Say What?

Going into a store with Susannah, we walked past a handicap parking space. She turns to me and says in all 5 year old seriousness, "Mommy, look there is a picture of someone going potty on the ground!" I needed clarification on what she said and also what she was referring to but sure enough she said it again. "See painted right on the ground, someone going potty." :)

Say what?

Joshua decided to take Naomi to store with him the other night. He had a craving for Eggnog and needed a couple other things. So when they got to the store Naomi did not stop talking and asking all sorts of questions. When he picked up the Eggnog she took one look at it and said "What is that?" Josh told her Eggnog. So she thought about and says back(remember she is not quite three) "I know what egg is, but what is the nog?" They keep us laughing.

Fall Fun!

First day of preschool fpr Rachel. She has been waiting for this for a year.

Susannah's first day of kindergarten!

Isaac first day of first grade. He is getting so big!

Rachel starting Cubbies.

Since my last post a lot has happened. Were have fully settled into our new home. We are now used to(somewhat) owning a dog. Isaac started first grade and Susannah started kindergarten. We had a vacation and went camping for four days. And our little Rae turned four!!!

Kona (as in coffee)

Today we finally made the big leap into pet ownership! We went to the humane society looking for a male Beagle and came out with a female Terrier. She is a three month old puppy that we will get to bring home on wednesday(she has to be fixed first). We are all thrilled and cannot waitto get her into our home. Even our Rachel, who is terrified of most dogs, loves her! I figure, I just got finished with potty training a child I might as well keep going and potty train a puppy while I am at it. :)

A long time...

Quite some time has passed since I last updated this. We have since moved and settled into our home. A blessing to be sure! I am getting ready for my first school year homeschooling two children. And I have re-entered the joyous and candy filled world of potty-training. Today was probably one of the funniest experiences with the potty(outside of the time Isaac wanted to see his go fish cards swim in the toilet). I was trying to get Naomi to go potty before nap time and knew she had to go based on the amount of fluids she had taken in. In the process I learned she also had to go #2 well let me tell you the screaming that ensued you would have thought she lost a limb. I stepped out of the bathroom and that is when she let out the scream" MOMMY- I went poo-poo!!!!!!!" I have never in three rounds of potty training had a child afraid of this but then again Naomi is not like the others! On to another round on the potty. :)

Swim Lessons

Since living in southern Florida we have routinely enrolled at least two kids per year in swim lessons. This year was no different so the last two weeks has been spent poolside while Rachel and Isaac learned more swimming skills. I am happy to report that after just eight lessons Rachel can now swim and Isaac(our little fish) can swim the length of a competition pool several times as well as go off the diving board with confidence.

Our New House!

The front of the house.
Looking out the living room window on one of the orange trees on the property.
Front bathroom.
Master bathroom.
My lovely kitchen.

Haircut

Our little Rae Rae got her first big girl haircut last week.

The pictures speak for themselves as to the cuteness that turned out.

A new version of an old classic

While driving in the car the other day I got the joy of hearing my childrens translation of an old classic. See if you can tell what this is supposed to be.
"Someone's mad here, In-my-yah, someone's mad here, in-my-yah, Oh Lord, In-my-yah. "

Very funny to hear as they had they tune correct and everything. :)

A new quote

We all know boys do not particularly like to be called cute but sometimes this comes out. Isaac gave us his view of this last night at dinner. He was telling us yet again how girls are cute even mommies(actually he said I am cuter than any flower!!) and boys are handsome. Then he added that sometimes other people call him cute and he does not like this. Josh asked him, "why?". Isaac says because when people call me cute it makes me feel like a little baby again. :)

Something is missing here!

Recently we have had a sudden loss of of teeth by more than one of our children! We thought Isaac was early when he lost his first tooth when he was five and a half. Susannah beat him though, she lost her first tooth just before her fifth birthday!

Zanna Banana

I know I am about two months behind on this one.

Our little girl turned 5 this febuary! I can not believe this either. I guess that is how I will feel with each birthday that comes. :) She had a fun birthday with all the festivities, cake, pinata, craft, and all around fun time with her friends! The pictures are just a few of the moments from the day.

There is so much to say about our Susannah. She does not mind telling her little sisters or older brother what she wants them to do but at the same time she will be the first to go them if they are crying. She loves to learn and everyday asks to do her 'schoolwork'. She loves to play dress up and princesses. She is every bit a Girl! Her favorite color is pink and her favorite clothing is a frilly dress her favorite food is even chocolate(if that doesn't say girl what does). Zanna will be the first to obey when told something and will not typically make the same mistake twice. I know this requires much prayer as we long for her to share her heart with us and God has blessed us with the counselors to show us early on that we need to get her to open up. Thankfully she is honest, she is the only one of our children that will tell us, when asked, how she truly feels, good or bad! What a blessing she is! We love our Zanna girl, she came into this world rather quickly and has continued to grow up to fast for her daddy's liking. Our time with our children is fleeting so we pray that we make the most of every moment and opportunity we get with each one of them!

Quote of the week

This one comes from Rachel! :)

Mommy to Rachel, "Did you hit your brother?"
Rachel, "Yes."
Mommy, "Did you hit him on purpose or was it an accident because you were aiming at something else?"
Rachel, "It was an accident."
Mommy, "What were you aiming at then?"
Rachel, "Isaac's head."

I was laughing so hard I had to send her to away in order to gain my composure before I could talk to her further.

Quote of the week

I realize there are things said every day in our home that some of you would love to hear. I am going to try to post at least on of these each week. This week's funny conversation happened just this morning:

Susannah says"Mommy what is equal to?"
I say, "The same as."
After a few seconds of pondering she says, "Oh, sameaz just like Boaz."
It does not occur to her that makes no sense yet she just accepts it as the definition.
I was cracking up. I hope it makes you smile too.

True Love...

My Little Man shows me all the time the genuine, unconditional love of a child, and something that happened today was the perfect display of this. When it was normal nap/ quiet time in our home I invited him to stay up and do some school work. His immediate response was a big grin and the question "Is that true, do you mean it?". I said "Of course I mean it". Then we walked down the stairs hand in hand and he says "Mommy, I would love to stay up with just you. I love you." Oh, to melt a mother's heart. I know he may someday not want to hold my hand or express his joy so freely but today he did and I will greatly cherish that! I tell him all the time that no matter how big he gets he will always be my baby. He is my oldest and only boy I will cherish that special relationship as long as I live.

Day by day as I watch him grow I get a glimpse of what Mary must have felt standing at the foot of the cross watching her oldest son fulfill the will of His Father. Wow!!

What we have been up to...

Fun with cousins at the fair!

In the last month and a half since I wrote last we have been to the fair, gone camping, celebrated Zanna's 5th birthday, experienced stitches for the first time and those are just a few of the extra things. We are now halfway through our first year of kindergarten! The year is going so fast!

I will write more soon.

Our Christmas

We were able to have a wonderful Christmas in our home! The kids had a blast getting to dig into their stockings and see what was tucked under the tree. They were even excited to see what daddy and mommy got from each other. I do have to say it is still a little odd to be wearing shorts on Christmas. Our sad part was that we had to watch little Naomi get sick on Christmas Eve and continue on to Christmas day. She did perk up long enough to open presents though!

It is always fun to see things like Christmas through the eyes of my children and a great reminder of how big the seemingly little things are to them.

Wild Child

Naomi in full laugh mode!



She knew it was a pillow inside and did not want to open the gift!
Two of her favorite things, her doggy and her baby. All sitting on her little throne.





Our baby turned two on December 12!!! I can't believe it.


The best way to describe Naomi is just that she is wild. If given the littlest amount of sugar she will start running in circles and going crazy. She loves to dance and do anything that keeps her in motion. She loves it when she gets thrown into the air and gets to free fall back into someones arms or onto their belly as her Uncle Terry did with her. She loves to twirl and can really get down when music is turned on. She does what I call a sumo dance-she spreads her feet and wiggles her bottom and squats down all at the same time then when she gets down she smacks both her hands on her knees just like a sumo wrestler. It is hilarious to watch!



The next best way to say anything about Naomi is that she is two. She loves to say no and she knows how to pout and fuss. She also knows how to bat her eyelashes and act all innocent. Her favorite answer is Rae-Rae(our nickname for Rachel). If you say did you do that? "Rae Rae" Who picked up? "Rae Rae" What happened in this room? "Rae Rae" Even sometimes, who are you? "Rae Rae". Good or bad it is Rae Rae. But oh, does she love her sister! They are first to hug or give each other good night kisses.


She is also the baby of the family and knows it. She will let us hold her and carry her more than anyone else. She likes things being done for her but do not leave her out. If she sees anyone of us doing something or eating something she does not have she will keep asking. We really have to put our foot down with her more than the others. And do not let size deceive you, she typically eats as much as our almost five year old. Is there are five things on her plate to eat but there are six things on the table she starts in on how she needs to have more of that one thing because it is not on her plate. We thought it was boys that eat you out of house and home!

Though small in size her speaking has never been small. She has been the one that can literally jabber for five minutes where you can get maybe one word out of the whole thing,
usually Rae Rae. Now that you can understand her for the most part she still does not stop talking. We have recently had to start telling her to hold her tongue in order to get some piece and quiet in the car. Then that makes us laugh because she sticks out her tongue and lays her hand on it. Very cute.


Most of all she is a blessing form God. We pray each day that we remember that and treat her such. He sure knew that we could always use more laughter and humor in our home. And she keeps us laughing!