Strawberry picking...

 This was our Friday morning strawberry picking in a very muddy place.  The kids loved picking and eating!  Even little Josiah did a great job this year picking only the red berries and kept saying- there's one and putting it in the bucket.  What a great helper he was!  I was having some contractions that morning but thankfully they stopped long enough to pick the berries.

Welcome Joel Isaiah Lyons...

It's a Boy! 

The big surprise of finding out what we are having is here. 

We welcome... Joel Isaiah Lyons to our family born Saturday, May 27th at 10:13am.  He weighs 8lb. 15 oz. and is 22 inches long. 

 Erin began having sporadic contractions around 5:30am yesterday.  So she got up and organized school books across the hall.  Then we decided to go strawberry picking with friends, we thought it might speed the process a long.  The rest of the day I had sporadic contractions at times, nothing too intense.  Last night, Michael hosted a Community Group Leader's picnic at church.  I went to bed and around 3:00am started feeling stronger contractions that kept me from sleeping.  I got up and walked in the basement some and tried to rest and got a shower and tried to let the household sleep as long as she could.  Around 5:30, I woke up Michael and we started timing contractions that were coming less than 5 minutes a part.  My doctor from church was still in California, so called the guy on call and he told me maybe to wait a little longer.  After a half hour, I was ready to go- I was worried I would wait too long.  When we got to the hospital they admitted me and I was 6-7 centimeters and they hooked me up and gave me the epidural.  The guy did it so well, I was really numb this time, more numb than I remember with the others- really numb.  My legs felt like jelly- they all said- oh, you had one of Ron's epidurals.  I was worried I would not know how to push right which I did with the others.  And it did take about 20 minutes to get the little guy out as he is much bigger than all our other children.  I guess there was a reason I felt huge to begin with toward the end here.  The doctor on call was really encouraging and I was thankful for all the staff in labor and delivery!  So thankful to be done and have a healthy little guy!

Happy Birthday little Joel!  We love you already!

Girls Night

 Girls Birthday Outing- last week we went on a Girls' Birthday outing with some dear friends.  Grace is our sweet friend and babysits the kids a lot and she just turned 16 and then we were celebrating my 35th birthday from the end of April.  It was a mother daughter celebration as Nancy and I both had our daughters.  We went downtown and sat out on the balcony by the Ohio River. 

Last Day of School!

 God is so faithful and good.  After spending last spring and summer worrying about this year, I am ever so thankful that we made it through our first official homeschooling year and Jeremiah and Lydia did great!  Jeremiah is on to his 1st Grade School year!  Woohoo!  We had a dress-up lunch complete with stuffed animals to celebrate and Jeremiah got to pick a lunch option- he choose breakfast- scrambled eggs.  Even Josiah was allowed to bring his animal- Corduroy to the lunch table.  Yeah for summer break and the last day of school!  We also tried handing out brownies to our neighbor kids for their last day- but it was raining so there was not that many around.

Waiting...

We keep waiting here, one day at a time for the day when the new Lyons babe will arrive.  These days are not the easiest for me.  I am a planner and I want to know when this big event will take place.  The Lord is using this season to remind me in new and fresh ways that He is in control of me and this babe and the timing of all things.  I must relinquish my control and give it to Him and trust Him!  So, we are filling our time.  Last Sunday, we went to see a friend's horse show and she got blue ribbons.  We are trying to get as much done before the babe comes and our time is even more divided between the needs of our little ones.  I am trying to organize school supplies, finish mulching, cleaning and Michael is trying to finish up projects on expanding our little abode to across the hall. 

Derby...

 The other week, we had some Church Staff over for dinner and we made a gluten free cake with horses because it was the Kentucky Derby. 

Once you live in Louisville even for a little while, you want to celebrate this big day. 

Touch a Truck :)

 The Touch A Truck journey continues.  We always are looking for a good activity on a Saturday morning, especially since Daddy works some Saturdays- so when a friend texted me about this Touch A Truck- already in the car to run an errand, we jumped on the idea and headed to the trucks.

Around the World...

 On my birthday, our church, to close their Joyful Noise program, did Around the World.  I offered to host the Asia table and yes, I did fit into my Indian outfit even being pregnant.  Jeremiah helped me set up and collect things that we had from Asia and make our board.  It was fun to gather up all our things missionaries and friends have given to us. 

Easter 2017...

This is a synopsis of our Easter Traditions this year- 2017...

A few weeks before Easter, we decided to begin reading the Jesus Storybook Bible starting with Jesus' birth and putting the names of Jesus on our Jesus tree.  We got lots of Easter books from the library and would sing our Easter hymns each morning. 

About two weeks before Easter, we planted a Resurrection Garden with grass seed.  We decorated Easter eggs and enjoyed singing Resurrection songs.  We made Easter crafts in our Art co-op.  On Holy Week, we did a holy week board with different Scripture passages and little crafts to stick up on the board.  We hid the Resurrection eggs one for each day and talked about them and continued reading our Jesus Storybook Bible.

Easter morning we did our Resurrection egg and made a Lamb Cake for the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  We also did Easter baskets and told the Resurrection story. 

Birdhouses

 A few weeks ago, we went to the library to build some birdhouses with Daddy. 

Glad that Daddy came to help build the bird houses and bird feeder and bath.  We are hanging in there, feeling a little more uncomfortable this week and praying the Lord gives me grace and energy in perseverance in these remaining weeks.  My body is slowing down, leg cramps are happening at night and I feel like I run a marathon every day but God is good and keeps sustaining.  Thankful for that.