This is the most wonderful time of the year!
Receiving cards from friends and family is exciting. (Side note here, we ordered our cards this week - a picture of the kids. They will be here just in time to send them out for the new year!)
Favorite things that have been happening over the last few weeks:
Alex took his first steps at my parents home the day before Thanksgiving! He's still a little wobly but he's coming right along!
Jo is growing up, he's becoming such a big kid.
Adie has really matured. She often asks me what she can clean up. She likes to take those disinfecting wipes and clean in the kitchen. She loves to pretend vaccuuming, and to sweep the kitchen.
Crafts with the kids this year have been extra fun.
We've been making cookies for friends in town.
Constantly telling Alex to take his hands off the tree!
Seeing family at Thanksgiving.
My sister coming here for Christmas.
Watching the first snowflakes of the year.
Listening to Jo play his fiddle and get better every week.
A new house practically dropping in our laps!
~Yes, we will be moving! Long story short:
New neighbors moved in a couple months ago and we'll just say things haven't been easy with them there. Lots of things the kids shouldn't be hearing and lots of smoke coming through the walls.
We kind of looked around, but with little luck. Everything was too expensive or just had a deposit put down. We had decided to just stay, especially since it's looking like we won't be here more than 1.5 - 2 years. Well, after we returned from our trip to NM, we received a call from a man we had contacted a few weeks earlier and he had a house to tell us about. It's closer to work, $50 cheaper than what we're paying now, and a little more living space. It was impossible to pass it up! Oh, and it's a house, not a duplex, NO worries about who we could share a wall with.
So, our tradition continues, we move during the winter.
Still one of my favorite things (now believe that or not)! ;)
To whomever still reads this blog, thanks for stopping by. With the laptop slowly fading out, and the desktop in our room, it's too much for me to write everyday. I rarely check email anymore. But I do think about all of our friends daily!
Well, time has come for me to sign off. Jeff took the kids out this morning and will probably return shortly. I still need to take my shower for the day!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!
Saturday, December 20
Wednesday, November 19
Jesus Loves Me
Recently I did a search for as many verses to this song that I could find. My findings were pretty neat, I found seven, five of which I had never heard before.
Then I got an idea! It would be so neat to see how many verses of Jesus Loves Me we can come up with. Leave a comment with one or two verses you know (not including the chorus) and then, I think it would be fun to come up with one original. I'm trying to compile as many verses as possible and would love the help!
THANK YOU! :)
Then I got an idea! It would be so neat to see how many verses of Jesus Loves Me we can come up with. Leave a comment with one or two verses you know (not including the chorus) and then, I think it would be fun to come up with one original. I'm trying to compile as many verses as possible and would love the help!
THANK YOU! :)
Thursday, November 13
Let's Rearrange!
So, Adie definitely has this gene from me!
Late last week, Adie came to the stairs and said, "Mommy, I raranged! Come see!" So I ran up to her room and my adorable little girl had moved her bed over and moved her dresser back to be next to her bed. First of all, the dresser is only 3 drawers high and not heavy at all. I was surprised at first, but if you know me at all, you know how much I rearrange! She was so excited and it looked good so we left it.
Earlier this week, after we had tucked all the kids in bed, she came back to the stairs and said, "Mommy, I can't sleep." So, I went up there and spent a few minutes with her and discovered that she wanted to move things again. Well, I told her we'd work on it the next day. After a few minutes, I left her with a kiss on the forehead and went back downstairs. Ten minutes later, I heard at the top of the stairs, "Mommy, my room is clean!" So, up I went, again. Her room was in deed clean, VERY clean! And she again wanted to "rarange". I eventually got her tucked back into bed with the agreement we'd work on it during the day.
Yesterday, we got her bed moved to the other side of her room and dresser and night stand and bookshelf moved. It is so funny and so cute. She gets so excited to see her "new" room!
I love my little girl and her "rarange" moments! I'm in for years of this and tons of new ways to rarange the room! Yay!
Late last week, Adie came to the stairs and said, "Mommy, I raranged! Come see!" So I ran up to her room and my adorable little girl had moved her bed over and moved her dresser back to be next to her bed. First of all, the dresser is only 3 drawers high and not heavy at all. I was surprised at first, but if you know me at all, you know how much I rearrange! She was so excited and it looked good so we left it.
Earlier this week, after we had tucked all the kids in bed, she came back to the stairs and said, "Mommy, I can't sleep." So, I went up there and spent a few minutes with her and discovered that she wanted to move things again. Well, I told her we'd work on it the next day. After a few minutes, I left her with a kiss on the forehead and went back downstairs. Ten minutes later, I heard at the top of the stairs, "Mommy, my room is clean!" So, up I went, again. Her room was in deed clean, VERY clean! And she again wanted to "rarange". I eventually got her tucked back into bed with the agreement we'd work on it during the day.
Yesterday, we got her bed moved to the other side of her room and dresser and night stand and bookshelf moved. It is so funny and so cute. She gets so excited to see her "new" room!
I love my little girl and her "rarange" moments! I'm in for years of this and tons of new ways to rarange the room! Yay!
Thursday, October 30
Monday, October 20
Our little RED head!
Yes, Alex has red hair! I love it! This is the best picture I could find to prove it!
Good evening.
Okay, I've tried to post something a few times and I'm trying again. I honestly have been aweful at checking email and blogging. It is so hard to believe how long it has been since I last posted and how fast the school year has been going! We love home schooling and I wouldn't go back for anything! All of us are getting so much out of it. If I could only tell you the whole story.
I've got to get much better at journalling our adventures!
We'll see if this post actually makes it!
I've got to get much better at journalling our adventures!
We'll see if this post actually makes it!
Saturday, September 27
So Who is Santa, ... really???
We are getting ready to head out on a trip this morning. Jonathan and I have been sitting here talking about a few things and Santa came up.
Jeff was in the bathroom shaving and Jonathan went to tell him something, then he came back to me and said that Daddy looks like Santa when he shaves. I told him that is interesting and what he thought about that. For some background info here, we haven't really told the kids ourselves that Santa is real. We've been very vague about it and allowed the children to think what they want. We've talked about the "spirit of Santa." So, he came in and we talked about Daddy being Santa. At the end of the conversation here's what his conclusion is:
Daddy is one of the Santas, I'm his wife, and the kids are the elves. I don't know his thoughts about the North pole yet, but this is turning out to be really cute.
When my family told me about Santa, I truly believed that my Daddy was the real Santa who flew around the whole world. This is going to be an interesting Christmas.
(Jonathan just told me that I need to send this to the North Pole, which is where the distribution center is and that there are thousands of Santas!)
Jeff was in the bathroom shaving and Jonathan went to tell him something, then he came back to me and said that Daddy looks like Santa when he shaves. I told him that is interesting and what he thought about that. For some background info here, we haven't really told the kids ourselves that Santa is real. We've been very vague about it and allowed the children to think what they want. We've talked about the "spirit of Santa." So, he came in and we talked about Daddy being Santa. At the end of the conversation here's what his conclusion is:
Daddy is one of the Santas, I'm his wife, and the kids are the elves. I don't know his thoughts about the North pole yet, but this is turning out to be really cute.
When my family told me about Santa, I truly believed that my Daddy was the real Santa who flew around the whole world. This is going to be an interesting Christmas.
(Jonathan just told me that I need to send this to the North Pole, which is where the distribution center is and that there are thousands of Santas!)
Friday, August 15
Alex!!!
At church he's known as *smiley*. Now being added to that is *wiggley*!! When we had Ella here, everything had to be kept off the floor. Now it's for this little tyke! I won't get to turn my head for this one! He's already pulling up on his toy box and in the crib. And yesterday, when I stepped into the kitchen for a quick minute, he crawled over to the lamp, pulled up on it and then fell back and when I heard this, I saw the lamp laying on him! 
Luckily it wasn't heavy and he hardly cried. This is one of his characters. He is ALWAYS smiling! Even when he's upset, he manages to perk up a smile (yes, while crying). Jeff sweetly tells him, "It's okay buddy, you don't have to smile when you don't feel good." One night last week, he had a rough one (ended up in bed with us). He woke up crying and cried for about half an hour. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, but even in the midst of all the tears, he smiled at us a couple times. We could tell something was wrong, but the smiles were still there. He's also constantly laughing at his brother and sister. They are silly and they can really get him going. It is so fun to watch the three of them together. They all love on each other so well! I think one of Alex's favorite things to do is reach out for 
his sister's hair and yank on it when he gets a hold of it! I can definitely see some struggles there in the future! I think he's going to be a little joker...he laughs at the word "no" and when his name is being called.
He's also pretty funny with his bottle. Sometimes he'll finish it really fast. But other times, especially at the high chair, he'll grab on to the nipple and watch all the milk squirt out! Not only does he just watch, but he laughs! We call it, milking his cow. He is a very curious little fellow. I've noticed this week that he likes cords. No matter how many times we've already told him to leave the lamps alone and re-direct him, he's back at it again a few minutes later. Hmm...I wonder what the future holds! He is also becoming verying interested in that floor that goes up where he sleeps (the stairs). It is such an interesting place, everyone goes up and down right there! We've got the gates in place, but for some reason I don't think that he will care, one way or another, he's going to discover *stairs*. Ahh!!! He also loves food. His favorites include: his morning cereal with chickpeas, barley, flaxseed, and wheatgerm; sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash with asparigus, blueberries and pears, peaches and bananas. He loves it when we let him have food he can take to his own mouth, cheerios are at the top of that list. But anything we let him try he'll go for it and want more! He's got the cutest two little teeth and we think more are on the way soon! He's got a few babble words and that's growing too: dada, baba, nonanan (we're pretty sure this is Jonathan!), ada (and this has got to be Adie!). He uses baby signs for "milk", "all done", and "more". We are working on please and thank you, and so many others. He is definitely comunicating though! I can tell that he's going to love books. He reaches for anything that has words, and it's not just with the baby, "I want that." He has an extreme determination and he's going to get what he wants. God gave him a beautiful personality, a strong personality. He is very determined and that is a wonderful character to have! His name means "helper and defender of mankind." With his extreme determination, positive outlook, and ability to laugh, this young man is going to soar to great hights and do amazing things for God!
Wednesday, August 6
Summer Fun! (weeks 4-10)
Real quick, I posted some pictures this morning before things got going. Scroll down to see them! It's quiet time, so I'm taking advantage to catch y'all up on the summer!
WEEK 10 ~ ANIMALS!
We spent a lot of time with our new friend, Ella, learning about puppies. Then on Friday we went to the KC Zoo. It was horribly hot and humid so we couldn't stay very long but we got to have lots of fun with CHALK, meeting new people and making more new home school friends, and we got to see otters up close for the first time! One of the zoo keepers came out and told us all about the cute little creatures. These otters we saw are native to MO. It was neat to hear about them.
WEEK 9 ~ WONDERFUL WATER!
This was a perfect week for water. The heat really started to rise! We played with soaked sponges (the car wash kind), water balloons, and the water hose. We also spent another afternoon at the pool with some friends. At the end of the week we went to down-town KC, to the Crown Center. They've got some fountains that shoot out of the ground. There were tons of children there, all running through the water. It was a delight to watch! A perfect end to a wet week!
WEEK 8 ~ PLANES!
I found a super book at Mardel~ *My American Journey: From Ground to Air with the Wright Brothers* by Deborah Hedstrom-Page.
It's got eight chapters about their story. Corisponding with each chapter, there is a character building section about Patience. Each chapter has some questions and Bible verses and application. We did a few of them for our family devos and they are awesome! The very last section of the book has some activities and exxperiments. We made paper helicopters and paper airplanes. We've been taking our time going through the book and we've all enjoyed learning about the Wright Brothers! At the end of the book, the kids will have honorary flight wings!
We didn't make it to the Amelia Earhart Festival. This was the weekend we took Ella in and decided to stay home with her. Next year we can go and it'll still be great!
WEEK 7 ~ STORY WEEK!
We read lots of books and cuddled a lot. Jonathan did write a short story that I hope he builds on. It was about chickens. At the end of the week, I took the kids to the Deanna Rose Childrens Farm to hopefully inspire more to the story. We saw chickens and they were cute, but we had fun checking out all the cool stuff they have.
Adie also really got into telling us stories, the favorite was Goldilox. It's such a joy to watch and hear her tell it! She's so animated!
Here is Jonathan's story, maybe we will add on to it this year:
WEEK 6 ~ FAMILY CAMP!
Hot dogs, hamburgers, grilling out
This week our family had a camp out!
Swimming pools, popsicles, cooling off
The camp out was full of cool stuff!
Graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows galore
You know the name ~ we had s'mores!
Black and red was the color of our tent
Sleeping outside, the whole night we spent!
We loved it so much I just want to shout
This week our family had a camp out!
WEEK 5 ~ PLAY BALL!
Really there isn't a whole lot to say about this week. We played T-ball a lot andwaatched a few games on TV. I think we also went to a T-Bones game. It was a lot of fun but we didn't do anything too big or exciting. Some times a more relaxed, normal week is good!
WEEK 4 ~ MUSIC WEEK!
The big event for this week was our talent show! Most of the week the kids were singing and picking out their songs and music for Saturday. Adie decided she wanted to sing "Part of that World" from Little Mermaid. Jonathan wanted to sing "Do Re Mi..." and play his guitar with his daddy. Jeff played a couple of songs and then played some chords that we could sing a few of our favorites with him. Then I sang a karaoke song from "A Walk to Remember." Jonathan and I also played on the dulcimer. He played "Twinkle Little Star" and I did the few that I know.
We are turning out to be quite a musical family! Jo and Adie are constantly singing church songs - their favorites are "The Glory Land Way", "Heavenly Sunlight", "Our God, He is Alive" and "This World is Not My Home." Jonathan even has the song #s memorized! They often ride their bikes in circles in the basement singing at the top of their lungs! They both also tinker on the piano and dulcimer. Jonathan has a guitar and keyboard in his room and loves to sneak up there while Alex is awake and play. He also enjoys playing the guitar for his brother and Alex loves it! For a few years now, Jo has wanted to play the fiddle. It's looking like that may be another instrument in our future! We'll see! Oh, and I mustn't forget, Jo still plays his band!
Well, I'm sorry I haven't been the greatest on updating y'all about our planned out summer. But we've really had a great time! I highly suggest planning out the summers, at least some sort of planning. Being able to tell the kids some kind of theme about what is coming up is so helpful. They looked forward to the activities that would come with each week. It was also a neat way for us to do a little research to find out more of the things that are available around the region. We didn't make it to the capitals, but we still intend to do that for sure. We also want to try and make it up to Nebraska and possibly Iowa, but we'll have to judge those.
School is right around the corner. And for my teacher friends, I'm sure most of you have already begun your year! Good luck to all of you. In a way, we are all teachers! I look forward to reading about more things going on in your lives. This week is Bug week - look for details coming up. I've already got so much to write! and Next week is Olympics week and next Thursday (14th) is our first day of school! I'll be posting our school activities as often as possible.
WEEK 10 ~ ANIMALS!
We spent a lot of time with our new friend, Ella, learning about puppies. Then on Friday we went to the KC Zoo. It was horribly hot and humid so we couldn't stay very long but we got to have lots of fun with CHALK, meeting new people and making more new home school friends, and we got to see otters up close for the first time! One of the zoo keepers came out and told us all about the cute little creatures. These otters we saw are native to MO. It was neat to hear about them.
WEEK 9 ~ WONDERFUL WATER!
This was a perfect week for water. The heat really started to rise! We played with soaked sponges (the car wash kind), water balloons, and the water hose. We also spent another afternoon at the pool with some friends. At the end of the week we went to down-town KC, to the Crown Center. They've got some fountains that shoot out of the ground. There were tons of children there, all running through the water. It was a delight to watch! A perfect end to a wet week!
WEEK 8 ~ PLANES!
I found a super book at Mardel~ *My American Journey: From Ground to Air with the Wright Brothers* by Deborah Hedstrom-Page.
It's got eight chapters about their story. Corisponding with each chapter, there is a character building section about Patience. Each chapter has some questions and Bible verses and application. We did a few of them for our family devos and they are awesome! The very last section of the book has some activities and exxperiments. We made paper helicopters and paper airplanes. We've been taking our time going through the book and we've all enjoyed learning about the Wright Brothers! At the end of the book, the kids will have honorary flight wings!
We didn't make it to the Amelia Earhart Festival. This was the weekend we took Ella in and decided to stay home with her. Next year we can go and it'll still be great!
WEEK 7 ~ STORY WEEK!
We read lots of books and cuddled a lot. Jonathan did write a short story that I hope he builds on. It was about chickens. At the end of the week, I took the kids to the Deanna Rose Childrens Farm to hopefully inspire more to the story. We saw chickens and they were cute, but we had fun checking out all the cool stuff they have.
Adie also really got into telling us stories, the favorite was Goldilox. It's such a joy to watch and hear her tell it! She's so animated!
Here is Jonathan's story, maybe we will add on to it this year:
One morning, there were three little chickens and their mom. They told her that they wanted to go out and pick berries. Their mom told them to be careful and not talk to strangers.
So, the three little chickens went out. While they were on their way, they saw a wolf. The wolf's name was Garlic and they knew him from church. So Garlic went with them to pick berries. Then they saw another friend from church, a hippo named Lion! So they were on their way to the berry patch. Before they got there, they saw a stranger! It was a pig named hippo! The pig talked to the three little chickens and they talked to the pig. They talked to the stranger before they got to the berry patch and they got in trouble.
The End
WEEK 6 ~ FAMILY CAMP!
Hot dogs, hamburgers, grilling out
This week our family had a camp out!
Swimming pools, popsicles, cooling off
The camp out was full of cool stuff!
Graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows galore
You know the name ~ we had s'mores!
Black and red was the color of our tent
Sleeping outside, the whole night we spent!
We loved it so much I just want to shout
This week our family had a camp out!
WEEK 5 ~ PLAY BALL!
Really there isn't a whole lot to say about this week. We played T-ball a lot andwaatched a few games on TV. I think we also went to a T-Bones game. It was a lot of fun but we didn't do anything too big or exciting. Some times a more relaxed, normal week is good!
WEEK 4 ~ MUSIC WEEK!
The big event for this week was our talent show! Most of the week the kids were singing and picking out their songs and music for Saturday. Adie decided she wanted to sing "Part of that World" from Little Mermaid. Jonathan wanted to sing "Do Re Mi..." and play his guitar with his daddy. Jeff played a couple of songs and then played some chords that we could sing a few of our favorites with him. Then I sang a karaoke song from "A Walk to Remember." Jonathan and I also played on the dulcimer. He played "Twinkle Little Star" and I did the few that I know.
We are turning out to be quite a musical family! Jo and Adie are constantly singing church songs - their favorites are "The Glory Land Way", "Heavenly Sunlight", "Our God, He is Alive" and "This World is Not My Home." Jonathan even has the song #s memorized! They often ride their bikes in circles in the basement singing at the top of their lungs! They both also tinker on the piano and dulcimer. Jonathan has a guitar and keyboard in his room and loves to sneak up there while Alex is awake and play. He also enjoys playing the guitar for his brother and Alex loves it! For a few years now, Jo has wanted to play the fiddle. It's looking like that may be another instrument in our future! We'll see! Oh, and I mustn't forget, Jo still plays his band!
Well, I'm sorry I haven't been the greatest on updating y'all about our planned out summer. But we've really had a great time! I highly suggest planning out the summers, at least some sort of planning. Being able to tell the kids some kind of theme about what is coming up is so helpful. They looked forward to the activities that would come with each week. It was also a neat way for us to do a little research to find out more of the things that are available around the region. We didn't make it to the capitals, but we still intend to do that for sure. We also want to try and make it up to Nebraska and possibly Iowa, but we'll have to judge those.
School is right around the corner. And for my teacher friends, I'm sure most of you have already begun your year! Good luck to all of you. In a way, we are all teachers! I look forward to reading about more things going on in your lives. This week is Bug week - look for details coming up. I've already got so much to write! and Next week is Olympics week and next Thursday (14th) is our first day of school! I'll be posting our school activities as often as possible.
Finally, the pictures I've spoken of!
Okay, so I don't remember all the pictures I said I'd post, but here are some from the past few weeks. And, I'm working on posting the video over at the sharesite, you should be able to view the link now over to the right. Please bare with me, though, right now. Blogger has been working very slow for me the last couple of days. I'm trying to get lists set up but it keeps blanking out on me! Hopefully I can get all the pics uploaded.
This is from the Deanna Rose Childrens Farm. We had so much fun there during story week!
They have been bouncing off the walls and flipping off the furniture ~ litterally!
This is sweet little Ella.
The kids had so much fun camping out the night of July 3!
This was our trip to the KC Zoo with some friends from the homeschool group.
This was our nature walk looking for bugs this week for Bug Week! Friday we will be going to a Butterfly Festival!
Well, I hoe you enjoyed these pics! I will be uploading some of Alex later. I've got a post for him, but it's breakfast time!
This is from the Deanna Rose Childrens Farm. We had so much fun there during story week!
They have been bouncing off the walls and flipping off the furniture ~ litterally!
This is sweet little Ella.
The kids had so much fun camping out the night of July 3!
This was our trip to the KC Zoo with some friends from the homeschool group.
This was our nature walk looking for bugs this week for Bug Week! Friday we will be going to a Butterfly Festival!Well, I hoe you enjoyed these pics! I will be uploading some of Alex later. I've got a post for him, but it's breakfast time!