Day 3 & 4 ~ Oh Christmas tree!

And the search is on!

Found it!....

 Christmas balls or goof-balls?

Once Ella found the ornaments, I didn't think they would ever get ON the tree... 



Advent Day 2

...And when Noah and his family and all the animals again walked the dry, sin-cleansed land, God arched his Father heart right across the sky, a rainbow to shoot an arrow of His forever love straight across all time.  Because the Father was sending his Son Jesus on another piece of wood, and we cling to that Son for dear life.                                                                        ~Ann Voskamp

Our advent activity today was to put up Christmas decorations outside, of which I have no pictures.  (Actually I did most of it, since the kids had friends over for our art class we started today...really fun!)  Anyway, I do have these pictures...

So this began as an experiment with a bottle, bowl, and straw, to see how much air their lungs held.  But somewhere along the way the bottle disappeared, the straws multiplied, and a battle was on.   Boys....  No rainbow after this flood, but I now have a very clean kitchen floor.  Rock on.

Advent countdown Day 1

So after a fun filled trip to the mountains to visit Grammie and Granddad for Thanksgiving, the kids could hardly wait to unpack the Christmas decorations as soon as we got home.  Their favorite item, by far...our Advent calendar.  The one with the little doors I usually fill with treats to be opened each day leading up to Christmas.  Unfortunately, it's getting a little difficult to put enough candy in those tiny doors for all of them, not to mention daily chocolate is extremely unhealthy (except for those 36 & older of course). So I had a new idea for this year.  I thought they were old enough to start understanding the meaning of Advent, to see the Christmas story unfold from the very beginning in the garden and weaving it's way through all of scripture until the birth of our Savior.  So we are going to be reading a daily advent devotional by Ann Voskamp.

Along with the daily reading I made some magnets to go along with each story that they will find in their advent calendar to place on their Jesse Tree they made for the fridge. 

Along with the magnet, they will find  a piece of paper with a fun activity that we will do each day. Hopefully this will help Mommy to slow down and enjoy the season as well. Today...Lunch in the living room (a true treat) and a Veggie Tale Christmas movie.  I wasn't sure how they would feel about the missing chocolate...but they didn't even mention it.  They were so excited!  Now off to get our schoolwork done, so we can enjoy lunch later...

September Birthday Wrap-up

Our sweet one year old...

On September 19th we celebrated Erin's 1st birthday.  Some things that come to mind when I think of our baby girl is cool, calm, collected, and carefree, which are all qualities that benefit her well, being child #4 :) For example, she is the first of our children to just lie in her bed and play when she wakes up.  Her telltale sign is usually a little jingle ball that we hear her playing with through the baby monitor.  She is the happiest just sitting in the floor playing with any of her three siblings. And of course, they are all smitten with her! Unfortunately, however, she can be a little too carefree.  For instance she could care less about walking...crawling...scooting...or even simply lifting her head up when she's on her tummy.  That's probably the one thing that does make her angry.  "If someone cannot lift my head up for me, do not put me on my tummy! Yes, pretty much all she does is sit...and smile.  She does have a physical therapy evaluation next week...to be continued.  In other health news, she has had two more seizures as a result of a fever since her first one back in July.  So it looks like we are looking at a future of febrile siezures until age 5 or 6 when they usually grow out of them.  It's obviously heartbreaking as a parent to watch her have them, and a little stressful having no idea when they are going to occur, but we are just thankful we have a Father who knows all and whom we can trust to care for and protect her.  A HUGE thanks to my dad for this amazing video he put together for Erin' first year.  She truly is our little "firework" in every way.

So blessed to have celebrated with our Elevation family as well as Grammie and Granddad!!

Next on the agenda was a butterfly party for our beautiful, fun-loving 3 year old,  Ella Grace! 

She has grown up so much in the past year!  She loves anything pink or purple, and anything with princesses or butterflies.  One moment she's playing with her baby dolls, and the next she's playing with cars with Caleb.  One day she's wrestling in the floor with her brothers, and the next day she looks at them, rolls her eyes, looks at me and says "crazy boys" & keeps walking.  She loves to help take care of her baby sister in every possible way, Caleb is her play time companion & blankie buddy, and whenever she is in need of tender loving care, Joshua is her go-to guy.

Sweet friends...

Birthday girls...

Birthday date with Daddy...

"All done!"



A Tribute to Uncle GG

So my brother in law taught Joshua this song on the guitar the last time he was here and it's ALL he wants to play. He literally plays it every day. Today he asked me to make a video for his uncle, so here it is. (And of course we must give a shout out to Mr. Helms, his guitar teacher ;) Get ready Elevation worship team! Here's your future member! :)

1st day of school

No expectations.  That's how I had decided to start the new school year today.  I have made the mistake, in the past, of trying to plan out exactly how the school year is going to go, only to be disappointed and frustrated when my plan doesn't pan out the way I had imagined.  But then I end up looking back and realizing that there was and  is purpose in the chaos, and it is always during those unplanned situations,  that we learn and grow the most. So I've learned to let go of my expectations, and leave plenty of  room for God to work.  At least, I thought I had learned. 

Now don't get me wrong, homeschooling three with a baby in the mix takes some planning (a BIG thanks to my AMAZING mom, who has been helping me organize and get all my school work together for the last few weeks).  But as far as where each day takes us, I've been trying to keep an open mind...especially when it comes to the preschooler and kindergartner.

So as I climbed the stairs ready to crawl into bed last night, my only expectation was a good nights sleep. (Wait, didn't I say NO expectations?)  Then I opened my bedroom door and heard the same sound coming from our 11 month old daughter that I heard the night we ended up in the ER.  Fast forward to about midnight and I'm standing in a hot steamy shower, trying to comfort Erin, and praying her breathing would ease up.  Eventually it did, and I was able to put her back to bed and crash myself.  Fast forward a few more hours and something else is waking me up.  (Oh, it's my alarm...wait, no, some one's calling me. Whispering.  Maybe it's both. I reach over to turn off the alarm.  I can't even open my eyes.  How can I get out of this bed?  I feel like I just laid down.  And it's so warm...and wet.  Why do I feel wet?  "Mommy"  There's that whisper again.  All of the sudden I realize Ella is in bed with me.  AND I suddenly recall her telling me last night she did not want to wear a pull-up to bed. "I think I may have tee tee'd just a little bit in your bed, Mommy"  Welcome to the first day of school.

So the rest of the morning was spent washing sheets, cleaning up the 3 year old and myself, and feeding the baby, who consequently woke up early herself.  Needless to say, I did not start off the morning with the best attitude.  That is, until the oldest three came bounding into the kitchen, eager to help with breakfast and "start school".  At that point, they pretty much took over the day. 

As I was about to leave the kitchen, I glanced back and saw the flowers Donnie had bought me a week ago, looking pretty sad on the table.  I immediately thought, "that's a pretty good picture of how I feel this morning"  The thought had barely entered my mind as Ella says, "Hey Mommy, will you read this to me again?"

She was pointing to the verse we had all just learned over breakfast and that she had helped put up on the fridge.  "Sure honey...All men are like grass, and their glory like the flowers of the field.  The grass withers, and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever"

Wow.  She had no idea the truth the Lord just spoke directly through her, straight into her Mommy's heart.

Our lives may not be all that glorious, especially when we're standing in a steamy shower with a sick baby or washing urine soaked bed sheets.  But there is One who is always faithful, always loving, whose word endures forever.  And he has given us these beautiful, eternal souls, to raise & love & nurture & teach.  And I am so, undeniably grateful.

So the rest of the day we colored, played games, learned some letters, did some chores, danced in the kitchen, read some books, did some math, vacuumed the floors, practiced handwriting and typing, ate Popsicles, read some more, went on a scavenger hunt, took a break to eat Daddy's homemade (from scratch) cookies, played outside, practiced guitar, played outside some more, ate dinner, took dinner to some friends, spent time with Daddy, and went to bed.  Which is where I'm on my way to now...with NO expectations. :)

  

Happy Birthday Caleb!!!

 Our baby boy is.....

Party prep...

 A house full of Marios and Luigis

 The battle between team Mario and team Luigi was on!

 Lot's of fun gifts from friends and family.  And the long wait for his own Dsi finally came to an end.

 I'm embarassed to say how many hours this continued past party time.

A HUGE thanks to the grandparents for all the help with the party!!!



We love you Caleb James!  You bring so much joy and laughter to our family!  Happy Birthday!!!!!