Pizza and Movie

Here are a few shots of Abigail's pizza and movie party. I set up a table in the basement to look like an Italian restaurant. My plan was to have Dean and Sam dress up as waiters and serve the girls pizza. (I told Sam he could do it on his roller blades and that swung the deal for him!) Unfortunately we ran out of time for the waiters. Dean was busy setting up the movie, and then had to run and pick up the pizza. Sam didn't realized until afterwards that he didn't do the waiter bit.


We managed to send Aleah to Nanny's house for a sleepover - other wise I think she would've done her best to be the center of attention. Abigail had enough competition with Levi!

(notice Abigial checking her phone...just in case!)

It was a good night, and probably one of the easiest parties yet - that is one of the good things about children growing up - their parties are less 'high maintenance'!!

Mom's Toolbox

We all need a few tools. Here is a great tool to help with Bible reading and prayer.
It's found at www.momstoolbx.com - Look at any tags for SOAP. I've set a link on the sidebar as well.

I have found getting up before the children and spending time in God's Word and in prayer definitely helps me 'set my mind' for the day. Sometimes I struggle to know what to read or how to apply what I've read. I think I'm going to try a little SOAP daily and see how it goes.

Abigail turns 11!!!

Happy Birthday to Abigail!! She is now 11 years old. It is VERY hard to believe that I am the mother of an 11 year old. So begins a new 'season' of life!!! Abigail enjoyed opening family presents this morning in Mom and Dad's bed. (A tradition it seems in our house, everyone has to gather on the bed and watch the birthday person open presents.)



Abigail received a package from Grandma as well! (Thanks, Connie!) The kids love receiving their favourite 'American Cereal' on their birthdays.




Samuel has been struggling recently with envy/jealousy towards Abigail as she is now older and often is able to enjoy more privileges than he does. (ie - staying up a bit later, going to clubs that might run later, having a little more independence etc.) It has been a real sore point with him, and as Abigail's birthday drew closer we have had a few talks with him about being thankful for his sister, and trying to celebrate with her and not be envious of the gifts that she will receive. We prayed with him especially last night after an 'issue' and asked God to grant him self-control as Abigail receives gifts. He did a fantastic job this morning dealing with his 'self'. (Praise the Lord for His strength!) The video of Abby opening her 'main' present shows the struggle that Sam was going through.



Abigail's main present was a mobile phone! She has started coming home from school by herself on occasion, and is increasingly doing things independent of her family (all within reason) so we felt that it would be a good time to get her a phone so the she can contact us and vice versa.



She will be having a pizza and movie party with some of her friends tomorrow night, which I'm sure will be a lot of fun. It's nice to know that she is not too old to sit on her Daddy's lap and have a cuddle!



We thank and praise God for our beautiful blessing!

Back to School!

Today was the first day of school! Abigail is now in Year 6 (her last year of Primary School- sniff, sniff!), and Samuel is in Year 4! Where does time go!!
Here are the kids dressed in thier uniforms and ready to go - not quite sure why Aleah was pulling such a funny face, it might have something to do with her brother!!




Here are their happy faces when they returned home to a yummy after school snack!









I got this idea/recipe from www.allrecipes.com - Play Dough Cookies.
They were quite fun to make...and eat!