Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing in the water - Kaitlyn, Emma, Brock, Hannah and Corinne

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2007!

We just enjoyed a beautiful, warm, sunny morning at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach. The water was cold but it was still fun. Kids came back to the house wet and sandy!

We hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving remembering all the blessings God gives us each and every day!

It's time to cook dinner now...

Hannah's 7th Birthday Party

"The Airplane" - first class seating of course!

First stop - NORWAY - playing "Hawk and Pigeon" (thanks Aunt Anne Grethe for all the Norwegian candy and telling us about the game)

Then - EGYPT - finding "buried treasures" (birthday presents) and "coins" (bag of candy wrapped in gold and silver paper)

Next stop - ITALY - pizza!

On to - CHINA - using chopsticks to put gummy bears in the carryout containers (most girls ended up "sticking" the bears)

One more continent - AUSTRALIA - the "kangaroo hop" with helium filled balloons between their legs

Last stop - USA - birthday cake

Happy birthday, Hannah!

Hannah wanted to go "Around the World" for her 7th birthday. What a fun trip it was! She and I made passports for each girl. (Notice them on the table in a few of the photos.) They had to have it with them to enter and leave each country. At each stop I had a return address label with the name and flag of each country. They had their passports "stamped" with these labels. They also had a "suitcase" by their seat on the airplane to place all their "goods" after each country. I also told the girls on their invitations to dress up like someone from another country. We had China, Puerto Rico, Great Britain (lady ready for tea with her hat), Sweden (Kirsten the American Girl), Israel (as in Moses' time:), Sicily, Spain (Brock's soccer uniform) and the USA represented. They were very creative with their outfits.

We started with a fun game Anne Grethe told me they play in Norway. (When she called me the week of the party, I thought she said "hog and pigeon". Later, she corrected me. It's "hawk and pigeon". Makes more sense!:) We play a game like it in the US but call it something different. I just can't remember what we call it right now. (It's past my bedtime!) Anne Grethe also sent a bag full of candy for the kids to enjoy so they received Norwegian candy.

We've been studying Ancient Egypt, so that was a place Hannah wanted to visit. I briefly told the girls about the pharoahs and pyramids. We went looking for "treasures" where Hannah was able to open her gifts. I also had Kisses (silver) and Rolos (gold) for them to have as "coins".

After Egypt it was dinnertime so we headed to Italy for pizza. Chesse pizza made all the kids happy.

After dinner we flew overnight (pretended to sleep) to China in honor of Hannah's cousin, Jessica. We're also studying Ancient China so it was a fitting place to visit. I had gummy bears for the girls to try to pick up with chopsticks. They had 60 seconds (or a little more:) to put as many as they could into a carryout box. They were funny...by the end most of them were sticking the bears in the tummy with the ends of the chopsticks. They were excited to keep the chopsticks and "take out".

We headed to Australia for one last game. They put a helium filled balloon between their legs and did a "kangaroo hop" across the room and back. Fun, fun! Brock was quite a trooper being the only boy at the party.

We ended our journey around the world back home in the good ol' USA for some birthday cake. Hannah helped me make her cake. If you know which continents are on her cake, you'll make my day! :) I'm not a professional cake decorator! If you leave a comment about it, make sure you're nice to me!!

We had a fun time celebrating Hannah's 7th birthday. Tomorrow is her "real" birthday so we'll do something fun. I'm sure there will be more photos to share...

Brock's Birthday

Brock's pancake "breakfast" on Saturday evening (see the "5" pancake?)

Brock's soccer cupcake after lunch on Sunday. Count the candles...5!!

Brock's "baseball" cake for his party. (Made by Mom, Brock and Hannah:)

Brock hitting the ball for our indoor baseball game. (It rained!)

Brock and his friends showing their muscles. Everyone had a good time!

Okay, Aunt Heather, here are some birthday photos. Brock's birthday celebration turned into a week long event. It started on Saturday evening and ended the following Thursday for his party. Six of his friends, Miss Laura (and Genevieve), and his family were there to celebrate. They had fun playing Hullabaloo and indoor baseball (tee-ball). He received some fun gifts and then we had birthday cake. Yum, yum!!

Now our Brock is 5 years old. My, how time flies!! We're so proud of him. Thank you, God, for giving us Brock 5 years ago!!

Unit Celebration and Dad's Birthday

Hannah's projects

Brock's projects

Hannah in her Hebrew costume, Brock in his High Priest costume (minus the hat we couldn't find)

Happy birthday, Dad!!

Enjoying some of Dad's birthday cupcakes before bedtime

Our unit celebration with our co-op happened to be on Brent's birthday. We had a seder meal that evening with a gentleman from the International Jewish Mission Board leading us. It was quite an experience for the kids (mom and dad too). Hannah and Brock had most their projects displayed before the meal. It was encouraging listening to them talk about what they learned while doing each project. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them and see more details of the projects. You just might learn something:) We are really enjoying our Tapestry of Grace curriculum.

We celebrated Brent's birthday when we got home. A cupcake before bedtime is always a treat at our home. It was a late night but we made to it soccer on time the next morning!

Our Day at the Fair

Mom and Hannah (pink shirt on left side of photo) riding the swings

The roller coaster was a big hit! (See three smiling children in back of the ride!) Brent told them to "hang on" and "hang on" they did.

Corinne and Emma's first ride at the fair. Brock went along to take care of them:)

Hannah convinced the potter to give her a turn.

We went to the state fair a couple of weeks ago. The kids had a good time. Hannah and Brock rode the big ferris wheel with Brent. Hannah rode it last year but Brock didn't want to. This year he walked right up to it and got on like it was no big deal. What a difference a year can make.

After a full day of rides, seeing animals and crafts, and eating a fried Snickers bar, we went to Jason's Deli for dinner before heading home. Hannah wants to enter a craft through our 4-H club next year. We'll see if she gets it done...

Brock's 5th Birthday

Well, I have been trying to post photos all weekend but something is wrong with the site. There are lots of things to tell, but "what's a blog without pictures?!" - Brent Freeland :)

Brock turned 5 today. We're having his party this Thursday so there will be plenty more to tell then. He had a fun day of church, spaghetti and cupcake for lunch, watching football and bike racing on tv, talking on the phone to those who called and going to KidStuf. His very thoughtful sisters got him a KidStuf shirt for his birthday but it was dirty (did I mention we had spaghetti?) before he could wear it tonight. Next week we'll let him put it on right before we leave!

We went to the state fair Thursday, had our unit celebration for co-op and celebrated Brent's birthday Friday, and had soccer games and basketball evaluations Saturday. I'll post photos as soon as it's working again.

Have a great week!!

Soccer, KidStuf, Linen Closet and Ziggurats

My, oh my...it has been 3 weeks since I posted anything. I'm not sure where the time has gone. Brock wants me to tell you that he scored TWO goals at his soccer game two weekends ago (he was sick this past weekend and didn't play). Hannah scored a goal two weekends ago as well. So we celebrated with lunch and ice cream at McDonalds.


For those who have followed our blog for a while, you'll remember reading about KidStuf. Well, the new year is off and running with all four of our kids loving it (although Brock will tell you he doesn't like it...but he wants a t-shirt!:) Corinne and Emma even do the hand motions and clapping with the songs. They are really cute even though they are my own children. This month's virtue is RESPECT and it could not have come at a better time. It has been encouraging to see Hannah begin to connect all the virtues together, realizing that you can show RESPONSIBLITY and INITIATIVE at the same time for example.


My own personal greatest achievement the past few weeks has been my linen closet. Oh yes, my linen closet. You see, it has been a mess of clutter for most the time we've lived here. Just one of those "areas" I never got around to "fixing". However, Hannah and I showed some INITIATIVE (still lovin' those virtues!) and emptied the closet a few weeks ago. When we finally got the "keeper" stuff back in there, it looked right nice! I'll show you a photo just in case you don't believe me:)

My linen closet...you can even see the shelving!

We were studying about Mesapotamia and the Tower of Babel a couple of weeks ago. Hannah and Brock made these ziggurats at co-op out of sugar cubes and cake icing. They were disappointed that they couldn't keep them but taking a photo for the blog made them happy again. If you're not sure what a ziggurat is, read about them at this website. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggurat

Hannah's ziggurat

Brock's ziggurat

Bahamas Cruise - The Rest of the Story

Brent and I went for a ride on the "banana boat" (yellow boat behind Hannah)

Family photo with ship in background

Dinner after afternoon on Paradise Island

Fun times on Celebration (thanks Miss Laura for our fun t-shirts!)

Fun ice cream desserts on Celebration

Okay, guess I better finish telling about our cruise before it's a new month. After Hannah got her hair braided and we had lunch, we took a taxi to Paradise Island for another afternoon at the beach. This beach water wasn't as smooth as Freeport. We did manage to have a good time though:) Where there's sand and water, the kiddos are happy. Happy kiddos make happy parents (and happy Grammy).


Brent and I rode on the "banana boat". That was an interesting experience. Sorry but no photos...well, no digital photos. (Where are my photos, Mom?)

We had not eaten in the formal dining room because we had a late dining. The evening we were at Nassau, they had open seating so we got dressed up a little and had a formal dinner. One of the best things about cruising is the food. Hannah ate steak every chance she got and that evening was no exception. We enjoyed cake for dessert (courtesy of Miss Laura).

Our last day was "at sea" so the kids spent the morning at Camp Carnival while Mom, Brent and I went to the Gospel Show (did I mention this was the Elvis cruise?) After lunch the older two kids went back to Camp Carnival while we napped/took it easy.

We had such a good time. Now that we know the kids do well on ships, we're ready for a 7-night! :) Wonder what trip I can win next...

Hannah's Hair - 2 weeks later

Lots of curls from the braids

Much to Hannah's dismay we took out the braids after her first soccer game. They had been in for two weeks. Her hair was beginning to look unkept and we were afraid it would start breaking. It took me almost as long to take down the 36 braids as it did to get it braided. Brent even helped some. It was just as fun having curls for a few hours as it was having braids for our sweet girl. What a fun memory she has!!

Nassau, Bahamas - Hannah's Hair

BEFORE: Breakfast on ship before disembarking at Nassau

Let the braiding begin...

and braiding...

and braiding...(chewing her gum got more intense at times)

AFTER: and it's finally finished!

We let Hannah get four braids while at Freeport. That night and the next morning, she kept asking to get ALL her hair braided. We finally said "yes" when we were walking through Nassau. It was a good thing Grammy had given her a piece of gum to chew! I told her that she can NEVER complain again about me fixing her hair!!!! She loved it and we just took the braids out Saturday night. Thankfully, her hair is okay and she has beads to make a necklace to remember her Bahamas souvenir.

Soccer Season is HERE!

Brock's first play of the season for the opening kick

Brock throwing in the ball...do you see the ball?

Hannah playing defense...it's not very busy on this end of the field

Hannah running to join her teammates after throwing in the ball

Well, we were back on the soccer field again today. Brock's team plays then Hannah's team plays. Brock had only practiced one time, Hannah had not practiced at all thanks to the rain that came through last night. It was still a fun day and both teams will improve as the season progresses. No goals for either of them today but Brock came close...which was very exciting to him:)

Freeport, Bahamas

Corinne and Brock...first morning at sea sitting in window in stateroom

Funtimes in the water for Hannah, Corinne and Brock

Brock, Hannah and Brent enjoying the water

Brock having a good time!

Emma and Corinne playing on bed

Our first port of call was Freeport, Bahamas on Friday. After a 40 minute rain shower just as we were disembarking, we took a taxi to the beach. That was perhaps the best beach we have ever visited. The water was SO calm! The kids had a great time playing in the sand and water. I think Grammy dug at least a dozen holes in the sand with them. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story for the day...

Sunset at sea...leaving Freeport, Bahamas

Last Minute Vacation

There's something wonderful about a last minute vacation. That's what we experienced over Labor Day weekend. I won a cruise in a contest for travel agents. Long story short, we ended up taking the kids and my mom too. We left Jacksonville, FL last Thursday and sailed to Freeport, Bahamas for Friday. Saturday we were at Nassau, Bahamas. Sunday was a day "at sea" then we drove back home from Jacksonville Monday. We had such a good time! It was the perfect length for the kids' and mom's first cruise.

These photos were taken as the ship was leaving the Port of Jacksonville. I'll post more about our vacation within the next few days.