Love these people....

Noah Benjamin

Noah Benjamin,

     Happy birthday, seven year old!! You are such a treasure.  This is a picture of you "fishing" in the pond (in Palm Springs) with some grass. :-) 

    This was a big year for you! You learned to ride a bike, and have been so brave at BMX. You also learned to swim really, really well. You are an excellent reader, and you really enjoy science.  You still love to dress up. In general, you are just a really sweet and good natured little boy, with a super fun goofy side. 

    Unfortunately, I have a cold, as well as you and two of your siblings. So, for your birthday we stayed home and took it easy. You got to watch episode 4 (I think?) of Star Wars with big brother and sister, while the little guys did something else. We had the traditional donuts for breakfast. Anyhow. You are such a blessing to our family. It is more fun and more silly because you are part of it.

I love you Noah.

Mommy

Five years old!!!

Dear Ezra,

     Happy Birthday! You are an amazing little boy. Now, you are five years old! You amaze me with the things you can do. I like to say that you have more energy in your little pinky finger than I do in my whole body!!! Pretty much, what you set your mind to do, you accomplish. You are reading well, and excellent in math. You love Group Solutions. You enjoy riding your bike and scootering....and you love doing "tricks."

You like to come to "school" in your shirt and tie, because "you're going to be a doctor." 

You got your very first Bible a few days ago. I loved hearing you stand and read from it.

You know, the Ezra of the Bible loved God's Word, and he obeyed it...and then he taught others to do that!

I do not know all that God has planned for you, my "sweet boy". But I know His plans are great, and my prayer is that in whatever way God uses you for His kingdom, you will love His word, obey it, and teach others to do it also. Happy birthday my boy, you have changed all of our lives forever. We love you so much, and even on your "spiciest" of days, you add a flavor to our family that we just couldn't do without. I love you Ezra Lucas Knight Hester.

Mommy

PS-for your birthday, we were going to go the zoo! But since brother is on crutches, we went to the cheap theatre and saw Despicable Me 2. And, you got to "camp" in the backyard with Dad. :). AND, you went to Awana's and finished your Flight 3:16 book, so you got your vest and membership card!!!

Timeless...

I am one who believes that all stories that draw us in are reflections of THE great and true story. (By this, I am referring to God's great story of rescue, redemption, and restoration!) All stories reflect this Story; some do it well, others do it in fragments and broken pieces.

There are those stories, that truly grip your heart...the ones that have you all caught up in something greater and grander...the ones that stir your heart and remind you of all the things your heart dares to hope.

Today, in light of a back that's giving me trouble, and new school curriculum and supplies that haven't yet arrived, we took the day to read one of my favorites. It's been awhile, so I was unprepared to be fighting back tears as I read. 

Back in the "camp days", when Ben worked for a Christian Camp, this book was used as the basis for their program theme one year. 

Imagine my surprise, when going through old pictures, and I found a picture of myself holding a copy of this book. That was....well, at least 20 years ago, and it's still tugging on my heart today. Here is the picture of me with the book, next to Emma holding the book we are reading today. 

I'll leave you with a couple of excerpts:

"And so the boy escaped from the perilous Enchanted City because he was a hunter at heart and hunters always find more than they know."

"And the boy learned that a kingdom is a place where it is not enough to say the King's name. One must do the King's will in the King's way or lose the Kingdom altogether."

"So the pig girl left her pigs for the sake of the One she loved. And she became the clean one, who had a tender place in her heart for all things ugly because she knew a King who could find something beautiful in every garbage heap."

Digging in....

Ezra reading out loud from his new Bible...

New Bibles!!! (Well, not new for Judah...)

We are going through "The Dig for Kids-a study on the book of Luke". Needless to say, the kids couldn't wait to "dig" in. Hahahaha!

PS-not sure if the sale is still going on, but www.wtsbooks.com had Bibles for 50% off. (They carry the ESV translation). 

Crazy hair night!!!

Awana Crazy Hair Night!!!! :-)

Purple cuteness

Birthday fun!

Sister love

Evelyn Hope 

Girl's shopping day in honor of my birthday!

Pick up stix!

This is an awesome juicer. I know, because I research...well, too many things. My husband walked outside this morning, and from our driveway, spotted this at our neighbor's garage sale. He ran. Seriously. Ran over. Grabbed it, and quite joyously paid the $20 they were asking for it! He knew it was on my list...perhaps because of the many, many you tube videos I made him watch with me during my research phase. What an awesome score!!!! We all enjoyed some amazing "green juice" today!!!!

Daddy's birthday...

It was a lovely day! Breakfast bowls, with cards and a book for Daddy. Church, the beach, time with friends, and then celebrating with family. Broccoli salad, potato salad, green salad!! 

We are so thankful for the Daddy in our family!

Big day!!!

Caleb had finished his math book last week and has been looking forward to starting the new one. So....here we go!

And, I wish that I could say that after careful planning, I decided to potty train Judah. But, the true story is that we were out of pull-ups, and he had been doing very well at staying dry at night! So. I figured today was as good a day as any to give it a go!

And the picture of Evelyn is just because she is growing so fast and I don't want to miss it. :-)