Happy Easter 2012

I don't have a lot of pictures from Easter this year. The girls were not super cooperative at the same time - or at all. I am so glad that Easter is not about dresses, shoes, or pictures. I am thankful for the day set aside to celebrate the resurrection of my Savior.

We had a great 4th with the Diehl family! The kids only play together a couple of times a year and they get along great and have a blast together!!

(left to right) Norah, Luke, Bennett, Lucy, Jack Henry, Daphne

Valentine's Day Bust

Norah spent Valentine's Day sick with strep throat and an ear infection. She was quite upset because that meant we couldn't host/attend our homeschool friends Valentine's Day party. Daphne and Lucy were at Mother's Day Out so Norah was able to rest in a quiet house - never happens!! She had a hot chocolate and watched Ramona and Beezus. She also just turned a corner when it comes to reading chapter books all by herself (she has been reading chapter books for awhile but always wanted me there right next to her) so she read Piggy Party off and on throughout the day.

Even though we weren't able to host the Valentine's party, I still decorated a little for the girls. I hung balloons and cut out heart snowflakes to string around the dining room. The girls enjoyed eating dinner in the dining room that was overflowing with hearts!!

Really - looking at this picture you would think that none of the girls felt that great! Norah really is the only sick one!!

4th of July Fun

We had a great night with the Diehl family. I have more pics to come - just too tired to do it now. Had to post this picture, though. Love it!!

Jack-2 1/2, Lucy-4, Bennett-5, Norah-6, Luke-7, Daphne-17 mo.

We have been getting together on the 4th since before Luke (who is 7 1/2) was born. I think this is the first 4th in a LONG time that there isn't a brand new baby or one on the way.

4th of July Weekend, Part 2

Last night we went to Heritage and Freedom Fest with the Morrison's. They ran around and played in the Kids Area - all kinds of free activities put together by some of the local churches, then they rode a couple of carnival rides and then we had a little picnic.

Norah, Savannah, and Sawyer spinning on a teacup. Lucy is not a huge fan of rides so she opted out on this one.

Notice that Lucy is holding on for dear life! Plus, she wanted me holding on to her. Lucy rode the carousel twice because nothing else appealed to her.

Our little Statues of Liberty

Norah, Savannah, and Sawyer rode the Ferris Wheel with Ryan. Again, Lucy opted out.

Daphne's attempt at the hula-hoop.

Relay race with daddy

Face painting. Lucy opted out of this also. I think she was overwhelmed by all the people. . . and the heat.

Everyone had a great time and was ready to hit the sack as soon as they had their baths!!

4th of July Weekend, Part 1

We started our weekend off by heading to the annual parade. The girls were ready with their bags - and plans to collect as much candy as possible.

Daphne wanted to be in on the action as much as possible, too!!

However, she had to be held or moved away from the street. She did not want to sit still for long!!

I know the bag is in the way, but you can sort of see Lucy's hand waving. I don't even know who she was waving to - probably a politician - but I thought it was so cute!!

Happy Father's Day

Picture #22

I know the light is bad, but we were in a hurry to get to church today so I just snapped some pics and didn't check to see what they looked like. Oh well - at least they are all smiling!!! Amazing! Oh, and I need to add that Norah is NOT happy that her dress is not showing. She did not like it that I told her to stand in the back! Ha!

Happy Father's Day to Kevin - You are the BEST daddy our little girls could ask for. While playing dress-up or Polly Pockets may not be at the top of your list of things to play, we all adore you for it!! We love you!!

I should point out that Kevin spent his morning at church helping 45 kindergarteners and 1st graders making Father's Day crafts for their dads - that is a servant. It was utter chaos as we tried to help the kids use glue dots to glue all of their little pieces down. While we were both sweating by the time we were done, Kevin worked hard to make sure every kid finished their craft before their parent's came to pick them up.

Happy Father's Day to my dad - I am sorry it didn't work out to be with you today, but please know that I am thankful for you. Thank you for loving me and for teaching me about God's love for His Son. Thank you for faithfully taking my to church every Sunday so I could grow in my faith. Thank you for loving my girls!! We love you!!

Happy Father's Day to Kevin's dad - Thank you for raising Kevin to be the loving and faithful dad and husband. Thank you for teaching him about God's love for His Son! We love you!

Happy Easter!

Forever, Author of salvation,

He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

Daphne's Easter dress is a tad on the big side, but it should fit her all summer!! She was more interested in Daddy's peeps than in her own Easter basket. She wouldn't sit for a picture with the big girls. She was after those peeps!!

Norah - posing for pictures

We had a crazy night/day this year, but the highlight of our Easter this year is that Lucy asked Jesus to come into her heart tonight at bedtime. She has been asking a lot of questions lately about Jesus dying on the cross, what Heaven is like, is she going to Heaven, are the rest of us going to Heaven, etc. Tonight she told me she wanted Jesus in her heart. I told her all she had to do was ask and, in complete Lucy style, she stood up on the bed, threw her arms in the air and shouted "Jesus, come into my heart!" We did have a quieter prayer time after that when she thanked God for dying on the cross and asked him to forgive her for doing wrong things.

Norah and Daphne enjoying Easter baskets together.

School Stuff

(so, clearly I am not taking that break from blogging that I mentioned yesterday!!)

While doing school stuff today, I casually told Lucy to write her name on her paper she was coloring. I tell her this whenever she colors/draws/"writes" just for the practice. The most she has ever written was her 'L' and then she writes random symbols for the other letters. I was helping Norah with something and I randomly turned and looked at Lucy's picture and this is what I saw at the top:

I was SHOCKED! She has never even come close to writing her name, and I didn't really expect her too since she is just 3.

Norah and I talked about what an acrostic poem is and this is the poem she wrote today:

The picture she drew is a manger.

The girls have been working like crazy on pattern bead wreaths! The have completed 5 so far and are each working on 1 more.

Totally random: Lucy's new thing right now is to say, "Ha ha ha Ha ha." She says it ALL the time. If she finishes something before Norah or if she gets to do something first or if she gets to sit where Norah wanted to sit - she says it. She is sassy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for my husband, my daughters, and my family. God has truly blessed me!!

The cousins had a great time playing together today!! I love it that all of our nieces and nephews are so close in age to our girls. We have 2 - 5 year olds, 2 - 3 year olds, 1 - 2 year old, 1 - 10 month old and 1 - 6 week old. So fun!!

Too Little Time

Busy cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. Oh, and cooking, too!! We are hosting Thanksgiving this year! My family is all coming over.

Are you hosting Thanksgiving? If not, where are you going?

4th of July

We had a great weekend! We relaxed, enjoyed time with friends, and worked on a few projects!!

Kevin had the day off on Friday - yea!! He went mountain biking with some guys from our small group then he and I worked on a few projects while the girls napped. Kevin took Norah and Lucy to the 4th of July festival that was going on in our community. The girls had a great time. They met up with Morrison's after awhile. They bounced in the bounce house, slid down the big slide, rode some rides and finished the evening off with a funnel cake!

Later in the evening I asked Lucy if she saw Sawyer. She replied, "Yeah, he's my buddy!" Cute!

Saturday was a dreary, rainy day! We spent the morning relaxing and playing with the girls. Kevin installed a new dishwasher!!!! Our old one had been broken for about 3 months!!

As fitting with tradition, we headed over to the Diehl's house after naps (everyone napped - so they were ready for a FUN evening). We had a DELICIOUS dinner! The kids played and played and played. The Diehl's had purchased a few small fireworks for the dads . . .er, kids to enjoy. The kids attempted this project, but ended up finger painting instead. I put Daphne to bed at their house and JH went to bed too. The dads took the 4 bigger kids to see fireworks. We had a GREAT time! It is always a blessing to hang out with the Diehl family. We were amused at one point in the evening when Luke said, "Norah and I just want to be alone." As the parents, we figured it is better to allow it now than when they are 15 and 16. Ha!

Jack wasn't really wanting to be apart of his own family picture, but he saw us getting ours taken, he climbed right up!!

After putting the girls to bed around 10:30, we slept in on Sunday morning. Well, Kevin, Norah, and Lucy slept in. Daphne was awake and ready to eat by 7:30. We worked on a few more projects and then went to our community center to swim in the afternoon. The adult lap swim was open from 3-4 and the kids pool was open until 4. I swam some laps while Kevin and the girls played in the pool. I joined them after about 20 minutes of swimming and we had a great time!! We have lived here for almost 4 1/2 years and this is the first time we have taken the kids to the indoor pool (it was cold and rainy here yesterday). It is so nice!! There is a lazy river and a little playground/slide in the water.

I'm a little sad to see the weekend end because we had a great time!!

Teach Them to Your Children

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  Deut. 6:6-9

We had Daphne dedicated at church today.  Standing as a family in front of the church Kevin and I promised to teach her about Christ.  We want all 3 girls to know God's love for them.  We want them to know the sacrifice He made so that we could spend eternity in heaven.  Norah has already asked God for forgiveness and asked Jesus to come into her heart.  Our desire is that Lucy and Daphne would do the same and that we could nurture their relationships with Jesus every day.  

We are so thankful for 2 sets of grandparents who desire the same for the girls.  They were all at the dedication today, along with my sister and her boys and Kevin's brother and our nephew, Jackson.

After church we headed back to our house for brunch and Lucy's birthday party.  Other than a burnt egg casserole, we had a great day!!

Happy Easter

We had a very nice, relaxing Easter - which was great after a very busy weekend.  Alison and the boys came to church with us and then came to our house for dinner.  The kids had a great time hunting Easter eggs and playing! 

Lucy didn't really want to smile - not sure why because she had been a good mood all morning.  Check out their cute dresses from Grandma Jackie!  They loved matching!!

Happy New Year!

Wow!  It's hard to believe that it is 2009!  I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but I do have a few goals in mind for 2009.  

1. Spend more time reading my Bible in front of the girls and with the girls - so they see that it is an important part of my life.

2. I'd like to make it through the next 3 weeks of pregnancy with few issues - although my back hurts these days about 24/7.

3.  Get back into a good school routine with Norah before the baby comes - only this half of the year we will be using mostly Charlotte Mason techniques.

4. I would really like to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and back into a good workout routine.  

5. I want to get our basement organized somehow. . .and encourage the girls to help keep it that way.  Now, it is such a mess that they don't even want to be down there. 

6. Add Spanish lessons to the girls' schedule a couple of times a week using Foreign Language Friends.

7. Once the baby comes and we're settled into a routine, I want to bake with the girls once a week.

8. Have a tea party with the girls once a month - I would love to get a tea set to use regularly with them.

9. Survive my 30th birthday - while being pregnant - in a couple of weeks!!

10. Finally, I want to keep a photo a day blog.  We have a new camera that I am excited to learn about and I shouldn't have any reason NOT to post one picture a day.  Head over here to check out my first post!  

I'm sure I could just keep listing things, but I think 10 goals is plenty!!

Happy New Year!

Swinigan Christmas

Kevin's parents were in town last weekend to celebrate Christmas.  Shawn, Shawna, Jackson, and Janelle came out Saturday morning to open presents.  The kids had a great time playing with each other and their new toys.  Norah watching Jackson play a new game on his Leapster.

Lucy playing with her new Little People toy.

The 4 cousins - getting ready to open presents.

Norah and Jackson singing "Jingle Bells."

Barbie Dolls

So the girls are getting a doll house for Christmas.  It is one of those 4 ft doll houses for "fashion" dolls.  As in fashion - I think that basically is a Barbie or something of the same size.  I'm not sure that I am ready for the girls to play with Barbie dolls - after all, they are only 4 and 2.  However, I don't know what other dolls to get them.  Any of the doll houses at Toys R Us that come with dolls are quite a bit littler - I don't think they could even sit in the furniture .  There are the High School Musical dolls that are the same size as the Barbies, but I think I would prefer a "family."  

I am looking for opinions.  Do your 4 year olds play with Barbies?  Any suggestions for other dolls?  

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent the day at my SIL, Shawna's, parents.  We had 10 adults and 4 kids.  The food was excellent - although I filled up much more quickly this year since my stomach is being squished by a little one.  

Shawna's mom used to teach elementary P.E. so she always has lots of fun things for the kids to do.  The weather was INCREDIBLE and their backyard is HUGE so we spent quite a bit of time outside!

Kevin's parents are here for most of today- not sure what our plan is.  Are we brave enough to head out to some stores?  I would like to go to Michaels, Gymboree, and Toys R US.  I know - totally random stores.  Michaels, of course, is having a big sale plus good coupons.  I want to get a kit to make a gingerbread house.  Norah's theme this week is fox and the recommended book is gingerbread man.

Norah saw a skirt at Gymboree - not just any skirt, but a HOT PINK TULLE skirt.  They are having a 30% off sale and I have a 20% off coupon.  I think Norah will be totally excited on Christmas to open this skirt!

We are looking for a doll house for the girls.  I am incredible picky and can't decide what I want them to have.  If you have little girls and have a suggestion - let me know.