Tristan's First Birthday

Where did all the time go?  I just remember bringing a swaddled baby home (well, someone else's home) from the hospital.  And then bam----he's one.  My little guy is already ONE!

We celebrated true Cambodian style with lots of yummy Khmer food (thank you mom!) and plenty of yummy desserts (thanks Heather and other Mom).

 

The Lord heard my prayer as I asked for no rain for the first hour.  So, the kids ran wild out back and right around 5:00, the showers started! 

It was easy as we put up a bunch of pop up tents and ride-on toys.  For the adults, I set up some fun lounges.  Some of my recent Craigslist finds.  A little Parisian bistro.  Five wrought iron chairs and two tables and 2 smaller tray tables.  $45 total.  Patrick and I spray painted them black and they are like new!

I borrowed a canopy from a friend (thanks Michelle!) and put underneath my other Craiglist purchase.  The loveseat, two chairs, table and two ottomans were $150.  Apparently, the set is still being sold right now for $400.  I could probably flip this for some cash.  Oh, maybe next summer!

Once the rain came, everyone headed indoors and packed ourselves in like sardines.  I thought it would be much more crowded, but not nearly bad as I thought.  Although the noise level was pretty loud as Patrick made a little speech about our little guy.

 

Tristan did seem rather in shock at the human gridlock surrounding his high chair, and everyone staring at him and singing.   Poor little guy. 

But later in the evening after everyone was gone, and he ate a quiet meal in his pajamas---I got this happy shot. 

Happy First Birthday my darling little boy.  We love you so much!

What do three boys do all day?

I've got a few answers.

Patrick would warn me when the boys roughhoused that it was normal.  He forgot to tell me that they do it every time I'm not looking! Still getting used to the frequency and lack of self-control.  Seriously.

And when they're not beating each other up, or sitting on each other's face, they're usually running circles around baby Tristan.  This I usually don't mind or put a stop to this because... well...Tristan is so delighted!

Tristan screams his head off usually.  When I say scream, there's only one kind: ear-piercing.    And he usually does this when big brother blocks him from his daily goal---eatable-but-not-edible rocks in fireplace.  Another ear-piercing scream!

 
A lot of times though, Micah and Caelan go off and exclude Tristan.  Funny story--we had Tristan's baby play yard (a hexagon type play area designed to keep babies in) and instead of putting Tristan in, they put themselves in, lock him out,  and taunt him with their eatable-but-not-edible legos!  Poor little guy.

In a few years, he'll be able to play legos too, but for now Micah and Caelan do offer to play with a few of his cool toys.

I'm beginning to really get raising boys.   I'm not sure how it can co-exist, but they are wild and out-of-control, but also gentle, tender, and sweet too.  More thoughts on that on my next post!

Easter Celebration 2012

The best part about Easter was when one of the cousins asked Micah what he got from the Easter Bunny.  He said, "Nothing."  Followed by a shocked look, Micah then said, "We don't believe in the Easter Bunny.  We celebrate Easter because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and gave us new life.  The eggs are new life in Jesus."   Um. Wow.

Micah is right.  We celebrate a risen Savior!  For Christians on this day, it's a big deal.  I won't fully understand the magnitude of what Christ did on the cross for me, but my life has forever changed and I am thankful and I have reason to celebrate.

And celebrate we did.  We kicked off the weekend by serving at our Easter play at church called Conversations.  We were ushers at the grand hotel.  Patrick even passed out mints to everyone during the "turn down" service.

 

Next stop:  Neighborhood Egg Hunt.  The egg hunt however was over before we got there.  Um, it said 10 AM sharp, we got there at 10:01 AM!  That's okay, Scott and Julie (our neigbors) and friends Gene and Victoria did an impromptu egg hunt in Julie's backyard!   Someone said, "Go!" and they were off for the hunt!

Sunday morning, we made resurrection cookies.   See this blog post for an awesome Easter idea with kids.  After our service on Sunday, we headed to my brother's home for some Easter brunch.  

My brother is a fabulous cook and we feasted on the passover lamb.     Within an hour of lunch, we don't know what happened...but we put Tristan down and then Patrick and I fell asleep and then Ivey and Ya fell asleep, Halys crashed and we think Seyla might have watched all five of them, who knows?   My younger brother had cuddle time with youngest nephew.

Halys prepared a fun Easter egg hunt with the kids, um..after family nap time. :)

Here's our Springy attire picture.

Happy Easter from our family to yours!  He has Risen!  He has risen indeed!

Resurrection Cookies

For Christmas, it was always fun to do some sort of craft or baking to celebrate the birth of our Savior, but never for Easter.  Why not? It's the celebration of what Jesus was born to do.  We made resurrection cookies.  Warning:  Not the best tasting, but...it's not so much for the treat.  It tells a story and Patrick read scripture verses to the kids.

Here's how to make them----recipe is at the bottom.  1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees and place almonds in a bag.   Patrick and I reminded them that Jesus was beaten by Roman soldiers. 

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.


2) Next, allow each child to smell the vinegar, which was given to Jesus to drink when he was on the cross.

John 19:28-30

 ²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

3) Add egg whites to vinegar.  The eggs represent life life.  They remind us that Jesus gave his life to give us life abundantly.  

 

John 10:10-11

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

 

4) Put a pinch of salt in your child's hand.  Allow them to taste it.  The salt represents the salty tears cried by the women who followed Jesus.

 

Luke 23:27

²⁷ A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.

Up until this point, the ingredients have been bitter. 5) Now we get to add the sugar!

 

Psalm 34:8

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

6) Beat the mixture and remind the kids the whiteness of the mixture reminds us of  purity and the cleansing of our sins because of Jesus' death.  Supposed to be painful for Jesus, and not for the three of them, geesh!

7) Drop the dough onto the cookie sheet.  The mounds represent the tomb where Jesus was buried. And the over is the tomb that is "sealed" with a large rock.

Matthew 27:59

⁵⁹ Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

8) Leave the cookies in the over overnight.  The kids felt sad about the cookies being there, but we reminded them that Jesus's followers were sad when the tomb was sealed.

John 16:20-22

²⁰ Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.²¹ A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.²² So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

In the morning, open the oven and have some cookies!  The inside will be hollow and that reminded Micah and Caelan that the tomb was empty!!!  Jesus is Risen!!!

 

Resurrection Cookie Recipe

Supplies:

• 1 cup almonds (or pecans)
• 1 tsp. vinegar
• 3 egg whites
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup sugar
• Zipper baggy
• Wooden spoon
• Mixing bowl
• Mixer
• Cookie sheet
• Spoons
• Tape
• Bible

Source: http://www.motherhoodonadime.com

The Rings in Spring

With the unusually warm spring weather, we got ambitious and tore out the existing landscaping and put in plants that make me happy.  Seriously, Patrick asked me what kinds of flowers I wanted and the only answer I gave him was, "The ones that make me happy!"

Before, there was this brick container (Front Center) that really didn't work with the brick on the house and it was holding overgrown azalea bushes.  

Well, husband and firstborn decided enough with that.  They removed all of the bricks by hand and dug everything up including the old water hose.

 

Before

And...DRUMROLL PLEASE...

After.

I chose perennials because I'm lazy, but they are supposed to grow like mad by next year. Can't wait!

Before there was a yucky patch with ugly bricks and a dead-looking bush.  This was the first day we moved in.

And today...oooh, makes my heart happy!  We relocated an azalea bush from the previous owner.  It seemed like the only healthy one.  It's starting to bud now.

Unexpected surprise.  This tree which is not ours, bloomed last week, 

and gives us a beautiful view outside of our living room.

It's so worth it that every time you look at your flowers, you just smile.  Now, onto the backyard!  

No Time For Flashcards

As part of our homeschool preschool, Micah and Caelan have been busy at their uppercase and lowercase letters.  I have been so proud of them as they learn their letters.   Here are some we did recently that I managed to keep!

O is for Owl

The supplies were very easy:

 

Micah's class did all their uppercase letters already, so now they are recognizing their lowercase.

I think that's pretty advance preparation for kindergarten!

In case this one is hard to figure out.  If you figure out what the bug is, you can see where the lowercase letter is. :)

 

We got our ideas each week from a website called notimeforflashcards.com

I'm glad they can have this on the blog so they can see some of their fun creations!