(Sock) Monkey Business

How cute and sweet is my family?  Very!  While I was at praise team practice today, they had a couple hours to use up while in town waiting on me.  They were bursting at the seams to give me the birthday present they found for me, and barely waited until we got in the door at home to give it to me in the bag from the store! ;)

Now, my kiddos know that I love seeing them in their adorable full-body fleece footed jammies, and always jokingly say that I wish they made them for grown-ups too.  So, when they saw these today, they just had to get them for me!  AND, they know I love sock monkeys too.  (The one I'm holding in the picture is mine from when I was little!)

Funny and sweet, aren't they?  I will be wearing them all winter!  Love it.

New Quizzing Season!

We've started the new Bible Quizzing season, and are really enjoying learning 1 Samuel!  We have done 7 weeks so far, meeting with the whole quizzing team each Wednesday night.  We also study most mornings at breakfast, or at supper.  We reviewed several "dig sites" (This is what our quizzing book calls the sections we study.) last night, and all 7 of them today on the way to our first quiz at Galesburg Church of the Nazarene.

We have learned...

• ...how desperately Hannah poured out her heart to God, begging for a son, and promising to give him to God for all the days of his life.  
• ...how Samuel heard the voice of God, prophesied, and grew in stature with God and with men.  
• ...how Eli the priest's sons had no regard for the Lord, and how their evil caused Eli's family to be punished forever.  
• ...how the Philistine's stole the Ark of the Covenant, and how they returned it to the Isrealite people after God punished them with tumors and rats, and showed them their "gods" were not real.
• ...how the Lord was faithful to His people, and continued to help them.
• ...how Samuel was faithful to the Lord and the Isrealite people all his life.  
• ...how the people desired a king to rule them (once Samuel was old), and how God tried to warn them through Samuel that a king would not be good for them.  
• ...how God allowed the people to have a king because it was what they wanted, and how God chose Saul to be their king, even when he did not want to be.  
• ...how Saul disobeyed God and would never prosper because of it.

...and much more!

Sylvia is quizzing at the Red Level again this year, and Caeden is officially quizzing for the first time too, also at the Red Level.  Their questions have 3 multiple choice answers.  Today they quizzed 2 rounds of 15 questions each.  Sylvia scored 2 perfect rounds!  Caeden had one perfect round, and only 1 question missed in the other!  They were both in the top 10 quizzers, and were honored and SO excited to receive medals!

 Annah is quizzing at the Blue Level this year.  Blue level has harder questions, with 4 multiple choice answers.  Today they quizzed 2 rounds of 20 questions each.  Annah scored 2 perfect rounds, and was in the top 3 quizzers!  She was very pleased!

The kids have worked really hard, and know a lot of details about the first 12 chapters of 1 Samuel.  They also have all recited 7 scripture verses by memory.  Annah has memorized all 20 of the goal verses for the year already.  She loves digging into God's Word!  I am proud of all 3 of them, not for scoring so highly, but for how hard they have worked to learn and understand God's Word and hide it in their hearts!  We now have more understanding of God's love and promises and faithfulness, more boldness to share His love with others!  Hallelujah!

1 Samuel 12:

19 The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you."

Reading kids!

11/2/10 - Sylvia reading her Reading homework story to Caeden...

11/4/10 - Caeden reading his Reading homework story to Sylvia...

LOVE hearing my kids read, and especially love seeing them enjoying reading with each other!

Annah's Birthday Slumber Party

We had fun celebrating Annah's 10th birthday with 3 of her friends last night!  Michaela, Taylor, and Ashley came for Annah's slumber party.

Our first party activity was to make outfits from foil.  It was quite a challenge for them, but they shared a lot of giggles and silly ideas.

Caeden was maybe not the best choice for a model.  He can only stand still for a short time!

Annah was surprised by her presents.  She had told me a couple months ago that she wanted a beach Barbie "just like Ashley's."  I had no idea what kind that was, but Annah said I picked out the exact right one!

Annah loves games!  She received Parchesi, Rack-O, and H2O UNO To-Go.

Some real make up to play make-over.

Sparkly jeans!

And the big surprise...A betta bowl, pebbles, and food for her first real pet!
She gets to pick it out herself.

I put together a little in-house scavenger hunt with little poem clues.  The kids loved it, and kept shouting, "This is so cool!  This is FUN!" as the ran around the house figuring out the clues and finding them.  I think we'll have to do more scavenger hunts in the future!

Annah was really excited about her cake.  My friend Cora is a Pampered Chef consultant, and had sent me a calendar for 2010.  When Annah saw the Heavenly Lemon Angel Food Cake for May, she wanted to make it.  So, we had made it back then, and she loved it and wanted it for her birthday. She helped me make it, and was so happy to share it with her friends.
And, she was excited to get all those candles out with one blow!

Of course, we had to do "make-overs."  Annah did everyone's makeup, and I painted all the girls' nails.  They were so cute.

The girls stayed up pretty late playing UNO and watching Because of Winn Dixie, but they knew they were sleepy, and most fell asleep before the movie ended.  They were awake by about 6:30 though.

We had pancakes with fresh strawberries and cool whip for breakfast, and they played some more UNO and watched a bit of Newsies until their moms came to pick them up.

They were a good group of girls, and I'm so glad Annah has sweet friends who shared her birthday celebration with her!

Pumpkin Carving 2010

We really had a lot of fun together, carving our 3 pumpkins tonight!

The kids all love to "squish the guts" in their fingers.  So their job was to scoop the guts out and separate the seeds so we can roast them later.

Sylvia shared all kinds of pumpkin facts with us while we carved.  I think she has been learning about pumpkins this week in science class.

Daddy and Mommy discovered our backs and creaky joints don't take well to sitting on the kitchen floor too long anymore.  We must be getting old.  At least we can still get down on the floor, for now. Hahaha.

Eeew, SQUISH!

Too many seeds to count...

Family fun on a Tuesday night, yeah!  :)

As we carved the pumpkins, Sylvia read this prayer for us:

"Pumpkin Prayer"

{cut off top of pumpkin} 

Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you. 

{remove innards} 

Remove the things in my life that don’t please you. 

Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.

{cut open eyes} 

Open my eyes to see the beauty you’ve made in the world around me. 

{cut out nose} 

I’m sorry for the times I’ve turned my nose at the good things you provide.

{cut out mouth} 

Let everything I say please You.

{light the candle} 

Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do. 

Amen!

Caeden's 6th birthday party

Today was the official party to celebrate Caeden's 6th birthday.  Besides our family of 5 and Krampa & Gram, Caeden invited 2 friends--Kyle and Reece--to come over to our house for the party.

The kids love to have a theme for their birthday parties, so as a surprise, I chose Super Mario Brothers for Caeden's.  The kids did a egg/spoon race in the yard with eggs that look like Yoshi eggs.

Caeden was excited to have his friends over, but not enthused about having another picture taken.

Inside, we played "Mario Says!"

We had Papa Murphy's pizza for lunch!

No one could make me a cake with any Super Mario Bros. images on it (licensing issues), so I found these little Mario & Luigi figurines and Meijer bakery came up with the rest.  

Caeden was elated, kept going back to the kitchen to look at the cake, and couldn't wait to play with the little Mario & Luigi!

"I'm SIX now!"

 

Caeden & Kyle (and Mario & Luigi)

The boy received a lot of gifts!!

Gram & Krampa gave him a nice new winter coat, lots of much-needed jeans and shirts, and a watch!  He is really excited to learn to tell time on his watch with 3 hands. ;)

 

Uncle Travis & Aunt Erin and cousin Tessa sent a super cool remote control monster truck!  Caeden's eyes and mouth couldn't possibly have opened wider when he opened that!! 

 

Mommy & Daddy gave Caeden a Super Mario Bros. shirt, some jeans, some small LEGO sets, Pick-up Sticks, and Tiddlywinks.

 

And, he was quite surprised and excited about the Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii game!

----------------------

Since we won't see Gram & Krampa again for Annah's birthday, they gave her presents today too!

She will be a decade old in 2 weeks!

Gram & Krampa gave Annah a gorgeous new winter coat, scarf, boots,
2 pairs of gloves (1 for chilly days, 1 for playing in the snow), and a sock hat!
She's going to look sharp and be warm this winter!

New nail polish in girly colors--pink, red, and purple!  Ooh-la-la!

Annah loved the creative way Gram wrapped this box!  

Caeden doesn't mind sharing his birthday party day if he's already opened all of his presents.  

What was Mommy thinking, buying him a kazoo?!

3 sweeties  :)

The best surprise of the weekend was that Grandpa & Grandma L decided to come down Saturday evening!!  It is hard for them to get away, with Grandpa's business, and they hadn't been here in over 5 years.  So, it was very special to have them here!

Grandma played Caeden's new Tiddlywinks game with him.  (Sylvia kept score.)