She's 3....

Well Brielle turned 3 today, and she has been so excited as you can see...

We had a visit from my mom so she was able to give Brielle her birthday present from her and papa, needless to say the present was a big hit with both the girls and I think secretly the boys wanted to get into the action.

Dora anything is a big hit in our house right now and Dora dress-up clothes are a ton of fun!  The kit came with little plastic high heels and Ruthie did not want to take them off, even though Brielle tried talking her into giving them up. ;)

We had a small family party for Brielle after supper. We had Brielle sit on the couch and cover her eyes because her first present was too big to wrap.

 She really liked her Princess Castle kitchen, and of course so did Ruthie.

 We also got Brielle a princess scooter, but Ruthie kind of took that over too, so pictures of that will come later.


I usually decorate the cakes but Micah asked if he could decorated this one.  I was very tired so I obliged. the result was not too bad...

The following was of yesterday when Ruth was helping me bake the cake.  She is very fond of the cake batter and also really like powdered sugar, yum!

Dear Brielle,
Mommy and Daddy cannot believe you are 3!  What an amazing girl you are!  You loved to make us laugh and you are always saying: "Mommy watch this!".  You love to talk and ask questions.  When we are in the car you cheer if I roll the window down for you.  You call slivers, "sliberts", spiders, "piders", toilet paper, "paper toilet", swimming suit, "swimming soups", and airplanes, "highplanes". 
Our prayer for you is that you continue to blossom in your friendly outgoing ways (like waving to people in the grocery store) and that your bravery would take you far.  We pray for your compassion to deepen and wisdom grow.  We ask God to give you such a desire to make Christ lord over your life that when people would see you they would know there was something different about you and you would be able to show them who your Creator and Savior is.
We are so thankful for you and your sweetness!  We love you so much Tulha!
Mommy and Daddy

Sunday funday

Sunday was a great day.  We went to church, and came home, had lunch and the boys asked if they could get out the slip n' slide.  It was so beautiful out there was no way we could say no, so we help them get set up.  Before Brad and I knew what we were doing we had the whole family in their swim suits in the backyard and...fun ensued!

The following is the end result of Brad sending the girls down the slip n' slide...they were not too keen on the cold water.

So of course since the kids were going down the slip n' slide they were begging me to do it.  I told them if daddy went I would go, I am not sure what I was thinking.  Brad happily went down the slip n' slide, even though the weigh requirements said that he should not go.  Secretly I was hoping he would break it so I would not have to go, yes I know that is selfish, but slip n' sliding is not my idea of fun.  He did not break it and so I had to go, because I am a woman of my word...the fun was caught on camera.  

Thankfully I did not break it either...whew!

I noticed while we were all having fun the dogs had different feelings about the water.  Solomon had a great time watching us laugh and splash.

 I love that he looks like he is smiling.

Esther was on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.  She does not want to be around any of us when water is in play, especially Brad, and the kids too. ;)

 Hiding under the grill cover.

 Christian helping Ruthie walk through the slip n' slide, Micah and Brielle cheering her on.

 I was able to get some great shots of the kids before all the playing was over.

We ended the day with ice cream before supper and needless to say it was a hit with with kids, although sweet Ruthie had a hard time enjoying it because she was soooooooo tired.

We came home to a beautiful double rainbow off our back porch.  The kids were so excited to see it, but my little Ruthie was the happiest...

 Ruthie making sure everyone knew where the rainbow was.

 

Off to the races!!!

Friday was an exciting day for our two boys.  They had their mini-track meet and were both looking forward to competing.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for long jumping, jump roping, basketball shooting, bean-bag tossing, and race running.  Brad and I are proud to say that the boys did absolutely amazing!  They both came in second in the race for their age group...they raced against a lot of kids!

Unfortunately neither one of the boys thought it necessary to comb their hair all the way... 

The nice thing about the track meet was there was a big play ground, and while Brielle had enough of the slides after awhile Ruthie didn't stop the whole time we were there!

Brielle needed to "take a break", from what we do not know, but she found things to do...

Micah on the ropes, he did a great job.

Christian made 3 out of 5 shots on the hoops, he let me know that it was the most in his class.

I like this shot because you can see the ball in the shadow getting ready to go in the hoop.

Christian had one of the highest jump counts for his age group, he was very good!

This is Christian's race, he is in the green shirt in the middle.

Here is Micah running the final leg of his relay, he was able to bring his team from last place to 4th place, he can really move!!

Christian's birthday was a month ago and we celebrated, but it is just taking me till now to get this posted. He decided he wanted to go to Skate-land, I of course was secretly dreading Skate-land. I asked him if he wanted to go bowling, he said no. Movies, nope. Out to dinner? Not a chance. So we got a sitter for the girls and took off.

We got there and Skate-land truly lived up to everything I thought it would be. Stinky musty air smell, really dirty carpets, germ filled skate rentals, I dared not look in the bathrooms, and we did not get a snack from the concession stand. No we picked up our skates and as fast as they could the boys were on the floor. When I saw Christian's face I knew why we had come:

Micah of course was in skate heaven too! He likes to go as fast as he can and is pretty good at it, I was just worried he was going to smash into someone! He didn't, but there were a few close calls.



Not really sure what happened here...

My boys enjoying their skating time. Brad started out with roller blades and then decided to switch to old school roller skates. There were a bit hard to navigate on then he remembered, but I had a lot of fun pretending I was going to push him down. Muahahahaha!


After skating we went to Dairy Queen. Everyone got their own Blizzard and we all agreed that at that moment it was better than cake! Yum!! What a great way to end a very happy 7th birthday!!

Dear Christian,
You are growing so big! I cannot believe you are 7! Did you know that the day you were born you would not cry for the nurses? You wanted to take a nap! You were the sweetest baby and that sweet spirit is still with you today. You make your daddy and I so proud! You are a giver, a sharer, a helper, an athlete, a hard worker, and a boy who loves Jesus! You are amazing! Our prayer for you is that you hold on to your faith and follow the incredible path God has laid out for you. We know that you are going to do big things for Him. We pray you grow as big and tall as you want to be and you become who God intends you to be.

Love Mom and Dad

Busy busy people...busy everyday!

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted something on here!  We have been running like crazy people, although I must admit I have never seen a crazy person run, but I imagine it is...well...crazy.  Christan is in basketball and is doing so well!  He is coach-able, to a fault, and because his coach told him to not shoot and steal the ball he won't.  We are currently in the process of trying to reverse this way of thinking, but it is not easy.  He is playing through a Christian league called Upward.  I think the coach thinks that because we are Christ centered we should never steal the ball and we should always pass.  I am not in agreement with this methodology.  I want him to be a team player and I want him to go for it.  So with his last game approaching we are dropping hints that he just needs to play how he knows to play...fun and hard.  We'll see if it works!

Christian 

 Christian is the only one in green.

Last weekend Wes (Brad's dad) came for a visit.  It was so nice to have him here for a few days, although my insides hurt because he took us out to dinner every night...I'm not complaining, I love to cook but if someone wants to spoil me I will let them.  We had a wonderful time and miss him already!!

 Ruthie made a HUGE mess!!

This weekend my mom, Julie and my grandma, Eunice came for a visit.  It was so nice to have them here. 

Saturday night Brad, my mom, my grandma, and the boys went to a close family friend's basketball game.  We had a blast and his team won!

 BJ was high scorer for the game and played so well!!!

I am including some random ones of the kids...Enjoy!