Friday, September 30, 2011

Happy 11th Birthday to Isaiah

There is no way that he is 11 right? He is! Our first baby is 11!! Where has the time gone? I said last year that the first 10 years of his life went by in a blink of an eye and I have a feeling the next 10 will go by in half a blink.

Isaiah likes to tease me and say in 10 years I'll be....21, in 7 years I'll be 18, in just 5 years I'll be 16. I don't think I like how he can fast forward so quickly. That I do remember about being young, you just want to grow up. WHY??

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with Isaiah. Peter and I had been married a little over 3 months. I felt so tired and just not quite myself. I will be honest telling you that I cried a lot when the test turned positive, and not so much tears of joy as tears of fear! I was scared to have a baby, to be a mom. And I will be totally honest with you again....I still have that fear. Not fear of having a baby (been there done that) but of being a mom. I sometimes fumble through hard lessons with Isaiah,trying to guide him in truth, but falling so short of perfection it scares me. I gently remind Isaiah that "I'm new at this" I am not always sure how to be a mom to an 11 year old boy.

Our prayer for Isaiah this year is that he continues to grow in his personal relationship with Jesus. That Jesus would increase and Isaiah would decrease. That the things of the world would loose their appeal. That his thirst for the Word of God would increase. That he would encounter the true and living God and a new, fresh and very personal way. (And if you are reading this feel free to pray that for ME as well)


Happy Birthday Isaiah. You are a joy in our lives, our precious gift from the Lord. (we always tell Isaiah he was our first anniversary gift since he was born the day before our one year anniversary) We are so proud of you and know God has awesome plans for you!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Isaiah's 11th birthday!!

We have entered into a world unknown....the world of an 11 year old boy. For anyone who knows me knows I love to throw big parties for my kids. But I thought that once it's their 11th birthday it might be a good year to stop the themes. This was perfect timing for Isaiah who said he just wanted friends over for pizza and to play the wii. So that's the party he got. Very low key as far as prep...but a house full of boys not so low key! Isaiah even asked if I could hang out upstairs during his party....what am I that uncool already? The party was a hit and his friends even let me play the wii with them. I can't believe he'll be 11 in 5 days! It seems like I am in someone else's life...I can't be old enough to have an 11 year old!A table fit for a pack and I do mean pack of hungry boys (this isn't even including the pizza)
These boys can EAT~
What do you get an 11 year old boy who is soooo over toys? MONEY!
Ok guys smile nice for the camera....
Ok now let's see you how you really are....

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Happy 2nd Birthday Hannah Elizabeth

No words I write on this blog could express how blessed we are to have our Hannah. She is the source of so much joy in our lives. She has grown so much in every way this passed year. I thought I would share with you top ten amazing things that make Hannah, Hannah.


10. She has the cutest little giggle and it's sometimes very mischievous.
9. She loves her spotted puppy. He is her BFF. He gets much love and is usually very dirty. She brings him to bed each night and snuggles him super close.
8. She loves chili, only the middle of the Oreo cookies (good thing they make double stuffed)and she loves to drink out of juice boxes (or maybe she just likes to play with the straws)
7. She insists on doing "work" when the boys are schooling. She has recently decided that a coloring book do not constitute a workbook and refuses to use them when the boys are working. So I need to get some old used workbooks for her. But I am pretty sure she will be smart enough to figure out they are used.
6. She loves to try to put off bedtime by asking if she can watch a "show" Her shows of choice are Strawberry Shortcake, Kipper, Blues Clues, Curious George and Toy Story"
5. She does not enjoy going to church. She cries when we pull into the parking lot. This is not any reflection of the awesome ladies in the nursery but rather her complete attachment to mom. She has just moved up to the 2-3 year old room so we're hoping that she might settle in and enjoy it.
4. She LOVES and I mean LOVES to dance. "Dance Dance Dance" she will order when she hears music. And I must say the girl has rhythm and some moves.
3.She loves her "Yay Yay" and "Jah" translation "Isaiah and Elijah" She loves any attention they give her and just loves when they wake up and come downstairs in the morning.
2. Her favorite time of the day is when Daddy comes home. She literally squeals in delight "My Daddy My Daddy." And runs,and wraps herself around him. It would melt anyone's heart and I am pretty sure Peter turns to mush every night.
1. She is loved by so many and she is above and beyond what we had ever imagined her to be.

Happy Birthday Hannah! We love you. We our so thankful hat God put you in our family. May you grow in the knowledge of Him and His love and grace all the days of your life.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Pawty Time!

First you know it's a good party when you only took a handful of pictures. It was such a blast I picked up the camera twice and handed it off. So This is what I got, but I think you'll get the idea. So Hannah LOVES puppies. She loves real one and stuffed ones. But she has ONE favorite and it's a little Dalmatian that my mom sent her for Christmas last year. She has loved him, and loved him and it shows. So of course this year she had to a puppy pawty!
Just seeing the number 2 makes me sad. She's growing up TOO fast.
Her birthday banner


Adopt a pup station. All the kids picked out a puppy, got a certificate and a doggie bag full of treats
Inside the bag, puppy vitamins (gummy snacks) puppy chow (coco puffs) Dog biscuits (sugar cookies)
Dog bowls full of treats
Paw print cookies, made with a junior mint and 4 brown m & m's
Super fun puppy balloons.
This was so fun, balloon garland. It was bright and Hannah loved it. On the table are little puppy pictures that the kids colored.
Pupcakes, with the frosting is Oreo cookie, Hannah's favorite cookie. Aren't the toppers cute!
OH YUMMY
We practiced blowing out the candles before the party but she went right in with her fingers, I blew them our so fast.
Hannah's BFF
Her little "boy" friend
More guests

Present time. She loved the cards "oh a card" she said when she pulled each on out. I tried to open one for her and ripped the envelope in a way that was not pleasing to her, and she was very upset. "OH NO" she said. So I let her open them. It took a long time, but I thought it was sweet she appreciated the cards as well (just like her mom)
Her favorite gift from mom and dad....a Fur Real Puppy. She loves it. Although her trusted pup still made the cut at bedtime.
And for dinner....Hannah's favorite...Grammie's Chili!

We have AMAZING friends who have been like adopted family to Hannah. They have been there for her, loving her and filling in the gap where our families can't be here. We are so blessed to have these people in our lives,to love our kids and to invest in their lives. Thank you friends for coming out and celebrating with us.

Friday, September 16, 2011

From the Desks of Isaiah, Elijah and Hannah

And we're off....homeschool is in full swing for sure. If this week was any indication of how the rest of the year will go I am pretty psyched! We had a great week....lots of learning and a lot of character training! I needed to be reminded this week that the men that are growing before my eyes (and woman) need us to be their covering. As parents it's not enough to teach them to do right, to show them to right, but to a go even further to teach them to correct when it's not right. I won't go into detail but a specific situation but I learned that my kids are a work in progress like us all. They will make mistakes BIG and small. But what they do with those mistakes is just as important as not making them at all.


So here are some highlights and there are some super cute pictures of Hannah.
We studied the scientific method. Using that the boys did experiment to determine which kernels popped the better popcorn, white or yellow.
Elijah thought the yellow would and Isaiah said it wouldn't matter, they would pop the same.
So what else can two scientists do? Pop that corn. Three trials nonetheless!
The white is on your left and the yellow on your right.
Deciding in order to make good popcorn the kernels must pop most of the kernels put into the popper, it should pop big popcorn and it should taste good. They concluded yellow popcorn is better.
Another experiment using the scientific method. Does bigger wrist and thumb circumference help you win thumb wars.
Isaiah said no and Elijah said yes. After measure all our wrists and thumbs and doing three wars against each other, they concluded that the bigger your circumference the better your ability to win thumb wars.
So this one was sort of a flop only because I think they were trying to outsmart the experiment.
Fill 12 glass full of water. Color 6 with food coloring and 1/2 of those with a couple tablespoons of sugar. Ask your taster to tell you if they are drinking punch or water. Some tasters should tell you that the colored water without sugar is punch because your mind associates the color with punch. I was the only one who guessed that. So their hypothesis was that people would be able to tell the difference, and they could.
As promised some Hannah. She went on our field trip this week, and she sort of did her own field trip exploring the Bison ranch on her own. Look how long her hair is getting.
"Look a cow, Look a tree" she kept saying. The cow was the Bison. She loves cows, but every four legged animal besides a puppy always starts off as a cow.
She stole my necklace...little sneak and then proceeded to walk the "runway". She's so cute.
She's feeling the Bison hide. It was actually kind of nice, a little rough but would make a great rug!
Our super great tour guide of the Lone Boot Ranch. Check out his site. There is so much info there.
He had the kids close their eyes and imagine the sound of a huge storm, and that was the sound the pioneers heard when the "Bison" aka Buffalo would come by. There were so many in that day that sometimes they had to wait a whole day to pass because the herd was so HUGE.
To call them out we shook a bottle with sand in it and then he called out. "Come out Come out"
With some help from his wife, they did just that. Super cool animals
Our awesome group. Checking out the Buffalo.
My friend posted this joke on facebook and my boys loved it so much I thought I would share. "what did the mother Buffalo say to her son before he left for college?"......BI-SON!
BIG hairy animals!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

You Scream I Scream...

For ICE CREAM!!

Our first field trip of the school year was to Cold Stone Creamery. Coming from Maine (where I don't know of any) this chain is new to us. But oh how wonderful! It's sort of like a high end Dairy Queen.
Here's the first half of our LIGHT group.
Our silly host, teaching the kids some Cold Stone songs.
Explaining the ice cream machine.
And out comes the deliciousness.
And of course a sample!
Did I mention they have chocolates? YUM
It's always better in a cone!
Elijah enjoying the sweet cream.
The BIG boys!
We've been having some "summer weather" here in Washington (finally) so we headed down the road for lunch in the park. It was a super fun day.