Kisses for You

Esther just turned nine months.  She wants to give you some love!

(May I just add that Meghan and Evan were likely past a year before they considered kissing anyone!)  I think it's rather impressive that Esther kisses with only a word prompt...but I am the proud mommy.

View the video here or below.
(Please note the large amount of time I devoted to figuring out uploading this today.  It was not easy, but I just had to share it!)

One-on-One

Last night I had the chance to drive Meghan to our church's VBS.  It was just the two of us.  One way is forty minutes.  Meghan was talking almost all of the time.

Let me tell you what a joy my oldest is, especially when given the chance to be with an adult one-on-one.  We talked about all sorts of things.  I want to share a few, and please know that I am not trying to brag, I was just so amused and blessed by our time together.

On the way there, I was asking her about her group leader at VBS (though I knew who she was).  She explained to me that it was Elizabeth, Liz, or Lizzie.  She was amazed that she had three names.  She was able to tell me which was her full name, and explained that Liz and Lizzie are nicknames.  Then she proceeded to tell me she wanted a nickname.  Then she told me she had two.  Meg and Han.  (We always call her Meghan.  Always.  BUT her Aunt Amy and her coach for tee ball both call her Meg on occasion.)  I did explain to her that Han might confuse some people.
On the way home, she was telling me about the story of Lazarus and how Jesus brought him back to life which was the Bible story at VBS.  I brought up that it was one of Jesus' miracles.  Then she went on to tell me about some other miracles including Peter making Tabitha come back to life.  When I asked her how she knew that miracle, she told me she read it in God's Message for Children, the Bible that she spends a great deal of time reading.  (I am constantly amazed by her comprehension.)

Then she asked me to tell her a story.  I don't even remember what story I told her.  Then she asked for the story of her, Evan, and Esther when they were little.  She loves to hear about herself when she was a baby, though I like to begin it before they were born.  After I told the story, she piped in about Lucy, our cat, who I had left out of the story.

A good amount of time in the car was spent on math problems, all at her request.  It's fun for her!  She loves to ask us what X+X equals.  Or X+X+X+X.  She knows some basic addition facts.  She also knows how to use her fingers to help her find sums.  It was so funny when I asked her what 5+6 equaled.  She told me she only had ten fingers.  After some basic facts, she started creating word problems for me to solve.  Which encouraged me to create some for her, too.

By the time we arrived home I was feeling encouraged as a mom.  Despite her immaturity, at times, she is quite knowledgeable and articulate.  And though she still cries with little provocation, she has come so far in the past year and a half.

Pinebrook 2012

On Friday I turned 36.  :)  (I wrote a few positive thoughts on aging here.  Nothing profound.)  I spent the day preparing for Pinebrook since we left on Saturday.  That means packing for five people.  Pinebrook provides the food and activities for family camp, but we still had hundreds of items to pack, including for a baby.  (Seriously.  My packing list word count was over 300.)  I did manage to get a pizza.  Derek also made me a giant cookie.  The kids added chocolate syrup and sprinkles to their cookie wedges to increase the fun factor.  When Derek called on his way home to see if I wanted a cake (sure) and if we had a mix (yes) I asked if a giant cookie would be better so we could either freeze the leftovers or take them with us to Pinebrook.  So he made a giant sugar cookie for me and they sang to me.

Saturday morning we left for Pinebrook.  This was our fourth year and our second time taking an 8 month old.  You can also read about our other years if you like.

A brief explanation...Pinebrook Bible Conference is a camp.  We attend each year during their family camp sessions.  This year about fifteen families from our church went.  It is a lot of fun for a lot of reasons, but getting to know our church friends and deepening those relationships is the best part.  There are also families from other churches there that we get to know, too!

Derek and Meghan took a bike ride together.

 This little girl was hard to contain.  We spent a lot of time outside on the "porch."  One day when the big kids were napping (so they could stay up LATE to swim), I popped Esther in the laundry basket to contain her.  It worked for a few minutes.

 But then we went to the little gazebo for a little photo shoot.

 (Did you recognize the outfit above from Meghan's baby days?)
Evan and Meghan actually got along fabulously most of the week.  They were even in the same class together.

 Esther actually spent a good amount of time in the stroller for containment.  We found it to be the most practical.

 This is what I get when I tell Evan, "Smile."

 Here's Meghan.

 Evan actually did get in the pool a lot and enjoyed it.  He even dipped his face on his own quite a bit.  Some days he was a bit tired, though.

 Rain is always a hit at Pinebrook because we let the kids play and play in it.  Below is our good friend J.  He is nearly six, but gets along wonderfully with Evan.

The bikes and scooters were tons of fun in the rain puddles.

 Boats were created...

 Check this two wheelin' girl out!  (They didn't get to practice too much since the wheels didn't come off until Thursday.)

Evan also had a first.  He was stung by a bee (or wasp?) while in the children's garden.  Thankfully, his reaction was just the typical swelling.

 Meghan went off the diving board last year, but I didn't get to see it.  How about this girl?  Eventually she was going off without Derek catching her (with her orange floaty on to help).

I actually didn't take very many photos this year.  You saw most of them. 

The first day I was just plain exhausted.  Esther did NOT sleep well. All five of us sleep in one room.  I joked that Meghan and Evan eventually took her cries as lullabies because they could fall asleep to Esther's cries in the afternoons and nights.  I'm sure that had something to do with their sleep deprivation!  At least they napped daily.  (One night Evan was moved from bed to stroller and went still slept through dinner at the dining hall.)  There was only one night that they got to bed around nine (still later than normal).  The other nights it was ten or eleven (GASP!).  Yep, the final night they went to the bonfire and then to the snack shop for ice cream.  I was asleep long before they arrived home.  (If you know me, then you know how much I value my children's schedules and sleep.  This was the first year that I felt that they could mostly handle late nights as long as they napped.  In the past I have limited what they could do at night...)

Independence Day