watermelon seeds grow watermelon

this morning as emma was eating her watermelon (while i cooked the rest of breakfast) she told me "watermelon seeds grow watermelon. and pumpkin."

it started a little conversation where she named pretty much every plant in our back yard, and i told her that their seeds grow that same plant. after watermelon, pumpkin, zucchini, apples, marigolds, strawberries, tomatoes, spinach, and cilantro she started to get it.

then i told her that when she asked jesus to come live in her heart ("i prayed!") that he planted a seed that was just like him, so she could grow more like jesus.  we talked about what people who love jesus do: they tell others about him, so their friends can know jesus too.  i told her thats what aunt katie is doing in denmark.  she was pretty excited about that.

its fun helping her figure it all out, and make sense of things she already knew.

july 18, 2012

we had a vacuum sales lady at our house last night.  she was here for ever. after an hour and a half i had to get the kids to bed, and decided to stay and chat with emma while she went to sleep, rather than come back out and listen to more sales pitch.

as emma and i layed in her bed, after a couple minutes of being quiet she told me "my hearts beating. like a hundred times. jesus lives in hearts."
i rolled over to face her and we talked about jesus. i told her jesus lives in mommys heart, and in daddys heart. that a person can pray to ask forgiveness for their sins (the things they think, say or do that displease god) and ask jesus to come live in their hearts and be with them always.  jesus helps us to be obediant and kind and loving.  he helps us to be more like him. she asked if jesus lived in georgies heart. not yet, i said.

then i asked "do you want to ask jesus to come live in your heart?"

her eyes lit up. "yes!"

so we prayed. i tried not to cry. i told her i would write it down so we could remember the day that she asked jesus into her heart.

a little while later, after we talked about what tomorrow would be filled with and she started to fall asleep she asked me "youre going to write it down?" "yes emma, i will." "and then we will go see heidi at the zoo." and a few minutes later she fell asleep. because after all, she is three and while she does love jesus, he ranks just above heidi and the zoo in her little heart.

december 2011- july 2012

i realise its been seven months since i last posted and while that is a terrible thing, we have been busy. so heres a recap.

we spent christmas at home with my parents.  the kids chose our tree, jason cut it, emma helped to decorate. it was christmas just like when i was a kid. until we all got the stomach flu. that part wasnt the same.

 here are the kids in their christmas church clothes for the program

 they just had to touch the tree. 

and next, opening gifts from family at our house a week early- the benefits of traveling before the holiday.

 santa was at jasons christmas party for work. he brought gifts for the kids. georgies was the last in the bag, and it was adorable. (below, the kids made giant gingerbread cookies while the adults mingled. g preferred to just eat his frosting off the top with a spoon.)

 at the tree farm near our house, the kids choose the perfect tree. this one wasnt it.

 jason and emma, carrying it to the car.

 georgie trying out the top of grandpas car. we offered to tie him up there with the tree. (KIDDING.)

 also while we were home, before christmas, we drove up to eugene to see ash, and the ocean.

 festival of lights (we had brayden in the car too, lots of fun.)

 hot chocolates at our new(ish) local cafe.

 opening gifts on christmas morning.

 christmas was warm, so the kids played outside, and brayden got to visit for a little while too.

okay, in january jason started his full time semester of classes and part time work (which was more like full time work) for 16 weeks.

thats what happened to january, february, march, april and the first week of may. it was long and hard and pretty much awful. we are SO GLAD it is over. he passed everything and has only two classes to finish starting next month. in december he will graduate with a BS in civil engineering.

as a reward for surviving and a chance to see one another's faces for more than five minutes three times a week, we used our disney visa points to go to disneyland. without our kids. andie and sara kept the little ones for us for three days while jason and played in the parks. it was wonderful.

here are photos from those months.

i made things. lots of things. heres a few: a backpack for disneyland, and some new shirts. (i later made four more like that first tank top. LOVE them.)

 the kids and i visited the zoo. love discount thursdays.

 easter, and eggstravaganza happened. and mom was here visiting while it happened. also, i made emmas shirt.

 i also had a birthday. a friend from home sent me coffee money. it was PERFECT. later in the day the kids and i had dinner with jason and giggled running in a light rain that caught us on the walk back from the office.

 and we went to disneyland. did i mention that already? DISNEYLAND.

 i had so much motionsickness on our honeymoon that we didnt do the teacups 6 years ago. this was the first of several times we did it this trip! so much fun!

 california screamin'

 at the duck pond, grandpa george took georgie and emma for rides on joshuas bike.

 all the kids and i tie dyed things.

 back at home, we painted bird houses.

 georgie also painted his lips.

 we have played in the sprinkler. often. and drank irrigation water from the hose out of tiny buckets. well, georgie has done that.

 georgie turned two! (candles in his banana, because they wouldnt stand up in his car pancake.)

 birthday presents!

 i sewed some more. georgies shirt above, that says "boy, n. noise with dirt on it", and a skirt for me.

 larry and andie bought the kids a swing set. jason and i spent a week (or two?) building it.

 july 1st we ran a 5k findraising race for the Krohns who are adopting a couple of cuties from ethiopia.

 we had friends over for bbq and smores. kids and melty chocolate. perfect.

miscevuos as ever, emma got ahold of an orange permanent marker (a bic marks it) and colored herself and georgie. the marks on her tummy are a spider. and georgie wanted his toes colored. she told me so. 

 this was emmas first year at VBS with our church.  the smallest size shirt i could buy her was still too big, so i made it a dress.  she had loads of fun.

and that catches us up!