Ahhhhh Virginia...how I love thee!

Seriously....Virginia was a total blast! Pete and I had so much fun with the Wright family. They are the real deal! We laughed and laughed all weekend long...as evident on this "cheesy" video. I want to say it loud and say it proud....Wright family: WE LOVE YOU! Thanks for being so good to us and making us feel so welcome in your beautiful little town. We felt like family and we had the time of our lives. Next time, we're bringing the squirt so you can meet her in person...can't wait :0) Without further ado....

Pictures on the next post.

Until then...

We left on a JET BLUE plane...

We

.

minus her

flew this

here

to meet him

who wrote this

because I sent this

and won this

WOO HOO! We're having a FANTASTIC time!!

Until then...

Some cute April pictures...

Counting her loot...

Look Mom... I found one!

Daddy thinks the Easter Bunny is related to Santa!

SO cute!



Mommy and Hannah dying eggs.

Happy Birthday Pop Pop!

Hannah LOVES her Pop Pop.

Like my moustache?

This is YUMMY!

Ta Da!

I hope everyone had a Blessed Easter. I know we did! Check back tomorrow to see what we're up to this weekend.

Until then...

Out of the mouths...

Hannah says some pretty interesting, insightful and down-right adorable things sometimes. I wanted to share a few...

Her Great-Grandpa Joe just passed away last week and she went with us to the viewing. It was an open casket. Pete was making sure she was okay with things so here's their conversation...

P: How ya doin' Hannah? Is there anything bothering you?
H: Well, I do have a concern about something...
P: What's that?
H: Why is G.G. so small...where are his legs?

In the car a few days later, Hannah and I were driving home from school. Out of the blue she starts talking about our spirit and asks me what our spirit looks like. I tried to explain to her that our spirit is "who" we are...it's what makes us alive. So I see her through the mirror rolling her eyes saying, "No, mom, I mean what COLOR is it?" So I tell her that it's invisible...like the wind. I told her she can't see the wind but she knows it's there and she says, "oh, it's clear, right?" Right. :0)

"Mom, can you lend me a helping hand?" (too much Doodlebops I think) :0)

"Did you happen to see my blanket?"

"You, Mom, are a genius"

"Catie, whatcha doing? Hmm.....very interesting!"

Singing... "Hannah's happy today..not really, I miss my dad. I love him very very much!"

"Come on, I'll show you the moves."

She was trying to do something and I asked her if it was going back in and she said "Unfortunately, no" :0)

"Certainly!"

"This book is incredible!"

Me: I love Hannah, Daddy and Jesus
H: and Tobi (our rat terrier)
M: and Tobi too
H: even though she has bad breath! :0)

As Hannah is pushing on my triceps she says, "Your muscles are hanging down. I'm trying to push them up." Thanks Han.

Today is Palm Sunday so she came out of Kidmo excited to share the bible verse she learned. She said "Jose, Jose, Jose is in the highest." Then she said, "It's Palm Tuesday....I think". :0)

Hannah has a Barbie laptop and she had it in the van. If you don't touch it for a while Barbie starts talking to you and telling you to push a button. So I hear Hannah say, "I can't right now Barbie!" (she was buckling her belt)

When Pete's brother David graduated from Flight School we went up to watch the graduation. That was quite some time ago. The other day we were driving and Hannah said something about blue busses. I told her that there are only yellow and white busses (0ur city bus is white) and she said, "No mom, don't you remember when David graduated from High School?" I laughed because on the Air Force base they drove us in a blue bus so I said, "oh you mean when Uncle Dave graduated from flight school?" She said, "YOU GOT IT!"

Hannah and I love to listen to Christian music. She LOVES Mandisa and Francesca Battistelli who she calls "Francesca's-got-a-belly". Well we were listening to "Take the Shackles off my feet" and she asked me what shackles were so I explained they were like handcuffs for your legs. So months later we're watching Dumbo and she says "Hey mom, Dumbo's mom has shackles on her feet". Yes, Hannah, she does. :0)

Hope that made you giggle a bit...

Any interesting, insightful or down-right adorable things your kids have said lately?

Until then...

These two can ALWAYS make me smile...

The many "ticks" of life...

Last night after school, Hannah’s dance lesson, her weekly Wednesday hang-with Grandma-and-Grandpa–so-Mommy-and-Daddy-can-go-to–our-small-group night, I was getting her ready for bed. We were in the bathroom, brushing teeth when I felt led to take a closer look at her hair. Being a First Grade teacher, I know the importance of a thorough head check now and again. Early detection is the key to killing those little buggers! As I pulled her strands of beautiful, shiny, black hair back and examined her scalp I saw nothing…PHEW…we’re good to go…hold on…what’s this….no….it can’t be….

I let out a blood curdling scream calmly called for Pete to come to the bathroom. He ran in to see what I was screaming upset about. I handed him the pliers tweezers and he proceeded to carefully remove a large TICK from the back of Hannah’s precious head as I silently very loudly begged God to help him get the whole thing out.

Thankfully Daddy saved the night again… he did indeed get the WHOLE tick out of our sweet Hannah’s little head. As I’m telling Hannah to keep her head down and she’s telling me her hair is hanging in the sink and I’m telling her it’s okay all the while she’s asking to see the bug. Here I am freaking out that there’s this horrible disease-filled thing trying to get into my daughter’s head and she’s more interested in seeing it…oh the perspective. :0)

After all was said and done, we jumped on-line to type “I found a tick on my child” in the search engine. It was very interesting to me to read that the person being bitten by the said member of the arachnid family feels nothing. Blood is being sucked from your body and you don’t even know it. Also interesting to me was the fact that if discovered early and carefully (fully) removed, there’s no treatment…you are as good as new.

Later, as I was thanking God for prompting the earlier search of Hannah’s head, something came to me….I started thinking about all the “ticks” in my life. The little things that try to attach themselves and suck the life out of me…all the while I sit oblivious to the tremendous damage they are doing. I call it “sharing with my friends” but it’s really gossiping and judging. I call it “innocent flirting” but it’s really dishonoring my husband. I call it “wanting to keep myself looking young” but it’s really vanity.

Left unattended to, these “ticks” (like the real ones) can burrow deep under my skin causing long-term damage…even death. Yet, discovered early and entirely removed…I am healthy once again.

Although QUITE disgusting to discover…I am so thankful God revealed the tick embedded in Hannah’s head and I am also thankful He points out the many ticks in my life so I can work on them and get them out…head and all.

So please be aware my friends…examine your lives on a consistent basis for ticks…both literally and figuratively.

Until then…

Welcome!

Wow…my very own blog. I am both excited and nervous about the prospect. I have had Hannah’s website up for 5 years now and have decided to start updating and sharing our happenings through this blog instead. Thank you for everyone who has followed us at http://www.journeytohannah.com/ for so long. I will keep it up in case anyone else happens upon it and wants to follow our amazing journey thus far.

I wanted to explain the name of this blog… I recently watched the amazing movie Fireproof with my husband Pete and LOVED it. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it. It truly is life-changing! During the movie there’s a song entitled “While I’m Waiting”. It is a fantastic song and I thought it would make a great blog address. Of course when I went to register it, the name had been taken…by someone about 4 years ago…that only posted twice. WHAT?!…Oh well…you get the point. What am I waiting for you ask? Well the final chapter of course. I am here…waiting…for whatever God has planned for my family and me. Waiting…sometimes impatiently, sometimes with awe and wonder, sometimes with great fear and trepidation, sometimes in amazement but always…waiting.
I want to include the words to the song to give you a better picture.

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am hopeful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it is painful

But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident

Taking every step in obedience

While I'm waiting

I will serve You

While I'm waiting

I will worship

While I'm waiting

I will not faint

I'll be running the race

Even while I wait

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am peaceful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it's not easy

But faithfully, I will wait

Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve you while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

It’s hard to wait on God sometimes…most of the time actually. It’s hard, but we are called to it.

This blog will be filled with my thoughts, feelings, and the many things that inspire me. I hope you enjoy it and it touches you like our website has. Have a great day and God bless.

Until then…