Jake's Birthday weekend

Warning: tons of pics below :)
We did lots of celebrating this weekend for Jake's fourth Birthday. We went out to dinner at Red Robin (his choice) Saturday night with family and then came home for cake and presents:

The Hubster, myself and birthday boy!

Opening presents!



Even Miss Meg got in on the fun!

Having a Socket-Bopper fight with daddy!

Jake's Birthday cake that he wanted to make... with his idea of boy decor surrounding the cake :)

Make a wish!

Silly boy!

Then on Monday, his actual Birthday, he woke up to balloons in his room and breakfast of choice; CAKE! He wanted to go to summer school because they were having a water and mud day so that's where he went with some cupcakes to share with his friends:

 

Yes, that was a sugar rush sort of day ;)

Once daddy got home that evening, we ate dinner (his choice; Taco Soup) and then worked on a few new toys; 'I Spy' game with mom and Lego Train set with dad:

And what's a Birthday without a trip to the park to try out a new toy??

Baseball!

Racing with dad

Sibling slide down

And some people at the park offered to let the kids run with their sweet, kiddo friendly dog; my kids were THRILLED and this dog WORE THEM OUT! So nice :)

All in all, a fun two days celebrating my Birthday boy. Love you Jakey!

Dragonfruit

I was at Winco last week and saw that they had Dragonfruit in stock.

Dragonwhat?!? I had never heard of such a thing.

There were only a few left so I grabbed two in preparation for an impromptu science/cooking lesson that would be had. So after baths and jammies, they were in the kitchen begging to 'investigate' their new snack.

We cut into it and were pleasantly surprised... it was colorful! And pretty!

Then daddy helped them scoop out the insides to eat:

Meg loved it, I mean LOVED it. Lauren and Jake weren't as impressed as I think they were expecting something sweet like fruit usually are. It was the texture of a kiwi but sort of bland. Nonetheless, it was interesting to cut it open and taste!

Fondue night!

A couple weeks ago we had our good friends the Greenlee's come over for some games and fellowship. We had a great time with them as usual. The kids got to have a movie night while we hung out and chatted.

But the best part? We tried out our new Velata fondue pot!

We had both the milk chocolate and caramel fondue and had lots of yummy things to dip; marshmallows, Biscotti, bananas, strawberries, animal crackers, pretzel sticks, pound cake chunks and Granny Smith apples, esp. for the caramel.

It was a fun time... messy with kiddos, but fun!

Thanks Mark and Jaime for the great time. We love you guys!

To my Birthday boy on his FOURTH Birthday!

Dear Jakey,

I know I say this every year, but I simply cannot believe that you are 4 years old! Wow, 4 years ago today you came into this world as a tiny 7lb 13oz baby boy. Even though you have grown so much since then, I am struck by just how little you are in so many ways.

Today I was looking back at pictures of your previous birthdays, and I was shocked at just how little you were. At the time, I remember thinking the opposite; you have seemed so big to me at each birthday. (Nothing is more true than that today!)

When Megan was born, I thought you were such a big boy at almost 3 years old , and now I see that you were so small still; a chubbier version of the same long and slender boy I see today. This idea of being big in some ways, and still so small in others, is an accurate picture of you right now.

When I gave you a couple choices yesterday for snack, you said, "what are my chances (choices) again?" I love that you still mistake chances for choices :) And just today you said, "Mama, Lauren isn't telling the truth. I didn't lell (yell) at her!" I love your grammatical mistakes because they remind me that you are still small, and still learning. Yet you speak and articulate so much (this fact stood out to me today when you and daddy had a conversation about David and Goliath). You are beginning to spell and read some simple words, and one of your favorite games to play is to go fishing for sight words. Such a big boy, putting together so many complex ideas and making sense of it all. Yet such a small boy who still struggles with printing and inverting the letters.

Your little mind astounds me for someone your age. You are certainly your daddy's son. You are very mechanical and technical, always wanting to know how things work and how they fit together. You LOVE the Angry Birds game app on my phone and it's a huge treat when you get to play it. I do have to set a time limit though because you would literally sit for hours, meticulously directing the cannonballs where they need to go. You are also a whiz at puzzles, putting together 50+ sets at a time. And games like Candy Land, Memory, Lets Go Fishing, Chutes and Ladders? Yeah, you often beat me fair and square (esp. at memory! You are crazy good at that game!) And yet, if you should lose, massive meltdown; we're still working on this. Big and small, all at the same time.

This year you have loved going to school with sister and Miss Wanda. You are thriving there; you have mastered all of your alphabet and numbers, and you are even beginning to do some simple math problems. You have many friends there, and the teachers have told me you are well liked by all of the kiddos there.

You are still a happy go lucky boy who loves to have fun. You love to pretend you're a 'bad guy' and often get dressed up as Spiderman, Buzz Lightyear or a 'scawy dragon'. You love Nerf guns and 'shooting' the bad guys in our house. You're still a fan of your train table, but have a new love; arts and crafts. You will now sit quietly for a good 15-30 minutes coloring and drawing and getting creative. And when you're not being creative, you can either be found outside riding bikes, scooters or stomping on bugs to make your sister scream in disgust ;) Or, you're in the kitchen with me, making smoothies, spreading peanut butter on your own peanut butter and jelly 'sammich', or asking to bake a cake. You have so many interests, and I love that about you little man.

You are still my snuggle bug, insisting on 'smooches' if either of us should leave. You are a master bear-hugger, and you take great pride in giving the biggest, most painful hugs ;) You are still super sweet with your little sister, always bringing her stuffed animals and rubbing her back when she's upset. You have become so close to her within the past few months and you can tell you both adore eachother. You are just a sweet, lovable boy who is eager to please.

Jakey, as you celebrate your fourth birthday, my prayer for you is that the Lord would call you to follow him in the same way He did to your mama and daddy years ago.  I pray that while you are still young, you would embrace Jesus Christ, that you would trust in Him and give your life over to Him.

You will find that to be the most important decision you will ever make in your life. Yes, you may have to risk everything in your pursuit of following God, but both daddy and I earnestly pray that you would follow Him wholeheartedly.  It may cost you friends, or prestige, or riches, or status in the eyes of those who love this world.  It may even cost you your life.  But those are small prices to pay in exchange for an eternal home in Heaven, which Jesus has prepared for those who love Him. And sweet boy, know this: mommy and daddy love you so, so much but Jesus loves you more than that (!) and He will never steer you wrong.

Happy Birthday, stud muffin!

I love you with all my heart.
Mama

Small group

I love our Small Group. I love the impromptu worship nights, the sharpening of each other, the accountability, the studying together...

But what I love even more is that we're doing life together. Real life.

Just so thankful to have these people in my life, whether it be for Bible Study or a game night like the one pictured above. God is so good, specifically in the fellowship He brings in our lives ;)

No need for beds

It's rare that both big kids take naps these days but it happened one day last week. What's even weirder is that they both passed out on the floor. Crazy kiddos...

But I had to post the picture of Lauren. Silly girl got dressed in her fancy fat, faux fur coat, frilly dress up shirt and sandals. Some people dress down for naps but Lauren gets fancy ;)

To my man on his Birthday

Today is my Hubsters Birthday! And while this is being posted on Friday, his actual Birthday, I'm not manually posting it because on Friday we'll be on a surprise mini-vacay ;) Pics to come when we get home!

Nonetheless, I wanted to share a few favorite things about him:

• He loves Jesus and is passionate about a relationship with Him.
• He provides for his family, working all day (even when he is sick and injured), and then coming home to study in preparation for the journey God has him on.
• He loves his children and spends quality time discipling and training them.
• He is the same in front of his family, friends, and small group as he is in his home.
• He Loves me, and goes above and beyond to show me.
• He is incredibly patient and verrrry slow to anger.
• He leads his home like Jesus.... dying to his own wants to make his family happy.
• He makes a mean bowl of cereal ;) 
• He loves me even when I am unlovable, and forgives me when I am grumpy and grouchy.
• He is my best friend, the one I can trust and rely on wholeheartedly.

Thank you Lord for my husband... I love him so, so much. He is one of my few treasures on Earth, a precious gift from you to me.

Arby's on a stick

I love Arby's, esp. since I can get a junior roast beef, take off the bun and not feel guilty for eating fattening fast food ;)

So I took my kiddos there for lunch as a special treat (for all of us). And then Jake did what he does best... be a ham!

'Look mom! A sandwich on a stick!'

Crazy kid.

Megan's masterpeice

While the 'big' kids are in school a few mornings a week, I like to do special things with just Megan, just like I did while when each of the older kids were solo with me.

So last week, Miss Meg and I brought out the markers:

She had a great time taking the caps on and off, on and off, on and off (you get the point),

and coloring on her paper,

but found it was even more fun to use her body as the canvas ;)

And in the few moments when she wasn't coloring on herself, she created this:

I see a mini Picasso on our hands.