Our February Babies

Here they are, the February 11th babies....




And now, I have some breaking news to share......I have a teenager!!!

**someone get the smelling sauce! She's going down!**

Yes, indeed, our Matt is 13. How does one celebrate their 13th birthday, you may ask? Well for our young pilot, it looks like this....



Nothing could be sweeter than turning 13 in the clouds!








I don't know where God will lead him, but judging by the passion He has given our son, it will have something to do with planes.


Matt,
You can never fully know the love that is in my heart. When Daddy and I walked out of the hospital with you, we kept saying, "I can't believe they're going to let us take him home! I can't believe we're leaving here with this baby!!" We took 35 minutes buckling your car seat into the car, making sure that everything was secure. Daddy drove 7 mph out of the hospital parking lot. It was only a 5 minute trip, but I sat in the back with you, just in case you cried. When we got home, we carried you up to your new nursery and laid you into the crib that we had meticulously made. Every onesie, pajamas, and blankie were washed with Dreft, folded and waiting in your drawers. As a young mother, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know the first thing about raising a boy. I didn't know how to pull your tiny baby arm through your shirt without thinking it was going to break. I cried when you cried. Nothing made me happier than hearing a great big burp come out of your tiny body. (some things have changed) Many nights, Daddy and I stood over your little crib, staring in awe and repeating, "I can't believe he's ours." Sometimes, we still do that. Matt, you are even more wonderful and special to us than the day we brought you home! We still can't believe God gave you to us. We love you!!!


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Annie is 6. I can't handle the fact that she now has to use both hands to show me her age.



I can't stand it that each morning she wakes up, she looks an inch taller.


SEE? Look at her!! Look at her!!! She looks longer, doesn't she?






That's it, Annie! Not one more inch! Ya hear me? I don't want you growing another inch!



Don't laugh at me. I mean it!








Annie,
No wonder God surprised us with you....He knew we needed another little girl to keep this house sweet. When we brought you home from the hospital, the picture was a little bit different than it was with Matt. You were immediately swarmed with little people wanting to hold you. We all took turns passing you around. I don't think your feet ever touched the ground the first year of your life. Every single toy was brought to you upon the tiniest wimper. Every morning, there were fights over who was going to get you out of your crib. 6 years later, you are still swarmed with people who want to be close to you. You know why? You are loved! You are loved IMMENSELY! After Matt was born, I never understood how a mommy could love another baby, let alone five! And then, I found out that you grow another heart each time you have a baby! Annie, I love your giggles. I love your sparkly eyes. I love the way you talk. I love it when you say something funny, even though you don't mean to. I love the way you immediately crawl into my lap after supper each night because you're starting to get tired. I love the pictures you draw of our house, always with flowers and rainbows. You are a treasure from God! We love you!!!

Thank you, Lord! I love surprises.

Deep Thoughts by Annie and Emma

Emma and Annie came walking into the room, dressed like this....





I said, "Oh, are you girls pretending to be shepherds?"
"No." Annie said, "We're Nuns."

(too much "Sound of Music" does this)

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Conversation has been interesting with these two lately. Tonight, for instance, Joel was talking to the kids about God's love and he said, "He loves you so much that he sent His son, Jesus to die on the cross."
Emma, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. I thought Mary was the mother of Jesus."
Joel, "She is."
Emma, "Mary got married to God?"
Joel, "No, Mary wasn't married to God, but God is the Father of Jesus."
Emma, "Well, who married Mary?"
The entire room...."Joseph."
Emma, "But I thought you just said that God was the father of Jesus."

I thought I'd try my hand at explaining, "God is the Father. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary. So, that's how the baby was put in her belly."

Emma, "So, there was no Dad?"

At this point, Annie (age 5) has had enough of this ludicrousness and decided to join the conversation..."Emmaaaaaa, if dere's no dad, whose gonna dwive da car?"

Everyone slowly looks at Annie.

"What do you mean, Ann? What car?" I asked.

Annie- "When hor belly horts, if dere's no dad, who dwove Mary to hosbubble?"

Me- "Umm, Annie, there were no cars back then. Mary hopped a donkey. Joseph led the way.... and P.S...no hospitals, either."

Family devotions dismissed.

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

I've made a few New Year's resolutions that I'm not afraid to share:

1. Pray more, stress less.
2. Exercise more, eat less.
3. Blog more, facebook less.

I've missed blogging, but haven't had the time to keep up with it...or so I thought. I guess I hit an all time low when I found myself stalking my 4th grade boyfriend's facebook page, just to see how much weight he gained and what his kids were dressed as for Halloween......Don't judge me.
Facebook is weird. I have "friends" on facebook that aren't really my friends. I get creeped out when someone asks me to be their friend and I have no clue who they are. And it makes me feel funny inside when I find myself in Joe Shmoe's family vacation album, clicking through each picture with a silly grin on my face as if I were there, and suddenly realize, "Who in the world is this person?" --Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the air. Maybe it's the fallen socialization status of planet earth, but I've vowed to facebook less this year, and for Pete's sake! I won't delve into someone's photos who I don't know. -Whew! I'm glad I got that off my chest.


With my lack of blogging this last year, I'd like to make it up to you... and my family digital scrapbook here. Here are some memorable moments that occurred in 2010.

February 11, 2010 Matthew turned 12 and Annie turned 5.




We celebrated with an "atmosphere" theme. Annie picked rainbows. Matt picked planes.




Matt is in 7th grade. He loves to draw.




His real passion is planes. He is working on getting his solo license. Currently, he has 4 hours applied toward his pilot's license. I know, I know..it's crazy that he has time logged toward his pilot's license, but is still 3 1/2 years away from driving a car. Does this make anyone else a little woozy?

Annie officially started school this year. Of course since she's been in a highchair, she thinks she's been homeschooling, but this is the real deal, Annie-bo-bannie. No turning back now. Welcome to Kindergarten, baby!



May 14th was a memorable birthday for Mary and Emma, as well.


Mary turned 11 and Emma turned 7.....thus the 7/11 picture.


We did this on their birthday....




Permanently etched in their ears is their 7th and 11th birthday. I'm not sure that anything could top this birthday.

I'll have to think of something REALLY good this year. Maybe tattoos? -kidding.....I think.


We've had two new additions to the family: Moses and Rocky. Funny that in the Bible, Moses was told to strike the rock.


That probably won't be happening here though.





Meet Moses:



He was no taller than the buttercups when we got him.


Meet "Rock:"



They are loved.










Oh! I almost forgot about our third addition to the family!

Meet Henry:




Henry is a hermit crab.




He is not loved.



Ok....ok..... maybe he is by Mikey.

I mean, who else would build a hermit crab this fantastic ferris wheel?

In October, my sunshine boy turned 9.




2010 brought him new teeth.


Mikey played soccer this past fall, and did fantastic! I think it was because he had the loudest cheering section.


Homeschool, homeschool, homeschool....that is my life right now.



Homeschoolers are an interesting breed, aren't they? I'll admit I still feel a little funny when I say, "We homeschool" because for some reason, I just want to blurt out immediately after, "but we're normal." I think it was the homeschoolers that I encountered when I was growing up that cause me to make that clarification. I guess that makes me a "people pleaser." And I don't want to be that. You do think I'm normal, though.......don't you????

Hello?





Anyone out there???



Mom?



**tap, tap, tap** this thing on??



Whether we're "normal"or not, we are indeed on this journey together.



Something funny that happened this year was when I told Emma to put "Ezra and the scroll" on the timeline. She grabbed the markers and went to town drawing away. A little while later, I walked by. I stopped. I stared at the timeline. I tilted my head to the left then to the right. "Umm...Emma?" I asked, completely puzzled. "What's that next to Ezra?"



She looked up at me with her big blue eyes. "It's a squirrel. You told me to make Ezra and a squirrel."


Have Mercy! we will get this child to college.




We had a wonderful Christmas filled with true joy, contentment and happiness that can only come from our Lord!








We started a new tradition this year. We hung a stocking for Jesus. The kids wrote down what they wanted to give to Jesus, and put the folded paper inside the stocking. Some of things that were written were:
"Dear Jesus, I want my words to make you happy."
"Dear Jesus, I want to bring a new follower to you."
"Dear Jesus, I won't scratch anyone." (oddly enough, that wasn't from Moses.) I won't tell you who wrote that, because that would be breaking family confidentiality......






Nope, I won't tell you....






It would be so wrong of me.







So, don't ask me again. You're not getting it out of me.



I'm happy that I blogged today. I just accomplished number 3 of my New Year's Resolution. Unfortunately, I typed this entire thing, while eating a raspberry pop over. I did pray this morning, though. -Two out of three ain't bad.

Happy New Year, everyone! I will return.




And I promise I won't wait so long.