BEN!

Ben turned 6 a couple of weeks ago, he all of the sudden seems old, like he is eight instead of six. No longer a young child, I can see his character shining through! He always makes sure to compliment me on something on a daily basis, he is thoughtful and kind but still has that flirtatious twinkle in his eyes!



He is receiving "Citizen of the Month" today in his class. I am still in shock on how well he is doing in school. We thought that he would have major struggles both academically and socially. All of those fears were pushed aside when he taught himself how to read in preschool last year.



He has a passion for the Old Testament and knows details of most stories. Ben is so stinking smart. During his conference at school his teacher said that she can see him becoming a pastor or a professor of Old Testament, which is too funny because that is where I see him going as well if he continues on this track. We had a low key birthday party for him this year, just family. It was nice and relaxing....well, besides the Castle Cake he wanted me to make for him.....that, was a disaster!



Took his birthday pictures last night and as he sat in my lap to look at them with me, he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Mommy, I love you and thank you for being my mom". Yeah, that completely melted my heart!

1st Day of School

Still trying to catch up on blogging. I am now up to September. I have TWO kiddos in full time school. I must admit, it is fabulous!! Hannah and Ben are doing great in school. Ben received the Citizen of the Week the very first week of school! Everyone in Hannah's class was evaluated for reading so that we, her parents, could start buying books according to her reading level. Found out that she is reading over a 3rd grade level. AWESOME! We are thinking about having Ben evaluated as well to see what kind of books to be buying him, since his birthday is right around the corner.









September also is a time for our church's ministries to start back up. This year I decided to start going to Grace Women's Bible Study. I have been apart of it before but just in babysitting for the nursery. I thought that now would be a great time since I am not pregnant or nursing or picking up a preschooler during the bible study. It is a great challenge for trying to find the time to work on the study, even though the study is broken up into five days of work, I find myself on a Wednesday night after small group trying to get it finished. However, God's grace is sufficient and will continue to carry me through these busy times!

Slowly but Surely

I am finally starting to catch up on blogging. Remember way back in the summer I talked about the family's ultimate road trip across the states? It might be a stretch to remember....why you might ask? It could be because I only blogged about it once. Yeah, I know, I know, LAME-O.

One tradition that we have tried to keep when we go to Ohio is to make a trip up to our FAVORITE place in the world which is The Big House (aka University of Michigan's football stadium) Last time that we went, The Big House was under major renovations and nearly everything was under tarps. This time Curtis had set up a personal tour just our family, AND it was awesome!





The stadium is amazing, beautiful, and incredible! We loved every minute of it. We got to go into the locker rooms, the executive suites ($80,000 per season!), press room, and of course the field.








The picture below is of Brock Mealer. I can't even describe this guy, he is just awesome.


This is the Heisman Trophy for Tom Harmon. Talk about legacy! If you haven't heard of him, I am sure that you have heard of his son, Mark Harmon. Crazy talented family







The kids had a blast running from one end field to the other. As I watched Ben walk into the end zone, it was an iconic moment for me, one day he could be wearing that maize and blue uniform running into that same end zone. If that moment ever came, I would definitely remember his first moments running in the end zone. Even now, it brings a smile on my face.







It really was an incredible experience for our family to be there. We hope to do it again the next time we head back to Ohio.

Did I Mention.....

That Isaac is now ONE? My baby is ONE!! Where did the past year go to. What a year it has been for him. He definitely has a feisty personality and is EXTREMELY strong willed. He has proven over and over again that having one hand is not going to slow him down one bit.


He got his first prosthetic in July and he loved it immediately. He would wear it all day long with no complaints, but then we went away for a week at the ocean. We opted to leave the "helping hand" behind because we didn't want to lose it or get sand in it where it would irritate his skin from the rubbing. During that week however he decided to start crawling really well. By the time we got back home and tried to put the arm back on he refused to wear it more than 5-10 minutes. We have been in that position since



Isaac started walking a couple of weeks after his birthday and hasn't stopped since then. He is my non-cuddles out of the four, fight back if you take a toy away (we are not talking about crying but literally fighting back), biter, and screamer kind of kid. BUT then, he will flash you his smile with his dimples and just melt your heart. What a little stinker! Wouldn't trade him in for ANYTHING!




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One of Those Days!

Ever have one of those days where you are battling it out. You vs. a wasp while in your garage. Your choice of weapon is an unopened package of spaghetti. And just as you are about to go for the killer blow.......the package of spaghetti opens up and goes flying through the air landing all over your driveway.

Bekah vs Wasp.

Bekah 0
Wasp 1

Still Behind

I am starting to very slowly catch up with blogging. One bite at a time right?

Hannah is now seven! We had a little tea party for her and a couple of her favorite friends, in which I forgot to take pictures. But one thing I thoroughly enjoy is taking the "birthday" pictures. I was being fed up with paying for my kids pictures professionally, in which my kids would just sit there and cry. So for the past few years I took over and I don't want to brag but mine are way better!

Here is where I started age 4


Here she is age 5


Age 6 with her Fancy Nancy Doll


And finally age 7.


She is definitely growing in both grace and beauty! Love you my Hannah Banana!

A Reminder.....

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Thank you Jim Elliot for the reminder!

So Far.....

BEHIND on blogging....grrr! Lord willing, after school starts back up next week things will slow down for me to start blogging again. For those who follow.....stay tuned, good things are coming!

Have You Ever.....

Been to the world's ONLY corn palace???








We have!!! Betcha y'all jealous!

Rushmore!

This was actually our second time visiting Mt. Rushmore. The first time however was not a good experience. It was November, cold, and dusk. Hannah was about 3 months old, we were there for a total of 5 minutes! This time it was HOT! We have all four kids with us and it was crowded. We went hiking around the Presidents Trail. It didn't seem like a bad idea at the time except for on the way back there were about a million stairs, which I had to carry Phoebe the whole time! Yowza! Didn't get too many pictures because I was sweating too much and about to die!

Wall Drug

From my house it is 1,220 miles until you get to Wall's Drug in South Dakota. What is Wall's Drug you may ask. It is only the largest drug store in USA. Hmmm, you might be thinking, "I have never heard of it". And you wouldn't unless you were driving on I-90. You see, Wall's Drug ONLY advertising is road signs on how many miles it is away from a certain destination. On I-90 alone there are signs stretching from Montana to Minnesota. Craziness. We love it there though, it is a nice area to hang out for the day.


Behind the row of shops they have a back yard area that is fully equipped with water spouts everywhere popping up with the music being played,




Here is Phoebe experiencing the spouts!



"Hey! Come back here!"




there is also a stagecoach to ride in,



a mini Mt. Rushmore,



and a large Jackalope.




I would say that this is a must go if you are ever traveling with kids. Definitely worth the trip!



I will post more about our trip in the coming days. Overall we really had a great time!