Poem

Hendrick's creation from today's Language Arts class:

"I like it best when I play outside.
I like it least when I sleep.
I like it a little when I play inside.
I like it most of all when I go to the lake."

Bubbles

8 Months

The littlest one is not so little any more. Kolpin is quickly catching up with his siblings, weighing-in at over 18 pounds!
At 8-months-old, Kolpin:

. is SITTING . loves to splash in the bathtub . grabs at faces .
. eats two "meals" a day (we've introduced carrots, rutabaga and butternut squash) .
. scoots to get everywhere and can move his way quickly across a room . is rocking on his knees .
. giggles . chews on everything . has 3 TEETH . tries to eat food off mommy's plate .
. enjoys the attention and affection of his 4 older siblings (they sure do love their baby brother!) .
. has a light-up-the-entire-face SMILE .

We love this baby boy - he is a delight and the perfect 5th child - God knew exactly what our family needed. Kolpin is a blessing in our lives. (He's just growing up too fast!)

1996

Friday, April 19, 1996
...the date that led to 14 years together, 7+ years of marriage, and 5 kids!

Freshman year of High School, I (Amy) was crushing on this older boy, Mike - this had been a multi-year crush . . . imagine thrill when on my first day of High School, last class of the day, this gorgeous boy was in MY class!
Being incredibly shy (and a fool), I avoided him completely - I blush really, really, really easily! That Fall, Mike cornered me at a school dance to ask why I was so mean to him - my response: "I'm not mean to you, I just don't talk to you."
During the second semester, Mike worked in the art studio while I was next door in ceramics. I managed to find every excuse to visit the art room - a new paint brush, scrap paper, supplies from the closet - hoping for a smile and working up the courage to engage in conversation. I found out later, he was coming into the art room just to see me!
That Spring, Mike called to ask me out! On our first date, he took me to see Mr. Holland's Opus in theaters. I had never been on a date and had never been out so late - I actually fell asleep on the ride home! Thank goodness Mike was persistent - I must have been very intriguing :)

I am blessed to have met my spouse at such a young age - a Christian boy who encouraged me in my personal walk with Christ. We had so much fun together in high school - theater, community service, choir, creeking, Young Life, Frisbee golf, and a lot of wonderful dates. It was a special time and helped to build the foundation of our lives together.

I am more in love with Mike than ever before - and he can still make me blush!

Mission to Missionaries

This weekend we had the privilege to participate in our fourth Mission to Missionaries work weekend in at the beautiful Eden Ridge property in Crossville, TN. This visionary ministry is constructing a free retreat center for missionaries to relax while on furlough in the states. Volunteers have been very busy at Eden Ridge: this past year, a utility building and picnic pavilion have been constructed. MTM expects to begin work on the first of 3 (Phase I) cabins this year. It is so exciting to see God at work at Eden Ridge and the MTM vision coming alive. We can't wait to see this gorgeous property being used to His glory and to meet the needs of Missionaries.
This past week, a team of volunteers labored for two days landscaping around the picnic pavilion, creating a beautiful a rock retaining wall. Our family provided the labor-force Saturday: 0ur minor contribution was completing a rock-lined path leading to the pavilion.

Beautiful view from the Picnic Pavilion.

Camping

We always look forward each year to the Mission to Missionaries work weekend, and we always enjoy camping at their Eden Ridge property in Crossville, TN.
Friday, were thrilled to have the opportunity to test out our new 10-person tent while enjoying Eden Ridge. The kids were on cloud nine camping next to a salamander-filled stream, and playing around the Phase I construction sight (large dirt mounds and lots of rocks). It was a very dirty weekend (the kids were soaking wet and caked with mud when it was time to return home)- we had a blast!
Thank you Mr. Oliver for welcoming our family to Eden Ridge and giving us a good excuse to get dirty!

Food

This big boy (17 lbs 12 oz.) is ready for some variety in his diet . . . Kolpin is ready for FOOD!

Our other babies waited 10-11 months before being introduced to solid foods, but our 7-month-old was eager to start early. He has enjoyed rice cereal the past few weeks, and recently sampled his first carrot puree - YUMMY!

Next up: rutabaga and butternut squash.

What is That?

We like to say "in our house, it's a party every day" . . . that's true, including the surprise clean ups.

Today after "naps" (can it be called a nap if no one is sleeping?), I found this:

What is THAT in the carpet?

Can you guess?

Here are the (3) empty jars:


It's SAND!!!

Rather than making pretty sand layers in clear jars with our colored sand from the craft closet, my precious and busy bitty boys make carpet sand art . . . on their bedroom carpet! (And I thought they were sleeping, silly me!) My boys are certainly creative, and they sure do have fun together!

The boys managed to make a little progress in the clean-up job with spoons:


The vacuum cleaner made a good effort at a nearly impossible task . . .
at least the sand was pretty colors!

Mommy and Me

Thanks to Hendrick, I finally have some Mommy/Baby pictures with Kolpin . . .

and the little girl!

... and the big boys.

Maybe someday I'll get a picture with all FIVE :)

Eggs

Amy's family has a fun tradition - we smash eggs on each others heads! Amy's parents picked up this festive celebration while living in San Antonio, Texas.

Cascarones are hallowed out eggs filled with confetti and glitter.

Amy's mom collects egg shells year-round and each Easter season works to dye and fill 10+ dozen cascarones. At Easter and other celebrations (weddings) we break the confetti eggs over each others heads as a way to "spread blessings".
The "blessings" stay with us for a while - car, carpet, bed, bathtub . . .

It was fun to share blessings with family in Cincinnati!

Great American

The Cincinnati Reds will forever be our team. We have been cheering on the Redlegs our entire lives.

Saturday afternoon, we, along with Uncle Dann and Aunt Julie, had the pleasure to take Hendrick out to the Great American Ball Park to see the Cincinnati Reds play ball. It was a beautiful day for a ball game - We cheered for our team who started out strong but was unfortunately ultimately defeated 4-3 by the Chicago Cubs.

Hendrick was thrilled to see a home run - jumping up-and-down and giving high-fives, followed the game and clapped along with the crowd, and held his arms up while watching the "wave" circle the stadium (he didn't want to miss his turn!).
It was so special for us to take our big boy to see our team! Go Reds!!!

Convention

We returned home from a whirlwind trip to Cincinnati!
We traveled to Cincinnati for the annual Midwest Homeschool Convention - one of the largest homeschool conventions in the country featuring over 400 exhibitors and hundreds of lectures. The convention was incredibly overwhelming and extremely encouraging and inspiring. We were thrilled to select and purchase our curriculum for the 2010/2011 school year - at greatly reduced prices!!! As a bonus, we also got to see Tim Hawkins (a high-energy, goofy, musical, homeschooling, hilarious Christian comedian) perform - too funny!

We were so fortunate to have this convention in Cincinnati where we could visit with family and friends, celebrate Davis birthday 2 more times, and have childcare during our two-day convention (thanks to Mike's dad!!!). The kids were able to spend time with all 7 cousins, 4 uncles, 5 aunts., 1 gramma, 2 grandpas, and 2 great grandmas! It was an incredibly productive week!!!

Pictures from the kids days with Grandpa.

School Project - Herb Garden

Hendrick's current science project is growing an herb garden for mommy. He saved tin cans, washed them out, shopped for the seeds and soil with dad, and planted the garden. Just remember, roots grow down and shoots grow up!

4

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVIS!!!

We love watching our kids, seeing their personalities emerge, catching glimpses of the awesome gifts God has given them, seeing them learn and explore and grow . . . each of our kids are so unique, we are continually amazed.

This past year, Davis' personality has exploded!

Our 4-year-old:

. loves to entertain and get a laugh (and we do laugh!) . is incredibly generous .
. asks to give kisses "may I give you a kiss?" - (the answer is always yes!) . knows each alphabet letter .
. is our builder - he's very skilled at puzzles and legos . still snuggles . does the silliest dances .
. adores his big brother and loves to be a "big boy" with Hendrick . is an encourager - "good job" .
. can't wait to play t-ball this year . is affectionate - "I like you!" . sucks his thumb .
. has the greatest giggle ever . loves PBJ sandwiches and pancakes . likes Super Heroes .
. is very out-going, saying "hi" to everyone we meet . is always hungry .
. asks to listen to the Fleet Foxes . likes to tell his own knock-knock jokes .
. wants to do his own thing . is always on the move .

Davis is our sweet boy and is showing us glimpses of the emerging "big boy". We love his generous and loving spirit, his friendly and out-going personality, his incredible patience and attention to detail, his developing sense of adventure and exploration, and his strong-will and stubborn personality. We know this boy will do great things.
We are so proud of our sweet Davis!

Here is the little munchkin three and a half years ago...

He is Risen . .

. . . He is Risen Indeed

Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... 1 Peter 1:3This year we wanted to be intentional about celebrating the real reason for Easter. Easter should be a celebration of the resurrection of Christ our Lord - it's a BIG deal . . . and yet it is sometimes lost in bunnies and egg hunts. So we celebrated Easter in a new and fun way:

• We decided to forgo the bunny egg hunt and instead had a meaningful and educational scavenger hunt. The kids hunted for eggs filled with goodies and clues (Hendrick did ask if Jesus hid the eggs!). After the eggs were all found, we read through our clues ("Something Judas was willing to betray Jesus for. Matthew 26:14-15") and the kids had to figure out which item went with each clue (palm branch, perfume bottle, bread, silver coins, thorn wreath, vinegar, dice, cross, nails, rock, spice, linen strips). This was a wonderful way to make the Easter story come alive for our children.
• We created our very own "Easter Mountain". For the week leading up to Easter, we made a mountain out of dough to tell the Easter story. We made our dough and formed a mountain, leaving a hole for the tomb. The kids painted the mountain (complete with dragons - go figure), made figures for the mountain, a cross for the top, and found a stone to cover the tomb. With our mountain we were able to re-enact Jesus' death complete with finding the tomb empty on Easter morning - our Christ has Risen!
  

We look forward to continuing these new traditions with our kids next year. We want our kids to know and understand why we celebrate Easter - it's a big deal . . . and it's something to CELEBRATE!!!