My Precious Boy

Have I ever mentioned how much I adore my children?! The kids wanted to listen to The Singing Bible tonight as they fell asleep. A little bit ago Jared got up, came into the kitchen, grabbed his Bible and said to me, "Mom, can you just read me the whole Bible? When can we do another Bible study?" I love this boy! And I'm so excited that he loves God's Word. Every day in school, I read to the boys from Jared's Adventure Bible. Right now we're reading in Genesis. I read a couple of chapters to them each day. He calls this time our Bible study. Isn't this the sweetest thing?

God Takes Care of Me, Once Again!

I have to tell you about what happened to me last night. After dinner, I went to the grocery store to buy milk. While I was shopping, I heard, "Would the owner of a red Cherokee come to the service desk." I thought to myself, "this can't be good." I followed a man (who happened to have twin daughters with him) up to the service desk. He also owned a red Cherokee. The employee informed us that somebody had reported a "smoking vehicle that smelled like it was burning." I peeked outside the window and, sure enough, it was mine. The man offered to wait for me and check my car. When I popped the hood, this is what we found...

This is, I mean, was our radiator hose. He knew exactly what to do and explained to me what had happened, why the car was smoking, etc. He was able to slice the hose below the cut and clamp the remaining portion so I could make it home. He even followed behind me until I turned onto my street, just to make sure I made it home safely. I'm so very thankful that this man, an owner of a red Cherokee, was there in the store and was willing to help me. This was no coincidence!

My Sweet Boys

This is enough to melt a mommy's heart...

Caleb, with his arm around Jared

Jared, with his arm around Caleb

So Good to Get Out

We just read about the Chinook Winds in the concluding chapters of The Long Winter. Coincidentally, they're blowin' this way right now. This past Saturday it was 0 degrees at 9 a.m., but our temperatures are in the 40's this week. The snow is melting before our eyes, which means we'll have to deal with localized flooding now.

The kids and I got out while we had the chance and what a great morning we had! We headed up north to the county library (we usually go to the city library up the street from our house). I had a few books there on reserve, one of which made Lily squeal.

We hung out there and read for awhile, and then we stopped by Starbucks. The drive-thru was closed due to falling ice, so we went inside for apple juice and snacks. Lily brought her Nellie book (as she calls it) for me to read. We had a very cozy time sipping juice and reading Lily's new book.

On the way home, I had to stop by the bank to deposit the insurance check for our collapsed patio roof (gotta love home owner's insurance!). There, in the parking lot, we watched a crane lift snow out of a grocery store that had closed last week due to its roof collapsing. The crane lifted a giant canvas out of the store and we watched the "worker men" dump large amounts of snow into a pile in the parking lot. The boys loved this! I figured if they had to endure my reading a pink book about 2 little girls, watching this large crane at work was a nice balance.

The lady at the bank gave the kids lollipops...a nice ending to our morning outing. When we arrived home, our neighbor informed us that his cat was missing. He asked us to keep an eye out for him. Gracie has been walking around the house for the past hour calling out, "Kitty..." She loves kitties. She would really like for this kitty to be lost in our house. Of course, this freaks Jared out like you wouldn't believe. He's deathly afraid of cats.

All in all, we had a great morning out. A change of scenery does wonders!

The Nice Snow Plow Man

I don't know what else to title this post, because I'm very thankful for the nice man who drove the snow plow through this afternoon.

Phil went back to school today. As most of you know, we've had more than our fair share of snow this year. I would gladly give any or all of it to those of you who envy us. While Phil was out, the snow plow came through and did our side of the street 3 times, creating an enormous 4 1/2 foot berm right in front of our driveway. Phil always goes out right after the plow comes through in order to shovel that hard and packed-down snow. If you wait too long, it's nearly impossible to move. So, I put on my boots and gloves and headed out the door to find the snow shovel. By this time all of my neighbors were outside trying to remove the snow from their driveways, as well, and many of them commented that I seemed to have more snow in my driveway than any of them...hmmm...imagine that.

I jabbed the snow shovel into the berm and the snow didn't budge. I wanted to cry, thinking that it would take me forever to move that snow, and I had 2 sick kids inside the house. I chiseled away at the pile for a few minutes and then prayed and asked God to do something...anything. I didn't want to leave it for Phil, because by the time he got home, the snow would have been worse.

Then the most amazing thing happened. The snow plow drove by, but on the other side of the street. He had gone the distance of about 2 houses before he stopped, backed up diagonally past my house, moved forward, and then pushed his blade through the berm in my driveway. I don't know if I looked pathetic out there or what! I do know how to shovel snow. Maybe he realized that I had an incredible amount to shovel. I'm not sure what he thought, but I thanked him and then thanked God for His provision. It still took me about an hour to shovel out what was left, but I'm thankful for his help, nonetheless.

Dancing the Night Away

I know, I know...when it rains, it pours around here. With cousins playing on the computer last week, I wasn't able to blog much. Now I'm trying to play catch up. I forgot to post this hilarious video clip from Chuck E. Cheese. You can hear me and Phil in the background trying to get Lily in there with the others, but she wouldn't budge. Jared, Caleb and Gracie could see themselves on a t.v. monitor as they moved about. They sure keep us entertained!

A Few Birthday Shots...

We had a little family party for Jared tonight. We decided to have ice cream sundaes instead of birthday cake, because we had cake earlier in the week when his cousins were here.

He enjoyed opening his gifts--what kid doesn't!?

After dinner, the whole family played with one of his new games, Twister Hopscotch.

Happy Birthday, Jared!

I can hardly believe it! Jared turns 6 today. We're so thankful for him. He's a terrific big brother. He loves God with all his heart. He has a very soft, tender conscience. He's kind to others.

He's a thinker...always asking questions and concerned with details.

And he makes us laugh. Boy does he make us laugh!

We love you so much, Jared. We're thankful God placed you in our family. You bless our hearts every day. Your Daddy and I pray that you'll grow to be a man who loves and serves Jesus. Have a wonderful birthday, my sweet, sweet boy.

Poor Phil

Doesn't look like he minds too much.

Or does he?

Time with Family

Christmas has come and gone. We were very blessed to have family come stay with us this year. Our kids made wonderful memories with their cousins, Morgan and Lindsay.

We played in the snow, went to the children's museum, Sonic, Chuck E. Cheese, played Club Penguin, Build-a-Bearville and Webkinz on the computer and went out for ice cream.

We can't wait for them to come back for another visit!

My Little Scientists

Aunt Corinne did a Science experiment with the boys while the girls napped.

You might remember when I mentioned Jared's quote, "Mom, Science is about blowing things up."

Does a balloon count?

Jared's Birthday Party

Jared will be 6 on Sunday. I can hardly believe it! We decided to have a birthday party while his cousins, Morgan and Lindsay are here visiting with us. This year Jared decided to have a Candy Land party at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Morgan and Lindsay are especially sweet to Gracie and Lily. I've enjoyed watching my girls interact with their older cousins. Gracie insists on having Lindsay with her at all times. They both love kitties and the color pink.

Let Them Eat [very unhealthy] Cake

We had fun making Jared's Candy Land birthday cake.

When it was time to cut the cake, Phil let the kids choose their slices. Jared chose a slice with chocolate. It was supposed to be Molasses Swamp, but I didn't want to pour molasses on the cake.

Morgan wanted a slice from Lollipop Forest.

Lindsay tried a bit of the Peppermint Forest with a lollipop tree on the side.

Caleb enjoyed a slice of the Peppermint Forest, as well.

Gracie wanted the pink tower of Candy Castle, but it looks like she had one too many slices of pizza!

Nope! My mistake. She was probably just deep in thought.

Lily wanted the purple tower of Candy Castle, of course. If you're wondering what the adults had...well, we just toured the whole kingdom.

White Christmas

We trust you all had a very Merry Christmas! We spent the day at home with our little family. We played with new gifts, worked outside for a bit and then had a nice candlelight dinner in the evening.

White Christmas took on a whole different meaning for us this year. These pictures should explain why...

This happened at 1:30 a.m. The roof of our patio collapsed under the weight of the snow. Phil and I awoke to a very loud crash, as you can imagine. Yes, that's a wire running along the ground.

All night I was hoping it was just a dream, but the mess was still there this morning. I'm so thankful that it happened in the middle of the night, and not during the day while the kids were out playing in the snow. I'm also thankful that Phil is off of school for 2 more weeks.

This is what you'd see if you open our back door. It'll be awhile until we're able to use this door again.

Other big news in our home is that Princess Frostine, one of our goldfish, died this morning. I wish you could have heard Gracie discuss the whole ordeal. It wasn't Princess Frostine that bothered her as much as knowing that all fish die. On her way to bed tonight, she asked, "You mean we're just gonna buy more fish, put 'em in there and they're all gonna die?" You had to be here for the full effect. She's the most expressive just-turned-three year old I've ever known!

Christmas Eve Gift Exchange

On Christmas Eve morning we draw names for a family gift exchange. We spend the day working on making special, homemade gifts and keep them a secret until it's time to exchange them after dinner. This year:

Lily had Gracie

Gracie had Phil

Caleb had Jared

Jared had Lily

Jenny had Caleb

Phil had Jenny

Almost time to open gifts! Caleb is waiting patiently with his bear, Bearemy.

When I asked Caleb what he thought Jared might like for Christmas, he mentioned clothes for his Build-a-Bear. Caleb helped me make a felt super hero cape for Jared's Bear, Love. You can see it in the background. Caleb did a super job pushing the pedal down on the sewing machine!

I made Caleb a playmat for his sheep complete with "quiet waters," a puffy mountain, fencing for a sheep pen and a yellow pouch to store it in.

When I asked Gracie what she wanted to make for her daddy, she said, "tools." When I mentioned that it would be difficult to make tools, she said, "a toolbox." So we went down to the basement, found a box, made a lid out of cardboard and then decorated the lid. She insisted that it be pink.

She found a few tools to place inside of the box before she wrapped it. I wish you could have seen her sweet, happy face when she handed the gift to him!

Jared found these coloring sheets online all by himself. Phil printed them out and helped Jared find a purple folder to place them in. She squealed when she opened her gift!

Lily enjoys having hot chocolate with her sister everyday, so we made up little single-serving packets of hot chocolate powder for Gracie. We sat in the pantry closet to do this--quite a tight squeeze! She added the marshmallows to each bag and then decided to add our extra Hello Kitty birthday napkins to her gift since Gracie loves Hello Kitty.

Phil gave me an awesome gift! Anytime I want a mocha or latte, all I have to do is ask...and it expires in 2058. He'll be 89 years old by then. I should probably laminate this.