Spring Camping Trip 2011

Over and over, throughout the course of our marriage, Jason and I have heard it stated (from various sources) that "One of the best things you can do to promote closeness within a family is to go camping together".  

We took the kids on their first camping trip about a year and a half ago, in a tent borrowed from friends.  The kids were still a little small to get the full effect of the trip, but we still had a great time.  This time around, we decided we were ready to make the investment in a tent of our own, so we are now the proud owners of an 8-sleeper, cabin-style tent.  Sure, it's twice as big as we need, but if we're going to survive in the great outdoors for 2 or more nights, it's nice to be able to have a little room to spread out.  My other favorite purchase for this trip was a $3 door mat, which we kept outside the main entrance of our tent, to wipe our feet and leave our shoes on.  Made a world of difference in keeping the inside of the tent clean(er).

Thanks to friends of our good friends the Hindmans (who, incidentally, are also named "Jason and Angela" and have a daughter and son the same ages as Norah and Eli), or more accurately Angela's dad, Dr. Case, we had an amazing camp site, right on the water at Inks Lake.  (The only down side to this was that Norah and Eli wanted to jump in the water the instant we arrived, and didn't stop asking all weekend long, even after we took a dip)

Another perk to camping with the Hindman/Case clan was the presence of the Case's 2, college-age kids, each of whom had brought along a few friends. (Translation: there was ALWAYS someone fun for the kids to play with, because everyone knows that pre-schoolers think college students are the coolest people on the planet!)  Norah loved her first-ever canoe trip with Helen's Uncle Steven.  (The Daddies also took out all of the kids for a longer row later in the weekend)

There was a group of ducks that hung out around our camp site all weekend long.  At one point, one of the College girls decided to try her hand at duck wrangling while we all looked on, in typical, camp-style entertainment. (That's how we roll)

After watching her several failed attempts, Jason rolled up his sleeves
and decided to show everyone how it was done.

Duck-0, Jason-1.  Total time elapsed, 8 seconds.  (Turns out, when fishing for ducks, a little bit of bread goes a long way :)
 

The kids (and college students) were all impressed with Daddy Doolittle's mad duck charming skills.

After a brief petting zoo photo op, Daffy was released back into the wild (No animals were harmed in the filming of this incident).

Much of the weekend was spent playing washers.
  Eli developed a mild obsession with one of the college girls (Hannah), and followed her around everywhere she went.  Thankfully, she was equally enthralled with him, admitting to us early Saturday morning that one of her goals for the day was to "Score a photo of herself and Eli for her Facebook profile"

We had two night's worth of beautiful, lakeside sunsets...wished I would have taken photos of both nights.  The first was vibrant pink--so different from the second.  It made me stop and think about what a creative God we have....painting a totally unique shade of sunset 365 days a year...and yet most days, they are only an afterthought for me, if I even take the time to notice.  Camping was a good way to remind myself to take time to notice the beauty of the world around me.

The second night, while the adults were cleaning up dinner, we noticed that Eli and Isaac had procured a football and were attempting to play a game of catch.  It was so cute (and funny) to watch them mimicking their Daddies' actions from earlier in the day.  (The Jasons had had a good, long game of toss the football prior to dinner)

Wind up, throw...and chase the ball...over, and over, and over.  It amazed me how they didn't seem to get frustrated that they never made a completion.  They were in their own little world, having a ball...literally.

We even got them to pose for a photo op, which no doubt will be worth a mint when they're both pro ballers in about 25 years.

After their game of catch, Eli was in bad need of some refreshment.  Which quickly lead to his discovery of the magic water jug.  Our little drink-aholic was in heaven, being able to refill his cup over, and over, and over...without asking permission or water intake monitoring.  

 The Jasons...pausing from a heated game of washers

Despite repeated heckling from the peanut gallery, my Jason developed some deadly, pinpoint accuracy with his "disc golf" approach to washer slinging.  (Translation: He smoked them all down)

Eli honed his "baby whispering " skills on Asher and Hope all weekend long.  (Did I mention the Hindmans brought their 7-month old twins?  Talk about some hard-core camping prowess!) Despite countless corrections, throughout the course of the weekend, Eli consistently incorrectly referred to Asher as "she" and Hope as "he", thankfully, the babies didn't really mind.

The kids also played a fair amount of whiffle ball.  The Jasons even taught Norah how to hit a ball on the fly (a skill that will no doubt come in handy when they start hitting without the tee in t-ball in a few weeks)

Just look at that intimidating stance!  Wouldn't you back up to the fences if you saw her coming to the plate?

Our last morning , we had a pancake breakfast, followed by a lakeside time of worship.  Steven Case started off a couple of songs, then said, "If anyone has a song they'd like to sing, just start it, and we'll all come in and sing along." No sooner had the words left his mouth, than a completely uninhibited  Eli burst into a lively rendition of, "I've Got Peace Like a River", and as promised, he was quickly joined by the rest of crowd. 

Another perk to our casual camp-style worship service, was that the kids all took part in our time of communion.  (Back home, in the church of Christ, it is traditional that only those who have been baptized partake in the Lord's Supper, so this was an extra-special treat for our kids) It was such a special time for our family.

After church, we broke camp and headed out, making one, final stop to sample the local fare at Storm's (a burger joint, similar to Texas Burger)

Eli has repeatedly asked if we can "eat at Storms" since we've been home, so we know he was a fan.  It was such a fun weekend, and we look forward to our next camping expedition!

A More A-peel-ing Approach to Hot Dogs

Eli has always been a good eater, quantity-wise, but was a little more picky/hesitant to try new things than his adventurous sister...until recently.  It seems that with the milestone of his third birthday, Eli has decided to become a "clean plate ranger", and in doing so, has discovered that he  likes all sorts of new foods, such as gucamole, salsa, tortillas, soup, and even baby spinach.  There isn't much he wont try these days, and 9 times out of 10, he likes it!  

One of his old favorites is a classic, plain and dry hot dog.  He's never been a big bread eater (he's more of a "where's the MEAT?" kind of guy), so Jason and I weren't too surprised to witness his new banana peel hot dog eating technique, which thankfully he hasn't made a habit of since.  Still, seeing as how it made me laugh...I thought it was photo worthy!

Thank You Note-apalooza

One tradition I have with the kids is for them to help write/make their own thank you notes, particularly after birthdays, but also for random acts of kindness they've receive throughout the year.  It began when Norah was too young to "write" thank you notes, so I let her paint/color pictures and I wrote her words, verbatim as she dictated them.  This year, she was able to make (and write) them all by herself from start to finish.

For the writing of the notes, I started her off with a template.  It basically said, "Dear _______________, Thank you for (several blank lines). Love, ____________."  Then, I read off to Norah the list of people  we needed to thank.  I let her tell me what she wanted to say to each person, and I helped her with the spelling of words, as needed.  This process took several days.  Her list of people was fairly long, and her patience with printing could only last so long...so we broke it up into daily sessions while Eli napped one week.

She made the cards by using a spinning art kit (which just happened to be one of the gifts for which she was writing a thank you note).  Simply fasten down a note card to the tray, spin, squirt on paint, and watch it fly.  Norah loved experimenting with different techniques.  After the paintings were dry, she glued them onto a half piece of cardstock, folded tent-style.  Then, just for kicks, she titled (and signed) each work of art, based on what she thought it resembled. 

She carefully chose a card for each of her note recipients, and glued the corresponding note to the inside of the card.

I addressed the envelopes, while she return address stamped, and put postage in the appropriate corners.

And voila!  Personalized, heart-felt thank you notes!  Thank you note writing is a somewhat less practiced social grace in today's e-culture, but I hope it never will be for my kids.  t's a great way to help them realize and be thankful for their many blessings, as well as to be a blessing to others.  (After all, who doesn't like to get a little bit of fun mail from time to time?)

Norah's Art

"Visions of Sugar Plums"

This one was drawn the week of Christmas (yes, I'm that far behind on updating the blog/going through my pictures on my digital camera...am I the only one?) I love that she drew all of us in our beds (since that's when Santa would have made his visit.

"Eli's Birthday"

Eli would be the one on the far left (blonde hair, green eyes), with the big #3 on his shirt (I made him a striped shirt with a number three on it to wear on his birthday). Norah is beside him with blonde hair and blue eyes, and next to her are Helen (brown eyes, blonde hair) and her brother, Isaac (brown eyes, blonde hair), both who celebrated Eli's birthday with us.

"Snow White and a Deer" (Watercolor)

She was in Disney Princess/Watercolor mode this week....

"Ariel and Eric" (Watercolor)

"Norah Misses AA" 

(I love that they are the same height in this picture!)

"Beauty and the Beast"

I LOVE this one.  You can see Belle in the center of the "stage" holding the infamous rose.  The beast is to the right.  Also pictured, Mrs. Pots, the cheeky feather duster, and Lumieer.  All the circles are bubbles, and the round thing in the lower center is a dinner plate.  (She drew this the day after we went to see "Beauty and the Beast" at OPAS, and this is the "Be Our Guest" scene...probably the highlight of the entire show for both of us)

"The Flat Family"

I really love all of Norah's art, but the Flat Family is one of my all-time favorites.   We read "Flat Stanley" (if you're not familiar with it, it's an early reader book about a boy who is flattened by a bulletin board, and as a result is able to be mailed around the country in an envelope, be flown as a kite, and many other adventures.)  Norah was completely facinated with the storyline, and decided that she wanted to make an entire flat family...so she did.  I started her off tracing Flat Stanley from the book...that's the one on the far left...and she added "girl" features like pigtails and  decorations on her shirt.  Then she got adventuresome and free handed the rest of the family.  She even cut them out, paper doll-style (there were a couple of minor limb injuries with the littlest ones, but thankfully, nothing some scotch tape couldn't take care of!)

From the Mouthes of Babes

Overheard last Sunday after church...

 

E: I'm gonna be baptized someday.

N: Me too!  And then we can eat the crackers of God!"

 A recent prayer by Norah (after several conversations about the homeless, and less fortunate)

N: "Dear God, thank you for this wonderful day.  Please bless our food.  And be with the children without mommies or daddies.  And help people who live in boxes not to live in boxes.  Amen."

A recent prayer by Eli (over 2 months post-Christmas)

E: "Dear God, thank you for all our blessings.  Thank you for Mommy and Daddy.  And help Santa to come at nap time.  Amen." 

At the barber shop recently, we were sitting, waiting through a long line for Eli to get his hair cut, when an older gentleman came in and sat down in the seat next to Norah.  (We go to the historic downtown barbershop, where we are almost always the only patrons under 50, so this was a normal occurrence) Without hesitating, Norah turned to the man and had the following exchange.

N: Hi.  I'm a five year old.  (if you've talked to N lately, you know this is how she starts almost every conversation)

Man: Why hello there young lady.

N: Do you know about Jesus? (this on the other hand, I've NEVER heard her say before)

Man: Why yes, I do.  He is my Lord and my Savior.

N: (Smiling, and nodding) Good.  I'm going to the doctor after this to get some shots.

Man: Oh!  Well.  That's not gonna hurt because Jesus is gonna make it not hurt.

A: (Grimaces at Norah as man turns the other way,  and shakes head no, in disagreement with his claim about pain-free shots.  N smiles knowingly and nods her head, as if to tell me she understands)   

I did, however, later talk to N about how proud I was of her for being so bold in talking to a stranger about Jesus.  She said she just wanted to make sure he knew.  Oh, that I might have the effortless faith of a child.

Heart-felt Wreath

While perusing the interwebs (as Jason calls it), I came across a tutorial at The Idea Room for this adorable Valentine's wreath, and decided right away that it was the perfect nap-time project for Norah and me.  (I've been trying to be more deliberate about using Eli's nap time to do things with Norah, at least on the days that she doesn't nap...she still takes one about every 2-3 days)

We had so much fun! The Idea Room's tutorial does a great job explaining it, but basically all you need is a styrofoam heart base (I bought ours for half-price at JoAnn's, so it was about $4), a box of pins, and 3/4 yard of felt. 

I used one of our drinking glasses to trace circles on the felt, and cut them all out. (There were a lot...but the time went by fast, visiting with Norah and laughing together) Meanwhile, as I would cut, she would fold each circle in half, and then half again (so you end up with a "pizza slice"-like shape), and pin it into the styrofoam. Eventually,

I ran out of circles to cut, so we finished assembling the wreath together, and literally, put the last pin in as Eli was walking up the hall, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  Such a fun project.  We looped a ribbon through the invert at the top of the heart, and hung it proudly from the front door.  (Where N has happily pointed it out to anyone who has stopped in to visit, in the weeks since)

I'm so thankful that N loves crafting/sewing like I do.  I can see us bonding over many more projects in the years to come, and pray that it will help us keep our lines of communications open, and stay close as she continues to grow up (too fast!) before my eyes.  And don't worry...I haven't forgotten about Eli.  I am getting all geared up for some serious mother/son time next year while N is off spreading the wings of her independence in Kindergarten.  It's gonna be a big time! 

Norah's 5th Birthday/Party

Norah's 5th birthday started off with our traditional birthday pancakes.  This year she requested "Butterfly pancakes", complete with a brown m&m body, whipped cream wings, dotted with sprinkles and cherries.  Yeah, we're all about kicking off the day with a healthy breakfast around here.  (On a side note, I wonder how many years before she'll die of embarrassment of my posting genuine "bed head" photos...)

Next, we headed over to U-Paint it, to pick up the plate that Norah had painted the week prior.  (It is a self portrait, and includes her 5 year old signature at the bottom...I will love it forever!) I am secretly hoping that we'll end up with one for every member of our family...wouldn't that make a cute set?

Next we headed over to McDonald's for a play date with Grandma, Grandmother, and Aunt Paige. N requested I take a photo of the birthday shirt I made for her (the hand on the front is traced from her actual handprint...I thought it would be fun to capture it's size and memorialize it on the shirt)  Too bad I cut off her head...it would have been a cute photo!  I love how she is thrusting out her chest, about to explode with all her 5-year-old pride.

Later that week, N helped me bake and decorate cupcakes for her party.  (She requested strawberry butterfly cupcakes)

Some of the finished products...(I piped the butterfly wings onto wax paper, covered them with white sprinkles, and held them together with a chocolate icing body)

They were a big hit at her party...and so much easier to serve than cake!

Speaking of the party...this year, we had her birthday party Michael's (yes, as in the arts and crafts store).  They have a classroom off to the left of the store, that was just the right size for a birthday party.  I LOVED the freedom of being able to do a semi-messy craft, and not have to worry about my carpet!  As soon as her guests arrived, I got them started painting wooden tiles in the color of their choice. 

The week before the party, I whipped up some art smocks for each child, using checkered tablecloth fabric, of all things...the kind with the vinyl surface that wipes clean, and embroidered their names on them, so they could take them home and hopefully reuse them) Even the little guys got in on the action!

I was amazed at how well everyone stayed on task....maybe they were just shocked we were letting them do such a potentially messy project?  But really, even with all that paint, there wasn't much to clean up at the end of the day.

Michael's put brown craft paper down on all of the tables, which made cleaning up a piece of cake.

After all of the painting was done, the kids modge podged scrap book paper to the other side of their wooden tiles, making sure to do a pair of each design.

Which left them with their own, personally crafted Memory tile game.

...Complete with a nifty carrying bag!

Norah was excessively spoiled by her generous friends and family, including a pair of "Twinkle Toes" and a "Unicorn Pillow Pet" (who has been dubbed "Cornelia"), both which she had been BEGGING for for a couple of months prior to her birthday, and an assortment of other fantastical gifts.

Another favorite gift was a homemade, blue satin "Princess" (aka--floor length) night gown from Gramps.  She LIVED in this night gown, day and night for at LEAST a week after her birthday.  It was all I could do to get her to change clothes to leave the house.  And she still favors it over all her other pajamas.

The Twinkle Toes shoes (by Sketchers) are officially the first brand-name purchase request that she has made (and made, and made, and made...to be sure we got the point).  Who knew it would start at 5?  We have always been blessed with amazing, quality, hand-me-downs, so I haven't had much experience in shopping for new clothes/shoes (unless you count my semi-annual stock-up at Target/Walmart for $3 play clothes).  I was taken aback at how much these shoes cost (yes, I know, I'm cheap...but it did make me so much more thankful for the bounty of hand-me-down treasures that sweet Jenny has shared with us these past 5 years)....but I am thankful that Norah loves them and wears them almost every day...and that her feet grow at an alarmingly slow rate in comparison to most kids (including your brother, who now wears just one size smaller than you)...so hopefully they'll last a while!

Sweet Norah, at five years of age, you are such a joy.  You have a tender, compassionate heart for everyone around you.  You wear your heart on your sleeve, but this also allows for you to be sensitive to the needs of others. Your sincere prayers for people you encounter throughout our days (sometimes at the grocery store, other times friends and family) are an encouragement and constant reminder for me to keep my eyes open for others who are hurting or in need.

You still love to cuddle.  

You are a precious, sweet sister to your brother.  You love to tell him he's "so cute", and are always happy to play "princesses and cars" with him (Complete with Lighting McQueen waking Sleeping Beauty with a kiss, at times).  Your favorite color is pink.  Always.  

Your favorite food is "Mommy's Pepperoni Pizza" and your favorite drinks are "Blue Poweraid" and "Milk", but "not together".  

You love art of any kind, but painting is your favorite.  Y

ou can't wait to start kindergarten in the fall, and you love telling everyone we meet that you are "a five year-old." 

You are reading some on your own now, but are still happy to be read to (which, makes mommy happy, because I love reading to you).  

This year you learned how to swing all by yourself (Hallelujah!), and surprised us all with your impressive hula hooping skills (no doubt inherited from your mother, who tied for 1st place Hula Hoop Champion of her 3rd Grade class, which, incidentally, your daddy was there to witness).  

You tried gymnastics for the first time, and loved it.  The night Daddy taught you how to do a cartwheel you would run and hug his neck each time you completed what you deemed to be a "good one". You LOVE to perform, and routinely break into spontaneous performances--everything from dance, to songs (both those you've heard on the radio and hilarious originals that you make up as you go along).  You know all the books of the Old and New Testament (and have sung solos of them in Children's Church, Bible class, CBS class, and any other setting where you are given a "stage"), and continue to excel at memorizing scripture.  

You claim to have conquered your long-standing fear of the dark, but still sleep with a small night light (and prefer us to leave the bathroom light on, too).  

You refer to any weed flowers in our yard as your "garden" and take it personally when Daddy runs over them with the lawn mower or weed eater. 

 You are beautiful, through and through, from the inside out, and I am so proud to be your Mommy.  I can't wait to see the great things that God has in store for you as you continue to grow.  Your Daddy and I love you, dearly.