CaTcH tHaT mArLiN!

stained glass cookies

2012-01-25T06:46:00.000-05:00

many people have asked us about our stained glass cookies,
so here are all the "secrets"!

first you get a hard candy and break it into little pieces.
we used jolly ranchers this year, and did not separate the colors.

you pick out your favorite [large] cookie cutters
and a couple small ones for the stained glass area.
get your rolling pins ready!

you make a basic rolled sugar cookie dough,
(i'd imagine you can even use store bought if you wanted)
and roll it out.
you cut a large cookie, and then in that a smaller one.
ie: we loved little hearts in our ginger bread men.

you put a heap of the candies into the cut out spot

we learned our lesson the hard way-
USE PARCHMENT PAPER!!!!!
:)
bake the normal time & temp!

the boys came out a little messier then the ones i did alone,
but they had a BLAST helping make them!

trailside oatmeal cookies

2012-01-21T19:45:00.004-05:00

LOVE THESE!!!!!

1/2 C butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 C b. sugar
1/2 C peanut butter
1 t b. soda
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1/4 C milk
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
2 1/2 C oats
2 1/2 "fixings"
*suggested fixings are p. butter chips, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, coconut

beat butter, sugars, p. butter, b/ soda & salt until well combined. beat in eggs, milk & vanilla. beat in flour then oats. stir in "fixings"

drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheets. bake at 375 for 8-10 min. makes 60 cookies.

we used butterscotch chips, mini choco chips, coconut, raisens, and our peanut butter was chunky for the nuts. SOOO good! we also made a pan of cookie bars. i imagine any assortment that makes you think of trailmix would be good -seeds, m&m's, etc. this may need to be tweaked for african lifestyle, but i think we'll be making these for many years to come!

2012-01-12T07:39:00.007-05:00

have you ever felt like the life you are living is straight out of a horror film?

there are moments i think this...deja'vu, several days with no sleep, repeating the same thing over and over, etc.

this morning especially sent shivers down my spine:
it was about 5 am and i heard this squeaking outside of the door of the room i was sleeping in. it wasn't a cute squeak, like a mouse, but more of an eerie one. it was actually the sound of aidens hands dragging on the hall mirror.

with it came a monotone chanting, "poopie! poopie! poopie!" picture the little boy in the shining - "REDRUM! REDRUM!". yeah, now you know what i'm thinking!

i was waiting for a little head to pop through the wall with bulging eyes saying, "here's aiden!"

remembering times apart :(

2012-01-08T12:16:00.005-05:00

when joe and i were dating, i happened to go away a few times. the first time was for about 3 weeks.

we were newly dating and i wanted to be a good girlfriend, so i made him an envelope for each day. that's a lot of work. i was proud of myself!

when i returned home, it wasn't long after that joe's family let me in on his little secret -HE OPENED THEM ALL THE FIRST DAY! like a child eating candy, the excitement was too much for him, and in prob less than an hour, he threw all my work out the window and enjoyed every little note/gift in one sitting.

i learned a valuable lesson here, and the next time i went away i 1) only made 1 gift/week -it was a 6 wk trip and that was too many days to try and 2) i made him come pick it up from someone i trusted to only give him one week at a time. silly boy.

well, joe is about to leave us for 2 whole weeks to do some intensives for school, and i [quickly] pondered the thought of making him little notes for each day...than i remembered his history with this (oh, and the fact that i don't have time to make all those little notes with 3 littles).

i made him 1 card he can look at every day! i thought he would enjoy looking at our smiling faces. i am actually quite surprised at how it turned out as i was i the midst of helping 2 little men make cards as well. thought i'd share just a little bit of the fun...

meet einstein

2012-01-04T22:10:00.004-05:00

before bed tonight, joe was reading a story about talking animals to the boys. at the end, he mentioned there really are talking parrots. owen found this hilarious.

joe showed them a video as evidence and o insisted it was fake...he even insisted, "the microphone is a brownie"!

so joe persisted, calling several people until someone answered. aunt adrian was the lucky winner. she also tried to explain to o that birds can talk. when even she couldn't convince him, she reminded him of big bird.

now he was sure he was being fooled!

you know your son is growing up when using [talking] big bird proves the case that birds can't really talk b/c "big bird isn't real!".

{insert the "my son is growing up WAY too fast" sad face}

meet einstein:

the video is a little long, but even i was impressed with what this bird can do!!!

seasons

2012-01-03T10:50:00.005-05:00

pondering seasons...
the literal summer, autumn, winter & spring
as we embrace our last year of them,
but also spiritual seasons.

praying for "spring" in my life:

everything that's new has bravely surfaced
teaching us to breathe
what was frozen through is newly purposed
turning all things green
so it is with you
and how you make me new
with every season's change
and so it will be
as you are re-creating me

praying that the old things that were frozen through
would be newly purposed,
making me new & re-created!!!

Leviticus 26:4 I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit.

jesus, our superhero!

2012-01-03T10:15:00.011-05:00

this morning we watched a little clip on youtube
for a song called "one way, jesus!"
it goes along with our verse "verily verily i say to you that he who believes in me will have everlasting life" john 6:47.
after you watch a video on youtube,
suggestions come up for more videos to watch.
you can only imagine the battle to keep the boys attention from that point on when they saw this shot as a suggested video:

needless to say, we quickly wrapped up school and watched.
now, all morning long, we've been singing a catchy little tune
"jesus, you're my SUPERHERO!"

some of our favorite shots from the video were

"better than spiderman"
"better than batman"
& of course, we had to pick "better than barbie" for soph!

thanks hillsong for bursting into the hearts
of my little men with your superhero song!!

new

2012-01-02T10:44:00.010-05:00

with a new year usually comes new things.
we've decided to give our kids new names...

o will now be referred to as slowpoke,
as he is THE SLOWEST KID ALIVE!!!
and his mascot will be slowpoke rodriguez (the cousin to speedy gonzales):

aiden will now be called hungry,
as he walks around ALL DAY complaining "i hun-gee!".
i actually started replying with,
"hi hungry, i'm mama. nice to meet you!"
which backfired as now he yells at us, "i not a-en [aiden], i hun-gee!"
his mascot is, quite appropiately, this little caveman:

now soph, she was a little harder to find a mascot for!
we started by calling her pretty girl.
i just didn't even want to search google for an image of that.
then we decided she needed to be called miss refuses to sleep,
as she seemingly cries through the night:

now i'm leaning towards de vil,
as she is the most chipper and adorable little girl during the day
then turns into a blood thirsty [ok, prob milk thirsty, but...]monster at night
-draining the life out of us slowly:

there you have it.
btw, please pray that we get some sleep soon,
or joe and i might be getting nicknames too....

2011-12-26T22:04:00.004-05:00

trying to hold back some tears as i pack up christmas stuff.
not that i feel you need stuff to have christmas,
but that each of my "things" has sentimental value!
oh, and then there's the whole
christmas FAR AWAY from family/friends next year thing, too.

here's what i came up with...
a strand of lights,
the kids stockings
& a box of chosen ornaments:

there are ornaments that i received each year growing up,
a couple from my teaching years,
mexican ornaments,
ones we were given as wedding gifts,
and then the collection we've started for each of the kiddos:

oh the memories!
here you see the classic red bows made it into the box
& there are a few little toys the kids were given this year
that i will turn into ornaments as well:

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011
*come back next year to see our first RWANDAN CHRISTMAS!!!*

my dad and i book

2011-12-25T06:46:00.002-05:00

for christmas o made his daddy a book:

it talked about playing on his day off / his favorite being batman games

reading (especially about batman) /and his fav thing ever is taking the train

a HANDY decoration

2011-12-25T06:15:00.001-05:00

okay, footy too!

the new camera

2011-12-23T06:47:00.003-05:00

you may remember my post back in nov, a sad day, where i talked about how my camera broke...
i just realized i never mentioned my early christmas present!!!
this was a gift from my mother in law, sister in law & hubs.
it is amazing & i'm taking LOADS of new pictures. more details on that in another post.

a little gift within a HUGE gift

2011-12-23T06:23:00.005-05:00

i want to say the amount of "coffee dates" equals the amount of stars in the sky!

somedays it's over chaotic playdates,
somedays it's in a quiet barnes
& somedays it's even over a phone convo while the kids are quiet.

whether grabbing a coffee, shopping, praying,
attempting to organize life, letting the kiddos play, etc.
god really has given me a gift in this friend -
at a time i REALLY NEEDED a friend!!!

this post isn't going to be filled with stories or reminiscing about the past,
but it is a short note to
let it be known how thankful i am!!

these little coffee mug ornaments
are a [thoughtful] gift from her.
at first i hung them in my kitchen and thought,
"i'm not sure this is their forever home"...
but as i type this i chuckle
as nowhere will be a forever home now!

these are great ANYTIME of year,
and will def remind me of many fond memories.
also, they're small enough to fit in an action packer,
so i'm sure i'll have them hanging in my little house in africa, too!

*fun fact: i ONLY drink coffee b/c of said friend!!*

wordless wednesdays - 12/21/11

2011-12-21T14:36:00.001-05:00

i love how all the ornaments end up on the same branch!!!

wordless wednesdays - 12/21/11

2011-12-21T05:58:00.001-05:00

our 2011 holiday baking

2011-12-20T14:39:00.007-05:00

though i admit baking with little ones is quite a challenge for me
(i want everything perfect...things usually are far from it),
we worked on some cookies today for our cookie exchange coming up.

the boys were sooo excited & proud of their stained glass cookies:

then we couldn't stop...

truffles,
fudge &
ice cream cakes,
oh my!!!

the boys loved helping, but especially "cleaning up"!
at one point i asked o to wait in the other room while i did some dishes before starting a new something and he asked,

"why do you have to clean them when we already licked them clean?!?"

this might be my favorite shot of the whole day, but it was before we started so i still had high hopes of what baking with them would look like!

tomorrow, i think we'll make some more!!!
now, who's gonna help me eat all these?!?

a nativity

2011-12-19T19:14:00.006-05:00

when i thought about what i was going to "need" from oaxaca
to move to rwanda,
one thing that came to mind was a nativity set.
i remember buying those as gifts when i visited before!
they are made out of metal
and come beautifully painted.
they even are stored in a little box.

funny story-
my tia and unc were visiting from oaxaca this week...
they gave me my christmas present:

stockings for friends!

2011-12-19T13:32:00.000-05:00

so the cat is out of the bag,
so to speak!
i finally gave the gift to friends that i had been working on for quite some time now...
how is it that even simple[r] crafts
take sooo much time?!?

stockings for a family!

the inside lining & the bottom:

the snow papa:

the snow mama:

the snow boys (2):

the snow girl:

the whole kitten caboodle:

*wow! i used the word caboodle, and it sent me right on a blast from the past...remember those?

seven

2011-12-18T19:28:00.000-05:00

seven years we've been married now!

we got ourselves dressed up &
we started our celebration with sparkling berry juice out of our wedding stems:

i figure by next year they'll be in a box in someone's attic or something,
so we should take advantage of them this year!

next we went to a play [without kids] down at walnut st theatre:

i also got the stuff to make joe's favorite dinner.

what a special time it was-
celebrating what god has taught us,
sharing fond memories from through the years
& sitting in awe of how our love has grown!!!

interior lights

2011-12-16T14:05:00.010-05:00

this week the boys discovered we have interior lights in the van.

[let me start by saying how SUPER THANKFUL i am that they cannot turn these on and off, or i'm sure we'd have a dead battery!!!]

they ask for them to be turned on day and night. we try to explain we're not really supposed to drive with them on.

last night aiden gasped and then wispered,

"i need the light on...i see an angel!"

i chuckled, but said no.
not long after, owen very seriously insisited he needed the lights on...
i asked why...
he announced,

"because my shoe is untied!"

wait for it...

these are his shoes!!!

prettier than sophie

2011-12-16T14:00:00.003-05:00

last week we went to a christmas party at church. before we left, o took a gasping look at me and said,

"you look so pretty mom...tonight, you look prettier than sophie!"

considering EVERYTHING owen says to or about soph comes with a "pretty" up front, i am taking this as a high compliment! we had fun dressing up snazzy and attending the play of a great cs lewis work, 'the great divorce'!

wordless wednesdays - 12/14/11

2011-12-16T13:57:00.000-05:00

watch what you say...

2011-12-16T13:53:00.002-05:00

learning a new language brings many difficulties! just wanted to show an example of how tricky this one can be...the same word means 2 totally different things!!!

ChRiStMaS sALe

2011-12-16T13:36:00.003-05:00

from now til christmas,
the red & green HOPE BEADS will be
BOGO 50% off!!!
2 sets for $15
(while supplies last)

e-mail rwandacrafts@gmail.com if interested

2011-12-15T07:30:00.002-05:00

this was taken with my old BROKEN camera on thanksgiving day,
but i love the shot so i am using it anyway!

this is what our thanksgiving morning looked like-
we all bundled up,
hopped on the train,
"fought" the crowds,
& enjoyed a wonderfully fun
thanksgiving day parade downtown!!!

this carrier has been my [& soph's] favorite thing lately,
making me all the more proud of the thrift store win mentioned in 2010!!!

getting official

2011-12-15T06:57:00.000-05:00

my little helper

2011-12-14T07:37:00.000-05:00

how many of you get spiderman to help you in your kitchen?!?

2011-12-13T15:10:00.002-05:00

god gave me a gift today- CLARITY. not because i deserved it, but because he is gracious and loving!! i'm thankful he ALWAYS knows what's going on, but also that he CLEARLY shows us [reminds us of] his desires sometimes!

my little fiery one

2011-12-13T07:37:00.000-05:00

what SPUNK and PIZAZZ this little man has! love him to pieces!!!

thrift store WIN!

2011-12-12T19:05:00.001-05:00

the following 3 photos are of some clothes i got.
1. a skirt
2. a shawl for soph
3. a shirt

i got a bunch of stuff, not paying more than $4 for any of it!!
khaki skirt, osh kosh denim dress, childrens place khakis, shirt and sweater set, baby gap warm ups, etc. etc.
------------------------------------
i have been borrowing a coat from my sister.
it is a nice coat, but not the coat i would pick if i picked my own.
it is a knee length pea coat.
beautiful, but also dressy.

i am REALLY excited to play in the snow with the kids-
this, our last winter.
was wondering what i'd do...
can you picture me sledding down a big hill with that pea coat?!?
well, i found this down coat for 1/2 price.
$3.50. i call that a win!

this is the coat i found for sophia.
it was separated, yet i somehow found both pieces.
both were ticketed blue (the days 1/2 price color).
my mom explained how they were meant to go together,
so the man sold it to us for the price of one...
get this -$1.50! yup! win!!
(i was more than willing to pay that for each piece, as $3 is still a win!)

the most exciting win of all...
a cabbage patch doll!
it appears to be brand new,
except for the small mark on the cheek.
i have been wanting one of these for soph.
in fact, this week, i almost bought one!
on sale at the store & with a 25% off coupon,
i would have been spending about $25.

this one was $1.99

sUpEr WiN!!!

little van gogh 12/11/11

2011-12-11T07:36:00.003-05:00

o christmas tree
o christmas tree
how richly god has decked thee!

2011-12-10T13:32:00.002-05:00

click here for a pretty cool printable nativity paper doll set. i will use this for a sunday school lesson this week and then my boys will get to play with it! how fun!!!

favourite pancakes

2011-12-10T09:51:00.004-05:00

makes 10 4" pancakes

1 egg beaten
1 c milk
2 T oil
1 c flour
1 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

add ingredients to beaten egg in order. mix until smooth. pour batter onto heated griddle

this am we tried a new pancake recipe. it comes from my cookbook i bought in rwanda last year. it's a compilation of recipes that are make-able in rwanda! what fun!!!
this was super easy and we even "decorated" them for the season. owen asked me to make mickey mouse ones again, but quickly got over that when he saw these. the boys wanted to keep eating until i "cut off" the snowman part. then o said, "well, i only like snowman pancakes, so i'm all done!" haha. i wonder what pancakes will have to look like next time to get him to eat them...

friends

2011-12-09T15:13:00.002-05:00

this is our sweet caroline!

a SWEET bouquet

2011-12-09T15:02:00.003-05:00

i LOVE me some bouquet from aldi!

all this for $3.99:

and i also LOVE me my new camera which allows me to do this:

school review #1- letters L,T,H,I,F,E

2011-12-07T18:09:00.004-05:00

we recently took a few weeks off school. half b/c of craziness in schedule, half b/c of lack of motivation on my part and feeling "what difference did it make?!?".
well, owen came to me practically crying this week asking to do school again. completely unprompted!
where we had paused was a good time to review so i decided to start again with that, knowing he probably wouldn't remember much! he blew me away! he remembered all the letters & #'s we did and all the sight words. he remembered most of the verses as well. pictured here was part of our # review and he loved counting with fruit loops almost as much as he loved eating them afterwards!!!
-----------------------------------------------
we also did an assesment again. (the 1st assesment can be found here)
upper case letters he got 22/26 right - missing Y(U), D(B), G(H) & V(Y)
lower case letters he got 19/26 right - missing q(a), d(b), g(a) j(i), z(y), c(g) & v(z)
*i'm not sure if he was nervous or what, b/c he missed many that he got right the first time!
he recognized #'s 7,3,2,4,1,5,8,6 - missing 9(6) & 10(7), but when i asked "where's ___?" he was able to point them all out correctly!
he recognized rectangle, star, triangle, oval, heart and missed circle (oval), square (no guess) & diamond (no guess). funny that he remembers the odd ones, but not the simple ones.
he still counts to 13 without skipping #'s
correctly identifies red, yellow, blue, green, orange, black, white, pink & brown. he points to blue when asked to find purple.
he holds a pencil between his thumb and pointer, resting it on his ring finger.

special treats!

2011-12-07T14:17:00.006-05:00

sit back, b/c you might get blown away at how EASY this special treat is!
and, you probably have all the ingredients needed!!!
---------------------------------------
in a quart size ziploc bag,
combine 1/2 c milk
2 T sugar
and either 1/2 t vanilla or 1T cocoa
(depending on flavor desired)

zip it up and mix together

in a gallon ziploc bag,
dump 2 trays ice
and 6T salt

put quart bag(s) into gallon bag, then...

sHaKe iT....ShAkE iT...sHaKe iT like a polaroid picture!!!

o shaking it:

you should have seen his face when it slipped out of the towel...
wish i captured that!!

aiden shaking it (looking a little hulk like):

shake it for 7-10 min and viola:

you've got a perfect serving of homemade ice cream:

we made both batches at once.
the boys LOVED it!!!

you could also add toppings at this point
or even a different flavor syrup from beginning!

my tip: quickly rinse bag before attempting to get ice cream out or it could get super salty from ice/salt mix.

art shop, a surprise 85th b-day & a wedding...

2011-12-03T23:38:00.000-05:00

all in one day-
talk about a whirlwind ...

a thoughtful gift

2011-11-29T20:47:00.004-05:00

as a person getting ready to move to another country
and as a mom who is trying to prepare her children for the changes
and aide in not forgetting their own cultural roots,
i've given a lot of thought to genesis 16:8.

"where have you come from and where are you going?"

i've made a decision in my own mind to compile a book of memories, souvenirs, and photographs...maybe even short letters from loved ones.
without many of our dear ones knowing it,
we've been collecting pictures from facebook to add to this book.
i'm slightly overwhelmed by the idea of it,
but am also determined to have a GREAT book to bring with us!

anyways, tonight we received a perfect little book as a belated birthday gift for little aiden.

i could not have written it more perfect myself!
it is called "good night philadelphia"
and is by adam gamble and cooper kelly.
here are some snapshots of what's inside:

boat house row

art museum

philadelphia zoo

reading terminal/cheesesteaks/pretzels

liberty bell

mr penn statue

the love statue

there are also other shots not pictured here!
these are some of the things we will also include in our scrapbook!

thank you for the perfect and thoughtful gift friends!!!!!

"it gets easier"

2011-11-27T20:58:00.007-05:00

if i'm quite honest with myself,
there are times or even days and weeks
that i'm not sure i'm "going to make it"...

the kids have been super hard lately with behavioral stuff.
soph is waking 2, sometimes 3 times a night to eat.
i'm tired.
i'm frustrated.
i'm selfish.
i'm tired.
i'm trying to get things done.
i'm easily annoyed.
and, have i mentioned i'm tired?!?

today i stumbled across a blog that i used to read often.
it seems like the blogger is at a stage where blogging isn't done often anymore,
but she still has some good posts to read through!
today i read, "it gets easier".

when you're going through something,
it always stands out like neon lights.
you read it or hear it or even watch a show about it...
(you get my drift!)
that's how it felt when i saw the title of this blog!
i KNEW she MUST have written it for me.

she is a good writer, so i'll leave you to read her post instead of mine,
but wanted to quick write the most important part:

Isaiah 40:11

" He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young."

5 random things about black friday 2011

2011-11-25T14:29:00.001-05:00

1. i NEVER go shopping with kids -> i take full advantage of hubs working at home during nap for some sanity to shop alone

2. i NEVER go shopping on black friday -> there is no "stuff" important enough to stand in lines with all the crazies for, i don't care what's free or how much it's "discounted"!!!

3. i broke BOTH those rules today (ok, so grocery shopping doesn't really count, but still.....)

4. gonna do something else strange today -> decorate for christmas! with a crawling backwards 6 mos old, a mischevious 3 yr old, a 4 yr old "pharisee", and a puppy, i must be a glutton for punishment!

5. i'm currently listening to the sound of an ice cream truck

well visits - sophia

2011-11-23T10:35:00.002-05:00

sophia is 6 mos old already.

she is 2 feet 1.5 in tall & weighs in at 16 lbs. 6 oz.

she...
*is mostly sitting unsupported
*rolling over
*crawling (backwards)
*eating all baby foods
*blowing razzberries
*has stranger danger
*has stopped sleeping through the night -we're working on this!!!!!
*loves to interact

well visits -aiden

2011-11-23T10:22:00.009-05:00

aiden is 3. i'm sorry...aiden is 3!!!!!
where has the time gone?
he just had his 3 year well visit.
he is 3 feet 3.5 in and weighs in at about 38 lbs.
both of which seem to be about 95% for children his age...who didn't know that he was a giant?

getting in QUITE the christmas mood

2011-11-23T10:08:00.008-05:00

so, i'm not sure whether it's the shopping i've already started....

the pictures in magazines and ads of holiday feasts....
the stuff for sale and music playing in the stores....
the thought of christmas cookies....

the sewing of gifts we've been working on....

or the photoshoot we attempted (don't worry, these shots will NOT be on our christmas cards)....

but, i'm getting in QUITE the christmas mood!!!!

ghetto fabulous punk rock

2011-11-23T10:02:00.002-05:00

it's amazing what you can google!

here is what i'm calling a
gHeTtO fAbUlOuS pUnK rOcK wrap job!
the entire thing is done with duct tape!

a rose:

which i made into his/her duct tape pens:

the bow:

a sad day

2011-11-23T09:56:00.004-05:00

if you know me at all, you know how much i LOVE to take pictures. i upload a couple hundred each month to snapfish easily! well, it's been harder to blog lately, as my camera is finally dying. sad day! we bought it used several years ago and it has served us very well. it's been frustrating to take pix lately b/c of it. here is a shot of a camera i've asked for for christmas!
for a little while, my photos will be pretty bad. bear with me, please!

could you hurry a little?

2011-11-15T14:00:00.005-05:00

----------------------------------------------
i have been feeling god ask us to be patient a lot lately!
last week at womens bible study,
this poem was shared.
i believe it's an excerpt from the book called,
"could you hurry a little?"
by ruth harms calkin

while i pray i would wait patiently,
so god can develop endurance in me
and strengthen my faith,
i also pray that he would hurry!

waiting patiently is hard!!!

cakes past

2011-11-12T19:06:00.003-05:00

thought it would be fun to keep in the memory box of my blog

some cakes i've made for the kiddos in the past.

here is aiden's 1st b-day
(a very hungry caterpiller):

he got to eat the giant butterfly cupcake:

aiden's 2nd b-day was a monster bash.
here is a preview of that "cake":(this post shows how those were made.)

here is aiden's baptism cake
(made to look like stained glass):

here is owen's 2nd birthday "cake" (elmo):

the elmo detail:

wonder what cakes will look like in rwanda....

a curious cake

2011-11-12T18:53:00.004-05:00

here is the curious george cake i made for aiden's birthday. upon seeing it, he grinned from ear to ear and said,
"thank you! you're my best friend!!"
i don't know where these kids come up with some of the things they say, but i'll take tonight's cute saying!!

little van gogh 11/11/11

2011-11-11T06:01:00.001-05:00

slightly hard to see, but this is the
FIRST TIME EVER
that o asked how to spell something.
he wrote it with chalk on the back patio,
and said,

"it's love b/c i love you, mom!"

thankful thursdays11/10/11

2011-11-10T06:56:00.002-05:00

i'm thankful for another chance to get to spread awareness about rwanda through another vending opp of the baskets and beads.
though i will be busy all weekend, i've had some friends graciously offer to sit at the sale in my place -what great friends!!!
please come check out "the goods"!

wordless wednesdays - 11/9/11

2011-11-09T07:42:00.000-05:00

running the race

2011-11-09T06:35:00.004-05:00

this is a sight i see daily, if not more. the building in the bottom right corner of this photo (thank you street view maps), the one with green awnings, is a funeral home that is just around the corner from my house here in philadelphia. it is a funeral home that is ALWAYS used. that might be an understatement. if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense -i live in one of the roughest neighborhoods and have seen death often here.
the point of this post isn't to talk about death, per say, or the popularity of this specific funeral parlor...it's to talk about life and joy.
one thing i've notice about the people who attend services here is that they are rarely sad. hundreds of people stand around the streets wearing their spray painted shirts "in memory of...", and they laugh and chat and almost celebrate the circumstance of coming together.
i don't believe ALL of these people have reason to celebrate, but it makes me think about when i die. i hope there is a similar atmosphere in the people who choose to gather. a joy or celebration in the life that i lived. i hope they think of the fullness god gave me and can speak of the endurance i had in "the race".

^"6 My life is being given as an offering for God. The time has come for me to leave this life here. ⁷ I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have served the Lord faithfully. ⁸ Now, a prize is waiting for me—the crown that will show I am right with God. The Lord, the judge who judges rightly, will give it to me on that Day. Yes, he will give it to me and to everyone else who is eagerly looking forward to his coming." 2 Timothy 4:6-8

2011-11-09T06:27:00.000-05:00

ephesians 3:7

2011-11-09T05:56:00.005-05:00

⁷ "By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News."

joe has been ramping up our monthly newsletters (if you've missed them see this post) and i must say, i think he's doing a phenomonal job!!! we are using a new sender called monkey chimp and this thing is stalker heaven!!! we can see who has opened our letter, what's been clicked on by whom & how many times, an average of how many letters "should" be opened according to our field, etc etc etc. i am often shocked to check reports after a newsletter has been sent and see the results! i also find it encouraging that people from all over the world are reading these!! anyway, just thought i'd share a little of this with you!

little van gogh 11/8/11

2011-11-08T06:38:00.000-05:00

owens family portrait.
judging by his view of his mohawk, it's time for a cut!!
i <3 that he put a <3 on me "because he loves me"!!!

my growing sophers

2011-11-07T20:57:00.006-05:00

soph is just about a week shy of being 6 mos old. she is so close to sitting and has even begun the "rocking" motion [when on her belly] as if she's going to be crawling soon...
i have no idea what trouble is until i'm chasing 3 babies around in different directions!!!

she LOVES to eat [still] and is pretty much allowed to have anything mashed! i make some foods for her and others i buy out of ease.

at her 2 month check up she was about 16 lbs and at a sick appt last week, she was still about the same. if it weren't for her eating ALL THE TIME, i might be concerned about this!!! :)
we have her well visit next week, so i'll try to post more stats from that!

remembering & celebrating aiden

2011-11-07T19:46:00.007-05:00

about this time of day, 3 years ago, i was sitting in a hospital bed listening to the doc change her mind every few min whether she thought we should go ahead and deliver baby aiden [5 wks early] or try to wait. for now, i remember MANY of the details of his birth, but i'm not sure i always will, so i thought i'd write some down.

lets rewind a bit: earlier in the week, i had started getting very itchy ALL OVER. i tried to pass it off as dried skin with winter approaching, but even regularly lotion-ing didn't help. i remember talking to my mom on the phone one evening (i'm sure she was "checking in"), and when i hung up i looked at my arm to find i had itched it to the point of bleeding. i remember thinking maybe it was something more than just dry skin.
the next day i was doing some target shopping and ran into my neighbor. we sat for a snack in the snack shop, and talked. this was not rare -well, the target part was, but we often talked. she urged me to just put a phone call in with my doctors office.
i came home and did the normal thing: googled my symptoms! isn't that what everyone does?!? well, google knocked some fear into me with words like still birth and death, so i put a phone call in. they scheduled me for the next morning.
off i went on my hike to abington to see the doc. of course i got my least fav in the whole practice, but beggars can't be choosers! she mostly brushed off my thoughts. i pushed the issue and asked her to test me even just to ease my fears. she did VERY RELUCTANTLY! that was a wed.
i called the office fri for results and waited most of the day for her to call back. i remember when she did. there was a sense of urgency in her voice when she stated, "you need to come in to triage, please!" this pregnancy was different. i had already been to the er for a few visits. i pretty much didn't want to go, but i did. at least she informed me a different doc was on call! my mom and i made the hike (i was in jersey that day) from mo*town up to abington during rush hour -what fun times! it seemed to take forever!!!
upon arrival, they started to explain to me, or, at least told me some info on this "confusing case" for them. apparently my liver function levels are supposed to be 21 the highest (normal being about 14)....when last checked, mine were in the 600's. remember that was 2 days prior to the current day. to say they were baffled would be an understatement! they re-checked and the #'s climbed and were now in the 900's.
they couldn't believe i was alive and functioning, let alone with being itchy as my biggest complaint. the doctor said she had never heard of the #'s being like this and was concerned. if left unnoticed, eventually my organs would have shut down one by one leaving me in ac coma or worse.
one minute, she wanted to deliver -not chance my life. the next minute she weighed the health of the baby and what it would look like to birth him 5 wks early.
she was torn!
clearly, in the end we decided to go ahead and "deliver" aiden that night.miraculously, he was born a whooping 6lbs 5 oz.
the only "problem" he had was being slightly jaundiced (as seen by the bilirubin lights above)
he spent a mere 7 days in NICU, then was able to return home with us!!
shortly after delivering, my liver function levels also returned to normal.

here he is about 1 week old:

today, aiden is a SUPER HAPPY little man!

and by little, i mean GIANT!!!
he just kicked his brother out of 4t clothing, because he needed them himself.
this past summer aiden really blossomed in personality. he became chatty and we are enjoying watching his imagination come to life!!! he LOVES to love and is always giving big wet slobbery kisses, but we take 'em just the same! he likes to read, and collects stickers. he is just plain curious about everything. if he finds a paper, he is convinced it's "his paper for his work"!
today we celebrated with lunch out (he picked chinese chicken),
and cupcakes for dessert.
he loved dancing around all day and receiving well wishes from family and friends.
we <3 aiden!!!

send the marlins -nov update

2011-11-06T06:07:00.000-05:00

lord willing, 10 mos and 3 weeks before we head out.
click here for the latest update (in case you don't receive them).

crafting

2011-11-02T13:13:00.004-04:00

another quilt finished...this one took long enough for me to actually sit down and do! this was a gift for friends. they were having a baby, and we weren't sure boy or girl, so i went with a gender neutral shade of colors. the front is quilted, and the back has a ball so it's a "reversable" quilt! i sure hope they like it!!!

wordless wednesdays - 11/2/11

2011-11-02T06:50:00.000-04:00

good humor

2011-11-01T07:03:00.001-04:00

after a day like yesterday (halloween) with no naps and lots of candies...i HAD to post this one!

halloween fun 2011

2011-10-31T21:20:00.000-04:00

we went to a party at church!
it was fun to see the space transformed into a fun place for a break from trick or treating!
there were LOADS of handmade decorations,
fun jack-o-lanterns,
a photo booth,
tattoos, pumpkin decorating
& soccer!!!!!

our guys went as SuPeRs!

sPiDeRmAn:
bAtMaN:
wOnDeR wOmAn:

thankful thursdays 10/27/11

2011-10-27T06:19:00.001-04:00

last week aiden had surgery...
we are happy to report it didn't slow him down much! he is quickly healing and bouncing along!
we are thankful for good doctors and hospitals, thankful for his EXCELLENT behavior all day, and most of all thankful for HIM!

ele-FUN-t christmas gifts

2011-10-26T13:41:00.002-04:00

so our friend from church is an author/illustrator
and has a FANTASTIC book!
we bought a bunch for christmas gifts and i thought it would be fun to add to it...

here is the picture i used for inspiration:

here is what i've got so far:

i'm quite excited!
except for the fact that i have at least 2 more to make -
maybe i should have planned a smaller size!

hope the kiddos will LOVE these!

little van gogh 10/26/11

2011-10-26T13:37:00.007-04:00

owen has been drawing up a storm!!! i try to capture a little of everything (since it's often on the magna doodle and gets quickly erased). he also is asking almost daily how to draw something. what fun times we are having together!!!

wordless wednesdays - 10/26/11

2011-10-26T13:22:00.001-04:00

fall collages

2011-10-26T13:18:00.005-04:00

owens

aidens

update from POST

2011-10-18T13:08:00.007-04:00

so i must confess i'm slightly disappointed in the turnout of POST.

we might have seen 20 people the first day,
and only about 5 the second.

it's hard for us [marlins] to carve out a chunk of time like that,
and i had to keep soph with all day too
(which is also hard to keep her content and not have much "room" to put her down or let her "cry it out" for a second)
but i'm trying to not take this on as a failure.

i will keep spreading the word about the beads of hope and the baskets,
trusting that god will raise awareness & concern for rwanda!!!
speaking of which -christmas is coming...
wouldn't you like to browse through?!?
contact me about colors or specifics!!!
----------------------------------------------
here is the jewelry table:

i don't have a close up of the bead packets.
these are sets of beads that match so you can design your own jewelry.
($10 ea or 2/$15)
-------------------------------------------
here are the earrings
(larger ones $15 smaller ones/beads $10)
& the bracelets ($15):

--------------------------------------------------
here are the regular necklaces ($20):

--------------------------------------------------------
here are the long & solid color necklaces ($25):

*all jewelry comes with a little gift bag*
----------------------------------------------------
here is the basket table
(they vary in price from $20-$40)

to order/inquire, please contact me at rwandacrafts@gmail.com

i will try to post with very specific basket pictures!

ibiseke byinshi (many baskets)!!!

2011-10-14T09:43:00.010-04:00

either a table runner or a very long wall hanging ($35):
says "your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path psa 119:105"

LARGE with colors ($30):

(up close to show details)

placemats (2/$5):

medium (*SOLD*):

(from side)

LARGE & flat ($35):

big one ($40- can be used for magazines or toys or something):

hot plates (2/$5):

purses ($10 or 2/$15):

(purse detail)

LARGE & black/tan ($30):

(up close)

another LARGE & flat ($35):

this is still only a portion of the baskets, but gives an idea.
to order/inquire, please contact me at rwandacrafts@gmail.com

wordless wednesdays - 10/12/11

2011-10-12T07:01:00.000-04:00

today- a glimpse into the life of a marlin

2011-10-11T17:09:00.010-04:00

i must have had less than 5 hrs of sleep. this is actually good for now- i consider it a gift!

most days i ponder if i will ever feel anything other than pure exhaustion.

i wake up earlier than i'd like just to get a sip of my warm cup of coffee. my short time before the kids join me is composed of getting showered & dressed, a time to read/pray with my hubs &/or have kinyarwanda lessons. usually, these things get interrupted! i also take care of lucy in this time.

i then attempt the task of getting 3 kids 4 and under ready for the day. this includes:

picking clothes that i often receive unwanted "help" for of t-shirts being thrown about the drawers to pick the favorite of what's still clean
changing diapers -one of which is faithfully soiled
half dressing an "independent" 4 1/2 yr old, because he suddenly needs help to do any and everything, an active 2 (almost 3) yr old who doesn't stand still long enough for the adult to get 1 leg in each pantleg & a squiggly 4 month old who is quite sure she just might die if she isn't eating within seconds
nursing said baby & milk for the older 2 and now breakfast for all 3

this is all by around 8 am.

many of my "free" moments are used to do dishes or laundry, etc. i often feel like as soon as i get one person content, the next is demanding a need or attention. this week in particular is also busy with sharing the rwanda vision in small groups and preparing to sell rwandan crafts at an open studio this weekend.

my heart is heavy with news of friends loosing loved ones or having hard times and at the same time rejoicing with others who are gaining family members and celebrating good and exciting things in their lives.

all i can think is, somehow i have to make it through these days!!

several days a week, when soph goes for her morning nap, the boys and i do school. this morning we had many interruptions and even more "melt downs" because of our late night last night. during a talk with owen about his behavior, aiden gets super jealous so i decide to have a "talk" with him as well to ease his jealousy. we chat about his surg next week. i want to explain to him in simple terms what will happen. i say,

"we will go to the doctor, and they will help you sleep so they can fix your boo boo. then you will wake up and come home with mommy and daddy."

to see if he understands, i quiz him.

"me: next week we go to the doctor...what will happen? a: i go to sleep! me: that's right! then what? a: i die! me: no you won't! don't say that!!"

okay devil, you got my attention! maybe i'm tired or stressed or worried about his surgery, but i sob! of course this sweet little boy pipes right up...

"a: why you ca-ing mommy? me: because you said something that made mommy sad! i don't want you to die. after the doctor fixes your boo boo, you WAKE UP & COME HOME WITH MOMMY AND DADDY! a: ok mommy! me: so what happens after the doctor fixes your boo boo? a: i die!..."

i take the hint and end the convo.
you'd think i would know by now, about 9:45am, it's gonna be a day! maybe i should follow the flow and skip school. instead, i press on.
we can't ever seem to make it through school without the dog chewing something and ending up in her kennel & today, along with that, not long into school soph also began to cry. there are a few things i can say about this situation:

she has been slightly under the weather & crying lots (i can't express this word enough) the past few days, so i'm already feeling stretched/stressed
she is the LIGHTEST SLEEPER on the entire planet and wakes even when we blink downstairs, so this is a very common situation. i have learned to let her cry and usually in less than 5 min she is done and back to sleep
she is baby #3 and i'm good at the "cry it out" thing by now -we wait the reccommended 20 min before we take action, unless the cry tells us otherwise
i started school and wanted to finish atleast the bare essentials.

i should have known better...

i quickly decide the cry i'm hearing is NOT the 'let it wait 2o min' cry. i run up the stairs to find she has spit up. everywhere. school obviously gets paused and we do an impromptu bath and bedding change. she is calm & she is clean so i decide to attempt nap again. she protests. sorry, that's supposed to say she protests!
i bring her downstairs- could it really only be 10:30?!?

thankful thursdays 10/6/11

2011-10-06T06:32:00.001-04:00

after a [quite appropiately timed] summer break, it is with much excitement that bible study starts today!! we will be diving into the life of paul.
i'm thankful for the chance to study with my family, under a much respected woman that i have known many years!
i'm also thankful there's babysitting so i can study!! it will be interesting to see how sophia does with others!

some snapshots from school

2011-10-05T10:40:00.005-04:00

yes, we have been doing school!
some days are good, some not so much!
some days we make it several hours,
some not so long!
here are a few snapshots as proof:

practicing our #3
and please notice his beautiful pencil grip!

we named our weather puppy, gnomeo.

the boys LOVE to dress him for the day!!

apparently, they LOVE to dress themselves too!

our "transportation" puzzles

our letter H

when i can get a to participate, i'm pleasantly surprised!

philadelphia open studio tour

2011-10-05T10:27:00.005-04:00

there is an "open studio tour" coming up in the city and our church is participating! i will have a table with the beads of hope from rwanda, trying to raise awareness and monies for people living in poverty in rwanda.
the other night i took some time to make little gift bags for people to take them home in. i'm so grateful for the cricut in times like these!!

i will also have some baskets from rwanda to sell. these are the baskets which have been donated to us -with all the proceeds going towards our BIG MOVE to rwanda next year.

if you're in the philly area, you should come check it out! it's all over the east of broad part of philly, but i will be at 2424 e. york st. philadelphia, pa 19125

to order/inquire, please contact me at rwandacrafts@gmail.com

wordless wednesdays - 10/5/11

2011-10-05T10:25:00.005-04:00

aiden loves him some lucy!!!

little van gogh 10/5/11

2011-10-05T10:21:00.003-04:00

i asked o to draw something with a "h" for school.
when i asked what it was, he said "it's me, happy, b/c i love you!"
melt my heart!

a usually doesn't like to color.
if he does, it's only about 1 scribble line with 1 color and he's done...
he was super proud of his hippo,
and so was i!!!

out of the mouths of babes 10/5/11

2011-10-05T09:08:00.001-04:00

"can i have a fropical punch?" (tropical punch) -owen

arguing for 20 min, "do i have to eat these beans?". finally got him to try a bite..."um! I LOVE THESE BEANS!" -owen in a typical dinner convo

"aiden, do you have a boo boo?"
"no! is all gone!"
"what happened?/how did you get that boo boo?"
"i was bad! i cwimed [climbed] and i cwied [cried]...it's better now 'cause i took it off!"
-convo between anyone and aiden about his big black eye he got from climbing wall shelves and pulling the top heaviest ones down on himself

"aiden, what happens if you climb?" "i could die!" (guess i said that the day before when talking about his choices)

release of rights

2011-10-05T07:29:00.003-04:00

i recently found an article we received when we went to candidacy school for africa inland mission. it is called release of rights. it was a reminder to me that i need to constantly think & do this if we're going to survive in rwanda. i decided to blog about it, as a way to "keep" the list, that way if i loose the paper again, i can't say i didn't know. some of the things listed make me laugh, and i think "easy!", but others already seem hard! it's not an extensive list, but you'll get the idea.
it has a gentle reminder in the header of how they [the rights]

"seem reasonable but can cause dissension, and steal from your effectiveness as a witness for jesus"

instead of holding on to these rights, it encourages you to entrust them to god or to

"transfer the responsibility of them to a place of safe keeping."

i like that! i must confess, there are also some things listed here that let me release a huge sigh of relief - a "thank you god for NOT making me responsible for this one!" kind of attitude.

rights we give up:

a comfy bed
having 3 meals a day
having familiar food
dressing fashionably
seeing results
control of ourselves
control of others
control of circumstance
having pleasant circumstance
making decisions
taking offense
being successful
being understood
being heard
being right

we entrust to god:
our strength and endurance
our health and strength
our likes and dislikes of food
our security in him
his purposes and fruit of his timing
our need for his spirit to control
his workmanship in others
our circumstances to his purposes in making us christ like
the privilege of suffering for his sake
his sovereign hand on our life
our deepest needs
our security in his love
our reputation
our need for recognition
our need for his righteousness

as prob anyone who has had conversation with me can testify to, africa is on my mind a lot lately! having reached the year mark (1 year until our goal of being there), makes me think of the sacrafices & joys of it all. there are both!!

Romans 12:1-2

A Living Sacrifice to God

¹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

prayers of a child

2011-10-04T10:45:00.003-04:00

we can learn so much from the prayers of a child!
last week we prayed for tanzania as our letter for school was "t". we have a book that tells us a little about the country and the people there & ways we can pray for them. it said tanzania needed leaders to train up men and women to know that god loves them.
owen prayed:

"jesus, please help all the people who love you in philadelphia to move to tanzania and train leaders, just like we're moving to rwanda! amen."

i'm amazed he put it all together & i'm amazed he has the guts to ask for such big things w/o fear!

the makings of a REAL superhero

2011-10-04T06:35:00.003-04:00

many of you who know owen already know this character trait about him, but he is SUPER sensitive about life and love. he cares sooo much about other people & things. don't get me wrong, he cares sooo much about himself and his things too, but we're focusing on the former rather than the latter.
the other week we were driving (in the pouring rain), and i noticed an elderly man laying on the sidewalk. i saw his cane in the distance & blood dripping from his head. it wasn't long before i realized he had slipped & fallen. i quickly pulled over -thank god there was a parking spot b/c with all 3 kiddos in the car i wouldn't have been able to leave them alone.
i jumped into action! gave a quick speech to the kids "stay put...blah blah!", grabbed our first aid kit [which i'm often glad i have in the car] & a blanket, and off i ran to the man. we were able to call 911, apply an ice pack to his head which we elevated with the blanket and sit and talk with him/keep him laying down while we waited for help.
afterwards, i returned to the car and we all sat and prayed for mr. johnson. little did i know god was shaping a true super hero out of it!
owen, has asked about mr. johnson several times -i wish i had answers for him! without fail, every time we drive now, he alerts me when someone has stopped walking and he thinks they need our help!
i've chosen batman as the photo op here b/c he was a character i could think of who doesn't have supernatural powers. he chose to make a difference in the world and started fighting darkness. i want this for my children! no! i don't want them literally to dress up in tights and do scary flight stunts fighting evil. i do want them to know the difference between good and bad, righteousness and evil. i especially pray for little owen as his heart is nurtured. i pray that this sensitivity wouldn't be hardened OR abused by others, but that god would grow it and use it to make him a man after HIS heart!

2011-09-23T21:01:00.002-04:00

she's so sTiNkiNg CuTe i can
hardly stand it!!!

mini rolling pins

2011-09-23T20:55:00.004-04:00

we were on a hunt for these guys for a long time, as the boys wanted them for playdough time...
we found them this week @ old navy of all places! they are only a buck!
before we use them in playdough, the boys helped make pizzas one night and we all had loads of fun!!!

owen's pre school assessment

2011-09-23T20:28:00.004-04:00

we made it through our first week of school!!!
hooray & dance of celebration!
--------------------------------------------------
before we started, i sat down with o to assess what he already knows.
it's a way to see if he's gaining knowledge when we work,
and to see what/how i need to change things up to help him best!

he got 19/26 capital letters correct!
missing Y(U), U(Q), D(B), H(Q), Z(U), V(Z), N(M)
-the ones in parentheses being what he said & some of those he sings
(ie:L,M,M,O,P...R,S,T,Q)
that's an impressive amount to me!!!

here is his name (this is the first time he wrote a 'w' this way opposed to the way i taught him -told me he "needed to do it right"!):

his lower case letters are not as familiar to him,
but he still identified 14/26!

the hardest part of identifying these letters & the #'s below, was that they were out of order! he so much wanted to keep going in the order he "knew" them.
this really made him think though, and now we know which he really knows and which he has memorized in order!

here he is cutting:

he recognized 6 out of 10 #'s

here were his tracing lines:

he was able to identify circle, rectangle, star, heart.
missing triangle (rectangle), oval (circle) and diamond.

he counted to 13 without missing any #'s.

here is his matching:

he differentiates between print and pictures in books,

he recognized red, yellow, blue, green, orange, white & pink.
missing black (brown), purple (blue) & brown (gray).

he also is able to complete a simple ABABAB pattern.

as far as pencil grip, thumb on one side and all fingers on other -switching back and forth still between left and right.

gearing up for the harvest season

2011-09-23T19:56:00.013-04:00

this year, we actually made it to johnsons farm in time to do both apple and pumpkin picking!!!!!

aiden was the first to find a pumpkin he liked,
and owen jumped right in to 'help' him pick it...

here you see the 2 of them pulling with all their might:

aiden was very proud of his prize!

next, the boys found one "just the right size for sophia!"
(i think she liked it)

owens' pumpkin was also hard to pick & he ended up on his rump on the ground (for the 2nd time) when it finally broke free from the vine!

he too was proud of his pickin's:

unfortunately, our proud boys grew tired fast of muscling to hold their prizes!
i found it quite funny that daddy ended up carrying all 3:

isn't it weird how HUGE they looked against the boys,
but now against joe they look pretty small?!?
we decided to wait to cut them open so they'd last the season long.

for now, here are our beautiful pumpkins:

-----------------------------------------------------------
i don't ever remember going apple picking,
and am surprised to say that this was the highlight for the boys!!
they actually complained they were getting pumpkins,
until they figured out we were getting those & apples!

o decided to pick from the lower branches,
where he had to do this crab-like crawl to get to them:

aiden wasted no time stretching out to the highest possible apple he could get his fingers on:

it seemed so fast!
i wish we could have sat there for an hour and basked in the juices of our pickings!
then again, i also wish we paid a fee per bag of apples (instead of per lb) b/c it was hard to limit them they were having so much fun!

our DELICIOUS apples:

i discovered a new favorite apple and we've probably eaten some everyday!
on the list of things to do [when i get time -haha]:
ReCiPe ExPeRiMeNtS!
jewish apple cake, applesauce, apple pie...
maybe even apple butter!
YUMMY!

little van gogh 9/23/11

2011-09-23T19:51:00.003-04:00

this is owens version of daniel in the lions den. the squiggly lines in the center are the lions and the arch in the middle of the whole picture is the den. the top left huge circle (that looks like a giant sun) is jesus or an angel & daniel stands very tall at the bottom center. i LOVE that he's getting into art [finally]!!!

making pizzas

2011-09-23T19:50:00.003-04:00

thankful thursdays 9/22/11

2011-09-22T06:25:00.001-04:00

we had an AMAZING vacation in the new jersey shore area! i'm thankful for the time we got to spend with family (no distractions -sry facebook, e-mail and blog) and the chance to deepen good friendships! it was a much needed time and i think we'd all stay in vaca time permanently if we could! everyday since our return (almost 2 wks now), the boys have asked to go to the beach!

dry erase activity center

2011-09-21T10:54:00.003-04:00

this handy dandy tool is an amazon purchase. you can find it here! we saw it and knew we had to get it!!! it comes with cardboard pages that have practice lines, letters and even games, but you can also insert any page you'd like. it gives o a chance to practice drawing lines and writing his letters, yet saves on copies needed! (i don't know if i ever shared it, but not having copies was our downfall last time we did school) we even can erase and make him practice over and over again if we so choose! i saw it on another blog and knew we would get much use out of it. this version is a completely affordable one too! happy dry erasing!!

wordless wednesdays - 9/21/11

2011-09-21T06:24:00.000-04:00

hail the WHAT?

2011-09-20T05:54:00.000-04:00

so i have to admit, i'm more than slightly disappointed with the zoo on this one! we LOVE the zoo! we have been members for a couple of years now. this week we went and experienced the "x*tink*shun parade". really cute idea, EXCEPT FOR THE WHOLE HAIL THE CREATURES BIT....

i'm all for bringing awareness of extinction issues! i'm all for a parade!! i'm just NOT all for hailing anything other than my god!!!

i confess, i tried to get o to shout,

"hail JESUS -the maker of the creatures!"

in the excitement of it all, he forgot. he was right there at the front of the parade shouting with the keeper. aiden stomped along behind with the giant hippo & giraffe. what was i going to do, rip the signs and maracas out of their little hands and make them walk away?!?
i'm not a psycho! let me clarify -i don't think everyone should/would shout "hail jesus!" as i tried to get o to do, though that is what i live for and know WILL HAPPEN someday! i just don't think they should shout "hail" anything!!! it'd be just as easy to throw another word or two in to keep the song cute, yet respectively appropriate! ie: "SAVE the creatures!"

if you haven't been to the zoo lately, here is a sight that has a small clip of the song so you can understand what i'm trying to say.

wordless wednesdays - 9/7/11

2011-09-07T07:36:00.001-04:00

this is what your donut ends up looking like
when your 2 and there's an assortment to choose from!

little van gogh 9/3/11

2011-09-03T12:47:00.001-04:00

this is his peter pan!

2011-09-03T12:36:00.001-04:00

just when i thought....

2011-09-02T21:36:00.005-04:00

that's probably the problem here...
i'm thinking!

just when i thought kinyarwanda
couldn't get any more difficult...
we learned time!
i literally was brought to tears this day.

to the left (in black) is the wording for time
the small index card to the right are the numbers:

maybe you can't see very well in the above picture...
here is a close up:

notice, that 2 o'clock is taken from the number 8...
3 o'clock is taken from the number 9...
4 o'clock from the number 10, etc.

does that make sense to anyone else?
it's all sorts of mixed up!

the funniest part of the whole lesson was when our tutor said
(before the lesson started),
"don't worry, it's just like swahili!"

-well if only i spoke swahili!!!!!!!!!
-----------------------------------------------
well, other than time, things are moving along!
here you see our flash cards
-i've been making them as we learn new vocab.
i just finished practicing actually!
the pile to the left are the words i know
& the pile to the right are the words i did not know.

i thought i was doing pretty good,
but then quickly realized it must have been a good run.
by the end,
the pile to the right (unknown) was higher!

i'm trying to be positive!
afterall, i actually get to learn
some before we leave
(most people have to wait),
& there is
actually a pile of words i know!

well, there's another lesson in the am, so i better rest up!

our little mummers

2011-09-02T15:27:00.001-04:00

out of the mouths of babes 9/2

2011-09-02T12:41:00.001-04:00

upon realizing joe was not home, owen asked,

"where's daddy?"

i told him that daddy was at prayer.

"oh, you mean at work?"

no, he goes to prayer on friday mornings, remember?

"oh, good! than it's a mommy only day and i get to steal all the kisses!"

thankful thursdays 9/1/11

2011-09-01T15:30:00.001-04:00

i am thankful for family and quality time with them! the fact that we were in ocean city, nj was a bonus!

bollywood, owen style

2011-08-28T13:00:00.002-04:00

sweet sleepy sophia

2011-08-26T19:23:00.005-04:00

this is how i found her when i went to get her from nap the other day -perfectly posed! she is a sweet SWEET little girl!!!!!