Next Stop Florida

We head out tomorrow morning for FL. We are so looking forward to spending a week with the wonderful Lusk family. And we get to spend a night with beautiful and hilarious Nicole--a friend I have not seen since I was pregnant with Benjamin--crazy. Have a great week everyone! I guess I should go pack.

Tractor Green

My baby turned 2 today! Because he demands to wear his tractor shirt everyday and cries when it's dirty, we had to go with a tractor themed party. It was such a fun little party and Samuel was so excited about the green things everywhere. Thank you, Jackson and Matea, for the centerpiece. Sam loves it.
Benjamin worked very hard on this crown for Samuel while he was sleeping.

Not patiently waiting for his guests to arrive.





Eating lots of sugar with friends.
All the kids inched closer and closer to Sam when he opened presents.
My mom, Grandma Ruth, and Drew and I got Samuel a basketball hoop to keep in the basement. It can be lowered to 3 ft but that was too easy for the bigger kids. The kids played hard for awhile and when they moved on to other things all of the dads raised it up to 6 ft and had many wild rounds of lightening. Not sure why I didn't get any photos of this.

A very happy little 2 year old after his party.
Last night we were in Indy and had cake with Drew's family. Two years ago tonight I was hanging out by myself in the hospital with this precious little boy. Drew was at home with Benjamin and Isa. I felt like I was on vacation. I had hours to myself to sit and stare at this beautiful gift. We love you, Samuel Jacob. Happy birthday to you!

Playhouse

Drew's mom came to spend the day with us yesterday and brought an early birthday present for Samuel. Nana and her mad sewing skills have out done themselves this time. I had sent her a link months ago to this adorable playhouse and said it would be a great gift for the kids but that I fully realized it was probably a ton of work. Nana, not being one to turn down a challenge, set to work. Benjamin and Eloisa helped her get it out and put it on our kitchen table while Samuel was sleeping. They were out of control excited and wild. I am surprised we did not have to take Isa to the emergency room as many times as she nailed her head on the table getting in and out. The girl has no depth perception.

The front: Flowers come in and out of the window box and the mailbox opens for distributing letters.
The back: The garden--corn, carrots and lettuce all come off.
One side: doggy door Other side: Apple tree--apples come on and off. Sam was a little groggy at first but had a sweet little smile on his face as he explored the outside of his house.

Pure delight!

2 Year Moserversary!

Yesterday was 2 years since Isa stepped permanently and forever into our family. When I look at this picture from 2 years ago, I feel a little sick to my stomach--mama and daughter and total strangers. I am so thankful we are two years down the road and so connected that I can't imagine my life without my beautiful, vivacious, challenging but hilarious daughter. We took Isa out to eat at the new Mexican place in town (Praise the Lord for a good Mexican restaurant!). Eloisa's new friend, Delayna, went with us. She will be in Isa's class in school and is also from Guatemala. I pray they will be a great encouragement to each other through the years to come.
Isa was a little grumpy at the restaurant due to waking up too early and not taking a nap. So this is the only picture I took there.

Miracle Fruit Party

Some friends had us over last night to experiment with the MBerry Miracle Fruit. Click HERE or HERE for more information.

The berry:

· you eat this berry called Miracle Fruit

· Everything you eat for the next 30 minutes to two hours tastes sweet.

· Even pickles. And Onions. And lemons. Etc.

· Sounds weird, yes. But it’s true and it works.

We tried sour skittles, hot sauce, lemons (SO GOOD!), limes (also AMAZING), pickles, onions (did NOT make my onion taste sweet), cheeses, green peppers, kiwis, olives, jalapenos, and the list goes on and on. It was a most enjoyable and hilarious evening.

A Great Loss

Samuel has been crazy attached to his green 'boppie' from the moment we bought it for him a few months ago. He has refused to sleep with any of the others and would throw the others out of his crib if we couldn't find the green one. It fell apart on Sunday. He doesn't miss it at all during the day because we had already been transitioning him to only having it to sleep. (As you can tell from the video, he doesn't seem at all distraught.) But he has demanded to hold it in his hand every nap and night time since. He says in a sad voice while he is going to sleep, "Green boppie. Green boppie." Oh my word.

Face Mask

Samuel really likes having Drew's mesh hat over his face. I'm not sure why but it makes me laugh.

My other favorite Samuel moment (which I did not get on video) happened yesterday. He had been playing hard with Benjamin and Eloisa for a good hour. They were in rare form--constant laughing and wrestling and no fighting. Out of nowhere, Samuel picked up his little pillow and bear and started walking to his room. He stopped to get my attention and said, "Mama, my alone time." and walked to his room and shut the door. Benjamin got so tickled by it because he knows it's something he says a lot which got me to laughing. Ah, they're fun. (Sam's alone time lasted maybe 30 seconds and then he came out with his dimply smile and wanted to play more.)

Racing

Just like in our Vancouver apartment, the hallway here is the favorite place to run. Only here, we don't have any neighbors below us to drive crazy with the pitter patter of tiny feet racing back and forth. Benjamin was dressed for Wacky Wednesday at school if you are wondering why his shirt is backwards and he has shorts on over his jeans. (Sidenote: I have used Vimeo for years to upload videos and the past few months it tells me there was an error every time I try to upload one. It's driving me crazy. My husband, if you read this, please help.)

I Can Feel Him

Benjamin has been asking a lot lately about how he can hear God. We tell him God speaks in all kinds of ways but it is frustrating him that he hasn't heard an audible voice. The other day I walked outside with the kids to get in the van and it was bitter cold and there was a light wind blowing. We were halfway to the van when Benjamin said in a very thoughtful tone, "Mama, I can't hear God but I can feel him. When the wind blows on my face, that's God, mama." It was a sweet little moment. I must admit that my first thought when I walked out into the wind was not of God and His presence with us at every moment but rather, "When will it be Spring?!" It definitely shifted my perpective for the day.