The Power of a Dollar

Today, the boys and I had to go out to pick up Aaron's new eyeglasses at the mall. We did that and then went on to canvassing the mall just to have some time out of the house. We ended up hitting the Dollar Store which honestly I haven't gone to in a really long time. I was cruising around just looking and found these really cool little sunglasses for Nathan. Christian exclaims to Nathan, "Don't let her put those silly things on you!" Well, I purchased them for a dollar and when we got home I decided to try them out. As soon as I put them on he started smiling and was so excited. These will last me all summer especially the many days at the swimming pool here on post and I will be protecting his eyes. So even though the economy may be in a slump at the moment, and even though they may only be "silly" sunglasses, that dollar will go a long way for me.

Piano Recital

Well, this past Saturday, the boys had their 2nd piano recital. This is the second year they have taken lessons with some time off in between to find a new piano teacher who is Mrs. Jan Z. from our church. She is a wonderful teacher and very patient with the boys. Christian actually ended up going first because the person before him was unexpectedly late. I thought that would make him more nervous but he handled it very well. Mrs. Jan was very pleased with their performances as they made no mistakes and played from memory. Joe and I were happy and proud of both of the boys and the good job they did. Hopefully, over this next year they will continue to improve. We hope you all enjoy hearing and seeing them play!!

Nathan's Dedication

This past Sunday we had Nathan's Baby Dedication. We as a family brought Nathan forward with the decision to dedicate to teaching and training him in the admonition of the Lord along with the help of our pastors and church family. Pastor prayed for us and Ms. Sue presented us with his first little Bible and a certificate of dedication. We pray that Nathan will grow up knowing God's word in his heart and one day come to a working knowledge of Jesus Christ and to be saved. We continually thank the Lord for blessing us with Nathan and the joy he has brought to our family.

What's Been Happening....

Well, this month has been pretty busy for us. When Joe arrived home from his deployment we decided to go down to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. It's our favorite place to go as a family. Anyways, as you can see from the pictures, it was Nathan's first time in the big wave pool and he seem to enjoy the warm 84 degree water. He did really well for the two times that he was in the water. They also had opened the new Wave Boarding area and Joe and the boys really liked that, especially Aaron. It was nice to all be together again and enjoying each others company. On Good Friday we decided to go down to the Air & Space Museum in downtown DC for the day. It's always fun trying to find parking which took us about an hour and half but we finally made it to the museum. It was also a very pretty day out. We enjoyed the space section of the museum, had lunch, and then went walking down through the mall. We went over to the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden and looked at the interesting pieces of Art. The boys and I have been working hard at school and our goal is to be finished by the end of May before we have our homeschool graduation on May 31st. It just means a few extra lessons here and there. Nathan turned 3 months old this week and he is smiling all of the time. He is very long. He does have his moments just like any other baby but he really enjoys having his big brothers around to entertain him and hold him. The boys love to make him laugh as much as he can but they do enjoy it. Joe has been busy back at work and I have been keeping everything on track with the boys. They are both involved in Karate as well as piano and continue to do well with their AWANAs at church on Wednesday evening. Well, I will try to do a better job at getting the blog updated, so until next time, we love you all!

Update...

Well, things at the Santimaw household are pretty much back to normal. Joe took two weeks off from work and last week we enjoyed a few days at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. It is our favorite place to go as a family. Joe will be headed back to work next Monday and then life will really be back to normal. We all have enjoyed having him home and it has been a blessing for me to have help with all of the boys. He loves spending time with Nathan, cuddling him and talking to him. It's fun to watch him with him. I am posting the pictures from the airport the night he finally got to hold Nathan for the first time and some of us too. Thanks for your prayers they have been wonderful!! Nathan had is 2 month well baby appt. today and weighed 10 1/4 lbs and was 25.3 inches. I can't believe how long he is especially for a 2 month old. Enjoy the pics!

Home Safe and Sound

Well, after four days of waiting Joe finally made it home last night to BWI. He arrived around 8:45 p.m. and the boys and I were so excited. He had to fly to Ft. Benning this morning to turn in his equipment and go through a class so he should be home for good by Wednesday or Thursday. We did get to spend the night with him in Baltimore and it was a great reunion. Thank you all for your prayers and I will post some pics later as I am feeling a little tired and Nathan is out of sorts at the moment too. We thank the Lord for His wonderful love and mercy through this time we have been separated. God is so good to us!! We love you all!

Change of Plans AGAIN!

Well, Joe emailed this morning to say that they are sending in a new plane and isn't sure when they will be leaving so he doesn't know when he will be here. Please continue to keep him in your prayers and us too. It's so difficult to not know when your husband/daddy is coming home and not to get too excited knowing you may be disappointed. Anyways, thanks for your prayers and we love you all!