Family Time

Jim's sister and her family were here this week staying with us for a conference. As always, it was wonderful time both for the cousins to be together, and for Jim's birthday to be celebrated yet again, and for me to talk with my sissy in law. Here are some cute pics of some of the kiddos together. The first is of my two nieces. Aren't they cuties? And the second is of our big boys and their cousin John--all who are crazy about Spiderman!!  :)

Birthday Banana Splits!

My sweet husband is 36 years old today, and we celebrated with banana splits rather than cake. Because of our two March birthdays, and because we just had Easter, we have recently eaten three cakes, and I'm caked-out! So, banana splits it was today.

We began our day with presents in bed. This seems to be a new favorite tradition of our family that began a year and a half or so ago. So first thing in the morning now, we open gifts in bed together--the whole fam. Then we had a special breakfast of sausage and fried eggs--yum! Not our everyday oatmeal. And now tonight we'll go out to dinner at Macaroni Grill for a special treat. It's so fun to celebrate, and my husband's life is definitely one worth celebrating!!! I love you, Jim Hamilton!

Playtime...uh, I Mean Yardwork

My husband's remarkably generous parents just gave him this wonderful riding lawnmower when they last visited. It sure has made his life easier as far as mowing goes. What used to take over an hour is now finished in less than half an hour! We are so grateful...and all the boys love it, as you can imagine!!!  :)

Strange Children!

I'm not sure quite why, but our two big boys have taken to making up their beds after we say night-night to them, and then falling asleep on top of all the covers, with everything looking nice and neat. Biggest says that he doesn't have to make his bed the next day that way. Whatever! Crazy horses!!!!

Empty Tomb Cake

My dear FIL wanted to see this cake I made for Easter. It was a lot of fun to make this, display it for the kids, and then take it to church for our Easter potluck. I also had a sign by it that said, "He is not here. He has risen!" You have to look closely, but there is a "stone that was rolled away" up against the tomb also. This cake was super easy--of course. That's all I ever do!   :)

This Time Already!!

Today we busted out the Batman Bop Bag that sprays out water! Yes, we're in swimsuits already--in early April! But it's been very, very warm for a week or so, and it's beautiful! You can see here from the pics that we have a Skinny Minny and a Chunkeroo. The Redhead here on the right just turned 4, and he's wearing a size 7 swimsuit, just as our firstborn is here on the left, who is about to be 6 1/2!! The Red is actually 2-3 pounds heavier than his elder brother! How we love our big boys!!! They're such fun!

Understanding the Rock

Just when you think your 4-year-old is getting it he says this, (an exact quote from this morning) "The cross was laid on a rock to pay the penalty for Jesus' sin."

See, we are using Resurrection Eggs (love 'em) right now during this Easter week to tell again the story of Jesus' death, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, all the way to the empty tomb. Well, today's symbol tucked inside the pink egg was a rock. So, our Redhead took it out and declared he knew what it meant. Hence, "The cross was laid on a rock to pay the penalty for Jesus' sin." Hilarious! Of course, the cross was clearly NOT laid on a rock, and more importantly, Jesus had NO need of payment for sin, other than OURS, because He did not have any sin!!!!!  :)

The rock, by the way, stood for the rock rolled in front of Jesus' tomb to seal it.

I love motherhood.

Flexibility and Variety? They're Overrated! :)

From time to time I have people ask us about my daily schedule as a homeschooling mommy. It's actually a favorite topic of mine, as the boys and I thrive on schedules, and they truly are essential to work in all that we need to do!  So just for fun I thought I'd lay out here what our day looks like at this point in life.  It's pretty much the same every day during the week. Saturdays and Sundays we do deviate, though, of course.

(Those of you like my friend Linda who are anti-rigid structure, will hate this)!!! Ha! We love it...of course I did love that Colorado trip a week ago, too, though, when all this was abandoned!!

7 am  Big boys are allowed to come out of their room

7:30  Littlest gets up, breakfast time

8-9 A bit of free time, as Mommy does dishes, checks email, etc.

9:00 School begins

(Bible first, then math, then CC, then grammar, then spelling, then history and reading time)

11:45 Finishing up school

by 12:00 Eating lunch

12:15 or so  Playing outside before little one's naptime

12:30  Pookie's nap

12:30-1 Game time with big boys (the Redhead loves board games and card games!)

1-2  Big boys' room time  (They listen to an audio book and read while Mommy catches up with things)

2:00 Big boys watch short video, Mommy cleans and tries to work in a phone conversation with friend

2:30  Snacktime

3:00  Littlest gets out of bed and has snack too

3-4:30  Some free time--either playing outside, or playing with friends, or going to library, etc.

4:30 Making dinner

Around 5 or 5:30 Dinner

6:30 Bathtime

7:15 Family devotions

7:30 Bedtime for all boys

Hopefully we're stewarding well the time the Lord gives us in all areas. Our days are so blessed. Thank you, Jesus!

We Were Spoiled

Hubby and I got to go to Colorado this weekend! The grandparents came and watched the kiddos for us, and we got away to a little retreat. Jim was asked to be the speaker for a weekend retreat with four churches in Colorado, and they even flew me there too. It was a remarkably sweet and beautiful time. The mountains were gorgeous, as was the weather. Frontier Ranch, where he spoke and we stayed, was such a nice facility. We even had deer walk by as we looked out onto the back porch of our cabin apartment! We were blessed with making new friends in the body of Christ and really relaxing together as a couple. It was fabulous. Here are a couple of pictures.

picture taken while driving

breathtaking beauty

happy us in our cabin

Look at this sky!

Celebrating our Monkey

He LOVES to climb, bananas are one of his favorite foods, and he has to be restrained in a crib tent, lest he get out of the crib every night. He's our monkey!

We had our "party" tonight--a small one with family. Here's the cake, and here's our monkey!!!

Resemblance?

I see these two looking alike here. Do you?

Okay, enough posts on our Doodlebug for today...

Look at These Blues!

Usually our sweetie pie is smiling so big that his eyes are kinda crinkled up, and I don't even notice how pretty and blue they are. But this pic really shows them off! Here he's got his new shirt from his Gran and Granddad laid across him--a birthday present just opened.

Birthday Boy Doodlebug

Today is our Littlest's birthday, and I now grant that he's not so little anymore. I will probably still call him my baby, but usually at 2, I deem my boys "big boys." I guess that means he's there.  :)  He's so precious. Today was a great day, though he has had a yucky stomach bug. Poor fella. We blew out candles on french toast this morning, opened some gifts, and enjoyed them later on. Here's a picture I'm calling "The Doodle and the Aquadoodle." A very neat toy, by the way, that I recommend. Anyway, on Thursday we'll have more of a celebration when family comes into town. We look forward to it!

I Love Daffodils!

Enough said.  :)

Meet Isaiah!

Isn't he precious! Our sweet friends Jenn and Josh just adopted him and another little girl from Ethiopia a week ago. Love them!

Another Reader in the Family

Our little (big) redhead is becoming a reader now too! We recently started sitting down and reading BOB books. I highly recommend them for any brand-new readers. They are the simplest of simple, and give a child confidence and joy in being able to read a whole book "by myself!" Tonight I had him read one to his daddy, so Daddy could be just as impressed as I! This little man is taking off, and we're so proud...

Feeding the Geese

We are so blessed to live in a neighborhood again with a pond and geese! Our second-born has been asking the last couple of days if we can go feed them, and since we had a sunshiny day again, we were off! We took our bread and had a ball! I tell ya, these geese are fat and happy and very tame. They will come right up to you and eat out of your hand! This freaks my boys out a bit, but it sure is fun!

Our eldest's thoughts on adoption

This morning we watched a slideshow from our friends' recent trip to Ethiopia to get their babies. Our oldest, while watching, had a sweet and cute comment. He said, "Mommy, I don't want us to adopt in our family." I said, "Why not?" He responded, "Because then we wouldn't see you again!" Poor thing. He's heard us talk before about us adopting possibly someday, and I guess maybe he thought one of them might be placed for adoption!  :)  I assured him that's not the way we'd be participating in adoption, if we ever did!!!

If you want a good gift for young boys...

...you're sure to please with a bubble gun! (Thanks, Aunt Susan!!!!) On this sunny day, my boys are outside with me, and we are all enjoying our newly-given gift of this gun. Many smiles have already been created by this toy, and energy expended, which is what a mama of three boys likes to see!  :)  Warning, though--your jar of bubbles will run out in about fifteen minutes flat!  Plan on having a backup of a large refill container to keep the fun coming!!!!!

A Sight for Sore Eyes!

Last year I remember posting about the appearance of our purple crocuses--the first flower to bloom in our yard after the long winter. I may do it every single year as a way to commemorate my heart's celebration of the beginning of spring! Today the sunshine is out, and this little pretty thing is happy--and so am I!

Our Very Own Prince of Thieves

Our second-born's 4th birthday party was a Robin Hood theme. We were blessed with 17 party guests and their parents. Everyone wore green to be one of his band of merry men. We shot arrows through a hula hoop, pinned arrows on a target, "stole" taxes from the sleeping Sheriff of Nottingham (who was Daddy), and gathered coins dispersed about our basement. We ate some cake, opened some presents, and smiled and laughed a lot. Good times!!

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This Cutie Pie is Four!

Our Redheaded boy turned four yesterday! We began the day with presents (including this pop gun rifle) and muffins at breakfast. In the afternoon, Uncle David came to play, and at dinner we had his fave--pizza, of course! Then at church last night we partook of ooey-gooey marshmallow-topped brownies to celebrate with everyone there. It was a great day!

An Amazing Morning

This morning, upon the recommendation of some friends, our family drove out to Salem, Indiana down some winding, hilly, country roads and experienced the Maple Syrup Festival at Sugarbush Farms. Upon arriving, because the lines didn't seem too long yet, we opted to begin our time with their pancake breakfast. We all had plain pancakes with maple syrup and sausage, except for our Redhead who chose the supreme deal. He got syrup, blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream on his!  :)  So after our yummy beginning, we headed to discover the activities available. Little did I know there would be SO much to do! Amidst the signs to read everywhere which taught us facts about maple syrup-making were interspersed a plethora of fun things for kiddos anywhere of all ages! I think this place is especially Boy Heaven. My cuties threw tomahawks at tree targets, sawed on a log together, played King of the Log, (where they tried to stay on the log while knocking the other person off with a grain sack)! They were able to see and go inside tepees, play games like "toss the ring onto the antlers" and "find the maple leaves in the corn." They made paw prints in sand of the animals native to Indiana, watched a man brand a maple leaf into a piece of wood, and viewed many handmade crafts and foods and wares for sale. There was even an indoor children's area where they could color pictures of maple trees, make crayon rubbings, and use play drills to create tapholes in trees. Also available for a minimal price was face painting and candle dipping. This place had it all! There were mule rides you could purchase, a tour of the farm where you learn the process of syrup-making, and on and on. The morning ended on a climax: After completing a scavenger hunt, the precious ones earned their first taste of cotton candy! (It was a free prize given to kids for the scavenger hunt). Man, does it get better than this? All on a completely gorgeous, sunny day that started out "toes-frozen" cold and warmed up to quite comfy and delightful. God's grace to us is incomprensible!!!!

Oh--I should say also that there are 70+ pictures on this slide show, so if you want to see them all, you might have to listen to the song more than once. Just a tip! Thanks so much for reading and watching!!!

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Fam Dev's

Every night we have Family Devotions at the end of the day. We sing a hymn, read Scripture, recite memorized passages, and pray together. Tonight, as soon as we began, I looked over and Littlest had perched himself promptly and properly on the bed (where we always sit) with a hymnal in his lap, ready to participate. I found that moment precious to behold. We just recently began including him in this time, as previously, we put him in bed before the Big Boys. Now he's a part, and he loves it!   :)

Encouraging Chalk Drawings

You know your homeschooled child is learning something and enjoying it when the chalk drawings he produces of his own volition are of an erupting volcano and a Confederate soldier shooting his gun! That boy makes me smile..as do my other two sweethearts!

Hallelujahs of Today

Hallelujah for a day where the sun lasted from morning until evening. Hallelujah for tiny green tips of daylily leaves pushing up through the mulch. Hallelujah for playing frisbee in the backyard with the boys for half an hour. Hallelujah for taking our coats off because we were getting too warm. Hallelujah for seemingly endlessly blowing bubbles and chasing after them. Hallelujah for the joy of doing some light yard work. Hallelujah for opening up all the blinds in the den to let the rays stream in and fill the room with light. Hallelujah for opening the front door and being flooded by sunshine that poured in through the glass storm door into the entryway.

Hallelujah for today's foretaste of spring. Hallelujah for our God of variety who, though He Himself does not change, alters the seasons and refreshes us with different facets of His beauty!

Snuggly One

I wish this little Cherub Face liked to snuggle with his mama half as much as he likes snuggling with his blankies and stuffed animals!!

Woodsman

I am so drawn to my camera when my boys take on the appearance of "manly men." So I had to run and capture this picture. How cute is this little red-headed woodsman sitting atop the woodpile in the backyard, complete with Spiderman snow boots, non-matching gloves, and a pine branch he was swinging around?  :)

The Age-Old Volcano Experiment

We've been learning the different kinds of volcanoes (active, intermittent, dormant, and extinct) and some parts of a volcano (magma, vents, lava, crater, gases)  the last two weeks. So, naturally, we HAD to construct our own and cause it to erupt.  :)   Of course, the boys thought it was the coolest! We actually erupted it twice, and the second time was even more fun because it was bigger and faster than the first time. It definitely wasn't the most realistic-looking volcano ever made, as it was covered by various colors of PlayDoh all mixed together  AND it we didn't have enough PlayDoh to build it up around the bottom and make it the right shape, but hey--it was still great fun!

Flags

On Fridays recently I've begun incorporating a history craft time into our schoolwork. We really love it. So we do crafts related to what we've read about that week in history. This week we read about Julius Caesar, and one of the crafts suggested by the book was to make our own flag, like the Romans would have had their flag they carried into battle. As the Romans would have had a symbol on their flag signifying their purpose, we were to do the same. So, with these instructions, our oldest boy drew a "G" on his flag for God, because, he said, "We are in God's army." Then he also wrote "Jesus" in glitter glue. Cutie pie Redhead drew a "cyclops moon" face on his flag.  :)  (Even he catches some of the Greek myths we've read this year!) We glued the two together to make one two-sided flag for the big boys. Here it is!! Oh, and in case you can't tell....I love homeschooling!

Some Cool Drawings

All the boys and I went to a free session of 3D art lessons the other day up in Indiana. It was really fun! Here are some pictures our Biggest drew from copying what the man Mark Kistler drew on the overhead for them. Aren't they good? I'm such a proud mommy.  :)

marshmallow guys

one-eyed hairy Pierre

pyramids of ancient Egypt

43 degrees!

Hallelujah...it feels like SUMMER around here! You might think I'm kidding, but I'm not. Compared to the temps and the snow we've had lately, the fact that the sun is out and big-time bright makes all the difference in the world! The big boys and I actually were outside and playing for an extended time with no gloves, no hats, no boots, and jackets were not even zipped. The driveway snow is almost completely melted, and we had plenty of room to sport about. It was perfect!!!! We played Trac Ball, rode the Rip Rider, and just laughed and smiled at a sunny day. How good it is to drink in the truly simple pleasures of life, like intense sunshine after weeks (and really even months!) of gray skies. You might notice amongst the pictures something exciting I spotted in the yard during our time: the tiniest green shoots springing up! It's true! Spring is coming soon! Full steam ahead!

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A Mommy Loves This Kind of Thing....

Just when I think my boys are growing so fast and getting so big and strong and manly, something like this happens:

We had just said goodnight last night to the Big Ones, and immediately, down came the Eldest, tears pouring from his eyes, because he could not find "Polie." (Polie is a stuffed polar bear that was mine when I was a little girl. I gave it to him years ago when he was scared one time when Daddy was out of town). Anyway, he sleeps with Polie every night, but little did I know how important Polie was to my sweet 6-year-old. We quickly located Polie, and all was well. As we said goodnight the second time, I was wearing a huge smile in my heart.   :)

Fun Things from "The Dude"

I just heard from the third sweetie, "May I pea take water in room?" He was asking if he could take his sippy cup of water into the den. Isn't that good?  :)  I'm amazed at the sentences he speaks prior to age two!!!! (His birthday is next month).

Here are two other cute things from The Dude over the last few days that show his intelligence and fun personality. ("Dude" is short for "Doodle," which is short for "Doodlebug", a name he acquired long ago!)

--Yesterday, I said, "Hi, Punkin Doodles." He responded with, "Hi, Punkin Mommy!"  :)

--Earlier today I greeted him with, "Hey, Stinks!" He said in return, "Hi, Poopy!"  That cracked me up!!!!



What a happy, fun, sweet baby boy! (Not a baby much longer!)

Haircuts

I always have the urge to photograph my boys with fresh haircuts. They just look so good! I really only got one great pic, though. Biggest insisted on being completely goofy and not cooperating, and the Doodlebug is just little and moves around a lot! But that second child--ooo, this pic makes him irresistible to me. What a handsome guy!







After I cut the Pook's hair a touch, I disrobed him down to diaper, and he promptly donned snowboots! Naturally, I could not resist the photo op. Cutie booty!

Second Time Sledding!!!!

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Today was even MORE of a blast than last time when we sledded! It was so totally fun! (I think the 8 inches of snow helped!) Wa-hoo!!!!

Fave Pics from Today--So Far!

We have gotten 8 inches of snow so far here since last night! Much fun has been had making snowmen, having snowball fights, smacking a snow-covered tree, and even eating homemade snow cones with vanilla syrup! More pics to come! Enjoy!

Ice Skating Adventure

Last weekend the boys went to their cousins' birthday party that was at the ice rink. This was a new thing for our family. Never before had the boys been on the ice. We went rollerskating once, and that was it. It ended up being a blast! You can see our biggest skating here. He did so great with falling often and yet just jumping right back up! A lesson in perseverance, for sure!



Unfortunately, our sweet second-born didn't didn't get it quite as easily as the firstborn. We saw more of this from him. Li'l cutie.



But really, even he did exceptionally well for his age and abilities and considering it was the first time! In the end, we definitely had more smiles than we did tears!!!

Our little Greek God!

Our eldest dressed up as someone for our CC class last week. Can you tell who he is? If you guessed Poseidon, you're right! That boy is enthralled with the Greek myths, and we've read many of them more than once. I sure have enjoyed them myself. It was not until this year, teaching them, that I realized how entertaining they are! They truly are great stories, especially the ones about Odysseus. Biggest has read through the Odyssey children's chapter books at the library. So proud of this boy!!!!!