God loves to hear our prayers

This morning Gabriella helped me wake Josiah up.
She said "Josiah, did you pray this morning? God loves to hear our prayers in the morning and at night, on Wednesdays and when it is raining!"
Josiah said, "God loves to hear our prayers everyday, all the time. He loves to have us talk with him."

Puppy Love

 
 
 
 

We have a new member of the PVE family. She is an 8 week old teddy bear, which is a Shih Tzu and Bichon mix. The kids are in love and we are definitely smitten as well.

The Gala auctioned a teddy bear and brought the dog to school to let all the kids hold her and pet her. The boys were hooked. She is hypoallergenic and non-shedding which we wanted for our friends and family with allegies. We talked about looking for a dog once we moved, looked at shelters, on petfinder and at the petshop. We decided that the boys could save their money to purchase the dog and we would pay for her needs. I spoke with the owner of the pet shop yesterday and he let me know that two puppies would be coming in today. He saved them for us so that we could have the first pick. We spent 45 miutes playing, holding and learning more about how to take care of them. It was a hard choice as they were both sweet and playful and in the end the kids unanimously picked the little girl. Ben carried it home on his lap, Kevin set up a boxed in area in the kitchen and now she is snoozing away in her kennel after Gabriella read her some books.

Life with a puppy...it's going to be an adventure!

Jesus in your heart

On the way home from church on Wednesday the kids were talking with Grandma Millen about having Jesus in their heart.
Ben said, "Gabriella, you know you have Jesus in your heart."
"Yes, I know. But he needs to come out so he can find the shephard and the sheep".

Now that I am three....

This has been a new sentence starter in our house. It is said with her 3 little fingers held up and her head tilted to the side.

Now that I am three, can I plug things in outlets by myself?

Now that I am three, I don't need a nap anymore!

Now that I am three, can I play with Josiah's Legos?

Now that I am three, can we have a dog?

Now that I am three, can I have a pet bunny?

Now that she is three, she does get to play in the big kid side at gym with her brothers, use markers again, and start school in the fall. Good things come from being three!

My little designer

I have an arrangement of lemons and clementines in glass containers right now. They say spring, are on hand, so I decided they could be a little bit of color for our table.

This morning Gabriella is fascinated. She is rearranging them for me. "This is my idea, can I try it? I will be so careful with the containers." She gingerly lifts out each piece of fruit and slides the glass closer with one hand, while clearing the plastic teacups and pencils off the table with a big swish with the other.;)

The end arrangement looks just like what we started with. I think we need to add a few limes to the mix as I love watching her at work.

Father Daughter Dance

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You know those evenings when everyone has an ear to ear grin? This was one of those evenings. Gabriella and Kevin had both been really looking forward to this special evening together for weeks. The 50's theme for the evening was fun and Gabriella and I were excited to find a 50's style kitty skirt for her to wear for the evening. She loved the snacks, the dancing, the scarves, the running and loved to see her cousins and uncles there too. Most of all though, was spending time with her Daddy.

You look good in what you eat.

 
 

Ben's new smile!

 
 
 
Ben got his braces off mid February. I snapped a before and after. Just a year and a half and Ben now has room for his adult teeth to come in after his palette was expanded, and no more underbite so the teeth can come in correctly. A big thanks to Dr. Stark for making it such a fun experience. Ben was amazing through it all. Responsible, never complaining and finding great joy in selecting rubber band colors. Now a month into the retainer wearing and he is a champ. Love to see you smile buddy!

Taekwondo Dragon Birthday Boy!

 
 
 
 
 
 
For Josiah's 7th birthday he choose to have a Taekwondo Dragon party. I love the ideas he comes up with and running with it! He designed the dragon for the invite and then he and I worked together to create an origami style gi for the invites. Josiah has a very fun and lively group of friends who were able to join us for an afternoon of taekwondo. Master Phillips lead them through a class and fun games, took a break for cake and gifts, and did a demo for the parents. Josiah's party favors were all wrapped in white paper (thanks Grandma Teske) and he drew a unique dragon on each of them. It was a fun day and I loved to watch him grin the whole time. Thank you God for seven years with this creative, imaginitive, and sweet boy!

We love you Claire!

 

Dora comes in handy

A few weeks ago Gabriella dressed up in her favorite pink leotard, tutu and ballet shoes and walked over to Josiah who was deeply engaged in Legos.

"Josiah, you get to be my ballet teacher today!"

"I don't want to be your ballet teacher Gabriella."

"But you get too!"

"Go ask Ben."

"I don't know where he is."

"Well, do you have your backpack?"

"Yes!" and she pretends to put on an imaginary backpack.

"Get out your map!" She unrolls an imaginary scroll. Josiah then pretends to draw a very long and windy path for her on the imaginary map. "Wind through the fruit filled jungle, down the dark stair tunnel, past the Island of Sodor and around the room until you hear Ben playing. Then you have found your new ballet teacher!"

"Thanks Josiah!"

And the clever boy goes back to his Legos and the big brother doesn't know what hit him.;)

Jewel or drool

A while back we were driving in the car. Gabriella said something about a jewel. Josiah was sitting behind her and asked her
"Did you say jewel or drool."

"I said jewel like a gem, not drool like on your chin," she replied.

Smoothies

We have smoothies twice a week now and I used to sneak spinach into the kids smoothies when they weren't looking. Now they help me add a handful or two when we make them.

This morning Josiah asked if we could have one with just spinach and cabbage for St. Patrick's day and skip the fruit. We have compromised on extra spinach and just banana so it can be really green. One of us is very excited.

A new driver's license

Gabriella and I went to renew my driver's license today before our trip out east. We went there right as it opened and got through in about an hour. Gabriella was well behaved and entertaining for the crowd of others waiting and they were kind enough to give her a coloring book and crayons and her own clipboard.

It all went smoothly until the picture. It took seven attempts to get a photo that the computer software would accept. At first I smiled with my lips touching. The computer said my mouth was open. We tried again. I wiped off my lipstick. We tried again. Okay, I won't smile. Click. It says your eyes are shut. They weren't. I don't smile, use my stern teacher mouth and try to open my eyes wider. Click. It says too much of my forehead is covered. I tuck it behind my ears on both sides. Click! The kicker, "The computer says that the length of is exceeded by 20%.... Let me see if I can override it. No. Tilt your chin down and will see if that angle will shorten the length of your head..... " Click! "There we got it!"

For the next five years I get to carry a picture of myself with my stern teacher face and a double chin. Perhaps computers shouldn't be in charge of everything.

;)

Teenager

Yesterday we were walking out of school after volunteering in Josiah's class. Gabriella unzips her jacket halfway, pulls it down so her hands are covered and it is pulled down below her shoulders.

"Look, I am being a teenager Mom."

Oh dear.