43/365: Love 'Em!

I love my crazy munchkins!

42/365: Made It!

Countless hours logged in the dance studio

Too many sore muscles to number

A week of grueling tryouts

You made it.  

You've been dreaming of being on this dance team since you were four and you're here! 

41/365: The Little Dog Laughed

Hey Diddle Diddle, the cat and the fiddle

The cow jumped over the moon

THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED TO SEE SUCH SPORT

And the dish ran away with the spoon

No words need to be said about the cuteness factor here.

The boy played the little dog that laughed in his 1st grade show of BoPeep.

37/365: Dancin' Feet

My kiddos love to dance whether it's by themselves or together. Throw in a dj and a real dance floor and you've got a little show to watch.

28/365: Lost Tooth

the boy: Momma, will you open up the shop so I can get my pliers? I need to do some work.

me: Sure, what work do you have to do?

the boy: I have to pull my tooth.

He pulled his tooth (without the pliers). The top tooth was pulled by the dentist a little over a year ago. The bottom tooth is the first tooth he's pulled. He can't wait to see what the tooth fairy brings. The tooth is under his pillow as we speak.

27/365: What's In Ned's Head?

This is perhaps the most disgusting game I have ever played. There are all sorts of gross items inside Ned's head including a dirty diaper, bird poop, Ned's lost lunch and other various things that would make one cringe. To play, you draw a card showing the item you need to find, feel around inside of Ned's Head (through one of the many holes he has - ie. ears and mouth) and the first player to find the object wins that round. Needless to say this is a family favorite. This preschool age game elicits squeals and "yuck" sounds from all of us when we play. Sure, we have all outgrown the difficulty of this game but the fun factor has yet to decrease. Everyone needs to know the feel of fake vomit every once in a while. This was our rainy afternoon activity today. Good times!

26/365: The Boy

The boy was playing on my laptop this afternoon and apparently was amusing himself with my webcam. When I turned it on later this evening this was waiting for me. He begged me to post his picture on my blog. So...this is "the boy" taken by "the boy" on May 25, 2010.

There were lots more but I convinced him that my blog was only capable of handling one of his awesome photos. :)

23/365: Kids At Play

The kiddos playing a game of tether ball. This would be one of my top 10 favorite things...watching my children play together. Sure, they argue like most siblings do (I guess I don't think to get a picture of those moments!). That's life. The arguments are them learning how to do life together, how to treat others, how to act in situations instead of react, and that the only person in the world that they have control over is really themselves. We work through the arguments and disagreements and hopefully, they will develop some life skills that I only learned as an adult and I've noticed that most adults lack even today. We are seldom taught how to do life with others in a healthy way and I have to say that I don't have it down. I probably never will completely. But I do know that God has been refining this in me for quite some time now and instructing me to teach these skills to my children. It's moments like this, when my children are laughing, playing a game and genuinely enjoying each other that Im reminded that God is good, that His refining is worth the fire and that maybe my parenting is effective for His kingdom. This sight is one of my favorites. It makes me smile.

22/365: Cross

This is what the oldest daughter chose to have painted on her face at the face painting table at Pine Cove Family Fun Day.

20/356: Seatwork

This is the youngest daughter's daily seatwork. She is one of my children that homeschools. I don't remember having to do this much work when I was in school, and I was definitely not writing in cursive in kindergarten and 1st grade. I must say that her handwriting looks better than most adults I know. She likes to remind her daddy of that often.

19/365: Sweet

My middle child. Is it difficult being the middle child in a family of three kids? You are not really the baby but not quite as independent as your big sister. I see your internal struggle at times, wanting to be both. You see sister and how neat and exciting things are for her and you can't wait to be her age so you can do all of the things she does. At the same time, you see brother and the attention he gets sometimes simply because he is the youngest, and you desire some of the same attention. Do you feel as though you get enough attention from me and Daddy? I pray that you do. I pray that you never doubt your place in our family. You are not your sister nor your brother. You are you. You are a part of what makes our family complete. God has a special plan and a purpose in placing you in the middle. You are the only one who knows what it's like to be a younger sibling and an older sibling. I see a natural compassion in your heart. I pray that you will allow God to grow and use that compassion to further His kingdom. I pray that you will run after God and the joy that only comes with a relationship with Him. You have a beautiful heart, and that beauty is displayed in your smile and the way you treat others. I love you, my sweet middle child and I thank God every day for the blessing of you.

17/365: Mother's Day

This photo was courtesy of the husband. I like to get a snapshot of me with my kiddos each Mother's Day. The boy was not very cooperative with this impromptu photo shoot, so I ended up with this sort of half forced smile with a little bit of scowl mixed in there somewhere. :)

12/365: A Page

This is a scrapbook page I completed today. I made the page a while back, but just recently printed the pictures to go on it. These are some of my favorite pictures of my children.