FullerTown

Since I posted last, we have done a lot of things. We went on a little getaway. It had to be the funnest little getaway we have ever been on. We promised we would go back next year. We went to the beach for our family vacation. We even were able to meet up with a member of our family we don't see often while there. He let the little Fullers introduce him to the idea of being buried in the sand. We have done a little re-modeling project upstairs which required us to do this for about four nights. The three oldest little Fullers started school. Wow! As you can see, Luke Duke started third grade. Miss Anna Brooke started first grade. And, the baby girl Sarah Belle started Kindergarten. Everyone is having a good year so far. Today is the 22 nd day of school and we are getting back in our groove nicely. Finally, we celebrated a certain cutie's FOURTH birthday. He has never been happier to have a birthday party with his friends. Paul started Pre -K the day after his birthday. He is ...

Well. I don't know where to start. (I write as I make waffles for the little Fullers.) Except to say that we have been BUSY. BUSY. BUSY. Did I say we have been busy? Starting with the last week of school we have been GOING non-stop. In one span of eight days we drove 2000 miles! I am tired. We are finally all back home and happy to be here. Except that it is HOT. Like- 104 degrees HOT. [Back to the subject of {BUSY}]. We still have one more trip to make this summer and we are looking forward to it! Gotta go! The waffles are ready!

We have been re-visiting some basic housekeeping with the little Fullers lately. Shut the door after you come in or go out. Put your trash (aka p opsicle papers) in the garbage can, not on the floor or in the yard. Flush the toilet after you use it. (So sorry--just keeping it real here) Put your dirty clothes in the well-marked clothes hampers. Keep the water INSIDE the shower and/or tub. You get the picture. So, today, we are preparing for our second cook-out of the weekend. Patrick walks by the back doors and sees the broom on the patio. He asked, "Who put the broom on the patio and didn't bring it in?" Luke never missed a beat and said, "Daddy, It's OK to be different!" Needless to say, everyone burst into laughter. Including Daddy!

It's a wonder to me that anyone still reads this little blog! So much has happened since February, the last time I posted. There have been school award ceremonies. There was so much more--however, today is Opening Day of baseball and tee-ball. We are excited in FullerTown!! Come back for more pictures later!

Once again, our girls have enjoyed Upward Cheerleading! They learn the cutest cheers and make some new friends along the way. During halftime, they go out on the court and so a few cheers. Then they go to the other court and do some cheers. Sometimes, they turn around toward the parents and cheer. We love it when they do this! After the games, the girls earn a star for their efforts that day. Different colors mean different things. This game, Anna Brooke earned the blue Leadership star. And, Sarah Belle earned the white Christlike star. She was not feeling good, but cheered her best anyway. We are so thankful for this ministry. The little Fullers love it!

Last weekend, we made Valentine cookies. I spent most of Friday in the kitchen rolling out cookie dough. We made all sizes of heart cookies. Then, on Friday evening after dinner, we decorated them. To say that we had fun making a mess would be an understatement. We made icing in several colors and put some in decorating bags and thinner icing in squirt bottles. Paul was so cute making his cookies. He put some icing on top in no particular design. He had a very fun time. Sarah Belle tried her best to make beautiful cookies. She did really good making her cookies look so sweet, just like she is. Anna Brooke made her cookies extra fancy. She embellished every one with sprinkles or some fancy decorating skills. Luke made his all abour sports. Can you spot the basketball, football and basketball net?? he also made a tower of cookies. Then, I gave it my best shot at decorating. I tried several different tecniques and got pretty good at marbling. We had so much fun doing this. The l...

If you know anything about LifeWay VBS, you know that the music is always phenomenal. For 14 years now, a man named Jeff Slaughter has been contracting with LifeWay to write all of the music for VBS. When we were at the VBS Preview a few weeks ago, we were going down to the auditorium to see the VBS musical. The little Fullers were running down the ice-covered hill singing "Yes to VBS" as loud as they could. I noticed a man up ahead of us also walking to the auditorium. I yelled at the little Fullers, "Red Light!" The man turned around toward me and laughed at my signal for them to stop. I recognized his voice and turned to Patrick, "That is Jeff Slaughter!" We met at the bottom of the hill and talked for a quick minute. He expressed how proud he was to hear these little voices singing a song he wrote about Jesus. We reciprocated with praise for him using his gifts to write songs that children love to sing about Jesus. We met him the next day to have our p...

On Friday afternoon, we traveled to Charlotte, NC for the Spirit of Hope Cheerleading Competition. The girls are always excited about doing the routine. Except that it is 6:45 in the AM when we have to be ready! This is the first stunt that the team does. Then they divide and do two of these. Anna Brooke is on the bottom and Sarah Belle helps C stand up! Then, this is the dance portion of the routine. This is the very last stunt. Sarah Belle stands in the hands of Anna Brooke and K. She then waves at the judges. This is Day 2 of the competition. The girls are ready to go to the warm up room! The whole team on the stage waiting for the Awards Ceremony to begin. The girls were so happy to win 4th place. This was huge considering this was such a large competition. We are so proud of Anna Brooke and Sarah Belle!!!

We are so excited about VBS this year! A few weekends ago we attended a Preview event at Ridgecrest. We learned all about how to decorate, teach the lessons and the motions to the songs. While we were there it was snowing and the little Fullers were very excited! Of course, the Mayor and Town Manager of FullerTown are pretty excited too!

We arrived at Hideaway Farms about midnight the evening of December 26th. The next night, Monday, December 27, we opened gifts. Aunt Ida is the 'Santa Claus' that passes out the gifts. All the little Fullers are Ready! Luke was so excited to get his first BB gun! He had no idea he was getting this but was thrilled. (Yes, we approved before it was purchased.) Anna Brooke was so cute opening her gifts. She wants to go to every adult and show them what she received. Paul sat in his Daddy's lap the whole time. He fits perfectly and is very comfortable there. Sarah Belle gets so very excited about every gift! Look! Pajamas! Christmas at Hideaway Farms is always a blast. The children love being where they can roam, run and play without an adult telling them to stay away from the street. And, we all love being where it gets totally dark at night.

This is what our house looked like around noon on Christmas Day... Can you see the snowflakes falling?? And, this is what our house looked like 9 hours later... This is what some excited little Fullers look like.

On Christmas afternoon it started snowing here in FullerTown. We headed to Moulton (Patrick's parents house) anyway. When we got there we opened our gifts and grazed from all the yummy snacks Nana had prepared. Then, we realized we had better get back to Greensboro before the snow was too bad. We were only there for three hours! I am glad we came back earlier because the roads were pretty rough the last 20 miles.

Luke was so happy to get his Duke blue music player that he wanted. He also received an air hockey table and some other things. Anna Brooke always loves digging into her stocking. Sarah Belle was not expecting a Barbie scooter, but she loved it! Paul loved his train table and train bedding. He has been playing with it every day! We always have a special Christmas breakfast of egg, cheese and bacon casserole, muffins, orange juice and grits.