For the 'rents - and anyone else! ;o) (a picture update)

The night before our church launch we were able to spend some time with extended family - including great-grandpa Boyd!

We made volcanoes in school.

Seth LOVED it!

In honor of Dr. Suess's birthday we had green eggs and ham! (And the kids really enjoyed it, haha!)

And we've read lots of Suess and Suess-inspired books.  Seth read much of  "Go Dog Go" by himself!  :o)

Haddie being "Little Red Riding Hood"!

"Snake-Eyes"  ;o)

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances...


(Paul's words, not my own... Although it is my prayer and an ongoing lesson of mine.  Haha, this year I'm getting lots of practice!) 

the things they say

 Sometimes they say things that are flattering...
Like the time Haddie was holding a ruler, measuring parts of her body.  She held it across her waist and then reached out to measure mine.  "About the same!"  she told me. 
Hahahaha, oh Haddie, you're so funny!

Another time I was talking to her about how nobody is perfect except Jesus. "You're not??"  she asked wide-eyed.  (Teehee Haddie girl, you have no idea!)

And then sometimes the things they say... well... not so flattering.


Not too long ago I was playing with Seth and he looked closely at my eyes.  "Mom!"  he exclaimed, "Your eyes are purple"   Thinking he meant it looked like the iris had flecks of purple or something cool like that, I said, "Oh, that's neat.  I didn't know they had purple in them". 

"No mom," Seth replied patiently.  "You have purple skin under your eyes."

 Yep.  Thanks Seth.  Come to think of it I have been pretty tired for the last 6 months.  ;o)

...eggs...

We visited the farm a few days ago.  A common thing we do when we're there is take a walk around the yard, stopping to look at all the animals along the way.  The chickens are always particularly interesting.  We love watching them run eagerly when we toss out grain.  We love their happy little clucks.  We love how the good little black hen adopted an abandoned egg, and when it hatched, she raised it as her own.  We love listening to cock-a-doodle-do's from "My Boy".

And we love farm fresh eggs.  ;o)  They are so good!  So unique and colorful.  So much better than the store bought ones we usually buy! 

                                                                     Aren't they pretty?

January!

Well, the Christmas update has been up long enough so we're moving on here!  :o)

This one's just a quick post to show you what we've been up to this month.  The weeks have sped by as we've been working hard on preparations for the church launch!

 

We've had a lot of  awesome volunteers.   The picture above shows some guys from church building rolling storage boxes (which will make hauling equipment in and out of the theater each Sunday so much easier!).

 The kids have enjoyed all the church boxes shipped to our apartment lately!    Here they are having snacks on their "star wars ships".  

 During this busy and sometimes stressful season in our lives, it is a wonderful blessing that Seth and Haddie have been having so much fun playing together.  They still have their moments (of course!) but they play together so well and so much compared to even a year ago.

Enjoying time with Grandpa, Grandma and cousins!

Playing dress up - another way we've passed the hours when it's been too cold to play outside!  I found this pink skirt in my mom's pile of give-away clothes.  I knew Haddie would love it!

 Leave it to Seth to pretend candle-lighters are guns!  (Don't worry, I took them away after this picture!)

 Seth loves to take pictures...

 ... so we played along for this one...

 ...ah, my girl!

 ....  Haha, and my boy!  Seth is jumping off the couch here and wanted me to catch it on camera.  :o)

 We've done some baking too.  Seth made his first cookie by himself (well, he has helped many many times before, but this time he used his own original recipe.  ...It was a little too runny to separate on the cookie sheet, so we just made one big cookie!)

 A little air guitar before bed.  Check out the blue hair!  It was "Crazy Hair Night" for Awana.  ;o)

Haddie joined in on the fun.  This pose made me laugh.  :o)

More to come soon!  Thanks for stopping!

Christmas Update 2010

 Merry Christmas everyone!  Thank you for stopping by to see our Christmas update!  We hope your year has been filled with joy.  Ours certainly has... as well as excitement, anticipation, challenges, waiting, hurrying, packing, unpacking, growth, peace (yes, some anxiety too), love, and so much more.  Continue to scroll down to see a quick recap of the year in photos!

January found us beginning to sort, discard, organize and pack items in our home. We were getting ready for a move!  Boxes abounded and many became objects of great entertainment for Seth and Haddie.  We fervently worked on some home projects so we could put the house on the market.

In February we took a short but sweet trip to Arizona.  The kids loved the cacti and we all enjoyed the time in the sun!

 March was filled with youth ministry fun and busyness, some thrills from finding long-lost items as we continued to sort (see picture with hats above) and a little "ridiculously nice" weather, as you can tell by Seth and Haddie outside in their jammies!

In April Seth turned 5.  We love our big boy so much.  He is so full of life and enthusiasm.  Some of his favorite things are insects, sea creatures, tornadoes, and "gadgets".   ;o)  He has a drawer full of them!

As the end of May drew near, our days in youth ministry began to as well.  It was such a bittersweet time for us.  We looked forward to beginning the new thing God had called us to, but is was a very hard thing to know we would soon be done with a job we loved so much.  We spent a total of seven years there and are so thankful for every one of them!

In June our little Haddie turned 3!  Here she is showing off her new cowboy hat and boots.   (No surprise, Haddie loves horses, as well as babies, cooking, helping in general, and PINK!)  Hadassah Joy is such a delight to us.  We can't imagine life without her sweetness in it!

July 1st was moving day!  We down-sized just a tad from a 2,500 sq. ft house to an apartment.  ;o)  It was an adjustment, yes.  And it took a while for our place to feel like home, but after some time we have found joy in (and come to appreciate) this season of apartment living.

August marked the beginning of Bible studies held in our home.  We were thankful to quickly outgrow that space!

In September Seth started Kindergarten!  It has been so fun to see him learn and grow this year.  Each week he also loves attending a group music class and Awana at a nearby church. 

(Not to be forgotten, Haddie thinks preschool is great and often asks to "do school"!)

October was a month of pumpkin patches, hiking through crunchy leaves, and enjoyment in a larger ministry space.

At the end of November we said goodbye to our lovely home.  How fitting that the month of thankfulness was the month we accepted an offer and signed papers.   We are happy that a really nice family with four children bought it.

So, that brings us to December.  We will celebrate the birth of our Savior in a new setting this year.  The place may be different, but the Reason is the same.  We are so thankful for what God has done in our lives.  We pray for his work to continue in ours and yours too.


Thanks for taking the time to see what we've been up to this past year!  Leave a comment if you wish, and feel free to stop by again.  We plan to post a little something every week or so!

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

It's that time of year again. Check out how much they've changed!