Fun with Ezekiel

In honor of Bethany's birthday, we got to watch Ezekiel for a good part of the day :) While Bethany was having a break from taking care of her flu infested family and enjoying some uninterrupted adult-conversation time (well... they each had a newborn with them) with her friend, Heidi, the kids and I got to enjoy some concentrated Ezekiel time!!! I think we got the better end of the bargain :)

Abby was so excited to have her cousin come over to play, she started asking if it was "Ezekiel Day" every morning, for 3 mornings! When she figured out today was the day, she got up, got dressed, and marched into our room and proudly announced, "I'm ready for Ezekiel now!" So funny!!!

Bite? Bite?

BALL!!!

Abby got some one-on-one time with her cousin before we had to pick up Seth. We also stopped by the lunch tables to let Isaac say his hello :)

Ezekiel was a good little sport... he even hung out with us at Isaac's baseball practice. Of course, we had to have a little playground time :)

What a special treat for us to have Cousin Ezekiel to love on! We are all looking forward to next time!!!

GO ROCKIES!!!

****No... we have not changed our allegiance from the Dodgers to the Rockies :) ****

Today was the Opening Ceremony and Picture Day for the WYLLL. We feared that it would be rained out, but God allowed a little window between the storms :). We had beautiful sunny California weather for the ceremony and then just enough of a drizzle to hurry things along with the pictures :).

Isaac tried out this year for the AA division and was drafted by the Rockies! We are proud of him for going to the tryouts with Grandpa Mark and for doing his best. I enjoy watching him play with Matthew (he is pretty much too good to play with me now!), as well as his "pitch back time" in the backyard. I am praying that God will use our contacts through the Rockies this year to develop relationships and to further His kingdom.

And with that... LET'S PLAY BALL!!!

Comments on this Blog

I'm disappointed to have to post this :( I'm having some issues with people leaving comments that contain viruses or other yucky stuff. I have increased security on my "comment section". I would love for you (the people that I know and love) to leave comments, but are trying to eliminate those that are trying to crash my computer!

I'm sorry if it is now a pain to communicate with me via this blog, but please understand that I really do still want to hear from you!!! I will be monitoring the comments that are left... if I don't know you (based on the name) and if you send a comment with a link (I don't even know how to do that!!!), your comment will not be read and will be immediately deleted.

Thank you for putting up with all the "red tape"!

Magic As Ever -- The Harlem Globetrotters

Once in a while, Matthew tries to steal away with one of the kids for some one-on-one time. These are very special times with Daddy and are treasured deeply by each child (just ask them!!!). Last night, Seth and Matthew went to the Globetrotters game at the Honda Center (or better known as The Pond).

Seth had a great time! The first words that came out of Seth's mouth when he got home (along with the biggest grin) was, "Mommy! THEY WON!!!!!" Sooo cute :) He went on to tell me all about Special K and how he stole someone's purse, ate another's popcorn, and make a half-court swish! Seth also told me about Big EZ and Scooter and some of their antics and tricks. It was so fun to listen to the game through the eyes of a 6-year-old!

Matthew told me that Seth had a blast watching the game and all the "fancy stuff" that the Harlem Globetrotters put into "basketball"... but he was torn in seeing how the silliness of the players were causing them to be fall behind in the game! Seth feared that the Globetrotters' 2,200 game winning streak was coming to an end!!! Poor little guy :)

Thank you, Matthew, for carving out time in your CRAZY BUSY weekend to go on a "hang out day" with your son! You made his day... and warmed my heart :) You are the best!!!

Psalm 23

Each year in the Spring, the Kindergarten class memorizes Psalm 23 and presents it to the rest of the Pre-school classes during a special chapel. This week, Seth started memorizing this precious Psalm. So... when I came across this anecdote, I had to copy it to post here :). Enjoy:


A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it.
She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her. She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed.
The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew. She did this for the whole week. As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week.
Finally she said to Timmy, 'Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?'Timmy nonchalantly replied, 'Yeah, I know who she is.'The little girl said, 'Well, who is she?''That's just Shirley Goodnest,' Timmy replied, 'and her daughter Marcy.''Shirley Goodnest? Who is she and why is she following us?''Well,' Timmy explained, 'every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life', so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!'

Disco Skate Night :)

Watching Mommy play "Red Light Green Light" :)

In honor of Lincoln's Birthday, our family went roller skating :) How long has it been since Matthew and I have done this activity... hmmm, how about a couple of decades ago?!? Our kids, except Isaac (he has skated twice before in his young life), have really never skated before. They have played "skating" at the house, with the little plastic toy skated that Aunt Bethany and Aunt Rebekah gave Seth a couple of years ago... that's about their experience with skating :)

Whoa... how do you walk in these???


Are you kidding Daddy? You really want us to go out there?!?

The kids learned in a hurry. Within the hour of getting skates on their little feet, they were cruising along (the wall) by themselves! Seth told us that his record was falling only 5 times in one lap :). Isaac perfected the art of falling in a sliding position (so that he wouldn't land on his bottom each time). And Abby... well, she couldn't gain much speed, but her poise and attitude went a long ways baby!!!

Bye... here we go :)

Don't let go Daddy... I'm depending on you!!!

Awww... piece of cake :)

WE HAD A BLAST!!! What a fun family night... skating in a basketball court without the baskets AKA roller skating rink :)

My Little Dancing Princess...

My precious daughter is having a blast in her dance class :) Here are some "highlights" for you to enjoy:

I couldn't get a pink scarf... so, I had to get purple. It works ok.

Hi Mom!

Look Mom, first position!

Tada!!!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Today is the official Groundhog's Day. Seth learned about Groundhog's Day on Thursday :)

Yesterday, when Matthew was leaving for the weekend, Seth ran up to him and said: "Daddy, since you won't be home on Saturday, I just want to tell you... Happy Hedgehog Day!!!"

Oops... what a funny boy :)

Chester!!!

Last week, Abby got Chester again!!!

Chester is Abigail's class "pet" -- he is a cute little stuffed animal racoon. Each week, one child from Mrs. Wyckhouse's class gets to take Chester home for the week. The first time around, Abby was #10 of the 10 kids that got to bring Chester home. This time, she was picked 2nd!!! This was Abby's final time of getting Chester and she couldn't be more thrilled :). Abby took him everywhere. He ate and slept with Abby. He went grocery shopping with us. Chester played baseball, had hot cocoa, watched Abby in dance class, went to church and AWANA. He even got a nickname -- Chester the Arrester.

Chester also whispered to me that it was his birthday on January 25th. So, we (Abby, Katelyn, and I) had a birthday party for him (birthday hats, cupcakes, candles, and the whole nine yards!). We even had extras to share with our families!

When it was time to return Chester on Tuesday, Abby made sure that we all had a chance to hug and love on Chester and say our good-byes. It was a touching moment...

It was so cute to watch Abby "mother" Chester. She was so caring and loving to make sure that all of Chester's "needs" were met :). I think she will be a great Mom (or at least a great babysitter/cousin)!