Monday, March 24, 2008

Ahhh...spring!

What beautiful weather we've had the last few days...crisp and cool, but warm and sunny all wrapped in one!

Enjoy a few photos of our Easter egg hunt...


And Happy Springtime!

PS...for the record....that Easter banner was designed off the creation of a dear friend of mine, Hannah! Thanks so much to Hannah and Lynda for your inspiration. I can't wait to share it with others. But, I too, am glad it turned out nicely!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

He is Risen!

As always, God conitunes to show us His faithfulness, His very presence in our lives.

This week Katie made bread while Jane Ellen and I attended a ladies' book study of Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney and daughters. She did a wonderful job, the kitchen was spotless, and the house smelled so good when we walked in later that night.

But when we cut into the bread we noticed there was a great chasm inside! We joked together that this was like the "empty tomb."



Allow God to remind you this morning of His defeat of death...He lives! Praise God for His wonderful ways! I love the story of the Resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew:

28:1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he [1] lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.


He is risen, indeed!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

An update: Emmy Xiang

Well, we've been a family of six for a little over three months now. Wow! It seems like Emmy's always been with us. What a joy she is!

I so wish that I would have written down or blogged all the fun little moments she's added to our lives. She definitely is a part of the crew...she laughs and smiles so much, she loves her sisters, is overall quite adjusted. We've had so few issues to deal with; to put it plainly - we've been blessed beyond measure.

Emmy Xiang gets up each morning from her little toddler bed (though every now and then we'll find she's wormed her way into one of the sister's beds!). She's not a morning person - she comes alive after she's prayed and had her morning egg, toast and "cop-pee"...she takes it with cream and sugar...or black...however you give it to her! She's REALLY a Brown!

Obediently (usually), she brushes her teeth and tongue (then comes to show you) and proceeds to distract everyone from what they are suppose to be doing. She receives countless hugs and kisses...and will firmly say, "no thank you!" when she's had enough. She loves yellow, Pooh and her Pooh books, to play with her stringing beads, play dough, foam puzzles, legos and to ride her tricycle and to color. She can often be found pointing at the magnetic letters and attempting to say the sounds..."a-A-ah!" or singing "Happy Birthday" or "Clean up, clean up!" (thanks to Gracie) or some of her Bible songs or hymns. In the afternoons she enjoys playing with Gracie in the playhouse. She keeps it swept clean! I realized not too long ago that I'd done little snuggling up and reading with her, so I'm making it a point to do that more. In fact, some mornings when I've gotten a "later" start, she'll come and sit with me while I'm having my quiet time. That is especially sweet (though I think she's just there for "cop-pee"!).

The evenings have become predictable, too. She loves to talk on the phone....and immediately after "bye" she'll push the buttons to end the call. She will ask Baba (whom she will ocassionally call "Daddy"), "Please may I hold you?" She'll give Hank water when his bowl is empty, will allow him to lick her hands or spoon when she's done eating (yuck!), but then proceed to scold him saying, "Hank, no ma'am!" She is the manners police at the dinner table, "small bites!" "cover your mouth" "use your napkin" "that's enough"...."PRAY!" If anyone takes any food anywhere in the house she reminds us (even mom and dad), "in the kitchen!" and we all know (thanks to EX) to brush our teeth "in the bathroom!" She still is great with a fork AND chopsticks...and loves ice cream and cookie dough. She enjoys a long bath still...no change there...playing with the cups and toys. She prefers lately to wash her own hair, but still likes being carried around the house wrapped in the towel to show everyone "the baby". We've been so blessed that she goes to sleep (after prayer) very well.

Here are a few pictures of her sweet face. Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Surprise!

For my 12th birthday Mom and Dad chose to surprise me on Sunday with a victorian party! Sooo much fun!! Here's the story:
On Saturday, (the night before we would celebrate) I asked Mom if I could maybe have the Bee and Rudy over for cake and ice cream. She said that it would probably be okay, and I could ask MJ and Kitty if they would like to come as well! I was sooo excited! (This entire time, Mom was playing a trick on me!!) She had already planned with everyone to come over on Sunday afternoon! So, I called MJ and Kitty, and invited them, completetly clueless! Kitty answered the phone:
"Hello"
Hi "Kitty", this is "Ladybug".
"Oh, hi 'Ladybug"
" I know that Mr. J is out of town, so I was calling to give your Mom a heads up, (so she wouldn't be pressured on the day of) I was wondering if you and "MJ" would like to come over tomorrow and have cake and ice cream with us?"
"Well, I'll talk to my Mom, she isn't here right now, and I'll call you back!"
"Okay! Sounds good!"...

After about 1/2 hour or so, MJ calls back! I run up to answer the phone.
"Hello"
"Hi "Ladybug", it's MJ. I was returning your call about tomorrow afternoon."
"Okay, whats the deal?"
"My Mom has a meeting tomorrow afternoon, so we need to help babysit the little girls"
:( :( :( :( (Ladybug)
"Okay, well... I'll see you at church."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye"

A little background information:
All week the Elf had been saying to me "I want to play victorian this weekend! Would you like to play with me?"
My response was "If we have time, we have alot to do this weekend" (Again, completely clueless)
Also...
Our printer has been out of ink, so the B's would have to print my challenge! (The surprise would happen when they brought the challenge down)
Bee had said to me at church "I don't know if we can come today, because Mom said something about yardwork" This simply added to my depression!! I was very sad that the J's wouldn't be coming! :(

Back to the story!

At church I was very sad because the J's weren't coming. The Elf and I sat with them during the sermon. (Thanks Mr. D!) Mrs. Jammer and the boys had to leave kinda early, (the girlies were going home with the B's to surprise me when they brought the challenge down!) so they sat in the B's stifling hot car, all for me! Don't I feel special! When I got home, I kinda took my time, since "no one" was coming over! Haha! I had a great time when everyone got there, though! Thanks Girls! I love ya'll!



Note from mom: Check out the cake....Ladybug wanted a cookie cake (the kind that you might find in malls all across America...you know, with the gooey, way-to-sweet frosting on the inside). I am so glad that thing is gone! I ate WAY too much!

Monday, March 17, 2008

The Medieval Feast

Enjoy the belated photos of our Unit Celebration: The Medieval Feast!

In late January, our co-op wrapped up our term studying the Middle Ages and we celebrated with a feast. The children enjoyed this term's reading and experiencing a bit of the times. They made costumes, built a village, dabbled in illumination and coat-of-arms making, went on a pilgrimage, cooked quite a bit and planned and prepared presentations for the medieval feast. Such fun!