He crossed two items off his bucket list before leaving the “5s”…
1. Getting stitches–OUCH!
If you think this picture is too graphic, be glad I didn’t show you the “before” picture!! 7 (blue!) stitches!
and 2. Learning to ride his bike without training wheels! Yahoo!!
If you’ve been following Elliott’s birthdays the last couple of years, you will know that ever since he was turning four, he has had his parties planned out for the next several years. This year, it was “Wood Crafts.” The way to this child’s heart is truly through wood crafts.
We’ve frequented The Home Depot’s free first-Saturday-of-the-month quite often as the kids love to build and paint. So when I found out they ALSO do *free* birthday parties, I tucked the idea in the back of my party brain for “the Wood Craft birthday year.”
Elliott and I sat down together in February and planned his party. Oh my, he is a boy after my own heart! I don’t know anyone else on the planet as thrilled as I am to surf through a hundred fonts and pick the best ones for our task, haha! But he sat on my lap and we surfed until he gasped with delight when he found the perfect one :). I love him :). We planned out the snacks and the treats and designed the invitations. He had a construction birthday when he turned 3, so I re-used the banners and signs! I just had to change some “3s” to “6s” and we were set!! WIN.
We arrived, set out the food, hung up our banners and waited for our guests to come!
There are SO many fun food ideas for construction parties! Elliott and I had a blast planning these out and making the signs for them! We had a refueling station, boulders, nuts + bolts, wrecking balls, and 2x4s (which Brian not-so-subtly pointed out that they are actually 1x1s…oh well!)!
The sweetest lady ran the birthday party. She was great with the kids. Before everyone arrived, she pulled out the ORIGINAL Home Depot Kids Apron (it is actually made of cloth!) with every pin of every project they’ve done! The kids were fascinated as they were sporting their aprons with their completed project pins proudly displayed.
Party guests arrived and got to sign a hard hat for Elliott! How cool!! Nice touch, Home Depot! 😉
The week before the party we talked to the coordinator and got to choose the wood craft we would be working on. He selected the helicopter. Karen from The Home Depot led the kids through each step.
First step: sanding
Second step: put on goggles, assemble and hammer
Side note: Do you see Selah in this bottom right picture? She is TOTALLY in to being a statue, especially when someone is taking a picture. When I saw this picture I laughed out loud…especially with her “I heart my truck” tattoo on her hand…it’s the perfect photo bomb–LOL!!!
And, done!
Look at these cute kids and their helicopters!! What a blast!!!!
He just couldn’t wait to open presents, so we did that next :).
When Elliott and I were planning out the party, he jumped at the idea of doing some sort of “build-your-own” dessert. He opted for Dirt Cups which, ironically enough, I’m not sure he’s ever eaten before?? I explained what they were and he was super thrilled at the idea. So was this baker-challenged Mama!! They were SO easy and a huge hit with the kids. I gathered all the kids when it was dessert time and excitedly explained to them that Elliott really wanted mud for his birthday treat, so we dug some up from our back yard for all the kids to eat! It was a CLASSIC kid reaction: “EEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!” they all screeched in unison. I went on to show them the dirt, the rocks, the 2x4s, the pebbles and the worms they could put on their mud cups! They laughed and squealed and “eewwweed” some more…until it was time to eat! Then all I heard was, “Mmmm, this is delicious!!” So cute. I love kids!!!
The kids each got to take home their helicopters, a Home Depot apron, and these simple favor boxes filled with a couple tattoos and sticker and a construction vehicle eraser.
Elliott got a few more celebrations as well…dinner at Red Robin one night, birthday treats for his class another day, and of course–his actual birth day celebrations!
Okay this moment completely cracked me up!! He has been eagerly awaiting the moment the Red Robin peeps would sing to him for his birthday…and then he got all shy on us! And pretended like he didn’t even notice they were singing to him! I guess it was super important that he re-fold his menu in THAT particular moment, hahahah!! I love him! 🙂
But he didn’t have a problem scarfing down his ice cream as soon as those singing people left him alone!
Birthday day: presents from Erika, Grandma & Grandpa, Selah, Mommy and Daddy, a birthday cake-shaped pancake with 6 candles, the park, and Grandpa’s famous mud pie!
The kids could hardly contain their joy opening an envelope each day:
Cutting down Finding the perfect tree at Home Depot and decorating it!
The kids decorated their own Christmas apron to wear while crafting the rest of the month! They also made pretty cute handprint baby Jesus in a manger dough ornaments.
Breakfast in Bethlehem!!
Snowman pancakes day!!
Play in the snow day!!
Elliott and Daddy took a last-minute airplane/road trip so I sent the Christmas countdown activity with him. The show must go on!! And creative Daddy even brought Christmas lights to adorn the inside of the new truck they picked up.
The kids’ first sewing lesson: Finger Puppet Nativity Set
I hid 6 plastic bags filled with Nativity puzzle pieces around the house and the kids had to find them all and put them together. It was HILARIOUS watching them search. They even got a flashlight out to help them ;).
No mess glitter stickers (those things are AWESOME!!!) that we turned into thank you cards and, of course, playdough cupcakes to celebrate Jesus’ birthday.
Cookie decorating at our friends’ house!
Christmas light tour, complete with a scavenger hunt list of things to find outside!
Bass Pro Shop with cousins!
Zoo Lights with friends!! Selfie with a giraffe? Check.
FRIENDS!!! Oh the joy!!!!
Search your stockings for new CHRISTMAS JAMMIES!!!!
Super special presents from Erika!!
Christmas Eve Day…Elliott and Selah both got to open one present and we also opened a family present: a new game to play!
Christmas Eve Eve…Church and Teppanyaki!
Christmas Day…We had a white-ish Christmas!
Day-after Christmas with my family! Everyone is all together!
Is anyone else already counting down until next Christmas like our kids??
It’s a virtual Christmas card kind of year! It’s been such a joy having many of your Christmas cards roll in the past few weeks…here’s ours rolling in to your inbox!!
Here is a snapshot of our family as 2016 comes to a close:
SELAH
Selah turned 4 this year continues to bring immense amounts of joy into each of our lives. Her heartfelt prayers take our breath away every time she opens her mouth. She is one thankful, thoughtful, caring little girl. Although she still wants to be a doctor, she’s recently added “princess” and “having a baby in her tummy” to the top career paths when she grows up. She adores babies, loves pretending to be a baby, and is not only constantly taking care of her “Bitty Baby” but also continually teaching me how to take care of her baby properly. She is a “smeller.” The child smells EV-REE-THING that she encounters, from paper to new clothes to food. I’ve worked hard to set parameters on what she should and should not be smelling (read: “placing a Sharpie near your nostril and breathing in deeply is NOT okay”) but I’ll admit that when I found her head buried in a public restroom toilet, I almost plugged her nose permanently. She will do just about anything to get you to laugh, including tickling you until you stop what you’re doing to tickle her back! She is loving gymnastics and also started ballet this year, and yet still is begging us to let her play soccer with her big brother in addition to those two sports! Fortunately for her, Elliott’s soccer coach has invited her to join the class a couple of times…and she’s always in her ballet attire…so that’s pretty cute :). Brian and I can hardly stand how adorable she is in that little pink leotard with a “knob” (as she calls it) in her hair! She has had two “mini” performances so far and has LOVED having her friend Stella in class with her! (And now if I can just get her to stop hanging on the ballet bars as if they were gymnastics bars!!)
And here she is in ballet attire…playing soccer in knee high fuzzy boots. That’s our girl!
Some of our favorite Selah sayings:
“It’s pretty froggy out there!” (Every time it’s foggy outside.)
“Oh your hair smells like it’s pretty hot!” (After giving me a hug directly after I had blow dried my hair.)
“Mommy, I know three names for you: Mommy, Mom and Susanne. And I know three names for Daddy: Daddy, Dad and Sweet Face.”
ELLIOTT
Elliott turned 5 this year continues to keep us on our toes every minute that he is awake! He is a talker and a verbal processor and an explainer…so there is rarely a quiet moment in our house! He is also an official reader! Wow. This was the first year that I could not leave Christmas lists out. A few months ago I was typing an email and he came up behind me and just started reading it out loud! So I officially have to be careful about EVERYTHING… Multiple times a day I hear Elliott say to Selah, “Would you like me to read that book for you?” or “I can read for that you, Selah!” It warms my heart. He is still incredibly passionate about crafting and creates art constantly. He drew a picture a few months ago that he was so proud of that he asked if we could frame it. So he and Brian built a frame together and it is now hanging in his room! He has held firm to the birthday party plan (for the next 4 years) that he created 2 years ago. That boy…he’s a planner alright. And he is very thorough about EVERYTHING. After lots of pleading from him I finally taught him how to write his name in cursive a few weeks ago, and now we find his cursive name everywhere. He is loving playing soccer this year, loves his two days at school and loves his three days at home. Basically, the child loves life!
A couple of our favorite Elliott sayings:
“Kapends on what happens…” instead of “depends on…”
Every type of invitation is a “valentation” to Elliott.
“Can I shop her?” (wondering if he can push Selah in the shopping cart.)
BRIAN
Brian has a job that he LOVES, which is enough to take the cake for our entire year. He is basically working as an in-house consultant for a good friend who truly values his giftings and insights and has let him soar with his ideas. And soar, he has. He has pushed the company really far forward in just a few short months but the best part is–he loves going to work. He is also entertaining himself by buying and selling trucks which thrills him and absolutely amazes me!
SUSANNE
I am grateful every day that I get to do two of the things I know I was created for: being a mom and being a teacher! I am thoroughly enjoying my three days a week that I get to homeschool the kids. The two days of driving all over the state to get them to school and gymnastics aren’t as much my favorite, but I am so thankful that the kids are thriving on those days. Colorado is finally starting to feel like “home” (again!) and I am so thankful for the LACK of transition in the past year. This is the most settled we’ve been since we got married, and although I’m not counting on it to last forever, I’ll take it for now :).
Well, we tried to keep it simple this year and therefore brought two ponies to our house for Selah’s 4th birthday! #palmtoforehead #itried #ilovecelebrating!!!!!
Sometime you’ll have to ask me how the story unraveled, but I’ll just say somewhere in the middle of the story Selah became unwavering in her conviction about wanting an animal birthday party. When I asked her what was most important to her about an animal birthday she replied, “Well, I’d like to do a giraffe craft…and another giraffe craft…and I want a giraffe to come to my birthday.”
So…after a lot of thinking and chatting, we settled on ponies. MUCH simpler than giraffes, right?!! Right.
The clincher was (as I talked through the party options) Brian saying, “Ponies!!?? It’s every little girl’s dream to have a pony birthday party!!!” Done. 🙂
The night before her actual birthday, we celebrated Brian’s and her birthday together at Red Robin. On the way home, her balloon popped which (obviously) caused major birthday drama. Thankfully, Grandpa came to the rescue…he mended her broken balloon into a teeny tiny new balloon :).
On her actual birthday, she opened up some presents and then Brian and I took her out to breakfast at her breakfast place of choice, which also happens to be MY favorite breakfast place :). Our pager number was #4!! She was very bold about telling everyone it was her birthday, and when the manager sat us she asked, “Are you going to put candles in my pancakes?” The manager was very sweet and said, “Hmmm…well let me see what I can do!” And Selah said, “FOUR candles. Pink and purple.” I elbowed her urgently with each demand request whispering, “PLEASE!! Say PLEASE!!” She was a girl on a mission alright! Then when the waitress came by to take the order she said, “Can you make my pancake into a dog?” And she said she could try to do Mickey Mouse. The manager, the waitress and two other women brought her plate out with four pink and purple candles sticking out of a Mickey Mouse shaped chocolate-chip pancake, singing Happy Birthday so sweetly. I held back tears as Selah did what she always does when put on the spot: buries her face into me. Sweet girl. She was so blessed!!
That night, my family had the monthly/quarterly birthday celebration so she had a little party that night with Nonna and Grandpa and her cousins. She got a CAMERA from Grandpa and Nonna and I’ll just say…she hasn’t put it down since!! When I found her that night all ready for bed, in her bed, taking pictures (of her ceiling?) I texted my mom the picture on the right and said, “She hasn’t put the camera since she opened it!” And my mom responded, “Like mother, like daughter!” Haha, she is totally right!!! I hadn’t even seen it ;).
Her actual birthday party was the following weekend. Some of her favorite friends arrived for a morning filled with everything ponies!
“Trot this way to Selah’s birthday!”
Here’s a little funny for you: we decided to hold the party entirely in our back yard and I was praying for WEEKS that the weather would be nice and that it wouldn’t be too windy as the party was mid-October. WELL, not only was the weather NICE, but it was SO HOT that we ended up needing to move the party inside!! HA! So our son, whose birthday is in the SPRING, had to last minute reschedule his party because there was a blizzard on the original party day, while our daughter, whose birthday is in the FALL had to move her party inside due to extreme heat. Oh my. I love Colorado :).
We had all sorts of crafts and activities set up in the backyard for the kids:
“Rope a Pony” (Pony built in about 5 and a half minutes by Selah’s awesome daddy!)Pony crafts! Everyone got to decorate paper horses and stick a magnet on the back for their fridges. There were also lots of pony coloring pages that kept kids busy along with a Playdough Pony Play station!
Grooming station: complete with nail polish, nail files, and horse tattoos.
Those of you who have been around our kids know one thing: they are both terrified of “slightly timid” around animals. Yet both of them requested an animal birthday when they turned four. So we honestly had no idea how she was going to do around the ponies, as even hearing the word “dog” can send her into a tailspin. But here is her very first time climbing up onto her birthday pony…and as you can see, she looks like a natural :).
The little farm that brought the ponies also brought another one to “groom”. The kids could brush her and braid her mane and put bows in it. They had a blast!
The “lead” cowboy who brought the ponies was just awesome and really got into the party. At one point he said, “Do you girls want to paint the pony’s nails??” I looked at him with big eyes, but he insisted…”Come on over! Let’s paint her hoof!” You saw it here first, folks:
The next time you see a pony walking around with pink, purple and blue nail polish on his front hooves…you’ll know he was the pony at Selah’s party!
Do you see the braids and the ribbons in the pony’s hair??? I love it. 🙂
Every kid had tons of time to ride the one pony and to groom the other. Selah was the most excited to ride the pony over and over and at one point she insisted on mounting him all on her own. On the left, she’s telling Brian to let go of her…and then she got up all on her own! Look how proud she is :).
We are so blessed to be the parents of this beautiful, horse-riding 4 year old little girl!!
Look at this sweet group of friends :).
Once the ponies left, we played “Pin-the-tail-on-the-pony” (obviously). 🙂
And by then everyone was so hot and sunburned that we opted to move the rest of the party inside!
Hot dogs for the main course and Hay Bales, Trail Mix, and Ranch on the sides…
And then, of course, the CAKE. Selah really wanted cupcakes which I was super thankful for…I am terrible at making cakes, but I can turn cupcakes into just about anything!!!
Since I was taking pictures she had to hide behind Brian while everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to her. But she warmed up when it was time to blow those candles out!
The favors consisted of a little pony, a horse tattoo, horse stickers, rainbow stickers (because “rainbow” is Selah’s fifth favorite color, after purple, pink, blue and green). The girls also got some ponytail holders for “their” ponies…
It was a wonderful day celebrating our sweet 4 year old!! Thank you, Lord, for this precious gift of a daughter!!!
From what I recall, this might have been the very first time she was on a playground that had something that was “hangable”. I remember that she RAN towards that slide, grabbed onto the top part, and turned into half monkey ;).
Actually, she’s always been part monkey. Crawling at 6 months, climbing up onto things and standing supported at 7…she’s just always been our little monkey. She loves to HANG and SWING and CLIMB. So just before she turned two, we took a “Mommy and Me” gymnastics class, and I’ll never forget the first time she saw those bars and just RAN over to them to let her monkey self free.
Fast forward two years…and it is still clear that she and gymnastics are like peanut butter and jelly. They just go together. We don’t know how long she’ll love it, but for now she does and so we’re letting her have a hay day.
Shortly after she turned 3, she learned how to do a pull-over all by herself.
And then she was invited to be part of a “big girls” gymnastics class that was more challenging. When the “big girls” gymnastics teacher talked to me about Selah having her join the class, I stammered back, “Umm, she JUST turned 3………” “I know! She’ll do wonderfully,” she replied.
So we sat and sat and sat on the decision…for 8 months. As much as I do think she’s a natural gymnast, she is also a GOOFBALL and the silliest little girl that ever existed. I was concerned the class would be too challenging and not enough fun. I’m CERTAINLY not in a hurry for her to grow up!!!! There’s PLENTY of time for that later!!!
But finally in July it felt like all of the pieces fit together just right and I felt a lot of peace about moving her to the great, big, unknown “downstairs” gymnastics class. And wow…WOW…has she thrived!!! There is still PLENTY of fun being had by this little 3 year old and I am honestly kind of shocked at how well she is thriving down there.
We have always had a rope for our basement jungle gym, but when she moved to the big girl class, we replaced our rope with a thicker, more-climbable one so she could actually climb it (our thin one wasn’t really climbable we realized). She was instantly enamoured with the idea of climbing our new rope, and she practiced ALL the time for a few days until she finally could climb it to the top! We were (obviously) SUPER impressed, and then we challenged her to climb it to the top, climb down, and without touching the ground to climb it back up to the top. So one night after doing that about 400 hundred times in a row, I casually said, “So, for your next challenge, you should try climbing the rope and then doing a pull-up.” Of course, I was thinking maybe she’d give that challenge a shot in the next day or two, but without hesitating, she LEAPT off my lap and jumped up onto the rope and DID IT!!! I just can’t believe her strength.
In her new class, they do some strength exercises along with skills. She climbs the rope (it’s two stories high!!!), does stomach leg lifts (hanging from a ladder with her back to the wall, she pulls her feet up to her face), pull-ups and jumps onto mats.
Here she is on her very first day!!!Blowing me a kiss on her first day!
She loves every bit of it, and has gotten A TON of “Wow Cards.” Although a “Wow Card” is just a piece of paper that lists her accomplishment, it is practically a gold medal in these girls’ sights.
On Elliott’s first day of school, she climbed the big rope halfway to the top. She got a “Wow Card,” and we celebrated!
Hot cocoa and a game of checkers!
Just two days later, she made it all the way to the top!! That was a BIG accomplishment!!
There she goes!!!
Although she’s gotten tons of Wow Cards, here is another one of her BIG accomplishments, and her newest favorite gymnastics skill:
And here she had just learned to do a “Squat on”!
Her most recent accomplishment is being able to do 10 “Up and Overs” in a row, which means that she does a pull-up on a bar, and pulls her legs up and over the bar, drops down without touching the ground, and repeats. Ten times. WOW. I am seriously impressed!!
We have no idea if she will love gymnastics for five more minutes or twenty-five more years, but either way, she’s having a blast with it right now!
I have a vivid memory of holding Elliott as a brand-spankin’-new newborn and thinking, “I AM NEVER SENDING MY BABY TO KINDERGARTEN!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT KIND OF CRAZY PEOPLE SEND THEIR BABIES TO SCHOOL???!!!!!!”
But alas…the day has come, and I am now that crazy person :). Honestly, I had no tears or sadness surrounding Elliott’s first day…I truly only had pure joy. 5 1/2 years ago (as you can see) I couldn’t even entertain the thought of putting him in school, but when you have peace, you have peace. “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace…” (Isaiah 55). That was how I felt about Elliott’s first day :).
Now, to be entirely fair…we are partially homeschooling him, so I only have to say good bye to him 2 days a week. If it were 5 days? All you would be hearing about is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We spent a long time praying and looking into various schools but there is this gem of a little school (practically on the other side of the state from us) that won over our hearts. He goes for two full days a week, getting to frolic and chat and play with the sweetest little bunch of kindergarteners (including two of his favorite friends), and then he gets to come home and be taught by his very first (and of course, favorite) (*wink*) teacher mama the other three days a week.
So all that to say, friends kept asking me if I was okay after dropping Elliott off for his first day and I just responded, “YEAH!! We’re so excited!!” Look how far I’ve come in 5 1/2 years :).
And the day before his big first day? I was like a little elf the night before Christmas!!!! Dreaming of every way to leave him touches of love and surprises throughout the day…loving getting to celebrate this big, handsome boy of mine!! We had let him pick out a new back pack and a lunch box a couple weeks earlier, and I set out packing his lunch with his very favorite things and a little surprise…
Gah!!!! This is way too stinkin’ fun!! I get to pack him little notes in his lunch that he can actually read now!!!!!! I’m on cloud 9 :).
The school is fairly far away, and Elliott is our child who loves to sleep in…so it has been a little bit of a rude-awakening for him (literally) to have to get up in time to be out of the house by 7:30. But here he is…bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on his very first day!!!
Okay…maybe this picture does make me cry just a little bit!!!!These two!!!!!!Holding an apple for his teacher and showing off his new back pack and lunch box…and definitely tired of pictures at this point :).
Many hugs and kisses later, we sent our big man off for his very first (half) day of school. And, of course…while big brother is away, little sister steals his car seat :).
Mwahahaha….
Selah and I headed off to gymnastics and came back to get Elliott at 1 since it was a half day. Then we got ice cream with Kari and Quinn (who opted to not be pictured with the cow) to celebrate! Awesome first day!!!
“The cow.”
AND NOW…for THIS big girl’s first day of school!!!
Selah has gymnastics on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and so we decided to keep her there instead of enrolling her at a school. She’s definitely a bright little cookie (already reading trying to catch up with her big brother!!) but she LOVES gymnastics and we weren’t going to put her in school in addition to that. So, I’m “officially” homeschooling her for her first year of preschool. (Oh the joy!!) Doing “formal” school with her at home has really allowed her to shine academically…this girl has somehow absorbed most everything Elliott’s learning while practically standing on her head. So Elliott’s first homeschool day was her first day of preschool!
Look at this big girl!!!
Since I decided not to decorate our “classroom” yet, knowing I just had no idea what I would need and want up on the walls, we just made a chalkboard banner together outside the door. Selah scribed, “BACK” and Elliott wrote, “2 SCHOOL”. Can anyone guess what their favorite colors are? I know they’re pretty subtle…haha!
We had a super fun first homeschool day, drawing, writing and playing with playdough!
Here are two (of the million) reasons that I LOVE homeschooling:
1. That Elliott had the hour that he needed to finish this simple little task. He is a meticulous artist :).
2. That I was featured in Selah’s first day of school picture!! (*Sniff, sniff*) She drew the two of us and wrote “Mom” next to me (she still flips her letters at times, so “MOW” does, in fact, mean “MOM”) 🙂 She said she drew the two of us walking on a glass bridge…soooo…there’s that :).
And of course…I handed Selah a little surprise during lunch time!
And then…we finished off our day with recess of course!!!
…which turned into science because they found a cool bug on the trampoline :).
I am so grateful for this sweet little school that we’ve found that allows us to homeschool part time, that our dear friends are there with us, and that I get to be the kids’ teacher mama three days a week!!!! Happy school year to the kids and happy back to school for this here teacher!!!! 🙂
A pool party with our spanish class!The fourth with some of our very favorite friends!A super cool splash park!Our sweet friends treated us to a trip to the Pueblo Zoo! We had never been and it was so much fun!
The Pueblo Zoo also held another first for us…our sweet Selah got stung by a bee for the very first time…TWICE! I know that’s not technically possible…we think it must have gotten stuck under her skort, tried to sting her once but didn’t get its stinger out and so it tried to sting her again. So two pokes, two welts, and one very sad (and angry!) little girl. I was standing about 2 feet away from her when she screamed and when I ran to her she angrily yelled, “A bee just STINGED me!!! HE STINGED ME!!!!!!!” So mad, so offended. As I was trying to comfort her, she screamed again a minute later and that’s when I started trying to rip her clothes off of her and this little (probably angry and scared!) bee flew out from under her skirt. 🙁 It was slightly traumatizing for a few minutes there but if you look at the picture of her sitting on the giant bunny on the right hand side of the zoo collage…that’s her about 15 minutes after it happened…so needless to say, she survived :).
Rainbow! (In other words, we had tons of rain this summer, just like how I remember Colorado while growing up. It rains virtually every afternoon in the summer. And we also got some intense hail storms which a number of interesting stories to go with them!)Brian got Elliott these “real man” working overalls just as summer was starting, and he loved them so much that he almost didn’t take them off the entire summer! Chances are, if you saw him this summer he was wearing his favorite blue striped shirt and these overalls! Filled with crafting supplies :).We went to this awesome truck event with some awesome friends!The kids got to sit in, climb on, and pretend to drive all sorts of police cars, firetrucks, ambulances, school buses and working machines!The cousins came to town!!!!!!!!!!!We had this hilarious day where we had no water and everyone in the neighborhood was flipping out. We came home from church to a news reporter, begging us to go on camera to explain to the city about how awful it was to be without water for 3 hours. We politely declined complaining about such a “horrific” #firstworldproblem, but when she begged us to at least get a shot of our sink filled with dirty dishes, we consented. Oh, the horror. Haha!We celebrated 7 years of marriage!This big man has been reading like crazy and completed a set of readers. He wanted to celebrate by going to one of our favorite breakfast places because kids get to put together a little cardboard animal!Our “big” vacation this summer…a quick overnight in Denver :). But the kids were thrilled to get to stay in a hotel!Elliott did a super fun soccer camp and just had an absolute blast! He is totally in love with his shin guards and literally wore them all day for the entire week of his camp.Elliott tried out a gymnastics class just for fun (see him doing a bridge on the left there?) and Selah moved down to the BIG girls gymnastics class! (More on that in another post!)Two dear out-of-town friends graced my presence this summer, one all the way from England and the other from the distant land of Tacoma :).Our neighborhood fitness center was offering the cheapest swim lessons in town! Aaaand, I’ll just say, we got what we paid for and leave it at that :).
One of my main goals this summer was to teach the kids to swim. Every Mama can probably relate to this, but I have just not been fully comfortable around water with the kids since they haven’t known how to swim. Selah is so fearless when it comes to things like the water that I’ve been particularly concerned about her. One time when she was 2 she jumped in the water without asking. She sank straight to the bottom and thankfully Brian was right there to pull her out. When we spoke very seriously to her about how she could never do that again, how she doesn’t know how to swim, etc., etc., she just burst into tears, shouting, “BUT WHYYYYYYY????!!!” So. You can see why it’s been a priority in my mind.
When I quickly realized that the cheap swim lessons weren’t going to do the job, I googled, “How can I teach my kids to swim?” I came across a video which at least helped point me in the right direction, since teaching a child to swim comes about as naturally to me as teaching someone to sky dive. But after watching the video, I went from saying, “I have no idea how to teach our kids to swim!!!” to being 100% confident I could do it myself, thanks to the nice man on the video telling me I could :).
That is…until I actually started TRYING to teach the kids to swim! HA!! The first step was simply getting them to take a deep breath to go under water. And every time I told them to take said deep breath and dunk their heads under the water, THEY BREATHED OUT. It was the most hilariously disfunctional scene you’ve ever witnessed… “Okay, kids! Take a big deep breath and go under water!” With huge smiles on their faces, they blew all the air out of their lungs, into my face, and dunked their heads under the water…gasping for air as they came up half a second later.
Sigh. Needless to say, I basically gave up and told Brian I had officially allotted him the task of teaching our children to swim. Well, it was only a matter of weeks until Brian and I (together) taught our kids to swim! What, what!!! Go us!!! I am seriously so proud of ourselves…we taught the children who couldn’t breath in before diving into the water…to swim :).
We still let them have a lot of fun with floaties whenever they want to, but these kids are swimmers and floaters!Selah is like a dolphin in the water…she’s always loved the water but she’s truly a natural at swimming.
Both kids can swim from one of us to the wall; jump in and swim back to the wall; jump in and swim to one of us; and do a “starfish” (float on their back) for a long time. Elliott also just learned how to jump in, tread water, and get into a starfish position. So although they’re not QUITE ready for the Olympics 😉 I feel a whole lot better about them being around the water!!! Granted, they still aren’t very good at taking a breath before going under water 🙂 but at least we’re making progress!! In one of the videos you can see our relentlessly silly Selah trying to make the swim task more challenging by covering her goggled-eyes while swimming to Brian! HAHA!! That girl of ours!!! Enjoy some snippets from one of our swim days!
“Our God does not intend His people to be shipwrecked. However, we would be shipwrecked and lost if we could not be held fast in the hour of temptation…He bought you at too great a price and values you too much to see you broken to pieces on the rocks. Therefore, He has provided a glorious safeguard for you so that when…the trials of the world attack you, hope may be the anchor of your soul, both sure and steadfast. How much we need this anchor!…If you have been sailing on the great waters of life for any length of time, you must be well aware that if it were not for everlasting truths, which continue to hold you securely, your spirit would quickly have been thrown into everlasting darkness long ago, and the proud waters would have gone over your soul long before this. When the mighty waves rose, it must have seemed to you as if your poor boat had gone down to the bottom of the sea, and if it had not been for the unchanging love and immovable faithfulness of God, your heart would have utterly failed. Nevertheless, here you are today, convoyed by grace, provisioned by mercy, steered by heavenly wisdom, and propelled by the spirit’s power. Thanks to the anchor, or rather to the God who gave it to you, no storm has overwhelmed you. Your ship is under way for the port of glory.” ~Finding Peace in Life’s Storms by Charles Spurgeon
A timely belated birthday present from Erika! (artwork by Brianna)
He is good, isn’t He?
Where would I be without this hope, without this anchor for my soul? I would–most certainly–be drowned at the bottom of the sea…my heart would have utterly failed.
It is incredible to sit down (when I can!) on these Mondays and just stop to look back and remember. Wow. I just sorted through pictures from the last couple of weeks and in the midst of that little project, the Lord has shown me so much that I don’t think I would have seen had I skipped sitting quietly to blog today.
In the last two weeks, I have felt a seedling sprout in my heart. In faith, I have been confident that the Lord has been tending to a good work in me over the months and years. The digging and tilling and planting has been happening out of sight to the world and even to me…though I could feel it, I couldn’t understand it or see any visible fruit. But this week a sprout was visible–even to me. He is restoring laughter to my spirit and joy to my soul.
Last week, thanks to the prompting and encouragement from my Step instructor, I sat down to read Habakkuk, a book I haven’t read in too long. She had been encouraging me the night before, quoting verses from Habakkuk and as she was speaking I was finishing the book in my head: “Though there is no fruit on the fig tree and no cattle in the stalls…YET I will rejoice in the Lord…” So I sat down the next day to read through all of it and was so deeply encouraged by Habakkuk’s wrestles…isn’t it amazing when you encounter the very things you have said to God in the book that He wrote for us?? I am not alone.
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls– Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. (Hab 3:17-19)
Then earlier this week, I got this text message from my dear, sweet friend Shaunna. She wrote, “When I pray for you, I always pray that God would fill you with joy, peace, and comfort. But today I also pray that you will enjoy a deep belly laugh and smile from ear to ear…”
I smiled, and immediately realized that she had put to words exactly what I could feel God doing in me…restoring joy and laughter. And there was my friend, hand-in-hand with our mighty God, praying it into existence. Who is blessed with friends like this who walk with you in grief while believing God to meet you with joy?? Thank you, Lord…
Two days later, Elliott had just stepped out into the backyard to play when he came bounding back inside squealing and screeching and shouting, “MOM!!! MOMMM!!!!! MOMMMMMM!!!! COME LOOK!!! OUR FLOWERS ARE SPROUTING!!!!”
To be honest, I didn’t believe him. We had JUST looked in our flower boxes the day before, and I had JUST explained to our friends who were over that day that I have a black thumb and although I tried SO HARD to grow these perennials for Elliott so they would attract butterflies for him, that I had utterly failed. But I ran outside with him to look and, sure enough…we had four little sprouts!!
Here’s one!!
Look at how the Lord weaves every detail of our lives into profound lessons for us. A sprout.
And a sprout of laughter.
It can be difficult to accurately portray reality: I never want to embellish or dramatize what’s happening in my heart and our home, and I also want to keep each blog post a blog post, and not a novel (I know, too late!). So I don’t mean to portray that there has been NO joy or laughter in our home, because that’s not true…there has been. Every day we laugh together as a family and my kids laugh together ALL THE TIME, but it has been hard for me to push aside my grief and just let the laughter roll out of my belly like I know it can. It’s been really hard, especially in the day-to-day mundane tasks. If I can distract myself enough to forget, I can find joy and laugh easily. But to find joy when I remember the grief and the loss and the pain? That’s much more difficult. But, it’s sprouting. I am seeing myself laugh WITH the kids all day long instead of just watching them laugh and trying to remember what it feels like to be that carefree. I am finding true joy in the Lord, in the anchor of my soul, in the midst of the grief and the trials and the dreams that feel crushed. And little by little, it’s rolling out of my belly and up through my mouth like a thunderous ball of laughter.
“…and she laughs at the time to come…” (Prov 31:25)
Lord, let it be. Grow your joy in my heart and in our home.
Here are some glimpses of the laughter sprouting in our home in the last couple of weeks…
New friends, all trying to pile into the clown car together!Trader Joe’s. Need I say more? These kids LOVE having their own mini carts. If it looks like they’re racing, it’s because they are ;).Peanut Butter nose. This girl can’t eat without getting food all over her face, and it always gives every one of us a little chuckle. I’ve never seen a more adorable freckled peanut butter nose!!She also can’t eat without somehow turning her food into a joke, a letter of the alphabet, a vehicle, and animal, or a body part. This might drive another mom crazy, but it makes me laugh every time!! She’s always forcing me to STOP and really take joy in life. Here, her cucumbers were, of course…eyebrows. 🙂We introduced Elliott to our new pet, the Penny Horse!!!
My mighty girl, who never ceases to amaze me with her bravery. Look at how chill she looks up there!! Just sittin’ on top of the playground like it ain’t no thang!!! Ha!!
Speaking of bravery…my kids did not get the “animal bravery” gene. We have tried to work so hard with them…thankfully, the McCabes have cats and so the kids get to practice being strong and courageous against these fierce incredibly sweet and cuddly felines every time we go over there. However, all progress may have been lost in that arena when Selah was bit by someone else’s cat a couple months ago. Sigh.
So then, my dear friend Julie was in town!!! Her parents live in Guam about an hour and a half away, so I invited her to spend the night over here. She accepted and asked if she could bring her dog. Yes! It was the perfect way to expose our kids to animals, as Lincoln is a super sweet and well-behaved dog. Julie taught them how to play “hide-and-seek” with her, and they just giggled uncontrollably throughout the entire game. They each hid two treats for Lincoln around our living room and then Lincoln had to find them. The kids thought it was hilarious. Julie also very patiently taught them about Lincoln and let them pet her while in Julie’s arms. AND…they each wanted to take a turn walking her! Now THAT’S progress!!
Look at those brave kids and that adorable dog!!
And, I got to spend time with my sweet friend!
We asked Brian to take a picture of us, and this is what we got at first 🙂
This big man took the longest bike ride he has yet with his daddy to a surprise location: Culver’s! For some yummy custard!The kids and I baked this (INCREDIBLE) banana bread last week. I have yet to be successful in teaching the kids to crack eggs without getting them EV.ER.Y.WHERE, but they still beg me to let them crack them. So I consented that day, and Elliott’s egg literally ended up ALL OVER HIM. We all laughed so hard…even Elliott, which is a big deal for my normally hates-to-be-dirty-and-wet son 🙂Will selfies with the kids EVER get old???!!! I don’t think it’s possible!!This one sure thinks it’s funny!!!!
Thank you, Lord, for another week, for sprouts of joy, and for your new mercies.
Well, due to no fault of the sweet little preschool Elliott’s been attending, we had a bit of a dramatic ending to the school year. Two weeks before the graduation, the director and teachers were forced out of the building. It was sad and hard for everyone, but thankfully we all trusted the Lord to provide…and He did! And at least it wasn’t snowing like it was last year on his last day of preschool!!
So their graduation was held in a roller skating rink (of all places!) and let’s just say that Elliott sometimes has a hard time in new environments…and well, was a bit nervous. (Understatement of the year.) I won’t bother telling the story but will instead post adorable pictures (taken pre- and post-nervous breakdown) so that when we look back in 20 years maybe we will only remember the second half of his graduation which as a lot more fun for him. (SMILE)
Loves: “Crafting, Legos, and snuggling with Daddy.”
What he wants to be when he grows up: “I have a couple stuff, but not a spaceman anymore!* I would like to be a firefighter, a policeman, an ambulance guy and a worker guy, too.”
(*I asked him what changed his mind about the spaceman and he answered, “If there was a fire or someone robbing a house down here and I was in space, I would have to fly back down and I don’t fly that quick!” That’s our super logical son for you!! Ha!!)
Favorite part of Pre-K: “That they had crafting toys and that we did crafts!”
And now onto the graduation!
All the kids put on their graduation robes and marched out to the center of the arena! Can you find Elliott? Here’s a hint: he’s the only one in his class NOT wearing his cap… (He didn’t want to mess up his super cool gelled hairstyle!)
This is the preschool and the pre-k classes altogether.
They sang a few songs (cue Elliott’s meltdown) and then handed out graduation certificates! This was TOTALLY one of those days when I am SO GLAD that MY mommy was there for me!! Whew. The poor child was just frozen up in front, totally incapable of singing. I kept trying to help him but to no avail. Afterwards, my mom reminded me of the time that I did a duet clarinet ensemble with my dear friend Jill and I turned so white that she thought I was going to pass out. I guess Elliott takes after my (in)ability to perform on stage!! (Sorry, buddy…we’ll work on that!)
After my mom and I each took a picture with the kids, they each NEEDED to take a picture of us…so there you have it :).This series cracks me up!! Look at my expressive, doting little girl and my “I’m-so-glad-that-performance-is-over” boy!! Haha!!!Officially graduated from Pre-K!!
There were all sorts of fun activities for the kiddos to do afterwards!
A snow cone truck was parked outside (first snow cones ever!) and there was even face painting! Elliott passed on the painting and Selah decided on an elephant for her hand.But their FAVORITE part was the balloon man who happened to be PHENOMENAL. Selah chose a sword and holster (of course!) and Elliott wanted a blue lion. He then requested a “5” (“Like I’m five!!”) and so Selah requested a “3”. They both got to carry a bundle of orange and yellow balloons from the balloon arc home.Elliott’s sweet teachers!
