Happy Birthday Ellie

My sweet little girl is 6 years old! I can hardly believe it. She has grown up way too fast. Here are a few things about my now 6 year old baby girl:
She loves her bothers and really loves her new baby sister.
According to her (and her Daddy who really likes her long hair)her hair could be longer and trimmed less by her Mama. She can still wrestle with her brothers and Daddy as long as her underwear do not show. Headbands are cool. She is not convinced(by her Mama) that skinny jeans are cute, especially if she tucks them into her boots. Her Moms style advice is officially uncool even if it really is...cool. Her room is her space now, which means that Mom cannot paint her walls a different color every month like she does the rest of the house. Oh yea, and brothers are only allowed in her room when invited. See likes to line up her dolls and stuffed animals up in her room and read stories to them. She still shares stories about Arna, who she now openly admits is her pretend friend. Her heart has been captured by the Lord and is growing closer to Him each day. She likes to put on shows about stories she has heard in the Bible. She is in her 2nd year of home schooling. She is learning to read and write her own stories. She likes Bob books but wishes they had more girly things in them like princesses. She is blessed with a servants heart and is always willing to help. She can pick her little sis up and carry her as well as change her, rock her, sing to her, and put her to sleep. She likes her nails painted and wants them to be long like Mama's. Practicing her hand writing is her least favorite thing to do. She still tells me lots of times during the day how much she loves me. She still enjoys dressing up. Her favorite things to eat are noodles.
I could go on and about my little Ella...I mean big Ella. What a blessing she is to me and to those who know her. She was created to do great things for the Lord and I am so blessed to be a part of what the Lord has planned for her. She is the light that brightens my day and she fills my world with a joy that only the Lord can create. She is my sweet girl!!

Happy B-day Aunt Lindsey!

We celebrated Aunt Lindsey's b-day almost a month late because we had been yucky sick for her real birthday. We had cake at our house and took her and Uncle out for dinner. We went to an Italian restaurant called Maggianos. Yummy!!! It was so good. We ate family style and re fired(aka ordering 2nds and 3rds and 4ths) on salad, pastas appetizers and even desserts. Afterwards we went shopping at the mall in search for a gift for our special Aunt. Good times!! Happy b-day again Aunt Lindsey! We love you!!
You can't see the cake in the picture because it is glowing white from my not so good camera lens and flash. It was my first real homemade, from scratch, chocolate cake. It turned out ok. Hey Lexi, if you are reading this I now know that I really must take one of your cake classes.

Brothers

Aren't they just the cutest? They are almost the same size. Graham likes to play with or wear anything that is his brothers, except for underwear, he wants nothing to do with underwear right now, even if they are his cool older brothers. I guess come spring he will have to go camping with Daddy who will accidentally forget diapers and require Graham to pee on trees.

Christmas at our house

This is our 08' Christmas Slideshow. I tried using a new slideshow website and for some reason I can't post the actual slideshow on my blog. Just click below and you can view it from their site. I don't like this site very well. Their slideshow cut the heads off of most of the people in the photos. Oh well, I will try a re-do and post it soon. Merry Christmas!!!

What did Eden get for Christmas? Her thumb!!

Merry Christmas

Too Cute

I am so excited about this pretty little quilt kit.It is so cute that it deserves to be posted again.

Bubby

I was putting Eden to bed tonight and I can hear a conversation that Bubby is having with Darren. "Daddy? How many more days until Christmas? 11 Days? I can't wait! I am going to give Jesus a big hug for his birthday....pause....but he isn't going to be here....pause...how is He going to eat his cake?"
He is having a hard time thinking about celebrating Jesus' birthday without Jesus actually physically being at His own birthday party.
The other day he asked me when he was going to see Jesus. I explained to him that he will see Jesus when he goes to Heaven. He replied, "is that a long time away?"
Bubby really wants to see Jesus. He explains to us how much he loves Jesus and how he wants to see him. If you know Bubby you know how much he dislikes waiting.....waiting for anything. So, telling him he will see Jesus in Heaven is somewhat painful for the poor kid considering it will most likely be a while until he sees Jesus.

Merry Christmas to ME!!!!

I am so excited!!!! I finally found the quilt kit that I have been looking for. Let me tell ya, they are not easy to find. Darren bought it for me for Christmas. Check out the vintage look of the fabric and the crazy quilt pattern! I love the brown loops fabric from Moda. I can't wait to get started. All I need now is to find a quilter to quilt the top of my quilt when I am finished. I do not want to attempt to hand quilt it or use my small machine for such a big job. Anybody know a local quilter I could use?

Read all about it!!!

My friend and fellow homeschool mom, Lexi, has taught me that Fridays are good days for cleaning. Let the big cleaning go during the week, spend time with your kids and know that everything will get cleaned on Friday. Well, I have been doing this for some time now and it works well with our schedule. So far the kids really like helping. Give Graham a pile of wipes and he is busy for a while. Darren's new best friend is the vinegar and water solution in a squirt bottle. He cleans the entire bathroom and totally had fun doing it. He thinks the squirt bottle is the greatest thing ever. Ella is always willing to help do anything. On this particular Friday it was her job to show her brother how to properly use the vacuum and the dirt devil hand vac. She is a very teachable little girl.
It may not last long, my enthusiastic child helpers/cleaners, so I am going to brag as much as I can.

Delightful Eden

Bunk Beds

While we were in Columbus for Thanksgiving Grandpa and Grandma Baldwin passed down their bunk beds to our boys. Art and his brother Chuck slept in them when they were boys, Darren and David slept in them when they were little, and now our boys are continuing the tradition. Thank you Grandpa and Grandma!!!!
The boys were so excited. I have to admit I was just as excited if not more. They both sleep in their room together now at nap time. Graham was in the pack-n-play in our room at nap, but, he wants nothing to do with it now that he has a big boy bed. Graham also wants nothing to do with his blanket that his Grandma made for him. I think he associates it with his crib. He only wants his new big boy pillow and blanket. Why did he have to give up the sweet blanket? I wish he would have given up the paci instead?

Treasure Hunt Pictures: Before and After Shots

I thought a few more pictures of the treasure hunt happenings needed to be posted for those of you who were not there. A before shot of all the cousins and the after shot of the kids faces....priceless. I love the expression on Ella's face when they finally discover the half eaten treasure.

Thanksgiving

It is almost Christmas and I am finally getting a few photos of Thanksgiving up on my blog. It has been a rough couple of weeks...well month. We have been fighting chest colds that do not want to go away. They started at Thanksgiving and are still hanging around.
We did however get to eat Thanksgiving at my sister's and brother-in-laws house this year. The food was great and their home was awesome! Kevin and my Dad did a great job building the house. I wish I would have gotten some good pics of the greatness however, we were only able to stay long enough to eat and infect everyone with our horrible cold. So, so, sorry Amie, Kevin, Mom, and Dad.
We also had Thanksgiving with the Baldwin's. Again we ate, infected everyone with our colds and oh yeah, did our annual scavenger hunt for treasure. The kids look forward to this every year and this year a stupid racoon ruined the fun. Here my kids are, excitedly hunting the treasure out while fighting colds, and not getting much sleep, only to find a dead racoon and a half eaten treasure!! It was sad but funny at the same time. We were confussed all day as to how the racoon stole the treasure. I keep telling the kids it was swiper, that sneaky fox is always trying to swipe our stuff.

Check out this slide show of Ella helping take care of Eden. I have been fighting a bad cold and have needed some help. Ella to the rescue. She can change wet diapers, feed Eden a bottle, sing her to sleep while holding her, and pick her up and carry her. WOW, we are entering a new stage of life.....and I kinda like it!!!

Darren gets just as many smiles out of Eden as Ella does!

Oreo Truffles

We made these really yummy oreo truffles from bakerella's blog on Saturday. We had lot of fun making a mess and sampling our creations. Ours were not as pretty as bakerella's but they sure were tasty.

Crush 1 package of double stuff oreos in food processor. Add 1 package room temperature cream cheese and mix until it becomes like cookie dough. Form into balls and place on a lined cookie sheet. Place in frig until firm. In a double boiler melt 1 package Meijer brand white chocolate bark. Using a toothpick dip oreo balls in the chocolate. Place back on cookie sheet and place in frig to set.

Christmas Gifts

If you are looking for unique gifts for someone special this Christmas check out the Etsy shop at www.etsy.com and look at designer DriKab for adorable hand made bags and KatinKapinka for great jewelry and clothes. If you know me, you know that I heart any type of bag for carrying things. DriKaB bags are the cutest bags I have seen in a while. If I could figure out how to post a picture of it I would.

Quote of the Day

"If we could understand everything God does, then He'd have to be a small god--small enough to fit in our little minds."

~ Randy Alcorn ~

Mondays

Mondays were always the most difficult day of the week for us....the weekend is over and another week begins. Now that our kids are older and school is getting more fun, I actually look forward to Mondays. Every Monday is our Home schooling Co-op day. I go to bed Sunday evening with the house tidied up, the kids clean, I have showered and lunches are made. Monday morning we get to have a relaxing, yet still a bit chaotic breakfast-I do have three kids under 6years of age and a new born, together with our ABC bible devotional. The kids love this book. It has a bible verse for each letter in the alphabet and has a cute story that incorporates the bible verse and is easy for my kiddos to relate to. After everyone is "fed" and dressed we are off to Co-op for the day. I love that my kids are able to participate in such fun biblical classes and at the same time be with me. I love that I get to witness them hit milestones in their learning. I love that I get to witness my kids making new friendships. I love that I don't have to wonder about how their school day was because I was a part of it.

Now for all you home schooling Moms, or Moms with multiple little ones not yet in school, you know what it is like having kids at home 24/7. It is a blessing, but with the blessings comes a not so tidy or on most days clean house. HOWEVER, on Mondays I get to come home to a house that has not seen a spill or catastrophe all day. I don't have to cook and make a mess in the kitchen because we are either having left overs from Sunday or something is ready for us in the crock pot when we get home. Yes, Mondays are now one of my favorite days of the week.

Bath time

Decorating for Christmas 2008

Stimulating

Most of you know that I have a thing with painting furniture and accessories black. I painted this painting a few months ago and it is one of Eden's favorite things to look at. The high contrast is very stimulating to her. She really likes to lay on the couch and look at it. She smiles and even giggles at it. I guess she knows that her mama is not the best artist.

My hubby

Isn't my Husband handsome? There is something about him when he is holding one of our new little ones.

School

Here is Ella practicing her writing and memorizing her bible verse for school. While she was working on her writing I was working with Graham. He really enjoys school time when he gets to play with the counting vehicles and pattern beads. Right now we are working on his colors, patterns, sorting, and matching. Darren is at preschool on our home school days but next year he will be doing Kindergarten with us. While Ella and I finish school when Darren gets home from preschool the boys usually play. There is a picture in the slide show of an example of a secret club that boys make in Darren's room or sometimes on stairs. Ella joins in on the secret club making after school. What fun it is to share in my kids play and their learning.

This year for Halloween we went to Chucky Cheese. The kids didn't have much fun last year tricker treating. Every time Ella saw a bride or princess they would turn around with blood on the face or something scary. We only made it to a few houses and we had to force them to go to them. So, this year we decided to have fun. The kids had never been to Chucky Cheese. They had a lot of fun. You can see in the pictures that the boys were a bit unsure of the singing Chucky and his friends. We don't have many pictures of Ella. One of her friends from Co-op was there so she was busy.

Saturday Mornings

Every Saturday morning Darren wakes the kids up at 7. I know, we are crazy for waking them on a weekend but any of you who know Darren, know that he is an early riser. So, they all pile in the front seat of his truck with their PJs on and head to the bakery to pick out a fresh bagel for breakfast. Sometimes they pick me a sweet something and bring me breakfast in bed. You can see in the picture that Graham has to be transported to the bakery in one of the toddler carts. Do I have a sweet family or what?

Your cheeks are so cute I just want to squeeze them!!

Your cheeks are so cute I just want to squeeze them!!

Sick Days

We have all had colds for weeks now. Eden's has lasted the longest at 4 1/2 weeks. Needless to say we are not getting much sleep. We have been stuck in the house for a while, so for fun Daddy set up his tent in the basement. The kids have had tons of fun reading books, playing blocks, pretend playing and watching a couple movies in the tent. The tent has been hours of fun. I think it is going to stay up all winter.

Trip to Huesten Woods with the Baldwins

Baldwin in a Bowl

When our new baby is around four or five weeks we take a picture of them in a salad bowl that we have and hang the photo in our bathroom. Here is the lastest Baldwin in a bowl.

Your neighborhood friendly firefighter

Twins

Maybe he has more than one twin

We were at Miami's Huesten Woods swimming a couple of weeks ago. I love this picture. Ella and her Daddy look so much alike.