Preschool Christmas Program

November 29th was the night of Esther and Emma's preschool Christmas program.
The girls attend a small in-home preschool run by one of my best friends' mother, "Nana". I also work at the preschool during the mornings while the girls are there, so it allows me more time to be with them. We have 18 children, ages 4 1/2-1. I absolutely love my job-- I adore all of my kids and love having the opportunity to spend time with all of them. Each one is so special in their own way.. but I would be lying if I said I didn't have my favorites. =)
Esther and Emma have greatly benefited from attending Nana's school-- their social skills and speech have improved tremendously since being there.
Owner, Head Teacher, and my boss, Nana is a wonderful woman who has been caring for kids over the last 10 years. We have a wonderful program she has put together and it shows by how well behaved our kids are. Not only do our two-year-old know the Pledge of Allegiance, but they can also recite Genesis 1:1, and have impeccable manners!
The Christmas program was just something we put together for the parents. It was a little crazy during the many costume changes, but I think the parents really enjoyed seeing their kids in action..

Since I was backstage helping, I handed off my camera to our friend Jenny and she took some great photo's! Here's Mom, Kayla, and those crazy boys waiting for the program to start.

All of our children know the Pledges to the Bible, Christian Flag and the American Flag. We recite them every morning! It's pretty neat to hear even our littlest two year olds reciting them.

Every day Nana asks questions about each flag, which helps it stick to their brains. For instance, one of our 18-month-old's knows that there are 50 stars on the American flag!

Esther reciting her memory verse.
I'm very happy to say that all of our kids know at least 30 scripture verses.. which is sadly, more than I know.

Emma's turn.. although she's pretty much kissing the microphone! =)

Backstage.. time for a costume change!

Looks like chaos.. but it really wasn't all that bad.

Emma in her Christmas dress

Esther and Abigail looking beautiful!

Rachel, Jordan, Esther and Brendan
This part of our program was called the "Grand Entrance." We dressed all of the girls in floor-length gowns, and the boys in suites and had them walk out to holiday music. They looked pretty darn cute!

Lady Esther and Master Brendan!

Master Jagger and Lady Emma!
(An explanation about the height difference: We have seven 4 year olds; three boys and four girls! Since Emma is the smallest of all the girls, she was paired with Jagger, who is the tallest of the 2-3 year old group. They were really cute together.)

Esther and Brendan posing in front of Mom & Dad

Our little ladies!

And our boys, sporting their reindeer antlers in anticipation of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Emma.. we're still working on the Not-lifting-your-dress-in-public act.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer....

Ian, Jenny and Asher
I saw this picture when I was downloading all of them to my computer.. =)

I didn't even notice this, but our always-willing-to-serve Emma was being especially helpful, as you can see here with her trying to help Jake take his suit off!

And here she is helping Anderson!
Emma is such a sweetheart.. she is always willing to lend a helping hand.

Esther reviewing the layout for the upcoming Nativity Scene.. especially since she had a leading role!

The Nativity Scene-- you don't get much more live than that!
Emma was an angel, and Esther was Mary

Angelic Emma

And Esther playing Mary

Special thanks to our friend Jenny for taking the photo's!

School days at Nana's..

Asher's 8th Birthday

We celebrated Asher's 8th birthday on November 28th!
For those of you who know Asher or if you've read my blog entries, then you know that his favorite activity is to eat! His favorite food joint is "Five Guys" a local burger joint that makes some of the best burgers I have ever had. We don't eat there very often since it's so unhealthy.. but we made a special visit for dinner since it is Asher's favorite place. Every time the kids promote to the next level in karate, Dad takes them to Five Guys for dinner.. so that's how Asher has become accustomed to it.
For more pictures and stories of his birthday, I've updated his blog.

Our sweet birthday boy!

The Latest Photo's

It has been quite awhile since I last posted.. so here are a few random photo's that have been sitting on my memory card the past few weeks...

The dog's new favorite nap spot (under the tree)

Culinary training begins early in our family. Here, Emma is demonstrating the fine art of cutting onions (with a little help from big sister) while sporting Mom's glasses.

The little chef's-- Esther and Emma are wearing Mom's glasses to keep their eyes from tearing up during the onion cutting!

After the cooking lessons, the little ones have time to play!
Esther and Emma LOVE to put together puzzles, and we're trying to get that energy to rub off on Asher, who tends to be a little lazy in that department!

Although lazy with puzzles, Asher is certainly not when it comes to cleaning, especially washing the dishes! This photo was taken the day before his birthday, when he got to take cupcakes to his weekly class. The blue container is what they were transported in, and as soon as he came home Asher was right at the sink scrubbing! =) He's such a sweetheart.

Thanksgiving Beach Trip

After some previous plans fell through, we made a last minute decision to take a day trip to the beach! We have a condo just south of Daytona which is wonderful for spending the week, or just a few days especially with the kids in tow. This was Asher's first time at the beach, so I made sure to take plenty of photo's to document this first experience for him!! He had a blast, as you will see below. The water was a little too cold to enjoy, but Kayla and Ian took the plunge and braved the chilly waters! Esther and Emma stayed close to Dad and just enjoyed getting their feet wet and playing in the sand. And Asher was just taking it all in.. running in and out of the water, playing in the sand and screaming with joy! I'll have to get some video up soon.. it was so precious!

This is probably my favorite photo..
I just love the expression on his face!

Taking a father-son stroll along the beach..

Meanwhile, the girls had plans of their own..

Burying Ian!!

Dog-pile!!