Look at this!

This is an amazing answer to a lot of prayers.  Here are the stats from the Angel Tree Project this year.  Look at how much it has grown from last year!  Praise God!  I'm hoping and praying we see another doubling this year! 

Rebecca and I have committed to be New Year Warriors for a little girl named Ashleigh.  We are going to be raising funds for her this month in order to hopefully help her find a family.  (See the new chip-in on my sidebar)  I'll write more tomorrow and post a picture  I want it to have a separate post. 

For now, just thanking God that He is moving in the hearts of people to pray, give and adopt.  Please continue to pray for these precious children.

Blessings

Leslie

Hanna's Cold Winter - Co-op

This was a December co-op, but I haven't posted about it yet.  We had another great day at co-op.  I just love being a part of this co-op and it is such a blessing to all of us!  I'm thankful to God for bringing us together to share our talents, interests and creativity with this group of children and moms.

We started with reading the story.



Next, the children learned about mammals.  They discussed the various traits of mammals first and then played a game. 



Each child was given a field journal.  In the front was a pocket with a picture of an animal.  Inside were spaces for drawing as they tried to figure out clues to determine which animal each of the other children had.



Each child had a turn where the others tried to figure out what type of animal he or she had.  The animal pictures also had facts on the back of the card.  The children took turns asking questions.  After asking a question, then they could try to guess what the animal could be.  There was a list of questions such as "What do you eat?", "What are your special characteristics?"  "Are you a mammal?"  "What are your predators?"



After a correct guess, the children would record in their journals what the name of the animal was and then could either draw the animal or it's special characteristic.





All of the animals ended up being ones from Africa that were also mammals.  It was a fun way to learn about animals that we were familiar with and some we had never heard of before!  They then tried to figure out where their animal lived - grasslands, rainforest or desert.  They then went outside to play a little in these areas.  (She had labelled and defined some areas in the backyard and I unfortunately have no photos of this.)

Next, it was time to play a game to learn more about Hungary.



Did you want a closer look at the game?  This is an incredible hand-made game!  There are pictures on the spaces of various sites in Hungary. 



Each child had an animal piece that they could move around the board.  They drew cards to learn facts and to find out what they were to do on each turn. 



They also learned about Hungarian money.  My boys all loved that they were able to bring some home!  They each wanted one that was a large denomination. 



The last activity of the day was an art activity.  The children learned about what was going on in the world of art at the time of the story and how the war affected artists. 



They learned that many of the artists painted "dark" things during this time as a reflection of the mood of the country. 



While the big kids were learning at co-op, Rebecca kept the younger ones entertained.  She had brought crafts for them to make an ornament and paints for another activity.  Have I mentioned how wonderful she is with children?!  If you are local and need a babysitter, she is great!



No co-op day would be complete without Daniel having time to hang out with his buddy, Ms Lynn.



Thank you friends for another amazing day!  I look forward to our next one!

Love
Leslie

Merry Christmas!

Yes, I know it should say Happy New Year, but I'm about a week behind.  I wanted to post a few pictures from Christmas and then I'll move to our New Year's celebration.

We were blessed to have my parents come up and spend Christmas with us!  We loved having them here and had a great time with them.  We went to our church's service on Christmas Eve. 

Eliana was delighted with the candle.  It made me a little nervous.  lol

A photo after church and before our meal and opening of the traditional Christmas Eve gift - pajamas. 

Here are some photos of Christmas day.

The excitement of a new pocketknife!

A new science kit with "lab experiments".  Isaiah loved it and wanted to do one right away.  (We did.)

My Mom and Dad with scrapbook pages that I made for them.

One of the new games we received is fun for all.

Eliana's gift was a doll stroller and crib.  She loved it. 

We received several new Wii games this year and everyone is having fun playing them!

We had a mostly relaxing day spent with people we love.  We are thankful for the gifts, but more thankful for the most precious gift of our Saviour!  Hoping your Christmas was filled with love, laughter and the presence of the One who gave the greatest gift of all.

With love,

Leslie

A few December photos

We are working on getting ready for New Year's Eve here.  Well, soon I'll be working.  For now, I'm at the computer and the kids are playing Wii.  We love New Years.  It's a fun celebration and we've done it enough years now that it is a tradition that the kids all look forward to doing.  If you are looking for an idea to add some fun to your day/night, I highly recommend these bags to countdown to the New Year.  Here is what we've done in year's past.

2008

2007

I'll post what we are doing tonight later as I have kids that read my blog and I want it to be a surprise!

Here are a few photos of some of our December activities.  We picked out a tree locally this year.  It came from just down the road from my parents house in the mountains.  We didn't get a tree up there because we didn't have a way to fasten it to our new/large van. 



Yeah, this is North Carolina - cool sleigh and no snow!  (At least not where we live!)  LOL



It was fun decorating.  I had considered doing it while Eliana was asleep, but am so glad that I didn't.  She LOVED putting ornaments on the tree.  She literally raced back to get a new one so she could hang it up.  Can you tell that she is going quickly?



Eliana was helped by Rebecca in placing some of the ornaments.



Each of the children received new ornaments this year.  Something that reflected something significant or special about them or their lives. 



*Christopher got one with a recliner and a large screen tv with a football game on it reflecting both his love of watching sports and his championship year playing football. 

*Rebecca's had Dorothy from Wizard of Oz as she played this role wonderfully in a play this summer. 

*Joshua's ornament is superman as I thought it reflected his bravery and courage in facing Juvenile Diabetes. 

*Isaiah's is a snowman cooking as he has developed an enjoyment of cooking and experimenting in the kitchen.

*Daniel's ornament is a candy covered snowman reflecting his sweet spirit and love of candy.

*Eliana's is two bears snuggling up reading as she enjoys both - though not always for long.

We had a few times of excitment.  Once while we were out for the evening at a diabetes clinic and the older kids were home with the three youngest, they went out to get a package.  While the door was open - a bird flew in!!!    Christopher managed to get him back outside thankfully!



We also had a very brief snow.  Not enough to do much of anything with, but the kids liked being out in it while it fell.  Rebecca and I drove through more snow than we had here when we went to a friend's house for a cookie swap in the northern section of town.  Amazing the difference and we live in the same city!



Rebecca added fun to our days in several ways.  (Have I mentioned what a great big sister she is?!!!)  She put lights up in the bedrooms. 



And made cookies several times.  She even included the little ones in cooking if they wanted to help.  One day she baked with Eliana and one of her friends!  She is so sweet to include them!



I just thought this was a cute photo and wanted to share it.  It's Eliana and Christopher doing a "fist bump".  He is so good with her and has fun hanging with her. 



Off to get busy now and get things ready for the rest of the day.  I'm hoping that the New Year brings happiness, health and many blessings to us all! 



Happy New Year!

Blessings

Leslie

Some pictures from Eliana's Birthday!

I'm hoping to catch up with this month before it ends.  One of the sweetest days of the month is celebrating Eliana's birthday.  I had no idea 3 years ago all that I was in store for.  I had no idea the incredible blessing that she would be to our family.  I had no idea of the pain, heartache and trials that I would walk through with her either.  I've learned how weak I am - and that my strength truly comes from God alone. 

I remember a friend saying after Eliana was born that I would have a story to tell.  I also remember thinking that I didn't want a story to tell.  I just wanted things to be "normal".  I'm so glad that God knew better.  I'm so very thankful that He placed Eliana in our family.  God has used Eliana to open my eyes and my heart in ways that I hadn't dreamed of before.  She has changed me in so many ways.  I'm so very glad to be her Mommy!

Eliana's first gift of the day was from her big sister - a shirt from Signing Time!  She loves it. 



We went to therapy that day.  Eliana had a blast in the ball pit. 



Check out her hair!



It was fun to have a big brother there too!



For supper, we fixed one of her favorites - homemade mac and cheese.  I made a huge container of it and we all devoured it!



Of course there were cards



and gifts.  She had fun with this toy that pops up balls.  Can you see the delight in her face?



And of course there was cake.



She loved having us sing Happy Birthday to her as well. 



I can't believe Eliana is 3 years old!  It just doesn't seem possible!  Happy Birthday sweetheart! 

We love you!

Mommy