Lil' Dude Turns Three!

I can't believe my little man is three! So much of the last year was a blur (I barely remember him turning two) and here he is, THREE!

He has grown so much over the last year. He is officially day and night time potty trained. He has a vocabulary that is out of this world. He is a ball of energy and he continues to keep us on our toes! He is so often a sweet, and loving little boy.  I am so thankful for Isaac!

We had a small celebration of just the 7 of us, but it was nice.

        

Eating his requested birthday dinner: Oatmeal!

Opening presents.

Serious business! (loving the tongue sticking out!)

Papa and Nana got him a Monster Truck!

He was so excited over the sword we got him. He had to go slay some dragons right away!

         

Even though he is such a big boy, he looks so tiny here to me! Make a wish birthday boy!

The Boys and their Buddies

One of my favorite parts of our ministry here at New Tribes Bible Institute is that it involves the whole family!

Isaac and Ezra really get to enjoy the students the most out of our five kiddos.  While the girls are at school, they boys are with me over at the Bible School.

Both boys have made some pretty great friendships here.  I wish I could get a picture with each of their friends, but I did want to share the ones I did have.

This is Bekah. Isaac and Bekah eat lunch together almost every day. He really loves her. Bekah came to the Bible school because she wants to serve as a missionary to lost tribal people.  She chose the Jackson location because it is closer to home than Wisconsin, so she can see her mom more often.

This is Leah. She blesses us with watching the boys from time to time when I have a staff meeting. Ezra loves to snuggle her ALL THE TIME. He has good taste. Leah has a sister who graduated here, and her brother attends now. She holds a very special place in my heart, and I feel as if she is one of my own daughters.

These two have a special bond. They share a name! Isaac loves shouting at Isaac from across the dining hall to have deep conversations about trucks and race cars. Isaac is from Jackson, and has known about New Tribes for a long time.  He is interested in missions, and knew this was a great place to come study the Word.

Will you take a moment and pray for these special friends of our sons?  I don't know where life will take them, but I know they each have a heart to serve the Lord, and I can't think of better role models for my children.

The First Week in November Finds Us...

...enjoying unseasonably warm weather for starters! Yesterday was 79 degrees. We had many days this summer where it did not get that high!

Besides the warm weather, we are staying busy as usual. The kiddos keep growing like weeds, and learning new things every day. Here is what the fabulous five are up to this past month.

Emma broke her wrist on her last game of the soccer season. The crazy tough girl played the rest of the game! We obviously did not know she had broken her wrist, and I think once the shock wore off, she was VERY aware of the break.  She broke her scaphoid bone, which is not a fun one to break.  It is a pretty painful break that takes a long time to heal. It looks like she will be in a cast for twelve weeks! She had an MRI and we will hopefully know soon if she will need surgery.

Josie has been enjoying learning the flute this year.  She is also continuing to work on her art.  She was picked as artist of the week out of her whole school (700+ students), and we are very proud of her!

Adelaide has started violin lessons this year. This is something she has wanted to do since she was four, and this year, due to a few very generous grants, scholarships, and gifts, she can! It is so fun to see her excitement and determination.

Isaac is growing more each day. He will turn three this month! How can that be??? I signed him up for a mommy and me tumbling class for six weeks through the rec. center, and he is enjoying it. I mostly did it to have some good one on one time with him, but having a place to run and jump besides the living room is an added bonus!

Ezra decided he was going to surprise his mom and in the matter of about two weeks learned to pull himself up AND crawl! So proud of my super preemie.  Now if he would just sleep through the night...

Pretty big cast for breaking a bone that is only the size of a cashew!

My little artist and her self portrait.

I am so happy to see her joy in learning how to play.

Took this kid downtown to look at all the construction. He was in heaven.

Hey mom! I crawled out of my pants and pulled up! Now quit doing laundry and get me outta here!