Growing Together

Week in Review {Jan. 16-22}

2012-01-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

This week we have been settling back into our "normal" routine. School, classes, life... :)

Early in the week, we (and about half of the rest of the people on campus) headed over to celebrate Daniel's 8th birthday. The kids were so excited all day about it. :)

We are very blessed to be part of a community in our "apartment complex".

Another night, G called us upstairs about an hour after we'd put the kids to bed. After realizing that he was in our bed, this is what we saw...

He put all the clothes that were on our bed (from when we changed in to our pajamas) on to his tiny little body. (You can't see the layers of my clothes under JR's.)

He was VERY proud of himself. :) I just kept thinking about how much he looked like the Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz" when the stuffing is pulled out of him. ;)

Then I went in and checked on Naomi. This is how I found her:

Naomi made this snowman at school. She is very proud of "Baby Snow".

She even talked about how she made this like I made Catty Flower.

This week I've been enjoying hearing Naomi play with her new toys. She plays for hours. This is her enjoying her new "Fab Snaps."

Also... I don't know if this happens to you, but here's a major thing that happened this week...

I always love Gideon, but this week I "fell in love with him" all over again. I don't know how to describe it any better. I LOVE Gideon. But the past few months we were butting heads a lot. A LOT. --not in any way that isn't part of growing up, gaining new responsibilities and freedoms-- But while I loved Gideon, I didn't appreciate his uniqueness, his quirks...him.

But one evening, after I was relating to JR a conversation I'd heard between G and Daniel earlier in the day, JR pointed out that I probably hadn't handled things the best way. JR wasn't even that direct about it. He just reminded me of one of Gideon's unique qualities.

I was struck to the core. For months I have been raising Gideon, caring for him, loving him... and not seeing him at all. And I fell for Gideon all over again.

God has given us a little boy who has insights into spiritual truths that are beyond his years. Gideon has a tender heart that seeks to include EVERYONE. Gideon's heart is large enough to call people "best friend" who call him "annoying". Gideon looks after Naomi as if it's his job in life. And he looks after us too.

For the first time in months, I'm soaking him up again.

This has been a great week.
~Daisha

Week{ish} in Review {Jan. 6-14}

2012-01-15T16:04:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe that we were still in California last week. But... we were. :)

Our last Saturday in Pasadena was when Brent, Kelli, Rachel, and Simon flew back home to Warsaw. Before they headed out, we got some photos (as we always do):

the four cousins...

...4 different cousins (Parker, Cory, Kelli, JR)

our kids with Great-Grandpa Gene

...add in Great-Grandma Judy...

So when Kelli saw G in his jersey back in the fall, she e-mailed me to tell me that Rachel's team name was "Arsenal" and they were red and white. How weird is that?! So, of course, we made sure to pack the jerseys to get a photo of the kids together. What are the odds of two cousins in different continents end up with the same team name and colors? Wanna' see something else so freaky that JR was compelled to take a photo of it?

This is the Excedrin bottle exactly as it looked when JR opened it. Weird, right? :) The next few days we helped wind down things. We got Debby off back to Florida on Monday... after helping her find the cutest "Thoroughly Modern Millie" hat. The kids played with G'G'ma Judy and Great Aunt Diane... We enjoyed the sunshine.

JR and I were able to have a date at the Cheesecake Factory. (We joked about running into Sheldon Cooper and the gang.) We know we're nerds. We roll with it.

Monday "prevening" (as Sheldon would say) I took photos of JR's cousins at the nearby park. (These photos will show up on my web-site eventually.)

After the session was over, I snapped some shots of my kids loving California life.

(We can't loose G'G'pa in that bright jacket!)
Tuesday we headed back home to cold Memphis, via Little Rock.
Wednesday we prepared for the kid's first day of school.
Thursday I've already blogged about. Friday I did Kindergarten with Gideon. During the afternoon, Naomi and I had a "Baby JoJo Date" to see "Beauty and the Beast" in 3D.

And Friday evening the kids introduced us to "Spy Kids 2" for family movie night.
The rest of our week, we have been getting back on Central time zone and enjoying our last few days of "break". We exchanged one of Naomi's duplicate presents and since there were Littlest Pet Shop sets on clearance, she got to get 4 presents in the exchange. (not bad, huh?)

Kelli lent us her 2 seasons of "Community" on DVD and we are enjoying the cleverness.
And that's a break-down of our week.
Here's a shout out to my sister, Claudia, who is 30 today! Happy Birthday. We'll head upstairs where we have reception and try giving you a call. :)
~Daisha

First Day at Germantown Mother's Day Out

2012-01-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

Homeschooling is going well. The kids are both reading, G is on track with math and handwriting. However, Kindergarten is more than just book learning... a lot of Kindergarten is social. And I'm not able to provide this for him. On top of that, with our plans for the fall being up in the air... and me not knowing if Naomi will have another year of "preschool", or start Primary 1 (in Scotland), or Kindergarten somewhere here in preparation for Scotland... I wanted Naomi to have a school experience away from me and Gideon for ease of transition.

Enter "Germantown church of Christ Preschool"...G is in the 5 year old class and Naomi is in the 3 year old class. And today, they finally got to join their new classes.

Here they are waiting for time to leave:

Here's the big girl on her first day of (away from me) school:

And Gideon:

He's always excited to meet and play with new people:

See... she really was excited.

Whoo Hoo!

Heading to the car...

In front of the school...

Naomi had no problem going into her class and making herself at home. She barely even said good-bye to me.

G had already started playing. See? he's showing us a car.

After making sure G was settled, I glanced back to check on N.

And then back at G...

The kids both came home talking about how much fun they had. What a blessing this will be! ***UPDATE*** I can't believe that I forgot to post what Naomi said about her day! As I was getting her in her pajamas tonight N talked my ear off about preschool. Apparently she played Queens/Princesses with "Add-O-Lay" (I'm pretty sure the little girl's name is Adelaide, but I could be wrong. N insisted she had it right.) And they also played "Princess Cars". N had the pink car, but didn't want it, so "Add-O-Lay" traded her purple car. Naomi also told me that there is a kid in her class named "Spray Paint". Although upon further reflection, she decided that his name was just "Spray". And there either is a little girl with no parents named "Purple", or they read a story about "Purple." There you have it. Oh, and her teacher mentioned how much Naomi loved the bouncy ball at recess (you know the kind with the handles on them).
Gideon, apparently, volunteered to lead both prayers today. His teachers said that they were beautiful. ***END OF UPDATE (for now)***~Daisha

Picking Up Where I Left Off...

2012-01-09T18:36:00.002-05:00

January 5: Knott's Berry Farm

As you can see...

G continues his love of maps when
we go places... ;)

The park was a lot of fun! I'd never been before. The opening part was very similar to Silver Dollar City (which we were supposed to visit in December with my side of the family, but couldn't). We did some things with all of us together.

The log ride was a huge hit with everyone. Naomi went 3 times and Gideon went 5 times!

The Tea Cups were next (Kelli, JR, and I opted out). :)

Then everyone but JR got on the Ferris wheel. In this photo, you can actually see all of us if you look hard enough!

After this ride, Brent, JR, and I headed off to catch the roller coasters. The camera stayed with the kids and Debby and Kelli.

(All 4 grand-kids in age order)

The fellas and I re-joined our families in time for the carousel.

We got in as many rides as we could and really soaked up our day at Knott's Berry Farm.

January 6:

With Kelli et al leaving on Saturday, Friday was spent packing and playing, and wrapping up our time in Southern California. One of the stops that we wanted to make was to visit Debby's mother's grave-site.

Kelli really wanted a 4-generation photo.

These are the "Joyces": Maxine Joyce, Debra Joyce, Kelli Joyce, Rachel Joyce

JR and Kelli remembering their Grandma...

After paying our respects, we headed out to lunch.

When the lighting was right ;) we headed to the nearby park for me to get photos of the fam:

JR's side of the family

Brent, Kelli, Rachel, and Simon

Brent and Kelli

Rachel Joyce (age 6)

Simon Brent (age 3)

Debby with all her grand-kids

Brent snapped a photo of me and JR after I took his photo with Kelli.

The rest of the evening we helped Kelli find all the kids' things and watched "Community".

Saturday and Sunday were spent relaxing and visiting with family. Naomi and Gideon both had fevers Sunday. JR thoroughly enjoyed the Bronco game yesterday.

Today I've done laundry and packed up our stuff (it's all fitting into our original bags!!!).

Tonight JR and I are having a date in the Pasadena Cheesecake Factory. I wish "Penny" from "Big Bang Theory" could be our waitress. But I guess since BBT isn't real, I'll have to keep wishing. ;)

~Daisha

600th Post!

2012-01-08T15:18:00.002-05:00

This morning, since both of my children have fevers :(, we are staying put at Great-Grandpa and Great-G'ma Judy's house.

This past week has been full and busy.

I got to do something that I've been wanting to do since Mimi talked about it every year when I was a little girl: go see where they work on the Tournament of Roses Parade floats!

Debby, Kelli, Naomi, Rachel, and I headed out to view the floats in progress. If you'd like to see more of the photos, CLICK HERE to view them on facebook.

The morning of the parade we woke up and headed down to the parade route. Since there were so many of us, Grandpa ran a "shuttle" to and from the house. Well... "Grandma" went down with all 3 kids first and by the time Brent, Kelli, Simon, and I joined them there were 4 cotton candies being consumed by very sticky children.

(he posed like this for the photo)

(the birthday girl on her 6th b-day)

(the culprit)

After we got them cleaned up, we took our positions for the parade.

After watching this parade every year, it was really amazing to be here in person.

I took tons of photos... but if you saw the parade, I don't want to take up space here. A few more photos were posted HERE on facebook.

After the parade, since it was Rachel's birthday, the girls all headed to Panera for lunch and then we got our nails done.

Naomi kept stealing the lettuce from everyone's plate. (weird, right?)

Rachel enjoyed her HUGE chocolate peppermint cookie.

Naomi was so proud of the glittery purple polish she picked out. She sat so still the entire time. :)

The manicurist even put little flowers on the girls' thumbs.

When we got back home, (after dinner) we had a cake and sang to both girls. Their birthdays are just a month apart. (man, it freaks me out to see N with a "4" in front of her... my baaaby!)

So... Jan. 2 is pretty well blogged now. :)

January 3 we all packed up and headed to Santa Monica Pier. (Kelli took all the photos this day)
~~except this one~~

January 4th the 4 "parents" (JR, me, Kelli, and Brent) got to head into Hollywood all by ourselves!

We had a great time walking around by the Chinese theatre. JR and I had been there before when he brought me out here when we were engaged.

(This is us then)

(This is us now)

After we walked around, we drove past Paramount Studios (straining to see if one of the cast of Big Bang Theory were walking around). Paramount has been very good to us: Star Trek, BBT, Community (and I'm sure there are more). :)

We drove past the driveways of some movie stars and then headed up to Griffith Observatory.

The views from up here were amazing! (and my camera ran out of batteries) We got more photos with the Bigham's camera (with my lens) but I don't have them.

We stayed for the show. And all I can say is, "God is Awesome!" I cannot fathom how people see the vastness of space and think that God could be small.

We had an incredible day!

January 5: Knott's Berry Farm!!!!!!

(But I'll get into that in another post.)

~Daisha

New Year... New Heart

2012-01-01T18:08:00.002-05:00

This past semester--since returning from Scotland-- I have not made blogging a part of my routine.

First of all, we were extremely busy upon our return preparing for the beginning of school. Less than a week after we returned I began home-schooling Gideon's Kindergarten year and Naomi's preschool.

But here is the main reason I stopped blogging:
I found myself taking photos of our school time, and coming up with great lesson plans... not for my children... but for the blog. (how sickening is this?)

I was "performing" for my blog readers instead of planning these things for my children's education. I was seeking the approval of man, rather than faithfully fulfilling my role as a mother/teacher/wife for God's glory. I wanted other people to see me being a great mother, homeschooler, wife, and home-maker. My motives were misplaced. And so, I cut out the thing that was pulling my focus off point.

***I am not extending my sin onto other bloggers. PLEASE don't think that I am. Many people can and do use their blogs for the Glory of God. But last semester, I realized I was using it for my own glory.***

With a renewed sense of perspective and a right heart, I return to the blog so that I do not continue losing the day-to-day details of my children's "growing up". These kids are funny, and quirky, and after reading over previous years, I have realized how much I forget about the day-to-day things... the things I want to cherish.

So... as a way to catch up...

August:

2-- Naomi turned 3 1/2 and we flew home from Scotland
8-- I did a photo session in the morning and did the first day of Kindergarten in the afternoon.
JR had an intensive class and then I joined him for Hebrew on Tuesday afternoons. In exchange for watching G and N while I was in Hebrew with JR, I have Sydney join us for "school" on Wed. and Thurs.
JR was officially invited by the church of Christ in Peterhead, to come and work as the "Lead Evangelist".
(School-wise, both kids began reading this month.)

September:
Gideon started Soccer with JR as his coach. At every one of G's games, people from the HST community came to cheer him on. (We are so blessed to be surrounded and loved by our neighbors.)
10-- JR and I celebrated our 6th anniversary with my parent's, the kids, and Scott Lloyd at Greer's Ferry Lake. (We have photos somewhere, but I don't feel like looking them up.) ;)
11--JR's 32nd b-day
September became crazy because the weekend before our anniversary, I was fb chatting with Andrea (VanDyke) Lopina in Cebu, Philippines. We were chatting about how JR and I would love to see missions in a 3rd-World context. I brought up my chat to JR Thursday night, and we prayed about it and felt like we should look at heading to the Philippines over JR's fall break and him taking an additional week off of school. We knew we should go, and we also knew that we didn't have the money to get there. (This is all Thursday night, mind you.) Friday morning, while eating breakfast and checking e-mail, I get a message from the VanDykes that they would like to take care of one of the plane tickets for us as well as our expenses there. Well, to make a long, Providential, story short: God removed all the obstacles in our path: expense, school, soccer-coaching, child-care, and before September ended, JR and I were in Asia. I have multiple albums from our time in the Philippines on facebook.

Also, one morning Naomi walked into the room where JR and I were still in bed. I open my eyes to see her big, blue eyes staring at me. "I'm going to call you "Baby Jojo"," was all she said before she walked back out of the room. I've been "Baby Jojo" ever since. :)

October:
JR and I returned from the Philippines and tried to return life to "normal". However, JR and I had our eyes opened to another perspective on life.
We got back on track with school. Unfortunately, I never caught back up with my Hebrew. :(

Halloween:

Gideon wanted to be Yoda. So I made his costume for $3 and he won the costume contest. His prize was a $25 gift card to Incredible Pizza. (So I made $22 for Halloween!) One of the reasons G won was b/c not only did he LOOK like Yoda, but he talked as Yoda all night. He likes "staying in character". :)

November:
School continued.

We stopped in Carrollton, GA to visit with the Mosiers on our way to Florida.

Thanksgiving was spent in Tallahassee.

I got my nose pierced over our week in Tally.

December:

We found out that Germantown church of Christ would not be sending out a missionary family in 2012. This news threw us for a loop since we had been working with the missions committee all year. There are no ill feelings on either side of this decision. However, this does put a kink in our time-line for heading back to Peterhead.

We, as a family, wrapped up our semester.

To celebrate, we used G's Incredible Pizza gift card. I believe this was the first time ever our immediate family had made a FAMILY DAY of things where we actually went out and did things. (We usually just rent a Red Box movie and eat Taco Bell or something.)

After eating, we played Mini-Bowling. (5 frames is perfect for a 5 yr. old and a 3 3/4 year old.)

After Incredible Pizza we went to see "Arthur Christmas". We had such a wonderful day just the 4 of us!

Over this long break we are blessed to be seeing almost all of our family. I have been taking photos of the different groups along the way.

My Paternal Grandparents: Bob and Betty Stockstill (aka: The "GB's")

JR's father: Keith Sheets, Sr. (aka: Grandpa)

My Parent's: Daniel and Cindee Stockstill (aka: Gigi and Papa Dan)

My sister and her family: Claudia, Ryan, and Kaden (18 months) Porche

The cousins on the Stockstill side: Naomi (3 3/4), Kaden (18 months), Gideon (5 1/2)

Christmas has been celebrated with the Stockstill side. I only took photos of my kids opening the gifts I made them, and the gifts they got each other.

After we did Christmas with my family (on the 27th) we celebrated my birthday on our way to the airport (28th).

Currently, we are in Pasadena with JR's family. We haven't done our formal portraits yet because the box Debby mailed on the 22nd is lost in the postal system... delaying our Christmas and photos. :(

We've been playing and relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

We've eaten at In-and-Out Burger... played at the park... enjoyed the 70 degree weather...

Celebrated my birthday (again). :)

All 4 kids sang 3 songs, choral-style, as a surprise for me.

Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Judy, and "Grandma" (Debby) got to show off ALL the kids at various places including Uncle Don's and church.

JR's cousins and aunts and uncles came to visit.

And now, I think we are pretty well caught up. :)

I will do some posts about the kid's schooling, our "plans" for the future, and what the kids are saying these days. And, of course, I'll be blogging about our time here in sunny Southern California.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
~Daisha

We're Still Here...

2011-12-05T17:46:00.001-05:00

No one is sadder about my lack of blogging than I am.
After reading back over all the every-day kinds of posts I was posting while the children were smaller it makes me regret not recording their everyday antics of this past semester.

I have plans to rectify this. :)
So, in the meantime, here's what they look like these days.

(Photo taken on HST campus, December 3, 2011)
~Daisha

6 Years of Marriage

2011-09-10T11:27:00.000-04:00

Every year on our anniversary I re-post the vows that JR and I spoke to each other in the presence of our friends and family. We have these displayed on our walls as well. They serve as a constant reminder of the solemn promises we made, and still make, to each other. May God bless us with another 6 years... and another 6 years... and another...

JR's Vows to Daisha:

Daisha Lynne, only the Lord is above you in my heart, mind and soul. I vow to forsake all others, and sacrifice even myself for you.

As surely as the Lord lives, I vow to honor you-- to give you an undying faithfulness, to take care of you in the worst times, and laugh, smile, and cheer with you in the best.

I vow to you a righteous home, filled with all the love I am capable to give-- giving glory to God for all we go through. You have my undying support for all that you do-- and guidance to help along the way.

I will be a nest for your heart-- a helpful guide for your mind-- and a partner with your soul.

Together, we shall become more holy and pleasing to the Lord.

I love you; and I vow to you my commitment, companionship, and my Spirit's sword and chariot for times of battle.

Daisha's Vows to JR:

I prayed to to the Lord, and the Lord granted my request: He is giving me my husband... my best friend through this life...

Keith Edwin Sheets, Jr., God has lead our journeys thus far. Today He joins our paths and unites us as one.

This moment, and every moment after, I pledge to you my unending love and respect. A love that is a decision of will and a willingness of spirit... and a respect that is seated in who you are as a follower of Christ.

I vow to forsake all others and be wholly united to you... Depending on you as my confessor, my comforter, and my hero, because you never cease to point me to the True Source.

I vow to communicate with you in all honesty and Christ-likeness, growing to understand you better and to further develop an atmosphere of total trust.

I vow to make our home a place of peace, laughter, and comfort for you and our children. A place where you always find what you are looking for: a comforting embrace, a warm smile, and the knowledge that you are loved unconditionally.

I vow to support and encourage you as the head of our family. As your "help meet," I will pray for you and do whatever I can to help us follow the Lord's leading.

No matter the trials we face, I will be by your side: your fellow warrior in this life. And together we will weather the tempest meant to tear us apart. With God's strength we will become more holy, more united, and more His.

May my faithfulness reflect the faithfulness of our God.

And may the Lord, Himself, deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates us.

Gideon's 5 Year Interview {Finally!}

2011-08-10T00:34:00.001-04:00

Back in Memphis

2011-08-05T09:43:00.000-04:00

We are back in Memphis, trying to reclaim our house after a 3 month absence, unpack, prep for school (all of us), and adjust to the HEAT! We will post about our last month in Scotland soon.

Thanks for continuing to keep up with us via this blog.

MacDuff and Cullen with Cousins!

2011-07-19T06:10:00.002-04:00

We have been wrapping up our time here in Scotland with TONS of stuff. (I hope to blog it all eventually.)

But this week, Kelli, Rachel, and Simon have come to visit us. The cousins are having fun together, the adults are having fun together.

Yesterday, in the rain and grey, we headed to MacDuff Aquarium.

I uploaded the photos to facebook. Here is the link to the page (you may only be able to view it if you are a "friend" on fb).

And we got a family photo!

Wrapping up June

2011-07-03T07:09:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday, Gideon was able to visit Meethill Primary School with his new friend, Daniel Doolan. (Should we move here next summer, G will go into Primary 2 with Naomi in Primary 1.)

He enjoyed his time there, but decided he didn’t like it as much as Carpenter’s Kids or Sycamore View (mainly b/c he wasn’t allowed to play with some pirate thing). I find comfort in knowing that P1 and P2 are placed in a huge room and do some things together. That means that G and N will be able to look up across the room and see a familiar face. ☺

While G was at school, Naomi had a play-date down in Boddam with the Chapmans, Gaunts, and Butters.

I had a lunch date (yum, Nazma!) with Rachel. So I didn’t get to pick up G from school. JR took G to join N at the Chapmans. By the time I got there in the afternoon, all the kids had stripped down to their skivvies and played in the kiddie pool (or “puddle” according to Naomi).

The kids had a blast and EVERY day since then, Naomi has stated, “I like playing at Abby’s house!” when we enter the car.

The weather here has been mainly lovely, so we’ve been walking into town instead of driving.

This is Naomi’s new face.

On our way home the other day we could see the rain coming.

With our normal Thursday travel day occupied with a pleasant visit with Hannah Campbell, we took some time on Saturday to travel up to Fraserburgh. (15 miles up the coast from Peterhead.)

June

2011-06-27T15:46:00.000-04:00

I did not intend for it to be a month before I blogged again, but… we don’t have wi-fi and we’ve been busy. Therefore, this is a monster post. I will include the slide-shows for those of you who would like to see all the photos, but for those who would just like a snap-shot of our month, you can skip the slide-shows and move on to your next blog. ☺

We kicked off June with Mission UK 2011.

JR preached his first sermon of the summer the first Sunday of their visit. He did an excellent job and everyone has been impressed not only with his teaching, but also his heart.

During the week/10 days we had 2 lovely ladies staying with us. Hailey (a photographer from Dundee) was a small child when I first met her here in Peterhead in 1999 ~I felt REALLY old~. Shanae currently lives in Belgium. Gideon and Naomi LOVED having the girls with us! Although it was a little weird for me being on the other side of housing “students” here in Peterhead this time. ;)

To kick off Mission UK, there was a “Preview Day” at the building for school-aged children.

For the first half of the time, we were inside rotating through 3 “stations”. There was a crafting station where they were making their royal crowns,

a station where they were running way from the Taker,

and a station where they were watching, “The Prince’s Poison Cup”.

After each group had visited every station, everyone went outside for lunch, bouncy castles, “medieval games”, and face painting.

A great time was had by all. Here’s the slide-show…

For the rest of the week JR and I took turns accompanying the group into the schools. On Tuesday, I was allowed to go into Central School’s Nursery and read to the kids who are Gideon’s age. At a few of the schools the whole family was able to be there together.

In addition to the programs in the schools, the evening classes were still going.

And on Saturday, there was a church-wide picnic.

The 2nd Sunday of Mission Scotland Gideon was running back to the “lounge” to get his Bible on the way to church and smacked his head right into the corner of the door. It LITERALLY looked like someone had shoved a ping-pong ball up his nose and placed it under his skin above his left eye. I stayed home with him during class, but we joined everyone for service. He got EXTRA attention that Sunday. (Even now, 2 wks. later, he has double-black eyes.)

Potlucks have been plentiful here with all the summer activities. We have been enjoying new dishes such as fish pie (even JR!), Amy Strachan’s Pavlova, Steak Pie, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and the list goes on.

JR has the photos from the potlucks on his computer so, I won’t worry about getting those up right now.

Last week we took a picnic lunch out to the Bullers of Buchan. Once we got out there we realized how scared we were to let go of the children out there. ☺ So G and N don’t think it’s as great a place as JR and I do, but, hey… it’s still gorgeous. Photos cannot do it justice!

We started taking our travel days (finally) on Thursdays. Our first “adventure” was to Aberdeen. JR has been uploading some photos from this trip on his facebook page. The kids weren’t too sure that it was a great adventure, but we explored the beautiful Aberdeen University after parking next to a 13th century church building. Then we went into the town center and window shopped. And our evening culminated in a fine eating establishment where each of us was extremely pleased with our meals. (Nae bad!)

Mike Wood (from Searcy) brought some Harding education majors up for a visit. Saturday night class became a singing class and JR has been learning his new solphedge (sp?) knowledge to boost his song-leading courage. ☺ We had another lovely lady stay with us. We were delighted to find out we knew several people in common and she and her fiancé had just met with Mark and Christine Parker before she headed over to Scotland.

We continue to get settled into life here. JR and Gideon both got “fitba boots” (soccer cleats). JR plays with Billy and the teens on Sunday nights.

This week our “Adventure Day” was a road trip up to Cullen and Buckie.

My Memorization class on Wednesday nights is going well with more and more people asking to join in the challenge. ☺ JR’s Galatians class is getting good conversations started and he is loving delving into the Scripture and teaching!

Friday morning we met up with our friends from Mothers/Toddlers, ate lunch out and about, and ran errands. My first priority was getting G a haircut. It was taking longer in the mornings to do his hair than Naomi’s.

For the first time in G’s life, he went to a hairdresser.

Here’s the before shot (almost ready for pig-tails!).

While G’s hair was being cut, Naomi was reading the book “Hug” to the 2 men waiting for haircuts. They were both smiling at my adorable little girl!

G thought he looked like Darth Vader. (oh, he is VERY into Star Wars right now)

And the final result:

Friday night, as JR was with the teen class, the kids and I met up at an indoor play place, “Amazone” with some of the moms we’ve met. I really enjoyed getting more involved with these women.

Bazinga!

Saturday we were invited to a birthday party for Abigail and Anna Jane Chapman. (Link to their blog) I was delighted to be reunited with John Anthony and Kristen Renwick, Russell and Rachel Gaunt, and (a surprise to almost everyone) Nathan and Stacy Hogue. Most of these people were parts of the campaigns I came on in college and haven’t seen since.

We had a great time catching up at the party. The men took most of the kids outside while the ladies had a visit. ☺ I didn’t take ANY photos. ☺

From the party, the family packed up and headed off for our weekend in Buckie. Bill and Elenor Pirie opened their home to us with warm hospitality. After tea (dinner) we headed with Bill to check on Hunter and Elaine’s dog. The kids loved… LOVED being out there with the Shetland ponies and dog and chickens. ☺

We took the scenic way back to Bill’s house (“Elsinore”) and I took photos out of the car. ☺ Check these out. Truly God spent a little more time on this area of the world! ☺

And here’s the view from the Pirie’s front window.

Nae bad!

We met with the church in Buckie Sunday morning and JR brought the lesson. For lunch we went to Hunter and Elaine’s for a lovely spread. Gideon and Naomi had a blast playing with Hunter and Elaine’s grand-daughters and niece while we got to visit.

And back again for the evening service. Gideon asked if he could lead a prayer and he was given the honour of saying the opening prayer. (My 5 year old!)

Here’s a (staged) photo of JR bringing the evening lesson. ;)

We headed home after a supper with Bill and Elenor.

And, now, I think you are caught up. ☺

~Daisha

Gideon is 5!!!

2011-06-08T10:24:00.000-04:00

This post is LONG over-due. ☺ I had hoped to get it up within a week of G’s birthday, but this will have to suffice. (It’s still before his due date anniversary.) ;)

Gideon’s 5th birthday began like all his other days here in Scotland:

Breakfast in front of his new favorite TV station: CBeebies.

First up on our schedule was Mother’s & Toddlers at the church building. Gideon was by far the oldest child there, but he had fun taking care of the younger kids. He even asked one of our new friends, Lesley, if he could hold her 6 week old son, Arley. Gideon looked so big holding the baby!
His first birthday celebration happened at Mother’s & Toddlers. Ms. Grace presented him with a cake while everyone sang.

JR picked us up and drove us, as a surprise for Gideon to…

We ate lunch and opened G’s gifts from family at the McDonald’s.

Here's the LINK to the slideshow of his day.

This was followed up by a trip to BonBon’s, a candy store in Peterhead.

The kids were each given 1£ and made their choices and paid for the candy themselves.

Before our dinner with William and Diane Strachan, we headed home for some down time and to let Gideon play with his new toys. And to do his 5 Year Old Interview which I tried to upload here, but YouTube and Blogger won't let me upload it. :(

We headed out early for Inverugie so that I could take G’s 5 Year Portraits:

These were all taken at the Ugie beach. It is BEAUTIFUL at the mouth of the river Ugie, the North Sea, and beside a golf course.

Dinner at the Strachan’s was a FEAST! Ms. Diane made sure to have Macaroni and Cheese for the birthday boy, AND she had a present for him.

This is a photo of G modeling his gift from the Strachan’s.

In addition to having a lovely birthday dinner, we were treated to Sticky Toffee Pudding. JR LOVES this dessert.

But wait! There’s more! After dessert, Diane brought out a birthday cake with candles!

We headed back to our apartment to meet our landlady. She is lovely. When she asked Gideon how he felt about Peterhead, he told her he never wanted to leave!
After a Gideon-requested “Family Movie Night” where we watched one of the Star Wars films, G pulled his 5th birthday to a close in great expectations of his party the next day.

For Gideon’s party, we decided to head to Aden Park in Mintlaw. It was a great country house with lovely grounds. But now it is the ruins of a great country house with lovely grounds and a swing park. ☺

The weather was gorgeous, the company amazing, and the “costume” party a success!

We are so blessed by having so many people here in Peterhead all ready who love us. God is reminding us of the family we have all over the world through Him.

Inverugie Walk

2011-05-24T17:48:00.007-04:00

Sunday afternoon was lovely. So, instead of having a Sunday afternoon nap, we headed out to Inverugie to walk around.

We parked our car at William and Diane Strachan’s home and headed out for an adventure. Hoping to get to the castle, but not turning the right direction, we walked through a field…

…beside the river…

…tromped through mud, and ended up back a the Strachans where Diane met us with fresh home-made scones.

Here’s the flickr slide-show of some of the photos.

It sprinkled on us 3 times while we were walking!

I love the photos of JR with the kids that I got, and G let me take some shots of just him. (I can’t believe that he’ll be 5 at the end of the week!)

~Daisha

Wrapping up the Time in Memphis

2011-05-16T10:08:00.000-04:00

Gideon had his last day of preschool May 11. As soon as he got home, I got to web-cam with him and ask about his day. He was very sad about not being able to be in the froggy 4’s class. Friends will be missed, activities will be less frequent… even the trip to Scotland wasn’t enough to lift his spirits.

But…

I left a gift for him to open from me before his big program/graduation. (that seemed to do the trick)

After we finished our web-cam, G had a surprise birthday party thrown by our neighbors. (I didn’t even find out about this til I was looking at the photos.) Gideon LOVES Abi, Shelby, and Daniel. It was so sweet for Alanna and Angela to treat Gideon to such a surprise. We are blessed by such caring neighbors.

Gigi and Papa Dan drove over for G’s program.

JR videoed the performance while Papa Dan had the camera. We watched the performance as soon as we got a chance here in Scotland once we were reunited.

Gideon did such a great job. He came down the aisle with great gusto!

Gideon LOVED having Ms. Jennifer as a teacher!

Gideon and his buddy, Parker.

Gideon and his buddy, RJ.

We are so proud of our boy!

JR snapped a few photos of G on the flights to meet us. Their flights were early or on-time. There were no complications other than the rough landing in New Jersey that caused G to throw up. But it was all contained in the bag and they both seemed more impressed by that fact than the fact that he threw up. ☺

Billy drove Naomi and me over to Aberdeen to meet our boys. We brought them home and are getting settled in.

More posts to follow… ☺

This Tuesday

2011-05-10T16:42:00.013-04:00

This morning Naomi and I walked to the grocery store. She thought this was amazing. :)

But this afternoon we were able to head out to William and Diane Strachan's place for a visit. They are in the process of wrapping up their photography business, but I got a great tour of their on-site studio and office. What a set-up they have! Plus, their lovely home is surrounded by beautiful landscaping, and near by are storybook bridges over a winding river, fields of grazing sheep, and (get this) castle ruins! Could you ask for more as a photographer? I think not! If I were in a position to buy... I'd be set!

The visit was lovely. Ms. Diane had enough to keep Naomi entertained. :) And we even stepped outside for a bit (just in their yard) to get some photos in the beautiful day.

Look! A "Harding Swing"! William got the plans one time when he was over and made one for himself. It was like a little bit of home. We just missed Sydney sitting on it with Naomi.

She was having fun drumming on a log re-creating music she'd just learned from "The Jungle Book".

As I type this Gideon has just completed his last day of preschool and is preparing for his big program/graduation. We web-cammed right before Naomi went to bed. And Gideon's first question was, "Why is Naomi in her pajamas?" :)

I can't believe I'm missing his "first performance", but JR is taping it and my parents are heading over. So since we'll have video of it, we may get a chance to put it up on the blog.

Wednesday morning, JR and Gideon will head this way and Thursday morning we will pick them up from the Aberdeen airport.

We "canna weit".

Monday

2011-05-09T17:15:00.012-04:00

After finally being caught by the jet-lag, Naomi and I went to sleep at a semi-normal time last night and slept until 10! We puttered around the Strachan's house for a bit and then were picked up by Michael Gaunt so he could drive us to Boddam for a visit with his lovely wife, Maureen.

Naomi and I spent a lovely afternoon with Maureen. Her heart is full of love and service for others. At a time of life when most women are learning to be content being served, Maureen is more active than most people I know, serving those around her. I hope that I can soak up her example while I'm here.

I love the view from their front door:

The day was BEAUTIFUL!

After Michael took me back to the Strachan's, Naomi and I ate a quick bite and headed with the family to the Monday Night class.

The evening begins with fellowship/games.

As I got to meet some kids, I asked if I could take their photos. So, you can meet them too.

This is Abi.

These are sisters, Laurel and Chorus.

This is Nicole.

This is Ethian and Abi.

This is Chloe.

This is Owen who took me on a tour of his imaginary home.

When the play-time was over, we moved inside for the class time.

Billy had everyone try to copy down Hebrew from a screen to go along with a video he had that showed how scripture has been handled so that we know we have as close to the original as possible. (that's why everyone is concentrating so hard)

After the lesson, they talked about what that means to us in 2011. They had a chance to share about their week, and then after a prayer, they were allowed to buy some candy.

It is clear that all the children who come, as well as the teens who help, LOVE Monday night classes.

In Peterhead

2011-05-07T13:34:00.002-04:00

Naomi and I arrived safely Thursday morning in Aberdeen and were greeted at the airport by Billy Strachan. Other than the delay in Memphis and Naomi's fever on our over-night flight, we had fared well. For being just 3, Naomi was a huge trooper and carried her bag when I needed her to and kept walking when she thought she could no longer. She's my girl!

Jet-lag has been kind to us. We both took about 1.5 nap Thursday afternoon, but then stayed up til a normal bed-time and were able to sleep until 7:30 the next morning. Naomi HAS been waking in the middle of the night freaked out about not knowing where she is, but I'm hoping that will happen less and less.

Holly and Hannah Strachan have been making Naomi feel very welcomed. :) She is constantly the soul-center of attention whether they are playing dolls, ponies, dress-up, or Littlest Pet Shop. The first evening, they even loaned her a "dressing gown", cuddled up on the couch and watched "TinkerBell".

The 3 of them are constantly playing something!

Friday we went over and saw the place we will be renting. It is lovely. Here, I'll take you on a little tour of 56 Copeman Avenue, Peterhead, Scotland.

Park at the end of the street, step through the gate, and walk up the stairs...

You will enter into the entry-way here:

The smaller bedroom immediately on your left has a full built-in closet and black-out drapes!

Across the hallway is the larger bedroom with full built-in closets and a HUGE bonus closet (with shelves in it)! ("Shelves in the closet. Happy thought indeed."-- name that reference)

Our lovely, clean and bright bathroom with shower over the tub:

Across the hallway from the bathroom is the "lounge" or living room.

Look! A photo of me in Scotland! I'm standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

(not pictured is the large pantry and the tiny fridge and slightly larger freezer. :)

And our "garden" (aka: yard):
(from the top of the stairs)

The Strachans have already pulled out a slide (or "chute") and a see-saw for us to put in our "garden".

We have been able to web-cam with JR and Gideon every day so far. We are getting things set up, but can't wait to be reunited with our fellas.

He's Alive, He's ALIVE!

2011-04-24T16:20:00.000-04:00

We made our Resurrection Rolls last night as dessert with some dear friends. We don't do early mornings around here. We talked about how the tomb is EMPTY!

And all day we have been singing/chanting the chorus of this song:

Oh, Death, where is your sting?
Oh, Hell, where is your victory?
Oh, Church, come stand in the Light.
Our God is NOT DEAD! He's alive. He's ALIVE!!!

Happy Easter!
~the Sheets

Keep Calm and Pray On

2011-04-19T21:38:00.000-04:00

Calling all prayer warriors:

The men of the Peterhead church of Christ and Billy Strachan were following the advice of the UK Border Agents and filing the paperwork they were told we needed. BUT we didn't find out until YESTERDAY that we will need Tier 5 Visas to enter the country.

Naomi and I leave in 15 days. JR and Gideon leave the week after that. We have been working to get our visas in place and back in our hands in time. The times that are listed on turn-around time are NOT in our favor.

We would really appreciate your prayers concerning this. God is at work. He is in control. With the stress of pulling the school year to a close and packing for the trip, this is just another stresser.

So far, this has just been a time and money issue.

The extra visas have already cost us over $600 and they aren't even shipped off yet. We are still needing to raise several thousand dollars. God is faithful, and already knows how He will provide for us. Maybe He's prompting you. (Maybe you have an "in" with the UK Border people...) ;)

On a bright note: Billy toured the house that we are going to be renting and said it's "lovely". The lady we are going to be renting from believes we are an answered prayer. And that's how we feel about her allowing us to rent for such a short time.

I have to believe that God is working out our visas for His purpose just as He has the housing. We are in His hands, and He will do with us as He chooses.

Please keep us in your prayers!

If you'd like to spread the word about praying for us, head on over to my facebook, tag yourself on my profile pic, make it your profile pic, and post something about praying for us. (Thanks!)

Opening Day 2011

2011-04-01T13:47:00.000-04:00

It's our family holiday: Orioles' Opening Day!!!

Before I get to the shots from today (since we celebrate with pictures of all the Sheets's side cousins in matching shirts) I'll repost the photos from previous years. (The years link to the whole gallery.)

2008

2009

2010

2011

So I've decided that unless I'm taking "portraits", I'm going to leave the scrapes and bruises, imperfections and dirt in the photos. We aren't perfect and aren't trying to come across that way. And I don't want my kids to look back on their childhood and see how I've "retouched" it to make it appear perfect.

Go O's!

Mother of a Girl? READ THIS!

2011-03-23T17:06:00.000-04:00

On facebook today, Meg posted a link to a blog I'd never visited. But the article is about something that has really been on my mind lately. (esp. after a week of shopping for white sandals for Naomi and only finding high-heels)

The following article is written by Sarah of Clover Lane.

What About Our Girls? Childhood Cut Short

About two weeks ago, a childhood friend, Jane, sent me all the letters I wrote to her (there were a lot!) while I was in junior high (6th-8th grade) and then during my first 2 years in high school.

We all read them together as a family and laughed so hard at me. I will fully admit they make me sound a little nerdy, and very very young. But I wasn't "nerdy" really, I swear! I was well liked, had a great group of friends. My parents lived a simple life, and old-fashioned values were at the forefront of their parenting style. We watched little TV...we only had 3 channels I think then anyways, we played outside, we stayed home a lot. My parents weren't social butterflies, my mom was at home, my Dad worked hard. My friend's parents were the same way. Sure, their parents had different sets of rules, we weren't all exactly alike, but if it wasn't one thing it was another. It was a safe, lovely environment to grow up in.

In 8th grade my friends would get together and we would shoot hoops, takes walks, see who could draw Garfield or Snoopy the absolute best with no tracing paper. That was it. We didn't talk about boys, who cares about boys? I knew there were maybe two or three girls who liked boys in 8th grade...I remember a little gossip here and there but I had a big group of friends and we stayed far away from that stuff. We didn't check out where each other's clothes were bought...sure we didn't want to stick out, but stick out meant, God forbid, having a bra strap showing (the bra we just started wearing!), or wearing something completely inappropriate, and mostly we saw each other in uniforms so the whole competition thing was pretty darn useless. We didn't wear makeup...we weren't allowed to, and if I ever experimented with it, it was in the privacy of my own home. By my junior and senior year of course, I'd say that would all change, but at the time I was in junior high.

I am raising a daughter who is in 8th grade presently. When I read those letters that I wrote at the same age as she is today, I cannot believe the change that has taken place in 30 years. I am so mad. And sad. And then mad all over again. For both of us.

These girls of ours, WHAT ARE WE DOING???? WHY WHY WHY are we letting our kids grow up so fast? I am trying the darned best I can to let all of my children have a normal, long childhood but it seems like I have to fight tooth and nail ALL the time. I can stand strong as much as possible, trust me, I'm willing to fight the fight, but I feel like I'm up against the world, and in spite of all my attempts at normalizing this stupid rate of a super rushed childhood we have created, it is impossible, yes impossible, to keep all the crap out.

We went shopping for Confirmation dresses recently. It's slut-world out there, I won't mince words. Yes, it is. After four stores, we find something we both love...long enough, but not covered up on top enough, but by this time we will take what we can get. We luckily have a little sweater to wear over the top and have someone to do a quick alteration. Now on to shoes...here are our choices...4 inch heels or these 5 inch heels?  No way...I will shop till I drop...and will have to...to find something low enough. But  EVERYONE is wearing heels like this I am told.

Let's talk about EVERYONE. I was reminded by someone my parent's age about the mysterious "everyone" argument..."oh, we heard the everyone argument...remember that everyone does not exist.". I know, I said. I remember pulling it myself a few times.

But then I looked back at some of the discussions my daughter and I've had and I started thinking of when the everyone argument reared it's ugly head. I had this realization. A long time ago, everyone did not exist...maybe everyone was a figment of a fearful teenage imagination, or maybe she did exist...but everyone, in reality was 1 or 2 or 3 girls out of 30.

Let me tell you the frustrating, disheartening reality today...everyone has magically multiplied!!!! She is not one girl, she is half the class, maybe even more! Thanks to a gosh darn lot of wimpy, irresponsible, "let's be friends with our kids" parents (I told you I was mad!), the army of everyone has quickly multiplied and is pulling out all the punches...they are armed and dangerous and very very real. Like I said, I am willing to fight the fight, but honestly, I don't have the army of comrades on the my side that my parents had generations ago. The other side has grown, is everywhere, all consuming, all the time...left and right they hit me with sucker punches that leave with wide shocked eyes, and a gaping mouth, thinking, "What the he-double-toothpicks are those parents thinking?"

I found myself recently browsing the book department, teen section, of Target. They have 30 different books on vampires, with sexy looking girls on the cover. How many people can write about vampires wanting to (you fill in the blank and let's not be stupid and hide beyond innuendo) young girls? Apparently quite a few. My blood just started to boil as I looked at the other "not vampire" choices. I wrote down the titles of these books:
Flawless
Pretty Little Things
Wanted
Pure Sin
A Tale of Two Pretties
Vixen
On the bottom shelf, in the corner, is a stack of dusty copies of "Three Cups of Tea". Thanks Target! We'll go home and dig through the dusty tomes of literature,  I'll do some major time-consuming research, we'll find something normal, healthy, and appropriate. Maybe we'll find something that doesn't make my daughter think that all girls care about is makeup, boys, her sexuality, and being popular. Where are the feminists when you need them? Nowhere to be found!

I know what you might be thinking...we had Judy Blume! Everything wasn't all perfect back in our day and age. Judy Blume was IT though! Remember the ruckus she caused? Your mom had two books to say, "No, I don't think so honey" to. One was about gosh darn periods! See how far things have come? I have bigger battles to fight!

Sexy, sexy, sex, sex, sex. Everywhere. Walk by any teenage store. Half dressed pouty sexy models with hardly any clothes on, or worse yet are the giant posters with boys and girls laying all over each other with hardly any clothes on. The TV shows I hear these girls talk about watching. Parents letting their children watch! Have you paged through Seventeen magazine lately? It's not our Seventeen magazine that's for sure. TV, Hollywood, the music industry...oh barf. Pure barf all of the time. PG-13 is the new R, what a scam. Why would I want my 13 year old to see such trash let alone my 16 year old? Once it's in their minds, it's never out. It makes an impression whether they or YOU, are conscious of it or not.  Every image, every act, every word, it's in their brains forever.  Why would I want my children's minds filled with trash? ALL these little impressions...day in and day out...add up to a difference in the way girls view their purpose, their bodies, their sexuality. (If you have time, watch this on advertising and women....and just a tip of the iceberg.)

Like I said, I'm willing to fight the fight but it's a weary, sometimes lonely battle. I dream of a revolution.
I fear what the future holds. Can it get worse? Oh, yes it can. It seems the trickle down effect is moving at a faster and faster rate. High school girls look, dress, experience what college-aged girls did in our generation, junior high seems like high school, these little 4th and 5th grade girls all read, see, hear, dress like girls growing up too fast. Childhood ends now in what? First grade?

Our parents and even more so, our grandparents, would have never put up with this crap infiltrating their children's world. They considered it their job to protect these vulnerable years, to filter out the lower element of life, to maintain a strict sense of values and morals in their homes.

I think if my mom and dad would have let me see a risqué movie, or dress in a certain way, they would have been so embarrassed in front of their peers. They and most of the parents I knew, had a very strong sense of pride in the way they were raising their children. It would have been shameful to let your little girl wear skin tight pants and high heels at 13. It would have been shameful if one of their children came home from a get together and said, "Oh their parents let us watch _____." (insert a movie with bad language or any sexual content.) Now I dare say it's almost the opposite. Does pride in parenting exist? There is little if any shame or guilt. I have heard so many stupid excuses: "Well you can't raise them in a bubble." Or "it's just funny, they don't really know" or "oh, it's not that bad", or "they'll just see it/hear it/play it at a friend's house anyways" or "it's just the fashion nowadays" or "they all have to grow up sometimes" or "if you keep it from them they'll just want it more", with a roll of the eyes and a shrug of the shoulders and a turn of the back.

I think even if we are strict and we see this awful highway robbery of our girl's childhoods, we are conditioned, slowly conditioned, by this vast majority of parents shirking responsibility, to accept less than the best. I know I've given into little things I never should have, but felt I needed to choose my battles. Saying yes to mascara seemed like nothing compared to saying no to the totally inappropriate movie that everyone was going to see. Can you imagine if we had the same ideals as our grandparents generation toward dating, clothes, proper behavior, exposure to images and shows? So we are being conditioned to accept less and less of a moral standard by those that have little or no standard. They are influencing us whether we think they are or not. And their children are influencing our children so their lack of parenting affects us all.

It's not our kids we have to blame. It's us. I had a conversation with my mom the other day about how frustrated I was, and she said something that struck me. It was about the lack of adults she sees parenting. Oh, by age circumstances, you can call them adults, but they aren't really. I think that's so accurate. I see in my generation, a lack of maturity. I see so many mothers, grown gosh-darn grown women, wanting popularity for their daughters, more than they want to protect them. They want their daughters dating, dressed as good as the next girl no matter what that entails. They want in on the gossip, wouldn't think of saying no if that meant their daughter had to sit home, not be in the popular group, have what everyone else has. They tease about boyfriends, putting pressure like these kids don't have enough already. They allow the craziest things because I think, it somehow gives them a sense of being "in" themselves. They don't entertain the thought of what is best for their daughter, especially when it means taking a different path from the norm, not following the crowd. Reliving some imagined desired youth and stripping their own sweet child of hers. Talk about selling out. Taking something a child can never ever get back, for the benefit of their own ego.  There is a price to pay no doubt. The child pays it in the form of her childhood gone too soon.

I think all of us mothers of daughters who care about preserving our daughter's innocence need to be angry. We need to speak up, and sure lead by example, but not always quietly. I know I've felt timid about saying no to a movie a group of mothers said yes to, afraid to offend. I'm not so sure I am timid anymore. I think that should be reversed somewhat...it's not me that should be embarrassed.  I think as I have gotten older, braver, and see these poor girls dealing with so much too soon, I feel more emboldened to speak up, not righteously, but quietly and clearly. Maybe if more mothers feel like they aren't alone, if more mothers think "I'm not the only one" we can bolster each other up. I know there are a lot of us out there...we are just busy fighting the onslaught! In fact, soon after my dress-finding-frustration, I saw a photo on someone's blog (I'm sorry I don't know who!) of a group of beautiful classy older teenage girls all dressed up for a dance...they all had tasteful, beautiful, long dresses on. No sexy pouts, no in your face tartness, just classy. It made me feel so much brighter! I know you mothers are out there! We also need to listen to our parents and grandparents and ask them to remind us of their stories growing up...with a childhood intact, not ending at 7. Of course a huge part of this is the endless battle to keep all this crap out of our homes. We should expect to do that, of course, that's our job. More importantly, we shouldn't feel like we have to compromise I think. Our daughter's will thank us for it one day, I have hope that they will.

So, mothers, what are we going to do about this?

Spring Break!!!

2011-03-21T23:18:00.001-04:00

I'm having a hard time juggling this blog, the d'Lifeful blog, the Opportunity Scotland blog, d'Lifeful's facebook page, Opportunity Scotland's facebook page, MY facebook page and running a home, and raising children and being a supportive wife. (Hence the gaps in posting.) :)

This past week was Spring Break! and we could not have been more ready for it.

On our way down to Tallahassee, we stopped by Carrollton, GA to visit with the Mosiers. The kids did so nicely playing together, that I didn't even see them much. So I never pointed my camera at them. Instead, I helped Kristen get her new pilates studio photographed! We all had a blast reconnecting with friends that are more like family.

While in Tallahassee, we chilled with Debby. The kids played outside, JR and I caught up on all our favorite HGTV and cable news shows. JR and I saw "Adjustment Bureau" while Debby took the kids to see "Tangled" (again).

I left my computer and camera tucked inside my bag. I didn't miss either.

However, one night, both kids were waiting for Debby for "cuddle time". Since they were both in the recliner, they decided to cuddle with each other while they waited.

I love how G has his arm around N!

Saturday I finally got out my computer so that we could order Debby some new photos. While we were busy working on that project, the kids were busy with a "project" of their own...

I guess we could've stopped them from drawing all over each other. But it just seemed funnier that we photographed them. (it all washed off)

After bath-time, the kids and Debby played Candy Land. There was much laughter coming from the kitchen.

Sunday JR taught a combined adult class and preached at Meridian Woods. We were blessed with our time there.

If you want to hear his 35 min. sermon, go check it out. It's all on line this time!

We are back in Memphis. Naomi and I have 6.5 weeks before we leave for Scotland! 7.5 weeks 'til the fellas join us. Here we go...

Gideon's First School Valentine's Party

2011-03-01T12:19:00.000-05:00

It has arrived. The day that Valentine's cards become important in a child's life is upon us.

G and I had a special photo shoot where he was sporting his Batman shirt (and in some shots he was holding some Super Hero Squad "Squaddies"). Here is the photo that was the main part of his Valentine's this year:

This I ordered as wallet-sized photos so that we could glue them onto Red Card-stock.

Then, and this is the part that I'm most proud of... Gideon addressed EVERY Valentine. A big shout-out to Nicole McIntyre for the idea of using high-lighter to help him form the words and get the spacing more even.

After he'd addressed all of them (and added a heart to JUST Mia's) we glued a Kit-Kat to each one.

(The adults LOVED his Valentine!)

I signed up to be one of the parents at the party and I took my d40 (my small camera). I got a good sampling of the well-behaved class. As you look through the slide-show at the end, you will notice times when the kids are sitting without a teacher. They responded to musical cues and the teachers were able to get a lot of prep work done while the kids were following musical directions. (I've been in a lot of preschool and kindergarten rooms and I was IMPRESSED!)

This kid LOVES his school!

Mia Claire is a big reason why G loves school so much. ;)

She's really sweet and seems to think just as highly of Gideon as he thinks of her.

The party seemed to be fun for everyone involved. The games... the excessive amounts of ice cream with unlimited toppings, the story...

Enjoy the slide-show!

Naomi's 3rd Birthday Party

2011-02-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

Naomi's 3rd Birthday Party was "Hello, Kitty" themed. Instead of doing my normal cupcakes, I decided (since I wasn't doing much other decorating for our small party) to make her a "Hello, Kitty" cake.

With the left over cake (left from cutting out the shape) I made Cake Balls with an "N" in chocolate. Naomi loved the cake. And I'm told (by people who went back for seconds) that the cake was delicious.

We got a great surprise when Aunt Claudia

and cousin Kaden showed up for the celebration.

Claudia did a great job documenting the surprise with her camera over on her blog.

Naomi enjoyed all of the attention and the gifts. Since we only invited one little friend for Naomi, I got them matching sunglasses as their party favors. Here Sydney King and Naomi are modeling their "BFF glasses".

For more photos from the party, watch this:

Happy Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-14T17:17:00.000-05:00

Naomi's 3rd Birthday

2011-02-03T17:10:00.000-05:00

Naomi's birthday started early (6:30 am) when she crawled in bed with JR and me. But she was warm and uncharacteristically still, so we let her stay. ;)

At 7:30 she headed downstairs for some PBS and waited for her waffle.

Then the immediate family gave her the presents we got her.

(a tricycle from JR and me)

Gideon insisted on getting her a Rapunzel and Flynn set that will fit in her castle.

I think this is what he had in mind the whole time. ;)

Every day when we drop G off at school, Naomi's "job" is to put his lunchbox in its place. She takes this job very seriously.

After we dropped off G, the two of us headed to Garden Ridge to walk around. Naomi got her groove on to the music, she tried on a very sparkly pink cowgirl hat to which she exclaimed that she looked like "Heh-woe Dah-wee" (Hello, Dolly!), and we sat in EVERY chair in the store.

Next we came home and had lunch with Daddy.

We played and did her interview until it was time to go pick G up from school.

Then we picked Daddy up and went to Muddy's for "peent tuptates". (pink cupcakes)

While waiting in line, both the kids got their groove on:

With all these decisions to make...

... it took N no time at all to decide she wanted THESE:

Once the cupcakes hit the table, it was hard to get the kids to focus on anything else.

She is truly my daughter... She ate all the icing off first!

She opened presents from Debby (the "peent" ones she'd had her eye on all week) and the package that came in the mail as we headed to Muddy's from Kelli et al. She oohed and ahhed over every present. But this picture is my favorite from yesterday. Rachel gave her a Cinderella doll.

She opened outfits from Grandma and kept saying things like, "oh my doodness!" (goodness), and, "It's SO Tute!" (cute) Everyone in Muddy's was giggling and wishing their kids were as cute. :)

After Muddy's we came home and the kids played until dinnertime, then we headed to Bible class.

Naomi had a big Big Girl day.

For more photos from the day, click HERE.
~Daisha
Make sure you watch her video in the previous post. She's all-Naomi in it.

Naomi's 3 year Interview

2011-02-03T14:02:00.000-05:00

This is Powerful

2011-01-24T18:05:00.000-05:00

These lyrics are powerful. Read them, then watch the video.

Let these words sink in.

Let’s Go
Don't waste your life, man
Verse 1 (Lecrae):
I know a lot of people that are scared they gon' die,
Couple of 'em thinkin' they'll be livin' in the sky
While I’m here livin' man I gotta ask why,
What am I here for I gotta figure out,
Waste my life, no I gotta make it count,
If Christ is real then what am I gonna do about,
Everything in Luke 12:15 down to 21 ya really gotta go and check it out,
Paul said if Christ aint resurrected we wasted our lives,
Would that imply that our lives drift around Jesus being alive,
Everyday I live I try to show the world why,
Christ is more than anything I'd ever try,
Better than pretty women and sinning and living to get a minute of any woman and men that you admire
It aint no lie!
We created for Him,
Out of the dust he made us for Him,
Elects us and he saved us for Him,
Jesus comes and he raised us for Him,
Magnify the Father, why bother with something lesser?
He made us so we could bless Him, (Bless Him)
Tell the world we confess Him,
Resurrects Him,
So I know I got life,
Matter fact better man I know I got Christ,
If you don’t see His ways in my days in my nights,
You can hit my breaks you can stop my life,
Man I lost my rights, lost my life,
Forget the money, cars and toss that ice,
The cost is Christ,
And they can never offer me anything any better that would cost that price
Hook (Cam):
Don’t wanna waste my life, life, life,
Don’t wanna waste my life, life, life,
Don’t wanna waste my life, life, life,
Don’t wanna waste my,
Don’t wanna waste my, (x2)
Don’t wanna waste my life
Verse 2 (Dwayne Tryumf):
Armed and dangerous
So the devil just can't hang with us
Christian youth they must stand wid us
Livin' n driven, given a vision, fullfillin the commission he handed us
London to Los Angeles
The rap evangelist
Ma daddy wouldn't abandon us
"I gotta back pack fulla tracts and I getta Johnny Mac"
So are you ready to jam with us,s o lets go
Gimme the word and lets go
Persecution lets go
Tribulation lets go
Across the nation let's go
Procrastination let's go
Hung on the cross in the cold
Died for da young and the old
Can't say you never know
Heaven knows
How many souls are going to hell or to heaven so we gotta go in and get em
Hook
Verse 3 (Lecrae):
Suffer, yeah, do it for Christ,
If you're trying to figure out what to do with ya life,
If you make a lot of money hope your doin' it right,
Because the money is God’s, you better steward it right,
You stay focused, you ain't got no ride,
Your life ain't wrapped up in what you drive,
The clothes you wear, the job you work,
The color your skin, nah you're Christian first,
People get it living for a job,
Make a little money start living for a car,
Get em a wife, a house, kids and a dog,
Then they retire, they living high on the hog,
But guess what? They didn’t ever really live at all,
To live is Christ, and that’s Paul I recall,
To die is gain and for Christ we give it all,
He's the treasure you’ll never find in a mall,
See your money, your singleness, marriage, talents, your time,
They were loaned you to show the world that Christ is divine,
That’s why its Christ in my rhymes,
That’s why its Christ all the time,
See my whole world is built around Him,
He’s the life in my lines,
I refuse to waste my life,
He’s too true to chase that ice,
Here’s my gift and time,
'cause I'm constantly tryna ta be used to praise the Christ,
If He’s truly raised to life,
Then this news should change your life ,
And by His grace you can put your faith in the place that rules your days and nights,
YES!
Hook with:
(Gotta give you,
One hundred, Lord
Even when the
Day's done, Lord
Gotta live for,
For somethin' Lord
That something is you
Don't wanna waste my life [x2])

The part that ALWAYS brings me to tears is:

To die is gain and for Christ we give it all,
He's the treasure you’ll never find in a mall,
See your money, your singleness, marriage, talents, your time,
They were loaned you to show the world that Christ is divine,
That’s why its Christ in my rhymes,
That’s why its Christ all the time,
See my whole world is built around Him,
He’s the life in my lines,
I refuse to waste my life,
He’s too true to chase that ice,
Here’s my gift and time,
'cause I'm constantly tryna ta be used to praise the Christ,
If He’s truly raised to life,
Then this news should change your life ,
And by His grace you can put your faith in the place that rules your days and nights,
YES!

(I'm all teared up right now.)
~Daisha

The LORD is Good!

2011-01-10T19:57:00.001-05:00

Oh, where to begin!? I have been praying for this day...

Our family has the opportunity to spend this summer in Peterhead, Scotland investigating first-hand if God is calling us to work in Peterhead when JR finishes his MDiv, as well as fulfilling both of JR's practicum requirements.

This is the answer to a prayer I have been praying for 15 years.

We are in the process of raising $18,000 by May 1. (Yes, you read that right.) The UK is expensive. :( But money is nothing to the Lord. So we are confident that He will provide what we need.

The UK is not allowing people who are traveling through their borders to enter if they express that they intend to work with a church. Because of that, the Peterhead church of Christ is getting re-zoned as a benevolence organization. Pray that the paperwork on that is taken care of in time as well.

JR and I have set up a blog about what we are doing to prepare for Scotland. This blog will also be a place where you can find out about the work we will be doing, as well as get up dates while we are on the field.

Please add this new blog to whatever blog-reader you prefer so that you are aware of when we up-date it.

www.SheetstoScotland.blogspot.com

We are excited about this opportunity and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store!

Please prayerfully consider joining with us in this endeavor through prayer and support.

Praise the Lord for His Faithfulness!!
JR, Daisha, Gideon, & Naomi

365 Project

2011-01-08T12:39:00.000-05:00

Gideon's first day at SVCC

2011-01-05T18:01:00.000-05:00

This day could not come soon enough for Gideon! His enthusiasm for school was only briefly overshadowed by Christmas.

He got several gifts at Christmas for school: a Rocket backpack (thanks GB's, and Great-Granpa and Great-G'ma Judy), Spiderman "bedding" for his nap-mat, and a Spiderman T-shirt and matching hoodie from Grandma.

He was ready!

Naomi kissed him good-bye and told him to have fun.

And we (finally) got in the car.

We ended up arriving 20 minutes early. :)

Ms. Jennifer showed G where to put his lunchbox, book bag, and coat. She tried to show him some other things, but G was already wanting to play with RJ.

We turned around and this is how we found him:

Obviously, he didn't mind us leaving. :)

When we picked him up we asked him about his day. He had a blast! The highlight (according to him) was meeting a cute girl. He didn't remember her name, but he'd already told her that she was cute. (We met her today. Her name is Mia, and she is indeed cute. Apparently G has been telling everyone that she is his girlfriend. So, we got to talk about what a girlfriend really is already.)

Naomi is taking G's absence really well and is enjoying having 3 adults all to herself. :)

To see more photos of G's morning, follow this link.
~Daisha

Mississippi River

2011-01-03T22:12:00.000-05:00

Today we took Keith down to the banks of the Mississippi River. 5 people, 2 cameras, great time... :)

(Man! He's lookin' good!)

(This kid is SO excited about starting school tomorrow!)

My baby is about to be a preschooler! 3 is SO much bigger than 2!

~Daisha

Ringing in the New Year

2011-01-01T11:21:00.000-05:00

Here in the Sheets household we are in store for a lot of changes in 2011.

JR and I are resolute on being healthier with our choices about sleep, food (I'm completely giving up chocolate this year), and exercise. (Apparently we don't handle stress as healthily as we could.) :) Gideon begins preschool at Sycamore View church of Christ on the 4th. And I'm making some big changes over in my d'Lifeful Photography business.

May God be glorified in all that we do!

Happy 2011!
~the Sheets

Home-made Christmas

2010-12-25T19:11:00.000-05:00

This year I made the kids one present each. To see the items up close, check out this link.

So they wouldn't get over-shadowed by other presents, they got to open their gifts from me Christmas Eve.

waiting to open the gifts--->

Naomi named her doll Sally. She takes very good care of her. And this morning, when she walked into Debby's room, she told Debby that, "Momma made this doll for me." (worth every hand stitch in that doll right there, peeps)

Gideon named his Super-hero Monkey Friend, Nick. He is already asking me to make more costumes for him.

I HIGHLY recommend making at least one of the gifts you give your children for Christmas. My Christmas was complete before the day even began.

Merry Christmas 2010!

Funny New Friends

2010-12-22T15:24:00.000-05:00

Since we were "in the area", we got in the car on Monday and headed out on the __ hour trip to visit my friend, Emily, and her kids. This was the first chance we have had to get our kids together and a good time was had by all. We enjoyed our visit so much! I wish we'd done this while we still lived in the same state. :)

Can you tell they enjoyed each other? :)

Silhouette Project

2010-12-17T20:33:00.000-05:00

Traditional silhouette of Gideon

And two modern variations...

I wanted to experiment with these to see if I'll be offering silhouette sessions this coming year with d'Lifeful Photography.

What do you guys think? Cool idea?

Trimming the tree (pre-fall)

2010-12-16T16:55:00.000-05:00

First REAL Tree

2010-12-14T23:23:00.001-05:00

This Christmas we have a real tree FOR. THE. FIRST. TIME. EVER!

JR has been talking about how great a real tree is SINCE. I. MET. HIM! (you like my new trend? No? Ok. Sorry.)

This year Christmas Day is with Debby and she agreed to a real tree. Today we went and got it.

The following slide show (71 photos) documents our Tree-getting adventure. Within the next few days I hope to pick out some of my favorite photos, edit, and post them on the photography site. So, if you don't feel like viewing all of the photos... wait for that post. ;)

***UPDATE-- Less than 10 min. after I published this post, JR and I heard a crash. The tree had toppled over and water and ornaments were everywhere. I think artificial trees are easier. ***

SNOW!

2010-12-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

This morning, as Kristen and I stepped out to go to the next building to pick up the little kids, we saw that it was SNOWING! The Mosiers, having lived their whole lives in Florida had never experienced something like this. We rounded every excited person up and headed back to the house. We snapped some photos in the "snow" and then went on about our day.

After playing with some adoptable pets, the kids got all snugly while watching a movie.

I took a photo of the 4 kids in front of the tree before the kids exchanged gifts.

And Brian asked me to take photos of his fire. JR and Brian have been playing with the fire and chopping wood all weekend. :)

Enjoy the slide-show.

Playing with the Mosiers

2010-12-11T17:09:00.000-05:00

The beginning of our break. Rest, relaxation, and rambunctiousness. We are in Carrolton, GA visiting the Mosiers!

The kids enjoyed time out on the trampoline this morning. Can you believe how big Hudson and Madison are!?

Grandpa Bob's 80th Birthday Party

2010-12-11T16:47:00.001-05:00

Family, I have posted these photos to flickr so that you can download and share whichever photos you want. Following the links and prompts. (Go to "view all sizes.)

Gideon's 4.5 Interview

2010-12-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

2010 Status Updates from facebook...

2010-12-07T18:37:00.000-05:00

I usually post the funny things the kids say over on facebook. I was wishing there was a way to go back and get some of them to bring over here, and then facebook went and made it easy for me.

Photos from Thanksgiving Week ...

2010-12-03T01:02:00.001-05:00

My mom sent my forgotten camera cord! I got it in the mail on my way out the door. But since the kids are in bed and JR is in the library studying for his Greek final (next week), I thought I'd get to a few of them. (There are hundreds!)

There's no rhyme or reason to the photos I've chosen to go ahead and edit.

More will be appearing here on the blog, my web-site, and facebook over the next few days, I'm sure. :)

1. This year I am making most of the gifts. I'm a fabric junkie and have boxes and bags of fabric under my bed. So I decided to make my kids and my niece and nephews "softies". (Apparently, they are called "Softies" now instead of stuffed animals. I don't know why. But since Naomi's isn't an animal, I'm going with it. I'll post the photos of the ones for my kids after they get them.) The first pair are for Rachel and Simon. ~I made these 3 without a pattern, but they were inspired by several cute "softies" I saw all over the web.~

...and for "Baby Tay-din" (as Naomi calls Kaden)...

2. Typing of Kaden...

Here he is on his 5th Monthabirthday. (This was during Great Bob's 80th Birthday celebration in Springfield, MO. It will get it's own post.)

3. And speaking of monthabirthdays... (see my segways, people? I'm seamless.)

GIDEON TURNED 4 AND A HALF!!!!

I have more shots of him. But he looks so grown up in this photo.

4. AND... speaking of being grown up... (go with me) ;P

Can you believe she let me take her picture?! (me either) My mother has run from the camera, or more accurately-- put her finger in between the camera and her face, her whole life. But prepping her all week that I was going to take her photo, talking about Photoshop, and letting her know that the light was going to be behind her worked. :) I think this photo captures her warm, caring nature. What about you?

Did I whet your appetite for more? Good!

I'll be back later with more photos. I've got lots to blog about. After all we had Stockstill Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Great Bob's birthday (in that order too!).

Cutest Jumping-Jacks EVER!!

2010-12-01T10:57:00.000-05:00

We have been without a working video camera since Naomi knocked my camera out of my hands that fateful day back in the spring of 2009. :)

Well, for Christmas, Debby gave us a video camera. Here's the first video I took with it. (Don't worry, the quality will only go up from here, peeps!)

Thank you, Debby, for the early Christmas present. And prepare yourself for more videos of the kids.

Up first: Gideon's 4.5 interview (as soon as I shoot it)

Now, enjoy!

Thanksgiving Week

2010-11-23T12:01:00.000-05:00

I hope to be better about posting this week than I have been in the past. :)

Family Photos

2010-11-05T14:05:00.000-04:00

We have not taken a family photo since we were in Jacksonville Beach back before we moved from Florida. I have TONS of photos of the kids and JR, but yesterday, I set up some shots, and one of our friends on campus played "remote".

Naomi made the conscious decision to NOT smile for the camera in protest that we weren't letting her play. (argh)

I've done some head-swapping to get these 3 photos. But, for now, it's a start...

2010-10-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

Apparently we are in to "realism" with out costumes over here. Of course "Tony Stark" is just as much a part of G's costume as "Iron Man". And where would Tinker Bell be without her black eyeliner?

Happy Halloween!

Guess who we're with...

2010-10-18T23:30:00.000-04:00

So Thankful for Fall!

2010-10-15T15:35:00.000-04:00

Life as a Portrait Photographer

2010-10-14T09:51:00.000-04:00

A photographer friend of mine shared this YouTube video with me. I think it's hilarious!

2010-10-11T20:56:00.000-04:00

Did you ever have one of "those" seasons?

Papa Dan Lovin'

2010-09-29T18:22:00.001-04:00

Here is a pic of my dad's lap full of all 3 of his grandkids last night. (G's head is in the bottom, left corner.)

(and a cute pic of Kaden, Naomi, and Gideon together)

My Girl

2010-09-22T17:05:00.001-04:00

"My Girl"... (this is how we refer to each other)
I cannot imagine life without this LOUD!, charming, adorable, strong-willed child of mine.

She LOVES with all of her being. She is fiercely attached to her "danetet" (blanket)... even more fiercely attached to her brother, "Did-de-on".

Her sense of humor is intelligent and silly.

And I could've never dreamed I would ever love a little girl as much as I love mine!

This kid kills me!

2010-09-20T14:52:00.000-04:00

He talks CONSTANTLY. His imagination runs away from both of us. He HAS to have the last word.

But what kills me every... EVERY... time is:
He calls JR "Buddy" or "My Buddy" 90% of the time whether JR is present or not.

Absolutely kills me.

I love him SO much!

Chair Re-do

2010-09-14T10:37:00.000-04:00

I've been looking at the same dark chairs (which are exactly the ones we wanted when we registered for them for our wedding) for 5 years. They are great and functional. We lend them out to friends when they are expecting company. Folding chairs have a lot of pluses.

However, I'm noticing a trend in my decorating that is taking me away from dark furniture to light.

I had a can of cream spray paint and scrap fabric...

So yesterday I transformed one of our 6 chairs into this:

This cute little chair has been pushed up to my desk area and I'm currently sitting in it.

If I had more spray paint, and a place to use it, I'd be tempted to re-do all my chairs. (and have different fabric for each one!)

JR's 31st Birthday in Photos

2010-09-13T17:26:00.000-04:00

Since JR and I had a HUGSR event to attend in the evening, Saturday morning we celebrated JR's birthday. The kids were SO excited!

We started with a breakfast where JR picked every item on the menu. Then we did gifts.

About 2 months ago Gideon exclaimed in the car that he KNEW what Daddy would love for his birthday. So for 2 whole months, Gideon has been planning on getting JR a "War Machine" face mask for their wrestle time.

Naomi was just as sure about what she wanted to get her daddy: 3 different bags of sour, gummy candies.

Since everyone is suffering from the new allergens in the air, we took it easy until cupcake time. (which took the place of lunch)

I figured out how to make Sour Patch Kid Cupcakes. Yum!

Happy Birthday to the best father I could imagine for our children and the man of my dreams! Mwah!

Happy 31st Birthday, JR!

2010-09-11T10:39:00.000-04:00

(I'll post pics of his day after we take them.) :)

5th Wedding Anniversary

2010-09-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

JR's Vows to Daisha:

Daisha Lynne, only the Lord is above you in my heart, mind and soul. I vow to forsake all others, and sacrifice even myself for you.

As surely as the Lord lives, I vow to honor you-- to give you an undying faithfulness, to take care of you in the worst times, and laugh, smile, and cheer with you in the best.

I will be a nest for your heart-- a helpful guide for your mind-- and a partner with your soul.

Together, we shall become more holy and pleasing to the Lord.

I love you; and I vow to you my commitment, companionship, and my Spirit's sword and chariot for times of battle.

Daisha's Vows to JR:

I prayed to to the Lord, and the Lord granted my request: He is giving me my husband... my best friend through this life...

Keith Edwin Sheets, Jr., God has lead our journeys thus far. Today He joins our paths and unites us as one.

I vow to forsake all others and be wholly united to you... Depending on you as my confessor, my comforter, and my hero, because you never cease to point me to the True Source.

I vow to communicate with you in all honesty and Christ-likeness, growing to understand you better and to further develop an atmosphere of total trust.

I vow to support and encourage you as the head of our family. As your "help meet," I will pray for you and do whatever I can to help us follow the Lord's leading.

May my faithfulness reflect the faithfulness of our God.

And may the Lord, Himself, deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates us.

A Sneak Peek from our Weekend

2010-09-06T20:40:00.002-04:00

Here's a link to a photo of them kissing from last year.

**UPDATE**
Debby reminded me of a photo of JR kissing some girl on the beach when he was Hudson's age (3). So... here it is:

Apparently the Sheets "lean" in for the kissing. ;)

My Reader

2010-09-02T16:18:00.000-04:00

This ends our second week of school. We've been relaxed, we've gone with the flow, and we are setting good routines.

It warmed my heart the other evening over dinner when Naomi, unprompted, announced to JR: "I read my Bible, Daddy! On the taoch wif Momma!" That was the most exciting part of her day! ...warmed my heart...

The other area that is going really well with our schooling is Gideon's reading. We borrowed the Bob Books from some friends and are working our way through them. But since Gideon memorizes things so fast, I wanted to make sure he was reading and not just memorizing the words.

So, I made flash cards of the words. (JR uses flashcards for Greek so Gideon feels "like Daddy" when I quiz him.) When G gets a word right, I hurl the card at him. He thinks this is hilarious, and... quite honestly, I like the catharsis. :) Sometimes I have him arrange his flash cards into sentences.

We also have at least one day were we go to our glass door and WRITE ON THE DOOR! I found crayons that are designed for glass. G LOVES them. I get to rearrange the words he knows into new sentences so he can't memorize the story. We make them as funny as we can.

Once he is consistently getting the flash cards, we move to the book. And we try to give him many opportunities to show off his reading skills.

He's doing a great job. Each lesson lasts 10-15 min. (15 min. is pushing it.) He's doing great with book 1 and 2. Next week... book 3.

(All these photos were taken today.)

JR and the Rest of the SA

2010-08-27T10:48:00.001-04:00

JR is SA President of HUGSR. Last night during a meeting, he asked me to come by and take some pictures.

(Since this is my family blog, I'm featuring the photos that feature my husband. I DID get shots of everyone.) :P

First Day of Pre-K 2/4

2010-08-24T15:57:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we began our school year here at home. While everyone else was snapping pics of their children with new back-backs standing up against their front doors headed off to preschool or kindergarten, we were... still in our pajamas.

You see, life has been crazy busy the past few weeks. JR and I were both in class this weekend, and all of us slept in till 9 Monday morning. Needless to say, this did not set us off to a great beginning.

But we plunged a head as scheduled (just about an hour to an hour and a half off).

We followed our schedule with the additions of taking our own in-front-of-door-first-day-of-school pics:

As you can see... these didn't turn out so great. :)

But don't worry...

Since the shaded front porch was "too bright" we went under a tree:

After we did our "photo session" (which were not edited), we headed back in to read our "BFIAR" book.

We followed my lesson plans fairly well. We are getting into a new routine. (I'm really loving working in our Bible reading, exercising, and cleaning into routine.)

I'll leave you with a few more photos of the kids at work drawing what they would wear (in response to "Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?")

Excited!

2010-08-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I upgraded from my first dslr (a Nikon d40... as basic as you can get) to a Nikon d700. This is a monster of a professional camera. AND I LOVE IT!!!

I've been working on a project with HUGSR with it, but aside from practicing, I hadn't used it for a portraiture session in my "target demographic". Until yesterday...

I am so excited about the session yesterday! Check out my web-site (or facebook) and I think you'll be able to see the difference too.

(And, for those of you who know my family well, you may be able to tell who the cutie is.)

-Daisha

Preschool Plan

2010-08-18T16:37:00.000-04:00

We will begin our preschool this coming Monday, Aug. 23.

When I finish with this post I will have a few crafty things to make in preparation, but we are all getting really excited about this, and I'm more ready than I was last spring.

Drawing from the Charlotte Mason ideas about early childhood education, we will be focusing on establishing good habits that will be with the kids throughout their lives.

Here is our basic schedule:
*Wake up
*Breakfast
*15 min. of independent Bible reading (I will read from my Bible... the kids will have their choice of their picture Bibles to look through on their own)
*15 min. of light exercise (dancing to music, push-ups, sit-ups, stretches)
*Get Ready-- get dressed, brush teeth, hair, make bed
*Morning Meeting (discuss the plan for the day as well as Bible verse for the week and work on calendar items, ie days of the week, months, ect. and weather)
*READ our Before Five in a Row ("BFIAR") and other books aloud
*Cleaning chore for the day (This summer I gave each day a specific chore and it's been helping me keep on top of all the chores better)
*Table Time (craft, coloring, cutting, writing)
*Game Time
*BFIAR activity
*FREE TIME (while I make lunch)
*Lunch
*Chapter Book Reading
*Naomi down for nap while Gideon gets a reading lesson

It sounds like a whole lot when I type it out, but each segment should only take about 15 min. There is a lot of play involved. A lot of reading... and my kids LOVE this kind of thing. In fact, today, Gideon wanted to "play preschool" and he was the teacher. He structured our lessons around Jesus. After our "circle time" he had us draw pictures of Jesus while we listened to Seeds Family worship. Then he put on a "show" for us. Then we went back to the "craft" area and he had us draw pictures of the cross. He was very complimentary of my drawings, and hung them on the fridge. :)

In addition to working on good habits, we will be working on obedience and our attitudes.

Also we will be changing our before-bed routine. During cuddle time we will be reading through the DK Illustrated Family Bible.

I have the first 3 weeks already marked out in my great planner. I'm on top of things this time, peeps!

I plan to give detailed reports each week to keep me accountable and organized, as well as documented. :)

Dinotopia: The World Beneath

2010-08-11T10:29:00.000-04:00

The kids LOVED this book. There are enough pictures to keep them engaged. In fact, the kids made a game of being the first to identify the picture in the story if it was featured on the cover. (They like to "make a match".) Plus, the illustrations are beautifully done.

I know that G and N didn't understand the extensive vocabulary in the book, or the scientific terms, but they did understand the story. And they saw me have to sound out words (which I'm hoping will be an encouraging memory when G struggles with the patience required to sound out words when learning to read).

Not only is the story exciting, the chapters are short enough that the kids would often request more than one chapter at a sitting. Also, each illustration is accompanied by more background information as well as maps and charts. (very educational)

We love this book!

"Feuding" with the Neighbors

2010-08-10T17:32:00.000-04:00

The kids newest play-mate is Sydney. She's an adorable one year old whose back door opens up to our back door. Whenever the kids see her outside, they rush to put on their shoes and go and play with her.

Even in the extreme heat, they cannot wait to play with her. And yesterday Sydney's parents were both out. "Mr." Jared and "Ms." Laura are great fun to play with. Jared and Gideon had a sword fight. A comment was made that Naomi needed a helmet after she was hit in the head, so she ran in and got "danetet" as her helmet. Then Sydney and Gideon ganged up on her. :)

They all had a blast! Here's to many more opportunities for impromptu feuds (esp. as the weather cools off.)

Where did these kids come from?

2010-08-08T14:46:00.003-04:00

This morning the kids climbed in bed with us. But since they were talking JR told them to go play in their room so we could sleep until our alarm went off.

As the kids were making their way to the end of the bed we heard:

Gideon: Naomi, you are so bootiful.
Naomi: Tank too, Deeden. Dat is berry nice of you. (pause) You are tool.
Gideon: Thanks!

JR: (to me) Where did THAT come from?!

Be-lated Birthday Gift

2010-08-03T12:35:00.000-04:00

For Gideon's 4th birthday back in May his Grandpa (JR's dad) sent us money to buy Gideon a bike.

He's been very excited about this. However, since we have no toys that peddle, G didn't really know how. We've been practicing when we see bikes and trikes in stores, but when we went to get his bike earlier in the summer, things didn't go too smoothly.

But yesterday, while the kids and I were out getting some school supplies, we came across the bike area once again.

Gideon started out with a really cool retro Radio Flyer tricycle with a bell on it. (I'd have loved to get it and use it for a photography prop.) He was peddling so well on it that I encouraged him to try a bicycle. We tried the 12 in. and it was too small. So we moved him up to the 16 in. And he did great! He was even able to navigate turns around the aisles.

And since we found one on sale that included a hand-brake (which gives my little first-born control freak more control) he LOVED the bike.

We bought it and surprised Daddy when we picked him up from the library for lunch.

Gideon has been very diligent about practicing his new bike-riding and peddling skills. He even made sure to knock on all the neighbor's doors to share in his excitement. (It's a good things the people around here love him.)

Here's our big kid on his new bike:

Naomi is 2.5!

2010-08-02T15:58:00.001-04:00

Today Naomi is 2 and a Half. I can't believe it's August already! Last year at this time we were wrapping up our time with JR's side of the family (15 of us living in a 3 bedroom house) and our trip to the beach where Naomi knocked her head on an end-table and we had our first ever emergency room trip with the kids.

(She has since fallen on her head and knocked off the scar she got from that incident... which I didn't know was possible.)

So... what is Naomi up to these days?
-Talking non-stop
-Making the dolls, ponies, action figures around her have conversations with each other
-"Cooking" (usually for Gideon) in her "Chitchen" (her play kitchen)
-Imitating Gideon
-Doing EVERYTHING "by myself"
-Giving out back rubs
-Enjoying Spicy food (she is her father's daughter)
-Singing along with EVERY song she hears
-Knowing a lot of scripture thanks to Seeds Family Worship
-Still wearing the same clothes she was wearing at this time last summer... but they are looser on her now
-Being the most amazing little girl we could ask for!

Here are a few quick shots from this morning. It was already 100 degrees so, since she takes after me and doesn't like to be hot... we didn't push a long photo session. Notice her toys. They are always in conversation.

Happy Half-Birthday, Naomi! We love you SOOOOO much!

Two Books that Have Changed Me This Summer

2010-07-28T12:25:00.005-04:00

My good friend, Emily, suggested several parenting books to me. I have read 2 of them so far. And they have utterly changed how I think about raising my children.

My children are well-behaved. We have been consistent and started early. Before we go into a situation, we talk about what is appropriate behavior and what is out of bounds. Our children are expected to speak when spoken to and to wait their turn in conversation. In fact, many people have asked me for parenting advice.

However, despite having well-behaved children, my parenting was still lacking. And these books pointed out what I was missing: their hearts.

I was addressing their behavior believing that I was doing my job in "disciple-ing" them. And in a way, I was. They were discipled into being appropriately behaved children. But I was missing the opportunities to guide their hearts and disciple them to Christ.

The first book, Shepherding a Child's Heart lays the foundation for Heart-Centered discipline. It pointed out that I discipline in anger as if I am the one who has been offended instead of God. I have spanked in anger. I have made my children feel that they have to behave perfectly to win my love. I have sinned against them and been unrighteous in my parenting.

This book redirected my attitude about who is really being offended by my children's disobedience. I now realize that God's command for "children to obey their parents" is the offense. My children are not at odds with ME when they disobey. They are at odds with God because of their sin. This makes my role of discipline a "rescue mission" to show them the error of their ways and to point them back towards Jesus and being back in the safety of a right relationship with God the Father.

Hello, new attitude! This thought alone wipes away my anger at being disobeyed and allows me to address my kids with love and concern.

"The Rod" is used as a corrective tool in hear-centered discipline. It is mandated by God. And while JR and I have never had a problem with spanking, this book lines out a proper way to spank that brings the parent and child closer together instead of tearing a rift in the relationship.

The second book I read was the perfect follow-up. Where as the first book was more theory, this book, Don't Make Me Count to Three! was a practical, how-to guide complete with a flow chart of behavior, bible verse, and consequence.

It focuses on using scripture (esp. the Proverbs) to train your children in righteousness. (Man, did it make me realize how much I rely on my own wisdom instead of God's word when I rebuke my children!)

Also, Ginger has a motto for discipline that we are adopting in our family. Discipline is:
RIGHT AWAY, ALL THE WAY, AND WITH A SMILE!

I cannot recommend these 2 books enough. (I also have "Instructing a Child's Heart" in the dock to read after I finish the book I'm currently reading.)

Please, read these books. It will not only change how you parent, but it will change how you deal with other people you encounter everyday.

First VBS

2010-07-26T15:33:00.003-04:00

First... a note:
I have not been blogging much this summer. And for the first time, I don't feel guilty about it.

There have been times where I have given this blog and my posting on it too much importance. Instead of enjoying moments with my children, I have been blogging in my head. I want all of you readers to know how creative I am, how cool I am, and I have come to the realization that I was parenting for you. And for my own horn-tootin'.

I'm not saying all this to say that I'm ending my blog. But I am keeping tabs on my heart and my motivations when I do blog. Hence, the infrequent blogging this summer.

End of note.

I was kinda bummed this summer b/c I thought the kids were going to miss out on VBS. We were in Tallahassee when Grace Crossing had VBS. Gideon was able to go to one night of College Church's VBS when we were briefly in Searcy, but Naomi was too young. But then, our neighbor, Justin, invited the kids to Park Ave.'s VBS.
We all know the trauma I have had in the past when leaving Naomi places, but people, she's growing up!

Sunday-Wed. I dropped the kid's off for VBS and the LOVED it!

Naomi LOVED her class. And, of course, Gideon loved his.

We were even babysitting 3 siblings for Monday and Tuesday, so we took them to VBS as well.

While the kids were at VBS, JR and I read at a coffee shop, except for one night, when we actually had a date and discussed our plans for next summer. (More exciting news on that front in due time.)

The last night of VBS was family night. We got to watch the slide-show of what the kids had been doing and join the rest of the people there for food and games. There was also a station where the kids could get their picture taken with "Prowler". Gideon has 4 pictures on Park Ave. web-site (I pulled 2), but Naomi didn't want her picture taken.

I am so thankful that they had this opportunity and loved it. They talked about VBS all day long.

Shots from Today

2010-07-16T00:29:00.004-04:00

We are starting to get to know even more of our neighbors. In fact, the Kings have a cute baby girl who has her own studio photography backdrop! :) So, Laura (the mom) invited us over this morning to "play photography".

Here are some of my favorite shots. I didn't run them through Photoshop, just iPhoto.

Photos from the Shoot in Florida

2010-07-05T15:38:00.002-04:00

I saw Naomi react to the hot, sticky weather with all the enthusiasm with which I embrace it. She was cranky and did not smile. (I couldn't blame her.)

Most of these photos are still in the Proof stage. However, when you see duplicates, you can see some of my edit.

This flickr set is for family to identify the photos they would like to display in their home and let me know. Then I'll order a nice image of it. (NOTE: FAMILY THAT PRINTS PHOTOS FROM THE SCREEN--you know who you are--THE IMAGES WILL NOT LOOK RIGHT IF YOU TRY TO MAKE THEM BIGGER THAN THEY APPEAR ON THE SCREEN. E-mail me and I can either send you the file so you can print it bigger, or I'll order you a nice print.) ;)

Cheryl's Right

2010-07-01T15:41:00.000-04:00

In the comments from the last post, Cheryl mentioned that there has been adequate time to get more photos of Kaden out there. And she's right. I have been taking pictures each day. (4 photo sessions so far)

Here's the photo I JUST finished editing. (Can you believe how great Claudia looks 6 days after a c-section?) I chopped her hair off. :)

Kaden Malachi Porche

2010-06-26T16:12:00.003-04:00

Here is the only picture I've seen so far of this kid. :)

I can't wait to meet him!!! (and fill the internet with his photos)

I am in awe of how Claudia handled the 19 hours of contractions before they did a c-section. Mom said that Ryan and Claudia worked together as a great team.

Welcome to the family, Kaden!!

Wish I had my Phone

2010-06-25T09:45:00.001-04:00

So I have been without my phone for the past several days (left the charger in FL) and I'm missing it today.

I got an e-mail this morning from mom saying that
CLAUDIA'S WATER BROKE AT 6 AM.

Kaden Malachi is on his way! I've booked my ticket to Dallas. I hope to get there as they get home from the hospital. :)

Favorite Shot of the Day

2010-06-18T22:48:00.000-04:00

2010-06-17T18:54:00.000-04:00

I don't know why...

2010-06-08T16:50:00.008-04:00

... but I am LOVING black and white photos of Gideon these days!

(This photo was taken in my house!!!)

Family Fun Day

2010-06-07T16:20:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday, before JR's intensive class week and our trip to Tallahassee, we took time to spend the day as a family.

We headed over to Bartlett to the Toys-R-Us to get Gideon his bicycle. However, they only had the Iron Man bike on-line, so we didn't actually leave with one.

But as we left, we drove past a remote-controlled car race. Of course we stopped, got out, and watched. We cheered for our favorite colored car.

After a nap in the afternoon we had plans to go to an italian festival right around the corner. Our new friends, the Kinney's, had a way to get in for free. So, we loaded up and went. And 5 min. after we got in, it started raining. And 5 min. after that, we bought a $5 funnel cake which we shared under a tree to stay relatively dry. And 5 min. after that, we ended up back at the bbq of the people who got us into the festival. We joined these friends of our friends and dealt with the post-rain humidity and bugs.

Here's how G felt about the weather:

The kids got in on the game...

And this is Becca Kinney. We are really enjoying getting to know her and her husband, Jon.

(Gideon asked that this photo be processed like this.) :)

Well, we'd planned on getting a bike. And didn't. And planned to hang out at the italian festival, and didn't. But it was still a pretty good family fun day.

Interview with a 4 Year Old

2010-06-03T16:49:00.003-04:00

Once again, I apologize for the video quality. The only recording device we have is our broken camera. (But the subject is still cute.) :P

She Loves Him to Death...

2010-06-02T22:02:00.000-04:00

Gideon's 4th Birth Day

2010-05-28T15:09:00.000-04:00

This was the invitation that we handed out to the people who live around us and a few people from church. The super-hero theme was the major theme for the entire day.

Gideon woke up early (6:30 instead of 8) and his first words to me were: "I put my Iron Man clothes on!"

I convinced him to lay low for another hour, but by 7:30 I was making his requested cinnamon twists with chocolate glaze. (Pillsbury... don't think I'm super-woman or anything.)

After breakfast, he got to open his first present of the day. It was from Ryan and Claudia.

It made him look like this:

He wore it all day.

He ran outside to show Ana.

Aunt Kelli, Rachel, and Simon called to sing to him. Rachel sang in English, and then sang the Polish birthday song. And Simon mooo-ed for us. The cousins are getting pretty excited about seeing each other.

We web-cammed with Gigi and Papa Dan who are in Greece. The kids asked what was in Greece, to which I said, "A lot of old rocks." But it confused Gideon and Naomi, b/c all they could see was the office in which my parents were web-camming. :)

While we were on the computer with my parents, JR's mom called.

We spent a busy 45 min. chatting with people all over the world. (Just in case you aren't keeping up, that is Poland, Greece, and Florida.)

Then Gideon and I got ready to go out for our birthday date.

He chose Burger King. It is currently his favorite restaurant. And he was hoping to get an Iron Man toy. (He got a Marmaduke toy instead.) We laughed throughout our meal remembering funny things that happened last year on his birthday.

When I asked him what he wanted to do for dessert, he said he wanted to pick out some candy. So we went to Fresh Market and I let him pick out whatever candy he wanted. He chose (surprise, surprise) 2 different shades of blue jelly bellies.

After coming back home, the kids requested taking a nap on the couch.

I snapped this picture really close to the minute of his birth 4 years ago. He's so much bigger now! :)

The rest of the afternoon, we spent getting ready for his small get-together. I was blowing up balloons, which we didn't even include in the party. But G and I love this picture b/c we think he looks like a Muppet.

At around 4 we got to web-cam with the Mosiers.

Can you see Madison and Hudson?

For dinner, G has requested BBQ Chicken pizza with pineapple and black olives.

Here is G waiting for JR to finish up with the dishes so he can open his gifts:

The cards...

Naomi's gift to Gideon is a figurine of J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter. This is a great gift SHE picked out for him. We read the Justice League books aloud and Naomi is always asking who J'onn J'onzz is. Gideon thinks it's pretty funny. Here's how the gift-giving went down:

Gideon got a lot of other great gifts. He is super excited about all of them. And if you know Gideon, you know that I'm not exaggerating about that.

Since I already posted the link to the photos of the party on the last post, I'll just type out about the rest of the day.

We had a good turn out at his party. Even some people from church made the trek out to celebrate Gideon. Gideon picked out s'mores cupcakes and assorted super-hero plates and napkins. And for our purposes, Transformers count as super-heroes. We even had Optimus Prime masks for those guests who showed up without costumes.

Fun was had by all while we were visiting outside. And by 7:30 we brought the kids in for bath time. During our cuddle time, Claudia and Ryan web-cammed. When Uncle Ryan lowered the camera to Claudia's belly, Gideon (unprompted) began talking to Kaden. He called him his special nick-name (Keathan) and talked to him about how he was going to teach Kaden to play with Transformers and that he was going to love on him when he comes out of Claudia's belly. (SO SWEET!)

It took G a long time to settle down after such a full day. But by 10 he finally stopped trekking down the stairs to make up questions to ask us.

He's such a big kid now.

Within the week I hope to get an interview with him to post here on the blog.

Our Big 4 Year Old

2010-05-27T23:36:00.001-04:00

We've had a big day. I took lots of photos. I'm beat.

But, since so many of you are out and about and use this as a way to be a part of our lives, I'll go ahead and link you to the flickr set. But I'll do a big post tomorrow.

Turn back the clock...

2010-05-26T10:10:00.003-04:00

This was originally posted on the evening of May 25, 2006 with the anticipation of most people reading it on May 26, 2006. Let's all turn back the clock 4 years, and remember what was going on with the Sheets family then...

*****************************************

I sat on my couch all day drinking water. JR went to Stafford to deliver his Grandpa and Judy to Debby's house and do some yardwork.

Around 8 pm I started monitoring my blood-pressure. It fell in the range that the nurse told me to watch for.

So when JR got home, we paged the dr. Apparently the first time we did, the number was scrambled. But then at 11, we got to talk to Dr. Hodges.

He moved up my apt. from 10:15 tomorrow morning to 8:30. He also told me that he and Dr. Meinig had discussed that they should probably not allow this pregnancy to go past week 37 (according to them, that's Monday). In addition to this information, I was told to pack a bag to bring to the apt. tomorrow.

Here's the problem: X-Men III. I have been looking forward to this movie since before I knew JR. But the good news is that there is a showing at 10 am right around the corner from the hospital. If they say that we need to head to the hospital, I'm seriously going to ask if we can post-pone it for a few hours so that I can see the movie. I mean, let's face it... once I have the baby, I won't be seeing movies in the theater for a while. (don't worry, I do have my priorities straight. I won't do anything that would endanger Gideon or me.)

So... that's the update for now. Keep us in your prayers.

I should go to bed. I might have a baby tomorrow.
Daisha
*****************************************

2010-05-19T20:26:00.000-04:00

Birthday Celebration 4.2

2010-05-18T14:08:00.003-04:00

Gideon has been celebrating his birthday in phases this year. Before my parents flew off to Greece for the summer, we met in Wynne for a b-day get-together/pick up children from their weekend visit, and now, we've celebrated with Grandma as well.

Debby got into town for her visit on Thursday evening and left this morning a little after 9. We had a great visit full of cuddles, laughs, shopping, Rendevous, Blue Coast Burrito, Build-a-Bear, JR's preaching/my singing, and G's 2nd 4th b-day celebration.

Here's the slide-show: (these photos are SOOC--straight out of camera)

And I took one of the photos of G as Iron Man and did this with it:

Bathroom Etiquette

2010-05-18T00:03:00.002-04:00

I took Gideon to the women's bathroom at a bookstore during our adventures today. (Naomi was still reading books with G'ma.)

G carefully talked me through his locking of the stall and his preparations to use the facility. (The kid NEVER stops talking.)

All of a sudden G says:

"Momma! Who's that peeing?"

Me: "It's a public bathroom, Bud. Lots of people use this bathroom."

G: "Ask her her name!"

Lady-in-Stall: (a giggle)

Me: "Um... no. Bud, you don't do that in public restrooms."

Lady-in-Stall: (full out laughter)

G: "Why?"

Me: "We give people their privacy."

G: "Oh." (to the Lady-in-Stall) "Sorry!"

Lady-in-Stall: (through her laughter) It's OK!

G: "Momma! Did you just change your voice!?!"

Me: "No, Bud."

Lady-in-Stall: (guffawing)

*****
I did notice, however, that she did not make eye-contact with me as she went to wash her hands. There is such a thing as bathroom etiquette after-all. :P

Gideon's Batman Face

2010-05-14T00:13:00.002-04:00

Muddy's

2010-05-13T22:35:00.003-04:00

So we have been hearing about Muddy's since we moved to Memphis.

Well, the other day, when the kids got up from their quiet time, I told them to get ready to go.

I didn't tell them where we were going, but I did tell them that their snack was going to be part of my surprise.

We headed out to Muddy's to see what the hype was all about.

Gideon chose the "Plain Jane" because of the blue icing. Blue IS his favorite color after all. :)

Naomi chose the "Vanilla-Berry" because of the pink icing. Pink IS her favorite color after all. :)

I had the "Pucker Up" because I like lemon. :)

It was wonderful. We had fun. And Naomi let me know in no uncertain terms that she was NOT finished with her tup-tate.

Unfortunately, the other day I didn't have my camera. So we HAD to go back.

Today I brought my camera. (And I was trying to get part of my home-work assignment finished for my workshop which explains why the kid's faces are in shadow while their backs are in the sunshine.)

Gideon is getting to be such a big kid! He ran our trash into the restaurant while Naomi and I were finishing up. He also brought us more napkins. He loves getting new responsibilities like this.

All in all... we give Muddy's a icing-covered "thumbs up". (oh, shoot... I should've gotten a picture of that!)

I've been playing around with new editing techniques. (not a part of my class) JR doesn't like this edit. I'm wanting to get more feedback on it.

Reading

2010-05-10T16:13:00.000-04:00

This week we are reading

as a family.

"Stuart Little" is the only book JR remembers enjoying as a boy. :)

The entire family is enjoying the cuddle-time on the couch with this short, imaginative book. Gideon and Naomi like to giggle at the voices JR has for the different characters.

Today, as part of school, the kids and I drew pictures of "Stuart". This is the beginning process to get them to start processing the information they are learning. As their drawing skills improve, I'll expect more details from the story. Right now, their verbal responses indicate that they are engaged in the story and are remembering it from chapter to chapter.

These drawings are the beginning stages of what will one day be book reports. (It's nice to see it in the simple beginning stages, isn't it?)

What books have you enjoyed reading aloud as a family?

2010-05-08T16:57:00.000-04:00

2010-05-04T14:41:00.000-04:00

I thought I was going to all-out deck the boy. All I wanted was for him to PICK UP THE CRAYON!!! I wasn't asking much. I wasn't asking for perfection. I wasn't asking for good penmanship. I wasn't asking for letters even. I was asking him to pick up his crayon. And he refused. We were both at our wits end.

It was then that I seriously questioned this whole home-school thing.

That was back in February.

I laid low when it came to G and writing. He doesn't really like to draw or color. His confidence isn't high when it comes to those types of fine motor skills.

However, we'd do something light and fun dealing with coloring about once a week.

Last week, I found a little dry erase board with writing guides on one side and blank on the other. So I picked it up thinking that it might be something to tempt him to write.

And I was RIGHT!!

Last week he started, on his own, writing "on". Today, while I was getting lunch ready, after asking me to write his name as an example, and helping him with the letter "G", he wrote the rest of his name!

As I finished up lunch, he had me spell "ice cream" from the kitchen and he wrote down the letters I told him. "Ice" was in the right order, but the other letters were scattered around. :)

He's gaining confidence in his writing and JR and I are praising him for his perseverance.