peach heaven

November. :)

2012-01-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

team color night for a*wana sparks. :) BLUE. :)

sleeping. :)

We made this for our T*hanksgiving centerpiece. :)

Dada does some games with our non-electronic one. :)

Lily loaded her hair with doodads. :)

This is what happens when you pretend the art easel is a train.

cousins :)

Happy birthday Papa! :) #70 :)

Belt ceremony. :)

October. :)

2012-01-01T14:20:00.000-08:00

Laying out Abraham's descendants. :)

lost tooth. :)

Jakey with the longest hair he has ever had. :)

Testing for red-black. :)

Jake reading to Shmoo, the story he wrote about her. :)

Lily reading the Bible to Nathan. :)

play d*ough fun. :)

early morning beauty. :)

washing pumpkins and squash. :)

organizing little pom poms :)

Jake and Jordan :)

Enjoying fall festivities with Aunt Paula. :)

Building marble pyramids. :)

September. :)

2012-01-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

We dramatized the joining of Upper and Lower Egypt. The ruler of Lower Egypt wore a red crown with a cobra on it. Menes conquered Lower Egypt and then the crowns were combined.

Menes of ruler of Upper Egypt wore a white crown.

"big show at the May's"

We made 3 sided and 4 sided pyramids. Nathan made his own type. ;)

Mini golf. :)

Nathan is so proud to finish his first book. He was all done with the set (4 books) by November. Now I need to find something more challenging. hmmmmm He is reading lots of sight words on his own. I have not taught him any formal reading. I did not want to have him start "writing" yet but that is where all the workbooks go. What to do with the little busy boy. He has to do school like the others and will not be tempted into any "educational play". he wants desk work.

cuteness. :) I am not sure what they were doing but I had to grab the camera. :)

Jake and I went on a boy s*couts hike. It was so fun. :) We did not stick with the boy s*couts because it would not fit in our schedule. That was disappointing for Jake. :( Maybe a different year?

1st day of school. for some reason I don't have a picture of Lily or Nathan.

I love that my girly girl and boyish boy play together. :)

Our Sabbath meal. :)

Challah. We had fun making it. :)

Super neat book. :)

We went to a beautiful park with our good friends. :)

Throwing rose petals. :)

Jake, Adam, and Nathan. :)

braiding hair. :)

Avonlea and Lily. :)

August. :)

2011-12-31T23:07:00.001-08:00

August ended with the fair. Scott took the kids and I stayed home and got all of our school stuff ready. :)

(Lily must have had a bloody nose)

We had Popsicles on the last day of swim lessons. :) Here Nathan is with his little neighbor and friend. :)

It took all summer for our "taddies" to mature. He plump one is a toad and the thin one is a frog. :)

Having lunch after swim lessons. All the kids LOVED these swim lesson in a private pool. They all improved a great deal. :) The family that runs this is wonderful. :)

Trying to grow out Jake's hair. :)

We spent a fun day playing in a creek with the cousins. :) The kids caught a frog. :)

Playing in the pool in our back yard. :)

Jake got to go out fishing several times this summer with Poppy. :) He just loves it. :) It is his #1 favorite way to pass time. :) We are so thankful Poppy indulges him in this way. :) It is a beginning of a lifelong love. :)

such beautiful scenery. :)

I can see the teenager in Jake in this picture. :) gulp, sniff. ;)

I think they are taking a lunch break, again so very pretty. :)

July :)

2011-12-31T13:03:00.001-08:00

Jake testing for his high brown belt. Waiting to spar. :)
We went to visit our good friends Roland and Susan and stayed on their beautiful property. :) We visited, played games, ate yummy food and explored God's beautiful creation. :)

The whole time we were there, there were two little frogs on the side of the house. They were about the size of your thumb nail, one green and one brown. :)

We visited a beautiful forest and it was just where I imagine fairies to live. :)

Our dear friends Roland and Susan. :)

out

I love this braided root bridge. :)

We played lots of fun games and learned a super fun card game called 3-13. :)

Nathan got this snake painted on his arm at Vacation Bible School. :)

Amy, Gabey and Micah. :)

Emily. :)

Playing volleyball. :)

Jake's 9th birthday party was a swimming party. :)

This little flower is in the park by my parents house. :)

I love our little county beach. It has ducks, a marsh area with frogs, snakes and turtles, the water deepens very gradually, and it has shade and sun. :)

A Great Blue Heron. :)

Playing with Adam, Avonlea and "Baby". :)

Lily and Avonlea :)

Jake and Ryan :)

Lily and Papa. :)

Jake is getting so big, helpful and strong. :) Here is pulling Nate and all the beach stuff back from the beach by my parents house. :)

Gabriel :)

Happy 9th Birthday Jake. :) We spent the day at the beach. :)

Nathan fell asleep at the fireworks. :) I was covering his ears because the fireworks were too loud for him.

We spent the day with Papa, Amy, Gabriel and Micah at the amusement/water park. :) It was so fun. :)

Micah :)

cousins. :)

I love how these flowers bloom and bloom until hard frost in November. :)

June. :)

2011-12-30T10:30:00.001-08:00

Jake's fishing hero, Poppy. :)
We had so much fun swimming with our friends at their hotel. :)

Happy Birthday Amy. :)

Happy Birthday Mom. :)

Happy Birthday Mimi. :)

The girls lining up to go on stage. They are soooo excited. :)

Pretty little bush. :)

L*ego love. :)

I can't believe I turned 40.

All the wonderful girls in my family made WONDERFUL dinner. Thanks Mom, Janet, Jennifer and Amy. :)

40 balloons on all 3 decks. So pretty with all the flowers in pots. :)

Scott is now a passionate veggie gardener. :) All our super kind neighbors came over and helped us move this dirt from the driveway to the the back yard. To see them all coming with shovels, brooms and wheelbarrow made my heart swell with gratitude. :) God gave us such wonderful neighbors. :)

feeding the chickens with Uncle Jim. :)

Brandon showing Nathan a baby chickadee. :)

Happy Birthday sweet Micah. :)

WWWEEEEEEEEEEEE. :)

A play date with Avonlea. :)

May :)

2011-12-28T17:34:00.000-08:00

Notice Jake's l*ego pipe, tie, and robe. Goofy boy. :)

We had so much fun going to this aviation m*useum with our friends and my parents. :)

Nathan trying to hold his hand. :)

After seeing healthy lungs and lungs exposed to tobacco, Jake NEVER wants to smoke. :)

The WASP's. These brave ladies flew and fought for our country. And one sad thing was they had to scrounge their $ together if one of them died to send the body back to the US. :(

Jake and Ryan

If you click (or double click) on this you can see the words. Such a sweet poem, I love it. :)

dad :)

I could just stare at this flag forever wondering about where it has flown and who has looked at it.

This man's history is fascinating. He invented the modern day respirator, flew a G*erman plane back to the US and studied it then designed a better one so our troops could fly higher and that was an advantage. He has saved countless lives with his inventions and medical care including one of my good friends' daughter. He has done so much more. What a man.

I love this picture of Lily laughing. :)

Jake loved his 1st year of T and T. :)

Lily loved her 1st year in Sparks. :)

AWANA awards night. :)

Lily and I made these gifts for her Bible study teachers and AWANA teachers. :)

Jake made this books for his beloved AWANA leader. It is several pages but you get the idea. :)

Happy Birthday dada. :)

April :)

2011-12-28T12:21:00.001-08:00

The boys with Papa in their "papa" jackets. :)
"He is risen, He is risen, yes my Lord He has risen today, those linens and bloodstains, are all that remain, yes, my Lord He has risen today". (one of my favorite songs)

Easter morning after sunrise service. :)

Easter egg hunting at Uncle Jim's and Auntie Laura's. :)

All the parents and cameras. :)

All the kids. :)

A R*ussian recipe we made when studying that country. :)

Lily's zebra costume. :)

panning :)

a mine tour

First lost tooth. :)

cute. :)

feeding the ducks. :)

Checking out the falls. :)

Jake wrote a poem about this little flower. :)

Science experiments. :)

Matching the numbers and gluing. :)

March....Lily turns SIX!!!! :)

2011-07-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sleeping in sunglasses. :)

Now they look happier. They were having tons of fun making food for sale. :)

Gabey came over to play one day and then Jake woke up with his "joint issue" that he seems to get every few years. Soooooo....I carried him around (and he is quite heavy these days at 78 lbs) and placed him in different areas to play. I think this picture is HILARIOUS!

All the kids have been learning different chores. :) My sweet little helper. :)

Praising and thanking God for the fun they had. :)

Jake was so thrilled they won. :)

Gramma, Papa and Lily cheering. :)

Dada and Nathan cheering. :)

AWANA Olympics. :) Sooooo much fun. :)

Yummy! :)

Lily made butterfly costumes for her and Nate. :)

Trying out her new roller skates. :)

Happy Birthday Lily!!!!! :) We love you soooooooo much!!!!! :)

candle blowing. :)

eating tea party treats :) (double click on the pic if you want to see how cute the food is) Lily had soooo much fun making the decorations and food. :)

playing games. :)

Thanks Gramma for helping decorate. :)

Nate sleeping on the stair landing. :)

Aaaahhhhh reading. :)

February :)

2011-06-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Rosie winter cheeks. :)

Jordan and Jake :)

Laura and Brandon (in cute hat). :)

Kiera in "goo goo goggles". :)

We talked Jake into putting this on for the Daytona 500. He looked so cute but took it right off. :)

Cheer squad: Dad, Mimi, Lily and Mom. :)

Jake did really good. He was on his own team and got 9 out of 10 for the paddle questions. He was really bummed he missed on and knew it the moment he pulled out the wrong paddle. He studied so hard and knew all the answers. On the speed round he didn't buzz in on any. They quit taking buzzes after the 1st 2 buzz in. He was slow to buzz because he listened the full questions. He was sooooooooo DISAPPOINTED. :( It is so hard to see your child disappointed. :( I thought for sure he would not want to do it next year but he said he will have a new game plan to buzz in after only hearing part of the question. :) I am so happy he will go back! This was fun! :)

Excited and nervous for the AWANA Bible quiz. :)

wiggles move :)

cupcake jammies with a hat?! :)

Making valentines. :)

Gabriel turns 7!!!! :) Happy Birthday Gabey! :)

January 2011-Nathan turns 3! :)

2011-02-09T21:43:00.001-08:00

I just had to add this little head-cocked picture of Jake from when he was 1 month shy of 3. sniff! (in relation to his tkd pic)

I did not get to go to belt test this time. :( My 1st I have missed but my parents took Jake (and Lily too) and they had a great time. My dad held the board for Jake and he broke it on the 1st punch. :) Then they took the children out to Dairy*ueen. Both kids ordered a dessert and a slushy! :)
Doesn't Jake's little face look so round and cute in his sparing gear? This was his 1st test with sparring and Mr. Justin said he did great. :) He was sooooo nervous, but he always is. :)

I asked him what he was doing here and it sounded like he said, "outer bomb" but I am not sure if I got that correct. ;)

You can double click on any of the pictures to make them bigger and you might want to on this one because I think he looks so cute and little. :)

Good stance. :)

Scott and I love this picture because Jake has always stands with his head like this. :) Thank you Gramma and Papa for the great pictures. :)

The children painting their salt dough safari animals. :)

The children making their salt dough safari animals. :)

Sacked out! :)

Lily wearing a head dress Gramma and Papa brought back from China. :)

Nathan tickled over his 1st rectangle that he has drawn. :)

Puppy climbing on him. :)

awwwww :)

Puppy licking him. :)

Happy Birthday to Nathan! :)

In a cute little outfit from Poppy Brian. :)

Riding his new jeep from Mimi and Poppy. Emily watching out for his safety. :)

ummmm :)

Nathan's party was on my Aunt Kathy's real birthday. My mom made her a coconut cake. :) She was happy to share the candle excitement with Nathan. :)

I had to include this because Nathan is still "reading" his cards in his room. Even today when he was SUPPOSED to be napping, I could hear through the monitor..."happy birthday Nathan. Papa loves you. love, gramma and papa". Lily was cracking up over this (she cracks up easily). ;)

Jake and Gabey :)

See him dancing up on his toes?! :)

all 3 :)

With Mimi and Emily :)

Toddler time with Micah. :)

Nathan has had a VERY SPECIFIC cake request for months: chocolate with yellow icing and sprinkles and chocolate chips. Here he goes. :)

These two are always dressing up. :)

cozy time. :)

My reading boy! :)

fun at the local bouncy place. :)

Friends: Noah, Lauren and Audrey. :) Where is Jake? hmmmm

December 2010

2010-12-30T12:58:00.001-08:00

I think the snow looks like adorable little caps on the purple cone flowers. :)

I am glad we have these pictures because that was the last of the snow. We had a few really fun sledding days. Our buddies Noah, Lauren and Audrey came for a day :) and Scott and I had tons of fun sledding with the children. Nathan is fearless and wants to do everything "himself". :)

Nathan is an "official" US citizen. We have the certificate to prove it. :)

Lots of sledding fun at Uncle Jim's and Aunt Laura's with buddies Brandon, Kiera, Jordan, Joeli, Lydia and baby Elisa. :)

On Christmas morning we were blessed to have Mimi and Poppy and Gramma and Papa with us to watch the children open gifts and enjoy breakfast. :)

I found this awesome train table on craig*ist for only $25! :)

Scott and Jennifer. :)

Mimi and Emily :)

oooooo a frilly skirt and head bands. :)

"the boys", Nathan is doing "the wiggles" signature move. :)

my boys :)

the girls, however...Shmooie is not thrilled. :) Lily is praying for a baby sister. :)

super goofy girl doing a lasso! :)

She still gets the occasional bloody nose but not like she did before the deep cauterization. :) whew! ;)

Nathan sooooooo LOVES his puppy and blankie. :)

See? Lily put toy rings on her ears. She can't wait until she is 10 and can have her ears pierced. :)

Doing cards in her Cinderella dress. :)

My Christmas card helper. :)

Gabey's school Christmas concert. he is in the cream sweater with the santa hat. :)

Lily and Auntie. :)

Gramma and Jake. :)

Cutie pie Micah. :)

Silly napping. :)

Cute snowman on Lily's face from her speech therapy Christmas party. :)

Scott said, Nathan fell asleep like this. Poor little muffin! :)

Sooooo sweet. :)

On the snow fort dada built. :)

Awana sparks ribbon for finishing her book! :)

Jake's creations. :)

decorating the gingerbread house. :)

November

2010-12-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

This is how most of the pictures went.....Nathan was either a blur or making a silly face. :)

Excited to go play in the snow fort Scott made. :)

She got a stocking painted on her face. :) She suffered through a stranger touching her for it. It was pitiful to watch.

Lily and I went to a Christmas Tree Festival with Gramma and Papa. This was right up Lily's alley because she got to look at pretty trees and do CRAFTS. :)

Lily and Avonlea. :)

The children enjoying falling snow. :)

Nathan Baby

Lily Rosey

Jakey Bootsey

My "personal assistant" in every way. What would I do without my sweet girl?! I would surely forget the small things. She remembers all the details and even double checks everything when we are in the car leaving because she knows I forget SOMETHING. Lily writes ALL upcoming events on her calendar and talks about them SEVERAL times a day. Sooo funny! :)

The turkey turned out. whew! ;) My mom (dad working) and Amy and family came for Thanksgiving dinner. Things must have go busy because these are my only 2 pics of the day.

three little........sillies :)

two little........

One little.....

More rice table fun. :) It sure keeps him busy. :)

Jammies from Gramma for the annual jammie picture. :) See Riley peeking in? :)

I love how the kiddos are watching so closely. :)

Happy birthday to Papa. :)

Gabey. :)

Micah and Nathan. :)

They had great seats. :)

Jakey and Mimi. Jake LOVES this sweatshirt from Mimi. :)

One of Scott's customers gave him tickets for a local college basketball game. Mimi and Jake went too and they all loved it. Jake tells me he now has two new traditions in his life.....basketball games with Mimi and Dad and fishing with Poppy. :) Poppy took Jake fishing and he LOVES it. :) He got wonderful pictures, I just can't get them to upload into my pictures without being tiny. I am sorry I can't share them.

One of Lily's favorite things is to make cards. Especially for the neighbors and leave them on their porch. :)

Okay! Now look at this!!!!!! This picture was taken November 8th! This DELIGHTFUL tree blooms late fall and early spring. I am in love with it and want to plant some in our yard. It just kept blooming for WEEKS. :) Soooo pretty! :)

oil with water and salt with water experiment. :)

See little Nathan peeking under the books? Those are hollowed out egg shells and then we kept adding books until it crumbled. Quite impressive how strong they are! If I would have spent more time making them even, it would have held a lot more. Fun to watch. :)

Jake LOVED diving for some diving toys. I need to pick some of those up next summer. :) Speaking of next summer, it will be so fun to have all 3 children swimming lesson age. Nathan will love it! :)

Jordan turn FIVE! :) We had fun celbrating with him at a swimming party. :)

Jake and Mister Justin. How I love this fellow! He means so much to Jake! :)

Half way to Black Belt! :) Papa came to the belt cermony and then we went to a used book store and then to ice cream. :) It was fun. :)

Nathan HAD to pose with Jake's poster too. :)

I love that Jake knows he is loved by God! :)

Here is a creation poster Jake made for Awana. :)

Nathan in his cute duckie jammies from Auntie Kathy. :)

"Dad" night at Awana Sparks. In this case it is "Poppy" night. :) Oh how Lily loves her Poppy! :)

Jake, it's time to clean up your legos. ;) I take "before" pictures so he can see the progress. :)

October :)

2010-11-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

sweat head! :)

Dada and Nate. :)

Jordan. :)

Jakey

It is hard to see but Jeff makes a cute army butterfly. :)

Trick or Treat! :) Mimi, Poppy, Jeff, Jim, Laura, Kiera and Jordan all came over for trick or treating fun. :)

The tennis club gave him a nice racket. Sheesh! :)

Nathan got up there afterwards and kept saying, "where is my ribbon, get the scissors." Too funny!! :)

Our too kind neighbor wrote a note to the city because Jake enjoys picking up trash at the park and they honored him by letting him have the 1st official slide down the slide. He was tickled. :)

Jake and Lily drew their faces and Scott carved them. He chose a "crying" face for Nathan because he cried the whole time. Why? I am not sure. :(

Pumpkin fun. :)

Silly! :)

Beautiful fall day! :) Super warm. :)

Siblings. :)

My lawn helpers. :)

Lily earned her Awana vest. :)

Nathan and puppy and blankie. :)

Carving polar bears when we were studying Canada, the Inuit people. :)

Testing the 5 senses. :)

Sunrise. :)

A beautiful morning. :)

Lily drumming. :)

Little Shmooie! :)

The children had fun washing their pumpkins. :)

We had so much fun getting pumpkins at our favorite pumpkin picking place. :) And is was sooooo warm! :)

The cute little pumpkin Nathan found. :)

Those two! :)

Lego creations by Jake. :)

We dropped off gramma and papa for the trip to CHINA! :)

Look how tall Jake is getting! :)

Mom night for Awana T&T. Gramma came over to watch the little kids. :)

Mimi came to watch the boys. :) Jake took this picture. :)

Mom night at Awana Sparks. :)

Jakey in his new school outfit from Gramma and Papa. :)

Lily in her new school outfit from Gramma and Papa. :)

Making apple trees. :)

Lily excited to get her Awana book. :)

Even little Nathan can tell me his birthdate, the city and country where he was born. It is soooo cute! :)

Here Jake is with his passport. They use it to get on and off their flights. :)

This is how we "fly" to the new countries we study. Complete with in-flight beverages and snack. When you look out the "window" you get a view of world map zooming by PLUS you get to listen to music of the country you are leaving and entering. :) It's fun. :)

Lily LOVES math. :)

September

2010-10-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Sorting leaves by color and size. :)

You can't really see it, but there were tons of tiny Forget-me-nots. :)

Here and there and everywhere, looking for creatures. :)

slugs. :)

slug and ???? :)

tiny and big fish swimming around. :)

all wet!!! I didn't see the fall but Jake said it was up to his waist!

"be careful, don't fall"

My dear friend Christina! :)

Lots of lady bugs. :)

the site of one of the snake findings. :)

Jake found snake #2.

Ryan found snake #1. :)

something interesting. :)

Nathan with his special things: truck blanket, pink ducky blanket, puppy, dora book, dora car, 2 cell phones, 2 tiny clown fish, 4 plastic racing flags. Every morning he gathers his special things and puts them in his suitcase or back pack before leaving his room. Cute boy! :)

getting out the apple seeds. :)

taste test/count seeds: apples :)

Lily loves to wear Auntie Jan's apron. :)

Lily loves her doll. :)

picking leaves :)

Scott went waaaaaay out and did a major anniversary surprise for me. It was beyond thoughtful because of all the secret planning. He had to e-mailed my BSF leader several times to arrange how to get all the printed stuff for the new year. He had to make arrangements for Jake not to attend belt ceremony. He had to make sure I quickly retrieves Jake from a sleep over. Who knew he even knew about all this stuff?! My heart was melted just by his involvement in the little details in my regular life. In the end he told me the day before because he needed me to print my stuff for BSF a day early and deliver it to my leader. It was a good thing he did so I could pack the children and my stuff. :) AND our printer was being VERY naughty. But listen to this!!!! This is how he told me..... :)S- "Leah, I have something to tell you...." (I was thinking it was about the budget), tomorrow we are going to dinner at --------, L-WONDERFUL!!! :) L-you arranged a sitter? S-and then to a movie. L-how fun!!!! what is it? S-a surprise. and then to stay the night at the "wonderful local hotel", then to --------- for breakfast and then to ------- for lunch. I was crying by this point. This fellow who I love soooo much arranged all of this? :) L-who is watching the children? S-my mom. :) Wow, thank you Janet for having all three of the children! :) This was Nathans 1st time not sleeping at home without us and he didn't shed a tear. :) Whew! :) The children had a blast and so did we!!!!!!!! All of our eating out was beyond yummy and the movie (Flipped) was super good. :) The Hotel was sooooo WONDERFUL. Just spotless and QUIET!!!!! What a treat to say the least! What a guy I have!!! :)

Isn't it just beautiful?! The bed was super comfy and the bath tub was so relaxing and we loved flicking through cable, and reading without interruption. :) :) :)

Nathan wanted me to draw smiles and belly button (aka button bees). :)

I love it when Nathan does this. :)

I love it when all of us on our block have our flags out. :)

Our sunflowers peeking over the fence. The sunflowers and the purple corn flowers attracted little finches and we have really enjoyed watching them. So cute! :)

Nathan LOVES scissoring and I let him do it to his hearts content because it keeps him busy during school. :)

Hiding under the desk from Jake and Lily with dada. :)

Labor Day in the park listening to the symphony with gramma, papa and some of their good friends. :) Such pretty music. :)

Scott popped and packed popcorn. :)

Self portrait of the two tight buddies. :)

Nathan loves for Scott to teeder totter him like this! :)

My dad took Jake and Gabriel on a pirate cruise on the lake. They had a blast!!!!!! :)

We measured out a square yard and observed all we saw in it. :) Fun! :)

We saw lots of bugs and even a little bunny but the bunny was not in our measured off yard. ;)

August :) Last days of summer vacation/first days of school. :)

2010-10-23T18:39:00.001-07:00

Jake reading to his worms. A science experiment to see how the worms mix up different layers. :)

John 3:16 :)

Lily with some math rods. :)

Nathan with his rice table. Boy he loves it! :)

Jake peeling our world "map" and trying to lay it out flat. Little experiment to see how challenging it was for map makers to make an accurate flat map. :)

We drew the continents on two mandarin oranges. :) See the awesome map Scott mounted on light insulation board for easy use. :) Thanks honey! :)

belt test! :)

This is Shmooies new favorite napping spot. See how cute Lily wraps up her little lovies (tiny kitty, snowman and pig) every day. :)

Heading over the the park! :)

1st day of school pics holding their favorite activity. :)

S is for sun/Son-Jesus is the light of the world. :)

Jake loved a game we played where we greeted each other with lots of "hellos" from other languages. :) fun ! :)

sooooooo cute! :)

Jake's favorite part of the fair is the reptile house. :)

Our last swimming at the beach day.

We are at my mom and dad's for a bbq with my moms dear friend Jan. Our
"Auntie Jan". :) They have been friends since before they were 5! :)

the "little" cousins were sooooo CUTE and playing and playing for quite a long time. Should have grabbed the camera earlier. this a bit of a tense moment when Nathan tried on Micah's favorite shoes but Nathan quickly took them off and handed them over. ;)

rolling around in the tent. :)

Amy and I with Auntie Jan. :) See the cute aprons she brought us. :) so sweet! :)

Lily mastered bike riding this summer! so proud! :)

After a day at the beach and shower this is where I found Jake. :)

Jake and Ryan had fun making this. :)

We had a SUPER YUMMY Korean lunch one day. it was hard to get the "boy" table to smile for a picture. :)

Fun at the children's museum. :) Jake happy to find a lego area. :)

Nathan sat by some nice grandpa and buckle and unbuckled pretending to drive. :)

Nathan drumming and singing. :)

Gabey pushing Lily. So sweet! :)

Lily made her bed all by herself! :) Great job! :)

The 3 big kids stayed the night at gramma's and papa's. Papa and the boys stayed in the tent and Lily and gramma stayed in the house. Lily did start out outside though. She loves to sleep in gramma and papa's bed! :)

Nate and Papa and Riley. :) Nathan loves animals! :)

Rat Race???? ;)

2010-10-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

Well!!!!! We are on week 6 of our fall routine and homeschooling. How is it going? Hmmmmm... :) School has fallen into a nice routine. Not exactly how I had typed it all out but to my surprise it works out even better. Jake is my earliest up so when he comes down he eats beef jerky while I read to him all that needs sitting down and focused reading. Then he goes up and makes his bed, gets dressed and plays while I make breakfast. I call all the children down and we eat while I read Jake's read out loud. Then he and Lily do their written work. After that Jake is done and I do all reading with Lily and Nathan usually listens. Nathan LOVES Lily's Kindergarten!!!!!! His favorite thing is to sit at the table and work on his "scissoring skills" he actually calls it that! So cute! :) He also enjoys gluing all of his clippings. :) Then play time for all while I make lunch. Call them down again and at lunch we read Lily's read out loud. :) Nap, Bible study for me, Bible study for Lily, practice AWANA with the big kids and try to clean something. Where am I lacking???? For sure in the cleaning department. It seems like any real cleaning gets accomplished on Friday or Saturday. Not a little every day as I hoped. hmmmm.....Also, the rat race part....After my moms night with Lily at AWANA and running "the rat race" with her, I thought this is how our activities feel to me. Wake Nathan up from nap, rush everyone into the car, rush off to one after another activities. In the game you try to run fast, careful, polite not knocking anyone over and line back up orderly and quiet for inspection. This so TOTALLY how I feel. Make sure the kids are not injured, try to get there fast, try to be polite and kind and not loose my patience, try to arrive timely with our toes on the line and ready to for inspection and off again on the next round of rat race. Did I mention yesterday I got reprimanded at tkd for being 10 minutes late?! Not doing so good. ;) So how to remedy this???? I am praying I can be more organized and praying God would make it clear to me if I need to drop something. When I try to evaluate, I don't want to loose anything. I feel it must be a "hole" in my organization. So, that is my version of "rat race" and I am sure I am not supposed to be feeling "ratty".

Little update 2 weeks later-not feeling AS ratty. ;)

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!!! Wonderful news!!! :) :) :)

2010-09-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

http://nethymnal.org/htm/t/o/togodbe.htm

To God be the glory, great things He has done;

so loved He the world that He gave us His Son,

Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,

and opened the life gate that all may go in....

Sweet Lily has accepted Jesus as her Savior. :) :) :) On Saturday, September 18, 2010 while we were working on our BSF lesson, it asked a question ("what one thing will you ask God to help you to do?" Her answer: "to help me trust Jesus, mommy will you help me pray about that?" I could hardly hold in my tears of joy!!!!!!!!! Just had to share that most wonderful news, our gracious Lord has answered my prayer and Lily accepted Jesus at an early age!!!!!! :) :) :) To God be the glory!!!! :) :) :)

schedules schedules schedules ;)

2010-09-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it is that time of the year again.....schedule time. That's what we all talk, ponder and scribble about. :) I have revised and revised my schedules. :) Here are my latest versions. I am sure they will change.... ;)

CLEANING/BREAKFAST/LUNCH

Monday: hash browns & bacon/hot dogs/down stairs bath and downstairs dusting

Tuesday: toast & yogurt/mac & cheese/our bathroom

Wednesday: pancakes & bacon/pbj/kids bathroom

Thursday: scrambled eggs/meat cheese crackers/dust our room & down stairs

Friday: toast & yogurt/Parmesan noodles/downstairs floors

Saturday: cereal/chicken nuggets/upstairs floors

Sunday: whatever Lily & I baked on Sat. :)/top ramen/no cleaning

***laundry, bills, seasonal and extra cleaning wherever it can squeeze in. :)

ACTIVITIES

Monday: 4:00 tkd Jake/5:30 BSF me and the big kids :)

Tuesday: 5:00 tkd Jake/6:15 AWANA Lily

Wednesday: 2:00 speech Lily/costco all of us/6:15 AWANA Jake

Thursday: 3:30 dance Lily/spaghetti Thursday :)

Friday: field trips and library

Saturday: 6:00 a.m. BSF for me

Sunday: church :)

SCHOOL

me-get up at 5:30 Bible study

6:15 shower

wait for Jake to get up and then we do our reading for the day together. :)

7:30 make breakfast

Jake-wake up and read with mom

make bed/get dressed

breakfast/Bible

handwriting

spelling

language arts

math drill

math

geography

science

art/music

break

clean room

lunch/read out loud

BSF homework

quiet reading time

free play

Lily-wake up/get dressed and make bed

breakfast/Bible

phonics

written work

math

math drill

join in with Jake

free [play

clean room

lunch/read out loud

BSF homework

quiet reading time

free play

Nathan-wake up/make bed and get dressed

break fast Bible

rice box

puzzles

play dough

join in with us

play play play

lunch/read out loud

nap

play and tag along ;)

So far school has be ending between 10:30 and 11:00 we will be adding spelling at week 3 and math at week 5. Nathan has been doing surprisingly GREAT! :) :) :) Loving to join in and not shredding everything the big kids are doing. :) Sooooo much easier than last year! whew! :) I LOVE our curriculum. Lily is a ray of sunshine, really the sweetest and most eager there could be. :) Jake is.....missing his free summer days. ;) Well, dear friends that is what we are up to. I am loving hearing about all of your schedules. Now, I need to get some good dinners going. Lunches are easy and kid friendly but probably not the most nutritious. ;)

July-Jake turns 8! :)

2010-08-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun month! We did not get 2 fun activities on camera though so I will share them in words. :) First, we went to a local state park with good friends. We were praising God the Creator for the beauty we saw in the awesome mountains and thick forests. Soooooo pretty! The children had fun playing in the lake and taking turns on the kayak and raft. Even little Nathan went out several times 1st with Uncle Jim and then with Brandon and several times with Kiera. Lily was glued to Kiera the whole time and Jake and Jordan pal all around together. :) Laura and I just enjoyed the sun (well, honestly prefer shade ;)) and visited. Scott and Jim visited with us too. ;) And THEN!!!!! We took the children straight into Mimi and Poppy's where they had fun playing with glow sticks, sitting by the camp fire and being loved on by their grandparents. :) Scott and I went out for a sandwich (sooo yummy) and then to a movie. It felt like forever since we went out and the day felt so long and refreshing to be out of the normal routine. :) The second thing we don't have pictures of is a"super fantastic" bike ride Scott and Jake took this weekend. They rode all the way from our house and town to Mimi and Poppy's house and town on the bike trail. Jake LOVED LOVED LOVED it!!!!! No complaining at all from him and it was just about 18 miles! He even went up a really big hill and never once walked his bike. He is getting so big (sniff!). They hid under a parked semi trailer in a down pour and stopped to look at nature and film a bit. He can't wait to go again! :)

I can see an old wise man in those bubbles! :)

Poor Jake was tuckered out! We went to a concert in the park with Mimi and Poppy. Jake wandered off twice and gave me a nervous break down. I thought if I lost someone, it would have been Nathan! ;) The kids had fun playing at the splash pad and play ground and then we listened to the show. I totally forgot that Scott was going the movie with Jim and was confused we were packing up and left before it was over and why Scott was speed walking home! ;) Worked out though because I think it saved from 3 melt downs over not having popcorn! Why do I never remember to bring cash to these type of things! ;)

Lily ADORES Poppy! :) She is always crawling all over him! :)Nathan and Mimi! :)

Lily tickled because she and her doll both have pony tails. :)

See the pretty pots I got for my birthday. :)

Our lavender. :)

We had a fun day at the amusement park. Totally made it clear to me we made the right decision not to get season passes. Lily hung out with dada most of the time cuddled in a towel and boys and I did the wave pool and lazy river. They are water CRAZY which is super fun for me! :)

Lily LOVES roller coasters! :)

Little Nathan.......kept standing in this ride! Boy was my heart racing! ;)

Nathan went down every slide he was allowed to. He spun around, hit his ribs, swallowed water and kept ticking! :)

Love Jake's smile! :)

Lily enjoyed the little slide which is progress for her! :)

wooooo hoooo! :)

1st slide down! :)

Lily, forever big bothers shadow and support. :)

After a week of Vacation Bible School here is where Jake fell asleep. :)

The kids LOVED VBS. I loved helping. I was in one of the craft rooms and served with 3 other super neat and nice homeschooling moms. We had fun talking school in between waves of kids. There were about 450-500 kids a day! Even little Nathan had fun! :)

Gabey!

I snuck over and snapped a surprise picture of Lily at snack! :)

Lily and our very loved Mister Justin! Lily decided not to keep on with tkd. It made her almost sick with worry that she would get in trouble and have to do push ups. She wants to try again when she is older. She is such a pleaser she would not get in trouble but the fear was too great.

Nathan! :)

The kids have sooooo much fun in our pool! :)

AWWWWWWW :)

We went to MT to a mining town and had sooo much fun looking for sapphires. We shared a "cottage"-NOT with our good friends and had a great time. :)

"the baby child" with dada. :)

Lily was soooo excited to sleep with Kiera. :)

Jake, Lily and Kiera sleeping. Jordan and Brandon shared a room. Jim and Laura had a room and Scott, Nathan and I had a room. :) Worked out good and I do have to say the place was clean and had a creek flowing by that the kids loved to play in. :)

See the huge mountains behind this lake?! Sooooo BEAUTIFUL! :)

This is what kept the little kids happy. :)

I loved picking through the gravel and Jake was sooooo GOOD at seeing the sapphires! :)

getting our instructions. :)

at a ghost town. :)

Brandon and Jim. :)

Outside the candy store. :)

Beach day! :)

Jake and Ryan. :)

Jake's birtday. :) We went to his favorite park and out to Mc D's for lunch. :)

Happy Birthday sweet boy!!!!!!! :)

I was trying to zoom in on her face sleeping but the camera noises woke her up!

4th of July. :) We went to our towns fire works with my sister and her family. :) Mom and Dad came over and had dinner with us all. Scott and Nathan stayed home because he is very afraid of the noise.

Sweet Micah is sooooo mellow. Just like his mama! :)

My sweet girl!!!!! :)

awwwww! :)

This is where I found Nathan after his nap! :)

Jake's 8th birthday party! Pool and squiters! :)

Gabey and Micah. :)

Such a happy boy! :)

This is the life, water ballon and soda! :)

a ballet move! :) Lily is fovever doing dance moves. She listens to her dance cd and practices in her room. :)

Nathan had his back pack and cap one morning when I went to get him up. :)

"officially" :)

2010-07-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

We are FINALLY "officially" waiting for a referral!!!! Who will this little sweet pea be? In about 14-17 months we will find out! We are praying God has another daughter for us but we will be thrilled for another son too. :) If you think of us please pray for the birth mom.....her heart will be so sad, please pray she will make healthy choices, please pray for wisdom in the Holt staff when the "match" us to a baby. :) Here we go again...tick tock! :)

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.

Psalm 62:5

I know that this "official" time can make me a bit "crazy". I will be having to stay anchored in God's word to keep my focus where it should be......teaching my children about Him and serving Him. :)

June :)

2010-07-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

June was such a fun month. :) We celebrated Janet's birthday at her house with enchiladas. We went out to dinner with my mom, dad, sister and Aaron for a nice dinner to celebrate my mom turning SIXTY and also celebrated Amy's birthday too. Now, I am not counting Amy because we always go out to a movie and dinner sometime over the summer to "celebrate" her birthday after all the end of June/beginning of July craziness is over. :) Something we both really look forward to. :)

Papa held the board for Jake's purple belt test and Jake broke it 1st kick! :)

so sweet. :)

All the children, finale. :) Lily is just the the left and behind a bit of Alice. :)

Lily on the far left. :)

Far left again. :)

This is so surprising in a way....Lily is so shy and reserved and she LOVED doing this performance! :)

When I asked her is she was excited, this is the smile I got. :) YES!!!! VERY EXCITED!!!! :)

iI
It was super fun being a "stage mom". I made snacks and brought games, books and crafts to keep my girls busy. All the different little groups sat on blankets. When it got close to our turn we lined them all up, dressed, bobby pinned, hair sprayed, lipsticked and blushed them all down the line. It was quite a flurry but the girls loved it. :)

Here are all the sailors with their teachers. :) There are 2 classes here. Lily was in the3/4 and there is also a 5/6.

My BEST bun ever! :)

What?! :)

Happy Fathers Day. :)

Leaving for church. :)

Scott, Jake, Jim, Brandon and Brandon's best bud went Star Wars the concert. They ALL loved it!!!! They said the music and lights were spectacular. :)

Jake and a storm trooper. :)

Boys! :) Cute! :)

Scott and Jake met Jim and Laura at the car show. :) Jake loved it!!!! :)

self portrait :)

Jake took TONS of pictures but here are my two favorites. :)

ummmmm pudding. :)

Happy 2nd birthday sweet Micah! :) I love Amy's tender face and Aaron's excited hands in the back ground. :) Micah has such a sweet look too. :)

Cute! :)

One of Jake's good buds. I thought they looked so cute playing Super Mario together. :)

The "little ones" and my good friend Christina to the right. We met at a fabulous new park to play. :)

This is my only picture with little Jordan. He is quite shy and hard to "capture". :)

awwww. :) the devotion these two have for each other! :)

Ryan is quite agile and a good climber. I think Nathan will be like him! :)

Lily has begged to do TKD for a year now. Here she is on her 1st day. She had a major melt down and Mr. Justin had to hold her. Update to follow in July's post. ;)

Lily has had this WONDERFUL lady for speech for 2 years now. I cried when we said goodbye. If Lily continues in speech through the school district she will go to a different school. Oh, Miss Jan was soooo good and totally got Lily's personality. She really brought the best out in her. :)

I had a wonderful birthday party at Janet's (Jennifer and her family too). :) My Mom, dad, sister and her family all came too. :) Everyone spoiled me! I also enjoyed the salad bar with steak and Amy made chocolate covered strawberries, my favorite. :) Now I am 39! :)

Jake just peeled and stripped his 1st cucumber. He is getting so big and is such a help to me! :)

Nathan's 1st night in his "big boy bed". He climbed out of his crib soooo..... ;)

1st night in the bed and he quietly got out and went into our room and rubbed cream on his hands and face! :) I did not think he would ever go back to sleeping normal. For a few weeks he woke up super early and cried when we put him to bed but now he is back to his regular 9-8:30ish sleeping routine with no crying. :) Whew! ;)

May-Scott turns.......40! :)

2010-07-17T07:49:00.001-07:00

WOOOO HOOOO! Jake finished Math! He also missed ZERO on his finals! :) Great job Jake! :)
Our batteries ran out so this is the only picture of the Break-a-thon. TKD raised $39, 028.39 for Shriners Hospital. :) It was so fun to watch! :)

Gramma and Mimi came to watch Jake and Lily get their Awana awards. :) Jake worked so hard and went through TWO whole books this year! :)

Lily was sick but would not miss out on such a special night.

Happy Mothers day. :) Mom and Dad came to church with us. :)

I love you mom spelled with dominoes. :)

Happy birthday to my WONDERFUL husband and dada! :)

ummmmmm Janet made a yummy salad bar and Brian grilled yummy steak. :)

Look at all the little containers of deliciousness. :)

Lily getting ready for her dance portraits. :) We had fun! :)

Jake receiving his high blue belt. :)

April :)

2010-07-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Enjoying time with Aunt Paula. :)

Here are the children with their WONDERFUL AND DEDICATED AWANA leaders. Both Jake and Lily have had the same leaders two years in a row and they have become quite dear to us. :)

sooooo sweet! I love how her little kitty and pig are nestled up to her. :)

Just got her recital costume. Sooo excited. :)

Doing spelling on the white board is way more fun! :)

Easter dinner. :) The cousins with Gramma. :)

Easter! He is risen, He is risen, my Lord He is risen today. The linens with blood stains are all that remain, yes my Lord He is risen today! (that is one of my favorite songs)

Shmoo :)

finding baskets. :)

decorating eggs. :)

getting ready for the annual Easter egg hunt at our friends. :)

March-Lily turns 5!!! :)

2010-07-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

sweet, shy Micah :)

cousins! :)

Oh how Lily adores her big brother and oh how happy Nathan is as long as he is included. :)

See the pretty wild flowers I picked for you mama! :)

duck....duck....GOOSE! :)

Our sparks took 1st in the AWANA sparks-a-rama. Jake had soooo much fun. :)
See Papa cheering in the back ground? Gramma and Papa came to witness the fun. :)

Getting ready for the games to begin. :)

Sometimes Lily and Nathan really click :)

oooooo look at how much air my lungs have! :)

hmmmm which of these thing will neutralize acid?

Legos! :)

Finished an AWANA book! :)

Happy Birthday sweet girl!!!! :)

Crazy boys! :)

sooooo happy! :)

cutie pie! :)

Lily and her new dolly. :)

Lily is still not feeling too great after having her tonsils removed.

sparring gear. :)

With beloved Mr. Justin. :)

Jacob was making Lily get well cards and then reading them to her. :) Sweet boy, it really did help. :)

Even in lots of pain from having her tonsils out Lily wanted to pose for a picture with her flower/teddy bear delivery from Mimi and Poppy. :) It makes me want to cry to see her in so much pain. Poor little Nathan had a hard time too but we did not take any pictures.

February :)

2010-07-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

sweet little dancer. :)

wooo hoo another board broken! :)

Mimi came to watch Jake's belt test. :)

Lily is off to a special lunch date then sleep over with Gramma and Papa. :)

Lily is passionate for crafts. :)

We were doing a Korea game where you kick this little ball thing. Fun! :)

Celebrating Lunar New Year at a local Korean festival. Jake wanted to stay home and Nathan just had his tonsils out so it was just Lily and I.

Lots of nights you find Lily in sleeping with Jake. :)

January-Nathan turns 2! :)

2010-07-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

Lily is wearing a Korean baby carrier with her favorite dolly (which is now missing).
Lily's shocked face when I asked her why ???? is that gum there?

When we went to move the furniture after buying a new dresser on C-list we found.......chewed gum! Lily got a gum ball machine for Christmas and has been eating it in secret and stashing the evidence! :)

Ummmm Nathan love sweets and is quite a tidy eater when it comes to missing any drop of sugar! ;)

Sweet 2 year old! :)

Nathan LOVES dancing. :)

All year we have been studying state birds. Here are the bird feeders children made. :) Birds actually came too. :)

Silly! :)

awwwwww! :)

feeding his baby. :)

All ready to....somewhere?! :)

December :)

2010-07-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

Joeli Anna got to stay the night with Lily. ALL the children adore her because she is so sweet and fun. :) The girls loved that they had matching jammies. :)
We have been blessed that both sets of grandparents can come on Christmas morning and watch the children open gifts and share breakfast with us. :)

All the kids love these funny little bucket seats. They climb, carry and spin away in them. :) Thanks Gramma and Papa. :)

This is Nathan's gift but ALL the kids love it and so do I! :) Gets energy out in a positive way. :) Thanks Mimi and Poppy. :)

All the kids had matching jammies but Nathan wasn't wearing his yet. :)

Nathan is tickled by a funny bear from Poppy. :)(

3 generations at Christmas Eve service. :)

My dear friend Stephanie! :)

LEGOS LEGOS LEGOS! :)

Lily LOVES dance. :)