Second Grade Choir Concert

Last week was the second grade choir concert at the girls' school. It was a short and sweet performance about the "freedom train".

Most of the concert was really great. Emma got a solo, and she did great! I am so proud of my girl!

The only part of the evening that wasn't so great was the little boy who kept pestering Emma through out the whole performance! He kept touching her hair, talking to her during the songs, and at the very end was popping out from behind her from side to side. I was so afraid Emma was going to deck the kid! The worst part is, he is my friend's son! What do you say to that?! Ah well, kids will be kids. :)

Here is the choir singing. Emma is in the middle.

Here she is singing her solo. She even surprised her parents! That girl can sing!

Emma with Mrs. Barnes, one of her music teachers.

Here is Emma with her other music teacher, Ms. Rockwell. She loves them both SO much!

Curly Q!

The other day Josie asked if I could put her hair in sponge curlers after her bath. I wasn't sure how it would come out because her hair is so short, but I thought "Why not? It's a snow day."

I had to put them in pretty tight so they didn't fall out. She slept with them in her hair all night without complaining.

The next morning when I took them out, they were VERY tight. They looked as though I hadn't even removed the curlers.

I thought that perhaps some brushing would help. I was unaware of what would happen...

She quickly got the name "Fro-sie" from Josh. Little Josie's hair was crazy unmanageable! I was so glad it was a snow day! It was a good idea, gone very, very bad.

We finally came up with a hair-do that would work.

I thought it was kind of cute in the end. Josie wishes she could have curly hair every day. :)

Snow Days!

We have been having a lot of snow in the Midwest. It is reminiscent of the winters of my childhood. The past few years have been more mild.

All of this cold is, of course, expected. We do live in Michigan!

Josh and I were able to get away for the weekend with his sister and husband to Florida! While our girls played with my parents all weekend, Josh and I suffered in 88 degree weather at Cocoa Beach. Hey, someone's gotta do it! :)

We are back to the cold, frozen tundra that is Michigan. While I would love to show you pictures of the beautiful beach we were at, or all the yummy seafood we ate, you will have to settle for these... I forgot the camera. :(

This snow was from the latest snowstorm. Not as much as they predicted, but enough to cancel school for the girls!

Sonny was covered in the snow! We had to shovel him a path because it was over his head.

The girls and I playing in the snow. The sun was so bright that day!

My Baby Girl is Four!

Almost two weeks ago, our sweet Adelaide turned four years old!

It is crazy to think that we have had this little one for four years now. What a difference her first four years are to Emma's. Addie has always lived in this house, since the day she was brought home from the hospital. Emma moved seven times in the first three years of her life. I guess it just shows that we are all in a different place in our lives.

This is really weird, but I am still not used to the idea that I don't have a baby in the house. I mean, she is FOUR. How many more years until I will get used to that? When she is six? Or eight? Or eighteen?

When we have our birthdays (some more significant than others) we may or may not feel old, but nothing makes you feel quite as old as when your baby starts getting older. I wonder what my mother must feel on my birthday.

However fast these days pass, I am thankful for them. I wish I could slow them down sometimes, or even go back, but time doesn't work like that. So, here is to the every day. To the little moments that make up a life time.

Happy fourth birthday, my sweet Adelaide!

Enjoying her presents.

Make a wish!

Her future's so bright, she just has to wear shades. :)

A little birthday spinning in Nana and Papa's living room.

Eight is Great!

Things have been a little busy around here! I can't believe Addie has already had a birthday, but I still haven't blogged about Emma's birthday!

My sweet Emma is eight years old now! EIGHT!!! Can you believe it?

Emma's birthday was the first day back to school after Christmas break. She was pretty bummed about that. When she got home, we took her out to her favorite restaurant (Los Tres Amigos) for a birthday fiesta. :) Her favorite part was when the waiter came out with a bunch of others and sang "Happy Birthday" to her in Spanish, and gave her a big sombrero to wear. It was fun.

After dinner, we went home and had cake and present time. I think she learned that having a birthday on a school day can still be fun. :)

My happy eight year old! The waiter put whipped cream all over her face. :)

Emma opening the watch we got her.

Christmas Morning

I took a little unscheduled blogging break. We were just enjoying the wonderful Christmas season, getting over the flu, having a birthday, and getting back into the swing of things. I'll post about that all in good time, but for now I wanted to share our Christmas morning with you.

Christmas eve was a great time at my parent's house. My brother and his family came out and we had a lot of fun with presents, playing the wii, and I went sledding with all the kids. Fun times!

Poor Josie was the first to come down with the flu. Christmas eve (3am) she woke up and was sick. The rest of Christmas day she has a temp of 103.8, but was no longer queasy. She didn't let her fever stop her. She enjoyed Christmas morning, then went back to bed for the rest of the day.

We all slept in to almost 9am (crazy, right?), and all the girls wanted to do was hear the end of the advent story, Jotham's Journey that we have been reading every night for the advent season. If you guys are looking for a great book, seriously go buy this one. It was all 5 of our favorite part of the Christmas season this year.

After our story, we had a leisurely breakfast, until my dad couldn't take it anymore. "Who has ever heard of children who don't want to open their Christmas gifts? It's after 11AM!!!"

Well, I actually thought that was cool. The focus of this season wasn't the presents. It never is the presents, and I think the kids are getting it. My dad was just teasing anyhow. :)

The girls cuddling on Christmas morning.

Our Advent "wreath". Not really a wreath, but they were Josh's grandmother's candle sticks, and I thought that was pretty special.

The gang all waiting for me to finish taking pictures so they could eat. :)

I love this picture. The girls were all so excited for each other as they opened gifts. Look at Emma in the back. She seems more excited than Josie! (That could have been because of the flu.)

Was to Certain Poor Shepherds

The World in Solemn Stillness Lay

All is Calm. All is Bright.

Christmas Traditions

I remember when I was growing up, the day after Thanksgiving was just as fun as Thanksgiving itself! Black Friday, you ask? No way! If you even knew my mother, you would know that shopping would never be on her list of fun activities. I am speaking of the lesser known of traditions (unless you live in the Livingston County area) of the Fantasy of Lights Parade!

My parents home town hosts a Christmas parade every year to usher in the Christmas season, complete with Santa Claus himself riding on the last float, going to the county court house to light the Christmas tree. It is very cute small town fun, even though this small town is now a large one. :)

My family has started it's own tradition as well. The Sunday evening after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree. We invite some students and staff who haven't gone home for their Thanksgiving break to join us, and it is a lot of fun! This year was a smaller group, but just as fun. With the weather being so warm that weekend, Josh was able to hang a lot of outdoor lights this year too! It looks so cheery. I love it.

Here is one of the floats in the fantasy of lights parade. One of the requirements for the parade is that your float must contain at least 5,000 lights!

We were able to meet up with former student, and long time friend Jenna. This was probably the most exciting thing about the evening because we haven't seen Jenna since March! She is one busy girl!

I gave the camera to one of the students to take pictures, so I have about a thousand pictures of ornaments, and hardly any of people. he he

This was Addie's first year she was able to hang the star! She is growing up so fast.

ARRRRR Matey!

The week of the Turkey Bowl, we have a "spirit week" at our school. These are just fun days where the college students dress up as ___ (their favorite Bible character, superhero, hillbilly, nerd, you name it). Well, on Friday it was "Ninja vs. Pirate"day. Addie SO wanted to dress up, so we made her into a little pirate. (Team Pirate all the way!)

I must say, she made the cutest pirate ever!

This pirate scowl is complete with a nasty scar! :)

No shivering timbers here. This pirate has nice sturdy sea legs instead of a peg leg.

You have to wear some of your pirate booty, right?

Now all this little pirate needs is a ship!

Turkey Bowl 2010

The Saturday before Thanksgiving holds a tradition here at New Tribes Bible Institute. It is the day of our annual Turkey Bowl!

The Turkey Bowl is a staff vs. students football game where the students remind the staff that they are all old. Remember Turkey Bowl 2008? Well, that was the closest we ever got to winning since we have been on staff!

This year was supposed to be different though. This was the year that we had the interns on our team. These guys are still in their early 20's, at the peak of football playing age. Surely they could help the staff be victorious this year, right?

Well, that was the plan anyhow...

The staff are in black. Why is no one catching this guy!!!

Joshy, you're lookin good!

I like this photo for two reasons. #1 The student in the back looks like he is about to face plant #2 It was our only touchdown of the whole game.

Why are these students cheering? Well, they may have beaten us by a couple of touch downs, but you didn't hear it from me!

Let the Preparations Begin!

Addie and I started bright and early with the Thanksgiving day preparations. After all, Thanksgiving is TOMORROW!!! She is such a great help in the kitchen. :)

First I made the crust. I showed her how, but it is kind of a delicate thing, so she just watched that part. After the crust was made, she help make one of her Daddy's favorites: Pecan pie! YUM!

With a trip to the store, a trip to the Bible school to say our goodbyes, and an upcoming trip (in a few minutes!) to Emma's class for her Thanksgiving party, we are not as far along as we'd like to be, but the day is still young! :) At least we got the favorite dish made.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving day dish? Are you going traditional this year with your menu, or mixing it up with say, enchiladas?

Crust is made, and we are getting ready to start the filling.

Josh brought me the perfect pick me up for a day in the kitchen! Thanks for the cinnamon dolce latte Josh! It was perfect!

You can never have too many helpers in Mama's kitchen. :)

Busy and Wonderful Times!

I love this time of year. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. The kids are all stoked for a little break from school. The Bible School students are eager to have a weekend road trip back to their homes. :) Love, love LOVE it!

Things have been pretty good here. I went to Colorado for four days (as mentioned before) and then Josh left for a week to hunt the vast amount of deer who live in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Unfortunately, the deer were all hiding. My dad was very generous to us, and gave us some of his venison, so we still got some meat for our freezer.

These last couple months have been difficult for us financially. Our support has been low, and it is discouraging. We were totally blessed today though, by an anonymous gift of a whole thanksgiving meal purchased for us! What a HUGE blessing that was! Even though we are going to go to my parents for the actual Thanksgiving day, the food from this generous person is feeding us tonight and tomorrow, and for many more meals I'm sure! I do LOVE turkey! :)

I am off to see how I can fit my broccoli cheese soup I just made into a Thanksgiving menu. :)

I leave you with these pictures of our trunk-or-treat time at a church here in the area. Some good fall family fun, with some amazing costumes made by my mom. :)

Addie as Glinda riding a pony. :)

The cowardly lion Josie looking brave on her pony.

The scarecrow Emma sittin pretty. :)

Yes, Josh and I even dressed up! he he

Campus Life Coffee Social

A couple weeks ago, the Campus Life crew here at New Tribes Bible Institute put up a little coffee shop in the dining hall for one evening.

Josh and I have enjoyed working with Campus Life here for over three years now, but this was one of the events I was most impressed with. It wasn't super fancy, or high entertainment that made me love it, but seeing the students really take initiative, and pull this event off! They put a lot of work into the event, and had a lot of fun doing it. Who knows? This may become a regular event. :)

Making some delicious drinks! We had students who were baristas at many different coffee shops making the drinks. They make at least 120 drinks that night!

The menu. It wasn't fancy, but it did the trick. :)

Some students played games, while most just sat around and chatted. I think everyone enjoyed the evening.