Tulip Time

Nothing says spring like the Tulip Festival. We headed up for the weekend. It worked out great since J has a business meeting and T and M needed help moving.

E joined us for the day so T and M could finish moving. Here the kids are sitting in the big wooden shoes. I was very proud of Blake who gave up his shoe so E could get in for the picture.

Blake looking at the catch.

So this is the best picture of all the kids. We have tried to take cousin pictures in the past and they all look like this. There is always one who isn't looking.

B and L loved the swing ride. This is their second time on it. I took E on the first time and knew my stomach couldn't handle a second spin.

B and L loved the horse carts you could sit in. The favorite show to watch in the O house is Little House on the Prairie so in this picture B is pretending to be Pa and L is either Ma or her usual character, Laura.

Look what the stork brought us!!!

Peter and the dyke has been the favorite story so far in our Holland unit study. I didn't realize they had Steak and Shake's back then!!!:)

The Tulips were beautiful this year. It was a great weekend. We hadn't planned on this being a full weekend trip since we've been traveling so much but it was a lot of fun and we may be doing the same thing in a couple of weeks as J has another business meeting.

Cousinly Love

Achievement Night

Last night we went to Achievement night for HGH. We have loved co-op so much and see it as such a blessing to be a part of.

Here is L and R. This is normally how I find them at co-op, holding hands and smiling. Blake is also good friends with one of R's older brothers and we will definitely be seeing them over the summer for the kids to play.

L's ballet class got to show off their skills.

L really enjoyed ballet class along with all her other classes.

Here is B with his Spanish class. B loves co-op and he looks forward to it every week. The kids have already started to pick out classes for next fall but in the meantime we will be having our HGH friends over through the summer to play.

Daddy's Girl

Thankful: Girls Night

So tonight L and I went out with my grandma and sisters for a Girls Night. I think everyone had a great time. L always loves getting to go out with the girls. Tonight was even more special since she was the only one to come with me. I'm so glad that L gets to spend time with her great grandma and now she is at an age she will remember it. After we had dinner with everyone, L and I headed to Target to pick up a few things. I love spending one on one time with the kids.

Spring has Sprung

My handsome, toothless boy. He is still trying to figure out how to smile with those teeth missing. I can't figure out if he is trying to hide the gap or trying to show it off.

H looking as cute as ever.

Well when I saw L's pictures all I could think of was, "When did she get so big???".

Toothless

So B lost both front teeth within 3 days of each other. The first was a victim to a piece of corn on the cob and the other fell out after B hit his mouth on the end of J and my bed. It was loose so it wasn't like he really knocked it out. Now I know I used to work in a dental office and I have assisted with many teeth being pulled. But for some reason I don't seem to handle my own child loosing teeth. For a week B loved to come up to me and push his VERY loose tooth out at me and it would just completely gross me out. He thought it was hilarious. L also didn't handle B losing his front teeth well. The first one came out during Shabbat meal and L cried for 10 minutes because she thought B looked like a monster.

I got myself up.....So now what????

Books, Books, and a Few More Books

I really don't think we can get any more books. Every evening I usually pick up Bibles, school books, picture books, board books, programming books, J's new stock market books, along with other various books that make their way up or down into the Living room. Did I mention that this is the job that has to be done before I reward myself.....by snuggling up with a good book.

H has already started adding to the pile of books. She loves to make her way over to her little basket of toys and pull out all of her new birthday books. The Hungry Caterpillar is her favorite. I think she likes it because it's the perfect size for her to lay back and hold.

And this is how you will normally find B when he's reading. I have no idea why!!!

So I know that I said we didn't need any more books but I know it's a habit that will never be broken. This Saturday I'm suppose to go to an Usborne party. Not the place for a book addict to be!!!

A Night to Remember

It is a night to be observed for the LORD for having brought them out from the land of Egypt; this night is for the LORD, to be observed by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations. Exodus 12:41-43

This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

The two older kids did great during the Seder and we made it through the whole thing. H was put down to bed after the First cup though.

B found the Afikomen with the help of L holding a flashlight. J had hid it in the Family room and had forgotten that the lights are temporarily not working right now. So we had two kids searching with a flashlight. A great chance to talk about Jesus being our light and guiding us in the right direction!!!

Weekend Away

J and I headed down to Indy for the State Homeschooling Convention. It was a lot of fun and we got many new ideas and spent a small fortune in the vendor hall.

It was so nice to be away with no kids. The first time in 21 months!!! We did some shopping and had a yummy dinner at the Spaghetti Factory.

Meridian Street was beautiful with all the flowering trees. It was a great reminder that spring is on its way.

One Year Check

So H had her one year check today and she made it to 18lbs and almost reached the tenth percentile. Yeah!!! The Dr. said we still need to keep an eye on development since she still isn't up on all fours crawling but he thinks she will catch up. He says we need to remember she was born 4 weeks early and that is considered a preemie so she does have a little catching up to do. I always forget this fact. She has quite a fast army crawl though and when she can find something low enough she is trying to pull herself up in the last couple of weeks. She doesn't like the feeling as though she is going to fall which I'm sure isn't a good thing when learning how to walk. We also think we found our solution to her extreme constipation. Apple Juice....seems to do the trick better than anything else I have tried.

Here she is attempting to crawl or maybe even stand up.

Let Me Check My Ipod.....

Yep it looks like I'm free that day.

We Were Not Dissapointed

So for H's first birthday we had J's family come over and we celebrated not only H's birthday but also E's 2nd. It was a "Very Hungary Caterpillar" Party. After eating a picnic food dinner it was time for "The Cake". Now both B and L both weren't really into their cakes. B didn't want to get his hands dirty so he wouldn't touch it and L just picked at hers. J and I had high hopes that H would finally be our child who would dive right in. At first I was a little nervous but in the end she did not disappoint.

"Oooooh, Ahhhhh!!!"

"O.K. that is really enough of that singing."

"They just set a whole cake in front of me."

"They didn't say anything about the first hand so let's try the other."

"And now for a taste."

"This is a dream come true."

"Hmm so there is banana cake under the good tasting, gooey stuff on top."

E Then got to blow out her candles. She was not at all impressed with our singing and I thought she was going to start crying. She had a great attempt at blowing out her candles though.

Happy Birthday E and H!!!!

My Have You Grown

Sweet Birthday Girl

March 27, 2009 at 6:45pm

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday J!!!!!!!

The Birthday buddies again.

So J wanted me to make this cake that looked like his old RX7. I didn't want to make black frosting so figured I would make a red one. Well......it came out more of a hot pink color. It's the effort that counts right. This cake was also sprung on me the morning of his birthday. So J I hope you enjoy your bright pink cake and I hope you know that I wouldn't have made a cake like this at last minute for anybody but you. I love you...a bunch.

Surprise Birthday Trip

So J's birthday present was a surprise trip to Fort Wayne so he could hear one of his favorite preachers in person. It took much planning to keep this is a surprise. I would pack a little and then shove the suitcase back in it's usual storage space. I didn't let the kids on what we were doing exactly and they didn't know we were going to be gone overnight. We were half way there before J figured it out!!!

The kids always enjoy staying in a hotel.

H loved splashing Daddy.

The two birthday buddies.

It was a lot of fun to go away and just relax on Saturday without any plans. Sunday service was great too but I forgot to take pictures.

Thankful: Spring is Coming!!!

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I hope you don't have "Privacy"!!!

So L is really into asking what words mean lately. Today in her Samantha book she wanted to know what a hem was. She loves learning new words. Well last night I realized that I need to teach more definitions of the words L hears. Here is how the conversation went...........

L: "Mommy I went to the bathroom and had privacy." (She seemed upset and I thought she meant B had walked in on her and just had the wording wrong.)
M:"Did B walk in by accident?"
L:"No, I had privacy!!!"
M:"Why are you upset that you had privacy?"
L:"Because maybe I'm getting sick"
M:"Do you know what privacy means?" (Long Pause.) It means that you have time to yourself."
L:"Oh." (very confused look)
M:It then hits me. "Do you mean you had diarrhea?" (trying not to laugh)
L:"Yeah, That's what I meant!!!"

So I'm really wondering what L must have thought when mommy would say, "I just need some privacy." L wasn't sick. She just had that one episode of "privacy".

Recipe: Chicken Cacciatore

This recipe is great for those crazy kinds of days. It makes the house smell wonderful too!!!



3lb chicken pieces(I use drumsticks.)

4c tomatoes, chopped

1 green pepper, cut in strips

2 onions, thinly sliced(I only use 1.)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1tsp. salt

1 tbs. fresh oregano or 1tsp. dried

1tbs. fresh basil or 1/2 tsp. dried

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4c white wine(optional. I don't use.)

1c mushrooms,chopped (optional)



Combine in slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over pasta or noodles. (I love recipes where the prep time can be written on one line!!!)

Thankful:New Beginnings

So I haven't been keeping up with my "Thankful" posts. But this is a new beginning as that is a theme running through my everyday lately. I've changed many things in my schedule. Our homeschooling, house cleaning, grocery shopping, and evening schedules have all changed in the last couple of months. I'm still trying to mesh them all together but I think once it happens it is going to be great. So today I am thankful for new leading, new calling, new vision, new grace, and new beginnings.

Focused on Multigenerational Faithfulness

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gate

Unwelcome House Guest's: Where I Draw the Line on Hospitality

The Flying Squirrel
The flying squirrel is crazy.
Though he has no feathers (much less wings),
He scampers up into the tallest tree
And cries, “Toot-toot! I'm a parachute!”
And away off the highest branches he springs
Into empty air, spreading every hair,
His arms and legs spread wide to the side,
Till he lands with a thump that's almost quiet......
Admire it child but don't try it.
John Gardner (in Eric Carle's Animals, Animals)

So we have been having problems with Flying Squirrels the last couple of months. Yes we had one actually get into our house and yes I was ready to put the "For Sale" sign up. I think we have things taken care of now. As soon as we hired somebody to take care of things we haven't had a problem. I think the flying squirrels tapped our phone lines and as soon as they heard "Humane Euthanasia" they packed up camp. Oh and just so you know, Flying Squirrels are CRAZY!!!