Lent me tell you...

   January 2009 our last blog entry.  Looking back I realized that I was pregnant and had a new puppy. 2nd time I had done that too myself!  Well 5 years later, Liam is a bubbly little boy and our puppy is 100lbs, and we have moved form Colorado, to Pennsylvania,  and now to Tennessee.  I can't even begin to summarize our lives over those thousands of miles. So I'm not going to.  I'm going to start with today because really, that's all I have anyway.

    This morning Sonja was looking at her calendar and asked what Ash Wednesday was.  This turned into an hour long conversation.  Of course the question came up about what as a family we would fast from for Lent.  We, well mostly me, have decided that it will be TV.

    Yes, now that your jaw is off the floor let me explain my reasoning for taking away the electronic babysitter.  1st, we watch more then I want to admit in any public forum. 2nd, I've realized that when Myself, Ron, or any of the children are treating each other poorly it takes place quite often around the TV.  (If anyone out there can explain the physics behind a 4 year old's head blocking the entirety of a 46" screen you will surly win some sort of prize from me.)

   Here are the ground rules:
1. No TV show watching. Except Sunday's
2. Video games on the TV are OK.  (Video games are actually a bonding time in our family. Geek blood runs in our veins)
3. No one is allowed to condemn the other.  If you watch TV that is between you and the Lord.

So there it is.  Pray for us. =)

Our new Puppy!

Yes, we got a new puppy. No, we don't need our heads CAT scanned. His name is Hiro (hero). He's an Akita-Mastiff mix. Akita's are a breed from Japan, and Hiro means "strength". He's about 17 weeks old, and pretty much house broken, and loves the kids. Toby, Bryce, and Hiro get along great. We wanted to get Toby a new friend before the day comes that Bryce isn't with us any more (he's almost 13). Ron calls him Yoda Dog, can you see why?

Number 3!!

It's been along while since the last post, but we've been waiting for something good.



There's number 3. A week before we found out, Sonja told us that she asked Jesus in her heart for a baby brother. We both said 'Aw cute' and left it at that. A week later we had a positive test, and today we had ultrasound confirmation. We should be able to find out if it's a boy in March. If it is, we're going to start having Sonja write down lotto numbers.

Meet our new horse Leila!

Yes, I finally have my horse! She is a rescue, which means free! She was orginally owned by people that had bought her for their 6 year old daughter 4 years ago. About a year ago their daughter lost interest in riding. So, the horse sat and was eating up lots of $$. Through a mutual friend they up out the word of "free to a good home". Unfortunately when we all went to look at the horse she was under weight, about 200lbs, and was scratched up because they had her in a pen that was full of 8" in diameter pine trees. That night we took her to my neighbors house who has 2 horses and is now her new home!

We have had her for a week and already I can tell she is going to be an awesome horse. She has been trained in dressage(supposedly 4th level), is 1/8 quarter horse and 7/8 thoroughbred, and is just the sweetest thing ever. As you may have gathered from the title, her name is Leila, which means Dark haired beauty in Arabic. Her new friend in named Foxy, and they already seem to get along!

Sushi!

Normally Kris and I go out for sushi, but we brought the kids this time.

Sonja is an old pro, been eating sushi now for 2 years




Sophia liked the California rolls and salmon w/ cream cheese, did not like the tuna.


Loved the tempura too!

Getting you caught up

So it's been a while since out last update, here's the things that's been keeping us occupied:

There's been landscaping:





Sonja likes her new grass:



There was a wildfire. Although it was about 5 miles away, still looked close:



There was a food fight!



And Papa's been working on a playhouse for his girls:






So we've been busy, and more to come. But with Sonja helping with the playhouse, it should go quick!

Sonja Pre-school graduation , Sonja and friends at 100 year old school house.

Our Pre-school Grad.! She's so proud!

I just love this picture. It's just beautiful.

Sophia's First Birthday!

My baby is a year old! It can't be true! Sorry it took so long to get these pics up! We have video too that will be coming soon. Staying true to our family tradition Sophia got to dig into her birthday cake with both hands!