Visit Me Over at Joy in the Journey

I don't post much here anymore. It is just easier for me to blog at my "main" blog, Joy in the Journey.  

Christmas Music

Both K and L sang in the children's Christmas choir. K played a piano solo (video below) and T played the drums for "The Little Drummer Boy" (video below).

K's 9th Birthday

K turned 9 on 11/11 and I (Mom) took her out on a special birthday date. She got her hair and nails done at a local salon.

I took her out to eat lunch.

Then we came home and she opened presents. Two people who know her very well (her sister and "Miss" Linda) got her the same thing because nothing screams "Kaitlyn" like a little pink poodle. K thought it was hilarious!

Of course, we had birthday cake. K requested an ice cream cake, but we used brownies instead of cake and she wanted mint chocolate chip ice cream. We used mini chocolate cookies to decorate the cake and made them look like music notes because K loves music (especially playing the piano).

Apple Picking Fall 2011

Since moving to Pennsylvania in 2008, we have enjoyed visiting local orchards and picking apples. The children love eating them and baking with them and it has truly become a tradition we've made since living here.

Want to go down memory lane? I've given links to all our previous apple picking posts below.

Apple Picking 2008

Apple Picking 2009

Apple Picking 2010

Springtime Update

We have been enjoying some fun springtime activities. We've been gardening. We are working on developing more flowerbeds around our house and also giving container gardening a try. Tyler has wanted to grow his own carrots for a while now, so he planted some carrot seeds. They are doing well, and we hope to be eating them in about 30 more days!

Bird watching is another one of our family's favorites. We feed finches, hummingbirds, and we have a separate wild bird feeder, and a bird bath. We are attracting all sorts of fun birds and identifying them in our field guides. Tyler is really into birds right now, especially water birds. We had a mother woodpecker make a nest in one of our trees and it was fun to listen to them and watch her feed them.

This weekend, our church had a picnic and we had a wonderful time. Some friends of ours brought a huge water slide and it was a big hit with all the kids (big and little).

So, how about you? How was spring been treating you? We have one more week to enjoy some rest time before we start three weeks of a program called Tennis for Kids, and then Vacation Bible School, and then Heath and I are headed to Ontario, Canada for a mission trip. Once we return from that, my focus will be getting things organized for the 2011-12 school year. Lauren will be a 1st grader, Kaitlyn a 3rd grader, and Tyler a 4th grader.

K's Poetry

K entered a poetry contest hosted by one of our local library branches. She won 2nd place in her category and she was invited to a special celebration to read her poem. It was a really special and fun night for our family! All of the poets did an awesome job!

T and K had a good time listening to all the poetry, and the refreshments were a nice bonus too!

Reading and writing poetry is something we do regularly, and it was encouraging and inspiring to our entire family to take part in this celebration.

Happy 6th Birthday!

The baby of the family, L, is six-years-old today. This is how the boys in the family help prepare for a birthday around here. They eat all the extra icing from the pan.

This is how the sister helps prepare for a birthday. She creatively and neatly decorates the birthday cake.

Happy Birthday baby, I mean, Big Girl! We love you and are so blessed to have you in our lives. You make us smile, laugh, and you give us a reason to just spin around with silliness at random times (like when we walk down a grocery aisle)!

I also want to mention a dear friend to our family, "Miss" Linda who took L to story time at the library yesterday and out to lunch as a special birthday treat. I didn't post any pictures of their day together because I wasn't sure "Miss" Linda wanted her picture on the internet or not. When you live nearly 1,000 miles away from family, it is such a sweet blessing from the Lord when He brings people into your lives like "Miss" Linda and her husband.

New Haircut

L wanted to get her haircut. She easily got 3-4 inches cut off. She looks different, she likes it, and it makes my job of de-tangling a lot easier.

What's New

It's been over one month since I've updated our family blog, so I thought I'd share a little bit about what's new with us.

Mohawks!

Learning Latin with Dad

Snow Creations

Missing Teeth

What's new in your world?

Christmas 2010

T turned 9 in August. He has enjoyed playing his first season of football, and misses playing very much. T wants to be a lot of things when he grows up. One thing he wants to do is to start his own police organization, but it's top secret and I can't share any information on our family blog.

K turned 8 in November and has been taking piano lessons since May. K wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.

L will be 6 in March, and she loves all things that sparkle, and to accesorize her outfits. L is busy learning how to read this year and being Mommy's special helper all around the house. L wants to be a ballerina when she grows up.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Happy 8th Birthday, K!

Happy Birthday to my funny, creative, sweet, and servant-hearted 8-year-old little girl! I love you!

Vacation Day #7

Wednesday, November 3rd was our final day at the condo. We spent time at the beach, the pool, and at a mini golf course. It was a fun and busy last day!

Vacation Day #6

On Tuesday, November 2nd, we drove over to Sanibel Island. We visited the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

K participated in a junior ranger activity and was awarded a Junior Ranger badge at the end.

We went on a drive through the refuge, and we actually spotted a live alligator in its natural habitat! This was so exciting!

Along the driving trail, there were a few trails you could pull over and park, get out of your vehicle and go on a walking trail and explore.

Along a walking trail, we saw this really cool ORANGE grasshopper!

Of course we spent more time at the beach once we got back to our condo!

Vacation Day #5

We weren't planning on going to a zoo, but we learned that this particular zoo had an alligator feeding show, so we decided to go on Monday, November 1st. K thought it was pretty cool that right when she walked into the zoo she saw a bird that looked a lot like the one on her shirt! The zoo was a small zoo, but it was one of the most relaxing times we've ever had at the zoo. I think it had something to do with the fact that it was a Monday and November!

The alligator feeding show was cool, but don't try this in the wild, folks!

Dad always lets the kids get a small souvenir from the zoo gift shop. The children have things from zoos in Tennessee, Nebraska, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and now Florida.

Vacation Days #3 and #4

This is the beautiful view from our condo!

On Saturday, October 30th we spent more time on the beach. L is just chillin' out and watchin' the waves come in.

Now L is running from the waves. Dad and T like to get out and let the waves hit them. They also liked trying to use "the force" (think Star Wars) to stop the waves.

K was focused and diligent with her sand castle building endeavors. She was really excited when we came back Sunday afternoon and she found it all still standing!

Horseshoe Crab!

T slept on the pull out couch.

These are bunk beds the girls slept on. Actually, they only slept on them for a couple nights and then all three kids ended up sleeping on the furniture in the living room.

On day #4, Sunday, October 31, we went to a nearby church for a worship service, ate lunch out, and then went back to the condo to rest and then headed to the beach!