Happy Birthday Isaac!

My oldest turned another year older this week! Isaac was 11 on Monday! So hard to believe that this is my little man! He is no longer a "boy" but is becoming a young man. It has been a long time ago but I can still remember the day he was born. Matter of fact, he was born on a Monday and his birthday this year was on a Monday....neat! :) Isaac has grown up so fast that I have to remind myself often that he is not "little" any more. Bryan and I are so thankful for this precious life that the Lord has blessed us with. As we faithfully point him toward Jesus our prayer is that he will grow into a Godly man that is a Godly leader of his home, church, and world.

Isaac is a very special young man. He is talented and loves animals. Isaac loves words of affirmation and quality time. I love watching Isaac play and enjoy being outside. He gets outside and would spend hours out there and not even realize how long he has been out there. :) Oh, how I wish I could go back 11 years ago and know then what I know now. Since Isaac is the oldest I look back and see the many times I have failed as a mom and not done my best. My prayer is that Isaac sees me look to Jesus in the good times and the bad.

Dear God,
Thank you for Isaac, a wonderfully and fearfully made blessing! I ask that you would continue to change his heart and mold him into a man of God who fears You and walks with you daily! I know you have great plans for Isaac, to use him as a leader in the world around him. I am so blessed that you have made me to be Isaac's mommy! It is a challenge at times to mother a boy, but I know that You can equip me, through prayer and Your Word, with all that I need to train, teach, and love him the way he needs me to. Thank you so very much for giving him a Godly father to be an example of what a man of God looks like. I pray that Bryan would have wisdom in teaching Isaac your ways and how to follow and love you!  May Isaac grow in stature and in wisdom to be a man after God's own heart that lives a life that causes others to glorify You!!
In Jesus' Name, Amen

A Few Surprises

I don't know if I will ever get caught up on blogging, but that is OK because first things first (family)!!

We have been on vacation this week and I wanted to share a few surprises we have had. We left last Friday morning headed to Alabama. We didn't tell the kids anything and I secretly packed their bags.
By the time we got in the van Friday morning the children knew we were going some where but just didn't know where.

Isaac's birthday was Monday so we had planned a few surprises for him. The whole way to Alabama the kids were trying to guess where we were going. :) Bryan and I were having the best time! We pulled up at my parents house on Friday evening. The kids were excited! We had the best time with my parents and we were all glad to spend time with them!!

Paw was glad we were with him and maw!

Joanna has so much fun playing at Paw and Maw's house....all the kids do!

Watching TV at Paw and Maw's house in their bed!!

Then Saturday morning we woke up and after breakfast and getting ready, Bryan and I took Isaac and Sarah for a surprise.....Six Flags!! This was their first trip to six flags. We did not tell them where we were going until we pulled up in the parking lot! It was a GREAT surprise! The weather was perfect, they were just the right age, and we only had to really wait for 3 rides, that made for the perfect trip!!My parents kept the 3 little ones and of coarse spoiled enjoyed them! :)

They both had never been on a roller coaster so that first one was so much fun to watch their faces. I couldn't wait to hear what they thought! Isaac rode 19 rides and Sarah rode 18!! It was fun for Bryan and I to see these two have so much fun! We told Elijah that the next time we go he will be going with us! He needs to be a little older so it may be a few years before we go again.

Then on Sunday afternoon we headed to Bryan's parents house. Again we didn't tell the kids where we were going. We had lunch there and had Isaac a birthday party with family. Isaac was very surprised!

Opening presents! He asked for an ice cream sandwich cake for his birthday cake. I made just what he wanted but forgot to take pictures. :(

He asked for the board game Risk, Legos,....

and the book The Little Man in the Map book.

We all enjoyed being at Pop and Gigi's! My kids would stay in their pool if they could! :) We had a great visit and much much fun!!

Zuchinni and Tomato Bake

I have come up with a new dish and we love it!! We have been on a zuchinni kick and this recipe is delicious!! Perfect for a side dish.  

Zuchinni and Tomato Bake
~Sliced Zuchinni (I did one large one, but slice up how many you would like)
~Tomatoes sliced and then cut into fourths (whatever amount you like)
~Bacon bits (I usually do about half a small bag of bits)
~1-2 cups cheese (I use cheddar)
~garlic powder
~Zesty Italian Salad dressing

In a grease casserole dish place sliced zuchinni and then top that with your tomato. Sprinkle garlic powder and salad dressing over that. Then sprinkle bacon bits on top (how ever many you like). Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese (again whatever you feel like is enough) and you might want to add a little bit of parmesan cheese too. Then bake for another 10 minutes are until your cheese is melted enough. Enjoy!!

Bowling with the kids

Back at the end of June I signed the kids up for the "Kids Bowl Free" program but it took us about a month before we were able to go and enjoy it. At the end of July we finally got to go and went with some friends of ours (The Smith's).

They have become some sweet dear friends of ours. They have 5 kids also and we got together on July 4th, it was so fun to see ALL our kids playing together! They have two older boys that our Youth age, two boys that are Isaac and Sarah's age and then a little girl that is younger than Timothy but older than Joanna.

We went bowling on a Friday because Bryan would be off and he kept Joanna for me...and boy was I so thankful! :) The big kids (their two oldest didn't go) loved it and had so much fun! The little ones had fun at the beginning but was VERY ready to go by the end of the first game. After a game of bowling we headed to McDonald's to have lunch. It was a fun day and nice to be with friends!

First time Timothy has ever bowled! We was so cute!

Can you tell these two are ready to go?

Isaac did really well!

Elijah was having a great time! He liked handing everyone their ball and being a helper. He loves to play bowling on the Wii and does a really good job! :)

Sarah was putting all she had into bowling, needless to say she was really sore the next day!

I actually got all our kids in one picture...don't think I meant to do that. So glad we got to go and hope we get to go before the end of August when it's over.

Another Race

Last Saturday Isaac and Sarah ran a race in Alabama. It was the Kidstock, it is a pretty big race. A few years ago Isaac ran in this race and did pretty well, he placed 42 out of about 200 kids. His goal was to atleast get in the top 10 of his age group this time. Sarah and Isaac did really well this time and we were so proud of them.

Before the race...

On your mark...

Isaac's time was 7:06. He placed 17th (out of 117) overall and was 4th in the boys ages 9-11. :)

Sarah's time was 7:25. She placed 23rd (out of 117) overall and was 3rd in the girls ages 9-11. :)

Here they are with Dad during the race. Isaac is beside Bryan and Sarah is behind Bryan.

Here are the great racers with their coach (Dad) and photographer (mom) also known as their cheerleaders!! :)

First Day of School

We had our official first day of school last week. I always try and make that first day a fun and special day for the kids. They all love getting their new books and seeing what is in their "cubbies". So I thought I would share some pictures of our first morning.

Timothy was so excited to find a glue stick in his pencil box!!

A couple of years ago I started using these baskets for the kids school stuff. We call them their cubbies. This has been a great way to keep our things together. Sarah is so excited about all her new books for the new school year!

Yes, even Joanna got some crayons and a notebook. She was so happy and I know she felt as big as the others! :)

Elijah started K5! He got new books, a pencil box full of good things, and a new notebook.

Timothy got to look through his new books.

Isaac was so excited about his new spelling book because it has a horse on the cover.

We are off to a great start! I would like to share every now and then about our curriculum that we use and our likes and dislikes. I have discovered that it is going to be a busy year so I may not be able to blog as often as I would like.

Hope all of you have had a great start to your school year! What do you do to start your year off?

A Camp for the kids!

I wanted the kids to go to an art camp or something along those lines and nothing worked out for us. That is when I decided that our first week of school would be a "Camp" week! :) Our week consisted of Art, Music, and Computer. The kids did two sessions of each each day. We had so much fun and learned lots!

Day 1 Art- Elijah (Age 5)

Timothy's art work. He had such a good time doing school with the big kiddos!!

The big kids did so well!

Sarah's art work! This was so exciting for her!

Some of Isaac's art work from the week. He enjoyed the art and did so well!

More of Sarah's art work.

The Art curriculum we used was How Great Thou Art. I am very pleased with this curriculum. We will be using it during the year, maybe once a week.

The next pictures are of our Music part. Isaac and Sarah are taking piano lessons so each day they practiced their lessons, reviewed the hymn songs they have already learned, and then they worked on some theory.

I taught Elijah a couple of music things.

Then I let each child have time to play on an educational web-site (www.abcya.com). Then the big kids also blogged each day on their blog. It was a fun learning week! A great way to start the year off!!