Thanks Grandpa Hatch!!

So last Wednesday my dad came down to "help us change our brake pads". Well, that "simple" little project soon became a 2 day, much larger one, when we realized that not only were the pads worn down, but the roter (sp) on the left side was almost non-existent as well, and that the caliper also needed to be replaced. Needless to say it took my dad all day Wednesday and well into the night. Then Thursday as well. It was a HUGE ordeal. I felt so bad asking him to help with the pads, so when it ended up taking so long, I felt even worse. But we were SO grateful to have had his help. What would we have done.....I don't know....

I gave Brad the camera to take some pictures of grandpa and Daddy working on the car, and these are what he brought me :) Not exactly what I was looking for, but it will do :)


So I had a thought while my dad was going on about how bad everything looked, and how he's surprised I was even able to drive it as long as I was, and how if we drove it any longer it could be REALLY dangerous..... I realized- hmmmm maybe all those times of praying for safety in our travels (as we usually do), really paid off :) I mean- I think we have been VERY blessed with that safety. So when you think you're just praying for something just in case, and when nothing bad happens you think nothing of it--- think again.

Charity got her birthday kite up and flying- not that high :) but it's up :) She's new.... we'll have to practice. It was fun for her though!

For dessert we all made this Rice Krispie Treat Pizza. It was pretty cute- as you can see- it lookes just like a pizza complete with fruit roll up pepperonis. Fun, but not as good as you would think- I think it was the strawberry jam that was making me gag a little :)

Mommy Kelly

I know I've had a lot like this, but I really am just amazed at how good my little four year old girl is with her baby brother. She actually got him from fussing to sleeping in a matter of like 3 minutes! It's just amazing! He loves her too I think. But anyway- I just love these moments.

Lotsa Smiles

Yeah, so I'm sure this is more than you ever wanted to see of my baby smiling :) but I couldn't get enough of it :) Some of them are like milliseconds before or after, but you get the idea :) He's just so stinking cute! I love it when he smiles really big with his mouth open. And the ones where it's just one side of his mouth curling up- SO CUTE! Yeah, I love this little guy- can't get enough of him. Smiles are the greatest!

Easter Story Cookies

This looked really cute- I found it in a FHE book I had.



To be made the evening before Easter.

You need:

1 cup whole pecans

1 tsp vinegar

3 egg whites

pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

zipper baggie

wooden spoon

tape

Bible



Preheat oven to 300 degrees (this is important don't wait till you're half done with the recipe)



Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat Him. Read John 19:1-3



Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1- tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30



Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bolw. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing.

Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the sotry is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matt. 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16:20 and 22. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matt. 28:1-9

Charity's Birthday Party

For Charity's party we went to Hollywood Connections and played around there for a couple of hours. Sorry, no pictures, I figured I had enough last time, and I was playing with my video camera most of the time- if I can figure out how to put those on here, I will do that :)
Afterward we all had lunch at Applebee's.
This is Charity with the bunny her Aunt Heidi gave her.


Getting anxious to open her presents


We got Charity a new little leotard to play in.


She was so cute about her new leotard. When we got home she ran down to put it on and when she came back up she was wearing it with an undershirt under it. I had kind of worried about the straps being kind of "showy" (as charity and kelly call it), and I guess Charity felt the same :) When I asked her why she was wearing the undershirt, she said it was because it felt immodest! My little girl is SO GOOD!! I felt bad for getting her something she felt immodest in, but at the same time, it was neat to see her make that decision all on her own, and it is cool to me to know that she DID feel uncomfortable in something immodest. What a big girl she is!! I'm just so proud of her.

She got some rollerblades from grandpa, as you can see, and she had to try them out as soon as she got home. She's only tried them in the house so far. Still a little nervous to venture outside, but it is so cute to see her trying and being so brave.

I just can't believe how big my baby is getting. She is SIX years old now!! How did she get to SIX years!! I swear she was just 6 months ago yesterday!! Crazy how time flies!!!!
Well, she had a fun birthday party. She would not say that she was six yet, since her birthday was not until the next day :) But she had fun celebrating anyway.

The Actual Birthday!

Sunday morning Charity woke up and put her leotard on first thing. Then she came up and saw the decorations Daddy had put up (very exciting), and then Kelly jumped up and went and got Charity's present. We let her open her other ones at her party the day before, so Kelly was really excited to give Charity the present she had picked out. Which, I must say, was a VERY interesting shopping trip. We're walking through the toy aisles at Target, and Kelly is being AWFULLY picky for someone who is buying a present for someone else :) She new EXACTLY what Charity would like. She hardly even looked at some things because she knew Charity "wouldn't like that". She knows her big sister SO WELL. Almost better than I do I'm afraid. It was neat though. To see Kelly getting so excited and having so much fun finding a toy for someone else. What a cool little sister she is.

Kelly picked out the Barbie with all the dogs. And how could you go wrong with a Barbie and dogs for Charity. Charity loved it of course, but tried not to get too excited- she IS the cool big sister afterall :).

Here's Kelly showing her all the cool features she had noticed while carrying it through the store.



Here's Charity playing with it- it's actually kinda cute. There is a little bottle that you fill up with water and "feed" to the little puppy, and then set the puppy on a "newspaper" (it actually comes with these taht you cut out), and the puppy pees on the paper-- CRAZY!!! The kids all got a kick out of that for a few minutes :) I'm sure the bottle is lost by now, but how creative! Charity loves dogs. She already had one that came with a Barbie that poops, so now she is complete :) Just kidding. It nuzzles too...and plays ball....and why am I talking about the dumb toy- I don't know :)



Sunday evening was the Maynes Family meeting, so Charity got to see all of her cousins, everyone sang Happy Birthday to her, and we had cupcakes and icecream. It was really fun! She loves her cousins.


I just think my little girl is so stinkin' cute!


This is Charity with her uncle. They were bonding since they both have March birthdays :) Way cute.

And she did blow out candles on her birthday (my favorite tradition). This is a cute picture with her lips all out and her cute cousin watching her. How fun- what a good birthday!
Happy Birthday Charity- you're "finally" SIX!!!!

Our Mountains

I just took these out the car window. They're nothing special, just to show those of you who CAN'T come out here what we get to look at.


As you can see, there isn't much of anything else out here :) But the mountains are definitely beautiful.

In case you haven't seen enough of Noah :)

This is him at Applebee's, wishing he could eat the yummy barbecue chicken sandwich first hand.

I just think he looks hilarious in this one- not too flattering though, probably a good one to get out on Prom night :) jk

Oh there's my handsome little Prince- he looks so cute when smiles!! These don't quite capture his big wide smile, but they're way cute.


I'm always so enthralled in his really big one to get a picture. But last night when we were all sitting together in the living room, Charity got down and was smiling at him and he just beamed with excitement! It was SO ADORABLE!! We all had to stop what we were doing and look at him. Fun family moment.
Love this kid!

Really Really COOL!

I knew that title would spark your interest :) HA! jk. So I was looking at my friend's, sister's blog, and I found this link to a website that lets you create and publish a book of your blog!!!! It's THE COOLEST thing. I decided I would try it out before I tell anyone else about it, I just finished my book for the year 2007 from my blog, and now I am going to make a special blog just for the years past (the pre-blog years). It's SO FUN and so easy and best of all it's FREE (well, the program is, you have to buy the actual book, but at least there's no committment until you actually publish it). I'm totally sounding like a comercial, sorry. You can choose different layouts for each page, and pick and choose which posts you want to use, you can basically just take the info and pictures and arrange them how you want, or you can have the program do it all automatically. I have been having way too much fun with it for the last month or so. I am totally excited about having them to look at like scrapbooks. So anyway- just thought I would share that with ya'll. Here's the address: http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook?tag=3_sf Let me know if you end up doing it- I wanna hear all about it!

Luke Cracks Me Up!

I took this one, and then he just got all excited about the camera

so then I stuck the camera out away from us and he just started making goofy faces at the camera- he is SUCH a cheese ball!

HELLLLLP!!!!

I lost some of your blog addresses when I changed my template, and now I can't find them!!! If yours is not on my list- please email me or leave a comment with it so that I can put it back on here!! I miss you all already- I'm not complete without your blogs to look at :)
Thank you!

Noah in his blessing outfit (last time I promise)

So here they are, rightfully stolen off the Kiddie Kandids website. I think they turned out pretty good, although he did manage to poop out his clothes (yes, again) before we were done, so we didn't get as many poses. I think Noah is going to be REALLY smart! And not just because he's my kid, but man, he's already figured out how to get me to change his clothes! He learned that FAST!! He's a quick learner. Cute boy though :) I love him :)

Happy Birthday Cards For Charity

Charity got some really special mail last night!! Her old class was at it again- they all sent her Birthday Cards!!!! They were SO NICE too, all of them were in these nice envelopes and really thought out sweet words from her friends. I seriously wanted to cry when I heard her reading them. Her old teacher is officially the best teacher ever. I don't know of any teacher that has given this much thought and love to one kid- one that has MOVED even! She's amazing. And I hope she knows how much it means to Charity. Charity is so sentimental (unfortunately I think she gets that from Nate and Me, we're all pathetic around here :)). She has really just been so blessed to have had that teacher and those friends. They're sweet.


Kelly and brad had to get in on the action.