Haas Homestead and Homeschool

Visit From Family

2012-01-28T19:09:00.000-06:00

We love it when our family comes to visit. This time we had a house full. My parents, Nick, my sister, brother-in-law, and niece were all here. Normally this would be a crowd, but we moved into our temporary house in Edmond this past week and it is HUGE! It was so nice to have a big living area and dining room where everyone could just hang out and play.

They didn't stay very long, but we had a great time visiting and playing. Hannnah and Shane also got to meet our new little guy for the first time.

Hannah and Archer

Nana and Archer

Papa and Archer

Operation Potty Train Emory -- Complete!

2012-01-16T17:32:00.000-06:00

love her!

On Jan. 2, against my will, we started potty training Emory. Scott has been on me about it for months but I was definitely not going to start whilst pregnant! I promised him I would start in Jan whether I wanted to or not. I don't know why, but it just seemed like such a daunting task. Thankfully God gave me Liberty. As it turns out, it's not as hard to be a mommy when one of my children is Liberty Grace. She basically potty trained Emory--taking her to the bathroom a hundred times a day for two weeks :). I was telling Scott the other day that Emory was basically trained and told him Liberty did about 80% of the work while I only did 20%. She promptly disagreed saying I only did about 1% :). I told her I get extra credit for the day I had to clean poo off the kitchen floor! She conceded. So we have one less kiddo in diapers and I'm so glad its behind us. My girls are getting so big!

Archer - One Month Old

2012-01-15T21:06:00.002-06:00

I cannot believe my sweet baby man is already a month old! Why is it when I'm pregnant a month seems like an eternity and once the baby is here time warps by at an unreasonable pace?

I am more in love with this little guy everyday. I still have trouble believing I actually have a BOY! So far he has been so sweet and easy. He sleeps anywhere from 2-4 hours at a time although the 4 hour stretches are still pretty rare. Typically during the day he still wants to eat every 2-3 hours. I wish I knew how much weight he's gained. He looks enormous to me already. He has almost outgrown most of his newborn clothes.

This is my favorite outfit :)

There are times when he is awake that he will sit happily and just look around. However, most of the time he prefers to be held. I actually have to wear him in his sling or front carrier to clean and cook or I would never get anything done.

Things are still pretty simple around here--eat, sleep, and change a few hundred diapers. The girls adore him, especially Emory. I can't wait for the next month when he starts to wake up more, smile, and start making all those sweet baby noises.

I am in complete awe of what a miracle Archer is. I am so thankful the Lord would trust us with another one of his precious creations. It's amazing to think before the foundation of the world the Lord already had this little guy in mind. He already knew that I would be his mommy and I'm thrilled that our fourth little blessing is this little man!

New house...but not our house

2012-01-14T22:06:00.000-06:00

When Scott and I started the process of building our new home we anticipated it to take 3-4 months tops. Now 8+ months in (counting the time it took the architects to get us a plan) we have found ourselves extremely frustrated on more than one occasion. We have to constantly remind ourselves that God's timing is better than ours and if he's telling us to put on the brakes then there must be a reason. Hmmm...someone remind me again next week when I've forgotten again :). Our situation became even more stressful when the owner of our rent house didn't extend our lease past January. We now have to be our of the rent house by the 30th and our new house is a least a month if not longer from being complete. Soooo....where are we going to live? Up until a couple of days ago, we had NO idea. Just the thought of having to move all of our stuff plus 3 kids twice is overwhelming. Not knowing where we were going was stress overload.

As it turns out, one of our friends has an extra house. Literally a house that is just sitting empty that they are going to let us stay in. But, that isn't even the best part. The house is fully furnished! The only things we have to move is our bed and our clothes. There are even dishes in the cabinets! That means we will only have to pack and unpack once!!! We can live in this house rent free for as long as we need and it's conveniently located in Edmond. When options like living in an RV for 30 days we're going through my mind, this is truly an amazing blessing! We looked at the house today and honestly it is so much better than even our rent house that I can't help but feel completely overwhelmed with gratitude at the generosity of our friends . Just the fact that we will have two bathrooms again is enough to make me want to do a little happy dance. So, now we are looking at the best of a bad situation.

Super thankful!

Archer Flynn Haas

2012-01-07T10:03:00.000-06:00

Archer Flynn Haas was born December 15, 2010 at 12:15 p.m. He was 7 lbs 5 oz and 20 in long. He showed us right away that he has a set of lungs. Out of all four of our children, he definitely screamed the loudest and the longest! It was a precious sound.

Big Boy!

The labor and delivery couldn't have possibly gone any better. Although I had been having contractions off and on for 2 weeks, I didn't actually go into labor until Thursday. I had a doctor's appointment that day and was already dilated to a 4. My contractions started about 4 p.m. I called my parents to let them know about my progress and they decided to go ahead and drive to OKC rather than risk missing the delivery. I was so nervous that it was another false alarm since the contractions weren't regular yet. Fortunately about 5 a.m. Friday morning the contractions were coming fast and hard. I woke everyone up and we headed to the hospital. Since my parents and my sister were all in town, we decided to take both Liberty and Emory to the hospital. We were checked in and in our room by 7 a.m. I totally chickened out and ended up getting an epidural :). After that it was just a matter of waiting around. By the time it came to deliver Archer, Liberty had decided she would like to stay and see her brother be born. I had been trying to talk her into being in the delivery room for months but she insisted she wanted to wait with Papa in the waiting room. I was so excited when she decided to stay. So Scott, Liberty, Mom, and my sister were all there to welcome our little man into the world. My OB was in surgery, so her partner ended up delivering Archer. She was absolutely wonderful! Overall our experience at OU was great.

Archer meeting the family for the first time.

We couldn't be more excited to be adding a sweet boy to our family. It still seems so wierd to have a son! He is so sweet and, of course, all of us just adore him.

First Smiles

2012-01-06T17:59:00.000-06:00

Archer is only 3 weeks old and already staring to smile. I love these first big open mouth smiles :).

In Haas Family News

2011-05-23T09:06:00.000-05:00

There are a couple of big things going on at the Haas house. The first is obviously the baby. This pregnancy has been a little challenging because I am SO tired. I know I was tired with the other three, but I seriously think this time its worse. Maybe I'm getting too old. I don't know, it definitely feels different. On the bright side though, I'm not as sick this time as I usually am. Although I have plenty of nausea, I'm not actually throwing up. Yay!! I'm praying that the second trimester will usher in energy and less nausea!

We also have not decided who is going to do my prenatal care. I will be 10 weeks tomorrow and it is a completely new experience for me not to have already seen an OB and have some sort of plan in place. We have narrowed the hospital down to OU and we will probably see one of the midwives there. Our first appointment with one of the Midwives was a bust. Scott really hated her and it just wasn't a good fit. Since there are now 4 midwives at OU, I'm hoping one of them will work out. It would be nice to have everything set before the end of my first trimester.

The other big thing going on right now is that we are about to start building our house. Yes, after two years of working toward this goal, it looks like it is for sure going to happen this summer! It has been seriously stressful to say the least. We have just hit one obstacle after another. Then, when everything finally did come together Scott and I have had a real challenge deciding what house we are going to build. I'm not even sure we are 100% sure yet. Nonetheless, its down to two. We are just waiting on a few last details to make the final selection. I'm just ready to go. It is has been such a long, emotional process andow that I'm pregnant, I just don't have alot of spare brain energy to devote to it!

Prayers for the baby and house are much appreciated!

We're Expecting!

2011-05-03T11:33:00.000-05:00

Our newest little addition should arrive sometime in December. We are so excited. I feel like I have been praying for this sweet baby for so long. Although I realize it hasn't really been too long since Emory isn't even two yet!

Even though we have been hoping to conceive, this pregnancy truly came as a shock to me. Last Wednesday we were on our way home from church and I was complaining about how nauseated I had been feeling for the past few days. Scott and Liberty started joking with me that I was pregnant. By the time, we got back to Guthrie I was feeling so paranoid that I stopped at Walgreen's for a pregnancy test. It was about 8:30 p.m., and I took the test immediately when I got home. I really couldn't believe it was positive. It took all my will power not to take the other test immediately. Instead I waited til the next morning. Of course, the second test was positive as well :). Scott and I have never been good at keeping our baby news secret. So, even though I am only 7 weeks, the whole world gets to know :).

Liberty is very excited to be a big sister again. I am so thankful because until recently she wasn't sure she wanted us to have any more children. She didn't leave my side for a full 24 hours after we told her. I really think this is the first pregnancy that she will really remember so it should be so fun. She is also very excited that Emory will get to be a big sister now too :).

As previously stated, I am already feeling quite yucky. It isn't too terribly bad though and I'm hoping it won't get any worse. The morning sickness gets better with every pregnancy, right? Or, is it that the older I get the harder it is?

We haven't decided on prenatal care yet or where we will deliver the baby. Right now I'm leaning toward OU Midwives.

I hope you will join us in celebrating and praying for this new little life!

Footloose and binky-free

2011-04-22T13:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't know about the footloose part, but after 1 week, we are still binky-free. I know I posted this picture last week, but I just had to post it again because I miss this binky-face :(.

Our biggest challenges are naptime and bedtime. Somehow we got out of our naptime routine where Emory sleeps in her bed in her room, so this didn't help when she no longer had her comfort object. Sooo, naptime in her bed has been extra rough. Bedtime, of course, is hard too, but since she sleeps with us at night, it hasn't been quite as bad.

Other than that, it has actually been much easier than I anticipated and she doesn't seem too distressed by it. It has definitely been nice not to be constantly searching for binkies ALL the time. I am hoping once we get out of the binky habit that for the first time in two years, we might actually have a baby that sleeps well...hopefully...please...that would be great :).

Homeschool Update

2011-04-20T12:16:00.000-05:00

For starters I have combined my homeschool blog with this blog, so they will no longer be in two different places.

It's been almost a year since I updated the homeschool blog. I hate that I haven't been great at documenting Liberty's progress. She has been doing so well and has learned so much this year. First grade has been loads more fun for both of us and I anticipate that Second grade will be even better!

We have been using My Father's World for the past two years. I orginally chose this curriculum because it is an all-inclusive curriculum with very structured and detailed lesson plans. Since I wasn't quite sure what direction we were going to go with our home education, it was a great way to dive right in without a lot of stress for either of us. Two years into it, I now have a much more research under my belt and a much clearer idea of what I want to accomplish with Liberty (and Emory) in our home education. With a more defined philosophy of education, I have decided to go with a different curriculum (more on that later).

I do want to spend just a little time discussing the positives and negatives of MFW. Since my girls are 5 years apart, it will take some serious brain power to remember what I did with Liberty when its Emory's turn. Better write it down :).

Positives....

1. Structure. It did just what I hoped it would and allowed us to get started and get a feel for home education without a lot of stress.

2. Phonics. The phonics program is absolutely the best. Slow and steady wins the race is definitely the key to this phonics program, but for us it was totally worth the mind-numbing, snail pace. We haven't had a single moments trouble with reading. I don't really know whether to attribute this to the phonics program or a natural reader. I'll give a little credit to both. We will definitely stick with the MFW phonics approach for future students!

3. Bible. The Bible Reader/Notebook was one of Liberty's favorite things and I think she really learned a lot by doing her stories this way. We are taking this concept and modifying it a little for next year.

Negatives...

1. Math. I think the expectations were too low and the program wasn't as rigorous as I had hoped it would be. Unfortunately, I think I waited a little too long, hoping it would get better. We did end up switching to Math-U-See a few months ago. That puts us behind where I was hoping we would be by now. But, that is one of the beauties of homeschool. We can go at our own pace without the pressure to perform. I have full confidence that she will be on target before long. At any rate, I think we have made a good change.

2. Science. I honestly felt like this was a complete waste of time. I think its much more beneficial for children of this age to be experiencing the world around them through a more natural approach. I wish I had had a better grasp on this concept this year. Liberty and I are both getting better and being more perceptive of the world around us.

All-in-all I have been so pleased with Liberty's progress, with the things she's learned, and the strides we have made in developing the model for our homeschool.

Liberty Update

2011-04-18T13:49:00.001-05:00

Oh my word, Liberty is almost 7! She is growing up to be the most wonderful young lady. I am forever surprised by her maturity, caring heart, and sensitive spirit.

Just yesterday she and Scott were playing basketball outside. Apparently in the course of their play, Scott said something like “the most important thing is to win.” Liberty pondered this comment for a little while and came back to Scott and asked him “What does the bible say about winning.” In her little world, it only matters that no one gets their feelings hurt and that everyone has fun. Since the idea of playing to win wasn’t fully computing in her brain, she needed to verify it with a higher authority. I’m one proud mama that she chose the bible to be the deciding authority on the matter! Scott and I read her 1 Cor. 9:24-27 and explained that she should do everything to the best of her ability to honor God. These deep reflections are a constant thing with her and she has such a desire to please people and make sure she is doing the right thing.

She is just about to finish up 1st grade and I have been so impressed with the progress she has made this year. She is a natural reader. It’s one of my favorite things. She struggles a little with the abstract concepts in math, but she is still doing great. We are a little behind in math simply because I decided to change curriculums just a couple of months ago. I’m glad I did though. She is doing great and responding really well. Like a typical child, she doesn’t always like to do her schoolwork, but she is really doesn’t give me too much trouble. She is very excited about 2nd grade. Apparently she will really be a big girl then! I’m also ready. We are changing curriculums and I couldn’t be more excited about it!

She switched from cheer to dance this year with a little encouragement for me. It was both cheaper and closer for her to do dance here in Guthrie. It turned out to be a great thing. She absolutely loves it and seems to have a natural talent for ballet. She is also on a Jazz competition team this year. It has been a lot of fun. Her team attended the Hall of Fame Dance Challenge at Rose State College and they won High Score in the Rookie division. It was the cutest thing ever and she had a blast.

She also started taking piano lessons last week. She has been wanting to do this forever and for some reason or other we just haven’t started. She is so excited. I can already see that making her practice everyday is going to be a little bit of a challenge. Even so, I can tell that she is really going to enjoy it and pick it up quickly!

A couple of weeks ago she got a new rabbit. She named her Sugar. She has been wanting a rabbit forever. I was trying to put it off until we moved, but moving just doesn’t seem to be happening right now. So, the last time we were in Texas, I let her Papa buy her the sweetest the Holland Lop ever. Liberty was insistent that her rabbit be black. Its so funny, she wouldn’t even consider having a rabbit of a different color. We ended up having to drive 2 hours and spent a lot more money on this bunny than anticipated. Her Papa couldn’t resist getting it for her though when she declared that it was exactly the rabbit she was looking for .

Interesting facts about Liberty…

1. Favorite foods are pizza and salad.

2. She gets embarrassed very easily

3. She auditioned for her first musical this year and will perform May 4.

4. She loves Barbies!

5. She loves to wear skirts.

6. She is still wearing a size 6 because she is super skinny.

7. She loves jewelry, especially earrings.

8. Her top career choices right now include such things as, ballerina, pianist, actress, and chef.

9. She adores her baby sister and has finally decided that she would like to have more siblings

10. She is forever making up routines for us to watch her perform. Most of these take place in our backyard.

11. She hates vegetables. I’m proud to say that I got and entire asparagus spear down her yesterday!

12. She is very sassy and thinks she knows everything. She is constantly correcting us.

13. She still prefers to sleep with us although she will sleep in her room whenever we ask her too.

14. She loves to color and draw.

15. Her favorite color is purple.

16. Her favorite animal is a cat.

17. She is super excited about 2nd Grade, even though she has barely finished 1st!

18. She loves to play board games.

She is growing up so fast! She is such a bright, sweet, and sensitive little girl. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for such a special little person.

Emory Update

2011-04-11T18:55:00.001-05:00

Ok, so much for blogging in 2011. I’m only about four months behind! I’m going to try to be better—starting with this post about Emory .

Emory is 21 months old now. Wow, the time is sure flying and she isn’t a baby anymore. I think I got a little spoiled since she didn’t walk until she was 17 months. I was hoping she would stay little longer. Well, not only is she walking, but she has started to run. Like everything else she does, she has her own style. When she takes off, she ducks her head down and pumps her little arms. She acts like she’s taking off in a 100m dash and its little more than a fast walk. The most super cute thing ever!!!

One of my favorite and simultaneously most hated thing she does is twirl her hair. She’s done it since she was very small. It started out as a way to put herself to sleep, but now she does it all the time. It’s her comfort thing. It’s really cute, but the reason I also hate it is because she twirls her hair into knots. She doesn’t have a lot of hair as it is and the knots are so bad that I have to cut them out. Right now she is sporting what I like to refer to as a layered look. That’s being kind, since I pretty much just hack the knot off wherever it occurs. Thankfully her hair is so thin and wavy that it really doesn’t look that bad. I hope she stops it before her hair gets thicker and more difficult to cut!

Sleepy hair twirling

I finally took her to the pediatrician for her 18 months well-child check. I’ve been terrible about doing this since we don’t have insurance and because I don’t vaccinate. It seemed kind of ridiculous to take her when she was perfectly healthy (and thankfully she has been remarkably healthy)! She was still doing great at 18 months, but I was a little concerned about her speech. She still isn’t talking—not a single word, no Mama, no DaDa—nothing! I have been waiting to take her because it is obvious that she isn’t delayed in any other area. She has also developed a remarkable sign language all her own and is quite capable of expressing herself and letting us know what she needs. Anyway, the pediatrician recommended she be evaluated by early intervention services (SoonerStart). I’m familiar with the services because of Lilly and I knew she would recommend we do it. After her evaluation, it was determined that she is right on target or exceeds her age in every category except expressive language. She scored around 24 months for language comprehension. Again, I had assumed this was the case, which is why I let is go for so long. She will start speech therapy this week. It will be very low key and I will be responsible for making the recommended changes. Her speech pathologist will only see her every other week. I’m great with that and definitely don’t want to do anything more intense at this time.

Our two biggest challenges are still the binky and sleeping. Both are a result of mommy’s overindulgence! I have set her 2nd birthday as the termination date for the binky. I have to get myself geared up for it. I know it probably won’t be as bad as think. She takes great naps. She is down to one nap a day. The problem is nighttime. She is still sleeping with us. She sleeps great with us and we actually don’t mind it most of the time. Scott and I go back and forth about it and still haven’t come up with a good or consistent plan to get her sleeping on her own.

In her bed (with the cat) at naptime

We are really beginning to see her personality develop. She is so like Liberty in a lot of ways, but at the same time very different. It will be interesting to watch them grow. She has a very affectionate and compassionate personality just like Liberty. She doesn’t like to see others hurt and is quick to comfort them. She is still very funny. I think she is definitely going to have a more care-free spirit, unlike our brooding, worrisome Liberty.

Other interesting facts about Emory….

1. She loves shoes. She wants to wear them all the time.

2. She is such a show-off and desires praise from everyone. Telling her she looks beautiful is one of her favorite things.

3. Favorite food is pizza followed closely by rice.

4. Her favorite activity is swinging. Don’t start pushing her unless you intend to stay at awhile!

5. She is finally able to go to her own class during church. Sweet Victory!!

6. She is definitely going to suffer from allergies/asthma just like Liberty did. Let’s just hope she’s grows out of them like her sister did as well!

7. The only other toys she typically plays with are blocks and plastic food. She loves to pretend to cook.

8. Her favorite movie is High School Musical. Is that ok? Am I a bad mom?

9. She loves books.

10. She loves to be outside.

11. She always reminds us to pray before dinner. She reaches for everyone’s hands and smiles really big.

12. She has learned to unlock my iPhone. I’m just glad she didn’t learn sooner.

13. She loves to wash her hands and brush her teeth.

14. Her favorite game is wrestling on my bed.

15. She’s still not the best eater, but her new favorite snacks are cereal bars and granola bars.

16. She’s not crazy about bath time.

17. She thinks it’s really hilarious to wear mine and Liberty’s shoes.

18. She hates it when her hands are dirty. It’s a real pain when she eats with her hands instead of a fork because I have to wipe them off between each bite. Thankfully she is getting really good with her utensils.

19. She loves her Nana and Papa. She is a real Papa’s girl. Funny since we don’t see them all that regularly.

20. She has both ridden and fallen off her first horse. Very scary for mommy!

I just adore her. I am thrilled that God blessed us with another child and that it was her!

New Year’s Eve

2011-01-05T11:30:00.001-06:00

I got this great idea from a friend and was so excited to start a new Haas Family New Year’s Eve tradition. I bought 7 bags and labeled them by the hour, starting with 6 p.m. and ending at 12 a.m. Each bag was to be opened on the specified hour and contained a family activity for that hour. Not only would we have a blast, but all the activities and anticipation kept us awake until midnight! All of us had a difficult time waiting until 6 to kick off all the fun.

At 6 p.m. we opened the first bag. It contained all the things we needed to make cookies. We had ritz crackers, peanut butter, and chocolate flavored almond bark. This ended up being a huge disaster! The cookies were a mess and looked terrible. However, they still tasted good and Liberty had a lot of fun making them.

Daddy and Emory sat in the kitchen and watched as Liberty and I made a huge mess!

After cleaning up, it was just about time to open the 7:00 bag. Now that Liberty had a better idea of what was to come, she was even more excited.

The second bag contained a family craft. I tried to think of something we would be able to save and look back on throughout the years. I came up with these ceramic tiles. Again, what seemed like a great idea turned out to be quite messy. However, after a small learning curve, we were able to produce a rectangle tile with each of the girls handprints. Later Liberty would paint and decorate them.

I was very excited about the 8:00 bag. It contained a new game for the family. Playing games is one of Liberty’s favorites and something we do on a regular basis. The challenge is finding a game that all of us will enjoy. Liberty could sit and play games like Candyland and Hi-Ho Cheerio for hours, but Scott and I need something a little more stimulating. I finally settled on Apples to Apples. This game helps Liberty with her reading skills and is a great way to learn the meaning of words. Plus, it can be super hilarious. Even though it was a little above her reading level, she loved it and we all had a great time.

By 9:00 I was ready for a quieter activity. I knew this wouldn’t be as exciting for Liberty as all the other gifts, but I thought it was really important. For awhile now, Scott and I have been saying scripture-based blessings over the girls before they go to sleep. I have been meaning to print them out but just never have. This was a perfect opportunity. Each girl got a sheet of paper with her name written on it. It listed the blessings that Scott and I want to speak over them this year and their scripture reference. I also chose for each girl a specific character trait that I wanted them to focus on this year. I specifically wanted Liberty to focus on not being afraid. I wrote out several scriptures that I thought would help her as she prayed through them this year. Emory was a little more difficult since she is so little and is not old enough to participate on the same level. Instead of focusing on something she needed to work on, I chose something that is already a clear gift of hers. I want to continue to encourage her to be Joyful. I listed the scriptures that support this sweet gift. After we talked about the scriptures and blessings for each girl, we watched a slide show of pictures from the past year. This was Emory’s favorite. She loved watching all the pictures. She kept blowing kisses to the tv.

At 10:00, Emory went to bed. There was no possible way she was going to make it to midnight. Liberty opened the gift by herself. It was a movie and popcorn. It was the perfect gift to get us almost all the way to the 12:00 hour.

At 11:00, Liberty opened a bag that contained candy. I just want to mention that Scott had fallen asleep on the couch by this time and missed the opening of the 11:00 gift. We should have eaten his candy! We saved it for him though and he did wake up about 15 min later. We at the candy and finished watching our movie.

The countdown begins! We opened our 12:00 bag about 10 minutes early. It, of course, contained lots of party stuff—tiaras, horns, party poppers, steamers, and balloons. Emory woke up right before midnight and was able to celebrate for a few minutes before we all headed off to bed after the best New Year’s Eve party ever!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I HOPE YOUR YEAR IS BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!

The Holidays

2011-01-01T15:51:00.001-06:00

The Haas Family has a few standard Holiday traditions and it seems each year we add a new ones and tweak old ones. We kicked off the holidays this year by heading to my parents house for Thanksgiving. Scott took the whole week off, which is really rare. We decided to drive to Dallas first. We spent the day shopping at IKEA (Scott had never been before) and then spent the night with our great friends, Mary and James. It was nice to have a break in the long drive and when we got up we were only an hour and half from Mom and Dad’s. My sister and I spent the day cooking and preparing for the feast the following day. It was so much fun and we had a blast just hanging out and playing with the kids.

On Friday, we went to Rochester to decorate Lilly’s tree. Scott was able to go with us this time which we all enjoyed since he is rarely with us when we travel to TX. Plus, this was the first time he has seen the improvements that my parents made to our family plots (pouring the curbs and filling in the low spot with dirt). It really has made all the difference and looks so great now. Oddly enough, it was freezing that day so we didn’t spend a lot of time there.

After Thanksgiving it was time to really start gearing up for Christmas. One of our Christmas traditions usually includes going to the tree farm to cut down our tree. Unfortunately this year we had to skip our annual trip to all of our dismay. We simply didn’t have the room this year to put up a big tree. We settled for a 4ft artificial tree. Since we were all a little disgruntled at having to skip one of our favorite holiday events, we put the tree up before Thanksgiving. Liberty also insisted on putting Christmas lights up in the house since we couldn’t put them up outside this year.

Something we have done for several year now is go ice skating downtown. This is Liberty’s favorite thing to do. She talks about it all year long. Again this year, it was so warm that the ice in the rink was actually melting. I was a lot more like trying to water ski on ice skates! Liberty was soaking wet within minutes. She is finally old enough that falling down isn’t all the fun it used to be. She had a lot of fun, but she didn’t argue when it was time to leave.

Scott has refused to skate for the past couple of years. Instead, he hung out with Emory and watched. We also attempted to visit Santa Clause the same day. This is a hit and miss tradition with us. Because we don’t actually teach the girls to believe in Santa it usually isn’t a high priority. This year, however, Liberty insisted on going. We went to North Pole City because we had been told that he was the best Santa. From what we saw it appeared to be true. However, after waiting for over an hour we gave up! This girls had fun looking around the store and riding on the train though.

Christmas cards are my favorite part of the holidays. I love sending them and I love receiving them! We ended up taking three different Christmas pictures. Our first shoot went very badly and all the pictures turned out terrible. The second shoot was a winner. The girls looked so beautiful in their Christmas dresses. We ended up using that photo for our cards. However, when I went to address them, I realized I was 10 short. We ended up taking the third picture at church one night. It turned out so great too and we used that pic for our last 10 cards.

This year during the Territorial Christmas here in Guthrie, Liberty performed in The Nutcracker in a Half Shell with her dance studio. She was so beautiful! She did a great job with her routine and was so proud. She had two different performances and after each we gave her flowers. I think she thought this was the best part! It was her feel so special.

Finally, Christmas Eve! We celebrated by attending the candlelight service at our church. It was such a great kid-friendly service and Liberty really enjoyed it. When we got home we had dinner and a birthday cake for Jesus.

In and effort to save time, Liberty decided we should buy a pre-made cake from the store. She thought this one was the most beautiful! She had to add her own decorations though.

On Christmas Eve the girls always open pajamas. This year I found the cutest matching snowman PJs. They looked so cute.

Christmas morning Liberty managed to sleep unitl 8:30. Since we stayed up late the previous night, I had to wake the baby up so we could open gifts. Scott and I try very hard to keep the gifts to a minimum and make them thoughtful. This year was especially fun because Liberty had been wanting a scooter since she broke her little one this past summer. So, of course, we got her a new “big girl” scooter. I also decided to get her a sewing machine. She definitely wasn’t expecting it and was totally thrilled. Emory was easy this year. She got a baby and a little radio. She was just happy to open something.

Liberty’s reaction to opening her sewing machine.

After we opened presents, we got ready and headed over to have Christmas dinner with our good friends, Ellen and Spencer. Of course, there were more presents there too. We had a great time and came home full and happy for afternoon naps.

We had an amazing Holiday season this year. We were all so happy and so blessed.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-08T17:17:00.001-06:00

We had a blast this year dressing up and getting candy. This year Liberty was a Barbie Musketeer. If you are unaware of what is going on in the world of Barbie, she recently starred in a movie call Barbie and the Three musketeers. This is where Liberty got the idea . She looked unbelievably cute and no one had a costume like hers. I didn’t put a ton of effort into Emory’s costume because she still wasn’t walking and would just be riding in the stroller. Obviously she was the cutest Minnie Mouse ever! She cracked me up with those ears on. She rarely tried to take them off. They made her feel fancy .

We started Halloween off by going to Storybook Forest on Thursday. I am so thankful that we went early because it was packed! Scott didn’t get to go with us this year, but we still had a great time. The girls got candy and Liberty made smores by the the fire.

On Friday, Guthrie had its annual Downtown Trick-or-Treat. All the downtown business participate. Store owners and employees dress up and pass out candy. It’s just one of the charming things about living in Guthrie. Its great for the little ones and virtually eliminates the need to go door-to-door (which we never do anyway).

On Saturday morning we headed to Texas to celebrate my nieces birthday. We didn’t want to miss any opportunities to dress up though. We took all three girls to a Fall Festival in a nearby town. I think Emory had just as much fun as Liberty. She hung out with her Papa while I chased Liberty.

On Sunday we had Hannah’s birthday party. After the party, we took the kids to the trunck-or-treat at the Methodist Church and around the square downtown. I think its safe to say that we made the most of Halloween this year.

Liberty’s favorite thing about Halloween this year was her costume. She absolutely loved it. She also loved that she got to spend part of Halloween with our family in Texas, which she has never gotten to do before. Emory’s favorite was that she got to have a sucker. No one loves a sucker like Emory!

The culprit is sin...the solution is our SAVIOR

2010-11-07T19:47:00.000-06:00

Last night at church a man was telling a group of us about a friend of his whose daughter has epilepsy. In a recent conversation this mother asked her friend, a Believer, "If God is so good, why is my daughter sick?" The question, while not surprising, broke my heart. So many suffering people find themselves asking this very same question and fail to realize that they are pointing the blame in the wrong direction. Her daughter is sick, my daugthter was sick, because of SIN! Sin has polluted the world and corrupted our hearts. Sin detroyed God's perfect creation and filled the world with death, disease, and every other known evil.

The follow up question to the, "If God is good..." is usually, "Why doesn't God do something about it or why doesn't he heal my child?" Hear me sweet friends, HE DID! He sent is Son, Jesus the Christ, who conquered death and the evil one! The victory celebration has been delayed so more people can be added to his kingdom. In the meantime, we get to play a role in his kingdom plan. "But, my child is still sick." Yes, that's true. Until Christ comes to claim his church and once and for all do away with sin, we have to live the reprecussions of The Fall. BUT, a perfect, healthy, undefiled body is waiting for any who call on His name and repent. (I personally believe this Grace is given to children, but that is more theology than I can discuss here).

Does this information make it easier when this mother watches her daughter fall to the floor, unconscientious. Maybe. Maybe not. Does it make it easier when I sit at my child's graveside? Sometimes. Knowing God has already healed my daughter doesn't make me miss her less. Knowing God has already set into motion a plan that will heal this world doesn't always make me feel better. BUT, most of the time it does! The Holy Spirit never lets me forget, for too long, what Jesus did for me.

A person who is suffering will never find healing and peace by pointing the finger at God. The culprit is sin. Let's point the finger there. Let's HATE sin. Thankfully God and his Amazing Grace has already conquered evil! How glorious the victory celebration will be when Jesus gathers together his saints. Lilly and I will be among them. I am honored to have been called to the purpose for which God has called me--to play a role in the advancement of his kingdom. It is full of pain and suffering, but it is also full of joy and grace.

Emory Walking...again

2010-10-23T23:31:00.000-05:00

Since my last post about Emory walking, I've caught her testing her new skills more often. Now she will walk without our prompting when she is confident she can let go and make it to the next object in just a few steps. Tonight at church Scott and I were able to encourage her to walk a little bit further than she is normally comfortable with. I was so impressed! This video is much better than the previous and really shows off her new ability :)

Even though I am so proud of her, I have absolutely cherished the amount of time she has spent scooting. When Liberty started scooting we thought it was unique to her. We had no idea until Emory starting doing it that it was actually a Haas family trait :). I'm so glad I actually had the opportunity to enjoy this wonderfully unique characteristic this time around. I guess this is true of so many things about Emory. How precious to have my eyes truly opened to all the wonderful things I might have taken forgranted had it not been for my sweet Lilly. I cherish the opportunity to take in so much more of both of my girls because I know how special each smile, each laugh, and each milestone truly is.

Thank you Lord for all three of my girls!

Just in case you haven't seen Emory scoot. This is an older video though and she is much faster now!

The Orr Family Farm

2010-10-22T17:43:00.001-05:00

Even though I hate the idea of winter, I love our Fall traditions. The girls and I always go to a pumpkin patch in the Fall. This year I wanted to go before it got too cold. It was pretty easy this year considering our unseasonably warm weather. This past Wednesday we visited the Orr Family Farm. I was certain we had been before, but when we pulled up, I realized we hadn’t. What a fun surprise. We had so much fun! The first thing we did was visit the petting zoo. Emory loved it. She wanted to kiss all the animals .

Liberty was so cute and festive in her pumpkin shirt and pink boots.

I love this one because it looks like she is just standing beside the sheep. She is actually leaning against the stall wall. So Sweet!

Liberty always loves the carousel. I decided to ride with Emory as well. Emory looks like such a big girl. She is growing so very fast! She thought it was very fun as long as I was standing with my arms around her. Liberty also looks like such a big girl here.

Next stop—pumpkin patch. This is always one of Liberty’s favorite parts of Fall. She loves getting her pumpkin. She had in mind what the perfect pumpkin should look like. She walked over the patch and then came back to the front where there were already cut pumpkins and found exactly what she was looking for. Emory was also very excited about her little pumpkin. You can’t tell in this picture, but I found Emory a very “special” pumpkin. It is actually two little pumpkins that grew together. Liberty thought this was so cool.

The jumping pillow was quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen. We had so much fun. All three of us jumped on it until we were too hot to jump anymore. It was a blast!

I love these beautiful girls!

Emory is Walking!

2010-10-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

She still isn't very good and she will only do it if we prompt her, but she CAN walk! She has been able to make it half way across our dining room. She can also stop and start going again. When we are playing with her and walking her back and forth between us, she thinks its so funny. She is still very unsure of herself and doesn't really attempt walking unless we are with her and encouraging her. Nonetheless, I am saying that at 15.7 months old Emory started walking :). This video isn't great because I was trying to video and be prepared to catch her :).

Emory Ayn 15 months...ish

2010-10-12T17:33:00.000-05:00

This update comes at a random time since Emory is 15.3 months old. However, she is doing so many cute things lately that I just had to share. One of my absolute favorites is that she has actually started trying to crawl. I just think it is so funny and cute. She actually started doing this a couple of months ago and practices randomly. She is getting better and better but always reverts back to her "crawl" when she is tired of practicing :).

So, that brings us to the fact that she isn't walking yet. I joke about it alot, but truly I am not worried at all. I know she will do it when she is ready. She is getting so much better and much more confident. Just recently she has mastered pushing her train and grocery cart around. This is quite an accomplishment since we have wood floors, which tends to make all of her toys roll much faster than she can walk. It is oh so cute!

She is still just as funny as ever. I think she really likes to hear herself laugh. She is always doing things to make us laugh. She has started playing peek-a-boo with us. It is hilarious because when she yells "boo" she actually just screams at us. Again, this leads us to the fact that she is also not talking. She communicates with gestures and grunting (and sometimes a lot of screaming). This leads me to believe she is very smart. She knows exactly what she wants and how to tell us without using words at all.

She is sleeping much better these days. She takes two naps a day and sleeps for at least an hour each time. She is also sleeping better at night. Even though she wakes up multiple times, she is usually able to put herself back to sleep and she rarely sleeps with us anymore.

She is also eating better than she has been. She is completely off baby food (pureed stuff). She refuses to eat it. She primarily eats things she can feed herself. This makes all of us happy :).

Her hair is growing so fast all of a sudden. I can pull it up in little pig tails that are just too adorable. Its almost too long for the one ponytail on top of her head. It's starting to look a little crazy :).

She is still in a copycat phase that I'm sure will last a very long time. She wants to do everything her big sister does. She has also started pretending, which is priceless.

She LOVES stuffed animals. Her favorite is a stuffed horse named Pig (I have no idea, Liberty named her).

She still LOVES her binky. I have tried to limit how often she has it, but it has been a total failure. She points and grunts for me to follow her until she has lead me to where it is and then "asks" me to get it for her. She is so smart and cute I just can't resist. I know I will pay for it later.

She is such a joy--perfect in every way :)!

Who made God?

2010-10-06T13:48:00.000-05:00

This is a discussion that I have been having with Liberty lately. The most recent conversation went like this...WARNING: the following conversation contains highly intellectual and scientific content as well as deep spiritual and biblical insight!

Last night we were laying in bed and Liberty turned to me and said...

Liberty: "Mom, I'm very confused."
Me: "What are you confused about?"
Liberty: "Well, I just don't understand who made God. I'm mean, did someone else make him and if so, who made that person?"
Me: "No one made God. He has always existed." (See, deep spiritual insight).
Liberty: "That is very confusing"
Me: "You're right it is confusing." (Feel free to use that one on your own children if you find yourself in a similar conversation).
Liberty: "Well, I just don't understand what everything was like before the Earth was made."
Me: "It was all dark and God was just hanging out by himself." (Seriously, even I'm impressed with this answer).
Liberty: "I just don't understand." (You can really see that I'm truly making a difference at this point).
Me: "Maybe God was just sitting in Heaven before he created everything."
Liberty: "But Mom, God CREATED Heaven. The bible says so!" (Ok, so she got me there, but can I at least take credit for teaching her the story of creation in school.)
Me: "You're right. You are very smart."

This seemed to be the end of the conversation because she didn't ask anymore questions and fell asleep. I would like to think it was because she was deeply satified with my enlightened responses. However, it is more likely she figured she could come up with something better on her own!

I love the my inquisitive little girl keeps me thinking and growing. I don't always have the answer (or even a good guess), but we can figure it out together.

Trip to Texas

2010-09-27T08:27:00.001-05:00

I am calling the month of September “Fall Break” due to the fact that we basically took the entire month off. I know, most kids just started school and here I am already taking a break. To my credit, we did start school in July, so I still think we are ahead of the game :).

This past week, the girls and I went to Texas to visit my parents. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the farm—probably for the last time before cold weather comes. We spent a ton of time outdoors and the weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. One of Liberty’s fav things to do is ride horses. She is finally old enough to ride by herself and she thinks she is such a big girl. Emory didn’t know whether she liked it or not. Nonetheless, I did manage to actually get her on the horse. In addition to riding, my Dad also has a new horse drawn cart he bought from an Amish man a few weeks ago. It is super fun and we all thought it was great!

Emory, Liberty, and Hannah

Papa’s new toy :)

We also just spent a lot of time playing on the ginormous swing set. Emory has decided that she is big enough to slide by herself and it is absolutely priceless. I wish I had better video of her actually going it alone, but here’s what I have.

Just having fun playing outside!

Seriously, aren’t these the cutest babies EVER!

One

One of the major highlights for Liberty was Nana and Papa’s new kittens. You would think she doesn’t have a kitten of her own at home. She carried those poor little things around for 4 days. I’m sure they are thrilled to be free at last!

We got to spend lots of time with my sister (Amanda) and Hannah. Hannah is such a big girl and about a million times more active than Emory (even though they are 4 months apart). Emory was content to ride on her car while Hannah pushed her. It was possibly the cutest thing ever. Emory was actually being kind to Hannah at this point. She still hasn’t worked out the whole sharing thing.

Liberty and Uncle Shane playing iPhone games

On Monday, we were home alone because everyone had to work. We decided we would go to Rochester and visit Lilly’s sign (this is what Liberty calls it). My parents just recently had some work done at the cemetery and I was anxious to see it. They had concrete curbs poured around our family plot and had the granite markers set on the concrete. It looked SO nice. We also decorated Lilly’s tree for Fall. We always have such a great time doing this. It’s special for all of us to have something of Lilly’s to take care of. Obviously Emory doesn’t have any idea what we are doing, but she has fun. She loves opening and closing the little picture frame with Lilly’s picture in it :). She will not grow up knowing her sister, but she will grow up having all the memories of decorating that little tree in honor of her sister.

Thus ends our “Fall Break.” We are back to it on Monday. So thankful for our flexible schedule!

Lilly Thoughts

2010-09-03T17:45:00.000-05:00

The day I have been dreading since Lilly went home has finally arrived. Last week Liberty told me, "I don't really remember when we had Lilly." It's not surprising. I expected it, hence, the dread. Liberty was only 2 when Lilly got sick and 3 when she died. I knew she wouldn't be able to remember everything. I guess I was just hoping she would be able to hang on to something. The fact that she has no concrete memories of her sister doesn't distress her at all. She is perfectly content to hear my stories about Lilly. She can't be bothered with unrealistic expectations, like remembering life before the age of 4 :). She is forever my little optimist when it comes to Lilly. When I'm sad, she always reminds me that I will see her again soon and I still have pictures. When I tell her that looking at a picture isn't the same as holding her, she simply replies, "you're right, but its ok." It's always been "ok" to Liberty. She has never doubted in God's perfect plan for Lilly. She has never been angry, confused, frustrated, or too sad. She simply believes she will see her sister again and that is good enough for her. Oh how I love love Liberty. What would I do without her? I always tell her that God knew how much I needed her and that is why he made her first. It is so true!

Nonetheless, the fact that she can't remember anything really makes me sad. She had a very special relationship with her sister. I guess in my mind it also brings up the possibility that I might start to forget things as well. This, of course, is terrifying to me. What if I can't remember what it felt like to hold her little hand, or what she smelled like, or what each little scar on her body looked liked? What if I forget how it felt to hold her in my arms, or how precious it was on those rare occasions when she opened her eyes, or how wonderful it was to kiss her perfect little lips. I want to store these little treasures in my heart because they are all I have left of her.

I rarely get too down about all we have been through with our sweet girl. I know it must seem crazy, but I honestly don't feel like I have too much to be sad about. I miss Lilly terribly, but the challenges we faced and continue to face are precious to me. God has used them to stretch and grow me in ways that I didn't know were possible and might not have been otherwise. Yet, today I am sad. I am sad because Liberty doesn't remember Lilly. I am also sad because last night I sat in a room full of women who talked and shared about their amazing little ones. I am incredibly blessed to know these women. I am incredibly blessed to share in the struggles they have raising children with special needs. I love that I have the opportunity to be a part of their lives and their children's lives, but last night I sat and listened to stories and all I could think about was the fact that I don't have any new stories. Their lives are very difficult and stressful and I envied them because they still have their children. I wished I could complain about doctors, bills, insurance, lack of sleep, and the million other things that come with raising a child with special needs because that would at least mean I still had my daughter. I know, I feel horrified just writing it. It is a completely selfish thought and not one I would truly act on even if I had the power.

I know the sadness will pass. I know God is always gracious to remind me of his plan and I am so very thankful for all 3 of my girls.

Visitors :)

2010-08-26T09:41:00.001-05:00

We love it when my sister and her family come to visit us. Liberty adores them, plus they always bring the cutest and newest addition to our family (Hannah) :). We decided to take them to our new favorite family spot—the indoor pool in Kingfisher. It’s only a 30 min drive from our house and it is so great. Perfect for all of our little ones and no sunscreen needed! This kids had a blast. Emory and Hannah both love the water!Liberty and Hannah

After we ate, we attempted to take them to Eischen’s in Okarche but it was packed even though it was 2:30 in the afternoon. We decided that the wait wasn’t going to work with 3 tired, hungry kiddos. We ended up at Chuck House in Edmond and were not disappointed. YUM!

We just hung out and visited the rest of the night while the kids played. We have discovered that Emory doesn’t share very well. She gets very frustrated when other little ones want to play with her toys. She and Hannah are very close in age so I know they will be good friends (even if Emory is a little selfish right now).

Before they headed home, we went to the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. It was really beautiful and Liberty enjoyed it. She LOVES looking at art and since its largely a gallery, she just thought it was great.

They have amazing gardens. The kids really weren’t cooperative for pictures though. We will have to go back and get better ones.

This was too adorable. They all like sitting on the saddles.

We had a great time visiting and playing with all these little girls :).

Family Pictures

2010-08-13T12:24:00.001-05:00

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Check out our new family pictures. They are SO good. My friend Lydia took them and it was so quick and easy. Pictures can be so stressful. It always seems like it is so much effort and trying to get both kids happy and looking at the camera at the same time takes a magician. This time it couldn’t have been easier and I am so thankful. It was at least a 100 degrees outside and Lydia managed to get all these shots in about 10 minutes!

I especially love the ones of the girls together. They are so precious. You can really tell how much they adore one another. I also think Liberty looks like such a big girl. Oh my goodness, it just took my breath away. Where has the time gone?

There is also one of Emory where she is holding her arms up in her famous gesture. I think it is absolutely priceless that Lydia captured this moment. It is one of the cutest things Emory does right now. It is her universal gesture. She does it all the time.

Thanks Lydia!!

13 months old

2010-08-03T09:37:00.001-05:00

Emory is an absolute blast these days. I feel like I spend half my time saying “look at Emory” or “watch what Emory can do.” She is hilarious and her personality is really starting to show. It’s amazing to me how different her personality is from Liberty’s when she was the same age. I wonder what Emory will be like when she is six. I don’t thing she is going to be laid back like Liberty. She already has such a fiery spirit and is determined to get her way.

These days she is all about being a big girl. She is such a copycat and wants to do whatever we are doing. She gets so upset if she feels she is being left out. If she discovers that she can do something that will make you laugh, she will do it over and over again. One of my favorite things that she has started to mimic is patting us on the back when she hugs us. She usually does this to Scott when he gets home from work. She gets so excited and lays her head on his shoulder and pats him on the back. So sweet. She has also started doing this with her babies. She also likes to “talk” on the phone and comb her own hair. All things she regularly sees us doing. She also loves to draw, which Liberty does all the time. What cracks me up is that she almost always holds her pencil, crayon, or marker correctly! I definitely don’t remember Liberty being interested in drawing this early. She hasn’t decided which hand she prefers to draw with and switches back and forth frequently.

So excited to have a pencil and my journal.

I like this one. It looks like she is really concentrating on a masterpiece =).

She loves to play. She just follows Liberty around and loves it when Liberty plays on the floor with her. I have rearranged Liberty’s room so Emory can go in there anytime she wants and she loves it.She is into everything. I finally had to get a baby gate for the kitchen because the regularly likes to empty my cabinets and the contents of various boxes. The other day we found her in a giant pile of fettuccine. She was so proud of emptying the box that I couldn’t be mad at her. She scooted to the kitchen door and pointed back to the mess trying to show everyone what she had done.

She also likes to take all the movies off the shelves…and the cd’s…and the books…and the puzzles. There is just no way to baby proof everything she gets into. Not in a house this small anyway. I don’t know where I would put everything.

This is her universal gesture for everything. She started doing it when I would hold up my hands like that and say “Where is Daddy?” Then she just started doing it all the time. We aren’t sure what she means when she does it, but its so stinking cute. It must mean a variety of things to her or maybe she knows it will make us smile. I love it. Just about everything she does makes me smile.

She loves to throw things in the trash…or the toilet…or my purse. I just now found her standing at the bathtub where she had thrown Liberty’s shoe, a marker, a hair brush, and her sippy cup all inside. It isn’t uncommon to find our clothes in the trash where she has picked them up off the floor and “put them away.” One of her favorite places to put things in in the bottom drawer of Scott’s dresser. If I am missing a flip flop, I can almost guarantee Emory has put it in that drawer.

She loves being thrown in the air. She loves sharing popsicles with her sister.

She is still eating really well and transitioned no problem to whole milk. Surprisingly she is still only about 20lbs. Her roundness makes her appear larger than the really is =).

She takes two naps a day and usually goes down no problem. Getting her to bed for the night is still challenging and she wakes up frequently throughout the night. She usually ends up in bed with us around 4 a.m.

She still isn’t talking although she attempts to say “Bye, Bye” which typically sounds like “Da, Da” and she also tries to say “Hello” when she’s talking on her phone, but it sounds like “Ah, Ah.”

She is still scooting around on her bottom. She seems perfectly content not to walk at all right now. Although she is now proficient at pulling up, she is showing no signs of taking steps. She doesn’t even like it when we hold her hands and walk with her.

She is the best and I adore her.

Emory is pulling up!

2010-07-24T16:50:00.001-05:00

This can't wait until her 13 month post because we have been waiting for so long! She is finally pulling up by herself, unassisted, and on a regular basis. I was unsure if she would ever accomplish this milestone and thought she might actually walk before pulling up (though she is showing zero interest in walking).

Thinking about it…

On her knees…and she’s up and so proud :)

Frugal Living – Homemade Spice Rack/Cabinet organizer

2010-07-24T16:40:00.001-05:00

Sometimes to save money, you just have to be creative and think outside the box. Repurposing and recycling items for things other than their intended use is sometimes a great way to save money.

I got this idea the other day when I was in Bed Bath and Beyond. I have been having a major issue with all my spices. I bought a spice rack several months ago, but it just isn’t big enough. It holds my most popular spices, but what do I do with the rest? Well, they get stuffed in my cabinets and then when I need them I literally have to take them out one by one until I find what I need. It is time consuming and frustrating, especially when I have limited cabinet space and no other real options. Anyway, I stumbled upon these cabinet organizers at the store and that is when I had my brilliant idea :).

$5.99 at Bed, Bath and Beyond

Instructions for your very own homemade spice rack/cabinet organizer.

Supplies:

3 cereal boxes
scissors
tape

Cut the first cereal box in half.
Fit the two pieces inside one another so you have a smaller box with four sides.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the next box. This tier will need to be smaller than the previous so make adjustments as you cut it.
Next stack the box tiers. Largest on bottom and tape them together.
Voila! You just saved $5.99!

Top viewSide view stacked and ready to organize

This worked great. Plus, the tiers are larger than the store bought version so you can put more spices on them and they are easier to see. Don’t worry about what the cereal boxes look like. As you can see from the very first picture, you can’t even tell they are cereal boxes once you have your spices on them.

Have fun!

Frugal Living – Laundry

2010-07-20T21:56:00.001-05:00

One of the easiest ways to cut costs at home is laundry. It takes virtually no effort and can save a ton depending on the size of your family and how much laundry you do. This summer I went old school and started drying my clothes outside on a clothes line. The actual clothes line costs about $10 and the clothes pins around $4. Since I am in a rent house, I didn’t want to set posts to string the line, so I simply stretched it across my yard and attached it to the posts already set for our privacy fence. Super classy! Ok, it may not be beautiful, but it works and it saves us money. Plus, with the privacy fence, no one can see it but us. In this OK heat, I can dry at least two large loads a day—three if I get started early enough. I also have a line-drying plan for the winter, but I will post that when the cold weather hits.

Below is the recipe I really like to use. There are actually two. They are virtually the same except that the concentration is different. If you have hard water or tough stains, I would go with the 1st one. I also like these two because they make a manageable amount of detergent. Some of the recipes you find online make like 10 gallons at a time. I don’t have that kind of storage space.

I only do about 4-5 loads of laundry a week and I save anywhere between $70-$100 a year by making my own detergent. Obviously the more laundry you do, the more you save. It doesn’t seem like a lot of money, but combine it with a few other money saving ideas and all of a sudden your saving a bundle!

Things you need to know before you start…

From start to finish this takes about 20 minutes. Then 24 hours for the detergent to “gel.”
Washing soda can be purchased at Homeland
You can use any laundry bar soap. Most people use Fels Naptha (can be purchased online). You can also use Zote or Ivory (can be purchased at Wal-Mart).
When the soap starts to “gel” it will separate. The soap will float to the top. You need to stir it before pouring it into a smaller container. I use an immersion blender to speed up the stirring process.
Don’t throw away your detergent bottles. Use them to store your homemade detergent. Shake the bottle well before pouring detergent into your machine.
For tough stains, I still use a commercial stain remover. You can also rub the Fels Naptha bar directly on stains before putting it in the wash.

Recipe #1

1 quart Water (boiling)
2 cups Bar soap (grated)
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda

Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water. Reduce heat to low and stir until soap is melted.
Pour the soap water into a large, clean container and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.
Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.
Cover container and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it

Recipe #2

3 Pints water
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1/3 bar Soap (grated)

In a large pot bring 3 pints of water to a boil. Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water. Reduce heat to low and stir until soap is melted.

Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved (mixture will thicken), then remove from heat.
In a 2 gallon container, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated soap mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well.
Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring soap before each use

The New American Frugal Housewife

2010-07-18T20:50:00.001-05:00

This is the first in a series of posts I hope to continue indefinitely about frugal living. It will contain my thoughts and observations as well as frugal tips.

I am becoming increasingly passionate about this subject because it encompasses more than just saving money. I believe at the heart of frugal living is the purpose and great privilege God has ordained for us as wives and mothers.

It seems to me that the value of the “housewife” has been greatly diminished in the aftermath of the Feminist Revolution. So much so that the term “housewife” itself seems to be derogatory. Unfortunately for my parent’s generation and even more so for mine, the outcome of these feminist ideologies is the deterioration of the family and the character of the women being brought up in today’s society. Not to mention the practical attributes which women today are left without, such as cooking, sewing, and the ability to manage a household.

Despite these facts, I have seen a resurgence among women of my generation to regain those lost attributes. For me this has meant learning those practical skills that I missed out on in my youth. It has also meant a great deal of “rewiring” in my mind as God has shown me what my calling is as a woman. How different it is from what the world is teaching our young girls today!

Obviously, one of the ways to live more frugally is to cut back on unnecessary expenses. I won’t go into what we have been doing right now, but I do want to discuss where my motivation to cut back originally started. For many people, especially the past couple of years, it has come from necessity. Likewise, for us. When my husband lost his job, it was definitely imperative that we make changes in our lifestyle. However, unlike so many others we know, it wasn’t from a lack of money. For the first time in our marriage, when tragedy struck, we actually had enough money to get by for awhile. Granted, it wasn’t a great deal of money, but it was enough that panic didn’t set in when my husband came home one day without a job. Nonetheless, we still had bills to pay and would soon need a source of income.

It was actually the prospect of not having money that really motivated us to take a look at our lives and how we were spending our hard earned resources. We know from many of our friends experiences with job losses that this isn’t the case for so many. When the pay check stops coming in, everything else stops too. Many have made a habit of living from paycheck to paycheck and buying the rest on credit. Scott and I had been there in the past. We knew what it was like to look at the stack of bills we couldn’t pay, to eat out and put the bill on a credit card, to open the refrigerator and find it empty and all of a sudden our comfortable lives were interrupted and we found ourselves detoured to a road that might lead back to those unpleasant times.

Thankfully, Scott and I had realized a couple of years earlier that our financial decisions were causing us unnecessary stress and strain. We set out on a mission to become debt-free. We hadn’t reached that goal, when Scott lost his job. We still haven’t reached it, but at least we were on our way. We had managed to reduce our debt significantly so that our bills were minimal, and had established an emergency savings. When disaster struck, we were quickly able to determine what our priorities were and take the necessary steps to avoid any financial peril. Those steps weren’t easy. It meant selling our beautiful home that Scott had built only two years earlier and moving into a shabby little rent house. It meant that Scott had to drive a beat up Ford Ranger instead of his new Ford F150. It meant making sacrifices and giving up some of the luxuries that we were accustomed to. It wasn’t easy, but it was necessary if we were going to stay on track with our goals and keep our priorities in line with our values. A year later, we are still in the shabby little rent house. Scott has upgraded from his beat up Ford Ranger to a beat up Ford F150 and we are still on track to be debt-free in the near future. Oh yeah, and we are happier than we have ever been.

Bottom line: “No false pride, or foolish ambition to appear as well as others, should ever induce a person to live one cent beyond the income of which he is certain.” The American Frugal Housewife by Maria Child

And, its not just about us. We have two daughters who will one day be managers of their own homes. God willing, they will leave our house to join their husbands armed with the confidence and knowledge to answer the noble call God has given to all women. What a joy and privilege it is to be the one who gets to teach them what that call entails and how to manage it. The only way I can live up to such a challenge is to continue to grow in knowledge myself. I by no means have it figured out. I hate coupons, I LOVE eating out, I hate watching every penny, I LOVE spending all the pennies :). I am on my way though and my daughters will hopefully be further down the road than me. What a legacy!

My Big Girl

2010-07-16T17:23:00.001-05:00

Wow, Liberty is six years old! What is it about being a parent that makes time go by faster? When I think about all the things we have been through and all that we have done together, I just can’t believe that it has all gone by so fast. She is absolutely the best. I tell her all the time that she is my best friend. I wouldn’t trade staying at home with her and getting to know her for the world. We do everything together and I wouldn’t change that for anything.

She is in a completely delightful stage right now. I couldn’t ask for a better attitude or better behavior. That’s not to say that she doesn’t have her moments, but for the most part, she is absolutely wonderful! I have learned over the years that this phase will give way into a more trying one, but even during the more difficult stages I would still wager that she is more well behaved and pleasant than the average six year old girl.

She has become extremely helpful. We had some issues awhile back getting her to complete her “chore” list. It primarily consists of things like cleaning her room, picking up toys, and picking up the trash. It was a constant battle and by the end of the day we would both be upset. Then, one day, it just clicked. It did come after a near breakdown on my part and a chat with her Dad, but all of a sudden doing chores wasn’t a problem anymore. Now she completes all of her tasks without my constant nagging her to get it done. Then, she is so proud of herself. It’s really a win-win for both of us. Sometimes she even takes on extra chores so Daddy will give her money :).

Her absolute favorite thing to do right now is to help me cook or bake. This takes an extreme amount of patience on my part, but it has been so worth it. Now she is very competent in the kitchen and takes instructions very well. I have taken the opportunity to teach her fractions while we measure and she is getting very good at it. I love to cook and bake and I am so excited that she wants to do it with me. I wish I had learned to cook when I was younger because learning as an adult has been extremely challenging. I’m so happy that I can pass this on to my daughter. Hopefully her husband won’t have to endure the painful cooking Scott did at the beginning of our marriage. Not to mention the huge restaurant bills!

Practicing shopping—love these little shopping carts in a store in Texas

The question I hear most often is “Mom, what does (insert any random word) mean? She is like a walking Thesaurus! She wants to know the meaning and alternate words for everything. I hope this is a sign of high SAT scores in the future! I actually downloaded an iPhone Thesaurus app so I would have the definitions ready to go. It’s one of my many favorite things about her.

She has made significant progress with all of her fears. They are primarily limited to storms at this point. However, we have to be very careful about what we talk about in front of her because she is always looking for something else to add to the list. She is just extremely fearful. She worries constantly. I know that some of these tendencies come from losing her sister, obviously. However, the more I talk to other parents about it, it also just seems to be the nature of some children. We are using the opportunity to teach her to pray and to rely on the Sovereignty of the Lord. Praying seems to come very naturally to her. The part that seems to get her is completely trusting the Lord and being ok with whatever he has in store for her life. Its a hard thing to attempt to explain these spiritual matters to a six year old. Nonetheless, the Lord is gracious to give both of us peace, patience, knowledge, and understanding when we need it most :).

Favorites

Barbies, Barbies, and More Barbies!! She currently owns over 20.
Coloring/Drawing
Making cards. She loves to make her own cards. She usually sends them to her Nana and Papa.
Swimming
Making new friends. This is one of her favorite friends :)
Favorite movie is Barbie in a Mermaid Tale
Favorite foods: pizza and popcorn chicken
Sparkly, silver flip flops with heels
Skirts
Her HoneyWord Bible
Fake tattoos
Hair Bows
Dresses
Cooking with Mommy
Reading or being read to
I just realized that in the majority of the pictures I posted Liberty is wearing the same clothes. I guess you can tell what her favorite outfit is too :).

She has lost three teeth so far. The last one came out the day before she turned 6.

She still has a flair for the drama tic and loves to have her picture taken :) She is always on the lookout for someone with a camera.

She adores her baby sister and she is the best daughter in the whole wide world!!

Summer at Nana and Papa’s Farm

2010-07-13T16:35:00.001-05:00

Me: “What was some of your favorite things that we did at Nana and Papa’s house this week?
Liberty: “Well, I liked the paddle boat, swimming in the lake, the horses, and eating bacon.” (apparently the cereal or toast I feed her every morning doesn’t compare to the hot breakfast Nana fixes her)

We had a blast at my parents house this week. We were only able to stay four days but we crammed a ton of fun activities in that short amount of time. I would have to say that Liberty’s favorite activity was riding horses. My parents have a horse and several mules. Liberty was really excited that she was old enough to ride one of the mules by herself without one of us leading it.

Emory like riding the horse for about two seconds. Long enough to get this cute picture :)Liberty and Nana on the Mule

There is a great little lake not too far from my parents house. It’s shallow and there is plenty of shoreline to play on. Liberty had fun, of course, but I was so excited that Emory enjoyed it so much. It was shallow enough near the bank for her to sit and splash. So cute!

Liberty’s Great Grandpa bought her a new bike while we were there. It’s purple and has several different speeds. She LOVED it. She looks like such a big girl on her new big bike.

We also made a trip to the cemetery while we were down. I was really excited that we actually got to go on Lilly’s birthday. We decorated her tree for her 4th birthday. I love to see my girls gathered around their sister’s grave celebrating her life.

After we left the cemetery we headed to Abilene and visited the Texas Heritage Museum. It was really neat and Liberty really enjoyed it.Museum Fun…One evening while we were on the paddle boat, I decided it would be funny to jump off. I actually thought it would scare Liberty, but she thought it was funny. So, we both ended up swimming in our clothes for awhile. Liberty is hanging onto the boat because she still can’t swim very well. This made her Nana very nervous.

The weather was crazy while we were there. It was cloudy and raining almost the whole time. We just had to get outside in between showers. Nonetheless, we still had a blast. It is always fun to get away and leave our responsibilities for a while.

Although we have a least one more trip planned this summer, it is officially school time again. Liberty will start 1st grade on Thursday. She is so excited.

4th of July

2010-07-05T17:16:00.001-05:00

We started off the morning at church where Liberty sang in the choir. It was too cute. The children’s choir sang “How Great Thou Art” and “Spring is Coming” by Steven Curtis Chapman. Liberty hasn’t done anything like this in a long time and she was so great. She wasn’t nervous or anything. She immediately found herself a friend and they held hands while they sang. Oh the joy of having sweet little girls :). Here is one of the videos. I love the look on her face when she spots me in the crowd.

Then we headed to JC Penny for some good holiday sales :). I love these pictures of the girls playing with the mirrors while Scott was trying on clothes.

Emory thought the baby in the mirror was so cute that she needed lots of kisses :).

This girl is so beautiful!!

Every year we celebrate the 4th with our former neighbors and friends from Sweetwater Springs. They have family that comes in from Texas every year and we always join them for tons of food and fireworks. There are always plenty of children for Liberty to play with and even though she only sees them once a year, she really looks forward to it. Its so funny how kids just connect.

Getting ready for fireworks!

When we left the house it was still raining (as it had been all day), but we just trusted that it would clear up by the time it was dark enough to start lighting fireworks. We light hundreds of fireworks in the driveway every year and I promise it would rival even the best of professional displays.

Liberty and her friend Autumn. Seeing each other only once a year doesn’t stop these two from being the best of friends.

The little ones usually get to light some of their special fireworks first.

This year all of us wore glow-in-the dark necklaces and bracelets. It was hilarious to watch all the little glowing kids running around. I actually liked it because it made it much easier to keep track of them in the dark. They looked like little glowing aliens.

Liberty and Autumn had on necklaces, bracelets, and ankle bracelets. This is what they looked like in the dark.

Time for sparklers!

Emory had fun until the fireworks started. I had a feeling she wasn’t going to like all the noise much. I ended up putting her to bed in one of the spare rooms, which worked out great. She slept for an hour and a half and I got to enjoy the fireworks with everyone else.

Liberty had so much fun. I have never seen her play so hard. She was exhausted by the time we got home around 11:30. She crashed on the couch before we even had time to get her into bed.

Another wonderful 4th. Can’t wait til next year.

Scott Haas Construction

2010-07-04T17:58:00.001-05:00

It has come to my attention that whenever anyone googles “Scott Haas Construction” my blog comes up. Therefore, in light of the fact that I haven’t posted about our company in sometime and some the information is outdated, here is the most recent goings on at SHC.

Recently we celebrated our 1 year anniversary of both Scott getting laid off (May 12) and of the start of SHC (June 1), which for obvious reasons coincide :). We find ourselves extremely blessed to be able to say that God has more than provided for us this year as we stepped out in faith to start a new construction company in a recession. When we first started one of Scott’s good friends told him that if he continued to do things with the same level of integrity and competency that he would have more than enough business. How true that statement has turned out to be. We have never had a moments worry about where our next job would come from.

Most of the work Scott has completed is here in Guthrie, with just a few exceptions. Most of the work has consisted of remodels (new roofs, siding, or room additions). This continues to be exciting because we are literally beginning to see the face of Guthrie change. With great effort on the part of some of our city employees, Guthrie locals are being made aware of government funding that is available for low-income families. This is so important because so many of the people here in Guthrie are below poverty level and are living in the most wretched conditions. It is both a blessing and a challenge to help these families remodel their homes into something they can be proud of.

While remodels have definitely been our “bread and butter,” Scott is currently bidding and working on some new custom homes. This is particularly exciting since new home construction is what he really loves to do. He is especially excited about future prospects of building larger homes like he did early in his construction career.

We have been so content here in Guthrie. We honestly don’t know why God chose this particular location for our company to grow. We probably never would have chosen it for ourselves, but we are so thankful that our obedience has proven fruitful and we cannot wait to see what the next year holds for SHC.

Happy Birthday Emory

2010-07-02T15:03:00.001-05:00

My little princess turns 1 today. I am so thankful for her. Her little smile has brought so much healing and joy to our lives. I have enjoyed every single second with her—taking in so much and not taking anything for granted. She is so different from her sisters and experiencing the past 12 months with her has been so wonderful.

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She is growing so fast. I am very excited to take her to her 12 month check-up to see what she weighs and how long she is. If I had to guess I would say she is still in the 50th percentile. She’s not skinny but she isn’t fat either. She’s just right :).

Her hair is finally growing and I can get a little pony tail on top of her head. This is my favorite thing because I can put a big bow in her hair. She won’t leave headbands on anymore.

Her smile is still the best thing about her. Her whole face smiles, not just her little mouth. When she smiles you can’t help but smile back. She doesn’t laugh as much as she used to but when she does its hilarious. Once she starts laughing she can’t hardly stop. Whatever Liberty does just keeps her rolling. She giggles more often. She has this giggle she does when she gets something she wants, like if you give her her bottle or pick her up when she’s upset. It always makes me feel like a hero when I hear it because I know I’ve done something to make her happy.

She is still scooting around on her bottom. Everywhere we go people just think its the greatest thing they have ever seen. Very few people have actually seen a baby get around in such a way. Scott and I, of course, think its the best. Especially since Liberty did it as well.

About 3 weeks ago I weaned her and started giving her a bottle. This wasn’t my plan, but terrible headaches and a medicated momma didn’t go well with breastfeeding. She took to the bottle immediately. I have to admit it hurt my feelings a little bit. She didn’t even care that she couldn’t nurse anymore as long as she had her bottle. She immediately started sleeping better and didn’t demand to be feed every two hours at night…interesting. She will also drink out of a Sippy cup. She is not a huge fan of water. I usually fill her cup to the top with water and put a few drop of juice in it.

She is really great at eating a variety of foods. She will eat just about anything, but prefers I make her food. Her favorite is bananas. She LOVES them. She also really likes the Gerber Graduate Crunchies. Chicken is another favorite. Its one of the only foods I can get her to eat in larger quantities. While she likes variety, its a real chore to get her to eat very much at one time.

Her new favorite thing to do is to put things away. She likes to put her toys in the basket or put pencils in drawers. Really she just likes to put any object anywhere she can stick it. The other day she was in the bathroom and she picked Liberty’s swimsuit off the floor and put it in the trash. I am constantly finding graham crackers, cheerios, and gold fish stuck in places like her toy box. Whenever she does something she is particularly proud of, like putting a straw in a cup, she will clap her hands. She also expects that everyone else recognize her achievement by clapping as well.

She is not pulling up yet, but trying by getting to her knees. If I stand her up she can stand for quite awhile. She can also transfer herself from the coffee table to the couch if its close enough. Other than that, no signs of walking.

She loves to wave a blow kisses. She has a special way of giving kisses with her finger. She points at you and you have to touch her finger tip with yours and she says “OOO Wah.” The cutest things ever!!

She really is the best. I’m so proud to be her momma. I can’t wait to watch her grow for another year.

Birthday Party Weekend

2010-06-30T16:49:00.001-05:00

As always, the girls’ birthdays fall on the Fourth of July weekend, so we typically celebrate with friends either the weekend before or the weekend after. This year we celebrated on June 26. It is really such fun to have 3 girls born within days of each other in July. Right now it means one birthday party each year. We will see how long the joint birthday party satisfies the birthday girls.

My parents (Nana and Papa) came in on Friday. The last couple of times they have come in they have stayed in a hotel. This is super fun for Liberty because then she has unlimited access to an indoor pool. After running several birthday errands, we spent time at the pool.

I Love this picture of Emory and her Papa

Liberty in the “hot pool”

On Saturday we celebrated with some of Liberty’s friends. We were so blessed to have such a great location for the girls’ party. A friend of ours has an absolutely gorgeous backyard with an in-ground pool.

Another friend of mine made the individual cakes for the girls. She did such a great job and they were sooooo cute with their summer themes.

Emory’s Watermelon Cake

Liberty’s Beach Cake

Emory was so cute when she got her cake. So very different from Liberty on her first birthday. She approached it very delicately and just poked her little finger into the icing and then licked it off. She continued to do this until she had a little tiny tunnel in her cake where she kept sticking her finger in. She never did attack it and just dive in. So sweet and cute.

Cake still intact and Emory licking icing off her finger

The girls got so many wonderful and thoughtful gifts. Here’s just a few. There were so many!

Oh my goodness all those girls are so sweet!

(Caroline, Kate, Liberty, Jewel, Emory, and Finley)

The girls had so much fun. It was so hot and they all loved loved loved the pool. Even some of the parents joined in the fun and got in the pool. I was so busy that morning that I totally forgot to put my swimsuit on!

After the party we came home and cleaned up and headed to church with the whole family. Liberty was so excited to show her church class to her Nana and Papa. After church we all went to Bricktown for dinner. Scott and I never go down there. It is always such a treat when we do. After we managed to find somewhere to park, we headed over to Chilenos. It was out of this world good. We all enjoyed being stuffed and walking along the river. It was the perfect end to an absolutely fabulous Birthday weekend.

Liberty and Nana (and her new baby doll, Faith)

Beatrix Potter Coloring Books

2010-06-26T23:14:00.000-05:00

My family and I were downtown Guthrie this afternoon cruising the Antique stores and I stumbled across the amazing coloring books. I grabbed them up because I didn't know if they were vintage and if I could still get them online. They were in perfect condition. When I got home I started looking online to see if I could still get them and was amazed to find that Dover Publishing has so many coloring books that go along with some of the great classic children's literature. I was able to fine the Tale of Peter Rabbit coloring book on the Dover Publishing website, but the other two I could only find on Amazon (and at a much higher price than I paid today). What a fun supplement if you want to study Beatrix Potter or any other classic children's literature for that matter. Liberty LOVES to color. I know this will be such a fun way to get her more involved in the stories. Oh, and the coloring pages are the actual outlines of the original watercolors. Plus, the unabridged text is part of the coloring books so you don't necessarily need the hard copies in order read them.

Fishing and Kite flying--Fun in the sun

2010-06-20T16:28:00.001-05:00

I love summer. I don't care if it's 100 degrees. It beats 30 degrees any day!! First on the agenda for summer family fun was fishing. We have a friend here in Guthrie that lives right on the lake and has a wonderful dock. It is a wonderful private place to take the girls fishing. We loaded up with a picnic lunch and headed out. I must admit I am not much of a fisherman. I did a lot of fishing growing up but truthfully I'm just not into touching worms and fish. Liberty feels much the same way about touching worms and fish, but she loves to go fishing. She usually just has someone else (not me) bait her hook and take her fish off the hook should she actually catch something. For the most part, Nana, Papa, or her Daddy are happy to accommodate her. This trip, however, she decided that she was brave enough to not only touch her own worm, but bait her own hook.

Even after catching two good sized bass, we were unable to get her to touch the fish. I personally don't blame her, but I do feel she made some significant progress this summer with the touching of a worm.

Emory and I spent most of the time sitting in the shade. It was so nice just to sit outside and relax. Emory loves playing in the grass. She doesn't often have this opportunity since our yard really isn't conducive to crawling around in.

The next day we got up earlier than usual and headed to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. The closest one is about a 30 minute drive. Since we were close to Lake Hefner we decided to take the girls to the park. We stopped on the way a bought Liberty a kite. Maybe I should have spent more the $1 on the kite. Scott spent more time getting in up in the air than Liberty spent actually flying it. Despite this, Liberty had a blast.

Emory scooted around and played with a red ball that I bought her. She is loves to play ball and is so excited now that she can actually throw the ball herself. I primarily like taking Emory out in the sun because that means I can put a hat on her, which is possibly the cutest thing in the world :).

So far our summer has been so enjoyable. In addition to just spending time outside, we also bought a big Easy Set pool (that experience deserves a blog post all its own) and have enjoyed the Drive-In Theatre. I love the laziness of summer and all the fun activities!! More fun to come!

Headache go away!!

2010-06-11T16:53:00.000-05:00

Since last Saturday, I have had the worst headaches. I'm am feeling a bit better today and trying to catch up on all my housework, emails, and blogging. I have no idea what is going on. I've been to the doctor twice and the ER once. The doc gave me migraine meds which didn't help at all. In the ER I recived a shot of Demerol which only made things worse. I am now scheduled for an MRI on Monday. I just want to make sure nothing serious is going on and then we can figure out how to get the headaches under control.

All the medication has forced me to stop breastfeeding Emory, which was not in my plans for another 3 weeks. This is causing me some stress, but Emory doesn't even seem phased by it. She is taking formula out of a bottle like that is what she has been doing her whole life. She has made it two nights in a row without nursing. The first was rough and I ended up giving her a bottle at 4 a.m., but last night she only woke up once! She was in bed with me, but I don't care. At least she wasn't screaming all night (not good for the headache).

Liberty has been my little helper. She is perfectly content to stay indoors and help around the house and with the baby. This is primarily because she is afraid to go outside. I think our hour in the basement last month has scared her for life. Nonetheless, I am happy that she is happy. She is probably watching way too much TV, but I really can't do anything about that right now. Hopefully, we can get this resolved soon and enjoy the rest of our summer!

Scott is being extremely patient with me. He is incredibly behind at work, but is somehow still getting things done and taking care of me at the same time. Love him!

Meet Jasmine

2010-05-27T21:27:00.000-05:00

On May12 my dog, Belle, died. I have had her for 9 years. So sad. This is a picture of her with Lilly :). She had cancer, so Scott and I have been preparing Liberty for her death for several weeks. When we told her that Belle was dying she replied, "Well, I have always wanted a cat." While this may seem a bit harsh, it is classic Liberty. She is just very simple and practical about some things. So, Scott and I decided that once Belle passed away, she would get her cat.

Originally, Scott and I had it in our mind that we would get a pure breed cat. We wanted the "perfect" cat for are family. I did all the research and found the exact breed of cat that would fit our lifestyle. Then I went in search of this cat. Not only was it impossible to find, I realized that purchasing a pure breed cat (much like a pure breed dog) was going to be quite expensive. So, I decided a domestic shorthair it was going to be. We headed to the local pet stores where we found that these adorable little non-pedigree kittens were going to run us around $75. This seemed absolutely ridiculous. Haven't I seen a million "free kitten" signs around town. We also looked around at the local shelters, but they have primarily adult cats and Liberty wanted a kitten. So, on a whim, I search Craig's List and, of course, found the perfect kitten. The owners had named her Lilly :). I told Liberty that we couldn't call her Lilly because that is her sisters name. She said, "Then I will name her Jasmine because that is also a flower." Again, very simple and practical.

Her first night home

playing in a basket

We picked up this little sweetheart last night. She is a silver and black tabby and she is 9 weeks old. When we got her home we shut her in Liberty's room so she could adjust slowly to her new surroundings. She was very timid. She immediately ran under the bed and was very hesitant to come out. However, if everyone left and she was in there alone, she would meow loudly until someone came back. It took her most of the day today to warm up to us, but now she is happy to let us pet her and she even crawled in my lap earlier. She also loves to play and been sitting in Emory's toy basket and pouncing on puzzle pieces all day. Her favorite spot in under Scott's recliner. We lost her for a good 2 hours earlier in the day. Liberty, in tears, was sure she had somehow escaped and was gone forever. Liberty, with the aid of a flashlight, finally found Jasmine hiding comfortably underneathe the recliner. This is troublesome for obvious reasons. I guess we will just have to check before we sit down. Hopefully, as she grows, she will no longer fit under there.

This has also quickly become a favorite spot.

Needless to say, we are super happy and excited about the new addition to our family.

Summer

2010-05-26T16:10:00.000-05:00

So, now that our first school year has wrapped up, I am trying to decide how we will proceed. Do we take a summer break? How long? Do we stay on the public school schedule? Do we continue some subjects throughout the summer but not all? Needless to say, there are a ton of ways we can do it.

I have definitely come to the conclusion that we NEED a break. By the time we finished up our curriculum a few weeks ago, I was really just winging it--must to the displeasure of my husband :). We need some down time without any "formal" lessons. I will also have time to go through the 1st grade curriculum and decide exactly what our schedule is going to look like when we start back up.

My plan is to officially start back to school sometime around mid-July. We are taking a trip to Texas after the girls' birthday and when we get back we will start. It will be a slow start because we have another trip to Texas planned in August.

If we start back in July, we should be able to wrap the year up around April (this is when we began to lose steam this year). Then, we can take full advantage of the Spring. This is the plan. However, since I am still new to this, I anticipate to have to make adjustments along the way. This is the beauty of home education though!

The Haas' take cover

2010-05-20T11:44:00.001-05:00

One of the fascinating things about living in central Oklahoma is the weather, especially this time of year. In the 5 years we have lived here, we have had to run for cover on several occasions. Thankfully, we have yet to suffer any major damage from any of the crazy weather that has come our way. Yesterday proved to be one of our closer calls. I was in the middle of making dinner when the tornado sirens started going off. Scott had just gotten home and was about to get in the shower to prepare for a meeting later on in the evening. Liberty was sitting at the table eating and Emory was in her highchair eating. Around here we have learned not to hesitate when the alarms go off. I turned off the stove, grabbed both girls and headed to the basement (we have to go outside to get to the basement). Scott grabbed his clothes and headed down after us in his underwear =) (I'm sure he will appreciate me sharing that bit of information).

Thankfully I had gotten the basement ready with our supplies last week. I didn't, however, consider that our basement would be full of water. Apparently when it rains all the water drains into our basement. The floor does have a drain in it, which keeps the water to a minimum, but it was still quite unpleasant to stand in water.

Once we all got down there, we realized that we had forgotten several things. This was our first run, so I was impressed we didn't forget more. We had no alternate light source if the power went out. Scott's phone was almost dead and he didn't grab chargers, no radio (we have radio on our phones so this wasn't critical), and Emory didn't have her binky. Not to mention that Liberty wasn't even wearing shoes. After listening to the news for a minute, Scott felt is was safe enough to run back into the house for these forgotten items. It worked out fine because the storm didn't hit us for several more minutes. Next time we will be more organized.

Liberty had grabbed her food on the way out of the house and immediately sat on her mat and continued to eat her chicken. She, of course, was terrified but was being so brave (she had already spent a great deal of the afternoon in prayer for her safety. God definitely granted her peace when she really needed it). After she finished eating, she curled up in her sleeping bag on the floor. It wasn't long before she just fell asleep. It is her defense mechanism. If she is too scared or overwhelmed, she just crashes.

Emory was extremely bored and fussy. Turns out when I stocked the basement that I didn't prepare to entertain the baby for an extended period of time. She refused to go to sleep like her sister.

We ended up staying down there for about an hour. The tornado alarms were blaring the entire time. Scott and I had our phones so we could listen to the radio. One of the storm chasers had set up at the hospital in Guthrie which is literally right down the road from us. It was nice to have someone that close to keep us up to date. There was a lot of rotation, but nothing on the ground. We got some pea sized hail and a lot of rain, but that was the worst of it. I guess today, I will spend time resetting the basement in preparation for the next storm. New supplies needed: toys for Emory, extra pacifier, travel cot, and towels.

Liberty's Kindergarten Graduation Weekend

2010-05-17T14:43:00.000-05:00

This past weekend my sister and her family and my parents all came to visit. We all love it when they can come! They arrived on Saturday around lunchtime and we all ate at Pops. After lunch we came back to the house to change into swim clothes to go swimming at my parent's hotel. Mom chose to stay at a hotel here in Guthrie with an indoor pool so we could take Liberty and the other two babies (Emory and Hannah) swimming. Of course, Liberty was so excited. She had a blast swimming and even Emory seemed to enjoy it. Liberty still can't swim, but she has a blast trying to figure it out. She is actually getting pretty good at swimming under water. It's keeping her head above the water that seems to be the problem. Not to mention, she seems to swallow more water than is probably good for her.

After we finished swimming, we came back to the house and had a very short, formal graduation ceremony for Liberty (check out more pictures and video on our homeschool blog).

My beautiful little graduate

Emory would not cooperate for pictures

After Liberty's graduation we headed to Hideaway Pizza for dinner. YUM! We had such a great time visiting and eating with family.

My sister (Amanda) and her daughter (Hannah)

Emory, Nana, and Papa :)

After a terrific dinner we headed back to the house for some homemade chocolate cake. Liberty is such a chocolate junkie. She wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. She played with the babies and with her graduation presents until it was time to go to bed.

On Sunday morning we headed back to the pool bright and early :). Liberty and Nana (the rest of us weren't interested in swimming a 9:00 a.m.) swam until it was time to check out of the hotel. After that we headed to Bass Pro. Liberty always loves looking at the fish and the boats. Emory, Hannah, and Liberty all bought matching hats. Those babies are too cute!

Emory and Hannah at Bass Pro

We at lunch at Earls in Bricktown and then the family headed back to Texas. We had such a blast and Libety enjoyed every minute of her special graduation weekend.

Liberty's Kindergarten Graduation

2010-05-17T09:38:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we had Liberty's Kindergarten Graduation. I thought it would be fun to do something a little formal for her. I wanted her to know how proud we are and how much she accomplished this year. My parents and sister's family came in which made it more special for her.

I made her an extra fancy graduation cap, which she really loved. Then, she got dressed up and sat in front of the family while did a little ceremony that lasted less than 3 minutes. We also gave her a little Diploma--so cute. The family brought her graduation gifts and then we went to Hideaway Pizza to celebrate.

I think she felt really special and had a lot of fun. I especially love this picture that I got of her outside. She looks so beautiful and grown up.

Before we started the ceremony I rehearsed the questions I was going to ask her so she wouldn't be nervous. "What was your favorite thing about Kindergarten and What are you looking forward to in First Grade." It was hilarious because you could tell she had tried to memorize the answers. She answered the wrong question first and then forgot her rehearsed answer about her favorite thing about Kindergarten.

Scott said I should have talked about ALL the things she learned this year instead of only the three I mentioned. That would have made for a much longer ceremony though and I'm sure everyone is aware that she learned more than just the things I talked about.

Our Graduate!

Yay! Another new Barbie!

10 Months Old

2010-05-05T20:06:00.000-05:00

This past month has to be my absolute favorite of Emory's life so far. She is so amazing. I am so thankful for Lilly and how she opened my eyes to the wonders of God's little human creations. How much we take forgranted! The other day I was feeding Emory yogurt and bananas and with every bite I just watched in awe. I was just so blown away that she was eating yogurt. I know that may sound ridiculous to some, but it is truly a miracle. Not every child can do something as simple as eating by mouth--Lilly couldn't. There are so many other small things like this. I just love her so much and I am so thankful for God and His goodness. For holding my hand and faithfully leading me down a very difficult path and for giving me the courage to have Emory. What an amazing blessing she is to all of us.

Beautiful girls!!!

Developmentally she has definitely hit a stride. The highlights for this month include: crawling, waving, babbling, blowing kisses, eating, and teething.

Emory is finally crawling. Not in the traditional sense, but she scoots on her bottom. This is absolutely priceless. Liberty did the EXACT same thing. Scott and I are convinced its genetic and may just have another baby just to see if she will scoot on her bottom as well =). She does it a little bit differently than Liberty did. It is the cutest thing ever and she has gotten quite good at it.

She will now wave bye bye. Actually, she waves all the time. She has two wave variations. The first is the typically backwards baby wave where she flexes her little fingers. The second is her big wave where she uses her arms (usually both at the same time). She thinks its so funny and will usually wave just to show you she is happy.

She is talking more and more. She hasn't officially said any words yet, but she does say "Uh Oh" a lot. She will usually say it if she drops something or if something doesn't go quite like she anticipated. While she frequently uses it in the correct context she will also just scoot around the house or sit in her carseat saying "Uh Oh, Uh Oh, Uh Oh." For this reason, I am not considering it her first word.

She will also blow kisses now. It started out as her just copying what I was doing, but now she does it all the time. She has also "made it her own" by not just blowing but by putting the back of her hand against her mouth and sort of waving the kisses to you. It's darling, of course. She also gives real kisses now. Those big open mouth baby kisses, complete with the "ooo wah" sound that are absolutely precious. She also thinks its really funny to pretend she is going to kiss me and then instead blows on my lips. Funny girl!

Here's a video of most of the developmental milestones listed above. We couldn't get her to blow kisses for anything!

Emory will basically eat anything on a spoon! She has moved on to foods with more texture like chicken and pork. She is getting better and better at feeding herself. Right now her favorite is graham crackers. She absolutely loves them. She has had some success feeding herself fruit, but its a little slippery and hard for her to hold onto. Most of it ends up in her lap.

She finally has one tooth and another about to pop through any day now. She has been horribly fussy. I hope since it took so long for her to start teething that they don't all start coming in at once!

Playing in the water at the zoo =)

She still has the greatest smile in the world. She is so happy--smiling and laughing all the time. She loves to be outside. I can't put her in the grass at our house so I usually put her in the pack-n-play. Surprisingly she will sit in there for quite a while without getting upset. My parents recently bought Liberty a new swingset and we attached a baby swing to it. Emory absolutely loves it. I've never seen a baby love to swing so much. She has almost outgrown her other swing. When she sits in it she always wants to lean too far forward and it will stop swinging. This, of course, makes her mad.

She is laughing so hard

This video will make you dizzy, but its so cute to hear her laugh!

She is still not sleeping through the night. I'm not sure what I am going to do with her. She wakes up every few hours or so. She usually goes right back to sleep if I give her binky back. I usually end up nursing her at least twice though. She usally naps 2-3 times a day now and she naps in her bed. She is really good at putting herself to sleep for her naps, but refuses to do this when its bedtime. I'm not sure what the difference is, but for some reason she doesn't like to go to bed at night.

This was fun until she leaned too close and the water sprayed her right in the face. She was done after that.

Time is flying by so quickly. I can't believe she will be one so soon. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her!

Home School Convention 2010

2010-05-02T20:46:00.000-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year--better than Christmas! I love it--rows and rows of books and curriculum, learning games and toys, gadgets, maps, and denim skirts as far as the eye can see. Spending the weekend with people who are just as crazy, devoted, and wonderfully normal as I am is so encouraging. Plus, for just under the price of a private school tuition, I was able to purchase everything Liberty will need for the first grade. Just kidding. I didn't really spend that much money although I will admit that I found and purchased more than I had intended :). In my defense, my husband (and devoted Principal of the The Haas School) was with me the entire time.

So, here is a complete list of the wonderful things I found.

My Father's World First Grade - I bought everything, the entire set!

Character Sketches - Volume 1 and Coloring Book by the Institute of Basic Life Principles

I cannot wait to get started on this book. It looks so good.

Heroes for Young Readers Series Again, I bought the entire set, including the Activity Guides. I think I'm going to use these as weekly history lessons. They are so great. Scott and I can't wait to introduce Liberty to non-fiction biographies. We love them!

Watch Me Draw: The Zoo - Liberty's only request for the Convention was a drawing book that has an elephant in it. Apparently she has a strong desire to draw an elephant but lacks the skills =).

After we purchased everything Liberty needed, Scott and I also managed to find a few things for ourselves as well =).

The Well Planned Day: A Family Homeschool Planner by Rebecca Scarlata Keliher - I can't wait to use this. It looks so awesome!

The Evolution of a Creationist by Jobe Martin

HELP! I'm Married to a Homeschooling Mom by Todd Wilson

The Backyard Homestead edited by Carleen Madigan - If the Haas family disappears one day, you can find us in Mexico on our own self-sufficient homestead.

Well, that's all I can think of (as if this isn't enough). We had so much fun and even though we will definitely enjoy our summer break, I am excited about what is in store of 1st grade.

Day 4 - National Zoo and American History Museum

2010-04-17T09:37:00.000-05:00

On day four we headed out to the zoo. We knew it didn't open until ten but we headed out early because we had to get on the Metro to get there and we weren't sure how long that might take. Thankfully the closest Metro station was across the street from our hotel. None of us had ever been on a subway so we were all looking forward to the experience. We road the escalator down into the tunnel. I was very surprised to find it clean and easy to navigate. I took pictures of Liberty with the train in the background and was immediately approached by a security officer who made sure I wasn't a terriorist and then forced me to delete my pictures. This caught me completely off guard, but I did as she asked and made sure I didn't take any pictures in the subway station for the rest of our trip. The Metro was surpisingly easy to navigate and within 10 minutes we arrived at the Metro station closest to the zoo. It was about another 1/2 mile walk to get there. We arrived about 9 and we walked straight in.

This is the Metro across from our hotel.

While we were on the Metro we got a tip from a local to start at the bottom of the zoo and work our way back up. The zoo literally sits on top of a giant hill. Not the type of hills you see in Oklahoma, but a small mountain. The lady on the train said its better to walk straight to the bottom and work our way back up instead of climbling the big hill at the end of the day when we are so tired. When we got there, there were very few people. However, by the time we made it to the bottom of this rather long incline and started back up, people were pouring in. It got so crowded that it was difficult to see the most popular exhibits. We realized fairly quickly that we had wasted too much time early on while there weren't so many people. We barely squeezed through the crowd to catch a glimpse of the giant pandas. Liberty was tired by the time we made it back up the hill and she was ready to go. Scott and I didn't feel like hanging around any longer either. We headed back to the Metro and then back to our hotel.

Liberty loves maps. Once we got to the bottom, she had to plan our trip back up.

This picture was taken inside the Metro station with my iPhone. I avoided security this time =)

I planned lots of time in between activities for the girls to rest. I knew that it would be pointless to push them too hard. We rested for about two hours and then headed over to the American History Museum. This museum wasn't part of our scheduled activities, but we decided to go there instead of the aquarium. I could have spent and entire day in there. There greatest thing, of course, was seeing the flag that Francis Scott Key wrote the "Star Spangled Banner" about. The ACTUAL flag! It was awesome. There were other cool things like Abraham Lincoln's top hat and Dorothy's ruby slippers. Liberty was excited when we stumbled across C3P0. It was definitely a highlight for all of us.

Day 3 - Mt. Vernon

2010-04-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

Our first day in Washington DC we discovered that not only had we arrived on Easter weekend (which we obviously knew) but we also planned our trip during Spring Break. It never occurred to me to think about that since our Spring Break is already over. It is absolute madness here. Our first stop was Mt. Vernon, home to George and Martha Washington. We toured the entire grounds and also toured the mansion. We waited in line for an hour and a half to get into the mansion! Thankfully the weather was so nice. Despite the wait, we had a great time. Even Liberty was surprisingly patient. The mansion was so awesome. I was much more impressed with it than Graceland. It was, to me, the epitome of style. The grounds are quite extensive although just a fraction of what they were when President Washington lived there. It was hot and exhasting, but totally worth it.

Mt. Vernon

Potomac River

Emory slept alot.

We left Mt. Vernon about 5:00 p.m. and headed to our hotel. We were all so excited to actually get into the city. Driving in D.C. proved to be an adventure and I was happy that we wouldn't actually be driving to any other destination. Our car would remain parked for the duration of our stay. Nonetheless we made it to our hotel without getting lost, with me at the wheel and Scott as our ever amazing and adaptable navigator.

We were very impressed when we got to our hotel. They immediately upgraded us to a larger room when we piled all the stuff out of our car and rolled it into the lobby =). We really enjoyed staying there even though it wasn't etremely kid friendly. They didn't even have a ramp so we had to carry the strollers up and down a flight of stairs coming and going from the hotel.

Emory so excited to be at the hotel and out of her carseat!

We were so exhuasted after spending all afternoon in the sun that we didn't want to go far for dinner. We walked a few blocks from our hotel to Five Guys and had a burger. It was just as good as we had anticpated. It was just before dark and the streets were packed. We decided that for the rest of the trip that it would probably be best if we wrapped up all of our activities and had the kids back to the hotel before dark.

We went to bed exhuasted and so excited for the next day...

Day 2 - Driving, Driving, and more Driving

2010-04-08T16:47:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday we spent most of the day driving. There wasn’t anything in particular to see and the highlight of the day was the next stop on our mini “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” tour. We stopped for lunch in Knoxville, TN at a drive-in pizza place called The Pizza Palace. When we pulled up Scott was sure I had driven us to the wrong location. First of all, even though I had researched it, I was expecting it to be a drive-in. Second, it wasn’t in the greatest part of town and the building was far from new. Nonetheless, we piled out of the car and went in to sit at a small bar they had for dine-in customers. It turned out to be great! The pizza was really good and onion rings were even better! Nowhere near as good as our BBQ experience, but a success nonetheless.

The kids were so great. Even though Liberty is just dying to be in Washington D.C., she is being as patient as a 5-year-old can possibly be. Scott and I decided to stop early and stay at a hotel with a pool. One of Liberty’s favorite things in the world is swimming. We ended up staying in a Hampton Inn in Roanoke, VA. It’s the cutest little town. We ate at a Mexican Restaurant next door to the hotel. Scott was extremely skeptical of what Virginian Mexican food would taste like, but I didn’t want to waste Liberty’s swimming time driving all over town. So, off we went. As it turns out , it was amazing. The only complaint we had was the salsa.

After dinner we headed to the pool. Liberty had a blast and we discovered that she virtually forgot everything she had learned about swimming last summer. Definitely time for swim lessons. She swallowed a lot of water, but still had fun. She was proud of herself when learned to float on her back—an achievement that al alluded her in the past.

Emory didn't care for the water so she got out and watched.

Liberty practiced floating =)

Driving thorough Tennessee and Virginia has been so interesting to me. I am in awe of the mountains. Despite the fact that I have spent half the trip sick from all the up and down and round and round, I have really enjoyed the landscape. Every house seems to be sitting on top of a hill. They don’t seem to yards because both the front and back yards slop so dramatically. Not really an ideal place for swing sets and trampolines. We also noticed that there aren’t many brick homes and many more mobile homes than we are used to seeing. Scott and I suppose it because we are very far from where bricks are actually made and that mobile homes are more practical here because they don’t have extreme weather like tornadoes. It’s all so interesting and different.

Day 1 - Memphis, TN

2010-04-08T16:07:00.000-05:00

We managed to leave Guthrie about 5:45 a.m., missing my departure deadline by only 45 minutes. I have our entire trip mapped out—complete with itinerary and a binder full of information =). Trying to factor in how much time we would need for stops with two little ones was somewhat tricky. I knew from our trips to Texas that they could both handle a 5 hour trip no problem, but beyond that I was guessing. Obviously it could go great or go very very badly. Fortunately day one turned out to be absolutely amazing. The girls travelled SO well. I pray that the rest of our trip will go as smoothly.

Liberty colored almost the whole way. I also bought “gifts” for Liberty and Emory to give them along the way. This is my attempt to keep them entertained. At our first stop I gave Liberty a set of color change markers. Each marker has three different color tips. She loved it and colored with the rest of the day. Emory got a cloth book about barnyard animals. Each page makes a different animal noise when you push the buttons. Liberty pushed the buttons for her and told her the name of the animals =).

We blazed right through Oklahoma and Arkansas without a peep from either of the girls. Emory slept the first 4 hours and they we stopped to feed her, put gas in the car, and take a potty break. Our next stop was Memphis, TN where we stopped to visit Graceland. Even after getting lost twice coming into Memphis, we still arrived at Graceland and hour and a half early! Thank God for iphone GPS and a husband who can navigate without getting carsick (I cannot so I was driving).

Scott and I aren’t huge Elvis fans, but I couldn’t see driving through Memphis without seeing Graceland. I must admit that it was nothing like I had imagined. What passed for luxury in the 1970’s was horribly ugly and cheap looking. There was actually green carpet on the walls and ceiling. Scott said that he had torn down houses less ugly =). It is so crazy to see how much the world has changed in terms of celebrity houses. Graceland would NEVER make it on MTV Cribs today! Looking at all the gold and platinum records was unbelievable. There are so many that they don’t all fit in one location. They are scattered in different building throughout the grounds. My favorite part was going through the car museum. Unlike the hideous mansion, a classic car never goes out of style. My fav was this Lincoln with the gold alligator top! Liberty was patient, but was less than thrilled looking at a bunch of junk that belonged to someone she’s never heard of. She kept asking me “Why is he important?”

Liberty like this gold suit =)

Pink Cadillac

My favorite was this Lincoln with a gold alligator top =)

Next stop was famous Memphis BBQ restaurant, Marlowe’s. Once of Scott and my favorite things to do is eat at new restaurants so I had to factor this in when I was planning our trip. We decided to do a mini tour of Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Marlowe’s was in the “Memphis BBQ” episode. Tomorrow we are eating at Pizza Palace from his “That’s Italian” episode. The BBQ was absolutely amazing and they had these deep fried sourdough rolls that absolutely changed my life. Definitely recommend it if you are ever down in Memphis.

After we ate, we decided to get back on the road for awhile. We ended up stopping about 8 p.m. By that point, Emory had had enough and she screaming at the top of her lungs and refused to be consoled by sweet Liberty who was do everything possible to calm her down. Despite the fact that the hotel we stayed in was far from 4-star accommodations, both Liberty and Emory thought it was great. Liberty jumped on the bed and Emory laughed and played. We relaxed for a bit and then turned in about 9:30 to get ready for our early morning. I think Liberty was asleep before we even turned out the lights. I was an awesome first day of vacation!

2 years ago...

2010-04-05T21:19:00.000-05:00

today our daughter met her High Priest. What a beautiful thought. We had this picture taken back in February. It makes me think of what it must feel like to meet Jesus. One of my favorite images of Christ is that of our High Priest. Revelation 1:12-16 describes HIM in detail...

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

This year we are in Washington D.C. on what we celebrate as Lilly's homecoming. Usually we release balloons as a reminder of where she is and to keep our eyes and hearts focused heavenward. This year I wanted to do something a little different since we are in D.C. I decided that we would still release balloons, but I wanted to focus on the freedom we have in Christ. Freedom seemed to be fitting theme being in our Capital. So, I made tags to attach to our balloons.

I also thought it would be wonderful for Liberty (and for us) if we actually got a response from this. It would be a real tangible reminder of how our Lilly touched the lives of so many in such a short time and continues to do so.

We would also love our friends and family to participate as well--especially if you knew Lilly. Leave us a comment and let us know how know our little girl has impacted your own walk with Christ.

We released the balloons today at a park somewhere outside of DC. We each said something we loved about Lilly and then each of us had a balloon to release. It was really sweet and Liberty loved it as usual. Emory didn't hold on to her at all and let it go immediately. Liberty's balloon got stuck in a tree (the trees are significantly taller and more abundant in Virginia =)) Liberty was very upset, but after about five minutes, the balloon got free of the tree much to all of our excitement. We did video the balloon release but I can't get it to upload. It was very sweet though.

Thank you for continuing to share in this journey with us. We love you all.

9 months old

2010-04-05T20:36:00.000-05:00

Emory is growing faster than ever. She is so much fun right now. My favorite thing about her is still her gorgeous smile and her laugh. I can't get enough of it--I NEED those sweet smiles!

She still isn't crawling although she can spin herself in circles and scoot around on her bottom. She will have nothing to do with tummy time, so I guess she will continue to sit on her bottom or find some other way to get around. Her legs are getting stronger and she can stand for longer periods of time without getting tired or frustrated. She hasn't shown any interest in pulling herself up yet. Probably because she still isn't moving around a ton. She can sit and play by herself for up to 45 minutes at a time. This is rare though because she wants to be where all the action is. I usually have to take her from room to room with me to keep her entertained.

She is eating more solid foods. She absolutely hates anything green and now she is strong and smart enough to push my hand away if I try to feed it to her. This, of course, results in her being covered in whatever I'm trying to feed her. Obviously we will have to keep working on that. She loves fruits though and eats those no problem. Up until about a week ago, she hasn't been crazy about different textures. She didn't want to have anything to do with foods that weren't pureed. I have also tried putting food in front of her to see if she would pick it up and eat. All attempts were unsuccessful until last weekend. She finally figured it out and will now feed herself little cereal puffs. She will also feed herself Mum Mums and graham crackers. No success yet with diced vegetables and fruits. Most days she eat 3 solid meals and I nurse in between and throughout the night.

She still isn't sleeping very well at night. Lately she has been waking about every 2 hours. Usually the first couple of times she wakes up she wants me to feed her. Then, as the night goes on she will usually go back to sleep if I give her binky back or snuggle her for a minute. Naps are getting better. She now naps primarily in her bed and will sleep anywhere from 45-60 minutes at a time. She still falls alseep almost everytime we get in the car to go somewhere and she will still nap in her swing if attempts to get her in bed fail.

Her eyes are still super blue. I think they are much bluer than both her sisters. Her hair is growing and is in sort of a crazy stage where some parts are longer than others. She is very vocal these days. She has lots of new sounds like...dada, mama, yaya, and baba. These consanant sounds are in addition to the high pitched screaming and squealing that she does. She isn't saying any words yet although she obviously has the sounds for Mama and Dada.

Her favorite game right now is peek-a-boo. She always tries to cheat and look around whatever object you are holding in front of her. It is so cute to watch her lean around and try to see you.

She has also recently learned how to clap her hands. Sooooo cute. She appears to do it for no particular reason, but the other day when Scott came home from work she started clapping when he walked in the door. It was so sweet. She has also started doing a hand motion that is similar to waving. It is so cute and she will repeat the action if we do it to her. I have to get a video of it. She is so proud of herself when she copies us or when we copy her.

She is all about loving on her Daddy these days. Although she prefers me most of the time, she loves it when he gives her all his attention. She is especially exicted to see Daddy right when he comes home from work or when she wakes up in the morning. She is so excited when he walks in the door and flaps her arms wildly until he picks her up. Her favorite place to take a nap is in the recliner with Scott. We call it the "snuggle spot." If I lay her down on his lap with her blankie she will pass out every time. Its really sweet and something special just for them.

Palm Sunday

2010-03-29T21:26:00.001-05:00

For the past two years we have joined our wonderful friends at Village Baptist for their annual Easter egg hunt. Last year it was so unbelievably cold that everyone was completely miserable. This year the kids hunted indoors. Yay!! The Kindergarten area was taped off and included several fun toys that the kids either had to crawl or dig through to get to the eggs. This was in addition to the hundreds of eggs that were just scattered across the floor as well. Within minutes, Liberty's bucket was completely full! She had so much fun. Instead of just focusing on one area and gathering as many eggs as she could, she kept running from place to place picking up one egg at a time. She discovered pretty quickly that there were "special" eggs. These were plastic eggs shaped like animals or ones that were sparkly or had some other unique characteristic. She specifically hunted for those extra special ones. There were so many eggs that every child had more than their little baskets could hold =).

When the 1 year olds went I sat Emory down next to a giant pile of eggs. She sat there for a little while and then grabbed two eggs. She made no attempt to move any further and was completely content to chew on the two eggs she had retrieved =).

My favorite part was, of course, that they got to wear their matching Easter dresses! Too bad I forgot to get a picture of them together.

"these two are perfect"

"YUM"

This is a perfect shot of her running from place to place even though there are eggs scattered everywhere!

Check out all the loot!

B is for Butterfly

2010-03-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

This week we are learning about butterflies. We are using the example of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly to illustrate how God can make us new. In my process of explaining this to Liberty, I said something along the lines of "When we decide to love Jesus with all of our hearts and become a Christian, we put off our old selves (like a caterpillar) and become new (like a butterfly)." Liberty seemed to understand the concept and replied by saying that when we are new, we obey God's commands and try to do things that please Him. This seemed like a reasonable interpretation to me, so I moved on, trusting that she understood the metaphor. Today I asked her to explain to Scott what she had learned about the butterfly life cycle. This is what she told him...

"First there is a tiny little egg."

"Then there is a caterpillar, which is the larvae."

"Then the Chrysalis."

"Then the caterpillar turns into a butterfly and it becomes a Christian!"

It was absolutely priceless. Rather than destroy her confidence and little spirit, Scott and I just praised her for remembering her lesson so well. Obviously, the metaphor didn't go over as well as I thought. Nonetheless, I like the idea of little Christian butterflies =). I guess I'll take another stab at the concept at a later date.

First Spring Zoo Trip

2010-03-24T16:21:00.000-05:00

Before our Spring snow storm the weather was absolutely gorgeous. One dear friends, Matt and Marianne, came into town with their three kiddos and we all headed out to the zoo. We met them while we were in the hospital with Lilly. Their daughter, Makenna, has had half of her brain removed as a result of a rare disease. I am so thankful for them and so glad that our precious Lilly brought us together with such wonderful people. Thankfully we got the zoo early because it turned out to be an insane day. By the time we left around lunchtime there were literally hundreds of people waiting to park. We all had a blast and enjoyed the warm weather.

Liberty and Jacqueline

Liberty's friend Jacqueline also joined us. She was our neighbor before we sold our house.

Liberty and Ellie Kate

Our friend, Ryan, and her children were also able to join us. This is a friendship we also have as a result of our sweet girl, Lilly. Liberty loves Ellie Kate. She is four and has rare genetic disease. She is non-verbal and cannot walk, but Liberty absolutely adores her =). How sweet are they!?

Emory enjoys any activity which allows her to cruise around in her stroller. I realize that there comes an age when you just hope and pray that your child will stay in the stroller without screaming; however, until then I imagine it must feel like royalty just being carted around and shown the world in such a leisurly manner =).

These are the "big" kids

Conner, Micah, Liberty, and Jacqueline

By the time the kids headed to the playground, Emory was out! Too much excitement for her. We had so much fun and enjoyed some wonderful time with our friends!

Girls Day Out

2010-03-16T18:48:00.000-05:00

Scott had to work on Saturday, so Liberty and I decided we would have a girls day out. We started with Liberty getting a badly needed haircut. She looks oh so cute now. I wish I could grow her hair out long, but the longer it gets the worse it looks. After her haircut we headed to Red Robin for lunch. This is always a great treat for all of us. Liberty loves it because she get a balloon. I have yet to figure out what is so exciting about a balloon and why an almost 6-year-old would still be interested in them. Nonetheless, a balloon still provides loads of enjoyment for Liberty. Emory also had a good time. I have been axiously awaiting the age when I can give her a french fry in a restaurant to occupy her while the rest of us eat. While this may have been premature, I decided to go a ahead and give her the opportunity to lick her first french fry (and what better fry to lick for the first time than a Red Robin steak fry!) She didn't eat a single bite, but instead immediatedly proceeded to smash it up and smear it all over the table. It was awesome and still achieved the desired result which was giving me the opportunity to eat my burger in peace without simultaneously haveing to shake and object in front of her or keep her from pulling every single item within reach off the table! Anyone who dines with small children knows how important this is. By the time she got her french fry, I had already had to retrieve her weeble twice, from underneath someone else's table, after she had thrown it across the aisle.

She is licking her lips like she is going to eat it. I guess smashing it unrecognizable and creating potato art seemed more appealing.

After lunch, we headed to Sweet and Sassy to pamper Liberty's tiny toes. She has been wanting to do this forever. I hesitated to spend the money on such frivolity, but she LOVED it. Her feet looked so fancy and she was so proud. Emory also enjoyed it and came out looking all sparkly from sitting in glitter while watching Liberty.

So fun! I love have my tiny little girlfriends!

P is for Penguin

2010-02-17T17:01:00.000-06:00

Memory Work:
I show love to everyone, especially my family.

Bible Verses:
Romans 12:10
Philippians 2:3-4

I am already a week behind on blogging, but I had to share our penguin craft because it turned out super duper cute.

1. Start with a lunch-sized paper sack. Fill the bag with old newspaper (I filled mine with plastic Wal-Mart bags). Fold the corners of the sack together and staple closed.

2. Paint the bag black. Or, if you prefer not to make a huge mess, you can start with a black sack.

3. Using white construction paper, cut out eyes and an oval stomach. Using orange construction paper, cut out the beak and feet. Using black construction paper cut out face, tail and wings.

4. Glue the stomach on first. Then glue the face on over the staples. Glue feet, beak, and wings on last.

This was super fun and your little ones and can join in too!

We also watched March of the Penguins. It is really good and even though it is a documentary, Liberty really enjoyed it. We also watched Surfs Up for fun :).

The day Jesus came to get Lilly...

2010-02-16T11:00:00.000-06:00

Last night on our way home from bible study, Liberty asked me to tell her the story about when Jesus came to get Lilly. Her questions about Lilly pop up at the most random times, but I cherish every opportunity to share with her about her sister's life and about our Savior. This story, however, is particularly difficult to recount--that day being the absolute most difficult day of my life. Scott and I have always encouraged her questions and we have always tried to be very straightforward and honest with her, sharing more and more as she is emotionally ready to process it. So, after a deep breath, I told her the story. I told her how I was sitting beside Lilly when she stopped breathing. I told her about how the nurses and the doctors rushed in. I told her about how I picked Lilly up and held her in my arms rocking and praying for her. I told her about how I was still rocking her when Jesus came and took her out of my arms. Liberty loves the idea of Jesus coming to get Lilly--it makes her happy, not sad. Usually our conversations about Lilly end with us discussing what Heaven must be like. Liberty said "When I get to Heaven the first thing I'm going to do is run to Jesus. Then, I'm going to run to God. Then, I'm going to find Lilly!" How sweet is that!? Instead of talking about what Heaven would be like though, the conversation turned to who we would like to meet when we get to Heaven. This basically resulted in listing every person we could think of from the Bible. When we got to Paul, Liberty launched into the story of Paul's life. It was absolutely priceless.

It is such a joy to share with her all of our joys and trials and what God is showing us. It is so encouraging to watch how she processes things and how her little heart is so trusting and can barely grasp the concept of evil. I am cherishing this innocent time in her life because I know it won't last forever. I am also so very thankful that the Lord entrusted three precious little girls to us. I am honored to be their mother and thankful that God uses them to reveal Himself to me.

Thank you Lord for Liberty. Thank you for using her to heal my heart and to draw me nearer to You.
Thank you Lord for Lilly. Thank you for using her to show me what is really important and to draw me nearer to You.
Thank you Lord for Emory. Thank you for using her to stretch my faith and draw me nearer to You.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T19:59:00.000-06:00

We spent our Valentine's Day together as a family. We started the morning off watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Liberty loves these movies and despite the fact that we have to edit a few scenes, we love watching them with her. Scott and I also gave our little Valentine a gift. It was a Tinkerbell bag filled with goodies (movies and candy).

I also got her this single pink rose. She is always eyeing the flowers when we go into Wal-Mart. Like every girl I know, she loves to get flowers :).

Then we treated ourselves to a special lunch. We went to the Kabuki Grill in Edmond. Liberty has never been to a hibachi grill before and thought it was really neat. We all enjoyed it.

YUM!!!

Bowling

2010-02-13T15:41:00.001-06:00

Last Friday we went bowling with some of our friends. It was so nice to see people we haven't seen in awhile and for me to get in some good adult conversation. Liberty loves to bowl. Its one of her favorite things even though we really don't do it very often. We all had a blast.

The bowling ball is still a little heavy for her. I feel like she is going to snap her wrist every time she throws it.

Even Emory had fun.

7 months old

2010-02-05T16:00:00.000-06:00

My big girl is 7 months old! She is growing so so fast. Why is it when I am pregnant that 9 months seems like an eternity and once my children are born 9 months seems like a day! She is still so very precious. She makes me smile with her big, puffy cheeks and the sweetest little mouth I have ever seen. She looks more and more like Lilly everyday. I guess thats a good thing. We didn't get to see what Lilly would look like when she grew up, but now I can just look at Emory and imagine :).

Her newest and most exciting developmental milestone is standing. I can now hold her in my lap and she will stand on my legs for a few minutes at a time. I know alot of babies are able to do this much sooner, but my chunky monkey is just now able to hold herself up. It's alot of fun. I know we are just around the corner from crawling and walking. Oh, where does the time go...

She is also eating solid food like a champ. She is up to about 2oz/day. I have been making all of her baby food, which has been super fun. I feel very satisfied with myself and it is so fulfilling to be able to do that for her. I wonder why it never occured to me in the past? So far she has eaten: apples, pears, avacados (yes, its a fruit), peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and squash (butternut). She is also still nursing every 3-4 hours.

Sleeping continues to be somewhat of a challenge. She still catnaps during the day. She usually naps between 20-30 minutes at a time 3-4 times a day. She is really ready for bed around 7 p.m., but she is still using this as her last nap of the day. She will not stay asleep if I put her in bed. So, we are usually getting to bed between 8:30-9:30. She is still waking up at 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. After her 6 a.m. feeding she will usually sleep until 9 or so. I guess that is a bonus if she is still going to get up during the night. Sleeping really isn't an issue since our schedules are really flexible. However, I would like it at some point if she and Liberty would sleep in their own room. This would work out a lot better if I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night. Oh yeah, and if Liberty didn't still sleep in our room as well :).

Scott and I were talking the other day about the unique characteristics of our girls. Liberty was a snuggler, Lilly was...well there were lots of unique this about her, and Emory is our laugher. She will laugh at just about anything. It's so easy to make her smile. Liberty continues to be her favorite comedian. In the video below Liberty is saying the word "shoe blossom" (whatever that means) and Emory is just cracking up. The quality isn't the greatest because it was dark, but it is really funny!

She is getting better and better at picking things up with her little fingers. She's not quite good enough for finger foods yet, but she will be soon. In this pic she is amusing herself with a tiny zipper on my jacket. She played with it for at least 20 minutes.

I had to put away most of her 3-6 months clothes. Some of her onesies still fit, but all of her pants are too short.

She loves being in her stroller. I can wait until the weather is better and we can get outside more. Nonetheless, she is pretty excited to sit in her stoller no matter where we are.

Her swing continues to be a hit. Now she will try to sit up straight while she is swinging. I had to tighten the straps to make sure she doesn't accidentally launch herself out. Seriously, how long can she continue to love this swing? Hopefully until she is crawling. It makes my life easier!

Emory Ayn, you are such a joy. We are so in love with you!

H is for Horse

2010-02-04T12:04:00.000-06:00

Memory Work:

"I obey right away"

Bible Verses

Colossians 3:20

Luke 2:51

James 1:22

I hope I'm not the only homeschool mom who has had a difficult time getting back into the swing of things after the holidays! The first week back was great, the second...um, not so much, and now I finally feel like we are back on track. It doesn't help that the weather has been horrible and public schools have been cancelled several times over the past couple of weeks. However, during our Horse unit, we did have a break in the weather and we headed out to the zoo to check out the Zebras. Our zoo has two types of zebras. This is the more common Zebra. you can tell because its stripes are wider on its bottom. We also learned the answer to the age-old question "Is a zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes?" They are white with black stripes!

I really wanted to take Liberty to some stables to see how horses are cared for and some of the jobs horses perform; however, the weather didn't cooperate. I was also disappointed that I couldn't find a decent lapbook on horses. I started to put one of my own together, but didn't manage to get it finished. I think I will keep working on it and share it later!

We watched two movies about horses: Spirit: The Stallion of the Cimmaron and Black Beauty. I have to admit I liked Spirit better :). Black Beauty was unbeliveably sad. Since I didn't read the book as a child, I was completely unaware that it was such a sad story. Liberty liked it though. I did like how it depicted horses in many different roles.

Liberty also created this wonderful little model of a horse. She used homemade soft clay, which made it a little more tricky. We will definitely use modeling clay for such detailed endeavors in the future. She is such a perfectionist. It is very difficult to for me to keep her motivated and working if everything doesn't turn out exactly perfect the first time. I try to encourage her and tell her that no artist creates a perfect sculpture or drawing the very first time--they continue to work and work until its what they envisioned. This doesn't always work, but this time she did manage to finish her little horse. I think it turned out great!

Valentine's Cards

2010-02-03T16:56:00.000-06:00

Liberty LOVES making Valentine's cards. She makes them all year long :). This is the first year we haven't been in a group to exchange cards. So, I decided we could still make cards and then just mail them to our friends and family. I found the cutest idea for cards in a magazine. It's definitely a little more hands-on, and needs quite a bit of supervision. However, it is really fun and they turned out too cute!

The idea in the magazine was extremely generic and required that I copy and enlarge the template. Since my scanner at home doesn't do that, I decided to create my own template and share it! I tried this project with several different types of paper and craft foam. While the craft foam was easier to pull the needle through, it didn't fold very well and made the envelope bulky. It also ripped very easily. It definitely works best with card stock. I also added clear contact paper to it as well. The contact paper made it more durable and it ripped less when the needle was pulled through.

Valentine's Card Template

Enjoy!

Liberty Update

2010-01-30T18:23:00.000-06:00

Oh Liberty...she is so unbelievably amazing. She is so smart, so funny, and so sweet. Scott and I are are so blessed to be her parents.

We are 75 days into her Kindergarten year. It has been a very fun and interesting experience educating her at home (follow her homeschool blog http://www.thehaasschool.blogspot.com/). She loves it and so do I. I can't imagine her being away at school for most of the day and missing out on this precious time with her.

She has finally come through the phase where she is terrified of everything. She is still very scared of storms (particularly tornadoes), but who isn't :). She is gaining more confidence in herself and learning that Scott and I will do our best to protect her. Beyond that, she is learning to trust God and His ultimate sovereignty in all things.

We have also recently gone through a very difficult stage of tantrums and pushing and testing her limits. Whew...I am happy to report that this stage seems to be on its way out as well. Scott and I learned during this time that she is definitely over-indulged and needs a little more structure in her life. We are working hard on this and it is already paying off.

While both of these phases have definitely been challenging, life with Liberty is always fun and enjoyable. She is definitely a passionate and sensitive little girl. This can lead to some pretty stubborn standoffs, but more frequently her sensitivity manifests in sweet gestures of kindness and affection. She is very "tuned-in" to others and has such a heart to please.

She continues to adore Emory and vice-versa. She cares for her all the time and mostly without any prompting from me. She picks out her clothes, gives her toys, plays with her, finds her missing binkies, and tries to make her laugh. It is so sweet and I absolutely love watching them together.

One of the greatest Liberty moments I have caught on video is below (for those reading on facebook, go to my blog to check it out--its worth it :)!). She LOVES music. It doesn't matter what kind of music it is--everything from rock to country. Recently, she has decided that classical music is her favorite and we rarely listen to anything else. I captured this video in the car. She was in her carseat and completely unaware that I was even filming her. She was lost in her own little world and it is absolutely priceless. Scott and I are contemplating how we will foster her love of music since neither of us are musically gifted.

Currently her favorite movie is Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. Actually, all her Barbie movies are in the top 10 and she owns 9! I guess 10th place would go to Ratatouille. She also loves to play Barbies. She has two "Ken" dolls. One is named Ken (obviously) and the other she calls John :). She cracks me up. Her Ken dolls are always such gentlemen and they treat Barbie so well. I hope we are teaching her what to look for in her future husband :).

She is also really into cooking in her pretend kitchen and playing video games. The video games are a recent development. A few weeks ago she asked that I get out one of our old game systems. It has all the original nintendo and sega games on it. We started playing games like Super Mario Bros. and Contra. Of course, Scott and I just loved be transported back to our childhood and spending the time playing with Liberty was an extra special bonus. We were all enjoying this new family activity so much that I started contemplating buying a Wii. However, my cheapness has won over for now and I just ended up getting our old playstation 2 out. I let her pick out a new game and she chose Lego Indiana Jones. So, for the past few weeks, Liberty and Scott have been conquering there way through this game (I can't play because I have unbelieveable vertigo and cannot play games where the characters move in multiple directions). While I have mixed feelings about children spending hours on end playing video games, I have decided that as long as we keep it a family activity that it should be ok--at least for now.

Liberty also continues to enjoy tumbling and cheerleading. We changed gyms this session and she really likes it. I am much happier with the quality of the instruction and the atmosphere.

Currently her favorite food would have to be pizza. She cannot get enough of it! She is also drinking gallons of orange juice. Her food phases crack me up. I never know from month to month what she will be into.

She loves to be read to. I cannot wait until she can read herself. It is one of my favorite things to do and I hope she will share a love of reading as well.

Scott and I love that she is such a big girl. Not that she is just growing up, but that she is so mature in many ways. Granted, she definitely has her 5-year-old moments, but she is very articulate, and trustworthy, and she knows her own limits. We love that we can have conversations with her and that she absorbs what we say. She is very contemplative and after she thinks on things for a while, she will come back and ask questions. I love that she is still so innocent. Her little mind can barely process evil and cruelty. She truly is the greatest. I can't wait to see the women she grows up to be!

Heaven

2010-01-27T12:00:00.001-06:00

I find myself overwhelmed this morning with a longing to see my Jesus face to face. One of the most precious gifts God gave me when He took Lilly home was a true an honest longing and anticipation for Heaven. As Christians I think we often see our eteranal home as the end of our journey rather the beginning of our journey. The thought of heaven sounds really great and one day we hope to find ourselves there, but we would rather stay earthbound as long as possible. What I have learned is that there is nothing this world can offer that comes close to what Jesus is preparing for us (John 14:2-3).

I was listening to this song by Chris Tomlin this morning and I captured a vision for Heaven like never before. My favorite part is at the end when he sings "my faith will be my eyes." Oh friends, one day we are going to see it! We are going to stand in front of our Savior! I am going to see my little girl standing among the angels singing "Worthy is the Lamb!" I wish it was today. Come Lord, we are waiting anxiously!!!!

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say, "it is well"
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
Chorus:
I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God, fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes
And I hear the voice of many angels sing, "worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart, "worthy is the Lamb"

Trip to Texas

2010-01-23T21:47:00.002-06:00

Scott sent us away earlier this week so he could get some work done. We didn't complain too much and were happy to head to my parent's house in Texas for a few days of R&R while Scott put in some long hours. I was nervous to make the trip solo because Emory has not proven to be a good traveller; however, we were completely blessed and she was an absolute angel going and coming home!

Our unseasonably warm weather followed us all the way there and it was a least 70 degrees when we arrived. Liberty commenced playing outside immediately. This monster jungle gym is the newest addition to my parent's backyard and Liberty loves it. She spent a good 30 minutes playing Star Wars. She was Princess Leia, I was Han Solo, and Emory was Yoda :).

Emory didn't mind being cast in the role of Yoda and was perfectly content to play along as long as she got to swing in the process.

While we all enjoyed being outside for a change, it totally backfired when Liberty began to suffer a major allergy attack. Despite her runny nose and coughing, she was determined to enjoy the warm weather. Thankfully, Emory and I were not affected by whatever was in the air.

We also made the long trip to Rochester to visit Lilly's grave and decorate her tree for Valentines. We have gotten in the habit of decorating her tree not just for Christmas, but for any major holiday that happens to be coming up. Obviously, we don't get to do this often since we live so far away, but we love it when we do get to. On Monday night, my mom and Liberty made Valentines to put on the tree. It turned out so cute and Liberty had a blast.

I also made a point to take more pictures of the cemetary and surrounding area this time. I know I've talked about how way out in the middle of nowhere this place is, but I wanted to capture it to really make my point. So, this is what Rochester, Texas looks like in the winter...

Across the vast expanse of nothing, you can see the giant windmills. I think they are so beautiful.

Rochester is primarily a farming community. There are fields as far as the eye can see. The air is filled with white dust and the sides of the roads are laced with fuzzy white cotton from the recent harvest.

This is the second time Emory has visited her sister's grave. She looks so much like Lilly. I'm sad that she will never meet her sister this side of Heaven, but I am storing up memories like this so one day I can tell her all about Lilly and our amazing adventure.

On Wednesday we did absolutely nothing. We stayed home and just enjoyed relaxing and visting with my parents. We headed back to OK first thing Thursday morning. We had a great time and Scott got caught up on work. Back to our routine on Monday.

I is for Insect

2010-01-11T16:49:00.000-06:00

Memory Work

"I am a wise child, so I work hard."

Bible Verses

Proverbs 6:6-9

Proverbs 10:4-5

Colossians 3:23-24

So, we are back up and running after the holidays. I have to admit that I really enjoyed lounging around and not doing lesson plans! We started back up with a unit on insects. I wish that this unit could have been done in the spring. It would have made studing bugs so much easier. Despite not being able to get outside much, we managed to study ants by creating out own Ant Hill. This has been so much fun and I think I have enjoyed it as much as Liberty. We bought and Ant Hill and ordered the ants. They came in the mail and we put them in our Ant Hill. I was a little skeptical at first because half the ants were dead when they arrived and the rest looked like they might not make it through the night. While the first 24 hours were slow, our ants were soon busy busy busy building their tunnels. We loved coming in from running errands or waking up in morning to see how much they had gotten done while we were away. They are such hard workers and if you watch closely you can see that each one has a specific job. Some of our ants dug tunnels, others gathered the sand from the digging and formed piles, some buried the dead ants, and others tended to the food we put in there. It was fascinating to watch. We are just sad that they don't live very long. If you are studying insects and Ant Hill is a must!

Liberty is rapidly learning how to read. We are still in the "sounding things out" phase, but she is gradually adding more and more words that she recognizes by sight. I must admit that the process of teaching Liberty to read can be very frustrating and challenging. I have to constantly remind myself not to push too hard. I definitely don't want her to hate reading, especially when I love it so much.

One of our projects this week was to paint a rock to look like a ladybug. It turned out so cute and Liberty loved it. This a great project for your little ones too!

Well, that is all we managed to get done our first week back from vacation. Maybe this week will be more productive.

Six months old!

2010-01-03T11:34:00.001-06:00

I feel like these updates are coming closer and closer together! The picture to the left is completely characteristic of my 6-month-old Emory. She is unbelieveably sweet and happy. I can't imagine what my days would be like without her and we have only had her for such a short time. She's is growing so quickly and doing new and fun things everyday. I'm going to try to be very thourough with this update.

Eating:
She is still nursing every 3-4 hours. She is very consistent and wakes up every night at 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. to eat. I guess that would mean she is only eating once at night, but I don't get up a 6 a.m. so it still seems like twice a night to me :)! We have added cereal and bananas to her diet. She is indifferent to both. She opens her mouth for the very first bite and then I basically have to shove the rest in because she loses interest. I am feeding her solid foods at lunch and at her last meal before bed. I am also making all the baby food this time around. I've never done it before, but since I stay at home, I don't think it should be that big a deal. Plus it should save us a little money :).

First bite of bananas

Sleeping:

She is getting close to taking only two naps a day. The problem is that she doesn't want to sleep for long periods of time. She only wants to sleep for 20-30 minutes at a time, which equals several little naps throughout the day. She starts getting really sleepy around 7-8 p.m. I wish I could just put her to bed then, but inevitably she just wakes up. Then after taking a late 30 minute nap, she is up until 10. Maybe now that the holidays are over and we will be going back to bed at a decent hour, she will get on a good nighttime routine as well. At night she sleeps in a Sleep Sack which she really likes. She still likes to sleep with a blankie although she doesn't require it. If she does use it, I take it away after she falls asleep.

Physical Development:

I have no idea what she weighs. Probably in the neighborhood of 17-18 pounds. Her 6 month WCC is on Monday and I am really anxious to find out how much she has grown. She is transitioning out of her 3-6 months clothes and into her 6-9 month clothes. Her little legs and cheeks are so fat. I just love it!

Motor Development:

She is has made so much progress in this area. She can now sit by herself for long periods of time. It is so much fun. Now she can play in the floor or her in her pack-n-play and she can sit up in the grocery basket and highchairs! To celebrate her new abilities she got a shopping cart/highchair cover for Christmas.

sitting in the floor, highchair at the Grand House, and grocery shopping!

She is still only rolling over from her stomach to her back. She is showing no interest in rolling the other direction and recently she has decided she is too fat to even roll from her stomach. Granted, she doesn't get much tummy time. I am the worst about doing intentional tummy time. Primarily because we have all wood floors and because she HATES it. She get hysterical which I can't stand. She can now grab toys and bring them to her. Typically if she can get a hold of it, it goes directly into her mouth. She loves holding small, light things like her little plastic spoons.

Emotional/Cognitive Development:

She has started to show signs of anxiety when strangers or people she hasn't seen in awhile want to hold her. She doen't mind if they talk to her as long as she in the comfort of her mommy's arms. She has also starting acting shy when Scott plays with her. He talks to her and aggrevates her and she will bury her head in my chest. So cute! She has also start reaching for me when I go to pick her up or take her from someone else. This is absolutely the best thing ever. It makes me feel so special :)!

Just for fun:

One of my favorite things lately is her voice. She is getting very vocal and at times gets quite loud. This is especially funny when she chooses to exercise her vocal chords in public. Check out the video below. I think she was totally excited about watching Star Wars (you can hear it in the background). If you are reading this post on facebook, go to my blog to see the video.

Liberty is still the only one who can make her laugh on demand. This is such a treat. They love each other so much!

One of her favorite activities is still swinging. I just wonder how long this will last. My parents bought her a new swing for Christmas. It goes up to 40 pounds and converts into a rocking chair when they outgrow the swing. She LOVES it!

Her smile is still the best thing I have ever seen. I can't get enough of it! She is such a joy and we are so very much in love with her.