Grass Valley Vacation

We went for a short visit to Grandma Sue and Grandpa Kerry's house in Grass Valley at the end of October. On the second day, the weather was beautiful so we went for a walk to the little pond down the lane from their home. It is always so refreshing being out in the pine trees and breathing in that fresh mountain air! It's quite a task traveling with these three little guys (Mikey had to stay home to be in a play at school and Abbey was with her dad) but well worth the work once we're there.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Just one of the many benefits of having older siblings! I love that Anna's book is upside down :-P

The Buddy Walk

This is the sixth year in a row that the Sonoma County Down Syndrome Support Group has hosted a Buddy Walk at a local park. It is a one mile walk to raise funds for Down syndrome awareness and programs to help those blessed with an extra 21st chromosome. It is a wonderful event that features the one mile walk, a tasty lunch, information booths, games, a talent show by guys/gals with Down syndrome, and plenty of friendly faces! We feel so honored to be part of our local Down syndrome community. It is full of such wonderful people!!!

Colton is all decked out in his Buddy Walk gear and ready to go! This year's theme was "Hawaiian".

We made "Team Matty" shirts for the Buddy Walk this year. We are so proud of how well our little guy is doing! The back of Matty's shirt said Team Leader and the back of Colton's shirt said Co-Leader. Colton didn't want to be left out of the whole "leader" business. :-)

Daddy and Matty before the Buddy Walk started. This was the third year that we participated. Last year we stayed home because of the H1N1 outbreak. We didn't want to take our chances getting sick. Matty was a little afraid of the loud music this year, which hasn't bothered him in the past. I guess he is getting more award of his surroundings and is quite good at expressing his "opinions".

The Simple Things

I love how little boys can take something like an empty paper towel roll and turn it into something fun to play with! Matty and Colton were yelling through the roll on each other's tummies. I guess it tickled because they were giggling and playing with it for a long time. Ah, the simple things!

Zucchini Bread

Yesterday we baked zucchini bread with the zucchini we picked from our garden. This particular zucchini was ENORMOUS- so big, in fact, that we nicknamed it "Big Frank". Here's my recipe:

3 eggs

1 c. oil

2 c. sugar

2 c. peeled and grated zucchini

3 tsp. vanilla extract

3 c. flour, sifted

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of all spice

Mix first 5 ingredients then add the dry ingredients. Bake at 350 for 45-60min or until fork comes out clean. Makes 2 loaves or 1 loaf and 12 muffins. Delicious!

Up And At 'Em

Anna has finally started learning how to walk using her new walker! She didn't seem motivated to learn on her own so we thought this would be good for her. She's nearing 15mo. at is not even close to taking her first steps without the walker. She is however starting to let go of the walker for a couple seconds while standing to stand on her own. That's progress! With a face that cute- who needs to walk, right? Everyone would be happy to snuggle her and carry her around all the time. Little stinker!!!

Silly Colton!

Colton said, while making an apple pie out of sand in the backyard, "This apple pie is so good you can taste its history!" I don't know where he comes up with this stuff but he says the funniest things all the time! We have been learning about the meaning of history and the story of creation in homeschool, so maybe that explains it.

Raising Readers

I think the most important part of raising readers is reading yourself.....a lot.....and in front of your kids. When they see how much you love to read, they think it's something they want to do too. I've always got my nose tucked into a book in between daily tasks and playing with the kids. I think that being a reader myself makes all the difference in the world for my kids!

Quinoa Salad

Recipe:
1c. quinoa (cooked w/1 1/2c. chicken stock)
15oz. chickpeas
1 large zucchini (chopped & sauteed)
1/2 red onion (chopped & sauteed)
cooked diced chicken
no-salt seasoning (I use the Kirkland Organic 21 Spice seasoning)
pepper
citrus vinaigrette dressing to taste

Our Hawk

We had a hawk perched up in the tree in our backyard today. It just sat up there and watched us go crazy over it- pretty funny! We've seen quite a few hawks in our neighborhood lately. I think they may be nesting in the wooded area across from our house.

Our Family

Well, it was about time for a new family picture. Now that the "big kids" are never in the same place at the same time, picture taking is a pretty difficult venture. Thankfully we were able to snap this one before Mikey and Abbey headed off for a camping adventure at Grandma Sue and Grandpa Kerry's house.

Happy Birthday Matty!!!

Our little 5lb 11oz angel turned 4 years old today! What a marvelous blessing the Lord has entrusted to us!

We love you Matty!!!

Ride 'em Cowgirl!

Anna had fun playing with the cowboy hat that Colton got from Vacation Bible School!

Four Generations

My grandma Hope, my mom, me, and baby Anna Hope. Four generations of women!

Fun At The Beach

We went to Doran Beach with friends from our church to share a potluck lunch and play in the sand and waves. Colton just couldn't get enough of the water! The sounds of the waves relaxed our fussy little Anna (poor thing missed her nap). Matty was intrigued by the water but thankfully seemed a little hesitant to get in it~ so we only ended up with one soaking wet child by the end of the day.

Happy Birthday Anna!

A year ago today, we were blessed with an amazing miracle- our sweet baby Anna. We love you so much MuMu!!!

Sabbath Sweeties

After a wonderful Sabbath day out at the beach with our church family- the kiddies are all bathed and ready for bedtime!!!

Our Littles

Patrick and me with our Littles at Colton's 5th birthday party. Lots of fun playing at the park on a beautiful spring day!

Matty

Matty does lots of cute things that are.....well....unique. One of which is cuddling with his feet. Only Matty is flexible enough to pull this off! What a cutie!

Sweet Treats!

We named this treat "Hoggle Cake". It is ice cream sandwiches layered with whipped cream, chocolate and carmel syrup, and chopped Butterfingers. Yum!

My very first Lemon Meringue Pie. It actually turned out good except for the crust. I won't be attempting a butter crust any time soon again.

Ladybug Land

Our ladybird beetles (aka ladybugs) arrived today. They are in their lavae state and are....umm...not so cute right now. They look like little alligator beetles or something. We will be giving them a few drops of water every other day and within a week or two they should change into beautiful ladybird beetles. We shall see!

Winter Lapbook

Colton had fun working on a winter lapbook craft this week during school. Crafts are one of his favorite parts of home schooling. He is getting pretty handy with a pair of scissors! Not to mention wielding a glue stick like none other :-)

So Grown Up!

How did these guys get so grown up??? Mikey and Abbey are growing up to be such wonderful teens/preteens! I am so proud of their kind and generous hearts!

Happy New Year

We had a low key New Year's Eve celebration at home. Daddy had to work so I took the night off cooking and ordered out for pizza delivery. Mikey was the only one brave enough to stay up late. The rest of us were in bed by 9:30pm.


Bye bye 2009........hello 2010!


Who wouldn't want to party with these two cuties!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season! We give thanks and praise to the Lord for his faithful provisions, our health, and wonderful happy family. It was so fun to watch the kids open all their gifts. They were so grateful and happy with everything they received. We have such a generous family!


Mikey + a wad of cash = one happy teen :-)


Papa Mike reads a new book to Mister Matty.


Abbey was excited to get a friendship bracelet kit from me and Patrick.

Colton loves all the yummy treats in his stocking!


Abbey with baby Andre (4mo.).

It was such a blessing to share Christmas morning with my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew at my mom and step-dad's home.

Elmo is Matty's favorite!

More Christmas Fun

While my sister and brother-in-law were visiting from Arizona, we wanted to get together for some Christmas cookie baking. Colton just LOVES baking cookies and is getting really good at rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters. Next year I think I'd like to get some gingerbread people cutters and do some cute gingerbread cookies.


Here's Colton busily cutting out cookies.


Colton said, "This is hard work, Mom!"


Patrick, my sister (Sarah), and my niece Alex.

A bunch of tree cookies are ready to go on the cookie sheets.

Christmas Eve

Anna's first Christmas Eve at Auntie Lynnda and Uncle Paul's house.


My two sweet little girls.


Colton was so excited about opening his gift from Grandpa Bud.


Matty looks like such a big boy in this picture. He's definitely not my little baby anymore :-(



Mikey and Matty look so handsome.

So, Christmas Eve didn't quite turn out the way we had hoped it would. Patrick couldn't get the day off of work. Michael and Abbey did lots of extra work, helping me watch the little ones so that I could get all the gifts wrapped to place under the tree. The good part was that we all worked together to get things done! I couldn't have done it without them. This is one of the many things I am loving about having "older kids". We went to the annual Christmas Eve party at Auntie Lynnda and Uncle Paul's house in the evening. Surprisingly, we were actually on time.