Happy Birhtday Isaiah!

8 years ago today we had our very first little boy, Isaiah. Peter and I were married for 3 months when we found out we were expecting.(we had discussed waiting 5 years to start a family HA glad we went with God's plan and not our own) I was scared.I didn't think I could have a baby, or be a mom. But the most amazing thing happened,with the Lord strengthening me I did both. Isaiah was born the day before our one year anniversary. We always tell him he was the best anniversary gift we ever received. Each day we have had with Isaiah has been a gift. He is really just an amazing kid. Peter and I have spent many an evening talking about him and all the wonderful things he does, the little man he is becoming, and how we could never imagine our lives without him. He is gifted with compassion and a love of people. He is unashamed of His love for God and what he has seen God do. He is a wonderful student and it is truly a joy to teach him.He is an amazing big brother, patient, and kind. He really is just a cool kid to hang out with. Isaiah's name means "God is Salvation" and that has been our prayer from the very start, that Isaiah would know the true and living God and that he would come to know salvation through Him.

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.
My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion Pro 3:19-21


I am in awe that God chose me to be the mom of such a wonderful boy. He has enriched my life in ways I never could imagined. Happy Birthday Isaiah I love you!


This morning I made Isaiah (and Elijah) m&m pancakes, complete with candles.

Look how grown up he looks this morning! 8 years old!

Elijah was not going to miss out on the fun, so he too got pancakes with candles to blow out. Isaiah is such a good sport about sharing the spot light!

PS Today's song is for Isaiah. It's his favorite song so I thought I'd add it for him today.

Someone stole our Car!

Yeah I thought that title would get your attention. Our little clunker car was "stolen" but not on purpose. I run out on Rt 6. I park at the little rest area and run out and then run back. Tonight I did what I've done many many times. I had a great run. The leaves are amazing and the weather was perfect. As I was rounding the little bend before the rest area I noticed the car was gone. There was also a logging truck so I thought maybe I couldn't see my car because of the truck. But as I got closer I realized the car was really gone. The rest area is about a mile and half from my house. I really wasn't looking forward to running the rest of the way home. But what choice did I have. So I started off. I thought maybe if someone drove by that I knew I could hitch a ride...to no avail. Then I started to get sad, and the tears started to come. I saw a truck and waved them done. Two local guys gave me a ride up the street to the house. I came in to tell my hubby that car had been "stolen". So frantically we looked for the state police number. We finally found it and the guy on the other end already knew about our car being "missing". Apparently someone on Rt 6 called for a tow. The tow truck driver saw our car (LOL if you've seen our Honda you'd understand) and assumed that was the car he was suppose to tow, so he did, all the way to Princeton 25 min away. He called the police to let them know that someone might call to report the car stolen and that he was on his way to return it. Low and behold when we drove to the rest area there it was, exactly where I had left it. Hope you have a good chuckle on me!!

Isaiah's 8th Birthday Party

Isaiah had his crazy bash this year. Unfortunately this year we did not have nice weather. For the past 7 years he has had BEAUTIFUL weather on his birthday party. Isaiah has many friends and we tried to limit it this year just because it gets so large. But Isaiah's friends have siblings and they all want to come to so it always ends up being a massive amount of kids. Usually this isn't a problem since we are outside and they can spread out. This year they were all in my relatively small house. The kids all seemed to have a great time.

Isaiah always picks a theme and this year it was Phineas and Ferb (Disney Chanel in case you have no idea what I am talking about) In the show two brothers always create something to pass their summer vacation day away. So in that spirit the kids were invited to create Isaiah's biggest birthday cake EVER! They ate pizza and watched Phineas Ferb. We played some indoor games which were a big hit.(although my outdoor games would have been awesome) and then they created "the cake". After gifts we let the kids go to the basement for air hockey and the jumpy house.

I will get more sentimental about my oldest turning 8 on his actually birthday but for now enjoy the crazy pictures!

After the party I asked Isaiah "Of all the parties you've had so far which one has been your favorite?" He responded the way he does every year to this question "This one was my favorite" It is just such a joy to do something for my kids that they will always remember.

Here is Isaiah and the two Emma's. Isaiah and Emma D have been friends since birth really and Emma M and Isaiah have always had a special bond and Isaiah would often say "I am going to marry Emma"
This is the crazy scene. All the kids eating pizza on the floor watching Phineas and Ferb
Playing the "detective candy game" this was a HUGE hit!
So here is the cake in progress. Only a child would want to eat this! They had so much fun and it was worth every bit of the mess!
Yummm Frosting, sprinkles, m&m's OH MY


Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you!
Blow out the candles!
Isaiah's new BIKE!

Rice Bag Project

We are participating in Sonlights Rice Bag Project. We are joining with Sonlight families from at least 49 states and 21 countries, including Mozambique, Switzerland, and Australia! For the next 8 weeks we will be learning about India via Sonlight provided emails and resources. As we learn and pray for the people of India we are also collecting our loose change to place into small "rice bags" After the 8 weeks all the money we have collected will go to Mission India. This organization gives the gift of literacy (mostly to women). In doing so they are able to experience the power of God's Word and meet Jesus. Today we watched a short video about one woman's story and how Mission India touched her life. It was very powerful. Both the boys were struck with how different of a world she lived in. Isaiah was especially touched that many of the mom's can't read. He said "well who will teach the kids?" The video explained that girls do not attend school. Most women never learn to read. I know for me personally I got saved by reading the Word of God. What an amazing opportunity to in a small way give the gift of ready God's Word to women who may never have the chance other wise. We are so excited to see how God will use us to change the lives of women and families in India. So pray! I'll keep you posted on how God uses this personally in our lives. I am expecting Him too! The boys have already given to the rice bags. And today when we went to get the mail I found a dime in the parking lot. The boys screamed with excitement "put it the bag put it the bag"

A Few Facts we learned today!

Despite its relatively small physical size, every sixth person in the world lives in India!
Consider this: you would need to multiply the U.S. population by four—and move everyone east of the Mississippi River—to make our nation comparable in size to India.

India is the fastest growing country on earth
It is home to over 2,500 distinct people groups
Over 1,600 languages and dialects are spoken across India
200 million Indian women cannot read or write
Nearly half of Indian girls are married by age 18
Over 820 million people in India earn less than $2 a day

In the first map below this is how man sees the World. Everything is divided. In the second map of the World is how God sees it. There are no boundaries. It's all mixed and connected!

Here's the link to Mission India: www.missionindia.org

Our Amazing Skin!

We usually do our science experiment day on Thursdays or Fridays but because we had some sick kiddos last week I am again dying to my schedule. It's good for me it really is.


So today we learned about our amazing skin. We learned that our skin stretches ( I already knew this after watching by belly expand with boy the boys but this was news to them) To illustrate this I drew caterpillars on their arms and they opened and close their arms to watch the caterpillar expand and shrink. They LOVED this. Partly because they got to have a drawing on their arm and that the result was the same each time they did it. It was fun to hear them give voices to the caterpillar. I did not draw one on my arm in case you are wondering.
We also learned how sweat is our skins way of releasing water from our body to cool ourselves off. We put water on the back of one hand and none on the other. Then we blew on both hands. The hand that was wet was much cooler than the one that was not.

Then we moved on to learning about our unique fingerprints. We took masking tape (thanks to Miss Amy who picked some up for us from her trip to the big city), rolled it and stuck it to paper. Then with a pencil rubbed onto another piece of paper. We rubbed our fingers in the "lead" and pressed our prints onto the masking tape. We all had different prints. We talked about why God may have given us all different prints. We decided He may have done it because He wants us to know that we are all unique and special to Him, and He created each one of us to know Him personally.

We then learned about the ticklish places on our skin and body. We found out we are all most ticklish on our feet. Elijah is most ticklish under his arms and belly (although he laughed everywhere we tickled those got the biggest response). Isaiah is most ticklish under his chin.

Viking Pancakes

We are studying the Vikings in school right now. Today we learned about Longhouses and about the different roles each family member played. We learned the women did all the cooking and food preparation. They were also responsible for ensuring there was enough food stored for the long winter. We made Viking pancakes for lunch and then we compared and contrasted them to pancakes we like to eat.



Recipe



4 Tablespoons Whole Wheat Flour


4 1/2 Tablespoons White Flour


1/8 tsp salt


3/4 cup of milk

Honey to Drizzle on Top


The Vikings used whatever fruit would be in season. Since it's apple season we choose apples for ours. About 2 apples diced


(makes about 10 small pancakes)






Cooking up our pancakes. They cook fast, but they do not puff up at all so watch them close
Looking ready to flip!
Drizzle honey on top just like the Vikings did!
Tastey little pancakes! Elijah said "they taste like apple crisp"
What the boys thought about the Vikings pancakes and the pancakes we usually eat!

"will you marry me?"

9 years ago today Peter asked me to marry him. Here's the mini-version: (full on version available upon request :) )

We would have a Bible Study every Friday night in downtown Bangor. Peter was acting strange. He kept shifting around and he wouldn't make eye contact with me. It started to rain so we all ran to the bus stop. Peter tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was doing anything after study and if we could "talk". He wanted to talk, alone? I was nervous. I had never been nervous around him. I ran to my friend and told her he wanted to talk she said "we need to pray right now" so we did. We prayed. The Lord spoke "I am going to bring it to pass".

So Bible study ended. Peter made his way over to me and said "ready?" So we jumped in his car, by this time it was really raining. He began to drive. He wasn't saying much. I could tell he was nervous. I was too. Then he said "I don't know exactly what the Lord has been telling you, but He's been speaking to me" I thought "oh he knows what I've been praying about" Then he turned to me and said "There's no easier way to say this so I am just going to say it..........will you marry me?" I said "are you kidding?" and he said "No I'm not" I immediately said "YES!" We sort of sat there for a second just processing what just happened. He didn't ask me on our first date, he didn't even ask me to pray about dating, he just asked me to marry him and I said yes. I was a pretty mind blowing moment.

We drove to Cascade Park. We prayed. We thanked God for doing what He promised to do. He did bring it to pass. He was our matchmaker. He brought two hearts that He had been working on together in a way that can be called nothing less than Supernatural.

The proposal may not have been all "romantic "with him on one knee with a huge diamond. It was however a proposal of a deeper significance. The Lord's hand was upon that moment is such a powerful way. It was sweeter than romance, it was stronger than just our love. The Creator of the Universe had become intimately involved in bringing us together. It still is very humbling to ponder.

So 9 years later from that day I would still say "YES"

My sister is getting married!

My sister Christine just got engaged. (well on Aug 28th) I didn't get a chance to see the ring in person so we decided to meet up for lunch in Bangor yesterday so I could get a good peek! It's beautiful. I am so happy for her.

We also got to visit with my sister Mary and her cute little man Miguel. They tricked me and said that they weren't bringing him and I was mad since I never get to see him. But when they pulled in he was in the back seat all smiles and as cute as ever. Elijah and Miguel just loved eachother. It was really cute to watch them interact.

Here's Auntie Christine and her "squishy" @the Texas Roadhouse

Here is our group minus my hubby who took the picture...in front of Office Max....a better place than any LOL!

Guitar For Isaiah

Today was also Isaiah's first guitar lesson. He did really well (so I was told by Josiah who said "he picked things up very quickly). He was very proud to come home and play the two chords he learned. Now considering I have NO musical talent whatsoever. I was very impressed by the two chords.

First Day of Homeschool C0-OP

Today was the first day of our homeschool co-op. My kids were ready to go with there backpacks packed (they've never done this before) I just had to take a picture before we piled in the car. Both kids have not stopped talking about everything they did and learned. They loved it.

Soccer

The local school offers after school sports. Isaiah really looks forward to it. So it's soccer season! He has moved up to the 3/4 grade group and he was pretty excited about that!

Elijah was first going to try the K-2 soccer. We bought his little soccer shorts and he was all excited. But then the school decided he really needed to be 5 to play. He was crashed. But he's such a sweet little boy. He came to Isaiah's soccer and cheered him on and not once mentioned that he was sore because he couldn't play. It broke my heart though to see his so disappointed. It was a good life lesson. First that we don't always get what we want, and second rules are there for a reason even if we don't like them. I personally learned disappointed is fun, but we'll live!

Iraian Tiles

Isaiah is studying the Middle East this week. He is learning the countries in the Middles East, the beginnings of Islam and today about beautiful tiles found in many Muslim homes, buildings and Mosques. The example we studied closely was from Iran. The tiles are very intricate, usually with designs of animals, birds, and people. No two tiles are the same and they are overlaid with a glaze with metallic specs in them.

So today we attempted our own version, taken from the Usborne Art Treasury Book. (this is a great book, I highly recommend. I am using this book as my main resource book in the Art class I am teaching for our co-op. Seriously a must have book)

Here is Isaiah's. He drew birds and people in the middle of each tile. Then we covered it with a glue and glitter mixture!
Here is Elijah's. I love how much enrichment I can bring into their learning . I helped a little with his,but he drew a bird inside each one. He chose red glitter!

Showing off their completed work!

Adventures In Homeschooling

So get rid of your idea of what school should look like. Erase the chalkboard of your mind of desks, pencils, workbooks, and bells. Because that's not how we roll! Yesterday for example I had an early morning appointment and I needed to pick up a guitar for Isaiah. While some might chalk the day up to a loss I never underestimate the power of homeschooling! (LOL)

My boys are early risers. Often I cringe at the clock and realize that they are up and ready to go at 5:30 but yesterday I welcomed it. We had breakfast and got dressed by 6:15. And then we did about 2 hours of school work before I needed to head out for my appointment. Yes our doors are open at 6:15! That's awesome!

We grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the playground....for gym! But the rain soon drove us to plan B. We decided since we were out and about that we'd stop at the library.

We had never been to the Lincoln Library. But we were delighted we stopped by. Since it was our first time taking out books they only allowed us each to take out two. That was really hard for the boys. Isaiah read 5 books while we were there because he couldn't decide. They eventually settled on Clifford books that Isaiah read on the car ride home.

We made it home with plenty of time to finish our Great Dinosaur mystery book and a Language Arts Test. Isaiah said "this was an awesome day " Oh by the way the guitar I bought Isaiah from Uncle Henry's is beautiful. He starts lessons of Friday!

Treworgy Field Trip!

We had our first field trip of the year yesterday. We went to Treworgy Orchard in Levant. It was really amazing. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful day, warm,sunny and breeze just when we needed it.
We toured the farm. We fed the goats, watched how one is milked. Then we walked the orchard and picked an apple for a snack. We watched the apples pressed into apple cider. (which they gave to the goats who apparently love it) We took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. The kids were allowed to pick a "baby" pumpkin. We had a picnic lunch. And then we headed to the corn maze in the shape of a tracker this year. There were lots of stations inside of the maze for you to find and my kids were not leaving until they found them all. After the corn maze the kids were treated to a free ice cream.
Our host, the Treworgy's were so wonderful. They really treated us special and it was just a blessing to be welcomed so lovingly.
Here are some highlights!




Here's our group before the trip. We had 38 kids plus adults.

Feeding the female goats!
Feeding the male goats.
Milking the goat.
Elijah picking his apple. He was asking for a snack right before this and he ate every bit of his apple.

Isaiah thought he found a good one, but it was a bit too tart for him, so I ate it!
This is the apple cider press. The kids were very intrigued by this.
Here's Elijah finding just the right pumpkin! He called it "my favorite little pumpkin"
Isaiah's prized little pumpkin!

Elijah, Isaac, Caleb, and Isaiah show off their pumpkins. Aren't this future mighty men of God handsome!
Heading back on the hay ride
Here are the cousins. Isaiah, Daniel, and Elijah. Daniel is Mathew's son (Peter's brother) and he is married to Robin, and her parents own to Treworgy Orchards! Everyone commented on how the boys looked alike. The eyes, and the eyelashes seem to be a Pellerin trademark!
Heading into the corn maze!
Here's Elijah. Note to parents, dress your kids in a bright shirt so you can spot them easily!
The crew marching through the maze. Alyene and I just followed the kids, which was probably for the best considering I am not good with a map.
The wall of fame, which is located in the maze. The kids signed their names on the wall!