Turning Five Makes a Happy Camper

I'll admit it. I cried like a little girl this morning.

Awkwardly, in front of all four of my boys who were looking helplessly at each other and didn't know what to do. Well, I'm not ashamed. It's not every day that my oldest son turns five. Five is like a rite of passage! I saw flashes --the first time I laid eyes on him in the delivery room, and then the first time he walked, and the first time he read a word out loud all flashed in front of me...and I just lost it. Tears of joy. Funny thing was...Caelan came up to comfort me and said, "Mommy...um, I'm five too." It was really sweet.


Micah celebrated his birthday on Tuesday with his friends and despite efforts to do a party at Pump It Pump or Chuck E Cheese (all venues that are technically easier for mommy), he chose a party at home and the theme? Camping.

Daddy built the coolest tent with leftover trim from our other house project. :)

To kick off Camp Micah, the kids made their own personalized camp bracelets.

We tried to do Micah's favorite things. He loves, loves, loves BUGS.
Miss Shannan helps them with their crafts.

One thing both Micah and Caelan love is soup. So, we incorporated the story of stone soup into his camp site. All the kids got to drop in vegetables, the stone, and the spices. I didn't know how it would go over, but they were so mesmerized by the story. It was a total hit. Note: Awesome faux fire (with fan and tissue paper) built by daddy, too.


Afterwards, they surprisingly all ate the soup. Some asked for more. I wonder if hearing the story made them so much more into the soup.


To balance our meal, we had roasted fruit on a stick and not-so-hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows. And you can't go camping without the s'mores! Super thanks to my sous-chef Michelle G. for preparing all of this!




Daddy took off from work to celebrate his son. He said I won't ever remember those two hours at work, but I'll remember I was there at my son's fifth birthday. The best two hours of vacation ever spent!


Everyone seemed to have a good time...the princesses, the dalmatian, the Fireman, Batman, Spidy...and even Tristan!

Happy fifth birthday Micah-man.
What a huge milestone! We love you so much.

Let's Get Together To Give Thanks

Our 2nd annual Thanksgiving celebration at our home was a success. Praise Him! It was exactly what I had hoped for and prayed for. People felt connected, loved and relaxed. Even me!


This year, our dinner for 10 couples started with a wine tasting in our basement. The winner of this year's wine-tasting was the Sharers. They were really good at it!


Then a fabulous buffet! The food was pretty amazing. I forgot to take a picture of my turkey masterpiece! But here are some parts of it:



Awesome husband giving a good thanksgiving speech. :)

I have so much to be thankful for,
one of which is the authentic friendships of these
women in my life.

Fall Memories

With Caelan's birthday in October, and Tristan's half birthday behind us, we have one more birthday next week to celebrate. It's very weird to think that Micah will be turning five. It's such a huge milestone!

This fall has been chock full of great moments:

Kicking off our Halloween---anyone know a family of ninjas? We do!

I love their fierce pose. So adorable. Also to add to great times --Micah and his uncle (visiting from New York) go bowling together!

The Arizona cousins came for a visit!

The weather has been funky. One day rainbow. The next day snowstorm.

The boys and I are going through the storybook bible in a year. One day after reading Daniel in the Lions Den, Micah draws this picture below. When I ask if it's Daniel's three friends on top, he says, "No mommy, they are in there with the lion. The three guys on top are God, Jesus and the One that lives inside my heart." Absolutely stunned, I say casually, "Uh huh..that's right." Inside my head, I'm thinking---Wow! My son just drew the trinity. How does he know about the trinity?? I never taught him about the trinity. Amazing.


And in his own spiritual way, little Caelan prays. This one is "Dear Lord, help me to be kind as I'm sitting on my brother's face."


Yes, that in a nutshell is Caelan. Let's see what else? Yes, the girls and I have an overnight getaway. We basically went out Friday night and then booked a hotel room and talked until 3 AM! Had breakfast at the hotel, heard an amazing sermon by Andy Stanley in the room, and went to high tea the next day.



It was fun to get a way with those gals. While we didn't get much rest, we did get rest for our souls as our time together was very encouraging. Some times you need to just get away and just be girls. Building great memories in November! More to come....