Growth

I am very surprised by the early results of the planting project. I am so proud of Anna for taking on the responsibility of caring for her plant. She has done a great job of remembering to water the plant and make sure it gets sunlight. It is so fun to see her get excited in doing this project and I think she's learning just from watching it grow. It is getting too big for the starter cup so we will transplant it into a bigger pot. We will probably plant the sunflower and tomatoes this week. She is such a hands-on learner and very inquisitive.

I can't believe how big Anna is getting. I am so very proud of her. She is a really great daughter and big sister. Recently, she has been coming to Brian and I and telling us, "thank you for being a good papa/mama." Oh, how refreshing to my ears and heart! It is those moments that I cherish, and that encourage me to keep trusting the Lord. He truly is at work in her heart and life. She is so excited to learn how to read and is beginning to sound out three letter words. She is also working on numbers and counting to 20. She especially enjoys having stories told to her. Her favorite one is Goldilocks and The Three Bears. Every time she asks me to tell her that story, I change or add something to the story. She gets a kick out of it!
It is amazing how much love and grace Anna brings to our family.
How wonderful that, "God gave us you!" (the title of one of her favorite books).

Peace and Hope from our family to yours!

"I planted, Apollos watered, but GOD gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only GOD who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are GOD's fellow workers. You are GOD's field, GOD's building...
Let each one take care how he builds upon it."
(1 Corinthians 3:6-10)

The Uh-Oh List

Here is our "Uh-Oh!" List for the week:
1. One of the external hard drives that backs up our computer stopped working! This is huge for us because it was not completely backed up to the other external hard drive or our off-site server. Most of the old stuff is already backed up, but some of the newer stuff isn't and that includes personal and business stuff. (uh-oh!)

2. For Mother's Day, I excitedly got a big (10 inch) Philips digital photo frame. Its so exciting because I've wanted one for so long. I actually got it for Christmas, but Brian took the time to pick out images and load them on it for me...it was the best idea ever!!! This is the best digital photo frame out there as it has some awesome features like: a remote control, plays music, slideshows/collages, and few others that we soon found about out...
(keep reading, the uh-oh part is coming)
It happened before sunrise Monday. It was 5 AM and for some reason all I could hear was a rooster crowing!
Cock-a-doodle-doo....Cock-a-doodle-doo!!! (uh-oh!)
So by this time, Brian had heard the noise also and went out to check what was going on. It seriously sounded like a real rooster was in our home. My first thought was that Anna had woken up early and was in the living room watching television. Brian came back to our bedroom kind of dumbfounded and said, "It was the digital photo frame. That thing has an alarm on it!?" So this is how I found out that yes, the digital photo frame has a rooster crowing alarm on it. It even tells the time and date. I'm learning how to use it so that doesn't happen again.

3. Micaiah and Bubbles...a big UH-OH!Look at his big, puppy dog eyes when he realized he did something he shouldn't have!
He tries so hard to blow on the bubble wand. When nothing happened, he decided to give it a little taste test. He found out that it doesn't taste good at all.
Caiah really likes saying the word bubble. Its one of the many new words that he is saying.
Check back later this week for a report on the planting project!

If you have a personal website or blog, let me know about it...be sure to leave the link in a comment. I look forward to keeping up with you!

Have a Happy day!!! :)

Brian's 30th Birthday weekend

For Brian's 30th birthday, the kids and I surprised him at work with an ice cream cake and cards. His birthday was on a Wednesday this year, so I knew the only way to really surprise him with anything would be to do it at his work place. The kids were so excited that morning and Anna practiced singing the "happy birthday" song. Even Caiah got really excited when we walked into the office. It was really fun to surprise him with the help of his co-workers.
He was treated to pizza and ice cream, his two favorite foods.

We officially celebrated his birthday on Saturday with a family outing and then an Uno night with our good friends JM & Allison.
It was a really great time!

(the goofy shot)

(the group shot)

On Sunday, Brent (an old friend from PA) came out for a visit. We had a great time catching up and enjoying the warm weather.
Until we see you again, Mr. Brown! :)

So, it took me a little longer than expected to get this post up. This past week, Caiah had a dietician appointment and is having some dietary changes and adding benecalorie, a medical food that adds calories to food. Anna is getting over an ear infection. Brian is looking forward to going to Worlds of Fun (a local amusement park) this weekend with a friend. I am looking forward to relaxing on Sunday.

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:18-19)