Birthdays!

Whew!

February is always a whirlwind and this year was no exception... Ground Hog's Day, Zane and Isaac's Birthdays, George and Abe's birthdays, Birthday parties, Valentine's Day, Winter Olympics, roller skating, ice-skating, piano lessons, broken cribs, vomit, music classes, Mary Kay and Awana...am I forgetting anything? :)

And you are absolutely right...I would not trade it for the world (well, maybe the vomit- or at least the vomit sheets- T.M.I.?!)! That said, however, I am always a bit relieved when March comes along and there is a little more time for the little things...like breathing! :)

So, I know I'm a little heavy on the photos, but when you spend as much time blogging as I do, it just can't be helped! :)

February 6
Happy 2nd Birthday, Zane! We love you!

You've certainly been blessed with a good set of lungs! :)

Zane loves his new hairball! :) We all do! A word of advice...don't fire it like a missile to a 3rd grader without warning (not that I would do that...just saying).

Hee, Hee, Hee!

February 9
Happy 9th Birthday, Isaac! We love you! And goodness gracious, stop getting older!

Mmm... Isaac wanted to make his own birthday dinner for us: grilled cheese and salad. It was delightful!

That is Ice-Mario throwing an iceball on the cake, b.t.w. Just in case you were confusing him with regular Mario! :)

Ooh! A Mario Kart Winter Olympics game for the wii (Not that anyone's excited about it or anything)!

Josiah and Isaac

Is there anything cooler than having your best friend tell his mom weeks before your birthday, that he know exactly what he wants to get you...and that is a Bible?! Wow! That is really neat!

Mobbed by love

Grandma Shaw got to be here to help celebrate Isaac and Zane's birthdays, help with homeschooling, help with cleaning and laundry (fun), help with food prep and cleanup, go to AWANA, go ice-skating, watch Olympics and enjoy a music class. It was so wonderful to be able to see her and share some of our daily life with her. So glad I-80 turned out to be mostly beautiful!

Each Day is Like a Suitcase...

July 1- Homeschool soccer in the morning with friends, p.b. and j. picnic for lunch (not me...I had ranchero chicken tacos from taco bell!), splash park in the afternoon with friends and cloudburst to go!
July 2- Off to the wonderful library for a great stack of books!
July 3- Brandishing swords with daddy!
... Perfectly summer!

Isaac, Nathaniel, Zane, Josiah and Colby

Luckily, I was quick... notice that fiendish look in his eyes!?!

Double C, still 3!

Ah, much better playing in the water here, than squirting mommy with the faucets at home...right?!! :)

We love Mrs. H...what a great friend! And the lady in the background (no idea who she is), graciously spent a large portion of her time at the park receiving large rocks that Zane gifted her.
Ian's artwork...wow, that's close! Is that Mary Kay eye-liner and mascara that I'm noticing?...sure has held up well at the splash park!...Hmmm...wonder where I could order some of that?!! :)

Not as cold as Lake Huron...but definitely making a case! :)

Josiah and Isaac had such a great time making Zane sit on the fountains...giggle, giggle, giggle!

July 2
Isaac and Ian, sharing a good read...
July 3
"Absolutely, I would love to share this car with you, my friend and my brother!"
"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart..." Proverbs 15:30
...a daily dose of Jedi!

Swashbuckling

Lots of love

All of these snippets remind me:

"Each day is like a suitcase-every person gets the same size, but some people figure out how to pack more into theirs. Life is short... forget about practical and decide instead to be a joy collector. Always be on the look out for gifts without ribbons. God is strewing them across your path right now...Enjoy the little things because one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things!"

~Barbara Johnson~

Fun in the Sun!

I don't know what the actual temperature was today, but wow...it was beautiful! In fact, we were actually hot sitting outside on the patio! What a perfect day for getting together with friends!

Front: Ian, Isaac, Ezekial, Colby
Back:Nathaniel, Josiah

This picture of Colby reminds me of the classic elementary school yearbook line:

U.R.

2 cool

2 B.

4 gotten

Isaac, sitting in the tree

We have this great pine tree in our new backyard and the boys are having so much fun thinking up new ways to ummm... make us look the other way!

They have all kinds of creative plans for making good use of it...from making slides and houses to somehow launching rockets! One day they were actually trying to put a chair up in the tree...

Josiah, standing in the tree

Zane is sooooo loved by his brothers! Nothing makes Ian happier than getting to hold his little friend!