A Few Favorite Isaac Stories

Isaac is so much fun right now.  Actually, he's always been a lot of fun--but I feel like he is changing so much right now.  It seems that his vocabulary is growing every minute--today I found myself explaining the difference between fiction and non-fiction books to him.  (Yikes!)    It is such a joy to watch him become such a fun, imaginative, and always energy-filled boy.  

I long ago decided that I am not a scrapbooker :)--and so, this blog is my place to record quotes, stories, and pictures about our family.  Here are a few of my favorite Isaac stories from the past few months.   

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It is Isaac's routine to spend "some time" on his potty chair each morning after breakfast.  Lately, he's been sitting there each morning and reading books for a looooong time--sometimes up to half an hour.  This morning, he'd been in the bathroom for about ten minutes when I went to check on him.  As I walked into the bathroom, he looked up at me from his book and said, "Greetings and salutations!"  Then he laughed and laughed!  Occasionally, my dad says "greetings and salutations"--apparently Isaac remembered!

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"Mommy, Emma can be Baby Jesus, you can be Mary, Daddy can be Joseph, and I'll be the horsey in the stable.  And, Uncle Mike can be a horsey, too.  No.....Uncle Mike can be the fireman fighting the fires in the stable."

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Isaac loves his daddy.  Last Monday, Dave worked in Decatur for the day and was then going to head to Oklahoma for the rest of the week.  I drove up to Decatur last Monday evening to have supper with Dave before he left.  Isaac insisted that he wear his "work boots just like my daddy."  (As you can see, his "work boots" are actually green rain boots that were given to us by my mom's neighbor.  Several weeks ago, my mom tried to wash them; Isaac got very upset and told her they needed to have dirt on him just like his daddy's.)  Isaac also wanted to wear his "work gloves (snow mittens) just like my daddy."   He was so proud that his jeans got some dirt on them from climbing around the machinery, too.   :)

 

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Isaac: "Mommy, when I grow up, I would like to be a workerman like my daddy.  No, I will be an astronaut and fly in a rocket.  You will look out your widow and see the rocket."

Me: "What do you think Emma will be when she grows up?"

Isaac: "Emma will be a princess & live in a princess house."

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Isaac had been excited to have a play date with some friends, but on the morning of the play date  my friend called to say she was sick and couldn't get together.   When I told Isaac we couldn't play with our friends because their mommy was sick, he immediately dropped to his knees and said, "Dear God, please help Aunt Corrie be better. Amen." 

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Isaac: "I would like to go visit Nana by myself."

Me: "Maybe someday when you are six, because you have to be big to do that."

Isaac: "Well, I am big.  Can I go tomorrow?  Nana will say 'yes'--you can bring me and then go back to Texas by yourself."

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Also, I can't resist sharing this photo.  Dave & I received a few brochures for our tenth anniversary trip.  One morning, I found Isaac studying one....

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Isaac loves to read books.  Besides the picture above, another funny place we've found Isaac reading is on his horse...

...and with his bike helmet on (we weren't going on a bike ride anytime soon) :).

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My grandma lives in a memory-care center in Southlake.  We went to visit her last Monday, and, as we were leaving, Isaac asked her, "Next time, could I please spend the night with you?"  :)

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This is probably my very favorite Isaac story from the past few months. 

"Mommy, now that Emma is a big girl, when is God going to send us our next baby?"  

I told him that Daddy & I had been praying that God would show us the next baby for our family and then asked if he'd pray for that too.  Right away, he folded his hands, closed his eyes, and said, "Dear God, please send another baby to our family.  Amen!"

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We love this boy!

Tot School: Easter

Easter is early this spring, so we've already had fun working on a few Easter-themed activities. 

I'm linking up with Tot School Gathering Place to share some of our recent activities.

Matching Sound Eggs

I found an idea to make sound eggs from The Iowa Farmer's Wife.  

I filled our eggs with only items I had on hand: dry pinto beans, Valentine conversation hearts, soft mini-poms, small pieces of foam, and wrapped candy. 

Just like a regular Memory/matching game, we took turns by trying to find matching eggs.  I loved how Isaac put the eggs right next to his ears and shook them.  :)

a match--I love this smile!

Easter Sensory Play in the Bathtub

Isaac and Emma also played in the bathtub with a very messy tray of vanilla pudding, ice cubes, and Easter eggs.  

Isaac didn't know that the mixture was vanilla pudding--Emma figured out first how sweet it was!

Emma spent most of her time licking the vanilla pudding and tapping eggs together. :)

 Isaac loved getting really messy.  :)  He also hid ice cubes in the plastic eggs.

Tape-Resist Eggs

 Isaac put strips of tape on two of the large paper eggs, and he helped me put tape in the shape of an I and an E on the other two.  (I had masking tape on hand, but I'm sure blue painter's tape would've worked better.)

Isaac painted the eggs and then added lots of glitter.  :)

I've found that doing painting projects on a cookie sheet makes for easier clean-up.

Several hours later, I peeled the tape off.  

Happy Easter!

Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday: Our Birthday Babies!

Isaac's First Birthday~October 2010

Emma's First Birthday~ February 2013

Emma's First Birthday

We loved celebrating Emma's birthday on Saturday with many of our family and friends who love her!  Since we found out about Emma last Valentine's Day, I didn't think twice about picking a theme...a Valentine party was perfect!  

our little Valentine--we love this sweetheart!

Smiling with Daddy before the guests arrived!

I had so much fun planning Emma's party!

"a year of firsts"--I found this idea from here

I found the rosette cake idea for Emma's smash cake from this pin--my sister sent me several frosting tips in the mail and convinced me I could do this.  :)  Let's just say she answered a lot of (sometimes frantic) phone calls over the past week regarding cake decorating--she's the best! 

I got the conversation heart & wand idea from this pin.

Both my mom & my mother-in-law helped me prepare for the party.  My mom came over the day before the party and wrapped silverware, chopped vegetables, and washed all the serving dishes.  My mother-in-law and I spent most of Saturday in the kitchen together--she washed tons of dishes, assembled six pans of chicken spaghetti, and--most importantly--made her infamous cream puffs for the party.    I couldn't have done it all without either of them--or Dave, who stood on our island and hung poms and hearts for nearly an hour one night!  :)  

little friends enjoying their supper

I love how Emma crawled over to the picnic table to join the big kids!

After dinner, we asked our family & friends to pray with us.  We prayed for blessing and health upon Emma for the next year and for wisdom as we parent her.  I love how Isaac is holding Emma's arm as we prayed over her.  We are so thankful for our daughter and are learning every day how we need God's strength and grace in parenting our children.

And then, it was time for CAKE!

 "Happy Birthday to you..."

Isaac was so anxious to be right by Emma when we sang to her and brought out her cake.  (Actually, that is an understatement--my mom said he was starting to cry when we all started to sing "Happy Birthday" because he wanted to be right next to her.)  Of course, Isaac helped her blow out her candle....and then asked if he could lick the frosting off of it.  :)

Yum!  Emma loved it!

Dave's youngest brother--affectionately known to Isaac and Emma as "Uncle Mike"--is here visiting us in Texas!  We loved having him at Emma's party!

For such a little girl, she ate a lot of it...of course, we found plenty of frosting in her highchair & on her outfit, too.  :)

opening a few presents

Our friend Shamron made Emma this incredible handmade cross--it will look beautiful in her room!

Emma with her Great-Grandma Joan

Emma with her Mom-o, Papa Kal, Papa Rinn, & Nana! 

How special that they could all be at Emma's party to celebrate her!

Emma received this new slide from my parents!  She smiles this big every time she slides down it!  It's hard to believe that soon Emma will be able to climb up the stairs of it herself!!

For Isaac's first birthday, Papa & Nana gave him a Pottery Barn stuffed chair.  Lately, we noticed how small it was for him!  So, they purchased Emma a new pink cover to use on Isaac's chair for her first birthday and then bought Isaac a larger chair from Pottery Barn!  They're so cute in their chairs from Papa & Nana!

Another special gift was this bouquet of flowers that Emma's birth family sent to her on her birthday!  We think of Emma's birth family often and know that our great joy comes at their sacrifice.  We love them!

 

What a sweet year it has been with our Emma!

Happy Birthday, Emma Victoria!  We love you!