Pre-K Graduation

His teacher Ms. Wendy giving him his "diploma."

All the pre-k graduates singing us some sweet songs.

Isaac is now officially a graduate, well a Pre-Kindergarten graduate.  He was very excited about the ceremony and talked all about how they practiced at school.  He was thrilled to get to dress up, he loves wearing his shirt, tie, and dress slacks.  It was a wonderful ceremony, they sang a few songs for us..."Bubble Over," "Hallelu," and "Jesus in the morning."  He sang them all for me ahead of time, but was very shy during the performance.  He had his own fan club there supporting him and celebrating this big event, we are so thankful for our precious family and the support they provide us and our kids.

These past two and a half years at his preschool have been wonderful.  I remember his first day so well, I was so nervous about it all, and I couldn't wait to pick him up.  Now his time there is over and I cannot believe it!  We have both made so many great friends along the way, and so many memories that we will cherish for life!  There have been so many amazing people who have poured into him, sharing Christ's love with him, and teaching him so many important things.  I know he is more than prepared for kindergarten, academically, but he also has a great knowlege of the Word, Christ, and His love for us.  I pray that the Lord continues to be with Isaac and put Christ loving educators in his life as he moves on to this next phase.

Congratulations, Isaac, we are so proud of you and the little man that you are!  We cannot wait to continue this journey with you and see what big things the Lord has planned for you!

How can he be 3!?!

Good morning birthday boy!

Ready to open his presents!

Enjoying his cupcake at his fire station birthday party!

Sitting on the truck at their party at the fire station!

Driving in the mud...his current favorite activity!  After the rain he cannot wait to get out there and check out the mud!

Our little Luke turned 3 this month.  Yes, I'm a little behind, but this month has been jam packed with fun and not much time to blog.  I'm going to try to catch up soon, so we'll start right now with Luke's birthday.  Luke has grown up SO much in this past year.  It's so hard to believe he's 3, but at the same time he sometimes acts even older.

Three words I would use to describe Luke are: sneaky, sweet, and fun loving.  He has a little bit of a rebel streak in him, but he is very sneaky about it...most don't believe it's true.  He is also so sweet, he loves to cuddle, he is so caring of others, and he loves animals!  Isaac is his best friend, he wants to be just like him and do everything that he does, but he considers himself Hannah's protector.  He is always looking out for her and making sure she's safe.  The other day while we were in the pool Hannah started walking towards to the pool by the deep end, he got so nervous, and immediately started to yell to us, "Hannah, mama get Hannah!  Hannah no!"  She was still a few feet away from the edge, but he knew it was dangerous.  In the mornings they always find each other for their morning hug, and they both light up when seeing the other.  Now don't get me wrong, he also has moments of taking her toys and being a typical brother to her, but his need to protect her is always there.  Luke LOVES to have fun!  Like I said, he wants to do everything Isaac does, including driving the fast 4 wheeler, swinging high, and being silly!  Luke's smile is contagious and his laughter is the best.  He is also very focused and serious when he gets into things.  His attention span for things impresses so many, including myself.  He loves to listen to books, even chapter books, but educational books about trains, trucks, or cars are his favorite.  He wants to learn and soaks it all in.  He has an amazing patience for puzzles, he will work hard to complete it and not get frustrated when he can't get it.  He is a thinker.

Luke is still a peanut, he only weighs in at 25 pounds, but the boy is strong, so don't be fooled by his small stature.  Isaac should be thankful he's so small because he often tackles Isaac and puts his full weight on him....that would hurt a lot more if he was an average size or big 3 year old.  :-)

Luke still enjoys playing with his trains, but will really play with anything with wheels.  He knows a lot about cars, and his current obsession is exhaust pipes.  He points out how many a car has, whether or not it smokes, and if it's shiny or not.  When we're driving his often tells me, "Mama push the pedal all the way down!"  Carl has taught him that driving fast is fun, so needless to say he enjoys riding in Carl's camaro, or camomo as Luke says.

Luke is still shy around new people, but not nearly like he used to be.  He opens up much faster than he used to, and he now loves going to Sunday School!  His 3 year check up was his first well check with no tears, it was a big day!  He didn't even cry after the shot, I was so proud of him for being so tough!  Luke is an amazing little boy, I'm so proud of him, and so thankful for who he is and who he makes me.  I love watching him learn and grow...I can't wait to see what this year holds for him!

Here are the answers to his 3 year questionare:

Favorite toy:  4 wheeler and Gator

Favorite Snack:  Nilla Wafers

Favorite TV show:  After much thought he said, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates"

Favorite Activity:  Splashing through the mud

Favorite Food:  Yogurt, which he eats for breakfast every morning

Favorite color:  Red

Favorite thing to do outside:  Driving in the mud

Favorite Song:  "I've been working on the railroad"

Favorite thing to do with Mama and Daddy:  play trains and go for bike rides

Best friend:  Isaac, Colton and Carson, and Colson and Carsyn

Favorite thing to do with Isaac:  Play in the mud

Favorite thing to do with Hannah:  Play in her bed with her

Favorite Animal:  Giraffe...he loves all animals!

What he wants to do when he grows up:  Race car driver

Favorite place to go:  the park

Swim Lessons

The little ones are all smiles in these pictures, but don't be fooled...their swim lessons are serious business.  It took some bribery to get Luke there each day, but it paid off!  We decided to get serious with our swim lessons this year, they are doing the survivor lessons, which teach them to float on their back and then roll over to swim, and float again when tired.  Obviously Hannah is not swimming yet, but she has learned to float on her back.  This is so comforting for us, even though we are so careful around the pool, there is always that chance that she could have an accident.  Unfortunately, they both cried during their lessons and did not enjoy them at all, which I don't blame them, the lessons were intense.  Each lesson was 10 minutes long with constant swimming.  Luke did not cry the last few lessons and for that I was so proud of him!  Hannah did cry every time and even cries now when she goes in the pool, but like I said, I feel it was worth it!  I never would have guessed Luke would learn to swim before he turned 3!  I'm so proud of them for their hard work and perseverance.  Oh, poor Hannah has one more week at the beginning of June...I'm hoping by some miracle she will learn to love floating in the pool.  :-)

Pillow Talk

The boys have shared a room for well over a year now, and they really enjoy it!  I had many hesitations at first, some have come true, but overall it's been great!  They do sometimes wake each other up in the morning, they also talk and keep each other up at night sometimes, but they love their room and their time together. 
Now that Luke is really talking and able to have conversations it's fun to listen to them.  Friday night they were particularly talkative for some reason.  Carl was gone hunting, so I stood outside their door to listen for a minute, then listened more through the monitor.  A portion of their conversation went like this...
Isaac:  "Luke, when you go hunting, you hav to be quiet.  When the animal comes by you shoot it!  Bang!  Then get it and take out the meat.  Even if the animal is going to a party, just shoot it, bang!"
Luke:   "Is there cake at the party?"
Isaac:  "Yes, but you still shoot it.  Did you know that Ella didn't get one bite of her cake at her birthday party?  Her own cake at her own party, not one bite."
Luke:  "Oh, not one bite.  It make her sick?"

Ha ha!  I love the hunting explanation!  And then the way they go from one subject to another, it cracks me up!  These are precious times, full of sweet moments that I want to always remember!  I am so thankful that for right now, at this moment, they are the best of friends...I pray that they always keep this tight bond.

Disney on Ice

This past weekend Carl went hunting, so I had a long weekend with the kids.  I wanted to do something fun, so decided to take the boys to Disney on Ice with Kristin and Taylor.  I was a little hesitant as to how this would go, it could be a lot of fun or it could be scary and end badly.  Friday night while talking in their beds I heard the boys talking about the next day.  Luke asked, "Are we going to Disney World tomorrow?"  Isaac corrected him, "No, we're going to Disney on Ice."  Luke responded, "Oh, Disney World, Ice."  Ha! 

Well, as you can see from the pictures, they loved it!!!  It was a great show, with plenty of variety, and great music.  The show started with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald Duck...all characters they know and love!  Luke's face was priceless, he was mesmerized!  Then there were short versions of many Disney movies, including The Little Mermaid, Brave, Tangled, and Beauty and the Beast.  During The Little Mermaid they had Ursula, the octupus sea witch.  I was worried this would be scary, when she went off stage Isaac asked me if she would be coming back.  I told him no, thinking he was scared of her, but he suprised me and said, "I want her to come back."  After the show he told us she was his favorite part!  What!?!  I was not expecting that!  He also told us that he wants to be the Beast.  Not sure if that's because he was surrounded by smoke and then turned into a prince or if it's because he got the princess.  He won't give me the reason for wanting to be the beast.  Luke's favorite was Mickey...that did not suprise me. 

All three kids did so well, they were well behaved, enjoyed the show, and had a great time! 
I love that we made a fun memory with our special friends!

What a season...

 Isaac had a huge cheering section at his second to last game!

 On his way to score goal #5 of the game!

 Hannah taking Oma for a walk.  :-)

Happy soccer boy!

Isaac's first soccer season has come to an end, but what a fun season it was!  We are so thankful for the great friends he got to play with, and for the blessing of a wonderful coach!  Isaac had a blast, and completely surpassed all of our expectations.  I had heard so many stories about kids' first seasons of sports being painful and not any fun, so I was preparing myself for some struggles.  There was not any of that from our boy, he was always ready to play and anxious to get to the next practice or game.  Isaac is timid in every area of his life, well except driving, but this experience was so good for him!  He was the oldest on the team, but quite a few months, and I think this helped his confidence.  He quickly came out of his shell, and by the last game we convinced him that it was okay to be a little aggressive and to take the ball from other players.  On the way to the last game he told us he wanted to score a lot of goals, so we told him to go for it.  We talked it up, reminded him to run fast, get that ball away from others, and get it to the goal!  We really tried to pump him up.  He said that if he scored too much the coach would tell him to stop, so we told him to score until the coach told him not to.  Apparently our peptalk worked, the first whistle blew and Isaac was off, he immediately got the ball and ran straight for the goal scoring his first goal of the game.  I'm not even sure the other players knew the game had started.  Ha!  Well, that was just the start, he scored two more in the first two minutes!  Isaac was on fire!!!  The smile on his face was priceless!  He continued to play well, but did get tired towards the end.  He scored two more throughout the game, then as the last quarter was about to start he said he wanted one more, he wanted 6 goals.  I told him to go for it, and he did try, he missed two attempts, but ended the game with 5 goals.  We are so proud of him!!!  Isaac loved this season of soccer, he can't wait to play again!  I love seeing his joy for the game! 

 Coach Seth presenting him with his medal and trophy.

We ended the season with a team dinner, where each player was presented a medal and a trophy.  The trophy is really cool, it even has his name on it.  ;-)  Isaac was so excited about it!  Although apparently we need to work on his humility.  He said to me the other day, "Why is my trophy so small?"  I said, "Everyone got the same size trophy."  Isaac said, "Well, I scored so many goals."  "Oh, do you think you should have a bigger trophy since you scored so much?" I asked.  "Yes," was his answer.  Oh goodness, let's start working on being humble.  :-)

Easter 2013

 

Cousins celebrating Easter together.

Colton helping Isaac find a final egg.



 Hannah had her own personal egg "hunt" and she loved it!  She knew right away that she needed to put the eggs in her basket.

 Me and my silly boys after our egg hunt at home.



 Daddy and his little girl before church.

 Luke studying an egg during our egg hunt.

 Off to church!

Luke with his Easter basket, he was so excited!

 Isaac wearing his Easter best for his school Easter day.



 The boys ready for their first egg hunt of the year.  It was at a friend's house and they were so exctied!



Easter was a lot of fun this year. (sorry for the picture overload)  We started our celebrations a couple of weeks early with friends, so that got us in the spirit and focused.  The kids loved the egg hunts, of course!  Even Hannah got the hang of it.  We really tried to focus on the reason why we celebrate Easter.  Throughout the last couple of weeks we read books about Easter, read the story in their bible, and did some activities to focus our hearts and minds on the resurrection of Jesus.  My favorite activity is the Resurrection Eggs.  There are 12 eggs, each has a little something to take us through His death and resurrection.  It really breaks it down for the kids and includes scriptures to go along with it.  Isaac also did them at school, so he had it down, and felt like he could lead us through them.  It was fun to see him take that leadership.  We celebrated Saturday evening with the Griffin family, but unfortunately I forgot my camera.  It was a fun night of dinner, outside play, and of course an egg hunt.  Sunday we went to church, then home for an egg hunt, and nap.  After Hannah's nap we headed to Oma and Opa's house for some fun.  It was a great Easter, another great time to remember the sacrifice He made for us and that He lives.