Callie's Brithday

On December 8 Callie Noel turned 2.  My baby is 2.  She has brought a new meaning to the words, love, bond, protect, nurture, and yes even spoil.  This child is very loved.  She still gets called "Baby" on a regular basis by her parents and her brothers.  "Honey" is Nate's favorite nickname for her.  At least when he's happy with her.  She is a typical 2 year old and a typical girl.  She loves to change clothes.  She loves her baby.  She loves her brothers and she loves her Daddy.  Oh yeah, and I think she loves me too. :)  She loves to help in the kitchen.  Sometimes it's more help than I need, but I really want her to love the kitchen so I'm trying to be patient.  Yes, she still loves her nuk. Sigh...what to do.  She's only 2.  

Her birthday was on a Thursday so we pushed her party back to Friday.  Jeremy, his dad and his brother had been working on our roof.  Replacing it.  It was a big job.  The Friday morning of the party the electrical company had to come turn our power off.  No problem.  I can handle a few hours with no power and no heat.  Well, someone somewhere must have taken the day off because when it came time to turn it back on, around noon, we started calling to have it turned back on.  As instructed by the guy that turned it off.  On and on we waited and waited and called and called.  Finally at 5:30 we decided to just move the party to my aunt and uncle's house across the street. What a blessing to have them so close!  God gave a lot of grace to me that day and I'm happy to say I handeled it pretty well.  My uncle's house is much better and so in the end it was probably more relaxing than if it had been at our house.  The power was finally turned on around 7:30.  We were very thankful for a warm house and lights that night!

On to the pictures...

A girl and her baby...

Thanks to the flash on my camera you can't tell that they are sitting in the dark except for a  kerosene lamp.  I told them it was just like Laura and Mary.  Well, just like them except for the MP3 player Isaiah is holding while listening to Odyssey. 

The cake.  This was one of the easiest cakes I've ever decorated.  I actually had fun doing it.  The doll is  one of those Snap 'n  Style dolls.  Click to see a picture.  I liked this look better than using a Barbie doll.  These dolls have huge feet though so I had to cut a bigger hold and then stuff cake in around the doll.  

A kiss for the doll

A gift from Great-Grandma

Callie was so excited to have her cousin Natalie at the party.  Pictures of these two together are not easy to get.  I love this one. 

And I really love this one! 

Callie loves this littlest cousin of hers -Baby Brielle.  A real live doll for sure.

Happy birthday sweet Callie! 

Pictures

My friend Ruth told me the pictures from Isaiah's party didn't show up.  I don't know what happened, but I've added them again and I think it's working now.  (thanks Ruth! :))  I'll have Callie's party pictures up soon...

Advent

I wanted to do some kind of Advent calender with the kids this year, but was not able to find much -at least not without spending a lot of money or spending hours making one.  I didn't start my search early.  Of course.

Last week we received Focus on the Family's "Thriving Family" magazine.  I love this magazine.  There are lots of helpful parenting/marriage tips in each issue.  So imagine my delight when I found an advent calender in this months magazine.  We received this issue a few days late so we are a little behind, but we'll catch up hopefully. Each day there is scripture reading and an activity you can do with your kids.  If you have more time there are added things -like free Adventures in Odyssey episodes, crafts, games and more.

They offer a digital calender here:  Thriving Family's Advent Calender  Check it out!

Oh Pinterest

Dear Pinterest,

It's 9:47 pm.  Thanks to Pinterest:
-I'm hungry for pizza and blueberry cheesecake.
-I want a bigger porch
-I know how to bake Callie's birthday cake (thanks LaRonda!)
-I want a black rubber door mat so I can paint it white
-I remembered that I forgot to show the boys how to make paper snowflakes today.
-I'm excited about salt dough ornaments
-I now know that Victoria Secrets makes a modest coat -don't judge a book by it's cover I guess eh? Hmm.. It is a lovely coat!
-I want to sew some hand warmers.
-I want a chicken coupe.  I wonder if I'd have to get chickens then?
-I NEED a fireplace by my shower!! (Jessie you're doing it again!! :))
-I've been inspired and wasted some time.  Got to love it!

If you need an invite let me know -I was not paid to say that and pinterest doesn't have a clue who I am. Who does that remind you of?  I wonder if Pioneer Woman is on pinterest?   She'd probably post a lot of dog pictures...

November Birthdays.

Isaiah turned 6 on November 12.  Crazy.  It's fun having a 6 year old, but it makes me feel old.  Due to a wedding my parents were in town for Isaiah's party.  It was fun to have them here.  Other than a party we had for Nate in Thunder Bay they usually miss parties around here. Sadly, with all the craziness of a party I totally forgot to take a picture of Mom and Dad with Isaiah. :(  

My niece, Moriah (Matt's second oldest) also had a birthday on the 12th.  She turned 11.  Crazy.  Since Mom and Dad were in town we decided to join the parties.  We had a lot of fun!  

Jeremy's dad turned 60 on the 12th also.  Crazy.  Not that Eldon turned 60, but that we have 4 people between our two families with birthdays on the 12th.  Jeremy's birthday was on the 15th.  We got with Jeremy's family later in the week to celebrate the birthdays on that side of the family.  Sadly, again I forgot to take many pictures.  

Our nephews, Adam and Ashton turned 1 on November 9th.  We of course did not make that party, but we celebrated from afar. :)

Here are precious few pictures from Isaiah and Riah's party. 

The handsome and beautiful birthday people

Isaiah has been saving for a certain Lego set for awhile.  He was very please that his grandparents decided to help him out so that he could buy it before he turns 16.  

Camping

I just realized that I never posted about our camping trip from last month.  Will I ever post about current things again or will I always be a month behind?  :(

We went camping one weekend in October.  We thought: "Who else camps in October?  Surely we will have the place to ourselves".  When we pulled up to the camp office I saw a sign that said "Campground full. Do not enter".  Yeah right.  Someone just forgot to take the sign down the end of August right?  Jeremy went to the office.  He came back out.  Everything is full, but one site and it's surrounded by boy scouts.  We decided to live dangerously and took that last sight.  Yes. were were surrounded by many small boys, but other than a few that ran through our site and the noise, they didn't bother us.  They must have had some good leaders.  They were all quiet before by 10:00. 

We had beautiful, slightly cold weather.  Much better than humid and hot.

Our food was simple and processed.  I know my limits.

Cutting wood.  Wet wood that didn't want to burn, but it kept them busy.  Callie spent much of her time crawling around and exploring.  Keeping an eye on her was a full time job.  

Brothers. 

The little grey speck by the falls is Jeremy with Isaiah and Nate.  Pictures like this (all the people) remind me that I don't link in "the bush" anymore.  It was just slightly crazy.  At one point a small boy asked me to watch his blanket while he played.  I finally went in search of his parent so I could move on to another spot.  Another time I saw a person wearing green skinny jeans.  He was much past slightly older than someone who should wear skinny jeans.  It's been a month and I still remember.  Yes, slightly crazy, but entertaining all the same. 

More hiking.  She loved the backpack, but also enjoyed trying to keep up with the rest of us. 

Fire, fire, let's all play with fire.

We did a lot of hiking.  It was a good 24 hours away.  I think next time we'll try for longer.  It was so nice to be away from  phones and noise and laundry and other things that needed done.  It was good to be together as a family.

In closing, Nate shared these thoughts with me late at night by the fire:

Nate: "I would feel bad if I were walking along and saw a sign that said "you are lost" because that person that made that sign wouldn't know how to get back and I wouldn't know how to get back".  

A Princess Party

Last month we were invited to our niece, Kassidy's princess party. All invited were to come dressed as a prince or princess.  Some how the princes at our house decided to go as knights/mighty warriors.  Preparing for this party was a lot of fun and provided some good family knight night activities.  

I've been wanting to try freezer paper stenciling for a long time.  It was a blast!   I ended up doing it myself instead of having the boys help because their project with Jeremy was much more appealing...

These swords are dangerous!  They are made of wood, they have screw and saws were used to make them.  Sadly I don't have a better picture of the finished project.  I was too scared.

The Princess and her cake -my sister-in-law knows how to do a party!

Callie, in her tutu playing at the make up table -she loved it!  See the mirror in the back?  All the girls thought this was great.   I wish I had more pictures. 

The littlest princess at the party -our beautiful new niece Breille Faith.   She is a doll! 

The day of the party our family was blessed by a friend with tickets to Dutch Wonderland -what a place!!  We had a blast.  It was a very full day and I'm blaming that on the reason Jeremy and I showed up in jeans and t-shirts to the princess party. :)  I must say that a lot of the adults were dressed for the part!

Generations

Several weeks ago we invited a neighbor in for homemade ice cream.  It didn't work out so at the last minute we invited my grandparents and my aunt and uncle.  What a great evening!  Sometimes last minute plans are the best.  

I love these picture of Callie with her great-grandma Esther.  

Great-Aunt Audrey reading to the boys.

A different time, but same great-grandparents.

Keeping it real

If I know you are coming to my house I will clean it for you least you think I don't clean.  And truth be told, generally speaking, most of the time, the stuff in this house is some what in place at the end of the day.  However, there are certain moments in the day when life happens all of a sudden and unplanned or the people just don't keep up.  Here is a picture to show what I mean.  Kind of reminds me of those pictures in my kids magazines that say "How many things are wrong with this picture?"

1. Me trying to hang up some herbs to dry.
2. Husband things this is a great time to grab the camera.
3. Huge box of Ben and Jerry's that Jeremy found for $5.99.  Yes, this is wrong, in a good sort of way.
4. Why didn't I at least close the dishwasher door before moving to the next task.  Fly lady and Marcia Ramsland would be so unimpressed with me.
5. Someone didn't edited this photo before posting it on her blog.
6. Secondly, I wonder why she even posted this picture in the first place.
7. This is life and I'm living it.  

In other news, I made Pioneer Woman's jalapeno poppers one night for Jeremy.  Lovely, and I mean amazingly lovely.  

Thankful

A friend recently introduced me to this blog.  Check out Ann's blog.  Tonight was the first chance I had to check it out.  I only looked at the site for a few minutes, but I will be back.  Thankfulness is so important and yet often hard to find in our home.  So I am going to combine my need to blog with my need to be thankful.  Here are a few things I am thankful for tonight:

-Friends and family
-A friend blessed us with tickets to Dutch Wonderland. Her family wasn't going to be able to use them so she gave them to us.  We took the kids last Saturday.  Wow, what a place!  The kids loved it and we were so humbly blessed to be able to spend a day together as a family because of the generosity of a friend.  I forgot to take our smaller point and shoot camera and we decided after we were there that taking the D90 along and letting it sit in a stroller while we took rides might not be a great idea.  So, I'm thankful for the memories in my heart.
-Last year for pastor appreciation month some friends gave us a gift card and offered to watch our children while we went on a date.  Would you believe it has taken us a whole year to make it happen!!  Pathetic!  We went on our date this past Wednesday evening.  I'm thankful for great friends who know how hard it is to raise children and nurture a marriage at the same time.
-Thankful that even though we drove a  mini van on our date and I found a pacifier in my purse I still know I'm married to the man God planned for me.
-I'm thankful for two dates in one week! We don't get to "date" much, but this week Jeremy and I went out twice.  A couple from church saw the movie "Courageous" several weeks ago.  They were so impressed with the movie that Friday night the babysat for any couples that wanted to go see the movie.  What an amazing movie.
-I'm thankful for emotions that let me feel other's pain and joy
-I'm thankful for the fall camping trip we did this weekend.  I'm also thankful for a warm house. (yes, those two belong together!)  More on the camping trip later.
-I'm thankful for my children...

Pinterest

I've recently become addicted to aware of Pinterest.  So many cool things.  Just for the record I've found some not so cool stuff too. :(  Anyway here is what I've come here to say:

I shall soon start two knew boards.  They shall be be called:

WHY?
 &
YES, BUT

Hello? Do you hear what I'm saying?  

She is Clothed in Strength and Dignity.

This girl is full of charm.  I love her smile and her giggles will bring out the sun on a cloudy day.  I am continually amazed at how much she mimics me.  If I'm working at the counter she's pushing a chair over to "help".  If I'm doing dishes she is right there, on a chair beside me making a mess.  If I'm baking she's there, trying to eat anything I'm working with stirring and mixing whatever she can get close too.  I pulled out the kitchen aid this morning and she immediately tried to attach one of  beaters.  

If I'm folding clothes, she's folding clothes. Tonight she asked for fingernail polish.  No, she didn't really ask since she still doesn't say many words, but she motioned to her hands and feet and then pointed to the drawer and I knew what she wanted.  (and I wonder why the girl doesn't talk!) Now she has bright pink toes and finger nails with a few smears on her feet and hands.

She's girl, and I like that about her.  Very much.

Tonight I was exercising and she was right there beside me in her diaper and wearing a pink bow in her hair. She was dancing and trying to do the moves.  I thought it was cute.  Then I remembered:

More is CAUGHT than TAUGHT

and then I was sober because I realized that this beautiful little girl is watching and listening to everything I say and do.  It won't be long before she will understand "I need to lose some weight" or "I don't have anything to wear that fits!"  She'll learn so much from the tone of my voice, the missing smile on my face.  She'll know what my "real" is and she'll probably mimic it.  

I recently read Beth Moore's book So Long Insecurity.  I am determined to keep fighting the battle of insecurity because a little someone is watching me.  She sure is precious and she has a beautiful smile and my would you look at the style potential!  

I love you Miss Callie! 

Note the footballs on her gloves. :)  

This is a typical first morning look.  The nuk, the bear,  the messy hair, and yes even the smile. Part of the reason she's smiling on this picture is because her big brother got her up and he of course allowed her to bring the nuk and bear out to the living room instead of making her put it back in her crib.  

Mothering and the need to remember

Some days I just kind stink at being a mom.  To say I hope I'm not alone would imply that I hope other mothers out there aren't doing a great job of mothering each and every day.  I don't mean that when I say "I hope I'm not alone".

If you're reading this blog you know I love my family.  It's just been one of those day. Enough said.

Sometimes on days like this it's good for me to remember the good moments and remind myself that I do somethings right and tomorrow is another new day with no mistakes in it.  (enter emotionally charge music of Anne of Green Gables -I'm feeling better already)

One of the things on our "summer to do list" was a picnic at our local state park.  It was a beautiful evening.  The kids loved it and Jeremy and I did too.  There's just something about sitting by a stream (or in a stream) and listening to the water and the trees that just feels right and relieves stress.  Yes, this is a good memory of a time when I did something good with my family and they loved it.  Yes, I will remember this day...

Picnic -simple for sure.  

Boys

Callie's trying to throw stones like Jeremy.  Can you see the boys in the background?  

Daddy's girl

These are some of the pictures from our evening.  What you don't see is the wet, soaking children, with big smiles.  Or the river Jeremy rerouted, or that happy feeling in my heart.

Tomorrow I shall get up and start again.

Nathan is 4!

Last month Nathan turned 4.  I somhow thought he would just always be my toddler.  I don't know why I felt that way, but I realized recently that I did.  He's not a toddler anymore.  He's getting tall and has lost his baby chub for sure.

Nathan is a contented child unless his brother is picking on him or he's tired.  He is very quick to flash a smile and has a great sense of humor. 

Nathan is the one in our family that makes Callie laugh the quickest.  Those two have an interesting relationship and I think they will continue to grow closer.

Nathan is Isaiah's younger brother.  I don't know how else to discribe their relationship.  They often fight, but just as often they play great together.  He likes to do, wear and eat whatever Isaiah is doing, wearing or eating.  Sometimes this is received well and other times not so well. :)

Nathan can often be heard saying "When I grow up I want to do ___ with my Daddy!"

Nathan is full of hugs and kisses.  It's hard not to just squeeze him sometimes.  He just seems to call out for it.

Nathan, you bring much love and laughter to our family.  We love you!

We had just returned home from Thunder Bay 2 days before Nate's birthday.  We scheduled the party for later that week, but we couldn't pass up an oppurtunity to celebrate right on the day as well.  Nuggets, fries, brownies and smoothies.  I'm sure there were some vegetables too, but I can't remember them. :(

Enjoying his new Lego set.

The party cake.  Not a great picture I realize.  It's upposed to be  a pool or a beach.  We couldn't really decide so it's a bit of both.  It's decorated with cool whip, candy (used to make lawn chairs, beach towels, inner tubes, surf boards) and teddy grams.  He seemed to like it and it was a lot easier than decorating with frosting.

Waiting for gifts I think

Uncle Hans, Aunt Angela and cousin Natalie bought Nate a fish.  He was very impressed and loved it!  Sadly it died within 24 hours.  I'm wondering if someone might have fed him a little cake when no one was watching.  These kind of things seem to happen sometimes when Nate is around. :)

Happy Birthday Nathan!

More...

After I hire someone to clean and do our laundry maybe I'll also hire someone to blog for me.  I feel I can't blog unless it is all posted in order.  So I'll blame the long silences on being way behind.  In order to get back on track I am going to finish posted about Thunder Bay TODAY!  

More food on the back porch

One of the wonderful things about Thunder Bay are all their amazing parks.  And the fact that you get some sweatshirt weather in August!

The Big Slide.  The trick to this slide is sitting on wax paper.   It's a blast.

This is what happens when you sit on wax paper,  and put wax paper under your feet.  All while holding onto your daughter.  

I recently read a book on insecurity.  I post this picture to prove to myself that I am secure enough to show this to the world.  Something like that.

A favorite picture from the trip

I think they are soldiers.  or something 

3 Generations.  2 of us are happy to be part of this family.  The other one just wants to pick the flowers.