Simply Delightful

Last Christmas we received a wonderful gift in the mail, a keyboard and a guitar. My brother was helping finalize a family estate and came across these treasures he thought we might like to have. What a gift! I was excited and super thankful. (Thanks again, Jay!) Piano lessons had crossed my mind before but as with anything practice is required. No instrument, no practice.

So when these treasures arrived last Christmas I talked to the older two kids about lessons and both were excited. Fast forward to the summer, which is when I finally got around to calling about lessons. :) Well, recitals were just taking place and lessons wouldn't begin again until the Fall. We scheduled lessons with a lovely Sister who teaches both piano and guitar and does lessons back-to-back for the kids. Fall arrives and Kiersten is still excited but Isaiah has changed his mind. I have to say I told him he was going to take lessons anyhow and we'd just see how the year played out.

If I could convey in words what a gem Sister A is I would. She is a perfect fit and blessing for our family. After the first lesson BOTH kids came out smiling and happy. Nothing has changed in the weeks that have followed. I have had no complaints or whining when asking them to practice. The experience as a whole has been wonderful.

Recently there  was a mid-year Christmas recital. Isaiah didn't play in it but Kiersten did. Sister knew she could accompany her and fill-in the song whereas for Isaiah she couldn't really do that. (All was well because he wouldn't have wanted to participate anyhow!)

  

Christmas piano from Jess on Vimeo.

The evening was simply delightful, a true joy. (We'll not discuss the behavior of the other kids...it'll ruin the moment.) There were performers of all ages and abilities. Each performed a Christmas tune and as it happened they all played on the piano. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the only thing that would have made it better was if the husband and I had made it a date! :)

A Walk in the Woods

Every now and again the urge to get outside hits me. I love to walk but not so much around the neighborhood. If I am going to take a walk I prefer an unpaved trail to a cemented sidewalk. It really isn't the type of path that is important but rather the scenery through which the path passes that I am most interested in. I am thankful that we live not far at all from some really wonderful trails. The kids don't let me go for as long as I would like, but when you are a Mom you take what you can get. True?

This was a lovely Fall day and the weather was glorious. I love seeing my four littles ahead of me. I also love the glorious colors that the Lord puts on display during this time of year. I simply cannot get enough of it.

We know someone who is fully color blind- he only sees shades of white, black and grey. I never felt so keenly the blessing of seeing the beauty of color as I did this year reflecting on that fact that not everyone gets to see what I see.

Back to the woods. 

Another thing I enjoy about walking on a trail is that the kids run ahead of me looking for different treasures. On this particular path a ways in there start to appear white, wooden owls on the trees. It becomes a fun game of who can spot the next owl around the bend. On this particular trip Isaiah spotted this gem.

 

He has a good eye, that one. And in a valiant effort I tried to get a decent picture of all four of the kids together. Here is a sample of that attempt. :) Enjoy & Blessings.

 

 

She’s done it!

 

My Katie girl has joined the olders in a milestone this past week. She has learned to ride a bike without the training wheels. I will admit she didn't choose to undertake this adventure of her own freewill. I kinda forced her. I can be a mean mom like that.

This bike is on kid #3 and the plastic training wheels have taken quite a beating. Katie was leaning so far over to compensate for how off her training wheels were. It just didn’t make sense to let her continue on learning to lean so far off center when we could take them off and let ‘er go. : )

Katie sets a high standard for herself and was frustrated after 20 minutes of her first attempt that she hadn’t conquered it yet. (She has a competitive streak that serves her well.) I made her a promise that within 7 days she would be riding unassisted and like a pro- I am a woman of my word. : )

Since learning to go on her own she takes almost every opportunity to head out to driveway and ‘practice’. You can see from the smile she shows at the end of the video (pure Katie) that she is quite satisfied with herself, as she should be!

 

No Training Wheels for #3! from Jess on Vimeo.

Late Night Date

Each night I have a date. About 11 o’clock or so I go see my Katie Girl. My sole job is to get her to go to the bathroom and then tuck her back up in her warm covers. Sometimes she is awake and other times not so much. She has said a few funny things in her sleepy state that lead me to believe I had woken her from a dream. (The dreams tends to involve one of the older siblings whom she is either scolding or asking something. : ))

My Katie Girl is the first of our kids who has struggled to stay dry during the night. She had been wearing a pull-up to bed for more than a year after she was fully potty trained and I would like to say 5 out of the 7 mornings a week she would wake up wet. Then one day she wanted to go to bed in her underwear. Of course she would ask just when the washing machine broke and I had to tell her no with the promise that when the new washer arrived we’d give it a go.  It was a few weeks between when the washer broke and when the new one came but she hadn’t forgotten. That very night we started wearing underwear to bed and our nightly dates began.

I really want her to succeed at staying dry and a family member had mentioned this was what their family did for them when they struggled with staying dry during the night. So, each and every night I stay up and make sure she goes potty. We have had 2 accidents in the almost 3 months we’ve been “dating”. : ) Some day she’ll get up on her own and won’t need me anymore but until then I’ll enjoy my cute, quiet and cuddly date.

How You Know She’s Truly Sick

This one hasn’t really been sick much. I think this is one of the few times (second time?) she has had a stomach bug of some sort. See, with the boys’ I know they aren’t feeling well because they stop their constant motion and will sit still. With the Katie girl I knew she wasn’t well because she didn’t talk. : ) Her days are filled with talk. It starts the moment her feet touch the floor in the morning until sleep claims her at night.
It was nice, in its own way, to have a little extra quiet. To be honest though it just didn’t seem right.

She stayed on the couch resting near her bucket. It was hard to believe she fell asleep in the middle of the day and I had to capture her sweet face. She also went into our bed and took another nap later in the day. (Clue #2 something was amiss.) Thankfully the bug only lasted 12 or so hours and then she started to feel her normal self. Well, at least that is what we surmised since she start talking and eating again just before she went to bed that night. : )

Poop-tastic

Oh, he’s cute alright. A little sweetie pie. That is until you get him into the tub. I’ve had bathtub poopers but this one is the champion. I can count on one hand, between both girls, the number of times they went in the bathtub. Isaiah, well he was a little more relaxed, shall we say, in his bathing habits. But Zeke? Lord, give me patience! I mean the kid doesn’t even need the water in the tub. The tub will have just been drained and he’ll squat and go.

Every one has their limits, right? A few weeks ago I had reached mine. I put him in the tub and within 5 minutes we’ve got company. I just wasn’t having any of it. Drained the tub, removed the offending party and promptly let Zeke know it was shower time. : ) Under the shower he goes and we are out of the bathroom with no further incidents.

Turns out I gave him a little bit of complex with that shower. The next time I mentioned bath my bath loving son cried. Oh dear, what have I done?

A little more time has passed and he is back to his bath loving self. I will say he hasn’t returned to his poop-tastic ways. Yet.

Her Royal Highness

I think I could keep most people entertained on what Katie alone says at home each day. All kids say some pretty clever, funny things but being as Katie most definitely talks the most in our house it stands to reason I have more stories to share about what she says.

The other day I was putting clean sheets on Kiersten’s bed using the step-ladder. The ladder is a must now because I simply cannot pull out Isaiah and Zeke’s beds to make the upper bunk. Those beds are far heavier than the girls’. All that aside, I am making the bed when Miss Katie comes up the stairs and parks herself on the top step of the ladder.

“Call me your Highness,” she says to me. (Thankfully I am on the phone to my mother so I have a witness that can testify to the fact that I DO NOT make these things up! : ))

“Call you my what?” I ask, because I am sure I did not hear her correctly. I did have my one and only good ear attached to the phone after all.

“Your Highness,” she replies. “I am the Queen.” (Well,well. I knew she thought so but to have her admit it out loud? Interesting.)

We chat just a little bit more and then Katie gets on the phone with Grandma who is already tickled about the way the conversation has been going.

As I am listening to Katie’s responses I can tell my mom is telling her she isn’t the queen but rather a princess. As much as Katie is in to princess’ she was having none of it. I am not sure what argument my mom was using but at one point Katie says to her with a hint of tease to her voice, “I don’t know…it sounds a little sketchy to me.” : )

Sweet Mother of Mystery that girl keeps my mind sharp. She isn’t physically exhausting…she is mentally exhausting!

The Christmas Story

We have been a bit busy here with Nutcracker practice and such but I wanted to share some sweet video’s that are sure to put a smile on your face. A dear sister in the Lord shared them on her blog and I couldn’t resist doing the same.

My oldest three laughed like loons and loved seeing what Christmas really celebrates as told/shown by other kids.

The 10 minutes or less you’ll invest watching will bless you, guaranteed. : ) Oh, and if you’re a little like me and you relish hearing a good accent every now and again, this will fill your joy meter. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Halloween First

The kiddos were all excited to head out this year. I will spare you the details for how many times a day and for how many days Katie asked me if it was Halloween. : )

These three hit the streets with their dad this year. I was a bit thankful because it was quite windy and I wanted to stay with my little man. No, Ezekiel didn’t don a costume this year. We had one for him but he isn’t the best of sports and we just thought it best to forego the whole torture- for his sake and ours.

Kiersten opted to be Jessie from Toy Story. I searched and searched for costumes but they just don’t exist in her size.  She belongs to that grey category- doesn’t fit in children’s and doesn’t fit in women’s. Because of this dilemma we had a family first: I made a costume! We bought her shirt at Goodwill and then I painted on the decorative design. {We had painted cuffs for her wrists but with the weather such as it was we knew no one would see them under her jacket.} Then I bought the cow print fabric from Hobby Lobby and made some ‘chaps’ for her. They had loops on the sides so she could thread them through her belt and not have them fall down on her constantly. The ‘chaps’ worked out surprisingly well and were comfortable to pull on over her jeans. We only had to buy the hat and then braid her naturally red hair and we were set. She was very happy with the result thankfully! {A dear neighbor exclaimed over her costume and made Kiersten’s night.}

Next up- Iron Man. I wasn’t sure how this would all shake out because of the face covering mask. Isaiah was sure he would like it. He was a bit bummed that this year no raved over his costume. {I don’t think it bothered him until that neighbor commented on Kiersten’s costume. Then he realized no one had said anything about his costume.}Last year when he was Luigi several people commented on his costume and not really so much on the girls’. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. : )

Last up- Violet Incredible. Katie was precious as Violet. She wore this costume as much as she could up until the actual holiday. I had fears of her ruining it but thankfully she did not. She had a felt mask that had a band to go around her head. She wasn’t super thrilled with that set-up so I promised to paint on her mask. The effect turned out really cute.

The night was short, they were only out about an hour, but they came home with full baskets. All in all the night and each costume was a success. We’ll have to see if future years means more ‘homemade’ costumes! : )

Looks Can be Deceiving

He is a handsome little devil, I know. I am rather smitten with this little guy. {I get such a kick out of the way my boys’ cross their feet and their legs!} He is mostly a dear sweet boy…except for when meal time rolls around. If we hadn’t gone through this same song and dance routine 3 times already I might take things personally. He’ll eat everything he can- so long as it is a ‘snack’. You put food on a plate and set Littlest Man up to the table and suddenly the food becomes undesirable. How he thrives we’ll never know.

That is why I was a bit baffled to know he put his little hand up into my dish of raw, thawing chicken legs and then proceeded to lick it. Who knows what he thought was in the dish. Knowing he did this is seriously disgusting and a little disturbing. I am guessing it was the hope of what might have been in there that lured him.

The ironic part? He wouldn’t touch the chicken once it was cooked and put on his plate for dinner. : ) Go figure.

{Beloved was the one who caught Little Man in the act. He squawked at Zeke and then brought him quickly up to the sink where he cleaned his hands and tried to wipe out his mouth. I am happy and super thankful to report Zeke suffered no ill effects from his curiosity.}

A Very Pleasant Surprise

It is a rare thing, sad to say, when customer service pleasantly surprises you. A week before I got a call from Columbia I was ready to be done with the company altogether. Last year I bought new winter coats in the spring, when they were on sale, knowing the older two would need bigger jackets come Winter. Coats came and were hung up waiting until they would be needed.

Fast forward 7 months and Isaiah goes to put on his jacket only to have the zipper bust. Long story hopefully shortened- this type of jacket is one of those that has a zip in fleece so a simple zipper repair isn’t an option. (Believe me I asked!) The only option is to get an entire new jacket. I called the warranty department and sent in the broken jacket along with a copy of my receipt. In November I sent the part that was broken…not the whole kit ‘n caboodle. I received a call once that package had been received that I needed to send the outer shell as well. (Please, don’t ask me what I was thinking when I only sent in part of the jacket and not the whole thing.) That was done very close to Christmas. Between vacation time for employees and the holiday orders things were delayed.

I called a few times to hear the two pieces of the jacket sent in hadn’t been matched up so they were waiting. Then Spring came and I put it out of my mind since we were not needing the coat. But just a few weeks ago it dawned on me that I never heard from them again and never received a replacement jacket. I was a little bit unhappy at this revelation.

Less than two weeks after this I got a call, out of the blue, from Columbia. They had been looking through their paperwork and realized they haven’t rectified my situation. (WHAT?!) The gentlemen I spoke with was wonderful. We talked colors and sizes and a new replacement jacket should be here this week.

I am so thankful that the Lord took care of this situation for me.

I also have to say I am beyond blessed to not have had to nag and convince Columbia to send me another coat. I don’t know about you but I find customer service calls to be a chore. Columbia Sportswear went up in my estimation of companies and I will most assuredly be buying from them again. In a sea of lemons (or sharks) this company stands out. Thanks so much Columbia!

Who Would Have Thought?

I would never have guessed one small chip would create such a big problem. Our glass pitcher we use for everyday juice bumped the bottom of the shelf above and the teeniest, tiniest chip you ever saw came off one of the lips. I threw the chip of glass away and rubbed my finger gently over the now broken area thinking it to be no big deal. We’ll finish the juice and I’ll let my Hubby know of the damage.
 

Well…wouldn’t you know my Beloved would go and discover that teeniest, tiniest chip all on his own? He decided to wash that pitcher that night unbeknownst to me (because the pitcher had sat on the counter for a fair amount of the day, he dumped it and set to getting it clean). Once he was finished washing he noticed the water was looking a funny color and thought perhaps the juice was the culprit. Not so. His newly sliced hand bleeding into the water was causing the color change. The funny part? Beloved never even felt his hand get cut. Even thought he didn’t feel it that pitcher did a humdinger of a job on his hand. He found me saying, “I think I have a problem.” That hand was sliced so cleanly and deeply you were peering down at white.
 

The troops were rounded up in their jammies and our local emergency room got a visit. Not only did he cut is hand deeply, he nicked the tendon over his right hand ring finger. Stitches lightly added came home on his hand as well as a Monday morning appointment to see a surgeon.
 

Now, I don’t know how much you know about tendons but they are a delicate thing, to be sure. The tendon is a bit like a rubber band. Once it is cut, if you continue to stretch it, similar to a rubber band, it will continue to tear until it rips completely apart. Once the tendon snaps it retracts towards the point of connection. Then the surgery becomes a much bigger deal than repairing a nick. They have to cut up the line of the tendon until they find it and reattach it to the other end. Thankfully, Beloved’s was a nick and not a complete tear.
 

Monday he saw the surgeon and by Wednesday he had outpatient surgery to repair the nick. (I say nick because that is the wording the hospital staff used. However once surgery was performed it became known the tendon was sliced 85% through. That wasn’t what I had in mind when I thought ‘nick’. : ) ) Because Beloved’s tendon wasn’t sliced through completely they only had to reopen the original cut and add some micro-sutures The hand is healing nicely so far.
 

 I call it his Frankenstein hand. : ) I’m loving and supportive like that. Seriously though, he is doing great and recovering wonderfully. Thankfully with his job such as it is this was a small bump in the road. We are several weeks out from the initial injury and while he is still undergoing P.T. all is healing nicely.

 

All this to say, if you ever chip a glass, no matter how big or small, it should go immediately into the recycle bin! If you could have seen the size of the chip it would be unbelievable the amount of damage that has come from it.

 

Oh, I am sure you will believe me when I tell you my husband’s conclusion after all this: dishes are really too dangerous for him to do anymore and so he should be done with that chore altogether. (Isn’t that just like a man? : ))

Bagheera

This girl is something else. Truly. She had a wonderful opportunity this summer to participate in a musical play- The Jungle Book Kids. After undergoing auditions she landed the part of Bagheera the panther. I wish I could put in to words what this play was like for her. She enjoyed her self so much and stepped out in courage. Both my Beloved and I watched her perform in amazement knowing she didn’t get that confidence and acting ability from either of one of us. (If you could see my Beloved in action you would know the drama is all him. ~wink~)

She is growing up so fast, this one. We are watching and wishing time would slow down. One sign of her growing maturity was choosing to do this play while knowing the opening night of the show would land on her birthday, prohibiting a party. Oh, we did cake and ice cream and she had her bigger family party a week or so before the play so it wasn’t like she didn’t have a birthday. But the laying down of her special day was something that might not have happened a year or so ago. I cannot share the play with you…but wow, it was a sight to see. You’ll just have to take my word for it. : )

Since I mentioned her birthday here are a few pictures of her celebrating. I have fallen dreadfully behind on updating the blog, so you’ll have to bear with posts with more than one topic. : )

The hot birthday day gift this year was Lego Friends. Both Grandma’s blessed her with a few kits and away she went. I’ll have to show you a picture of the put together parts. They are definitely something to behold. You can completely see how Lego catered to the more detailed heart of a girl versus a boy.

Well, it is beginning, this update of the oldest girl. : ) Take care- lots of love and prayers!

Mazurka

This is the last of the recital dances for the KK girl and it is her ballet number. I wasn’t able to record this particular dance during practice. Thus the vantage point is much further away. She is the second from the top of the screen in the right hand side line. From there you’ll have to do your best to follow her. : ) Again, apologies for my oh so fine camera recording. Blessings on your day!

MVI 0712 from Jess on Vimeo.

Boogie Woogie Jitterbug

Kiersten did two tap numbers, the second of which was the Boogie Woogie Jitterbug. She’s such a knock-out. Did I mention before how proud I was when I saw her? : )

She was hamming it up for the camera. Such a nut! (I am not feeling super wordy so I’ll just cut to her dance, if you don’t mind.)

Boogie Woogie Jitterbug from Jess on Vimeo.

Amazing

That Kiersten-girl did an amazing job at her dance recital. I was just so proud of her!

This year was different for me in that I hadn’t seen Kiersten perform or really even practice any of these dances from start to finish until rehearsal. In the past I had always seen the dance long before the recital and that just wasn’t true this year. I have to say I was blown away by how amazing she did! I really shouldn’t have been because she always does a great job. I suppose it was the element of surprise in seeing it for the first time.

Recital week can be a bit exhausting and I could see it on the faces of those Mom’s newly joining the ranks. Each year gets better in that I know what is coming and can better adapt to it. Not sure if that makes sense- I suppose there is just some comfort (if that is the right word) in knowing what’s expected and how long and late the performance is going to last.

This year I had Kiersten take a rest-time both days of the recital. She laid down in her darkened room and listened to a story on tape and then fell asleep for a little while afterwards. That was a saving grace as she performed her last number about 10:15 both nights. (Have I mentioned she is a trooper?)

Well, I have hemmed and hawed enough already. Here is Kiersten performing the Waltz Clod! (P.S. This was rehearsal and Katie was working a bad nerve. I apologize in advance for my camera taking skills. The few times the camera dips a certain someone was yanking on my arm. You’ll hear my response to said behavior too! Oh dear.)

Waltz Clod from Jess on Vimeo.

(P.S.S. This is only dance #1 of #3. So, more to come!)

Wishing for Sweet Slumber

A few mornings ago I was in the kitchen cutting watermelon only to come out and find this exhausted little man curled up and fast asleep. He was smack dab in the middle of the others doing their thing and it hadn’t mattered. He was done for.

He had woken up quite early for him (5:30ish) and hadn’t slept super well the night before. I was going to wake him up after only an hour so that he would still take an afternoon nap, but when I went to do so he was sleeping so hard I left him be. Three hours later he roused himself. He has been battling a cold that just is hanging on tight and I know that all the rest he can get is precious and only aids in him getting better. (No, no afternoon nap was forthcoming after that marathon morning nap. : ))

I wish I could say it is only Zeke that has been depriving me of sleep in the middle of the night. He isn’t the main culprit. His next oldest sister, oh mercy, can she scream in the night. I can’t explain it but Katie has become terrorized by things in the last 6 months or so that didn’t bother her before. And as with most things involving small children there is no logic to her terrors, no trigger either, they have appeared almost out of nowhere.

The terror that is affecting sleep is her terror of The Train. We live a hop, skip and a jump from some railroad tracks. Have all her short life. Trains come through during the day and night. When the operator lays on that horn…that is it. She comes running for me. And in the night she comes screaming down the stairs. I wake hearing her and The Train simultaneously and leap from bed to meet her halfway. Thankfully all she needs for me is to hold her until The Train has completely passed by and we can no longer hear it.

It used to be that the operators working through the middle of the night would ding the bell more so than lay on the horn because, I don’t know, with the traffic lights programmed to shift to flashing reds and yellows at 11 p.m. it is safe to say not many people are out. It doesn’t seem to be a shared philosophy with the current operators. They lay on that horn something fierce.

I have tried to take away her nap (it has been coming, this just sped up the time table) in order to have her go to sleep more exhausted and hopefully less easily awakened. It works sometimes and others not so much. On particularly rough nights when she pleads with me to sleep with her, I do. I have a rough time of it and now I only give in if, after putting her back to bed after a Train episode, she returns because she can’t sleep.

Thankfully she cuddles into my back and doesn’t thrash around too much. And her bed is on the lower bunk. : )

Like all things…this too shall pass. Let’s make it soon, ok?

Handmade with Love

Kiersten has taken up making some gifts by hand and of course with love. Embroidery, with all its colors and fun patterns has made an impression. We stumbled upon embroidery by accident, really. The art book we were doing had a lesson where they talked about embroidery and then had the kids made a drawing of what they might embroider. I guess that just didn't really compute with me. Draw an embroidery idea? Why not just embroider for real? While I knew this probably wasn't super practical for Isaiah, I didn't see any reason Kiersten couldn't give it a go.

With embroidery on the mind I went to the best free resource a girl has- the library. We found some real gems in the way of books to get us started. One of them was this book -

There were really cute ideas and patterns. We just needed something to get us started. Kiersten chose a sampler type project.

There were a few different types of stitches used; satin stitching, french knots, stem stitching as well as back stitching were involved. The backstitch stitch is Kiersten's favorite. She did a really wonderful job. The sky is the limit now.

The other book she really likes is this one:

There is a CD inside to print off the patterns/designs. This particular gal uses some really eye catching colors which completely appealed to my girl.. I'll have to add a picture another time of the under the sea bag Kiersten made for her cousin.(We gave it away before getting a picture of it.) All the patterns and color ideas came from this book and it turned out really lovely.

After the sampler Kiersten decided to get a set of 3 plain bags in order to embroider them and then give them away. The under the sea bag was one gift and then Kiersten made this bag for another birthday gift.

I gave her a little help adding the fabric on. We got the 'pattern' by tracing the cover picture of a sticker book the girls had. Kiersten was pleased with how it turned out. : ) Next she is on to making a bag for herself. You'll have to tune back in to see the finished product!

Something New

Oh dear. I fear we have entered a new phase in parenting we were blessed to have avoided this long. This past weekend while we were visiting my in-laws Zeke took a fall. I didn’t witness the actual tumble, just its aftermath. We can only surmise that our littlest man fell and hit the edge of the coffee table.

He had a small gash on his lip but it was a bit wide. I will say that is the most I have ever seen one of my children bleed! My mother-in-law saw the cut and felt he would definitely need stitches. No one has had to have them thus far so I was clueless. We went to the walk-in clinic near their house and being a Saturday, it was rather hoppin’. To my surprise we were checked-in and then a medical assistant came out and said they would prefer we went elsewhere! Another first, being turned away from a clinic before the doctor even sees you. The doctor said they would rather we went to the emergency room to have him looked at.

I have to tell you that at this point I am wondering if this cut is serious enough to warrant stitches or action of any kind. Zeke was all smiles, had eaten some food, was running around smiling and his cut had stopped bleeding. I will saw it wasn’t scabbing over or showing any sign of starting to scab.

Anyhow, we went to the nearest children’s hospital. When the triage nurse was looking him over I had to ask her if this kind of trip to the emergency room was really necessary for his cut. She assured me it was…because his little gash had gone over the line of his skin onto his actual lip area.

To make this long enough story come to an end I’ll tell you the little guy received three stitches. He was such a champ through the entire day. It was close to 5 hours after he actually fell that the stitches were put in. In all that time he was a gem. We laughed and played and snuggled. The tears and wails were only heard the first 10 minutes after the fall and the last 10 minutes when they were stitching him up.

This parenting deal leaves no room for dull moments, does it?

A Star (or two) is Born

Kiersten and Isaiah were asked to help the kids pastor at our church out. I have to say I had to beg and plead with them. (Oh, please. It was almost comical trying to figure out who asked who to do this project. The kids were that excited.) You see Mr. J wanted the kids to take part in an espidsode for Orange TV.

This past summer Orange TV was birthed and has become something my kids look forward to. It is a way of further connecting Sunday morning lessons to home. Even with the wider range of ages in the kids - the 9 year old down to the 1 year old- all get a kick out watching what Mr. J puts together.

Anyhow, Mr. J called and asked if Kiersten and Isaiah would come in and film with him. He wanted to put together a quick tutorial for how to find verses in your Bible. Mr. J later confessed that due to Kiersten's animated facial expressions (which he had observed and taken note of on Sunday mornings) he thought she would make a great co-host. (She clearly lived up to his expectations in this department- you'll see what I mean. : )) And even though Isaiah didn't get to be on camera he had a blast being there while they taped and adding his voice to part of the show.

Dare I say a star (or two) has been born? You'll have to take a peek and cast your vote!