Trains, Planes, and Automobiles...and Drawing

First of all, a HUGE thanks to all of you who showed your love through commenting! Much love back to ya. I just needed some reassurance that at least a few people were reading and keeping up with the Sanders. Thanks to all of you who read...now I know you are out there.


There have been some things that I thought Bo might be obsessed with before, but this is a new record. He received the blue engine and the coal car for his birthday from Uncle Jon and Aunt Amy while we were in GA. Ever since then he has been asking about "more trains" and "more track". Knowing that he couldn't really play with only one piece of track, we ordered a set, "The Wild West Set" and eagerly awaited its arrival. It arrived last Thursday, and no exaggerating...he has not stopped playing with it. Questions/statements like, "Are you ready to eat?, Do you want to go to the park?, Do you want to go swimming?, Let's go take a nap," used to be answered with an emphatic "yes", for the most part. Now the answer is, "I want to play with trains." One great benefit is that I actually have gotten a lot done around the house with him being so enthralled with these things. It's also just fun to watch him play, and start to pretend. He's growing up so fast! I feel really, really blessed....he's an awesome kid.

The Engineer

How many helicopters do you see? Multiply that number by about 52 and you get the number of helicopters I've actually drawn the past couple of months.

As you can see, we know the Sesame Street characters. It was fun learning how to draw them. You never know when that might come in handy someday!

To all the ghost readers of this blog...

This is me asking nicely...

Would you leave a frickin' comment...please?

Thanks...

From the writer who needs to feel a little bit more connected.

Happy (fill in the blank) Day!

We took a trip to GA this past week...for several reasons. The thing that got us there was a wedding of a dear friend of mine, Kelli. We met at PC, shortly after I stepped onto the campus. We were introduced by a mutual friend, and I think the first thing she said was, "I am so pumped that a Christian is here to play on the basketball team!" Talk about making someone uncomfortable. What we both didn't know yet was that I really wasn't a Christian! The Lord used her greatly in my life to lead me to Him. I was so happy to be able to be at her wedding (finally!) and see her step into this awesome journey of marriage with her man, P.D. Congrats, Kelli and P.D.!!! We love you! Happy Wedding Day!


Happy Birthday! ...my father-in-law's on the 4th and Bo's on the 9th. I don't know how old my father-in-law is b/c he refuses to tell us, but Big Bo turned 2!! This is Bo waiting for the cake. He had woken up early from a nap...when that happens, he cries in a mad way for like 5 minutes and you can't do much for him. Robert got him to calm down with some Doritos...go figure...hence the orange stuff on his mouth and hands.

With a little help from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, I managed to successfully make my very first Elmo cake. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out...I worked dang hard on it.

This is Bo while we were singing Happy Birthday. I think he figured out we were singing for him. It was really cute.


This is Bo concentrating really hard to blow out those 2 candles. He got the first one pretty easily...the second proved to be more challenging.


This is after, oh, about 3 pieces of cake! He's just saving some for later.




How much fun is bath time with 3 babies when splashing is allowed? The girls are thinking, "There is an extra person in our tub tonight...and it's definitely not mommy or daddy."


This is what 3 kids in the back of a Camry looks like.


On Bo's actual birthday, we got to go to the Atlanta Zoo. It was a lot of fun, although somewhat stressful with about a gazillion school groups there. We did get to see some animals that we don't have at our zoo here in Houston...some gorillas and a rhino, and probably some others I can't remember. Here are Abby and Bo posing at the meerkat exhibit. A little too early to really understand the whole head in the hole concept.


Happy Mother's Day!! Here are the beautiful Sanders moms.


"Hey, where's the rest of my cake?!?!" says Bo. "Don't look at me, I only had one piece," says Granddaddy.




And finally Happy 5th Anniversary to Jon and Amy (May 10th), and Happy Baby Dedication Day to little Julia!

Busy and Business...

So, sorry once again for not posting for a while. Things have been really busy around here. And blogging always takes a back seat to all other things. Although I do continue to check other people's sites for updates.

So what has happened since April 9th? Bo and I went to SC for a week for the purpose of seeing my brother, sister-in-law and niece. We sent them off on the 22nd to Belgium to be church planters. They will be there 3 years before their first "furlough" or "home assignment" or whatever you want to call it. They have lived in San Francisco since before Robert and I were married, and we've gotten to see them on average twice a year. So I thought, "It won't be a big deal for them to move to Belgium, since we only get to see them twice a year anyways." Well, it is. Belgium is not anywhere in America or North America (for those of you who struggle with geography) so it makes a difference. Even with our newly acquired webcam (aren't we fancy?!), and all the technology of email, long-distance phone calls, etc., it is still different. I can't say I've cried after they left (part of me won't let myself do that), but there is a sort of sadness in knowing they are so far away. BUT I am also very, very proud of them and the commitment they are making to growing the Kingdom around the world! Here's the most recent picture of them I have on my computer.



What else?...We had a GREAT missions conference at our church...not really AT our church, since we don't own a building, but you know what I mean. Fred Harrell from City Church in San Francisco was the speaker. He challenged us to be a missional church, which means in one aspect that the members can't just be consumers, but we have to be "bringers". I knew that, but needed a reminder and a little motivation. How about you? Are you a consumer at your church or are you a bringer?

What else?...we've also battled runny noses and sinus infections. How fun. Bo got a runny nose while we were in SC, and proceeded to pass it on to Shelby, my niece. Because we only had one humidifier, we put them in the same room one night. How hysterical! For a while, we heard them both laughing and talking to each other. About an hour and a half later, we heard only Shelby singing. Then we heard, "Bo-Bo, you hear me?!? Bo-Bo, you HEAR me?!?" I think that was the funniest thing ever. I went into the room and Bo was laying down with this look on his face that said, "Would you please make her be quiet?!?" Precious and priceless moments.


Maybe this is why they pass colds so easily.

One more thing...I am forever grateful to Audrey's brother, who passed this special little song on to my brother, who then lovingly passed it on to me.

CAUTION: The title of the song, "Business Time" is not referring to work, so precede at your own risk. (Mom and Dad Sanders, this means you might not want to watch)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU


Enjoy more songs by "Flight of the Conchords" on youtube, if you can handle it.

Much love.