First Snow

Okay Okay...so it's been a while since my last post.

The last couple of months have been insane! Life is so busy! The kids are doing great - Isaac is doing so well at school. He is part of the advanced reading group which includes one other little girl. These two are reading at 2nd grade level. It is so amazing to watch his progress.

Hope was just in her Christmas Concert. She was an angel - and she did a fabulous job yelling...I mean singing. :)

On December 7th - we celebrated Christmas with Katharina and Nadira. We woke up early and exchanged gifts so that they could experience some of our Christmas traditions. It was great fun and the kids really liked having an extra Christmas.

This morning - I took Katharina to the airport. She is flying to Florida to meet her parents where they will vacation for 3 weeks before heading back to Denmark. It was hard to see her go. We did some really fun things when she was here. It is amazing to me the way we discovered Seattle again. We take so many things for granted. We have lived here for so long, and we forget what an amazing state we live in!

Last night after Hope's concert it snowed. This morning Isaac, Hope and Chad built their first snowman. Enjoys the pics!

Time Flies!

Wow! It has been a long time since my last blog! I am not sure that I can type everything that has happened since mid September ... Here are some highlights.

At the end of September and begining of October, our exchange students Nadira and Katharina arrived at our home. We were a little nervous about hosting students - but God has truely blessed us with these girls! They are so sweet, helpful, trustworthy, fun etc. etc. It is an absolute joy to have them in our home! The kids really love them as well. It has been a little tough to get used to the schedule - but we are hanging in there!

Isaac got his cast off on October 14th. He was so happy, and we were thrilled to find out that he doesn't need surgery.

October 15th was my last day working at the kids school, and on the 20th I began my new position at Vulcan Inc. This was a tough job to get - 6 interviews, a background check, credit check and a background / reference check done by a private investigator! Chad and I feel blessed by God's provisions for our families!

Things change...

We went back to the Dr. yesterday so he could check on Isaac's foot. I was under the impression that he would be moved into a walking cast. Unfortunately, the prognosis isn't that great. Apparently, the bone that Isaac broke rarely repairs itself and usually requires surgery. We don't want to jump the gun - so the Dr. put a cast on and has referred us to an Orthopedic Specialist. We will check in with the Orthopedist in a couple of weeks and go from there.

Isaac is getting much better at the crutches. Yesterday was his first day back at school, and I think he really enjoyed the attention. His posse of friends (Caleb, TJ, Aaron and Kobe) all were fighting over who could help him, sit by him etc. I am sure the novelty will wear off soon, but for now I am grateful that he has such a great bunch of buddies. I am attaching a photo of Isaac getting his cast on, as well as one of him without the cast - if you look closly enough - you can see the bruising on his foot even in a photo!

In other news...we found out yesterday that Green River CC didn't assign us a 2nd Denmark student as we thought. This is frustrating because we have been rushing to remodel our upstairs to make a 5th bedroom to accomodate a second student. After expressing our frustration with this, we were assigned a student from Indonesia. Nadira will be arriving on Friday and will remain with us until the Spring. Katharina (from Denmark) will join us October 2nd to make for a very full house! Please pray for us!!!



More updates later....

A crazy life!

So much can happen in a week!

On Wednesday night at school - Isaac fell and broke his foot. It is a huge bummer for him because it looks like he will not be able to play football this year. He is on crutches, and for now is not allowed out of his recliner. We will go back to the doctor for an evaluation on Monday. Right now - he is enjoing this because he gets to play alot of Playstation - but I am sure the boredom will set in soon enough!

On October 2nd we have two students from Denmark coming to stay with us. They are part of the International Program at Green River Community College. We are really excited to have them here. They will be with us until December 13th. I am attaching a photo of Katharina - she is a 17 year old who loves to swim and teaches swim lessons to children.

I have been interviewing for a new job. I am expecting an offer today from a company that I would really LOVE to work for. I will keep everyone posted. Please pray for this!

Isaac turns 6!

Today, Isaac turned 6 years old!
As I went about my day, it was hard to believe that 6 years ago on this day, I was doing something TOTALLY different! For those who don't know - I am extremely sentimental about the day Isaac was born. Not only was it amazing to me that I was finally a mom - but I am so grateful to God that He allowed me to have the birthing experience that I did. Everything about that day was so phenomenal to me - and I love that I still remember it so well! Anyway, Isaac was born at 8:17am - so at 8:17 this morning I shared a long hug with my very tall 6 year old, and I cried. Time goes by so fast. It is so exciting and yet a little sad at the same time.
We had a great weekend. Saturday night we had the whole family over to celebrate. I am including some pictures from that; and then on Sunday, Chad took Isaac to the Seahawks game (we lost 33-30 in overtime) and then we met them at California Pizza Kitchen - which is Isaac's favorite restaurant. Then it was off to Target to spend his birthday money - (don't want it to burn a hole in his pocket) - wait....did I just say that????? Whatever - he has been saving for a huge Indiana Jones lego set, and he recieved enough for his birthday to add to what he already had from weeding to make the purchase. He is very excited, now he just has to wait for Chad to put it all together!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD!!!

This has been a crazy week!

Well, we survived the 1st week of school. I am not sure that I have ever been so glad to see a Friday before! I asked Isaac is he liked his teacher, Mrs. Howard. He isn't sure yet. I asked him if she has alot of rules - "Mrs. Howard only has one rule; No problems!" (sounds good to me!!!)
There is no rest for the weary - Saturday the 6th was Isaac's birthday party. He got to invite 6 friends over to watch Indiana Jones and have pizza. Wow - was that insane. I think the boys only watched about 20 minutes of the movie. They did have a pillow fight, a sword fight, and then Chad finally marched them uphill to the park to get some of their energy out. This morning, Isaac asked if he could have all those friends over again (No WAY!!!!) because "that was the funnest birthday party." That's all I needed to hear - the party was a success! But next year his party will be anywhere but at my home!
Sunday the 7th Isaac starts Flag Football. We will send out pictures when we have some.

First day of school

Well - today was it - the first day of Kindergarten for Isaac. I have a feeling that he was a little nervous and overwhelmed. I truely think we underestimate the big change that Kindergarten can be!
We love the kids school - we feel so fortunate that they are able to attend a school where they can learn about and praise Jesus!!!! Isaac's teacher this year is Mrs. Howard. She is a sweet, soft spoken - but strict teacher who has been given the daunting task of teaching 1st grade combined with 9 of the more advanced Kindergarteners. The children in this split class, were chosen based on academics and behavior. We are thankful that Isaac was chosen to be challenged in this way. The unfortunate part is that only one of Isaac's friends is in this class with him. Aaron and Isaac have been friends since the beginning - but I think Isaac was hoping to be in a class with more of his buddies.
I didn't realize how nervous I was for Isaac! It seems silly - but I worried about him a lot today. I know he did great - and every day will get easier. The day ended on a sour note when my son screamed at me (for the first time) "I hate you..." I realize this is probably the first of many, but it broke my heart. I am sure you moms out there can understand.
Anyway - I am grateful that the day is over, and tomorrow will hopefully be better.

Chelan

We just spent 5 days in Chelan with Grandma, Papa, Shannon and Ben. It was nice to have a little get away before school gets started. Unfortunately for me - I managed to come down with the "flu" and spent most of the time in bed. Luckily - Isaac and Hope LOVE to spend time with Grandma, Papa, Shannon and more recently Ben - so mommy got a chance to rest and the kids had plenty of fun.
Isaac's favorite part was riding the Seadoo with Daddy. We really weren't sure that he would like it at all - but he had a blast and even got a bit daring on his rides. Hope went on the Seadoo once with Daddy - but said it was "scary but fun." Her favorite part was swimming. She definately is a water baby!
This trip definately had a sound track. With Rock Band and the kids we sang alot of songs...but there did seem to be a Theme Song for our vacation... I will let Shannon (or Ben) sing it for you... :)
Shannon and Ben brought the Wii and we played some of the sports games (Isaac is freakishly good at anything involving sports or computers) and Chad is totally obsessed with Rock Band.
It was a great week - and we are looking forward to doing it again next year.

Hope

I feel like this has been such a big year for Isaac....T-Ball, graduation,sleep overs - so I found some adorable pictures of Hope I thought I would share.

Hope celebrated her 3rd birthday March 10th. Auntie Shannon came over on the 10th and we had pancakes (Hope's request) and went to Dairy Queen for desert. We had a fun night!

The second round of pictures is Hope playing with her friend Breckin who lives 3 houses down from us. Since our neighborhood is still under construction, the kids love to go exploring, play in the dirt and look at all of the machines. Hope and Breckin had a blast and got REALLY dirty!

The sleep-over that wasn't....

Last night Isaac had his friend T.J. over for his first sleep over. The boys were so excited! Their reaction when they were told about the sleep over was priceless (T.J. fell over -literally). The boys played legos, played game boy and laughed alot.
I tried really hard to be the cool mom - I didn't even make T.J. eat his carrots at dinner - but alas, when it came to be lights out time, T.J. wanted his mommy. This was of course devastating to Isaac and he cried for a long time. When I talked to him about it, he said that if he was at T.J.'s house, he would want his mommy too.
At this point, I think we will wait a little longer before we do a sleep over again. Isaac said he would like to wait until his is 6 1/2. Here are some pictures BEFORE lights out time - along with a cute picture of Hope and Kaia for good measure!

4th of July

The fourth of July was a quiet one for us this year. With gas prices as insane as they are - we decided to stay close to home. I have to say - it was really nice.
We took the kids to a movie and then out for lunch. After naps, our neighborhood closed off the cross streets so that the kids could ride their bikes. Everyone brought out food. Once it got dark, we did some fireworks. The kids loved it! The neighborhood up the hill had some amazing fireworks. We had the best of everything.

Pre-school "Graduation"

Well, Isaac has officially "graduated" from the Jr. Kindergarten class and will be in Kindergarten starting in the fall. It is so strange that he is old enough to go to actual school. Weren't we just celebrating his arrival??? He used to fit in one of Chad's arms, now he is almost up to my shoulders. AHH!! Anyway - we are so blessed for the kids to go to an amazing private school called Rainier Christian. We are so glad that he is able to go to a school that teaches him about Jesus. He really loves it there - and has several really great friends. Isaac, TJ and Aaron (commonly referred to as the Three Muskateers) have so much fun together - and are pretty much inseperable. Isaac also loves to hang out with his friend Jack, and more recently has started having a "crush" on Joanna ( just kill me now...) I was just informed tonight by Joanna's mother that Joanna says that she is going to marry Isaac! Boy do they start young!
In the "graduation" ceremony each of the kids had to say what they want to be when they grow up, and Isaac's anwer was "a cop." I wonder how long that will last. :)

Memorial Day 2008

We had a blast playing at the cabin (Whidbey Island) for Memorial Day. The kids spent a long weekend with Mor Mor and Far Far and I brought Kaia with me on Saturday. The family celebration was a great time - and it was so amazing to see how big the kids have gotten ( and how small some of the moms have gotten...way to go!!!) The cousins don't get to see each other that often - but when they do they have a great time! We are all so blessed with all the cousins - and the most ideal setting....the beach cabin!

Summer Begins

Here are a few cute pics of the kids playing in the sun and water at Grandma and Papa's house. This, by the way is the ONLY year you will see Hope in a bikini! The kids had a blast - the weather was beautiful!

T-Ball

This is Isaac's second year playing T-ball. What a difference a year makes! This year the players look like they actually understand some of the technique and strategy regarding the game. They are doing a great job throwing the runners out at first. It has been really fun to watch how the kids have changed. Isaac is playing with the same group of kids (mostly boys - the coaches kid is the only girl) as he did last year, plus a couple of his friends from church are on the team too. Chad is the assistant coach - so that has been fun for both of them. Go Warriors!

In April - Auntie Shannon (aka "Bob") took Isaac to an event at Husky Stadium. The kids got to go from station to station practicing different aspects of football. Isaac hasn't stopped talking about it. The day ended with a scrimmage between all the husky players.

Fun family day

We had the opportunity to spend the afternoon at the "farmette" of a family in our church. The weather was perfect! The kids got to fish, paint rocks, chase frogs and pet pygmy goats. It was such a fun day and Chad and I really enjoyed getting to know people at our new church.