Happy Birthday, Noah!

Well my Little (he'll be on to me for that nickname one day . . . ) turned 3 on Saturday.  Three.  3.  Hard to get my mind around.  He was much more into having a birthday than I remember Ella being at three.  When I picked him up from school he said 'mum!  It's my birthday soon!'  Yes, son, just one more sleep!

And so his birthday dawned, and of course, after days of defying the magical Groclock (which lets than know when they can get out of bed), Noah sleeps in on his birthday!  I may or may not have snuck in and whispered 'hey buddy, it's your birthday!'

He was quite taken by the large McQueen balloon we had waiting for him at the table, along with some gifts from family.  

He opened the gifts (according to his preference for the wrapping paper), while skyping with family in Texas.  Technology sure is wonderful.  

One thing I really enjoy doing to celebrate my kid's birthdays is to make a special cake.  Whether we have a party or not, it is something I have done for them each year.  It's usually a cake they have chosen or one that I feel captures something they enjoy.  And for Noah, that would be cars and trucks.  Jason and I worked together on this one.  I'm happy with how it turned out, but mostly thrilled at Noah's reaction.  He loved it!

The party spread.  I have loads of respect for my parents who threw great parties for us at home.  They never seemed tired or stressed or exhausted in the process!

How to ensure party success?  Zip 'em into the trampoline!

I asked Ella to go and ask if they were ready to play Pass the Parcel.  It seemed like just seconds later they were all inside and sitting ready to play.  Noah, bless him, had the hardest time focusing.  He was way more interested in the music DVD we had playing for the game.  "Noah.  Noah!  NOAH!  Pass the parcel, bud!"

Cake time!  The kid's were quite fascinated by this cake with trucks stuck to it.

Little man now has his own scooter.  And guess who likes his scooter more than her Hello Kitty one.  Yep.  Noah's scooter has three wheels.  Ella's, just two.  I guess she feels more secure and safe on his.  I really feel I can't win some days!!!

Ready to roll.  

Whaley birthdays aren't complete without number pancakes. 

Noah -- you are a treasure.  Yesterday you told me, 'mum, you are my best friend!'  You somehow manage to melt my heart every day.  And sometimes I want to set my hair on fire!  :-)  But how I love you and thank God for you, and how I pray for wisdom and overflowing love as we raise you.  Happy Birthday!

Noah

There is so, so much to love about this little boy.  Who happens to be turning THREE next week and I happen to be having a hard time with him being so big.  Thankfully at least once a day, he asks me 'mama, nuggle with me'.  And so I do.  I climb into his bed and we 'nuggle' (he can't say his 's's at the start of words, so we have 'nuggle, and 'nack and so on).  

Cheeky to his core, this boy.  Rough and yet gentle.  Fiesty and yet tenderhearted; often the first to share.  

And recently, oh so creative.  

'I'm making an egg for you!'

So much concentration required

'Here's your egg mum!'

Quick visit

We had a lovely visit with our friends from Canberra this past Sunday.  We didn't think we were going to get all of our visits in this year (usually one in Canberra, one in Wollongong and one at Camp Challenge).  But thanks to them holidaying kinda-sorta near us, we were able to have a quick but lovely visit.

The girls didn't waste a second.  I honestly don't think they'd been here much more than five minutes before they got into the Princess outfits!

They can hardly contain themselves!  Our beautiful Snow White and Cinderella.  Mental note to myself and Kate, pack dress up clothes for camp.  I'm not sure these two would handle five nights without dress up clothes very well.

This was the best we could do for a pic

Thanks for coming our way, Jennings family.  See you at Camp! 

I stumbled upon this mosiac pin board at KMart.  I had a similar one as a child and had searched for them online, but hadn't found any.  So I was excited to find this one.  The kids have loved it and what great value . . . now just $8 (I paid $10, oh well).  It might buy you a few minutes and your kids a chance to share, be creative, and use those fine motor skills!

 Noah's recent fascination is the octopus, so that's what he was making.

Or, you might just join in like I did today.

Wheels

There's just no way for me to catch up on blog posts.  "Just start where you're at" . . . isn't that what they say?  But tonight, I came across these pictures from about seven (!!!) months ago and thought I'd share.  Man time FLIES!  My boy has more hair these days, this little bike is in the boot of the car about to be gifted to the Salvos (since Noah is going to be 3 in just a few weeks and will get to enjoy something a little more age appropriate!), and that wet stuff...what is that?  Rain?!  A rare thing these days.

I love this boy.  I love that at night he calls out 'mama, nuggle me'.  And when I crawl into his bed, he won't rest until his head is touching mine.  And I love that he'll throw caution to the wind and tear down our driveway on a rainy day.  And I absolutely can't believe that my Little is going to be three so very soon!

Head, Heart and Hands

Most Sunday afternoons I get to be with my kids in a very special way -- Bible class or Sunday school.  Even from the swaddling days, we've enjoyed reading to our kids from God's word . . . (man time flies!!!  Excuse me while I go have a little cry) . . .

I'm pretty sure Ella went to the nursery class the first time she came to church...at 4 weeks, maybe, 5?  I dropped her off in the nursery in her baby capsule and in exchange got a beeper in case she needed me!  Ah 'letting go' begins so early.

Here's a pic of Ella in class when she was tiny.  Look at her holding her little Bible.  So sweet.  Miss Toni...we miss you!

During her first five months of life we were on the road a lot since we were preparing to move to Australia.  If we visited a church that had a cradle roll class . . . off she went.  She was fine (mostly I think she slept through the little class) and I got to engage in an class with other adults.  Then when we moved here, I didn't want Ella missing out on the fun, so started doing a similar class to what she'd get otherwise.  Then Noah came along and he joined right on in.

I think this pic is Noah's first little class we did.  Ella is handing him his Bible...aww.

For the first couple of years of their lives their class has centered around "God made the world, God made me, God loves me'.  Lots of songs and lots of props.  And lots of emphasis on being loved and treasured by God.  One of their absolute favorite things from the infants class is where we read a special message in their Bibles (the same one every week!)  Noah especially loves this.  I open their little Bibles, hold their index finger and we read 'God made Noah! God loves Noah!'  And then they squeal and laugh.  So funny!  And the great part is that I didn't have to come up with these ideas on my own.  Before leaving Round Rock, I video recorded a class so I could learn the songs and so on.  Thanks to the fearless teachers who've gone before me!

More recently we've been learning about other things from our Bibles as well -- stories of people who encountered God, loved God, obeyed God, disobeyed God, told other people about Him -- you get the drift.  I don't want to just bombard them with facts and try to find activities that help engage their mind, their heart and their hands...helping them to look upward, inward and outward, if that makes sense.

Today was about Abraham.  We talked about how God spoke to Abraham and Abraham listened.  He did what God asked him to do and he trusted God.  Since he and his family lived in tents, we made a tent out of a sheet thrown over chairs and that's where the kids sat for the story.

And then, after talking about how God told Abraham to move to a foreign place, we packed up the tent and our things and moved on (in this case the other end of the room!)

The kids were quite intrigued!

And then for some craft.  Abraham got some cotton wool for a beard.  I told Ella that Abraham was already old at this time . . . older than Grammy and Pa!!!  She liked that!

Then glitter to decorate stars to remind us of God's promise to Abraham; that his children would be more than the stars in the sky!

And as a special treat today, we even made star cookies.  They may have even been a little glittery from our craft (though we did wash hands!)

And here's our finished craft.  With two Abrahams, cause I have two kids, you know.  And I get oh, so tired of picking up two crafts from the floor, so we just made one poster.  :-)

As a parent, physical growth is amazing.  The emergence of speech has left me, well, speechless at times.  It's incredible to watch them navigate the world around them by sitting, crawling, standing, walking, running.  To now jumping and balancing on their heads!

But nothing, absolutely nothing, will top watching my kids grow in their understanding of God!  How much they are loved and cared for by Him, and in knowing that God has been, and will always be, faithful and with them!  What a privilege to grow in faith together.  And the great part is, I'm human, I make mistakes, I fail my kids . . . but it isn't all up to me . . . God makes Himself known and these little hearts can receive it so tenderly!  (And thank you to the fantastic people who've also taught my kids, shared ideas, and taken the time to put great ideas on the internet to make our job much, much easier and more fun!)

Canberra

Whoa, another blog post!  So many (four?!) after such a long hiatus.  I've been looking through pictures and realizing that even when times have felt really hard, there have been a lot of bright spots!  Take our dear friends in Canberra, the Jennings for example.

Each year, we do our best to visit each other once (so a trip to Canberra for us, and a trip to Wollongong for them) and then we meet up at Camp Challenge from Dec 27-Jan 1 each year and get to enjoy five nights of fun and relaxation.  Good, good times.

I can't remember exactly when we went this year.  April, perhaps?  You can tell by the pictures it was already beginning to get chilly there.  We got up early one morning to see launch of some hot air balloons.  Such brave souls we are waking our four kiddos.

So we went.  And we waited.  And waited.  And . . . waited.  And then finally learned that due to the direction of the winds, the hot air balloons wouldn't launch and they were just inflating them for our viewing pleasure.  Oh well.  They really were quite amazing.  And on the way home we were able to see lots of balloons that were able to take off from another location.

Back at the house, Ella and Lily entertained themselves with these little puppies.  Ella has since talked about 'wanting a little dog that I can tie a string around it's neck and drag it along behind me.'  I'm pretty sure she means this is the kindest, most humane way possible.

We also got in a little play time with Bailey and Charlotte, who looks like a little doll!  Ella was sooo happy!

Is it just me or do these boys look a little perturbed at us interrupting them to take a picture?!

I would LOVE to know what world problem these boys are solving

Or maybe they were just figuring out how to get the chickens to come out of the garden.

Our traditional kid-pile-up picture...Noah (aww those fingers!), Ella, Eli, Lily, Bailey and Charlotte.  Gorgeous kids.  We are blessed!

And . . . a bath pic, of course.  Gotta have a few of these on hand for the future. And yes, those are popsicles!

The kids have such fun together.  It is crazy.  Meal times are wild.  The sleepovers (Lily and Ella) were a success!  Toys and dress ups are shared.  Sometimes mediation and negotiations are required.  But for four kids under four, at the time, I think they do so well together.  And as for us adults, well, we hardly come up for air with all the talking over tea and chocolate, and at any other minute we can grab.  We love you, Jennings family!

Open wide, come inside . . .

It's Playschool!  And it is a gem.  My kid's love Playschool and I love it for them, too.  Creative (most of the props are handmade with everyday items), engaging and not hyper-stimulating, like so many of the flashy, fast-moving, animated shows that have become the norm for kids.  When we first moved here and I watched my first episode in a long time, I was very unimpressed, but soon grew to love it for it's brilliant simplicity.

And . . . Playschool goes Live in Concert and came to Wollongong!  So, being the faithful fans we are, we paid our $14.50 (deal!) and saw Big Ted and Jemima live from the toddler moshpit.  Both Ella and Noah were quite reserved about the whole ordeal.  Ella, especially, tends to be very clingy in new situations and the more I push, the more she retreats.  Hmm, come to think of it, she reminds me of someone else I know! 

Enjoying herself ever so cautiously.  Jason on the other hand was having a GREAT time!

Mesmerized!

Meeting Rachael and Jay after the show 

And it should be known that this was actually my first ever concert!  I'll be taking the cool factor up a few notches though when Kiala takes me to see Coldplay in a couple of months.  Hope I can handle it!