Happy 4th Birthday Julia!!!

Miss Julia turned four today. Hmmm, it's hard for me to believe that now we are beyond toddlerhood in our home. Every which way I turn I see signs that I, personally, am not done having kids. I do not know what the Lord has in store, but I do know, that I don't think I'm done seeing little feet & little toes - smiles with nonsense words. Another discussion for another day. I suppose at some point, physically, I will be done having children. We aren't there yet - but we are also waiting to see when and if the Lord blesses us again.

Funny, normally, in August, when it's warm - you choose to do things outside. Birthday parties, bbq's, walks, bikerides etc. Here, it was a warm 80 plus day and we went to Chuck E Cheese. Why? Because a little girl requested it. She's seen others celebrate their birthday there & she thought it was her turn. But for me, it was so that I could sit in an air conditioned room with friends and family and chat. (I also thought it would be nice to get my Dad with his bloodsugar issues - out of the heat! It affects him so!)

The cake we made for her was a bit beyond what we should have tried making with Rod only having one week left in the quarter to get everything done. Sometimes though, I just crave doing something and schoolwork wasn't on the menu last night. We have eyed at Michaels the castle cake set for a few years, actually. Thinking one day, when she could appreciate a castle, that we would make one for her. It turned out beautifully. A bit over the top, the way that they have you decorate it. We decided to decorate it the "right" way the first time & then if it's too much - the next time we decide to use the castle set, we would know where to tone it down.

It was definitely over the top. Adorably so. It was quite complicated to make - not hard - just had so much involved. I'm glad to have done it. We have to make Josiah a cake - but I'm thinking that the next cake we make that's not a birthday one for our kids - I really want to pipe one. I really enjoy piping frosting.

Josiah's birthday is on thursday. We're going to do something with the family for his birthday & then probably next weekend, do something with his friends, after Garrett gets home from his dads. It just doesn't feel right not having Garrett around for things like this.

Julia loved her gifts. She got way too many gifts. Loved all of them. Got something with ponies - friends gave her barettes & makeup etc. and she loves that. I put together a blanket (not quilted) that is adorable. (Which gave me the itch to start quilting again. Yes, I have too many things I enjoy doing!) Oh & from the boys & grandparents, she got a three wheeled scooter - which was a hit! So, one more birthday down for 2009.

Julia, I love you. I love your name. I love your blue eyes. I love the way you smile, the way you laugh. I love the way you have perticularly Josiah wrapped around your little finger. I love your girlie shoes and your pretty dresses. I love - that you love - that you have many swimsuits. That you love pretty shoes. That you love dollies & horses and swinging in the front yard. But something else I love about you, is that having you has changed me. Having you has changed the way I think about and percieve myself. I'm thankful every day that the Lord gave you to us. You were worth the wait! You are a blessing! Happy Birthday to the sweetest little girl I know!

10 things... x4

A dear friend of mine, Steve Lambert, has a blog to encourage homeschooling families. He's so thoughtful and insightful & I love his stuff!!! He has such great perspective!

Today Steve challenged his blog readers, "Make a list of 10 things about each of your children that you feel good about or are proud of. Make a plan to tell them so. If you were raised in a negative, critical environment growing up you may need to “schedule” positive comments just as you might schedule dental appointments or dishwashing chores. Yes- it’s that important!" CLICK HERE to read the blogpost that inspired mine today!

Here goes~
Josiah(age 10 & 11.5/12 months):
1. You take such good care of your siblings.
2. You're respectful.
3. You are spontaneous.
4. You have a spirit that hears the Lord.
5. You are an encourager.
6. You will do something - the First time.
7. You have a fantastic relationship with Grandma & Granddaddy. You have earned Granddad's respect.
8. There is evidence in your life, that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
9. You are a member of the Skagit Men's Garden Club - and have earned the respect of all it's members. Young and old.
10. You honor your parents in your character.

Jedediah (age 8):
1. You know how to get things done.
2. You're good at almost everything you do.
3. You are consistent.
4. You remind me of your Granddaddy ~ and that's something I LOVE.
5. Schoolwork is easy for you - I admire that.
6. You are the youngest member of the Skagit Men's Garden Club!
7. You can beat Josiah at video games :D (something, I Cannot do!)
8. You have a soft heart & a sweet spirit.
9. You believe in Jesus.
10. You are kind to those around you. You give good, heartfelt, gifts.

Jaden (age 6):
1. I love all of your expressions - no one else, has that many!
2. I love your exhuberance!
3. I love the way you look out for your little sister, Julia.
4. You are amazing with a set of Legos.
5. You can unload the dishwasher!!! At age 6!!! Amazing!!!
6. You know how to push your brothers buttons (waterfight!)
7. You really know how to talk with people!
8. You believe in the Lord.
9. You like to talk about indepth things, like your older brothers.
10. Your smile ~ makes me smile.

Julia:
1. I love your blue eyes.
2. I love your girlyness.
3. It amazes me how much people respond to your kindness~ you are treasured.
4. You are always trying to keep up with the boys.
5. You do things that are much too hard, and don't even know it.
6. You have us all wrapped around your little finger. I admit it.
7. You sing all of the time.
8. I love the fact that you twirl.
9. You have such a soft heart.
10. Your brothers are the most important things in your life.

I know, you can't tell, I really do love my kids... they are amazing gifts that God has given me. And I am thankful every day for them!

All Stars Update

(Josiah on first as runner, Game 1, July 9, 09)
I can say that Mom (me) made it through the All Stars games. The kids practice mon-friday for three weeks or so to get ready for the tournament. Josiah liked his coach, Coach Mike. He was really good for Josiah. All this season, Josiah has had issues getting his bat on the ball. Rod's been trying to work with him, but hadn't been able to explain to Josiah how to correct his swing - something to do with his hips.

Somehow! Somehow, Coach Mike got Josiah to fix whatever issue it was that Rod was talking about. Ever since, Josiah's has done a much better job of making contact. Not that any of this was really an issue during the regular season, Jos got on base anyway, mostly because the other team walked him time after time. Must have something to do with his height - he's bigger than other kids his age, so the strike zone is different. You'd think that since he's bigger and obviously his strike zone is bigger, that he'd be easier to pitch to. Not so.

During the season, he pitched. During All Stars practice he started out Catching. Turns out they needed a first baseman. It's like he has velcro on the inside of his mit, he catches just about everything! First base is fun for me to watch, because he's so good & there's not the stress involved like when I watch him pitch. Not that he's not good at pitching, he is, it's just that the game is so dependent on the pitcher, that if he has a bad inning - it could lose the game. So~I enjoy watching him play 1st base. Rod got a couple of good shots with the ball in Josiah's mit during the games :D

(Jos playing 1st base, forced out & runner not even close to plate! 7/9/9)
So the first game was last thursday against North Whidbey. They lost 9 to 7. It was a pretty good game. You could tell out of the shoot though, that the kids were nervous. They bobbled the ball too much & it affected the game. At least in the beginning. Josiah was awesome though. He caught every stinking ball that they shot his way. I love the sound of the ball when it hits the mit. You would probably classify me as an over excited mom - he makes a fantastic play and we're all hooting and hollering and you could probably hear me over everyone! I really struggle though with the anticipation of tournament games. Rod handles it well, but he's played tons of sports. Me, it kills me to watch, knowing that if Jos doesn't catch the ball, literally it could be the end of it all... Yes, so dramatic!

The ump made a call that he thought was correct and the opposing coach literally had the ump or baseball president call the LL association in California, stopping the game, to try to get a reversal of the call. Talk about frustrating. It held up the game ~ the call wasn't a bad call to begin with. Everyone was frustrated and it was irritating and we all sort of left the game with a bad taste in our mouths. Feeling like we didn't really earn a loss.

Second game, Friday night, he went with the Waldes. Rod & I had had plans before the tournament was on the books - so we couldn't go. Bummer, they won against Burlington. A blowout of 28 to 8. It wore the kids out though, & you could tell the next day. I guess that in one inning that the kids went up to bat 3 times! Josiah then spent the night at the Waldes and had a fantastic time :D

(Josiah scores! Game 3, 7/11/9)
Third game, Saturday afternoon, the kids were stoked. They'd just won the night before & were excited to be playing. They lost this one 11 to 13 against South Whidbey. If I had a complaint about baseball it would be the umps. When they make a bad call, they should just admit it & retract. Game 3, a kid was safe on the thrid out, the ump called him out. Everyone, including the other team saw that the kid was safe & not tagged. Even second ump saw it ~ and they stayed the call. They had two runners on base. They could have tied up the game & the ump made a bad call & they are out of the tournament.

Tournaments are tough. You work real hard and then it's over fast or you go on to state. It would have been a stretch this year for us to go to state. I'm glad though that Josiah got to play. He became better friends with his bud Austin. Coach Mike also told a friend of ours that if Josiah wanted to play on his Majors team next year, that he'd have a spot on his team. I don't know what we'll have him play. He did show me this All Star season though, that he is ready to move up. I'm not sure if I'M ready for him to move up! It's a daily committment for about 3 months.
Anyway, that's for next year. Glad he got to play ~ glad he did so well.

Josiah, I love to watch you play baseball. You're awesome. You're enthusiastic. You energize everyone on your team. You're a leader and it shows. You are an encourager. You're the loudest guy on your team. You are MY son!!!

A Surprise for Shawna!

(Mathbook cake for Shawna, 7-10-09)
Last night we threw a surprise birthday party for Shawna. I think we actually got her! The look on her face when she opened the door was a good one. Everyone yelling "surprise" actually made me jump ~ it was so loud!

Branden & Katie had some neat ideas for the party ~ which I really loved. Rod & I made a math victorian cake ~ see photo.

(Shawna, when she came in 7-10-09)
We actually brought our camera to take pictures & B brought their photo printer and Kevin & Kirsten printed the pictures on the spot. Someone is going to take the photos and scrapbook the party ~ neat idea. Rod got family shots of everyone that came.


We all brought a chocolate dessert, so we all ate a LOT of chocolate! Many of us brought an old memory to scrap too. I chatted too much. Brought the scrapbook paper home & will make a couple of pages & take down the next time I see them. I guess I could just send them to work with Rod. LOL.

It was a fantastic party! Got to catch up with old friends and get acquainted with new ones! We were asked to make a Math cake. So we made a math book. It really did look like a book, somehow that surprised me! I made fun stuff out of gumpaste ~ an eraser, a protractor and a ruler. Rod made the pencil.


(Kirsten & Kevin ~ Scrapbooker & Photo Printer extraordinaries :D)
What was funny, is that many of us saw Shawna last weekend for the fourth of July ~ and we all had to NOT talk about our plans or do the "see you next friday" thing. That was an exercise in will!

Happy Birthday Shawna!!!

What a GREAT Weekend :D

(Rod & Jaden, July 3, 2009)
We had such a nice, long weekend! It's been awhile since Rod's had more than two days off. The last week was so crazy busy (and this week should be pretty busy too!) that it was nice to have some down time. This week we All Stars games begin.

Friday, Rod & Dad worked on the van. We need to get some tires & have a realignment done. Later, we went out to the reservation and bought some fireworks. Then we went to Mom & Dad's for a BBQ & fireworks. Best chicken ever! Rod & the kids did fireworks, while Mom, Dad & I watched. It was great fun. Rod's really good about being safe with the kids.

Josiah burnt his foot on a morning glory. That was our only incident. While it was going off, a spark landed on the inside of his shoe. Icepacks insued (or is it ensued?). After we got home, I put burn relief spray on it ~ and we sent him to bed. He's worn flip flops yesterday & today, to make sure it gets some healing time in before baseball. (Nelson Kids at home, 7/3/09)

For the 4th, we spent time with the Powells, the Bussards and the Jurys ~ and other friends. I've lived here, my whole life. I had NO idea that there was a beach out on the Tulalip reservation! What a nice place, amazing view! We all had a great time! B let all of the kids blow off fireworks ~ and they loved it ~ right on the beach!

(Kids on the Beach, Fourth of July, 2009) We had to get off of the beach because the threat level was definitely higher as we got towards dark. I was frustrated by the kids next door who were throwing M80's off the dock by hand... I guess demonstrating to our kids WHAT NOT TO DO!

We were sandwiched in between I think the two heaviest arseneled houses in the cove... We sat up on the dock, under blankets watching everyone else light off fireworks. It was crazy loud ~ crazy tons of fireworks. I don't think i've seen a better show (maybe Skagit Speedway's show ranks higher.) In honor of Shawna, the evening ended with an Iphone version of Neil Diamond's ~ I'm Coming to America. Classic!

Today, Sunday, was homework day. The kids had down day, playing outside in the sprinkler, doing chores, arguing with the neighbor boy (some days they get along great, others not) and playing video games. (Our Xbox 360 came back in the mail on Friday!). It was so good though, after being so busy to be forced to be at home. Rod did homework. He's trying to get as much done as he can. (Kids on the beach, 4th, 2009)

What we didn't realize for Summer Qtr. is that there's just as much homework as Spring or Winter Qtr. but much less time to do it in. Today he got a mess of homework done, so hopefully, it'll be less stressful this week homework wise - his first homework deadline is the 13th. I'm praying he meets it with time to spare! Positively thinking, here...

(Tex, Julia & Me, ponycamp, 2009) One of my favorite digital scrapbooking sites has a free class ~ which I signed up for. So here's out first assignment. Those of my facebook friends have already seen the picture ~ but I liked it, so I used it for this quick assignment. Love Jessica Sprague!