Over in the Meadow...

The Kindergartners (and their teachers) put together a "Parent Appreciation Day" this Thursday. Matthew took time out to come (which is a big deal, since Friday is Speechless) and it thrilled Seth's heart to have his Daddy there!



They had a sweet little program based on the "Over in the Meadow" book. Seth was a little blue bird.


After the show, we had a little reception with refreshments. Seth got to serve us our plates of goodies and our drink :) It was very cute! The teachers always do such a great job to allow the kids to have opportunities to express their appreciation for their parents! How special... thank you!!!

Thank you, Sethy!!!

Speechless

Don't forget that Speechless is this Friday night at 7:30!!!

What's Speechless, you ask? Well, great question! Click on http://www.speechlessoc.com to see details and samples of this event!!! Hey, not only will this be a fabulously amazing evening... childcare (birth to 2nd Grade) is included and the event is FREE!!!!! What more can you ask for?!? Come, bring a friend or 10 :) I got a sneak peek last night... you will be moved, challenged, and inspired by the dramatic presentations of the Gospel!!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Hope to see you Friday night!!!

Bible Awards

One of the blessings of sending our children to a Christian school is the spiritual emphasis that in integrated into the curriculum. Our kids are required to memorize Bible verses as a part of school!!! So... between Awana and school, our kids will have a huge repertoire of verses in their memory banks before 6th grade!!! I am thankful that God has provided us with this opportunity for our children to develop the discipline of memorizing God's Word. We pray that they will each grow up to embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior at an early age and become salt and light to their communities.

Cousin Time!!!

We had a rare treat this Tuesday of getting all 11 "Holbrook" cousins (actually 13, but only 11 are out of the womb) together for a "Play Date" at the Holbrook Ranch :) These times are so few and far in between, we made a party of it!!! You're right, Bethany, I'm sure all the neighbors were checking their calendars to see what holiday they had forgotten :) We had such fun just "hanging out"! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for always allowing us to come and make your home a Grand Central Station (and for heating the pool)!

Here are some highlights of our day:

Aaron and Bethany were brave enough to get in the pool to "watch" 8 kids at the same time -- that included 4 non-swimmers!!! I think they were still counting to eight, an hour after getting out of the pool...

Grandpa had a special surprise welcome when he arrived home from work :) This is not a great video, but just listen to the "sound of love" from all the grandkids!!!

I didn't get any pictures of this, but somehow, between the time I left to pick up Isaac from school and the time I got back to the house, Abby caught herself a lizard (with the help of Seth and Aunt Melissa)!!! Her little "Cup-o-lizard" was the main attraction for a good long time! All the kids wanted to feed it and touch it. Later in the evening, we had quite the commotion when we heard someone shout, "Lizard in the house!!!" I'm sure Grandma & Grandpa didn't want a new house pet... especially not a lizard :)

I don't know when we will be able to get all the cousins together again :( We are so blessed that all the kids are getting along so well and that we all enjoy each other's company!!!

Good try, Bruins :(

After a very exciting road to the Final Four, we were crushed to be denied again!!!

Isaac and Seth were very excited about the NCAA tournament this year! Isaac has been following all the games very closely. The boys are so funny... they would play basketball everyday in the backyard and each pick a different team to be for the "game". Sometimes, even Abby will get into the action :)

Matthew's brothers have been asking Matthew whether Isaac has offered to pay his sibling to play with him yet... and it happened today!!! Isaac asked Seth & Abby if they want to play basketball. It went something like this:

Isaac: "Hey guys... wanna play basketball?"
Seth: "Okay!!! Let me get my shoes! Hey Mom... where are my shoes?!?"
Abby: "Ummm... maybe I'll play next time."
Isaac: "Come on Abby, I'll let you have some of my frozen lemonade..."
Abby: "Well... how long do I have to play???"

And so the saga continues... Matthew paid his brothers to play with him. Now, it's Isaac's turn :) My kids don't have money yet, so, it's a bartering system right now... but I'm sure the conversation will soon change!

I have to say though, it warms my heart to see my kids playing an "organized sport" together :)

Woohoo... Isaac got the Game Ball :)

Good job, Isaac, for always hustling on the field! It's fun to watch you play baseball!!!

We are proud of you!

Big Mac Attack

Our family must be extra special this week! Not only was it Matthew's birthday on Monday, Abby is the "Special Person of the Week" (which means that she gets to share about herself, her family, etc. and she also gets to be the Line Leader), Seth was picked as Line Leader today as well (which means, he gets to take home his class pet!).

Mac came home with us again!!! Mac had a fun time going to the Angel Stadium with us to pick-up things for our Team Basket. Tomorrow, he is going to go to Isaac's game with us in the morning, to church with the boys and Daddy (for Speechless practice and to watch the Final Four game) and to the Angel Game in the evening! I'm sure Mac will also make a special guest appearance at church on Sunday :)

Good job loving on Mac and taking good care of him, Seth!

With an Oink Oink here and an Oink Oink there

Seth was on a field trip to Amy's Farm today. I didn't get picked to be a chaperon, so I have no idea where Amy's Farm is, and more importantly, I have no fun pictures to post :0

This is Seth's report, all in about 15 seconds:

I got to feed a baby pig and a baby cow today. And Mommy... one of the pigs was so hungry, it just leaped right over the fence! I saw a Swiss Cow. They are the biggest cows. MamaTina was 2000 pounds. Did you know that they take away the calves so that they wouldn't drink up all of the mama's milk?!? I also got to see a goose egg and a chicken egg. They are bigger than regular eggs... and Mama, there are rocks at the farm that has writing on them that tells you what's growing there. There is a pizza place that has big rock things around it that makes it look like a pizza. They grow all the stuff that makes pizzas there... but it's not like Pizza Hut, they don't make pizzas...

I think he had a good time... what do you think???