From the rising of the sun to its going down
the Lord's name is to be praised!



Monday, December 12, 2011

Snack Time


 Oh, please take it!  A little slobber won't hurt you!

Friday, December 09, 2011

Sunday Afternoon Naps
We do this well, her and I. 
(Can you tell I'm pretending for the picture! lol)

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Do I Need a Title?







Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Can I Help?
Mia is a VERY willing helper in the kitchen.  She begs to make lunch and when I am working in the kitchen she often asks if she can help.   I should take a picture sometime of the lunch she makes-it's usually a plate with pickles, chips, salsa and fruit.  Those colorful peppers match her shirt sleeve!  (Hey, a girls gotta match with what she's cookin!)


Monday, December 05, 2011

Learning all About TEA! :O)

Mia has got to be the best big sister in the world!  She makes my heart squeeze for many reasons and one of them is the way she LOVES and cares for her baby sister.

Friday, December 02, 2011

Just Cozy...

Esmé enjoying her tea...it is probably not as warm and cozy as it looks because she usually waits to drink it once it has cooled off (or requests more milk in it).  Sometimes she decides it is 'too old' when it has sat too long and asks if she can put it on the counter.    Funny girl.
This little love has been having a rough time lately being 'sandwiched' between two older girls and a cute baby sister.  This can create some unlikable moments in parenting and I have to be more intentional about being tender towards her.  It is so easy to become exasperated in these moments and to my shame this is more the norm for me.  I love this lady and with God's grace, I will help her become more secure in her place in the family.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

My Favorite Place to Play!
One day I discovered the food cupboard.  I found a lot of fun food to play with.  Then one day I found an open pack of cookies to eat!  My Mommy thought it was cute, so she took some pictures.


Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A Real Live Miss. Potato Head! 
(and arguably more cute!)



Little Miss. Brie loves to be the center of attention.  Such a boof!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Spot of Tea?


Remember that thrift store hobby I developed?  This cup and saucer set is a product of it...:O)

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Company's Coming

We had some friends over for the afternoon back in October.  It is so nice to socialize with fellow Moms, kids, and homeschooler's!  Time for another afternoon Megan!
 *Please note:  Beautiful blue plate was found at Goodwill (along with 2 others)!  I am becoming a thrift store lover.  I used to be very discouraged at this 'hobby' but have a friend who insisted it was worth it.  So I exercised the habit a bit and realized that even though the finds are not guaranteed, they sure bring some fun when they happen!  This thrift store thing has actually become a stress release for me-on those days when your husband comes home and you beg to be let go from parenting duties for a bit, you might catch me at Goodwill! :O)  My sister-in law apparently has the same outings once in a while!
 The camera always begs to take pictures of the ladies when it comes out...


Monday, November 21, 2011

Because My Mom Thinks I am Cute...
...and wants to remember that I learned how to stand-even though I have been doing it for a long time and am even brave enough to take some steps now...


Monday, September 26, 2011

Some Quick Points:

-We had our family pics done. You can check them out here. Juliana is a very gifted photographer. Thanks so much Julianna!

-I am SO looking forward to a sister’s weekend in Michigan. We did this about a year and a half ago. Such a blessing to have sisters and oodles of them at that! :O)

-Homeschooling is going well. It feels SO good to be in the groove of it. KENA (activities we participate in with our home school group) started today. I am grateful that KENA does not start the same week that school does and that we have time to establish a bit of routine first. In case you are curious how the logistics of school go for our family it is something like this:

Get up (I am not disclosing the time!). We are still in the rhythm of summer sleeping so the time is not good! Eat breakfast and send big girls (i.e. Mia and Ksena) upstairs to the school room to start handwriting. Brie usually goes along with them and is placed in front of a bin of toys. I quickly finish up tidying the kitchen or eat breakfast while the handwriting is going on and then make my way to the schoolroom with Esmé. I then help the girls with their math lessons and get Esmé going on her workbook. Brie is generally content at this point. By the time math is finished we are all ready for a break and a snack. After our snack we get outside rain or shine (I kid you not!) and walk a minimum of half a block-on a good day we will do a longer stretch. Brie LOVES this part of our morning and is starting to catch on to the rhythm of our days. The mail lady usually sees us walking and we smile and wave-she is part of our routine and it makes me smile. After this quick walk and fresh air, Esmé watches her ‘Ted movie’ (Leapfrog Alphabet DVD) downstairs and the rest of us head back upstairs to the schoolroom. Brie is not usually impressed about occupying herself at this point. We discovered that putting an old crib mattress on the floor for her to play on keeps her busy/happy for a while. The big girls then have their phonics lesson which we have found is a pretty fast paced curriculum with a LOT of exercises for one day. I read on Carmen’s blog that it is not the amount you cover in a book that counts but how well you have learned something. I will have to remember this when we are learning new phonics rules and not getting all of the exercises finished in one lesson. It is better to have the rules learned well then to just get the work pages finished. After phonics we read the story that goes with the lesson and then we usually do a Spelling Lesson. (My plan is to introduce some Bible, Science, and Geography into the routine but this will happen once our basics are well established and these extra subjects will only have a ‘sprinkling’ in our routine.)

It is usually Lunch time when we are finished but if we start rising earlier we will have a lot more time in our mornings!

(I guess that was not a quick point!)

-we have been on one spur of the moment field trip together to Great Lakes Farms. The apples were fun to pick, the corn maze was adventurous and the play area was a treat! I hope to take the girls again! My favorite apples (Mutsu) were not ripe yet so we need to go back!





-We are looking forward to gymnastics stating in October

-October…that reminds me. I am turning 30, Lord willing on Oct 2! AHHH! REALLY! I still feel 20 but slowly my mind is catching up to the fact that I am not a young adult anymore. I realize I am not old but I am certainly no teenager! I can say things like ’15 years ago back in high school…’

-our house is for sale. If you would like to see our ad here is the link. Jen & Scott are helping us sell privately by doing all the paperwork/photos to get it on Kijiji and MLS. I would say they have made our house look pretty good! Thanks guys! (Our first showing was a 'no show'! Nice practice whipping things into shape I guess!)

-My Brie turned a year on Sep 2! The little love is growing up and I have some mixed feelings about this! She sure is a treat-always smiling and so cuddly (except in the church nursery!). She is downright spoiled with love from all of us and I would say has a very enviable position in the family with all of the attention she gets!

-Ksena turned 6!!!!!!




-Mia and Ksena have started Piano lessons!!!! :O) :O) :O)

-My hard working man is So busy with Talbot Electrical. I am proud of this VERY good MAN!