Let the creativity roll…

June 17, 2014 | Stacy

The new trampoline was not yet assembled

So they found other physical activities.

They each had their turns.

Pre-church baseball…

June 15, 2014 | Stacy

LifeSkills: Buttons 101

June 12, 2014 | Stacy

I shocked myself as much as them when Marie asked me today if I would teach her how to sew and I dropped everything to give them a lesson on the sewing machine. Hey, she asked in June, not November. This is a GOOD time of year.
I taught them how to thread the machine and sew a straight (or semi-straight) line. That was enough.

My mom suggested teaching them hand-sewing first. I’m not a huge fan of hand-sewing, but it dawned on me they should know how to sew on a button.

As soon as dinner was cleared I got out the stuff and away we went.

I called in to Stewart and asked him if he knew how to sew on a button. He readily admitted he did not and rapidly joined in the lesson. I brought him up to speed quickly and gave him a pair of his shorts to put the button on. He’s a pro.

Nigel already knows a bit of sewing.

OOOOoooooo – I just got an idea for them to raise money for another CRUISE!!!!!!

“No more pencils, no more books.”

May 27, 2014 | Stacy

See how happy we all are that it is summer?

Actually – we are still doing a little bit of school, and they have been more than agreeable to do yard work and building projects. Nigel has even drawn up building plans to turn the swing set into something of a water park. … to be continued, I am sure…

Solar Powered Fan.

May 23, 2014 | Stacy

(That’s Stewart.)

Easter 2014

April 26, 2014 | Stacy

Easter 2014 was a Good day.
Easter 2014 was a Full day.
Easter 2014 was a Good, Full day.

One of the kids said it was the best Easter ever. I’ve gotten used to these proclamations, however. The current *event* always seems to be recalled as the best. To me this doesn’t dismiss previous experiences as much as it means they felt joyful at this time.

My alarm rang at 5AM to remind me to start the crock pots. With a smallish oven and two 10 lb hams to cook, I resorted to doing my two potatoes dishes in crock pots. [I won’t keep you in suspense; they turned out fantastically.]

Some of the kids were up by 7AM itching to look for their baskets. I had a lot of pressure with this, let me tell you. Last year’s hiding places were superb and they remembered that. No pressure.

The girls donned their dresses, despite the fact some had to take baths AFTER the basket hunt…
It was fun to have them matching. ♥

They hunted high and low…

Johanna found hers in the hamper.

Tabitha found hers in the Play-Doh cupboard. (Doesn’t every one have a Play-Doh cupboard?]

Marie found hers in the bathroom vanity under a pile of towels. She was elated to receive a clip-the-clothes-on Princess. (Tab has 6 and Hanny has 4 already!) She hasn’t played with it a ton, but she was so pleased to get a princess the other girls didn’t have. They love to mix and match the clothing.

Stewart found his in the pantry. Eventually. Nigel found his in a dress that I had hanging in Daddy’s closet.

Swim goggles, a protractor, and a puzzle book. We are a fun crowd, aren’t we?

It was off to church for 10:30 AM. The kids couldn’t believe how packed the parking lot was. Just moments before someone had suggested that church would be empty because people were out of town, or busy, etc. Nope. The church smelled fantastic. Our friend snapped this picture.

After church we tried to grab some photos.
You know the old saying: “You can dress them up; but you can’t make them smile, tilt their heads just so, and look in the lens.”
Or something like that.

We had a lovely dinner; and although the food was delicious, it paled in comparison to the awesome fellowship. John’s parents, my mom and sister, and our dear friends the F’s joined us for the afternoon. [I did not make the adorable hatching chicks.]

Sunday was also John’s birthday. We opened gifts in the early afternoon.

Our family then left and we headed outside for an egg hunt. Stewart offered to help Daddy hide the eggs this year.

Johanna had a particularly awesome time finding eggs with J’s on them.

Katriel was super-cute. We’ve never had a baby at quite this age at Easter. She was tickled to find out the eggs weren’t just fun to hold, but you could open them up at eat a Teddy Graham. 🙂

She doesn’t like getting herself up from the grass!
And can you imagine how fantastic this picture would have been… if I didn’t have princess stickers on me? Good Grief.

And – the BEST photo of the kids I have had in years… in play clothes. *sigh* Of COURSE they took off their church clothes as soon as we said they could (after the mid-day meal). So when I spontaneously asked them all to sit in the yard I never could have anticipated that I was about to capture the first photo ever with all six of them smiling and looking at the camera. Smiling AND looking. No eyes closed, no hair in the eyes, no stray toy or cup in the corner. Best picture ever… orca whale shirt and all. ♥

The day ended with us watching a movie together. It was such a sweet, full day.

As I lay in bed that night I was reflecting on all the goodness we’d enjoyed. We aren’t a family that has a standing Easter tradition. We’ve celebrated it differently almost every year – different guests, different activities, different food. We even once were guests elsewhere. I’m not sure things will line up for us to replicate such a great day in Easters to come. But it was SUCH a wonderful, wonderful day, I just basked in the joy we all had felt.

And as I drifted off to sleep I startled awake as I remembered what we had done LAST Easter.
If you want a good laugh – check it out. http://dayspringdisciples122.blogspot.com/2013/04/easter-2013.html
Um, last year was R.O.U.G.H! – A day at the DMV would look like fun compared to LAST Easter.

Kids’ CBS play

April 1, 2014 | Stacy

Each year the school-aged kids at CBS are involved in a spring production. This year the director of the Children’s Program asked Stewart to write the script. He was asked to base it on a principle gleaned from this year’s study. (We’ve done Ephesians, Philippians, James, and 1 John.) It ended up being about… well… watch the video. 🙂
Nigel had a starring role, Marie was a narrator, and Tabitha had a supporting role.

Does that make this a fruit bowl?

March 23, 2014 | Stacy

I told Stewart a week or so ago that I wanted to take him out for a Stew and Mama date. “Why?” he asked.

”Stewart,” I replied, “I told Dad the other night that if I saw more any more good fruit coming from you I’d be inclined to open a farm market.”

While I may be employing a bit of hyperbole, I in no way want to minimize the J*O*Y we have known in this house the last 6?-8? weeks or so as far as this young man is concerned. To be sure, he isn’t perfect; his parents bring far too many flaws to the table to even get close to perfect. But he’s been so stinking GOOD lately it deserved to be acknowledged. And I’m a big fan of positive reinforcement (I ♥ Michelle Duggar for making me not feel guilty about that, too.)

So, what kind of fruit am I talking about? Little things. But little CONSISTENT things. Like after a meal is done hanging in the kitchen and asking, “Do you need anything, Mom, before I go?” before he returns to his school work. Or speaking up and saying, “Here, I got her,” as he offers to hold his sister so I can get my coat off. Or speaking kindly to Tabitha when just a few short weeks ago he’d be plowing over her. I know, I know… when you type it out, it doesn’t sound like much. But did you catch the part about the consistency?

How about him accepting his school assignments without complaining? Or voluntarily taking notes as I have suggested for the last two years. And just generally manning-up about responsibilities. And modeling it for the others. Did I mention the help in the kitchen?

The miserable excuse for a spring we have had barred us from any outdoor fun. So he asked if we could do Pizza Hut and bowling.

He and I agreed no one needs to know which S is which.

I will tell you that bowling is EXPENSIVE! Yowsers. Two games and shoes came to $32!

Oh, and I drove him to Marketplace to the costume shop so he could buy a wig for his next project.

And it was so nice to have some time with my dear son.

This is where I’d love to insert a photo from when he was a baby or toddler, but we just got our computer back last week and haven’t hooked it back up to the external hard drives with the old pictures.