Say Cheese!

Here are some new pics of the kiddos, plus Olivia's five year old pictures (better late than never!)

Why We Love Baseball Games

1. You can eat lots of food!

2. You can cheer as loud as you want to.
3. You can walk up and down the row, working up an appetite for all that food.
4. You get to spend time together.

5. You get to be happy!


I guess you also get to watch a wee little bit of baseball too. :)

Let's Go Fly a Kite

The whole family gets in on the action

Olivia learns how to keep the kite flying


It also makes a nice hat!

Costumes and Candy

Last night we went to church for Family Fun Night. The AWANA directors offer this carnival every year on the Wednesday that is closest to Halloween, so this year it fell on Halloween. The kids get to play carnival-like games and win candy and prizes. They also have a contest for costumes, which have to be Bible-based.

Chloe was a frog - one of the Egyptian plagues.

A pretty good frog pose!
Olivia is into everything princess, so she was disappointed when she found out she was going to be a queen...Queen Esther. Then she started liking it and told everyone she was "Queen Esto".

Noah's costume was made about 30 minutes before we had to leave for the carnival. He is Paul in prison (see the ball and chain?), and he won third place for his outfit! (in his age bracket)

Noah was pretty good at this game.

Olivia just LOVED her butterfly hand.

Olivia and her friend Michael

Is she peeking?

By the end of the night my camera was sticky from all the little fingers touching it, so this picture is a little fuzzy. But I thought these costumes were pretty good - salt and light is on the left, Moses is in the middle and another Queen Esther on the right.

Carving Pumpkins

Girls' Day!

Tuesdays and Thursdays have become "girls' day" in our family because the boys go to work and school and the girls get to bond. Today we met up with some friends at the local zoo for a quick tour of the animals.

This camel struck a pose for Liv.

Chloe was impressed with this groundhog doing tricks with a metal plate.
"Look, Mom, a bench just my size!"
"Look, Mom, no hands!"
Olivia has had a lot to say today -

On the way to the zoo -

Olivia: "Mom, I want to marry Noah. That way he'll have to be nice to me."

While cleaning the bathroom with mommy-

Olivia: "We have a cute toilet!"

While helping mommy give Chloe a bath-

Mommy: "I'm trying to teach Chloe how to say ball."

Olivia: "I'm trying to teach Chloe how to say princess."

Dunked!

Noah proves he has good aim when it comes to dunking Daddy!(This was at the VBS Carnival a few weeks ago).
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Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Today Paul and I had a chance to take Noah to his first major league baseball game. We traveled about 3 1/2 hours to Detroit to go to the Tigers game. We had a blast! It was so wonderful being able to focus on one child. We rarely get to take the kids out by themselves, so this was very special for us. The highlight of the day for Paul was when Gary Sheffield hit a homerun for the Tigers. The highlight of the day for Noah was when he found a really big peanut. :)

You can go to this site to see what the girls did today.
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7693&page=1&id=589956230

Space Shuttle Sighting

My sister-in-law and my mom told me about this. At center times during the next few nights, you can actually see the space shuttle and International Space Station overhead in the night sky. They saw it last night in MN. It went through the sky from northwest to southeast and lasted about four minutes. You can go here to find out exact times for when you can see it where you live. But do it soon! It looks like you will only be able to see it through the weekend.

Jumping Up and Camping Out

This trampoline was our newest garage sale purchase. It has been so much fun - I think I am enjoying it more than the kids. :) I'm resurrecting all the old cheerleading jumps - just be thankful there's no video of that!!!

It's been in the 90's here. Look at how hot they look! Honestly, we do let them come out whenever they want to.
We got this great idea yesterday to roast marshmallows in the fireplace and make s'mores.

Livi thinks we're actually "camping out". I think I might just let this little misunderstanding continue for a while longer...it's nice to camp out in air conditioning!

Planes and Frames

The kids have been loving the workshops at Home Depot and Lowe's. Last weekend both Noah and Olivia made biplanes at Home Depot. When they got home they went right to work painting their planes. The smocks were a big hit.



This past Saturday, Noah made a tool picture frame at Lowe's. The kind people at Lowe's put a $5 coupon in the frame for Dad.
Mommy loves her quiet Saturday mornings.

Our Eggs Are To Dye For!

Two spilled cups of dye

Many cracked eggs

One fun-filled evening!

A"maze"ing Good Fun!

This activity kept the kids busy for a nice long time! Daddy drew lines on the driveway with four different colors of sidewalk chalk. Then the kids found their way through the maze to the end - Noah wrote one letter of his name at each end of the colored lines. I tried following the lines also and I got a little dizzy - not recommended for adults!

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Academic Meet

Yesterday was academic meet for the IACS high schools. We had to leave at 6 am to be there in time for the opening meeting. Ugh. My apologies to the people who had to see me at 6 am.

Anyway, we had a great day. I accompanied some of the solos and groups and was able to hear my piano students perform. So, long story short, we are now planning a trip to BJU in a few weeks because my students placed 1st!!! One of my students got 1st in classical piano, another got 3rd in sacred piano, and the two of them got 1st in classical piano duet. Yeah! I am so proud of them and how hard they have worked this year. They are both seniors and will present a senior recital together later this spring. I will miss them next year! Another student placed 2nd in sacred piano duet and has done very well this year as well.

Going to academic meet always reminds me of good ol' MACS. There was so much rivalry of who would place 1st in choir. I remember you playing sacred piano, Ruthy! You were always so good. Remember all the time we would spend "practicing" for smaller groups in the assembly room? We would spend most the time talking (sometimes while I played the piano so that no one would get suspicious that we weren't really practicing), then practice a little while so we could say we practiced. :)

Good memories.

February Doldrums

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

My ABC's

More tagging! I was tagged by Danielle for this:

A- available or single? Married
B-Best Friend: My husband Paul
C-cake or pie - cake! Any kind will do just fine.
D-drink of choice - Coke
E-essential item I use everyday- the car
F-favorite color - blue
G-gummy bears or gummy worms - gummy bears
H-hometown - St. Paul, Minnesota
I-Indulgence- reading in bed with a heating pad at my feet
J-January or February - January - it's Noah's birthday, and February just seems SO LONG!
K-Kids and names - Noah, Olivia, Chloe
L-Life is incomplete without - joyfully growing in the grace of Christ
M-Marriage date - July 25, 1998
N-Number of Siblings - One older brother, Jeff
O-oranges or apples - apples, but oranges are a close second
P-phobias or fears - something happening to my kids
Q-Favorite quote - "As the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen." Found in one of my favorite books. I love to say this every year to Paul, mainly because I feel intellectual for speaking poetically. :)
R-Reasons to smile - my family
S-Season - late spring/early summer - is that two?
T-tag three or four people - Holly, Denise, Amy
U-Unknown fact about me -In third grade I wished my named was "Patricia Montgomery" because it was so sophisticated and alluring
V-Vegetables you don't like - hmmm...this is tough, because I really do like vegetables
W-worst habit - ordering take-out food instead of cooking
Y- your favorite food - anything chocolate!
Z-zodiac - cancer