Time Just Slips Away

I can't believe that it has taken me so long to update all of you! Where does the time go? I'm sure that you are all in the same boat!

Z is getting ready to go to an all day chess tournament at Butte College. He is very excited about it! He really enjoys the ins and outs of this game. And he's getting pretty good. His teacher went into the hospital this morning to give birth to her first baby girl. Z is so excited for his teacher, but misses her very much as she is away on maternity leave.

A just turned 7! He had a very fun birthday party here at our house with wonderful kids from his class. He had a "school birthday party". Our school's mascot is the Lions, so he wanted to have a Lion birthday party. :) It evolved into being a Safari birthday party with the central theme being the lion. :) They made lion faces, went on a safari looking for safari animals (and birthday presents), and had a lion pinata! It was so fun to watch them run all over the house searching for the clues! I will remember that for a long time...I hope A does too!

B really enjoyed the lion mascot that made a surprise appearance. She wasn't too sure what to think at first, but by the end was letting the lion carry her around for pictures. B is the proud owner of a "big girl bed". She feels so grown up! We had to make the switch when we were awoken by her cute little footsteps by our bed one Saturday morning a few weeks back. She had crawled out of her crib showing us that the time had come! Amazingly, she has made the trasition VERY easily. Thanks to a very smart daddy!

M and I are so proud of our little ones. We have a pretty amazing job...being the parents of such wonderful children. We thank God for them every day!

Ring Around the Rosie...

Little B's favorite new game is to play "Ring Around the Rosie". Z and A are having a ball playing right along with her. This is a video of one of their many "swinging" episodes. This usually turns into a dogpile of giggling cuties! She is blessed with AMAZING brothers!

Happy New Year!

I'm back!!! The Christmas Season pulled me away from my regular blogging (but boy did we have fun!). :) I will have to catch you up today! :)

Life is full of exciting firsts, family time, baseball sign-ups, birthdays, lesson planning. But most of all, just sitting back and watching my children grow right before my very eyes!

Z is maturing more and more every day. He has made the neatest friends at church and school...playdates running out of his ears! A is just a bundle of joy. I am SO thrilled that we chose to have him in my class this year. I have treasured every moment of it. He also has made many friends and is reading like crazy!!! Today we signed him up for his first season of T-ball. I can't wait to go and cheer him on! Little B always has a song to sing (whether she learned it at school or from Elmo on her new DVD). She is talking and talking and copying and copying. She says the funniest things!

My wonderful husband blessed me with an amazing birthday. You know that your husband loves you (and is thinking of you) when he calls all throughout the day and leaves adorable messages. I am a blessed wife! That night we went out for dinner and then I took the boys to watch "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" - the new Veggie Tales movie. What fun! On the outside of my birthday card envelope, Michael wrote 26, 27, 28, 29, 29, 29... You do the math! :)

I am including a few random pictures from the past month. I hope that you enjoy seeing how much our children are growing! In one of the pictures, B has put a head band on her forehead. I then called her Pocahontas (which she repeated right back to me...every syllable as clear as can be!)

Under the Weather

Our poor baby girl has not been feeling so well...actually she has been a bit grumpy. We could not figure out what was wrong! One moment she was completely happy and dancing around the house, and the next moment she was crying (or screaming) at the littlest things. Today I took her to the doctor...she has Strep Throat. Can you believe it? The doctor said that she should have a temperature of 103 and be lying around lethargic...instead she was dancing around the room at the doctor's office. Silly goose.

First Day of School

Our little one enjoyed her first day of school! She had a great time! So far this week, she has used glue, paint, markers, and many other fun things! As you can see from the picture, we think that she is going to be left handed! At times, she will color with both hands at the same time. She dances into class each morning, but then cries when mommy or daddy begin to leave. Thirty seconds after we walk out of the door she is off and playing with her new friends.

The boys think that it is SO much fun to take her to school and then pick her up in the afternoon. They are so excited to have her at our school. It's a big deal!

Thanksgiving here we come...

We are so excited about Thanksgiving this year. We are thrilled to head up to my grandparents' house. Z wrote a paragraph in school explaining that Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday...one of the reasons being that it was a great time to work on manners at the table. What a cutie! Last week Z was in the Speech Meet Finals at school. He did so well! We are extremely proud of him!

A had so much fun in our classroom preparing for Thanksgiving as well! We had a Thanksgiving party, did Thanksgiving crafts, and wrote what we were thankful for. A's answer to that question was, "I am thankful for special little B." I think that he loves his sister. :)

B has a new trick to make her family laugh. She does what we call "crazy eyes". She makes her eyes really big by raising her eyebrows and then CRACKS up at herself. She is such a ham! She is also talking up a storm! She is putting 2 and 3 words together now. It is exciting to watch her grow. I just wish that she would slow down! It's going by way too fast! She will be 2 tomorrow and will begin preschool after we get back from Thanksgiving! Crazy!

Let's Celebrate!

Wow...it has been an amazing few weeks! With the finalization of B's adoption there has been MUCH to celebrate. We had a birthday/adoption party for her a few weekends ago. She had SO much fun playing in the backyard with her brothers and friends. It was wonderful to celebrate with families that mean SO much to us! (B was not so excited about being the center of attention during her Happy Birthday song...she did not like that mommy was holding the cake and not her.)

Last Sunday, B was dedicated at church. Our wonderful pastor did a wonderful job of announcing the adoption and then praying for our family as we dedicated B to the Lord. That was an amazing experience!