Sure wouldn’t want her to wake up on the ‘wrong side of the stairs!’
Who Does This?
April 15, 2012Thanksgiving
April 13, 2012We were at my parent’s lake house for Thanksgiving. Each year, for as long as I can remember, we celebrate Thanksgiving with our dear family friends. It is quite a crowd as our families continue to grow! One of my sisters also brought some Asian friends which added a fun twist to our holiday. Someone was always playing this Chinese game.
We also drank lots of yummy loose leaf green tea all weekend. They won me over and I still drink this stuff every morning. SO good!
Adventuresome cousins also added a fun twist! I mean, who straps a video camera to their head and jet skis in NOVEMBER!
N and J had their own kind of fun. These kids play in the water at the lake, no matter what time of year it is.
A 6 year old boy’s version of mud play:
A 4 year old girl’s version of mud play:
Thanks to amazing aunts who actually boiled water and made a hot bubble bath for N outside, afterwards.
A memory he won’t soon forget!
The siblings:
The kids:
A super fun weekend!
Early For Church
April 11, 2012The early for church posts are fewer and farther between. We have adjusted to the new church times and have even figured out how to run late some weeks!
The Party of a Lifetime
April 9, 2012All kids love birthday parties. But, I have to say, a superhero inflatable party is the best combination in the universe. This was my favorite party because it was the first time SK acted like a ‘big kid’. She walked in line from room to room with the other kids and did every slide possible!
No fear for the adrenaline junkie!
No one is too old to pretend to be a superhero!
Best friends. Super Woman and Wonder Woman. A perfect match.
SK was loopy by the end. Her head was swimming with sugar, slides and the sheer thrill of being a big kid! You can bet she was asleep in the car on the way home!
School Kids
April 7, 2012I never posted a first day of school picture. Now, there are 34 days left in the school year!! This isn’t from the first day of school but it was a day when N and J were looking extra cute so I paused for a picture. We have LOVED their school experience this year. N is in kindergarten and goes every day from 8:00-11:30. J is in 4-K and goes MWF from 8:00-11:30. Baba takes them each day on the way to work. It is special for them to have this time with him and super helpful for me to not have to load SK up every morning, or even worse, wake her up for the trip. Last year, this was my constant battle and I’m so thankful it works out for Baba to take them this year!
The school choice was a long and difficult one. I registered N at the local public school but never had a good feeling about it. A wonderful friend at church challenged me to not consider finances when looking for the school that would be the best fit for our family. How right she was. The Lord has provided every step of the way and the experience has been wonderful. I know they are exactly where they need to be! I think, sometimes, we are intimidated about saying something to others that might not be our ‘business’. But, as the body of Christ we are to uphold, affirm, encourage, confront, speak the hard things and speak blessings. I’m thankful for a friend who shared her opinion even though it was opposite of what we were planning to do!
Best Ever Camping Activity for Kids
April 5, 2012I can brag about this idea because it wasn’t mine at all! One morning, on our camping trip, we were about to have breakfast. My friend, R, told the kids she was going to lead them in a family devotional time. We all gathered around and she told the story of God telling Abraham to pack his family and move.
God told Abraham to GO, she explained. Abraham obeyed God, even though he didn’t know what God’s plan was or where he was going. Then, we told our kids to forget about breakfast and come with us. After the initial shock, they were ‘all in’ for the adventure.
Are we ‘all in’ when the Lord asks something of us? If only we could keep the faith and enthusiasm of a child who fully trusts his mother and father. Why don’t we always fully trust our heavenly Father?
Off we went.
Hiking and enjoying the journey, knowing full well that good things awaited.
Yes, there was some questioning and grumbling at some points along the way. But, staying together helped keep the focus on trust and patience.
Our journey ended on a trail’s peninsula overlooking a pond where we had a glorious breakfast (in the mind of an under 7 year old) of all the powdered doughnuts one could possibly desire!
Of course, we also ended with a scripture reading of Abraham’s story and a time to talk about the importance of following God, wherever He leads. Hopefully an adventure that will not soon be forgotten!
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus
April 2, 2012This summer, while on vacation, I overheard a preschool age boy with a beautiful Arkansas drawl asking his mom about Peter walking on water. It was such a blessing to hear another mother using an out of the blue question to impart truth to her son. His mother began to quiz him about the details of the story and eventually asked, “Why did Peter sink?” The boy answered in his thick drawl, “Because he took his eyes off Jee-z-us” making Jesus a drawn out 3 syllable word. My eyes filled with tears at this young child’s knowledge of our need to keep our eyes on the Savior.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Nathan, my 6 year old, would have known the answers to the same questions. Of course, I hoped that he also knew the story that well. Later that day, I had my chance. We were at the beach and as Nathan walked through a puddle, he said, “Look mom, I’m walking on water!” I took the opportunity to see how he would measure up to the kid I had overheard earlier and turned the conversation to Peter walking on water. He had trouble re-calling Peter’s name and I wondered how he was going to fair in my little test. Once he got going, he recounted the story and when I asked, “Why did Peter sink?” his response was exactly the same, “Because he took his eyes off Jesus.” I confess, I was secretly relieved that my child also knew this answer but I was in no way prepared for what he said next.
“Mom, I been trying to walk on water for a long time. I look up to heaven and sing a song but God just doesn’t let me.” When I asked what song he sings, he began, “I lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.” He continued, “Mom, I sing and I sing but it’s just not workin’. Do you think I need to sing a different song?”
For the second time that day, my eyes filled with tears. I realized how small my faith has become. Here Nathan was, not even giving a second thought to the feasibility of walking on water, instead thinking he hadn’t chosen the right posture of worship to accomplish the task!
If we truly fixed our eyes on Jesus, if we gazed into his face just as Peter did, how would our lives be different? What barriers have I created in my adulthood that keep me from believing that I too could walk on water? How many things do we see as impossible that Jesus would love to accomplish through us if we would only keep our eyes fixed on him long enough to see it through?
Camping Activities
March 30, 2012When we camp, we always come up with a few fun activities to go along with the trip. On the October trip, we made mailboxes.
The kids decorated their mail boxes and then hung them up. Throughout the weekend, we would periodically stuff them with treats and raise the flag. The kids would get super excited, announce that they had mail and run over to see what the surprise could be. For the entire weekend, we kept them guessing who the mail man was.
One of the favorite mailbox treats were these glow sticks. They also helped us keep track of 6 kids in the woods after dark!
Another activity for the weekend was making a boat out of tree bark. The kids collected interesting bark from the woods. We brought a hot glue gun and glued the bark together to make a boat. This would have been easier if our campsite had electricity. My fault, as the one who booked the campsite. It would have also been easier to make our crock pot meal. Again, my fault. We managed though. No, it isn’t considered trashy to bum electricity from the restroom to cook your crock pot meal.
With a little rigging, we ran electricity from our car for the hot glue gun and the boat shop was in business. In case you are wondering, this little car electricity trick did not, however, work for the crock pot because of a wattage difference. Refer back to it is not trashy to bum electricity from the bathroom for your crock pot meal. Back to the boats, I was originally going for little boats but in the end, the kids collectively came up with this beauty:
We all went down to the water. Some fished for awhile.
Some enjoyed the sunshine. AKA tried to keep the baby away from the water’s edge.
And finally the big moment arrived. J launched the boat into the lake to see what would happen. I have to admit, I didn’t have much faith in our little creation. But, in the end, it fared pretty well on the high seas.
SK says you should come camping with us next time.
Halloween
March 27, 2012Well, I have to blog about Halloween before Easter.
This year, we had a ninja, a Rapunzel and a Turkish belly dancer. I know, the belly dancer isn’t the ideal costume for a 16 month old but I bought it on a recent trip overseas and it was so cute!
Sugar, sugar, sugar!
I think SK’s strategy was gotta keep moving to keep that sugar high going!
A fun night for all!
Fall Camping
March 24, 2012I know I’ve been absent from the blogging world. No excuses except that after child number 3 came into the picture, I can’t seem to find time to blog anymore. I have good intentions; it somehow just never happens! In the interest of this blog also being a family scrapbook of sorts, I’ll start back in October with our super fun camping trip.
We met my dear childhood friend and her family for what has become an annual or bi-annual trip. When we were small, we used to camp together. It is hard to believe that it is now OUR kids who are running around roasting marshmallows, fishing, and romping through the woods! For this particular campout, we also invited the grandparents to join us for the day. The idea was to thank them for all the work they did preparing camp-outs for us as kids by having them just come and enjoy their grandkids for the day without bringing anything or preparing anything. But, then we decided it would be easier to have them bring lunch. Then we decided we needed more blankets since we froze the night before. And the list continued. Truth be told, kids need their parents no matter how old we are and we’re thankful for ours!
As I mentioned, it was cold. Really cold. The kids managed to sleep ok, though. I think they went into some type of survival hibernation. SK was in her pack and play with all kinds of layers, fleece blankets, a beanie and a mosquito net! Poor kid couldn’t have moved if she tried!
N and J looked pretty cute too.
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My favorite pic from the entire weekend is this one:
SK was so proud to be riding the scooter and that face just makes me melt!
Any time we camp, N finds a special tree to hang out alone in. This trip was no different.
J is a little more social. She likes being with friends, no matter where she is, all the time!
This scenic overlook was pretty cool.
What a fun trip!
