We're Moving!

To a new website, that is! Phillip has created a family website which includes a blog, photo gallery, and links page, so this will no longer be our blog (though we'll keep the old posts here as always). You can find the new site at www.phillipandlanaya.com. See you there!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I love you!

And Happy Mother's Day to you also, Mom!

Thank you for giving me the wonderful man that is my husband!

And to me! I get to be a mom too!

I'm so thankful for my kids and that God is teaching me to enjoy them now instead of rushing them to grow up. They are innocent and inquisitive and joyful and bursting with potential and so hilariously funny. I love being a mom.

Molluscum Contagiosum

So my kids have a weird virus with the above name. It's like warts. It's contagious, but not necessarily harmful or even itchy. Jonathan started out with it and I just ignored it since he gets so many skin rashes and this one didn't itch. But then I found a few spots on Phoebe. So I had the doctor look at them, and she told me what they were. They go away on their own eventually, but will spread and others can catch it also. So cryosurgery was recommended. (Where they freeze them off.) We put some numbing medicine on the spots and covered them in plastic wrap (they looked funny with Saran wrap covering their legs and torso and arms!). Unfortunately the numbing medicine only sort of works. It makes the pain more endurable than without it, but the kids can still feel the burn. We went last week to do half of Jonathan's and all of Phoebe's. She only had 6 spots. She was very tough last week and didn't cry. But this week when we did one more that I found, she started crying when I sat her on the table. Jonathan had it mainly on his legs. He probably had 50 or more. He screamed the whole time, poor boy. I held him down while the doctor tried to be quick. He kept asking, "Are you done yet? I don't want to do this again! I don't want to go to the doctor! Will we have to come back?" As soon as the tank stopped spraying, he stopped crying though. Then we went to Publix and I let him pick out whatever he wanted (Bubble tape and a small toy). We go back in two weeks to be checked out again, but we shouldn't have any to burn. (I hope....)

Phoebe is 3

Our baby is three years old. She seems so much older! We celebrated her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese last night. She was so excited when we made her cake together. She wanted a princess/Dora cake, so we figured something out. I think she equates the cake with the whole concept of birthday. Because she said last night, "Thank you for making my birthday, Mom." And every time she sees the cake she says, "Oh, it's my birthday!".

The kids had a great time at Chuck E. Cheese. We were having the machine count our tickets, and a man walked up and asked how many kids I had. I told him three (they were there with me). He gave each of them a receipt that each had around 300 tickets on it! So the kids got to buy much bigger gifts than they would have with our meager receipt of tickets.





Phoebe loved the strawberry cake! She ate her piece and then wanted another one. So while she ate, the kids unwrapped her gifts.

Resurrection Day!

I love Easter! Everyone dresses up and special programs and music are done at church and there are lots of new people to meet. We're celebrating something only we Christians can celebrate fully! Jesus rose from the grave and is in heaven waiting for us! It's the cornerstone of our faith. It's very encouraging and I really enjoyed it yesterday. We had a thank-you breakfast at church, so I didn't have to make breakfast (or clean up afterwards). Then Phillip and I got to sit together in church service (which rarely happens on a Sunday morning). We think we may have had 5,000 people total for the weekend, so that's exciting. Then I taught my 3 year old class with 4 visitors (yea!). We went home for the kids to "open" their Easter baskets (books, a cute chocolate candy in the form of snail, frog, and turtle, markers for Liz, toys for Jon and Phoebes, and music DVDs from CedarMont kids) and grab the coleslaw I made. Then we went to some friends' for a late lunch and egg hunt for the kids. It was a great day!


Saturday night curling of the hair for the special coming Day. This is the first time I've curled Phoebe's hair and she sat really still for me. Please excuse my dirty bathroom mirror. I did clean it last night. :-)


Beautiful clothes all around!

Small Group

This is most of the women from the small group I led at Fleming Island. They were a great group and had great patience with their green teacher. At the end of our last study the church had a women's retreat at a camp ground in Georgia, so that's where the picture was taken.

Cooking and Cookies

I know... Why did their mother let them take everything out of the kitchen cabinets? Because it's fun! And I can iron and email and not have to entertain. They are very busy cooking.


A simple and fun snack.

Another sewing project

Jonathan has been asking for a robe like the girls have (well, it's Elizabeth's, but both girls wear it). He wanted his to be superhero, but we couldn't find superhero material, so we went with camouflage. He loves it!

3 year old class

I teach these precious 3 year olds on Sunday mornings. The other lady in the room is a "buddy" to an autistic boy who is in class with us. We have a wonderful program at church called Access Junction which finds a "buddy" for any special needs children we have, and they stay with them throughout whatever class they are in at church. Every other week another lady teaches and I help and sometimes we have a teenager to help. (nice!) And if one of the kids gets wild or is having a fit, I just have to throw out a red bandana into the hall and a ministry leader will come take the child out of the class and help them calm down. I like it!

Love those kids!

Quiet, calm, sitting next to each other without fighting. Aaawwww.... I can cook lunch without interruptions!


Elizabeth made "hair".



Phillip has been sick with the flu. I hope we don't get it. The kids have not been very sick this year. No hospital or doctor visits ~ no high fevers ~ no laying on the couch all day ~ no throwing up ~ no missing church.... It's been kind of nice.

I'm listening to Alison Krauss right now: She has a sweet clear voice. Her songs are wholesome. She sings in a country/ blue grass style. I like it.

Elizabeth had another teary day with math yesterday. She took until 4:30 in the afternoon to finish a worksheet. That was with lots of breaks, of course. I feel sorry for her, but it will build her character. I'm still only doing half a lesson a day, so we're going slow. She just doesn't like to do it. But like I said.... character.

Jonathan can't wait to go to heaven to see Grandma Phoebe's mom. He asks, "Whose tummy was Mimi in?" and I say, "Grandma Phoebe's." He asks, "Whose tummy was Grandma Phoebe in?" and I say, "I don't know; I haven't met her because she died." "Is she in heaven?" I say, "I'm sure she is." "Well, I can't wait to go to heaven to meet her one day."

Phoebe is so darn cute!!!! She's beautiful!!! I love to watch her sleep. I want to pinch her cheeks and kiss her all over. She's got attitude, but, boy, can she be a charmer when she wants to be. She'll be a force to be reckoned with! Hopefully for good.

Horse Riding Lessons

Elizabeth has been taking Horse riding lessons this month. She's gotten interested in horses from different books she's read (Laura Ingalls series and now the American Girl series).

The lady who is teaching her does half an hour of "groundwork". Brushing the horse and learning how to control it from the ground. I'm not exactly sure what all it is, but I'm glad she's learning about horses and not just how to ride them.

She's trotting. The teacher is holding a rope attached to the horse, so Elizabeth's not on her own yet, but she's getting a feel for what the horse can do.

This was the first day we met the horses and the teacher. Elizabeth was tentative at first, but I think she touched the horse once.

One of the places she had lessons was a farm. There are 5 dogs hanging around. They mostly just lay in the dirt and sleep, but Jonathan and Phoebe are deathly afraid of them. I don't think Phoebe would be so afraid if Jonathan didn't scream so loudly at the sight of them. If one of them starts coming towards us, they'll both scream and cry and try to crawl up my legs. It would be humorous if it wasn't so embarrassing. Elizabeth used to be scared of our neighbor dogs and cats too and now she's riding horses, so I'm hoping these two will get over it also.

Because of the dogs, these two end up in the car.

Living Proof Live (Beth Moore) Conference

Five of us ministers' wives from church were blessed to go to a conference this weekend. It was the first time I'd seen Beth Moore in person (though I could barely see her since we sat in the back). The worship team was phenomenal. They all have powerful voices. And they would often let the women sing without their instruments, so it was really neat to hear all of us singing together.

Here we are waiting for it to start!



Our plane flew in early, so we had some time to go to Opryland. It's an enclosed place with a glass roof, so there are all kinds of beautiful plants and waterfalls and little shops and restaurants. It's was really neat to see.


We saw Steven Curtis Chapman in the airport in Nashville. I didn't recognize him because I don't think I've ever seen a picture of him, but I hear his music on the radio and enjoy it.

These boots were made for walkin'.....

My new cowboy boots!

Zoo I

The Jacksonville Zoo has a new Komodo Dragon exhibit, so we took our afternoon yesterday to go spend some time in the sunshine and animals. A neighbor friend who also homeschools and whom Elizabeth plays with every day if she can, also came with us.
She told him while we were walking along, "I'm glad you're my friend."
"Why? Because you want a BOYFRIEND?"
"No-o! I'm not old enough to have a boyfriend!"
"Because I have money?" (he had money with him from his mom so he could buy a souvenir.)
"No! I'm just glad you're my friend!"
Phillip think she likes him, but I think they truly are just friends. They'll spend hours swinging and talking. I think it's sweet.

Phoebe is very possessive of this stroller. We don't use it anymore except when we go to the zoo and that's mostly so I'll have something to carry my purse and bag of stuff. But she decided to ride in it for most of the day. Anytime Jonathan tried to sit in it, she would yell at him, "No, Jonafun! That's MY stroller! That's for Bebe Ruf! (Phoebe Ruth, if you're wondering.) You git out!" and she would hit at him without actually touching him since she knew I was watching. Kind of cute, but also shows her temper and shows that we have work to do in training her to control herself.

I don't know if you can get past the glare of the window, but one of the komodo dragons is here in the picture. He came up to the window and flicked his tongue at the kids. They screamed in fake fear.