Merry Christmas

So many sweet memories from this Christmas season already and we are just getting started!! But for now...

"...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!! Mackenzie the past two years we have been blessed by your smiles, your laugh and your sweet love!! It has been a tough road at times, but...God has blessed us, strengthen us, taught us and carried us all by bringing you into our lives. You are more precious to us than words!! Every tough night, anxious thought, trip to the doctor -here or across the country is worth one smile and hug from you!! We are excited to see how God will use your sweet, strong will for His Kingdom!!! Love you girl!!!

Wrapping Up the Semester

Yesterday we wrapped up the semester with our home school co-op by exploring four different cultures. China, Rome, India and Egypt were represented in each room that had been transformed to give a literal taste of the culture, as well as an activity.

Kites were created in the India room. While tasting some cheese with a honey dip.

In China, they made lanterns and snacked on pot stickers, jello and vegetable dumplings.

Their visit to Egypt led them to write their name in hieroglyphics and take part in tomb painting. They tasted grapes, dates, and "a small some kind of sandwich:)"

In Rome we created a bean mosaic of the nativity scene. Each age group added to the mosaic as they visited and enjoyed some pita chips and fruit salsa.

What a special way to kick off our Christmas celebrating!!! I am so thankful for the community of homeschoolers that made this day so special!!

Some days...

Some days when life won't slow down, you just have to hang on and enjoy the ride!!

Fillin' a Love Tank With Spinach Balls?!

This evening we started cooking our Thanksgiving dinner. I had one very interested helper from beginning to end. Sophie had a fresh excitement about helping me with the big meal. Our dish to prepare this evening was spinach balls. She was in every step from opening the boxes of spinach to watching them go into the oven. Once we got going Mackenzie realized there was something going on the in kitchen and joined us for the egg cracking.

Sophie broke eggs as fast as she could to try to keep up with Mackenzie handing them to her. Soon Mackenzie decided to start cracking them herself. (Wonder why I didn't get a picture of that - ha!)

Once everything was added and mixed, we put the huge bowl of spinach ball mix into the fridge and headed to the bath tub. After two exhausted kiddos were tucked in bed (not realizing the oldest had a delayed bedtime) Sophie and I headed back down to finish the task.

For the record, Sophie is not one to get "gooey." She really thought this was over the top gooey!!

But she did hang with me to the bottom of the bowl.

Nothing really exciting happened while we were cooking, but you could almost see the gage on the love tank of my sweet girl climb as our dish came together. (Especially when she got to stay up to be the big helper.) To tell you the truth my love tank was getting a good fueling too from this precious time!! I love you Sophie! I can't believe how quickly you are turning into a young lady. I had such a special time with you this evening- thanks sweet girl!!

I Can't Believe You're 5!!

My precious Haleigh! Girl, you make us smile so much. Just last night Daddy said you are so exciting because you are so unpredictable. Unpredictable and so much more :) I love that whatever you do you do it with your ALL. You play, dance, cheer on others and love with your all.

For your birthday we had a lot of fun at Frankie's Fun Park. You rode rides, bowled, climbed in the fun house and drove cars (without using the brakes once - even when parking:)

One of the best parts of the day was watching you decorate your princess cake. You were exhausted but so excited to put the sprinkles on your princess dress. You did a great job!!


Have a great year sweetheart! We love you!!

a quick funny...

Today we celebrated Haleigh's birthday... a real birthday post coming soon. We were at Frankie's Fun Park. We were climbing in this huge "fun house." Most of the 5 hours we had the entire place to ourselves. Some potential "new friends" joined us in the climbing adventure and Haleigh thought it was her personal duty to show them every path climbing possibility. The other little girl wasn't quick to follow Haleigh's instructions, noticing Haleigh's mounting frustration the older brother announced, "She only speaks Spanish." Haleigh looked at him with a puzzled look and said, "Well, I speak (pause, head tilt) speak!"
If we all just spoke "speak" wouldn't it be great :)
I love you my precious girl!!

Halloween Fun

The pumpkins were carved...

the trick-or-treaters were dressed in costume...

after a nap the "treater" was dressed in costume... (for a few minutes)

but, best of all Daddy came home from his annual mission trip!

Birthday Shopping with Grandma!

Grandma has been visiting while Daddy is gone on his annual mission trip. We decided to head to Build-A-Bear for some birthday shopping. This was a first for Grandma and Mackenzie, I think they equally enjoyed their new found fun.

I am still tickled about how much the girls individual personalities were expressed in the accessories they picked for their animals. Sophie, added a wig and glitzy outfit. Mackenzie picked pink fluffy shoes and a sassy purse. Haleigh, oh Haleigh, what hard working construction bear doesn't need silver sparkling sandals!!

"But he takes care of us!"

Today at lunch we were spending some time praying for Mark's mission trip. We read Eph 6:19 and prayed for boldness for the team as they prepare for the week ahead. One of Mark's specific concerns this year is that they do not have a pediatrician as part of the medical team and they see a lot of children. I was explaining, "When Daddy has patients here they are adults, he doesn't take care of children so we need to pray that Daddy will have wisdom and confidence that the Holy Spirit will guide him as he takes care of the children." In Haleigh's usual pattern, she takes it all at face value, "But Daddy takes care of us, we're children and he fixes us!" (Keep in mind this is coming from the child who fell in the shower a few weeks ago. When I told her we'd have Daddy take a look at it. Through her tears she said, "Does this mean I have an infection in my elbow?!")

Daddy, Hi from your girls back home, all 4 of us:) We love you and are praying for you and the team. I enjoyed the worship at church knowing how much you are renewed by the worship times in Barinquilla!! Love you so!!

"I think you grew..."

This morning Haleigh and I had some sweet snuggle time. It struck me how long Haleigh seemed to be. I said, "Haleigh, I think you grew taller last night!" She paused in deep thought and then about burst with excitement, "I must have turned five!!" (Not yet, just a few more weeks:)

Ducks, Views and Gems

We started the morning feeding the ducks. (Mackenzie and I had taken a practice round the evening before, but as 38 ducks were getting closer I was getting more nervous because the food was gone and I'm leery of birds anyway. We took reinforcements with us for the morning feeding.)

We set out on the Blueridge Parkway. The views were breath taking. I loved hearing the girls get excited over the beauty of God's creation. They have fallen in love with autumn and seeing the leaves show off their vibrant colors. We stopped at Blowing Rock to take in the views. (I think the girls would have been satisfied to stay there and climb on this one big rock all day!)

Our next stop (after lunch of coarse) was at Emerald City. We took a tour of their "museum" displays and then headed down to mine for gems. We still have to sort through the bags of treasures and identify which rocks are true keepers. (I figure they will all be labeled keepers if we leave it up to the girls :)

Another full day of fun and exploring ended with three very sleepy gals, 2 exhausted parents, and two grandparents with a plan of sleeping in late and catching up with us at noon the next day.



misc. funnies from the day...

When we arrived at our hotel it was a corner room and had two different views. As Mark and I were admiring the mountain view we heard Haleigh from the other window. "Oh yeah! Look at that, we can see McDonalds!!"

During the car trip the girls were making up stories for their monkeys to act out. We overheard Sophie's intro, "according to legend..." It was a blast for Mark and me to just listen at the stories unfold in the back seat.

The final posting of our trip will follow once I get the pics from Mark's phone, my battery died in the camera and I didn't pack the charger.
toy store,"grossology" exhibit, apple orchard and boat tour