Saturday, June 28, 2008

Cherishing Hal

On friday joey and I took the kids on dates... Joey took Siah to pick up Uncle Andrew's new scooter in down town San Diego and then to the mall to eat hot dogs and watch hockey... When they got home Joey said that Siah talked about Halee the whole time...

When Hal woke up from her nap she started crying... I asked her a bunch of questions to figure out what might be wrong thinking she might have felt sick or hurt herself or something (she never cries when she wakes up)... then I asked her if she missed Siah and her whimper turned into full blown sobbing and huge elephant tears :)... I thought about it for a moment... then realized how rarely the kids ever spend time apart... They are ALWAYS together :) I'm glad that God has given them such a great love for each other that even at 2 and 3 He truly has given them a deep friendship.

When all this was happening we were sitting on the couch... when Hal's tears stopped I expected Hal to perk right up and get off the couch and go play but she just sat next to me cuddled up against my belly... All these thoughts were going through my head of things that I wanted to get done before I took her out to dinner for our little date...

Aunt Mindy was making chocolate chip muffins in the kitchen and the whole house smelled delightful... There was worship music that my friend Beth wrote, that I just love, playing quietly in the back ground and then I had this thought go through my head, "just enjoy and soak it up. cherish Hal." and so i did... I forgot for the moment all the things that I needed to get done and I held my little girl and rubbed her back oh so gently (she's just like her Papa, she LOVES to be rubbed :). We listened to worship music together and just sat there... She laid on me for nearly 30 minutes (which NEVER HAPPENS)... And it was wonderful!!!! Thank you Lord for allowing me to slow down long enough to soak up one of the best 30 minutes of my life... Thank you for my precious daughter and the tremendous joy that flows out of her little life!!! Thank you for an awesome date with my daughter and for showing me how to CHERISH Hal... :)




Aunt Mindy snapped a picture for me.... :)

Friday, June 27, 2008

The 5 Amigos

One of the many ways that the Lord has blessed our family is through some of the most amazing friendships... This past month we met some new friends... Ali, Brenna, and Braden, are triplets that "aunt" Amy cares for several days a week... We have been so blessed to hang out with them this past month... Here are some fun memories made with our new friends...


Aren't these the best smiles ever!!!

We played hide and seek with Aunt Amy while Mommy made lunch... We don't really understand the concept yet... We go and hide and then when Amy says she's coming to find us
we all run out of our hiding spot to Amy.... all five of us hide in the same spot... We hide in the playhouse then we run and hide under the stairs... Not to worry, we'll figure it out some day :)
Aunt Amy found us under the stairs...

We all walked to the park together down the street from our house and had a picnic in the grass and played on the playground.....

On our walk home we raced each other down the hill... over... and over... and over...

We love you ali, brenna, & braden
We're so thankful for your friendship :)
Thanks for playing with us :)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Chlorine, Counting, and Cake

There is nothing better than a restful nap on a warm summer day, followed by a refreshing swim in a clean sparkling pool, topped off with homemade (from the box) strawberry cake covered with Cool Whip, maraschino cherries, and red sugar sprinkles...all shared with Josiah and Halee! Kacy asked me to blog a little something about our recent Saturday spent with these two little love bundles. A chance to talk about grandchildren?! OKAY! Get comfortable...

We arrived at their home around noon and were met at the door by JoJo and Sweet Halee-Pie squealing, laughing, jumping up and down, and hugging our legs! It is the most wonderful feeling to be loved so completely! MaMa and PaPa were on their way out the door and so after all the good-bye hugs and kisses were exchanged by the Clarks, (and Josiah's usual inquiries as to whether they would be taking "PaPa's Sion XB or MaMa's car" were answered), it was time to get in a quick storybook read before the clock hit naptime. These kids love to have books read to them and we are thrilled to oblige, especially Granny, because she loves making up different voices for the characters and may even be heard pretending to be Mexican when she reads Dora books. After cuddling up to their beloved night-nights (comfort blankets), the kids went to dreamland, and so did Gramps and Granny! ZZZZzzzzz ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz. (The snoring comes from Gramps!)

When we all woke up, we chowed down on a Smith Family favorite, Mac and Cheese (also from the box...) and then drove to our home for a cake baking extravaganza! Josiah and Granny share a deep and abiding love for "cake", just about any kind of cake what-so-ever, and over the previous few weeks, Josiah had talked with me several times about how his favorite cake ever would be a strawberry cake with cherries on it. Sounded wonderful to me, so I had stocked up on everything needed. We gathered in the kitchen and Josiah and Halee each took turns emptying the cake mix into a big bowl and each poured in half of all the other ingredients. The best part for Granny was watching them cracking the eggs and plopping the goop into the bowl. They seemed quite enthralled with the process, and after cleaning all the egg whites off of Halee Pie's sandal and foot, we put the cake in the oven and watched a Dora video, of course!

When the cake was baked, we set it out to cool and then went swimming! Halee decided she wanted to hang out with Gramps at the jacuzzi. Every time I looked over at the two of them, they were sitting side by side, soaking their feet, and talking up a storm! They had an in depth conversation about about the whole wide world, and if I know Gramps, it included his views on politics. They are so sweet together. Josiah and I went to the big pool and had fun practicing blowing bubbles with our faces in the water, cupping our fingers as we paddled, and kicking really hard all the way across the pool. He was excited to swim (while I held him up with my hand under his tummy), to each of the numbers listed on the pool tile designating the water depth. Every time we reached one he'd say, "Granny, that's a 3! or "Siah knows that one's a 5!" (We love the way he talks in the third person!) After a good swim we retired to the condo to watch another episode of...Dora, of course!!!

Afterwards we frosted the cake and they shook on the sugar sprinkles. I emptied the maraschino cherries in a bowl for them so they could easily put them on the cake. Before they started, Josiah looked at the cherries in his hand and then looked at me a little bewildered and asked, "Granny, where do we put the cherries?" I answered, "Anywhere you want to." After a short pause, he put them in his mouth! We had a good laugh and then Halee and I ate a few cherries, too! They made a lovely cake and when MaMa and PaPa arrived with pizza, we had a "yum yum yum yum delicioso" feast and then unveiled the cake. WOW! We took pictures, ate the most delicious and beautifully decorated cake ever concocted, and then we all laughed while PaPa and Josiah made funny faces at each other.

We enjoyed every little thing all day long, and we thank the Lord each and every day for all of our grandchildren. They are all such prized and appreciated blessings. They warm our hearts and we are so thankful. Thanks for letting us share. (P.S. Please know that we don't always feed then so much junk food! Kacy feeds then very healthfully, and this was just a special do-any-thing-we-want kind of day!) Granny Smith with the gift of gab...signing out.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

New Summer, New Tricks

Last summer the kids were slightly intimidated around the water... but this summer they seem to be turning a new leaf (Is that the right expression? Anyways... ) Our brave Halee saw one of her little friends jumping off the side into Uncle Andrew's arms and she told me, "ump, mommy." So i put her up on the side but didn't think she would actually do it, and without any hesitation at all she jumped right into my arms... and came up laughing... "aden, mommy! aden!" (again:) So we got some pictures of her jumping into Papa's arms... Hal, I am so proud of you!!!


Ready...

Set....

Go!!!!!

I can also kick my legs and get myself around the pool...

In the pool on a hot summer day with my Papa... How can life get any better???



Siah, who is usually a little more timid at first has gotten so brave that when he's in his inner-tube he can kick his way from one side of the pool to the other without ANY help!!!! Buddy I am sooooooo proud of you!!!


I'm "all by self" in the middle of the pool!!!
I kicked my legs all the way to Papa...

This is my friend Brenna... we like to race in our inner-tubes... If you can enlarge this picture, check out "my happy face"...

Papa, one of my bestest friends...


Siah and Hal are learning so many new things and I feel so blessed to be home with them to witness so many of their accomplishments!! Blessing upon blessing :)

Joy in the Beginning of the End;

Thank you babe... for being my best friend...
And FOR MAKING ME LAUGH!!!!!
So yesterday marked the beginning of the end of this pregnancy... I am officially "FULL TERM"!!! Hooray!!!! We went to the doctor yesterday and things look GREAT!!! I am already 4cm dilated... Sounds exciting huh? But the doc said that it could easily be a several more days... I walked around at 3cm for three weeks with both Josiah and Halee and felt totally normal the whole time... So we'll just have to wait and see.. :)

Things i loved about this pregnancy... My black stretchy skirt that I wore about 5 days a week... My loud belly laugh... the unexplainable joy and energy that the Lord has given me with my two toddlers... pretty much nauseous free... No swelling... No high blood pressure... half the amount of weight gained with the other kids... I feel sooooo good and UNBELIEVABLY blessed!!!!

So much so that yesterday when i left the doctors office i asked Joey if I could treat myself to a donut... Of course he said yes and we drove down to the road to a little "hole in the wall" donut shop... I went in by myself to get "A" donut and ended up ordering a half a dozen... but then realized that they only accepted cash (which i didn't have)... i went out to the car to ask Joey for some cash.. He said "sure, how much do you need?" I said, " $5". He looked at me and with a chuckle said, "what, are you buying donuts for the whole circus? How many donuts are buying? I thought you just wanted "A" donut?

And then the laughter started... I couldn't stop laughing enough to tell him that "everything just looked so good and i couldn't decide."

Then he just kept going... " are you trying to gain those twenty pounds in the last few weeks?"
"did you buy one donut for yourself, one for the baby, one for your belly, one for each leg?"
i can't even remember all the comments... and as I write them down I am realizing that they are not NEARLY as funny as i was making them out to be... I was laughing so hard that I could have laughed this baby right out of me onto the street...

It turned out that Joey only had one dollar bill and four quarters... So I went back in to the donut shop and tried to compose myself enough to tell the lady that I could only afford to buy one donut ... she gave me a sweet look and in her asian accent said, "honey, you look like you need whole box... you take now, pay next time..." Well that set me off again... i went out to the car and told Joey what she had said.

Joey made comments and cracked jokes the whole way home... What a way to finish up this pregnancy with laughter and joy...

God constantly reminds me of all the things that I really love about Joey... this week i felt so grateful that after being together for ten years i still find his jokes just as funny as I did way back when... and the funniest part about it is that the jokes are almost always the same... Every night when we watch jeopardy on TV and Joey answers almost every question with the same answers... "Who is... Ben Dover"... I'll spare you his other answers... but it's a given... every night I laugh as if I was hearing the joke for the first time... EVERY STINKIN NIGHT!!!

Just a few more days babe until we meet our third little guy... Thanks for making this beginning of the end of this stage of our lives so joyful... I sure do love ya!!!!!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Totally Funny Gross


Last night Halee told me that she needed to go potty so I told her she could go into the bathroom if she wanted to, normally she's not allowed in the bathroom without an adult(no, she's not potty trained, she just talks about whatever josiah talks about so coincidentally she usually "needs" to go potty right around the same time as Josiah , all day long.) Anyways, she went into the bathroom and came out about ten seconds later and proudly showed me her sopping wet hands and proclaimed, "I osh ands!!!! (I wash hands)...

I thought for a second what might have happened cuz I know that she can't reach the sink even with the stool in the bathroom... Then it dawned on me...

I asked Halee to show me where she "washed her hands." She ran back into the bathroom... i followed close behind but I wasn't fast enough and she plunged her hands right back in the toilet and joyfully shouted, "all keen!!!" (all clean) She's TOTALLY FUNNY GROSS!!!!

(This is probably why we have the rule of not going into the bathroom "all by self," (which is the famous line around here these days:)

Monday, June 16, 2008

Wanna Guess

Me @ 37 weeks

Today i have been feeling a little "Different"... whatever that means???? :) It could mean we're gonna have a baby in a few hours or it could mean a few more weeks... The truth is that I am SOOOO Excited about this baby that I feel like I'm anticipating Christmas morning, My wedding day, the day I met my children, the day I get to eat chocolate cake with the Lord and all my dearest family and friends ALL AT ONCE!!! I can hardly contain myself!!!! This kid is so loved!!!!!!!

So to pass some time I thought that it might be kinda fun to let you all guess whether it's a boy or a girl... If you have any name ideas we would be happy to hear them as we have a few weeks to go and nothing solid in mind :)

If you can "vote" in the comment section it would be kinda fun cuz at the end of the year I would like to turn our blog into a "blog book" (check out blurb.com... it's actually one of the coolest things ever :)... and it would be fun to have all YOUR votes in the book... But if you have trouble with posting your comment you can send your vote through email too :)

I just thought that it would be kinda fun :) So Guess away!!!!!!!

Some comments from email...

From Tracie: My Guess is Girl
and I think you should name her Charlotte and call her Charlie :-),

From Paige: I think it will be a boy! And maybe the name Jonathan?
I LOVE YOU GUYS! And I can’t wait to meet your new wipper snapper!,

From Kalli:
hello clark family!
my dad and i have some votes for you for this new loved baby!
so my dad thinks it will be a boy.
he likes the name Jonah! haha.
i think a girl.
i really like the name Sadie...i know a few
others on your blog like it too...but if not Sadie
i still really love the name Emma!
so i say Emma.
:)
also if it is a boy you wanna be like Superman
my dad says you can name him Kent,
so it would be Kent Clark...kinda like
Superman being Clark Kent? hahahahaha
just a thought.
love you guys!

From Mindy: I loved your post....So cute and i can't wait for the baby to come. I am making a wild guess and going to say it is a BOY! The name will be Zachary. (I really dont know!) haha


From Granny DeeDee:
Yeah, I say girl - Kyra Spencer Clark. (Who Knows from whence the name came.)

From Jamie Rau:

I have a good feeling for a girl... named Maddie or Alison?
but if it is a boy I've always been preferable to Andrew because i never met an Andrew I didn't like. When I<>
Cheers!!

From Katie Pazan:
I THINK IT IS A GIRL AND I LOVE THE NAME NOAH ELIANA CLARK!

From Gramma Judy:
so I just wanted to say that if it is a girl – I like the name Jessica and the name Sadie too! If it is a boy – Josuah would be really cool!! xoxo



Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Papa's Day Papa... We love you!!

Papa.. we made this sign for you for Papa's day... You can't really read it cuz we kept standing in front of it... but we really did try to stand to the side like mommy said to... but we just love each other so much that we kept inching our way back towards the middle.. Oh well, you get the idea right :)

This is how close we really like to be...
We made our famous silly faces just for you to brighten your day...
Mommy asked us what we love about Papa...
I said, " I play with Papa, I Play with Papa, I PLAY WITH PAPA!"
I said, "I like to ride in Papa's Scion XB!!!" I want Papa go to the park with me. Can we go to the park with Papa? Granny come to? We go to park with Papa."
We love you Papa... all day, everyday...

Hi My Love,
I wanted to tell you too how much I absolutely adore you too! You are the most amazing treasure that Lord has given me... I love the way that you love on our kids and the way that you love on me EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE YEAR!!! You are the most amazing Papa. You genuinely love spending time with the kids and they are so blessed by the way that you patiently teach them and play with them and speak truth to them and tell them about their sweet Savior, and consistently discipline them and make them laugh, and show them new things. i seriously couldn't ask for a better Papa for our kids... i can't wait for the third one to meet his/her Papa because you are the most wonderful man that I know :)
I Love you Babe...
HAPPY PAPA'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, June 13, 2008

We Love You "Bithy"

Buddies for life...
Forever friends....

How precious is this girl????

Today is our last day with Elizabeth for a little while , at least until after the baby comes... She hasn't even been gone for a day and we already miss her... Siah, Hal, and Bithy have become such good friends over the year that Bithy has been at our house... It feels kinda strange knowing that she won't be around for awhile...

WE love you Bithy and we are so grateful for the time that the Lord has given us with you... You are a sweet treasure in our lives!!! Thanks for hanging out with us this year :)

Love You FOREVER AND ALWAYS... Miss Kacy, Siah, and Halee (and Mr. Joey too :)

Thursday, June 12, 2008

I Chose to be inconsistent


For several months now we have been trying to train Halee and Josiah that after we say good night and close the door that it's "quiet time." Josiah picked up on it fairly quickly... there are still a few nights here and there that he will talk but for the most part he's quiet after we leave... Halee -belle on the other hand must have to much that she feels she needs to say...

The nightly conversation goes like this...
(Mommy or Papa, we trade off :) "Halee, When mommy closes the door you need to be quiet. What does quiet mean?" (Halee) She puts her finger up to her mouth and says "Shhhh, no talk, no cream (scream), no oise (noise). I uiet (quiet)." (Mommy or Papa) "That's right. No talking. What happens when you talk?" (Halee) She shouts with a huge smile on her face, "POP" (that's what we call spankings around here :) (Mommy or Papa) "That's right. So no talking. Do you understand?" (Halee) "Yes Mama." (even when Papa's talking to her she says "yes mama". maybe she's overly trained to say it :)...

Then we pray together with the kids. And every night they both ask God "to help them be quiet."

Then hugs.. kisses... good night... close the door... we wait outside the door

No joke... 20 seconds later... EVERY NIGHT... Halee starts talking... usually I have no idea what she's saying... i open the door... walk over to her bed and give her a pop on her leg... She cries... I tell her again what I expect of her.. She repeats it back to me... I tell her how much I love he and that is why I want to teach her to obey my words... she stops crying, smiles at me and hugs me... I leave the room... lately one pop has been enough and she's quiet for the rest of the night. But for the most part we are quite consistent with this routine now that they share a room so that they can both have the opportunity to go to sleep with some peace and quiet :) (important to me, clearly not as important to them :)

But last night... I was standing outside the door waiting... and I heard Josiah talk first... which he rarely does... so i decided to listen before I opened the door...

He said, "Halee, you scared?" She said, "Yem" (cuz that what she says instead of "yes") He said, "Wanna pray?" She said, "Yem" He said, "Dear Jesus, help me's and Halee no be scared. In Jesus name Amen." Then it was silent.

There was NO WAY that I was going to go in there to pop them for talking!!!! What could possibly bless my heart more than to hear my son pray for his sister!!!!!!!!

So i chose to be inconsistent :) and for the first night in months my halee-belle went to sleep without a "Pop" and without a peep :)

PS... I don't think Halee was really scared... She says "Yem" to almost everything that you ask her... Last week I asked her if her ear hurt... she said "Yem'... So to see if it was really true I asked her a series of questions... "Does your arm hurt?", "Yem"... "Do you wish you had black hair", 'Yem"... "Do you know how to spell your name?" , "Yem"...

But it was cute anyway :)

Sanctification and Suffering


I'm not really sure where to begin... It's been one of those weeks that I feel so overwhelmed by and yet somehow amazing close to my Savior... Things just keep coming...

Last week a friend who just found out that she's pregnant broke out in a horrible rash all over her body... She went to the doctor... they couldn't figure out what it was and they couldn't do anything for her and she was very limited in the treatments she could even try because of the pregnancy... She said she felt like Job when he had boils all over his body... There was absolutely nothing that I could do to help her...

Then on Sunday my brother and sister in law received some disappointing news about a possible job in CA... Truth be told I didn't realize how high i had let my hopes get about the job until I found myself weeping alone in my car when I found out... I love them so much and i guess I was just secretly hoping they would get to live closer....

Then two nights ago another friend lost her baby... She was 20 weeks along... Yes, 20 STINKIN WEEKS!!! It brought back a flood of memories...

Finally yesterday, i was at a friend's house and I tripped on her rug... when I was trying to catch myself my muscles tighten up in my pelvis area and I felt a huge RIP... I wasn't sure what I had
done ... i didn't think much of it until i started driving home and realized that I hadn't felt the baby move in a while and that the pain in my pelvis was getting worse and worse...
We ended up spending the afternoon in the doctor's office... They gave us a private lounge room to hang out in while we waited... and while in that room I had the most sweet time with my Savior...

Earlier this week i read this...
"Receive every inward and outward trouble, every disappointment, pain, uneasiness, temptation, darkness and desolation, with both thy hands, as a true opportunity, and blessed occasion of dying to self, and entering into a fuller fellowship with thy self-denying, suffering Savior....
We must learn to welcome and embrace suffering as a pathway to sanctification and a doorway into GREATER INTIMACY WITH GOD!"

While i was in the doctor's office I found myself beginning to thank the Lord for all the events that he had so purposefully brought into my life this week... i thought about all the times that i got to pray fervently for and with my friends this week with a genuine heart of true compassion that I was only able to have because of what the Lord has already so graciously brought me through... I thought about the Lord holding me in my car as i wept over the news about my brother's job and how this week I was personally held by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who so humbly drew me near... in my car... exactly when and where I needed him... I thought about weeping with my friend who lost her baby and how I didn't really have to say anything because now we were both experiencing the loss together... My heart genuinely knew her pain, not because of anything of me but because four years ago when I lost my boys, the Lord knew that I would be sitting in that living room with my friend yesterday...

As I was sitting there in the doctor's office the Lord reminded me that i needed to release this baby # 5 to him... He has brought events with each one of my children during my pregnancy's that have reminded me that my children belong to Him and that I only have them because he has been so gracious to lend them to me... So I found myself sitting there with tears streaming down my face telling the Lord that whatever his will was I knew that he would carry me through and that I trusted him... no matter what...

After four hours of waiting... we had an ultra sound and the baby was more than fine... It ended up that i tore a muscle and i need to "take it easy" these next three weeks before the baby comes... Lord thank you for your grace... thank you for weeks like these that draw me so near to you...

You're sanctifying me...
You're drawing me near....
and there's no other place that I would rather be...

"The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." 1 Peter 5:10

Thank you Lord for loving on me this week :)

Friday, June 6, 2008

Sweet Family Times...

Today was a special treat... We got to see our Aunt Kristin and Uncle Beau, And our cousins Asher and Eden... They live in Colorado but today they were in Huntington Beach... So we took a little road trip with Granny and drove up to Huntington Beach to hang out for a few hours... We opened gifts that everyone had brought from different holidays that we missed in each other's lives this past year in the parking lot ... It was like Christmas on the asphalt :) Granny gave Halee a hat that she fell in love with and wanted to wear THE WHOLE DAY :) Granny got me a Mini Diego monster truck that I carried around everywhere...THANK YOU GRANNY!!! I got to eat part of Mommy's chocolate banana shake at Ruby's on the pier where we ate lunch which was DELICIOUS!!!! I would have eaten the whole thing but mommy loves chocolate banana shakes so she was only willing to share so much with me :) Thank you Lord for the times that we get to spend with our family... they truly are blessed times!!!!!!!!

The whole Family..
Mommy and me at the beach...
Halee and Cousin Eden building sand castles....
Halee and Eden got matching hats from Granny....

Signing out for now,
Josiah Malachi

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Thank you Bagel Shop Lady

MY BLESSINGS!!!

I was at the bagel shop the other day with all three kids and my belly (for those who don't know, i watch the most amazing little girl three days a week. Her name is Elizabeth and she's right in the middle of Josiah and Halee. So when I have all three of them it sometimes looks to others like I have triplets!!). Anyways As I was standing in line I heard the lady behind me mumble (rather loudly) to herself "Have you ever heard of birth control?" I turned around and realized by the not so kind look on her face that her comment was aimed towards me.

I didn't say anything to her but ever since I left the bagel shop I haven't been able to stop thinking about it...
For some reason her comment made me kinda sad... but then today I was sitting on the floor folding laundry and Halee came up to me and asked me to tickle her... I pulled her into my lap and started to tickle her and then I began to hear the best belly laugh ever!!! Then my heart got sad for that lady... who made that comment... in the bagel shop... because not a day goes by that i don't get to hear a belly laugh. And not a day goes by that I don't get to hear little voices say "I wuv ewe mommy." And not a day goes by that I don't get to hear my innocent children talk to God like their already best friends. Not a day goes by that my son doesn't remind me, "I love my Papa, Mommy. I love my sister, Mommy. I kiss her and I hug her. I love my sister." Not a day goes by that I don't get to witness the sweet joy that my children have as they play together. Not a day goes by that I don't get to look at my children's faces and watch them as they try to process new ideas and concepts. Not a day goes by that i don't get to watch the little people in my life discover their world...

And blessing on top of blessing... Not a day goes by that I am not asking my Savior for guidance and wisdom in caring for my kids... And if I have to ask God for things then that means that I have to go into his presence... And if I have to go into his presence then I am one BLESSED woman because there is no better place on earth than to be in the presence of a God who loves me and wants to draw me close to himself!
Thank you bagel shop lady for reminding me of how much the Lord has blessed my life and blessed my belly with lots of babies :) I am SO GRATEFUL!!!!

Monday, June 2, 2008

I Love Spaghetti Night

I love spaghetti night at our home... We usually take the kids shirts off cuz somehow they are able to get sauce EVERYWHERE! You can't tell in this picture but Halee even managed to get some on her back...

"Mo sket pease mommy"
They LOVE spaghetti...
It's kinda hard to tell but the sauce is all over their bellies...
I love that they love each other even more than they love spaghetti...
I love Spaghetti night at our home! And I LOVE these kiddos!!!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Watch out for the snow bears...

Papa, Siah and Hal crossing the "forest" to avoid the snow bears...
The tire swing with Papa
Siah so proud of climbing the bars all by himself...
The Bear Cave...

One of my favorite qualities that the Lord has given Josiah is his incredible imagination... Which I must admit, i absolutely love about him. With Josiah nothing is what it seems to be, the plastic blue spoon is the key that opens the trunk of his "motorcycle" which is really Halee's purple princess bike. I'm not sure how it all started but according to Josiah there's "snow bears" everywhere... Every night when we walk by Halee's old bedroom he puts his finger up to his mouth and says "SHHH, quiet Mama, the snow bear asleep in there. We no want to wake him up." Every time that we back out of the driveway (no matter where we are going) He reminds me, "Mama, make sure to watch out for the snow bears."

So today when we ALL woke up from naps, we took a walk to the park, and our walk quickly turned into a "bear hunt". We have these huge open fields by our house with lots of mature trees that make for a perfect adventure... As they skipped (more like a gallop, hop, run all mixed together type of movement) across the field with Papa, Josiah warned everyone about the snow bears... When we got to the park the green tunnel quickly became the "bear cave" and the swings became some kind of flying machine to quickly escape from the snow bears.

Josiah's imagination always make the "same old, same old," walk to the park sooo much more fun! Thanks for taking us on our bear hunt today budddy! I had the best time with you :)





One of my favorite qualities that God has given Halee is her bravery... She's willing to try anything and I absolutely love that about her!!!!! So here is a video of my brave little Halee who is only two and she can climb right up this ladder like it's no big deal... Way to go babe!!!