Back to back birthdays for these guys! Boden had his party yesterday and we all had a fun time outside with a pin-ah-ta (Boden's pronounciation), face-painting, water guns and water balloons.
I can't believe this little man is four already....
His party started off with the pinata. He picked out a cute present shaped one...
All the little kids went first....then Nissa took a turn...
An older girl from our homeschool group came over to do some face-painting. What did Boden want for his face? Here he is getting ready for the application...eyes closed...
During...
and after....a purple flower....how funny!! This kid does like flowers!
Nissa...
Cake time...
Next he opened his gifts and played with some water toys. He was a little timid with all the people everywhere but really enjoyed the party!! I love this little man!! He has such a sweet heart and loves to make you laugh. I couldn't ask for a better son!
We now have a beautiful eight year old girl on our hands!...
Nissa decided she wanted to have her birthday party at a local kids salon where she could invite a handful of girls to all receive up-do's, pedicures with foot massage and manicures. Nissa and her friends had a blast getting curly do's and sparkly fingers and toes...
And no hairdo would be complete without sparkly glitter spray...
Next stop....the nail stations.....oh so many choices...
She loved the foot massage....who doesn't?...
The cake...
Boden and Ryan dropped by the party too...
Nissa and her best friend Emily...
She was really excited that her name was on the door of the salon. When it was all over we had to make sure to get a picture of it....she felt like a celebrity!...
The whole gang of girls...
I'm so blessed to have a beautiful, smart, kind, and loving daughter. I'm also proud of her for picking great friends to surround herself with. I love my little girl so much!!
Nissa has been dying to do a cucumber eye treatment. We went out one day to buy a cucumber specifically for that but Ryan ended up eating it. Because Nissa was so bummed out about it, he told her he would treat her to a spa treatment. The kids layed out on a beach towel up in our room and he applied some kind of mask...
Since Nissa is homeschooled she doesn't have the opportunity to do a valentines box with classmates. We each decorated our own valentines bag and have been giving each other valentines over the past few weeks...
Here's a closeup of Boden's...or rather "bone-d"....ha! He doesn't care what order the letters go....as long as he has the B, O, D, E, and N somewhere on a page...
We have had a wonderful past few months full of good times with family and friends. My parents and brother's family were supposed to come down to spend Thanksgiving with us but unfortunately that didn't work out. Instead our friends came over and we indulged not in a turkey feast but in homemade pizzas and salad. Not a lot of preparation was required and it was relaxing and low key. I loved that about it. I told Nissa that we should start a new tradition and do that every year but she said no, she wants a turkey. We don't even eat meat and she wants the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving...oh well...I tried!
We didn't have snow in the forcast for Christmas to which Nissa repeatedly replied that it was going to be the worst Christmas ever. In her mind snow and Christmas are synonymous. Another fact that added to her dismay was that we were set to spend this holiday by ourselves. Little did she know that my parents would be coming to surprise her and stay that Friday to Christmas eve. They arrived at our doorstep with blinking red nose pieces and antler headbands. The look on the kids faces was priceless!
Granny love...
I didn't buy many new decorations this year. Some years I feel like getting all new things but this year I loved up on my old things. For the past several years Nissa and Boden have each had a wreath hanging on their bedroom doors that they get to decorate (usually with homemade painted gingerbread salt dough men and such) but this year we included some trees in their rooms.
Ryan made this Charlie Brown tree for Boden out of some old fake greenery. If you look closely you will see my sons choices of "ornaments" ranging from a red hot wheels car to a scorpion and lizard...
Nissa wanted...what else?...sparkly pink!...
We made lots of Christmas cookies this year. I know most people make a variety of them but we stuck to gingersnaps. I made about five batches of them! They are just about the best super soft and delicious cookies I have ever tasted! Here is the recipe if you are interested.
Making cookies after Christmas around two in the afternoon (vegan chocolate chip this time)....and still in our jammies...
I let the kiddos shape them this time around...
I was all set and determined to send out some Christmas photo cards and had some artsy photography shots planned in my head. I was going to put our little red table with chairs out on the trail behind our house and have the kids wear their santa hats and show lots of love to each other. Well...it was soggy and Boden didn't want to step in the grass to get to the trail so he started to get upset. I put the table on the patio and while Nissa fully cooperated, Boden had tears and wanted to go inside. Here is what we ended up with for the now defunct card...
Sweetest girl...
Boden is his element....tool box, tool book, battery in pants pocket...
Now this is more like it...
On Christmas eve before heading to our 7 o'clock church service we had candlelight dinner by the tree and fireplace. More homemade pizza (Nissa's request) and salad. Boden ate a car...no...just popcorn with apple juice...
One of the best parts of Christmas for me is the pure excitement on the kids faces...
See?....we have been having a great time! Looking forward to what lies ahead in this new year while remembering the past year that had been filled with too many blessings to count. God has been so good to us.
Oh and we did finally get snow...about a week after Christmas...
I believe one of the best things about homeschooling is the idea of the one room schoolhouse. Students of all ages schooling together. The younger can learn alongside the older and the older can benefit by reviewing as they help the younger. My Classical Conversations group had a field trip to an actual one room schoolhouse and was treated to a day of instruction from the year 1892...
It began with the ringing of the school bell outside while the students lined up with their basket lunches...
Nissa brought cornbread wrapped in a napkin and an apple...
Boys on one side...
Girls on the other...
Nissa's name was Anna for the day. Anna was an actual student at that time. The teacher later told us what each child had grown up to do. Anna had married a preacher and moved out west to raise a family as a minister's wife.
The student's made paper cups to drink water at lunch...
And you knew that they had to have one of these back then...
This student was caught putting snakes and bugs in the teacher's desk so he was rebuked and placed in the corner...
The yellow swallowtail butterfly and the "copper"....
Nissa's costume was a team effort. Ryan made Nissa's wings and I made the dress.
Front....
and back...
Boden originally requested to be a dollar bill though as intriguing as a project that might have been, I decided to check out Kmart and see what they had in the pre-made section. I saw this little buff cop suit and literally bursted out laughing in the aisle! Check out Boden's big muscles. How about those six pack abs...literally...six encased panels of stuffing! Can you see that one big muscle on the side of his elbow? Hmm...didn't know you could pump that muscle up. Maybe that is where you store your smokes.
Front...
and back...
Ryan is a coach (see the clipboard and vest). He bought that vest for his coach costume at Goodwill but has worn that thing every time he goes to golf so when he came down in that outfit it wasn't a change from what he usually has been wearing! Ok so he has a clipboard....
I am a groovy go-go dancer! After one loop around the neighbor in that thing I was shivering so I sat and handed out candy with my girlfriend while the boys went around again. There was another little girl who also had my outfit on! She was only three years old though and rocked it way better than me!
Wow it has been awhile since I have posted anything. Nearly everyday I have the plan to pop my camera's memory card into the computer, choose some great pictures and write something on this blog to accompany them. Time seems to have moved fast this summer and early fall. Homeschool has begun and with one year under my belt I feel things are working smoother. Life just seems so busy though I know we all feel that way with each of our own lives. I'm trying to relax...slow down...live in the moment and enjoy what I have. Fall is a great time to do that.
So what have we been up to?
Hitting the local apple orchards...
Sending up balloons for Mae's birthday...
Losing a nail from being slammed in the car door..."but it growing back - see?"...
Getting good sleep...
Going to preschool two days a week...
Going on a surprise mommy-daughter Disney trip. Complete with first airplane ride...
Face painting at Animal Kingdom...
One of a few self taken pictures of us. Nissa did not want to have our picture taken so I did my best. I asked her if she wanted one in front of the castle but she was not interested in that either. She told me she'll remember the castle in her mind...not in a picture...
Just wanted to share a few things we've been up to lately.
Identifying trees...
Painting with friends...
Golfing with daddy...
I marked their balls so we know the appropriate owner...
Falling sleep with your leg in the popcorn bowl...
Wheeeeeee!!....
Chillin' with some garlic bread and cheese-its...
We have just been enjoying our recent rhythm that has us moving back and forth from the cool oasis of home and playing at various parks. It's been really hot and muggy here over the past few weeks but we've managed to hit a park almost every day. I love how the heat doesn't bother the kids like it does me...wish I could be more like them in that aspect. We head out in the mid morning so we don't sweat too bad. We've been having a great time trying to find 10 new (not only new but good) parks to go to this summer that Nissa put on our summer list. We found one that they really like so they have been wanting to go back to that one more often. Hey...it's all about the fun!
