the neighborhood

When we first moved to our neighborhood, it was fairly desserted. Now, there is no shortage of friends and it seems like they all end up in our backyard. I've always said that I want to be the hangout house -- that way I always know where my kids are and what they are up to! This is a challenge for Ryan and me because our family is rather calm and laid-back (and we like things neat and tidy). So an extra six kids makes it a bit crazy, but also extremely fun for our kids. The photo above shows the scene from our backyard yesterday afternoon. Now, if you've been to our house you know that our playset is meant for kids about 5 years old and younger. But this group of 8 kids found plenty of things to do with buckets of water, sand, a very small playhouse (in which they fit 4 children), and short slides and small swings. Although I think children are like stray cats and if you feed them, they'll keep coming back . . . I did bring out the ice cream to loud cheers! Brody is the little boy next to Elliott - he lives right next door. But don't ask me the names of all the other kids, because I can't remember them all! And btw, that is only half of the family - their are 10 kids!

We also managed to play a late round of golf - 9 holes at Wild Marsh on their busiest day ever in the history of the course. Ryan played from the black tees and the kids played from the 150's. I served as caddy and tried to make sure no one got hit with a club or a ball. Pancakes at Perkins at 8 o'clock and the kids were asleep before they hit their pillows.

a funny thing happened. . .

. . . at Dairy Queen - Jillian pulled out her front tooth! She's a brave one, our girl. This is only the third tooth that she's 'lost' and is the second one that she pulled out herself. I'm certain I let each of my baby teeth dangle until they simply couldn't hold on anymore and dropped out on their own!

Grandparents' Day

Jillian lit up when she saw all of her Grandparents in the audience for her program. She proudly showed them her clean desk and many, many art and writing projects. Grandpa Dan and Grandma Sandi even enjoyed a delicious school lunch. Luckily for them, it was turkey dinner - the lunch even the teachers eat! ;) Delaney got to miss a bit of 2nd grade to watch the show, too. And Elliott has been singing those catchy tunes ever since -- "I like candy, it's so dandy, I like (insert your favorite), YUM YUM YUM!" He did not like getting lost in the crowd, but luckily Grandpa Fred came to his rescue and perhaps it was a good lesson learned.

Happy Easter!

Easter morning began at 5 am, when Elliott woke me up with 'I'm hungry mommy!' So he had an early breakfast and I thought might go back to sleep, but no such luck. At 6:15, I passed him off to daddy and curled up for an hour of sleep before the hubbub began! The kids raced downstairs to find all those hidden eggs filled with goodies. Two eggs were all Elliott needed and he promplty sat down, opened them up and devoured their contents while his sisters giggled and searched for the rest and their baskets. As you can see, they were more than pleased with all their Easter treats.

Delaney celebrated her First Communion on Easter morning and here she is pictured with Pastor Josh and her brand new bible case. He is Risen Indeed!!!

3 must be the age where each kid decides to be completely uncooperative when having his picture taken. Here's the lastest proof!

(extended) Family

When you live hours away from your family, you tend to create your very own extended family. Atleast that's what we have done. I have a few 'sisters' that I know I can reach out to if I ever needed anything, that will support me and encourage me, and that will take time for me and my family as if we were their very own. And I hope that they know I will do the same for them - you know who you are!

One such sister is my friend Megan. Although it has only been a few short years since we met, we are extremely close and our kids are as well (we need to work on the husbands . . . )! If you are a reader of my blog, you'll remember that I was Megan's doula during the birth of her 2nd child and was honored to become his Godmother as well. You might also remember that her 1st child, Emmy, is just 1 day older than Elliott, and we celebrated their birthdays with a trip to the bowling alley. In fact, Elliott and Emmy treat each other as sister and brother - complete with bossing each other around and fighting! But the sweet stuff is there too -- hugs and requests to play together. I could continue to ramble on, but really I just wanted to post a couple of pictures I took of my Godson Patrick when he and his sister were with me this week while Megan was serving as a doula for her cousin's labor and delivery. It was a treat for me to spend time with P & E!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

March came in like a lamb today, blessing my dad with wonderful weather on his birthday! We wish we could have been there to celebrate with you. In fact, as I was buckling Elliott into his carseat this morning, he said "let's drive to Grandpa Fred's house!" He had to settle for a sucker at the post office when we mailed your birthday card (sorry, it'll be late). Elliott picked out the card himself, I hope it's 'loud' enough for dad to hear it! If we had been there, we would have been able to sing to you ourselves!

My dad is only 59 today, although he retired from his farm operation and auctioned off all of his machinery last weekend. He's moving on to a couple of new roles - landlord (renting out his farming acres) and hired hand (working for the 'kid' who's renting them!) We love you dad/grandpa, and wish you all the best!

Generous Jillian

***UPDATED***
(scroll down for more!)

Mom, how much money do I have in my savings account?



Hmmm, I'm not exactly sure Jillian. But I think it's somewhere between 200 and 300 hundred dollars.



In my head, I'm wondering what she's got her heart set on now - Ivy, her American Girl Doll's best friend? A certain Nintendo ds game? The latest light up, blinged out Skechers that run $50? But I should have known better because in her heart, my middle child is a giver.



I want to give money to Haiti.



gasp! Such a kind and gentle spirit exists in my sweet Jillybean. She voted to add a meal that she doesn't like to the lunch menu simply because three of her friends wanted it. After all, I can just bring a cold lunch that day! Disagreeing over which movie to watch on movie night? Jillian will choose the movie her brother or sister want just to make them happy. Home from school on Presidents' Day, we watched Ellen give a viewer $20,000. Jillian announced that if Ellen gave her $20,000, she'd bring it to her 1st grade teacher to buy 'stuff we need for our classroom.' Prayers at bedtime follow a pattern in our family. We ask each child three questions: what are you thankful for, sorry for, and who do you want to pray for today. Each night Jillian struggles to find someone who really, really needs her prayers. This is Jesus in my little 6 year old girl - goodness, kindness, gentleness, peace, joy - expressed in many ways every day. Big and small. And this was big.

We checked the balance of her bank account, which was close to $250. (An account that grows with each birthday, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's day or any other time she recieves gifts of money. They are never to young to learn to be wise with their money.)

I want to give one hundred dollars!

Really?

Yeah, really - 100 dollars to help the people of Haiti get the things they need.

Wow. More than one-third of her savings account to help those in need. In itself, that kindness is enough from my sweet, joyful 1st grader. But as we talked about Haiti, I knew her generosity could inspire others to give as well.

So will YOU join Jillian?

I challenge each of you to match her generous gift to Haiti - $100!

She is extremely excited at the idea that because of her gift and this challenge on my blog, Haiti will recieve so much more. We are donating Jillian's gift (and our matching gift) to the Haiti Earthquake disaster relief through Compassion International - a Christian child advocacy ministry.

Please prayerfully consider joining Jillian in her donation -- and then leave your comment to let us know your gift was made so that we can show how much her $100 grew!

Blessings,
Ann


How will the money be used? Compassion International breaks down the uses for donations to Haiti in this way:

$25 provides clean drinking to a family for a week

$50 helps feed a family with food such as rice, beans, canned meat, and oil for a week

$100 provides basic medical supplies for a church partner to treat up to 50 patients

$500 helps provide critical life items like temporary shelter, blankets and clothing for up to 10 families

$1500 helps to rebuild a home

You can also give through any other organization of your choosing, such as the American Red Cross. Unable to give $100? Give what you can - every dollar donated can make a difference!

NEED AN INCENTIVE? Donate BY FEBRUARY 28th and you can deduct it from your 2009 taxes!!!

Keep praying . . .