New Sub Club Series

Gabriel finished the Christian dinosaur book with Annalina and Ross after months of that study in Sub Club. Now he is going to teach through the 7 C's of history from a small pamphlet Grandpa J gave him for that purpose, to use for Sub Club! Thankfully we have Abeka flashcards he can use for some of the C's like Creation and Corruption which is fun. Gabriel has done worksheets in the past and asked me to help him do worksheets on the computer. I made them up. Really I should just teach him to do them on the computer he types 3 words faster per minute than me! He should be able to handle it!

So he had a special worksheet for his new series and then I taught him what a special speaker is. That is was someone that comes in and speaks about a topic they know a lot about. The 7 C's pamphlet talked about DNA during the Creation portion so I recommended he ask Daddy to speak on DNA. Oh, boy did Daddy do a bang up job! I am amazed how well Babe does teaching complex things to the kids and the kids love it! Awhile back the kids stayed up while he taught them about morse code and then another night he taught them about orbits and seasons. Babe loves doing stuff like that and the kids love learning from him.

Anyway, for a craft in line with the theme of Creation I showed Gabriel something I had found on the internet when I thought a friend of mine were going to have our own little VBS last summer. You make Rice Krispie treats and put blue food coloring in one pile of krispies and green food coloring in the other then give a little blue and a little green to each kid and they make it into their own globe! The kids really enjoyed their time with their globes and ended up with it on their face and shirts of course.

Later that night Gabriel thanked me and said he thought it was his best Sub Club. He is such a sweetie.

Danger, Danger!!!

I used to enjoy watching Steve Irwin on Animal Planet. I remember him saying in that cool heavy Australian accent "Danger! Danger!" So funny. Sometimes that comes to my mind like today . . . after church today Ross, Carson, and I made it back to the van first. I had the keys in the ignition and was sitting in the passenger seat and was letting Carson roam around the car. He came to the drivers seat and turned the key, started up the car, started turning the wheel!! Ross thought that was a bit freaky! It sure is! Danger! Danger! That kid loves anything with an engine and wheels or wings! Brian and I were talking about how Carson is different than Gabriel and Ross. Gabriel enjoys military vehicles but not for the engine etc. his joy comes from studying there uses and then when playing with them using them in a tactical, military way. His enjoyment of vehicles only comes if they are military and only then if it is for utilitarian fun. Ross has probably had the least interest of all the boys for cars and trucks. Ross enjoys legos and toy guns.

My other Carson story from today . . . I was putting on Carson's shoes for church and to my dismay the really, really nice shoes I had purchased for him to LAST THE SUMMER are already starting to feel like they are getting small! He has really looked big to Babe and I. He must be going through a huge growth spurt! Carson weighs 32 lbs and Ross weighs 39 lbs and Carson just turned 2! Anyway, as I was putting on Carson's shoes I said to him "Are you a monster baby?" and to my surprise he said "No, I'm Daddy!" Gabriel and I were so excited! Carson does not say tons of words and now he put words together! Too fun and funny! Something funny he does rite now is scrinch up his face and make noises. Something cute he does is wear Gabriel's swim goggles around the house. I can't help but smile whenever I see him in those goggles. One eye is usually squeezed closed. I should get a picture.

Fun in the Sun!

Today was a beautifully sunny day. While Annalina was in ballet I was able to walk down to the Carmel beach and walk. I really enjoyed my time walking and listening to the ocean waves. It was so soothing! I decided it would be a good day to go to the beach as a family. It was a bit brisk but it was a beautiful day none the less. Really I froze my tushy off but I must have been strange because most people had no jacket in 59 degree weather and I had on 2 jackets and couldn't get warm! The kids had a blast on the Pacific Grove beach though.

Ross and Annalina usually go off and play in the water

which is exactly what they did today too.

Gabriel enjoyed his time playing in the sand and then playing in the water.

The kids seemed to really enjoy the kelp today!

Carson thinking kelp must be cool stuff since he

sees the others carrying it around! Look at those cute chunky calves . . . by the way he weighs only 7 lbs. less than Ross now!

Babe and Carson really enjoyed their time together. I wish I had taken a picture of the 2 of them standing on top of a rock quietly watching the waves with

Carson holding onto Daddy's leg. SOO sweet! Babe commented on what a nice time it was.

Ah, yes . . . sand so warm and so fun. Annalina and Ross were just laughing and laughing at one point. Interestingly in the digging process they found a lot of shrimp! They called them "jumping shrimp" because they really jumped! Weird but fun!

Recently Finished Books

This book was so SUPER! It started out slowly and I knew it was a stretch for Ross but I was banking on the excitement kicking in later and that was so true. This is definitely a missions book and the whole focus is on reaching people for Christ. Jim Elliot was a man sold out to serving his Savior. He and his wife worked as a team on the mission field. In fact, it was fun to read of the wives of these men that died. These wives were extraordinary. They had the same strength of faith as their husbands.

The kids were THRILLED to listen to how they reached out to the Auca Indians through gift drops and loud speakers. They LOVED it. We were all very sober to read of their deaths. Ross was sitting right next to me in a chair and he whispered in my ear at the end "I think I will see him in heaven." The story touched little Rossers and us all. Ross didn't say think as in "I wonder if" but as in "I'll get to see him up in heaven though". It was SOOO sweet and Ross's response touched me. His response was this makes me sad but I am going to encourage myself that I will get to see him someday in heaven.

This was a good book and had the kids attention from the beginning! David Livingstone was a man strong in faith and unwavering in his devotion to God and Africa. The kids really enjoyed the story of his life but they were NOT impressed with his fathering skills. He had children but he did not raise them. They were sent to Scotland to live for the most part and some of them hardly knew him. Ross noted that his daddy left but not for that long! That being said he and his wife, despite living apart for MANY MANY years were very much in love and devoted to each other. The death of his wife really drained some of the life out of him.

A little disappointment in the book was it started off with the importance of missions and turned into the story of his explorations. Gabriel wondered what happened to telling people about Jesus. I had thought the same thing. I didn't know enough about his life to know if the book just expected us to assume that teaching was going on during those years or if he switched gears more toward exploration? I don't know but it was a good book. He was a determined man with much faith.

Little Known Tales of California was a book that started out MUCH more interesting than it ended. By the end of the book I think we were all ready to be done with it. There was some stories that were interesting like The Lost Spanish Galleon, Pegleg Smith's Spanish Gold Mine, The California Presidios, The Rocking Stone, etc. If I read this in the future to Carson I would pick out only certain chapters that are worth the time reading. Not a whole lot of good examples in this book. There where a lot of money worshiping lawless people.

It's been a little while since the kids and I finished book 2 of Proverbs People. It is nice to be able to go through Proverbs according to topic. This book is basic and really just catagorizes the verses for you and asks usually one question per verse. It is simply done but is helpful.

Another List of Blessings

This was a HARD week to say the least. It was a hard week in parenting for one. The kids were a little renegade especially one particular day! YIKES! But there was more going on than just that. One of those weeks where I needed to breathe in and breathe out and repeat. Actually, my mom even told me to breathe! Despite the craziness and stress there is always blessings to be seen amid the stresses.

Also, sometimes I hesitate with my blog because I go on about the kids. Please remember this blog is for my OWN memory bank. Believe me I am not blind to my children's faults. :-) I see them quite clearly and this week I got GREAT view of them all!

OK, back to my blessings of the week . . .

*My sister-in-law called the other day. My blessing here is . . . I love my sister-in-law . . . when we get to talk like we did it is like having a sister. That is a blessing even though I do have great brothers!

*My friend in Washington state emailed me and said she thought of me in REI the other day and picked out in her mind what she thought would be the water bottle that I would like and then emailed me a picture. My blessing here is . . . my friend has shown through the years she is just that a real life-long friend. Isn't it nice to know someone thought of you and that they know you well enough to pick out what you like?

*We had talked in devotions not to long ago (I think I blogged about it) about how we could share Christ. Gabriel decided to give it a try in swimming and got a very short conversation started. He wants to continue but really he doesn't have time to talk much or talk at any extent about salvation through Jesus. I found a children's tract that came from the Creation Museum and it walks a reading child through coming to know Christ! Gabriel is so excited to give it to him at his next swim lesson. My blessing . . . watching a child that listens and then wants to be a doer.

*Annalina displayed an excellent spirit at the AWANA awards ceremony. She had finished her 3 books in the last 2 school years and had earned the Sparky award plaque but instead they presented her with a certificate of participation in AWANA. She never even flinched. In fact, I thought she didn't even realize the mistake. When we talked about it later she told me she did notice and she said "I thought maybe they just got confused because I had used the old book." Which is exactly what happened! She wanted to use the old AWANA book because as she told the AWANA workers the verses are longer. After the ceremony Babe inquired about it, it was remedied and she received her plaque and thought the night was just the best! My blessing . . . a little girl that isn't concerned about recognition in front of everyone and had an excellent spirit about being overlooked.

*Carson is starting to use more words. I love it. I love hearing "Ma, Ma" and I love his hugs. My blessing . . . love from my little munchkin, of course. He is definitely in that terrible 2's stage but we all love him and he adds so much to life. He LOVES the book Green Eggs and Ham!!

*I have a neat story about Ross but I will write about that later.

Weekend with Auntie Flo

Flo was my room mate in college and after Babe and I started having kids they adopted Flo as their Auntie. She came down and spent much of last weekend with us and the kids were thrilled! We really enjoyed our walk down by Monterey Bay. This time of year there is BEAUTIFUL flowers lining the bay.

How often do you get to walk almost literally on a carpet of flowers?! The kids LOVED running through the beauty! There is no carpet as stunning as this!

Not only is it beautiful but so soft too!

God sure knows how design doesn't He?

Evolution, hrumph and ba humbug!

Ross enjoying his time by the bay.

Annalina almost blending in with the flowers!

She is our flower!

Playing Monopoly with Auntie Flo!

The kids playing Uno with Auntie Flo.

The kids really, really

enjoyed

their weekend with their Auntie Flo!

Celebration

Yesterday afternoon I was thrilled to say the least. I took Annalina and Ross to their last swim class of this session and they BOTH passed which was absolutely thrilling! Those 2 have worked so hard and have been in those classes awhile now. They were so happy that they passed! I loved seeing them excited over their achievment. I was SHOCKED when I looked up and saw Ross swimming like a BIG boy. I made a noise and someone looked at me like "what?" It was crazy how well he was doing I couldn't help but be shocked! Because of their achievments Ross said we should "eat doughnuts first and then go to McDonalds". He told Grandma it is the McDonalds with the black "M" we also refer to it as "the fancy McDonalds". We didn't do the doughnuts but we all enjoyed celebrating at McD's and then taking a drive by the ocean!

In devotions we have started a 7 week study on the first 7 books of Revelation. We were talking the other day about why John was sent to Patmos . . . because of testifying of Jesus Christ and that was not appreciated! We talked about how and where we can testify of Christ. The kids hadn't left the room from devotions yet when I opened up my computer and a friend of mine from elementary school had emailed me a link to a voice clip of Kirk Cameron teaching on evangelism. I told Gabriel and Annalina and they listened and got frustrated when Carson came with noise. For 31 minutes we listened to the most amazing teaching on how to evangelize! Gabriel said at least 2 times "that's good" and at the end Annalina summarized it in a sentence so she got it. I knew Kirk Cameron was a Christain but it was wonderful to hear his passion to spread the good news of the Gospel. My friends email seemed to arrive to us Providentially!

Heartfelt Breakfast

I wrote about the breakfast Ross made last week. He decided to fix breakfast again but he encountered a problem no more clean bowls (more on that later). He found this heart shaped cake pan and thought that Daddy and Mommy could share their cereal out of it unfortunately he didn't realize it would leak! When I came out to the kitchen Ross was curled up on the rocking chair with his head down embarrased that his surprise had turned to a mess which he assured me he tried to clean up. I assured him it was ok, he didn't know the pan would leak!

So why the bowls were all gone . . . we did a major clean out of our cuboards and got rid of the BPA bowls, etc. so we are down to the glass bowls we have which we go through fast. Hopefully, now Ross knows to look in the dishwasher!

He's a sweetie!

Toothless Grin

Other than a dimple in a cute little chin,

What's more adorable than a toothless grin?

~Azu "Betty" Espezia

"I think I look good!"

-Annalina

Police Officer Carson Maintains the Lysne Community Safety

Carson has really gotten into the fun of gun fights and Gabriel and Ross enjoy his new enthusiasm for something they love too! Gabriel and Ross are supposed to be bad guy robbers and Carson is the police officer. I saw them playing the other day and had to get it on video. This will be fun to watch 20 years from now! This is not meant to offend anybody. The good guy wins anyway!

Highlights of My Week

*I am often thankful for my hubby but this week things came about that just really brought it to my mind. On Mother's Day our pastor preached on husband's dwelling in knowledge with their wives. As I listened I thought . . . that is what Babe does. I often thank God for my hubby. He prays daily that he would be the husband he should be and it is obvious. Then the other day we had a situation with our move and we just weren't sure what we would do. By the time Babe got done he came out and said "You are going to want to kiss me till the cows come home." He not only solved the issue but solved it in a way that was obvious he was thinking of the kids and I. I heard one of the kids say "We have the best Daddy!" I told the kids there are many things I like about Daddy but one thing I really like is he does not sit around complaining about things he is proactive and finds a way to fix the problem.

*Yesterday morning I heard that one kid in the house was up and in the kitchen and everyone else was still in bed. It sounded like they were preparing our cereal breakfast and thought maybe it was Gabriel. After awhile I got up and went out and found Ross and he was so happy he said "I am making breakfast!" He had even poured the milk in our bowls before anybody else was out of bed!:-) I went and told Gabriel and Annalina what Ross had done and they smiled. We all had a wonderfully prepared breakfast thanks to Ross!

*Watched Carson through the nursery window tonight at church. It was so sweet to watch him trying and trying and trying to make a crying baby happy. I know other kids do that but we were pleased to see Carson caring for someone else. He is the baby of the family and I am glad to see that in him.

*Thankful this week I have learned how to do basic knitting. It is helpful to me to have that to do. Unfortunately, today I got myself into a spot I can't get out of by myself. Bummer. Earlier today Ross watched me knitting and said "How did you get so good? You could teach." He wasn't joking or trying to brown nose. He just thought his Mommy was doing well even though I've only had only a handful of lessons! :-) That's my Ross though. Oh, I had to have Annalina show me how to "cast on" the other day because I couldn't remember how but she did!

*This week was also a week where I saw God so clearly in some little things. It was a reminder to me that God leads us. It is so thrilling to see God in the little things. He knows the number of hairs of my head and he cares for me.

Summer is Here

We are into our very loose summer routine now; although there won't be any type of routine soon with the move.

The kids have had fun playing outside in the "Causabon" is what they named the redwood tree in our front yard. They can tell you why it is named that, I believe Gabriel came up with it! They like to take binoculars up and scope out the world! Thankfully I found a GREAT another great pair of binoculars at Goodwill last week!

The 2 little boys on the chair just wanted to be in a picture. Babe recently called them "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" after those characters in the Cat in the Hat book that reek havoc in the house!:-) Enduring, huh?

Carson's Birthday Fell on Easter this Year!

The kids were really excited that Carson's 2nd birthday fell on Easter this year. After church we did a little Easter egg hunt and took Carson to McDonald's since that is a favorite of his. He enjoyed opening and playing with his gifts. It is amazing how boys just instinctively act like boys. Carson I saw lifting the motorcycle up like he was doing a wheely and shortly thereafter pretending to wipe out and make groaning noises. He is funny.

Mission Possible--Charles Swindol

As we looked toward Easter this year we used the pamphlet Mission Possible (A 40-Day Adventure with Jesus) to prepare. Each day it just gave a short passage of Scripture to read and then after you read the Scripture it would restate and paraphrase what you had just read in the Bible getting them to focus in on a particular aspect. The reason of the pamphlet is just to focus in on Jesus on the 40 days leading up to Easter. It really isn't teaching but just focusing and reading the Biblical account of what happened leading up to, during, and after Christ's crucifiction. Gabriel was really touched with the reading of what Christ endured before and while on the cross which was great. I liked how it helped us ponder Christ's death and resurrection and give them more of a focus than just the one day.

While Annalina and I were in Colorado my sister-in-law showed me an idea for children in preparation for Easter (pictures above) and I just loved it! The kids did too! You take a disposable pan and fill with sand. Take a toilet paper tube and cover with sand except for one side for the tomb. Find a rock to cover the entrance and then make a stick cross and decorate with grass and flowers. Helps to make the sand damp to hold things better. The kids LOVED this and were excited to move the stones away on Easter. Thanks Theo for sharing the great idea you found!