Thoughtful girl...

With the end of the school year literally just around the corner (JUNE 1!), Samantha and Hudson are bringing home copious amounts of paperwork each day.  Yesterday, in my attempt to "sift and purge" through some of these items, I came across a journal that Samantha wrote on February 16.  I wanted to share it with you because it made me think... (and I retyped it just as she wrote it)

"If I won $1,000 in a contest first I would give 300 to the elderly and charity and church.  Next I would help people who need medical attention but can't afford it.  Then I would buy clothes for the people who don't have many clothes.  Last I would buy security systuems for the people who got robbed.  As you can see, I think I have enough stuff and I would like to share."

When I was a 2nd grader, would I have thought the same way she did?  I think I would have wanted to buy a bike or a new boom box or gone to Disney World with my $1000.  Even now, my first thought wasn't to give it away.  It was, "Wow!  That could buy a lot of new running gear or scrapbooking paper...or that Pottery Barn quilt I've been wanting for the boys."  Seriously.  How shallow am I.  God blesses me with $1000 in a contest and I would blow it on things I do not NEED.

But my daughter was willing to give it ALL away to people in NEED.  Not just people she knows -- not EVEN people she knows...people she's never met.  She was willing to give it to people that need in ways she and I have never known.  Trust me, my husband and I do work hard to teach our children about generosity and tithing and sharing and caring for those in our community, and we do try to live what we preach, but we are not THAT great of examples -- believe me.  This is TOTALLY God working in her heart.

So how do you encourage your kids to think about others before themselves?  How do you teach tithing?  What situations do you put your kids in to allow them the chance to serve others that are less fortunate?

Pumpkins for my punkins

With the kids on Fall Break for three days this week and an abundance of FABULOUSLY BEAUTIFUL WEATHER (let me just say that this fall is knocking the socks off of last fall, when we'd had 5.5 inches of snow already!), we thought it was the perfect time to hit the pumpkin patch!  (See the kids' shirts in the picture below?  They are SHORT-SLEEVED!  I think this is the first time they haven't donned at least jackets on our annual pumpkin patch trip!)

Our favorite pumpkin patch, the Big Red Barn & Pumpkin Farm, is no longer operating (big BIG sad faces on our part), so we tried a new one this year.  We headed to Pooley's Pumpkin Patch.   They had all sorts of fun things that were just perfect for my kids.  Our first stop....the baby chickens.

They were the CUTEST little things I've seen in such a long time.  And the kids ALL thought so, too.

Grandma is showing Samantha how to safely catch the baby chicks.

Easton LOVED the baby chicks...he was talking up a storm to them!

Samantha was so proud of herself for catching and holding the baby chicks.

Hudson worked so hard to catch one of these little guys, and when he finally did, he decided it wasn't as fun as he thought it would be (what with the flapping wings and squeaking and all), so he shut his eyes and dropped the chick.

I LOVE this picture of Samantha!  She was very good at catching baby chicks, and so proud to hold them.  She couldn't wait to go back and see them at the end of the day.

Easton also loved the chicks.  I have a video of him "clucking".  He thought it was pretty cute and wanted to touch it SO badly, until he actually DID touch it, and then the whole wing flapping and squeaking issue got to him, too...but he still stood there and watched them and "talked" to them.  So sweet!

After our stop at the chicken coop, it was time to hit the ... TRACTORS!  Of course!  We couldn't go to the pumpkin patch and not see tractors.

I cannot figure out why Hunter did not take a picture on the tractors....I think it's because he was so FASCINATED by the corn maze BEHIND the tractors (which maybe wasn't such a good thing because we got, um, SEPARATED from Hunter in the Corn Maze)....

I love this picture because you can see, without even looking at their faces, the sheer excitement these boys have for CORN!  They are thrilled to be "among" the cornstalks -- must be why their daddy calls them the "Children of the Corn".

Easton was a trooper -- he was having a BLAST running through the corn maze!

This is Hunter JUST before he got a little too far ahead of us and ended up at the exit of the maze long before the rest of us...being the smart boy that he is, he thought he'd head back to the last place he saw us...the start of the maze.  Fortunately, this maze was a short one and I could easily find him by the cries.  Poor guy!

I think they might be future "Amazing Race" competitors!  They are very good at finding their way through the cornfields!

Poor Easton fell down...

...a lot.  But he kept right on plugging!

I just thought this was a cool picture.  :)

After the corn maze, we had to stop at the pedal tractor track....

Poor buddy -- he was getting tired by this time.

After a quick race (or seven), it was time to catch the Hayrack Ride.

Easton was very happy to be outside and was telling Grandma all about the cows and chickens.

I know he looks mad, but he was just telling me a story about the BIG pumpkin he was going to get...more about that in a minute.

I just love that face.  Those blue eyes, those sweet little baby lips.  I'm cherishing every second with my last baby.

There's my gorgeous girl!  She eyed a pumpkin on the hayrack ride and hiked 1/4 mile back up the hill to get it.  Can we say determined?

Now my mom is such a trooper and always joins me on our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  (This is a huge blessing, and something all of the kids and I look forward to...and I think maybe she does, too!)  Mom and I learned a big lesson this year, though.  I had told the kids that they could only get a pumpkin they could carry by themselves.  This was a GREAT idea until....

...Hudson found a pumpkin that HE could lift and carry back to the Hayrack Ride.  Let me just tell you folks, this thing weighed in at over 22 L-Bs.  Check it out!

So lesson learned...NEXT YEAR, the kids can choose any pumpkin that they can carry by the stem with ONE HAND and the stem can't break off of it.  (I'm sure they'll find a way around it next year, too, but hopefully we won't walk out with pumpkins that weigh as much as my kids!)  Here's a few other pictures of my punkins picking pumpkins (and Samantha is not in these because, as said before, she hiked 1/4 mile back up the field to get hers).

Isn't this a cool pumpkin?  Hunter found it and Grandma thought it was so cool with it's green stripes that he gave it to her to take home.

When it was all said and done, we needed a wagon to carry all of our pumpkins to get weighed and hauled back to the van.  Luckily, I have muscle-man Hudson to help me with all of my heavy-lifting (as noted by the 22-lb pumpkin earlier).

We couldn't have asked for a greater day...we had a blast, and it was topped off by yummy treats from Grandma (treats we don't normally get to enjoy at the pumpkin patch... snow cones and pink lemonade!)

Can you believe that I have MORE pictures of the pumpkin patch?  If you want to see them...click here.

Happy FALL, y'all!
-Alyssa

Summer Lovin'...had me a blast (part 3)!

What summer would be complete without....WATER?

In addition to spending time in boats and at lakes, the kids had a great time at a sprayground (aka sprinkler park) as well as at the Mahoney Park Aquatic Center.  The picture above is actually of the kids relaxing in the wave pool there.  (And they NEEDED to relax -- those waves were INTENSE!!) 

There were two water slides that the kids went down all by themselves.  And Samantha even went off the diving board for the very first time!  She did great!  A girl in front of her went off the board and needed some lifeguard assistance to get to the ladder -- this concerned Samantha a bit, but she went off the board and got right over to the ladder without ANY problems! 

The kids went CRAZY at the sprayground!  Hunter couldn't get enough of it!

Even Easton enjoyed the time there -- he had just learned to walk, and was SO proud of himself for going through the water!  (I must admit, though, that it took him a few times...have you ever watched a little one walk through water?  It hits them in the face and they stop and shut their eyes and try to get out of it but can't because they keep walking right into the spray.  It's definitely good for a great laugh, and he was laughing, too!)

Hudson thought he needed help, though, so he carried him all over.

So, of course, that meant that Samantha needed to help, too!  Easton is lucky to have such great older siblings!

It's amazing to me how much better my kids are in the water now than they were at the beginning of the summer.  Between swimming lessons and simply being in the water (weather it's a lake or a pool), made such a difference for them this year.  I can't wait to see how they do next summer!

And they're off...

...to school, that is!!  With barely over two months of summer vacation (thanks to Mother Nature's unrelenting winter), we officially have two kids in school.  It is so hard to believe that Samantha is old enough to be a second grader and Hudson is a kindergartener.  Let me tell you about their first day...

It started out with cinnamon bun pancakes (which, by the way, if you have never had...well, you simply must -- email me for the recipe) and scrambled eggs.  This breakfast was by request, so they were VERY excited.  Following breakfast we, of course, had to take a few pictures (okay, maybe 18)...

 Samantha is a pro at this by now -- can you believe how TALL this child is getting?  She's surely going to pass me up in the 4th or 5th grade, I think!

 She's a knockout, my 2ND GRADER, and smarter and sweeter than most.  And she LOVES that backpack.  It was like love at first sight...seriously.  Shopping for her school supplies, and backpack in particular, was like taking a trip back in time to when I was her age and counted down the days for school supply shopping! 

Wow, look at that big guy!  I can hardly believe this one is in KINDERGARTEN!!  He was admittedly nervous about going, but also so very excited.  He couldn't wait to see his teacher (who was also Samantha's kindergarten teacher), but I think he was a little apprehensive, too.

Hudson was also quite proud of his backpack, even though he could have cared less about it when we picked it out.  But now he LOVES it.  He was very excited to wear it and take care of it.

Samantha was very sweet to her brother.  Sensing that he was nervous and not sure about this whole kindergarten thing, she reassured him that she was really just down the hall and there for him even if he couldn't see her.  She also told him she'd come get him after school to bring him to our meeting place.  His teacher, of course, took care of getting them to it, so when she came to find him and couldn't, she "got SO worried, mom!".  It was quite sweet, especially considering the level of fighting that these two can reach.

Wow.  At one time, I was counting down the days until Hudson went to school because he was such a strong-willed little guy (and he still is, but we all know how to manage it now).  Now, he has turned into a sweet, compassionate, generous and patient boy.  I was really sad to see him go to school.  We've come a long ways, little man.  How I love this child!

This one...well, she is going to be off to college before we know it.  I know, I know.  It's only 2nd grade.  But 2 years ago it was only Kindergarten, and in 10 years, she will be starting her senior year in high school.  SLOW DOWN, I SAY!  How I love this child!

So after pictures, it was time to head to school.  You'd think these two have been doing this forever...

Oh Hudson and his backpack -- it's almost as big as he is!  As my aunt said...is Hudson wearing the backpack, or is the backpack wearing Hudson?  I love it!

It's time find their teachers.  First up is Samantha.  You'd think she'd done this a time or two before -- there was a quick hug (and I do mean quick) before she waved goodbye and said hello to her teacher...

This is Mrs. Lombardo.  Samantha was SO excited to be assigned to her room.  She seems so sweet.

One down, one to go.... it was time to find Mrs. Stine, Hudson's Kindergarten teacher.  We LOVE this teacher.  She is amazing and incredibly talented.  I couldn't dream up a better kindergarten teacher than this one.  And Hudson was very VERY excited to learn he'd be in her room...Can you tell?

This was the best smile he had for pictures (which, I knew, was because he was so nervous).  When he saw Mrs. Stine, though, he was on top of the world and not nervous anymore!  His great big smile was back again!  He gave me a hug and a kiss and told me good-bye, then proceeded to wait in line in the sweltering (and I do mean sweltering) heat.  (For the record, yesterday was the hottest day in Omaha in more than 2 years.  Yuck.)

See -- there's that wonderful smile.  Be still my heart.  I know he'll do great in school -- he's an awesome kid!

And there he goes....waving goodbye to me, smiling, as the line starts to head inside.  Wow. How did it go so fast?

Okay, they're gone....and I promptly turn around and cry all the way back to the car.  I'm sure Hunter and Easton thought I'd lost my mind. 

At the end of the day, they came bouncing (seriously, bouncing) through the front door so excited to tell me all about the first day.  Hudson gave me a huge hug and told me he had a great day and couldn't wait to go back tomorrow.  And Samantha declared that she has the best 2nd grade teacher at Ackerman.  "She's AWESOME, mom!"  It was quite the day.  Here's to another year -- and not blinking.  Because if I blink, it will all be over.