Favorites on Fridays . . . Like Oprah's "O" List, But Not Really

Jake's Favorite Book Series: Red Rock Mysteries by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry

Jake cannot put these books down!! There are 15 in the series and he is on book 14. What will we do when he is all finished?? The kids in his class love them, too. He likes the suspense in them as well as the good Christian messages. He reads at least an hour every night . . . I have to get him to stop!! (I used to have to MAKE him sit down and read 20 minutes. . . shows you they are gooood books!)

Happy Birthday, Sweet Caleb

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Caleb's (my sister's son) second birthday. Look at those blue eyes. He was in all his glory with his cousins. :) (he LOVES people!)

The cake.

The "blowing out the candles" sequence of pictures.

Waiting . . .

Getting ready to blow. . . Blowing. . .
So proud. :) Eating . . ."Happy Birthday, Caleb!! Yaaaayyy!"

The Grandmas.

The Grandpas.

Opening the presents . . .
Taking pictures of the celebrity . . .

Happy Birthday, sweet Caleb . . . we sure love you. You are a blessing to us!!

More About Flowers

How funny!! Yesterday, Caroline and I were focusing on how beautiful flowers are and how nice it was of God to create them for us. Then this morning when we opened up our devotional book, guess what it was about?! Yep! How nice it was of God to give us plants and flowers!! I LOVE when that happens! :)

"He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man."

Psalm 104:1

By the way . . . this is the devotional book Caroline and I have been using. We really like it. (It is written by Diane Cory and it is published by Legacy Press)

A Little Taste of Spring

I love winter, and you know I looooove snow, BUT . . . I have had enough of these dreary, wet days. I am officially ready for spring!! Unfortunately, it is still January. Sooooo . . . Caroline and I bought some beautiful spring flowers to cheer us up a bit. I wish you could smell this over the computer . . . it smells so wonderful. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I can smell it and it makes me happy.

These flowers were only buds when we bought them. We just got finished with our plant unit, so it has been really fun to watch them quickly grow and to identify all of their parts.

We planted this Amaryllis a couple of weeks before Christmas and it is now in full bloom. I love this flower because the parts are so identifiable.

Flowers are truly a blessing from God.
Psalm 104:13

"The earth is satisfied with the fruits of Your works."

SUPERBOWL!!

Congratulations to a former fourth grade student of mine, Jermon Bushrod. (he was in the first class I ever taught) He is number 74 on the New Orleans Saints and I am so proud of him!!

photo: the Free Lance Star

AP Photo

I can't wait to cheer for him in two weeks!!

Luke

Luke has really been enjoying going to preschool. (yay!!)And Caroline and I have really been enjoying our time to really "dig in" and get things accomplished while we are alone. :) We sure love our little Lukey, but it is much easier to get through our lessons in a one-on-one situation. :)

(I give LOTS of credit to all those moms out there who homeschool all of their children at once. . . I don't know how they do it.)

Since Luke's preschool is in Wheaton, Caroline and I have been picking a different spot each day to "have school". We load up her backpack with all of the lesson materials and we have a lot of fun. Today, we went to the Wheaton Public Library, which I think is going to be the best spot for us.

My alone time with Caroline has been a blessing and knowing that Luke is having fun with little friends is also a blessing!!

Favorites on Fridays . . . Like Oprah's "O" List, But Not Really

Favorite Fast Food Breakfast: Jamba Juice's Steel Cut Oatmeal with Blackberries and Blueberries

Have you tried this?? Oh . . . . soooo good! Don't look at the sugar content or the amount of carbs . .. just enjoy this hot cup of bliss . . . seriously. It has a brown sugar crumble on the top that makes it taste like blackberry cobbler. Can't think of a better way to start the day. I'm going to try to make a healthier version of the topping.

God's Paintings

Have you ever really looked closely at frost?? How beautiful!! It has been sooo cold here the past few weeks, so there has been more frost on our windows than usual. The other day, I decided to really take a close look at the frost and I was truly amazed at the intricate details. Each window upstairs had a different design. The kids and I had fun trying to find words to describe each pattern. (wispy, feathery, spiral, etc.)

Thank you, Lord, for creating such beautiful "pictures" for us to enjoy.

Dad, does this mean we have too much humidity in our house?? This picture was taken before the humidifier was put in. :)

Luke's First Day of Preschool

We were originally going to wait until next year to enroll Luke in a preschool, but we decided that he needs to be in one sooner than that. He needs to be around other kids having FUN! :) I called the preschool that Caroline went to, and they welcomed Luke with open arms today. Luke loved it!!

Caroline liked showing him around.
We were pleased to see that Sally the Turtle was still there. :) Luke hopes to be the one to bring her home over Easter break. (we did that when Caroline was in preschool)

It was such a blessing to me that Luke had such a good day!!

Sledding with Cousins

OK . . . so here are a few pictures of the zillion that I took last week when we were up in Wisconsin visiting my brother's family. We had so much fun outside in the snow!! They live on a LOT of land, so we had many places to sled right in their backyard.

Go Holly!!

What a cutie . . . Dawson.

Uncle Steve

I couldn't get this picture to go the right way, but I kinda like it this way . . . looks like cutie Dawson is pushing his truck down a STEEEEP hill! ;)
Hey SOX fan

Hello!!

Peek-a-boo!!

Who's that guy?!? Could it be little Luke??

There goes Auntie Becca . . . in a truck . . . with a vacuum!!? (she was going to get the "cabin" in the woods all ready for us to warm up in after sledding)

Caroline and Houston ready to go down the hill

These two are having waaaay too much fun!!

Oh look! I decided to give it a try! It was super fun!! (way faster than I had anticipated, actually)

Warming up in the cabin in the woods. I was thankful for all of those warm bodies to keep me cozy.

Awwww . . .

Here comes Auntie Becca!!

We had a great time with the Eckstroms!! Our time together was a blessing!! ;)