Happy Birthday SETH!!

Seth is now seven!

We have two 7 year olds for a month until Caleb's birthday.

We had one very excited boy at our house!!

He had counted down the days.  The day before his birthday in the afternoon he wanted to know if he could go to bed so that he could wake up and it would be his birthday.  He had watched Carrie Anne, Abby, Andrew, Taylor and H.O. and I have a birthday in the past 10 months as he waited for his big day to finally arrive.  

He had never celebrated his birthday before and he was 

ready for the big day!

The night before his birthday after he had went to bed Andrew, Carrie Anne and Abby helped me decorate.  He couldn't stop smiling as he came downstairs.

Our day was SO unhealthy, we started it off with pastries for breakfast.

Our theme was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I had two little turtles all day!

My parents came over for lunch.  They brought subs, cake and gifts.  Seth really loved his new sunglasses!

After lunch the kids played.  H.O.'s brother had given the kids a karaoke machine for Christmas and they decided to bring it out.  I was serenaded with Jesus Loves Me and God Bless America 

A LOT!  It was quite funny to watch them though.

By that time H.O. had made it home from work and the birthday fun continued with balloon volley and a pinata.

What an absolute happy, adorable boy!

I love the expressions on some of my kids faces while hitting the pinata.  Apparently, my kids take hitting a pinata pretty seriously!

Turtle Andrew whacking the legs off.

The final blow!

I think this one is funny, not just because of Abby's expression but Taylor's!

He then was able to open his presents.  He had asked me for days before his birthday would he get a toy for his birthday, so he was very excited to finally get to open his gifts.

Hot wheels and Lego's -- his favorites!

He and Caleb had fun playing until it was dinner time.

After dinner we had a family movie and ended our day with birthday cake and ice cream.

It was a wonderful day to take a break from school and other activities just to spend time as a family and celebrate Seth!  He is an active, loud, full of energy, smiley, happy boy and we feel humbled that God has allowed us to be his family.

For years H.O. and I loved the name Seth and thought we would never have a Seth, but God gave us our Seth.  

We love you Seth!

Exciting Stuff!!

We had a tree cut down in our front yard.  We were afraid a spring/summer storm would bring it down and it would hit the house.  The little boys were glued to the window watching the man climb the tree and take it down limb by limb.  It is very hard to have school when something this exciting is going on in the front yard, so we took a break and watched.  Then came cutting the main trunk and down it came!

Then God gave us B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L weather on Saturday and we started the task of cutting up the tree for firewood.  It was so fun to look and take in the moment.  Like little ants scurrying around busy working.  Wow!, the saying, many hands make light work was definitely in action!!  I headed up the youngest four as we took the brush into the woods.  H.O. pulled out the small branches and cut them up and the big boys cut the bigger pieces up into logs.  If it were only H.O. and myself it would take us forever!  But, with everyone pitching in we will have it cleaned up quickly!  And... as I was admiring my family working so nicely together as a team I was greeted back to reality as Andrew nipped his leg with the chain saw.  Praise the Lord, God protected him and his leg was just nipped, but he did get out of work for the afternoon! :-)   

Introducing....

Peter Pan and Dorothy

For Literary Night they dressed up as Peter Pan and Dorothy.

Personally, I think they are about the cutest Peter Pan and Dorothy ever, but I may be a bit biased!!

They had a lot of fun!

Ready, Set, Go!

Our kids always look forward to the Awana Grand Prix at church and this year was no different!

Every year when the Grand Prix is over they begin talking about next years car.  Each year H.O. says he is going to buy the block of wood and start early on getting the cars ready.  That sounds great but that just is not reality.  It always comes down to the last couple of weeks busily trying to get them all ready.  Well... this year was no different except instead of starting the cars a couple of weeks before the race they were started six DAYS before the race!  Life has been a bit chaotic around here!!  And... the kids car ideas were a bit more difficult to make, but wonderful daddy got it done! 

Yes, the little guys look thrilled that mommy called them away from playing so that I could take a picture!

I really think H.O. should get a trophy for building six cars in six days!  Quite a few late nights for him!

When race morning came around the kids were excited, even our biggest kid!  The cars were finished and ready to race!

All the kids cars did well finishing well in quite a few heats.  Abby came home with 2nd place and Carrie Anne received 3rd place!  Taylor won 1st place for the leaders!  They were all very excited!

And now, they are planning next year's cars!

Abby's Baptism!

Last summer Abby received Christ as her Savior and last night she was baptized!

She was a mix of excitement and nerves.

We are so excited that four of our six children have made the choice to ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins and then follow his command to be baptized, not to complete their salvation but to show the world they are saved!

Love you Miss Abby!

M&M Math

What could be more fun than learning to add with M&M's??

Well, of course, eating the M&M's when the lesson is done!

Oh, I love teaching Kindergarten again!!  

The older kids all wish they could go back to Kindergarten!

Crazy!

Yesterday it was 71 degrees!

Today...

SNOW!!

And...

the kids loved it!!

This is such crazy weather!

The kids enjoyed getting outside today.  Caleb really liked it.  He has missed all of our snow this winter because he had been in the hospital.  Today was his day to enjoy!

My kids got a school day and a snow day.  They had to finish their school work before I freed them to head outside.  

Seth had just gotten hit by a snowball, you can see the remains still attached to his hat.  As you can see from below Andrew thought it was hilarious that he hit him!  Brotherly love!!

Loved the snow!...Wonder when spring is going to return??

They adore her!

And to think Carrie Anne was the baby of the family for 11 years!

She prayed for a sister for years.

The two little boys, hmm, surprise a bonus!

She makes a great big sister, I'm so glad God gave her that little sister she prayed for and the sweet boys as a bonus.

Seth is on her lap anytime he can get there, he loves her.

What a sweet young lady she is growing into.

Love you Carrie Anne!