In Search of Normal

Leia's New Hobby

2010-11-11T19:09:00.000-08:00

This fall Leia and I have been taking a quilting class with a few other moms and daughters. It has been lots of fun and Leia loves it. The first project is a table runner. Leia's is a fall themed table runner and mine is for Christmas.

Here she is sewing away. She is a natural seamstress. I am so impressed with how well she has done.
Here she is with her table runner without the binding on.

The finished product! This picture is with her sewing teacher. She is a wonderful, Godly woman who has blessed us so much by these lessons.

Time with Papa

2010-11-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

On our end of summer trip home, we spent as much time as possible with my dad. My dad is living in a nursing home, which is very painful for me to even type. At first he went there just to get stronger to go home, but he will probably never make it back to his home. It is rather difficult to visit someone in a nursing home for any length of time when you have small children along. We wanted to do things that would be a change for my dad and let the kids have some time with him. He does not like the food there, so we brought him meals when we could also.

This day we brought him lunch and had a picnic with him outside in the patio area in some shade. Yoda always wanted to help push Papa. He couldn't do it without help, but he always wanted to be the pusher.

The church that I grew up in and that my dad attended until his recent health problems built a new building and moved in to it after my dad got sick. He had never been there, so he and I took a bus to he could get a tour of the new facility. I took a picture of him on the bus, but forgot to take any pictures once we were there! He was so pleased to get to see the building that he had prayed for and supported for so long. He wasn't so thrilled with my taking his picture on the bus, though!

There is a room at the nursing home that has some couches, a table and a bird display. We spent a lot of time of our visit there. The little kids loved the birds and there was the table where they could color. Here is a picture with all the kids and Papa before we had to return to our home.

Of course there has to be a silly picture, and my dad is always happy to oblige with making faces.

It is very hard to see my dad so weak and living in a nursing home, but I am so grateful for the time I got to spend with him and for my kids to have more time with him as well.

Fun with Friends

2010-11-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

On our end of summer trip back to our former city, we had lots of fun with some of our favourite friends. I didn't take enough pictures, but here are a few of the ones I did take.

This is Leia's favorite friend back home. She had a sleep over with us and the kids were all watching a movie together. Notice my girls can't take their eyes off the movie, even for a picture!

This little guy is Padme's buddy. They were playing with blocks in his yard. He is the 5th child in their family, just like Padme is in ours.

More playing with blocks

Yoda liked those blocks.

Padme goofing off

This is Yoda's future buddy. Right now they aren't the best of friends. They are both the 6th child in their families, and mostly they tattle on each other. Yoda calls him "Baby" and he calls Yoda "That Guy". It is funny to hear them tattle on each other. We are confident they will get to be good buddies as they get older, just like the rest of their siblings.

Next time I need to do a better job of taking pictures. I didn't get any with Luke and his friends and the oldest two boys mostly worked, so I didn't get any pictures of them either.

Our Future= Goats

2010-11-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

We have started to go through a tremendous amount of milk recently. It is not good for my grocery budget! There has always been a ban on drinking milk at our house (due to allergies), but the kids love it and were sneaking it. So, I decided to lift the ban and see how it went. No problems with allergies, but the milk is flying through the house. What to do.

I have this friend who has milk goats. She volunteered to give our Keeper's of the Faith group a demonstration of the milking and she made some cheese for us, too. Our whole family came to the demonstration to see if everyone would even like the milk and if the kids were up for the challenge of keeping and milking goats. Everyone loved the milk (except me, and I don't like cow milk either) and the kids are excited about the prospect of goats.

What really sold me on the idea is that my friend gets about 1 gallon of milk a day. And she pays less to keep her goats than she does to keep her dogs. And the kids think they are getting pets out of the deal, also. We need to do some rearranging of our fence and build some shelters and fences before we can actually get a goat or two, but it is in our future plans. And then there should be some chickens for eggs in the future as well. I guess we are want to be homesteaders or something! And Leia is still praying for a horse.

A few pictures of our future goat milkers in action.

Luke gave it a try, but my picture of him didn't turn out so well. The older boys didn't want to try the milking, but they sure loved the milk. My friend told me that goats are like "Odd dogs." We are still laughing at that description!

Firestation Trip

2010-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Luke, Padme and I went to our local fire station recently for a field trip with some friends. The older kids had been to the fire station before, but this was Padme's first time. She was very excited. She got to try on the fireman's gear and it looked so comical because she is so little in it.
Luke trying out the fire truck.

Padme loved it all.

Our fireman guide showing us the the Jaws of Life equipment. Luke loved all the big saws and tools.

Padme and her buddy with the fireman in all his gear.

This was the fourth or fifth time we have been to a fire station and I am always so impressed at the firemen's kindness and patience with the children. Truly public servants we are blessed to have protecting us. We will have to go back again when Yoda is a bit older and Leia can come along, too.

Bunny Love

2010-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

We have some friends who invited us over to see their baby bunnies. My little kids love animals, and the bunnies were a big hit! Of course, they were ready to bring them all home. Good thing we were on vacation and bringing a bunny 500 miles in the car was not a possibility!

Padme especially loved to hold them once she figured out how to do it without getting scratched.

Yoda liked the bunnies, but was very concerned the entire time. He didn't want them to get away, and he wanted someone to help him. He did not want the bunnies to be taken away, just to have help with them.

Leia really loves animals and will love on anything. She is very sweet and motherly with animals.

Best Yard Sale Find of the Summer!

2010-10-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

RIght before we left for our vacation, Hubby bought the kids a treat for next summer at a friend's yardsale. When we returned, it was warm enough one day to set up and the kids were thrilled. Except for Yoda, who did not like it at all, although he did like wearing his sister's goggles!

Padme ready to play in the water!

Here she goes!

Leia also had a blast!

Maybe next summer Yoda will be ready to play with them.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T13:00:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday: Oh, to sleep like him!

2010-09-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

School Curriculum 2010-2011

2010-09-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Since our school year last year ended rather unexpectedly when we left town for 4 weeks to spend time with my dad, I really feel scattered going into this year. A few of the children have a few things to wrap up from last year before they are ready to start this year, but that is one of the blessings of homeschooling!

Once again, I have spent time organizing and reorganizing our school cupboard, chore charts, and curriculum to have a fresh start for the year. I think it makes me feel like everything will work better if we have an organized start. Not sure if it actually does or not, but I like to think it helps!
This year Yoda is able to do more activities and hopefully get in less mischief. I am always hopeful about that part! He loves to look at books and do puzzles, as well as paint, color and play dough, so he will have some planned activity times with an older sibling to help him out. Mostly his job will be to play and stay out of trouble!

Padme- Kindergarten
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons- started last year, will continue this year
Abeka Math
Abeka Social Studies
Awana
Science-Flying Creatures of the 5th Day

Leia-3rd grade
Abeka math
Abeka Language Arts
Handwriting Without Tears
Typing- Mavis Beacon
Spanish- The Learnables
Science- Flying Creatures of the 5th Day
Reading- Sonlight core 3
History- Sonlight core 4
Bible- Sonlight and Awana
Spelling- Spellingtime.com

Luke-6th Grade
Math- Saxon 7/6
Abeka Language Arts
Science- Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
Spanish- the Learnables
typing- Mavis Beacon
Spelling- Spellingtime.com
History and reading- Sonlight Core 4
Bible- Sonlight and Awana

Obi-9th Grade
Math- Teaching Textbooks Algebra II
Science- Apologia Biology
Spanish- Rosetta Stone
Awana
Modern History of the World- Homeschool class for history, literature and composition
Obi has a chain maille business that he is going to launch into an Etsy store this fall.

Han- 11th Grade
Modern History of the World- Homeschool class for history, literature and composition
Spanish- Rosetta Stone
Typing- Mavis Beacon- Han did this program earlier and is redoing for skill
College Plus- Han is starting with College Plus this fall, working on college credits while completing high school

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Little Kid's Camp

2010-08-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

Recently Obi and Han went on an almost 2 week mission trip to Southern California. While they were gone we had "Little Kids' Camp" at our house. Every weekday we did fun things that the little kids like to do but we don't necessarily do a lot because the older two boys wouldn't enjoy.

Here are a few pictures of some of the highlights of our time.

Swimming at our friend's pool.

We love the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. When you first go in you are met by these wonderful giraffes. Earlier in the summer Yoda was terrified of them, but this time he thought they were the best. I didn't get a good picture of him with the giraffes, but this one is of my friend's kids with Padme in the front.

The giraffe's tongues are amazing!

These two got snakes painted on their forearms.

These two played in the dirt.

These two are zebras.

And these two have dragonflies on their cheeks.

The zoo was lots of fun. Our friends made it even more fun!

Leia got her first horse riding lesson. She loved it! And is praying for a horse.

We went to Focus on the Family. We love the Chronicles of Narnia, so of course we had to take pictures with the kids and Aslan.

Yoda by the Narnia wall.

Watching a Last Chance Detectives in their little theater.

We had lots of fun and were sad when it was over. One of the things the kids liked the most is going to yard sales one day. How simple is that? I spent a few dollars on books and everyone was happy! I need to do more little kid things even when the oldest two are home and don't want to join in. My little kids are growing up fast and I need to enjoy them more.

Padme's Birthday Party

2010-08-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

For Padme's first ever birthday party with friends, she wanted a chocolate cake, not a decorated cake, and a dress up/water party. So, this is what she got! She loves this chocolate sheet cake (recipe from the Pioneer Woman). Very plain looking, but delicious!

Her little friends all dressed up in dress up clothes. The boy is Indiana Jones!

And the water party was after the presents and cake and homemade ice cream. Here Padme is arming herself with water balloons.

The water slide was a hit as well.

And no party is complete without a pinata and a bunch of candy.

She had a great time and was looking forward to her brothers coming home after being gone on a mission trip and the family party that night.

Obi's Birthday

2010-08-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Obi is the captain of his Ultimate Frisbee team. And since the team color is orange, Obi has become a fan of all things orange. For his birthday, all he wanted was an orange cake. So, his cake was orange with little Frisbees on top. I even colored the white cake orange, so his cake was orange inside and out. He had a friend spend the day and they had lots of fun.

He had a great 15th Birthday!

Han's Birthday

2010-08-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Han loves guns. And he wanted a rifle more than anything so he could go hunting this fall. So, for his birthday, we surprised him with a rifle. And he was very surprised!!! The kids usually get their presents the night of their birthday, but since we were getting him a gun, we gave it to him first thing in the morning and Hubby took him and Obi out shooting for the day.

They had lots of fun. Han was so pleased.

Apparently part of the fun of having guns is cleaning them. When they got home, they spent quite a bit of time cleaning their guns in the garage. And Obi is always a lunatic when I am taking pictures!

Okay, not always.

Han had a great day and was thrilled with his new gun. Now let's see if he can make his first kill this fall....

Ultimate Frisbee Showdown

2010-08-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Frisbee league ended this past week with the Final Game. Our boys' team, Ultimatum was in the final and they were undefeated. We were all very excited, and the boys were very nervous. Here are a few pictures from the final game.

My camera had dead batteries for the game, so none of these are my pictures. Remember as you look through these pictures that Ultimate Frisbee is a NO CONTACT sport. Whatever...

Here is the team praying together before the game.

I love this picture. Obi being attacked by a girl in midair.

I love this picture, too. He loves orange!

I had to include a picture of this girl on the boys team. She is a real go getter and this is what we have come to expect of her.

Han making a catch with his shadow not touching him.

Han showing off his muscles.
Making another catch with his shadow in place.

It was a good and close game and Ultimatum ended up winning. We were so excited. But no team pictures were taken at the end. They didn't want to rub it in with the other team too much I guess. What a great season they had. The parents on our team were great and I think Hubby and I had as much fun cheering and visiting with people at the games as the boys did. And the younger kids had a blast playing with other kids at the park. Overall, a successful season. Can't wait for next year!

Padme's 6th Birthday and Yoda's 2nd Birthday

2010-08-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

Five of our six children have summer birthdays. And four of them are in a 16 day time span. This year, the two oldest boys were gone on a mission trip for Yoda's birthday, so we waited to celebrate when they came home on Padme's birthday. We had a joint family party for both Padme and Yoda in the evening, and earlier that afternoon, we had a friend party for Padme. Lots of fun around here! Here are a few pictures of our little celebration.

All the kids with Yoda's basketball cake. That little boy is crazy about balls.

He liked his cake!

Padme's gift from Nana and Papa. She loves the CD with the book and dances around to it.

Yoda's present from Nana and Papa was a set of board books with a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal. He loves them all.

Yoda loves his new trike, although he cannot pedal it without help.

Yoda saw giraffes at the zoo and won't stop talking about them. We got him a stuffed giraffe and he loved it.

Padme got a stuffed elephant that she loved, also.

This picture isn't too clear, but Yoda got a stuffed monkey, and he did not like it at all! He even put it back in the bag it came in. He kept saying, "No, no montey, no, no!" We couldn't believe it and we were all laughing about it. After a few days, he would hold the monkey, but he still doesn't like it!

15 Years Ago Tonight

2010-07-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

15 years ago tonight we welcomed our second son into our family. We thought he was so beautiful with all that hair.

Han became a big brother.

Han loved his baby brother. He was very protective of him. If anyone held Obi, he would cry until they gave him back to us. When Obi was in his car seat, Han would lean over Obi with his body so people couldn't see him. He wasn't jealous, just always wanting to protect his baby. Everywhere we went, Han would say, "Let's take the baby!" Which meant that when we went to a different room, including the bathroom, we had to take the baby with us!

Obi loved his big brother. When he got old enough to talk, the first thing he said every morning is, "Where's Han?"

We are thankful for Obi and his life in our family. He keeps us laughing and wondering what he will do next!

17 Years Ago Today

2010-07-21T21:20:00.001-07:00

I never wanted to have children. I was going to have a career and make something of myself. Children did not fit into this plan. After I graduated from college I was accepted into a Master's Degree program in Physical Therapy. Life was good. Three and a half months into my two year program I discovered I was pregnant. Hubby and I were both terrified and a bit distraught. We had no idea what we were going to do. We were poor college students and children were not in the plan. And going to any type of medical school while pregnant is a very bad idea. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. My imagination ran wild my entire pregnancy.

When Han was born, I was absolutely exhausted after 40 hours of labor. I was just relieved he was born and I was NEVER going to go through that again. I didn't even get a good look at him before they took him to the nursery to care for him. I didn't mind at all. I was just relieved it was over.

However, a few hours later they brought this little guy in to see me.

And I was a goner. I thought he was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I couldn't believe he was my baby. How could this amazing little guy be mine?

Every ounce of ambition in my body fled and all I wanted was to be a momma to this little guy. Truly the best day of my life was when I became a mom to this little guy and the others that followed.

I can not believe that he is 17 years old. It is my privilege to be this young man's mom. I only wish it wasn't going so fast.

Leia's 9th Birthday

2010-07-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Leia's birthday was one month ago today. That is how far behind I am with my blog. Better late than never, so here is her birthday in pictures.

She had a few friends over to celebrate. Here they all are after opening gifts. Nice girls who are good friends.

And after the nice pictures, they always want a crazy one. Sometimes I like the crazy pictures the best! Leia is horse crazy and wanted a horse cake. And she loves the color green. So this is what I came up with for her cake.

She loved it!

And the pinata is always lots of fun, especially when a big brother is holding it up and moving the stick every time the girls took a swing.

Our once girly girl is no more. She wanted a squirt gun/water balloon fight for her birthday. Which is what her brothers always had when they were younger. Here is a picture of the water balloon fight. There were no boys allowed, so there were no tears. If you have boys, you know what I am talking about.

The squirt gun fight was also a success.

Leia had a wonderful birthday. We are so blessed to have her as our daughter. She is a lovely little girl who is growing up way too fast. Blessings to her on the next year of her life.

Ultimatum

2010-07-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Before we moved to Colorado, our boys had never heard of Ultimate Frisbee. The first time they were invited to play, I was completely surprised at how much fun they had. It has become their favorite past time and our weekly schedule usually centers around them playing several times. Some friends started an official league and both of the older boys are on a team called Ultimatum. Obi is the captain and they put this team together to play in the league. They are currently undefeated and heading for the semifinals next week.

I still don't understand all the rules, but we have lots of fun watching them play. The little girls and a couple of other little siblings call the team Ultamato and we have lots of fun listening to them yell "Go Ultamato!" at the games.

Their team color is orange and they have taken to painting their faces before games as well as wearing as much orange as they can. Here is their team picture.

And a picture of them roaring.

Obi just prior to catching the Frisbee during a recent game.

This picture of Obi in air reaching for the Frisbee just cracks me up. It shows that Ultimate can be a bit of a physical game and explains some of the injuries that have occurred. And the two players to Obi's left are both girls, who play hard and don't back down.

Han Solo, Ultimate Frisbee Warrior

Homeschool Prom 2010

2010-07-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

When we first moved to Colorado, our boys did not know how to dance and they were not in the least interested in learning how. However, the group of teens here love to dance. And as time went on, they missed out on a lot of events because they didn't dance. So this year when Prom time rolled around, they wanted to be ready. They had their clothes purchased and they got some dancing lessons.

The Homeschool Prom is not a dating event. The parent is the date, and it is meant as a family event. I had the privilege of going with both my older boys to the prom. Here are a few pictures of the night.

Han ready in his spiffy clothes.

Obi looking handsome in his.

There was a catered dinner prior to the dancing. Here are the boys sitting at their table.

Here is the group of teens that attended the homeschool prom this year. You can see that there are twice as many girls as boys, so the boys were in great demand as dance partners.

I took more video than pictures and I didn't get the best pictures, but here are a few. This is Obi during one of the many Civil War Ball dances that they learned.

Here is Han dancing with one of the girls who taught him to dance.

After the Prom ended, most of the group, along with parents, went to IHOP for more fun. Both Obi and Han had a great time. They didn't want the night to end, and I agreed. I also had a lot of fun and I loved watching the boys dance. It was a successful night overall and we are already looking forward to next year!

Copy Cat

2010-07-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Obi and Yoda are great buddies. And Obi likes to play games with Yoda and teach him new things. Here is a recent copycat session.

They crack me up! Hopefully Obi will teach him some useful things as he gets older!

Long Absence

2010-07-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed a rather lengthy absence in my blogging lately. Many things have happened the past three months and I have kind of lost my heart for blogging. My dad has been very sick since Good Friday and I ended up taking my kids home to see him and was gone for 4 weeks, which ended up being most of the month of May. Since returning home I haven't been able to get back in the grove and get us back into a routine. Summer has been crazy and I am going to try and jump back in and get going again. I am planning on going back and blogging about some of the good things that have been going on, and about our trip home. So there is a little update and plans for the summer. Hopefully I will get on track and blogging again!

Read the Bible in 90 Days Summer Challenge

2010-07-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Amy at Mom's Toolbox is hosting another Challenge to read the Bible in 90 days. I so thoroughly enjoyed doing it the first time earlier this year that I have decided to join the challenge again. It was a great experience and I learned a tremendous amount. Reading it fast made certain aspects jump out at me that I had never realized before. And having the accountability was also very helpful. I have actually missed not knowing exactly what I was supposed to be reading every day for my devotions. So today is the first day of the challenge. I will try and blog once a week and report how it is going for me. The first time I accepted the challenge, my two oldest boys read with me and helped me be accountable. This time I will be looking to the online community for support and some good discussions. So Happy Reading and looking forward to what God has to teach me this time!

Crazy Hair Night at Awanas

2010-04-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Last week Awana had Crazy Hair Night. Here are the girls with some crazy hair. In the past we have bought some fun colored hair spray, but they moved the week up by a week and I wasn't ready. Maybe next year. I have no idea what is the deal with Padme's teeth in this picture!

The look is multiple, random ponytails. It was all I could come up with.

She loved it!

Leia is sporting s very similar look.

We will plan ahead better for next year and try something new. The girls had a fun night!

Spring Worship Dance Concert

2010-04-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

The girls had their Spring Worship Dance Concert was last weekend. Here are a few pictures of them. I have some video of all of Padme's dance and half of Leia's that I will post below this one so if you are interested in seeing the dance, you can watch that, too.

The theme of this concert was Heaven and the concert was called Come and Go With Me.

Padme's class danced to the song I'll Fly Away by Jars of Clay. I had never heard this arrangement of the song and I love it.

Leia's class danced to I Can Only Imagine by MercyMe. I absolutely love this song and have since I first heard it. It makes me cry every time I hear it and watching her in class and rehearsal didn't change that. I cried every time.

Leia is the dancer right in front in this first picture with her back to the camera.

After the dance the girls get flowers from us. I think they love that almost as much as dancing, which they love. I couldn't get a serious picture of Padme, she was being so goofy and had already changed out of her dance costume.

Leia with her flowers.

The girls are both sad that the classes are over until summer time when there is a week long summer camp. I am glad for the time extra time home, but I do love watching them dance.

Padme's Dance video

2010-04-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

Leia's Dance video

2010-04-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

I messed up and only got half of Leia's dance videoed. And I am not the best at videoing either, so some of it is poor quality. ANyways, you can get an idea of what her dance was like.

Backwards Night at Awana

2010-04-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

Last month Awana had a Backwards Night. Here are the girls with their backwards look. That is actually the front of Leia with her ponytail in front of her face! They are wearing their shirts, pants and vests backward. They thought it was very funny to dress like this.

And the back view...

Leia's ponytail came out shortly after she got to church. She said she couldn't do anything because she couldn't see a thing!

Easter 2010

2010-04-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Easter morning. I couldn't get a picture of Yoda without some of his new goodies from his basket. He was a little unsure of what all the fuss was about!

Luke sporting the casual look.

The girls are wearing the necklaces that my mom made for them.

Obi and Han sporting their attire they purchased for the upcoming Homeschool Prom. They have never dressed so nice before and they really enjoyed it!

Easter Fun

2010-04-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

We are part of small group that had an Easter egg hunt the week before Easter. Yoda loves balls and he thought the plastic eggs were balls. And he had a great time picking them up.

Imagine his surprise when he discovered that there was candy in those eggs! He really liked that part!

When it was time to dye our Easter eggs, Yoda was happy to have some eggs (balls) but he didn't like dunking them at first. In fact, he got a bit upset about it all.

He wanted it out of the dye and tried to give it to me...

I put it back in the dye, which he did not like at all!

Then he thought he should give it to Leia so he is handing it to her.

A bit later he decided that it was very fun to play in both the dye and the eggs.

And he had lots of fun!

Some pictures of the other kids with their egg dying adventures.

Easter afternoon we had an egg hunt in our backyard. Yoda was ready to find more eggs.

He was very worried about what Padme was finding across the yard.

And kept watching her instead of seeing eggs right in front of him!

And Padme was having her own trouble across the yard. Anyone see any eggs???

Overall, we had lots of fun with eggs this Easter!

The Trouble with Obi

2010-04-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Obi Wan can take wonderful pictures. He is very photogenic and has a beautiful and expensive smile. The trouble with him is that he loves to goof off and take crazy pictures. A few of the pictures below he took of himself. Anytime I want to get a picture of him I end up taking goofy pictures first and then getting one or possibly two good ones.

Family Favorites Friday: April Fools

2010-04-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

Grateful for Grace hosts a blog carnival on Fridays for sharing your favorite stories. Check out her site for her stories. She is a great story teller and has a very funny family supplying her with great material.

In honor of April Fool's Day last week, I am going to share two stories today. I am terrible at April Fool's jokes. I can never think up anything good, and I can't ever pull it off. Except for two years jokes just fell into my lap and they were both played on my hubby. And he doesn't think they are as funny as the kids and I do!

One year we had received a letter from the city regarding them changing the water pressure in our water lines. We were given a check for $100 and told to hire a plumber to install a water pressure device that would protect our house. Well, the way it worked out, the plumber came to our house to install it on April 1st. The work was done, I paid the bill, and Han and I started thinking about it. I called Hubby and told him that the plumber had come, but that he had charged us $300 instead. I told him he explained it all to me, but I didn't understand, and would he like to talk to the plumber? My hubby was more than a little upset and wanted to speak to the plumber. I handed the phone to Han who said in his deepest voice, "Hello?" My hubby started to ask him some questions and Han said, "April Fools, Dad!" And the rest of the kids and I laughed and laughed. And Hubby didn't think it was all that funny, he was just very relieved that it was a joke.

The next year we ended up going to look at a puppy on April 1st. Our family dog had died 1 1/2 years before and we hadn't been ready to get another one. The time seemed right, and we had found a lady who had a litter of pups I was interested in. We had planned on going the week before to see the pups with Hubby, but the kids had gotten sick. So it was Sat, and Hubby was working at the local Home Show. I told him I would take the kids and we would just go look at the pups and see if we wanted one. He knew that we would come home with one, but I kept telling him we would just look and see. So the five kids and I drove 45 minutes to a nearby town and saw the puppies. And of course we got one. The man tried to make me an offer of 2 for a reduced price, but I laughed and said my husband would kill me, we would just take one.

So we headed back to our city and I called my Hubby on the phone, while he was working at the Home Show. And while I was talking to him, it just hit me and I said, "Hey, the guy gave us a great price and so we got two of them." Silence on the other end. Then he said, "You are joking." And I said, "No, it was a great deal and I couldn't turn it down, and they are really cute!" Again, silence, and then he says, "I have to go, I will talk to you later" and hangs up. I was laughing and laughing and called him back. All I said was, "Do you know what today is???" And he had to think for a minute and then he said, "So you didn't get two puppies?" And I said, "No, just one. April Fools!" Once again, he didn't think it was that funny, but the kids and I laughed about it a lot.

So those are my only April Fools tricks to date, and poor Hubby is the only one who doesn't think they are very funny. But the kids and I get to talking about them, and laughing, and remembering how funny we all thought they were!

Holy Week

2010-04-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

Holy Week is here and I find myself feeling unprepared this year, mostly I think because of my 90 Day Bible Reading that ended this week. In the past we have done a variety of things to get ready to celebrate Easter. Last year we observed our version of Lent. We ended Easter at church where there wasn't a single Easter song sang, and it ended up not even feeling like Easter! For me, Easter really feels like Easter at church when we sing the glad songs and hear the message that Jesus is alive! It is the one holiday that you prepare for at home but truly celebrate at church.

This year we are celebrating with what have become our Holy Week traditions, with a few new things added. I love history and chronological history is my favorite. So we start the week off reading about Joseph and his family and how the Israelites end up in Egypt. Then we move to Moses and the Exodus and the celebration of Passover as to how the Israelites got out of Egypt. Then we progress to Jesus' last week with Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Jesus' final days. We have several movies we watch as we go and favorite books we read. A few years ago I discovered the book Vinegar Boy by Alberta Hawse. We are re-reading it this year and enjoying it tremendously. Another favorite is the That the World May Know video series Faith Lesson on the Death and Resurrection of the Messiah. We love this series and have watched this lesson every Easter for the past 4 or 5 years.

We will decorate eggs on Saturday and Sunday the children all get Easter baskets before we go to church. Easter is truly a day to be looked forward to and celebrated. As a Christian, Easter is the best day of the year!

Read the Bible in 90 Day Challenge: WE DID IT!!!

2010-03-31T09:39:00.001-07:00

I really can't believe it, but the 90 Day Challenge ends today. And Obi and I both finished our Bibles last night! I felt like doing a dance, whooping and hollering, but since the little kids were all sleeping I didn't. But I was seriously excited. I told Obi and Han and then Obi stayed up late and finished his. Han is still working on finishing his reading and I am confident he will have it finished by tonight.

I am so glad that I read the Bible in 90 days. Reading it so quickly really gave me a different perspective and there was such a contrast in the reading for me from the Old Testament to the New Testament. I have always loved the Old Testament, but after the prophets I felt very weighed down with the law and all the disobedience and punishments on the nation of Israel. The New Testament felt like a breath of fresh air and mercy and grace.

When I was about 1/3 of the way through the readings, I thought it would be neat to start a chronological Bible as soon as I was finished with the 90 days. But now I want to start the New Testament over and spend some more time there and study more in depths all the teachings of Jesus. I just don't want to lose the discipline I have had in my reading. I have put on hold most of my blogging, reading other books, and some other projects I would like to get to. But what a great 90 days of reading it has been. I am already planning on doing it again next year!

Tug O War Family

2010-03-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

Sports have never been a huge part of our lives. We love to watch the Olympics and the boys have all tried soccer and basketball, which Leia also tried. Obi loves basketball and has lately been interested in watching college basketball, but no one has really excelled at a sport. Until the Awana Olympics this year. I think we have found our niche in the sport world.

It all started with Leia last month. She is actually a Sparky but was drafted up to the T & T ( a group up) for the Awana Olympics. She is such a girl and we had never seen her do the tug o war. It is usually a four way tug, but they were lacking a team so it was three way. Imagine our surprise to see our little girl out there tugging away and winning with her partner. Made her brothers so proud!

Then it was Luke's turn. When he won, we were excited again.

This past weekend, Han and Obi were on different teams. They are both the anchor for their teams. And they ended up tugging against each other. I was home with a sick baby, so I missed all the fun, but Hubby videoed for me. So, below are the You Tube videos from our Tug O War family. We couldn't be more proud!

For the tug of war, the team wins when their team member picks up the bean bag on the floor. If you watch, you can see a judge move the bag up little by little as time goes by. The anchor usually grabs the bag and that is the end of the tug. Several times you can see the anchor grab for something and miss, and then go back to tugging.

2-20-10 160.AVI

2010-03-17T15:22:00.001-07:00

Here is Leia and her partner. She is in the darker green shirt with her back to the camera. She has a pony tail. Watch when she is done as she is funny how tired she is!

2-20-10 161.AVI

2010-03-17T15:20:00.001-07:00

Here is Luke tugging. He is in the darker green with his back to the camera. He is on the left and his buddy is on the right.

Journey Team D Tug

2010-03-17T15:18:00.001-07:00

Here is Obi's team in a tug. The video quality isn't the best, but watch how excited Obi is when they win.

2 Journey teams tug o war against each other

2010-03-17T14:42:00.001-07:00

This is Han and Obi's team tugging against each other. Han's team is on the left and Obi's is on the right.

Tug of War Final Journey

2010-03-17T14:40:00.001-07:00

Here is the final Tug. Point wise, if they won this tug, they would win first place for the Olympics. Han is in the black shirt with his back to the camera. Watch his teammate grab the bag around Han.

Daddy's Little Helper

2010-03-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

Recently Daddy had a project that required tools in the house. And being all boy, Yoda loves tools. So he had to get right in there and lend a hand. I am sure he was very helpful.

Daddy is training Yoda to some day be a good helper to him. Yoda really wanted to take over the project himself!

This is a terrible picture, but I love the look on Yoda's face. He was so happy to be helping!

Padme's Olympic Performance

2010-03-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun watching the Olympics last month. And Padme wasn't able to just watch the pairs skating: She had to dance along at home.

She convinced Yoda to dance along for awhile.

She was dedicated to her dance, even if they both ended up on the floor as a result.

But Yoda soon tired of her crazy antics and left her alone.

He found a ball to play with, and she grabbed the broom for her new partner. She keeps an eye on the TV to see the latest moves.

And off she was with Mr. Broom.

Mr. Broom was a much better partner than Yoda as he never disagreed with her.

A good night for dancing!

Family Favorites Friday: Han's Secret

2010-03-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Grateful for Grace is hosting a blog carnival every Friday for sharing your favorite family stories. Stop by her blog and check out more stories.

When I was pregnant with first two boys, we did not want to know the gender of the baby. When we were pregnant with Luke, we thought it would be fun to know. But after we found out, my mom told me that my family did not want to know. So how do you tell everyone else, except your family? So, we decided that we knew, but we weren't telling anyone. But 5 year old Han figured out that since we had seen the baby on ultrasound, we had to know what it was, and he really wanted to know. (He had been praying for a baby sister for quite awhile at this time.) So, I swore him to secrecy and told him that the baby was a boy. He was a bit disappointed. But he said he could keep a secret. I was a bit worried. There was still 3 months to go.

About a month before Luke was born, a friend from church, Lisa, ask Han about the baby. It was driving her crazy that we weren't telling what the baby was. She actually asked him what he wanted, boy or a girl. He told her he wanted a sister. She thought since he knew, he had told her what the baby was. So, she came and told me that Han had told her about the baby. And she was very pleased with herself. When we got home I asked Han what he had told Miss Lisa, and he told me. I figured out that she thought he had told her, but he had told her he wanted a sister. I said nothing to her. For the next month every time I saw her, she smiled a secret smile at me. And I smiled back.

When Luke was born, I called to tell her. She said, "What is her name?" And I said, "Her name is Luke!" Then I explained that she had asked Han what he wanted, not what we were having. And we had the best time laughing about the last month! And Han is my only kid that can really keep a secret. All of the rest of them have slipped up and told Christmas or birthday presents. Even my hubby has accidentally told me my Christmas present twice! But Han has never let a secret slip.

Family Favorites Friday: Leia's smile

2010-03-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

Grateful for Grace is hosting a blog carnival every Friday in order to share our favorite family stories. Hop on over to her blog to read more fun stories.

In the summer of 2007, a good friend of mine lost her husband to cancer, leaving her a single mom of 5 children. This made my hubby and me want to look closely at our life insurance and see if we shouldn't get more. At this same time, Leia had to have two bottom teeth pulled because the adult teeth were coming through and the baby teeth had no intention of falling out on their own.

Leia is very afraid of anything medical or dental. She especially doesn't like needles. So one morning I took her to the dentist to get a cavity filled. Then while she was there, the dentist pulled her two teeth. This was a big deal for her and she was a bit traumatized. She came home, laid on the couch, and watched a few movies. Later that afternoon, my newly widowed friends' son came over to play for a few hours. While he was there, we had a life insurance salesman come by to talk with us. The kids were all outside playing and we were having a nice conversation with the salesman.

Suddenly there was a loud screaming coming from the yard and here came Leia with her hand up to her mouth with blood gushing out, crying hysterically, and the rest of the kids coming in after her. Someone said that the friend had accidently hit Leia in the mouth with a PVC pipe while they were sword fighting and knocked out two of her teeth! She was bleeding so much I couldn't even tell which teeth were missing. I was worried it was the bottom middle teeth which were permanent teeth. I finally was able to tell that it was her top two middle teeth that were missing, and they had been loose baby teeth. So, we got Leia cleaned up, cleaned up all the blood on the floor, and then tried to explain to the insurance salesman that things like this don't usually happen around our place. And that we didn't want to buy his very expensive insurance!

So here is a picture of Leia's toothless smile. And you wouldn't guess the crazy story that was behind it!

Family Favorites Friday: Olympics

2010-02-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Grateful for Grace is hosting a blog carnival called Family Favorites Friday. I was so excited to see this carnival begin because I love stories. Then I was struck with stage fright, worried that my family stories wouldn't be funny to anyone else except us. But, then I realized that really my blog is for me and my family as a sort of digital scrapbook, so if we like the stories, that is what matters. And if anyone else gets a giggle out of them, that would be an added bonus. So, here goes....

I love the Olympics. In fact, I am an Olympics junkie. I remember being a little kid and watching the Olympics. I remember all the big stars, and moments. Now, I don't really like boxing or hockey, but put it in the Olympics, add a few personal stories, and I will watch every moment I can. When I was 20 I had surgery on my knee and spent a lot of time on the couch recovering, and the Summer Olympics was on. I watched every televised moment that year. I was even up in the middle of the night to see all the coverage I could. I love the Olympics.

So, 12 years ago, I was so excited for our two oldest boys to be introduced to the wonderful world of Winter Olympics. They were 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 years old. I thought they would be interested in seeing the skating or the skiing, or any of it. The Olympics were held in Japan, and during the opening ceremonies, our boys did see something that they loved. They were fascinated, and practiced their moves every chance they got. They discovered Sumo Wrestling!!! I couldn't believe it. The were disinterested in everything else they saw, but those huge men wearing what looks like diapers, they loved. They would take off their clothes, stripping down to their underwear and diaper, and practice the opening moves, and then full fledged wrestling would follow. We have lots of pictures, but I am not able to scan pictures right now. Maybe some time soon the kinks will be worked out and I will add some pictures.

This year, Padme is 5 and can't get enough of the skating. She dances along as they skate on TV and practices all the moves. Exactly what I was thinking would happen 12 years ago. But the boys did find something they loved, just not what I was thinking they would. And it wasn't that I hoped they would want to be in the Olympics, just enjoy watching them as much as I do. Really, what mother in America hopes her sons will grow up to be Sumo Wrestlers???

90 Day Challenge Check In- Day 32

2010-02-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

I am loving this Reading the Bible in 90 Days. Reading fast has really brought out new details that I have never noticed before. It has been taking up my evenings, as well, so I am not blogging or reading blogs as much as before. And we have had sickness at our house since our return from our quick trip. But, everyone is mostly healthy, I was a bit behind on my reading twice, but I am all caught up now.

A few things that have really struck me the past couple of weeks:

1) I didn't realize that Joab was not only David's general, but also his nephew! I wonder if that is part of the reason he had Solomon deal with him instead of doing it himself.

2) Samuel was a man of God and seems blameless throughout his service to God, but his sons do not follow the Lord as he did.

3) There aren't many examples of parents raising up godly children for the Lord. The two kings that are most mentioned for their following God like no one before or since, Hezekiah and Josiah, were both succeeded by their sons who walked away from God. God truly has no grandchildren.

4) As many times as the nation of Israel and later Judah walked away from the Lord, led by the king many times, the priests seemed to be faithful, and there were always prophets of the Lord to give wisdom and speak God's words to the people.

5)David was not to build the temple for the Lord, but the Spirit of God gave all the plans for building the temple to David, and he gave them to Solomon, who built it.

Another interesting thing about reading the Bible through right now is that in my CBS class we are studying the book of Revelation. Seeing the beginning of the nation of Israel and the kings of Israel while studying the end, really highlights God's personality and love for Israel. He is so long suffering and patient. He always sends a warning or warnings before he punishes. He always gives chances for repentance, and is always ready to forgive and restore. I personally would have wiped out the nation back with Moses! God is truly a loving and compassionate God, but he is also a just God and cannot tolerate sin. I am so thankful for his mercy and grace!

A Flying Trip Home

2010-01-22T21:14:00.000-08:00

We recently made a flying trip back home. We actually drove, but it was a quick trip. Hubby had to speak at a conference in our hometown, so the kids and I tagged along with him. We knew we didn't have time to see very many people, so we focused on my family and just a few favorite friends.

Our trip started out bright and early and both the youngest two started out this way.

Next to throwing balls, Yoda's favorite thing is drawing. We worked hard to keep him entertained for the 9 hour trip.

Our hotel had a pool and the kids did some swimming with cousins one night and friends the next. I got a new camera and am getting used to it. Needless to say, I didn't get very good pictures at the pool. Here is one of Padme enjoying the kiddie pool.

The two oldest boys with their friends in the hot tub.

Three very dear friends I was able to see and spend time with.

Leia with Yoda and his little buddy.

The kids with their favorite friends. They had so much fun and wanted to stay for longer!

At my sister's house, Yoda had fun playing ball with her big dog.

We got to spend time with my mom and dad.

Yoda making friends with Papa.

We played some Rummy, which is a card game I grew up playing, and now my kids like playing it, too.

All the cousins on the stairs, minus Padme. She was sick and stayed at the hotel with Hubby for this get together.

And before we knew it, our trip was over and we were back in our Suburban headed home. And the kids were conked out for at least part of the ride.

The Ride Home

2010-01-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

This picture was supposed to be at the end of the post above, but I accidently deleted it, and Blogger won't let me move pictures around anymore! So frustrating. So, here is the end of our trip.

90 Day Challenge Check In

2010-01-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying reading the Bible quickly like we are for the Challenge. I have a few things that really jumped out at me this time. These are from the past 10 days of readings.

Lot- really his only good quality is that Abraham loved him and prayed for him. He may have been a righteous man, but he didn't have any kind of influence in his community, or his family. His wife died leaving the city, and his girls both got him drunk in order to have children by him.
Also, I think it was good that he offered to protect the three visitors from his neighbors, but he offered his daughters instead. I realize it was a different time, but still..... I can't get over that one.

In Leviticus 18 where it lists all the people not to have sexual relations, it mentions both your sister, and your daughter-in-law. I thought this was interesting because in Jesus' lineage, both of these later forbidden relationships are represented. Abraham and Sarah were brother and sister, and Judah had a child by his daughter-in-law.

In Exodus 24:9-10,Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu see God with Moses and Aaron and 70 leaders of the people, and in Leviticus 10 they are struck dead with fire for disobeying God. And they are killed shortly after being ordained as priests!

The priests must have had cheat sheets to get all the particulars right for the different sacrifices!

The priestly garments sound beautiful and very fancy, but they are sprinkled with blood to ordain them, and then with all the sacrificing they do, they must have gotten quite bloody. I never thought of them as covered in blood. Really between the sacrificing, the inspecting of skin eruptions, and inspecting fungus in people's houses, I wonder how they had time to do anything else.

My two oldest boys are reading along with me and we are having interesting discussions. It is great that we are all reading the same chapters at the same time. My hubby is not a reader, and it was too much, too fast for his taste. He is reading, but will probably take a year to finish. And Luke is reading the Bible in a year, which is a much better pace for him.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

I am still working on Christmas pictures, so here is our Christmas, in a few pictures.

Christmas Eve, trying to get a good picture.

Yoda was NOT co-operating!

We open our stockings Christmas Eve, and our presents Christmas morning. Each year the kids get an ornament in their stocking. I try to find ornaments that are particular to them that year, something that is special to them. Han starting driving this year, so he got a car ornament.

Obi has become a crazy basketball player, so he got a basketball and hoop.

Padme got a little dancing girl for her starting worship dancing this fall.

I had a hard time for Luke, but found a snow globe with his name on it. He loved it, thankfully!

Leia's ornament is hard to see, but it is a pretty pink dress. She loves pink, dresses, and girly things.

The younger kids started this tradition of sleeping in the living room by the tree. The older ones joined in. They were all so excited they could hardly sleep!

Christmas morning we have Cinnamon rolls and read the Christmas Story from Luke 2 before we open presents. I tried the Pioneer Woman's recipe for Cinnamon Rolls and they were an instant hit with the entire family. So much so that we have had them twice more, plus we are planning on our next "Important" event which would require them. Truly delicious!

A few pictures of the kids with a gift or two.

Yoda really couldn't figure out what was going on, but he loved these bathtub balls he got.

Leia was thrilled to receive an American Girl doll. I was thrilled by the good deal I got on her!

Obi and Han have been making Zombie movies with a friend. Obi loved this book and has many funny lines he quotes from it.

Padme is a hardcore Play Dough lover. She was so happy to get some that was all hers. She can mix the colors and no one can complain about it!

And she wasted no time in getting to work!

Yoda loves balls, so he liked the ball on the picture of his box.

And he loves the hoop and can even make baskets, even when he isn't getting help from one of the brothers.

Luke loves Lego's, and wasted no time in setting up his castle. He has a hard time keeping Yoda out of them!

The Cinnamon rolls were so good that people kept snacking, and we didn't feel like making Christmas dinner. So, the table was full of Lego's and play dough, we hung out, took naps, and played all day. A very nice, relaxing, and enjoyable Christmas was had by all!

20 years

2010-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Twenty years ago tonight I married my hubby. We started dating at the beginning of my senior year of high school when I was 17 years old and my hubby-to-be was 20. Four years later we got married. I was in college and the plan was that I would finish, and then he would go. Our plans were interrupted by the arrival of our first baby. We hadn't planned on having children for at least 10 years, if at all. So the life we now live is nothing like the life we planned 20 years ago tonight. But God's plans were much better than ours. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I compiled a few statistics of our lives the past 20 years. Here are some of what we have been up to.

we have 6 children
we have owned 3 cats, 5 dogs, 2 hamsters, 1 hedgehog and 100's of fish
we received 4 college degrees between the two of us
our family has undergone 7 surgeries
we have lived in three states
we have lived in 5 cities
we have moved 10 times
we have regularly attended 6 churches
we have had 15 different jobs between the 2 of us
we have been to 14 states
we have owned 17 vehicles and an ATV

Some things you can't count like laughter and tears, sorrow and joy, friends and family, good times and hard times. We could have never pictured our life the way it has turned out, and can't wait to see what the next 20 years will bring.

Happy Anniversary, honey!

Read the Bible in 90 Days Challenge

2010-01-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to get a quick post up with this info in it. I am accepting the challenge to read the Bible in 90 days! I have read the Bible through once before, but it took my almost 2 years to do it. Reading it in 90 days will be fast and furious, but good for me as well. My hubby and two oldest sons are also in for the challenge. Here is hoping and praying that we all are blessed by our readings, and that we finish!

Christmas Fun

2009-12-31T13:01:00.000-08:00

I am still working on Christmas pictures and not ready for the New Year! Here are a few pictures from a few parties we went to in December.

The girls and I went to a Christmas Tea for our Read With Me, Mommy book club. It was decorated so nicely, with tea cups and plates at each place. And I didn't take any pictures of it! But here is a picture of Padme looking at a book one of the moms read to the group. The book was Annika's Wish, and it was very sweet and made everyone teary eyed. Padme loves books, and was sitting so she could see all the pictures.

The hostess brought all kinds of hats for the girls to wear. Here is Padme with her hat.

And Leia with hers. I love these pictures of the girls!

Our entire family went to a Four Eves Before Christmas party. It was hosted by two teens and most of the home school families with teens were invited. It was lots of fun. There was a potluck with pictures and dancing afterward. I think our two youngest had the most fun dancing of everyone. I am not posting pictures of the oldest two, at their request, but they even got some dancing lessons and had fun. Padme and Yoda were so funny and I took lots of pictures of them, even though they didn't all turn out that great.

Yoda took a fancy to this little boy and spent a lot of time following him around.

Padme loved dancing. Not sure what they are exactly doing here, but here she is.

Padme and Yoda had fun dancing together.

It was a fun night, and when it was time to leave, the teens were ready to go, but the little people wanted to stay longer.

Gingerbread and Cookie Fun

2009-12-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

We had some friends over to make gingerbread houses, out of graham crackers. The kids had lots of fun, ate lots of candy and frosting, and made good memories. Here are a few pictures of our day and the end results.

This is Obi's creation. He made a castle, but we didn't have enough candy for him to finish it completely.

Here is the king of the castle sitting on his throne.

Leia with her house

Luke with his house

Padme's creation

Yoda got to decorate cookies, also. Actually, he just ate the frosting. We thought this looked so funny with frosting dripping off his nose!

The girls cutting out the cookie dough.

Yoda loved the dough almost as much as the frosting. He loves to have some kind of tool to use to touch the dough.

He was so happy with himself

A little frosting, a little eating, a few sprinkles...

Luke is a good helper with the cookies

So are the girls!

A good time was had by all, and the cookies were delicious!

A Post for Nana

2009-12-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

This post is for my mom to see the kids with the gifts she sent. So, read if you want, but this is directed at her!

Padme took the box you sent the gifts in, made herself a bed, and took her nap in it! It was so cute, and I didn't get the best pictures. Here she is all curled up. She is sitting on a pillow for cushioning.

Here is a top picture. You can't see if very well, but she has her angel ornament tucked into a small stocking and it is laying on her lap. Right where the glare from the window is. Sorry about that!

Here are the kids with their ornaments.

Leia opening the bracelet with her apron on her lap. She got cat ears and a tail that she is wearing, with a bow on her neck.

Padme wearing her apron and opening the bracelet.

Han has been practicing his knots. Fortunately the cords aren't long enough to tie up a sibling!

One more picture for Nana

2009-12-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

Blogger is suddenly rather difficult to use when arranging pictures. I couldn't add this to the first post, so I am tagging it on. Here are the other two with thier gifts.

Christmas Tree Hunting

2009-12-11T17:12:00.000-08:00

The day finally came for our Christmas tree hunting expedition. I call this an expedition, because that is what it feels like getting ready for it! We have coats, hats, mittens, snow pants, extra socks, boots, changes of clothing for all the little people, lunch, snacks, hot cocoa, and tree cutting supplies. Our Suburban looks like we are leaving for a week. And it is only for part of one day. It was snowing in town, and when we got up to the mountains, it continued to snow. It was also about 5 degrees. It was beautiful, and felt like Christmas.

Yoda DID NOT like his snowsuit, bought for this occasion, DID NOT like the snow boots, also bought for this occasion, and would not keep his mittens on. He got out for some pictures, but spent the rest of the time in the Suburban with me, drinking cocoa and listening to Christmas music.

This is the tree that they cut. There are so many people in front of it, you can't really see the tree! But it is the tree behind them without snow all over it! Apparently, there was some mountain climbing, tree climbing, saw stuck in another tree, and hatchet work involved in getting the tree. Obi had a blast, and I was glad that I wasn't there to witness it.

Here is the hot cocoa after the tree was found. Padme's favorite part of the day!

Leia also likes the cocoa a lot.

And so does Luke.

On the way home, the girls were exhausted, from all the cocoa drinking, I guess.

When we decorated it the next day, Yoda did us all a wonderful favor, and slept through it. I couldn't believe it. Here is a picture for proof. He woke up and saw the tree all decorated, and has pretty much left it alone. Surprise, surprise!

A few decorating pictures

We still aren't completely done with the tree, so no final pictures of that yet. We actually think this one of the nicest looking trees we have ever gotten. And we had lots of fun getting it. Much better than going to Walmart and getting one. We hope to never do that again!

Visit With Nana

2009-12-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

My mom came to visit for a week. While she was here, both girls danced in a Worship Dance concert, Luke had a birthday and we celebrated Thanksgiving. She was here for a week, and the only days everyone was healthy were the three days of events. Hubby, my mom, four of the kids and myself all got a stomach bug while she was here. Talk about a bad trip for her! But at least she got to come and see our new city, our house, and a bit of our new lives here.

Here is a picture of Nana with all the kids. Yoda is a bit of a stinker when it comes to people. He likes to flirt from a distance, but doesn't like people outside our immediate family to touch him or hold him. When we were home this summer for two weeks, he would not let my mom hold him. So this trip, I really wanted my mom to be able to hold him, and I wanted a picture of it.

Here Nana is making progress by looking at books with Padme and Yoda. They both love to "Read" books.He was pretty interested in what she was doing here. He likes to be in the thick of whatever is going on.Blogger won't let me move the pictures around, so sorry for the strange order! Here they are reading books, again.

A quick hold- Not sure how he was going to react.

And finally, a good picture and a smile!

We had a nice visit, when we were healthy, and we did get to have a modified Thanksgiving dinner. I had plans for the kids to do a lot of crafts and baking crafts with Nana while she was here, but sickness changed all of that. We were all very disappointed by that, but glad that we at least got to see her. It was nice to have some family here to see where we live. We have been very lonely here without any family for the past year.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

2009-12-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

Come with me for a Walk Down Memory Lane! And if you have a "Memory Lane" post, head on
over to Scottsville to join in on the fun!

Today I am heading back to previous trips to get our Christmas tree. We started this tradition when our oldest was 2. We would load up with hot chocolate, a lunch, Christmas cookies, plenty of winter clothes, and go up in to the hills to find the perfect Christmas tree. As the kids have gotten older, they help cut the tree down and haul it back to our vehicle. And we have added kids, so we always seem to have a little one in a back pack. Different years we have taken our dogs with us.

This picture is from 2005. Padme is 16 months and Han is holding his dog Lucy.

This picture is from 2007. Padme is in the front in pink. She was sad because she didn't like her coat!

I don't have any pictures from last year because we had just moved and weren't sure where to go to cut our tree. Then Hubby hurt his back, and we ended up buying a tree at WalMart. The kids and I were so disappointed. And that tree was our least favorite, ever. We weren't even sad to take it down! We have our permit for a tree this year, so we have high hopes of a fun trip to find our perfect tree this year.

Luke's Birthday in Pictures

2009-11-27T21:37:00.000-08:00

For Luke's birthday, we went to a Children's Museum where it was all decorated for Christmas. Most of the activities consisted of making ornaments and Christmas decorations. Here is Luke making a paper chain decoration for the tree.
These three all love to do crafts, so they had lots of fun.

Luke got a digital camera for his birthday. He loves to take pictures, so he should have a lot of fun with it.

He loves his pocket knife, and is using it here to cut open some plastic on one of his gifts.

Posing with his new bow.

All of the boys have wanted a Darth Vader cake, but I could never bring myself to make a black cake. My mom brought the pan with her and I compromised with a chocolate version of Darth Vader. Luke was so surprised!

Trying to get a good picture of all six is nearly impossible, but here is the best one.

The kids always want to take a silly picture, so here they are, their true selves!

We had sick people the two days before Luke's birthday, and I didn't feel so swell on his birthday, but God was good and Luke enjoyed his day, went to bed, and right before midnight, woke up sick. At least he got to enjoy his day. The day after his birthday, we had four more sick. We were all praying that no one would be sick on Thanksgiving, and that we could eat something beside turkey soup.

Happy 11th Birthday, Luke Skywalker!

2009-11-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

Our sixth, and final kid birthday of the year has finally arrived. Luke is the only child who doesn't have a summer birthday. He was born on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, which is how his birthday fell this year as well. Luke is very social and loves to be around people. He loves to play games and do crafts.

I still haven't figured out how to scan pictures, so here are a few pictures of him starting when he was five.

Six years old

Seven years oldEight years old

Nine years old

Ten years old

Eleven years old today!

Favorite Advent Books

2009-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Eight years ago I came across the book Jotham's Journey, while browsing the CBD catalog. I ordered the book and we read it for Advent. It was an instant hit with the entire family. We read Bartholomew's Passage the next year, and Tabitha's Travels the following year. Each book stands alone, but the characters in the books overlap. The title characters are children around 10 years old who live in the time of Jesus' birth. Each child ends up getting separated from his/her family and sets out on an adventure to be reunited with them. Along the way the children meet Shepherds, wise men, innkeepers, Zachariah and Elizabeth, and end up at the manger when Jesus is born on Christmas morning. The books are Advent readings so are broken into sections to be read each day. Many times the story for the day ends as a cliffhanger and my kids always beg to read another part. There is a very bad villain that keeps the stories interesting, especially for boys.

These books give a flavor of the world that Jesus was born into. How some people longed for him and felt his birth would be soon, and others thought it was a far off event. It makes it all much more real for children, and the excitement for each evening's reading is priceless.

After we read the trilogy the first time, I thought we would try something else for Advent. That is known as the year without Jotham, and no one enjoyed it. So, we just read one of them every year. This will be our third year reading Bartholomew's Passage. As the children get older, they remember more of the story, but still look forward to reading it every night during Advent. The younger children don't remember it, so they are waiting with excitement to see what happens next.

Several yeas ago I mentioned these books at a Christmas party for home school moms. When the ladies looked for the books the next year, they were out of print. Well, last year they re-released Jotham, Bartholomew has been re-released this year, and Tabitha will be next year.

My almost 11 year old is anxiously awaiting the start of Advent this year. We have a new advent wreath with candles to try out, and our book is waiting. I can't wait either!

This is linking to Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

2009-11-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Come for a walk with me down Memory Lane! And if you have a "Memory Lane" post, head on over to Scottsville to join in on the fun!

Grateful for Grace posted on her blog about Ma Ingalls recently, and it got me to thinking about our trip to De Smet, South Dakota to the Ingalls Homestead the summer of 2007. The two oldest boys' birthdays are a day apart, so I got the idea that we should read the entire Little House on the Prairie book set and then go to De Smet for their birthdays. So, when school was finished the end of May, we started Little House in the Big Woods, and we read straight through until we finished These Happy Golden Years, right before we left for our trip. It was so much fun to read the books and then go and see where they actually lived. Here are a few of the highlights of our trip.

At the Homestead, there is a recreation of Ma and and Pa's house. If you remember from the books, it was only one room to start, and then he added on. It was amazing to see how small their house was and how they all lived in such tiny place.

Here are the girls in their bonnets we purchased there. The wagon was surprisingly small. I guess I imagined a much bigger one, thinking they had more room to haul all of their worldly possessions.

They have many hands-on activities for people to try from life during Laura's childhood. Here is Leia trying out the water pump. It was pretty hard for her to work!

There was a wash board and a ringer to show how they did laundry. It made us very thankful for our washer and dryer!

Luke is twisting twine to make a length of rope.

Luke was grinding wheat. Also a lot of work!

They also had pony rides and cart rides. The kids really liked these.

We took a wagon ride to an authentic school house a short way away. Here you can see two wagons returning to the homestead. You can see how flat and open it is. They had fields of corn and wheat growing to show how big Pa's crop was.

This is the only picture I got showing the outside of school house. It wasn't the one that Laura taught at, but one from that time they had moved onto the homestead. It was really neat to see it. Here are Hubby, Padme and Luke on the wagon arriving at the school house.

In the school house, there was a teacher who gave a short lesson and told what school would have been like for Laura. They had straw hats for the boys to wear and bonnets for the girls. Here is Obi sitting at one of the desks.

Here are all of the kids, at the time, in front of the stove at the front of the school.

Here is Padme in a stagecoach.

One of the girls favorite things at the Homestead were the kittens in the barn.

After spending time at the Homestead, we went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant where the play was These Happy Golden Years. Here hubby is with a sleeping Padme waiting for the Pageant to start. We got there a bit early to get good seats.

And after the pageant, a group shot. It was a great vacation. I hope we can go again when the younger kids are older so they can remember it better.

Snow Fun

2009-11-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Last year, we waited and waited for snow to fall in our new city. It didn't. Finally in December there was a small storm which left a little snow, but it quickly melted. The kids didn't get a good snow day until March. Well, this year, we got snow in October! And the children rejoiced! Here are a few pictures of the fun.

Obi being a "nice" big brother and throwing snow on Leia's head.

She is after him for payback!

Snow tastes wonderful!!!

Poor Yoda, watching from the window! He wanted to go play, too, but I didn't have any boots for him. I will have to get him some, so next time, he can play, too.

Happenings around our House

2009-11-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

We have had a couple more sick kids around here lately. I am thinking this is going to be a long winter. Sigh... Anyways, that is the nature of life with many kids, I guess.

In more positive news, Han got his learners permit last week, so he is officially behind the wheel. I thought this would make me very worried, but I am actually looking forward to him being able to drive and help out with the chauffeur duties around here!

And Luke, who has been a poky and reluctant reader, has finally taken off and is reading like crazy! He has read a book a day the past three days, reminding me of Han. How I have prayed for this! And God is good. And I am so happy for him. He sticks his nose in a book and doesn't come up until he is done. In the past we would read his mandatory reading and be done. No matter how exciting the book was at the moment. He has the bug now, and I will gladly put up with another bookworm in our family.

Awana had a fictional character night recently, and both of the girls dressed up as Laura Ingalls. Now, we know she isn't a fictional character, but that is who they both wanted to be. Their bonnets were bought in DeSmet, SD, when we visited Ingalls Homestead and attended the DeSmet Pagent two years ago. That trip was a lot of fun!

And the best news lately is that Yoda has turned a corner in the sleep department. He has been a terrible sleeper since birth, 15 months ago. But lately, he has started sleeping deeper and longer and it is wonderful. I have no idea, other than prayers, what has made the difference. I have tried everything, and nothing really made a difference. In the past, he would wake up at the slightest noises, and our house is never quiet. So, this new change is quite wonderful and long overdue.

Yoda was snuggling with Obi while Obi was doing his math. Yoda likes to listen to the MP3 player with Obi.

He snuggled in, listened a bit, and fell to sleep. So sweet.

My mom is coming to visit for Thanksgiving. She will be here for one week, and in that week she will get to go to the girls Worship Dance recital, attend our church's Celebration Service, celebrate Luke's birthday with us, and Thanksgiving. Our Celebration Service will be our first service in the brand new sanctuary. The older two boys will be in a Mime presentation during the service, and Leia's dance class is dancing for it. The kids are planning all kinds of crafts to do with her, also. My mom is very crafty, and I am not. Before we moved, she came over before Christmas and make Christmas ornaments with the kids one day and mints another day. So, we will try to get as much done as possible while she is here. She will probably go home exhausted, but we are so excited that she is coming!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

2009-10-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

Come for a walk with me down Memory Lane!And if you have a "Memory Lane" post, head on over to Scottsville to join in on the fun!

We don't celebrate Halloween at our house, but we have attended different Fall and Harvest Festivals over the years. The kids love to dress up, especially the girls. We aren't the best at figuring out costumes, and tend to repeat the same ones for several years! But it is fun to see how the kids have grown over time. These are the only years I have on my computer. I need to learn how to scan pictures so I can go further back in time.

The kids in 2005

Padme was not impressed with this outfit or the picture taking!

Padme was very unhappy in the dalmation outfit. This is the best picture we got of her!

2006

2007

Play Dough Fun

2009-10-26T23:25:00.001-07:00

I am not a crafty person. And I don't particularly enjoy letting the kids make messes. But, recently when we had to stay home from our Bible study because of colds, I wanted to do something fun for them. So we made homemade play dough, for the first time ever. The kids loved it. Here are some pictures of them mixing the color in.

They loved this play dough, and I like to clean it up much better than the store stuff.

Yoda doesn't like to touch it with his hands!

Obi has a knack for making things from play dough. He inherited it from my older brother. Here is his figure he made.

The kids have gotten a lot of use out of this play dough, and when it passes its prime, we will be making some more. I can't believe I waited so long to make our own!

Gloom, Dispair, and Agony on Me

2009-10-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

Do you know this song? I grew up with this song on Hee Haw. Hee Haw is a part of my childhood. When we were home visiting this summer, Hee Haw was on at my parents' home. It has to be a least 20 years since I last saw this show, but I knew every song they sang. On numerous episodes. And I still think that Roy Clark looks an awful lot like my Aunt DJ.

Anyways, this song has been running through my mind lately. Not the part about bad luck, but the part about gloom and despair. There is something about sickness that is passed through multiple kids, and then recycled, that really starts to get to me. Especially when I don't leave the house for days on end, see another adult other than hubby, and have an adult conversation that does not center entirely on the state of health of the people residing in my house. It also doesn't help when I haven't had a good night sleep for days. And it is only the middle of October. It is a long way to summer time.

This gloom and despair has brought about a wave of homesickness. I have been thinking fondly of, and longing for our house back home. We built it and I loved that house. The house we have now is fine. Nothing special about it. It is just fine. When I was a kid, my mom would ask my dad how she looked and he would say she looked "Fine". This made my mom so mad. Now I know what fine means. It means it will do; nothing special, or spectacular, but good enough to get by. And I miss my old house. Especially my kitchen. It was wonderful and special. Not just fine. I wonder if the people who live there know how special that house is, or is it just fine to them?

I miss my family and friends back home. It still feels like we are new here. We have been here a year, but still trying to find our place and where we fit in. Some of the kids are well adjusted, making friends, and enjoying life. Several are still longing for home, missing friends and family, and wondering what we are doing here. I am with the latter group. It is hard to see my children sad, lonely, and longing for what was.

During this time of melancholy, sadness, sleep deprivation or whatever else you want to call it, it often seems like things won't change. Even when I know that we are very blessed to have 6 healthy children, my husband has a good and stable job, we have a fine house to live in, reliable vehicles to drive, and food to eat. We are blessed. I know this. But, I long for something more. Some connection to this new place, some hope that we will get healthy and leave the house again, that we will feel that we belong here, that God loves me, even though I am a whiner at times, and that something good is going to come of our move here.

These are times when I especially need to lean on God's word, but when it is the hardest for me to open the Bible. The very thing I need to do, is the hardest for me to do. And as soon as I get into the Word, things fall into place and my spirits lift. Even when nothing has actually changed. Isn't that just like God? And then the Hee Haw song becomes funny to me, instead of feeling like my life song. Because it really is a silly song, and I don't believe in luck at all. Rather my heavenly Father looking out for me and my family. And doing what is best for us, even when we don't understand, or appreciate his efforts.

Yoda Happenings

2009-10-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

I realized that I haven't had any pictures of Yoda lately, so I thought I would do a whole post on what he has been up to recently. And mostly, he has been sick a lot. He even managed to get the Influenza bug from his brothers, and it ended with him getting an ear infection, even with tubes in his ears. The infection was so bad, it closed off the tube. And he got 2 new teeth on top of it all. Here he is showing me his new teeth. He finally got his top middle teeth in, so he will soon lose his fang look.

This boy is absolutely crazy about balls. Any kind of balls. Big ones, small ones, round ones, oval ones. He likes them all. And he loves to throw them. And he has a good right arm.

He has learned how to feed himself with a fork. And he wants to do it by himself. Here he is eating lasagna, his favorite meal.

He sort of likes crackers. Padme loves peanut butter crackers and she always shares with him. He mostly takes a bite and then feeds the dogs. They like him a lot.

And he loves to help Padme with her school work. He really likes pens, pencils, crayons, anything he can get his hands on to write with.

And he does NOT like to touch play dough with his hands. He likes to use anything but his hands to touch it.

And sleep is something he has not done a lot of lately, so I have a picture to prove that he does occasionally do it!

Island of the Blue Dolphins

2009-10-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Our October book for our Read With Me, Mommy book club was Island of the Blue Dolphins. When I first heard the title, I was a bit worried about the book for Leia. I had read this book to the boys in our school curriculum several years ago, and I wasn't sure if she would like the book. It is a bit of a sad book, with a girl living on an island alone, with a few animals for 18 years. The girl's brother dies at the beginning, which was also very sad. And Leia is very tender hearted.

Leia surprised me and really liked the book. She was sad at the end when the girl was rescued and wanted her to stay on her island instead of leaving it to go and be with people. That is exactly what her oldest brother thought of the book. I was glad the girl finally got to be with some people after living alone for so long!

The book is based on a true story, so at the club meeting, we discussed the real story, looked at the map to see where the island was located, and then the girls got mugs that they could decorate. And of course there were snacks.

Here is Leia with the book, a drawing she made of the front cover of the book, and the mug she decorated. She always has so much fun at these meetings. It is a very nice group of girls, and she looks forward to it all month.

Next month's book is the Boxcar Children. We love that book, so it should be lots of fun.

Our yard is mostly finished!

2009-10-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

Our backyard fence has been completed for a while, but I kept forgetting to take pictures of it. We are so enjoying the kids being fenced in, stray dogs being fenced out, and the privacy that our fence provides for us. We did a combo of privacy fence along the road, with chain link looking back onto our property, so we can possible have critters or a volleyball court out there and see it through the chain link. We chain linked on the side by the garage, also for the visibility. We thought that would be safer with the little people.

This is looking straight back from the patio. You can see the chain link hooking up to the privacy fence on the right. Straight back is where we will develop the yard into either a volleyball court, or possibly for some chickens or goats, or Leia's hoped for horse. The chickens are the most likely addition!

This is to the left of the previous picture. The trampoline is in the corner of the yard.

This is the corner of the yard to the right of the trampoline.

And this is the left side of the patio by the garage.

This is the fourth time my hubby has put up a fence for our family. He is getting rather good at it, but it isn't his favorite thing to do. He says next time, we buy a house with the house, yard, and fence done! He is tired of projects!

I don't know how much landscaping we will do next year with plants and flowers. We spent 5 years working on our last place, and neither one of us seems to have the heart to throw ourselves into doing it again. I guess we will find out next year.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

2009-10-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Come for a walk with me down Memory Lane!And if you have a "Memory Lane" post, head on over to Scottsville to join in on the fun!

My mom sent me this picture recently, and I thought it was the perfect picture to participate in the Walk Down Memory Lane carnival. This picture was taken in March of 1987 in Oregon. The picture includes my mom, my grandma and my great-grandma, with me in the front. Both of my grandmas passed away within a few years of this picture and I never saw either of them again.

My mom and I had taken a trip on my Spring Break from my first year of college to visit her mom and her grandma. It was a very fun trip. I met several cousins and saw a couple of aunts and uncles who I had not seen for years. It was also my first time, that I could remember, being in Oregon and Washington and I was amazed at how beautiful and green it was. I also remember it raining a lot while we were there.

Obi and Han's new Pictures

2009-10-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Obi-Wan's 14 year old pictures. Obi is a natural, and takes great pictures. He seems to know the exact smile and never has trouble getting his pictures taken. It makes it hard to pick out the best one!

Han Solo hates to have his picture taken. It is like torture to him and he has a hard time getting a good smile. I tell him the pictures aren't for him, but for me, so please try and SMILE! And he tries.

Lord of the Rings Marathon

2009-10-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

Update: The comment about our family not liking Star Wars very much was supposed to be a joke! I thought it was obvious, with the kids all having Star Wars nicknames, that we loved the movies!!!

A few weekends ago, while Padme and Yoda had colds and everyone else was healthy, Han Solo and Obi hosted a Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon day at our house. They invited 7 other LOTR fans, and watched the 3 movies back to back. Two of the movies were the extended version. Between each movie, they took a break to eat, and go outside and beat on each other. Boys are strange creatures. The trampoline became the wrestling grounds for some kind of Ultimate Wrestling contest. The Mashoongas (the padded clubs) were out for some good whacking of friends. I watched from the window hoping that no one got hurt, or hurt bad enough to require medical attention! They watched movies, ate, fought, and went home 13 1/2 hours later. And all the moms reported that their boys had a great time. Go figure. One of the boys is now planning a Star Wars Marathon. I am not sure if our guys will want to attend. We don't like Star Wars very well at our house!

I am sure they all slept well that night!

I am Sick of Sickness!

2009-10-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Where has September gone? It started with Yoda getting tubes in his ears for chronic ear infections. Six to be exact. The week after the tubes were in, he got a full blown cold. His first one, actually. HE was miserable, but his ears were fine. Praise the Lord. He was better for a week, then he got another full blown cold, and shared with Padme. They were both miserable. All the while we had started school, and all of our activities. It seems a sleep deprived blur.

Finally October arrives and I am thinking of smoother sailing, or getting into a normal routine, at least. Not meant to be. Both of the older boys have influenza. They are quarantined to the basement. I feel bad for them, feeling poorly, alone down there. But they really don't care; all they want to do is sleep. I am making them eat and drink. Which tells me that they feel terrible. Not your usual teenage boy behavior. I am praying that the little people upstairs do not catch this. I am praying for good health for us all. So we can get back to normal, WHATEVER THAT IS!!!

The funny thing is, I totally expected this to happen last year. We moved to a new state with a different climate. Two of the kids have allergies and asthma and I figured the first year would be our sick year. Other than Yoda's ears, and a few colds and coughs here, it wasn't a bad year. So, I was unprepared for this to hit this year. But it seems that people everywhere are being hit with the crud. Our book club and our Bible Study are both cancelled for this week, due to illness in the family of the hosts. Maybe it hitting early like this will make for a better fall and winter with better health. I am certainly praying that is the case.

Memorial Stones in Words: Music in our House

2009-09-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

I grew up taking both piano and flute lessons. And I didn't fully appreciate them, especially the piano lessons. And I can play Mary Had A Little Lamb on the piano. And that is about it. I have played my flute a few times for church events in the last five years. But, other than the radio or CD player, that is the only music that has been played in my house. I wanted my children to have the opportunity to take piano lessons, but it never worked out. We were too broke, didn't have room for a piano (once three different people offered to give us a piano in the space of a month!) , and finally, God just told me NO. I listened, and although I felt a bit bad, I trusted God in this. And let me tell you, it is hard being a homeschooler and not taking any music lessons. Probably about 99% of the homeschool population takes music lessons.

It helped that none of the boys wanted to take piano lessons. But as Leia got older, she was interested. Two Christmas's ago, we got her a little play keyboard, and she played on it. And continued to express interest in lessons. We told her when she was older.

Well, older arrived this summer. A homeschool mom, who is also one of the pastor's wives at our church, lives about a mile away and teaches piano lessons. I talked to her about piano lessons casually earlier this summer, but she wasn't sure if she had room in her schedule. I didn't pursue it. A friend offered the use of her keyboard for as long as we need. But the teacher part still wasn't there. I mentioned it to another friend, but still not sure if it was going to happen.

Well, this friend mentioned it to the teacher, and a Sunday after church, the teacher stopped by to give one of the boys their Bible he had forgotten at church. And she asked if we wanted her LAST time slot left. Now this teacher has never been to my house before. So, I took it as a sign from God that now the answer to piano lessons is YES! I guess when the teacher shows up to your house to offer lessons, you can know that God is in control.

So, Leia is taking piano lessons. And Obi decided that he would also like to take lessons, so he is taking them, also. Leia and Obi are sharing a lesson time, so Leia goes one week, and Obi the next. And they can both play a few little songs already, and are loving practicing. Let's hope it continues. But I think it will. I waited a long time for God to provide these lessons, and I am sure good things are going to come from them!

Read With Me, Mommy Book Club with Misty

2009-09-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

This past week we hosted the Read With Me, Mommy Book Club at our house. Leia was so excited to pick the book, and have it at our house. She convinced me we should have it and we signed up to host it in July! It seemed so far away at the time! She helped plan the menu for the snacks, the craft, and the discussion. She loved it.

We read the book Misty of Chincoteague. We also got the book on tape from the library and Leia listened to it three times this past month. She is really horse crazy, and is praying that she can get a horse of her own. For now we will continue reading books about horses!

One of the ladies who came to the meeting had actually been to Chincoteague and gave all the girls a picture of some of the ponies they saw while they were there.

Here is a picture of Leia with the book, the picture of the ponies, and wearing the necklace she made for the craft. The necklace says "I love Misty and horses". It is hard to see the details in her necklace in this picture.

The book last month was Understood Betsy. That is a book that I had started to read to the older boys were younger and we didn't finish it as they weren't interested. This time we read further into the book, and we really liked the book. When it came the day for the book club meeting, Leia went with another mom and her daughter, as Yoda was sick and he had a Dr. appointment during the meeting. I didn't get any pictures taken of her, but she really liked the book and had a wonderful time at the meeting.

Next month's book is Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Maxwell Weekend in Denver

2009-09-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Denver to hear Steve and Teri Maxwell speak at a Homeschool Conference. We all learned a lot and have a lot to think and pray about. We stayed at a hotel with a pool, which was the highlight for the little people. Yoda got to swim for the first time in a pool. He was terrified at first, but warmed up to it and ended up loving it.

Yoda loved the full length mirror in the hotel room. He spent a lot of time playing with that baby in the mirror!

Firsts for Padme

2009-09-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Padme on her first day of Preschool. She is the most excited of any of the children to start school. Everyday, she is first to be ready and remind me, if I get busy, that it is school time. She is holding her tote that holds all her school books.

Here she is with her reading book. Doesn't she look excited????

Here is Padme at her first dance lesson. She is going to Worship Dance class this year. Leia went last year and loved it. This picture is kind of blurry, but she is waiting for class to start.

Here is a picture from the back to show her first bun. She was so excited to have a bun!

Here she is dancing across the floor.

School Year 2009-2010

2009-09-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post our curriculum for the year, mostly as a way of saving it for my own records. I have gotten so eclectic in our curriculum that I need a way to keep track of what we are using!

So for the year, at least at the beginning, here is our curriculum:

Padme Preschool
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Workbooks
Preschool Activities in a Bag- coming later this month

Leia 2nd Grade
Abeka Math 2
Handwriting Without Tears
Explode the Code
Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day and Lap book
Sonlight Core 2 Readers
History Sonlight Core 3&4
Awana and Community Bible Study

Luke 5th Grade
Saxon Math 6/5
Draw, Write, Now for handwriting
Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day and Lap book
Daily Grams/Easy Grammar
Readers and History Sonlight Core 3 & 4
Awana and Community Bible Study

Obi 8th Grade
Teaching Textbooks Algebra I
Apologia Physical Science
Rosetta Stone Spanish
Awana and Community Bible Study
History and Literature of the Reformation and Enlightenment- class he is taking for history, lit and composition (home school class)

Han 10th Grade
Apologia Chemistry
Teaching Textbooks Algebra II
Rosetta Stone Spanish
Awana and Community Bible Study for Bible
History and Literature of the Reformation and Enlightenment- class he is taking for history, lit and composition

First Week of School Wrap Up

2009-09-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

I don't think we have ever started school before Labor Day, until this year. I was doing a lot of planning and praying about our school year, and I just felt like we needed to start earlier this year. After I picked our start date, we found out the date for Yoda to get tubes in his ears. I was still undeterred. A late start one day: we could do it! So we forged ahead, and started school this past Monday, Aug. 31.

The first day was great. We had a new schedule, new chore charts and system, and our new curriculum. I even changed where we did school for the morning. Good that the first day went well, because it has been all downhill ever since!

On Tuesday, Yoda got his tubes in his ears. And I was so exhausted that I had to take a nap before lunch! We still got most of our school work done.

On Wednesday, Yoda spent part of the morning screaming bloody murder, and I was chanting to myself, "The baby Is the lesson, the baby Is the lesson!" Once that was over, it seemed hard to get back on schedule and get going again. But we did and again, we got most of our school work done.

Wednesday evening it rained very hard. VERY HARD. And our playroom downstairs flooded. Ugh... If you know me in real life, you know how many times we have had water trouble in the past year or so. And how sick we are of water problems!!! Anyways, my two oldest boys were up until early in the morning helping to wash towels, shop vac, and sop up water.

Thursday started our Community Bible Study, which is wonderful and we are studying the book of Revelations this year. The oldest two were so tired, and when we came home, they had a list of things to work on for the water problem, and then they took naps. So, they didn't get much school work done, other than life lessons.

Friday was a bit chaotic without the use of the playroom for the two youngest to play in during the morning book work time. But, we got all of our schoolwork done.

A few things have gone very well. I really like my new schedule, courtesy of the Maxwell's book, Managers of Their Homes. Instead of stressing me out to have such an itemized schedule, it has helped me to focus on what needs to be done at specific times and not worry about the big picture. Just little bits at a time. I have also had the younger kids paired up with an older kid for reading books. This has gone very well, and was a highlight for the younger kids. One pair has been reading a book together after school as they like their book so well.

Now I have the long weekend to tweak the schedule, finish drying out the playroom, and be ready to go again next week. Here is hoping next week goes smoother!

A Praise and A lot of Crying

2009-09-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the prayers for Yoda. His procedure itself went very well. Before and after the procedure, he was a crying baby. He still doesn't sleep through the night, and he loves to nurse. A bad combination when he couldn't have anything to eat or drink the night before his tubes! Needless to say, he was up at 4:00 am crying and fussing until time to leave. He was fine in the waiting room, but as soon as they took us back, he started crying and cried until he finally fell asleep! I held him for about 20 minutes, until they took him for his 10 minute procedure. As soon as they took him, he started crying, and he woke up crying. He cried almost hysterically after he woke up. There was no comforting him. He went back and forth between hubby and me until they let us leave. He normally dislikes his car seat, but as soon as we got into the Suburban and he was in his car seat, he settled down. And fell asleep on the way home. He only slept for about 20 minutes, but when he woke up, he was fine. Although very clingy.

And it was our second day of school.... so it was a full day, and I was exhausted! The next morning, I put some prescribed drops in Yoda's ears, and he started crying again. For about 45 minutes. And after that, other than being more clingy than his usual clingon self, he is back to normal. And hubby and I are just trying to get caught up with our sleep deprivation!

Please Pray for Yoda

2009-08-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

Yoda is getting tubes in his ears first thing tomorrow morning. Please pray for a safe procedure and that the tubes will be effective! Thank you!

Memorial Stone in Words: Homeschooling

2009-08-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Boondocks

2009-08-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

We had planned on going to Elitch's Amusement Park for our last day with our company. But when we got there, they were closed! Hubby and I had some conversations about the movie Vacation, and how it had all new meaning!

We decided to go to Boondocks. Our friends had been there before, but we hadn't. Everyone had a good time, although not as much as we imagined we would have had at Elitch's. Anyways, here are a few pictures of our fun.

Miniature golf fun

The youngest golfers

Not sure of her form, but she had lots of fun!

Posing for a picture- they really were having lots of fun!

The three younger kids got to drive a go cart, all for the first time. Padme had a little trouble, but had so much fun! Good thing her car didn't go very fast!

Leia also loved driving!

Luke was very serious the whole time!

The bumper boats were also lots of fun, and everyone got pretty wet. Hubby especially loved shooting the kids!

Leia even got to drive her own boat!

Padme was mad at Han because he wouldn't let her shoot the water gun! She did smile for the picture, at least!

The dads and babies after a full day of fun.

Padme on the way home. She was beat!

We had a wonderful time with our friends, and they are already planning a return trip. We had said our goodbyes, were all loaded up, when our friends realized that someone had stolen some items from their Suburban. The police were called, and after waiting an hour, we finally left, and headed to the police station. Our friends brand new laptop, their GPS, some DVDs, and a briefcase with a special Bible and a few other items were all stolen. The value was under the insurance deductible, so our friends gave up on the police and headed home. We just hope that they will come back, even after that bad ending to their trip.

Baby Dedication and some Water Fun

2009-08-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, before our company arrived, Yoda was very fussy and up crying in the night. I took him to the doctor and he has another ear infection. He was 12 days away from getting tubes in his ears so he wouldn't get ear infections!!! So, he will have 10 days of antibiotics, and then get tubes 2 days later. I can't wait!

This past Sunday, we had Yoda dedicated to the Lord. I usually get very nervous before we have a baby dedicated, worrying that they will cry or fuss or something while we are standing in front of the church. But, all the children behaved beautifully, so this time I decided to not worry about it. And Yoda fussed throughout the whole dedication. There were four families dedicating children, two of them had two children to dedicate. Yoda was squirming around, fussing, and wanting to get down. What a stinker! Hubby and I passed him back and forth, did the best we could, and as soon as the Pastor prayed for him, I took him and left, hoping that the other families would be able to hear the prayer for their children! And one of the kids was taking pictures, so we didn't get the best pictures. Here is one of the better ones. All the parents were reading a pledge to raise our children to honor and serve the Lord, and then the congregation read a pledge to support and pray for us.

My mom made a christening gown that all the other children have worn for their dedications. But with our move and searching for a church home, we didn't have Yoda dedicated in time for him to wear it. That makes me sad. And my parents have been present for all five of the other babies dedications, but they weren't able to be here. We were thrilled that it worked out for our friends to be here to visit us, and be present for the dedication. But, this dedication was very special the way it was performed. And the pastor sent Yoda a letter this week, telling him what the dedication was about and his prayer for him. It made me cry. So sweet and a nice keepsake for him.

Later in the afternoon, our company, minus the five older kids, who went to a Youth event at the YMCA, went downtown for a walk along the river. The kids played in these fountains and got soaking wet, and had a great time!

Our friends 17 month old toddler loved the water. He was actually crazy about it and got soaking wet!

The fountains would come on and then shut off. Here the kids are waiting for the water to come back on.

Yoda played a little in a smaller hose. He loved the water, but the fountains were too much for him.

All the kids after the water fun.

The next day we went to Bishop's Castle, which is a castle that a man named Jim Bishop has built. It is truly amazing all the work he has done. The place is very unsafe, so it was a bit unnerving having all the children all up and down the castle checking it out.

Here are all the children, plus my friend, on one of the staircases.

Here are the girls on a very large chair at the castle.

A picture of our friends. We didn't get any pictures of our family. I am not very good at that!

Company is coming and school planning

2009-08-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

We are beyond excited that one of our favorite families from our hometown is coming to visit us this weekend. They have six children also, five boys and one girl. Our first company in our new city. And God has worked it out that they will be here for Yoda's baby dedication. Isn't he good?

In the midst of sorting, organizing, planning and cleaning for school to begin, we are planning for our company. I am trying to have our house all super organized, clean, and ready to go to give us a good start for the school year. I have been reading Steve and Teri Maxwell's book Managers of Their Homes. I have heard about this book for years, but never thought it would be something that I would actually use. Too much scheduling usually scares me off. But I have been praying about our upcoming school year and how I would be able to spend adequate time with each of the children and get done each day what I feel we should. A friend loaned me the book, mostly because the Maxwell's are going to be in the area in September and I am hoping we can go to the conference. I started reading the book and it really spoke to me. So, I have made all the lists, made a master list, and we are going to try it this fall. I am excited about it. The kids are worried....

I am really changing how we do some of our chores, also, to go with the new schedule. I am excited to see if it improves our day. I still have more curriculum to order, and then we should be ready to start. I have also been praying about our activities for the school year. What a blessing that there are so many good things to chose from. How hard it is to pass up activities that sound so good. But, if we are homeschooling, we had better be home most of the time. It really makes me laugh when people ask about socialization. They should really be asking if we don't socialize too much and don't get our school work done! Not that that would ever be true of us.....

I will post our curriculum and activities as soon as I get it all firmed up. For now, it is back to the basement for me!

New pictures

2009-08-14T13:16:00.001-07:00

When Han was just a baby, I started taking him to get his picture taken at the studio. We were very poor, but these pictures were so important to me. I always had a coupon, and bought the cheapest package I could. I have kept this up with all the kids. One year we just couldn't afford it, and I still regret no pictures from that year! Since we homeschool and don't have school pictures taken, I get all the kids pictures taken around their birthdays. That means summer is a big rush with 5 birthdays, and then Luke's pictures get taken with the Christmas pictures. I truly love these pictures and can't wait to get them back. I took the three youngest in recently, and here are a few of their pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

Allowances and Kids

2009-08-10T22:06:00.001-07:00

Missy over at It's Almost Naptime!, one of my favorite blogs, asked the question about how families handle allowances.

Now this is not to say that we have it all figured out, but I mostly wanted to write about the banks that we use with our kids. It is called My Giving Bank and was developed by Larry Burkett. The bank is divided into three different parts with pictures of a bank, a church, and a store, making it easy for small children to see which bank they are putting their money into.

We pay our children an allowance because they are part of our family. They have chores to do for being part of our family, but they aren't tied to the allowance. The children can earn extra money for projects and chores outside of their normal chores, but only if it is spelled out beforehand. We don't pay them for all help with projects, either. My husband and I talk about what things we need done, and sometimes the kids just help with projects because they are part of our family and sometimes they have opportunities to earn extra money with projects.

We have found that if we pay them for chores, if we ask them to do anything extra, they will ask what they get paid to do it. We wanted our kids to help around the house simply because they were asked, not because we were paying them to help.

We start out using the Giving Banks when they are around 2 years old. They give 10% to the Lord first thing, save 25%, and the rest goes in their bank. We have also found that if you pay them too little, it takes them too long to have any money to learn to manage. And if you pay them too much, they have no desire to work extra and learn the value of earning something that they worked for. Every family will have to work out the amount for their individual circumstances.

We want to help our children to learn to give joyfully to the Lord, save for the future, and manage their money within their budget. And let them make mistakes, which can be hard on the parents. One of our teenage sons used to plow through his money as soon as he got it and was always broke. He has learned some hard lessons and is now our best at saving. He is saving for an expensive item that will take him almost 2 years to achieve, and he is forgoing all immediate purchases for the desired one in the future. This is not something we thought he would ever be able to do, but he has learned a little about the value of money and how he wants to spend his.

Larry Burkett also has some books that we have used. Money Matters for Teens and Money Matters for kids. These are great resources written by a very Godly man who is now in heaven. Crown Financial Ministries also has some great resources by Howard Dayton.

Padme's Birthday Fun

2009-08-07T23:22:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Padme's birthday on Friday, as hubby had that day off. We went to Colorado Springs and went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It is one of the nicest zoo's we have been to. We liked it much better than the Denver Zoo. The Denver Zoo is much bigger and sunnier, and hotter! We have been to the Denver Zoo three different times and it has always been hot and the animals are all sleeping. Not very exciting! The Cheyenne Zoo is very hilly and shady and although it was warm, it wasn't too hot and the animals were all up and busy. We had a great time. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Checking out the gorillas. Yoda was interested in them, too.

Checking out a tiger.

The kids got to pet a rare albino wallaby baby.

Goofing off with the grizzly statue.

Baby wearing his sister's new glasses.

Padme feeding a giraffe a cracker. She loved the purple tongue!

Posing by a giraffe statue.

Back at home, the party was started with a few presents. This one is from my parents. She loved it!
Yoda and Padme both love her new ball. I love the expression on her face!

A new stuffed puppy.

Her birthday cake.

She had a fun birthday and we all had a wonderful day. Happy Birthday, Padme! We love you!

Happy 5th Birthday, Padme

2009-08-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our last summer birthday has arrived, and it belongs to Padme. Padme had the most dramatic entrance into the world of any of our children. God had his hand on her, and we are so blessed that she is alive and healthy and 5 years old today.

When Padme was born, she had an APGAR of 2. She didn't make a sound. She was in distress and they took her to the NICU. I got a brief look at my silent baby, and then she was gone. Hubby went with her. When he came back to see me, I was feeling very poorly. I had lots of pain, was lightheaded, and nauseated. They found out early the next day that I had a blood clot in my lungs, a pulmonary emboli, which are deadly, and later in the week that I had bled internally.

Padme was in distress, needed an oxygen tent, and all kinds of other equipment. They weren't sure what had happened to her, and they never really figured it out. We didn't get to hold her or feed her until she was 2 days old, and she just gradually got better and they discharged her when she was 6 days old. I think that God healed her. The pediatrician said we would know if there was any damage to her brain as she developed. Here is how she looked the first day. She also had an IV in her head that doesn't show up in the pictures.

Here she is at 3 1/2 weeks.

Her first Christmas

At her first birthday

She hit every developmental milestone right on time, although she was a bit of a slow talker. The doctor said it was because her siblings doted on her and never let her have a say in anything. Well, as soon as he said she should be talking more, all the kids ganged up on her saying, "Padme, say this and Padme say that," and pretty soon she was talking up a storm. And she is never quiet now. Ever.

Two years old

Three years old

Four years old

Padme is the feistiest of all our kids, combined. She is stronger willed, altho not a classical "Strong willed child". She is not of afraid of her teenage brothers and never has been. She stands right up to all of their 6 foot plus height and bosses them around. She is a go getter who loves her family, her baby brother, animals, reading books and snuggling. She has her own agenda every day, which never includes taking a nap. She has taken a nap almost every day of her life, and every day is surprised and angered when nap time arrives. I told her today that when she is 6 she can stop taking naps. Boy, was she excited to hear that!

My mom has always said that if Padme was quiet and withdrawn, we would always be wondering if she was OK: if she had any residual affects from her birth. She makes it perfectly clear that she is strong and healthy and just the way God made her. And we couldn't love her more!

Heading for Tubes

2009-08-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well, Yoda has his 5th ear infection. The last three he hasn't even had a cold, just an ear infection. So, we are getting a referral to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to see about getting tubes. I am looking forward to him having some relief from the infections, but not towards the getting the tubes part. I hate for my baby to have to go to sleep, even for a short time. Today he is feeling much better, which means that I actually got some sleep last night. PTL!

At the doctor's office he weighed 26 pounds, 10 ounces. He is walking all over the place. Here are a few pictures of him on the move.

He likes to bend over and put his head on the floor. We are not sure why he does it, but we think it is very funny. And he likes sticks. He is all boy!

Weekend Fun

2009-08-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had two different park events we went to. The first was the conclusion of a week of VBS at church. They had a fun night at the park with bouncy castles, hot dogs, cotton candy, snow cones and fun. The kids all had a great time. Here are a few pictures of the girls from the night. The older two boys were working, one supervising a bouncy house, and the other making snow cones, and Luke was going too fast to take any pictures.

Hubby's work had a picnic for the employees on Saturday. It was at the local zoo, where we had not been. They had games set up, face painting, free rides, and food. Everyone had lots of fun. Padme and Leia both got their faces painted. They were both so pretty I hated to wash them off that night.

Here are a few pictures from the rides the three younger kids and Hubby went on.

Here is most of the gang at the zoo. The baby was sleeping in the stroller so he is missing from the picture.

Memorial Stones in Words : A House Named Ebenezer

2009-07-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Grateful for Grace hosts a Memorial Stone in Words carnival on the 30th of each month. From her blog: "In history, the Israelites often were told to make memorial stone pillars. These were piles of rock that were to remind the people (and tell others) that God had done something big in their lives. God knew (and still does) that people benefit from visuals. These memorial stones gave the people a chance to tell the story again, either to those who were there and need to be reminded, or to those who were not and needed to know what happened. It also was an opportunity to be refreshed in their faith."

In my first Memorial Stones in Words post, I told about God's faithfulness in my getting to be a stay home mom of many children. This month I am writing about the house that God gave us.

When hubby and I first married, we lived in an apartment. Then when I was going to PT school, we bought a mobile home. We bought a newer and bigger mobile home after I graduated from PT school and started working. Then when Obi was 21 months old we bought a duplex. Our goal was always to have the cheapest housing to allow us to have hubby home with the babies. So, after hubby graduated, got a job, and I started staying home, we had the opportunity to build a house. We had four children and were living in our 1000 square foot, 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom plus a toilet, duplex. We were beyond excited.

Hubby's uncle is a builder and would build us a house for much less than the going price. So, we began building. Our idea of our dream house. The kids and I spent hours in our van watching them build through all the steps. And taking pictures and videoing. We took cookies and sodas to the concrete guys, put the kids hand prints in fresh cement, prayed and marched around our lot praying for our house and neighbors. It was our dream come true. We picked out everything in the house. Agonized over choices, trying to make the right choices and be economical at the same time. There was a lot of stress, but we could only imagine that we would get to live there when it was finished.

We didn't have anything fancy planned in our house. All we wanted was the biggest house we could get. All along I felt God providing and helping us in every detail. There were a few specific things that he did for me, personally, with the house.

1. When I had finally found the kitchen counter top that I loved, I had wanted to have a wood trim on the side of the laminate. We decided to save the money and go without. When the cabinet makers were trying to plan out the counter top, they had some difficulty figuring out the seams because of the very large countertop area. They called and told us that if we could add a wood trim, the seams would work out much better. I was thrilled. I had given up what I wanted, and God gave it back to me.

2. Hubby had laid wood floors with the help of some friends. He didn't want to stain them, and I did. One of the very few things we disagreed on in the whole process. On the last day that he could stain the floor, Hubby got up early, went and bought stain, and stained the floors. When I went to see them, I couldn't believe it. They were the EXACT color that I had imagined them, although I had never told my husband that. Again, God giving me the floor color that I wanted.

3. I had spent hours and multiple trips trying to pick out carpet and tile at a local store. With four young children in tow. It was a bit stressful. Finally made the choices, and they gave us a bid. Sounded great. I had picked very plain floor tile and white bathtub tile. Come to find out later, they had called our master bathroom the mudroom in the bid, and they wouldn't compromise the difference: the price was just much higher. Hubby had had it with them. He met me while my friend watched all the kids, we went to two stores, and in a matter of a few hours, picked out carpet that we liked better, and got beautiful tile for the master bathtub, and got travertine marble for 2 bathroom floors plus the laundry room, all for less than the first place's first bid. God was so good.

4. Our garage ended up having a very tall ceiling due to our lot and the way the roof line was. Just days after our roof trusses went on, hubby and his uncle were looking at it and realized that we could put a bonus room over the garage. In order to make it a real room, we would have to redo the roof trusses, but until then it was great storage. It was 500 square feet. This to people who were living with 6 people in 1000 square feet. We thought we had hit the jackpot. It was our five year plan to redo the trusses and make a great family room out there. And we were so thankful for the potential that it symbolized to us.

5. When we first built it, we only finished the upstairs, which was 1500 square feet. It felt enormous. Three bedrooms and 2 full baths. For the first time, everyone had their own bed. Within 6 months, we finished the basement with a huge family room/playroom, 2 bedrooms, a school room, and another bathroom. We truly felt like we lived in a mansion.

Soon after we moved in our pastor and his wife came to bless our house for us. I was telling them all the different things that God had done for us in the building of our house. Our pastor's wife said that I needed to tell the children and others the stories of God's faithfulness. It was then that it hit me that our house had a name: Ebenezer.

1 Samuel 7:12 says Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."It was a memorial stone showing that God was with them. Our house was my memorial stone.

There is a hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which also mentions Ebenezer. In verse 2 it says,"Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come..." This song always brings tears to my eyes.

Our house was wonderful for parties and entertaining. Plenty of room for adults upstairs, lots of room outside and downstairs for kids to play. Three different years we hosted big homeschool Christmas parties that my kids still talk about because of all the fun. We loved that house. We lived in the house for five years. A year ago this week we put our house up for sale. I couldn't believe that God would have us sell the house that he had gifted us. I even thought it wouldn't sell and maybe we could keep it and rent it out, so someday we could move back. God sold it in 59 days. I couldn't believe it.

This post is bittersweet. God lavished his love on me by the gift of our house, Ebenezer. And he led us to sell it and move away. It felt like a punishment. But it is a testimony of his provision for us in the past, his love for us even when we don't understand why he has moved us, and his plan for us in the future. We don't know what our future holds, but we do know the one who holds it.

Yoda's birthday in pictures

2009-07-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

Yoda had a great birthday. Actually, he had a nice day, and his siblings had a great day, especially the younger ones. They have been so excited all day long. We are going to VBS this week, so here is a picture of him right before we were leaving the house this morning.

For dinner, he got his favorite spaghetti. This is the first picture we have gotten that show his top teeth coming in. They are not the middle teeth, but the ones next to the middle. Obi got his teeth in the same way. We called him Fang for awhile.

Yoda loved opening presents. He loves paper, so it was perfect for him.

Showing off his standing skills. I love how his toes are curled into the floor!

We have a tradition that our kids get their own first birthday cake to dig into how ever they want. Then we have another cake for the rest of the family. Here is Yoda with the family cake. He got a hold of it already! He grabbed Pooh's right hand just before this picture.

This is the cake he gets to dig into. He didn't know what to think of the candle.

He really liked the frosting.

He didn't like the feel of the cake on his hands as well as the frosting. He was digging in and then shaking his hands to get it off. Cake was flying!

And here, he was done. Off to the tub he went. I think he has done the best job of really digging into the cake of all of our kids. We had fun watching him.

Happy Birthday, Yoda! We love you!