My Cup Runneth Over

Snow Angels

 

 

 

   
  
 

  
  
  

 

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

This is a miscellaneouspost - just a place to post some random photos of the girls. This one above of Ren is too funny. She colored her picture with those fabulous Color Wonder markers (those things were invented for kids like Ren, who color on things they shouldn't - sometimes intentionally and sometimes not even meaning to!) She stood up to show me and was SO proud of herself - one of those moments when I realized she isn't a baby anymore! Loe is just goofing off on the stairs below - but I so adore her smile in that shot - so I had to include that one. Then more of Ren loving on Linus, and flashing her cheesy grin.

 

 

Loe has taken it upon herself to teach Ren some basic ballet moves before she is old enough to startworship dance (a year from now!) It's pretty funny - this day she was doing some karate kicks with Loe one minute and ballet the next! These will be some well-rounded girls!

 

This just melted me - I looked over and this is how the girls were watching a movie. They really are good friends and enjoy each other, but wow do they do their share of bickering. We never had this kind of sibling rivalry with the boys and I'm still getting used to it with the girls. Though I don't suppose I should get used to it - but keep praying for wisdom on how to deal with it! But, thankfully they have plenty of these sweet moments, too.

  

Loe was anxious to look over all of the "Preschool Activities Bags" that I made with a group of women. Obviously as you can tell by the name - they are designed for preschoolers - different activities to keep them busy and learning on their own while mom gets something done - like homeschool the 1st grader - in my case! They are mostly geared to 3-4 year olds - so many are above Ren's head. I wanted to stock up on many different ones for the coming year or two. Ren is one busy kiddo and I figure the more plans I have to keep her hands busy (and out of trouble) the better! But, Loe watched me put some of the stuff together and was excited to see what each activity was all about. So, she gets to enjoy the ones that aren't consumable until Ren is older. She likes to fiddle with stuff like this. She's always been one to keep her hands and mind busy learning and exploring. These are more review and fun for her - but I'm glad she is enjoying them! I look forward to the day when Ren can use them and not eat or bend or tear them! Not that I want to rush the baby girl in growing up one minute - she is too much fun right now! 
 

Loveland Civil War Ball '09

Check out these seriously handsome soldiers! This was the second year the boys attended this ball. The company that puts on the ball is called You Can Live History and they do a fabulous job. I think it's the Agape Homeschool group that organizes the venue and sign-up, decorations and all of those details. (Mostly two women - and what a great job they do!) It truly is like a prom for homeschoolers - but with many differences (that we like!). It is very much a family affair. There are many father/daughter and brother/sister combos that arrive together. They encourage modesty and polite behavior. Many parents (like us) go to watch - and it's a great date night. We munch on goodies, take pics, visit and enjoy watching all of the kids. Some parents get in costume and dance. (Trev keeps trying to talk me into dancing - maybe next year!) It's quite the change from so many years ago when the boys took part in the Civil and Revolutionary War battle re-enactments. I remember mentioning that they also hosted balls and they had NO interest in attending those! Now an evening with friends, dancing with beautiful girls in big, beautiful dresses is a bit more appealing. ;) At the beginning of the dance they do a promanade where each girl/lady is announced, her dress is described and she is escourted down the isle. Some of the dresses are handmade, some bought, altered and some family heirlooms - one girl was wearing her Grandma's 50 year old wedding dress!

Here are most of the kids from our church posing - oh so serious.

Ah...this is more like it!

Sean and Scott are great friends - it was such fun that they attended the ball, too!

They are required to attend a class the morning of the ball to learn some of the basic steps to the many dances they will take part in that night. I'm so impressed - they did a great job! And the dance "announcer" ? is so great with this huge group of kids. And the band is so great - playing all the Civil War era tunes all evening long.

 

 

The boys danced with two very lovely ladies during the Waltz.  
   
   
  

 

The Hat Dance is such a hoot. The boys and girls form separate lines leading up to 3 chairs. A girl sits in the middle chair and the first two boys go sit on each side of her - each one trying to convince her to choose him to dance down the isle with him. She gives the hat to the one she doesn't choose - then he moves to the middle chair and 2 girls sit down and on and on it goes. Trevor was joking that the girls just couldn't resist a Collins man...each time our boys sat down they were the one that was chosen. It was pretty funny! Some of the guys get up and do a quick sword fight, or do some push-ups or just try hard to be very charming! It's the last dance of the night and a fun way to end the evening. Just to give an idea of how many people are there - I think there were about 20-30 people in our hat dance group and there are 5 or 6 other groups, plus many who choose to watch and not take part all around the edges of each group. The size of the ball, the band, the costumes and so many great friends make this one memorable evening. (And the girls had fun with Grandma!)

 

 

     
 
 
 
 
  
  
  

 

A week of performances

Loe's second dance performance at CMAwas fabulous. I am amazed at the staff that can not only get a zillion kids of all ages to memorize a dance and perform it, but also spend time doing devotions, learn new ballet steps and mostly encourage our little ones to worship Jesus with all of their heart through dance. She was so excited for this night - all semester. Usually their hair is supposed to be up in a bun, but this year her teacher asked that they come with their hair curled and just part of it up so they could add these flowers and other frills to their basic top, skirt, belt and scrunchie. Loe doesn't seem nervous - just excited and she smiles SO much of the time. It is a treat to watch her and all of the other beautiful kids dance. What a fun way to worship! Here are various pics from the rehearsal and the performance.

 

 

 

  
  
 

 

 

It was a week for performances. Not only did Loe have dance performance and a very long rehearasl. She also sang in her first choir program with CHESS. Which also included an extra (long) practice. It was a busy week!

Birthday Girls!

Trevor is giving me a really hard time about not keeping up with the blog and has told me I MUST update it. (I keep telling him to get on facebook - I post so much more regularly there!) So, here is the first of a few posts I'll try to the rest tomorrow.

Sadly - Ren was sick on her birthday this year. She was a trooper though and we still went out to pick up her birthday gift and went to McDonald's ( fries and chicken nuggets are her favorite and she loudly yelled "FRIES" when we walked in the door!). She loves her new car and was very anxious to help Dad put it together! She also got a new stroller (since she and Loe tend to fight over the other one!) Of course it was her bear that took the first ride in it. :)

Can't believe our baby girl is two already! Renice QingYang is changing and growing up so fast. What fun it is to be around our kids at this age - listening to them say new words and catching a glimpse of what is going on in their head! Watching them explore the world around them - soaking up information like a sponge. Ren has a very strong personality - making parenting her a bit more challenging at this stage! She's determined, stubborn, ornery, at bit defiant and yet has a very tender, lovable, sweet side along with a great sense of humor! We love her to pieces and pray that the Lord would give her birth parents a peace about where their baby girl is and how she is doing. She keeps me on my knees in prayer for wisdom and patience but we are blessed in abundance by having her in our lives. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our sweet petunia!

 

Just a few weeks after Ren turned two, Eloise turned six! WOW - what the heck happened to our tiny, baby girl? It never ceases to amaze me the changes she has undergone since we brought her home 5 years ago. She is social, sweet, talkative, bossy, bright, talkative, eager to learn, clever and did I mention talkative? :) For her birthday she got to pick out her dinner and dessert - she chose Trevor's burgers, fries and homemade milkshakes - strawberry cheese cake and chocolate flavored - oh yum!

She received a new outfit for the doll some friends gave to her and Season One of Little House on the Prairie! She was SO excited about that! She watched one after another the following week. (Fun for me, as well, since I watched a ton of those when I was younger.) Watching her become a big girl - loving 1st grade, being a big sister, organizing things around her, learning to read more fluently - we sit back and wonder just what God has planned for Eloise HuanFen's future. Whatever it is we thank God she is in our lives!

  

Snow one week, warm sunshine the next...I LOVE fall!

Just over a week ago we had 15 inches of snow - it was fabulous! It's always exciting when there is at least enough snow on the ground to play in and when this storm brought enough to cancel sevearl activities - even the kids' CHESS classes - we all got excited about a true "snow day"! (We've always told our kids that when the snow is so deep they can't make it to the table - we'll cancel homeschool for the day! Ha! No - in reality - we often take the morning or afternoon off to go sledding or play in it.)  The snow came to the mountains a few days before we got the big storm. This is the view from our deck - gorgeous indeed.

 
  
 

 

But, I wasn't quite ready to give up on having some more warm fall days - much as I LOVE summer, winter and spring - all three, fall is truly my favorite season! So, I was thrilled when the temps warmed back up and the past couple of days it was 70-80 degrees! I love to be outside soaking up the sun - feels like an extra gift during this time of the year. We met friends at the park the other day and I was really ready to pack up and go home for Ren's nap when they left - but the sun came out and I just couldn't tear ourselves away. The girls ran around playing with some other kids who were there. It was a great afternoon, and worth giving up the naptime to enjoy it. (I had a few other posts I was going to do before this one - but Mom insisted I get this one up so she could snag these pics of the girls.)

 
 

going on 2

I just ran across these pictures from over the summer. I LOVE having 4 kids and can't begin to imagine life without any one of them. And I truly am so thankful that they are all home with us together. I think there is so much good that can cmoe from having several kids growing up together. That said - the occasional day I get with just Ren has been pretty fun. A chance to enjoy her with my total attention. Last summer Loe went to our church's 3 day VBS and we also had friends invite us to go along to another VBS here in town. Loe had a blast with her friends and I had a blast with Ren! We did all kinds of things together - including a walk around a local park and then wandered over to Starbucks for a snack. I think the baby of the family gets a lot of perks - having plenty of ready hands to hold her, read to her, play with her, etc.. But, sometimes being the baby means your life is really all about your older siblings and it seems you are along for the ride! So, having some time to be the only kid for just a bit now and then is so great. I am getting the same opportunity on Wednesdays during this semester as the 3 big kids are in classes on that day. Today Ren was very excited to play at the office with Daddy for a little while when I was getting a massage. We stopped at Walmart on the way home and even that is an adventure. I am not in a rush - so she stops and explores everything! Takes forever - but it sure is fun to watch her. I get to talk to her a lot more. (I don't worry too much about her missing out on all of that focused vocabulary building time since she does have Eloise for a big sister!)  Speaking of words - this girl is starting to hook a few words together. But, she is also repeating just about everything we say! Some recognizable, some not. But, what a joy to hear her saying all these words! It's just incredible how far these precious little girls come when they are home in a family living and learning and growing together.  

These pictures just made me laugh! The girls were playing something and I can't even remember what now (the danger of not blogging pictures until months later!) but how cute is Ren in those snug capri's and the princess shoes?! Loving it! And that sweet, big sister hand on her back - guiding her along. Looks like Ren is just praising the Lord! I think it was some kind of game - but I do pray that she learns to dance before the Lord and praise His holy name! She gives me a funny look when she seems me dancing around the house in praise. But, this girl is moved by music I catch glimpses now and then of her joining in! I imagine she'll be dancing for joy before long!
 

   

 

 
  
 
  

Harvest Farm Fun!

We had a grand time at Harvest Farm again this year. We went on a weekday afternoon and it was fabulous. The weather was mild and we practically had the place to ourselves! Harvest Farm is a part of the Denver Rescue Mission - so all proceeds to to such a great cause. The folks working at the farm are so friendly and great with the kids. We enjoyed our entire afternoon - wandering through the maze (though a tad muddy from last week's rain/snow!), a hayride, kid-sized maze, and more. But, my favorite had to be the petting zoo area since Ren was having SO much fun! The moment she spotted any animals while walking around she went crazy! It was the cutest thing. This photo below made me laugh. It looked like these guys all 4 lined up for the photo! Very cute.

 

 

This cute little goat Loe is feeding below was not interested in staying in the pen - but instead hung outside with the people.

 

 
  

 

 

When Trevor was taking the girls through the little maze he sat Ren up on one of these big bales of straw and she immediately turned to jump into Trevor's arms. He barely caught her since he had no clue she was going to do that! Then she asked to do it over and over again! No fear!

 

  
 
 

 

Love the scenery at the farm - good looking boys, beautiful clouds, buildings and fields.

 

 

  

Ren begged over and over again for us to do the 1-2-3 swing her up in the air thing. She, like most other kids - thinks this is big fun.

 

 
 

She would have stood here feeding these guys as long as we let her! Once the goat nibbled on her finger a bit when she didn't have her hand totally flat and she turned and "told" me all about it and made this face below. Then went right back to feeding it some more. Oh...it was a good day at the farm - fall is my favorite season. These kind of days are a big part of that!

 

  

Fall Happenings

 

God just knew what He was doing with all the colors He created to go together in each season. Wow! So spectacular. Some day I hope we can take a trip back east during the fall to see the gorgeous leaves changing and maybe visit some of our country's historical places. That would be an awesome trip. But, in the meantime I'm thankful we get little tastes of those colors here in Colorado with trees, bushes and even in a $5 bouquet of flowers!

  

The kids getting ready to go to their CHESS classes - they clean up real good! ;)

On our way to a park the other day Loe happened upon a caterpillar and he happily climbed right into her hand and proceeded up her arm under her sweater! She wasn't thinking that was a good plan - so she turned him loose on the grass.

 Having a game night is a very cozy way to spend a fall evening together. We played Blokus and Scrabble and laughed a lot. Someone mentioned on Facebook how nice it is to see people enjoying their teenagers. That we do - they are a blast! I love their sense of humor, their conversation and their company.
  

And I love watching these two play together. I can't get over how quickly Ren is growing up and what a good big sister Loe is. She got out all of her Polly Pockets and helped Ren dress them and played this and that. Ren drops something about every 30 seconds and Loe patiently gets down and picks it up over and over and helps her so much. During the moments when Loe is tired and frustrated by Ren I really need to keep in mind how good she is with her the rest of the time! 

 

 
  

Observation Day at dance class

  

This is Loe's 2nd semester of dance. We are SO happy to find Celebration Ministry of Arts. It's made up of mostly homeschooled kids, though I think there is a mix. We could call it PE and bible!  Loe took a worship dance class last spring for 3-5 year olds. We attended the performance at the end, prepared to enjoy watching all these little ones do a cute dance. Well, the entire group of classes performed and we had our socks blessed off! It was a very incredible worship experience. WOW! The little ones, were indeed adorable, but how precious it is to watch them dance for the Lord. It brings tears to my eyes every single time I watch them dance - just imagine how much joy this brings to the Lord - how He loves them even more then we do! This fall Loe is taking an optional ballet class that helps them with their worship dance. It's more work and less fun, but she does a great job and is smiling practically the entire time. The girls are all still learning and find it challenging to do all the moves exactly like their instructor - often a leg is bent or a hand is on the wrong side or a kick in the wrong direction! But, the teacher, patiently keeps correcting them. They'll get it eventually! And though a bit young Loe is taking part in the 6-8 year old worship dance class. They spend some time doing a bible devotion, some fun dance moves and then they spend much of their hour working on the dance they will perform at the end of the semester. At the end of class they each get a scarf and the teacher reminds them what worship dance is all about and they each take turns dancing across the floor doing whatever moves they feel led to do - dancing for Jesus. I love it!

Since parents can be so distracting (with little siblings and flashing camaras and chatting) they invite us into class once each semester and ask us to stay out the rest and let the girls focus. Hunter helped out by hanging with Ren so I could go in and sit through both classes. It's so fun to get a glimpse of how Loe is away from me and under someone else's teaching and authority. She did great. I can't wait for the performance in November! Let us know if you'd like to come watch. We had friends who were there last year and loved it so much they signed their daughter up this year! Loe was thrilled, since now she has 2 friends in ballet and 3 friends in worship dance! The standard "uniform" for dance class is black pants and a t-shirt that covers their tummies. (I also so appreciate the respect for modesty here!) But, when they are younger they let them wear leotards, skirts and tights if they want to. (What little girl doesnt like dressing up like a ballerina!) But, all the leatards Loe has (including some great new hand-me-downs - thanks Jami!) are all sleeveless and so Loe opted for something with sleeves and warmth on a chilly day! The drive is about 40-45 minutes from our house, but I don't mind at all - Loe enjoys the classes so much and I enjoy getting a chance to visit with friends and Ren can play outside on the nice days. Friday afternoons are all about dance and that's OK with me.