The Month That Was...

It has been a busy few weeks since my last blog post.  Frankly, busy doesn't begin to describe it.  So, here's the best way to catch you all up.

My birthday. Yep.  35.  That used to sound old.  Now, not so much!  I was blessed by a couple in my church this year.  Dub shares a birthday with me, and he reminds me very much of my Grandpa.  He and his wife surprised me while I was working PDO and brought me pizza, bread sticks, a salad, and a DQ ice cream cake.  WOW!  It was his birthday and yet they were treating me!  Good, good people! 

Isabella had her first music program.  She is the first Moon child to enjoy being on the stage and was super excited for the program.  She picked out her outfit several days early and made sure all her grandparents knew when it was.  She had one line and it was memorized and repeated for a month.  It was a lot of fun to watch her on stage!

After two years of planning, we started building our neighborhood playground.  It was a lot of work, and is not quite done thanks to a few missing parts, but it's getting closer.  I'm thankful to Chris for spending 17+ hours out there.  He's a good Dad!

 

Some of the playground "helpers."

Anna completed her scientific method project for the science fair.  We have learned two important lessons.  First, it takes a while to kill a carnation -- even with boiling water.  And second, for our next science project we'll test something that will give us immediate results!  Nothing like having dying flowers on your counter for two weeks! 

We've been doing a lot of reading late at night. Like Sophia's head lamp? 

And we started an after-school Bible Club at our kids' elementary school.  19 kids have been signed up despite the fact that we weren't allowed to send home fliers the way other organizations are allowed.  It was a great opportunity for my kids to learn how to live out their faith and invite their friends and classmates to the club. 

Parents' Day Out is going strong.  We've enrolled 9 kids in the last three weeks without advertising.  It's keeping me busy, but these sweet kiddos are so much fun!

We've also been de-cluttering.  Man, we have a lot of stuff!  We've been selling it off through craigslist (LOVE IT!) and through a massive garage sale.  It's amazing how much stuff we've gotten rid of - and don't miss - and how much more we can still weed out.  Why do we let our lives/homes get this cluttered to begin with? 

We've had swim practice twice a week that keeps us driving up to Newton.  And a field trip to Cow Town.  Sorry, growing up in Dodge City, I still think Boot Hill is better.  The kids had fun and Sam was able to tag along with the second graders.  He came home and took a long nap! 

We've had snow and ice, and we got to meet baby lambs and ride a donkey. 

 

 

And Easter.  Well, when you're a Children's Minister - Easter is a busy time.  And your kids are put to work.  We had an egg hunt at church and hosted our fifth annual neighborhood egg hunt. 

But Easter is also a good time.  And one of the few times I can get my girls to wear matching dresses.  Aren't they cute? 

We've been doing lots of home renovation projects finishing up the conversion we started a year ago putting in white trim and doors.  Better late than never!   And this weekend we'll be volunteering with Love Wichita to serve alongside other area churches at their annual day of service.  Whew, I think that's most of it.

So, if I haven't called.  I'm sorry.  If I have been scattered when we've talked.  Sorry again.  I'm trying to do so much and I think I've hit my limit this month on what's actually doable.  The good thing is that I can't actually remember the last time anyone in our family said the dreaded words, "I'm bored." 

March Madness Brackets - Moon Style

Chris and I always have a friendly little March Madness competition.  Last year I actually beat him.  It was a first.  And, I'll be honest.  It wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be because I filled out my bracket based solely on rankings.  Usually I follow my heart a little.  I root for some underdogs, pick teams based on their names, mascots, or school colors (seriously!) and don't pick some teams because I don't like that they usually win.  It's not the smartest way to fill out a bracket!  And I don't have a very good success rate, but it's more fun! 

This year I decided to have the girls play along with us.  Sam had no interest in it whatsoever.  I explained what all the numbers meant and they were off.  Sophia filled hers out based on a combination of their rankings and the number of games they've won.  This has Akron and Bucknell going pretty far!  She believes Gonzaga will beat Kansas in the championship game. 

Anna filled hers out solely based on the number of wins each team had during the season with only a few exceptions.  Again, Bucknell does really well making it to the elite 8.  She also has Gonzaga beating KU in the finals. 

Isabella was hilarious!  And it was so much fun helping her fill out her bracket.  She picked by the names she liked best.  St. Mary's made it to the final four, and Marquette and Iona were big favorites to win.  In the end, she has K-State beating KU for the championships.

Then Chris and I filled out our brackets.  I'm not sure his strategy but he has Gonzaga beating Miami in the end.   And I didn't have a clear strategy.  Some games I picked by their ranking, some by the games they've won, some because I like their name.  You know, important stuff.  I have Gonzaga beating Indiana.  We'll see how that goes. 

As of right now, I'm proud to say that I'm in the lead having picked 26 games successfully.  Chris is behind me with 24.  Sophia has 22, and Anna and Isabella both picked 19 games correctly.  That will all change though since I had Georgetown making it to the final four.  Not a good choice.  

I'll let you know how it goes.  So far, I'm lovin' it! 

Because she said she wanted to go to the beach for Spring Break...

Sophia has her heart set on going to the beach.  She loves all things ocean-related and thinks going to the beach will  be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G because she can collect sea shells.  Only one problem.  We live in Kansas.  We're about as land-locked as you get.  But, I thought I'd humor her on Friday and tell her I was taking everyone to the beach. 

You can imagine the excitement - until I told her we were going to the beach at a El Dorado Lake.  Totally not the same, I know.  She didn't want to even go because the whole point in going to the beach would be the sea shells.  No sea must mean no sea shells, right?  I took them anyways. 

After about 10 seconds at the beach, she was one excited little girl!  Because, lakes do in fact have sea shells!  The kids ran around collecting shells, walking in the FREEZING water, and finding "treasures."  Sophia found a glass bottle to put all her small shells in and two pairs of sunglasses.  Nice. 

 

She even wrote in the sand, "I'm lovin it!"  And there's just something about little footprints in the sand.  It makes my mama heart smile! 

 

The kids didn't want to leave, but we needed to head home to make dinner.  We promised we'd take them again after they all thanked us for taking them to the beach.  So funny.  But, it just reminds me how thankful I am that they are so easy to please and have such low expectations of us as parents!!  Someday, they'll get to see a real beach!  Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the shells they brought home. 

Sadie Mae

Four weeks ago our dog, Sadie Mae passed away.  We were lucky enough to spend 11 1/2 years with her here on earth and are better because of knowing and loving her. 

She spent every waking minute of her day near one of us.  She followed me around everywhere I went and spent her nights sleeping in our bed, near our bed, or over the last year or two she would sleep in bed with Isabella.  That's where she had the most room! 

 

She lived to love.  What other purpose in life is there really? 

Our kids have struggled.  Isabella is all heart and is super sensitive.  She'll burst into tears at any given moment which usually sets off Anna.  Sam talks matter-of-factly, as only a four year-old can, about seeing her in Heaven someday.  Sophia.  Oh, my sweet, Sophia.  Sadie was her very best friend.  And a month later, she is still crying herself to sleep.  It is devastating as a parent to watch, but I know it's so very important for her to learn to grieve.  She is not an emotional child at all.  So when she's sobbing, it cuts deep for me. 

I tried explaining how some great grandparents had passed away in years past and that it hurt a lot at first, but slowly we healed some and could remember the great times with them and hurt a little less.  She said, "Mom, those were relatives, Sadie is family."  Ugggh.  It's true.  She is family.  And it hurts.  A lot. 

I promised the kiddos I'd put together a photo album of pictures of Sadie that they could look through anytime they want.  We had a small scrapbook from our "before kids" and "before digital cameras" stage.  I scanned those pages into my computer and started going through the other 10 years of digital pictures.  I had over 900 pictures with Sadie in them.  Yikes!  I narrowed that down to about 140 and made a Shutterfly album.  Thankfully, that will come in the mail soon.  But you can view it on my blog at the very bottom of the page.  Feel free to look over it - but be warned, it really is a condensed version of the last 10 years of our life.  Four babies, four homes, three different towns.  And a whole lot of love! 

21 Inches of Snow...

It's been a very long time since we've had a lot of snow around here.  Last week's snow storm officially brought 14.2 inches.  Then yesterday we got another 6.8.  Wow - 21 inches!  That's a lot of snow!  The kids have had a great time building forts and snowmen and have enjoyed 4 snow days away from school. 

 

 

We ran out of shovels so Sam and Isabella started shovelling the driveway with my garden tools.  It was pretty slow going! 

 

 

 

And this is what happens when you get stuck inside for too long with your sisters and brother. 

 

 

We've really loved having all this snow and it's just absolutely beautiful outside.  But I think I'm going to grab a book and some hot chocolate and stay inside for a while! 

 

The Chocolate Party.

"I want a chocolate party this year for my birthday."  Um, yes.  I can do that!  I am so glad to be able to teach my kids the important things in life.  God, family, friends, and chocolate! 

Anna turned 8 yesterday.  And to make her family party complete, we borrowed a chocolate fountain from our church. Yummy!  Here are a few pictures.

 

Mini cupcakes, strawberries, cookies, wafers, marshmallows, etc.  Delicious! 

 

 

 

Looks like trouble.  Luckily Sam didn't knock the fountain over! 

 

 

Nice photo bomb Isabella!  It was so nice to see Anna smiling happily. She's still pretty shy and doesn't like a lot of attention on her.  So sitting around opening presents in front of people isn't easy.  Even though she loves the gifts, she usually has a hard time showing joy and thankfulness in front of a crowd.  But last night she did it and I was really proud of her!  Maybe it was the anticipation of the chocolate!  

 

 

 

"The chicin and the pig" - A story by Isabella

Sunday, Isabella wasn't feeling great.  Her cough was still wearing her out so I let her come to our Sunday School class with us instead of hers.  I gave her some paper and crayons and she was perfectly content for the next hour. 

During this time she colored a picture of a house, started doing some math problems (2+2=4; 5+5=10, etc.), and wrote a story.  I LOVE reading the stories my girls have written when they were first learning to spell.  They are adorable!  Here's a picture of her story.  She first titled the story "the gumee bear" but at the end, she realized she had written about a chicken and a pig, so she had to change the title.  Below is her story as she spelled it. 

Isabella's:                                                                  Translation:
"The chicin and the pig"                                            "The chicken and the pig" 
Oun day a chicin and  a pig                                      One day a chicken and a pig
wer going to school                                                   were going to school.
the chicin was wocing                                               The chicken was walking
bawrs and win he                                                      backwards and when he
turnd arouwnd he bumt                                             turned around he bumped
into the wol he noct himself the                                 into the wall.  He knocked himself.  The
pig cam and smac                                                     pig came and smacked
t his fas and that is haw he wock up                         his face and that is how he woke up.
dee end.                                                                    The end.

So stinkin' funny!  I love how the pig woke up the chicken. 

Now, she can clearly spell the word "the."  And she's heard a million stories in her lifetime end with "the end."  But apparently she's alway's thought it was "dee end."  But seriously, that's a lot of sentences (even though there's only one period in the entire story) for a kindergartener to write.  It's just so fun to watch them learn!