What a Steal

Caleb was really in need of some new shoes. We have been so fortunate to have lots of things handed down to Emma from friends, and obviously Noah and Ezra are pretty well taken care of. But, Caleb had come to the end of his shoes (he, he) and was in need of some new ones. We went and tried on some Converse (just like Daddy's), which he really liked. Then, on the clearance rack I found some Nike mid-tops and thought I would have him try them on. Once he heard me say that his cousin Levi has some sort of similar, well, that sealed the deal. Those were his favorites. I got them up to the register and they were $10!! Now, the store was having a buy one, get the second pair half off sale, which was tempting to say the least. But, after realizing that I could walk out of a shoe store for under $11, we opted to just get the one pair. Caleb says that he can run faster!! (I told Ben, it was a little sad.... this is one of the first times that our kid have really got to PICK their own shoes.)

Our New Addition

I am sure there are people around the nation who are having a heart attack right now.

Relax, people. It's a piano. I have been so excited to finally have the piano around. Hopefully it will lend itself to some fun for Emma on Fridays, but for now, I am really enjoying it. 7 years of lessons have left me with surprisingly little skill at playing, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying tinkering around from time to time. This piano has been up at my parent's old house, where my little brother and his kids live, and he very kindly allowed me to move it to our house!! (Actually, HE very kindly moved it along with hubby).

VOTE FOR BEN!!

Okay, I will have to explain more in a later post, but please click on this link and vote for Lisa H. (that's me) to win the free ticket for Advance '09.  It is a conference in North Carolina about the Resurgence of the Local Church.  We would really like for Ben to go, and I entered a contest to win a free ticket, and I am one of four finalists.  Click the link and vote!!  

P.S.  If you read the stories and decide to vote for someone else, I will not be mad at you in the slightest!! =)

http://twtpoll.com/6fg1qh

Lessons from the kids...

Tonight during Family Devotions, we were talking to the kids about love (loving others).  

Ben:  Is there anything that God says we don't have to forgive?

Caleb:  Yes!!  When we do the right thing!

Ben:  Is love something that you feel?

Emma: No, it's something you do, like when you are kind to your friend.

Okay, then.  Just checking.

He Is Risen!

He is risen indeed!!

There is just something amazing about getting up REALLY early on the Sunday morning that we celebrate the resurrection. Despite being up way too late the night before, Ezra did his part and made sure we got up at 5:30am!! Just enough time to feed him, get everyone in cozy clothes, get hot chocolate, and head to Lake Casitas for the Sunrise Service. It was breathtaking!! And, we even got in a little playground time while we were there.
That's MY hot chocolate!!
Yes, I really was there, and made a cameo appearance in ONE photo!!
After the sunrise service, we had breakfast and read a story and remembered the resurrection story with Resurrection Eggs. Then, we headed to our church, where I missed most of the sermon since Noah hit his head (and then I bumped his head AGAIN as I carried him out of the church). It was still great to be there with our church family. And then, off to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a yummy Easter lunch with the cousins, and some of the "cross cake." It is sad to remember the pain and suffering of our Lord Jesus (hence, the cross), but it is a "Fun-fetti" cake because it is just bursting with the hope of resurrection and the salvation that Jesus accomplished!!!

Should I clean his face now, or get the camera first?
Caleb vs. The Door Knob. The door knob won.
Little Miss in her new glasses.

Ezra Update

Well, he sure knows how to get where he wants to go.  He is such a sweet, happy baby.  A little more fussy as of late, but I think an impending tooth is the culprit.  Anyway, here's some pictures:

Building...

The kids all love to build!!  Emma built a swing set for her dolls with Tinker Toys and Caleb loves building with the Magnetix set.

 

(Caleb's new hair cut as well)

 What Daddy does when I'm babysitting...

  Reading a story to my nieces Cadence and Lyric.  Now, I know I look pretty shocked... but after all, we were going on a bear hunt. =)

Cool Bags...

These are the cool bags that Daddy got for the kids to collect things on our Nature Walks or Hikes.  Funny thing, these pictures are all the way back from when I had pneumonia... I kept wondering why I was having trouble on that hike, and finally had to ask to turn around and be done for the day.  Hmmm....

  And oh yes, our friend Lizard too!

Blogging...

One of the hard things about blogging is that if you happen to get behind (as I know I am), it can be almost overwhelming to "get back on the horse" (so to speak). So, here is my attempt to catch you up on the major things.

After recovering from pneumonia, I have since had really bad mouth/tooth pain. I have had one root canal, but since I am still having some pretty bad pain, I am thinking that means that more than one tooth was involved. Also, the root canal revealed that my tooth had four roots instead of three, and it was infected so I am on antibiotics again. I was getting nervous about taking Tylenol so regularly, but the pain was such that I was having a lot of trouble being a kind person. I was able to find a homeopathic remedy, which is working fine for me, although I did take one Tylenol last night to get me some sleep. The root canal (procedure + crown) ends up being about $1400... and you wonder why I don't really want to go there??? =) God has faithfully provided for us, although I must say I am terrified to go back in and have them say I have to go through it (including the money) again!!

Emma had her first eye exam. She and Caleb observed my exam first. She is doing well, but will need some little glasses for reading and schoolwork. I was pretty sure that this would be the case, although I did think her eyes were a little worse off than what I had originally thought. Not too bad, though, and she may even outgrow it.

Caleb got a buzz again. His hair was just getting too long, and he kept asking. I was determined to grow his hair out, but after seeing how miserable he was with it (even after trying hair gel), I acquiesced and gave him "Daddy's hair cut." Hopefully pictures will follow soon.

Noah is talking so much! We did not go ahead with speech therapy testing, we decided to wait. He knows all of his letters, and their sounds (he does have a hard time saying "R" and "kwa for Q"). He can put together a 35 piece puzzle all by himself. We might possibly be starting to potty train, but the jury is still out on that. I am not in a hurry on that one, but every night when the kids go potty, he asks to go potty, and I figure... well, we can sort of test the waters and see if mamma is up for what it will require of me!

Ezra is getting big and mobile. He finds a way to get where he needs to go, in order to get what he wants to get. No crawling, or anything like that. Just some pretty tricky rolling and stuff. He hasn't been sleeping well lately, so we are wondering if perhaps a tooth might be on it's way. Time will tell. He is a wonderful baby though, so happy and easy-going.

Ben is finally scheduled for a consult on his knee, that has needed surgery for about two years. This will be his fourth knee surgery. But, it has only recently been giving him some trouble, so it will be good to get that taken care of.

Our PC crashed, (we have a MacBook, which is great), but some of the kids' schoolwork software isn't Mac compatible, and the Mac Book wasn't really intended to be our "main" computer. So, I went to find a replacement, and alas, I have another laptop, this one a Gateway PC. It is working out quite nicely. I grew up on PC, so I am comfortable here, but I must say that the Mac Book has certainly done its work in convincing me how awesome Macs are. =)

We finished The Horse and His Boy (the third in the Narnia series), and are on to Prince Caspian. Shortly thereafter, or perhaps during the day, we will be reading The Princess and the Goblin. I am reading it now just to make sure it is all okay for the kiddos. Emma has discovered the Little House chapter books, so she has been enjoying those for quiet time (they are shorter books, about 65 pages (ish) in the same style as the Little House series). I am not quite sure how I feel about the "Magic Treehouse" books as of yet, but I LOVE the non-fiction research guides that go along with the series. Caleb loved reading the research guide on Knights and Castles, and was talking about things that look like a "mace" for weeks. He did read the fiction Magic Treehouse book called The Knight at Dawn (in a couple of hours) and seemed to enjoy it well enough.

So, I think that pretty much catches you up on life in the Hester house. It's been crazy, but oh so wonderful and good.

Sorry

I have not posted anything in a while, we have been busy, of course.  I am now almost recovered from a sinus infection and pneumonia, which most of you know from Facebook!!  =)  Alas, I am still alive, and when I have more time, I will post for y'all.

Park Day

We had a great time today at the park.  We were even joined by some friends for a while, which makes it even more fun!  I packed a lunch for us all and we took some time to enjoy God's beautiful creation.  Ben even took the boys down to a little creek for some adventure.  Here are some pictures:

Sword Fighting, of course!

Climbing the "rock" wall

Slide Static

Our Picnic

Fun Pics

A serious ballerina

Sweatin' to the Oldies 

New Roomate! (We finally let Emma move in with the boys)

I LOVE to chew on things!

Hey, reading is hard work!

Loved

There are times in your life that will always stand out in your mind, and this happens to be one of those occasions.  I had been sick for a while, and it was discouraging for me, but I started to feel better.  I seemed to be fine yesterday morning (Tuesday), but the afternoon brought a headache that was debilitating to say the least (I really wanted to bang my head on something to make it stop hurting, but opted for 3 ibuprofen instead.)  Anyway, we had finished our family devotion, and Ben asked the kids to come off their beds, and come lay hands on me so that they could all pray for me to get better.  They each prayed for me.  Sweet Caleb, took his hands off of me so that he could "fold his fingers" while he prayed for me, and then as soon as he was done, he put his hands back on my forearm.  This will forever stand out in my mind as a time where I felt well loved.  God knew I needed that.

Almost 4 Months...

Here is one of the pictures from our Valentine's Day hike:

And here is our boy, 4 months on Monday... and now he is rolling over and trying to blow raspberries.

"Blessed"

I forgot to post about this, and I wanted to write it down before I forgot!

We were on our way to Costco, and Ben was reading from Psalms in the car.  He read:

"Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.  Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart."

Psalm 119:1-2

Then he asked them what it means to be blessed.  I don't remember what Caleb said, but this was Emma's answer, which I will forever hold dear to my heart:

"It's like how mommy is blessed because she has lots of children!!"

Seeing Triple

Caleb                               Noah                           Ezra

Nine Years...

Today is our nine year anniversary...

I am pretty sure I don't know what I am doing

I am doing my best to follow the rules, I just don't have much experience.  So, I am trying to do a "meme" (is that what it is called??).  Oh, do help me blogger friends!! =)

Number one, here is the link to my friend who tagged me!!  Go see her blog and give her some love!=)

Sarah

Number two, post the rules.  (is that what I am doing right now?  Still not quite sure.)

Number three, here are six random things about me:

1.  I am addicted to books.  I really love them.  Children's books, adult books, classics, just about anything.  Unfortunately, they cost money.  

2.  I am not really into anything much of the science fiction or fantasy world of things.  I like some.  But not most.

3.  One of my most favorite books of all time is "Hind's Feet on High Places."  (I don't know why I can't underline on my blog??)

4.  This weekend I went to a homeschooling moms conference (which I hope to post more on later!).  The things I took away from the conference: an affirmation of the great depth of God's love for me, and despite my sin and wickedness, my great love for Him who has redeemed me; 

and, I need to RELAX.  My children learn much more from my attitude in our everyday life then they ever do sitting at our table doing "schoolwork".

5.  I really love food.  I enjoy cooking, baking, trying new things.  Food tickles my heart.  

6.  Ooh!!  My husband and I will celebrate our 9 year anniversary this week.  Well, by celebrate, I mean that he will work the night shift and I will enjoy the some of the "fruit" of our marriage (that means the kids!) =)

Okay, there you go!  6 random things about me.  Now, I am to tag six people.  I don't exactly know how to link everyone, but I will try:

Kelly

Christine

Rebecca

Gina

Heidi

Lisa S. 

Becky, this is for you!!

I thought I would do a post about the books we had chosen because 1) it was a little long for a comment, and 2) that way other people can comment with good books or biographies that their kids enjoy.

So, I started with authors that I knew of.  Ingri d'Aulaire was one, and she had a biographical book on Washington and one on Lincoln, but I was only able to get the Abraham Lincoln book from the library... the other was checked out or something.  Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire have biographies of Lincoln, Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Buffalo Bill, Columbus, Leif the Lucky and Pochahontas.  The Lincoln biography was winner of the 1939 Caldecott Medal.  It's about 55 pages or so, with quite a bit of text on the pages, but great pictures as well.  (Becky, I am sure the girls could read it on their own, but their curiosity for information would surely be satisfied!!)

The activity books are called "Abraham Lincoln for kids: His Life and Times with 21 Activities."  The Washington book is called the same, but with a different author.  These are great books, (although I haven't read all of the text, mostly just skimmed the activities at these point.  The activities are geared more towards the girls' age, but Jonah and Naiah would be right on board, I am sure!! )

I got a "rookie biography" on Abraham Lincoln by Carol Greene which is about 45 pages.  Reading wise, it might be too easy for the girls, but information wise, it would be just right.  There is a lot of information!!

And finally, I got a "Jr. Graphic Biography" on George Washington by Dan Abnett, which I think Jonah might be interested in... It's written almost like a comic book (which I do not understand why boys enjoy them so, but hey, I'm all for it!)  So, the text was in short bursts of important information with comic-like pictures. Example: "On March 5, 1770, a group of Americans rioted.  The British troops fired on the crowd.  They killed five people and hurt six more.  This became known as the Boston Massacre."

Anyway, hope this helps.  And I would be glad to hear any info. on what books or biographies anyone else wants to recommend. =)

First Sewing Lesson...

So, in honor of President's Day, I checked out a bunch of books to read to the kids about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln (and of course, we are studying "Love" this month!)  Anyway, there was a book for each president which included activities that relate to the time periods.  (So, we will be making stove pipe hats, and "log cabins").  One of the activities in the George Washington book was to make a "Lady's Cap".  So, Emma has been so excited, she finally got to help mamma with the sewing machine:

Fancy footwork....

WAY too much fun!! =)

The finished project

Santa Barbara Zoo

We had a fun family trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo.  I really enjoyed the zoom on my camera, and I brought my old camera for the kids to take pictures with, which Emma especially enjoyed.  I haven't had a chance to download the pictures that the kids took, but here are some of mine:

And the kid's favorite, which sends us all into hysterical laughter: