Join us on the new blog!

Alex and Charlie have arrived, so we have started a new blog! Come join us over at :

FlackFamilyofFive.blogspot.com

We'll keep you up to date on our sweet boys as well as big sister Lucy! :)

Singing the way John Wesley intended us to. . .

In the front of the Methodist Hymnal, you will find John Wesley's instructions for singing. They are as follows:

I. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.

II. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.

III. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a single degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.

IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, then when you sung the songs of Satan.

V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

VI. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing to slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

Lucy seems to have got number IV and VII down. . . . :)

Singing for VBS

Lucy singing, "I Depend On You" from VBS

Operation Overboard

Last week was VBS at Salem. Lucy went last year, but we left many nights because she was still to young to really enjoy it. This year was different though. She LOVED everything and had such a great time with her friends. Her favorite parts were getting to watch "Ocho the Octopus" puppet and singing and dancing. Here are some pictures from the VBS program at church on Sunday.

Dancing and singing

Daddy got to participate in VBS too as the Dive Chief, or D.C.

Megan, Lucy, and Brody

  
 

 All the kids

 

Lucy with her VBS certificate

Lucy, did you have a good time?? I think you can guess the answer! :)

Baby Shower at Salem UMC

This past Saturday, the ladies of Salem UMC held a baby shower to help us celebrate the upcoming arrival of Alex and Charlie. It was a fun filled evening with lots of great food and some wonderful gifts for which we are so appreciative! What a wonderful church family we are a part of!!

We know how to eat at Salem! :)

Showered with so many gifts for the boys!

Lucy would carry around the gifts that we opened and show everyone all the new things for her "two brothers" :)

Such a sweet cake 

Handmade blankets for the boys

Several ladies were sweet to remember the Big Sister as well! Lucy got a new bath towel from one lady - she wore it around her like a cape! :)

We cannot wait for the boys to get here and every day, it becomes more and more of a reality. The nursery is now almost complete - I'll put up pictures once it's ready. We had another ultrasound last Friday and everything is looking good. They are both growing at the same rate; they measure a little small for their gestational age, but that isn't something to be surprised with for twins. Believe me, they are quickly running out of room to grow! Even though there are days it seems like they will never get here, it's hard to believe that in eight weeks or less, we will finally get to see their sweet faces!

Hands On Children's Museum

Michael was gone at the end of June on a Mission trip with the youth from Salem UMC. Lucy, Grammy and I decided to have a girls day and went to play at the Hands On Children's Museum down in Hendersonville. After Lucy got comfortable with the idea that she could play with everything that she saw, there was no stopping her!


I didn't start taking pictures of everything we did until after lunch. Not for lack of trying though - Lucy wouldn't let me that morning! So there aren't any pictures from her serving ice cream, or playing with the baby dolls or shopping or gardening or building a race car. . . after all of that fun, we went to lunch and came back for the afternoon. Lucy was so entranced by the following activities, I don't think she really noticed my camera! :)

Painting. . . a fun filled mess that I enjoy outside of my home :)

The artist, hard at work

The final product . . . . she said each one of the colored lines was a different person in her family.

Playing with the rice . . .

They had a whole dress up section with a large stage to perform on. Lucy was Cinderella for a while, but switched to Tinker Bell later.

We finally had to leave so that we wouldn't completely miss Lucy's naptime. We had also promised her some ice cream before we went home. She cried and cried as we left - I think she would have stayed and played all day. She was still sniffling and upset until we actually put a cup of chocolate ice cream in her hand. Ice cream always solves everything, right? She also really liked the goat statue outside of Kilwin's . . . .

We had such a fun day. . . Lucy wants to take her Daddy next time and show him all the fun she had!

Lucy turns 3!

 Yes, I realize that this post is about a month late, but other things have had my attention lately! ;)

Lucy had a great 3rd birthday. We went to "play park" at Lake Louise and had a Princess themed party. Lucy had so much fun playing with all her friends, opening presents, and eating Cinderella cake. It was a gorgeous morning to be out at the park - we couldn't have asked for a better day! What a wonderful way to celebrate my sweet baby. (She likes to remind me though that she is a big girl, not a baby!) Hope you enjoy these pictures. . .

Poppa, helping Lucy blow out her candles

Telling Emily all about Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother

 

Opening presents!

 Playing with Maddie on the playground

Lucy loves to slide!

Swinging is fun!

The next day, showing off her birthday gifts. 

Thanks to Uncle Day Day for the Princess Dress up clothes! :)

Cinderella and her Prince

 Lucy has a love affair going on right now with all things Princess, especially Cinderella. She loves to go around saying that she is Cinderella and of course, her Daddy is her Prince. In fact, she often calls out, "Hey, Prince . . . ." whenever she wants to get her Daddy's attention. (Of course, she has also developed quite a Southern accent, so at times it comes out as, "Hay, Pree-unce!")  There's nothing sweeter than the love of Daddies and Daughters! :)

Happy Father's Day!

 Happy Father's Day to Michael! Lucy, Alex, and Charlie are three blessed little children!!

The sweetest apology

I have to share this story, just so that I won't forget it one day. . . .


Lucy was having a rough morning today - she didn't want to get dressed, she didn't want to go to school, she didn't want to do anything she was supposed to. (This is unusual for her - she is almost always excited to go to school!) We had put her in time out, we had left her screaming in her room . . . I even took her temperature because I thought she must be sick since she is acting so awful!

Finally, she seemed to calm herself enough to ask for help getting dressed. After she got dressed, she picked up a couple of toys and walked back down to our bedroom. We played for a minute while Michael finished getting ready and about that time, she turned, looked me in the eye and said, "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sorry that I wasn't listening."

I was speechless. We had talked about her not listening after her time out, but she was still in tantrum mode and so I had just walked away. And here she was, 20 or so minutes after her meltdown with an unprompted apology. My heart just melted.

There are so many times that I feel like a failure as a parent . . .I'm sure all parents have those feelings. But in that moment, I felt like, maybe, somewhere along the way, I've done something right. One of the life lessons that Michael and I feel is so important for our children to learn is that we should take responsibility for our actions. It's ok to make mistakes - we all do. But WHEN we do, we need to acknowledge it, accept the responsibility/consequences and move forward.

There are so many kids today (and adults!) who are always quick to blame someone else for something that happened. Nothing frustrates me more as a teacher when a child gets in trouble for talking, but then gets mad at me because they got in trouble. "Mrs. Flack, so and so was talking to me first! It's not my fault." (The worst is when their parents write me a note/call me to say this!) I try to always remind them that it was their choice to respond to that person. No one can open their mouth and make sound come out - that's something only they can do. Still, I find it becoming a rarity for a kid to look at me and say, "I'm sorry I was talking - I'll try to do better next time." I guess it's just human nature to want to place blame somewhere else.

I don't share this to toot my own horn, or say what an awesome parent I am. . . believe me, I have so many areas in which I need improvement. But today's unprompted apology shows me that maybe something is sinking in. Lucy is already such an amazing kid, with such a big heart. I forget sometimes that she will only be three this coming Monday. . . sometimes she seems so much more grown up. (Ok, not during the tantrum part. . . ) I am more and more blessed every day by this precious gift God has given me and I am so thankful for every moment I have to be her Mom.

Bubbles!!

 It's summertime!!! That means it's time for fun in the sun! One of Lucy's favorite past times is playing with bubbles. Not too long ago, she needed the non-spill kind of bubble container and she struggled to blow any bubbles. Now, she can blow bubbles without spilling any, as well as wave the bubble wands and pour bubbles into the bubble blower without spilling. So since she needs very little help these days to have any bubble fun, I got to take pictures. :)

Right now, Lucy also insists on wearing a dress every day. Don't ask me why, but that's what she chooses. I may be doing laundry tonight so we have a clean one to wear tomorrow. . . 

Lucy also is very interested in using Mommy's camera. After I take a picture, she wants to see it. She also wants to hold the camera and take her own. Here's one of hers. . . not too bad , right??

In other news, we had another ultrasound on Monday. With twins, from here on out, we'll have at least one ultrasound a month to check on their growth, make sure they have enough fluid, etc. Everything looks great - both of them weigh around 1lb 13 oz. and are growing on schedule. .  they measure a few days smaller than average, but nothing of any concern. I have been using my summer vacation to rest as much as possible so far. While we are only at 26 weeks, I feel like (and look like!) I am about 32-33 weeks. So it has been a blessing to be able to put my feet up and take it easy. It is a lot of work to grow two babies! School will be back in session for us in July and it will be hard to get back into the swing of things. . . even though it will only be for a little while. ;) 

Saturday Morning Chores

We were doing some housework this past Saturday, and of course, Lucy didn't want to be left out! So, I put the Swiffer in her hand and let her "clean" the office. She was so proud of herself for helping. :)

Another sweet clean up story happened while I was folding her laundry. I had washed her stuffed pig and when I pulled him out of the basket, she got so excited, grabbed him, hugged him, and said, "Thank you, Mommy, for washing my pig!" Then, after everything I pulled out of the laundry basket, she said, "Thank you, Mommy, for washing my _______ (Shirt, socks, etc.)." Folding laundry didn't feel like a chore that day at all! :)

All dressed up for church :)

An update on our lives

Sorry posts have been few and far between this year. It seems like by the time I get home from school, all I have energy left to do is take up space on the couch! So here's a little update on the Flack family.

Lucy has grown so much in the past little bit. I feel like I say that with every update, but I am so amazed at how quickly this little girl is growing up. Sometimes it's easy to forget that she will only be 3 next month. Her vocabulary is quite impressive, if I do say so myself. She knows how to express what she wants and is getting better at speaking her needs and wants rather than getting frustrated and upset. (Don't worry - we still have those times too!) And finally, I think it is safe to say that she is officially potty trained! We have gone all week without an accident. She loves her big girl panties (which of course, she decided to show everyone last week at church! Sigh. . . ) and only uses a pull up at bedtime. She loves to play pretend games - her favorite right now is to be a waitress and take everyone's orders. Then she goes into her kitchen and gets fun food to bring to everyone. She also loves taking care of her baby dolls and playing with them. Another favorite game of hers is hide and seek with her Daddy. Of course, she just wants to hide under the covers and have someone come in and uncover her. She laughs and screams and giggles - who knew such a simple act could be so hilarious? She is now beginning also to "read" books to herself. She has several that she has memorized or knows most of it and then flips through them and tells the story as she goes. She also adds voices as she reads, which is so cute!

The boys are growing as well. For those who haven't heard, we've decided on names. Baby A is Alexander Lee (Alex) and Baby B is Charles Ellis (Charlie). This week marks 22 weeks. Last week, I had a lot of pain and pressure - apparently they had moved and settled into a position that was quite uncomfortable for me. After talking with one of the doctors at my OB-GYN, he explained that at 21 weeks (last week) with twins feels like 28 weeks with a single pregnancy. So I imagine, things only get better from here! Ha ha - but as long as they are growing and doing well, we want them to stay in there as long as they can.

School ends at HES on June 1 and I am more than ready for a few weeks off. We've been trying to get as much done for the boys as we can now, so that when I reach the point where I am the size of a beached whale, things will be mostly ready for their arrival. (I also don't want to be caught off guard like we were with Lucy's arrival at 35 weeks! There will be enough excitement just having two new little ones!) We found another crib to go with Lucy's old one - it looks very similar to hers. It is also a discontinued style, so we were able to purchase it for only $143! ( Gotta brag about bargains when you can find them!) Our nursery theme is Peter Rabbit - I LOVE This bedding from Pottery barn kids!!!




I've dug through all of Lucy's old clothes and pulled out anything we can reuse again. We bought a changing table, since Lucy's was attached to her dresser. Now we just need to rearrange the boys room so everything's where I want it and we'll have it ready for them. I also want to find a chair for feeding the boys - it's difficult finding one though that is big enough to safely hold both of them that is affordable! But we still have some time. . . We also have our two carseats as well as having joined the minvan club. Gotta have room for three car seats plus all our stuff, right??

So that's our life - school is coming to an end, Michael and I will celebrate our 6 year anniversary next Sunday, Lucy will be 3 next month, and Alex and Charlie will be here before we know it!! :)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to Grammy, Gramma, Mama Mae, Mamaw, and Grandmommy!

We had a nice Mother's Day Sunday at church. The kids made a video to say Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms - when it was Lucy's turn, she mumbled and when they told her to talk loud, she looked right at the camera and said, "Happy Birthday, Mommy!" (Close - that's next weekend!!) They also had corsages for all the moms and then the kids sang a worship song. Lucy hasn't quite learned yet that all the other kids behind her are singing with her, not her backup singers. She stepped down on the step in front of everyone and sang and danced all around, stealing the show! :)

For Mother's Day, I told Michael all I wanted was to not have to cook and to have a nap in the afternoon. So we went out for a delicious brunch at Frankie Bones and then came home and everyone had a three hour nap! It was wonderful!! And of course, every year, Lucy and I have a picture taken together. . . .

Mother's Day 2010 

(She had her first ear infection that weekend!)

 (

Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day 2012

I guess my hands will be full in next year's picture!! God has truly blessed me. I am so thankful for each moment with my precious girl and can't wait for my boys to get here!

Easter Bunny visits through the years

How much she changes from year to year!!! She was so excited to find her chocolate bunny in her Easter basket. She also got a stuffed Larry the Cucumber along with some Veggie movies. . . I imagine Larry will be going with us to church today. :)

Painting Easter Eggs

We are getting ready for the Easter Bunny at our house, so it was time to paint eggs! Lucy was very excited and loved getting to watch the color tablets dissolve!

Setting everything up

She enjoyed moving the eggs around in the bowl until they reached the color she wanted.




I tried to take a picture of her with the Easter Eggs after we finished, but this is the best one I got. . .she was in a silly mood. . .
And if you don't believe me, here are the outtakes: