Fish Tales!

I'd say we're off to a successful start to fishing this year!  We finally got an evening to take the kids and this was the biggest one caught!  And Q did it all himself!

My big baby!

Our eldest is having a birthday!  He's 14 - FOURTEEN!

That's 98 in dog years!  He can't go up steps so well anymore...can barely jump up on the couch or chairs.

But at that age, I wouldn't want to be jumping or climbing either!

Above is what he does most of the time!  He's a great dog and he's great with the kids.  We still refer to him as a puppy and his nickname is Puppers!

His sight is going and he doesn't hear so well.  But his sniffer works and he is still the best vacuum around - despite his many missing teeth.  Poor guy.

We won't celebrate with cake or presents and he probably won't even hear us sing.  But he's cute and I haven't been posting very much...so here you go! ;-P

Happy Birthday, Riley!

The Tooth Fairy visited again!

After a busy fall with E losing 4 teeth in the span of about 2 months, I was hoping the Tooth Fairy could have a nice long vacation before coming back.

But this weekend, we had a need to call on her services.

But it might not be from a mouth you suspect...let's talk teeth!

She's looking about the same, besides, she will have to drink her meals out of a straw if any more teeth come out!

He looks the same, too.  But, he hasn't lost any lately...he's probably due again soon.

And what about this little guy?  Nah, he's only 5, that's too young to lose a tooth.  

Oh wait, what's that gap I see in the bottom row of teeth?  Well, look here.  Bubba lost a tooth!  I guess that is what happens when you are the youngest of three children and, when you get a little extra help from a bump to the mouth!  It happened back in October or November and he tried very hard to listen when we told him not to wiggle it.  But, curiosity won out and he popped it out this weekend.

Please don't let my baby grow up so quickly!

Merry Christmas!

My baby girl!

Last week she watched her brother celebrate his 5th birthday.  Which makes them just one year apart for 9 days.  He's 5 and she's 6...until this Friday!  She's anxiously awaiting her big day.

In honor of her upcoming day, I just had to share this picture of her.

Notice she's using a spoon with her "scoops" chips...and she "ith now mithing 4 teeth!"  She lost all 4 within 1 months time.  A foot to the mouth helped knock the first one out in November. The second tooth was lost while Daddy was away a few days deer hunting...she was so excited to show him when he returned home!  The third tooth came out last Friday with a little help from her brother's head!  And on Sunday, she pulled the fourth tooth out.

We believe she's doing it for the money!  Tooth $ combined with birthday $ combined with Christmas $ - a December not to be forgotten!  ;-D

Anticipation & an anniversary celebration!

In February 2010, we booked a trip for our family of five to take.  And then we waited.

We waited 500+ days for the day we'd leave on our trip.

11-11-11

Finally, after much anticipation, excitement and planning, we left on 11-11-11 to drive to Baltimore and catch a flight to Orlando.  We stayed in Orlando the first night and upon waking up the next morning, we'd head to Port Canaveral to board the Disney Magic (the sister ship of the Disney Wonder, which we were on in November of 2009).

Some people thought we were crazy to celebrate our 15th anniversary by taking a trip with our kids.  But since we were the ones taking the trip, we really didn't care what anyone else thought! ;-P

It was a truly magical time of adventures and fun!  We cruised to Castaway Cay twice (Disney's private island) and also had stops at Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico.

Despite already being in Florida and having a much shorter trip on Saturday morning - we still look like weary travelers! ;-D

And, excuse me, but when did my 9 year old get so tall?  He's almost to my shoulder!  I cannot even remember the number of people that asked if our youngest were twins!

I'll share some more pictures as I get them organized and off my camera.  But note, the smile on C's face will be a theme for the week.  He kept choosing to smile with his mouth closed and looking at it makes me smile with my mouth open (with an added giggle)!

Trick or Treat!

While I despise Hal.loween, Trick or Treating has become something our little development does well. I enjoy being able to let the kids dress up in silly, harmless costumes (no gore or scare factor allowed in this house) and travel with them as we visit the neighbors.  T and I both enjoy walking with the kids, so we let a basket of candy on the porch!  After visiting a few houses, we load up the kids and head to the grands!

Riley did not trick or treat with us, but he would have been hurt had we not included him in the dress up! ;-) Actually, I put the antlers on him as a possible companion to Q's costume!

We try to be "A light in a dark world" and let our neighbors know we care about them. Tucked into the candy bags was a paper with a message "We thank God for our blessings every day, and today, we thanked Him for you." This year, we included John 3:16-18 from The Message at Q's request.  

Now, on to the costumes. E wanted to be a baker this year!  I'm so excited about her costume and what it means to me.  I already had the patterns for a chef's hat, apron and oven mitt and I just had to look online for felt cookie inspiration!

As I was sewing the chef's hat this past Friday, it dawned on me how special this costume was.  My daughter was next to me as I made it, just like she's beside me most times when I'm cooking.  My mom instilled in me a love for cooking and sewing.  And my mom inherited her love of sewing and cooking from her mom, my grandma, who we just laid to rest yesterday.  I related my feelings to E as I made the hat, "You know, E. Your great grandma was a very talented seamstress and a chef in a restaurant.  That makes your costume very, very special to me!"  And she couldn't have been more proud to carry her freshly baked "felt" cookies around the neighborhood!  I hope that she develops her love of cooking and sewing and that it will be something we can do together for many years.

C, my baby, is my wild card!  He choose an Indian costume, that Q wore a few years ago.  I'm not sure why he is making a fist like he wanted to punch me, but like I said...wild card! ;-D  He takes his 'job' quite seriously!

Q, my oldest, and truly the one that takes everything the most serious, wanted to follow in his daddy's footsteps and be an archery hunter (hence Riley with the antlers!)  He didn't want to smile for me either, he wanted the tough guy look, but I broke him!

And here they are, the Hunters & the Gatherers!  No, C isn't yawning, he's being an Indian!

How do you like that snow on the ground?  Pretty sure this is the first we've had snow when Trick Or Treating!

Are you ready for Father's Day?

Check out this cute card we made for T!  (I know he doesn't look at my little ol' blog often, but just in case - T-Click the big red X at the top right of your screen!  Love ya!)

Ok, we're good now! ;)

I needed to print off some pictures for our homeschool portfolio and rather than uploading them to our local drugstore, I uploaded them to shutterfly because I needed to include several from my phone and shutterfly had an app for that! ;-D

Anywho, they had some great deals and all that said, I made this card - for FREE!  And by posting about it, I could get a $10 discount on my next order!   :)

There's still time...click over today!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

A hike to the "Haystacks"

Some of what we've been up to.

#1

#2

And we have a teenager...

Well, today is his 13th birthday, but in actuality, that makes him 91. 

Some days he acts like the 13 year old, but most days, he acts like the 91 year old.  :)

The 3 Amigos!

Friends!

Easter 2011

This Easter, we started a new family tradition.  A Passover Seder meal.  After finding this free eBook at currclick, A Passover Celebration for Christian Families, I was more than excited to do one for our family.  The Biblical feasts have always fascinated me ever since a Beth Moore Bible study - where I had finally realized why Passover and Easter are the same weekend - Jesus had eaten the Passover meal with his disciples (The Last Supper) and then became our sacrificial lamb. 

God wanted the Israelites to celebrate the Feast of Passover as a way to remember that He led them out of slavery in Egypt. Passover wasn't the only feast, God had many feasts He wanted the Israelites to partake in as a way to remember what He had done for them.  And then in the New Testament, Jesus came and fulfilled many of the feasts.  (Dr. Richard Booker's book, Celebrating Jesus in the Biblical Feasts is an awesome read on the feasts and how Jesus fulfilled them).

Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Passover with His crucifixion.  

As we held our Passover meal, it gave us time to think about Jesus' sacrifice for us.  What I loved about this eBook, was that it was geared for families with younger children and gave some substitutions.  So while it wasn't exactly formal and exact, it was just what our family needed to enter into Easter weekend, with remembrance.

Our Seder plate. 

Oops, forgot the "matzah" in the above picture.

The unleavened bread (or flour tortilla) represents the bread the Israelites would have made in a hurry - Jesus is the bread of life.

The bitter herbs (radish) remind us of the pain and bitterness of slavery.  It also reminds us of the bitterness of sin.

Charoset is a mixture of fruit, nuts and honey that reminds us of the mortar the slaves would have used to assemble Pharoah's bricks.  It's sweet, so it reminds us of the sweetness of the hope of redemption through Jesus.

The parsley reminds us of new things growing - a new beginning.  It is dipped in salt water to remind us of the salty tears the Israelites would have shed while in bondage and the unhappy consequences of sin.

The roasted egg represents the Passover sacrifice.  As it was dipped in salt water, we thought about the miracle of the resurrection came through the tears of our Savior.

We continued with our meal and instead of serving lamb, we had steaks.  I did make potato latkes to try to have something authentic.

We both felt our children had really done a great job sitting, listening and being willing to try to some new flavors.  They were so pleasant the rest of the night and played together so well.  At one point, they asked me to get the camera because they were going to do "something silly," in their words!

On Saturday night, we made Resurrection Rolls for the first time.  Not only were they easy to make, they were very yummy! (Thanks JM)  A marshmallow is dipped in melted butter, cinnamon/sugar and then rolled up in a crescent dough triangle.  The marshmallow is Jesus, next the oil and spices they would have covered his body in and then he was wrapped in linen cloth.  After we baked them, they were empty inside!  (note: strawberry marshmallows make for interesting rolls!)

Throw in 2 Easter Egg hunts and it was a wonderful weekend!

Soccer - Go Maroon!

That's Q, in the middle of the maroon players, getting to the ball.

Little hands - big hearts

After I showed the kids the countdown streamer I made for them, they each busied themselves.  I made theirs wanting them to have something visual to countdown until we'd see each other again.  Our daughter presented us with this one, to take along on our trip.  Our oldest son's is hanging from the railing and I think the youngest son took his to bed with him! 

You can be sure this precious cargo will be in our suitcase!