Our Day at the Evergreen State Fair

 We have a tradition of celebrating the last day of summer by going to the Evergreen State Fair.  The weather was awesome and we had such a fun day!

That sheep has dreadlocks too!

Naomi rode the swing all by herself and loved it!

Picture Darrick took for the ferris wheel

There was free admission all day to the drag races.  Any one could enter their own car and race.  It was so fun to watch especially when a VW bug beat a mustang!

The kids favorite at the lumberjack show

Darrick told the kids they couldn't put this sticker on our bumper so they found another one!

A year of Growth

First Day of Kindergarten

Last Day of Kindergarten

First Day of 4th Grade

Last Day of 4th Grade

First Day of 6th Grade

Last Day of 6th Grade

Pinewood Derby

 Last Saturday Darrick, Micah and Jacob attended the yearly Cadet-o-rama.  At the Cadet-o-rama all the local Cadets from the surrounding areas get together for a full day of games and the annual Pinewood Derby. 




Pinewood Derbys are a family tradition that starts back when my brothers were young boys.  They were also in Cadets and I remember my Dad helping my brothers get their cars ready for the big event.  Now that our boys are in Cadets my Dad has passed down the secrets of a fast car to Darrick (secrets I cannot share on the blog because they are family secrets-don't worry they are totally allowed!)

 This year was another year of great success!  Micah and his white car took home the overall First Place Trophy.  Jacob took home the Second Place Trophy for his age division and Darrick got first place for the adults (they don't get a trophy).

Micah's Car

Jacob's Car

New Easter Tradition

Sometimes in life, it is important to stop and reflect.  I read a great post on a blog I enjoy reading called "The Anderson Crew".  It was that post that made me stop and evaluate the way we have been doing things.  Easter is one of those things.  Every year we have given our kids an Easter Basket stuffed with toys and candy, and they love it!

I shared the post I read with Darrick and we talked about Easter.  It is an exciting time of celebration remembering that the Lord is risen.  We tell our kids that Easter is about Jesus and not the Easter Bunny, but how are we showing them?  We tell them it is not about the candy but then we give them a big basketful!  

So this year we made a commitment to be more consistent with our words and actions.  We decided that on Easter morning each child will receive some type of book to foster their relationship with the Lord, a verse written on the inside cover of their book that Darrick and I will be praying over them all year (until next Easter) and a few pieces of candy.

Last week Darrick and I went to the Christian Bookstore and looked through book after book until we found the right one to match each child's personality and where they are at in their walk.  We actually enjoyed searching for each individual child-they are so different!

Then we also took a week and thought and prayed about what verse to pick for each one of them.  We came together last night after they were all in bed and shared verses and picked the one that we both agreed was best for where each child is at.  Then I wrote it in their book and we laid them out on the table.

Naomi-6 years old

Jacob-10 yrs. old

Micah-12 years old

*We are not sharing the verses on the blog because we feel that they are very personal and private.

We told the kids last week that we wanted to start a new tradition and they were okay with that.  But what warmed our hearts the most was that each child came to us individually and thanked us for their book.  Naomi was so excited to get her first Bible, she couldn't wait to bring it to church and tell our Pastor!

We desire for our kids to grow in their relationship with God and in their understanding of the Lord.  How can they do that if we do not guide them along the way and point them to Jesus?  Parenting is a journey, and we are constantly learning, growing and trying our best.  We are so thankful that God holds our kids in His hands.

Happy Valentine's Day

 If you know me, then you know that today is my favorite day of the whole year!  We were busy with appts. and classes today but we still found time to celebrate!  For our afternoon snack I made homemade soft pretzels in the shapes of hearts.  I served them with spicy hot chocolate.  Everyone LOVED the pretzels but only Darrick and Jake liked the spicy hot chocolate.

 For our annual candlelight dinner we had chicken Parmesan, noodles, Caesar salad, strawberry pretzel salad and sparkling limeade and pink lemonade.

 After we got dinner cleaned up, we all sat around in a circle, ate the chocolate covered strawberries we made and read our Valentines we made for each other.  We read them one at a time and have a lot of laughs.  Below I will list some of our favorite poems this year.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! xoxo

To: Naomi "Roses are red, Violets are Blue, You are Brown and I love You" From: Micah
To: Jacob "LEGOs are red, Footballs are brown, I'm so happy, when you're around" From Micah
To: Jacob "Apples are green, blueberries are blue, Bananas are yellow and I love you" From Mom
To: Micah "You are as awesome as awesome sauce" From Jacob
To: Mom "Roses are red, violets are blue, Honey is sweet but not as sweet as you" From Jacob
To: Dad "Seahawks are good, Dad you are better, in every situation, especially headers" Love, Jacob
To: Naomi " Roses are red, violets are blue, brown sugar is brown, but not as brown as you" Love, Jacob

Annual Halloween Cookie Decorating



Before

Ready to be frosted

The Aftermath...

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day! Just in case you did not know, today is my favorite day of the year! It is my favorite holiday, red is my favorite color and I love hearts. It is very important to me to tell those I love, how much I love them and how much they mean to me. Yes it is something to do everyday but it is really fun once a year to say it in some extra special ways.

Naomi and I were surprised on Saturday when we got 2 boxes delivered. They were from Darrick: a heart bamboo plant for me and pink roses for Naomi.

One tradition that we started last year was that Darrick gets the girls presents and I get the boys presents. Nothing crazy but just a little something to say I love you and you are special to me.

I started out today attempting to make heart shaped pancakes for the kids. I first tried pouring the batter into cookie cutters on the griddle but that was a huge mess. So I went with pouring them free style. I also whipped up some mango, blackberry and banana smoothies.

At lunch I made PB&J sandwiches with heart shapes.

And dinner marked our 2nd annual Candle light Valentines Day Dinner. The kids were super excited!

What would dinner be without Flat Daddy?

I served bow tie pasta with a choice of Alfredo sauce or marinara, salad, homemade bread and a choice of sparkling apple cider or grape apple cider.

For dessert we had some awesome homemade treats! Chocolate covered strawberries or frozen chocolate dipped banana slices.

After dinner we played two rounds of kids Cadoo. It was really fun.

Darrick was able to call today. It was so good to hear his voice. I miss him so much today. I miss him more today then I did at Christmas. But he had good news. He booked and purchased his ticket to come home on leave. He will be here in 3 weeks!