A few pics of things over the past few months...

Jacob, with his very own wheelbarrow. He helped Dylan put down the new mulch to help make our house look great.


Running to bring me my Mother's Day presents at preschool.


Singing "Peace Like a River". This was their pose for when they sang, "I've got joy like a fountain."




Daniel learning how to eat a banana like a big boy.


Preschool graduation - Kindergarten, here we come!


Jacob with his teacher, Mrs. Casstevens.


With Mrs. McKay (his class' helper.)


Turning the big 5! Decorations waiting for him when he opened his door the morning of his birthday.


Playing with the balloons. They had a blast!


On the webcam with Daddy showing off his birthday loot he picked out from ToysRUs.


The birthday mobile was in full swing just for Jacob!


Decorating his birthday cupcakes.


The finished product.


Jacob with my Mom.


We took Jacob to his favorite Mexican restaurant when Dylan came home for the weekend. He always asked to come because they make you wear this sombrero while they sing to you. They also take your picture and put it up on a wall for everyone to see. He is dying to go back to find his picture!


My dear friend, Kristen, and I in DC for her bachelorette party.

You can call off the search party now

Yep, we're still alive and kicking! It has been entirely too long since I've updated this thing, but this is the first time I feel like I have been able to come up for air. And that's sad, really, since now is the time that I should be in full-fledged panic mode. Dylan started his job in Lynchburg on May 5th and has been coming home for 3-day weekends since then. It's been rough! The boys have been real troopers, but I know they have really been missing their Daddy. At the beginning, it wasn't bad. I actually didn't really mind it that much, but I think that was mostly because it was something new in our routine instead of the same-old, same-old. Four or five weeks into it was a different story. I was totally over it and ready to get all of us back under the same roof 7 days a week.

Our house went on the market June 2nd and we got a contract offer on June 16th. Everything has been in warp speed since then. We were leaving to go on vacation on the 21st and the buyer's realtor was getting married that same day and leaving to go on his honeymoon. So, in a matter of 5 days, we accepted the offer, they did the inspection and gave us the addendum (which we have since signed off on.) Also, in that same week, we were able to secure an 'as close to perfect as we could hope for' townhouse. It's actually a pretty awesome townhouse. The finished square footage is about 20 sq. ft. more than our house. Plus, it has an unfinished walk-out basement for us to use for storage. Oh, and it's brand new!!!

So, we are closing on July 16th and we are moving the weekend of July 12th/13th. I cannot believe it is really happening. I am relieved that our house sold and that we are finally making the move, but I just know it is going to be a huge adjustment for me. I am sure there are going to be plenty of tears as I am packing over the next 12 days. Every time I am out and about, I look around and think how I am no longer going to live here. I have lived in the Richmond area since I was 4-1/2 and have lived right here in Midlothian since I was 7. I know we will have a great life wherever we are, as long as we are together. But, it isn't going to make this any easier. God Bless my husband for putting up with the emotional train wreck I am about to become! :)

I know it will have been three months by the time we close on the house that we have known we were going to be moving, but I still feel unprepared. I feel like there are so many friends that I have to say good-bye to and not enough time. I am going to have to get with my girls and schedule a farewell dinner. I am not ready to say good-bye and I know I will see all of them down the road, but it's going to be strange not being right down the street or around the corner from them. Heck, we're not even going to be in the same area code anymore!

Well, it's off to bed for me. Lots of packing to do and I will need all the energy I can muster up to get it all done.

Introducing... The New Adventures of the March Family

Well, most of you know that Dylan has been searching for a job for a while now. He likes his current job, but he is a contractor and there appears to be no intent to make it a full-time position. Well, let me clarify - they have said that they want to hire him full-time, but they have yet to approve the position. Anyways, Dylan had an interview a couple of weeks ago with this company. We didn't really expect anything to come of it, but after spending five hours there, both the company and Dylan knew what they wanted. After a few weeks back and forth (and lots of waiting!!!), Dylan has officially accepted the job and will be starting on May 5th.

That's right - WE'RE MOVING!!! To here! Well, actually, we will be living in this county. Dylan is planning on working four, 10-hour days until we close on our house and we can all move out there. That should be interesting to say the least!!! I mean, in our 8-1/2 years of marriage, Dylan has NEVER traveled for work. The most traveling he has ever done while the boys and I stayed behind was when he went on a golf trip with our church. Thankfully, it will only be temporary. We are praying that God is preparing a buyer for our house right now and that we won't have any problems. With any luck (and God's blessing), we are hoping to make the big move at the beginning of July.

Jacob is very excited about going to live in the mountains! (Daniel has no clue, of course!) I'm excited, too. I've lived in the Richmond area now for 24 years so needless to say this will be a HUGE adjustment for me. I will miss my parents and miss being so close to Dylan's parents, but luckily, we will be less than 100 miles away. I have been praying for several years that God would open a job opportunity in SC or GA, but apparently God has different plans for us. (As usual, I'm trying to make sure that my plans align with God's will and not the other way around!) I am very excited about finding out what God has waiting for us in Lynchburg.

Yes, I know I'm late - but, Happy Easter!

Aahhh!!! It seems to be a new habit of mine to fall far behind on writing in our family blog. Luckily, not a lot has happened, so I will hopefully be able to make up for it with our beautiful Easter pictures. Warning: There are a TON of photos to follow! :)





The egg on the left has an Elmo band-aid on it. Apparently, even an egg can be fixed with a band-aid in the eyes of a 4 year old.


Jacob helps hold Daniel's egg while he colors on it.


Daniel's favorite part was putting the stickers on - yep, on himself!

Checking out the Easter baskets.


The loot.


Jacob explains his resurrection eggs to us.


The boys all dressed up for Easter. So handsome!




You know Daniel is excited when the tongue starts to hang out!


Daniel found this one all by himself.




More Easter egg hunting at Nana's house. Dylan did a great job of creatively hiding the eggs, but he was still no match for our boys. They found every last one - well, except for one that even Dylan forgot about!

So... it's been a while since I've had time to update the family blog. Let's see... nothing new with the family, so not much to say. Daniel had his 2nd haircut already (Jacob got his done, too, but that's not really anything new.) I got to get away to Roanoke last weekend for my friend's bridal shower. It was nice to get a weekend away by myself. To be in a car for 2-1/2 hours with no noise other than my iPod was wonderful!!! Other than trips to run errands in the evening, I never get to enjoy a quiet car. After 4-1/2+ years of having kids, you forget what that is like.

Anyway, the weekend was great! I really enjoyed finally getting to make a trip out to visit my friend. But, it was great to be home in my own bed. Plus, the boys were so excited to see me arrive back home. It's good to be know that you're missed when your gone. =)

Here's a picture of the maid of honor (Bonnie), my friend (Kristen) and me:

Saying Goodbye

Our MOPS group lost one of our dearest friends this week. She was such an amazing and strong person and I still cannot believe that she is truly gone. Her love for the Lord and how she daily placed all of her faith in Him will always be inspiring. I can only hope that if I am ever faced with the trials she had to face that I will handle it with the same amazing grace that she did. She reaffirmed what I already know and what I can only hope that others will come to know - God will never leave us. Even when it seems impossible, ESPECIALLY when it seems impossible, God is there. It's up to us to decide whether we will let Him carry us through whatever it is we are facing. I know what my choice is.

I will miss our friend, but she will never be forgotten. Please pray for her husband and their two children as they try to get through this very difficult time.

"I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." Psalm 119:32.

"...Through Christ our comfort overflows..." II Corinthians 1:5

The Cure for Depression

Just in case some of you are feeling blue this evening... Take a look into these baby blues and I assure you that you will feel better! =)



And just in case you thought it couldn't get any cuter... think again!!!




And if neifher of those did the trick for you, surely this one will. (At least I know it will for one of my friends reading this - you know who you are!!!)

Bye-bye, baby curls!

Dylan couldn't avoid it, but he had to work late tonight. So, this evening, my Mom and I took Daniel for his very first haircut!!!! He did great! Although, I shouldn't be too surprised by that since he's usually always the picture-perfect baby. =)

A lot of his curls are gone now, but he looks like such a big boy now! Now his haircut matches his size! Ha!

Getting started...


Doing such a good job for Ms. Kim!




Not really sure what's going here...


But, I sure do look handsome!

We're back!!!!

Well, we made it safe and sound back from Georgia. All 894+ miles! The boys did great on the entire trip (well, for the most part.) A lot of thanks to my Mom for catering to their needs during the long drive. I drove the whole way and she handed the boys whatever it was they were asking for. Yes - I probably had the better end of the deal on that one.

The trip on the way home went a little faster than on the way down. Once we figured out that Daniel is capable of drinking his weight in milk, we were sure to keep him well-stocked on the trip back. Man, I have never realized how much that little man can drink until I had to be sure to keep his cup filled for a 7 hour period.

Anyways, on Thursday when I picked up Jacob from preschool, I was greeted with an extra passenger that would be joining us for our trip - Chester, the bear! (Actually, there were two extra passengers since Chester also has a bear of his own, Sunny.) Chester is a bear that his teacher gives to a student to take home each weekend. When they return to school on Tuesday, the student gets to tell the class all about what they did with Chester and where they took him. Little did Chester know just how well-traveled of a bear he was about to become! Here are the pictures that Jacob will be taking in for show and tell tomorrow:


Jacob, with Chester and Sunny, at the SC/NC border.


Jacob and his Great-Grandpa Dobinski.


At the Georgia Welcome Center.


Outside of a rest stop right inside the NC state line.

And for extra cuteness, here are some pictures from Jacob's PJ day at Preschool:


They were doing the letter "P" at school that week, so here he is in his Penguin Pajamas and ready to have a Pizza Party for lunch. Oh, and to add on to that Pop-Pop picked him up from school in his pick-up truck! I know, I know - I'm just too much for myself sometimes, too!




Oh - and here is the final product before we left the house. (Notice in the first pictures that his hair wasn't brushed??? Yeah - I was so focused on it being PJ day that we almost forgot to do his hair that day!)

Georgia... on my mind (& Grandpa, too!)

The boys and I are traveling to Georgia to see this man on Friday and I could not be more excited! I love going to visit my Grandpa and here's why:

1. He loves to call the boys by their initials (J.D. and D.J.) and I love it. But only when he does it.
2. I love that my Grandpa cares enough to give my boys their own special nicknames. It makes ME feel even more special.
3. I love the fact that I can talk to my Grandpa about anything. Well, that is, as long as he has his hearing aids turned up so he can hear me. :)
4. I love riding in his car with him. It makes me laugh nowadays to be a passenger and watch how he drives. Trust me on this one - you would much rather be a passenger in his car than be in a different car for this experience!
5. I also love riding in his car because repeat after me: Grandpa's car = Lifesavers Wintergreen Mints
6. I love going down to my Grandpa's and seeing all the family pictures that my Grandma loved to display in her bookcase and how Grandpa has added to this collection.
7. I love listening to my Grandpa's stories. I love going to see him because I always come home with at least one new story.

There are many more reasons, but it all comes down to this: I love my Grandpa and I always have. As I get older, so does he and so I have learned to cherish every minute that I am blessed to spend with him.

And here's hoping that everything will truly be great in '08 - yes, I am that cheesy!

Well, Christmas is over. That's right, my favorite time of the year is over. The lights have been taken down and the tree has been undecorated. Notice how I didn't say it has been taken down? Yep, we have a Christmas tree minus the decorations still sitting in our family room. Dylan assured the tree that today it would be meeting it's end. Apparently it's either been too cold or too dark or both over the past 3 days for Dylan to take it outside and rip the lights off of it and throw it next to our trash cans. Hey - I'm not complaining because y'all know that I'm certainly not going to be the one to do that dirty, pokey pine needles, sticky sap kind of work. I'm just hoping that maybe the two of us can get motivated enough to finish packing up the rest of Christmas so that I can finish getting the house in order.

The boys had a wonderful Christmas and so did I. Jacob's favorite part was going out on Christmas Eve to leave some "magic" food for the reindeer. Who am I kidding? Jacob's favorite part was really the PRESENTS!!! Santa brought him a lot of things off of his list and he was very happy with all of it. He thought it was pretty cool that we let him go out in his PJs on Christmas morning and try out his new bike. Daniel loved opening his presents. He didn't really care too much what was inside, he just liked ripping them open. Of course, as soon as the last presents had been opened at my in-laws' house, we had to come home and pack up some of the boys' current toys to make room for the new ones. Jacob actually did a really good job helping me choose which toys he was ready to pack up and which ones he wanted to keep. I was amazed that he was able to let go of anything at all!

Anyways, I hope you all had a very Merry and very blessed Christmas! Now it's time for the pictures:


This is what happens to you in this house if you sit still too long while I am decorating. :)


Jacob and Daniel pick out the next ornaments they want to put on the tree.


Jacob puts on the star while Dylan appears to be spending some one-on-one time with the tree.


All the grandkids together in front of the tree at my Mom's house.


Oh, yeah - and did I mention that Daniel started officially walking a week before Christmas! Yeah!!!


It may have been Jacob's gift, but Daniel clearly has been enjoying the kazoo.


Eddie found his favorite spot - right under the tree!


Speaking of the tree... here it is with all the presents under it.


Jacob's reaction when he came downstairs was absolutely priceless!


Jacob helps Daniel open a present.

Bah! Humbug!

The stomach bug, that is... Last weekend was a complete wash thanks to some lovely germs Jacob brought home with him from preschool. Some very unwelcome visitors if I do say so myself! Jacob was sick all of Friday night with a stomach virus and moped around all of Saturday with the same symptoms (just not as violent as the night before.) We thought it was all over by Saturday night. Jacob went to bed without protest and was sound asleep as soon as his little head hit the pillow. (And what a very clean pillow it was seeing as we must have done at least five loads of laundry the night before cleaning up the aftermath.)

Fast forward to 5:30 am on Sunday morning... I awoke with an unsettling feeling in my stomach. Uh-oh. I knew this was not going to end well for me. But, I was in no way prepared for what would occur over the next seven hours. That's right, my friends. SEVEN hours!!! Poor Dylan. Poor me, but poor Dylan. He put up with my moaning and groaning all day and on top of it, the bug started to move on to Daniel by Sunday afternoon. Monday morning came and I dragged myself out of bed (only because I had to since Dylan was abandoning ship to go to work) and managed to make it through the day. I was pleasantly surprised when Dylan came home early, but the pleasantly left the building when he reported to me that he only came home because he was sick, too.

So, again, I say, "Bah! Humbug!" Praise the Lord the stomach bug has now gone away and I can resume my Christmas to-do list. The other day I was in the kitchen feeling very overwhelmed as I made my list of remaining things to do before Christmas. I found myself asking how in the world I was going to get all of this stuff done before Christmas??? Thanks to five days being completely wasted due to the stomach bug, I was really running out of time! I began envisioning all the late nights I had ahead of me. After all, here it is ten days before Christmas and I still have to do Christmas cards, wrap presents, bake lots of goodies to give as presents, get Christmas photos taken, take a picture of the boys in front of the Christmas tree, drive around and see all the Christmas lights, go see Santa and many other things that I have forgotten already! Then, I passed by a sign I have hanging in our kitchen. The most true statement about this Christmas holiday. It reads, "Christmas begins with Christ." And then, my list didn't seem so important.

So, if you don't get your Christmas card or present until after Christmas (or if you don't get one at all!!), please know, it's not because we don't care. It's because we are choosing to spend our Christmas celebrating the birth of Christ instead of pulling our hair out to meet our own deadlines.

So, Merry Christmas! I hope all of you are able to step back and enjoy the real reason for Christmas!

Calling all shoppers!!!

This has officially gone on sale!!! With free shipping!!! Hello... what are you waiting for??? My yard will be patiently waiting for it's arrival.