Pictures of the kiddos.

I know many of you can identify with me when I say that it can be difficult to take a great picture of your children when you have more than...let's say....ONE?


This year I thought in order to avoid mayhem on Easter morning I would dress them earlier in the week, one at a time, and try to get some nice pictures of each child.  


I think it worked.


Sofia (age 7 years old)

Selah (age 4 1/2 years old)

Isaiah (age 22 months)

Second Haircut

I've got to admit, I'm one of those moms that likes to document all of the firsts with my children.  You know....first bath, first tooth, first steps, first haircut.  Hmmmm....first haircut.  Sofia was three years old, Selah was 22 months old, and Isaiah?  He was 18 months old.

18 months old.  Yes, that was four months ago but guess what?  Someone cut his hair and didn't tell me.  No, not Sofia.  And not Selah.  But daddy.  That's right.  Daddy.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Kevin noticed that Isaiah's hair was starting to grow in.  Not much on top or the sides but all in the back that gave him this little duck tail.  According to Kevin this is a trait in the Sheckler family.  That Saturday after Thanksgiving Kevin comes out of the bathroom with Isaiah and says to me, "What do you think?"  Oh my.  Isaiah's hair looked great BUT I DIDN'T TAKE ANY PICTURES!!!

So in preparations for Easter Sunday, Isaiah got his second haircut (again, just the duck tail) but this time I took pictures.  Enjoy!

Sofia helping to keep Isaiah's attention facing forward.

See the little duck tail?

Daddy the barber.

"Cheese!"

Our family on mission.

I believe I shared before that we decided that our family would not stop going on mission trips simply because of the ages of our children or whether or not Kevin and I could both go.  We examine each opportunity through prayer and trust that God uses us in all circumstances.

All that to say, Kevin recently returned from a six-day trip to Haiti.

 He traveled with two men from our church and then met up with my brother and 12 others from California.  

God provided opportunity for Kevin to lead a seminar on "Servant Leadership" to over 100 Haitian pastors.  The devastation of the earthquake two years ago brought many people to Haiti with hammers and tools for rebuilding structures, however, a great need for rebuilding the Church is great.  Kevin and the others were able to do this through the seminars, encouragement, and prayer.

The team also took time to minister at two orphanages.  Simple actions of playing, laughing, and hugging were opportunities to love on little ones who have a great need to be loved.  

We are so thankful as a family that Kevin was able to minister in this country that doesn't seem to have much hope.  Our prayer is that hope will take root in Jesus Christ.

And while we weren't able to travel as a family, the kids and I did minister during daddy's time in Haiti through prayer.

Our boy.

 I just read a friend's blog and she stated that after three boys she is finally getting it down.  Well, after two girls, I can say that I'm still trying to get this boy thing down.  HA!  


Just the other night our kids spent some time at a church family's home.  When we came to pick them up they shared how Isaiah just loved the trains.  This was new information to me because well, we didn't have any trains in the house.  But I shouldn't have been surprised because Isaiah loves to line his blocks up in a long train.


Being that our friends' boys have outgrown their trains, they insisted that we take at least some of the train toys.  What a wonderful gift.  As soon as we got home from church yesterday, Isaiah was down on the floor playing with the trains.  This morning, the first thing he wanted to do was play with the trains.

Our boy who loves cars, balls and TRAINS...

Gym rats.

We were so thankful to receive a cash gift that allowed for us to put the girls into a gymnastics class this Winter.  Both girls took a class when they were 3 1/2 years old and just loved it.  Obviously, Selah's first class was just 6 months ago but for Sofia it had been four years.

The classes began at the end of January and concluded this past week. Sofia attended a class on Thursdays for 6-8 yr. olds and Selah took a class on Fridays for 3-4 yr. olds.  Coach Rick taught both classes.

Selah really impressed us with her skills balancing on the high beam, cartwheels and almost handstands.  She also has this fearlessness to try anything.  She was so cute to watch.

As for Sofia, a couple of weeks ago Kevin and I were presented with a big decision.  Coach Rick said that Sofia was doing well, is quite strong and has the "right" body type, so he encouraged us to put her in Junior Trainers.  Thankfully the gym owner allowed for us to do a trial run last week without pay.  Kevin took her to one class and I took her to another.  We were both amazed at her no fear, desire, and more importantly enjoyment of learning more difficult skills.  

So as of next week, Sofia will be going to gymnastics two times a week in a class that is purposely training her to eventually compete.  Her teacher will be Coach Jeanne.  Coach Jeanne said it is a commitment and in about a year they take the young ones to a meet where basically everyone wins.:)


The best thing about this gym, the owners are strong believers and so are many of the coaches.  We are so thankful for The Gymnastics Factory and will see how the Lord uses our time spent there.

#1 reason for owning a mini-van.

Room to take neighbourhood friends to church.

St. Patrick's Day in the city.

One word.  CRAZY!!!!!

A front page article in this morning's paper was titled "Perfect Storm" in regards to what our public servants might have to face tonight.   And if today was any indication, then they are definitely facing a storm tonight.

What are the elements?  First of all, it's St. Patrick's Day in Chicago.  Chicago has a rich Irish heritage and today the city was once again hosting a parade down Michigan Ave.  This parade had been nixed in past years because of excessive public drunkenness.  Added elements:  it's a Saturday, many college students on Spring Break, and the topper, GORGEOUS Summer-like weather.  Today's high was 85 (we broke a record today).

So, of course, this year of all year's is when we decided it would be fun to go downtown and see the infamous colouring of the river green (didn't get a pic).

We arrived in the city just as the parade was ending.  My goodness.  It was a sea of green.

We dove in and with Isaiah in a stroller and the girls holding daddy's hands, we swam with and against the stream hoping to capture a family picture at The Bean.

Well, that wasn't going to work.  Just a few too many people milling around and many of them quite intoxicated.  Real family friendly you know.  We even witnessed an ambulance arriving with a stretcher to take away a young lady who had passed out on the lawn.  Now mind you this was about 1 in the afternoon.  When the girls asked what happened we explained that she hadn't drank enough water.

From The Bean we headed to Daley Plaza.  The kids loved sliding down the Picasso sculpture and looking at the fountain of green water.

So while we didn't eat cornbeef and cabbage or have a leprechaun visit us, we sure had a fabulous time hanging out with our family.

Crackin' up.

Show your crack and you get a couple girls to crack up. 

Isaiah is quickly learning how to entertain his sisters with "boy humour".  Not only does he pull his pants down, he pretend burps, and makes everyone aware when he toots.  


He does crack us up with some "clean humour" like when he says, "Knock, knock" and that is it.  He's also a very entertaining dancer.

He's a bruiser.

He's a bruiser that boy.  Our son, Isaiah. 


About a week ago, Isaiah was playing with his fire truck, somehow fell, rolled onto the truck and immediately acquired a bruise under his right eye.  A couple of nights later, he and Selah were playing tag and bam! Isaiah tripped over his own feet and landed on the corner of the end table.  I am so thankful there was no blood.  But man o man, a bruise immediately formed on the eyelid of his left eye.  Over the week it has gone from blue to purple to yellow/green.  The girls think it looks like he is wearing eyeshadow.


These pictures aren't the best but I still wanted to share.  You see, God is good.  We all get a bruisin' but God heals!!!

Still stacking.

Five months later and he is still stacking cans.   The stacks are getting taller as so is Isaiah and another difference is that he has now taken to counting the cans.  It's so cute to hear him count "...one, two, three, five, six, eight, nine, ten!"

P.S.  Another difference from five months ago is his hair.  See how bald he was in the last post regarding stacking?

Sorry Sofia

Before Sofia left for school this morning she asked that no one go out in the backyard and play.  It was just too pretty and she didn't want it messed up.  (see below post for pictures)  

Well, Sofia,  I'm sorry but your sister, brother and I went out this morning and had so much fun playing in the snow and messing up the "blanket".  No doubt you are at school having your own fun during recess so you will understand.  Here are some pictures.

Isaiah was all smiles.  

Selah and Isaiah worked hard and well together as they set out to build a snowman.

Ahhhh....the finished product man.  Selah wanted to give "him" a kiss.

Mommy and Isaiah enjoying the fruit of fun.

Winter Wonderland

This morning we awoke to a most beautiful winter wonderland.  Here are some pictures of the trees in the backyard.

 And here you can make out the lake.

Just gorgeous!!!

Valentine's in the classroom.

At the beginning of the year I asked Sofia which class party she would like for me to help.  Without any hesitation she said the Valentine's party.   So ever since Christmas she has been on count down for this event.

Yesterday, was the day.

Valentine's Day in a 1st grade classroom is just so cute and fun.  There were four of us moms who helped coordinate the party.  Two moms were in charge of the games, one implemented the craft, and me, well, they had me provide the goodies.

Here are some pictures.

I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  Thankfully the kids loved them.  Of course we balanced it with "healthy" strawberry fruit snacks and juice.

 Sofia was lining up with her friends to play "Pick up candy hearts with chopsticks".

 Another fun game they played was to travel across the room using only the hearts.

 Then the exciting game of "Eat the twizzler without your hands".  This was a real hit.

 Here is Sofia at her desk working on her craft.

This picture is simply to show the activity of the class.  I love the diversity of the children.   Her class represents parents from India, Pakistan, France, Poland, Mexico, and Japan to name a few.

Being in Sofia's classroom just deepens my prayer that her classmates would one day know the Greatest Love of all....Jesus Christ.

Hair today, gone tomorrow.

Hair is not something usually taken for granted.  For many women it defines who they are.  Whether long and luscious or short and sassy, your hair is often an expression of who you are.

Personally I have some pretty strong feelings to my girls having long hair.  Some of this stems from my own hairstyle as a young girl.  My hair was always really, really short (think 70s pixie styles) until I was in high school and had "control" over the length of my hair.  I realize my hair was fine and curly and we lived in a hot, tropical place, but I really disliked being mistaken for a boy at times.  Good or bad, long hair usually means girl, short hair means boy.
 
All this to say, when Sofia told me she wanted to cut her hair short, I about had a heart attack.  What was she thinking?  I mean she didn't even begin to grow hair until she was almost three years old.  Now, her hair did need a trim but to cut above her shoulders.....No!!!

I realized that I enjoy accessorizing my girls with their hair.  Think party, curls; apple picking, braids; outdoor fun, ponytails.

So it was time to get Sofia's haircut.  We talked about it, and I gotta be honest with you, I just couldn't let her cut her hair as short as she wanted.  Thankfully she was very happy with the compromise of being able to cut off SIX inches.

Here is her hair right before it got cut.  She had had it in a braid all day.

And the after picture.

Maybe I should go to therapy before she gets it cut again.

Learning to cook.

Age is an important factor in when to have your kids start learning to cook.  But height also matters.  Especially when it comes to the stove.  So, now that Sofia is tall enough, she has begun learning to cook scrambled eggs.  She loves it.

A sweet first sentence.

The sound of the garage door opening means that daddy has come home from work and will be walking into the kitchen any moment.


And whenever the garage door sound goes off, the kids go racing into the kitchen to meet him, hug him and basically jump on him.


Today Isaiah was sitting at the kitchen table when the garage door sound began.  And out of his mouth he yelled, "DADDY'S HOME!"


I couldn't believe it.  This son of ours, whose main mode of communication is with pointing, grunts, nods and every so often throwing out words that we didn't know he knew, said his first sentence.  It was clear as a bell.  "Daddy's home."

Helping the orphans.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."  James 1:27

In my sinfulness I have proudly stated that because God hadn't guided us to adopting, I'll take care of the widows while others focus on taking care of the orphans.  And to be honest with you, it wasn't me who went seeking after widows it was God bringing them into our lives.  Now I am very thankful for the opportunity to serve in this way.  You'd be surprised what a 30 minute phone conversation about how to clip your cats claws or taking them grocery shopping can do for a person.  A lonely person.  A widow.

But two weeks ago, the Lord showed me how I can help the orphans even though at this time He hasn't asked of us to adopt.

Children at the orphanage Foyer d'Orelph

Pastor Valiere "Bobby" Delice, was a dear friend of my brother, Kirk Overstreet, and lived in Haiti. Following the earthquake of 2010 he purposefully began taking care of the many children left parentless.  It wasn't always easy.  Funding was tied up in government tape, cholora became rampant and many of the children were sick.  Buildings were unsafe and clean water was hard to come by.  Bobby relied on his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and worked tirelessly to provide for the needs of the orphans as well as his own family, a wife and three kids.  

Sadly, two weeks ago, Pastor Bobby was tragically killed in an auto accident.  Kirk was able to fly down to Haiti this past weekend and oversee the service celebrating the life of Pastor Bobby.  One thing Kirk let me know is that while there has been much improvement over the past two years, one of the main needs is food.  Government aid has become more available to help with the schooling.  Churches have sent teams to help build and dig a well.  Medical teams continue to come and help with health issues.  But it is daily bread that is of need.

And that need can be met with a $5 donation from me and from you.  Will you join me in taking care of these orphans?  Here is how you can do so through Set Free Ministries.

Go to www.setfreerocks.com
Click on the donate button on the bottom right hand side.
When on the donations page, click on the notes to donor, and comment that your donation is for the Haiti Orphans.  100% of the donations are going to the orphans.

"...'Truly, I say to you, as you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."  Matthew 25:40