Kid Hike

Okay, one of my favorite newer activities that K does is take the dog for a run. :-) I know it's hard to imagine where she got that idea from, but, unlike most modifications of things I do, this one is a carbon copy and it sits in a very happy place deep in mom's heart. She literally puts the leash on, gets her 'running shoes' on and runs...real running...I have to run to keep up!

It may appear she has pretty good form but it must be the angle of the shot or something because good form is not something my toe walker has.  :-)  We will work on that after she decides she loves to run.

Just love the hair...

We do a lot of projects around this house, but it never ceases to be adorable to me, so I keep taking pictures.  FYI, this is not likely to stop either.  :-)

All right, this is for Z.  Apparently Z was catching up on our blog when she complained to her mom that there just weren't enough pictures of her in it.  Spoken like a true toddler!!  We had already agreed to go for a hike with the kids, so I was asked to bring the camera (not that I would have left it at home).  So, this spot is the regular place we go to hike, only this time, the toddlers were leading the way...

I put the girls in front of a really cool metamorphic rock so we would have one cool background, but they wouldn't stand anywhere except right in front of the rock, so that failed.  This, by the way, is my new strategy for getting pictures of stubborn kids (of which my oldest is the worst)...I let them do whatever they want, which this day was put your hand in front of your face...

...and then I ask them for silly face, mad face, sad face and then happy face - and snap the photo right then.  In this case, however, I thought this was cuter than when all of them were looking.

There is still a tiny bit of water in the stream...

Hi Z!!

Can you tell which child gets to dress herself???

Our little rock climbers made it all the way up the side of the hill without any help.

Tasting the water...

A is in a fiercely independent stage without the ability to match...so, unwilling to hold hands or be carried, he took a nice dive into the rocks and even though you can't really see it here, the whole half of his face turned red and had tiny little scrapes all over it.  Stinker! It has been decided that backpacks are in order next time.

Awwww...back at home with my three kids...one louder and more annoying but more useful than the others. :-)

This week should be crazy!  We have Em's bday, her IEP meeting, a couple of dr appts, K's last dance class and her recital, as well as the rest of life continuing as normal.  Should be crazy and fun!!

I have been reading in Romans and would like to leave you with these excerpts from Romans 4: Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping...Abraham's faith did not weaken...he never wavered in believing God's promise...in fact, his faith grew stronger and in this he brought glory to God.  He was fully convinced God is able to do whatever He promises.

Do you need hope?  Place it in God.  How was Abraham able to keep hoping and keep faith in spite of his circumstances and in spite of God's promise being physically impossible?  His hope was based in God and God alone.  He did not look around him or inside of himself for his assurance, he looked only at God.

The Bible says this kind of hope will never leave us disappointed.  Why?  Because it is based solely upon the God of love who is faithful even when we are unfaithful, who loves us even when we don't love him back; the God for whom anything is possible - anything - even beyond what we can imagine or think up, and who forgives all our sins.

If we look around us to what is happening and search for hope there, we will be lost and find discouragement.  If we look into ourselves for this strength, we will live in fear, always wondering when it will just be too much, knowing deep down that there really is an end to our ability to cope.  In God, there is never an end, never a fear he can't handle it, never a wondering if he has the ability to follow through and most of all, never a wondering if we will be left all alone.  He will never leave us or forsake us.

Since he will never leave us and our hope is in him, we always have hope...we just have to choose to cling to it.  Choose to cling to who he is and what he promises...and we will never be lead to disappointment.  Place your hope in God, not in your world, not in yourself, not in your family, and not in others around you.  God is the source of hope. So, today, try going straight to the source so you won't be disappointed in all the other knock-offs.

God Bless!!

Girls

Sisters...My Little Princesses...

For gymnastics class, K was supposed to dress up but still be able to perform gymnastics...and I found out the morning of the day of class.  Sooooo, I decided she just wasn't going to dress up.  Then as the time got closer, I felt bad so I went online and looked up "tight toddler costumes" and the kitten came up.  I figured the ears should just go over a regular hairband and so I tried sewing them right on.  It worked!  Then I made a tail out of felt I have for school crafts and sewed it on her pants.

Did I say sew?  Why, yes.  Did I not tell you I purchased a sewing machine?  I got sick and tired of not being able to fix the simple things the girls ruined and decided it was time to just try it out and see if it was worth it or not.  I bought the cheapest walmart brand machine and have found it quite useful.  It is not nearly as hard as I had thought.  Plus, I am not trying to do anything even close to perfect so this gives me the freedom to just 'play' and I am discovering how much you really can do with one of these lovely machines.  So this, which sufficed, cost me nothing to make.  Now that is my love language!!  (And I am certain my hubby's love language as well!).  :-)

A was tinkerbell, which was a problem since K was pretty upset I didn't let her be a princess, but it's all good.  A is holding K by the tail...a tail which at some point during class, A pulled right off her pants.  K started to get upset and then someone told her it was okay because now she was just a dog.  This made her happy and the next day I had to make a second set of ears so she and Em could be puppies together.  :)

We had rehearsal for the girl's dance recital so I snapped a couple of pictures right before they walked into the room...thus the nasty background.  We are going to get some cute pics of the girls in these outfits early this week so I will definitely post those when we get them, but for now, the preview of the cuteness that is to come.

Well, we have been quite sick...yes, the entire family...with everything from simple allergies to a cold to the flu.  M was the worst as he ended up with a serious case of the flu on top of a cold, then I was next as I am not sure if mine was severe allergies or a cold but I think I got a cold, then K who had serious allergies and ironically, least of all Em.  She had some allergies but they stayed pretty mild.

Why all the allergies?  The wind shifted again and came barreling through the pass.  Whatever it brought with it, we are all allergic to.  We all got up one morning, after the wind howled through our windows for the entire night and started sneezing and then our noses started running so bad we could have made a river just from the snot from our family.  So far the girls have not had any colored snot so we are holding out they will be fine, minus the fatigue that hits with the allergies and ensuing medicine.

So, please pray none of us get the flu M had, it was bad!  He even stayed home from work this weekend and literally stayed on the couch the entire time.  K told him today that he was watching too much TV and he said yes, but he didn't feel good so it was okay to which K responded, "Dad, I don't feel berry good, maybe we can watch my show."

I hope you are all better than we are but keep your head up if you're not - this too shall pass!  God Bless!!