Eden's 7th Birthday

My sweet Eden turned 7 today. She is my miracle child; The culmination of much prayer when I thought a child wasn't a possibility. We named her Eden because it means comfort and a place where God dwells. She has brought us great comfort and joy though her life.

Eden is kind, funny, curious and has a strong sense of justice. She is tenderhearted and is equal parts prissy and tomboy all rolled into one amazing little girl. She has overcome a serious heart malfunction and loves to run and play. I am in awe of what God has accomplished in her life thus far. She is quickly growing into a beautiful young lady. I look forward to all God has in store for her. :)

 

 

 

 

1. What is your favorite colors? Green and Pink
2. What is your favorite toys? Daisy and Bella (stuffed animals)
3. What is your favorite fruit? Cantaloupe

4. What is your favorite movie? Scooby-doo
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Hot dogs
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? My red satin dress ( the one with sequins)
7. What is your favorite game? Hide and Go Seek

 8. What is your favorite snack? Chocolate covered raisins

9. What is your favorite animal? A kitty cat
10. What is your favorite song? I am a Christian, You're going to miss me when I'm gone

12. Who is your best friend? Lydia, Meredith and  Katelyn
13. What is your favorite cereal? Honey Nut Cheerios

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Go Swimming

 15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate milk

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Subway and cake and ice cream
18. What your favorite Bible Story? Queen Ester
19. What is your favorite thing to study in school? Science
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A gymnast and a veterinarian .

A Character Parade

We have a stellar library, and an amazing children's librarian named Ms. Heather. She planned a family reading night complete with a costume parade.  To say my kids were excited is an understatement. They ask over and over again if it was time to go. And because my children can rarely stick to one theme, Here are a few of my favorite characters :)

 Titus: Spiderman with a Bob the Builder hat.

Josiah: a doctoring, train conducting, Curious George

Eden: a blue karate chopping Power Ranger.

I love that she still added a little pink with her shoes.

The whole gang!

Ms. Heather was an excellent Fancy Nancy.

Fire Truck, Fire Truck, I Wanna Ride on a Fire Truck!

We were able to take our homeschool group on a tour of the Williamston Fire Department. It was a great experience for them. Not only were they able to see the trucks, but they learned a lot about fire safety in the process. After watching a video, the kids were able to ask questions and think through issues regarding fire safety. The tour was an A+ in terms of education through fun.

Our homeschool group at the fire station.

 A brief moment when all three were almost still for a picture.

 Eden and Titus posing at the fire station.

 The kids were able to climb inside the fire trucks to look around.

 

 To say Titus loved his time at the fire station is an understatement!

One day, we might have a fire fighter in our family :)

It's all Greek to Me!

 We took to the dramatic in our trek through ancient history, as we studied Ancient Greece.
The kids were able to color and cut out drama mask in order to customize our dress up time.

 While Eden and Titus seemed to enjoy the play, 

Josiah wasn't a fan of dressing up in a former pillowcase.

  

 Eden has a flare for the dramatic! 

She loved dressing up, but didn't like the masks.

 A pretty picture of Eden.

 Titus was more interested in science than history.

My crazy crew, In my crazy day! 

I wouldn't trade it for anything :)

Love in Action

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1John 3:18

Last week we were able to participate in a double service project. We're over achievers like that! Totally kidding :) Our homeschool group has adopted the local nursing home as a way to love on our community. We've been to sing for them for holidays, done a reverse trick or treat, and planted flowers with them. There is even talks of a future Bingo game with the kids playing too.

This past week we got together to make card with the residents, for the kids at Vidant Hospital. We found a connection with the hospital for children who receive outpatient chemo and others service through the children's hospital. We thought this would be a great way to love of the residents at the nursing home as well as some sick children who might need a pick me up during the week.

I could not have been more please with how the projects turned out. Everyone enjoyed themselves. It seemed a great lesson for the kids to learn, especially around Valentine's Day: loving people with our actions, our words, and our time.

 

Eden was able to work with Miss Sarah and Lydia making beautiful cards.

Josiah was the sticker king. He helped these ladies peel and place their stickers  on the cards. At one point he disappeared. I found him handing out cards to some of the residents in the front room. He didn't seem to understand the idea that the cards were not staying with the residents at the nursing home. It was "not fair!" So I let him pass out his cards to the little old ladies and the little old men. They loved it and him :)

Titus was also able to participate. He could put stickers on the papers. I am so happy that even as a 2 year old he get to participate in activities like these.

My favorite gifts :)

I forgot to post these during the holidays. These are by far my favorite gifts!

A special little heart

  Eden had her two year post operation cardiology appointment today. She has been medically cleared and has the heart of a normal 6 year old. I am in awe as I type this because I see the  hand of God all over this child. It is such a relief to finally be able to say that her little heart is completely healed.

Eden was 2 months old when she was diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). We were told that if she didn’t grow out of it that she would have to have surgery, which she did at age 4. You can find more information about SVT here and Eden's story here. Essentially, Eden’s heart raced for no reason. We never knew when or how often Eden would have and episode. During one ER visit her heart was recorded beating 278 beats a minute. That is a dangerously high level. She had surgery in January of 2012 to ablate (or destroy) the tissue that was causing her heart to race.

Eden has done remarkably well since her surgery. Even though she is petite, she is growing well. Her growth spurts are possible because her heart isn't struggling with being tachycardic and dealing with medication. 

God has been so gracious to allow us to be Eden's parents. He has taught us many lessons though her illness and recovery. She is such an amazing little girl and has such a special little heart.

Out takes

It seems every time we try to take a family photo, I get way more outtakes than I do usable pictures. But the outtakes are always some of my favorite.

Josiah was in this picture but it was just his bottom, 

and Titus couldn't keep his tongue in his mouth.

Check out those expressions!

Josiah looking away

And another questionable expression

This was one of my favorite outtakes;

My silly boy!

The reality of life :)

Don't buy into the lie that quiet time has to be quiet in order for God to speak. Squirming, active children in a motion filled home is ripe soil for the Gospel. It's supposed to happen this way because this is real life with young children; at least that's what I keep telling myself. We attempt to have Bible reading as part of our daily life.  Most days it happens. Some days, life gets crazy and it doesn't. Some times it goes well. The kids sit still and listen. Great truths of our faith are shared.....

 Other times..... bad attitudes, unrealistic expectations and life with young children happens too.  Kids squirm. They tickle or hit the sibling sitting beside them. They are grossed out by whatever they just put in their mouth! Any number of things can interrupt the "formality" of our teaching.

 

Thankfully we've been instructed by scripture that teaching the Bible doesn't have to be a complicated thing.  Deuteronomy 6:7-9, "Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates." 

The reality of life with kids is that they are not going to sit still. The best listening they do is when they are engaged in the story, acting along, answering questions and are allowed to interrupt to ask. questions. I've been amazed at some of the thing they want to know.

Josiah needs something to do while he listens. Often, I will give him a toy car or something to occupy his hands. I've learned, even when they are running around or playing they are still learning. Sometimes, I'm amazed at what they pick up when I think there is no way they heard what I was saying. 

It's also a relief to know it is a continually process. We hope that we will have many years to share these truths with our children. We've read through many different children's Bibles with them. Many of the stories of the faith have been repeated over and over. The kids can can bring up details and facts that have been building over the past few years. We are also able to get onto more complicated and mature issue as they mature. It is our goal to help them see how all of the stories are not just individual stories, but are all connected. They are all part of the ultimate story; the story of Christ.

Christmas Parade

Our homeschool group was able to participate in our towns Christmas play. The

kids had a blast and we were able to put "normal" faces on homeschooling in our community.
 

 

In the Wilderness

 I feel as if we're keeping Moses's pace in the wilderness in getting through our History and Bible curriculum. Maybe we can complete our lessons in less than 40 years! While we're moving slow, I have to remind myself, we've covering important material, the basis for our faith. There is no reason to rush our children learning this material. God taught the Israelites many lessons on trust and obeying while they wandered. He'll teach us as well.

As part of our studies on the Exodus, we had a dress up lunch and tried foods like the ancient Israelites ate. I was as excited to try it as the kids were, But I didn't dress up. We have tried pita chips, hummus, lentils and barley though these studies. Most of our family liked it; Josiah doesn't, but they probably didn't have hot dogs and macaroni and cheese in Egypt. I have tried to add these new foods to our regular meals. In fact, I made a chicken and barley meal last night that was delicious. Barley will probably replace rice for our family because of the nutritional superiority. If you haven't tried it, please go pick up a bag and you can thank me later.

We borrowed costumes from the church. The kids loved getting into character.

 First we played a matching game on hospitality found in ancient customs.

We also read about life during the Exodus and looked at pictures of the area to see what it might have been like to live during those times.

Then we had lunch, lentils, pita chips, dried cranberries and raisins.

My picky eater trying somthing new. 

He liked the pita chips, but not the lentils.
Eden liked it all :)