R's Haikus

This year R (9 years old) learned some about Haikus and had to write some on his own.

Here is what a haiku is:

"Haiku" is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems consist of 3 lines. The first and last lines of aHaiku have 5 syllables and the middle line has 7 syllables. The lines rarely rhyme. (definition taken from Kidzone.com)

Here are his creative works! I did correct spelling and some capitalization. He really struggles with those and honestly I am not even sure I did it right! But I thought he did a FANTASTICALLY CREATIVE job!!

Freezing cold it falls
It looks like salt on the road
Ouch it hits your hand.    

(hail)

A place to be free
Fifty states in harmony
Oh, how I love it.

(America)

Shoots of grass spring up
Beautiful smells everywhere
The deer have their does.

(spring)

It towers above
Oh, the purple majesty
Blanketed with white.

(Pikes Peak) He is familiar with Pikes Peak because we lived next to it for 3 years and loved it!

Red, yellow, brown, they fall
They all come down from their tree
Pretty as can be.

(leaves in Fall)

It covers your roof
Lightly it falls on the ground
It makes the sky white.

(snow)

Zoom it flashes by
It runs all over the sky
Oh how bright it is.

(a shooting star)

What it means to have a big brother. . .

This was from weeks ago but I need to catch up some. C got his hair cut in a civilian cut and his older brother had to show him how to comb and style it! :-)

Week 2/21-2/26

I am having to look backward at this week so it will be spotty since I only recently decided to start this type of journaling.

Tuesday--I remember my birthday! I turned 39! We had had my major celebration before my hubby left for overseas last week. He made me a SUPER yummy meal and then we had a piece of Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake!! The kids made me very sweet cards and some got me Dollar Tree gifts. Little J (3) used his dollar bill to buy me a birthday balloon. "A" got me cozy socks, and R bought me nail polish and a brush. So sweet!

 Anyway, today the kids ate Peep Cake which had Easter Peeps on top of brightly colored cake and I got gluten free cup cakes since I have Celiacs.  The party ended with the big kids putting smaller kids on their backs with pretend weapons and running around the house. "B" (2 1/2) put her doll behind her like she was a big kid. Very cute!! I love my kiddos.

Can't remember what night it was that Little C was having a very hard time not melting as we were waiting for kids to get done with swim practice but by the time it was done. I was done too:-/ We got home and R asked how he could help and their really wasn't much he could help with so he went off by himself and found something that he thought would help Mommy on his own. I walked into my room and he was folding clothing and cleaning!! So SWEET and such a blessing after a stressful night.

We finished our lunch time book on the Klondike Goldrush. I may do more on that later but we REALLY enjoyed the true stories of the men and women of the Klondike Goldrush!!!

Fridays "G" and "A" go to a local school to help run a Bible Club. They mainly help corraling kiddos and helping some with the skits. This Friday one little kiddos was having  a rough time and he was asked to sit next to "G" during this time he asked "G" GREAT questions and "G" gave him the right answers and that is what it is about! Learning about Christ! The little one asked "Why did Jesus have to die and not someone else?" "They put bad guys on the cross so why was Jesus put on the cross?"
Great experience for my kiddos. Jesus loves the little children. On our way home I needed to stop for groceries but I had very hungry kids and it was approaching dinner time so I decided for fun to let the kids pick out each one what TV dinner they wanted. They enjoyed that!!!! Two kids got chicken and waffles and Mmmm, Mmmm did those ever smell good!!! It was probably not the most economical way of eating but was fun for the kids!

Dancing with Brother

Little B came to Big Brother R and said "R, dance?". So Big brother went and put on his dress shirt and tie and dress jacket and he tied a white sash around her and then danced with her. THAT IS A GOOD BIG BROTHER. What a kindness and a tenderness in giving of his time for a little sister joy. She loved it.

Baptism of R and C

This was an exciting day for our family. Our church had a BIG service outside at a local park. R and C had weeks before decided that they wanted to be baptized and we were thrilled about that. Baptism has nothing to do with salvation but what it does show is a desire to identify with Christ and a desire to follow in obedience to Christ's words after salvation.

We REALLY appreciate our pastor and his preaching.

Swim Meet

 This was R's first meet ever which was a great learning experience. G won first in 50 Free and was happy about that. The kids are getting better and better at swimming. "A" was not apart of this meet as she had piano festival to play at on Saturday and I forget that she could have participated on Friday. Oh, well another time. If you watch the above videos YES, I do cheer for my kiddos. R told me I could cheer for G (knowing how I cheer) then he said "Well, if you want to you can cheer for me" Ha! He wanted Mommy cheering!:-)

Happy Hands Ministry

 A and R were apart of our church's Happy Hands Ministry this fall. They had a BLAST last night at the Cr*s*s Pregn*ncy fund raising dinner getting to perform sign language to the song "Speak Life" by Toby Mac. R said "I will never forget this". A found she LOVES sign language and really wishes she could continue.

The song was perfect for the ministry. When people speak Christ's love to hurting people it is LIFE.
Unfortunately, how often does love get spoken to hurting people? Thankful that there are ministries that do just that.

What if we all spoke more of Christ's love not our own thoughts and opinions?

 Daddy trying to keep little ones happy during a waiting time for rehearsal.

The venue was beautiful. There was about 1,000 people there.

Time in the Trees!!

For his 9th birthday R wanted to go to this adventure park to climb the obstacle course in the trees. We looked forward to doing this but on Saturday when we went little did we know how fun it really was!! WE HAD A BLAST!! It was so much fun and such a great time. It was an activity, it required problem solving, strength, some guts, and we encouraged each other through the courses! If we could have stayed longer we would have but our time came up mid afternoon.

R would ask me to be sure that before I stepped off the platforms to come down that my gear was all properly attatched before I would step off. I thought that was so sweet!

On the way home I told him what I thought of during the day. Going on the obstacle course during the day made me think of Christ. In life we get into scary situations but as life goes on and we see that as a Christian Christ is taking care of us through all life throws at us our faith grows and strengthens because we know God will not let us fall. The obstacle course when you first start is SOOOO scary but soon you realize that you are always clipped in and that holds you through all your falls. Your confidence rises to do the obstacles of the course knowing that you are clipped in to a line that always holds you. So it is if we are hooked in to Christ, he is our life line in whom we can trust through the greatest of challenges and we can attack those challenges head on and with confidence knowing He is there to catch us if we need it.

R came to read me some verses that he had found and read in the Bible. He really liked the first 24 verses of the chapter but one verse stuck out to him and reminded him of that analogy that I mentioned to him on Saturday. He said this verse reminded him of what I was talking to him about on Saturday. It was Psalm 37:24 (Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.) Like to see he is thinking when he reads. So thankful for my R. He is a kiddo filled with enthusiasm, ideas, strong opinions, and energy. I can't wait to see how God uses his life.

July 4th video clips

Top video: The twins storming Devil's Den at Gettysburg on July 4th
Middle video: G and B singing a song on July 4th in Gettysburg
Last video: After we got back home the boys decided to practice marching and you can see the little drummer boy tagging along

Dashing through the Kitchen, In a one brother open sleigh . . . laughing all the way!!!

The top video is especially hilarious! I LOVE listening to J just laughing and laughing!!! In the bottom video J is being the big brother of fun!

My mom gave me a print for the wall that states "I can imagine a life without children but it doesn't have the same laughter or noise." I am so grateful for my family!! It does get crazy but it is all a beautiful blessing.

Winter Wedding Gifts

 Working on a snow globe for Uncle B's wedding on January 1st!

Mistakes were made and lessons learned on what order to do things!

We learned how much glycerin to use after experimenting some!

It doesn't take much.

 I really helped a lot with C and R as trying to get hot glue on and move quickly

is hard but glitter time is fun!!

 "A" found this wedding couple at Walmart for about $2!

And the the bride is wearing white boots just like Aunt J is going to do!!

 Here is all three snow globes. R's is the one on the left, A the center, and C the right which is kids playing in the snow and one making a snow angel.

 R was quite pleased with the wedding gift outcome!

Baby C's New Thing

Baby C has found that she REALLY enjoys helping Big C or R unload the dishwasher! She loves it and does a great job:-) Hopefully the enthusiasm will continue but I have been at this long enough to know if probably won't:-) There is a developmental switch from learning how to do things to how to do things without being told and when asked to do something doing it cheerfully. It is fun to watch her early desire to help and be a big kid.

A's 11th Birthday

Our little girl is no longer little. It is amazing how time can go so fast!! "A" is a very sweet girl and a great big sister. She is tender hearted and loves the Lord. She loves truth and hates evil. People are drawn to her. When we go out none of us are suprised when kids just come walking up to her to talk. She seems to have on her face "I am kind and I love people."

This year has been a harder road for her. At the end of February she had a Nuss bar put in her chest and across it to repair a birth defect. We were told after word it is one of the two most painful surgeries there are and I am here to say it is no fun being with a loved one coming out of anesthesia from that surgery. No fun AT ALL. What a trooper she was and still continues to be. She does at times still get uncomfortable. She matured through that process and understands more about help from God in times of distress and need.

"A" enjoys playing the piano, playing with her American girl dolls, playing with her brothers, and roller blading. She wrote a wonderful book report this week that was fun and interesting to read. She really tries hard at improving in things.

"A" has wanted Josafina from American Girl for quite a while and she was THRILLED to get her.

Big C made "A" a very creative and cute card.

Daddy bought her a very beautiful ornament of the nativity in Germany.

Her Great Aunt O sent her a really cool Playmobil set that she

was also thrilled about. She also receive many other cool gifts one of which

I'll have to post about later.

R bought for his sister with HIS money a beautiful turtle necklace down by the beach

weeks ago knowing her birthday was coming up.

"A" with her two precious to her dolls and her birthday cake.

Necklace

Card from Big C.

Being silly with A's birthday balloons.

These Pictures Were NOT Posed . . . Just Brothers Being Good Brothers!

R was doing his school and cradling J at the same time. J looks so comfy with his big brother. My dad said when he saw this that it isn't just mother's the multitask!!! R often likes to solve his very young siblings problems. Tonight he was trying to get J to eat his dinner by telling him the food was a cool car that wanted to park in his garage mouth:-)

I know I am biased but I think this is extraordinary for a 2 YEAR OLD BOY to do on his own. Just hanging out with his little Sis. SOOOOO SWEET!! He and Baby C have really started a neat relationship lately. On another post I posted a video of him holding her hand as she walked.

I didn't get a picture but today Baby C was throwing a fit and Big brother C came over and asked if she wanted her belly rubbed and it worked!! How do kids figure these things out!

Encouragement, Pass It On!!

This week was extremely busy as usual which is a good thing but it definitely had its rough moments. G, A, and I got a big kick out of the clip above!! A loose quote from part of the clip above is . . . "Your momma and daddy are behind you, God is behind you, I'm behind you!" He is quite motivational. I like the sports commentator at the end saying he felt like maybe he could go run through a brick wall!! :-) Encouragement--pass it on!!!

This was a big week. R and Big C started wrestling. The club they joined is supposed to be REALLY good and that was evident from their first night. They will have made A LOT of progress in wrestling by the end of the year if they work hard. Their coach seems to be GREAT and what an example he is of fortitude with 2 prosthetic legs.

G had a rougher week in school but it was NOT because he doesn't like school. In fact, he REALLY enjoys school. He got far enough into the year that the work was coming fast and heavy and he started to drown with his organizational skills not holding up. I expected this but I expected it earlier in the year like the first week or two. He is revamping his organizational system and Babe is really stepping in to mentor him through it. G is a hard worker with the STRONG desire to do things right and with God's help he'll fall into stride. I am thrilled he is learning this in Jr. High.

"A" has been working really hard on piano. She finds she enjoys playing and has really hit it off with her teacher. Her teacher has really motivated her a lot. I see "A" responding to her like an athlete does a inspirational coach. But she told me the other day she misses Mrs. W (her teacher in CO). "A" has a great attitude of enjoying the new but appreciating and missing her old teacher.

"A" has been working SOOOO much on her piano. Her teacher has been coming to our house apart from lessons to work with her on finger strength and technique on Tuesday afternoons and she has extended "A's" lesson times out on Thursdays for awhile to work more with her. "A" is really learning a lot and has a smile on her face after lessons. We are very thankful for a teacher so generous with her time.

Funny story from today . . . Babe and I spent the day unpacking and sorting in the garage. As we would finish a box it would be broken down and laid in the stack of other boxes. At the end of the day I was carrying "J" around and I was talking and said "I need kids to come out here and carry the boxes away." Little "J" replied "Not I." Too funny, he is a book fanatic and probably took that line out of the Golden Book about the Little Red Hen that planted the grain of wheat.:-)

Anyway, the clip above is so true no matter what in life is challenging us whether academics, music, athletics, etc. What a blessing to know you've got a Mommy and Daddy behind you and God is behind you along with some other family. What a blessing.

R's 8th Birthday

 "R" requested for his 8th Birthday dinner spaghetti and meatballs!

He REALLY enjoyed that!!

 He requested carrot cake for his birthday cake!

It looked yum yum good and I heard that it was very good!

He was excited that we bought the cake at Mommy's favorite grocery store:-) We took him the night before his birthday to Virginia Beach and went to Whole Foods to pick out his cake. I buy very little there because Whole Foods is a WHOLE LOT of money but it is fun to go look and get something special. They do a GREAT job marketing because you just want to eat when there!! We also got some cupcakes because there are some kiddos that don't care for carrot cake and R wants everyone to enjoy cake time.

R wanted G there for his birthday dinner but G's retreat bus got held up in DC traffic so we had dinner and then waited until he got home to open presents and have cake:-)

Big C spent A LOT of time on this card for R's birthday. They spent time talking about it too!!

A two-headed dragon from Grandma and Grandpa for his warrior toy figurines.

R talking to Grandpa J on the phone about his birthday.

A made a VERY SWEET card for R.

"A" also made "R" a little house for his stuffed "pet" turtle!!!

Babe with two of his 4 warriors.

R was OVER JOYED that we got him the Navy uniform he had seen and the exchange and loved. Above you can see him hugging it and he said I believe "i love it. just what I wanted." His birthday present was going deep sea fishing but his daddy felt so badly for him since he spent so much of the time sick and that he didn't complain that he wanted to get him a gift too. We were SOOO glad we did because he really was over joyed and that filled our hearts with joy. Babe and I were blessed watching R go through his birthday party. He was so happy and kind and grateful to everyone.

I was NOT including "A" in the warrior count but she went and got 

dressed for the occasion!:-) She was the only sister in a boy household for almost 10 years so these things come somewhat naturally to her.

R has really done some maturing this year. He has worked on his skills meeting people and worked on his character. I am really pleased to see how God is working in him.

End of Story: R HAD A GREAT BIRTHDAY AND 

WE ARE BLESSED TO HAVE HIM AS A SON.

First Day of School!

Sissy trying to help G with his tie.

 G ready to walk out the door for his 1st day of Jr. High.

Brother R helping him get his tie on. R is a snappy dresser and understands these things more than G does.

G ready for school orientation.

Yah, we're in the groove for school.

 First day of school at home too!

 R and his little helpers.;-)

 Babies C and B spent a lot of the morning in Grandpa's daycare. They seemed to have a wonderful time!

 Well, everyone else seems to be taking up books

so we will too. J LOVES LOVES books. He reminds us a lot of G.

Grandma J working with A on her school work.

 Big C working away at one of his worksheets.

He is an excellent student and worked so hard and so 

carefully.

I was ready for school to start. The fact that I am typing those words shocks me but also tells me I felt I got a sufficient break from school. Big C was so excited for school to start and after we got going he asked me if I would home school him until he was done with school. I don't know about that but Big C did a tremendous job and worked so carefully and cheerfully. I am so excited to see his growth curve by the end of the year. It is a joy to teach him. I love it.

Let me first say I am NOT one of those amazing home school moms that do it all. This year my oldest is off to regular school and 2 out of the 3 kids that are home do video school. I only hands on teach one child. I am surrounded by amazing people and that tends to cause me more respect than I deserve. Right now my mom is here to help out for a month. My mom is a former elementary school teacher and her insight and ideas help me out SOOOOO Much!! My husband is an amazing helper also and does soo much.   

The first day of school seemed SOOO easy! I knew the fact that my dad who was watching the 3 youngest kiddos and my mom who was over seeing the older kids was causing that EASY DAY feeling. Thankfully my mom and dad didn't leave at the same time. My dad left in the middle of the week and sure enough when we had to do school without him the girls cried and fussed.:-) We made it through though.

G had a great first week in Jr. High. He had a few tense moments of finding out what is expected but by the end of the week he was coming home wanting to tell about the good day he had at school!! One boy he talked to had hiked some of the Appallacian Trail and enjoyed his experience. Gabriel enjoys all his classes except Composition. He is still learning organization and bringing things home for school work but is doing a great job.

He was having a hard time organizing his locker so I told him I would come in with him the next morning and work at organizing it. I got it all organized and he was SOOOOO thankful and so sweet and thanking me. He wasn't embarrassed about his mom being there, etc. I walked out and almost felt like crying watching G in that type of school setting. He was so polite and kind so thankful to his Mommy for coming to help him. I am thankful for him:-)

It was a big week for him because he also went to his first youth group Wednesday night this week. He was SOOO nervous about this definitely more nervous than school. G is a good swimmer but is not an athlete in typical sports and he was very nervous about youth group and playing games like basketball, etc. I told him usually it is not athletic games that are played but things like dodge ball. He came home and he LOVED it! He was telling me about the Bible message and what it was about and the story it was taught from and that it was good. He told me they played dodge ball ( I made him say to me "you were right";-) He said he got out pretty quick but it didn't seem to bother him. He met a girl (nothing goofy in this he just had a great time talking to her) whose dad is a Navy Seal and so understands military life AND she is a military history buff! He enjoyed talking with her.

The younger kids went to a group called Master's Club and they loved that! J will get to go next year since they have a group for 3 year olds.

"A" this week started piano with her new teacher here. I had never met the lady in person so was not sure how it would be but when "A" was done with her class the teacher said that she and "A" were going to get along with each other. "A" felt very comfortable and good about the pick so that is very good.

It felt like a successful week.