Blue-eyed Bookworm

Sophia loves books!  Our little independent bugger has preferred reading all on her own lately.  She loves to control the book and flip the pages at her own rate.  She has started to say "No want to!" I can tell 2 is just around the corner with these words coming from her mouth.

Gotta love those blue eyes!

Belated Christmas Celebrations

After being snowed in on the farm, we had several traditions to continue when we got home.....(it was sort of like the 12 days of Christmas for us this year)

First came the gift exchange from relatives afar (packages from Nana and Papa and Aunt Carrie's family were waiting for the kids when we arrived)....Thank you to all who sent gifts! We had quite the celebration! Here are a few pics of the kids opening/playing/modeling their new items....

 

  

 

And then our family gift exchange....(didn't get many pics on this day -- I think I was tired out from taking so many pictures earlier in the day of the kids opening the first round of presents - I neglected to take any pictures of Luke)

The next morning the kids opened their stockings (I sent Santa an e-mail to let him know what happened so he would know to come fill the stockings a little late ;-) )

Advent Lighting....(we lit our Advent candles every night at the dinner table for our centerpiece.  So we ended up having to change out the original candles and replace them with gold)

Catching up on our Advent Calendar....putting baby Jesus on the scene....

and last but not least....A birthday party for Jesus (with the traditional Black Forest Cake) (never got a picture of the cake before we cut into it!)

Although things were not done on schedule, our holidays were still filled with hope, peace, love and joy!  And Jesus' birth was celebrated by all!

The Christmas cookies are gone, the tree is down, and the lights are packed away for next year but Jesus is still living in our hearts and shining in all the dark places of our lives and we remember God's gift to us each day as we thank him for sending Jesus to earth.

Summer Rec in Hot Springs

Summer Rec is a wonderful program in Hot Springs!  I had no idea what a small town would have to offer for the kids during the summer.  I am very impressed with all the different options for the kids to choose from in the summer program.   And the options just get better as the kids get older. 

Hannah chose gymnastics and t-ball.  She loved gymnastics and is excited to continue tumbling next summer.

She loved the social aspects of t-ball but wasn't very interested in playing the sport. 

Jacob was involved with t-ball and swimming lessons. Next summer he will be able to try basketball and flag football!  He will have a hard time choosing between those three sports!  He hopes to take 3-4 sessions of swimming too.  He passed level one and was very close to passing level two.   It is so fun for me to watch him learn to swim as this is something that I spent my summers doing -- taking swim lessons and playing in the water all summer long!

Jacob, Hannah and Luke all participated in the summer reading program at the library.  Ms. Dawn did an awesome job organizing this program.  The theme was "Be Creative".  She had interesting crafts and projects each week for the kids to do.  They made puppets, instruments and masks.  And they did finger painting, chalk drawing, and modeling with clay.  Luke was a little hesitant to participate without Mommy.  He was still 2 when the summer programs started.  I think next year he will love being a part of the library program and taking gymnastics with Hannah.  He loves to do somersaults in his bed at night.  And he enjoyed tumbling on the mats they weren't using during Hannah's class.

Having all of these fun programs made the summer pass by so quickly!  It helped organize our days and gave me little breaks throughout the week from having four kids under foot all the time.