365 Project | Week 18

Another week has flown by ... just four more days as a "working" mom! (Ha-ha!) Woo-hoo! :) Definitely looking forward to the new schedule and routine. :)

Day 120. Matthew is thoroughly enjoying Lego trains these days--the longer, the better. :)

Day 121. With this being one of our last weeks to have childcare readily available during the workday, Chris and I decided it would be worthwhile for me to take a couple days and put some focused effort on preparing Missions for Kids for publishing while the kids were at school. The Lord blessed my time, and I now have 57% of the formatting completed. Woo-hoo! (Just to clarify, the content has been finished since last summer, but the formatting was not particularly "professional." A friend helped me with the design, and I'm now finishing up the formatting at which time I'll start pursuing permissions again more agressively.) I took this picture of our hillside on a stretch break. :)

Day 122. Peter can be still be found with a soccer ball most afternoons and evenings. Shall we say multiple showers a day?

Day 123. This week we enjoyed one of the best tree removal experiences to date. It was a huge blessing to find a company who did an incredibly professional job for a very fair price. 

Day 124. Daddy and crew cleaned up the "debris" the next evening. :)

Day 125. Matthew's Guide to Toytime: When one plays with trucks, it is best if one can play with ALL of one's trucks, and even better if one can put them in a very long line. ;)

Day 126. While Daddy and crew moved some dirt and stones around in Toby's area, Mommy went shopping. I was gladly in need of some smaller capris and I decided to check out the thrift shop before hitting Kohl's sale at $20/pair. So thankful I did! The Lord provided FOUR pairs of capris, a cute denim skirt, and a pair of swim shorts for ... $22!!! Woo-hoo! Definitely helps out the clothing budget! (And it doesn't hurt my feelings any that the capris are two sizes smaller than the ones they're replacing!) :)

 Such be our week. So thankful again for this project. Life moves along like a blur sometimes. It's a blessing to slow down and enjoy things like Lego trains once in a while. :)

365 Project | Week 17

Yikes! They "upgraded" blogger. In other words, it may or may not be better, but it's definitely different, and all the quirks I was accustomed to and knew how to work with are now different quirks. And what was very easy (for me) now has a learning curve. Sigh. I guess I'll tackle figuring out what's better about it later.

So, this week. I blinked, it's gone. Some weeks are like that. I have dozens of pictures from Peter's birthday and field day and my visit with Heather and Kerri that I've been hoping to get a chance to post. Obviously hasn't happened. Ah well. Time marches on, and thankfully, I'm getting dragged along with it. At least that means we're also one week closer to the day when I will be privileged to be a stay-at-home mommy. Woo-hoo! :)

I did want to go on record with one thing though. In case you were wondering. We are not perfect. My kids squabble. And whine. Not always. But daily. Sometimes hourly. Sometimes more often than that. I get impatient with them far too often and far too quickly. Hubby and I do not always agree--in fact, sometimes we significantly disagree. We're all sinners living together in the same home and as such, we deal with sinful attitudes and actions on a (very) regular basis. But, by God's grace, we strive to address these things Biblically, and we rejoice that when we ask God to forgive our sins, He is faithful and just to do so. He writes the lessons on our hearts, but He forgets our sins. He chooses not to think of them. ever. again. And so, on our blog, I choose to do the same. Not because I'm trying to give a false image, but because I am thankful that He gives grace for the challenges (particularly the parenting ones), and I want to purposefully rejoice in the blessings of each day.

So, in case you ever wondered, yes. We struggle with the same stuff you do. (At least I'm assuming we're not alone in that!) The challenges are many, but by God's grace, He's growing us every day and throws piles of blessings and fun in amidst the challenges. And that's what we rejoice in and choose to document for future recollection. In case you were wondering. :)

Day 114. Peter is thoroughly enjoying his new soccer goal, although I'm still wondering how he managed to rope Hannah in as goalie ... ;)

Day 115. Houston, we have heat. Coming from vents in the floor! Final details are still awaiting completion and the thermostat needs to be installed, but Chris can hotwire the system when desired. (This picture reflects his expression when he achieved somewhat unexpected results on his first attempt.) The heat was a huge blessing during the cold snap earlier this week, and the fans circulating the air have helped offset the muggyness of recent days. Great job, Hon!

Day 116. Reading, reading, and more reading. Hannah definitely got into her reading contest for school and spent (pretty much) every waking moment with her nose in a book this week. :) It was fun to see her enjoying it--and a blessing that she was able to be glad for her friend who took 1st place while she took 2nd.

Day 117. Our little guy has outgrown the baby swing. Bittersweet.

Day 118. He's not too big for favorite things though. The big kids ride with Daddy to school in the mornings, but Matthew goes in with Mommy, and he always makes sure that my red bag gets loaded with all of the important things of life. Like bears. And ducks. And tractors. And the mouse book.

Day 119. Thanks for the airplanes, Grandpa! They were a definite hit when we pulled them out this weekend. :)

And that's that. :) Thankful for His blessings and for His grace.

365 Project | Week 16

First of all, are we really 16 weeks, more than 100 days into 2012? That hardly seems possible. Anyway, the days keep marching on, and this week was filled with multiple school events as well as another birthday celebration. :) (That's kind of an ongoing theme around here once April hits!) ;)

Day 106. Matthew's truck parking. :)
Day 107. The soccer ball continues to be Peter's regular source of exercise and entertainment. :) If he's not eating or sleeping, it's Legos or soccer these days ... depending on the weather. :)

Day 108. Hannah and her classmates did a great job on their program this week! :)

Day 109. A mid-week blessing from my hubby. :)

Day 110. Chris and Eric have nearly all of the ductwork installed! Woo-hoo! The end is nearing! :) So thankful for Eric's help--retrofitting an existing home is definitely more difficult than installing ductwork in a new house.

Day 111. I was pretty excited to catch this visitor on camera! :)

Day 112. Hannah's first field day! Not only did she do well in each of her competitions, but she and Peter had a blast playing the carnival games, eating cotton candy, and best of all ... climbing the rock wall! :)

Day 113. Creeping just a bit into week 17, but had to post Peter's birthday picture. It was nearly time for lunch, and I offered him the option of changing into comfy clothes or going outside for Mommy to take his picture while he was looking so handsome. Would you believe he took me up on a photo-shoot!?!? (Do you know much easier and more fun it is to take pictures when the munchkins actually want to get their picture taken?!?)

Happy 5th Birthday, Buddy! We love you!

Happy Birthday, Peter!

Happy Birthday, Peter!

It hardly seems possible that you're now FIVE years old!

You have grown so much ...

:: Birth ::

:: 1 year ::

:: 2 years ::

:: 3 years ::

:: 4 years ::

:: 5 years ::

We love you, Buddy, and are so very thankful for you!

Happy Birthday!

:)

Celebrating Matthew! :)

What a fun weekend we enjoyed celebrating Matthew's birthday. :) It started Friday morning with a little boy who was very proud to be carrying in a box of munchkins for his classmates.So thankful for his teacher, Miss Bethany! :)

Decorations arrived after bedtime Friday evening ...

Yep, it'll look pretty much the same a few more times in the next few weeks. ;)

He recognized the tractor. Success! :)

Birthday boy at breakfast ...

Opening a few gifts ... a few new, a few repurposed ... ;)

Matthew enjoyed cuddling while Daddy caught a little break after returning from the morning's work project at church.

After a brief siesta, we enjoyed a VERY fun afternoon at the track and playground. :)

Not pictured, but Peter actually rode for a bit without his training wheels! Watch out, Hannah! ;)

Mommy enjoyed her bike buddy ... :)

Daddy's bike is sadly in need of repair, so he took pictures. :)

After bike riding, we migrated to the playground. Mommy took over the camera at that point. :)

Hannah-bug does amazingly well on the monkey bars--and she has the blisters/callouses to prove it!

Love this picture! :)Matthew was a tweak nervous for the first few trips down the slide. He was smiling at the bottom, but his expression mid-slide was TOO funny!

He obviously got used to it though. :)

Ah, yes. He LOVED the slide. :)

So did the big kids, but they were more interested in the climbing wall. ;)

And of course, if the big kids are doing it, Matthew wants to do it, too. ;)

Do I know him? ;) Mommy definitely knows this little guy's smile. :)

After our park trip, Toby enjoyed sharing Matthew's birthday dinner of spaghetti and green beans ...

And yes, Matthew enjoyed it, too. :)

Along with the presents. :)

And the candle. Not the cookie. The candle. Blow it out? Not a chance. Daddy blew it out? Must. light. another. candle. ...

And so, our "little" man turns two.
He'll flatly deny it if you ask him,
but the birthday came and went.
It is official. My baby is two.