Malachi 2 months, Sarah 18 months, Qorban 10 years check up

Malachi is now 13 lb 2 oz and 22 1/2 inches tall.
Sarah is now 22 lb and 30 3/4 inches tall.
Qorban is now 68 lb and 55 1/4 inches tall.

museum visit

                                                     Malachi, Sarah, Caleb

                                              Liliana

We visited a museum in Shawnee that had a real Egyptian mummy and lots of other artifacts.  It was neat to see it in person. The mummy was a woman in her 40s. I was amazed at how small she was. I also thought it was neat to see the little worker statues that were made and buried with the common people. Apparently the common people believed that after death they too would awaken in an everlasting Egypt. But they were worried that the Pharaohs would call them to work as they did in life. So they made little statues to answer the call to work for Pharaoh.

We pass a tree that has these huge leaves on it when we walk. The kids always pick the leaves for fans. I have not yet figured out what the tree is yet but I will.

Ada park and splash pad

 Yes, Sarah's brothers took her to the third level of the rocket and then said that she shouldn't go any higher cause that would be too high.  Sarah was pleased that they included her and didn't seem the slightest bit disturbed by the height.

 Qorban and Caleb loved when the buckets dumped  on them. It was a fun way to cool off on a hot day.

white daisy, my favorite flower

These grew in my garden. Liliana and I planted them last year but they didn't bloom last year. The white daisy reminds me of being in Romania. I went camping with the teens. The meadow we camped in was full of these beautiful white daisies. I remember sitting with the older girls and learning how to braid the flower stems together to make a pretty crown.  It was a happy, relaxed time.

Flour as snow

We mixed up lots of batches of homemade play dough this week.  Once, Liliana and Hannah mixed it up on the front porch while I was feeding Malachi. Caleb realized that the spilled flour would make good snow for his Lego creations. So he added more flour to the table and made a snow plow. It was fun and creative. Sarah just thinks it is the greatest to play in, taking getting dirty to a whole new level.

Building a pyramid

best place to sleep?

                                               Christopher, Sarah, Malachi
  The kids all have their own beds but always seem to end up in ours by morning.  Makes me think of a book I read a lot as a child called 'When I Go to Bed I Take'. It is a little counting story about a child who takes lots of things to bed with them. At the end it says, 'and sometimes there isn't room for me.'

Southern Black Racer

We found one of these with a light blue belly on one of our walks. I had never seen a blue snake before.  This picture shows a cream belly but the one we saw was a real pretty blue. It is not a venomous snake.

Swinging Sarah

We set up the swing for Malachi and he likes it. But Sarah sure hurries to climb in when he is not. She loves to swing in the baby swing. She also like to sit in his seat and frequently tries to just sit on top of him. In the double stroller, she will climb over to his side and sit on him if she is not buckled.

Watching games was not always as much fun as playing

 

Grandma Darkis made it down to see Qorban's last two games. I was glad she could make it and that the games didn't start til  7:30 PM. We left for the game before 7 and didn't get home til after 11 PM.  The kids spent lots of money at the concession stand but when the money ran out, they just sat and complained. They played with other kids at the ball park sporadically.  Qorban's team won the first game but lost the second game in a close heartbreaker.

Good morning Grandma!

Sarah and Malachi snuggling with Grandma after waking up Saturday morning.

Dancing girl

Liliana wants to take ballet lessons again. She got on her old ballet clothes and danced for Grandma when Grandma was visiting. Maybe this will be the year that we are able to take her back to lessons. She also wants to take piano lessons too.  I think it would be great but after just finishing baseball  season, I want to be careful how busy we become.

Coalgate Rangers summer 2013

This was Qorban's first year in kid pitch baseball.  I was amazed at how well these boys could play even at this age. We attended a minor league game a few years ago and I remember thinking how hard it was to play at that level because hitting the ball seemed to be really hard. But also if it was hit, even a ball to the way outfield resulted in maybe a base hit and there was a good chance they might be out at first.  I noticed it was that way for the boys now! They could catch fly balls and throw a player out easily. Points were mainly scored because of walks and bases stolen or the occasional overthrown ball.

evening walks

 

 

                                        A tarantula that we met on our walk.

                   I have been trying to walk in the evenings when we don't have baseball games.  Hannah from down the road walks with us a lot. Just when I have decided not today we are going to skip it, the kids will say, Hannah is suppose to go home after our walk, if we don't walk she will have to spend the night. :)  The kids have fun trying to walk only on the black parts of the road, racing and seeing the road kill.

Sarah 18 months, Malachi 7 weeks

                                          Sarah, miss independent, will walk by herself.....
She like to walk slow and look at everything. It is amazing to see things through her eyes, everything is new and exciting, amazing creations of our creator. Beautiful flowers, cool sticks, long grass that Sarah likes to try to pull and wrap around her neck. She tries to pick the little white flowers of the milk weed that I must be allergic to cause I start sneezing when I try to help her.

 

                                            Now, Sarah will walk no more... she sat down and when no one ran to pick her up, she laid down on the road. She still doesn't really use many words but she sure communicates how she feels and what she wants with crystal clear clarity.

                                     Christopher and Malachi. Malachi still is learning to control his hands and arms. His gestures are so dramatic it makes Daddy think he will be a preacher or public speaker.

                                       Sarah and Malachi

Sweet Cleats 2013

  Liliana played coach pitch softball this summer. Her team was the Sweet Cleats. The girls had fun but the season ran long cause we had so many games cancelled and then rescheduled and it got hot. Liliana didn't want to play by the time it was done but she had fun with the girls.  She like playing with her team mates while her brothers were having their games. Liliana also loved to visit the concession stand.

 

playing on the park at the lake

                                     Sarah really wanted to swing like a big kid.

                                           Caleb trying to fit in the monkey bars....

                                                 Liliana

                                                 Qorban

                                     Christopher, Qorban and Sarah. She was so tickled.

                                                Liliana

                                               Caleb and Sarah getting ready to leave

                                           Sarah was trying to balance on the wobbly balance beam.

The Lord's blessing on this land does overflow!!!!!

                                          McGee Creek State park boat ramp. When we came here to play with the rocks and try to build our own Stonehenge only the very far end of the boat dock was in the lake cause the drought was so sever. Now the lake is overflowing! And so is every other lake, pond, creek, and river in the area! The water was so deep on the steps leading too the boat dock that we did not cross it.

Behind Caleb, somewhere out there under the all that wonderful water is our rock creations!

Sarah trying to climb/walk on the big rocks like her big brothers. I think she discovered it wasn't as easy as they made it look but that did not discourage her.

                                              My special blessings!!!

                                                 Sarah at the bottom of the steps to the swimming beach.....

                                                   Qorban

                                                             Caleb

                                                 Liliana trying to skip rocks

library program

The kids got to feed and pet a baby kangaroo, pet a leemar and hold cockroaches and tarantula. They had a blast!