Honk, Honk!

Please remember that Sarah is fundraising for Highland MOPS here.

This is Jared's new favorite game.

MOPS Great Moms Walk--Please Sponsor Me :-)

I'd love for you to visit my fundraising website at:  http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/sarah-mathis

On April 30th, I'll be participating in the Great Moms Walk (GMW) to raise MOPS awareness as well as spread the message that better moms make a better world!  MOPS International exists to meet the needs of every mother of preschoolers to realize her potential as a woman, mother, and leader in the name of Jesus Christ.

The GMW is a short walk (we'll have lots of toddlers with us!), but it is a symbolic way of showing that as moms, we don't have to travel this journey alone.

By collecting pledges for walkers, the GMW will also serve as a fundraiser for my local MOPS group.

I've been a member of MOPS for 3 years, and it has been such an encouragement to me.  We meet twice a month for fellowship and fun, to learn new skills, and be encouraged by speakers and other moms.

In order for our MOPS group to stay afloat, though, we rely on yearly fundraising.  This fundraising helps to provide for childcare during our meetings and also for scholarships, so that all moms can participate.
Please consider sponsoring me.  Even a small donation of $5 or $10 can make a difference!  Donating through the firstgiving website is simple, fast, and totally secure.

Whether you donate or not, though, I'd like to personally invite you to come out and walk.  We'll meet at Highland Church of Christ at 10am to walk.  Following the walk will be a free carnival for all of the kids to enjoy! 

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

P.S.  I know I'm getting the word out late...but we'll be fundraising until May 8th!

New Easter Outfit

And the Answer Is....

G.  Which I think is the most likely of the whole bunch.

Here's a quick explanation of our weekend:

--Our car was in the HEB parking lot and wouldn't start, but thankfully it was an easy fix and the car was in Abilene and not one of Chris' schools out of town.
--Chris jammed his ring finger playing basketball.  At the time it didn't seem too bad, but once he looked at it and realized it was swelling and bruised, it was too late to take off his ring.  We waited a day, but it got bad enough we thought it should come off.  We were very glad the fire department did it for free!
--Our family got a stomach bug.  Jared started the festivities off on Friday, but I figured it was a food allergy thing.  Then Saturday evening I threw up.  At first I thought it was just pregnancy related.  But after 3 times I realized that probably our family had a virus.  (Apparently, I'm a slow learner.)  Then Chris and Noelle followed.  We're all on the mend now, and really hoping my parents don't get it since they were visiting for Easter.
--Finally, to top off the weekend, we had baseball sized hail.  We're thankful it was just hail, though, because there were several tornadoes in the area.

Quiz -- Easter Weekend Edition

All of the following things have happened since Friday, except for one.  Can you guess which one it is?

A)  We had to have our car towed.
B)  Jared threw up at Wal-Mart.
C)  Chris had his wedding ring cut off by a fireman.
D)  Chris and Sarah spent all night taking turns throwing up.
E)  Sarah spent countless hours sewing Easter outfits that didn't get worn.
F)  Our really yummy Easter breakfast & lunch plans got scrapped for toast, cereal, and sandwiches.
G)  Noelle cried and cried when she realized we weren't going to get to go to church this morning.
H)  We had baseball-sized hail at our house.
I)  Noelle cried and cried because of the hail.

Children's Aquarium

While we were with Mima and Gramps over Spring Break, we also got to check out the Children's Aquarium.  It was very cool!

Cozy Coupe Fun

Jared is Finally Walking

Jared has been walking for a week or two now.  He still probably crawls more than walks, but he's walking more every day.  He's pretty tipsy most of the time, but he's starting to gain confidence and walk from room to room.  Here are 2 short clips of him walking.

 

That's just ducky!

One of Noelle's favorite things to do when she visits Mima and Gramps is going to feed the ducks.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Last month we got to visit Sarah's parents.  Since they live very close to the DART train, we took a ride on it one morning so Noelle could experience a train ride.  She's been anticipating getting to go on it for at least a year while it was built.  Noelle had fun...for about 30 minutes.  Too bad we were on it for about an hour and a half!  (Jared was kept happy by stuffing him full of snacks.) 

 

After-Dinner Conversation

Noelle: "Daddy, I see some food in your teeth. You need to make sure to brush those so they don't get rotten and fall out."

Who Cried?

Between a pregnant wife who can be emotional and a 4-year-old daughter who can be emotional, there's been quite a bit of crying at our house recently. So, let's make it into a game. Sarah and/or Noelle has cried about each of the following in the past week. Leave your guesses as to who cried for each one in the comments, and we'll post the answer soon.

1. Who cried because there wasn't any more Jello?
2. Who cried because her bread got smashed?
3. Who cried because she accidentally swallowed her gum?

** The correct answers are now in the comments.**

Solution to the Government Shutdown??

Tonight as we did our family Bible study, we read the story of when Jesus told Peter to go fishing and said he would find a coin in the fish's mouth to pay the tax (Matthew 17:27).  We normally ask her something like, "What can you learn from that story?"  Tonight her answer was,  "If we run out of money, we should go fishing, and there will be money in the fish's mouth."