Matt's Request...

Apparently Matt was rather upset that the pictures of me shooting better than him were not added to my latest post...
There needs to be a warning posted before one views the pictures.  Ummm...my slick boots and sweat pants are pretty hawt! :) LOL...

Spring Break Adventures

Dressed in our best to celebrate God's love revealed through a resurrection!

Spring Break vacation finally arrived for us at 12:30 pm Sunday, after the Easter services at church.  We couldn't have been more ready to hit the road and head back to Indiana to see family!

First stop...Rushville to see mom on her birthday, Easter birthday this year, and hunt some eggs :)

 Blowing some bubbles she got for Easter

 I found it funny how most of the Easter eggs were hidden within arm's reach of dad's recliner :)  But we were able to find some around other parts of the house.

 Love this little man :)

 Marie finding some jelly bean filled eggs...who's gonna share?

Had to take a picture to prove a record for the longest Izzy has kept a bow in her hair! :)

Monday we headed to Madison area to the farm to spend a few days and enjoy the great outdoors.  Colten had a list of things in mind of what he wanted to do each day.  Top of his list was to camp in the cabin.  After seeing the weather wasn't going to be as warm as I expected I was kinda hoping he'd forget about it...He didn't :)  We stayed in the cabin and kept each other warm with our love...(I know, cheesy right?!)

Here's some pictures of our time on the farm...

 We did alot of four-wheel riding, on the big one as well!  Funny how quickly they come running when you start up the engine :)

 Spring is here to stay :)

 Ok, so this was a little scary, Izzy was driving Marie around....AND....

 She crashed into the playground!

 Fishing day!  I was surprised, all the kids loved being out in the boats and we stayed out for nearly 2 hours!  The boys stayed out longer.  I would have loved to stay out with them because it was so peaceful, quiet, and warm, but the girl's crying and whining were driving everyone else crazy :)

 Ok so funny story about our boats...

I chose to take out the paddle boat as there were rumors that the mice loved the fishing boat.  After about 15 minutes of beginning our fishing adventure, I'm floating along peacefully in my paddle boat when I hear a loud bang.   I turn and see Matt beating his boat with a paddle! After laughing uncontrollably for a few minutes I hear him yell, "We've got a mouse!  He ain't dead!"  So for the rest of our time on the lake randomly you'd hear Matt beating the boat trying to kill the mouse on board.  (The mouse won in case you wanted to know!)

 Our sleeping quarters for one cold night!  I was amazed at how well the kids slept!  And how warm we stayed!  Isn't it funny by the way how many times your kids have to wake up to go to the bathroom when you are camping vs. when you are in a home with warm beds!  I think we were woke up every hour by someone having to go to the bathroom.  You'd think their tushies would be so cold when having to go outside in 35 degree air that they wouldn't want to do it more than once?!

 I think this was when Izzy thought being stuck on a boat was no longer entertaining.

 She's got such a great smile!

 Yay!!!  He caught one!  He was so excited to be the first to catch a fish!

 Colten helping Izzy fish.  No one was hooked!!!

 The boys...

 Izzy style fishing pole.  Stick with a string and a worm!  I think it entertained her for a good 20 minutes putting it in and out of the water!

 Then Matt caught a fish,....wait a minute, that fishy looks familiar!

Onah's turn...yep he caught one too!  And yet again, this little guy looks familiar.  We take a look down his throat to find Matt's worm, Colten's worm, and Onah's worm!  Yep, caught the same fish 3 times!  haha  So glad that fishy could sacrifice to give us some good fun fishing!

-Things we didn't get pictures of, all the frog spawn, tadpoles, and salamanders we caught for Colten, Onah, and Marie's classes at school.

-Target practice shooting Colten's bb gun, Matt teaching me to load/shoot some guns.  (I think I nearly chipped my tooth when I shot the rifle!  I wasn't ready for the 'kick').  Matt won't admit it but I think I'm a better shot than him!  Maybe he'll want to take me hunting with him next Thanksgiving?!  Only problem, I can't do the 5 am!!! 

-The ducks we bought for the farm!  All the kids each got a duck.  We were able to play with them for a few days before we had to leave them for grandma to care for.  Izzy named her duck Nelly.  Marie named her's VV.  Onah's is named Donald (classic).  Colten couldn't decide so his duck will have multiple personalities I'm sure, it has 2 names...Little D (for duck) and Little C (for Colten).

-Riding horses.  We got several rides in over the few days we were there.  Then there was the last and final ride that ended with a scare.

-Campfires/smores/hotdogs

-Hikes in the woods

Overall it was a great week.  It would not have been a true Lee vacation without a trip to the ER.  Yes we did that too :)  Glad to be home but miss the time hanging out enjoying the outdoors with the kids!  Summer will soon be here and we'll have more fun!

God's Presence

As I sat in my quiet house today, Izzy napping and kids at school, I was able to spend my quiet time...Quiet :)  Normally my quiet time consists of lots of interruptions and noise, but today was different...

As I opened God's word and let him speak to me I heard:

 "There's JOY in my presence, I am your PROTECTOR and GIVER OF LIFE, I CARE about even the smallest details, I ENJOY blessing you, I NEVER change, I am CONSTANT, I never let go, I speak PEACE and CALM, I steady your heart, I am your SECURITY and no one can take Me from you."

I began conversation with my Father about my life, my passions, my desires, thanking Him for things He's done exceedingly beyond my expectations (cause that's what He does...He exceeds our expectations...goes above and beyond what we ask!).  As I got it all off my chest I took a deep breath and in that instant tears started to well up...HAPPY TEARS.  I couldn't control them, they just flowed.  The feeling of sitting in the presence of my heavenly father and feeling loved, secure, accepted, and at peace is a feeling I've missed!  And it wasn't until that moment, I can't explain what it was or how it was different, but it was in that moment that I realized, I haven't had this closeness to Him in a long while!  And it felt SO good to be there in that moment.


For a couple years now I have felt so empty like something was missing.  I would get so frustrated because I would spend time drawing near to Him but seemed like I'd always fall short of closeness.  The most frustrating part is knowing what if feels like to be close to Him, living in his presence and for some reason not being able to feel that connection in the same way like you did before!  You want something and search for it but never find it.  The connection was there, that never went away, it's just...it would seem fuzzy at times (like my tv antenae was never in just the right spot).  Something was always in the way, but I could never put a finger on it to clear a path!  He never changed, it was my heart that needed time I guess.

Today I feel like my Joy was restored.  I searched and I found and I rested in my Fathers arms and it felt SO good!  Blessed to be His daughter and humbled to feel His presence in my life!

This song says it all....

Grab Your Boots...It's A Beautiful Day!

Another beautiful day in Lexington means exploring!  We grabbed our old clothes and boots and headed to Raven Run.  I love that there are places minutes from our house that we can get out and enjoy the great outdoors and like we are in the middle of nowhere :)
Here are some pics of the fun we had on our day out in the sun!  Can't wait till we have more days like this, if Spring would just decide to stick around and quit playing peek-a-boo!

Beautiful creek...

 Boys path walkin'.  Looking for treasures...

Girls being....girls ;)

Found a spot to stop for a break...

 Well...what have we found here...a cool hollowed out tree!!  (It's the little things)

 View from the inside...

 Based on his eyes, this is about the time Matt said, you know bugs live in that tree stump! haha

My little adventurous peanut!

Nothing better than finding the perfect rocks to skip on the water!

This kid looks cool no matter what he's doing!

 Creek walking...

She didn't think twice...

Marie on the other hand....she's my princess

The wet clothes dried, the mud was washed off, but the memories will last forever!  Love exploring with them!

What's That Smell???.....SPRING!!!

Seeing signs of spring.  We are eager to get out and enjoy the outdoors again!  The first chance we got we took advantage of.  Sunday was the most beautiful day we've had in awhile, and the crowd at the park  was proof of that!

Amidst the chaos that Sundays bring to our family we found time to take a little picnic for lunch and play together OUTSIDE in the SUN!!!  It was perfect, can't wait to be able to do it more often!

Perfect spot for a picnic!  

 Yummy food...

 Great company...

 Happy faces...

Time to PLAY...

We had to end our adventurous day with creek jumping!