What Makes Me Happy

One of the Adventurer campout homework assignments was to make a list of 20 things that make you happy.  Zachary did his assignment with Miss Jennifer this week, and the items below were his list:

1.  Playing with Blake
2.  Playing soccer
3.  Going to SeaWorld  (he got to go on Friday, so he was anxiously awaiting this outing!)
4.  Reading books
5.  Going to Sabbath School (what a blessed change from a year ago when he would be upset about going to church and even in Sabbath School he would be kind of dis-engaged)  Yippee!
6.  Playing dinosaurs
7.  Going to grandma's house
8.  Playing outside
9.  Eating!
10.  Listening to music (we received a child's version of the Lord's Prayer which he asks to play every day in the car)
11.  Riding his bike
12.  Going to Ms. Jennifer's house
13. Cooking with mommy
14.  Playing with Auntie Kelli
15.  Mowing the grass with Daddy
16.  Going to the Deiningers house
17.  Swimming
18.  Playing Thomas Trains
19.  Going to the park
20.  Taking gymnastics

He also had to draw a picture of his family, which this is the first family drawing that he's ever done, so we had to include the picture here!  It's the small things in life that we can be happy about, because this is the first time as well that his stick people didn't have legs coming out of their cheeks on their faces! :)

In other news, our friend little Luke D had appendicitis last night, so had to have emergency surgery this morning to remove his appendix.  Thankfully it did not rupture, and the surgery was done laproscopically so he'll soon be up and at it again.  Zachary has been enamored with having his friend Adam here for the day, and wants him to stick around rather than go home! :) 

Chef Adam helping to make the dessert for Saturday night

Phrase of the week:  Kaleb's thing this week was to ask for Mommy to sing "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and substitute "children" for names such as "mommy, daddy" etc - he went through many names but one kind of stumped her for a minute until she realized that he was asking for her to sing about Aunt Louise, but he said "Wheeze!" (phonetically that's what it sounded like, but he was trying to say her name! :).  Zachary phrase this week was: "Mommy, do trains eat food?"  Mommy's answer was "No." to which he said "Why not, they 'choo'?!"  Ha ha, he was dead serious but it was so funny we had to laugh!

Playing the memory game with Grandma

Reading a new story together

Action Jackson

Well, as promised, we'll give an update on last week's crazy whirlwind activities.  We're beginning to wonder if this might be our new life, because this weekend is going to be just as crazy! :)

We went off to Zachary's first ever Adventurer campout....or should we say camp-"in."  We went to the Pine Lake Retreat, which is complete with cabins that families can stay in.  We stayed in a cabin with Deiningers and Jennifer Bergherm and her son Blake.  The four boys were beside themselves with excitement, which translated into very little sleep.  We finally had to remove Luke and Blake to other rooms, which meant that the final sleep arrangements had Adam, Zachary and Auntie Lisa is one room (two twin bunk beds), Luke and Uncle Rob in another room (queen bed), with Miss Jennifer, Blake, Amy and Karis in another room that had two bunk beds.  Zachary woke up at 4:30 the next morning (after a 10P go-to-sleep time), which just about gave Mommy a stroke!  But, being outside all day is wonders for good moods, so the boys really did well.  We had a worship in the morning.....during which they announced that our beloved Pastor Morris is leaving our Forest Lake Church....many of us were super upset about this, and he will be greatly missed.  Our prayer now is that they find the right pastor to take his place, because these are big shoes to fill.  Anyway, after that there was much playing on the playgrounds, and MANY bike rides.  Deiningers went for a canoe trip in the afternoon so Zachary and Blake went down for a much-needed nap.

The boys wrestling in their room - it was quite the dog pile, and thankfully no-one got hurt!

The night we had a hayride, which the boys really enjoyed, smores (which Amy is not convinced that there is anything special about smores - they're just not that great!), and then playing in the bounce-house in the gymnasium.  The kids had a blast.

The glowsticks around their necks/wrists were a highlight as well, along with the singing on the tractor/hayride.

First campfire "smores"

The next morning we got up bright and early, and hightailed it back home to pick up Grandma and Kaleb (who had spent a well-rested weekend together!) and went to Zachary's very first soccer game.  He did very well, but between the heat, being knocked over several times, and perhaps general laziness he wanted to just sit and watch by the last period (bribes worked however in getting him back out on the field!).   

Zachary, Blake & Luke

Coach Eli with the kids - Zachary has asked for a whistle like Coach Eli!

Zachary's cheering fans

Love the little shinguards that Zachary has on!

Phrase of the week:  "Daddy, I want to be bald"  Zachary may just get his wish someday to have no hair like daddy, and then we'll remind him that he brought this on himself!  Kaleb's word this week was "tweat!!!" when he begged to get some of the M&M's that Zachary's Sabbath School had handed out.

Kaleb had a rough nap one day, so Amy ended up sleeping with him on the floor in his room for a while - after which she snuck out of the room, and he continued to sleep on the floor for another hour!  Oh to be so young and pliable!

Busy, Busy Bees

We have been busy bees this weekend, or rather busy Little Lambs! :)  We joined Zachary into Little Lambs this year for Adventurers at church, and this was the family campout weekend. We also had the very first soccer game, AND a birthday party today! :) We'll post all about it next weekend, but that's the reason for the late post.  With exhaustion reigning, this will be a short post with just some random pictures from the last few weeks! :)

The boys have a tradition when they get out of the shower on Sabbath that they MUST lay on their towel beds (two towels please mommy!!)  They usually end up wrapped like little burritos before it's all said and done as well.

Amy has become a serious coupon addict (it began when Karis complained that we spent too much on groceries, so she took the job of grocery shopping back and began to seriously work on reducing the cost - which we have successfully reduced the cost by at least $40-$50 per week from what we used to spend, and we have a lot more to show for it!).  Anyway, she stock-piled up on a bunch of cereal that we eat int his picture.  Our house isn't great on the storage space, so we became creative and used what SHOULD be the TV cabinet in our office to store it!  We don't have a TV there because we just don't watch enough TV to make it worthwhile, but it is a great place to store diapers and cereal! :))

The boys discovered the great fun of dragging the leather ottomans over to the couch and using them as launching pads - here you can see Zachary flying through the air.  Kaleb was not far behind, although he usually manages to just clear the arm of the couch at this point.

Phrase of the week:  "How many T's is it, Mommy?"  Zachary figured out that his clothes sizes usually have a T in them, such as 4T (although somewhere around 5, they drop the T and it just becomes the number itself).  So now Zachary will ask How many T's is it for clothes and for his shoes (which the T doesn't apply for shoes, but it is too cute to correct!).  Kaleb's word is "Fun!" - he loves to tell you the things that he thinks are "fun!" - and it can range from pointing at Miss Jennifer's (babysitter) van where lots of fun things happen to using it as a way of convincing you that he should be allowed to do whatever activity is next on the docket.  He is very convicted about "fun" activities, and truthfully he has never called anything fun that really wasn't, so he definitely gets it! :)

Junglenastics

Zachary joined a gymnastics class on Tuesday mornings last month, and Amy went this week for "Parent Watch" week.  She was actually supposed to go the week before as that was the official Parent Watch week, but she had to host the annual Controller Conference for work, so no can do unfortunately (but thankfully his second mom Miss Jennifer was the stand-in that day so he still had someone!).  Anyway, Amy was able to go this week, and it was SO FUN!  The teacher is very young and creative - she has them do all kinds of stretching and strengthening exercises in the beginning by pretending to be animals and telling stories that you do actions throughout.  The kids are all completely engrossed and laughing while doing warm-up exercises!  She then starts in on the lesson, and they do all kinds of fun things.  This week, they worked on jumping on trampolines and doing somersaults, and then doing "sticky feet" (dismounts).  It was precious because Zachary was doing the circuit and every time he'd do a portion where it was "sticky feet" he say the words with a big grin on his face.  They started working on cartwheels, and jumping on one leg, and they did activities on the bars. Zachary was very attentive to her, and would do as instructed VERY well.  Amy was so proud of him!  At the end of the lesson, the teacher gave him a high five and told him that he had done REALLY well, so it wasn't just mother's pride that thought he did fantastic!! :)

Zachary's in the dark blue shirt in the center of the picture doing a bridge

 Preparing to do "sticky feet!" after jumping from the steps to the green mat

 Doing the spider walk on his hands between these two bars

  Swinging upside down on the bars

The weather is starting to turn cooler here, so we're enjoying the "not so hot" season here in Florida!  Hopefully we'll get some good playing time outside.  Last weekend we went to the park and kicked the soccer ball around in preparation for the soccer practice this week.  Alas the cooler weather means that our swimming lessons will soon be over - perhaps sooner rather than later as Karis will no longer even get into the pool because it's too cold!

Last weekend, Karis was in Seattle for his uncle Ed's funeral.  Uncle Ed passed away about a month ago from cancer, but they had the memorial later which was nice because it allowed some lead time in getting plane tickets etc.

Our close friends from Andrews University days, Will & Heather and their son Kieran have moved from Michigan down to Orlando (much to their dismay and our delight!).  Kieran is about six months younger than Kaleb, so we're very happy to have another playmate for Kaleb around.  It's been very fun to have them here, and they came over this week for a play date while Zachary and Amy were at Adventurers.

Kieran & Kaleb playing "bucket heads"

Phrase of the week:  As we've reported in the past, Zachary is VERY much a Daddy's boy.  To prove it, last weekend, he asked Amy "Mommy, next can you go on a trip and Daddy stay at home?"  Amy responded with something (memory is failing!), to which he said "Well, Daddy is my best friend and I love him!" Now isn't that just the sweetest thing?  Amy then responds again about being able to have fun with Mommy and you can love many people.  Zachary then very seriously looks at her and says "But Mommy, I have a different way......I love you in the Fall and Summer!"  I think that he was trying to say that this just wasn't Mommy's time to be in the limelight, so Amy didn't bother telling him that this WAS Fall/Summer so this should be her turn! :)  Ah well, although just when you're put in the category of "not your time to be first on my list" he'll then shout from another room "Mommy?" and when Mommy responds, he says "Mommy, I love you!"  Fickle men! :)  

Kaleb's phrase this week is "gween" - this is the color that he'll call EVERYTHING.  You can immediately tell him what color the object is, and then re-ask him and he'll calmly answer that it is "gween"!

Lake Lotus Picnic

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of going to a Sabbath lunch picnic at Lake Lotus with a large group of friends.  The kids had a fantastic time playing outside - the weather is starting to get slightly less humid and hot (although the humidity was up pretty high that day unfortunately) so it is starting to get more fun to be outside!

Amy is doing the "single mom" gig this weekend as Karis has travelled to Seattle for his Uncle Ed's memorial service.  We're thankful that he could go to pay tribute to his Uncle and be a support for his Dad.  He'll be able to see his brother Korey and his wife Rachel while there, so that will be a bright spot in the weekend.  Mommy has managed to make it through the first evening with no mishaps - children have been fed and into bed on time!  Whew - success! :)  We'll see if we're brave enough to tackle church on our own!

Phrase of the week:  Kaleb's fantastic phrase lately is to yell "Ta-Da" when he does something that he believes is praiseworthy.  How can you not laugh and tell him that he's fantastic when he says this!?  Zachary's phrase that has become a nightly ritual (after kisses, "favorite things" and songs) is to ask for one more "Hug and Love" - the hug is what you'd expect with your face pressed tightly up to the side of his, and the love is simply then pressing your face against the opposite cheek! :)  It usually is an excuse to get up and come ask for Mommy to come back into his room, so we've tried to get it out of the way before we actually leave his room at night, but tonight he came out anyway and said "I need a BIGGER hug!"  Enjoy it now while he's little! :)

Zachary and Luke with their sticks at the park - boys and their toys!

Kaleb had climbed up the railing to see the baby alligators that were on the other side (probably about 6 inches long - which was just the right size for Mommy!)

 Kaleb & Madison found the jackpot of fun "toys" at the park - a water fountain!