and Chad's mom have taught me otherwise. It is a wonderful blessing! We feel that everyday items AND bday gifts and Christmas gifts, you can get more bang for buck buying second hand! REUSE. And the kids on both sides of our family all appreciate second gifts very much!! (maybe b/c they know they get more that way)

I buy used when I can. That is why I love yard saleing!
I also STOCK UP when items are 75% to 90% off at retail stores.

Anatomy

Rose and Andrew like putting the organs on this Anatomy Apron. It is a fun education hands on activity.

Robinson Crusoe

Well we finish reading Robinson Crusoe. Rose loved the adventure! The afternoon we finished the book, I had a box in the kitchen that a delivery came in. Rose asked if she could have it. I said of course. She took it apart and here she is making her 'ship' to escape from the island. You can see her 'spyglass' (paper towel roll) that she uses for her look out.

Cuteness times 3

Just a random pic of Andrew, Rose and Sophia from today. I just thought Sophia was super cute today!

Get together

We hosted a get together at our house last night with some of Chad's PhD candidate colleagues. We grilled out ribs and chicken and had lots of yummy food. We hung out and chatted then after dinner played some Wii games. It was a lot of fun!
Rose was our main entertainment though :) We let her stay up during the party even though it continued way past her bedtime. She had a ball though.
It was a super fun evening! We plan to do it again sometime....maybe a pot luck style where every one can bring a dish from their home country...... That would be yummy and fun!

eating....In this pic you can see Jong (from Korea), Eunice (Korea), Shari (China), Radu (Romania), Ben (French Canadian), me and Rose [later Tim (from Utah) and Christina (Romania & Radu's wife) joined us!]

taking pictures of the charming American girl.....(Rose, of course, loved being the center of attention!!)Ben bowling on the Wii....

Rose receiving a Chinese lesson from Shari. This was Shari's first visit in an American family home ......