Creative Kids

Once again, I've taken an unscheduled hiatus from blogging. The power cord to our laptop has died. I've ordered one and it should be here Monday. Somehow, the old one gave me enough juice to charge the computer today. So here we go!

Earlier in the week, Luke came home from school and wanted to play outside and be super heroes. On one of the kid websites, they have a place where you can enter some information and discover your superpowers. He did it as school and wanted to find out the girls' powers. So he got on the computer, found them out and they all made their costumes sitting at the kitchen table and then went outside. It was so cute!

Luke helping Hope with her costume

Sara showing off her best superhero pose!

Super Luke!

We're almost done with the backyard! Yea! I have been so grateful to my Daddy for helping us to get it together. He made us a deck box to hold the waterslide and bouncy house. And it's great for serving food! We went tonight and got flowers for the hanging baskets and it's almost done! We get to break it in for Hope's birthday party on Tuesday!

Lance has been working a LOT this week and weekend. I haven't seen him at all hardly. The kids are missing him and so am I. I'm ready for a break so we can get away together as a family, but it will be a little while longer before that can happen. So the kids and I are spending a lot of time outside. They are loving it. We bought some sand for the sandbox tonight, too, and I'm sure I'll be asking myself why in the world I did that in a few days! Cleaning sand out of the kids hair before they come in the house ought to be fun! Ha! But they will have a lot of fun playing in it.

Luke has 4 more days of school. I think I'm more ready for him to get out than he is! He has been really sweet lately and I'm ready for him to be home during the day. We have a lot planned this summer: swimming lessons, science camp for Luke, dance camp for the girls, VBS, library, and POOL! I feel like I lost last summer since I was pregnant with Emma and miserable, so I'm ready to make up for it this summer!

Summer's Almost Here!

Luke still has 7 more days of school left; then it will be summer in the Faddis house! I can't wait! With the days so long now and the kids enjoying playing outside so late, I'm so ready to not have worry about bedtimes. I am so grateful to my Daddy for helping us get the backyard fixed up. It has been so nice for the kids to be able to go outside and not be covered in mud when they come back in. And they are having so much fun playing on the playground. Usually when Lance gets home, he heads to the backdoor to say hi to the kids.

Here are some before and after pics of the backyard.

It's hard to tell in this one, but that's all dirt and holes next to the house.

Looking out the backdoor at the same side of the house.

The finished product. The little plants in the front are the girls' pepper plants. You can see Jack's pen in the back.

Now we're just waiting for the grass to grow over the dirt that we used to fill the pot holes.

Horses!

We spent today at our land. Lance and Luke went out earlier than the girls and me. We took out a picnic lunch and then spent some time riding. Luke's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. We got him a horse for his 5th birthday, but it got a brain fungus and we had to have him put down last year. It was a sad day. So we surprised him with a new horse today for his birthday. His reaction was funny. Lance had the camera ready to capture his expression and when I told him that the new horse was his horse, he frowned. Then he got a little upset. He said that he still wanted to ride Black (another horse we have). Then he said he wanted a boy horse. (his new one is a mare) Lance and I just laughed! When I explained to him that he could ride in the rodeo on this horse, he said, "by myself?" I told him yes and that's all it took for him to get excited! Ha!

Luke and his new horse

We also have new baby! My horse had her baby this week. He is adorable! The kids are loving him.

The newest addition

Momma and baby


Hope riding

Sara all grins

Right in the middle of riding, a thundershower hit. And hit hard! We threw the kids in the car and got soaked getting everything put up!

Lance and my sopping wet!

End of The Year Activities

It's been a busy past couple of days with all our end of the year activities for Sara and Luke. Last night was Sara's "graduation" from MDO. Most of the kids in her class will be going to kindergarten next year. The 3 year old class sang some songs and Sara's class sang songs and the one's who are going to kindergarten wore cap and gowns and got "diplomas". Sara and the other ones got to walk across the stage and get a diploma, too. It was pretty cute. Next year, Hope's class will sing and Sara will be wearing a cap and gown. It's going to be fun!

Singing her songs

The graduate with her diploma

Sara and another little boy in the class started the program off leading everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. She cracks me up because she gets shy when asked to perform. That girl doesn't know how to be quiet, but if you put her up in front of people, she freezes and just grins. It's so cute!

Then today was field day at Luke's school. It was so much fun. Luke has been blessed with a great teacher this year who "gets" him and is so wonderful to him. And she has fun with the kids. She did all the activities with the kids and we all had a blast!

water relay

that water was cold!

Proud Momma Day

Today has been one of those days that just makes my heart happy to be a momma. It was MDO for the girls and I went to PT and ran a couple of errands. Emma and I came home and I started to clean up the kitchen. She was getting fussy in the living room so I put her in front of our new screen door and she sat there for 45 minutes watching Jack play. It was so cute! She is so adorable! (and a side note: she is sitting up on her own now! I heard her fussing in the living room and she was on her belly. The next time I looked she was sitting up playing! And my Daddy and Lance both said they've seen the same thing the past couple of days. None of us have actually seen her do it, but I'll get a pic when I catch her!)

She was enthralled

Then my Daddy took me to lunch. After we picked up the girls and had naptime, Luke got home from school. When he got to the door, I took his backpack and looked for his behavior chart. Green card! Woo Hoo! Way to go Luke. He's been getting greens pretty much solid for a month now. And his library book was in his backpack. "The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids" A little back story: during all our landscaping of the backyard, Lance bought 3 pepper plants for the girls to take care of and a tomato plant for Luke to take care of. So when I asked him why he picked that book today, he said, "I wanted to read about gardening." I was so proud of him. Then he asked if he could go water his tomato plant. He can't wait for it to produce some tomatoes. He told me that whenever they are playing in the backyard and want a snack, they can just pick a tomato! He's so adorable.

Luke reading his book before bed

This afternoon, the kids were playing in the backyard. They were having a blast! Jack has figured out how to climb the ladder of the playground. Lance made our playground a couple of years ago and made a big deck area the kids call "the fort." So Sara got Jack to come up the ladder and she and Hope were having a tea party with Jack. It was hysterical!

The Fort Tea Party

And we rounded out the day with dinner on the patio. The kids loved it. We haven't been able to eat out there with the yard in the shape it's been in. So we are looking forward to being able to do it this summer!

Great Neighbors

Sunshine. What is that?!?! We've had rainy weather for almost 3 weeks and today the sun was shining! Yea! We went to church this morning then out to lunch. Then home for naps and after that we were outside. We have spent a lot more time in the front yard this year. The kids are able to ride their bikes, play with sidewalk chalk and play with the kids in the neighborhood. We have 2 sets of neighbors that have become good friends over the past few years. It is such a blessing to have neighbors that you like and do things with. And hopefully we will have a new set of neighbors directly across the street from us soon. The kids and I were out the other day and they were at the house with an inspector. We talked after they inspector left and if everything goes through, they should be closing middle of June. Luke is excited. They have 6 kids between them, but 3 of them live with them. The 2 oldest boys are 8 and almost 6. So Luke will have 2 boys his age right across the street to play with.

It is so much fun to see my kids be their own people. Today our friends across from us had their niece over. She is Luke's age, but she and Sara were playing together in our front yard and then they went over to Brad and Sabrina's backyard to play. They played for an hour together and wanted to do it again. It's so cute to watch my children interact with other kids and adults and see them becoming their own person. What a joy and privilege and awesome responsibility!

All About Emma

Baby Emma. God's little surprise! We were soooo done at 3, but God had other plans. There is no doubt He had her for our family and I can't wait to see her grow up and see who she is going to become.

She is THE sweetest baby. I like to think that God knew that if He was going to surprise me with #4, He was going to have to give me an easy baby and He did. She is the most laid back little thing. She never cries. The only time she does is if she's poopy or tired. And she smiles all the time! She has the absolute cutest grin. Her whole face lights up when she smiles.

She loves to play with the kids. She screams with joy when one of them walks into the room. It's so precious. I love to see that she loves them even as little as she is.

Everyone comments on what a sweet and cute baby she is. The nursery workers at our church love having her. It is such a blessing when they ask about her if she's been sick or tell me when I drop her off that they are excited that she's there. (I'm sure they love having one who doesn't ever cry!)

She is starting to become more independent and makes her will known. She has started really trying to crawl. She gets her legs up and moves them, but she can't figure out to pick her head up and leave her hands down! It's the funniest sight. She scoots her head along the floor for a few inches and then gives up. She'll get it pretty soon and then it's look out!

And she is cracking me up with her yelling! She has discovered her voice and she's not afraid to use it! I have been pretty laxed about working sign language with her. I have used a few signs with the other kids to make it easier on them so they don't get so frustrated trying to communicate. I need to start working with her more. She seemed to understand "more" tonight. And that's a big one to be able to use. I think she'll catch on pretty quickly.

I can't believe she's going to be 9 months in 4 more days! She'll be 1 in 3 months! It's amazing how time flies.

She my fourthborn, surprise of all surprises, sweet, innocent, happy, laidback, precious Emma Noelle.

Lovin' My Daddy!

My Dad has been such a big help to me this week. I am so blessed to have a Daddy that is so hands on with my kids and our life. I went with Luke on a field trip to War Eagle Mill today. It was fun, but I was kinda put out that the tour guides told the kids about the ghosts that are at War Eagle and the ghost busters that had been there. Seriously! They are 1st graders!

On the bus! (1st time for me in 18 years to be on a yellow school bus!)

Luke at the mill

After I got home from the field trip, Daddy and I took the girls to go get mulch to do the flower beds in the backyard. We have been busy today! Dad had worked so hard for us. When Luke got home from school, we went and got the pavers to make the beds. The kids did great and loved being a part of everything. I think we decided to plant a tomato plant and pepper plant in the bed. It's going to be the kids summer project. They will be so excited!

Now, if the rain will just move through tonight so we can finish everything tomorrow!

All About Sara

My sweet girl, Sara. First, let me say to anyone reading this that doesn't know us. Sara's name is pronounced like car-uh. It is the Aramaic pronunciation of Sarah. Lance had a friend in residency with the name and he loved it. He asked her its origin and she said, it's Abraham's wife. We were wanting something Biblical but different and we knew that Sara was it. It does cause some confusion until people know her, but it's worth it. It is a beautiful name.

Sara is the momma of the group. She is such an amazing little girl. We joke that she is a 24 year old in a 4 year old's body. My Mom has called her an old soul. She is mature beyond her years. I have to remind myself that she is only 4 at times when she is acting like she is. I get so used to her being mature beyond her years that I don't expect her to act like a 4 year old and do the things that 4 year olds do. Friends at church love having her when they take care of extended session. She helps them with all the other kids! It's hysterical!

Speaking of church. I have to write this down. Her Sunday School teacher told me the other day that she had to get on to Sara the other day one of the first times ever. She told Sara that the Bible says to obey your Momma and Daddy and that her Momma and Daddy would want her to obey Mrs. Brenda. Sara looked at her and said, "we don't read the Bible much at our house." Ha! The things kids say!

She is my helper. The Lord knew, in His plan, that when He was going to give me 4 kids, I would need a helper. Sara is it. She loves babies. And she is sooooo good with Emma. When Emma was just days old, Sara held her on the couch for and hour and watched TV. She didn't move. She would say, "Momma, my arm is hurting." and wait for me to hold Emma while she repositioned. She loves to give Emma her bottles and just help take care of her.

The problem with her mothering is that she can have the tendency to be a little bossy! :) With every good personality trait, there is a downside!

Sara is the sweetest thing. The neat thing is, I can look ahead and see Sara being my best friend. She is such a girly girl, which is nothing like me when I was a girl. She was shocked when I told her that I didn't like dolls, make up, dresses or anything like that. It was funny to see her face when we had that talk! But now that I love all that, she is the one that I love to talk to about it! When Lance and I went to a charity ball this past Christmas, I bought my dress and went home to show Sara. She was so excited. And we've gotten a pedicure together before and she keeps bugging me to go get another one. That's on the schedule for this summer!

She is my secondborn, little momma, sweet as can be, helper, loving, flirtatious, baby loving, girly girl, Sara Elizabeth!

Backyard Makeover

Today, a good friend took Hope for a playdate so it was just my Dad, Emma, Sara and me. Sara was disappointed that she wasn't able to go. She handled it pretty well, but she did tear up a little. So Dad and I made it a good day for her, too.

Dad is helping me get our backyard in order. It is an absolute mess right now. Our dog has absolutely destroyed it. There are potholes all in the yard. I'm scared one of the kids will disappear in one of them! So Dad is building me a fence to block off the side yard for Jack's area. Then we're going to fill in the potholes, landscape, and build a deck box.

Sara loved being a part of our project today. We first went to Lowe's to buy supplies. She helped Dad load the wood onto the cart and then riding around on it! Then we went to Mom and Dad's house that they are buying and let her look around. Then it was on to Sonic for whatever she wanted for lunch (grilled cheese Wacky Pak with Cherry Sprite!) We came home to eat and then got started on the fence.

Dad is really good about getting the kids involved with helping him on his projects. He let Sara help him build the fence in the front yard and she LOVED it. I told Dad it took me back about 27 or 28 years. When I was a kid, he built a shop/office building at our house. I remember helping him roll out "hog wire" when he was prepping the concrete. That was a fun time for me and has been a great memory. Helping my Daddy build something. Today, Sara was able to make the same kind of memory with him. That is so special to me.

Holding it steady!

Getting screws

Big Helper!

Tomorrow is my All About Sara post. :) This one started out like that, but there was too much other stuff going on I wanted to remember!

Back in the Saddle Again!

OK, so I've taken quite a hiatus from blogging the past week and didn't mean to at all.

First, let me say that on Tuesday my good friend Kelly came over for a playdate and I got to meet the famous little Miss Harper! If anyone besides my family and friends are reading this blog, then more likely than not, you've linked here off of Kelly's blog. We were hallmates in college and had so much fun! When we moved here 5 years ago, Kelly was one of the first people that I connected with. We haven't been able to see each other as often as I would have liked, but hopefully now that she is staying at home with Harper, we'll be able to get together more. Sara and Hope were enthralled with Harper. And Hope just made herself at home on Kelly's lap. And Harper was an angel!

Sara took a pic (not bad for a 4 year old!)

Now, to my hiatus. It all started last week with my neck. It just got worse. On Wednesday, I woke up in horrible pain. I hadn't sleep much at all and called Lance in tears after I got Luke off to school. Jeremy came over and watched the girls for me so I could drive up to Lance's office and get checked out. His nurse practitioner is a good friend of ours, so she looked me over, had an x-ray done to make sure there were no real issues and loaded me up on lots of drugs! Lance took off the rest of the day and drove me to physical therapy. I was in such pain I couldn't make it myself.

I am just now beginning to feel better. It's been a rough week. I've been on muscle relaxers, steroids, stomach meds, and migraine meds. And I don't like to take medicine. I still have a couple more weeks of physical therapy twice a week, but hopefully it will do the trick.

So, now I'm back to blogging our life. I've gotten so used to doing it every night to keep up with the kids and I'm so sad to think of what I've missed writing down this past week.

Mom, the girls and I went to the mall Saturday. We had just planned on going to Target, which is right beside the mall. So we went to the mall to eat. When we got there, Sara reminded us that the last time we were there, Mom and I said that they could ride the carousel the next time we came. So after lunch, we did that and then got ice cream. They had a blast!

They both got the horses they wanted!

Mother's Day was yesterday. Emma wasn't feeling good, so Lance stayed home with her from church. Mom and Dad were here and went with me and the kids to church. The kids were so cute. Luke gave me a big hug first thing that morning and told me Happy Mother's Day. Then Sara and Hope kept opening the shower yelling Happy Mother's Day (except Hope kept saying Happy Birthday!) :) Then Luke had Sara keep me in the bathroom while he surprised me by making my bed. It was so cute! He was so proud of himself.


Lance made lunch for us. It was yummy! Pepper steak. He does a great job at cooking. He is an excellent chef. The kids had made me several things at church and were excited to give them to me. It was fun to see them really get into Mother's Day this year. They kinda got what it was all about. I am a blessed woman!

All About Luke

So now it's Luke's turn. What can I say about that sweet boy?! There's so much. He's almost finished with 1st grade. I can't believe that. He turns 7 in a month. That is so hard to believe. He has done so good in school this year. He's reading on a 3rd grade level, he's made all A's, he was asked to test for the talented and gifted program (we find out this month if he got in) and everyone at school loves him. Luke has got personality oozing our of every pore. There is never a dull moment with him.

He is so into TV, video games, super heroes, and riding his bike. He asks me every day if we can go out and ride bikes. He is so excited that he can ride on grass now. He can't wait to go out on our land and take his bike with him. And when the weather gets a little better, he'll love riding his horse, too.

He and I have had our struggles this year. He is developing into a boy, not just a little boy and we are finding our way. It hasn't been easy, he's been a little sassy the past few months and had some attitude. If there is one thing that I will not tolerate, it's disobedience and attitude. Unfortunately, he's had both this year. BUT, I do have to say that there is not a funner or more tender hearted boy out there.

He is so special to me. I love his enthusiasm. Whatever he is telling me, it's the most important, coolest thing ever. He gets so excited about everything. And he is such a sweet child. He will be friends with anybody. He does not see any differences in people. I love that about him!

He also has such a heart for the Lord. That is the most important thing and the thing I am most proud of. His prayers are so genuine, "Jesus, you're my best friend. I love you." "Jesus, thank you for all you do for us." Even at 6, almost 7, he allows the scripture to speak to him. One of the best things we can do to correct his behavior is get his Bible out and read verses that apply to whatever his behavior is. It is so amazing to see him, at his young age, allow the scripture to penetrate his heart.

And the boy always has a smile on his face! (unless he's mad at me!) :) He is such a joy, and I couldn't be prouder of him.

He's my firstborn, only son, joyful, spirited, tender hearted, sweet, exciting, funny, Luke Isham!

My Boy!!

All About Hope

OK, so Hope has said some funny things the past couple of days and I wanted to write them down so I will remember them. Then I got to thinking, why not write an entire post about her. And each day write about a different child. So this one is all about Hope.

She will be 3 in one month. I can't believe it. She was the baby for so long and was supposed to be the baby forever. It's taken me several months to realize that she's not a baby anymore. Lance and I were just talking at lunch about the fact that she is transitioning from toddler to preschooler. It's kinda sad, but fun at the same time. We were worried for so long that she would never talk. Luke and Sara were talking in complete sentences before they turned 2 and Hope didn't start really talking until Emma got here. And that's only been 8 months. But in those 8 months, she has caught up to where Luke and Sara were at her age. She talks all the time. And amazes us with the things she says and observes.

Yesterday she and I were dancing in the living room to TobyMac. (the kids LOVE TobyMac) While we were dancing, she said, "Momma, you be my prince." It was so cute. She has such a sweet spirit. She is definitely the one that keeps me on my toes. She is constantly into EVERYTHING! My parents are amazed at all she can get into. They say that she is like raising two! But, she is the sweetest thing. She is always walking up to us and saying, "Momma/Daddy, I love you."

Today she was sitting in Lance's lap after lunch. He was loving holding her and they were just talking. Then she looked up at him and said something to him. He couldn't understand her so he called me over. I asked her what she was saying. It took a minute but I finally understood. "Daddy, you want me to get my princess dress and you can be Prince Charming?" It melted Lance's heart. The other day she said, "Momma, Daddy always calls up Princess." Lance started that with Sara and has carried it over to all the girls. I love it. It is such a special bond between them all.

My Dad is here this weekend. (I'll blog about that some other time. They are out of their house in LR) He watched the girls for me this morning while I took Luke to church for choir rehearsal for their spring musical tomorrow. While I was gone, he called me and told me this...he had thrown out the trash in the kids' bathroom. A few minutes later, he saw Hope chewing some gum. He asked her where she got the gum. She said, "the bathroom." (audible gasp here) He said, "show me where in the bathroom." She proceeded to take him to the bathroom and point at the the trashcan. (choke, choke, gag, verp!) That's Hope!

She is my thirdborn, second girl, tomboy who loves princess dresses, mischievous, HYSTERICAL, sweet, expressive, tenacious, loving, into everything, wonderful Hope Aslan!

My Hope

Say What?

The girls and I were able to go garage sale-ing today! It was a lot of fun. We got Luke off to school, loaded up in the car in p.j.'s, went through the drive-thru at the donut shop and we were off! It was drizzling and thundering and I almost didn't go, but I'm so glad I did! We've been wanting to go to Wal-Mart all week and get Luke and Sara new bikes, but haven't been able to. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but once we were driving around the neighborhoods, I started noticing all kinds of bicycles. I found the exact ones we were looking at at Wal-Mart. Luke's was $80 at the store and I paid $10! Sara's was $75 at the store and I paid $10 for it, too!!!! I was so pumped! Luke's is in great shape, and Sara's is just missing the training wheels and basket that it originally came with. I'm going to look for training wheels at Wal-Mart or a bike shop and we should be golden! I love getting a good deal. And the girls loved looking out the window as we drove around looking at all the stuff and helping me spot things!

Now for the reason of the title of this blog. Tonight Luke and I were playing and goofing off. This afternoon, I was folding clothes on the couch and he shot me from behind with a water gun. I chased him down, got it from him and retaliated! Sara was upset she didn't get sprayed, so I called her into the kitchen and sprayed her with the sink hose! Then, later in the kitchen after dinner, Luke started trying to kung fu fight me. He kicked and I caught his foot and knocked him down. (careful not to let him hit his head!) On the way down, he hit his funny bone on the counter and was laying on the floor rolling around laughing and wailing, "oh my nerds! oh my nerds!" I burst out laughing!!!! I said, "it's nerves you goofball!" He had a good laugh at himself!