One Liners from Halle today...

"Mommy, I will be your servant, but just today."

"Ian, don't step on the bugs because God made them!"

"Daddy, I love you with all of my heart."

I said, "Halle, I love you so much!"  She said, "Well, I love doing cartwheels and handstands so much!"

The No Sense Family

Halle just said, "What if this was the No Sense Family?"

I asked, "Oh, what do you mean by that?"

She shrugged her shoulders, smiled and said, "Everything we do and say doesn't make any sense!"

What if?!  Some days feel like that!

Halle, your creativity amazes me, and you make me laugh!  :)

Halle is 5.5

 We make a really big deal over half birthdays around here since they all surround Christmas!  On June 20, Halle turned 5.5!

At 5.5, Halle is very active, athletic, coordinated, strong...

 silly, loving, entertaining...

 creative, energetic, loves life...

 a reader, a wonderful big sister, a snuggler...

and a beautiful, life loving little girl who loves the Lord!

Dear Halle Lin,

I really can't believe that you are already 5.5!  You make me laugh all day long.  You are so smart and loving.  I think you get prettier each day.  You are a wonderful daughter, sister and friend.  I look forward to many more years with you, and I'm excited to see what you become!  It's going to be something grande!  

Love,

Mommy

Pics with chicks...

 So, this is the beginning of the story - of how we ended up with 6 chicks at our house.

My friend is a photographer and she did Easter Photography "Pics with Chicks" (and a bunny!)

When her sessions were done, she brought them to live with us - until they are ready to go live outside - because we wanted them!  :)  and then they'll go to my Dad's farm.

 The kids absolutely loved this photo session, and they have loved raising 6 chicks at their home.  How lucky are they?!

 Oh, Ian - you are so stinkin' adorable!

And, Sophie... may the Lord bless you and keep you and keep all boys away from you!

3 little monkeys playing on the beach...

smiling,

escaping,

and posing.

Oh, you 3... your Mommy and Daddy sure do love you.

 And, you 2... we're really in trouble.

Finding Shells...

 Some of my favorite moments with the kids were shelling.

 There's just something about it...

 that touches my soul...

 as we look at each shell with excitement and wonder.  How did God do it ALL - even the shells?

 I love the uniqueness of each one, and I believe each one has a story.

The Girls each found one that was their absolute favorite.  And, in fact - Sophie gave her favorite a story.  Sophie thought her favorite shell looked like a fairy whistle, and Halle found a very big and shiny one.  Ian enjoyed putting handfuls of sand in his bucket.  We all thought the sand looked like sugar.

God, today I'm grateful for revealing Yourself to me in so many different ways - even through shelling.

Spring Break 2011...

For Spring Break 2011, we took a Road Trip to Fort Walton Beach, FL!

It really was wonderful - filled with lots of beach time, swimming, shelling, eating, laughs and walks on the beach.

I'll get you started with this picture (because maybe just a few of you are waiting for pictures!) and try to get to the rest really soon!

Ian's foot massage...

the other night, I found the girls treating Ian to a foot massage.

He laid happily on the floor with a sucker in his mouth - enjoying his foot massage, a sucker and some books.

Wow... he's got it made!

Life with 2 Big Sisters = SPOILED!

More evidence coming soon...

Stay tuned.

Snow White Ballet

 I took my beautiful little darlings to the ballet -

Snow White.

 I love a good date with my children.  It can be as simple as the pet store, the library, out to eat or to the ballet.

Whatever it is, I absolutely love carving out purposeful time and attention for each child.

The girls loved meeting Snow White! 

You are our princesses, Sophie and Halle.

God's Princesses.

And here's all three of our little angels.

Ian, you're not welcome at the ballet.  :)

Not yet.

Funny Stuff...

Ok... there's just too much making me laugh around here, and I know I need to write it down before I forget!

The other night at supper, we were praying as a family before we started eating.  It was a beautiful moment.  We were all holding hands, and as we ended the prayer, Halle sighs and says, "Oh!  I'm glad we're done praying.  Now I can scratch my butt crack!"

My first thought - "I'm so glad we don't have company right now."

My second thought - "Wow."

Then we all just burst out laughing.

*******

I was taking off my bedding to wash it this morning, and Halle asked me, "What are you doing?" 

I said, "Washing our bedding." 

She said, "Oh, just in case you just a little bit tinkled?"

I said, "Well, Halle... No... just because I need to wash our bedding. I didn't just a little bit tinkled." 

followed by lots of laughing from Halle and me!

Halle Lin turned 5...

 on December 20!  

I have so much I want to write about.  

There's so much to share and record before I forget, but before anything else, Halle is the star.

We started celebrating the night before by hanging streamers on her door frame after she fell asleep (so when she woke up in the morning, she'd walk through streamers!)

After she woke up, she opened her 4 gifts from us -
Following our gift giving rule, "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read."

Want - Mermaid Barbie
Need - an Abacus
Wear - a jazzy birthday shirt
Read - some new Usbornne books

After opening our gifts and eating breakfast, Halle and I went out on a special date.

Our first stop was to get her ears pierced.  We had the earrings picked out, papers signed, earrings in the piercers, spots marked on her ears, she was was sitting on my lap in the chair...
and she said, "I don't want to."

(after talking with her for several minutes and trying to convince her that it wouldn't hurt that bad...)

I said, "Ok."

So.... we went to Starbuck's and enjoyed some drinks and conversation together.

After Starbuck's, we went to Uncle Bill's Pet Store to hold a couple animals.
Her choice.  Her favorite place.

Then we went and picked out her birthday cake for the family party we would host that night.

We had a nice and quiet afternoon and then family started arriving around 5:00

We enjoyed veggie pigs in blankets, mac n cheese and some other finger foods.

She had a night filled with more gifts and lots of love from family.

When she went to bed that night, she said, "This is the best birthday ever."
(with a speech problem on her /r/ sound)

 She's a doll.

 She's an animal lover.

 She's wild.

She's crazy.

Happy Birthday, Halle Lin!

We're so happy God chose you to be our daughter.

Our Visit With "Aunt Holly"

Well, she's not really their "Aunt", but Holly was my best friend in Middle School, High School, College Roommate, Maid of Honor... and so much more than all of that.  She's a friend who would love me - no matter what - I am certain of that.

My kids LOVE when she is here!  She doesn't have any children of her own yet, so she shows up energized and ready to wrestle, read, snuggle, watch movies, and just BE with us.  We had a wonderful 5 hour visit with her last Saturday.

Thank you, Holly, for taking the time out of your weekend to be with us!

One thing we did when she was here was assemble our Christmas Adventure Box.

This will be the first year we do this as a family, and we're all very excited.  Basically, it's a devotional each day during December to keep our hearts and minds focused on the true reason of the season.  Check out the link if you're interested.

Anyway, we got the box all assembled and set the finished product up on the bookcase to the right of our fireplace.  We moved on with our day and Holly enjoyed more playtime with the kids.

The were all hanging on her, and I yelled - "Hey, let's get a picture."  We immediately viewed it to ensure it was good, and I saw a bright light shining on something on the bookcase.

Accident?  I don't believe so.  I think that Jesus was pretty proud of our Christmas Adventure Box and made that very clear by shining his light of approval right on it!

How neat and encouraging.

Click on the picture and let me know what you think.  :)

Sad Spider...

click to zoom and see "sad spider"

For some reason, I thought this was really funny.

Halle brought home some artwork from preschool...

it is a picture of a spider (apparently, she doesn't know that all spiders have 8 legs).  I'll try to get to refreshing her memory of that this week!

But, the spider has a sad face.  

I asked her, "Why is your spider sad?"  She replied, "Because he can't find his family."

She is correct...  he's all alone in the picture.

I don't really know what this tickled me, but it did.  It really made me laugh!

Oh, Halle Girl...  you crack me up!

Crazy Mom at the Zoo...

yeah, I was a crazy Mom at the Zoo, and I got in the Tree House with my girls!   

People really were staring, but did i mind?  Oh, no. 

My girls thought it was pretty cool.

I love you, Girls, and I'm happy to get crazy with you!  and act like tigers.  

Oh, Halle isn't really my favorite...

of course I love these 3 little angels all the SAME!  

Halle and I were having fun...

with my MacBook Photo Booth!

Oh... I don't like to EVER say ANYTHING about a "favorite", so I'm not going to say it.

But...  can you read my mind? 

Ok, it's just that all of our kids go through PHASES and Halle is currently in a really GOOD one.

She's just good.  She very QUIRKY.  But so EASY to be around - compared to the other 2 at the moment.

So...  currently, Halle might just be my F*******.

Oh, Halle.  You make Mommy's heart smile.

I love you, Baby Girl!

Halle's Swim Lessons...

started out as a struggle with Ian in tow (especially since they're 12:45-1:15).  But, by golly - he got the hang of what's expected of him, and I'm amazed at how well he does there - after 7 weeks of it!  Now, I'll be honest - I go "armed" with his favorite books, a bottle of water and a special snack (sometimes even candy)!  But, I have to say...  I'm proud.

And you may be asking yourself, "uh...  Ian still uses a bottle?  Isn't he almost 2?"  Yes!  Please don't judge me.  A bottle filled with water is a pacifier for him when I really need one!  It's amazing what my 3rd child gets to do.  At 12 months, Sophie's bottle was gone!  Halle's was gone by about 15 months.  Ian's...  well, it's still around.

We just had our 7th and final swim lesson of this session.  Halle got her "report card" today and she passed every single skill, and they are passing her on to the next level!

So, we start the next session in November.

Go, Halle, go!

And - Way to go, Ian, for being such a good little boy while tagging along - my little sidekick.

Guess Who...

 

took this picture?

Guess Who...

did this?

Halle just said...

"Momma, all we're supposed to do is

Pray to Jesus,

Be happy,

Be nice and laugh together."

Yep, that pretty much sums it it.  Pretty simple.  How do kids know this stuff?  If only we all would have that child like faith...

God, I love You.  Thank you for these children You created and blessed us with.  There are many moments I cry out to You for peace because of the trying times - but, I'm so grateful for the many moments I shout praises because of the wonderful times.  Thank You for revealing Your love through my children.  Amen.