What's in the Bible Guest Blog!

Hi friends,
Have you heard of the series What's in the Bible? Created by Phil Vischer, of Veggie Tales, it uses puppets and cartoons, humor and catchy songs to teach your kids about God's Word. I am a huge fan of their DVD's and have been an affiliate of theirs since their first few DVDs came out. If your kids haven't seen them yet, you should definitely check them out. My kids have learned so much about the Bible as they've laughed and sung along. What's in the Bible? is currently having a fantastic sale: all the DVD's are marked down to $9.97, plus the more you order the better the deal. And free shipping sitewide! Click on the link below to go to their online store.

This month, I am excited to be a guest blogger on their site. I had been thinking and praying about how to keep our focus on Christ this Advent season, and summed up my thoughts in a blog post called Simplifying the Celebration. I'd love to hear ways that you are keeping your holiday festivities simple yet meaningful. And I'd love for you to pop over to What's in the Bible? and check out my post. :)

Thanks!

A funny thing...

A funny thing has happened.

My boys had gotten out of the routine of keeping their rooms cleaned each day-okay, maybe they never were completely in that routine, but regardless, it had gotten pretty bad. My husband, who is more bothered by mess than me, requested that we try to get more disciplined in this area, and I wholeheartedly agreed. Honestly, one of the hardest parts for me is remembering to enforce that their rooms need to be cleaned before they go play with the neighbors or watch a show. The past couple days I stepped up my game and started asking them to work in their rooms before they played and that's when it happened, after helping Sam and Will in their room, I sent Sam to help Jon. They worked together and next thing I know they've been playing nicely together in Jon's room for over 45 minutes. Both days, the room is clean and they spent over a half an hour playing together without asking for t.v. or iPad, etc. I'm not sure if it's a Christmas miracle or if it will continue, but you can bet I will be reminding them again tomorrow!  

Thankful

I know it's a little cliche to have a blog post right after Thanksgiving with the title Thankful, but there really isn't another word that sums up how I'm feeling right now. I have always loved Thanksgiving. A time to gather with loved ones and reflect on our blessings, what could be better? Then on two separate occasions I had babies the week of Thanksgiving. I am always reflective and grateful around my children's birthdays, so this just added to the thankfulness.

Will at just a few days old

Maggie, who was 6 weeks premature, at one day old

My grandma recently lost her battle with cancer, and while the pain of that loss is still fresh, it that has only made my heart more thankful for the times when my family can be together.

Precious time I got to spend with my grandma in August

In the past week, I have gotten to spend time with my husband's extended family, and with my parents and both of my brothers and my sister in law. My brother and sister in law, who live in Peru, have actually been with us for a week, much to our delight.

My brother, Scott, and my sister in law, Julia 

While I love routine and structure, the fun we have had, the laughter we have shared and the joy on my kids' faces is better than any routine I've ever known. Tomorrow, we'll try to get back into those routines, which I anticipate will be a bit of a struggle, but I am hoping to face that struggle with grace and to cling to this heart full of thankfulness. After all, even if Thanksgiving is over, next is Christmas, and what better reason to be thankful than the time when we celebrate the coming of our Savior?

Next week, I will be posting about the ways we are trying to be intentional this Christmas as a family. Stay tuned! ;)

Will is FOUR/Our Silly Face Boy

 

This boy turned four today! Since we spend a good chunk of Sunday at church, we decided to celebrate Will's big day a day early. We started the day with the traditional pancakes. I saw early on that getting a normal smile out of him was going to be tricky. I deleted at least five pictures of him with his pancake before I got this one. I settled. He's a stinker! ;)

Being our third boy, it's often tricky figuring out what to get him for his birthday and Christmas. We have more cars, trucks, trains, and blocks than any one household should have. He loves the Cars Movie right now, but since we have over a dozen different Lightening McQueen cars alone, I couldn't justify spending money on more Cars. Instead, I was thrilled to discover Lego Juniors. They are a fairly new line of Legos for 4-7 year olds. He just recently started playing with Jon and Sam and their Legos, so this seemed like a perfect fit. The best part is that they are normal Lego size, so they can be used with the older boys Legos and by Will for years to come. I am so excited to have found these! :)

We took him to EnterTRAINment Junction last year for his birthday, and this year he wanted to go again. He LOVED it. 

watching Thomas pull Annie and Clarabel

 shoveling coal into the engine

one of the many "cheesy faces" he gave us on Saturday

Will requested Chick-fil-a for his birthday dinner. I don't think any of us minded that one bit. It was fun. The kids ate their meals and went off to play happily, leaving Pete and I to sit and talk a bit, with them just on the other side of the window playing. Everyone wins! :)

 seriously, what is this face?

 leading the pack down the slide (that's Maggie right behind him-she's fearless)

 traded in his book for an ice cream cone

If you haven't had the chance to spend much time with this boy, you are missing out. He is a spitfire. He is so very funny. He is sweet. He tells me, "I missed you, Mom!" when I get back from the store. He tells me he likes my hugs. He is super-focused, and can be quite strong-willed, which can drive some people crazy, but I just know that God is going to use that drive and focus to do great things. It can be frustrating, but he really has a pretty tender heart. 

 Swinging with Maggie in the neighbor's yard

building with Sam before bed

He loves being outside and recently learned to ride a two-wheeled bike without training wheels. He loves Wild Kratts and can rattle off all kinds of information about many different animals. He adores his siblings and still likes to ask me to hold him/snuggles up on my lap several times a week. He is not the least bit shy. In fact, I have had to ask him to stop talking to people at the store on numerous occasions. Just recently, at the lunch that followed my grandma's funeral, he stood on his chair and told everyone in the room a joke. He is a fun boy. I'm so thankful to be his mom. 

Silly selfies with Mom and Lightening! 

Happy birthday, Will! 

Our Maggie is TWO

In some ways, this seems like so long ago! The 6 week early surprise arrival of our sweet baby Margaret Anne, and then the two week stay in the NICU...

Then I blinked and she was one! To be honest, that first year was ROUGH. Between all the normal newborn stuff, living in a 3 bedroom rental with four kids, and my thyroid deciding to not work properly, it was a long year. But it still seemed to have flown by and we were celebrating a year of this little lady:

And now here we are again, where has that little baby gone? She has turned into this crazy little lady now. The one who loves to push her stroller and, unfortunately, write on the walls with anything she can get her hands on. She also adores her brothers. And while she may have let me paint her toenails for the first time a couple weeks ago, she isn't all girly. She loves to "tackle" and to push the trucks and play cars and legos. She really doesn't have a lot of choice there. ;) She loves her babies and dolls. She's not a great eater, but would eat vitamins and mints all day long if I let her!

I love seeing her play with Will more and more these days. It makes my heart happy. 

Just a few other things I want to remember. This girl loves to accessorize. She picked out the necklace she wore for our family pictures herself. And she loves shoes. She just recently became much more vocal and opinionated. Until recently she didn't care to watch t.v. for more than a few minutes at a time. Now she requests George or Daniel Tiger or occasionally Thomas and Friends. For the sake of her brothers, she doesn't know that princesses and fairies exist YET. ;) She has gotten very good at saying thank you and your welcome. She doesn't always remember the please, but she will always say "God bless you!" if you sneeze! If I call for her brothers, she often responds with a "coming!" before they do. She is growing up so fast. I don't want to think about what's going to happen if I blink again. I better not! 

Happy birthday Maggie! I love you so!

Alabama

Pete's grandma and her husband live in Alabama, near Gulf Shores. Last year, we decided to combine a family vacation with a visit with them and we had a great time. Well, it was a great time with the exception of crazy sinus infections for both Pete and I that led to separate trips to local urgent cares. But I digress... We decided then to try to make it a yearly tradition. This year, praise God, we all stayed healthy and were able to enjoy a really beautiful week in Alabama. Pete got to golf with Granny and Ken a couple times, and we went to the beach, and the pool, we played mini-golf, and went go-karting. Each night we'd eat dinner with Grandma Gloria and Ken, and then usually the kids would want to play games with her. The weather was great. All in all, it was a fabulous trip!

Here's a pictorial summary of our time there. A few pics of Granny and the kids and then some snapshots of us at the beach.

Our trip was more fun this year than last, and I suspect that as the kids get older, it will just keep getting more and more fun. The beach and family, two of the best things in life in my opinion! <3

Sam is Seven (better late than never!)

It seems that I have neglected this space for quiet some time. The day after Jon's birthday, which is the last thing I blogged about, we started school. Sam's birthday was just a little over two weeks later. The week of Sam's birthday we had family pictures, I began a cellular nutritional cleansing program (that I love, please ask me questions if you're interested), and we left for vacation. While on vacation, my grandmother went into hospice care. When we got back home I went up to visit her, within a few days, she passed away. All of those things led to me shooting quick picture updates on Facebook and Instagram, but no blog posts. I am hoping to catch up a bit in the next few days. Before I fill you in on our school year thus far or our family trip to Alabama or on my grandma's life, let's take a moment to celebrate my second son and his seventh birthday! :)

Sam is such a fun kid. He is friendly and funny and smart and sweet. He can often be helpful and considerate and is quick to compliment a meal. He's practical and yet can be impulsive. He's seven. I am loving seeing his personality emerge more and more each year.

We started his birthday celebration with our traditional pancakes in the number of your new age.

Then the opening of presents before Dad leaves for work. Sam requested a new bike, because his bike was getting too small for him. He is growing a bit faster than Jon and Jon isn't ready to hand his bike down yet, so it sent us on the look out. Being the practical kid that he is, he told us he'd rather get a used bike and more presents than a brand new bike and less presents. His daddy's boy for sure! He was quite excited to get his "new" bike and a Lego set. Jon got him some Pokemon cards.

And here's the birthday survey:

~What is your name? Sam
~And how old are you? 7
~Does being 7 make you feel? Good
~What do you want to learn this year? Swim two laps completely
~What was the best thing about being 6? no more naps on Sundays!
~What did you do on your birthday? Played outside, slip n' slide, played with presents, rode my new bike
~What was your favorite gift that you received? Legos
~What is your favorite color? red
~What is your favorite food? brownies
~Who is your favorite person? family (could he be any sweeter?)
~What grade are you in? 2nd
~What is your favorite thing to do at school? reading
~What is your favorite game to play? Minecraft
~What do you like to do with Daddy? Have him chase us around the house
~What do you like to do with Mommy? when you read to me
~What do you like to do with Jon? play Pokemon, and Wii, and well, lots of stuff!
~What do you like to do with Will? play cars, ride bikes
~What do you like to do with Maggie? tickle her and snuggle with her
~What’s your favorite thing to do with the whole family? play outside
~What’s your favorite store? Target
~What’s your favorite place to eat? Bob Evans
~What’s your favorite book? King Arthur (an Arthur chapter book)
~What’s your favorite song? don't really have one right now
~What’s your favorite Bible verse or Bible story? David and Goliath
~What do you want to be when you grow up? the person who makes sure the people on trains are alright

Hopefully next year Sam will get his post in his birth month! ha! :)