The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. Psalm 16:6


Thursday, April 26, 2007

All About NICHOLAS!!

Hey everybody! My name is Nicholas and I'm 10 years old. Here are some facts about me to help you get to know me.


Favorite meal: Minestrone soup (Miss Casie's recipe!)

Least Favorite meal: Scallop chowder

Favorite hobby: wrestling with Dad

Favorite movie: Night at the Museum

Favorite book: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Least favorite book: Robinson Crusoe by DeFoe

Favorite thing to do in CA: Disneyland

Favorite thing about moving to CA: The beach

Least favorite thing about CA: earthquakes

Something I miss a lot in CT: a plethora of friends (Editor's note: he actually wrote that word! We are sitting here laughing about "Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas? Yes, I would say you have a plethora. Do you know what is a plethora?" Hee-Hee!! For those of you who are scratching your heads, it's a quote from The Three Amigos)

Favorite subject in school: science, especially science projects

Least favorite subject: math

I'm most afraid of: Black Widow spiders

Monday, April 23, 2007

Gustav's CD is finally available!!!!!

Bad picture, I know. I couldn't figure out how to improve it. But the good new is: it's here, it's here, it's finally HERE!! From Darkness Into Light is now available at Amazon!!! Here's the link (hopefully!)

From Darkness Into Light

I am so proud of Gustav! This is good stuff! Kudos to Casie and Cynthia, also, for playing so very, very well!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

DOUBLE DIGITS!!


Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

On Monday, our eldest offspring hit double digits! What an amazing thing! There are days I don't feel old enough to even have children, never mind FIVE children, never mind one child that is TEN!! It's great to be deluded.

We spent a very, very enjoyable day at Sea World in San Diego. Nicholas got to direct us to all the things he wanted to see. The dolphin show was particularly fun and Nicholas chose to sit in the "soak zone" during the Shamu 'Believe' show...while the rest of us sat safe and dry in row 17! His big disappointment...he didn't actually get soaked! Mom and Dad got him a new computer which will actually play all of the mystery games he's fallen in love with. He's loving some of the Sherlock Holmes stories adapted into computer games. He also recently spent some of his birthday money from Nana and Grampa and bought some Sherlock Holmes stories to read.

One of the ridiculously exciting perks of turning ten in our house is the right to stay up later than everyone else. So, Nicholas beamed from ear to ear last night as he stayed up with Mom and Dad (and Kurt!) until 9:45PM! Of course, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth in the younger female offspring....MUCH wailing, and copious quantities of gnashing! Ah, the tortured life of the middle child...ask me how I know!

What a blessing it is to see Nicholas maturing into a thoughtful young man. How nice it is to see some of the rashness and recklessness replaced by thoughtfulness and self-control. He still has his moments, but that seed of manhood is beginning to be visible if you look long and hard enough...and are patient enough.

What a blessing Nicholas is in our lives. We praise God for him every day! Happy birthday, buddy! Welcome to the double digits!

Friday, April 13, 2007

All About LILLIAN!

Hi! I'm Lillian. I am 6 years old. Here's a little bit about me.

Favorite meal: Strawberry bread

Least favorite meal: TUNA!

Favorite hobby: Collecting rocks

Favorite movie: Henry V (the one with Kenneth Branagh)

Favorite book: Elmer and the Dragon

Least favorite book: The Adventures of Peter Cottontail

Favorite thing to do in CA: Disneyland

Favorite thing about moving to CA: the weather (Editor's Note: Did I mention it is 75 and sunny??)

Least favorite thing about CA: there are so many people

Something I miss lots in CT: My friends

I'm most afraid of: Loud, scary sounds

Favorite subject in school: History read-alouds (current fave: Bud, Not Buddy)

Least favorite subject in school:
practicing my violin (EN: Sorry Cynthia!!)

How I like to spend my free time: in my outside playhouse

Favorite thing to do as a family: playing board games like Clue, Gobblet, Life

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

All About GRETCHEN!


I'm Gretchen. I'm 8 years old. Here are some things about me:

Favorite meal: Chicken noodle soup

Least favorite meal: Salmon

Favorite hobby: Collecting coins from different countries

Favorite movie: The Great Escape

Favorite book: Eragon & Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Least favorite book: The Neverending Story (editor's note: This really was the never ending story. We borrowed it from the library and it was missing the last couple of pages!)

Favorite thing to do in CA: Play with my new friends

Favorite thing about moving to CA: the weather

Least favorite thing about CA: It never snows

What I miss about CT: having space

What I'm most afraid of: all kinds of snakes

Favorite subject in school: History read-alouds

Least favorite subject in school: writing

Favorite thing to do as a family: go to the beach

How I spend my free time: reading

My favorite thing to do outside: climb trees

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Check Out That SMILE!!!!

I finally managed to get some great pictures of Kurt smiling! Can you stand it? That's a cute kid!!

Friday, March 23, 2007

Some funnies...

Well, we have had a good few days here. I have been working very hard to relax. A bit paradoxical, but there it is. It's so much easier to be a hormonal, quick-tempered, under-rested, stressed out Bad Mommy!! As I said, we have had a few great days here...because I have let go of my unrealistic expectations of myself, and just loved my family! And you know what? It worked!


Thursday we had a “Reading Day.” I realized that I hadn't read out loud to my children, something we all love very much, in a long, long time. So, I brewed some tea to soothe my scratchy throat, and I read and read and read. While I read the kids built with Legos, drew, or just lounged on the sofa with pillows and blankets. It was one of the best homeschooling days we've had in a long time! The Hoyers highly recommend it!


In the spirit of enjoying my children, I will share with all of you some of their “funnies”- those hysterical things that kids say:




Here's a great one from this summer:

Gabriel to Nicholas: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Nicholas: “I don't know.”

Gabriel: “Do you want to be me?”



During dress-up time:

Gretchen: “I'm going to be the queen of all cowboys!”


After 2 rounds of Boggle 2 years ago – Lillian (age 4) was on Daddy's “team”:

Lillian: “I see a big problem with this!”

Daddy: “Really? What's that?”

Lillian: “I can't read OR spell!!


Again, this summer in CO:

Nicholas: “I'm never gonna kiss a girl.”

Gretchen: “What about when you're a man? Daddy kisses Mommy.”

Nicholas: “I'm never gonna be a man.”

Gretchen: “What about when you grow up?”

Nicholas: “I'm just gonna be an elderly boy.”


My most recent favorite – a little background: We just recently got cable for the first time in our married lives. The kids watch a show every now and then and have been exposed to commercials for the first time.

Nicholas: (out of the blue, while I was making dinner) “Mom, we need to see if Geico and Progressive are really as good as they say they are.”

Later, Gustav asks him if he even knows what Geico sells. Nicholas replies:

“Sure. They can save us up to 50 percent on car insurance!”



Ahhh, kids are funny. I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity (5 times over) to enjoy it! Stay tuned to the blog... (I know you are all on the edge of your seats!) I will be spotlighting each of my children in the coming week. Don't miss it!!!