Adventures of Hank, Jo Jo & Boo

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-12-06T06:41:00.002-06:00

We started Thanksgiving off this year with what I hope becomes a tradition for our family...we ran in the turkey trot 5K! I've always wanted to do it, but since I usually host Thanksgiving dinner at our house it just didn't seem feasible. This year I decided that we would just make it work. It was SO fun!

Jonah and Bridget ran in the kid's run. Six and under ran one lap around the building, seven and up ran two laps. Here is Jonah as he starts off his run (he's in the white shirt)...he was just SURE he was going to win. He finished strong, at the front of the second group of kids to come in.

And here is Bridget finishing up her race. She was so excited about the race, talking about it for a week ahead of time; but when it came time to line up at the start, Bridget wasn't so sure. She said she wasn't going to run, but Sam talked her back into it. She agreed as long as he would run with her. As soon as they started though, she didn't really notice whether Sam was there or not...she just RAN!

So proud of Jonah and Bridget...what great runners!

After the kid's race was the 5k (3.1 miles). Henry decided a while back that he wanted to run in a 5k with me, and this was this first one that we could work out. He has been training by running with me a few times a week, a mile or two at a time. Henry asked Sam and I to run with him during the race, so we all agreed to stay together. He was fairly nervous as we waited to start, but he found his groove once we got going.

I wish I had a picture of his face after we started and the people started to thin out a bit (it's always REALLY crowded right at the starting line)...Henry had the biggest smile on his face. He was loving it! After about the first mile, Henry looked over at me and said, "I really need to run faster, I've just got to go!" So we picked up the pace. I got stuck as the runners all funneled through a bridge and it took me at least a half mile to catch back up to Sam and Henry!

I finally caught up with them right at the 3 mile mark, just as Henry spotted the finish line and took off at a sprint. I couldn't keep up with him! Henry finished his race at 28:32 which was way ahead of the goal of 30 minutes that I had set for him. (He was so proud to find out later that he even beat his Sunday school teacher!)

Here are the three of us right after the race...

It was so fun! I hope that we will be able to run many more 5k races together as a family! :)

Thanksgiving was lovely, by the way. We hosted it here at our house, and we had Sam's folks and his brother Dave and family. The day was relaxing, yummy, and full of good conversation.

The day after Thanksgiving, Mary Beth and I headed out for a little shopping (we slept in and didn't go out for any of the crazy early sales, but we still found good deals) and Sam and his dad worked on splitting wood. Later in the day, we decorated the house for Christmas. I'm always a little sad to put away the fall decorations (I love the colors of fall!) but it's so nice to have the house decked out for Christmas.

And now we have entered advent and we are preparing our hearts for Christmas...what a wonderful season!

Florida 2011

2011-11-30T07:10:00.001-06:00

We had another fun vacation to Florida this past fall! We planned a fun stop along the way this time...in Mobile, Alabama. We always drive by a huge battleship as we zoom on by and we decided this year that we'd better check it out.

It was so great! When we first got there we let the kids out of the car to run around. There is a wonderful park area, with a pier, a rocky shoreline, and lots of tanks, helicopters, and airplanes that you can look at up close.

We would have enjoyed the stop if that had been all that we got to see, but there was SO much more!We bought tickets to board the USS Alabama and headed out. None of us had ever been on a battleship before. It was WAY bigger than we could have imagined. It's amazing that it can float! We followed the self-guided tours around and saw most of the boat...we actually got lost more than once.

It was a real treat and an eye-opener for all of us. We so appreciate the US armed forces and all who serve our country.

After touring the battleship we walked over to another part of the park where they have a submarine, the USS Drum. The kids really enjoyed walking through that...I think for two reasons it was their favorite part. (1) It's so compact and they make use of every inch of space, and (2) We met the man who is in charge of restoring the sub, a retired vet who had lots of fascinating things to share with us. Sam was anxious to get back on the road by this point, but we just couldn't tear ourselves away from this kind man and his vast knowledge. SO FUN!
After the battleship park, we headed on down the road...at that point we are pretty close to our destination, so the last part of the journey went pretty quickly. We finally made it to the house we rent (or as the kids call it, "our Florida house"), dropped off our things and the kids and I, along with Kelly, Jordan and Matthew, grabbed some buckets and headed down to the beach.

We slipped our toes into the warm water, dug in the sand a little, got wetter than we planned on, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. What a perfect start to a vacation!

We did many of the 'usual' things that we do in Florida, since this is an annual trip for us. This year we decided to take the kids to see Dolphin Tale, as it had recently opened in the theaters. What a perfect movie to see at the beach, huh? :)

We spent some fun times shopping and even found matching sunglasses for all of the adults...

We spent many mornings and/or afternoons at this fun park that is just across the street from our house...and we even got a unique group picture!

Family picture time! We tried to recapture the colors from that first incredible sunset but couldn't quite get them.

The beauty of this vacation is that we all get time together, but as the kids get busy playing, Sam and I get time to talk and reconnect too. Such a refreshing time!

Of course there was lots of swimming...once they finally fixed the pool. The first few days we were there it was WAY too cold to swim, and the last day we were there it was actually too hot! There were a few days in the middle there that were absolutely perfect.

Vacations with family are the best!!!

I had high hopes for this next picture...it didn't turn out so great, but I just love all these little faces! :)

Last year Henry studied the Mississippi and was fascinated by it. He loved the idea of this HUGE river that flows so very far and was so very useful to the early American settlers. When I reminded him that we drive over the Mississippi every year on the way to Florida, he could not wait! Since we didn't cross it at a good time on the way there, we decided we would stop on the way back.

As we crossed over the river (on a bridge, high, high, high above the river) Sam pointed it out to Henry and told him to wave. Henry was devastated. He had thought we would stop and take pictures, and Sam had thought we would just slow down and look...different plans. So we drove on a few miles, and Sam looked for a place to turn around so we could go back across the river where the visitor center is and get out of the car. We enjoyed looking out over the river and walking around. For some reason there was an old cannon displayed on a hill overlooking the river. Sam thought it would be a good place for us to break out our inaugural 'family planking' and join the strange phenomenon. ;)

We are so grateful that we are able to take a yearly vacation. We love Florida: the weather, the beaches, the friendly folks and abundant shopping. But what we love most is a chance to spend time with family and enjoy time away together! Thank you Lord for the blessing of family vacations with extended family! :)

Ranger Plane!

2011-11-29T14:43:00.002-06:00

My Grandma recently stayed a while in Texas with one of my Uncles. This was a great opportunity for me, since I haven't seen my Grandma in years (right after Jonah was born, so 6). She lives in Washington. I haven't seen my uncle in more years than I can count. I was quite young the last time I saw him.

Even though we live about 30 minutes from my Uncle, we hadn't found a chance to get together since we've lived in Texas. I think it was a mixture of he is really busy, and we don't really 'know' each other any more, and he works in Dallas. So I was thrilled at the chance to get to see him and my Grandma at the same time!

My Uncle Bill runs an airplane inspection company at the airport, so we met them there at his hangar. It was pretty cool to go through the security entrance, and drive out onto the tarmac to park near his hangar.

Once inside, my Uncle let the kids look at all of the airplanes currently in the hangar. The one below is his personal plane that he is restoring and fixing up. My mom with her brother Bill...

My Grandma doesn't really like having her picture taken, but I was able to sneak in a quick shot of her with my mom:

Sam and I thought the best part was checking out the Texas Rangers (think baseball!) team plane. It is really nice inside...they travel well, by my standards. :)

The Ranger plane was probably a highlight for the kids too...they thought the seating was so cool. There are chairs that face each other with a table in between, and they also really loved the phones. ;) There was a helicopter parked at the hangar that evening too, and the kids all really liked seeing that.

So grateful for a chance to see my Grandma and Uncle Bill and Aunt Chris! Family is so important to me, and I was amazed to see some distinctive character traits that so obviously run in my mom's family. My brother is so like my Uncle Bill in his mannerisms and speech that you'd think they grew up together. My Grandma is planning a trip back down here in the Spring, and I am looking forward to seeing her again soon! :)

Bridget soccer 2011

2011-11-19T13:36:00.004-06:00

Bridget has been eagerly anticipating playing soccer for as long as I can remember. The year she was born is the first year that Henry played, so she has been watching from the sidelines ever since she was a baby.

This year she was finally old enough to play on a team! Bridget was the youngest player on her team, as her birthday was the cut-off for being eligible to play. She was placed on the Tornadoes, coached by Mandy and Andy.

Bridget was so excited to go to her first practice! She ran right over and joined the group...and she hardly looked back.

Actually she made eye-contact with me once, raised her hand in a little half wave, then quickly turned back to her coaches. She takes her soccer seriously. Every time they called out 'water break' Bridget would run over to me, grab her water bottle for a quick drink, then run back to her coaches. Once or twice they told her to go back and sit down a minute to rest. ;)

This is Bridget right after her very first game. She looked so big out there on the field! And after the game, she was quite excited to head over to the snack-shack and get her free juice and animal crackers (which might or might not have been the highlight of the game for her).

Here's Bridget with her two biggest fans! It was weird for Henry to be watching instead of playing this year...this is his first season 'off' since beginning soccer four years ago.

My goofy girl. One of my favorite parts of this season was watching little parts of Bridget's personality develop. She is not usually very aware of the days of the week, but during soccer season, she was constantly counting down to the next practice or game. Friday nights she would lay out her gear and uniform before going to bed, without anyone reminding her to do it.
The referees are very good with the kids and always make sure they know which goal they are heading toward. Bridget was good at knowing which one was her goal; and even though she didn't make contact with the ball much, she was always right in the middle of the action.
Go Bridget!!!
Team picture of the Tornadoes, fall 2011

Back row: Coach Andy, Coach Mandy
Middle row: Mitchell, Maddie, Ryken, Bridget
Front row: Aden, Chesni, Johnathan
Not pictured: Thomas, Diego

I didn't get a good picture of Bridget with her good friend Mitchell! That was another of the best parts of the season...watching Bridget develop a friendship entirely on her own. We showed up for one game an hour early (oops! Should have checked the schedule, Mom.) and so did Mitchell and his family. The two kids played together at the park until game time and they were best buddies on and off the field for the rest of the season. So fun!

I'm so thankful for a daughter who loves sports and is healthy and active, and I'm also thankful for a wonderful community that provides great opportunities like this one!

Stationery card

2011-11-18T12:38:00.001-06:00

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Football 2011

2011-11-08T12:33:00.004-06:00

Henry surprised us all this past spring when he announced that he would be playing tackle football in the fall.

Since he was four, Henry has been playing soccer in the spring and fall. He is good at soccer and loves it, so I wasn't really sure what he would say when I told him he would have to skip soccer if he decided to play football. He hesitated only a moment, asked a few questions (along the lines of, "Can I still play on the same team in the spring if I skip the fall?") and made his decision.

I tried to talk him into trying out flag football, to no avail. He wanted to play tackle or nothing.

So we signed him up!

The first two weeks were evaluations/try-outs. The coaches had them run (and run, and run!), catch balls, exercise, do drills, etc...and they separated out the boys into two teams. The White team was mostly boys who have played in the past, and the older kids (4th graders). The Blue team was mostly the younger boys (3rd graders) and those who were new to the game.

Luckily, Henry was picked for Blue, which is coached by a friend of ours. Coach Michael works with Sam at Sky Ranch, goes to church with us, and his son Luke is a friend of Henry's. Sam told Michael he would be willing to help out if needed, and Michael made him an assistant coach.

The first few practices were helmet-only, to get the boys used to the feeling of running with the different balance and weight that it adds. After that they wore full pads and started learning to tackle. Those first few tackle practices were pretty intense and emotional (for Henry and his mom!). Henry and the other boys learned how to tackle properly to avoid injuries. Once they figured it out they gained quite a bit of confidence and lost some of their fear.

After that it was time to start learning positions, plays and strategy. Henry loved learning the plays and the code words they use to tell each other where they should be. He was put in the position of wide receiver...in the picture below, Henry is #82 (blue jersey, player farthest to the right).

Henry loved his first season of football! He was not the smallest player on the team, but he was close...most of the other boys were fourth graders. That left Henry on the sidelines quite a bit, but he definitely got lots of playing time. Henry was enthusiastic and one of the best encouragers on his team. We were so proud to see him paying attention, helping others up, telling his friends what a good job they had done, and generally promoting team unity.

Sam was a favorite among the parents. There was another assistant coach who was a bit harsh sometimes, and the other parents really appreciated that Sam never once yelled at the kids. Sam is a gentle, encouraging, inclusive coach. So fun to watch! Henry was so proud to have his dad out on the field with him. :)

The Blue team lost all their games...they actually scored 7 points in the second to last game, and they were so excited to have points on the board! At the end of the season when the other teams went into play-offs, we were done. So we invited the whole team (along with their parents and siblings) over to our house for an end-of-season football party. We cooked hot dogs, had chips, potato salad, soda and more dessert than we knew what to do with. The boys had so much fun! The parents mostly sat around visiting, and the boys played catch, climbed around in the tree forts and ran around the yard.

From left: Grayson, Nick, Caleb, Dylan, Coach Sam, Luke, Ethan, Henry, Alex, Blake, Coach Michael, Jordan, Seth, Christian, Braxton, Brody.

It was such a great season! I'm grateful to the Lord for keeping all the boys safe, helping them find joy despite the scoreboard, new friendships, and healthy bodies. Way to go, Henry! We are so proud of you for trying something new and learning that you love football! :)

Mulititudes on Mondays

2011-11-07T14:34:00.002-06:00

Florida 2011
Sam and Lisa
Henry, Jonah and Bridget on the beach at sunset. :)

November is upon us and I just LOVE this season. Fall weather is here, Thanksgiving is coming, fall sports are winding down, lots of good things baking in the kitchen...it just the best. And along with all of that is my return to blogging...and my list of one thousand gifts, which I've neglected for far too long. So here goes, another batch for the never-ending list:

191. leaves falling from the trees
192. crunchy footsteps across the backyard
193. stacking firewood in preparation for winter
194. the first fire of the season
195. sitting in front of that fire with Sam, just enjoying an evening to talk
196. our new dog, Fred, who is such a joy
197. the ease of communicating through texting (saving me phone calls while I'm trying to teach my children)
198. homeschool routines falling into place
199. easy peel clementines-yum!
200. my three cameras (one of them is always handy no matter where I am)
201. Henry's first deer hunt
202. bonding between Sam and his son
203. Henry's first THREE deer
204. a freezer full of deer meat
205. a chicken who lays a bluish/green egg for me every day
206. Reader's Digest. There is always something interesting in there!
207. my strong, healthy husband who cut down all of our dead trees last week
208. the two trees that fell across the ditch, leaving two fun bridges for the kids to play on
209. a surprise coffee visit from a friend and time to catch up and visit
210. jell-o!
211. uplifting, energizing music playing in my kitchen
212. candy corn (shaped) cookies
213. extra boxes of kleenex for the sniffly season that seems to have descended on our house

214. home school field trip group
215. two scheduled field trips (dairy museum and the Nutcracker!)
216. the prospect of an upcoming ladies Bible study here in my home
217. GRACE
218. Christmas music (I'm not listening to it yet, but my husband is singing it already--and I love hearing him sing!)
219. Cub Scouts and the fun kids that I get to teach
220. hand drawn portraits of me, taped to the screen so that I see them every time I sit at the computer

I'll stop for now, but I have LOTS more...my heart is overflowing with gratitude. I'm so thankful for so many, many things. Will you join me and start (or continue) to count the blessings in your life and watch how an attitude of thankfulness changes your life? :)

Bridget's 4th Birthday!

2011-11-06T14:47:00.002-06:00

Bridget is a girl with a plan. About six months before her birthday, she started telling me that she wanted a castle birthday. What fun, I thought! We could invite a bunch of little girls over in their princess dresses and have a really cute party. Visions of "Tangled"-themed games and decorations flowed through my brain. But when I pressed Bridget for more details about what she actually wanted, it turned out that she simply wanted a castle cake. She really didn't want a party at all! As her birthday got closer and closer I kept offering...telling her which friends we would invite, which games we could play, how fun it would all be...but to no avail. She just wasn't interested. She had made her mind up.

Bridget wanted the following:
a castle cake
Matthew and Jordan
a party with Matthew and Jordan ONLY at Grammy and Grandpop's house

So that is just what we did. :)

The castle cake turned out pretty cute. It had another tier to it, but the turret pulled it down before we were ready to serve it...so it was remodeled.

On her actual birthday, the boys distracted Bridget while I decorated her room. I had found these great flower wall clings and put them up all around her room. They totally fit the purple-girly-fun theme she has going in there already. Bridget was so excited and sure that I had painted them onto her walls. It was a fun surprise!

The party at Grammy and Grandpop's house was great. Bridget requested hamburgers for dinner (her favorite!). She had plenty of time to play babies with Grammy while the other kids played outside in the sandbox. We had play clothes along for her but she just didn't want to take off her beautiful princess dress. Eventually she agreed. I'm not sure what Bridget's favorite gift was, but I know what mine was...Jonah had saved up his own money and bought a veggie tale movie (The Wizard of Ha's--fitting for our family, isn't it?) for her. It was just such a sweet gesture and Bridget loved it. It was just a perfect day for her.

Thankful for another special day spent with Grammy and Grandpop. So glad that we live close and can share life with them! :)

And here's my big FOUR year old girl!

Happy Birthday Bridget, we love you so much! You are growing into such a lovely young lady. I love how you light up a room with your wide smile and how you always come up with the most creative and fun games. You are always willing to go anywhere and do anything...and you're the bravest 4 year old girl I've ever met! You love to climb things (anything at all) and you love to read books more than anyone I know. I can't wait to see what God has in store for your future! Love you, Boo! :)

Trip to Arizona

2011-11-04T16:14:00.004-05:00

This summer my Mom and Jim treated us to an incredible vacation to Arizona! We had so much fun visiting their home during the summer. The only other time we've been to visit them was in April, and while the weather felt pretty perfect, the pool was a little cold during that visit. This time, their pool was about 80 degrees...perfect!
The kids and I flew down first and spent a few days before Sam was able to leave work and join us. One of the things we did without him was visit the Phoenix zoo. It is such a great zoo! We loved every bit of it. One of our favorite parts was playing around in the gnome house. Another highlight was petting the rays in a touch tank...so great!

I love that my mom is not afraid to 'monkey around' and have a good time with us! ;)

We took a picture in this same spot last year-I love the way the trees lean apart just perfectly framing us! Even though it was hot, there was plenty of shade and a bit of a breeze that day. We really had a good time! The kids also loved the splash pad area (I didn't take any pictures in that section) that has slides and waterfalls...they were soaked, but they dried up pretty quickly walking around in the sunshine!

Once Sam got into town, we celebrated our anniversary. My mom and Jim threw us a lovely party and showered us with fun treats...it was so cool. We don't always get to celebrate our special days together since we live in different states!

Sam ramped up the fun in the pool...he brings a little more rowdiness to the crowd. :) He thought it would be fun to build a tower of kids, but Bridget got very nervous at the last minute.

Because we are able to Skype regularly, the kids don't really feel like Grandma and Jim are so far away. When they see them they don't feel like it's been forever since they've seen each other. I'm so very thankful for that little invention!
We were treated to a trip to a new museum that is in the area as well. It was a neat place and they kids loved it. They had a touch tank there as well as lots of cool rooms to explore. The shark tunnel was probably our favorite spot.
My mom treated us to a trip to a local pottery-painting studio while we were there too. It was a great place with so many options that we hardly knew what to do! I made a cute little serving platter and the kids all made Christmas ornaments. My mom carefully packed them up and shipped them to us after they were glazed and fired...what a treat to find in the mail a few weeks after we got home!

We also spent a day at the library and signed up for their summer reading program. We got there the day the library was setting up a sidewalk sale with super-cheap kids books...so instead of checking books out, we just bought a bunch. :) Near the end of the week the kids went back to the library to watch a Flat Stanley puppet show and do a craft. They all came home with summer reading treasures, and about a week after we got home we received their big prizes...free books in the mail, courtesy of the library!

For the kids, one of the highlights of the whole trip is flying. They love airports, airplanes and all that goes along with travel. All of the kids traveled exceptionally well and I was so proud of them! We packed a few books, crayons and a few snacks in each of their bags, and they never once complained or found themselves without something to occupy their minds. It really makes it fun for me too, knowing that I can relax and enjoy traveling with them.

I am so grateful for my Mom and Jim. They value family so much and they always make us feel so welcomed and special. It is always a treat when we get to see them and spend time with them. Due to many little reasons, we have been blessed to see Mom and Jim many times this past year and we do not take it for granted. We are so thankful for you guys! We love you. :)

Summer 2011 in Pictures

2011-10-29T15:40:00.006-05:00

It's been so long since I've written on this blog that I'm not sure I remember how to do it. :) However, I will not let that deter me...it's time to catch up!

It would be difficult to sum this summer up, even if I gave myself pages and pages to write about it all (don't worry, I won't do that). This has been one of the most growing seasons of my life, and it has been a particularly stretching season for our little family. That does not mean it was bad...if fact, this was truly a great summer! I'll try to hit the highlights through pictures here, and hopefully I'll cover most of the major events of this past summer.

We gave Henry a puppy for his 8th birthday. Our neighbor's (the Williams) were bringing home her sister, and they thought we might like one too. It turned out to be just what we were wanting to do for Henry's birthday. He was so excited. Henry named his puppy Maggie. He took her for walks, played with her at the park, worked on training her, and basically took over her entire care. Henry has a natural gifting with animals (so we knew he would take good care of her), but we were amazed with how well he did. He never needed to be reminded to look after Maggie, he was very attentive, and he spent a lot of time training her.

Maggie was a good puppy, but unfortunately she was not trained in staying away from the car. Tragically, she was run over as I was backing the van out of the driveway one morning on the way to the park. She did not survive. None of us were prepared to say goodbye to Maggie quite so soon. Henry dealt with the death in a mature way and we are so very proud of him!
Our small town has a fantastic rodeo every year. This year the boys decided to try mutton bustin' for the first time. (For those unfamiliar with rodeo terms, that is the event where they set the kids on a sheep and tell them to hold on...before sending the sheep across the rodeo arena.) It was hilarious to watch! Henry's sheep spun around and around slooooowly before finally lying down. Kind of a disappointing ride, but he had fun nonetheless! Jonah's sheep took off across the arena, and Jonah made a valiant effort but slipped off shortly after take-off. It was a great experience for them both. I think their favorite part was being down behind the stands where the 'real cowboys' were preparing for their rides. ;)

After the mutton bustin' we were able to sit and watch the rest of the rodeo. Being that this is a small town, we knew at least half of the people in the stands. It's fun to live in a nice little place like this. The rodeo includes a 'cash grab' (Henry's favorite part) and lots of other fun events.

One of the kid's very favorite things is riding bikes. We ride around the house, up and down our street, take bikes to the park and nature preserve, take them camping, and this year we even took them to Florida! I love that we have bike-loving kids!

One day the kids and I came home and found a baby donkey in our pasture. That was a shock! We had gotten the mama (Sky) 11 months prior and were told that she might be pregnant. We watched her closely for the first few months; but as we didn't really notice any changes in her size, behavior or eating habits, we decided she must not be expecting. So I was fairly surprised to come home to mama herding her (not so) little baby around the back pasture. Sky was quite protective at first, but eventually let us near the baby (who we named Smokey-or Gunsmoke, depending on which member of the family you ask).

Sky is a very sweet-natured donkey, so it was really no surprise that Smokey would be sweet as well. We found her to be like an overgrown dog...she would follow us around, sticking her nose into anything we were working on. Sky was a bit jealous of us giving too much attention to her baby, but she got used to that and we settled into a nice routine. We have promised Smokey to a friend who wanted a donkey, and Sky is currently staying elsewhere as we are in a drought and have ZERO pasture grass. (Our pasture has been a dust-bowl since the middle of the summer.)
Sam built the kids a couple of tree forts this summer! The first one is up in the middle of a tree right outside my kitchen window. The second (pictured below) is a platform coming off of a tree a few yards away. Last summer Sam built them a play house on the ground. They have SO much fun in those three areas! Henry recently moved our play kitchen out to one of the forts, and they have various other stores set up throughout the fort. They continue to amaze me with the games they create. We often take camp chairs and books out to the platform fort to read in the afternoons...it is just perfect!
We had some time to go fishing this summer too. Even though there is a drought in Texas and all the lakes are LOW, we still had fun trying. I'm not sure we actually caught a single fish, but sometimes the fun is just in the fishing. This picture was from a mid-summer adventure at a local park.
We earned free tickets to Six Flags (for the kids and for me!) through their Read-to-Succeed program, so in July we spent a family day at the park. It was SO MUCH FUN. We thought it might be too hot, but there is a lot of shade, water misters everywhere and they are more than willing to fill up your water bottles with ice and water at any of the restaurants. Because it was hot, there weren't really lines for most of the rides. We had to wait a little bit on the really big roller coasters, but since we can't all ride those anyway, that wasn't a problem. We usually go to Six Flags once a summer (on homeschool day, since it is a discounted day)...this was our second trip this year....and I think it was the best one yet! While we were there we snapped a family picture at the top of the oil derrick (the only place where you can stand in one spot and view the skylines of both Dallas and Fort Worth!).
We had another (semi) successful garden...our sunflowers did VERY well, as you can see. Tomatoes were incredible and produced all summer long. The cherry tomatoes started later and ended later and were fantastic. Squash and zucchini were average, beets were a bust, peas burned and peppers never came up. We had a few good-sized watermelons on the vine, but I gave up on the garden before they were ripe.
The boys got to go to Grandkids Cowboy Camp again this summer! Dave and Mary Beth are so wonderful to put this on every year. The kids have an incredible time (swimming-mudding, archery, bb guns, crafts, marching, singing, cooking, cleaning, Bible study) and love to spend time with their grandparents and cousins. Much preparation, time and love go into putting this on, and we are so thankful for Grandparents who invest in their grandchildren! This is truly a great experience and creates wonderful memories for the kids.
The boys also were able to attend Sky Ranch camp again this year! This was their second year to go to Sky. Last year Jonah went to day-camp, so this was their first year to go to overnight camp together. They stayed in Da Berg, the most rockin' fun cabin on camp!
Sadly, we got a call from the camp nurse on Wednesday night. Jonah had been running a fever and was confined to the nurses station. They were pretty certain he had strep throat, but it was late and the doctor's office was closed. After conferring with everyone involved, we let him stay the night up there and picked him up the next morning. I took him to the clinic, and sure enough...he had strep throat. He was able to start an antibiotic right away and come home to rest. Jonah stayed home the rest of the week but during the closing show he reunited with his cabin mates.
Jonah was sad to have to leave camp, but he was so thankful for the time he got to spend up there! And his wonderful counselor Ben (pictured on the left) stayed with him in the sick bay. He let Jonah stay up really late, played games with him and kept him company until he fell asleep. Then he dragged a sleeping bag to the floor beside Jonah's bed and stayed there with him all night long. What a dedicated and thoughtful guy! We so appreciate the wonderful counselors that Sky Ranch brings in every summer. They really make the experience incredible!
Our biggest event of the summer was getting licensed to provide foster care. We stared going through classes last fall, took a break through the holidays and beyond, and finally received our license the middle of May. Two weeks later we received our first placement, H, a newborn baby who came straight to us from the hospital. H was a super-sweet baby, and our family all loved him immediately. We worked hard to get him on a schedule and remember what it was like to have a newborn in the house. (I will say that it's a lot easier to handle a newborn when you haven't just been pregnant!) We were told to plan on having H for a minimum of a year, so were were absolutely shocked when we got a phone call at three weeks telling us that CPS was on their way to pick him up. Turns out that H had a family member come forward who wanted to care for him. We said tearful goodbyes, and told our foster agency that we needed a bit of a break while we adjusted and dealt with all the emotion that the quick placement had brought to us.
A few short weeks later, our agency called again, this time with an emergency placement. They were having to find a home immediately for a 10 month old boy. We had long-standing plans for that evening, and I told our agency that we weren't able to take him if he had to be placed that night. To make a long story short, after many phone calls back and forth and to Sam, we ended up taking him. A was a sweet, happy baby as well. It was a difficult adjustment for us as we had so recently been caring for a newborn, and a 10 month old requires much different treatment and equipment!

We fell into a routine with little A and even got to celebrate his first birthday at our house. It was fun to be able to make his day special, yet it was strange at the same time. The emotions of working with foster care are kind of crazy! We had a lot of ups and downs with our time with A.
Ultimately we decided that we needed to have A placed with a different foster family. It had become clear to us that if he became adoptable (if his parent's rights were terminated by the court) we were not going to be able to adopt him. It was a very difficult and emotional decision. The kids (Henry in particular) were very attached to A and had a hard time saying goodbye. He is with a wonderful family who hope to be able to become his 'forever family' one day soon.
Of course we spent time swimming this summer as well! It was the hottest, driest summer on record in Texas, so swimming was a favorite pastime. We did not swim even once out at Lake Fork this year, however. The lake got so low that we weren't comfortable swimming off the dock. We did spend time at TM, Sky Ranch, our neighbor's pool and various friend's pools.
It was a crazy busy summer, and it seems as though it passed in the blink of an eye. We grew together as a family, and we have bonded in a way that I am so very thankful for. The Lord treated us graciously and gently, and reminded us to be thankful for everything that He has provided us.

That about sums up Summer 2011! What a great season. :)

Christmas in July June

2011-06-25T16:22:00.000-05:00

Some people love Christmas. I mean, really LOVE Christmas. The celebrating, the decorations, the lights, the gifts, the music, the food...I can understand it. And then there are those who are obsessed with Christmas. Sam definitely falls into the latter category. He feels that Christmas is so great that it should be talked about all year long. Christmas music? In his mind it should be played any time-why limit it to December? The day after Christmas is always the most depressing day of the year for him, as he says, "Now it's 364 days until next Christmas!" At least every day after that is a good one, because it's one day closer.

So this year my adorable husband began a new tradition in our home. We celebrate HC, or Half Christmas. The typical 'Christmas in July' thing is no good for us though....why celebrate in July when June is actually the half-way point? :)

The kids were quite surprised to wake up to this on June 25th...

We set up a small tree in the living room (of course not the big one, it's only half Christmas!), had white powdered donuts for breakfast, played Christmas songs on Pandora, and had a blast.

Sam read the kids The Night Before Christmas...

And then we opened presents. It was extra special this year; not only was it the first Half-Christmas celebration in our family, but we got to share it with my mom and Jim! They were here for the weekend, and Sam worked it out so they could be a part of it all too.
One of the gifts Mom and Jim brought was matching Old Navy flag t-shirts...so of course we had to get a group picture!

Happy Half-Christmas to you! Only six more months to go! :)

Henry's 8th Birthday

2011-05-27T08:19:00.002-05:00

My little cowboy turned 8 this year! I can hardly believe it. Where has the time gone? When Henry was just little (maybe a year and a half old) I made him a cowboy costume, complete with cowhide-print chaps and vest. Way back then, we never dreamed that the cute little cowpoke would grow into a REAL Texas cowboy as the years went on.

This year (as in year's past) Henry decided he wanted a cowboy themed birthday, so we invited all of his friends to get duded up and come on out for a hoe-down.

We set up the party underneath our camper canopy. I threw hay down on the ground, put out folding tables with red-checked tablecloths, decorated with cowboy boots and black eyed-susan's found around the house, and hung 'wanted' posters around the area. Party favors included cowboy hats and bandanas. Our neighbor (who happens to be a cowboy!) brought his guitar over and played a little poem for Henry during cake time.

It was so much fun! The kids all had a blast. As Henry requested, we had a cactus cake with vanilla ice cream...

We decorated with some 'real' cactuses (cacti?) too...as you can see, Henry poked himself on one of the extra sharp needles. LOL. What a comedian.

My wonderful sister-in-law spent a day with me cutting up and painting old appliance boxes (acquired from the very helpful people at Lowe's) to make what Henry dubbed "Cowboy Town."

And of course there was a jail! I think that was the most popular area during the party. There was always some poor child being hauled off to jail. Here the boys are pretty proud to have arrested their sister for one reason or another.

The kids had a blast! We missed out on some of the cousins being able to come because grandkids camp was scheduled to start the same day as Henry's party. As you can see though, there was no shortage of fun kids at the party!

Happy Birthday Henry D! We love you so much and we're very proud of the cowboy you're growing up to be! :)

Spring 2011 Sports

2011-05-20T09:48:00.001-05:00

Spring sports are always so fun...this year Henry played soccer for the Jayhawks again. His coaches (Coach Dave and Coach Lyle) are so incredible, patient, loving guys. They really make being a part of their team fun. And all of their hard work paid off...this year the Jayhawks won every single game they played!!! The kids were all pretty pleased to be on an undefeated team.

Henry is the one in blue, kicking in a goal. He had quite a few goals this year and was one of the leading scorers for his team.

2011 Spring Jayhawks
(Coach Dave, Jayden, Quinton, Cody, ?, Kaylee, Tyler, Brett, Dillon, Henry, Bella, Kiana, Coach Lyle)
Jonah was back in action on the t-ball field this spring. Jonah just adores the game of baseball. He loves every little part about it and gets so excited about every practice and game.

During a few games this year, Jonah got to play catcher. While I don't think that is his favorite position (it requires paying attention to where the ball is ALL the time, and that is pretty difficult!), he really enjoyed wearing the 'gear' for it.
Jonah's hitting really improved this year. While last season he struggled with sometimes hitting the tee, this year Jonah whacked the ball right out into the infield every time! It was really great to see the fruit of all his hard work practicing.
The highlight of the games, of course, is the sno-cone. What a way to cool down! :)
We are blessed to live in an area that offers fun, family-friendly sports for our kids to participate in, and we are so grateful for the coaches and officials who donate so much of their time to make it all happen!

Mom's Visit

2011-05-15T11:05:00.003-05:00

My mom has lived in another state ever since my kids started sports. While we still get to see her quite a bit, we had never quite worked it out for her to visit during a sports season. So this year she made a point to plan a visit during one of Henry's soccer games and one of Jonah's t-ball games. And we actually were able to time it around homeschool-day at Six Flags Over Texas and take my mom on some roller coasters while she was here!

The kids knew we were picking up Grandma and then going to do something 'fun' but they had no idea that the fun thing would be Six Flags! They were so excited. We picked up Grandma from the airport and headed straight there. We got there just as they were opening the gates, so we stood in line a few minutes and then headed in!

There were plenty of photo opportunities...

...some scary (but awesome) roller coasters...
....and lots of family-friendly rides too. Jon and Kelly, Jordan and Matthew met us there too, so we had a big ol' group to hang out with at the park. It was warm but not too hot, and we all had a blast!
My mom had a great time cheering on the boys at their respective games. Henry showed off by scoring a goal or two for Grandma. ;)
And Jonah was just proud as could be that Grandma came all the way out to Texas just to watch him play.

She spent some time getting to know our sweet baby donkey, Smokey. Mom loved the donkey...how could you not? She is just the sweetest thing, all fluff and cuddles.
We had such a great visit! I love getting to spend time with my mom.

Henry got his new puppy while Grandma was here, so we spent some time at the park with her. The weather was just about perfect the whole time she was here. We took the kid's bikes and rode around the lake, which is where I snapped this great picture:
Thanks for the visit, Mom! It meant so much to the boys to have you see them play their sports, and we had so much fun at Six Flags, playing Ticket to Ride, hanging out and talking. Love you!

Fishing

2011-04-28T16:28:00.003-05:00

Sam works at a ranch that has a great lake on the property. The camp uses it for all sorts of water activities (boating, jet-skiing, water slides, etc...), but to Sam, it's greatest benefit is the fishing!

Sam recently took us all out in the boat for an afternoon of fishing. It was planned to be a date-day for just Sam and me but our babysitter canceled at the last minute. It wasn't too disappointing as we just easily made it into a family day!

Sam has taken the boys one at a time and together, but this was our first outing all together. The funny thing was that Bridget was REALLY nervous about being in a boat. We spend a lot of time during the summer at the lake and we are often in and out of boats, but I guess Bridget has avoided any boat time for the last few summers. She didn't want to get in, and when the boat started moving she started screaming. It was kinda funny, but it just made me realize we need to get her out there more often.

Sam rigged me up with two lures on one line...and I caught two fish at once! That was definitely the highlight of my day. :)

Bridget didn't catch anything because she wasn't really interested in fishing, but she did hold a fish that someone else caught. She is so brave when it comes to creepy-crawly or slimy things.

Jonah had quite a few bites and brought a couple fish into the boat. He is by far our most patient fisherman.
Henry got a few bites as well. He loves fishing because it's something he can do with his dad. He's a little less patient, but I think it's just because he doesn't like to be still. :)The weather was beautiful, the fish were biting and it was a perfect day!

Easter Week Camping at Beaver's Bend

2011-04-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

This Easter, we continued our tradition of celebrating by going camping. We gathered up our closest friends (Dave & MaryBeth, and Jon & Kelly), packed up some food and our bikes, and headed North to Oklahoma! It was dark-thirty by the time we got there, so Sam and Jon had to park the campers without the benefit of daylight. Dave and MaryBeth had gotten there a little earlier and were already set up, so they helped wrangle the kids while we got everything settled.

Jon enjoys cooking over the campfire, so he was our designated camp-cook. He provided the best breakfasts for us all every morning...bacon, eggs made to order, toast, potatoes...yum!

We went on a couple of hikes during the week. The area is beautiful and there are trails everywhere we looked. We actually spent most of one day looking for geocaches that Sam had downloaded to his GPS. We had never done that before and found it to be quite fun! There were a few that seemingly led to nowhere (or had been removed) but we did find three or four. The kids weren't sure about the whole thing, but as soon as we found our first 'treasure' they were hooked! Jonah was doggedly determined and was the first to spot at least two of the caches. The treasures inside were various knick-knacks (I think this next picture shows what the kids picked from one of the more bounteous boxes...a bath toy, a sheriff's badge, and a fishing bobber).

We had quite a bit of rain that week, so everything was fairly wet. On this next hike, we had to go off the trail and into the woods because there was a pond blocking our way!

We were very excited to get our bikes out and go on a few family bike rides while we were there! Bridget was very nervous about riding on the back of her daddy's bike at first, but once she realized how fun it is (and how fast they could go!) she thought it was awesome.

On one bike ride down to the park, Dave and I were waiting on Jonah and we were the last ones to leave. Dave started laughing and I looked over to see that he was holding his pedal in his hand! It had fallen right off of his bike. I rode up and got Sam to come back to help. In the mean time, Dave tried to fix it himself:

Look closely, and you might see that there is a problem in the way that he arranged the pedals. Let's just say it was a good thing Sam came back to help! ;)

The rain didn't really slow the kids down any. We made them stay inside while it was pouring or when there was lightning, but otherwise they just continued on as though the weather was perfect. The loop we were staying on was completely empty (except for one poor man staying in a tent--did I mention it POURED???), so the kids made the camp-loop their 'track'. They had so much fun riding around and around on it. Coming down one side was a fairly steep hill, and we would all sit around the camp fire and cringe as we'd watch Bridget and Matthew come flying down that hill with their training wheels flopping on either side. They never had any major crash, so all was well in the end, but I do recall limiting them to only riding up-hill for a while!

It wasn't hot while we were there, but the kids wanted to go swimming anyway. We rode our bikes over to a nice little rocky area where the kids could wade around and play. The braver ones (Sam, Henry and Jonah) swam out a bit and the younger ones stayed closer to shore. It was chilly but fun!

Dave and MaryBeth wanted to head back to town so they could attend the Easter Sunday service at their church, so they left a day before the rest of us did. Before they left though, MaryBeth prepared and treated us to an Easter Seder. We had the traditional passover meal and learned about the reasons for all that was taking place. It was interesting and educational and we all enjoyed it. MaryBeth also led the kids in washing each other's feet, and she helped them to each prepare a set of resurrection eggs to take home to help them remember the Easter story and Jesus' purpose and work on the cross.

Beaver's Bend State Park puts on a great Easter egg hunt every year, and we participated in it again this year. They separate the children by ages, and then dump hundreds of eggs in sectioned off areas of the park. In each area are hidden a number of special tickets that the kids then get to redeem for a stuffed bunny at the end of the hunt. We left with buckets full of candy and three cute stuffed bunnies.

They also have a new nature/visitor center at the park, so we went and visited that after the egg hunt. It was a great place and we spent longer there than we intended to! We were able to snap a group shot with the self-timer while we were there, including everyone except Dave and MaryBeth (because they had already headed home).

It was a wonderful trip! We made a lot of memories and enjoyed God's beautiful creation. We were reminded just how much we love camping! Living in Texas, we don't tend to look forward to camping in the summer anymore...it is just too hot! So this was one of our last trips of the spring, and now we are looking forward to some nice (hopefully cooler) camping in the fall.

Easter Pictures

2011-04-28T09:07:00.003-05:00

We went camping over Easter, so we didn't have the traditional church service this year. Our kids had already gotten new Easter clothes before we realized we would be camping, so I made sure to get some great pictures of them a few weeks ago. Henry wasn't really happy with the suit I bought him (the button down shirt is purple and he thinks that makes it a girl color), so I just let him pick something he would be comfortable wearing. Happy Easter!

Henry David, age 7Samuel Jonah, age 6Bridget Mary, age 3

Springtime in Texas

2011-04-28T08:34:00.005-05:00

When spring hits around here, we get pretty busy. Not only does it come earlier than I expect every year (I grew up in the North!), but it also brings with it beautiful (perfect, really) weather, kids sports like soccer and t-ball, field trips to the zoo and nature preserve, park dates with friends, and so much more! And this year we are getting licensed to be a foster home, and that has added even more to our schedule! Busy is good, though. Here are a few of the highlights from our fun, full spring! :)

The nature preserve with Ethan and Ella...one of our favorite spots to ride bikes!I was able to attend a refreshingly encouraging women's conference (Momheart) in Dallas with my mother in law and good friend. The picture cracks me up because when we walked up to the horse statue, they both instictively stuck a finger in it's nose!
One of the many trips to the zoo on a sunny, windy day with friends!
We went to a friend's house to feed their animals while they were out of town, and we were surprised to find a brand new baby goat! That was a real treat.
Another trip to the zoo, with Bridget's friends this time.
Bridget with her buddies Mckellee and Emma...sweet little girls!
Flags over Bridget's bed...I think I was needing a creative outlet!
Picnic with Kelly and kids...love it!
Hanging at the play area of the zoo with Jordan and Matthew.
And one last shot of the nature preserve. The boys found a matching set of deer horns while we were there! :)

Multitudes on Mondays

2011-04-18T12:48:00.003-05:00

Spring/Summer is upon us here in Texas! The sheets are on the line to dry...

the chickens are back on egg-laying duty...

flowers abound, on the porch and in the fields...

abundance in the garden...

and I can't leave out a picture of the great new nest boxes that Sam built for me this week! :)

I haven't blogged in a month! I miss it and need to get some posts up. When we're busiest and have the most things I'd like to share, I tend to have the least amount of time. Even if I haven't posted them, I've continued to note the wonderful, lovely gifts in my everyday life. It is amazing how just taking the time to thank the giver, God the father, makes me notice even more of the simple, everyday ways He blesses me. Here are but a few to add to the never-ending list....

146. Sheets flapping as they dry on the line
147. new chicken nest boxes (Sam surprised me!)
148. time spent in the garden
149. a thriving garden (almost everything is coming up this year!)
150. Bridget's first birthday party invitation
151. a group of giggling four year olds in pajamas
152. Henry's TWO soccer goals at the game on Saturday
153. our new camper
154. old camper sold in less than 24 hours
155. finishing up classes, paperwork, home study, etc with Bair
156. friendship bread in a bag on the counter
157. making lists and filling the camper
158. chickens running happily around the backyard
159. neighbors who are willing to take our problem birds (the guineas) and give them a home
160. marigolds blooming all around our house
161. beautiful buckets of colorful flowers on the front porch, that I haven't let die yet :)
162. learning a new game with friends
163. getting that same new game in the mail from Amazon three days later
164. planning for my mom to visit (yay!)
165. finishing up a Bible study on the book of Revelation
166. Henry's first paying job (picking up a friend's yard)
167. watching two of my beautiful nieces dance in their year-end recital
168. packing Easter baskets for friends and family
169. warm, windy days
170. craft supplies lying all over the house from a spur-of-the-moment idea
171. neighbor kid's bikes left in our yard for days
172. a super clean house that lasted for two days!
172. a messy, kinda cluttered house that represents happy days
173. finishing Narnia and not wanting to put it away on the bookshelf
174. watching Nugget (dog) and Smokey (baby donkey) run up and down the fence line together
175. popcorn made in the new air-popper...yum!
176. Henry and Jonah's animal artwork decorating the refrigerator
177. great garage sale find...pink cowboy boots in Bridget's size for only a dollar
178. an easy and fun visit to the dentist with all three kids
179. Angry Birds on the ipad
180. family dinner out at Chili's
181. Jonah's first t-ball game of the season
182. Jonah catching a ball, hearing everyone yelling, "throw it to first, throw it to FIRST" and watching him look around, pause and then throw it home.
183. five little kids running between our yard and the neighbors with super-hero capes on
184. chocolate waffles for breakfast
185. finding Bridget's long-lost Dora water bottle in a little used backpack
186. a hole lovingly rubbed into Rufus's ear by chubby little toddler fingers
187. purple sparkly nail polish
188. red, white and blue popsicles eaten on the back porch
189. Sam jumping on the trampoline with the kids
190. bluebonnets, indian paintbrush, and so many other beautiful wild flowers dotting the fields and roadsides

Won't you join in and start counting your never-ending list of gifts, blessings, joys? :)

Happy Birthday Sam!

2011-04-10T15:59:00.000-05:00

We like celebrating things at our house. Sam's birthday has actually been re-classified as one of the major holidays in our family. ;)

This year was no exception. Sam opened presents (lots and lots of presents!) from us and friends and family. His biggest present was one that Sam gifted to our entire family...a new camper!

Which, of course, required a 'camper-cake' to be requested by the birthday boy. And who am I to say no on this most special of occasions?

Another important factor to a birthday party in this house is that cards must be played. We had Sam's parents and Jon and Kelly over to celebrate, share cupcakes and play cards with us.

Since the celebration was spread out over a few days, we had cupcakes in addition to the camper cake. Here's the birthday boy with his candles:
I love you, Sam! I love the fun you bring to everything you do, the passion you have for life, your devotion to your family, the intensity you live your life with. Happy Birthday!

April Fool's!

2011-04-01T15:57:00.000-05:00

This year I had some fun with the kids on April Fool's Day. I told them that we would be having cake for dinner...and they totally believed me. They were so excited! I shooed them out of the kitchen while I was preparing it in order to keep the secret. When I walked out with this:

they were pretty thrilled. It is technically cake, right? Even if it's made from meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas? ;)

To keep up with the topsy-turvy meal, I served cheeseburger sliders for dessert:

These were so very cute...and they didn't taste too bad either! I was a little concerned with all the mixed flavors, but they turned out just great. (Nilla wafers-buns, grasshopper cookies-meat, fruit roll-ups-cheese, shredded coconut dyed green-lettuce, red icing-ketchup, sesame seeds for authenticity!)

Happy April to everyone! :)

Multitudes on Mondays

2011-03-14T16:49:00.004-05:00

I'm probably not alone in saying that this week's world events changed my prayer life and showed me even more the importance of being thankful each and every day.
"Relent, LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days."
Psalm 90:13-14

And the never-ending list continues! :) (sorry this one is long, I skipped a week or two)

104. Celebrating 2 1/2 months of daily (EVERY day) Bible reading
105. Rejoicing in this new habit being built into our children's lives
106. Listening to Bridget reading stories to her puppies
107. Boys racing out of the house, slamming doors in their excitement to get to Spanish class
108. Bridget's smiling face popping up over the side of my bed to ask, "Do you want to snuggle with me?"
109. Sending Morse Code messages back and forth with Henry and Jonah during the school day
110. Early morning fires that chase the chill out of the house
111. Sam arranging a babysitter for a dinner and movie night for just us
112. A cozy soft new purple throw blanket to snuggle up with on the couch
113. Keeping up with library books and having no overdue fines (a miracle!)
114. Seeing a day-old baby goat while taking care of the Miller's animals
115. Finding a pony wandering down the road all by itself
116. Said pony sticking it's nose right in my van window
117. Lunch at Sky Ranch with Sam
118. Driving up on a herd of horses that slipped out of a fence at Sky
119. More daylight each and every day...love the longer days!
120. Dinner with the Sky Ranch OA's at our house and a fun game of Pictionary
121. Pajamas washed with a sticker on the front
122. Celebrating Mary Beth's 70th birthday with a whole weekend of activities dedicated to her
123. Ann Marie back in the neighborhood
124. Ann Marie's surprise gift of a jar of honey and a big bag of incredible apples
125. Jonah's revelation about the name Spaghetti-o's (They're made of spaghetti and they're shaped like o's...I'll bet that is why they call them that!!!)
126. Bridget, unasked but looking to serve, bringing my slippers and silently sliding them onto my feet during quiet time
127. Three joyful kids, dressed in pj's and robes tumbling down the stairs to ask if they could maybe, just maybe watch Toy Story 3.
128. Jonah loaning Bridget his slippers, leaving himself with none-just because she was sad to not have any.
129. Henry's excitement at realizing Blake was home in the middle of the day...gotta love Spring Break!
130. Henry walking around with only one slipper on because he couldn't find the other one
131. Playdate at the park with a new friend and fellow homeschooling mom
131. Another day at the same park with an old friend who knows me well
132. Watching the kids play near the edge of the water and eventually stepping in and getting wet-muddy-filthy-happy.
133. Rescuing Ella's ball from the middle of the lake with a very looooong stick
134. Bridget's sweet bedtime prayers for her friends
135. A random, accidentally dialed phone call that connected me with a friend I haven't talked with in months
136. March Madness!
137. Henry's first soccer practice of the season
138. Sam put up a soccer goal in the backyard...so fun!
139. Hilarious, belly-laughing moments at the dinner table (Bridget, "He sat on the car! HAHAHA!") that aren't even really funny, but they are moments we will treasure forever.
140. Leaning over to tell Sam, "We should see that movie Bryan mentioned in church today" only to have Beth lean over from the other side a few minutes later to say, "Have you ever seen that movie? I have it if you want to borrow it!"
141. Finding 11 eggs in one nest today, and 2 guinea eggs hiding underneath the boxes
142. Best deal ever, a boxed set of Francine Rivers books (brand new!) for $2 at a garage sale
143. Second best deal ever, a bag full of cute, new socks for Bridget from that same sale for $1
144. Henry's Lego magazine finally arrived!
145. Our first tulip bloomed...and we weren't even sure they would come up this year!

Won't you join me on a journey of thankfulness??? :)

Celebrating Mary Beth's 70th

2011-03-08T16:13:00.000-06:00

This year was Mary Beth's 70th birthday, and we appreciate her so very much! Mary Beth has been a blessing to so many, and we all feel so honored to be able to learn from her and share life with her. The family worked together to create a fun-filled birthday weekend to celebrate with her.

Friday evening, we (all of her adult children and spouses that live nearby) got babysitters for our kids and took Mary Beth out to Red Lobster. It was an evening of much laughter!

That night we gave her a big gift...her surprise Saturday with the girls. I had arranged for her to babysit for my kids all day Saturday (to insure that she wouldn't make other plans!), but I was really planning a fun girls day out.

We started the morning with a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, and coffee at my house. From there we met up with Kelly and Beth and headed to the nail salon for a manicure and pedicure. It was a treat and Mary Beth thoroughly enjoyed her first ever manicure.From there we headed into Dallas, where we met up with Amy and enjoyed a lovely tea-type lunch at a girly restaurant called The Chocolate Angel. The food was very good but the service was TERRIBLE. I had found the place online, but will not go there or recommend it to anyone because of the very poor and extremely slow customer service. We really did have a good time anyway...it's hard not to have fun with a group of girls like this!
After lunch we headed up to Frisco for a little shopping. We stopped at two of Mary Beth's favorites: Ikea and Sam Moon

By the time we were done shopping we were all pretty worn out! We still had a drive ahead of us, so we turned toward home. On the way home we stopped for a quick meal at Wendy's/Chick-fil-A.

On Sunday, we all went to our own churches and then headed out to Mary Beth's house, bringing a lunch feast of home-cooked Mexican food with us. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with her and listening to her words of wisdom gathered over the last 70 years of life.

We love you, Mary Beth! Hope your birthday weekend spectacular was wonderful! :)

Sweet Brothers

2011-03-02T08:41:00.004-06:00

One day this week, Henry found himself in trouble for a minor little issue. I sent him to his room to think about what happened, and he was to come back out when he was ready to talk about it and had a better attitude.Jonah was greatly distressed at having Henry stuck in his room. For this very social child, there could be no worse punishment. (Of course he doesn't realize that Henry actually appreciates time alone now and again!) Less than ten minutes after Henry was sent away, Jonah came to me to plead Henry's case. His brilliant idea to 'free' Henry from the miserable punishment that I had bestowed on him was this: "I'll go up to Henry's room and take his place, so that he can come out and play!"

What a sacrifice! I didn't take him up on it, but I was so touched by his generous and selfless offer. Jonah is blessed with such a compassionate heart! :)

Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Garden

2011-03-01T14:36:00.002-06:00

It's springtime in East Texas! Which means the daffodils are blooming at one of our favorite places...the daffodil fields. About 45 minutes from where we live, this place is a treasure that the kids and I look forward to enjoying every year. Once again, it didn't disappoint. The bright, beautiful blossoms positively glow when the sun shines on them...and they go on and on for acres. Such beauty!

Every year I've been there I've been able to snap a picture of me and the kids, and it's become a tradition. We try to take it in about the same spot every year, but this year there was a guard nearby warning everyone away from the flowers ("They won't grow back this year if they're trampled, ya know.") so we had to take it quickly and get out of there. ;)

My friend Beth was able to join us for a relaxing afternoon picnic. It was lovely, even though it was a little bit breezy and on the cooler side of comfortable.

Lest you think the daffodil garden is all about flowers, let me set you straight. There is also a lake with a path going around (and over) it. The kids enjoyed fishing some kind of greenish, mucky substance out of the water and bringing it to us. For one horrifying, brief moment I thought Bridget might actually eat it after we said it looked like Jell-o. I ~~think~~ hope she was only teasing us.

There is also a replica of a pioneer cabin on the property. It's set up inside with a kitchen area, tools and beds and is very interesting to walk through and inspect. The kids have enjoyed this part even more since reading the Little House books! It's so fun to see history come alive for them.
Beth encouraged me to have my picture taken among the daffodils with Bridget. I initially resisted, but finally relented...and it became my favorite picture of the day! Here's me and my girl, exploring the hills of flowers. :)

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! I love the transition from winter to springtime, beginning with subtle little signs and quickly progressing to amazing shows of glory like the daffodil fields.

Multitudes on Mondays

2011-02-28T21:40:00.005-06:00

What a beautiful habit is thankfulness! I almost missed out on posting this today, simply because of the busy-ness of the day...but how many joys would I overlook if I didn't stop a moment to thank the giver of all good and perfect gifts...God the Father, Jesus the Son, The Holy Spirit!
85. Play-doh mornings
86. fields of brilliant yellow daffodils, glowing in the sun
87. a much needed and refreshing talk with Sam
88. plans coming together for a fun upcoming celebration
89. finishing a (very) long series of classes
90. hearing from Henry's soccer coach that practice begins this week!
91. windy, blustery days
92. early morning thunderstorms waking us all up
93. Bridget taking refuge in our bed after said thunderstorms
94. having a picnic in our backyard with friends
95. little-bitty tips of tulips and daffodils poking out of the ground, later than expected, but joyous nonetheless!
96. party night with the kids (pizza, How to Train Your Dragon, popcorn, lots of Narnia)
97. Sunday morning photo shoot with the kids
98. cooperative smiles, beautiful lighting, great pictures!
99. so many books on my to-read list that it's difficult to decide what to read at any given free moment
100. a friend to meet for morning runs
101. card playing friends who gather on ~~Sunday~~ many evenings to talk/play cards/hang out
102. new friends to meet at the park this week
103. an empty schedule that is quickly becoming filled

Won't you join the fun in counting your blessings with me? :)

Great Wolf Lodge 2011

2011-02-23T13:32:00.005-06:00

Last week we had a mini-vacation to Great Wolf Lodge. It was a very inexpensive trip, as we sat through a time-share presentation last year to 'earn' our two night stay there. It is a place we have wanted to visit for quite some time, as everyone who goes there just raves about how wonderful it is. We had put it off until now because it's kind of expensive, and we thought it might not be all it's cracked up to be. Turns out we were wrong, and this place is amazing!

We're already planning next year's winter getaway here. Jon, Kelly, Jordan and Matthew came with us, and we had a really fun time together!

I really wanted a picture under the sign, but we put it off until we were leaving. Then there was quite a bit of traffic around that area and Sam was worried about the kids. He raised his voice in telling them to be careful as they were getting out of the car, and Bridget started crying. So it didn't turn out quite like I planned, but it's still a captured moment. ;)

Thankfully, Great Wolf provides handy little luggage carts in the parking lot. We would have had to take MANY trips in and out without these. (There really is a luggage cart underneath all that stuff, even though you can't see it!) I called ahead to check on the room, and someone on the phone informed me that there would be no table and chairs in the room. That turned out to be wrong, but it worked well that we brought our own table and chairs along (as you'll see later). Besides that, often places that claim to accommodate a family of five only provide four chairs. I like for everyone to have a seat!We took a few minutes to get settled in our rooms, and headed right on down to the water park. They keep the indoor water park heated to 84 degrees. It feels a little warm until you first get wet, then it feels a little chilly. We finally all got used to the temperature and found it quite comfortable, but Bridget found it to be a little cold the first day. Thankfully the hotel provides lots and lots of warm, dry towels.

We spent the entire afternoon swimming in the lazy river and wave pool, going down crazy water slides, climbing around in the enormous tree fort and making new friends (Henry).

We eventually headed back to our rooms to dry off and we went out for dinner that evening. After a not-so-great experience at Steak and Shake, the manager decided to treat us all to dinner. That was an unexpected blessing!

Then we went back to the hotel to change into pajamas. Great Wolf provides an entertaining bedtime show/story, so the kids got all ready for bed and we headed to the lobby.

The scene is really incredible, with talking trees, animals and puppets. There is a song and story, and half way through it started snowing inside! It was so fun, and the kids were so surprised by all of it. The boys loved every minute of it. Even now, days after our trip, Jonah is still singing the wolf song (There's nothing to be scared of here! The wolf's out on the prowl, just listen for his howl....hooooooooowl!).
Bridget was a little too surprised. She sought the comfort of her Daddy's shoulders to watch the story after the tree started talking. She was pretty nervous about all that, but she didn't mind watching from a distance. It was past her usual bedtime at that point too, so I ended up taking her back up to the room for bed before it was all over.
Thankfully our room was right next to Jon and Kelly's room. After the bedtime story, we put all the kids to bed and played cards together awhile.

Breakfast was enjoyed right in our room. The little chairs we brought for the kids fit just perfectly at the coffee table in the room. Sam pulled it over in front of the tv and turned on a cartoon for them to watch while they ate. I don't think they had ever done that before and they thought it was the coolest thing ever!

The next day was filled with more time at the water park. Jon and Kelly had to check out early, but they just moved their things over to our room. (The great thing about Great Wolf is that you are welcome to use the water park until 9pm on the day that you check out!) We fixed macaroni and cheese in the microwave and ate lunch in the room, then made room for all the kids to lie down and have naps. They were all exhausted, so it worked out well. :)

What did we do, while five little children napped in our hotel room? Why, we played cards, of course! This is where the folding table and chairs we brought along became so useful! We set them up in the hallway just outside of our room, grabbed a few snacks, and we were all set. We got a few strange looks from the housekeeping crew, but nobody said anything to us.

Post-nap snacks on the couch were followed by more swimming.

That evening, we got dried off and dressed and headed to Arby's for dinner with Jon and Kelly. We finished off the evening with ice cream treats from Sonic (which we took back into Arby's because it was too windy and cold to eat them outside!), and then said goodbye to Jon and Kelly.
They headed back that evening, and we went back to the hotel for another night. We skipped the bedtime story in the lobby, as everyone was pretty tired...all that swimming wore us all out! The next morning we checked out of the hotel, swam for a few more hours and then headed home. We could have stayed all day and used the water park, but by that time we were done swimming. At least Sam and I were done. The kids probably wouldn't have minded swimming for another week straight!

We had so much fun at Great Wolf! They have a game called Magicquest (which is interactive and is played all throughout the hotel) which we chose not to play this time. Next time we might join in though, as it looked like it would be worth our time to try.

We were so blessed to have this time away from home in such a great place. It was good for our family, and so fun to have Jon and Kelly along with us. What a joy!

Multitudes on Mondays

2011-02-21T11:02:00.003-06:00

I hardly know where to pick up...it's been a busy month of February this year! So many things to be grateful for, so many memories made, so many lovely gifts...

On with the list, my heart overflows!

51. Play-doh at the kitchen table, creativity abounding
52.-62. Mom Heart Conference (an overnight getaway, uninterrupted conversation with other moms, a beautiful hotel room, meeting up with two blogging friends I had formerly only known online, listening to encouraging speakers, eating out at fun restaurants with the girls, pages of notes outlining my desires to be a better mom, a new book that I've been wanting (and not having to wait for it to ship to me!), 600+ moms coming together to praise the Lord!).
63. Mini-vacation to Great Wolf Lodge
64. Amazing family who joins us to make vacations extra special
65. Playing cards in the hallway while kids nap in the hotel room
66. Kids who know how to swim
67. Three incredibly different personalities in three wonderfully unique children
68. One with a heart to be independant
69. One with a heart for adventure
70. One with a heart full of joy
71. Precious hearts entrusted to my care
72. Visiting with my mom, talking and enjoying her company
73. The smiles on the kids faces when they realized Grandma had surprised them!
74. Sky the Donkey, smiling in her own way after a good ear rub...bending her head to the ground in happiness
75. A morning text from my father in law, rejoicing in the song of the birds outside
76. Finishing another book in Narnia...and the kids begging for more
77. Henry's revelation that, "Aslan is just like Jesus!"
78. Sam's new sidewalk down to the shop
79. Sam's excitement over the new sidewalk down to the shop. ;)
80. The orange glow of a beautiful, huge, full moon cresting over the tree tops as we drive
81. Finding kettle corn on sale for $0.99 at the grocery store
82. Sunday morning chats in the foyer at church...catching up with precious ones I don't see often enough
83. Sharing laughter with a lovely neighbor over the phone
84. A cardboard box that has now become a microwave, an oven and other kitchen appliances...

Won't you join me in taking note of your every day gifts? Even if you're not a blogger, take a moment to thank God for the lovely, every day, holy moments He has blessed you with today! "The LORD has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY!" Psalm 126:3 :)

Visit from my mom...days 2, 3 and 4

2011-02-17T09:06:00.008-06:00

We spent days 2 shopping with my mom in Dallas. Sam really wanted to take her to a fun cowboy store (Shepler's) and we also stopped at Costco, Kohl's, and Bass Pro Shop. It was a great day...the kids love all those places, and I really enjoyed just hanging out with my mom. Kohl's was my favorite. The kids went off with Sam to find the toy department, and my mom and I just got to wander around, chatting and looking at all the fun clothes. (And it doesn't hurt that we found some stellar deals, too!)At Sheplers, Bridget and Jonah got new cowboy hats, and Henry (who didn't need a new cowboy hat) left with a sweet new cowboy shirt. Such a fun store! My little cowboys were in heaven there.
At Bass Pro Shop, Jonah had an encounter with a grizzly. He won.

After our long day of shopping in Dallas, we headed home to relax. We played Sam's new fishing game for the wii (so fun and addictive!), the kids had bubble baths, and we all went to bed.
The next day we were supposed to get a terrible ice/snow storm. They were so sure it was coming that all the local schools canceled school. Sam's work sent everyone home. We waited. And waited. And waited.
It never came. Finally in the early afternoon, Sam said, "Let's head into town!" So we loaded up and went to Jason's Deli for lunch. After that we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese (their favorite place on earth) and played for a loooong time. Grandma brought a LOT of coins along with her (she had a fun time getting those through security too!) and the kids had gotten some in their stockings for Christmas. So the adults were able to play too, and by the time we ran out of coins we were definitely all ready to head home.We did end up with a little snow, but really the storm was just a great big joke. ;)The next day Sam headed back to work and we hung out around the house. Mom played dolls with Bridget and store with the boys. We tried out our MarioKart game for the wii (wow, is that ever fun!), read books, watched Jonah practice his new magic tricks, and just talked.
In the afternoon, Sam came into town and met us for lunch so he could say good bye to my mom.It was such a fun visit! We just love you so much, Mom! We're so thankful you were able to come and stay with us for a few days...can't wait to see you again soon!

A (surprise!) visit from my Mom...day 1

2011-02-11T15:24:00.004-06:00

We told the kids that for Jonah's birthday we had a little surprise for them. I was going to take them to the airport to watch the airplanes. I explained that we wouldn't be in a hurry like when we're picking someone up, but we could just look around and watch some take-offs and landings.

It was an extraordinarily cold and windy day, so we drove through the private airport first. The kids enjoyed the smaller planes and each picked out which was their favorite.

Then I told them we could head over to the main airport and look at the big airplanes coming in and leaving. Our (tiny, little bitty) airport doesn't have much inside, but they always have some sort of vehicle on display. Recently it is one of those three wheeled motorcycles, and the kids really wanted to check that out. We killed some time there until I got a text from my mom saying that her plane was on the ground.

At that point we headed to a little courtyard in the airport that is just outside security. The kids had brought themselves a snack (someone left a partial bag of powdered donuts at our house), so they sat down on a bench to enjoy it. I made sure they chose a bench facing the door that Grandma would walk through shortly. :)

Jonah was busy passing out donuts when he happened to look up and see his Grandma walking through the door. It took him a minute to realize what was going on...he said, "Hey! That looks just like...isn't that GRANDMA? What are you DOING here???"

Henry ran right over to give her a hug, but then stepped back to just observe. He doesn't like surprises all that much, but he was very excited to see her! The other two just kept talking...things like, "What are you doing here at OUR airport?" and "I can't believe we ran into you HERE!" It was hilarious. I think it took quite a while for them to realize that she was staying for a few days.
We took Grandma to lunch (the birthday boy picked Taco Bell) and then headed home. We had a birthday dinner for Jonah that night with my mom and Sam's dad. Sam's mom ended up with the flu that night and couldn't join us.

We had a fun time celebrating Jonah! He is so thankful for each and every gift, no matter how big or small. I just love that about him. After dinner the kids settled in for a movie (Jonah got this one from Grandma and Jim for his birthday!), and the adults played a few rounds of cards.
Grandma showing up was such a fun birthday surprise for Jonah! She was able to stay for three more days, and we had a lot of fun while she was here! :)

Calling all superheroes...Jonah's 6th birthday!

2011-02-08T12:41:00.000-06:00

Jonah turned six this year and decided he would have a superhero birthday party. He invited all his friends and told them to make sure to bring their cape or costumes along. We made awesome superhero masks for everyone that came, and Jonah decided on cupcakes AND cheesecake brownies, since he couldn't pick just one. :)

He really wanted a pin-the-cape on the superhero game, so we created this superhero and a bunch of masks and capes. Jonah was so excited about this part of his party. He just loves organized games!

The kids lined up into two lines...one for the masks, one for the capes. I was VERY grateful for my friend Kari's help. She is a born teacher and is good with crowd control.

Three of my beautiful friends and mamas of Jonah's friends: Sheridyn, Alisa, Kelly

The birthday boy himself, enjoying his moment.

My favorite picture of the day. These two are simply the best of friends, and they make my heart so happy. They spend their days looking out for one another and playing graciously together.

Happy Birthday, sweet Jonah! We love you! You have the best imagination, most generous spirit, and a heart that seeks after God. We are proud of you and love watching you grow. :)

Multitudes on Mondays

2011-02-07T11:12:00.004-06:00

It's a lovely habit to be thankful for the beauty in our everyday lives. I'm so enjoying this new means of showing my thankfulness.

A happy boy with lots of snow to enjoy.
Snow on the trampoline! Couldn't get much better for these two. :)

These birds come every winter on their journey South. The sound when all those little wings take flight is just amazing!

35. a sweet toddler tug at the hem of my shirt to whisper "I love you, Mommy!"
36. skype dates with my mom
37. a houseful of pint sized superheroes
38. the smile on a six year old's face right before he blows out his candles
39. family gathered together to watch the superbowl and play ping pong
40. the beautiful sound of the wind chimes blowing in the breeze outside my window
41. gloves, scarves, hats strewn about-evidence of wonderful memories made
42. new collage pictures arriving in the mail
43. adult friends willing to spend their Saturday afternoon celebrating our little Bear
44. hundreds of blackbirds taking refuge in our fields for a few days on their long journey South
45. a full month of quiet times in the morning for the kids and me (a life-giving new habit)
46. cut out snowflakes on the window
47. beautiful rainbows sparkling through the house from the crystal snowflake hanging in the kitchen window
48. a boy who can't quit whistling, because he whistles when he is happy
49. a grateful six year old filling out thank you cards on his birthday
50. the surprise of picking my mom up at the airport today!

Jonah is Six!

2011-02-07T10:42:00.003-06:00

It's hard to believe my little guy is already six years old! This last year has been an especially fun one with Jonah.

He has had many firsts this year, including:

his first sleep-over at a friend's house
starting kindergarten
learning to read
camping in Colorado (and seeing a bear!)
going to summer camp
playing t-ball
visiting Arizona
starting Spanish classes
conquering the monkey bars
date night with Mommy
and many, many others...

Jonah lives life in such a way that inspires us.
He is always filled with joy, and he knows (really KNOWS) that his joy comes from the LORD!

Jonah is friends with everyone he meets and thinks that life should be shared. He is the most social of our children and loves to be around other people. I often refer to Jonah as my 'includer' since he invites everyone he knows to everything that we do.

It does make it difficult to get a picture with just Jonah in it, though. Since he surrounds himself with people, his pictures are usually shared also. ;)

Six years ago today, Jonah made his entrance into this world...arriving with little difficulty on his due date and changing our lives forever!

We are so thankful for our sweet little Bear. Jonah, you brighten our days, remind us to thank God for everything, spread laughter and cheer wherever you go. We love you so much and we are so blessed to be your parents! Love, Mom and Dad

The Mighty Dam (Sam)

2011-02-01T11:01:00.001-06:00

A while back, Bridget took to calling Sam by a new name. She sort of combined "Dad" and "Sam" to come up with the lovely sounding "Dam". We didn't notice it at first, attributing it to toddler-speak (even though Bridget is better known for her clear speech), or thinking we were not hearing her properly. Sam was the one who finally pointed out that she had re-named him. This went on for a few months, and has since passed, but it sure gave us reason to giggle for a while. Seriously, it is hard not to laugh when you hear your three year old calling her daddy 'Dam'. ;)During that phase, Sam was working on fixing up his tractor. He got everything running in tip-top shape, replaced the seat and tires, and gave it a fresh new coat of paint. I love that he has such skills...he can fix anything! He chose a lovely shade of bright orange (so perfect!) and then asked the kids and me to come up with a good name for her. We came up with the perfect name, forever commemorating the months of laughter..."The Mighty Dam". I can only imagine what the people at the sign shop thought when they printed it out.

One thing I really appreciate about Sam is his sense of humor. He shows our kids that it's okay to have fun and not to take themselves too seriously. He's willing to do just about anything for a laugh, and he is always trying to get people to smile. It's one of the things that attracted me to Sam in the first place and I continue to be amazed at how quickly he makes friends and earns people's trust.
Another of Sam's finest qualities is his work ethic. I've never known anyone who works harder than Sam. He always has a few projects going on and lists upon lists of more things he would like to get done. At times I can find it frustrating, because I like to have nothing to do when I relax...but Sam is most at peace when he has something to work on or figure out. It's something I've grown to truly appreciate about him.It is beautiful to see Sam teach the kids how to do things around the house, yard, shop, etc...they love helping their Daddy and he enjoys passing on his knowledge and showing them how fun it can be to work. :)
Thanks for being you, Sam. We love you and appreciate everything you do. I could not imagine a more perfect father for our children and I am incredibly blessed to be your wife. :) Love you!

Multitudes on Mondays

2011-01-31T13:12:00.003-06:00

Already it's the end of January, and I can't believe how beautiful the weather has been around here! Sunshine always makes my heart happy, and it's been 65-70 degrees too...love it! More and more to be thankful for...
18. polka dot couch pillows
19. deer antlers that little boys found at the park (such a treasure!)
20. riding bikes at the nature preserve
21. visiting the zoo in January
22. memories of Aunt Sue and summer days in her front yard
23. happy moments caught by the quick snap of my camera
24. telling stories by a roaring campfire
25. little ones running through the dark woods, being chased by 'bears' (their Dads)
26. playing tennis with Sam in the winter...and sweating
27. an animated 5 year old story teller
28. sitting on a log playing the telephone game with my littlest two
29. Bridget's bike bell ring-ringing through the nature trail
30. high school girl's community group starting tonight...and a faithful friend to help with it!
31. blog books, five years of memories and pictures bound into beautiful books
32. the feeling of Elmer's glue between my fingers
33. Sam's pile of dead trees, vines and leaves, still smoldering after two days
34. too many books waiting for me to read

Raisin the Flag

2011-01-30T14:05:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I took Jonah and Bridget to the park to ride bikes.

On the way there, Jonah told me that his friend Blake had a cub scout activity that afternoon. There were going to raise the flag, and Jo Jo wanted to know what that meant.

I explained that they would be placing a flag up on a flag pole somewhere. I was a little confused why he would ask...I had heard Blake tell him that they were raising the flag today, and the term seems a little self-explanatory to me.

Of course, sometimes I forget that this is Jonah I'm dealing with. He proceeded to explain to me that he thought 'raisin' the flag meant to decorate a flag with raisins, and he was mostly wondering if they used glue or how they got the raisins onto the flag.

Multitudes on Mondays

2011-01-24T12:57:00.003-06:00

Have you found Ann Voskamp's blog yet? If you have, then you probably understand when I say that my heart sometimes aches when I read the words this woman writes. Such beauty, challenge, and love is found there and it all points right back to Jesus. If you haven't read it yet, you need to head over there. Go ahead. Click here!
Trust me, you'll be glad you did. :)

On with the list already! I'm so excited to start my own (never-ending) list of gifts, things which I am so thankful for...

1. sunny winter days
2. swing-set in the backyard
3. overwhelming giggles at the kitchen table
4. construction paper weaved together and taped to my fridge
5. planning Jonah's upcoming 6th birthday
6. my travel coffee mug with a picture of my boys on it
7. Henry's love for order and cleanliness
8. laundry that is never truly 'finished'
9. a book on the way from Amazon...One Thousand Gifts!
10. little fabric flags that will hang from my daughter's bed posts
11. my favorite homeschool tool...my date stamp!
12. teaching Jonah to read
13. Bridget's love for books
14. my incredible husband who works so hard to provide for us
15. kvne (local Christian radio station)
16. elk postcards hanging in the kitchen, reminding me of Sam
17. a piece of strawberry bubble gum that Henry gave me out of his personal stash

Gathering Eggs

2011-01-14T20:53:00.003-06:00

Bridget and Jonah are the egg-gatherers at our house. They have worked out a system between the two of them...Jonah usually carries the scraps bowl out of the kitchen, and he is in charge of manning the gate (to make sure no chickens are left outside of the coop and also to shut it when they are done). Once they get out there, Bridget gets to throw out the food, and they both collect the eggs. Then, since Jonah has to lock up the gate, Bridget carries the eggs into the kitchen and puts them on the counter.

Sometimes she carries them in the bowl, sometimes in her hands.

Always she carries them with a beautiful, proud smile spread across her face. And sometimes even while wearing a dress backwards, and zipped up to her neck. ;) She loves to have an important job around the house, and I love to see her working hard to do a good job.

Proverbs 31:17 "She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks."

December Fun

2010-12-31T09:07:00.008-06:00

December is always a busy and full month. This year I determined that we were NOT going to be too 'busy' to enjoy the season, and we pulled it off beautifully. There were still parties, seeing Santa, building gingerbread houses, getting together with friends, baking cookies and all that comes with preparing for Christmas. But this year there was no stress, lots of focus on Jesus and most of all....a really FUN season.

A few of the highlights included...

Skype dates with my mom (she even showed us her Charlie Brown Christmas tree!):Dress-up days full of cowboys and pirates:
Granddad stopping by to play cards with Bridget on the front porch:
Annual small town Christmas parade (they're the BEST!):
A quick family picture in the front yard before we left for a wedding:
A viewing of the Nutcracker, which the kids absolutely LOVED:
Piles of yard junk for Sam to burn:
And of course a visit with Santa. We got to see him at Bass Pro Shop (very cool!) and also at our local library. Fun times!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T14:37:00.000-06:00

Christmas...what a magical time of year! You might hear people say that Christmas is best when you have small children at home...but I say Christmas is best when you're married to Sam! It's his very favorite time of year, and he makes sure that everyone around him is celebrating and enjoying the most special time of the year. Sam actually listens to Christmas music year round (when he can get away with it). :)

This year we had fun decorating some Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve. In the afternoon we went to see a movie (Tangled), which was a pretty big treat since we don't go to very many movies with the kids.

Later that evening we went to the (incredibly packed) candle light Christmas Eve service at our church, then came home and visited with our neighbors over appetizers and finger foods. After they left, the kids opened up one present each (new pajamas and bathrobes!),and settled in to read The Night Before Christmas.The kids left some cookies out for Santa, and then in the morning they woke up to this sight...

...and this one, in our living room.

We opened some presents, took a break for breakfast (white powdered donuts for Sam, as per his tradition, and monkey bread and fruit for the kids and me), had time for some snuggling up on the couch...
and then a few big surprises showed up on the front porch. The first was for Jonah, and it was a brand new bike! He was SO excited and took off on it right away. The second was for Bridget, and it was a power wheels jeep. It was fairly cold and windy on Christmas morning, but we had a very hard time convincing Bridget to hop out of the driver's seat and come back inside. Dave and Mary Beth came over to spend some time with us in the early afternoon. The boys are sporting new shirts here, Henry is showing off his new leatherman tool, and Jonah has new sunglasses...
Of course the Twinkie Tree bloomed again this year! And this year it was spliced with a Cupcake tree too, so of course those blossomed as well. Jo Jo and Granddad had fun picking the 'fruit' off the tree. :)

After some nice long afternoon naps, we headed out to Sam's parent's house to meet up with the whole family. Mary Beth served a lovely turkey dinner, the kids put on a play of the Christmas story...

and we had some fun exchanging gifts.

It was such a fun Christmas! This year we were so thankful to be back in our house, and we were so grateful for all of the incredible people God has put in our lives. The Lord has blessed us so abundantly! Merry Christmas...only 365 days until we can celebrate it again! ;)

Emmanuel

2010-12-15T13:42:00.005-06:00

This week in school we are learning the song O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

It's one of my favorites and has become Henry's favorite this year too.

Today I reminded the kids that Emmanuel literally means "God with us."

After discussing what that actually means for a few minutes, I asked if anyone remembered the definition of Emmanuel.

Bridget's hand shot up in the air..."I know, I know! God is our friend."

"Yes, He is," I said, "but what did I tell you that Emmanuel means exactly?"

Jonah was eager to give me his version next..."Jesus beside us on earth."

"Well, yes. But what exact words did I tell you it means?"

Finally Henry, raising an eyebrow in exasperation with his siblings said, "God with us."

I think they get it. :)

Hunting

2010-12-08T09:33:00.005-06:00

Sam has always been passionate about hunting. Some of his fondest memories are of elk or deer hunts with his dad in Colorado, or with his buddies in Montana. A majority of his vacation time is always spent in the great outdoors, in pursuit of one animal or another.

Moving to Texas changed the way Sam hunts, but it hasn't diminished it any. Last year Henry was old enough to go hunting with Sam for the first time (age six, in our family), and he continued to join Sam this year. Sam, his dad and Henry have been out quite a few times this year and have brought home three deer between them so far. Deer season is open here for a while longer, so I won't be surprised if they bring another one home soon. :)
It's been so fun for Sam to introduce Henry to hunting. Henry loves the special time spent with his dad and looks forward to the weekend trips. His favorite trip this year was the time they spent the night in a tent. They hunted the morning, fished the afternoon, hunted again in the evening and slept in a tent. That all equals heaven to my seven year old. :)
Even though Henry REALLY hates being cold, he doesn't mind so much if it involves hunting. Sam gets him all bundled up and gets him moving if he finds that they've been sitting too long.
We process and package our deer here at the house instead of paying someone else to do it. Sam and I have done this for years and have the system down pretty well, but this year we made it a family project. All the kids had a job and they LOVED being a part of it. It's always a little difficult for those left behind at home when the big ones go hunting. The almost six year old, Jonah, was especially sad this year. He felt old enough and was SURE that he would be able to be still and quiet. Instead, he spent time dressing up in all of his camouflage clothes and pretend hunted in the back yard with his sister. And you know Bridget is always willing to dress up in camo clothes! She can't wait until she's old enough to go hunting with her daddy...and even though I keep telling her it isn't next year, I think she thinks she will get to go when Jonah goes. We'll have to come up with something fun to do next year when ALL the boys are gone hunting.
One of Henry's favorite things to do is to 'glass a field'. He was pretty excited to teach me some of his new terminology this year. :)
Dave says hi from his hunting blind. Henry's dream is to have one of these of his own in the backyard that he can 'hunt' out of every day!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-02T17:20:00.003-06:00

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone.Man, I just love that holiday. Setting aside an entire day to thank God for all He has blessed us with is just a precious thing. Of course we should be thankful every hour of every day, but I like the idea of stopping everything and reveling in the goodness of our Lord. :)

Even though I adore the idea behind Thanksgiving, I really do appreciate the season in which it's set. Autumn is such a beautiful time of year, and I enjoy seeing all of the orange, brown and yellow decorations, the incredibly changing leaves on the trees and the cool and crisp feel to the weather (which didn't come until Thanksgiving day here, but better late than never!).

I spent so much time enjoying the day that I hardly picked up my camera to document it. No pictures of the beautifully laid table this year or the wonderful people who surrounded it. And you know what? That's alright with me. This year, as in past years, I got a lot of the cooking (and even pre-cooking) chores done ahead of time; so all that remained on Thursday morning was to mix up the stuffing and get that bird in the oven. It left me much free time to spend with my wonderful family and friends who came to spend the day with us.

We spent time visiting, playing cards (of course!), going through Black Friday ads and planning out our shopping trips, and lots of eating/snacking throughout the day.

We were joined by Sam's parents, our friends Ingrid, Crystal, Sharon and Ava. Later in the day Sam's brother David and family came to spend time with us. Ava's roommate Kat and another friend Jarrel came for games later on in the evening. It was just about perfect!
(These are a few of the place cards that Henry made for the table. He worked so hard on them! I did the cursive but he did the rest.)

Jonah was my joyful helper that morning. He sliced up mushrooms for the stuffing, washed dishes, mashed up deviled egg filling, helped set out snacks and didn't want to leave the kitchen. What a treat to spend the morning just with my little bear! Bridget spent the morning reading books and trying to entice someone, anyone to sit and read with her. It was sweet. She had piles of books all over the house. :)
Henry had a lego-land spread out in the living room and created his own little haven of ships and buildings and all sorts of fun.
And of course Sam got a chance to run the vacuum...during dinner! Those that know him know how happy this made him. :) I love my sweet husband and his need for order.
Thank you Lord, for another wonderful Thanksgiving! We were reminded once again of all the blessings you have heaped upon our family.

2010-11-30T12:51:00.003-06:00

Sam and I just LOVE playing cards. This has been a favorite pastime since the early days of our relationship.

We play at family gatherings, friend's houses, at our campsites, and here at our own house. We'll play by ourselves (if we HAVE to) but we prefer the company of others.
There is something so relaxing about sitting around the table with friends and chatting about our lives.
We've been blessed with wonderful friends and family who are up for cards many times a week. Because everyone's lives are busy, we don't have a specific night set aside for cards (although we were able to do that over the summer!) so we just call a few people when we have time to play and they show up in a few hours!
I don't often take pictures of card nights, but as I was going through some pictures today I found these...and I thought it's about time I posted them. This is an important part of our lives. Lots of things get discussed over cards. It isn't just for the fun of the game, it's for ministering to one another, sharing burdens and laughter, and getting to the heart of what is really on our minds. I always feel happy after a card night. :)Every now and again things get serious. ;)

I'm so thankful for our friends and family. If you have ever been over to our house for a card night, please know that I thank God for you and hope you were blessed as well! And any of you who haven't made it over for cards yet? You're invited too. :)

Fall Soccer 2010

2010-11-30T10:48:00.005-06:00

Henry had another great season of soccer! I love that he plays two seasons every year, so it is easy to see his progress. And this year there was quite a bit! Henry learned how to 'head' a ball, improved his dribbling and worked on taking shots farther away from the goal. He learned that he really prefers to be a forward and has the speed, energy and talent to be succesful in that position. As a team they worked on passing the ball and how to better position themselves on the field. Our coaches worked hard and the Jayhawks were a pretty competitive team this year.

Ever faithful fans this year included Henry's grandparents, the lovely Dave and MaryBeth:
Henry's best friend (and our next-door neighbor) Blake:Our other neighbors, Miss AnneMarie and her granddaughter, Claire:
(who happened to be at the park and heard me yelling...what can I say, I get excited about soccer?)
and two of our beautiful friends, Ingrid and Crystal:
There were others too, but I either didn't get pictures or couldn't find them. :)

Here's Henry preparing to head the ball...
(I love the concentration/anticipation on his face!) Go, Henry, go! When Henry gets the ball, the other team usually can't keep up with him. :)
The Jayhawks, 2010
Back row, from left: Coach David, Kiana, Ty, Kaylee, Coach Lyle
Front Row, from left: Dawson, Henry, Dillon, Anastasia
(Not pictured: Brett, Brock, Cody, Ethan)

Bridget's 'Shirdle'

2010-11-22T08:28:00.004-06:00

Bridget's favorite activity, by far, is jumping on the trampoline. Usually she asks to go out there before breakfast (which I say 'no' to every time) and it's the first thing she thinks of when heading outside.

She spends time each day out there, jumping, playing, doing 'tricks' (which usually consist of dropping onto her knees and standing back up), and playing ring-around-the-rosy with anyone she can get up there with her.
We've had this trampoline since before Henry was two. We decided early on that we would not put up a netting enclosure, but we would focus on teaching our children how to be safe and stay away from the edges. We've spent much time in prayer over the trampoline, asking God to protect any children who ever step foot on it.

We had a trampoline accident last Sunday. Bridget was out there with Jonah and one of our neighbor boys jumping and playing. The boys decided to come in and Bridget planned to stay out and jump some more. The boys got about half way to the house when they heard Bridget crying loudly. She had decided to come in after all; and in her hurry to catch up with the boys, she chose to get down off the side of the trampoline instead of using the steps.

Coming over the side of the trampoline, Bridget slipped and fell directly on her shoulder. I heard her crying and met her in the yard. She was really upset (which is unusual for Bridget...she's a tough girl and not much makes her cry) so I brought her in to look her over.

We didn't think much of the injury and went on about our day. On Monday she was still complaining of a sore shirdle (Bridget's word for 'shoulder') and wouldn't lift her right arm up above her shoulder, so we decided she should probably see a doctor.

On Tuesday morning she had swelling and bruising on top of her right shoulder. We took her in to the local clinic, and the doctor immediately recognized signs of a broken clavicle. She sent her back for an x-ray to confirm, and it showed a crack right through her collar bone. Poor baby!

There isn't much to be done except to let the bone heal. It was so enjoyable to hear the doctor describe the way God designed our bodies to heal themselves, how she so clearly puts her faith in our true Healer! The doctor gave us a sling and asked us to keep it on as much as possible for the next 6-8 weeks. After not quite a week already, Bridget is a little tired of wearing the sling, but she is being a good sport about it. She has a little trouble getting dressed/undressed, but is otherwise not bothered by it. Her primary concern is finding out when we will let her back on the trampoline again. I'm thinking maybe when she's five! :)

Sam's wood pile

2010-11-22T08:15:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago our neighbor mentioned that the people digging her pond were going to be knocking down a big tree on her property. She said they were planning on burning it, but if we wanted it we could come and get it.

So Sam took the trailer over there, cut the tree into large sections and brought it home. It was a LOT of wood!
He spent the day splitting it (we have a splitter, which speeds up that job tremendously) and tossing it all into a big heap. I wish I had taken a 'before' picture of the pile!

The kids and I pitched in then to help stack all the wood. We stacked it three wide and fairly high...it was really a lot of wood, but made for a fun family project.
In History we have been studying George Washington, and Henry was dressed as him here. The other kids just wore their tricorn hats.
Not sure if I mentioned that it was a lot of work to get it all stacked up so nicely? Well, two days later I went outside to find the whole stack knocked over! We had left space in between each of the three stacks and not carefully stacked the pieces tightly together...and the result was that the whole thing came crashing down. I am so thankful that the kids were nowhere nearby when that happened!

It took one more evening of stacking wood (and doing it properly this time!), but now we're all stocked up for the winter. :)

Fall Fun

2010-11-22T07:58:00.003-06:00

We just love the fall in East Texas. The weather is perfect, the trees are beautiful and we spend a LOT of time outside enjoying God's creation.

In the last few weeks, we have carved/and painted pumpkins:
trunk-or-treated with friends from church:visited the zoo (which we avoid all summer because when it's too hot the animals are inactive):
practiced hunting in the backyard:
and Henry went hunting for real with his Dad and Grandpop:
We've also spent time at a local nature preserve, played at the science museum, visited a pumpkin patch, played at various parks around the area, explored the rose garden, and much, much more! :)

Jonah the Brave

2010-11-18T11:01:00.003-06:00

Jonah is our resident daredevil. While his brother is brave, Jonah truly fears nothing. He is always the first to jump in and try something and usually the one to take things too far. ;) He was the first of our kids to require stitches, and we've always assumed (until this week) that he would also be the first to break a bone.
So it was no surprise to me when we were at the park this week and Jonah came running over to where I was playing with Bridget saying, "Mom, you've gotta come see my new trick!!!"

We all walked over to the paved area where Jonah was riding his bike. He told us he would ride around the circle and do the trick when he was back in front of us.

Not bad, huh? I asked who taught him to do that trick and he said nobody had. "I just learned that I could lift up the front wheel and it's not even hard!" I really don't think he's seen anyone do it, it just seemed like a good idea.

It remained a 'good' idea until later, when he tried to repeat the trick for my friend who had showed up at the park. This time, Jonah rode around the circle, came toward us and popped a HUGE wheelie...so huge that he fell right off the back of his bike. The bike flipped completely upside-down, and Jonah landed on his rear end. He wasn't so happy about that, but it didn't stop him from hopping right back on his bike! :)

Fun Friday!

2010-11-05T08:50:00.001-05:00

It's Fun Friday...we're off to enjoy it!!! :)

(This picture is from a recent 'fun friday' excursion to the Rose Garden.)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Field Trip--Dairy Museum and Castle Park

2010-10-28T10:54:00.004-05:00

We currently have our home school scheduled into four days a week. We usually work Monday through Thursday, with Friday being either "Fun Friday" or "Field Trip Friday" depending on what we have planned. The beauty of homeschooling is that we can be flexible. This week, for example, we planned a big field trip with friends. It fell on a Tuesday, so we just rearranged the school work to suit us. Love it! :)Last week's field trip was a dual--Field trip/Fun Friday. We have been studying early American pioneers and also reading the Little House series and both had been focusing on dairy cows that week. One of our school activities was even making butter...so fun! Anyway, I remembered that a small town up the road from us has a dairy museum and I thought it would perfectly complement our studies. This small town also has the coolest park around (at least according to my kids), but since it's an hour away we don't go often.

We had a great time! Since it was a weekday, we had the entire museum to ourselves. The lady running the desk started a short film for us (about the importance of cows and how they are milked) and then left us to explore on our own. The kids enjoyed the displays and especially liked the dairy trivia game.

Outside the museum is a little culvert full of water. My little nature detective Henry found a duck's nest with some egg shells in it. He was pretty excited and tried to entice the ducks to come back to their nest, but they weren't interested. ;)
Adventure-man Jonah reached into a hole and came out with this carcass of some kind of creature. There are certainly some parts of living in East Texas that I am still not used to yet! I don't even know to what animal that belonged!
Bridget's favorite part of the morning was feeding the ducks. She used to get a piece of bread and throw the whole thing out. This time she was so consumed by tearing it up into teeny, tiny little pieces that her one piece lasted longer than the boys' two pieces did!
We had to snap a group shot before we left, since they had put up such an adorable fall display. :) I just LOVE the self-timer feature on my camera. It makes me happy.
After the Dairy Museum, we headed to the castle park. Oddly enough, I didn't take a single picture there. It was a beautiful, sunny, fall day...we had a picnic lunch and played for hours. There were a few parents and toddlers walking around and a couple of older adults walking the paths around the park, but we mostly had that place to ourselves too.

After we had spent the afternoon at the park, we headed to Sonic for mini-sundaes. Actually, Jonah and Bridget had mini-sundaes, but Henry enjoyed a plain vanilla cone. On the way home, the kids all fell asleep and I got to relax to some of my favorite music.

It was an absolutely perfect day!

Wow!

2010-10-21T23:12:00.000-05:00

Loose Tooth

2010-10-21T09:01:00.003-05:00

Henry lost one of his front teeth a few months ago and now his other top front tooth is very loose. He pulled on it a few weeks ago but at the sight (or taste?) of blood, he gave up on it. Now it's precariously hanging in there and he can twist it sideways and let it sit all wonky in his mouth. I'm thinking we're going to lose a tooth today! :)

Update at 2:20...He lost it! The tooth held up through lunch, then came out when he was eating a cookie later on. :) Henry is so excited! And I just love his new smile. Simply adorable!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T14:38:00.000-05:00

Sleepy Henry

2010-10-13T12:12:00.002-05:00

A while back Henry was working on school at the dining room table while I worked on some things in the kitchen. He came in to tell me he was done with what he had been working on and asked what he should do next. I suggested he go finish his Math, knowing that he had left some of it to do later. He replied, "Really?" I told him yes, wondering why he would question it.

Quite some time later I realized I hadn't heard from Henry in a while (and he should have been done fairly quickly with his assignment). Checking first in the dining room, I realized Henry was missing. I looked outside where Jonah and Bridget were playing, thinking that he had joined them. They said they hadn't seen him. When I walked back in the house, I saw this:

Later I had to wake him up as he was still napping at 4:00 that afternoon. I asked Henry if he had been pretty tired and he said no. When I asked him why he had decided to take a nap, he told me, "Because you told me to." I denied telling him to nap.

Henry said, "Yes you did! When I asked what I should work on next for school you said, 'why don't you go finish up your nap?'"

Florida Vacation Part 2--favorite pictures!

2010-10-11T09:48:00.004-05:00

Mary Beth felt the need to clean the outside of the door to the public restroom.

I felt the need to take a picture of her doing just that.

My father in law is a goofy guy. Here he is announcing that he's ready to go for his morning walk.

We took the kids bowling for their first time ever. Henry loved every minute of it.

Jonah enjoyed bowling too; but then again, he enjoys everything.
My sweeties on the beach. I try to take this same picture every year. There is something about it that I just LOVE.

Sam and the kids resting at the airplane museum. I have the best family ever!

I am totally and indescribably blessed to be this awesome man's wife.

Cousin love.
Somehow I missed getting Henry in this picture, but this shot shows how well they all get along.

Matthew and Bridget had so much fun on this roller. It's some kind of miracle that neither one of them got hurt on it.

The whole crew.
These are the fun people who are crazy enough to vacation with us! :)

We are so grateful to have had a chance to go to Florida once again with our very favorite people. The Lord is so good to us...to HIM be the glory!!!

Florida Vacation

2010-10-10T12:37:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday morning we headed to Florida for our annual beach vacation. We met Jon and Kelly (and Jordan and Matthew) and Dave and Mary Beth at a nearby gas station at five a.m. and hit the road.The nice thing about leaving early is that the kids sleep for the first few hours of driving. When they wake up we're already in another state and half way to our destination. We dressed the kids in their travel clothes and told them we'd get them up in the middle of the night...they were so excited they could hardly sleep!

That lack of sleep contributed to much of this on the drive down:

Sleeping kids are such WONDERFUL travelers! :)

Once we got there, we quickly unpacked, settled the house, gave the guys a shopping list (eek!) and Kelly and I took the kids to the beach.

The kids didn't waste any time jumping right in...it was breezy but that didn't stop them. They ran right down to splash in the ocean and then spent time building things in the sand.

Here's the kid crew right before we left the beach the first night...Jordan and Matthew were pretty cold by that point, but it didn't stop them from playing!

It was a beautiful drive down, and a perfect first day on the beach.

When we headed back to the house it was getting late, so we had pizza for dinner and settled in to our evening routine: kids snuggled up on the couch for a movie...

...and cards at the table for the adults!

The next day, Sam and I tried to convince everyone that we should all learn the Hoedown Throwdown (It's a Hannah Montana song. Don't worry if you haven't heard of it--I hadn't either!). We got Jon to join us and we got the first few steps nailed down before deciding we were not going to pick it up as easily as we had assumed. ;)

We spent time at the beach and the pool, but it was fairly windy (which made water activities a bit on the cool side), so we all piled into cars and went to visit the nearby Bass Pro Shop. We took the obligatory picture by the shark out front (notice my daughter is the one with her finger up her nose)...

...and saved Henry from getting eaten alive.

There was lots of time for cousin-bonding, as evidenced by these two clowns:

We spent the rest of our days doing a myriad of activities: mornings and afternoons at the beach...followed by time in the pool (in our backyard, of course!), playing at the park up the road from our house, spending a morning at the air force armament museum, going bowling (a first for our kids!), visiting the science museum, and lots of reading time for mom. :)

Henry's Poem

2010-09-29T10:57:00.001-05:00

"If I Knew", by Maud Wyman

If I knew a box where the smiles are kept,
No matter how large the key
Or strong the bolt, I would try so hard
'Twould open, I know, for me;
Then over the land and the sea broadcast,
I'd scatter the smiles to play,
That the children's faces might hold them fast
For many and many a day.

If I knew a box that was large enough
To hold all the frowns I meet,
I would like to gather them every one,
From nursery, school, and street;
Then folding and holding, I'd pack them in,
And turning the monster key,
I'd hire a giant to drop the box
To the depths of the deep, deep sea.

Bridget Mary

2010-09-28T08:20:00.004-05:00

There are so many things about Bridget as a three year old that I want to remember. :)Here are just a few:

the copet (copy) game

"How old are you?" "I'm six and half, right mom?"

adorably pudgy thighs and chubby fingers

"I love you. You're my best."

free flowing hair

skirts every day

Rufus

I know the Lord smiled when he created you, sweet girl! We love your passion for life, your joy in the people around you and your precious, sweet spirit. :)

Sign Language

2010-09-23T13:23:00.003-05:00

We've been learning about different Native American tribes in school this week. We've studied some of their different houses and locations. Today we talked about how different tribes could communicate since they didn't speak the same languages.

One of our history books has a primitive sign language guide in the back, so we went to that and decided to try and communicate with one another.

It was a fun way to learn a little bit more about another culture. Henry and I carried on a conversation about horses, 'talking' back and forth with the few signs we could get each other to understand.

Not to be outdone, Jonah jumped into the game. His message?

The teepees are on fire!

We laughed and then told him to have his horses take water back to the teepees. He responded by telling us the horses were on fire too.

What a goofball! :)

This is a pretend pout, by the way. Jonah had a bike accident a few weeks back and ended up with a pretty good case of road rash on his nose and cheeks.

ESOAL XII

2010-09-20T09:31:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was ESOAL up at Teen Mania. It is an incredible event put on for the interns every year. Many alumni come back for this event every year, and this year was especially exciting because Sam's brother David (who created and runs this event) decided to participate for the first time ever. He asked Sam to be the major of EZ company, which was comprised of forty-some former staff and interns.

Sam enjoys facilitating this event. He is very gifted when it comes to leading people and he has a way of getting right to the heart of issues that people are dealing with. In the past years that Sam has been a major, those in his company have always been extremely grateful for his particular leading style and the way he pushes them to grow and stretch their faith. (Last year he was even chosen as ESOAL Major of the Year!) This year was no different but was a little more challenging for him as Sam had his brother in his company.

David did an excellent job and really became one with his company. We caught up with him yesterday out at the lake (after the end of ESOAL) and it was so fun to hear his stories and what he gained out of the event. We are so proud of him for going through this!

We went up to visit with Sam one night and spent some time watching everything that was happening. It's very entertaining to see what these people will do voluntarily! :) I can't talk though, because I went through it myself two years ago. While we were there we ran into David's kids, who had come up to see how their Dad was doing. It's always fun to have a little cousin time!

My kids missed their Daddy so much. He was gone from Wednesday night until Sunday morning. We had a wedding to attend on Saturday evening, so he showered and cleaned up, we picked him up and went to the wedding, then dropped him back off.

Sam, David, and all of the other facilitators and participants: I am so proud of you! I hope you learned and were stretched and challenged...and I pray the lessons you take away from ESOAL will remain fresh in your minds all of your days. :)

Brian's visit

2010-09-16T07:30:00.004-05:00

My brother Brian was just here to visit for a week. He lives in Montana, so we don't get to see him often. We were able to meet up with him this Spring at my mom's house in Arizona for a quick weekend, but it's been a while since we had a good chunk of time with him.

The kids LOVE their Uncle Brian. We had so much fun getting out and doing things and also just staying home and talking. I'm so grateful for my brother!

While he was here we: ate at a few fun places that he doesn't have in Bozeman, talked him into getting a pair of Crocs (yes!), played at Sky Ranch, went to the library, went to a high school football game, spent a day out at Dave and MaryBeth's, visited IKEA and played some cards with friends.

We spent his last full day here out at Sky Ranch. We played mini-golf, jumped on the jumping pillow and swam in the party pool. It was a refreshing, relaxing way to spend our last day together and we all had a great time! :)

Now I'm busy plotting a trip to Bozeman to visit Brian next Spring or Summer. The boys and I haven't been back to Montana since we moved away, and Bridget has never even been there! I'm thinking a road trip is in order. :)

Swimming at a Friend's house

2010-09-15T14:23:00.002-05:00

A lovely couple from our church graciously offered us the use of their pool this past summer. We picked a day and made that our 'swimming day' consistently every week. Another friend and her kids met us out there, and our wonderful hostess joined us more often than not. Our hostess is an older Christian woman, and as much as I enjoyed the pool, I enjoyed my time visiting with her more. Such wisdom! I understand more and more why the Bible commands the older women to teach the younger women...they have so much more life experience to draw from and share.
Theirs is a beautiful salt-water pool, with a shallow area that has a fountain spraying up all the time. Deep enough to dive, but plenty of shallow areas for the little ones. Bridget's swimming improved dramatically this summer from our time at this pool, and half way through the summer she even gave up wearing her water wings. It was a little early for me, but she did wonderfully.
We usually tried to pack up a picnic lunch and spread out in their backyard. They live about ten minutes away from us, so it usually worked out well to swim-eat lunch-swim some more-head home for naps. It made for beautiful summer days! :)
Even though my new friends proved a little camera-shy, I still managed to snap a picture of each of them. Joce with her little granddaughter and Earl dipping his feet in the water to cool off.
Many thanks to precious Earl and Joce for opening your home to us and sharing what God has blessed you with. You are a blessing to us! :)

Bathroom Duty

2010-09-10T23:59:00.002-05:00

We went to the local high school football game tonight. My brother is in town visiting, so he was along with us and we had our neighbor boy along too. Being that we live in Texas and all there were quite a few other people at the game too (if you know Texas football at all, you understand the vast understatement I'm making here!).

Sometime after the first quarter, Bridget announced that she needed to use the bathroom. I told her I would take her, and then asked if anyone else needed to go. Both my boys and Blake said yes, so I headed off with four kids. Sam grabbed the three boys before we all walked off and very seriously told them, "Now you boys stay together. Nobody wander off. And when you go into the bathroom, you go in together and come out together." They all gave him a "Yes sir!" and off we went.

The boys headed down the bleachers ahead of me, and then turned to go down the next set before Bridget and I could catch up with them. We were delayed in the crush of people and by the time we got down to the bottom, the older two boys were gone and I found Jonah standing all alone in the middle of a big crowd of people...looking completely lost.

I caught up with him and asked where the other boys were. He was pretty upset and didn't have any idea where they had gone. We headed over to the boys bathroom and waited, and sure enough, Henry and Blake came bouncing out of there momentarily.

Grabbing Henry by the arm, I told him he needed to walk Jonah into the bathroom, wait for him and then come out and talk with me.

Bridget reminded me at this point that she really needed to go to the bathroom, but I felt like the more pressing issue was to talk with the boys about what had happened. So we waited for the boys to come out.

When they finally all three came out, I lined them up beside a post to talk with them. I was pretty far into my lecturing about listening to instructions, sticking together, strangers, obeying and everything else (I was on a pretty good roll at that point!) when someone tapped me on the arm.

"Um, excuse me, but did you have a little girl with you?"

Frantically looking around, I noticed that Bridget was no longer in my sight.

He proceeded to tell me that he had seen her walk into the men's restroom and that he would go check on her. He popped his head in there, then leaned out and waved me into the restroom. Bridget had gone right in and sat down in one of the stalls, not even noticing all the boys running in and out of there!

I grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out of there and into the ladies restroom. "Mom, why are we going in here? I already went potty!" my three year old insisted. We washed her hands and rushed back out to reunite with the three giggling boys.

Next time I'm not volunteering for bathroom duty.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T23:24:00.000-05:00

The Story of Jonah...by Jonah

2010-09-06T12:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-09-02T08:27:00.004-05:00

Last week I celebrated my 32nd birthday, surrounded by family and friends.

I just LOVE birthdays. I've never understood people who don't really enjoy celebrating. :)

My wonderful friend Beth decided that I need a girl's night for my birthday and invited this lovely group of ladies out to dinner and ice cream...we had a blast! It was so fun and refreshing to get out with the girls. There was much laughter!
And on my actual birthday, my incredible mother-in-law invited us to dinner at their house. When we showed up, I found that she had invited Jon and Kelly and family to join us, and she had decorated the table with balloons and all different colored napkins and things...it was a party! :)

Mary Beth served us a wonderful dinner and followed it up with this beautiful chocolate cake:

I felt so honored and loved on my birthday. What fun to have friends and family around to share in our celebrations of life!

Henry's Bullseye

2010-08-28T17:22:00.002-05:00

Guess I shouldn't have taken the picture straight-on, because now you can't see the arrow! It's right at the top of the yellow bullseye. Henry wasn't strong enough to shoot his bow last year, but this year he is doing really well with it.

After he shot the bullseye, Henry came running inside to tell me all about it. After much praise and sharing in the excitement, Henry walked away from the target. As he left he smiled and said, "I am just so jealous of myself!"

He saw me start to giggle and followed it up with, "I don't even know what that means!"

And another quote from Henry, at the dinner table tonight as he was talking with his dad...."I think we should try and hunt back behind our property. I'm pretty sure there is a lot of doe out there." :)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-25T11:50:00.000-05:00

(Guess she was tired!)

Henry the Hunter

2010-08-24T08:14:00.002-05:00

When we were expecting Henry we briefly considered the name "Hunter" for him. We just really liked it, but as Sam is an avid hunter we finally decided not to go that route.

Last year Henry really got into hunting with his Dad. He really hasn't stopped talking about it since...camoflauge brings it to mind, guns, bows, magazines...just about anything can spark hunting talk around here. But even that love for all things hunting does not explain why, when my son colors a picture of a moose, he feels the need to draw in the 'kill spot' and a tongue sticking out. He made sure to point out to me that the eyes are red because he's dead.

BOYS! :)

First day of school!

2010-08-23T12:42:00.004-05:00

It's the first day of school today!!!
The kids are excited and so am I. As much as I have enjoyed summer, I do crave routine and a predictable schedule. I'm looking forward to getting a semi-regular routine down again and having some fun with our new curriculum.

Henry (age 7) is beginning the second grade today. He is starting the "My Father's World" curriculum (for Bible, history, geography, music, art) and we just love it. He enjoys Singapore math (with the exception of word problems, which just seem to elude his understanding), so we're continuing on with that this year, and "Spelling by Sound and Structure" and "First Language Lessons" round out the rest of language arts. His favorite part of today was setting up our timeline that we'll be adding to throughout this year. I had him draw pictures of every member of the family and put them up in the appropriate places. :)

Jonah (age5) will be working on the ABC series from Rod and Staff. These books are gentle, sweet and perfect for our little bear. They cover Bible lessons, pre-reading skills, math, following directions and much more. He started this series last year and will complete it this year. He is also working through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and is really excited to learn to read this year. He'll participate in much of Henry's lessons (at his own level). Jonah also has a CD curriculum that was his very favorite part of school today.

Bridget (age 3) has no formal curriculum planned for this year. She'll sit in and participate in Bible lessons and she loves any read-aloud time she can get. Some days she will have short assignments (coloring pages, simple mazes, etc...) and I also have special games that are only for school time (memory, lacing beads, puzzles, etc...). Bridget is wonderful at entertaining herself, so she really requires very little supervision during my teaching times with the boys. My goal this year is for her to begin sitting quietly at the table with us and learning to follow specific directions.

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is the amount of time it takes. They are typically done with all their schoolwork before lunch time, leaving us every afternoon free. We also have plenty of time for field trips and getting together with friends throughout the week. It allows my kids so much freedom and room for creativity...and I wouldn't trade that for anything! :)

The Wedding

2010-08-18T09:32:00.002-05:00

Our friends Charity and Reynaldo were married on July 31st, Bridget's birthday.

It was the first wedding our kids have attended and they were SO excited about it! Henry just loves to get dressed up, and his first question was, "Do you think it would be appropriate if I dressed 'cowboy' for the wedding?" I told him I thought that would be nice, and Jonah ended up following Henry's lead.

Henry just loved all the details from the wedding. After seeing the bride, he leaned over to Sam and said, "I didn't know they even made dresses that beautiful!". He also enjoyed the table decorations at the reception. Jonah's favorite part was the actual ceremony. He was very intent on what was happening and what was said. They both wanted to know at which exact moment the couple was actually married. :)

I had a green dress set out to wear, but Bridget insisted I wear blue to match her. I thought that was a grand idea, and since it was her birthday, I obliged.

Sam went casual and wore a brown shirt and shorts. Some were giving him a hard time about it until his brother pointed out the blue stitching in his shirt and suggested Sam had worn it to match me. So that made it perfect! (By the way, I tried VERY hard to get a nice picture of Sam and Bridget but one of them was always making a face...and it wasn't always Bridget!)

After the wedding, we headed to Cracker Barrel with Sam's folks to celebrate Bridget's birthday with them. It was a great evening and a wonderful way to celebrate!

Bridget's birthday celebration

2010-08-18T09:00:00.003-05:00

I already posted about Bridget turning three a few weeks ago, but it still hasn't set in yet that my BABY is three years old! I was over talking with my neighbor yesterday and said, "I'd better get home since I left Bridget over there alone." and she said, "Yes you'd better go check on your three year old." I wanted to correct her and say, "You mean my two year old!" but I caught myself just in time. :)

Bridget's birthday fell on a Saturday this year. That day Sam had to work in the morning/afternoon and we had a wedding to attend later in the day. We decided to celebrate with Sam and the neighbor kids on Friday afternoon, and then on her birthday morning her brothers and I took her to her favorite museum. We met some friends there for more cupcakes and just had a fun morning.

Even though Bridget had an Elmo cake last year, that was her request again this year. I wanted to try something new, so we made Elmo cupcakes! I couldn't find the decorator tip that I really wanted to use, so they didn't turn out quite like I pictured. It took me a while to admit it, but I do like them and think they are cute.
My good friend Beth came over to spend some time with Bridget on Friday. Boo was still napping when Beth arrived, so she helped me finish up the Elmo cupcakes. It was fun to have a little help in the kitchen, especially since I was a little disappointed in the outcome. Beth is a great encourager and helped me see the cupcakes in a new light. That's what friends are for!
After Bridget got up, we gathered the neighbor kids and headed to our next-door neighbor's pool for a little swimming. Hope and Blake came, along with their mom Kari:
And so did Claire, with her mom Simone. (It was Claire's pool that we were swimming in.)
Hope and Blake and Kari joined us after swimming for a special birthday dinner of pancakes (Bridget's request!), and then Claire and Simone came over to help us eat the Elmo cupcakes.
It was such a fun evening! Then the next morning Bridget woke up to a birthday crown and chocolate cheerios for breakfast. We had a fun morning at the museum and then headed home for some bike riding.
Grandma and Jim gave Bridget a new basket, bell and tassels for her bike and she was pretty excited to try them all out! She has been carrying Rufus and her babies around in that basket ever since.
Happy Birthday my little THREE year old! We love you and are so glad that the Lord graced us with you as a part of our family. :)

Toothless Tuesday

2010-08-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

Henry lost one of his front teeth last week! :)

Visit with family

2010-08-16T09:25:00.003-05:00

We had the privilege of hosting Sam's cousin Andrew and family a few weeks back. They stayed with us a few days while they were in town to see Kali graduate from the Honor Academy and then they moved her up to Oklahoma for school.

We just LOVE this family! They are such a great group.

Here's TJ with the boys. TJ is the kind of guy who just always has a good attitude about everything. He got up early every morning to play with the kids and did anything they asked him.
Kali with Jordan. Sweet siblings. :)
Jordan with Bridget. She had him wrapped around her finger. And he even protected her from the evil Chuck E. Cheese when we went there to play!
Just the guys. Andrew is a lot of fun to have around. My boys enjoyed his attention very much and were so sad to see this group of guys head home at the end of the weekend.
Hopefully we'll make it up to Colorado to see you all again soon! :)

Jonah at Day Camp

2010-08-12T07:55:00.002-05:00

Jonah had SO much fun at Sky Ranch day camp this summer. He wanted (I mean REALLY wanted) to go to overnight camp. He wasn't old enough and we didn't think he would have been ready anyway. :)

Every day was so packed with activities that I don't think they had a moment of down time. They swam in the pool, went down waterslides, had Bible studies, jumped on the jumping pillow, played putt-putt golf, swam in the lake, played carnival games, went out on canoes, and rode the super-banana behind a boat. He had a blast at each activity and came home exhausted every single night.

Jonah loved all the kids he spent the week with. He actually already knew a couple of them from church, but his favorite were the counselors. Jonah was the youngest camper in his group, so he kind of became their mascot.

Jonah's two counselors were both amazing, but he really bonded with Dre (the one on the left). Every day he came home with stories of the funny things Dre had said and done. Dre felt the same way and told us that he hoped Jonah would be back next year so they could hang out again.
Each of the campers received an award at the end of the week. Jonah's was the "Got Milk" award, and as they explained it....just like everyone needs milk every day, everyone needs a dose of Jonah every day. ;)

Bridget (aka Snow White) was quite excited to pick Jonah up at the end of the week. Even though he was home in the evenings, he didn't have much energy left to play; and Bridget really missed having him as a playmate! She even offered to carry his bag out for him:

We are so glad that our kids have an opportunity to go to Sky Ranch summer camp! They are making memories that will last them a lifetime, but they are also learning more about the Lord and His plan for their lives.

Next year Jonah will be old enough for overnight camp and he can't wait! I'm hopeful that he and Henry will get to be in the same cabin...what a great experience for them!

Flower Beds

2010-08-11T07:51:00.004-05:00

Sam's latest home improvement project was the flower beds in front of our house.

Ever since we moved in I have fought a losing battle to make these 'pretty'. Between the dogs and the kids (and even the adults around here!) someone was always walking THROUGH the flower beds, riding a bike across them, kicking up bark or DIGGING holes in them.

Twice I replanted the areas with beautiful perennials, but the flowers really didn't stand a chance. It was just too easy and convenient to walk on through there.

On the left side of the sidewalk, we ripped everything out and replanted the two things that still showed signs of life elsewhere. Sam redid the landscape fabric and ground cover and planted two nice, hardy bushes flowering bushes. He left lots of space in between them, so if people STILL feel the need to walk through there, they won't trample the flowers.

On the other side (which was really the disaster area), Sam poured concrete and filled in all but three little squares. In those squares, he placed whiskey barrels and surrounded them with bark. He let me pick out flowers to fill them and they turned out beautifully!

Sam ran a drip system to all of them so that I don't have to try and remember to water them, since I'm not very good at that!

It's taken a few years, but we finally have COLOR in front of our house. Sam also put up hanging baskets on both sides of the porch (with a drip watering them too, of course) to add a little more beauty. I think he did an amazing job of prettying up our front porch! :)
Thanks, Sam! You always have the BEST ideas. :)

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

2010-08-03T09:07:00.004-05:00

This is a story of two brothers, Chad and Ryan. Raised in a Christian home, as adults they both truly lived out their faith in Jesus Christ. Each was married with a wonderful wife and sweet little children (Chad-two kids, Ryan-three).

Chad suffered from liver disease and was lately in the final stages of the disease. Ryan was his perfectly healthy younger brother.

Chad was placed on the list for organ donation and Ryan selflessly offered part of his own liver to save his brother's life.
Surgeries were scheduled for the morning of July 29. Chad's diseased liver was to be removed completely. 60% of Ryan's liver was to be removed from him and given to his brother.

On the evening of July 28th, the families gathered together at Chad's house to pray, laugh and share communion together. The next morning they headed in to the hospital early to get started.

All went seemingly well with the surgeries.
Chad's body immediately accepted his brother's liver and started the healing process. Color came back into Chad's face and by the next day he was already up and walking around the hospital.

Ryan's body was weary after the surgery. He was in pain (which was considered normal, given the surgery he had just undergone) and had trouble sleeping.

Sometime during the night of July 31, Ryan went "code blue" and had to be resuscitated. He spent the next days on life support while doctors tried to determine if he still exhibited any brain activity and the family rallied around and called for prayer support.
Ryan was removed from life-support on the evening of August 2, 2010.

John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

I don't know that I've ever seen a more clear example of this passage (with the exception of Jesus himself) lived out on Earth.

(This is a picture of Ryan.)
Chad is a good friend of ours. He held Sam up during a particularly difficult time in his life and spent time at our house while doing some contract work here in Texas. He is very dear to our family.

Will you join us in prayer for Chad and his family? He has just lost his brother in a most tragic way, and yet still must find the courage to continue healing and LIVING. Please pray for Ryan's wife Shannon and their three kids as they navigate a life drastically changed by Ryan's sacrificial gift to his brother. Also their parents, siblings, and other family members who are all dealing with the loss of a loved one.

(This is Chad with our son Jonah.)

Chad asked the following to be posted on the caring bridge website after the surgery:

God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before Him.
When I got my act together,
He gave me a fresh start.
Now I'm alert to God's ways;
I don't take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways He works;
I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
and I'm watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes.
- Psam 118, MSG

Bridget's third birthday

2010-07-31T06:38:00.002-05:00

I can't believe my baby is three years old already. Seems like maybe she could be turning two today, maybe...but not THREE! :) I'm once again amazed at how quickly time can fly.

Bridget's favorite things this year would probably include: Swimming, swimming and swimming. This girl is a FISH (which is ironic to me since that was Henry's nickname for her before she was born). She already swims quite well without any flotation devices. I usually will let her swim a while until she starts to tire and then make her put on her arm floaties.

She is a sweet little girl who loves her daddy. Most who know her would think of Bridget as a mama's girl, but she LOVES her daddy. She cares more about what he thinks than anyone and she is always seeking to please him. Lucky for her, that isn't hard to do as he adores his daughter! They have a precious relationship.

Bridget doesn't (and has never) liked loud noises. She wasn't a fan of the fireworks on the Fourth of July because they were just too noisy. In the picture above, Sam had just lit a campfire and the wood was popping and snapping...it was clearly too loud for Boo but she didn't want to miss out on a chance to sit by the fire! :)
A little girl at church does a great impersonation of Bridget...she pops her thumb in her mouth and grabs a stuffed animal to hold to her chin...it's hilarious! So apparently even other 2-3 year olds understand Bridget's thumb/Rufus addiction. This is Bridget's tired face. She's doing somewhat better about not sucking her thumb but we haven't pushed it too hard. (And all you moms who would love to warn me about how bad it might be for her teeth...I know! Her dentist is well aware of her habit and isn't too concerned about it yet.) I love that it brings her comfort, and it's always a sign for us that Bridget is either tired or uncomfortable with a situation.

One of Bridget's favorite people in the world is her Grandpop. She always has a smile and hug for him, no matter what else might be going on. I have loved watching their relationship develop.

Bridget is not a fan of crowds or groups of people that she doesn't know. She is the most out-going, cheerful, happy child until she is placed in an uncomfortable situation. Then she turns shy and doesn't have much to say. Often when given enough time she warms up in these situations, but it has to be on her terms...she'll warm up when she is ready. :)

Bridget is such a joy in our lives! Having a little girl is very different than having boys and I'm so grateful that God blessed us with a daughter. I am forever changed by being a mom of a daughter.

Things Bridget loves:

her brothers
Rufus
wearing skirts
pancakes
shoes (any and all shoes, but mostly flip-flops and sandals at the moment)
Mickey Mouse and Dora
riding her bike
George Bush (the cat who used to belong to Henry...Bridget claimed Nugget the dog as hers and asked Henry to trade with her. So now GB is Bridget's.)
PINK!
taking pictures, but not having her own picture taken
reading books
baby dolls

Bridget's first haircut

2010-07-28T08:46:00.005-05:00

22 days shy of her third birthday, Bridget finally had her very first haircut.

I've been tempted to cut it before, but in the past Sam has said no. He wasn't ready for her to look 'older' or grown up or anything. His baby didn't need a haircut.Only she did need a haircut. After her shower one night, as I was combing out the tangles and trying to get Boo to sit still, I asked her if she wanted a haircut. She asked, "A short cut?" I said, "No but let's just trim it up a bit."

Bridget was very excited! I set her booster chair up on the kitchen table so she was just the right height.
We had to take 'before' pictures, of course! When Bridget's hair is dry it is pretty curly, so I was a little nervous that I might be snipping off her only curls. (Luckily enough, her hair is still adorably curly/wavy even after her haircut.)
Her hair was uneven in the back and had driven me crazy for quite some time. Nobody else ever noticed it (because of her crazy curls) but I am the one who always combed out her hair.

We didn't tell Sam. Just waited for him to notice when he got home. He actually didn't notice right away, he just kept telling Bridget how pretty she looked with her hair combed out. She always has a pretty good case of crazy hair, so people always notice when it's brushed properly. :)
I saved a perfect little coil of hair in a ziploc bag and labeled it "Bridget's first haircut", so after a few minutes when Sam didn't say anything about the haircut, I pulled it out and showed him. He was pleasantly surprised! I wasn't sure he would approve, but he thinks it looks adorable and totally supported my decision. Good thing, because it was too late to go back at that point! ;)

I didn't take a picture of it after it dried, but it is just the cutest hair style on our little Boo. She's getting so big! And now it's only three days until she turns three years old. Where has the time gone??? My precious little daughter-my joyful gift from God (who knew how blessed I would be by a little girl in our family) is growing up!

A week without Henry

2010-07-12T08:39:00.003-05:00

It was wild around here without Henry last week.

One nice thing about it was that it gave me some precious time with Jonah and Bridget. They missed their big brother but also stepped into new roles while he was gone. Jonah enjoyed the 'social director' position that Henry usually takes over. Bridget was willing to follow along with most anything Jonah wanted to do, but Jonah was also willing to spend copious amounts of time playing dolls/dishes/dress-up with his sister. He's sweet like that. Plus he likes wearing the high heels. ;)

We kicked off the week with fireworks on the Fourth. We went up to Sky Ranch; even though we had to watch from a different area from the campers, we got to see the same show. It was incredible! They did such an excellent job.

We saw friends there, like Jonah's favorite person in the world-Joe Bellinger:

Bridget was SO very excited to see the fireworks, but when they finally started she was very scared. She liked the way the look up in the sky; however, she was just terrified of the sounds. So she spent the evening like this (even though it was 80 degrees out):

Before the fireworks, the kids and I headed out to the lake to swim a bit. Then Dave and Mary Beth joined us for the show:

We bought some small fireworks for the kids to see at home, and Bridget felt a little more brave about the whole thing. She still isn't a fan of the noises but discovered that if she just plugs her ears it isn't quite so bad. :)

The kids and I went to a dollar movie while Henry was gone too. We very rarely see movies in the theater, so it was a pretty big treat! We watched "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown" which, even though we've seen all the other Ice Age movies, we somehow hadn't seen before. It was very fun! The theater even offers one dollar popcorn and drinks, so we had the full experience.

After the movie I treated the kids to ice cream. We love Braum's, but it's all the way on the other side of town so we don't go often. Both Jonah and Bridget chose Cherry Lime-ade ice cream (which sounded very odd to me but was really refreshing!) and they enjoyed every last bite of it.

Also last week, Sam and I watched the mileage in our car turn over from 999,999 miles...

...to 100,000 miles! It was a fun milestone for our van. :)

Jonah and Bridget enjoyed a few bubble baths together while Henry was gone also. It's a little crowded in the tub with three kids now, so they don't often get bubble baths together anymore. I think I had forgotten how much they enjoy them!

We also attended a story time summer reading event at our local library one day, and another day we headed into Dallas with Mary Beth to get some shopping done.

It was a fun week and we tried to stay busy so we wouldn't notice how much we missed Henry. :) It's amazing how one child can change the dynamics of a family so much. Even the way that Jonah and Bridget interact was very different while Henry was gone.

He left a hole in our lives while he was away at camp, but he's back home now. It's so good to have our family all together again! :) This week really gave me a new perspective on parenting. I've always known that I am raising my children for the purpose of sending them out into the world, but I had a lot of time to reflect on that this week while Henry was away. It's given me a renewed vision for how I want our parenting to look and which things I really want to focus on during these younger years. Thank you Lord for my kids! May they always strive to know YOU and make YOU known. :)