Preparations for Gabriel's Surprise

Here's an update! Yup, he liked them!! My Dad wanted to know what made these peanut butter balls so creamy and he understood when I told him the amount of butter that went into the recipe!

Gabriel's favorite candy is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups so for his birthday Annalina, Ross, and I made chocolate peanut butter balls to surprise him for his 8th birthday!! We actually made one really big chocolate ball for Gabriel!!

Of course, the sprinkles are always fun to put on!

Yup, we even got to get messy!!!

They were both great helpers even when it came time to wash the dishes. Annalina washed and Ross rinsed. Hopefully, Gabriel will enjoy this gift! I want to taste it with 2 sticks of butter, 2 cups of peanut butter, 4 cups rice crispies, and 2 bags of chocolate chips it HAS TO TASTE YUMMY!!!!

Money Matters

For morning devotions this summer we are doing this devotional study on being a good steward of money, time, relationships, etc. but it focuses on money. It is taken from Larry Brukett's ideas. I am SOOOOO happy with this purchase!!! The second day I was reviewing from the day before and asked Ross what a steward was and his reply was "a person that takes care of God's things". WOW!! I was shocked!! Then today I asked him to pick the socks Carson had strewn over the floor and he picked them up right away and came to me and said "I was a good steward of my time." Gabriel the other day heard Daddy say that he needed caffeine and asked us how much pop cost. I didn't know why he was asking. He, Annalina, and I were headed to the grocery store and he brought his money and bought his Daddy a caffienated pop. He used his money to encourage. Daddy has had a very rough few weeks with his nose in books into the wee hours of the morning.

The book has them memorize

I Peter 4:10 "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to anther, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

I am going to use this book again next summer . . . so much to process and learn both for me and the kids!! I am thankful for all that we have and will learn.

A Wish that Touched My Heart

Annalina brought a dandy lion for me to blow and she was talking about making a wish. I didn't teach about making wishes but I used to do similar things as a child. Anyway, Annalina said "I usually wish that I will be a kid forever and that you will never die." The reason this touches me so much is that she enjoys childhood so much that even the draw of adulthood with it's freedom of decisions can't beat the fun of childhood in her eyes. She is such a sweetie.

Our First Day this Summer at the Beach

The kids thankful to be in the sand and sun! This blog about the beach actually spans 4 blog entries.

These are my feet soaking in the sun and throughly enjoying it!!

It has been an INCREDIBLY busy year with homeschooling, swim lessons (some months 4 days a week), AWANA, piano lessons, Ballet, going through 2 curricula in some subjects, etc. but it was worth every minute. I always, enjoy at the end of a school year, looking back and seeing all the kids have learned during the year and this year was not different even though they were home. I actually think they were opened up to more opportunities because they were home. I am thankful that the Lord gave us the ability to homeschool this year.

Carson's First Real Beach Experience!!!

Carson spent a little time in his car seat first watching how the kids were playing at the beach and I think that helped him be excited about this new enviroment!! He really got excited!

He wasn't quite so sure about the cold temperature of the water once it hit his feet though!!

My littlest Norsk at the beach! Tooooooo CUTE!!!!! Didn't take long to get sand to that mouth! YUK!!!!!

Who knows what this hand signal means but it is typical of Carson.

This picture he looks like he is the lone survivor on a desert island! To funny!

Annalina and Ross' Time at the Beach

Annalina and Ross had a great time running away from or jumping over the small waves that were rolling in! They spent a good bit of time in the water having a SUPER FUN time laughing and running!

Monerey beach is not usually super warm and I think Annalina enjoyed the warmth of the sand!

Gabriel's Day at a Monterey Beach

This is the shrimp Gabriel caught!! He wanted to take it to the resteraunt Bubba Gumps (he knows they serve shrimp!).
Gabriel had a castle and watch towers around the castle for added protection!!!!
Gabriel spent most of his time doing his own thing at the beach and just seemed to be relaxed and having a great time!! He combed the sand for shells, caught a shrimp, and built a sand castle. He started off with a hat on and then said he wanted the sun on him and I understood that!!!

End of the School Year PARTY!!!!

The kids have worked SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard this year in school and I wanted to do something special for the end of school party! I came up with a great idea! I told them that a surprise would be arriving on Friday. On Friday morning we went down the hill waiting for the surprise that was to arrive in a big white van. They were so excited!! Finially, the surprise arrived and it was a family in our church that has 6 kids and they also homeschool!! The kids and myself had a GREAT time!!! The kids loved running and playing. The boys shot guns and collected dead raccoon bones, etc. Annalina played with their eldest daughter and I was able to sit and talk with the mother and chat about life. We all just had a blessed day! The kids helped me with how to decorate the cupcakes and that was another highlight for them. Gabriel thought they ended up looking like sunflowers and they do!!!!

AWANA Awards Night

The kids REALLY enjoyed AWANA Awards night. They had never received a ribbon before so it was all so fun!!

Gabriel received 2 ribbons, a Sparks plaque, for the 3 books he completed and then he was surprised with the Sparky of the Year Medal!!

Annalina received 2 ribbons for the 2 books she completed.

And Ross received his last patches for the year and also his Cubbie Bear for doing his book. During the ceremony the Gabriel and Annalina's group sang and they did a great job. I could tell Annalina was "smiling with her eyes" just as her Auntie Theo taught her to!!

After the ceremony was a cookie reception and the kids had a great time running around and playing with other kids!

Chinese King and Queen Take Time to Learn About the Weather

I am trying to sort through boxes in the garage when I get a few minutes (literally minutes this past Saturday!!) anyway, I found these Chinese outfits from Grandpa that were to big at the time they got them but fit perfectly now! They were excited to have "king and queen" Chinese outfits! Somehow they got distracted to Annalina reading a book about lightning and they seemed to enjoy that too!!!

Brotherly Love?

Ross has fed Carson before and it went well but Carson was not in a cooperative mood today! I thought it was hysterical watching this!

The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out his nose. ~Garrison Keillor

Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring - quite often the hard way. ~Pamela Dugdale

As I have discovered by examining my past, I started out as a child. Coincidentally, so did my brother. My mother did not put all her eggs in one basket, so to speak: she gave me a younger brother named Russell, who taught me what was meant by "survival of the fittest."
Bill Cosby

Benjamin West and his Cat Grimalkin

I just finished reading Benjamin West and his Cat Grimalkin to the kids. They really enjoyed it. Gabriel said he never wanted the book to end. I was completely taken with it myself and it has risen to one of my favorite books!!! The story of how Benjamin came from humble beginnings to the royal court of England is FASCINATING and the lessons in the book never end . . . resourcefulness, kindness, faith in God, hard work, respect, etc. At the end of the book it jumps ahead to lets you know what happened in his adult life. The story of how he got his sweet heart over to Europe to marry is just a great story and TRUE. All I can say is it doesn't surprise me how Benjamin Franklin helped!! It is also neat that I saw Benjamin West's paintings hanging in Buckingham Palace when we lived over in England. The kids were able to see some of his paintings on the internet and learn how his paintings changed the course of how historical paintings would be painted. Back in that time they painted war scenes with the people wearing togas instead of their military uniforms and B.W. changed that and started painting as they looked. He also felt it important to paint historically accurate instead of imbellishing. I LOVED THIS BOOK! Now we are readying Brighty of the Grand Canyon another true story by the same author Marguerite Henry.

Mother's Day

It was a great Mother's Day with church and then in the afternoon going to Cannery Row in Monterey and shopping at the little shops and eating right by the water at Bubba Gumps while enjoying a super cheeseburger, onion rings, and chocolate chip cookie sundae!!! Fabulous, is there a better Mommy's Day lunch?!! I received Mother's Day cards and gifts. Gabriel and Annalina gave me glass jars filled with potporrie (however that's spelled) and lights! They are so pretty. I have one in a bathroom and one in the living room. Ross made me a foam art heart that was so cute. He was so excited to have it displayed which it is in the kitchen!

Just a Couple of Pictures of 2 of My 4 Sweet Kiddos

A Blessing Just In Time For Summer

I mentioned before that we had told the kids we would get them a play house and it hadn't yet worked out. This toy play center was GIVEN TO US from a fellow student of Babe's at the Naval Postgraduate School. He was going to trash it and now it is our new treasure!!! The kids LOVE it!!! They have been playing and playing in it and right now they are out there listening to Patch the Pirate as they finished up their lunch.

I KNOW this was the work of God and I am thankful. The kids have worked so very hard this year in school and I am glad to see this blessing for them to enjoy this summer in their time off.

Sweet Corn Garden

Babe's and Gabriel's sweet corn garden has started to grow. You can't see it real well in these pictures but the plants have sprouted and Gabriel is excited!! We'll have to see how it turns out or if the deer eat the corn up!! It will be fun to watch and see.

Bumps and Blessings

Today did not run completely smoothly and had some bumps in it . . .I have one kid that has checked out their brain to summer vacation a few weeks early and I sent another kid to the wrong swim class because I got my class days mixed up which created more difficulties but none the less I did accomplish reorganizing our pantry cabinet. I had Ross and Carson take everything out of the cabinet for me and then I went through everything and put it back in in an organized way. Ross and Carson seemed to enjoy their job of dismanteling something at Mommies request!!

But my day also had some blessings in it. Babe found out he got a 100% on his master's level physics test. I am very thankful for that, he works so hard. My other blessing was that a fellow student of Brian's at school said that he had a play house that his daughter had outgrown and he wanted to get rid of. We had told the kids awhile back that we were going to get them a play house but recently we have had extra expenses and we haven't been able to buy one yet. I am ashamed to say I never prayed about it but the Lord gave me a reminder today that he knows our thoughts and intentions and provided for us and we get it for FREE!!! I just thought that was the coolest how God provides like that and a great thing for the kids to see. God is good all the time.