Chicken Feet

Take Your Kids to Work Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 19:05:00 +0000

Last week the kids and I got to watch the awards ceremony at Kelsi's school. Kelsi walked away with an award for at 3.5-3.9 GPA for the first semester! Wooohooo!

After that, we decided to go hang out with Daddy for a while and "help" him. This resulted in spilling tea all over his desk, nearly unplugging the network,

playing with the touch screen monitors,

and generally getting in the way.

Thankfully, they have a good daddy who didn't mind! At one point, Matthias found Daddy's name tag and put in on.

Which of course meant Lydia needed one too.

Then they decided that since they were wearing Daddy's name tags, they might as well act like him. So they did.

So, seriously, isn't that the sweetest thing ever?

The Great Chicken Bone Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 00:19:00 +0000

In order to keep some kind of record that I do, in fact, teach my child occasionally, I present to you "The Great Chicken Bone Experiment". I promise there will be no pictures of chicken feet, there will however be pictures of chicken bones. Be forewarned ;)

For science we're studying the skeletal system, so we did an experiment to see what would happen to a bone if you took all the calcium out of it. First we had to make our observations and hypothesis...

Put the chicken bone in a jar...

And cover it with vinegar.

And of course clean up the mess ;)

Then we waited. We were supposed to wait 3 days but it ended up being 2 weeks. We're working on our counting skills next. Just kidding, we all got the plague and so I decided we'd take a 2 week Thanksgiving break!

While we were waiting, Matthias went and joined his Magic Treehouse Book Club. He was super excited!

Turned out I got the time wrong (stupid time zones) so he had to watch the recording of it. Perhaps next we will study the rotation of the earth and how it effects time...

Finally, after two weeks of having a chicken bone sit in a jar in my kitchen, it was time to finish the experiment. We got the tongs ready...

Pulled out the chicken leg...

And look at that strength!

I'm not sure if he was more grossed out or impressed. But, at least now we know why calcium is so important!

A Day of Firsts

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:56:00 +0000

I have lived here for almost 30 years and this year was the first time I have ever gone to the parade and tree lighting downtown. Crazy, right? Which of course means that the kids had never gone either, so we bundled them all up and headed downtown. I quickly remembered why I've never wanted to go! There are so many people and it took forever to find somewhere to park. Thankfully we were meeting up with some friends who had gotten there earlier and saved some room for us! And thankfully they thought ahead and brought some umbrellas!

It's coming!

Matthias trying to get Lydia excited about the parade!

Poor girl tried to tell me something about the parade coming and I blinded her with the flash!

Then it was off to the fireworks. Of course my poor, deprived children have never seen a fireworks show like this so they were totally into it!

Although, Matthias quickly decided that the fireworks would make good special effects for his fighting and began punching and kicking the bad guys. Thankfully there was no one directly in front of him!

The fireworks were cool, but there was so much smoke you could only see half of it!

And of course the grand finale!

Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:40:00 +0000

Since we are now in a house, rather than a tiny apartment, we offered to host Thanksgiving this year. This holiday season we're trying really hard to put Christ back into all our celebrations so we decided that Bible verses about being thankful would be a good start. So I sent the children to work.

Well, there was some play too ;)

We came up with some fun little cards to put on everyone's plate. Kelsi came up with the titles, Lydia colored it (well, not mine apparently) and Matthias cut it all out.

On the inside they kids each wrote a little note telling the person why they were thankful for them. Kelsi did great at this, Matthias not so much. I don't know that he fully understood what we were telling him to do. He ended up writing some pretty amusing things.

Speaking of amusing, this is what happens when I try and take pictures of my kids:

I love my goofballs!

13!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:25:00 +0000

I still find it hard to believe that I'm the mother of a teenager (I'm also the mother of a 2 year old. That wasn't planned out too well). For Kelsi's 13th birthday, I wanted to do something special, something that would celebrate her transition out of childhood into becoming a young woman. I looked all over the internet trying to find ideas, but all I could find were coming of age ceremonies from other cultures and crazy slumber parties where they all talked about periods and feminine hygiene products. Not quite what I was looking for. So, I planned a fancy dinner with all her female relatives. And chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

Daniel's sister made all the awesome tissue paper flowers and I used the china my grandma passed down to me and the real silverware my other grandma passed down to me! Sadly the picture isn't that great, but you get the idea!

We had two chocolate fondue fountains, with plenty of goodies to dip!

And a hot chocolate bar with goodies as well.

And of course the food!

I wanted her gifts to be special, so I came up with a couple of ideas and everyone was nice enough to help out! The first gift was a scrapbook.

Not a typical scrapbook full of pictures, this scrapbook is full of nooks and crannies for storing special items and tons of spots for writing. So I asked everyone to either write some things in it, or bring a note/letter for her to store in it. The idea is to have a memory book full of words from the women in her family. She loves it!

The other gift was a Pandora charm bracelet (I use the name "Pandora" loosely here. Have you seen how much those cost?!). For this, I asked everyone to get her a charm for it that way she'd have a fun bracelet full of gifts from the women in her family.

I think in all the party was a success, and hopefully one she'll remember for a long time.

She seemed to have a lot of fun. I know this because she pretty much talked nonstop which is what she does when she's happy ;)

Happy birthday to my beautiful Kelsi!

The Great Dog Massacre

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:23:00 +0000

This was once a most beloved dog pillow. May he rest in peace.
(Lydia did it! Then got mad that I wouldn't let her take her dog pillow to bed with her anymore...)

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men...

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:38:00 +0000

I had big plans for election day, big plans. On Tuesdays Matthias goes to his homeschool co-op class and this week they started a unit study on gratefulness. Perfect for November, no? My plan was to spend some time that evening, watching the election coverage, letting Matthias color in a map with red or blue as the votes came in and talk about the election process and how we can be grateful we live in a country where we are able to vote and have freedom of religion and so on. Good stuff. Well, none of it happened. None. Daniel ended up taking the kids to the library and then out to ice cream and by the time they got home the election was pretty much over (Not that I'm complaining! Plus Daniel brought me home my favorite Salted Caramel Gelato. Yum.). But at least they got to have some fun voting with us!

Lydia decided we must be coloring, therefore she should color too. She got into my purse and found a crayon and a Target receipt and went to town.

Of course Matthias just figured he'd have some fun with the sticker. Shortly after this he realized that Lydia was at the table playing with his Legos and destroying his castle and the excitement of voting was lost.

In other news, Matthias just lost his first tooth! He was sitting at the table eating an apple and I looked over and he's staring at his hand like it just sprouted eyes. I was trying to figure out what he was doing and then I remembered he had a loose tooth! Oddly, he wasn't all that concerned that his tooth had come out, he was just trying to figure out where the blood had come from! Poor kid, I hadn't quite prepared him enough! Although in my defense, it just started getting loose a couple of days ago. Then again, I probably should have remembered and not let him eat an apple! I think he might be a little traumatized from it though, when we were in the bathroom cleaning him up, he said, "It's making it hard to see and making my legs not work." So I had him sit on the couch and we took pictures and sent a video to Dad.

Sadly, I noticed that his new tooth was already growing in behind the baby tooth that he just lost. Someday that might result in some dentist bills...lovely.

Spiderman and the Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:17:00 +0000

Well, folks, it's that time again. Time for me to remember I have a blog and stop spamming your facebook feed with pictures of my children. All five of you. I'm nice like that. Although I did notice that I've only posted twice this entire year. Twice. Both of them were in May.

Anyway, I figured I'd share with all of you some pictures of my adorable kinds on Halloween. We went all out on costumes this year. Matthias dug through his dress up clothes and we got Lydia a winter hat that had cat ears on it. Oh, and I cut a sleeve off a black shirt that was too small for Matthias and pinned it on Lydia for a tail. Like is said, we went all out.

Isn't Matthias totally cool?

This would be them "thwipping". Not familiar with thwipping? "Thwip" is the sound that Spiderman makes when he shoots his webs. Therefore, the action of shooting webs is called "thwipping".

Throwing a tennis ball into a toilet seat. Why? I have no idea, but candy was the result so it must be done.

Look! There's two of them! Weird...

I think he may need to work a bit on his shooting form.

At the end of the night, Lydia decided she'd like to be Spiderman as well.

And finally, I leave you with these of the kiddos from past Halloweens. Why? Because I can!

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

I cannot for the life of me remember last Halloween, and I can't find a single picture. Instead you get this one:

You're welcome.

Flippin' the Flapjacks

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:15:00 +0000

I get this song stuck in my head every time I make pancakes. Now you can too. You're welcome.

Water Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:40:00 +0000

One of the nice things about where we live is that we are right next door to a park with basketball, volleyball and tennis. And seeing as how we are such an athletic family (ha!) we decided to go play some tennis the other day.

It's quite obvious Matthias got his tennis skills from me.

Kelsi actually managed to hit the ball quite a bit though! Although she was quite worried that the other people at the courts were laughing at us. They probably were. Thankfully I'm pretty sure we didn't ever hit any of them with a runaway tennis ball. There were quite a few of those. That's where Lydia came in:

She had so much fun running around chasing tennis balls!

"It's just you and me, Ball. Just you and me."

Eventually she got tired off running all over the place and decided to become the water girl.

"Here's your water bottle, Mom!"

Daddy's water bottle was a little harder to carry!

She was nice enough to see that her brother was obviously quite parched and brought him his water bottle in the middle of the game.

Then decided that they no longer needed their water and she might as well drink it for them. Can't let it go to waste, right?

"Oh, look! A ball!"

And, of course, being the girly girl that she is, a tea party was in order.

Some more fun pictures for you (because that is the only reason I pretend to have a blog)

Christmas Serenade

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:24:00 +0000

Snowman Soup and Other Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:31:00 +0000

I have a bunch of pictures from the past week! First up, we have Miss Lydia who was having a blast wearing my ring. She was "pretty!"

And some snowman soup!

Lydia had carrots ;)

And a couple of marshmallows!

Kelsi and I had ourselves a "spa day" as well. Matthias looks more excited than Kelsi...don't let that fool you though!

Matthias teaching Lydia all about geography.

An impromptu jam session.

And my sous chef!

Cheerios!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:18:00 +0000

I finally broke down today and let the kiddos have some Cheerios to use with Lydia's Cheerios activity books, they had fun except Lydia kept trying to eat them all!

"Can I eat some?"

"Why won't these ones over here come off?"

"How can I get my hands on those Cheerios in that bowl over there?"

"Maybe if I just distract him..."

"Score!"

"Cheerios? What Cheerios? I didn't take any Cheerios."

"Oh, these Cheerios? Well, I'm a growing girl...I need my strength."

"Ha ha! Success!"

Lydia did, however, decide to return the Cheerios and join Matthias once again...under one condition:

Cinderella

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:41:00 +0000

My name is Lydia, but you can call me Cinderella. You see, every Tuesday, my brother and sister are off having fun all day while I'm stuck at home doing chores. The day starts off with making the bed:

As you can see, it's hard work. Since I'm so short I often have to stop and take a break:

Really, it's tough work.

Of course, I also get my mid-morning milk break. Yes, I'm using two cup...don't you?

Then it's off to put away laundry. These doors require being open and closed multiple times in order to be effective.

Of course, there's also the matter of folding the laundry. Thankfully, I have the assistance of my doggies.

I occasionally have the opportunity to try on my sister's stuff while she's gone! Aren't I pretty?

Then, it's off to clean the kitchen floors.

Oh look! A Cheerio!

And of course my toys and books need to be cleaned.

After all that hard work I need a break!

And, as you can imagine, I'm starving after all that hard work. Sadly, I'm left to picking through the scraps that I can find in the cabinets.

It's a rough life.

Thanksgiving Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:32:00 +0000

We had a long weekend, so be prepared for a lot of pictures!

We started out the weekend eating leftover fondue...and discovered that potato chips are quite tasty when dipped in chocolate!

We did a little fingernail painting in which I discovered that green fingernail polish under gold "crackle" polish makes my fingers look diseased.

Matthias helped me make buckeyes for Thanksgiving!

And finally, food! Lydia loved getting to eat tons of stuff...as did we all =)

Sadly, Kelsi was sick over the weekend, so she just hung out in the corner and read most of the day. Although she did manage to eat some turkey =)

And of course a little dancing...

They also got to Skype with their cousins!

And of course, the part Matthias was waiting for all day....chocolate pie!

Hanging out a bit once all the food was gone =)

And here's how the kiddos spent Friday:

Forks, Ramps and Laundry

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:39:00 +0000

I may not have instagram on my phone, but I do have Google+. I don't use it, but it has a lovely feature where it automatically uploads any picture or video I take with my phone and stores it online. Which is nice for several reasons. I've found that I rarely use my actual camera anymore for taking pictures, I usually use my phone, so it's nice to have them stored online =) And since they're already uploaded it makes sharing them easier! So, for your viewing enjoyment, I present to you our day (Matthias isn't with us on Tuesdays, so it was just Lydia and I!).

Like many people, our day started out with breakfast. Although I'm sure most people don't use two forks to eat.

Although she eventually gave up on that and just used her hands!

Then we had a nice surprise coffee date with Daddy =)

He was spending the afternoon downtown at the new church campus to get the internet installed, so we went and joined him for some coffee and lunch. Lydia had a blast running up and down the ramp!

She was also super helpful in getting that internet hooked up ;)

All that running eventually got to her though!

Then once we were home, Lydia helped me with her favorite task...pulling all the clothing out of the dryer.

So there you have it, a day in the life of Lydia!

InstaFriday...but not really.

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:31:00 +0000

The cool new thing in the blogging world is "InstaFriday" where people post their instagram photos from the past week. And since we all know I am totally on top of this whole blogging thing, I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon. The only problem is I don't have an iPhone (so no instagram), nor is it Friday. But let's just pretend, shall we?

Last Monday was Kelsi's birthday so I took a picture of a picture of her shortly after she was born (yes, I took a picture of a picture...I have since gotten my hands on a scanner and plan to use it soon!)

Yep...we had awesome technology back then.

On Wednesday we went to Red Robin:

Kelsi is all about getting her picture taken these days.

On Thursday Matthias, Lydia and I had some fun playing outside while waiting for Kelsi after school:

On Friday we got to go worship with Seeds Family Worship at church. Kelsi was being her goofy self and wouldn't let me get a good picture!

On Saturday we had family over for some fondue and games! Oddly I didn't get any pictures on my phone of Kelsi (it was, after all, her birthday celebration), but I did get some on my regular camera so I'll get those uploaded someday =)

Stay tuned for next week's edition of InstaFriday....maybe.

Yeah, Yeah!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:40:00 +0000

I managed to get a little bit of Lydia singing on video...although she kept getting distracted! She's singing "yeah, yeah" which comes from one of songs from a Seeds Family Worship album. It's her favorite song and she gets so excited when it comes on! Probably because it's a song she can actually sing along with ;)

There and Back Again: A Hospital Tale

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:32:00 +0000

Since it's been kind of hard to get everyone caught up on all of the details of the last week, I figured I'd write it all up in one place for everyone. Brilliant, I know.

Early last week, Lydia started getting sick. Not anything unusual, just a cold. But by Sunday we were getting concerned because she had had a fever for several days and it wasn't going away. So on Monday we set her up with a doctor appointment for that afternoon and I gave Lydia a bath (gotta be clean to go see the doctor, right?) and put her down for her nap. By the time she woke up, it was time to go. I was wandering around grabbing any and all items we would need while Daniel changed her diaper. After a moment he called me in. She had a large lump/swollen area on her groin. Obviously something to be worried about, especially since it wasn't there (at least not noticeably) when I gave her her bath earlier. Good thing we were going to the doctor.

When the doctor took a look at it, it was immediately obvious he was worried. He told us it was probably one of two things: a hernia that something had gotten caught in or an infected lymph node. Either way it'd be likely she'd need surgery. So we sat there in the room trying not to panic while waiting for him to get ahold of the ER so we could go in and get an ultrasound done. He wanted it looked at right away because if it was a hernia and something (like an ovary or a bowel) had gotten stuck, it could cause some serious problems. So off the the ER we went. I think I made it out of the doctor's office and all the way to the elevator before I burst into tears.

We spent about 3 and a half hours at the ER. We were only in the waiting room for a few minutes, but the rest of it took forever! And we had to go through the same questions (does she have any allergies? Is she on any medications? blah, blah, blah...) with at least 5 different people. All of whom entered the information into the computer. Why they can't share that information, I don't know. The whole time Lydia is crying because she's tired and hungry...did I mention that they strictly forbid food and drink? Try explaining that one to a 13 month old. Eventually we got back to the ultrasound room. Ultrasounds are much more exciting when you're eagerly looking to try and identify a head and little toes. After the ultrasound we headed back to the room to await the results. Fortunately Lydia got to cuddle up with Daddy for a bit and fell asleep. It lasted maybe 15 minutes. I think the nurses were hovering around the doorway waiting for her to wake up because as soon as she did, several of them converged around us with needles. They had to hook her up to and IV and draw some blood for some tests. As you can imagine, this was not fun! It took 4 of us to hold her still while they searched and searched for a vein to go for (I think she inherited that from me, poor girl). Finally it was over, but I think she lost all trust for anyone there. Soon after, the surgeon came in and told us that the ultrasound indicated that it was not a hernia and was most likely an infected lymph node. Our options at that point were to go ahead and do the surgery and get it drained or removed, or put her on some antibiotics to see if that would do the trick. Apparently there was some disagreement over whether or not there was any fluid. He said there might have been, but the radiologist said there wasn't. In the end, he suggested that antibiotics might be the best course of action. This was good news for Lydia because it meant she could eat! So, up to her room we went to be welcomed by a crib (which we affectionately referred to as the gorilla cage), a twin size hospital bed and a wooded rocking chair. On the up side, there were two tvs....one for the Food Network, and one for Fox News. Yes, we are that lame.

Other than the fact that I was unable to sleep until about 2 am due to the fact that I got freaked out and paranoid every time Lydia moved, and the fact that the IV pump would beep every time the medicine emptied 50%...or 75%...or 90% of it, and the fact that the nurses came in several times and checked her vitals, and the fact that I was sitting in a wooden rocking chair...the night went well.

The next day went well, and we were hoping that the doctor would let us go home that evening. Lydia, apparently, thought she'd like to stay a while longer. Her heart rate was consistently high (although I think she just got freaked out any time a nurse came near her) and she still had a fever. It was clear though that the antibiotics were working, so they wanted to get her some more of it before sending her home since the oral ones they'd prescribe wouldn't be as good. The second night was even worse...hard to imagine, right? Lydia woke up literally about every hour. It was not fun. When the surgeon came by in the morning, he said it was time to do the surgery and see just what was going on since there was obviously something else that needed to be fixed.

Once again, we had to tell Lydia that she couldn't have any food or drink. We didn't have to wait that long before we were heading back to the OR. The poor girl spent the whole time pointing to her mouth and saying "vooo? vooo?", which is her way of saying "food". We all pretended to be completely ignorant of what she was saying, so she started asking the nurses as the walked by. We did eventually get her distracted by having her sing. Thankfully this kept her occupied until they came with a mild sedative for her. Then she just got loopy. She continued singing, but started looking around wide-eyed at everything with a goofy grin on her face. Finally it was time. I got to go back into the OR with her until they put her under, so that meant I got to put on a freaky blue suit, a mask and the whole bit. Oddly enough, Lydia kept looking at me funny...although she managed to keep singing! I probably should have stuffed the surgical mask with tissue, because I was a wreck and couldn't wipe my nose. Finally, I had to say goodbye to my little girl and go wait in the waiting room with everyone else. The surgery didn't take that long (only about 30 min or so), but it seemed like forever! Finally, the surgeon came back and told us that it was done and it was successful. Turns out there was an abscess full of nastyness that they drained and she was in recovery and as soon as she woke up I'd be allowed back there with her. A few minutes later, I was headed back there and could hear her crying as soon as they opened the door. Of course when I saw her I couldn't blame her...they had her wrapped up in about five blankets! So I untangled her and sat down with her. She was sleeping within seconds. After about half an hour, she woke, saw me and immediately started singing! Then we made the trip back to her room where she smiled, waved and said "hi" to everyone we passed. I think she was still a little loopy. From there the change was amazing. Soon she was sitting up, playing and talking...and of course begging for food! When the doctor came by that evening he was impressed with her progress and gave us permission to go home. Once she was off of the IV, she started walking up and down the hall, smiling and waving at everyone. This time she wasn't loopy, I think she just knew that it was time to go home!

She's been doing great ever since, she is almost completely back to her normal self and doesn't seem to be in any pain. She had a follow up appointment today and seems to be healing up very well. Although the antibiotics give her diarrhea which gives her a horrible diaper rash and gets on her bandage! She has one final appointment on Tuesday where she gets the drainage tube taken out...and then we'll be done!

Thank you all for your support and prayers, we really appreciate it!

Walking!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 18:33:00 +0000

Lydia has been walking more and more each day. I haven't quite gotten used to it yet, it's so weird to look over and see her walking around! I tried to get some on video yesterday, but she wasn't really cooperating. The first video was the best, but unfortunately it's sideways (I always forget to hold the phone the other way!) and it's a little dark due to the windows in the background.

This other one was the last one I got. She was getting awfully grumpy by this point! And the audio seems a little freaked out at the end so Matthias sounds like a demonic chipmunk or something. Which is always fun.

Let's Make a Deal

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 03:45:00 +0000

One Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:52:00 +0000

Miss Lydia is already a year old! I can't believe so much time has gone by already. So, I put together this fancy little slideshow of her first year. And by "put together" I mean a clicked a few buttons in Picasa. I'm good like that. I didn't put it to music though because I don't have a whole lot on my computer and I was too lazy to get anything ;) I don't have any pictures of the birthday girl today because she's been too busy eating and sleeping to get all dressed up for photos. I'll get some soon though!

He's 5!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 04:06:00 +0000

Can someone explain to me how this guy

is suddenly 5? I can't quite figure it out.
I've decided to give up on the whole fancy birthday party thing. We started out with so many great plans, all of which failed. Well, there were a couple that I just forgot, but that doesn't count. Matthias wanted Lego cupcakes for his birthday, so we got a nice Lego mold, some white chocolate and some makings for cupcakes. The kids and I made some fun white chocolate Legos and then started making the cupcakes. While it was mixing, I go to get my muffin tin. Lo and behold, I have none. I think it must have been one of the items that didn't survive the Great Purge that happened when we moved. Fortunately, Matthias though that a square cake would be wonderful idea so that's what we went with. It wouldn't come out of the dish. Fail! So we went to Costco and got a cake. I am henceforth purchasing all birthday cakes from Costco. Thankfully, Matthias was quite thrilled with his cake.

Don't be envious of my mad food photography skillz.

I'm not sure who he was sticking his tongue out at...probably Grandpa.

Wondering what happened to his hair? Well...for the second time in his life (you know, all 5 years of it) the attachment to our little clipper thingy broke while I was cutting hair. That's all I will say on the subject.

He's awfully proud of himself!

Lydia's not impressed.

Enjoying a chocolate Lego!

Time for gifts! As you can see, he enjoyed his chocolate cake ;)

Legos! Who would have guessed that he'd get Legos for his birthday?

Helping out big brother!

Kelsi helped too...and trust me, if he hadn't have had help we'd have been there all day!

Look at those beautiful girls of mine!

A Lego book that he's already read 3 times. At least.

Ok, seriously...isn't this the cutest think ever! Matthias loves to cook and often pretends he's Bobby Flay so my grandma made him this chef hat and apron! He wore it until it was time for bed =)

Goofy kids!

More fun stuff! He certainly thinks he's quite cool in this too!

Lydia and Grandpa reading. Lydia got a gift too. So did Kelsi. I didn't. Hmm...

Matthias got a ton of fun stuff for his birthday and was so thrilled with everything! I took 256 pictures, but I figured I probably didn't need to post all of them! I do think, however, that you need to see him in all his costumes/dress up stuff he got =)

First, his chain-mail armor, complete with cape and a new sword and shield:

Next, his chef stuff. This picture just cracks me up!

And finally, his Star Wars outfit. I'm so lame that I don't even know who it's supposed to be. Of course all his knowledge of Star Wars comes from the Lego game, so I don't feel so bad.

And finally, many thanks to my photography assistant who was rather mad about the fact that I wouldn't let her play with all of her brother's stuff.

Home Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:02:00 +0000

That's right, folks...Jimmy has returned home. This time he's right outside our window, we can see him from our dining room even though he's slightly hidden by the trees. He hasn't said much about his ordeal with the Dragon Knights, so I guess we'll never know what happened, but he has quietly resumed his duty of keeping the children safe so I guess all is well.

(If you missed the first part of Jimmy's saga, click here. It is riveting I tell you. Riveting. )

Bunny Ears

noreply@blogger.com (Jessy S) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 03:41:00 +0000

A while back we made the decision to have our children attend the church service with us. It was such a great decision for us! It's been so much fun to see how the kids are responding to it, and we love being able to talk about the sermon with the kids on the way home from church! We've gotten into some great discussions with Kelsi and she thinks it's awfully cool when one of the pastors says "hi" to her.

It's been really surprising to see how much Matthias picks up from the sermons, even though he's only 4. One week the pastor said "Can I get an 'amen'?", and of course many people yelled "amen" in response. About 10 seconds later, Matthias did too. Another time the pastor used the term "party-pooper" and Matthias spent the rest of the sermon giggling. Of course it wasn't nearly as funny once we clarified that a "party-pooper" was not a party that poops.

Last night was a good reminder of how great the decision has been for us. Matthias recently clued into the fact that the words to the songs were always up on the screens, so after one of the songs was over he looked up at me and very excitedly told me, "Mom, did you see that? I sang the whole song!" He was quite proud of himself. Later, about 10 minutes into the sermon, I hear him say "Yessssss!" (Napoleon Dynamite style) and look over at him. He then proudly showed me how he had found 1 Peter, which was the sermon text.

At the end of the service, during the closing songs, Matthias was standing between Daniel and I holding our hands and Kelsi was on my other side and we had our arms around each other. It was at this point that I began thinking how great it was to be able to worship together as a family and how much the children had gained from being in service with us. Then I realized Matthias was no longer holding my hand, so I looked down at him. He was giving himself bunny ears.