annika-bo-bannika

{ annah and I at our local tai restaurant taken with annah's cell phone}

Things I love about our Annah Olyvia...

~She is so very very optimistic! Truly, a hopeful, joyful, cheerful optimist.

~She values family, and will never be the teenager who is more into herself and her friends than her family.

~She stands up for what (and Who) she believes in!

~Even though peer pressure is tough, it's tougher for her to do what is wrong.

~She knows right from wrong and is the first to say black is black and white is white when someone is trying to make it gray.

~She truly adores her little sisters and is always willing to help with them.

~She knows how to make their hair pretty! She always looks for matching outfits or at least coordinates them. lol

~She is patient with them when they prefer me, and she doesn't give up on trying to hold them or kiss them or hug them goodnight. ;o)

~She is good at getting her heart across; especially in sweet notes, letters & text messages.

~She has talent in my favorite artistic area...photography and scrapbooking! And it's something we love to do together!

~She has great empathy and a tender heart towards anyone in need.

~More often than not, she does her chores with a cheerful attitude and she is a hard worker!

~She is the most energetic girl, not lazy as I thought many teenager were; she has a major can-do attitude, "Let's just get it done NOW Mom!" She painted my bedroom with me last week and it was done in record time.

~She chose Viktoriya over having more attention, a room to herself and all that being the oldest and only teenager would bring.

~She loves eating all the things I used to never make because I was the only one who would eat them... artichokes, hummus, quacamole, bean-anything etc etc.

~She's loyal and is always ready to say "I forgive you." and "I'm sorry."

~She loves sports, hiking, exploring and the outdoors.

~She never gives up, on anything or anyone.

~She loves the Lord.

~She's so sweet.

~She's ours.

w.w.

(aka fave pics of the week)

haunted kitchen

me and my girls

I love this pic of me and my sweet daughters :o)

Rainy day soccer fun

Shhhhhh...

Ry: "Nothing unusual here. What are you talking about?"

Emily: "If I tell you a secret will you let me come in?"

I'm dying to know what she said but Ry isn't talking.

sweet saturday

when the week is too busy to record my thankfulness on thursday
I'll just turn to sweet saturdays, when things slow, just a bit
and give me a tiny window of time to reflect on our sweet life

~Charity's careful, kind, watchful eye upon our brood of 6 last night

~while Chad and I enjoyed each other's company ... alone ... ;o)

~sweetness is this...that he is still my best friend, my soul mate, the one I'd marry again in a heartbeat

~sweet giggles I heard this morning from two toddlers talking to each other, laughing about who knows what from their cribs

~aidan sleeping at the side of my bed; soothing his headache last night with a cold cloth

~ryland's hug this morning and "you make the best french toast ever, mama"

~being able to find a perfect gift for a wonderful woman who has taken me as her daughter

~coming to peace with finding ways to teach school that build relationship with my boys and do not deaden it

~playing on the trampoline with the girls, latter finding that chad snuck a picture of us

~eating Pad Thai dinner with Annah last night, just the two of us, how she pours her heart out to me, trusting me with everything...so sweet

w.w.

so stinking excited

I'm one lucky girl. I got my camera wish and I love it! The suburban sold and this is my Mother's Day 09/13th Anniversary/my 35th Birthday (sept)/Christmas 09 present!!!

soccer boys

having a blast in this their second season playing...

Ethan laughing because the kid with the balling is yelling "aaaaahhhh".

a focused corner kick; he can focuses when he has to

E got his Daddy's eyes~bluer than the sky {is bluer a word?}

I love the looks on the boys faces in this shot. Hayden and Ry are laughing and Anthony is so serious!

of course there are plenty of photo op moments


lots of silliness


and time for bonding


and friendships (Ry with Cole)

Soccer season is busy but we're having a blast. I am looking forward to the mellow summer ahead though! Aidan didn't play many games this season; his was a training academy of sorts with scrimmaging on Saturdays. I'll add some pics of him later!

20

the number of bunnies we found when we woke on sunday!

I've been working on a post about the girls since they just turned two but there has been so much going on. Hopefully I'll get to that inbetween homeschooling and catching up on the house!

random picture

This was during a camping trip in Sept 08. Good times. :o)

guess what today is?