Our Dora Party

Here are the pictures (as promised) from Hannah's Dora Party. The girls had a lot of fun. They played with the dress up stuff and then ate Mac-n-cheese, fries and carrots. Then to top it off they each had a HUGE piece of cake!





I am actually pretty impressed with my self on this cake. It was my first character cake! There are a few things I will do differently next time...such as use different chocolate frosting. I bought the choc in a tub and it was gross. The vanilla that I used for the white and the colored parts was really good though. I also need to get a smaller tip for outlining.

These are the invitations that Hannah made by herself!
Aren't they cute?

Spring Cleaning

I officially have either Spring Cleaning Fever...or some kind of Nesting issue!!! Today alone I cleaned (and I mean with extreme detail!!) the whole Bathroom, both cars, did dishes twice and trash once...and "the kicker", I cleaned the inside of my washer!!!!! (who does that?) That was when I noticed I was going crazy(that and my "never notice when I clean anything" Husband noticed) Not to mention we did family stuff today, like taking Hannah to the park, bookstore shopping with Dan, wagon rides for Hannah and watching a movie! I am trying to figure out what to clean next. Yikes! Help!
And after all that...I missed 1/2 price day at the local kids consignment sale! I was pretty bummed about it too. I thought it was tomorrow and I even had a friend to go with me and everything. Hopefully I don't forget the one next week.
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I registered at Babies-R-us last night. They had sent me this coupon for a $10 gift card if I register with them...So, being the cheap skate that I am...decided to go for it. So, if you care to know, I am now registered there. It was kind of fun...only I had Hannah with me and they were out of the gift cards, so now I have to go back in there!!!!!! The ONLY reason I went to register in the first place. Plus they said you can't use the gift cards on diapers, so now I am going to have to buy something "useless" as Dan put it. O well...Maybe we can get him a toy. Hannah picked out some cute Boy-ish toys for him.
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Calvin is going to have the best big sister ever. She told us today that when she takes him down the slide she will hold on to him tight(so he doesn't fall).
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*Mary-I own Lost if you ever want to get into it!! It really is one of the best TV shows ever! I think that this past episode was just odd. But Dan thought it was a great one...so I don't know.

Happy March!!

Tid Bits

This afternoon Hannah and I were taking Dan his lunch and we were discussing animals, and which ones give us certain foods. Like Cows=milk and hamburger, Chickens=eggs and chicken, ect...Then after we had gone over a few, I went on to ask Hannah where "hammy" comes from. She said "Dinosaurs"(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I couldn't stop laughing!! I was SO cute!
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We fished the Dora cake this evening. After Hannah's friends come over tomorrow, I will post the pictures. The cake actually turned out better than I had imagined it to. Do...keep in mind that I had "help"!! I am pleased though with our "trial" run. I know a few things I will do differently for her Birthday(if she still wants one then).
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Also on our drive to see Dan, Hannah said this: "Wouldn't it be so cool Mommy, if Asher could come live with us!" How cute is my child? She really loves her friends! ...and it would be fun to have Asher here. I doubt his parents would like it, but o well.
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I am watching LOST, and it is a weird/odd episode...

I hope you are all having a wonderful week.

118 days to go...can you tell I'm counting?
Actually, I am really counting the days until Spring weather. I am really wanting to wear shorts and t-shirts. I am SO tired of being cold. It seems worse when I am pregnant. My ankles are starting to swell:) I also had my first coke yesterday since the end on Nov. Go me!! Only now, I am really craving another one. O well. Maybe I'll start doing one a week.
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I am excited for Friday. Hannah and I are making the Dora Cake!! I will post pictures, so check back.
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Hannah was great in her gym class yesterday! Last week she had bad behavior. I talked to the teacher and she said a few others were bad as well. That made me feel better. They started a sticker program. If the kids are good they get a sticker and if they are bad they don't. Hannah came home with a sticker!! Yeah. She also knew going in what would happen to her if she didn't behave...so maybe that helped too!!!! ;)

Happy Wednesday!

Thank You

Thanks for our video Benny Boo Bear!! I'll make one for you soon.
Love- Hannah

True Friendship

Happy Birthday Andrea!!

I hope you have a wonderful day. I am thinking about you and our friendship today. Thanks for being a great Friend!!

a sister!

Tonight Hannah and I were talking, and she is really getting excited for her little brother to come. You have no idea. All her little dinos and animals have a big sister and a little brother now! He is coming on her Birthday and she so excited about that too. So tonight...she asks me if next year for her Birthday God will give her a little sister!!!!!!!!! Yikes! All I could say was I hope not. That is way way too soon. I told her maybe for her 6th Birthday! It was so cute though.
Poor thing, I had thought she was over the not getting a sister deal.

Clumsy Anne

So, this morning I pulled up to the bank drive up and rolled down the window. I reached out my hand to grab the tube and it slipped out of my hand and rolled under my van!!!! So I put the van in reverse and tried to back up...and rolled over it. It didn't break though. Then I tried to get out and banged the side of the door on those stupid yellow poles. Let me tell you, it was SOOOO funny. I was laughing so hard b/c I was really trying to get the tube but it wasn't working. Finally I was able to get out the door (keep in mind that I am LESS than skinny right now!!) and then I couldn't bend over b/c of my tummy. I am sure that they are all at the bank playing the re-play of me. It was a pretty funny sight. Then, the incompetent lady couldn't find my account! She was typing in "Annie" and it wasn't coming up! Well, that is NOT my name....so we had to sit there for 30 min while she tried to find me. It was like the worst trip to the bank ever!!!

:)

123 days to go!

It seems like forever! Yet not really...

Remembering...

Today, Hannah and I went through all of her baby stuff. I was able to pull out 3 things for Calvy to wear. (I know...try not to laugh). Hannah had a lot of fun, and it was kinda fun for me too. Remembering her in all of the clothes. She was SO excited to help too, which made it even more fun, b/c I was able to tell her little stories about all the clothes. We even found some binkies still in the package, the bottles, and a HUGE bag of scented bags for dirty diapers. I amaze myself at what I kept. We also went through and figured out what will fit her this summer and what wont. The girl is so darn skinny but Tall!!!!

Here are some pictures of Hannah over the years(at least since we got our digital camera).

The very first picture I ever took on my camera. Hannah was probably 22mo.

This picture amazes me!!!!!!! This is Hannah LAST Easter!!!!! WOW. Has she changed or what?

Hope your day was as much fun as ours was!

Ooops....

Here is a picture of Hannah with her Valentines after we finished them. I forgot to add this the other day.

Boy-ish!

Yeah!! I finally was able to go buy something boy-ish. I have been dying to get out and do that. I have been sick all week, and then we had the snow storm, and we are back to one car(for now). So, here it is. The picture doesn't show the colors well, but it is a maroon and blue sweatshirt for next fall/winter. I went on the 6-9mo size based on what Hannah wore at the time of year. Hopefully they are the same size! I really like the darker colors and all the baby stuff is baby blue:( So we went with a bigger item. (that and it was only $4)
My mom also sent a box of clothing from my nephew yesterday. We (especially Hannah) have enjoyed looking at the clothes. They have all been tried on by her little dolls/animals. She even had them all out this morning before church. Her favorite is this little pj with outer space stuff on it. "we can put Little Mo in this when he goes to outer space Mama!"
Apparently she knows something I don't!!!!!!!

The box from my mom also had our new Dora cake pan in it...so, stay tuned for our attempt at a Dora cake!!

Valentine's Party

Here are the photo's from the Play Group Valentine's Day party. I didn't get as many as I would have liked, but you'll get the idea. The kids had a blast! They got to decorate sugar cookies and then eat them. They also got to swap Valentines.

It has been recommended that next year we have a contest to see who can decorate a box for their Valentines to go in. We could see who has the cutest/most creative one. This coming from the discovery that there wasn't anywhere for them to put the Valentines after we swapped. Maybe we will!! That would be fun.

Happy Be-lated Valentine's Day!!

Snow Storm

Monday afternoon, I was on the phone with my Mom. Around 430pm snow started to fall. It didn't stop snowing until 930pm!!!!! We got somewhere between 5-6 inches of it. They canceled school for Dan on Tuesday(which is when these photo were taken) and the public schools were canceled Wed as well! We had a lot of fun running around in it. Hannah loves snow!

This is my favorite picture!!!! I don't even have anything to say about it...except that I laugh out loud every time I look at it.

What's in a name???

Calvin: We chose the name Calvin after the reformer John Calvin, who was one of the great reformers of the 16th century (along with Luther and Zwingli). Calvin was arguably the most influential of all of the reformers and expanded upon and refined the theological doctrines that were being espoused by his contemporaries. John Calvin lived from July 10, 1509 - May 27, 1564. Calvin was a lawyer by training, but some time after his conversion he had more interest in pursuing Godliness than law, "God by a sudden conversion subdued and brought my mind to a teachable frame…. Having thus received some taste and knowledge of true godliness I was immediately inflamed with so intense a desire to make progress therein, that although I did not altogether leave off studies, I yet pursued them with less ardor." Calvin used his high degree of education along with his personal piety to advance God's kingdom on earth. He was a prolific writer editing scholarly works in several areas, however he is mostly known for his brilliant exegesis, which can be found in his commentaries (writing on almost every book of the Bible) and his systematic exposition of the Christian faith, which can be found in his magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion (of which he had already published editions by the age of 26! In French and Latin!). Unfortunately, however, Calvin (or maybe you may think Calvinism) has gained an unfair reputation as a cold hearted man who made God out to be a tyrannical unloving ruler. If this is your general impression, then please ask yourself...from where did you gain this impression? Was it from your own studies of his life and doctrine, or did you hear it second hand from someone who had probably never read a word that Calvin had written, but only heard his words filtered and distorted through his later opponents? If this is the case please read his Institutes. Truth be told Calvin had his faults, as do we all, but he was a man who saw a loving sovereign God, who elected and justified undeserving sinners, not based upon their own merit, of which there is none, but upon God's gracious provision of His Son Jesus Christ. This is a heritage in which we desire our son to live.

"It were cold and lifeless to represent God as a momentary Creator, who completed his work once for all, and then left it. Here, especially, we must dissent from the profane, and maintain that the presence of the divine power is conspicuous, not less in the perpetual condition of the world than in its first creation. For, although even the wicked men are forced, by the mere view of the earth and sky, to rise to the Creator, yet faith has a method of its own in assigning the whole praise of creation to God...because, without proceeding to his Providence, we cannot understand the full force of what is meant by God being the Creator, how much soever we may seem to comprehend it with our mind, and confess it with our tongue. The carnal mind, when once it has perceived the power of God in the creation, stops there, and, at the farthest, thinks and ponders on nothing else than the wisdom, power, and goodness, displayed by the Author of such a work...But faith must penetrate deeper. After learning that there is a Creator, it must forthwith infer that he is also a Governor and Preserver, and that not by producing a kind of general motion in the machine of the globe as well as in each of its parts, but by a special Providence sustaining, cherishing, and superintending, all the things which he has made, to the very minutest, even to a sparrow." Institutes, Book 1, chapter 16, section 1.

"It is true, indeed, that that faith has respect to God only; but to this we should add, that it acknowledges Jesus Christ whom he hast sent. God would remain far off, concealed from us, were we not irradiated with his only begotten Son, in order that he might manifest himself in him, and thus by the communication of blessings express the true image of his glory." Institutes, Book 3, chapter 2, section 1.

Moses: We have decided upon Moses as the middle name of our child. Many may cringe at this "untraditional" name, however, let us show you why we have chosen this name to represent our child. To be sure, there are few biblical figures that should command our respect as much as Moses, the Lord's chosen vessel, to deliver Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. In this, Moses is seen as one of first, if not the pivotal, human representative of God's deliverance and salvation...a type of the One to come. Moses was Israel's human leader, prophet, and lawgiver, under the sovereign rule of God. He was the deliverer of the covenant love of God to two generations of Israelites (those in Egypt and those about to enter the land of promise). Moses was in many respects, Israel's savior. It was said of Moses, "Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in all the sight of Israel." Moses, was also considered to be the most humble man that had ever lived, a virtue which is seriously lacking in our day (we are not exempting ourselves from this vice). But, as was alluded to earlier, Moses was a figure who pointed to One who was to come. Moses said, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, and you shall listen to him." This prophet was Christ, the Prophet, Priest and King of the church. He is our hope and in whom we place all of our trust for deliverance, not from Egypt, but from a different foe, sin and death. He does not offer us a temporary deliverance and a covenant which is flawed, but through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and resurrection from the dead, and as he now intercedes for us at the right hand of God in glory, we have eternal hope, eternal life and an eternal covenant, which cannot be shaken.

"He [Christ] was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house--whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end." Hebrews 3:2-6