Loving on his sister

David...loving on his sister!

Being Cute

Cuteness abounds!

Messing Around

Some picture are worth a thousand words...some have no words at all!

Winning the Patriot Pen Essay Contest

Not very often would one expect Jeremiah to win an essay contest. As an auditory learner, he has difficulty putting thoughts into words. Yet, he placed second in the Patriot Pen Essay Contest for his middle school! What an amazing young man! Here is his essay:

Why American Veterans should be Honored

Honor is a gift that we can give every day but we chose not too. Some people deserve it and others do not. Like in the Vietnam War, we never gave the veterans any honor when they came back. We should have given them honor but we were to mad at them for fighting. I think that we should not have dishonored the people who fought because the deserved better for the hardships they faced.
War, poverty, and death, these are what American veterans have seen. They should be honored. Not spat on like they are some dogs nipping at your heels. That is how the soldiers got treated when they came back from Vietnam. Why was Vietnam different? WII had more deaths than Vietnam. Today, military members are getting better respect, when they come back, than in Vietnam and we are doing the same thing we did in Vietnam. In Vietnam most of them were forced to fight while in the other wars they had the choice to fight or we were attacked first. WWI we were attacked and in WWII we were bombed.
We can give honor through love and support. Some veterans need medical supplies or clothes. When they get to the hospital all they have is on their backs. You can also remember holidays and birthdays. That makes them happy because they know that they are still in your hearts. Still some veterans need help with finding peace because they have flash backs of the past and go into convulsions. Also some never got better. I believe that veterans can get honor from fellow soldiers. I also believe that soldiers need respect to fight because without it they feel no importance. I bet that many veterans still need help and respect and we need to help them.

Jeremiah receiving his award

Playing on the Playground

David playing with Hannah on the playground.

We are so blessed to have such wonderful young men in our family. Almost every day one of them offers to take Hannah outside and play on the playground with her. It gets her outside and gives me a break! What an awesome family!

Jeremiah's Musica Nova Concert

Jeremiah's choir at school had a concert tonight. His singing is really getting better and the choir is actually quite good. Next year, he will be in the high school choir and may get to actually sing before a different audience besides a group of parents! The pictures are only so-so...the lighting in the auditorium is not conducive to good picture taking!

The middle school choir...Jeremiah is on the front row, right.

Singing!

Hannah entertaining herself while the band plays.

After her brother left the stage, she kinda lost interest!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We had a little fun with St. Patrick's Day. Obviouosly we are not Irish or Catholic...but hey, it is just fun! Although you cannot really tell in the picture, Hannah is weraing her green jingle bell earrings. They jingle when she shakes her head, so all day long she was shaking her and and singing "Jingle Bells". Not exactly Irish!

Here she is in all her splendor!

Later she changed (on her own, of course) to go outside. Quite the fashion statement!

Little girls (and boys) are definately a blessing from God! She is such a charmer, and yet so devious at the same time. However, each evening, she is the first to say her prayers for all that she knows. They are sometimes quite lengthy depending on who all she feels led to pray for, and everyone reading this can rest assured that at sometime she has prayed for you!

Oh, Hannah!

The guitar...it haunts me! Kidding aside, it is one of Hannah's favorite toys. We have to put it away when her friends come to visit because she just cannot seem to share it! I believe in teaching our kids to share, but there is only so much you can expect from a 2-year-old. She shares most everything else really well, so we are not dwelling on the guitar.

Here she is this morning, dressed a mere 10 seconds before she picked up the guitar to sing to me. Yes, she is left handed, and we had to re-string the guitar to be a left-handed guitar.

Hannah and Jeremiah

Jeremiah and Hannah have a very unique relationship. One minute they fight like cats and dogs (Who would have thought that a 13 year old and a 2 year old would have anything to fight about?), and the next they are playing together. Hannah knows just which buttons to push to set her brother off, and I swear that sometimes he antagonizes her. I know, say it ain't so...but it is.

Here are some pictures of them hanging out. Jeremiah took them while they were playing "handyman".

Snow Princess

Bunny Tracks!!

Hannah helping to shovel snow

Shoveling goes so much faster when Hannah helps Daddy. You know he couldn't do it on his own!

Starting the snow man

Two Snow Princesses in the same picture

Hannah, Mommy and the Snow Princess

What a beautiful day God has blessed us with today. We got snow yesterday and then last night, got even more. It was a beautiful winter wonderland. The bunny had come in the night, so we put more food out for it. It is a mostly tame, domestic bunny, but lives wild behind our house. With all the snow, there is not much for it to eat.

We decided to go out and build a snow man. Mostly due to our inexprience...it didn't look very manly, so about halfway through, it changed into a Snow Princess, much to Hannah's delight.

Too Cute for Trouble!

Hannah took David's glasses - which, of course, she should be in trouble for! Instead he grabbed the camera...

But for good measure, he threatened to hang her upside down if she did it again! What a threat!

I hope that everyone's Valentine's Day is special.

Budding Rock Star

There are just not enough words to introduce this video.

Can I just say that my daughter is multi-talented??

Sydney's Princess Birthday Party

Sydney and Hannah are absolutely best of friends and yet fight like sisters! They can't wait to see each other, then fight over who has what or who bit who. You gotta love it! They do love each other, though. Absolutely.

Princess Hannah

Princess Sydney - three years old

Princess Ella Rose

Princess Eden

Sister Princesses Lilah and Aubrey

The Princesses enjoying their cake and "tea"

You are in Time Out!

Why do you obey Mommy? Because I love Jesus. That what Hannah says, anyway. Teaching obedience to a 2 year old, no matter how smart, can be a challenge. Being obedient, as a two year old is even harder. Here is my sweet Hannah...in time out!

Bubbles

Kids and baths...you gotta love them!

I'm sure Jeremiah took this photo. He loves taking pictures of Hannah...well, anything, really. i always know when David has been taking pictures, because he usually includes a shot or two of his own foot. Now, what is that all about??

Super Hannah

Take one little girl, a pink blanket, and a big bother to tie said blanket around her shoulders...and what do you have? Super Hannah!!

Hide-and-Seek

Hannah likes to play hide-and-seek so much that sometimes she just hides and yells, "Come find me!". She is not very good at being quiet and some of her hiding places are better than others, but someday, we may actually have to spend some time looking for her. In the meantime...can you find Hannah?

And, yes, ladies...that is all of her closet space. The door to the left contains some shelves. I look forward to having American closets again!

Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, everyone! We had a wonderful morning...thinking of our family, praising God for the gift of His son, Jesus, and of course, opening gifts. Hannah got up and the first ting that she saw was her new kitchen. "For me?!!", "For me??!!", "For me??!!" It was all she could say. Little did she know that there was more to come!

David down the stairs to see what is under the tree. Little did he know that the stockings were hidden and he and Jeremiah would have to go on an early morning scavenger hunt to find them. Aren't I the funny one?



For me??!!

How many necklaces and bracelets can I wear?? All of them, of course - plus a knife in each hand!

All while I stick my tongue out! Am I talented, or what?

Hannah helping Mommy. Once you get her started, there is no stopping...unless it is for EggNog French toast - our Christmas morning tradition!


One of Keith's favorite Christian bands


I know what to do with this! We will have to restring the guitar for our left-handed guitar player!


Our two newest ROCK STARS!

Thank you, God for sending your Son, Jesus, to be born on this earth and live as a man. Thank you that He kept His life completely pure and free from any sin so that we were saved when He died on the cross for us!

Christmas Eve

A Christmas tradition in our house is to open a couple of gifts Christmas Eve. Usually, there are pajamas (a big surprise) and a children's Christmas book. This year, Hannah got to join in on the fun opening gifts.

Could that be a book in that paper??

All my babies!

One of these days, I will actually get Keith to smile for a picture!

Just another day...clowning around!

Hannah got in trouble. We told her to go to her room and sit on her bed. A few minutes later, this is what we found...

Jeremiah loves to take pictures of himself!

Hannah can make that face, too.

Hannah and Bruno

Hannah LOVES riding on David's shoulders - as he RUNS through the house!

Notice the mom having a heart attack every time they round the corner is not pictured...

Oh yeah, don't forget to wish the birthday boy a happy 17th!