Saturday

was a busy day as expected. We started with Awana games and ended with a walk on the beach. The beach was much more relaxing!! Having to be in a gym all morning is not my ideal time but the kids had a good time and there was a playground outside so Daddy took the little kids on breaks to play.
I had another appointment with my midwife. Baby is doing great. Good heartbeat and growth:)

Clay, nature, and Awana's

The kids played with clay. There are snowmen and creatures on ski's.....notice the snow in the trees.


We had a nice day yesterday so decided to skip the normal Friday stuff and go play for awhile. Kids took their nature notebooks and traced some leaves and other sites they saw. #4 still not up to par but thought the fresh air would be good for him.

Last night was the Awana's celebration. Last day until next September. Both kids groups got up and sang some songs and got little things for recognition. All the pictures came out blurring but if you tilt your head sideways and squint you can tell who's you;)

Good Morning

Ahh, nothing like a nice, rainy quiet morning. Got my cup of tea and bible and little time alone. Well the alone part just depends how you look at it. J is up but he's doing a very good job of sitting quietly waiting for me to get done with my Bible reading today....Then I7 walked upstairs and started reading quietly the children's bible to J...and now well everyone is awake and it is not so quiet! But it started out that way and it was a great start to the day! Nothing like a good recharge to get you going. I want to share this quote with you today.

Ultimately, faith is the only key to the universe. The final meaning of human existence, and the answers to the questions on which all our happiness depends cannot be found in any other way.

Thomas Merton-American Trappist monk and author of Then Seven Storey Mountain

The older 2 have been busy making things this week. I've heard mom can I use this to make a canoe, a pirate ship etc. They are going to town with the creativity this week! I7 has also been practicing writing in 'Indian code' We checked out a book from the library that tells what each picture means so he's be drawing pictures and writing us 'coded' messages.

It took J a half hour after awana's started to decide he did infact want to go to class. He seemed to have a good time afterwards but when we got to church friday, he started screaming that he didn't want to go. He is excited now, as he got his cubbies book and I told him we could do his school during the week like the big kids. I need to copy some preschool type things for him as he wants to do school like the big kids.

Yesterday we got to watch James play softball,they won again yay! It was fun to watch and we went out for lunch afterwards(ouch on the pocketbook!) Then we went to do some shopping. Sears was having a good sale so we were shopping for daddy who needed some nice clothes. So now he is set for awhile(thank goodness he doesn't outgrow his clothes! and why is it he's drawn to the most expensive of the sale items? hmm, it's never a great idea to shop with him;) )
I had picked up a few things the week before for the kids. I think we are almost ready for our trip now. Need to find a jacket for Isaac, otherwise we are pretty good. I think I am realizing that warm climates might be best for a larger family, because then you only have one season of clothes to worry about!
L is walking more and more. The other kids are still really excited and everytime he walks they talk in real high excited voices MOM look he's walking!

The older three just completed their first night of Awana's club . They all seemed to enjoy it and were all tired afterward. It'll make for a long Friday for them. I know I enjoyed talking to other christian mom's while they were in class and hope they are getting as much out of it as well. One mom was talking and I just had to stare at her for a minute because I was thinking of what she said. I was thinking of how different it was, now it wasn't anything totally off the wall but it was just the difference of someone committed to Christ and what someone of the world might say. I was realizing how use I am to comments of the world and how I need to guard myself against becoming use to them. Anyway just a little insight for me tonight and maybe you need to guard against outside influences as well.
The kids did learn one thing today. They have to wear close toed shoes and long pants. This is not something we normally do in Hawaii so we were not prepared and they didn't get to play the games. They were understandably a upset but still had a good time and now we know how to dress for club night.
It's been a busy week here and we haven't got to do alot of the extra activities that are studies have suggested. I'm hoping to play a little catch-up this weekend. Kids have been really interested in stars and directions(compass) this week. Also today they pulled out some craft books from Usborne that I have. They were making pirate hats, mice, crowns, lots of things. I was so impressed how well they could follow directions and just be creative without any input from me.