The Happenings of May and June

My three blessings the day after Mother's Day. 

Wow, I'm not sure how time gets away so easily. Maybe it has something to do with being 29 weeks pregnant, packing up our family to move for the 3rd time in a year, and finishing up our homeschooling.

On the preggo side of things Baby Girl is doing great. She is sitting nice and low, which can be quite uncomfortable but I'm glad she's in a good position! I've had to stop my 2-3 mile walks that I've been taking once or twice each day due to the humidity and my feet swelling too much when I walk. However, I did find a couple of replacement exercise programs that really work well. Just in case any of my pregnant friends wants to look  here are the links I found. One of the programs uses an exercise ball and weights and you can find it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWZqmMEAgco. The other one uses pilates and weights and it is found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qo_nCKpTcM. It seems the more babies I have the more I realize how important it is to keep fit and healthy. It makes for a smoother birth (because you have the strength you need), speedier recovery, easier time getting back to pre-pregnancy weight, and it's excellent for baby!

Now for the reason we are packing. As you know, we are now with an organization called RHMA doing church planting/strengthening. We recently accepted the pastorate in a small town church to help come along side them and strengthen the church within the community. It is located in Paw Paw, IL a town of 850 people, which is about 2 hours west of Chicago. It's a huge answer to a prayer we have prayed since we came back from Paris. God has been so good to us during this transition period and we are excited about how we will be able to settle down into a community once again and minister. But right now that means packing and more packing. Honestly, packing isn't really overwhelming for us anymore. In fact, the idea of moving within the States seems quite easy! And for those of you that know me, packing is really quite exilerating! There is something so exciting about organizing and then cleaning and then reorganizing that makes everything feel so refreshing! As for the kiddos, Matthew is excited that he won't have to leave any of his stuff behind this time and Claire is excited to have a home "where we will stay a long time." Micah doesn't really care either way. He just likes "helping" mommy.

Kindergarten ended at the end of May for Claire. She has done so very well and I'm super proud of how she's handled her school work even though traveling often interupts our schedule. At the end of the school year she begin saying she wanted to read her Bible. Then one day she said, "Mommy, I was talking to God last night and decided that I should start reading my Bible and praying every day." Well, needless to say we went to the store the next day and got her her very own Bible. She was so excited and she chose to read the book of Esther with me each morning. We've been having fun and although I thought Esther might be a little over her head as some points, it's amazing what she is picking up!
      We aren't sure still if we will be homeschooling her clear through elementary school or not, but we will take it year by year and see. Matthew has a November birthday, so even though he is only 15 months younger than Claire we will probably just be doing pre-k work with him this year. If he shows more interest and I think he is ready then I am just fine with him doing kindergarten, but I'd rather not push him. We shall see. He picks up a lot from just listening to his sister.

Well, that's about the jist of what is going on in the Chadbourn world. 

Here are some fun pictures from our month (or two).

Wacky Hair Night at Awana. We put glow sticks all over Claire's hair and Matthew 

had the "Alfalfa" look going. I love his expression.  

Micah decided to put Matthew's slippers on. He thought he was big stuff. 

Yes, he still gets a paci at bed-time. 

We travel so much it was just easier to keep it and cause less stress for the whole family. 

We'll wean him when we are settled and life gets into a "normal" groove. 

All of these pictures were taken at the Deanna Rose Children's Farm in Overland Park, KS. 

Micah wasn't so sure about the calf. 

Claire busy with homework! 

Jonathan and the two older kids went to see a Royals game. 

Claire's certificate and special treat for completing kindergarten. 

Each of the kiddos earned their first book awards in Awana this year and Claire also did all her review. We were so thankful for this one, consistent thing they were able to go to for the year. 

My parents took our kiddos for a few days and Jonathan and I spent a little "babymoon" together. It was so refreshing and I highly recommend this place The Inn at Crescent Lake. 

The owners are Christians and from she grew up in France! It seriously was an amazaing B&B!

God Bless! Next blog post will hopefully have pictures of our new town and home!

9 Busy Days Away From Home

Singing for the RHMA closing day.

They really were a very busy nine days. We went to Paw Paw, Il in order to candidate at a small church we will be possibly ministering in with our mission (RHMA) We were at this church for two Sundays. However, the week in between happened to be the RHMA missions conference week which was held just 2 hrs. away from Pap Paw in Morton, IL. Including travel time, we were all away from home for nine days. The kiddos were all troopers. Claire and Matthew especially did well. Micah had a hard time eating the whole trip (different food than he is used to), but he generally did well except coming down with a cold right at the end. Actually, he loved being in nursery during our conference times. He would walk right in like he owned the place each and every time. Haha! That gives you a little hint to his personality. Claire and Matthew were in with the other RHMA missionary kids and had a wonderful time with their own little sessions and outings. Besides Bible lessons and group times they also went to a bounce house one afternoon and bowling the other. I was told that Claire got the highest score of her bowling group and she was the youngest one! That's my goal achiever for you. The above picture is of them singing their songs they learned during the week. Claire was pretty confident, but Matthew just really didn't think it was very fun. He has the pouty face down really well, don't you think?

Besides being in our own beds and getting on our routine again, we are so very excited to be eating the way we normally eat. Now, I'm not at all ungrateful for the conference food. There were so many churches and volunteers that did a great job feeding all of us. However, it gets hard on our systems when we are used to mostly whole grains, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and little sugar in our house. All of us felt a little yucky by the end of the week. Last night when we got back, we had some baby carrots, a whole grain spaghetti dinner with steamed brocolli; then this morning our breakfast was a fresh fruit salad.  We are already feeling more normal. My husband said that our upset stomachs at the end of last week must mean that we need to put more fat, starch, white flour, and sweets into our diets. Haha! Nice try, Babe.


Here are a few random pictures of our week.

The day before we left, I took the kids to the park and then did lots of packing while they read and played together. They were so good the whole day! They love the swings at the park around the corner.

Our kiddos love swimming pools. Anytime we have to stay in a hotel, they are a must for us! Matthew and Micah do great with the floating helps and Claire is like a fish in the water with or without a floating help.

Here is a picture of our cuties watching a Little Einstein episode together. If your kids haven't watched Little Einsteins, I highly recommend it!

 The boys love it when Daddy plays cars.

The following photos were taken courtesy of Claire Chadbourn along with Matthew Chadbourn as prop manager. :)

Best Buddies

For some reason, our children love this tiny, blue lizard.

Favorite animals

I guess they like Ice Breakers.

Daddy's Study area

Mommy's Reading this month. The Five Love Languages of Children
And oops, Matthew's fingernails really need a trim.

Mommy's Shoes

So, did you enjoy her little photo exibition? :) She loves taking pictures!

Have a great week!

Easter Weekend

Our weekend started out with a trip to the Springfield, MO zoo. The kiddos had a blast. They were especially exctied to feed the goats and giraffes.

Here you see Micah in his most comfortable strolling position. :)

Here is baby girl at 20 weeks.

On Saturday night we decorated our Easter eggs.

Sunday brought lots of pictures and celebrating Christ's ressurection!

Sunday evening was an early birthday party for Micah's 2nd birthday. He celebrated his birthday with Grandma. They are April birthday buddies.