Details on the Quilts

Thanks to those who responded and said you would like to make a quilt to donate to the orphans in Uganda. Please see Amy's blog for details on the quilts. Happy sewing! And of course, any more vonlunteers would be appreciated. :-)

To Infinity and Beyond

Yesterday, we celebrated the 6th birthday of our firstborn. Of course, that made me a litte sentimental. How can 6 years fly by so fast? Well, I won't bore you with all of my emotional ramblings about how fast it went, and how I miss those baby days, and how I wish I could make time stand still. Instead, I'll share some photos of my handsome young boy enjoying his special day. We had a good day, and in true form for Evan, the littlest guesstures made him so pleased, and he so genuinely expressed his gratitude. I pray we can help him keep that spirit throughout his life.

I didn't get as many pictures as I usually do. One of his brothers came down with the stomach bug, just as Evan was about to open his gifts. Every time we got everything cleaned up and were ready to watch him again, his brother would get sick again. Eventually, we got it done, but the plans for the evening all kind of got displaced. Evan was very patient though, and waited without a word. I was very impressed and very proud of him. Seeing him handle something like that with maturity and consideration makes me realize what a great little guy he's becoming.

I got the inspiration for this homemade birthday banner from a fellow blogger. To coordinate with our Toy Story themed cake, I used stars and sparkle papers for the space hero (Buzz) and brown suede paper and jute rope for the cowboy (Woody). Evan was so surprised with it and loved it. I love this idea of a personalized birthday banner. It made him feel so special. "Who made this?" When I told him I did, he got a huge smile on his face, gave me a big thank you, and told me he loved it. Thanks Myra, at myblessedlife.net for the idea!

Evan's been into Toy Story lately. We only have an old copy of Toy Story 2, but they love watching it. I decided to attempt to make a Toy Story cake. Evan loved it. "Mom, you make the best cakes!" Okay, he doesn't know how imperfect and unprofessional it is, and that's okay. It made him very happy. He was so impressed with every detail. Funny how we worry about perfection, and kids just love that you make something special just for them. I think birthdays should be a big deal, not a big expense, so I started last year with making my own themed cakes for my boys' birthdays. I love the chance to do something creative, and I love doing something that makes my boys so happy.

Brotherly love at its finest.

This was not a posed picture. They just hugged long enough that I grabbed my camera and got a shot.

Along with our Toy Story theme, I found him the out of print Toy Story 10th anniversary release on Half.com. He was very excited.

I found some good deals and put together a gift of Leapster 2, a messenger bag, and a couple of games. He was thrilled. "This is just what I wanted!" Funny, it wasn't even on his birthday list.

Cute plates I found at Target in just the right colors. I love that store!

I like to let the kids pick out what they want for their birthday supper. Evan chose homemade pizza. I tried it on our homemade honey whole wheat pizza dough we've started making, along with my homemade sauce leftover from making lasagna. He ate it right up, so I guess it passed his inspection. For lunch he chose his favorite sandwich....cheese on bread....nothing on the bread, just cheese between slices of bread. Sounds dry and bland to me, but he loves it. So easy to please! Breakfast of course, was our tradition. Everyone gets Dunkin Donuts for their birthday breakfast. He's a boy after my own heart....his favorite is Boston Creme.

"Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday, dear Evan, Happy Birthday to you!"

We heard that song several times during the day. The boys rushed into Evan's room in the morning, "Evan, it's your birthday!" We all sang to him, then Carter and Derek each had to sing to him, they hugged on Evan, and loved on him. It was super sweet. I try to cling to those sweet moments to remind myself when they are fighting that they really do love each other!

I'll end this blog post on one sentimental note. I am so thankful for my son, my first-born, long-awaited miracle and answered prayer.....I love him, as Buzz Lightyear might say, to infinity and beyond.

Visitor in the Backyard

Ok, this picture is here just because. Just because it makes me smile!

Finally, our freezing cold spell has ended, and I can finally let the boys go outside to play. The snow was good for packing, so the other day, while I had the pleasure (haha) of doing housework, my husband took the boys outside to build a snowman. They had a great time putting the snowman together, playing in the snow, and throwing snowballs at each other. Actually, I think Ben was enjoying that the most!

While upstairs making beds, I looked out the window and watched as they played and I enjoyed the view. They had a great time, and I loved watching them. It reminded me how much fun I used to have as a child playing in the snow and sledding. These carefree days of childhood don't last nearly long enough.

Aren't they all cute? my man, my boys, the neighbor boy, and our backyard visitor.

Our visitor is doing a good job gracing our backyard, however due to the warmer temps, he has now lost his mouth, his pipe, his buttons, and tragically today, he lost his eyes. Owen sat at the breakfast table, looking out the sliding glass door, and was very upset because snowman was falling apart. Well, we'll just have to pray for more snow. Oh wait, this is upstate NY in January. There's plenty more to come!

Quilts for Uganda

If you can sew, or would like to try your hand at making a quilt, please check out Amy's blog. Amy is my husband's cousin. She has taken on an ambitious project for a mom with 2 little boys and a baby on the way, but she has an obvious passion for the orphans in Uganda. After reading her blog, I was compelled to make a quilt, and I hope some of you might be able to join me! It's been ages since I've quilted anything, so I'm stepping out on a limb here, but I'm excited to do something that can mean so much to one of these precious children. My own children have so much; to think of children who don't even have a quilt all their own!

Kids Say the Funniest Things

This morning during Bible Class, we were reviewing the life of Moses up to the Red Sea. One of the questions was about the burning bush experience. This was the exchange:

Me: What did Moses see that was on fire?

Carter: A bush!

Me: What else happened with the bush?

Carter and Evan: It talked!

Carter: That was because God was hiding behind it. (Smile #1)

Me: What did God tell Moses he wanted him to do?

Owen (2 1/2): Fight!

Me: Fight?

Owen: Yes! Fight the fighter.

Me: Fight the fighter?

Owen: "Yes!" with arms swishing around in front of him and me remembering how he mispronounces fire he said, "Fight the 'fighter' with water!"

Started my day off with a laugh!

My funny boy.

Photographer, Evan M Burhans

making use of his new kid tough digital camera

Catching Up

As my mom-in-law reminded me, I haven't posted anything on my blog in a while. Looking at my blog, wow, she's right...it's been over a month. It has been a crazy hectic month in our house, and I just haven't gotten around to journaling all the happenings around here. I will share some pics with you. (I know Gramma B wants to see some of these!)


Here's our Christmas photo we took one night. Nana took I don't know how many photos of us, and well, with 4 little boys, you get what you get. Perfection is not their game. As a mother, you have to stop stiving for it. So what if one or all 4 of your kids has a goofy face in the Christmas picture? Maybe we should all stop sending out pictures of us looking all good and perfect, and send out realistic pictures! ;-) Anyway, we finally settled on this one. Not bad, right? Wouldn't you know, the one picture that finally looks pretty good.....the mother has a goofy look on her face. Oh well, I took one for the team! (They owe me one!) They did much better when we went to the photographer a few weeks later to have our yearly family portrait done for our wall. The boys took the best picture on the very first shot the photographer took!

I like this one, but I got voted down. Just love the look on Owen's face (and I don't look so goofy...).

Tried to get a picture of the boys together....this is the realistic one.....

This is the best they could muster up. They're awfully cute, aren't they? The ones they took at the studio turned out soooo good. I love looking at them on my wall!

We've started a new family tradition....game night. Our lives are so busy between Ben's work schedule and sometimes insane overtime, my part time work schedule, raising 4 boys, keeping a house, homeschooling, yada yada yada. We decided that we need to schedule some quality fun time as a family. Sunday night is the only night of the week, when Ben and I both know we'll be home (well, that is unless Ben is on call). So, Sunday night is game night in our house now. Our little church meets in a borrowed building on Sundays, so we have all of our services packed into the morning. It's a little strange not having an evening service like we were always used to, but it is nice to have family time at home. Here's a photo of Ben and the boys enjoying a high-spirited game of Hi Ho Cherry-O.

I love traditions, so I thought it would be fun to put together a gingerbread house with the boys every Christmas season. What I didn't think about was that the decorating would be way beyond their level when I purchased this kit. (hey, it was beyond my level!) So, I had to do most of the work. It certainly doesn't look like the cottage on the box, but the boys had fun adding on the candy and making it our own. Maybe next year we'll find a more child friendly kit. They boys thought it was great fun, though.






Our version of the Christmas cottage:

I knew Gramma would want to see these:

Evan, Derek, and Carter along with one of the little girls in their Children's Church/Sunday School class sang a couple of songs and recited a poem the Sunday before Christmas.

Evan had the line "What can I give him, poor as I am?" Hmmmm....looks kind of funny to see this poor Bethlehemite wearing a Lightning McQueen bathrobe! You go with what you've got! He did a great job....took his role very seriously.

Derek said "If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb." You can't see it very well, but he has dragons on his robe...that's to ward of the wild animals from attacking his sheep! He loved holding that little lamb. We could scarcely pry it out of his hands for days afterwards. Never mind that it has been in our stuffed animal basket for a few years, just waiting for some lovin'. Derek really liked being a shepherd, and said his line really well.

Carter said "If I were a wise man I would do my part." My mom took a Burger King crown and modified it to cover up the BK and added glitter to make a crown for him to wear. He loves it, and we still have it hanging around our house. He was very proud of his crown, and we were very proud of him.

"What can I give him? Give him my heart!"

One of the songs was Gospel Bells (the tune of Jingle Bells) and they each rang a bell while they sang it. They were all very precious. I love watching kids do Christmas programs!

I'll try to post Christmas pictures soon. We had a wonderful time with Ben's family at his parents' house near Cortland, NY, all of us together on Christmas Day. That hasn't happened in quite a while. Christmas season 2009 was a busy one and we didn't get to do everything we wanted to. Don't tell anyone, but I didn't even make Christmas cookies! Oh well. This year I decided I wasn't going to stress about all the things I wanted to do with the boys. That ruins the wonder of the season. And besides, Nana made some really good ones and shared them with us, so the boys didn't really miss out! And we had a fake tree this year. We weren't going to even be home for Christmas, so I let go of my attachment to having a real tree, and did the practical thing. Ben was thrilled...no pesky needles to clean up. And I got a deal. Spent no more on it than I would have on a fresh tree. Ben was so happy when I came home with it and told him I'd decided to use a fake one this year....he grabbed my face and kissed me. Wow....I had no idea a plastic tree could excite a man so much! ;-) I missed the smell of pine, but that's ok.

Christmas isn't about the evergreen scent, and Christmas cut out cookies, and picture perfect family photos gracing our Christmas cards. It's about little children singing for Jesus, its about honoring Christ's birthday, it's about sharing love with our family and friends with our gifts and our time, it's about teaching our Children about the Baby of Christmas and what His birth means for them. Those things we did do. And so, there are no regrets on missed traditions or activities....just memories made and a renewed gratitude for the Gift not laid under any tree, but laid in a manger.

Dinner and a Show

My mom's birthday was this past week, and due to my Dad's work schedule and my part time work schedule, we didn't have a chance to celebrate until last night. So we made dinner and had a cake. We tried a few new things. We had Sour Cream Pork Chops with Egg Noodles, Broccoli Cheese Casserole, Citrus Salad with Bacon and Red Onion, and Snowball Cake. It all turned out pretty yummy.

The Snowball Cake turned out really good. You bake it right in the glass mixing bowl after you mix the cake mix and add a cream cheese filling on top in the middle. The cream cheese filling sinks to the bottom. Then when you flip the cake over, it looks rounded, and the cream cheese filling ends up at the top of the cake. The frosting has pudding, powdered sugar, milk, and cool whip in it. Then the whole thing is covered in coconut. Mmmm!

Birthday kiss for Nana

My Mom and Dad

After the other boys got to sit on Nana's lap for a picture, Papa couldn't be left out.

I noticed Mom is limping today. LOL

Nana had 4 eager helpers when it came to blowing out the candles.

The boys enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to Nana over and over again. Evan's version went like this:

"Happy Birthday to you,

We lo-o-ove you,

You a-are the be-est,

Just li-ike yourself."

Derek sang probably 10 times:

"Happy Birthday to you,

You live in a zoo,

You act like a monkey,

AAAAANNNNNNDDDDD

You smell like one too."

I think Derek thinks it's a compliment. Nana asked him "What do Monkeys smell like?"

Derek answered, "Bananas!"

My Mom also got treated to puppet shows performed by each of her grandsons.

Evan

Carter

Derek

Owen

I expected Owen would just move his arm around and pretend to do what his brothers did.

But I heard him say,

"Once upon a time.....puppets....giraffe...."

uh, Owen, that's a dragon

"...dragon....knight....The End."

Happy Birthday, Mom! We all love you very much!