Bring on 2009!

Christmas is over, and 2009 is right around the corner. We enjoyed our first Christmas in Pennsylvania. We made a lot of precious memories together as a family. We witnessed joy and excitement in our children as they opened their gifts on Christmas morning. We also experienced joy in giving to others this year through participating in Operation Christmas Child, and have been praying for boys and girls all over the world who received the special packages this Christmas season. It's so easy to get caught up in the "I want, I want" mode at Christmas. I pray our family will be able to give more to others each passing year. 

As 2009 approaches, like many, I have been thinking about New Year's resolutions. This year I want to get a piano and start playing again. I also want to play with my children more. Sometimes I don't say "yes" enough to their requests because I think the laundry or dishes are more pressing. I want to say "yes" more in 2009, and I think I'm going to have a lot more fun! I want to read more classic literature. This has been a goal of mine for the past couple years, and I'm making some progress. In 2008, I enjoyed reading books by Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Bronte, and John Bunyan. I also want to learn a little bit of Spanish before I leave for my 10-day mission trip to Peru in July!

So, what are your New Year's resolutions?

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

May 2009 be a year when you truly "delight yourself" in Him!

Some Christmas Pics by the little girls

Here are some pictures the girls took a few days ago. Some of them are on the creative side, I think. The close up of the homemade gingerbread man ornament is my favorite. Which one is your favorite?

Christmas Baking

Yesterday the children and I did our Christmas baking. The girls and I made blueberry muffins for our Christmas Eve breakfast, and puppy chow for a special Christmas treat. We used a recipe like this for the puppy chow. I was concerned that I didn't have a mixing bowl LARGE enough to stir the puppy chow in, and K suggested we use our big stock pot. I thought to myself, "what a wonderful little cook she is turning out to be!" It's fun to cook in the kitchen with your kids. The messes are always bigger, but hey, it's not so bad if they help you clean it up! T spent some time in the kitchen today too because he signed up to take cupcakes to his scout Christmas party. 

The girls shook the bags to cover the puppy chow in powder sugar!

L and K took turns stirring the muffin batter

Tyler decorated the cupcakes for his cub scout Christmas party!

My Funny Little Girl

Today during our family prayer time, L took the time to tell God about all our "beautiful and sparkly" Christmas decorations. She went on, and on, and on. She wanted Him to know EVERYTHING!

After our family prayer time, Dad was playing with the children, and tickling them. Why do all children love to be tickled? I remember I liked it when I was little too. She was giggling hysterically, then stopped and had a priceless look on her face (according to Dad) and said, "oh I peed!"  We laughed so hard about this, and I'm sure we won't ever forget the night that Dad tickled L so much that she peed her pants (literally).

Just now L asked me for a snack. I told her "no." She said, "If you don't give me a snack, I will not play with you." 

What a mess this little one of mine is.  She is funny though. But, I just don't want her to know it!

Exciting Day!

The children received a package from our friend Ms. Jimmie Ruth! She told me the children should open them early because she sent some cute Christmas necklaces for the girls. The children didn't mind at all getting to open Christmas gifts 9 days early!

Thank you Ms. Jimmie Ruth! We love you and miss you! Please tell all of our West Helena friends "hello" for us!
One more exciting thing happened today. K lost her FIRST tooth! Kind of makes me sad, because it's one more reminder how fast my children are growing up.

Children's Christmas Choir

Girls posing by the Christmas tree before leaving for church

The children sang at both services today at church. You can look as hard as you want, but you won't find T up there anywhere. He did not want to participate in children's choir this year. But, the girls did. They did a great job! K even played the tambourine and definitely has good rhythm like her Dad! 

The next post has a short video of the children singing "Jingle Bells."

Jingle Bells

Tibbetts' Go to the Tree Farm!

We were hoping to wake up to a ground covered in snow today, but the weatherman was wrong. We were disappointed, because we felt snow would make our experience more magical and memorable.  Mom and Dad had grand visions of a wonderful time at the tree farm. Instead the children stomped around in a lot of mud, almost got blown away by blustering winds, and no one could feel their noses or fingers when we returned to the van. Ahhhhh....memories.

It took longer to pick out a tree than we thought it would! Some were crooked, some had funny stuff growing on the trunk, and others had bare or brown spots.
This is by far the largest tree we've ever had! We kept reminding ourselves that the tree would look larger once we got it in our living room, but we still managed to get a HUGE tree! But, we're happy with it. It looks pretty and smells wonderful!


Can you tell the children put the ornaments on? The ornaments are pretty heavy on the bottom. Over time, we'll try and fix that. Mom didn't want to hurt their feelings and re-do it. If she does it slowly over time, they won't really notice.

Our Mini Vaca in Hershey, PA!

Heath's Mom and her husband blessed us with a 2 night stay in Hershey, PA. We had a good time. The suite was nice. We enjoyed watching cable television (don't have it at home), swimming in the pool, playing in the gameroom, visiting Hershey's Chocolate World, and eating out at Red Robin....yum. The suite was wonderful for families. We were able to eat most of our meals in our suite because of the full kitchen. We were also able to dry all our pool towels and swim suits because they have a washer and dryer in every room. Thanks Grandma and Mr. James! We had lots of fun!

Chocolate World

The Suites at Hershey

Thankful Tree

L made one of these in her Sunday school class last week. Today, T and K made their own.

First trace around their hand for the tree branches, and then draw a trunk

Cut out leaves, and let the children write what they are thankful for.

Cub Scouts go to the Fire Station

Here's a picture of Tyler with his bobcat badge and special awards he received during last week's pack meeting. He was excited and ready to go to Cub Scouts last night, since it was a "Go See it" night. All the scouts got to go tour a local fire station. He came home with a lot of fun stuff, and taught his sisters all the fire safety lessons he learned.

Thanksgiving Projects

This week, we're taking a break from the books, and simply having fun as a family while we do activities together to plan for our Thanksgiving celebration! Kaitlyn made place cards for our family. She was very creative, and I think she did an amazing job! We made and decorated sugar cookies. I was most impressed with my son's decorative skills. He wanted his cookies to look just like some pumpkin cookies he enjoyed last month at his AWANA club meeting!

We are also reading "The Landing of the Pilgrims" written and illustrated by James Daugherty, and "The Thanksgiving Story" by Alice Dalgliesh.

We also plan on writing some poetry and stories to go along with our Thanksgiving theme.





Kaitlyn's place cards

This is what we woke up to Friday morning. Mom and Dad were still in bed. We woke up when we heard T running down the hall. He's a big 7-year-old boy, and we have wood floors all the way down our hallway. Let's just say, we were very much STARTLED by the noise of his running feet:-) But, we didn't stay irritated for long because he was so so so excited! He yelled, "It's snowing!" So, we got up and had to take a look for ourselves. So, of course the girls woke up from all the noise. L said, "Oh, I've been waiting so long for it to snow!"




Dad promised the kids to make his pancakes, and K wanted to help. Snow, pancakes, what more could a kid ask for?



T cleared off the walkway for us. This was our day to go to York, eat lunch, and get our grocery shopping done. While we were in York we also purchased two fun "snow toys." Here's some pictures of the children enjoying their new toys.

Bobcat Badge

Tonight was Pack Meeting night! Tyler was awarded his Bobcat Badge. Tyler, Mom, and Dad have been working hard to meet all the requirements! This was a very special night for Tyler. We are proud of all his hard work! He also won a prize for guessing the number of beans in a jar. He was very excited!

Grandma Comes to Town

Grandma got to deliver boats to the Bass Pro in Harrisburg. Since she was so close, we got to go pick her up. She got to spend Saturday and Sunday nights with us. We took her back to Harrisburg on Monday morning so she could deliver the boats. We got to look around the Bass Pro store. We always enjoy the wildlife displays and HUGE fish tanks!

Just wanted to Share...

T and K wrote some poems and a story about Autumn this week. Click here if you would like to read them.


Autumn Poems and Stories

Look Who's 6!

K is six-years-old today! Last night her Dad took her on a special date. She requested Chick-fil-a. Of course that broke Dad's heart to have to take her to one of his favorite places. While they were gone, Mom, L, and T decorated the house with streamers and balloons!

When Dad returned home from work we had ice cream cake, and K opened her presents. She will probably be celebrating her birthday all week long because she's still waiting on packages and cards to arrive from family back in Missouri!

Oh Snap!

L learned to snap. Bubba and Sissy (that's what L calls her big brother and sister) are jealous because they can't snap!

Election Day!

Dad and I took turns voting today. I asked T if he wanted to go with me and watch me vote. He thought about it for a moment and then asked, "Will John McCain and Barack Obama be there?" I said, "no." He said he'd rather stay home.

But T did enjoy voting in a homeschool mock election online.

K's Baptism

On June 4, 2008, K prayed and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. K and I spent some time in her bedroom talking and praying together. When we came out and told her brother she had decided to ask Jesus into her life, he was very excited. T accepted Christ in August of 2007, and since then he has been praying for his sisters to understand how much they need Jesus. So, T told K all about the book of life and how the angels were all rejoicing in Heaven and having a big party just for her!

This is a letter I wrote K on June 7th, 2008

Dear Kaitlyn,
On June 4, 2008, you prayed and accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord. At that very moment, all your sins were forgiven (past, present, and future). I want you to always remember that Jesus is holding on to you, and He will never let you go. You belong to Jesus now. Because you belong to Him, I pray you will always live your life in a way that pleases Him and makes Him smile. I love you, and it is my joy to be your mommy!
Love,
Mom

Tonight, on November 2, 2008, K followed the Lord in baptism. This summer when she prayed and accepted Christ, we were in a time of transition. She told us she wanted to wait until God called us to our "happy new home and our happy new church" before she was baptized. So, once we got moved, neither Mom or Dad brought the subject up or pushed. I believe it was on our second Sunday here in our new church when she began asking when she could be baptized.

Off With the Old and on With the New

On Friday, the Missouri license plate came off, and the Pennsylvania license plate went on. T did a great job helping his dad. Both boys like any excuse to get out their tools and "play."

There is one negative thing about having a Pennsylvania license plate. I do not have any excuse when I'm lost, and have to drive slowly to find my turn. Before, the people behind me knew I'm not from around here. Now, I don't have that excuse. Our new plate screams out that I am a fellow Pennsylvanian.