She's smarter than I think...

So I have a couple of things to say about Hannah in this post. I often neglect her and Daniel because Sarah provides more brilliant stories, but somethings happened this week that made me chuckle. Last week was the last week of school which included a special field day on campus. Hannah is definitely not into anything athletic whatsoever and spent most of the day bouncing in the inflatables and socializing (she is my girl!) Brent was able to get away from his office for a bit to spend some time out on the field as well and we both got such a kick out of this because it is so "her!"

The kids were playing the game where you have to pass a bucket of water over your head and fill the big bucket at the end of the line. The bucket also has holes in the bottom of it. You can see Hannah's thought process from the progression of these pictures

"You mean I have to take that bucket and put it over my head?!? Let me think about it..."
"Yikes! Not enough time to find a way to get out of this...think fast!"
"Hey, If I take it and hold it up high away from my head, it still counts! Mission accomplished--the bucket was passed and I stayed dry!"

Something else happened that took both Brent and me by surprise. Hannah had the highest GPA in her class! I have to say I was really surprised when her name was called at the awards assembly on Friday morning! I don't want to sound ugly in the least, but I have never thought academics were one of Hannah's strengths. She's a very quick study when we're working together in the kitchen or around the house, but apparently she's alot smarter than I give her credit for. Daniel received the same award for his class, but that didn't surprise me as much as Hannah. I'm thinking she lets Daniel take the lead when they are playing together and lets him do all the thinking (see...she is smarter than I give her credit for) So we don't see the intellectual side of her as much as we see the creative, crafty side of her. Thankfully, there is a bit of Brent mixed into her as well :-)

And please indulge me for one last moment to beam about her...most importantly, she received the "Esther Award." This is the character award for the year. That is so much more important to us than any academic award. Her teacher had some very kind things to say about her...I was in tears just thinking about any first grader being so sweet, but then to hear my baby's name made me weep! I mean...weep, like a baby, weep! I'm so thankful to see God's Word taking root in her heart and changing her life. I tend to focus on the negatives and all that I see that needs to change. Brent and I were both so thankful to be reminded that God is working and changing her in spite of our weaknesses as parents that sometimes sabotage that!

In case you were wondering...

...this is what a bathtub full of water with a full bottle of shampoo dumped into it looks like. How does one let a 2 year old dump an entire bottle of shampoo into the bath water? There was a time I would have asked that same silly question. However, I now understand that anything is possible when the mom of said 2 year old is standing in the kitchen trying to figure out how to clean up the bottle of vegetable oil that the innocent looking little mischief maker dumped on the kitchen table, chair, floor and herself. How does one let a 2 year old make such a mess...if you have to ask that question, it is a sure sign that you have no children or that your children have not yet reached the age of 2. Any thoughts of how to get all that vegetable oil cleaned up?!? I must call my friend, Robin, who once figured out how to get vaseline out of her twins hair...all the while managing to keep sane...yes, I must call Robin...either that or I'm waiting for Brent to get home...he's the one with the engineering mind...he'll figure something out...I might just let him share in the joy of spending all day with a 2 year old...how I need the mall right about now...

This is not funny!

WIZ005-010>013-018>022-030-031-035>040-045-048>050-073-074-151000-
VILAS-ONEIDA-FOREST-FLORENCE-NORTHERN MARINETTE-LINCOLN-LANGLADE-
MENOMINEE-NORTHERN OCONTO-DOOR-MARATHON-SHAWANO-WOOD-PORTAGE-
WAUPACA-OUTAGAMIE-BROWN-KEWAUNEE-WAUSHARA-WINNEBAGO-CALUMET-
MANITOWOC-SOUTHERN MARINETTE-SOUTHERN OCONTO-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...EAGLE RIVER...RHINELANDER...CRANDON...
TOMAHAWK...ANTIGO...KESHENA...STURGEON BAY...WAUSAU...
WISCONSIN RAPIDS...STEVENS POINT...APPLETON...GREEN BAY...
ALGOMA...WAUTOMA...OSHKOSH...CHILTON...TWO RIVERS...CRIVITZ
810 PM CDT THU MAY 14 2009

...COLD AIR MASS TO INVADE THE AREA THIS WEEKEND...

IN THE WAKE OF A COLD FRONT FRIDAY NIGHT...A COLD DRY AIR MASS WILL
WORK INTO THE AREA THIS WEEKEND ON BLUSTERY NORTHWEST WINDS.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON HIGHS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM THE UPPER 40S
NORTH TO MID 50S SOUTH. CLEAR SKIES AND DIMINISHING WINDS ARE
EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT AS A COLD HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM SETTLES
INTO THE REGION. SATURDAY NIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL INTO THE 20S OVER MUCH OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN...AND NEAR THE FREEZING MARK OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN.

BE SURE TO MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND PREPARE TO MAKE PLANS THIS
WEEKEND TO PROTECT SENSITIVE OUTDOOR PLANTS.

Why I don't get out much...

This list one of my friends put up on facebook cracked me up so much! I have to say I'm quite tempted to try some of them...and that my friends is why I stay home with the children...Brent is afraid of what I might do if I get out! :-)

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice. !

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In the Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write 'For Marijuana'

7. Finish All Your sentences with 'In Accordance With The Prophecy'.

9. Skip down the hall Rather Than Walk! and see how many looks you get.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go'.

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area and Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You have a headache.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'

18. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!'

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

20. It's Called THERAPY!

Mother's Day

Just some fun pictures taken this morning with my new camera Brent bought me for Mother's Day. He (and the kiddos) fixed me breakfast in bed...well...he fixed it in the kitchen, and then they served it to me in bed, but I think you knew what I meant. He then surprised me by getting Sarah ready so that gave me extra time to get my makeup and hair done. Sunday mornings tend to be really busy around our house, and I usually end up doing my makeup in the car on the way to church...hence the severe lacking of me in any of the Sunday pictures!
Love this man! The message today in church was about the qualities the older women are supposed to teach to the younger women in the church. I truly don't struggle with loving Brent because he makes it so easy! He is a wonderful example for Daniel of how to care for his wife and treat her with love. I especially appreciate how carefully he dwells with me according to knowledge. I'm not an easy case to crack, but Brent has worked very hard at figuring me out. When we met, his job entailed going into different departments, watching them and their processes, and then writing computer programs to automate those processes--all that to say, he's incredibly analytical and often knows more of what I'm trying to do than I do! But like I said, I'm a tough case to crack and sometimes leave him scratching his head. I'm so thankful that he takes the time to work through issues with me. I often tell Daniel to watch Daddy carefully because he will show him what a godly husband and father acts like. I could go on and on, and often do, so I'll stop now...
My favorite kiddos in the world. It's encouraging to see some fruits of our labors with the older two...and we're working very hard with Sarah right now. She is SO VERY strong-willed...and a little OCD we're thinking. Brent and the kids fixed lunch for me this afternoon. Brent left the oven door open to let the heat out (because it was a bit chilly in the house today!) She got up from her chair (she's no longer in a high chair either) and went and shut it. It bothers her terribly if things aren't quite right. If something she's playing with breaks or comes apart...her world stops. She's definitely going to be our perfectionist! On a side note...we were driving home from school on Friday, and Sarah started counting. She's done this a lot lately-usually making it to 3 or 4. But Friday, I promise it's true, she counted to 11!!! The kids and I kept waiting and didn't say a thing, and she just kept counting. I'm so glad I wasn't alone with her or I might have second guessed what I was hearing. She counted to 7 for Brent this morning...we're in so much trouble with her...I'm going to start praying for her school teachers soon because with her OCD tendancies and her quick study of things...they are going to have to be on their toes!
Sarah got bored sitting for pictures so she decided to stand behind the kids and put her arms around them. She definitely has her own way of doing things!
This is the first shot...before she got tired of sitting still...

Why Sarah loves it when I bake

Is there any wonder why Sarah loves to see me bake? Brent has to stay through work this evening for the Spring Concert on campus so I baked him some chocolate chip cookies (his favorite forever!) Sarah was so excited and started yelling, "Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!" I shushed her and told her they were for daddy and it was a surprise. She ran to Brent and said, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!" I think she realized that she would get to lick all the beaters and bowls herself since the kids were at school already. Needless to say, she enjoys her cookie dough!

Our new car

So for those of you who haven't heard, we had our first "deer incident" several months back. A deer ran out in front of Brent while he was driving on an icy patch back near campus, and it took out the front end of our '97 Blazer. Because of it's age, our insurance declared it a total loss. The Lord taught me personally much about trusting Him and His sovereignty through it all. This was the first time in the 4 and a half years we've been here that there wasn't something we could do to fix the situation. It's what we looked forward to when we talked about going into ministry--being put in financial situations where we were utterly dependent on the Lord to provide. We were aware of our dependence on the Lord in Chicago, but it was always just a matter of writing a check and that was the end of it. We were excited to show our kids that the Lord provides and answers prayer...and He did! We made it a real matter of prayer with our family, and we were able to find a car that is 2 years newer than the Blazer and much less miles on it than the Blazer had, too...all for the amount the insurance company gave us for the Blazer. It's a 99 Pontiac Bonneville and the ever important girl point is that the color is silver with a semi-cool spoiler on the backend! It's really comfortable--I like it much more than our minivan, and it seems to get better mileage than the van or Blazer did--but Brent's the one figuring that out. God is truly good to be so faithful even when my faith is so weak.

Outside shots

Posing for pics with the new camera. I thought Sarah was engrossed in playing with her dishes and kitchen, but she snuck out. She came out with Hannah's shoes on and no pants...we only had a short amount of time left so I chose not to fight that battle at that time. With Sarah, there are no shortages of battles to choose from!

I'm back!

My camera died right before Easter so I haven't been able to take pictures let alone post them. It's been really hard to be without a camera this last month or so. Brent gave me my mother's day gift early...a camera! Yay for such a great guy! (He'd be great without giving me a camera, but it's still a great reminder of how wonderful he is!) I've been working with it trying to figure out all the ins and outs of it so I'll have a lot of random shots to post coming up...