The 5 Year Old Girl

In July, Soph turned 5. She was so excited for to be 5. I guess perhaps, 5 signifies that you are old enough to start school. I'm not quite sure. We started the morning off with swim lessons and then a birthday donut.

Every time we get donuts, she always gets the one with sprinkles. But she will only eat the sprinkles and leave the rest of the donut. Perhaps we should skip the donut part and just give her sprinkles!

And happiness!

We had an incident with an older copy of this book involving poop and since it was her favorite, we had to get her a replacement. No, the poop was not from a Grandberg...

This face is priceless! Magnus has really enjoyed gift giving and he was very involved in choosing what he wanted to get his sister. 

Frozen is her love, if you haven't gathered that! 

She also requested her own Lego set. I'm so thankful for pink and purple Legos!

Some things about Soph right now:
*you are a morning person. you are the most cuddliest, agreeable person when you first wake up
*because you are a morning person, you wake up so much earlier than most of us-ugh
*you are continuing to be the most girliest girl. loving anything that shines, sparkles, and spins
*constantly gets frustrated at me because I won't let you wear make up
*put away the silverware like a champ
*you love to be outside. whether it's going for a walk, bike, or the park

*My memorable moment of you this year, is going on a walk that you and I and Odin took. You were wearing a skirt and having such a great time. It started as a simple skip, then a flip of the skirt, and then the longer we went, the higher the skirt flipping went. At one point, you were flashing your undies for all the neighbors to see

Soph, I love you. You are so difficult sometimes, but mostly because you are a lot like me. I am so thankful that you are my one and only Sopheary! Happy birthday baby girl!

Promotion Night 2014

At the end of every school year, we have a Promotion Night to honor the kids. It's something we all look forward to. There's usually some sort of skit/video, a presentation of the families, an honoring of the moms, then dessert and fellowship.

My favorite part of the night is during the presentation of the families. Each child has a character trait that is chosen from their parents. It's such a chore to find one for each of the kids, but when you find one, you know it's the right one!  

Here are the kids practicing their songs the day before the big night.

 The only boys in their grade level. It's a good thing they like each other! Looking forward to seeing the shenanigans these two will come up with!

 Odin was super pleased when we put this shirt on for him! At that point everyone was already spruced up except for him, so when we put this on, he felt like he was part of the clan. It's so interesting to see how quickly they pick up on things!

 One of my sweet students! Man, these kids they grow and grow and grow. Here I am wearing 3 inch heels and she is almost as tall as I am. And she is only in 3rd grade!!!!

 A procession line lead by the Kindergarteners. Or in this case, the mature 4 year olds that were a part of the K class.

 Studly son!

 And beautiful Soph!

 One of my other favorite part of the night! The kids come down the aisle carrying flowers to give to their mama. Before we became a part of this group, I went to one of our friend's promotion night. Let me tell you, during this part of the night, I balled my eyes out! It was so sweet and it reaffirmed my desire to join in.

So now that I am on stage waiting for my children to bring me flowers, I don't ball my eyes out. I am too busy praying that they can make it towards me without fighting. That when they come up to me, I don't fall off stage and flash everyone my derriere and then some! So yeah, that's enough to keep the emotions in check!

Contentious Love

Since Soph and Odin are closer in age, they have a contentious complicated relationship. Odin thinks that Soph is going to take his toy. Soph thinks that he will wreak her block house that she worked so hard on. So there's a lot of squeals, not of delight, but a tell tale sign that they need help. Someone needs to show them how to love and communicate. Sometimes, I am thankful for the opportunity to show them other times not so much. Like when it's the 5 millionth time...When is John coming home???

One morning, I came out of my room and found this. Soph had set up a play area for her brother. 

And then the stars must've aligned or something.

Happy little people, sitting together, even if it's for a small while. 

Incognito Learning

When we started on our journey to homeschool, John and I went to a conference and sat in on a workshop. I don't remember what the topic was about, but she mentioned the words "incognito learning". That has stuck with me ever since. Any time I can get this going, there's a fist pump, a stifled giggle, and a swelling of the heart(the healthy kind). Of course, you can't let them see this. After all it is incognito. 

When I make freezer meals, I have Soph label the bags. In the beginning, it helped her practice her letters. Now, she is trying to spell the words. 

Yay, for incognito learning! Thank you Preschoolers and Peace! 

Abundant Blessings

When our friend Shelly shared about a missionary, who works at the orphanage that her daughter came from, needing a new vehicle to transport the kids, I thought why the heck not? We can help and the kids can learn about serving others. I didn't think too much of it. Other than, throw some money into it and maybe the kids will see how much they already have. Well, this project took a life of it's own and blessed many people in epic proportions.

We had a meeting where the kids brainstormed how to raise funds. Some were effective, some were not.

It's neat to see their brains working. And these kids are not even in the double digit age range!

We started by collecting change in mason jars. Slowly, but surely, it added up. We had John take a collection at work and a coworker gave $40!!! What!!! We were so floored with the generosity and it fueled us to our next endeavor.

We had a dine and donate event at Mary's Pizza Shack. It was a delicious fundraiser! We picked up a lunch order for SRPD, had take out for our lunch, and went back for dinner. Yep, we know how to eat!

We had a bake sale. Quite a daunting task for me since I am not known for my baking skills. Hopefully whoever bought these goodies will be content to know that the money went to a good cause...

Selah was rocking the sales table! She was in her element. Sharing her heart about the people she cares for.

We had a Read A Thon hosted at our house. I have to say this was probably one of Magnus' favorite way to raise money. Getting paid to read, what?!

Miss Angie reading to them so their eyes can take a little break. They read for a total of 180 mins with a few breaks in between for potty and snacks. I provided lots of snacks and these little people were quite happy. One had about 7 applesauce squeeze. We won't name any names...

And the finale, an ice cream party to celebrate all their hard work! Great job kids!

As we started out on this project, I didn't realize the impact that this would have on our family. Magnus was able to share about the project at church. His first public speaking venue! (His ears got red as he was speaking and as soon as he was done, his ears went back to a normal color) Another time, he and Soph sang a song each that they had been practicing to elicit donations. And people were so generous with their donations. That, I think touched me more than anything. I just felt so loved by all these people who supported our mission to support Maritza. 

Overall the kids raised a butt load of money, as you can see on the chart. With their hard earned fundraising money and other generous donors throughout the country, we were able to get Maritza a new vehicle.We did this all in about 5 months. God showed up everywhere, growing our faith in him, growing our children, and oozing love all around. Abundant blessings!

Skiing in Tahoe

When we went to Tahoe, we took the kids over to Soda Springs to do some skiing and snow play. They have an area just for kids 9 and under and it was perfect for our little ones. On this particular day, a snow storm was brewing. It started out with a light dusting of snow, then darker clouds, then heavy winds, then heavy snow fall. And did we leave at the first sign of the inclement weather, um no! We stayed and stayed! 

We had a blast! Not many people ventured out like us crazies so we basically had the whole place to ourselves. Occasionally a family would join us, but they never stayed long. 

We got Magnus skiing lessons and he did really well. The instructor said it helped that he has been ice skating. Hooray-ice skating! There was a lot of wind blowing in the video, so I suggest you mute it.

After Soph saw Magnus do this, she wanted to do it also. It was a little difficult, but for her first time, I was quite impressed with her. She stuck with it even though she was a little scared of it.

That Odin, I was impressed with him also! We stayed for about 5 hours and missed his nap time and he didn't throw too big of a tantrum. Don't be fooled, this was when we first got there!

Soda Springs also had a tubing carousel. Look at them trying to high five each other!

And this was Odin, after he had had his fun and was waiting for everyone else to be done. I'll take this, any day, over screaming!

 We would definitely go here again. The only tricky part is that Magnus is getting older than the recommended age for the children's playground. So we might have to split up next time. I'm not quite sure how that would work out. Overall, we had a great time!

An Eggxellant Hunt

Some people have it all together! They make sure they have eggs beforehand and they have an egg coloring day, days before Easter. On the day of Easter, their kids are well dressed. All prim and all proper.

Well, this is not going to be a post about that. It will be the exact opposite, actually.

In the last few years, my sister had to work around Easter and she can't do the whole egg coloring thing at her house. Which leaves it up to me to get this done. But I loathe it. Abhor. With a passion. So it doesn't get done. The kids are really sad about this because they love it! But I don't like messes. Buying plastic eggs at Target and filing them up with my favorite candy, that I can do!

Oh, and remember prim and proper? I don't think that happens here!

 See,the day of Easter has already passed by a few days. We have to get the egg hunt over with. So we just throw them out haphazardly and say, "Go get 'em!" It doesn't matter that they are not dressed to the nines or that they just got out of the tub.

 See, these guys don't care about any of that! They got candy!!!! Yummy Kit Kat, Snickers, and Twix!

Just so you don't think that we are heathens, we do believe in Jesus. We believe he died and rose again. We believe in a personal relationship with him. The kids like to hunt for eggs and we are ok with that. No convictions. We know where our hearts are at.

Oh Magnus

For the majority of Magnus' life, he is a wonderful child. There are only a few moments where we wonder where his brain went. But for the most part, raising him has been such an easy job. Perhaps that is why when he has a moment of failure, it seems so devastating.

Boy, does he covet soda...

 One day, I made soup that had okra in it. In my opinion, you cannot taste the okra because it has been cooked down so much, but Magnus begged to differ. So much so that he made himself throw up from it. So here is the mess. He got an earful, he cleaned it up, and he got a consequence for over reacting.

Sometimes when your child behave unbecoming, it makes you doubt your parenting skills. What are you doing wrong? What are you not teaching them? Have you failed them?

After many times, of crying and praying and praying and crying, I'm learning that it's ok. This is a part of life, a part of growing. He as a child and I as a parent. Throwing up over okra is not the end of the world. There could be other things worse than this.

So I need to be a little more forgiving, show a little more grace, and definitely have a lot more patience. Oh, the things we have to learn over and over again even as adults!

Snow House Vacation 2014

 In Feb., we splurged and took a trip to Carnelian Bay. This house had a pool table, a foosball table, and an air hockey table, plus a hot tub. The kids were so excited!!! Ok, we were too!!!  Every morning they would wake up early and hit the game room. Every afternoon they would ask to go in the hot tub. Fun times!

When you are in the presence of snow, you must build a snowman.

 Working together to gather the softer snow.

The finished product! I think it looks pretty awesome! In fact, it's the best looking one we've made so far!!!

And check out the hair on this one. Who knew that a snowman could sport a mohawk?

So, what happens when you get tired, cold, and hungry when you're 4 years old? Obviously, you cry!

A bear box can double as target practice!

I don't think the camo hat did the deer any good since he ended up on the wall...

I think this was the start of Odin's infatuation with shoes. John's snow boots probably weighed as much as him!

This place had a gigantic bath tub! It's only natural that all children must bathe together and be silly together!

It is always awesome to go to the snow and actually have fresh ones falling!

 Oh, poor Mr. Snowman. You're looking a little shabby there...

I am so thankful we get to make memories like this with our children.