For my Mom and my Jodi

OK, Ladies, I know that you are just DYING for an updated picture so HERE YOU GO! 

Yes, I am still pregnant…. just about 39 weeks (taken yesterday)!

It just wouldn’t work!

When we moved to Iowa we had anticipated living in our rental home for several years.  We were happy with the space, and we thought that Ankeny would be our home for a while.  As time went on, though, we were able to see that our monthly payments could be cheaper if we owned our own home.  House prices were drastically lower than NH.  We had already done a bunch of decorating and help to the rental home and had put our stamp of home on it…like painting and decorating Josiah’s room when he was born.  I carefully took down his peel and stick REMOVABLE cling-ons and followed the directions to the letter so I could save them for our new home. 

Upon arriving here in DSM, Josiah’s room was one of the ones that needed the least attention so we decided to wait to paint it.  We are glad that we did for soon after we found out that Josiah was going to be a big brother.  We continued to hold off on that project until we found out that we were having a BOY!  That meant that we really could go ahead and decorate that room in our boy’s theme… BALLS!  So we painted, brought out the baby furniture and peeled off the cling-ons… BUT THEY JUST WOULDN’T WORK!  It wasn’t that they were not sticky… they just wouldn’t stick to the textured walls that we have!!  BUMMER!! 

My solution… buy some inexpensive frames, take the backs out of them and put the sticky pieces right on the glass/plastic!  They are really cute… I like them!  I categorized them by sport which is really cute around the boys’ room.  Josiah constantly says, “Ball, ball, ball” each time he steps into this room.  I am satisfied with my craftiness/resourcefulness. 

Last Day of School… already!

WOW!!  We made it… we survived the first year of homeschooling…with FLYING colors!  I am so proud of the progress that we made and that we were able to finish everything that I wanted to before this baby boy arrives!  That is a feat in and of itself!  I was sure that there would be a few days just hanging out there that would need to be finished with the newborn at home!  I am SO GLAD that we ended when we did!

Grace has enjoyed school so much and has just about begged me to keep on going… but I think that the daily grind of school will be a blessing when we return in the fall.  This will give her something to look forward to… school and Sparks!  She has truly blossomed this year…. she is reading, adding, subtracting, drawing, spelling, problem-solving, creative writing, and MORE.  Did I mention reading?  What a WHIZ!  She can read EVERY book on our shelves… she even attempts the chapter books!  She loves reading to Hannah and Josiah and even to me…. I have to ask to read books to her…. she would rather do it herself…sniff, sniff! I am also proud that she completed all of her verses for Cubbies.  She loved doing all of the sections along with the special, optional section for each week.  We claim the Psalm: “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You.” 

Hannah didn’t want much to do with school in September… I gave her small projects to do to occupy her time, keep her busy and learn a little in the process, but she was NOT into it.  As the year progress she became REALLY interested, mostly because Grace told her that if she learned her letters and sounds then she could read, too!  That was motivation for this 2 year old!  She immediately wanted to know what the letters were and started seeing print all around her.  She even started writing H A.  She now knows N as well.  She loves the little books that I read with her, the letter book that we made as well as the small projects that I give her.  She has truly blown me away in the last few weeks… she knows nearly every letter and sound!  I have had to re-think my curriculum choice for her for the fall… we WILL do a preschool curriculum with her… she needs more than what I was anticipating!  YEAH!

As a fun way to end our morning, I put one of the ideas I saw on Pinterest to good use.  I squirted paint into Ziplock bags and then taped them to the table.  The kids used their fingers to create dots, letters, numbers, pictures, or whatever they wanted.  They were giggling and having a blast.  They traded spots several times and loved the new color to create with… Thanks again, Pinterest!

Yes, even Josiah got in on the action… he is the process of giving up his morning nap (yes, we ended school just in time) and he wasn’t AT ALL sleepy or whiny this morning so I kept him up and occupied!

Tomorrow we will take a field trip as a family to officially end the school year… not too sure where we will go,

but I am sure I will blog about it!  ;)

Just in Time!

At my doctor’s appointment yesterday, I got a bunch of hospital information and forms – that I should have already filled out, but I hadn’t thought about that!  In the information was a listing of classes.  I only took a birthing class before we had Grace and then we took a tour of our hospital here in IA before Josiah.  I knew that Hannah would benefit from seeing the hospital again since she was Josiah’s age when he was born.  As I fumbled through the class listings, I notice that they had a Siblings Class for children ages 3-6 for this morning (May 5) which included a tour of the nursery and rooms.  SO… I talked to Danny and we signed the girls up to take this class from 8:30-10.  There are about one class per month so I saw this listing JUST IN TIME! 

I am SO GLAD we went.  Nurse Linda did a great job in explaining things to the children, including: how to change a diaper, equipment babies need, how to wrap up a baby in a blanket, how to determine if a toy is a good one for the baby and what a doctor’s clothes look like (in case of a C-section delivery).  Then we went upstairs to see a Labor and Delivery Room (my girls loved the HUGE tub!) and the Nursery.  The nurses brought babies over to the windows so we could get a closer look.  The girls LOVED seeing the tiny baby parts!  One of the babies was crying and you could hear her though the glass.  Hannah was convinced that the baby needed a big sister to help her stop crying!  :)  We also saw a nurse checking on one of the babies – measuring, taking the temperature, etc.

Once we were back to our little room Grace and Hannah got right to work practicing how to change a diaper and wrap up the baby in a blanket.  They did SUCH a great job!  They kept showing Nurse Linda who was extremely impressed!  We also read a few books about babies and took home some coloring papers including a birthday card for the baby as well as some doctor dress-up clothes!!

 

My girls and I had a GREAT TIME!  I would HIGHLY recommend something like this to other parents…it was a great refresher for Grace and a special event for both!

Gorgeous night for soccer!

As many of you know, Danny and I are coaching Grace’s soccer team – not because we really needed something else to do or because I am really physically capable of doing it but because we were asked to.  There was a shortage of coaches.  Due to my background in soccer, coaching experience, and teaching first grade, I felt that we were MORE than able to coach these 5-6 year olds.  The only problem…I am 37 weeks pregnant, we have two other children to take care of in the process, and I will be days from my due date when the season ends!  BUT… we truly felt that this was from the Lord and have made it a point to be HIS LIGHT to these families.  We don’t know what will come of these families, but we want them to see the Lord in us and our family.  We may be the only light they see.  Pray that we will be different to them…. to stand out… to shine… to be Jesus to them!

Here are a few pictures that Danny took… can you tell that I am pregnant?   HA HA!

Pregame drills

Nice kick, Hannah!  Grampa and Uncle Jimmy would be so proud that you used your left foot! One of the perks to having a parent as a coach is that Hannah does all of the drills with us and sits on the sides with the other players – we also include her in the snack at the end of the night! 

Grace concentrating on her dribbling skills

Danny and Josiah…

Get that ball, Grace…what an animal!

Grace in action

The Orange Crush… ready for ball!

Josiah, now freed from the backpack, runs all around with his cookie!

The treats that I make for after the games have been a REAL HIT! It has been a great way to get to know the families and the players a little better.  They stay and eat and chat.  This little boy is Robert and his sister is Jasmine.

Continue to pray that we will be lights for the Lord… we can truly see this as a mission field.  We even saw one of the other coaches at Home Depot last weekend and were able to share a little more about our lives together.  We don’t know how we are going to be used by the Lord… but we WANT TO BE USED for His Kingdom!

Fabulous Morning

The perfect day?  Having a little “Mommy Time”, spending time with the family, playing outside, a picnic lunch, getting a few things done around the house, taking a nap, grilling for dinner, and eating ice cream after the kids go to bed…. Well, all but one has already been accomplished TODAY…. I will be eating ice cream once I get the kids in bed tonight and I can’t wait because I have M&Ms to add to it! YUMMO!!! I only wish Danny was going to be home to enjoy it with me!  

We had a fabulous morning as family.  We went to Gray’s Lake in DSM and let the girls ride their bikes on the path while we walked.  Grace does really well on her bike and is asking to take the training wheels off.  Hannah just started riding her bike in the last month, but she is doing really well – when she remembers to watch where she is going!  :)  Being on this flat path really helped her and she improved considerably today!  She even used her brakes!

One of the reasons for going to this particular park today was that we have heard that there are nesting eagles there.  And sure enough, there ARE!  We got to see one of them up in a tree and also got to see the nest.  We don’t have binoculars – something to keep in mind for Father’s Day or Christmas – so it was a little hard to see, but I used my zoom lens to get as close as I could! 

The girls rode a little more and we found a great shady spot for lunch… sandwiches, cheese, Chex Mix, apples and M&Ms.   Why do all of those things taste so much better when you have them as a picnic!  My girls ate and ate and ate while Josiah grazed as he hunted for sticks and other toys in the grass.  

We don’t know how many more outings we will have as a family of five, so we are enjoying every minute and trying to let these ones know how special they are to us!  Yup… we love them 100 barrels!