Happy New Year!

Wednesday evening marked the start of Rosh Hashanah- The Feast of Trumpets.

It's the biblical new year.

old testament and new, you should look it up;)

Jesus celebrated it.

To sum it up:

Creation

Repentance

Salvation

and the return of Christ!

AMEN

Me and Derek made some Challah.

Biblical braided bread.

(say that 3 times fast! )

So yummy. I did feel bad b/c it's my brothers favorite.I know he would love to be eatin' it.

Last year we celebrated Rosh Hashanah with my mother and brother. we missed them this year.

One of the traditions is to eat apple dipped in honey symbolizing a sweet year.

So we did that the first night with dinner.

Then for the second night i made an apple dessert.

Apple Pie Pockets.

Inside is a combination of butter,honey,cinnamon,sugar, and apples.

Really good. We ate them with vanilla icecream.

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah will rise first" (1Thessalonians 4:16).

For us the blast of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah is not just a call to repentance, but a reminder of Jesus' return.

And we blew it loud!

Random Kid Conversations

Kaveri- "mom why do some peoples eyes go like this"  

        imagine her making chinese eyes like you did as a kid

Me- "that's how God made them"

Kaveri- " I hate that. Its freakin' me out!"

Kirstin- "it's so hot. I'm going to stand in my shadow so i can get some shade"

        and she was totally serious!

Me- "goodnight girls, love you"

Kylie-" goodnight.love you. don't let bugs in your bed bite you"

Me- going upstairs with the thought of bugs biting me in my bed. great.

Kaveri- "you and daddy do xyz in bed"

Me- "WHAT!" (laughing)

Kaveri- blushing. " you know xyz"

Me- "who said that"

Kaveri- "i dunno"

we still dunno where she got that from.......

Kylie is always getting into drawers. getting stuff out and putting them in her purse. Anytime something is missing i ask her first.

One day i come up the stairs and what do i see on the step? A gold wrapper, you know those wrappers that are in your bed side table for nighttime activities.

Me: "Kylie where are you"

walking around looking for her. found another gold wrapper.

Me: "KYLIE"

still searching for her. find her behind her bedroom door.

Kylie:"Look mommy balloons" one on each hand/arm

Me: laughing.... "Derek come look at your daughter"

Derek: without really thinking her blurts out "Kylie those are for daddy's peepee"

Me:still laughing "Derek !"

We have a little talk about how she is to not get into our drawers and play with the gold wrapper balloons.

Now a few days later Derek is in the bathroom about to pee.

Kylie: "wait daddy"

running away and coming back with a 'balloon'

Me: " Kylie Rae where did you get that"

running away again and coming back with a purse with 3 more opened 'balloons'

Kylie:"don't worry mommy i didn't get in your draw again, this is from last time"

I then realize that she has literally opened half a box of special balloons and we need a new hiding place.
........................................................

So I often tell the girls things like "your so sweet i wanna take a bite of you." Or i will hug them and say "i love you so much i just wanna eat you" . Then  i will do a move called 'corn on the cob', where i play bite their arm like i were eating corn really fast.

set up: kaveri and kylie are talking/giggling on the couch.

Kaveri- "Kylie your so funny i wanna eat your face"

Kylie- laughing historically

This morning while helping Kirstin get ready for school:

Kirstin- Since i lost my tooth i can't say int-r-sting right

(about 3 days ago)

me- you mean interesting?

us laughing

then she asked for help pulling her sock up,

so i yanked it up!

Kirstin- "great mom you gave me rug burn with my sock!"



MiKayla - almost 16 months

MiKayla is getting so big. She is amazingly smart.

Walking everywhere. Following the girls up and down the stairs.

She is so funny. Great personality if i might add:)

She can say: yes, bye-bye, hi,dada, mama

And of course alot of stuff we can't understand but she fully expects us to!

Top Five Current Favorites:

1.At dinner time when we pray she holds my hand and Kylie's hand and while Derek is blessing the food she is whispering "humssohiasokoimhumei"

then when we say amen she claps.

2. When i go to the bathroom she follows and gets me toilet paper.

sometimes pretend wiping herself first.

(i have put her on the potty and she laughs but no actual peeing yet)

3. She is a total daddy's girl. she smiles when he comes home and cries at the door when he leaves.

Anytime he is laying down she wants to be his snuggle bunny. and she is constantly giving him hugs and kisses. while playing she will stop and go make sure she knows where he is.
and most of the time if she gets hurt she goes to him.
(he looks at me and laughs-he has one of them)

4. she loves to dance and it is so funny. she has this squatting move down!


5.MiKayla is great at pretend play. She can fake cry
 (like we need that)
She makes the  little noises when she pours tea into a cup. she makes little noises when she eats pretend food, and she pretend chews! when she pushes a train or barbie car she makes that moving car noise that kids make. all of these things she has learned from her big sisters. but she picks them up fast.

I am loving her sweet spirit. I am in love with her hair color, which is most like mine. Little red in there:) 
I can't resist her smile.

on a different note:
I am wondering daily why not one of my girls has my freckles or chubby cheeks?

p.s. MiKayla is running a high fever and is extremely fussy.
Her throat is not looking good.
Much needed prayer as we head to the emergency room.

p.s.s she has strep throat:/

This Guy.....

This guy has my heart.

He makes me laugh all the time.

He makes me feel safe.

He gives me a hug and a kiss every single day-

b/c i'm special!

He teaches me new things all the time.

He recently went to a barbershop. About once a month he has been going to different

barbershops trying to find the perfect hair/beard guy.

Every single time he comes home i have to correct something that they have done wrong or left behind.

But, not this time.

He made an appointment. He was on time.

When he got there a they made small talk. Him and all the men.

They asked him if he was a Rabbi. lol-must be the long beard!

He replied "I'm a Jew for Jesus"

After more small talk and background info, another man also getting a trim up- paid for Derek's

Hair cut and beard trim.

Although it may not look like it, he got a ton cut off his beard. At the least 3 inches.

He feels a little naked:(

Everyday he walks with Christ.

Everyday our family is blessed.

LOVE  and CHERISH HIM.

4th grade Update

Kirstin is loving school.

She has a bestfriend named Mya.

Mya is taller than me.

She is having her first test today.

One in spelling and one in social studies.

We studied. She made a 100 on her practice spelling test.

She has a rap song to help her remember her

social studies map.

She has continued her daily devotionals. Score.

Packed her lunch today:

-turkey and cheese sandwhich

-bag of chips

-carrot sticks

-3 cookies

-bottle of water

LunchBox love fact:

Side one- Did you know Goofy's first name

was "Dippy Dawg", then "Dippy the Goofy",

and finally Goofy.

side two- I love you just the way you are.

Signed her homework folder.

Prayed bressings over her day one the way to school.

Came back home. Read the bible.

...............................................................................................................................................................

At 11:00 notice Kirstin's lunchbox on the kitchen counter.

Burn.

Eyes rolling.

Its lunch time in 5 minutes, hope she likes something they are serving.

huffing and puffing.



4th Grade Here We Come!

Its official, Kirstin is in the fourth grade.

When she was assigned her teacher, all of Kirstin's friends were calling the house saying she had the meanest hardest teacher and that she better switch.

We met her teacher. Her name is Mrs. Shumaker.

First thing she said " i bet you've heard rumors that i'm hard and mean.......they are true"

LOL....Mine and Kirstin's mouth dropped open.

She is extremely organized. She has high expectations. And she said there is little room for non-sense. She does not tolerate bullying.

 She said "i hope you don't like cookie-cutter teachers that stick to the curriculum b/c i don't do that. i teach them what they need to know and then i take it a step further so they will be ready for 5th,6th, and 7th grade"

That being said, we do better with organization. We have had both kinds of teachers and the organized ones are best for us. Kirstin seems to really like her. She will have her own macbook to use through-out the year.She is at  the hardest reading level. She has two days of music/band. Two days of P.E. And one day of art where she will actually make some pottery pieces.
...........................................................................................................

First day of school went like this:
-Woke up, got dressed
-Packed her lunch
-Made her breakfast
(yes, it's ramon noodles. she requested them)
-Did a miniature bible devotional

-Head out the door

-Got to school
-Walked her into her class room

I wanted to take her picture sitting at her desk.
She did not like that and was embarrassed.
"no mom, no, please go "

little boy sitting next to her "do you think your the only one who gets embarrassed by there mom taking pictures"

little boy next to him " yeah , my mom loves to take pictures, especially on the first day of school"

This is what i got .

Now imagine steam coming from her ears:

"love you, bye mom, bye,bye,bye"

Me: "love you. see you after school"

a little tear, looking back multiple times to make sure she isn't crying for me....

a mom can dream!

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend we did alot of relaxing.

Well i did do laundry :( its my arch enemy)

But mostly alot of chillaxing.

The girls jumped in the sprinkler almost everyday for literally hours.

It was kinda hot. That is until actual labor day. our high is 66!

We also had Emma over. They played dress up and pop star. where everyone sings and makes up dances.

Me and Derek did a ton of cooking. It was so fun.

Friday- First we made a pie.

I call it Very Berry Pie:  

it consisted of crust,

 peaches, blueberries, and raspberries (you remember all those berries we picked and froze) also the peaches were Pennsylvania peaches-yum

the filling was made of half n half, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and sugar

it was so good. words can not explain. Derek's new summer favorite.

Second we made a huge mexican salad.

-meat,beans,cheese,lettuce,tomatoes,blackolives,sourcream,avacados,chips.  everyone ate it up super quick.

sry no pic.

Saturday- Emma's mom sent over a giant box of green and yellow beans. And I do mean giant!

Our poor little gean bean bushes (and our sugar snap peas) did not stand a chance against the monsters, a.k.a. zucchini and squash. so we only had a few nights of beans. But, Emma's mom has a 50 x 50 garden so she has 4 rows of beans. and lucky for us, she is super generous. So back to the beans. There were so many in that box  that even if we ate them everyday this weekend for breakfast, lunch, and dinner we would still not consume them all. So i googled how to can greenbeans. We have several cans from all the pickles we made from our garden. But i had no pressure cooker. There seemed to be some health risks without one. So i googled freezing them. That seemed to be easy enough. Clean, snap, boil each batch for 3 minutes, then blanch each batch in ice water for 3 minutes, drain, and finally bag in freezer. we made about 9 bags! Plus i had a huge fresh pot to cook for dinner. Heck i even had a big pot of green/yellow beans that i smothered in gravy and mixed with dog food. My dogs do love them some veggies:)

Sunday-  My hubby has been eating alot of greek yogurt and granola these days. We really like both organic.  Well, thats super expensive and i try to be on budget. So i googled how to make granola. I liked two different recipes so i  made up my own.

I made a huge batch.

ingredients:

 rolled oats(not the done in a minute kind)

oat bran

sunflower seeds

almonds, pecans, walnuts

shredded coconut (not to much b/c Derek doesn't like big quantities)

salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla,

 real maple syrup (got it at our downtown organic farmers market)

raw honey

apple sauce

lil' bit of oil

all the ingredients were organic except oil and applesauce

cooked at 250 degrees for one hour and fifteen minutes- stirring every 15 minutes for even cooking.

The house smelled so good. The hunny loves it and so do all the girls:)

next time i'm gonna try a peanut butter granola.yum

we ended up with two of these filled
plus i sent some home with Emma

And finally chicken tetrazzini with green and red bell peppers from our garden:)

Summer Wrap Up

The last month of summer:

-got home from beach

-dad visited from tx. he took the girls everywhere and anywhere. celebrated his birthday. he graciously treated our family to alot of fun stuff!

-mom,jeff, and william moved back to tx.SAD! she told me it was so hot that she actually thought her cold water wasn't working. but nope, it was just that hot. one of the hottest tx summers to date!

-Kirstin took a trip to tx to visit all the family. she had a ton of fun bouncing around from house to house and came back super tan.

- gramma donna visited. kylie kept calling her mamma. we had tons of fun. everyone wanted to get in her suitcase to go back home with her.

-and during all that stuff, we had some trips to the zoo, a waterpark a few times, the dancing water fountain, a couple of hunts for batman- yes, pittsburgh is so cool that the whole month of august they were filming the new batman movie, gardening, and lots of lots of pictures.
(which i dont have time to add right now. sry.)