Wordless Wednesday

Obi's Birthday

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!

Ultimate Frisbee Showdown

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!

15 Years Ago Tonight

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!

Homeschool Prom 2010

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

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!

The Trouble with Obi

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.

Obi and Han's new Pictures

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.

Memorial Stones in Words: Music in our House

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."

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!

Birthday Pictures

Here are the boys ready to leave for Elitch's. Notice that younger brother is now taller brother? Everyone except Han, of course, was very excited about that, for Obi's sake. Obi has grown four inches since Jan. He is hoping he isn't done. Han is hoping that he is.



We have a tradition of making homemade ice cream for the kids' birthdays. With birthdays a day apart, I try to do two different cakes for Han and Obi. This year I tried a homemade ice cream cake. I have thought about this for years. How simple it would be. Sounds simple. I put it in a springboard cake pan, and when I went to put it into the freezer, the spring part kicked in, and my runny ice cream started running all over. It was a bit horrifying. Leia helped me, we salvaged as much as we could, slopped it into a real cake pan, added more of all the ingredients, and into the freezer it went. The boys all declared it the best ice cream cake ever. But it was too ugly for a picture. Here is a picture of Han eating it, though.







Here is Obi with the second cake. However, I put their real names on the cake, so Obi is covering up the names with his hand. But is was such a good picture of Obi, I had to include it.





Obi with his new MP3 player. The boys like to listen to some music on them, but use them primarily to listen to books on tape.



Han, with his very interested helpers, with a Redwall book on CD.

Han is a huge John Wayne fan. My parents gave him this book after he has about worn out theirs whenever he is at their house.

His new dart board

Obi's compound bow. He is demonstrating his shooting form.

I took the boys to a local musical production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. The boys knew 7 or 8 homeschoolers in it, so we thought it would be fun to go. It was a fabulous production and we were so impressed with all the performers. We had lots of fun and really enjoyed the show.

Overall, the boys had two very nice days and made good memories of their birthdays. We are very thankful for both of them and the joy they bring to us. Thank you Lord, for blessing us with them.

Happy 14th Birthday, Obi Wan

Happy 14th Birthday, Obi.
When I found out I was pregnant with baby number 2, I realized that the babies due dates were only 2 days apart. I started praying that Han would have a little brother, and that Han would have his second birthday before the baby was born. God answered both of my prayers. I went into labor about 2 am after Han's birthday.

So their birthdays are two years and one day apart. And I also wanted them to have their own birthdays. Not just combine them for convenience. So, we used to have separate birthday parties for them. Then as they got older, we started having two combined birthday days. So, a family party for both of them on one day, a friend party on the other day. It has worked well.

This year they spent Han's birthday at Elitch's water park with their dad and a friend, and we will spend Obi's together as a family, and I am taking the two boys to a play tonight that some of their friends are in. We have never split up for birthdays before, but this year, with two teenagers and a baby, and three others in between,it seemed like the best way for them to have fun, and not be limited in what we could do because of the baby.

Obi has been a wonderful teenager. We are proud of the young man he is becoming. Happy Birthday, Obi. Hope you have a great day, and a wonderful year!
We love you!