Photographer Emmett

Emmett took these pictures. I think they captured Eisley's expressions so uniquely!

First people drawings

This is Emmett's first drawing of a human. I thought that I'd have to teach him how to draw a person, but I didn't! In this picture he drew this new cousin Thora. He also drew his other cousins Wyatt, Icyle and then himself. You can see the names written above the drawings (Wyatt, he hadn't finished drawing yet).

My 3

I am thankful for 3 healthy children.

4

My first born turned 4 today.

He has been SO excited to be 4 he could hardly believe that this was the actual day. He asked Eric to confirm it, then he came to me in disbelief. It wasn't until Nana confirmed that, indeed, today is the day that he turns 4, that he was satisfied.

We spent the day at the cabin, played with my cousins Emily and Lydia, went to the movie Tangled (loved it!) and exited the theater to a beautiful layer of huge snow flakes. I didn't realize how much fun we had (ie cake, popcorn, soda pop, candy...) until Emmett woke up in the middle of the night and vomited. Poor little guy.

I tend to remember things through rose colored glasses and have to go to my mom or Eric to get the "reality", but for now, I will say that I think Emmett being 3 has been one of my favorite ages. Of course, I've said every age is my favorite. This boy says "thank you" numerous times a day, including when I've made him lunch. He is normally gentle and loving to his little sister. He is chivalrous to our nanny girl.

Emmett can write all of his upper case letters, many of his lower case letters and knows all his letter sounds. This past year he gave up his "dahtdoos" (pacifiers). This past year he asked Jesus to be his forever friend, but is still hesitant to pray aloud.

When I was pregnant with him the word, "joy" was placed on my heart. And all you have to do is take one look at this boy's smile to see that "joy" exudes from him (strangers even comment on the radiance of his smile), "joy" describes him perfectly, and he brings me joy daily. I am so thankful for my first born.

Some of his favorite family gifts included his razor scooter, his super hero dress up clothes, his pirate dress up clothes (from Auntie Amber and family), his keyboard (from Nana and Grandpa), his soccer ball and goal (from Nana and Grandpa), and his Wii Party game (from Grandma and Papa).

Emmett, I love you!

Burying a Servant

My grandpa served his country, served his family, served his church congregation, served in the mission field, served his colleagues and ultimately served his Heavenly Father.

Wow, I am so amazed as I learn more about the wonderful, loyal, hard working and Godly man my grandfather was. His funeral was today. Loved ones from as far as Guyana, Canada, New York, Florida, and Oregon filled the quaint Wisconsin church sanctuary to pour out their love and respect. This man was a servant with the love of Christ. There was no denying that my grandpa's selflessness made an eternal impact in the lives of more people than we will ever know here on earth.

My Grandma and Grandpa had been married for 60 years. I can't imagine the pain my grandmother must be experiencing now after losing your life partner. Just the thought of the quite home and the empty bed brings tears to my eyes. Watching my grandmother's face at the burial was almost too much. Her bright blue eyes exuded pain that was palpable. There is no doubt this man will be missed by many.

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’- Matthew 25:21

I know my grandpa is now in Heaven sharing in his master's happiness.

Thanksgiving coming soon!

We attempted to read the Thanksgiving story today. I don't have a book, so I just read the story off the internet. As much as I tried to make it interactive and interesting for the kids, I didn't make it through the story and I completely lost the 2 year olds.

Then we tried to make hand print turkeys. They were relatively successful. The paint dried REALLY fast so by the time I painted all of Eisley's fingers and hand, they were all almost dry. We ended up doing 1 color turkeys.

And totally changing the subject, I asked Emmett to pack his bag for our trip to the cabin. I told him what he needed - 2 pairs of underwear, 2 outfits, 1 pair of jammies... I didn't watch to make sure he was doing it properly, but once he was in bed, I checked his bag to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. This is what I saw.

I just love how he folded his clothes, it's so organized. The little pocket on the left holds his socks. The top pocket (not shown) has his shoes. I think it's just adorable!

Play doh in a sled?

Play-doh is messier than I would have though, pre-kids. So I had a brilliant idea to have the kids play in the sled. Well, that and the kitchen table was piled high with post party paraphernalia. Anyway, let me tell you, this was not such a brilliant idea. It just got all over Emmett's jeans and of course all over the rug on which the sled was sitting. They had fun though!

Birthday Party 2 and 4

Today we had the kids' joint 2nd and 4th birthday party. Most of our friends have kids similar ages to both of ours, so it just made sense to do one party. That being said, looking back, there are quite a few things we would have done differently. I'm going to document some of those things here so that next year I can look back and apply my own recommendations :).

* Recommendation: Emmett seemed overwhelmed by all the people. He may prefer a smaller gathering. Eisley seemed find in the larger group.

The Party Concept and Games:

Super Hero Training (and dress-up) party. The kids would participate in various training activities (games) and would earn rewards after each game. For example, after the Super Hero Search and Rescue (looking for little super hero figures) they would earn their super hero mask. After other games they would earn treats. After all the training activities they would be given their official Super Hero Capes. The dress-up part played in, because we brought our bin of super hero dress up clothes and throughout the party kids changed costumes as they wished.

* Recommendation: We only got to 2 of the 4 games. The game concepts were a bit too complicated for some of the kids. Granted we had a age range from 2-6 so that is a wide range of abilities. If we had to do it over again, we would have done our favorite games first. The good thing we did was repeat the games the kids were enjoying.

The Gifts:

The goal was to have a "gift blanket" where the birthday child would sit with the gift giving child while opening the gift. The other children sit around the outside of the blanket. This would make the gift giver feel special and would also allow an opportunity to take a picture of the children together and the gift (document for thank you notes).

*Recommendation: This didn't work very well - see pictures. Not sure if it was the age or number of kids.

Look at these adorable Super Hero Blocks with the kids' pictures on them? They were a huge hit. Thanks Britni!

The Cake (Pops):

We did these last year for Emmett's party (cake pop recipe) and they were a huge hit so we did them again. Yep, they were a huge hit again. I would highly recommend these for any youngster's party. No messy cake, no dirty dishes, no piles of left overs. They're great!

The kids gathered...

...and then Emmett and Eisley blew out their candles.

The Capes:

I almost forgot to give them out! I made each child a cape with his/her initial on them. The biggest bummer was that I really wanted a picture with a bunch of the kids wearing their capes. Oh well!

Attempt at a group picture...I have no recommendations for this. I think we did about the best we could!

It was a wild and crazy whirlwind of a morning, but I think the majority had a blast. For the record we had 18 kids age 2-6, 5 babies age 0-1, Dad dressed in all black as Super Villan (and one mom), 6 pizzas (could have had more), orange punch, a few color coordinated candies, masks and capes.

In the snow

Now that the kids are a bit older, it's nice because they can mostly get themselves dressed to go outside. Yes, I do a zipper here and a mitten there, but the outdoor prep is quite easy. Today the kids enjoyed flying kites, eating snow, sleeping (Ender), and driving the bat mobile in the snow!

Round round

Round round a-ra-a-round, round...Do you remember that old DC Talk song? Well, that's the song we were singing while I spun the kids around in our office chair. One of my favorite memories...my dad would spin me around in his red office chair. Now I'm doing the same for my kiddos, I mean Tinkerbell and Captain America!