Piano….and more

 

Today Jonah played in his second piano recital!  He did a fantastic job playing “Sanctuary”.  He really has a gift for music.  He has been taking lessons since last September, and I’m so proud of him for all of his hard work.  He even got a special award for “Outstanding New Student of the Year”. 

Here he is with his proud brother and sister by his side!  I think this sweet photo was followed by an argument over who got to hold the trophies….but you take the sweet moments when you can, right?

Our only attempt at food gardening this year was a small pot of strawberries…..so here they are our first 2 strawberries.  It has been really fun to watch them go from plant to flower to fruit.  The kids have given me daily (sometimes hourly) reports of the condition of the strawberries.  I have to admit I was just as excited as them when they finally turned red.  We give our strawberries an A+!  Caleb was not in this photo, because he does not like strawberries and did not want to smell them??!!   On another note, I have actually kept my potted flowers on my front porch alive this year!  I think this is a record.  I have 6 different potted plants and they are not dead yet! This is a record for me!

So, I just got in the mood to do some type of Spring-y project so off to Pinterest I went!  I found these super cute little cheerio bird feeders.  I loved the idea, especially, because I already had the 2 items that it was made from!  The kids had fun putting them in the tree out front, of course Jonah and Caleb had to dangle from the most dangerous branch to hang them!  I don’t think we’ve had any diners yet, but hopefully soon!

We went to a local event benefitting the Fannin County Children’s Center…here they are sportin’ their painted faces!

Easter at my sister’s house.  All the grandkids….Maddie, Myka, Logan, Jonah, Landry, Hannah and Caleb….good lookin’ bunch!

 

Two of my favorite girls….love ‘em!

Pappa singing “Simon Slick” for Hannah….it’s a cute little song about a donkey.  Hannah asked him to sing it again, because he sang it for her last time.  I have the best Pappa in the world!  So blessed to have him in our life!

Here is snake #2 that we’ve found in our yard this year!  This one was curled up on the fence and Roxie was barking her head off at it!  Our neighbor Bart loves snakes so he came and grabbed it with his bare hands, picked it up and smelled it, and then informed us that it was poisonous.  He then took it to feed to his friend’s pet hawk…..only in Texas!

Hannah’s Easter Egg Hunt with her class at Preschool!

Okay, this is my last one of the post, but I had to include it.  This is a sugarglider that the teacher for Caleb’s Animal class brought for class a few weeks ago.  Too cute not to share!

Boys....

Yesterday the boys were eating some chips at the table.  The bag got ripped and Caleb picked it up and spilled it all over the table.  I told them they had to clean it all up....so I overhear their very "boy" conversation:
Jonah:  Caleb you have to clean it all up and put them back in the bag.
Caleb:  I don't want to  though....I know let's just eat them all!
This conversation is followed by two boys cramming their faces with the rest of the chips, so that they didn't have put them back in the bag.  Not sure I'm following the logic, since it takes just as much energy to eat it as put it back in the bag.  But then again....I guess I'm not a boy!

Spring Break

When I come home, and Adam has been with the kids, I never know what I’m gonna find!  He’s such an awesome Dad!  When I got home from the store they had made a marble run out of some pieces of cardboard that came in an appliance box.  It was actually really neat!  They played for hours with it….

I think Adam played with it as much as the kids!

So, our Spring Break trip started out....rather interesting!  We had been driving for a couple of hours on our way to Branson when Caleb started feeling car sick and threw up.  Adam went to the back of the van to get him some more clothes, and found that the clothes were all wet because a can of hair spray had spilled out on everything.  We got the car cleaned up and put trash bags everywhere in case it happened again.  Well, the trash bags had a scent to them, so after a few minutes we were all feeling a little queazy from all the floral scent mixed with the previous smell!  Poor Caleb threw up 2 more times from motion sickness.....we figured out that he cannot play his Nintendo DS in the car!.....We stopped for lunch at a Roadside Park, and I realized I had brought chicken salad for lunch! Yummy! (sarcastic)  Adam and I just had to laugh about it all!  We created a memory for sure!

They may kill me when they get older, but I couldn’t resist this super cute pic!  We went to Branson over Spring Break.  We were blessed to be able to stay at a place called Aaron House, which is a ministry for pastors and their families.  It was a VERY nice two story house with 5 bedrooms, gameroom, and even this great Jacuzzi tub!  The kids enjoyed this tub the most!

Playin’ a little Foozball with Papa!  Gigi and Papa came with us and we had a blast havin’ some good grandparent time!

We went to an Amazing Pets Show (and I can’t seem to find my picture of that).  Then we went to Shogun and had a little Japanese food.  I always love the shows here!  The kids were a little surprised by the fire….it was a great experience.  Caleb was pretty much the only one who was not real thrilled by the Japanese food.  He’s more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy!

Next, we went to Ride the Ducks in Branson.  We rode the little car all over Branson got to see some beautiful sights.  They gave everyone a quacker – of course the kids loved that!  We quacked at everything during the ride.  The quackers were definitely taken up when we got back to the car….the quackers were driving mom and dad bonkers!

Here’s the view when they took us up on the mountain in Branson.

The boys havin’ a blast! We had just gone into the water in our “Duck”!  We had also just made an emergency bathroom break for my youngest boy! Even if he’s just gone….Caleb is notorious for having to go to the bathroom right in the middle of things!   He just keeps it interesting

They each got a chance to drive the “Duck” out on the water! 

On Thursday, we went to Silver Dollar City!  We had so much fun!  It  is a very fun and wholesome theme park.  There is Christian music playing everywhere, nice friendly people and workers, and everything is so clean.  The kids loved all the rides.  Jonah rode one with me at the very beginning….which I was not a fan of!  It was pretty scary!  I don’t think he stopped screaming the whole time.  My mom and Adam both heard him from the ground!

We all had a great time… Papa and Gigi love it as much (or more) than we do!  They are both kids at heart!

Stick ‘em up!

Birthday Camping

 

After the birthday party, we actually stayed the night and went camping!  The Bebers camped with us for our annual “Bebarkation”.  Here we are on a hike, where we found a troll bridge.

They had to solve the riddle before Troll Adam would let them cross!

Me…Tree Wrestling….apparently a favorite pasttime of Adam’s?  You learn something new every day.

Big Foot came out of the woods…the kids doing their best to capture him!

Jonah, Caleb and Camron monkeyin’ around.  We had this really great tree right beside our campsite that reminded me of a tree out of Lord of the Rings or something.  It had vine-like branches and I was just waiting for it to talk to me or reach down and grab someone.  The kids loved it and even at the birthday party it was the center of entertainment.  Of course the boys spent most of their time conquering the different branches of the tree.  Simple fun.

I didn’t get any pictures of the tents or anything.  Not sure how I missed that one.  We had such a great time, so relaxing.  The kids just enjoyed simple fun:  Shadow shows in the tent at night, playing with flashlights, eating giant marshmallows, sleeping in sleeping bags, climbing trees, hide and seek, makin’ up random games, all while getting really dirty and not having to take a bath…A kid dream.  And no electronics involved – imagine that!  I think we all let life get way too complicated sometimes, and need to just stop and appreciate the simple pleasures that God has given us.  Good friends (and family), good food & good surroundings!

Hannah’s 3rd Birthday

Well, I definitely have a 3 year old little girl now!  We had a wonderful birthday yesterday.  We started off by taking a picture with her Tangled Cake…it had slowly become the leaning tower of Rapunzel and I was afraid it might not make it until the party that night, so I thought it best to document the temporary success.
We started off the day by heading to the Star Nails….I had a gift card that I’ve needed to use for a couple of months, so Hannah and I both got our nails done.  She got to pick out her colors which were a surprising pink and purple.  She specifically showed them that she wanted “Pink, then purple, pink, then purple”.  The nail lady gladly obliged her opinionated customer and alternated the colors.  Hannah is a girl who knows what she wants!

Next, we picked up Gigi and headed to Kid to Kid, a really great consignment store in McKinney.  Hannah was so proud to walk through the “Kids Only” door.  She got to pick out some very cute outfits.  She was a trooper when we tried them on too.  I think she’s already a shopper at 3!

That afternoon we headed to Bonham State Park for her birthday party.  She invited a few of her 3 year old girl friends, and of course their families.  Here are Lilly and Olivia.  Checkin’ out the seashells on the lake beach!

Just Hangin’ around with Olivia!

Hot Dogs were on the men for the party….lots of kiddos havin’ a great time!  Cheetos, lemonade and hot dogs….what kid could ask for more?

Princesses Lilly, Via, and Hannah with their “Tangled” hair!

Make a wish….I wonder what a 3 year old wishes for?

Happy Birthday to my precious girl….you will always have my heart!

This picture was taken while Adam & the kids were hiking…I was on a Women’s Retreat! (Not sure why Jonah's eyebrows look white??)

What a beautiful day we have been blessed with today! Crisp, cool fall air with just enough sunshine to bring a smile to your face….as opposed to the scorching, face frying heat we endured this summer! I think there were some days this summer that I truly thought that the heat would never end, that somehow we were going to be in a permanent state of summer until the end of time. But once again, the Lord has reminded me that “this too shall pass”…and how much sweeter is a day like this, knowing where we’ve come from.



I have been an absent blogger. I am not going to apologize or explain why. I am moving on with all my guilt and lack of documenting my family’s adventures and daily encounters. Although, a brand new computer (thank you to Tootsie and Reebert!) has definitely helped spur on a new excitement with technology. My old computer took about 4 hours to download a picture….no kidding. It was drudgery trying to blog on it, so now I’m in blog heaven!



I want to just use this as a starting point and hopefully begin blogging more regularly. We have had a few “new beginnings” recently (hence the blog title), that I will hopefully get to expound on soon, but to name a few: Started homeschooling this year (loving it!!!), Helped organize and start up the new FCA Homeschool Co-op (absolutely love it!!!), Jonah started piano lessons, Caleb started to read, Hannah started saying she’s the “princess of the world” (which is a whole other blog post ). She is also starting her new beginning as a 3 year old on her birthday tomorrow! I am so thankful for new beginnings and days that remind me why I love being alive and able to serve our King.



Oh, and by the way….we had another new beginning in our family. Collin & Amy (Adam’s brother and wife) had their first baby 2 days ago. I would put a picture of the new little one, but I don’t have one yet….and I don’t even have a name yet, because they are still in deliberation. So….that is yet to come. We are so thankful for this new little blessing and I am so jealous that my husband got to meet her in Los Angeles yesterday. I’m sure my time will come :)



So, I’m off to make a “Tangled” cake for Hannah’s party tomorrow. I was supposed to start it a couple of hours ago, but procrastination took over and blogging sounded more fun at the time!



It's Potty-training time

Well, since we're stuck in the house for 4 days with this Arctic Blast...it's a great time to potty-train. It wasn't really my idea - Hannah just decided and started doing it herself a couple of days ago. She's so proud to wear her little panties and we've only had a few accidents in the last couple of days and we had our first #2 victory today! I'm sure you all want to know all of these details! These are her cute little Hannah panties (that are actually a diaper cover) but they have transitioned to panties. She's so proud and I am so happy to have a little relief in the diaper area!