Mikey: the great "snapping totter"

This morning, Emma was coloring with Mikey. Mikey was trying to teach her how to snap. Finally when Emma did it, she exclaimed, "MOMMY! Look! I know how to snap." I "oohed and ahhhed" her. Mikey said, "That's because I taught her." She said, "YEAH MIKE! You're a REEEEEEALLY good 'Totter.'" Mikey looked at her like she was from Mars and said, "Ut, it's teeeeeaaaacher, Emma." -Spoken by, the great "totter" himself who knows how to "speech." :o)

Chocolate makes everything all better

Enough said.

Monopoly and Cosmetology

The other night, we decided to sit down and play monopoly. We were having fun playing the game when Emma decided that Joel needed some attention.

So, she ran to the bathroom, and got a big round barrel brush. Then, she proceded to brush his buzzed head.








She took the enormous brush, and brushed his hair like he had a head full of dreadlocks. This was a girl with a mission!



























20 minutes later! (Joel's head is raw)





She may have been hired by the opposing team to distract Joel from his mission. -It worked. Joel lost by a landslide!













































One day as Emma was feeling Joel's face, she noticed his whiskers. She kept rubbing her little hands up and down his face. Finally she said, "Daddy? what are these 'scuffy sticks'?" We laughed so hard, and have affectionately adopted the word, "scuffy sticks" whenever we refer to 5 o'clock shadow of any kind.








Emma is famous for making up words. Yesterday, she wanted me to put make-up on her. I picked her up, and set her on the counter. We started with lipstick, and ended with blush. I said, "Ok, you're done." She said, "No Mommy, you forgot that," and she pointed to my mascara. She went on, "Pleeeeeeeeeeeease, can you put the, the, the, ummmm....'blinkies' on?" The word 'blinkies' made me giggle, but I didn't really understand the full meaning of why she said it until I took the mascara brush out of the tube, and held it up to her eye. With each stroke of the mascara, I caught myself saying to her,
"blink....blink....blink....blink.....blink." Thus the word, "blinkies."

My little Outdoorsman

Matthew loves to be outside! Even when we lived on a little, itty-bitty piece of land, I would find Matt somewhere in a tree. Now, he is in "little boy heaven" with so much to explore.

Yesterday, Matthew called Great Papa. He absolutely loves Great Papa, otherwise known as the "Great Hunter." Papa isn't just "A" hunter. He is "THE" hunter. He has a basement full of trophys. You name it, he shot it. Matt loves to listen to Great Papa's exciting stories. Probably his biggest trophy is his black bear. Papa said that he was tracking a deer when he came upon this bear. He shot at the bear, and missed the first time. The bear took off running, but it was the second shot that sent him to the ground. The bear (may he rest in peace) is now a nice decoration on the floor of Papa's basement. As a little girl, I can remember being so scared of that thing! The taxidermist did a grand job of making him look alive. The mouth of the bear is open, showcasing it's huge, fanglike, ugly teeth. You can even see the tongue curled inside it's mouth. The bear looks like he's about to let out a mighty roar. One time, I got it in my head that I wanted to see what the tongue felt like. The curiosity overcame me. My heart was pounding as I approached the lifeless rug. I slowly bent down, doublechecking that it wasn't breathing. -It was indeed dead. As I stuck my shaking hand in it's mouth, little did I know that Papa was downstairs, too, he let out a little tiny "gruff," and I HIT THE CEILING with a scream! I can hear his laughter right now. I don't believe that I've ever been back in his basement since.

(looks like Emma met the bear rug downstairs)

Yesterday, listening to our 10 year old son talk on the phone to our 82 year old Papa was so very precious. The two of them were just gabbing away, like they were the best of friends. At one point, Papa was telling Matthew a story and I heard Matt exclaim, "SWEET!" It just made me smile. Maybe Papa didn't know that "sweet" was the new cool word for "awesome," but surely he knew that he was admired. There are generations that separate these two, and yet the bond of "the great outdoors" connects them on a level like they were both 10 years old. :o)

"Sugar and Spice" Heading to Church

I have a couple of sick children here today. So this morning, only two little girls went to church with Joel. As they were standing by the car getting ready to go to church with Daddy, I knew I had to run for the camera and share with you what I saw.






I love this picture. They look like they were sharing a little secret together. (probably about their kooky mother who was outside in her pajamas, taking their picture.)



I love having little girls. I love watching them play. I love listening to them giggle. Right now, their lives are full of dollies, tiaras, princess dresses and tea sets. I know that my time is limited being a mom of little girls. Someday, I will find that those dollies and tea sets have been replaced with lipstick and highheels. When I have days where I feel like I just didn't get anything done in the house, my husband will ask, "Did you teach our children anything about God today? That's all I care about." Time is rushing by. Each day counts for Christ, each hour counts for Him! And when you find that you are too overwhelmed to go on, remember those little eyes watching and whisper a quiet prayer, "Lord, help me to teach these little princesses how to be Godly women."

Hearts, Flowers and Sugar-overload!

Happy Valentine's Day a day later. Actually, our Valentines "day" was more like a Valentines week! It all started when we purchased our Valentines. It was Annie's first set of cards to give away and she was simply ecstatic! (even though she has no friends)









And, apparently, Mitt Romney is getting a Valentine this year. :o)



Emma and Annie were sitting at the table just gabbing away like a couple of old ladies and addressing their Valentines. Then I turned and looked at Mikey. This is the difference between boys and girls. Quite obviously, he wasn't feeling the love.


He was working on a sword. :o)


He was a bit disappointed with his sword when he started waving it around like nutty. He looked at me with an awfully, sad look and said, "Awww man! my sword stinks!" I looked at it, and said, "No, it doesn't. It looks awesome!" He said, "Look at it, Mommy. It's all bendy. See?.............."



I had to agree. That sword certainly would not do in battle. :o)

I thought it would be fun for the kids to wake up to heart-shaped pancakes on Valentine morning. -cute at first, but after making enough to feed 5 children, I myself was no longer "feeling the love." Notice I took a picture of the cutest hearts that came from the bunch, but the heart shaped pancakes that Annie got looked more like...well....like a real human heart. :o)

In the afternoon, Trish and I decided to have a little Valentine party for the kids. It was great fun judging the "Who could make the best mailbox" contest. Of course, nobody walked away empty handed. They each received a "certificate of recognition" with a frosty coupon attached. (thanks to Aunty Tricia!) Joshy's mailbox made me laugh. Here is his:


And he received his "certificate of recognition" for "funniest and least amount of time spend." :o) Here are the rest of the entrants for the contest.

Next we have Kaitie's who won "most colorful and lovey-dovey."


Annie's - most sparkly

Emma's - most princessy

Matt - most original (and most time spent!)

Mary - fastest because her's was the only one on wheels :o)

Mikey - fiercest


I'm so sorry, but I forgot to take a picture of Allie's. She received an award for "most Springlike" because her's was covered in hearts, butterflies and flowers. It was very happy looking.



Of course, we couldn't get through Valentine's Day without decorating cookies. Annie and Emma ate more frosting than I even care to know about, but hey! Valentine's Day only comes around once a year.




At the end of the day, I was thinking about the love that I have in my heart for the husband that God has given me. Yesterday, as I was thanking the Lord for Joel, I began to think about the greatest love gift that I have ever received. -Jesus Christ. If God never sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross, I would have no chance of getting to heaven. We are all sinners. No one has ever lived a perfect life, and earned their way to heaven.
The Bible is clear in Romans 3:10 - "There is none righteous, no not one."
Romans 5:8 - "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." I love that verse! The phrase that just blows my mind is "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." You will never do good enough to get to heaven, but even in your sinful state, Christ died for you. Even though you may have rejected him, and have been ignoring him, he still loves you.
Romans 10:9 - "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Pray and thank God for his gift of Jesus. By putting your faith in Jesus' death on the cross, God's word says that "you will be saved." There will be a spot reserved in Heaven, just for you.
Romans 10: 13 - "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." -Salvation is available to anyone who puts their trust in Jesus' death on the cross. The Bible says, "WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not persish, but have everlasting life." That! right there is the ultimate love gift! We are so undeserving, but because God loves us with an everlasting love, (a love that we can't even fully understand), He sent Jesus to die for our sins.
You are loved beyond belief!

The 3 Dancing Girls

"Soooooommmmmmeday, my prince will come....Soooooommmmmeday, my prince will come......"

"And he better bring chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"



Much of childhood was spent dancing with my sisters and making up shows. Somewhere we have a picture of all four of us girls sitting on the porch. You can see a chalkboard in the background and it reads, "The 4 Dancing Girls." (in Tricia's handwriting, I'm sure. :o) It's one of my favorite pictures. And history repeats itself here today. The girls love to get into their dresses and twirl their way in and out of rooms. The funniest thing was when Mary was trying to teach Emma and Annie how to "curtsy." Poor little Annie doesn't have a "graceful" bone in her body. She was really just trying to get it like Mary.




And bless her heart, after about 400 curtsies, she got it! -of course, it was more of a bow, than a curtsy, but hey! she got it!

Happy Birthday x 2

Most of you know that we have 5 children, but only 3 birthdays to celebrate. That's because our two daughters share May 14th as their birthdays, and our oldest and youngest share February 11th. It was weird enough the first time, but for it to happen again...well I guess that means we are just plain weird. I always say that the Lord knew what a forgetful mamma I am, and so He just made it easy for us to remember our children's birthdays. When Matt woke up this morning, Mikey got out of his bed, and ran over to him. He looked him up and down, and exclaimed, "WOE MATT! You are soooooooo tall!!!!" Mikey associates getting older with getting taller. As a matter of fact, just the other day I corrected him on his wrong thinking. I said, "Honey, just because you are getting older doesn't mean that you are always getting taller." He looked at me funny. I said, "Well take Grampy and Daddy for example. They are the same height, but who is OLDER?" He thought, and he thought, and he thought some more. Then his little light bulb went off in his head, and he blurted out, "DADDY!" (Congratulations, Dad! According to your grandson, he thinks his dad is 60 and you're 33.)


Our two little birthday children woke up, and a party immediately began with presents that Grampy and Grammy sent. You can see that Annie just woke up, but is all ready to go get dressed!






































The hardest part about Matt and Annie sharing a birthday is finding a particular theme that would work for both of them. It's easy with the girls because we can go all pink and princessy, but with a boy and a girl who is 7 years apart...that's a little more challenging. This year, we decided on something unheard of, something unthinkable, something that I don't think anyone on this planet has ever thought of when it comes to birthdays. We went with the theme of "balloons!" :o) We hung our streamers, blew up lots of balloons. And the party began!



















Glad Annie enjoyed my cake so much!


Of course it's never a party unless our cousins are here. This gang is as close as cousins can get. They just love each other!



And as quick as our day began, our day was done. It was almost like Christmas here...shopping for two, wrapping all their presents, getting the food, add in all the energy that goes into planning a party, and how quickly it's all over. How quickly our children are growing, too. I just tucked a 3 year old, and a 10 year old into bed!!! I think I agree with Mikey. He does look taller! :o) Where does the time go? Matthew is growing into a young man so quickly. Sometimes I stare at him and don't even want to blink, because I'm afraid he'll turn into a man just that quick! And my baby, well I guess I don't have a baby anymore. She is a little girl now. I have a hard time imagining her being a grown up. She's our baby! Somtimes, Joel and I have conversations and laugh at what we think each one of our children will be someday. Ultimately, all we want is to see our children grow up, and love the Lord with all their heart, and soul and mind. God has surely blessed us by entrusting these children into our care. With each birthday that comes and goes, we are reminded that time is ticking, and we are to be "redeeming the time" and "laying up treasures in heaven."


Happy Birthday, my little treasures!