Party for our five year old.

Today we celebrated Selah turning five years old.  

And my oh my was she one excited little girl.

The party theme was "Balloons!"

 Balloon decorations, balloon games, and balloon cupcakes.

The best part of the party were the friends.

Friends from church, the neighbourhood, and playdates.

Happy, happy birthday to our sweet Selah.

She's five!

Today our Selah turns five years old.  She brings us such joy.

Selah is a beautiful blond hair, blue eye little girl.  She is our sensitive child.  Her feelings are easily hurt yet she is also one to feel the pain herself when she has wronged another.  

She loves to be with family and friends.

Selah enjoys playing outside and riding her bike.  She has become mommy's best egg-cracker when helping cook.  And she loves playing tickle monster with daddy.

It's not surprising that she is a morning girl considering that five years ago not only did she come two weeks before her due date but my water broke at 4 o'clock in the morning.  

Selah has an intense love for her sister and brother.  

Her understanding of God has deepened this past year.  

Today we celebrate Selah's 5th birthday.

Join us in giving her the best gift ever....the gift of prayer.

Pray that...

Selah will continue in good health and grow developmentally.

Selah's relationship with Sofia and Isaiah will continue to deepen.

Selah's love for singing will always be a sweet sound in our Savior's ear.

Selah will continue to be curious, and that someday her curiousity will be satisfied by knowing Jesus.

Selah, whom God put on this earth for His enjoyment, will bring glory to God by enjoying Him.

Sofia the Second Grader

Today Sofia began second grade. 

But first a picture of her with her teacher, Mrs. Grabert.  We took this picture yesterday when we attended Sneak Preview.  It was a time for meeting your teacher, finding your classroom, and dropping off your school supplies.

This morning Sofia was SOOOOOOO EXCITED to go back to school.    Here she is posing for me with her new backpack.

And here is this year's bus stop gang.  A beautiful group of girls.

We pray this year will continue to be one of great learning not only academically but spiritually as well.  We pray the Lord will see fit to let our light shine as, not just Sofia, but we as a family interact with her teachers, schoolmates, and friends.

His identity.

Many people struggle with their identity.  Not Isaiah.
He is Isaiah.  No ifs, ands, buts about it.

Examples of conversations in our household.

Mommy to Isaiah:  "You are such a good boy."
Isaiah:  "I'm not good.  I'm Isaiah."

Sisters to Isaiah:  "Hey buddy."
Isaiah:  "I'm not buddy.  I'm Isaiah."

Daddy to Isaiah:  "Are you daddy's big boy?"
Isaiah:  "No.  I'm Isaiah."

Family Fun Friday

Ohhhhh, we love our family fun Fridays.  It is so nice to be able to enjoy certain activities without the weekend crowd. Unfortunately, this past Friday was quite crowded due to it being the last one before school begins but we still had fun.

It was a GORGEOUS day.  You gotta love the city scape of Chicago.

Will they ever all look at the camera at the same time?

We went to one of our favourite places, Lincoln Park Zoo.  Not only did we enjoy the animals and exhibits but we were able to enjoy the practice runs of the participants in the upcoming Chicago Air and Water Show.  

We take a picture at this same spot every year.  Isaiah, however,  was not a willing participant.

It was such a great day.  We love our family days.   

Manistee 2012

Every August we join my mom and stepdad, Bill, in Manistee, MI.  It is always such a wonderful time and this year was no exception.

8/6:  The kids and I left around 6:30 a.m. for the 6 hour drive.  I was really proud of the way the kids acted in the van especially considering that only Selah slept in the van.  Isaiah NEVER sleeps in the van.  Seriously, the boy amazes me.  Thankfully he doesn't whine or cry either.

Upon arrival it was time for a nap.  While Isaiah and mommy rested, Aunt Kelli and Gramma took the kids to the outdoor pool.  That evening we enjoyed going to the playground at the beach located right across the street from where we were staying but first we enjoyed ice cream at the House of Flavors.  Being that Manistee is up north and at the western edge of the EST zone, the sun didn't set until 9:30 p.m.  Made for some wonderful evenings.

8/7:  The morning was spent at the beach.  It is a gorgeous beach with "sugar sand".  We had amazing weather...sunshine, 79 degrees...and hardly anyone at the beach.  The girls took a walk with Gramma and Papa Bill out to the lighthouse.  They loved it.  Isaiah's favourite beach activity was not only playing in the sand but chasing the seagulls.

Afternoon naps and dinner were followed by a concert in the park.  5th street beach and park was a perfect setting for the kids and adults.  The kids played at the playground while the adults, we sat in our chairs and listened to a local jazz band.  SO RELAXING!!!!

8/8:  Gramma and Papa Bill went to visit some friends so I took the kids to the outdoor pool.  The girls are becoming little fishies.  Isaiah, however, would much rather just sit on the steps playing with my sunglasses.

That afternoon daddy arrived (he had to work the first few days).  We spent another evening playing at the beach playground and chasing seagulls.  The weather temps cooled down a bit into the 60s but was still enjoyable.  We ended the evening with a couple rounds of Crazy Eights.

8/9:  It was a rainy morning but thankfully the place we were staying had an indoor pool.   Pool time is always so much fun but again Isaiah preferred the steps.

Gramma and Papa Bill took the girls to see a movie that afternoon.  Kevin and I relaxed and packed up while Isaiah took his nap.  We then met up with the others after the movie for dinner.  After dinner we said our goodbyes to Gramma and Papa Bill and headed to Sparta for the rest of the weekend.

There has been much going on in our lives regarding family, work, and future.  Our week in Michigan gave us much rest, and a great time with family.

Dollar Store Reveal

One of our errands the other day was to go to the Dollar Store.  Something I do every so often is give each child their own dollar to purchase whatever they would like in addition to what mommy is needing to purchase.


When we got home it hit me how much each child's pick revealed their age and their current interest.


Sofia, age 7 chose a USA Word Find book.
Selah, age 4, chose a little toy horse.
Isaiah, age 2, chose bubbles.


Yep, that's where we are in life currently.  All three items have brought great joy to our kids this week.  Not bad for $3.21.

End of the season.

This is the sixth year that Kevin has played on our church's men's softball team.  He really enjoys it.  And we as a family enjoy going to watch the games and cheer them on.

Last week the team ended the season with a win.  They only lost two games all season so this put them in first place.  Sadly, last Monday night they lost their first playoff game and ended the season.  All in all it was a great time for Kevin to hang out with some great guys, enjoy the outdoors and get in a little exercise.

Kevin getting ready to hit a double.

One of daddy's cheerleaders.

Isaiah and Selah "helping" Krista keep score.

The kiddos with their favourite outfielder.

VBS 2012

The week of June 18-22 was Vacation Bible School.  This week continues to be a week that just blows my mind.  If you've never served in VBS let me encourage you to do so.  It is a week of serving, teaching, sharing the gospel and having fun!


Here are some pics from our week:

The best thing again about VBS is that the gospel is shared.  This year we had four children accept Christ.  What a joy!!!!


On a personal level, our hearts were filled with joy when our daughter Sofia's heart was broken during one of the mission lessons.  After watching a video about some missionaries in Madagascar, Sofia just began crying.  She shared that she didn't like how some of her friends laughed at the way the children in the video lived and she wanted to go to Madagascar and tell the children about Jesus.  We join our daughter in praying that she will take the good news to the nations.


Ahhhh....Vacation Bible School is a lot of hard work.  But boy is it rewarding.  Be a part of it!!!  

Our NORMAL two-year old.

This past Tuesday, Isaiah had his two-year old check-up.  After being in the 90% for height his first 18 mos. of life, he is now only in the 56%.  Thus my title of "normal".  We knew there could be no way that he would stay in the 90 %, I mean, look at who his parents are. Needless to say, Isaiah is pretty much a normal two year old in many ways.

He loves to play with his trucks, blocks, and he loves to colour.  He loves to play with his trainset and loves to build with his legos.  The thing he loves most is BUBBLES!!!!  This kid could blow bubbles for hours.  And he's pretty good at doing so himself.

As most two year olds, Isaiah is beginning to assert his wants in a manner that is not always desired.   Thankfully the tantrums do not define him.  If anything, I would say he is quite the mannerly two year old.  I LOVE how he says "Thank you, mama" when he receives something from me.  It has a little sing--song to it.  He does pretty well with saying please and has learned to say, "Please don't" to his sisters when they invade his personal space.  However, his "please don't"s are sometimes paired with a push.  Isaiah can also be described as a charmer.  He will flash his smile and bat his big, brown eyes to get your attention and is good at giving out compliments.  Just this past Sunday as we were getting ready for church he said to me, "Pretty dress, mama".  He melts my heart.

We are so thankful for this young man.  We are thankful for his normalness (ha!) yet look forward to the special things God has in store for him.

Here are the kiddos two-year old stats:

Isaiah   34 3/4 in   28.6 lbs.
Selah    33 1/2 in   24.14 lbs.
Sofia     33 1/2 in   24.0 lbs.

Two Hearted Memories

I've only been there once.  Kevin has been there multiple times. This is where his family vacationed every October for two weeks along with a few summer visits here and there.  For Kevin's dad, Grandpa Sheck, he has been going to this place every year for at least 60 years.  Once he retired he started spending most of September and October there spending his "fishing money".  It was Grandpa Sheck's dad who first introduced him to this wonderful place for fishing and camping.  The place is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The closest town, Newberry, is about 30 miles away.  A fourteen mile drive on a dirt road takes you to the campground that lies at the mouth of the Two Hearted River where it spills into Lake Superior.

The above picture is Grandpa Sheck's home away from home.  Of course it began as a place to pitch a tent, then they started bringing their fifth wheel up before finally making it a more permanent structure.  This is the place I visited.  We visited in August 2004.  I was six months pregnant with Sofia.  The sun would not set until almost 10:30 p.m. Once it did the night sky was a glow with a spectacular display of stars.  The air was refreshing and I spent many hours listening to Grandpa Sheck share his memories.  Kevin's mom had just passed away the year before.  The shed in the above picture was named "Shirl's Barn".  She had always wanted a red barn so Kevin's dad made sure she had one.  What I enjoyed most was reading through notebooks that Kevin's mom had kept as a journal of their doings each time they visited.  The notebooks went back to the late 80s.  Most of the entries told of time spent searching for agates on the shore of Lake Superior, the outings to the nearby lighthouse, and about who came with them that time around.

A couple of weeks ago a wildfire that began from a strike of lightening whipped through this area.  It was a devastating fire that destroyed the nearby Rainbow Lodge and many homes and trailers.  Sadly, Grandpa Sheck and Uncle Paul's trailers were some of those that didn't make it.  This past weekend, Grandpa Sheck was finally able to travel up north to see the damage.  

Last night Kevin shared these pictures with the kids.  This is a place that we had hoped to take them for the first time this July.  It is a place he himself loved going to as a kid.  But while Kevin can no longer share this exact place, this is what he did share with the kids.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where theives break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be."

Matthew 6:19-21

We are thankful for places to visit, we are thankful for memories, but we are more thankful for relationships. With the greatest relationship being one that we have with Jesus Christ.  

CA Vacation Day 4 and 5

The last few days of our vacation in CA was spent in Solvang as we gathered to celebrate the marriage of Matt and Kelly.

Friday morning we packed up the van and took off on the four hour trip to Solvang.  Travelling along the 210 freeway through Pasadena then onto the 101 highway along the coast was just so nice.  It was fun pointing out various points of interest to our kids.   The absence of mountains and beach together in my life the past 7 years provided great awe.  Oh, God is so amazing!!!!

The 30 mile winding road through the Santa Ynez Mountains into the Santa Ynez valley also provided much beauty for us to view.  Just gorgeous.  (Hopefully I will have my sister's pics to add to this blog at a later date, until then I'm trying to get things written down.)

Late Friday afternoon we arrived at the ranch house that my parents had rented for the weekend.  It was a perfect place for our fam of 20 people to stay.  The outdoors with flowers, open yard and horses nearby were great for the grandkids under 10.  For the teenage grandkids, the converted garage into a game room with darts and fooze ball was just the right place.  For the "grown-ups", lounge chairs placed in just the right place for us to enjoy the perfect temp of 75 was our playground of choice.

That evening we headed over to the wedding site to hang out with Matt and Kelly as well as meet Kelly's family (who are from Chicago!).  We watched the sun set over the vineyards tucked away in the mountains.

Saturday morning we drove into town (Solvang).  While in town we visited the Santa Ines Mission.  Such great history.  From there we walked to one of the local danish bakery.  If you've never been to Solvang, GO!!!  The windmills, the tudor-style architecture make you feel as if you are in a little village of Europe.

Saturday afternoon was pretty much a few hours of craziness as 20 people tried to get ready together for a wedding.  Ironing in one corner, one bathroom turned into a hair salon, another one for make-up and then trying to make sure the kiddos didn't mess up their clothes before we even arrived at the wedding.

Then the wedding.  Ahhhh.  So lovely.  Matt and Kelly kept it simply but elegant.  The ceremony was beautiful and straight to the point.

Then it was time for dinner and dancing.   And dancing, and dancing.

So much fun.  And I know this may be hard for some of you to believe but Sofia was quite the entertainer.  Ha!  She was on the dance floor well before the dancing officially began and she would have been the last to leave if her mama didn't make her leave at 9:30 p.m.
video
Weddings are sooooo much fun.  Especially when it is family.  We are so thankful that it worked out for us to be at Matt and Kelly's wedding.

School's out.

This morning I had no reason to be out of bed before 7 a.m.  The reason being that last Friday was Sofia's last day of school.  It's hard to believe that first grade is finished and we are now onto second grade.

Here she is as she headed out the door Friday morning.

The last couple of weeks we were on countdown with the letters spelling out "second grade".
S - Silly socks to school.
E - Extra recess today.
C - Crazy hair day.
O - Outside for field day.
N - Necklace or necktie to school.
D - Doodle and Drawing day.

G - Game Day.  Bring favourite board or card game.
R - Read - a -thon.  Bring favourite book from home.
A - Awesome memories day.  Write about first grade.
D - Dress for the All School Assembly with favourite Woodland t-shirt.
E - Everyone says goodbye!  End of the year.

It is amazing how much learning takes place in first grade.  Unbelievable progress.  Even Sofia commented on how she couldn't believe how "badly" she wrote at the beginning of the year when she was thumbing through her journal.  Ha!  Sofia has become a proficient reader who enjoys chapter books (Boxcar Children being her favourite), acquired math skills in adding, subtracting, and fractions, and is beginning to understand more about God's world through science, geography, and social studies.

We are thankful for Sofia's teacher, Mrs. Enquist.  We are thankful for Woodland School.  And we are thankful that we saw spiritual growth in Sofia this past year amid academic growth.  We are proud of her.

Here's a pic of the bus stop gang.  Thankfully we will see them this summer down at the beach.

Time to play!!!!