Throwback Thursday

Lydia has begun the process of outgrowing her short hair. When growing out hair it always has to go through some "shaggy" stages:)

Last weekend as Lydia was busy carving her pumpkin, she asked for her hair to be "put up". I was excited and played around with her hair a bit:)

Obviously, I was working quickly (before she changed her mind) and without a good comb and brush (yay for Saturdays!)... but I had to take a picture because her little face reminded me of this...

June 2008

Awe! Cute to see what has and hasn't changed in my sweet Lydia's face!!

Wordless Wednesday: Annual Pumpkin Carving

Our annual tradition:)

All drama:) Anything to get a laugh from his siblings!

And this year was soo awesome with the kids doing ALL the work...

and I did the clean up that was pretty simple since we worked outside!!

The girls worked for almost 2 hours on their pumpkin! They finally rested on their tummies.

More Tiny Talk

Nate was looking at our world map in the school room and said,"See that really big orange spot on the map?"

Me: "Yes, Russia."

Nate responded,"No, it's Mississippi because it is so big!"

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Lydia: "I'm on chapter 9 of Mr. Popper's Penguins. You know it's kind of a "how-to" book."

Me: "Really, a "how-to"?"

Lydia: "Yes, how to keep penguins in your house."


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An afternoon TV show for Nate is sometimes a necessary evil so we can finish that last bit of home schooling. One afternoon the Roku was needing new batteries so Nate had to choose a DVD.

Nate was NOT please with any of the choices in the kids' DVDs. He opened the adult drawer and found Gilligan's Island! Excitedly, he ran around the house telling the other kids what he was going to watch and then instructing us what episode to turn on.

He's an old soul:)

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One morning while working hard we all stopped to listen to the rain beat the house. A very hard rain!

Anna started the conversation, "Oh, wow look at the rain coming down. Do you think that it's going to flood today?"

Lydia was next,"Don't you remember? God promised He wouldn't flood the Earth again."

Chris replied to Lydia,"Oh, yeah. But there still are floods that happen in just certain places."

Then Nate chimes in,"Maybe God forgot?"

I am thankful daily for the conversations I get to have with the kids and that I get to watch them "make sense" of the world. They want to understand and to have all the dots connect. They want a logical explanation and pattern. It's exciting! And also challenging as I get to see (and hear) their thoughts and encourage them to understand what we can about God and His ways.


What are your kids saying?

Throwback Thursday

I'm kind of in the "throwback" kind of mood lately :)

I just get soo wrapped up in TODAY that sometimes I miss out on "right now". Like today while trying to "school" the kids, they were just soo stinkn' giggly. The giggles that start because "nothing was funny but everything was funny". And I tried to be patient and play along... really, I did. And I loved the smiles and the laughter. But I was caught up in the tasks of the DAY and not the goofy kiddos in front of me.

If I can only hold onto those precious giggly kids... not always be pushing to the next task!

A picture from 2008 at Scott and Bea's wedding!  It's truly unbelievable that they've been married 6 years...

and that those sweet little chubby faces were so young, acting soo grown!

Those 6 years went WAY too FAST!

It's That Time Again

Oh, no.....

not, again.

Is it really???










Yep!














Time to get ready....

colorful jersey?

just as colorful socks? (really??)

shorts?

shin guards?

cleats?




Did anyone think of water?








We've practiced and scrimmaged each other.

We are all dressed up! Lined up! Zipped up! Taped up!

Ready and waiting!!!

And here comes the ball!!

We've waited all summer. We're ready to work hard

to taste victory!

LOL!!

October is soccer month in our area!! I have 3 kids playing this year, Anna, Chris, and Lydia, on two different teams!

Brian is co-coaching an 8 and under team that Chris and Lydia play on. So far they have really shown improvement! I really like soccer, so I'm so excited that they love playing and are really working hard this year. And we have a really sweet group of kids (and parents) on our team this year which makes it even more enjoyable!!


I have to share a story about Chris as the goalie! We played a tough team this week that was constantly shooting at the goal. Chris scares me because he comes soo far out of the goal. Anyway, for one attempt, there was a crowd of kids and I saw one the forwards kick hard right towards the goal. And at first I couldn't see Chris in the group of kiddies. It was then I saw him behind everyone catch the soccer ball right in his chest and bear hug it! He ran it towards the side of the goalie box and threw it to a team member to take down field!! He's really done well as a forward and goalie this year!

And yes, there was picture above of Lydia in goal. I don't think she likes the goal as much as Chris, but she has done very well in there, too!! She's also doing well as a forward and mid-fielder... I would love for her to score her 1st goal this year:)

Anna is playing on a 10 and under team. Thankfully she has a great coach who we attend church with and are friends with (that was a BIG answer to prayer since she couldn't be on her daddy's team any longer). Her team played well for their first game:) I loved how she really went after the ball and got it down field twice to attempt to score! That's my girl!

And yes, it means a month of late night dinners (planned ahead so we can actually eat something when we get home). And some other, awesome events we miss (always a bummer!). Some cool, damp nights. Grass cuttings dragged into the van. Stinky uniforms that need to be washed in 24 hours.

But we always have a good time!!