Prom and Chuck E Cheese!

Sorry for the length of this post!  Lots of pics to share this week!

A couple of our kids have behavior charts.  I am not a huge fan of charts.  That means I have to another thing to try and remember.  Well, Ella earned her 'big reward' last week.  We have small rewards along the way.  But we try to give them a 'big goal' to earn also.  Much T\to my chagrin, her 'big reward' was to go play at Chuck E Cheese.  Notice I said play.  I refuse to eat there.  :) We don't take the kids to Chuck E Cheese very often.  The last time we were there was probably 2-3 years ago.  The good news:  when you homeschool you can go in the afternoon during the week so you don't have to deal with the craziness!    The kids were extra excited because we went on an afternoon that Daddy was off so he got to come play too!

This was their favorite thing to do!  It was a machine that showed a 'movie' type scene (i.e roller coaster, haunted house, etc).  You lay back in this chair and it's like a 3-D ride!  Look at those faces!

Big brother playing a game!

 Nora wanted to play Skee-ball too!

Daddy and Graysen playing a game

 Carly riding in the teacup!

 And riding the horse!

 Quality sibling time!

 We were excited because we got to go out to eat after Chuck E Cheese (and have some GOOD pizza) at Old Chicago!  Sissy (Bryn) was done with school by then so she joined us!

The 'best' toy Carly got with her Chuck E Cheese tickets was a Best Friends necklace that she shared with Ella.  If only they could be 'best friends' all of the time!  :)

Our happy baby!  Love those big blue eyes!

SENIOR PROM

Last weekend was Brynna's senior prom.  She went with her friend Matt.  There were about 10 couples that all went together.  The wanted the parents to make them dinner.  So we did!  It was very economical (I love that she is frugal!)  

Nails and hair are VERY important!  Bryn's friend McKenzie did her nails!  The purple matched her dress!

 She got her hair down at a local salon.  Jessie did a great job with all of her hair.  The final count on bobby pins......see the picture at the end.

Final do!

Bryn and Sarah had to wear 'hats' because it was raining when it was time to leave.

Little sisters LOVE to watch Sissy get ready for special events!

Sparkly TOMS!

Jewelry!

Almost ready!

 Grandma helped put flowers in her hair.

Dad helping Matt tie his bowtie (thank goodness for YouTube)

The cute couple!

It was a rainy day, but they wanted the top down in the convertible (even it was just for a few minutes)!

The whole gang!

Funny pics

Weirdos! 

The purple group!

The next morning!

Bobby pins and rubber bands!  Oh my!

They had a wonderful time and made another lasting memory for their senior year!

Newest member of our family

No, I am NOT pregnant!  No, we are not getting any new four-legged friends! 

 It's something much cooler than that!

This is Rose-Kattie.  She turned 1 a couple of weeks ago.  She is a precious baby that is at an orphanage in Haiti.  We sponsor her through the Hands and Feet project (http://www.handsandfeetproject.org/jacmel).  I would LOVE to meet and hold this dear little one someday.  I would love for her and Nora to get to play together.  So precious!  We heard of Hands and Feet through our church.  The couple that runs this orphanage used to attend our church before they moved their young family to Haiti.  

Brian and I have always talked about doing mission trips.  He would love to do medical mission trips.  I would love to do mission trips to orphanages.  I know it would be extremely difficult for me.  I know I am truly clueless and naive to the conditions that some children (many children) live in. 

I know it would break my heart. 

 To hold, love, rock and remind these precious children that Jesus loves them would be a gift to me.

We've talked about taking our older kids.  To give them a different worldview.  To teach them compassion.

We also sponsor another girl named Nandhini.  We sponsor her through Compassion International (www.compassion.com) .  She is close to Ethan's age.  It has been wonderful writing to her over the years and hearing about her schooling, family and her love for Jesus!  She lives in India with her parents.

 What blessings all of our 'kids' are!

Kansas City Here We Come!

Last weekend I had the joy of spending time with two great ladies at a great conference in Kansas City.  They are two gals from a women's Bible study and a couple's small group that I am in.  The conference was put on by Beth Moore.  We have done 2 studies in our women's group by Beth Moore.  We were so excited to be able to see Beth in person!  She is so dynamic and real!  Very uplifting!   The even better part was being able to spend some quality time with these awesome ladies!  It was great food and community!  We learned a lot about each other.  Sometimes I forget what it feels like to just be Alana.  Not wife, mommy, caretaker, teacher,  etc.  I love my  life, but need to remember that I need to make time for friends too!  We had some scrumptious food at Oklahoma Joe's (a BBQ restaurant in a gas station) and The Melting Pot (fondue galore).

We are gearing up for graduation here.  I cannot believe that Brynna is going to graduate.  I know it's cliche to say ' I don't know where the time went'.  But I really don't.  I want 18 more years with her at home (my husband is not advocating for this  :)).  I know God has great things planned for her.  But this mama's heart aches thinking about her not being home every day.  Right after graduation we have her college orientation.  Seriously?  Where did the time go?

We have another play to attend this weekend.  Ethan has taken a role behind the curtain for Alice in Wonderland being performed at the children's theater.  He is part of the props crew.  He really loves the behind the scenes stuff!

Ella is still a little mama!  She lugs the baby around and bosses the other littles around. :)  She loves reading and drawing.  Nancy Drew is a favorite right now.  She even made a shirt for herself for Easter.  She wanted to wear it to church, but opted for a pretty dress instead.

Carly has a dance recital coming up.  She really loves her dancing class.  She takes a combo class of tap/jazz/ballet.  Their number for the recital is a jazz number to Dancing Queen by Abba.  Their outfits are adorable!  Hopefully the final production will not be a disaster!

We are working on potty training with Graysen.  All of our kids potty trained right around 3 years old.  Graysen turned 3 at the end of December and could really care less about going in the toilet.  We try hard to bribe him with Cheetos.  I think we have had a total of 5 successful potties in the potty.  At least I don't have to worry about him not getting to go to preschool if it still does not happen for a while.  :)

(I am sure years down the road he will be thrilled that I posted this pic on my blog!)

Nora is going to be one in 3 weeks!  Seriously, where does the time go?  :)  I have been blessed to be at home with her.  The rest of the kids all went to daycare since I was still working outside the home then.  Nora loves hanging out with her brothers and sisters.  She can already hold her own with them!  She loves pancakes and french toast!  She so far is just rolling to get places.  She gets up like she is going to crawl, but no movement yet.  Honestly, that is fine with me.  That is one less little one I have to chase for now!  No teeth yet either!  She still wears size 1 shoes!  Such tiny feet.  She is up to 17 pounds!  We have been so thankful for her first year being such a healthy one!