Playing with the big kids

I am trying to blog pictures of our trip to Northland but am having some blogger issues, so these pictures might come in stages. For now, here is a cute one of Silas from the trip home.

Passing Time

"Thanks daddy for reading to me on that long bus ride, and telling me lots of neat stories--you're the best!"

Just 'cause he's cute!

CRUNCH!

I was busy getting things done in the kitchen and didn't realize Silas had grabbed an apple off the table. When I walked into the dining area he was just chomping away at this apple. There was little bite marks all over one side and he was lovin' it!

Daddy and his Happy Cubbie

Cubbie Buddies

This is Sara and her friends, Moses Beers (left) and Jonas Stamper (right) at their first night of cubbies. Moses, Jonas and Sara have spent their first three years of life together here at Fourth. Moses is a month older than Sara and Sara is four months older than Jonas. Moses had to move away recently so we wanted to get a picture of the three of them together before he left. We miss you Mo!

Sara and "May-May"

This is Megan Stuckey, Sara's group leader for cubbies. Her and her family are good friends of ours and have made significant investments in our lives and the lives of our children. Megan was able to request to have Sara in her group--they are great buddies! Thanks Megan for loving our kids!

"CUBBIES!"

Sara turned three in March, and it has been since about that time that she has been talking about starting AWANA cubbies. September 10th was her first night of cubbies and boy was she ready to go! The Stuckey family gave us Riley's old cubbie vest for Sara about two weeks previous and Sara put it on and showed it off right away! She could not wait for cubbies. She somehow thought when she started cubbies that she had a birthday too, so I think that probably added to the excitement, but birthday or no, she would not stop talking about it. The Sunday we registered for AWANA she went around church and asked her little friends if they had "signed in" for cubbies yet. It was like a paid promotional. Anyway, the night of cubbies finally came, so of course we made a big deal about it all and took lots of pictures before we left for church. I only posted two right now b/c it's been almost two weeks and I just need to get some pictures posted. I will post more later. But for now here is our little cubbie!

Our Proud Little Cubbie

Sara has already said her first verse and almost a week later still remembers it. It is neat to see her so excited to learn and do new things!

Bubbling Over

Summer is coming to an abrupt end here in Minnesota-although it's beautiful out today(Pennsylvania weather I call it). It's fine with me though--I love the fall! Last Wednesday night I put this outfit on Sara for church since I knew the warm weather wouldn't be here much longer. It is one of my favorites on her, so I took a few pictures to show off to her adoring fans. (A.K.A. --her family)

"Laura Braids"

. . . .that's what Sara calls them. I love her hair like this, but she doesn't always stay still long enough for me to do it.

Mosquito bites

Poor Sara got bit like crazy out at camp a few weeks ago-the scabs remain. . . oh well, I still think she's pretty cute! You gotta love those cheeks!!

Dazing . . .mid-lick

Cotton Candy Icecream

It's been so long, I can't even remember the occassion, but Matt promised Sara some icecream for something. Kemps was on sale and Matt ended up buying a half-gallon of icecream that he thought Sara would love b/c it was pink and blue. She did like it, but do you know how long it takes a three year old and a 22 month old to finish a half gallon of icecream?! Especially when their mother does not really love them having sweets?

These were the final scoops!

"MOM, What are you doing to me?"

This post is for those of you family members who always give me a hard time for letting Silas put on Sara's girly hats. . . . On this particular night I was getting Silas ready for bed after the kids' bath. I accidentally put Sara's pajama bottoms on him and did not realize it until they were pulled up and he was getting up. I laughed so hard, and of course, I had to take a picture. Sorry Buddy!

Saying Goodbye to Good Friends

Matt and I have been greatly blessed to be in ministry these last three years with some very close friends. David and Esther Mulder have been friends of ours since Northland. We have been in ministry together at Fourth Baptist Church working with the youth. Just last week David and Eshther moved to California to take on a new ministry position. We are so thankful God allowed us to be in ministry with such good friends. It has been great to watch our children grow and play together these last three years. Esther and I always thought it would be neat to be in ministry together and have our kids grow up together, but I don't think we ever thought it would really happen. At this time, God has seen fit to set our paths in different directions. We are excited for David and Esther and all that God has ahead for them. They will be greatly missed!

Lasting Friendships

Esther and I have shared over 10 years of friendship. We met at Northland in the special student line, and the rest is history. This picture was taken two days before they left for California. The four of us have tons of memories toghether-one of them being Matt and Esther's competitive natures. They HATE losing to each other! We have had many "game nights" with them that have lasted until the wee hours of the morning. The Saturday before they left we had our last "game night" with them. We will miss these special times with them. David and Esther, we love you guys!

Nursery Buddies

Sadie and Silas are about a month and a half apart. They haven't quite mastered playing well with each other(mostly b/c Silas likes to play a little rough) but they do look super cute together and they both have GREAT cheeks!

Sara and Reghan

"I miss you Reghan"

Reghan and Sara are 5 months apart. They are good buddies. They play like sisters and they fight like sisters:) This morning Sara told me "Mom, I miss Reghan, I want her to come back to our church."

"W!"

Sara started showing interest in learning her letters about 6 months ago. We started making a game out of her flashcards. One day Matt told her if she got more right than wrong she got icecream as a treat. Apparently this was great motivation, although every time after that she thought she got icecream. Anyway, she still loves doing her flashcards but struggles with remembering some of her letters. On this particular day she got "W" and "Y" right and was giddy with excitement at her accomplishments. It has been fun watching Sara learn new things!

"Y!"

Our brown-eyed girl

Concentration

Daddy, You're the BEST!

Prescription Lenses?

Four Eyes

Reliving the early days of Silas!

Crazed little boy

I can't even remember what caused this response, but his face here is great!

Hey, I'm getting good at this!

Sara was so excited to finally shuck a whole piece of corn without any help!

Sweet Corn!

We have had great sweet corn this summer thanks to a nearby farmers market stand. Sara LOVES corn on the cob. We have had fun together shucking corn and it has brought back lots of childhood memories of my own.

AAAHHH!

This is the start of a great meal-notice the boy has been stripped down to his diaper to avoid ruining any clothes.

Yummy!

Mastering the Spoon

Messy Spaghetti

Silas is an extremely messy eater-so much so that we bought a plastic tarp for the floor under his chair. He insists on feeding himself and as a mother with "OCD" I have a hard time watching the mess he creates. However, Silas makes some great faces at the dinner table!!