Launched!

I have an exciting new venture to share with y'all, a business called 418 Stitches that was first laid on my heart in March and I am excited to launch it today!

The average age of sex trafficking victims is 11-14. I was awkward and gangly, taking tennis lessons and having slumber parties with my friends at that age. What about you?

The issues of human trafficking, forced labor, and child sex trade have been heavy on my heart the last few years, but all of our family's giving funds were allocated out.

The purpose of 418 Stitches is to generate a profit to give to various ministries working to "recover, empower, and reintegrate" those women and children caught up in "violence, abuse, and trafficking" (Hagar International: About Us).

Thank you for checking out 418 Stitches, and please pass on the site to others!

T- one hour!

Passports? Check.

Library travel books? Check.

Bag packed? Check.

Carry-on excluding any form of diapers, sippy cups, books, movie, teething objects, or year's worth of snacks in the event of a flight delay? Check.

First Grandma to arrive in approximately one hour to take over the care of our precious children for the next five days so I can tag along with Jake for a conference in Montreal? Check.

Husband of the year for surprising me just a few weeks ago with the plan for me to join him on his trip, after having already coordinated with grandparents for the girls' care this week? Check.

First time Jake and I have gotten away alone for over 24 hours since the twins were born? Check.

Do I care that it's supposed to be cold and rainy the entire time? No.

THANK YOU, MOMS! Y'all say a prayer for these wonderful ladies this week and also for my little ladies to be angels for them!

Taking a Moment

We've had a wonderful week of swimming lessons, Bible study, playdates and trips to the park. I am unbelievably humbled and grateful that our personal week has been so ordinary.

However, an overwhelming number of people's lives have been indescribably impacted by the events of this week.

I'm taking a moment of blog silence for this week to remember to pray for all of those people and their heartbreaking stories, as well as to be thankful for the blessings of God that can be seen in the midst of the chaos.

Easter

Morning began with discovering Abby Jane had smeared A& D diaper ointment in her freshly-washed-for-Easter-Sunday hair after being put to bed Saturday night. (?????) So she had a quick shampoo.

Then it was onto making Resurrection Buns (note wet hair). Fabulous hands-on story and oh dear heavens, delish (better be- look at the ingredients!)

Empty bun= empty tomb. Make these next year. They're great.My Easter girls and their baskets!After church, we went up to Jake's parents' to join them and Jake's sister's family for Easter dinner and the kids' naps.Bop Bop and Blythey.Then it was egg hunt time!!Twins' first hunt...

Joy stopping to give a kiss. This is her pre-kiss face.

Joy did figure out the hunting, but Blythe REALLY got the hang of it. After she collected as much/more than the big kids, she started also gathering sticks, pine straw and pine cones along with her eggs.

It eventually got too heavy for her to lug around, so she handed her full basket to me.

Two year old Luke is so sweet hearted- but look at that cold shoulder Joy is giving him! We'll need to show her this picture to remember such good form in turning away boys in about 15 years.

Yes, the big kids hunted too, but they were so fast that it was hard to get too many shots. This is about their pace...

Cade and Luke are both very uniquely athletically gifted. Luke pounded away his first pitches (instead of using a tee) on Sunday afternoon, following in his grand-slam hitting 4 yr old brother's footsteps.

Jake and Cade "getting" Joy...
Our day ended with Bop Bop blowing bubbles for all the pajama-ed kids to play in while moms and dads finished packing the cars.
Hope your Easter was sweet!

Park and Picnic

We met the Sheerin family at a centrally located park last weekend to play and have lunch. Going to the park is fun when it's just moms and kids, but it's actually relaxing when the dads are there. We're super excited that they are closing on a home that will put them not too far from us! Carlton (3 weeks younger than the twins) and his dad...

Crazy Jane...Blythe and Joy: "Us too, us too!"This is a fantastic story. While we were finishing lunch, Abby Jane tackles Blythe on the walking path (pictured behind her). Blythe is fine, but we tell Abby Jane to get off her. Janie pushes up to her knees by putting one hand on the side of Blythey's head, further smashing Blythe's face into the ground.

Blythe thought it was hilarious. Do you see the clods of dirt on the side of her face?
A better shot here. We really want to make sure our girls aren't too girly, and I think they're getting the idea so far.

Keeping sweet boys around sure helps out!

Grace, Mercy, and Love Day

When I was thinking about the meaning of Good Friday last week, that's what popped into my head. I like it.

On our Good Friday, we watched our friend Grant while his sweet mama had an appointment. He is one week older than the twins, so voila: this is what my table would look like at lunch if I had triplets!

This is my disclaimer that if I am lucky enough to get to watch your son for a while, I cannot guarantee that while in my household of girls, he will not find a high heel as suitable toy (granted he used it as a hammer on the dishwasher.) How cute is this kid?

During naptime, I iced these: sometimes I believe the making of these cookies are mostly for my obsession because I could do some serious damage to this spread all on my own.

Then the true highlight of the day: Jake and I joined sweet friends to go to Good Friday Atlanta. To say we were blessed is an understatement. It was an amazing night of worship with 12,000 other people, of experiencing the Spirit of God moving, of just loving on our Lord, and of being freshly amazed and humbled by Who He is and what He did for us. I prayed several weeks ago that the Lord would make Easter fresh and new to me this year, and it has been so sweet to see Him answer that prayer!

Side note: For those who wanted a "Minnow" update, we were back to this face last Thursday:

possibly partially because her old teacher Miss Kayla was filling in. But today was another successful class with Mr. Doug, so it looks like we have turned the corner! Both lessons started with some loud misgivings, but we were able to hammer out a deal that got her in the pool both days. Today I offered getting to wear some special ladybug clips with her pigtails during her lesson. She accepted, and I'll take the deal. No shame here!

Minnow, Take Three

Jake and Janie had a chat on Monday night about what would be expected at swim lessons and on Tuesday morning, she was super excited... until we walked in... then the waterworks. Jake then earned Daddy of the Year and handled the situation, culminating in her quietly going through the lesson and him sticking to his promise to sit right by her... in his dress pants no less!

But the kid went through the lesson like a champ. Here she is kicking along without her teacher even helping her!
Ring around the rosy, bubble blowing style.
This Daddy knows how to take care of his girl!