Easter 2010

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

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!

Tug O War Family

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.

Christmas Tree Hunting

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!

Happenings around our House

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!

Play Dough Fun

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!