Parent/Student/Teacher Conference

A couple of weeks ago we had Sofia's second semester parent-teacher conference.  This time the students were active participants.  Sofia gave us (mommy, daddy, Selah and Isaiah all attended) a hands on look at what she does at school.

First up was for her to read to us from her journal. 

The next station was math.   I found it so interesting how they are taught to "read the story" of math.  (You can tell I'm not a teacher.)

Unfortunately I did not take a picture of her at the Smart Board.  Now that is amazing.  No more chalkboards or wipeboards.  At the Smart Board station Sofia stood at the screen and did a reading game using her fingers as the mouse.

After the stations we sat down with Mrs. Jones.  We have really appreciated her being Sofia's teacher this first year of school.  She really desires for Sofia to be a life-long learner.

(pic by Selah)

At this point in time, Sofia is above grade-level reading, needs to work on her spelling, and Mrs. Jones would like her to remember that it's okay to not always be the one to answer the questions.

We are very proud of Sofia.  We are very thankful that she does love to go to school.  And we do pray that she will be a life-long learner.   

Sofia's letter to God

This morning Sofia came downstairs with a letter in her hand.  She wrote it last night after being put to bed.  Kevin and I were pretty blown away by the depth of her words.  This is the letter (She had to read it to me and show me where her sentences were.)

I love you God.  I know you are watching me.  I'm doing stuff wrong like right now.

Do you really love me?  God it is hard to listen.  I'm a Christian.

Give me wisdom.  I want to be like you but I know I need your help.

That is why you are here.

The Park

Ahhhhh....the park.  Last week we visited one of our favourite parks with some of our favourite playmates.  It was so wonderful to be outside playing without snowjackets and snowboots.

Isaiah went in a swing for the first time.

The girls played and played and played with their friends then enjoyed have their snack at the park

We look forward to so many more play times at the park.

The Alarm

After a very cold and snowy winter, last week we enjoyed some relatively warm temperatures.  There were a couple of days when the temps reached into the 50s.  This meant lots of OUTSIDE PLAY!!!  

We don't, however, have windows in the front of our house.  So when the girls go out to ride their bikes or scooters, I am needing to check on them every few minutes. To help with the check-in process, I give Sofia the alarm clock in the above picture.  When the alarm goes off, she checks in with me, I reset the alarm (usually for 10 minutes) and off she goes.  This has been very helpful especially if Isaiah is napping or I'm in the kitchen making dinner.

Signs it's ALMOST Spring!

Today the sun is shining and the temperature has made its way to the high 50s.  AHHHH!!!

Spring doesn't officially begin until March 20 but I thought I would share how in our neck of the woods we know that Spring is almost here.

Small patches of snow instead of a blanket of snow covers our grass
The lake water looks like one big slushy instead of a frozen tundra
Tastee Freeze, Dairy Queen, and the local hot dog stand have re-opened

We hear birds singing

We hear the rev of motorcycles
Road construction is in fullswing

Getting ready to go out takes less time (no more jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, boots)

The girls are actually playing outdoors

 

Believe me, we are ready for Spring.  We look forward to the trees sprouting buds, flowers blooming, and the grass turning green.  We are excited about birds nesting in the backyard trees, the bumblebees flying around, ladybugs landing on our hands and chasing butterflies.  Oh Spring is a most wonderful time to not only appreciate creation but to praise the CREATOR!!!

Encouraging Trip

Last Monday I (along with Isaiah) left on a trip to California.  It was a quick trip but a very encouraging trip.  It was encouraging physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Isaiah enjoying his first plane ride.  He was a great traveler.

The first encouragement came to me physically through the WEATHER.  That Monday morning when we left for the airport the temperature was around 35 degrees.  Thankfully it was a clear, non-windy day so I didn't wear a jacket.  We arrived in Ontario, CA at 3 p.m.  My dad had warned me that they were experiencing cooler temperatures that day but it would warm up.  Well, what one thinks is "cool" is all relative to our known norms because I was very thankful I was not wearing my jacket upon arrival.  As Isaiah and I were standing curbside waiting for my dad to pick us up, I couldn't help but giggle when I heard more than one person "complaining" about how cold it was.  You see it was maybe 62 degrees.:)  A couple hours later I was meeting with a couple of people.  One stated she needed to get some hot tea because she was cold.  The funny thing was at that same moment I was stating I needed to get a smoothie because I was so warm. 

And no doubt I was LOVING the weather that Tuesday and Wednesday when the temps were 72 and 79 respectively.  Isaiah enjoyed not wearing socks and booties, and especially seemed to enjoy roaming around the guest apt. in just his diaper whenever possible.  Isaiah was also introduced to grass.  He loved the feeling of his bare feet being tickled by the blades.

Ahhhh...grass!

Isaiah hanging with Uncle Kirk on his Harley

The second encouragement I had was emotionally through FAMILY.  I am so thankful for a family that loves each other.  We don't need to see each other every day (even though we would like to) and we have a most amazing bond not only by blood but in Jesus Christ.  On Tuesday evening we gathered as many of the So Cal family members as we could at our favourite Mexican restaurant, Olivia's.  My dad, step mom Leesa, and foster brother Manny were there.  Kirk, Tamra and Kyle were also there along with Uncle Galen, Aunt Sondra, Uncle David, Uncle Roger, Aunt Julie, cousin Melissa, cousin David and Charity and their three boys Hayden, Gideon and Josiah.  And my dear friend Wendy, her husband Kevin and sweet kids Kendra and Oliver.  Lots of good eating, story telling, and catching up.  A family love fest!

Lastly, I was encouraged spiritually through CBU.  I was blessed to have been invited by the Office of Mobilization (thanks Tiffany, Kristen and Jared) to take part in the Nations Chapel on that Wednesday.  the Nations Chapel focuses on the commissioning of the Service Project teams going to share Jesus with the nations here in the US and internationally. 

They flew me out on Monday which provided me opportunity to meet with the team coming to Chicago in June, attend a couple of training events, interact with current students and catch up with staff, faculty, and some former students. 

CBU will always hold a special place in my heart.  Mostly because when I was a student back in the early 90s, this is when I realized that my relationship with Jesus Christ was more than having fire insurance from hell.  My relationship with Jesus became one of acknowledging Him as my Lord! 

Over the years my role at CBU has gone from being a student to an entry level staff worker to being in a role of management and now an alumna who lives a good distance away.   I've been blessed to have received recognitions through the years (most talented senior, employee of the year, and alumni service award of the year) but speaking at chapel last week meant the world to me.  Why?  Because it provided me opportunity to share what God has done in me and through me.   I was offered opportunity to share Scripture to 2400 students who are at a time in their lives when they too are needing to make that crucial decision in how they are going to live their life.  And I was encouraged by hearing from the students and how God is at work in them. 

CBU chapel.

PopO. taking care of Isaiah during chapel.

ENCOURAGEMENT is a need of the soul.   Thank you, Lord for the encouragement I received last week!  And thank you to my sweet husband for taking care of the girls and home on top of his work and school load while I was away.

9 month stats

Our little man is now 9 months old as of the 24th.
The previous post shared how we celebrated that milestone.:)

He continues to be our chill baby who loves to smile.  Clapping his hands, giving high fives and waving bye-bye are some of his new skills.

This past week two more bottom teeth poked through to join the middle bottom two and four top teeth.  And it looks like another two bottom teeth are trying to come in as well.  Having so many teeth has made it easier for mommy when it comes to feeding him solids (haven't needed to puree the homemade babyfood, just smash).

Isaiah's cheeks are commented by many a persons as well as squeezed and  pinched.  He takes it in stride and sometimes will give your cheeks a pinch back.

His 9 month stats show that he is our "big" boy.

Weight
Sofia 17 lbs
Selah 18.3 lbs
Isaiah 20.13

Height
Sofia 28 in
Selah 28 in
Isaiah 30.5 in

Here's a fun picture of his other cheeks.

Normal has been delayed

In my last post I shared how Sofia looks forward to Isaiah crawling normal...up on knees and hands.  Well, a couple of days ago Isaiah began to show signs of doing just so.  Unfortunately, his progress in crawling normal has been delayed.  Here's the story.

Yesterday after school around 4 p.m. Sofia asked me if she could do a photo shoot with Isaiah.  This seemed harmless to me so I gave her the green light.  She was having such a good time with him.  This picture of him with the baseball is one of her shots.

 About 15 minutes later I was in the kitchen when I heard Isaiah begin to scream.  I ran into the living area and the poor little guy had fallen.  How?  I'm not sure.  At this moment I thought he had fallen backwards and hit his head on the leg of the ottoman.  I sat with Isaiah on the floor and I read him a book and sang some songs.  Around 4:45 I needed to do some things in our bedroom.  Many times I just put Isaiah on the floor and he plays with some toys or as of late, comes swimming after me.  And that is exactly what he wanted to do, but when he moved from the sitting position into the crawling position he began to cry as if in pain.  So I thought he didn't hurt his head, he hurt his leg.  Poor guy tries to crawl again but ended up crying and crying.

Kevin came home from work and we as a family went about our original plan of having a night out to eat.  Isaiah was chill baby the whole time.  I had fed him before leaving so he just hung out in his car seat. When we returned home around 7 p.m. I lifted him out of his car seat and he started to cry in pain again.  Okay....the pain is in his arm/shoulder area.

While I held him, Kevin started touching him in certain spots.  The pain was in the collarbone area.  This needed some question asking of Sofia.

It turns out that she had placed him on top of the ottoman for picture taking and he actually fell from on top to the floor.  Alright, then.  Time to head to ER.

Isaiah and I arrived at ER around 8:00 p.m. and didn't head home until after 10:30 p.m.  He was a trooper.  As you can see in the below picture, he was content but his left arm was just laying by his side.  This is unusual for him because as I've shared before I think he may be left-handed like his momma.  He reaches for things quite a bit with that hand.  Last night, nothing.

The x-rays did not show a break in the collar bone area or his arm.  But needless to say he is still in a lot of pain.  Last night we did not get much sleep.  The hardest part is that Isaiah's normal sleep routine is sleep on his left side sucking his left thumb.  He can't do this.  It is too painful.  Between yesterday afternoon and this morning he probable got a total of 6 hours...not much for a growing baby.

Thankfully his 9 month check-up had already been scheduled for this morning.  The pediatrician thinks the collar bone might actually have a fracture that doesn't show up on x-ray at this age.  If after four days he is still favouring his left arm then we will take him back for more x-rays.

Please pray for him.  He is in pain.  To compound things, he has four bottom teeth making their way through his gums,  had a shot in his thigh, and blood drawn from his finger.  He has slept a total of maybe 45 minutes today so I am allowing him to just lay on me and rest after nursing. 

We realize this may be the first of many ER trips for our son but we just didn't think it would begin at 9 months old.  :)  And when will he crawl normal...we pray sooner than later.

Every which way but....

According to Sofia, Isaiah crawls every which way but NORMAL!!!!   And she really, really wants him to crawl normal.  Normal being defined as up on hands and knees.

About two months ago Isaiah began showing signs of crawling.  He figured out that when he propelled himself in circles using his hands and arms that he would eventually make his way to something.  Of course, there was the natural pushing himself backwards.  Then came the moving sideways.  All of this being done with his hands and arms while dragging his lower body.

When he got tired he would put his body in the "superman" position.  Hand, arms, feet and legs raised off the ground and cry for mama. (I thought I had a picture of this but can't seem to locate one.)

Then about a month ago he figured out that while sitting up he could scoot himself forward using his bottom and legs.   Being that we have carpeted floors this takes a lot of work.  So after a few minutes of doing scooting he would "bellyflop" to the floor in hopes that this action would bring him that much closer to the desired object.

A couple weeks ago Isaiah began the "army crawl".  (In our household, we need to refer to it as the "marine crawl" being that Grandpa and daddy served in the Marines.)  He stealthily moves across the floors, turning this way and that way, and he does so with quite a bit of speed.  Actually when I think about it, he kind of swims across the floor.

This week he is beginning to show signs of getting up and crawling "normal".  His biggest obstacle, however, might be his sister, Selah.  She seems to think that he shouldn't be allowed to crawl and has been caught knocking him down when he does manage to get up.  As for mommy and daddy, well, you know how it is with your "baby".  We want him to stay just the way he is right now and never grow up on us.

100 Days!

Today Sofia celebrated 100 days of school!

Her assignment was to wear 100 of something.
Being that she LOVES school it seemed appropriate that she would want to wear 100 hearts.
Last night daddy, mommy and Sofia set about cutting out 100 hearts.
It was a fun family project and we even incorporated some math learning.
Sofia has learned to count by 2s, 5s and 10s so when laying out the hearts we had her do so with the hearts.

We are thankful that she LOVES learning.
We are thankful that she LOVES her teacher.

We are thankful for 100 days of LOVIN' school.

Love is...

Love is....a cute heart in the snow?

...a most beautiful little girl in pink?

 ...a little girl with the most beautiful blue eyes?

...how about a sweet little boy with the cutest chubby cheeks?

What love is...is stated in I Corinthians 13:4-8a.

We've been camping on this verse this month as a family.  Each heart in the above picture states an element of love found in this particular Bible chapter.  Below is a picture of the verses on our wipeboard.  Every day Sofia reads the verses aloud and then we all try to remember certain aspects of love.

It's been a wonderful reminder to us about what love is.  If we loved each other like this everyday, we would no doubt be loving God with all of our mind, hearts and soul.

"Love is patient and kind, it does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, endures all things.  Love never ends."  I Corinthians 13:4-8a

Honeymoon souvenirs.

It was 95 degrees on October 18, 2003.  Our wedding day. 
The next day we flew to Shannon, Ireland and found ourselves not prepared for the COLD weather.  The temperatures were around 50 degrees.

Oh how we laugh now that we live in the midwest and are experiencing days such as today when because of the windchills the air temperature dropped to around -30 last night and today we will be fortunate if the temps rise above zero.

But I am so GRATEFUL for the winter clothes I have thanks to our HONEYMOON. 

It seemed like each day we purchased an item of clothing.  First it was the hat, then the scarf, gloves, and finally the sweater.   It really is amazing how warm wool keeps you.   

 

I LOVE MY HONEYMOON SOUVENIRS!!!!

All C's

Last week Sofia brought home her very first report card.  And she earned All C's!!!!  We are so proud of her.  Yes for C's.  And yes, C's mean something very different in Kindergarten.:)

                      C = consistently and independently demonstrates the skill
                      I = inconsistently demonstrates the skill

She is consistent in her pre-literacy skills, reading, oral language, spelling, writing composition, and math skills.  We are very proud that she consistently demonstrates good classroom behaviour and respects her teacher and fellow students.

Her are the teacher's comments.
"Sofia has done an excellent job this semester.  She is able to work independently and move from center to center.  Sofia has excellent decoding skills and is learning new phonic skills as well as comprehension strategies.  She is learning to write sentences on topic.  Sofia is diligent about finishing her work.  Sofia gets along well with others but likes to be incharge."

Blizzard 2011

The weather reports were correct.  Last weekend the weather forecasters began to state that we would have quite the storm come Tues. February 1 and so it was.


Monday was a day of preparation.  Everyone seemed to sense that this storm really was going to be one of the top 5 snowstorms ever to be recorded in the Chicago area.  Sofia's school scheduled an early release for Tuesday being that the storm was to begin around 3 p.m.  Because she has afternoon Kindergarten she would simply not have school.  Her first SNOW DAY!  (Of course, she was disappointed.)  I went to the grocery store that evening to get a few more items.  Good thing we didn't need milk, eggs or bread because the store was out!


Monday morning I took a picture of the garden table in our backyard.

Tuesday morning the snow was already falling.  But this snow wasn't a part of the big storm that was causing distress to TX and OK and heading our way.  Here is a pic of the garden table Tuesday morning.

I made some ham and bean soup, homemade bread and oatmeal cookies.  If we were going to be stuck indoors for awhile we might as well have comfort food on hand.:)  


Around 3 p.m., just as predicted, the storm began. Snow was falling and the wind was gaining speed. The church closed the offices at 3 p.m. and Kevin headed home.  On his way home he experienced some whiteouts.  Thankfully he made it home safe and sound.  Our prayer as a family was that we would not lose power.  We don't have a fireplace and our home is heated electrically.


After dinner we watched Toy Story 3 then put the kids to bed.

If you know my husband, you know that he likes to listen to police scanners.  That night he overheard a lot of heartache.  Many, many cars stranded.  Even police were getting stuck trying to help.  Thankfully many of the firehouses were provided with snowmobiles to help with rescues.  One call he heard was the police finding a driver dead in his car on the road right behind our church.  His car was still running to keep him warm but sadly his tailpipe was covered with snow. 


Early Wednesday morning I woke around 5:30 a.m. to feed Isaiah.  The storm had not let up.  Thankfully we still had power.  Outside our front door was a five foot snow drift.   Kevin had shoveled the walkway and driveway a couple of times before heading to bed at midnight or it could have been worse.  Here is a pic of the front and a pic of the garden table in the back.  Can't see it, can you?

That morning we did some crafts.  Sofia made "slippers".  And together us girls began to make our Valentine craft.  Mommy cut out the hearts, Sofia wrote the words, and Selah decorated the hearts.  We are memorizing 1 Cor. 13 together so we took each part of the Love Is and put on a heart.

Around noon the storm let up and the sun began to shine.  TIME TO PLAY!!!

Isaiah, however, stayed inside.  He has been struggling with a cold and we thought it best for him to not venture out.  Here are a couple of pics of him with the backyard snow behind him.  

The storm has passed.  Today was once again a snowday from school because of the sub-freezing temperatures.  The sun continues to shine and makes the cold, white blanket glisten.


May we be reminded that we have been warned that when following Christ we will have storms to go through. Just as we prepared for this blizzard, we are also to prepare our hearts, minds and souls.  We can do so through Scripture reading, prayer and fellowship with other believers.  And what a glorious site we shall see on the other side.

Not all three.

On Thursday, January 27, I went to the grocery store with ALL THREE KIDS for the first time.  And might I add this might be the last time for quite awhile.

I know, I know, I know.  Many of you out there do this all the time with three, four, maybe even five kids. For me this was not a pleasant experience.  Let me share.

The two younger ones had a good nap so after the eldest came home from school we loaded up the van and headed to the border (WI/IL that is) for grocery shopping.  I was prepared with snacks in the car so everyone would be fed.  Everyone seemed to be happy and fine.

We walk into the store, I get the cart and put the baby in the seat.  BAM!!!!  3 year old begins a tantrum because she wanted to sit in the seat.  After I explained to her that it wasn't possible she begins to throw a tantrum (I mean crying, meltdown) because she now wants to sit in the basket of the cart. No problem, I put her in the basket area.

After walking down ONE aisle the crying begins because she nows wants to get out of the cart.  I lean over into the cart and begin to explain in a quiet but stern voice that I will take her out of the cart but she needs to use her words and not crying to communicate, she won't be able to return to the cart, etc, etc.  While I am doing so, a store employee approaches us and asks if everything is alright.  Now, her intentions might have been good but I was a little perturbed and honestly, a little embarrassed.  She continues to try and console my child and I just want to move on.  Finally, everyone is calm, the child is taken out of the cart and we continue to shop.

Eldest child is intent on being a helper.  She wants to help by pushing the cart.  No problem, I let her do so but I go to the front of the cart to help guide it.  This is not okay with the child.  She is intent on doing it by herself even if it means running into people and things.  We take time to talk this through and gain an understanding of what is going on.

So now I've been at the store for about 30 min. and have yet to get through half of my shopping.  I just want to get it done!!  

We continue through the aisles and I'm not liking to have to keep saying, "No, we're not buying that.  No, you can't have that.  Please put that back.  Please stop asking."

Finally, we are just about done.  I just need to get the milk.  The milk is stored in a huge refrigerated area with big plastic flaps.  3 yr old thinks these are fun to play with and run into.  I get the milk and move on.  Wait, where's the 3 yr old.  She is back in the milk area crying.

Time to go.  Thank goodness the check-out line wasn't too long.  And thank goodness the baby was all smiles and laid back through this experience.

Grocery shopping can be a great learning experience for children.  And I've had some wonderful experiences shopping with my children and will continue to have some.  But for now, just not all three at the same time.

Crazy hair

A couple of weeks ago it was Crazy Hair Night at AWANA.  And this is what we came up with thanks to the crazy/fun Jackie G. from CBU.  Isn't this crazy?!?

The secret:  a water bottle.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a smaller water bottle and being that Sofia's hair is fine, it just wouldn't stay put.  So the plans changed and Sofia came up with this:  side ponytail with a braid and hair glitter.