Happy 3rd Birthday Claire!!

We are very thanful for little Claire in our life. She definitely is unique among our children. She is much more introverted than everyone else and is often content to be in the corner by herself (or on my hip). However, her quietness is not a reflection of her will which happens to be very strong! Just try feeding her something she doesn't want- she would rather starve! She does go along with what the rest of the family is doing. She is very talkative just not if there are many people around. We love our little Claire Bear and are thankful she is healthy and happy! Happy Birthday Claire- and yes, more pictures will be coming!


3rd Birthday

2nd Birthday

1st Birthday

Birth (obviously!)

Things I have learned this week.........

So for those of you who are not on facebook and do not know ALL the happenings of the past two weeks, here is a brief summary:

Two weeks ago we decided to take a "surprise" trip to North Carolina for an engagement party for CJ Bowen. We stayed with our friends the Ferguson's. We left on a Sunday after church, went to the party on Monday evening and came home on Tuesday. While there, early Tuesday morning Abby decided to throw up (well not really her decision). Came home and all seemed well until Claire decided to throw up two days later. We washed lots of hands, clothes, bathrooms, door knobs and had hoped we had avoided it. In the mean time we were getting ready to leave yet again for vacation to Tennesse and also for Brian to perform a wedding while we down there. All seemed fine until Sunday night Isabelle started throwing up and then ran a fever all day Monday thus delaying our vacation. We sucessfully made it to Tennesse on Tuesday and had a good day on Wed of swimming and then again Thursday morning. And then Samuel started throwing up. I also felt bad in the process though my problems were down south! A few hours later Abby started throwing up also. Friday morning we awoke with both of them running fevers and Brian having the same issues I was and he stayed in bed most of the day. Fortunately he was able to make it to the wedding Saturday- of which Isabelle was the flower girl. So what have I learned? The following:

#1- Isabelle is the best vomitter in the house. She got to the bathroom in time and stayed low to the toilet! Samuel also did well, though he is a hollar puker- meaning it makes you nauseated just listening to him! Isabelle did stomp and kick the whole time but kept her face where it needed to be!

#2- Abby is the worst puker of the bunch. She panics and is so grossed out by the whole process that she stands and tries to shoot it into the toilet thus leaving me an ENTIRE bathroom to clean! At one point this week I watched Brian take her down just to spare me the process of cleaning everything yet AGAIN!

#3- Moms rarely get time to be sick. There is ALWAYS someone to take care of and who else is there to do it?

#4- God's plans are not our own! This is now the second vacation that has been postponed due to illness- you would think we would stop taking trips by now!

#5- I'm thankful to have a doctor in the family. We were able to take some phenergan on the road with us which meant we were able to medicate our children while away from home. It also meant several calls to my father-in-law which he patiently answered for us!

#6- ALWAYS travel with Clorox wipes, paper towels, and plastic grocery bags!

#7- there are several strains of stomach viruses- we have now had 2 of them!

#8- I have NEVER been so glad to be home as I am at this very moment- being sick is bad, but is even worse when you are away from home. That poor condo will NEVER be the same!

Somehow this week Claire has avoided getting the second round of everything, thanks be to God!

Photography happenings

I have had the priviledge of being able to grow in my hobby of photography over the past month. I have had the opportunity to do my first senior portraits, my first family (outside of my own!), and my first wedding. I have been very thankful for these friends and family to take a risk and allow me to capture their important moments. It has been a lot of fun and done nothing but encouarge my new love. I am also looking forward to my first materninty session coming in a couple weeks. (and no, it is not a self-portrait!!) I look forward to being able to serve our friends and our church, especially with my great new camera!

Scobell Wedding

So I was so excited to photography my first wedding (Brian performed the ceremony), and to make it better it was on the beach in Florida. However, the weather turned crummy. We had rain, and wind, and cold temperatures. The bride and groom were troopers for our pictures, but none the less it was not as easy a task as I had anticipated. I did manage to get some good shots, here are my top favorites.

Spraul Family Pictures

I was able to take some pictures for Brian's sister Beth and her family. They are using them for their Christmas card so I have not posted any of the entire family, however if you care to see more of them, check them out at sprauls.com. Beth has posted several of the pictures over there!!

Chelsea's Senior Pictures

Chelsea and I had a ton of fun and ended up with a TON of pictures. Here are a few of my favorites, but it really was hard to narrow them down.

For all of you gymnastics followers out there.....

Abby competed in her 2nd meet of the season this weekend in Lexington, KY. It was a HUGE meet with almost everybody from the state participating. Results: 4th on Vault and Bars, 3rd on Floor, 1st on Beam, 2nd All Around. We have a few videos from the meet and will post them soon! We are really proud of how hard Abby continues to work and God has been gracious to reward her for her efforts.

Happy 10th Birthday Samuel!!

I can hardly believe my son is 10. Officially double digits! In the past year Samuel has grown- definitely physically as he is almost as tall as me and Brian, but he has also grown spiritually. Samuel is everybody's friend, and much like his daddy, never meets a stranger. His taste in movies has grown as Star Wars is now his favorite thing to watch! He has grown in his choice of toys- Legos- but not the easy ones, the big complicated ones, which he quickly finishes without help! His life ambition is to be a storm chaser and a pastor- while working at Subway until he is finished with school. His likes and dislikes have changed dramatically this year, however he still loves his family and friends- that has not changed just grown stronger. We are so thankful for the work that God is continuing to do in him. We are so very thankful for our son and thankful that God has continued to sustain His life another year!



Age 10!!

Age 9

Age 8

Age 7

Age 6

Age 5

A Great Homeschool Resource!!

To all my fellow homeschoolers out there I wanted to let you know about a great resource. It is file folder games. They are easy to put together, and easy to use. The kids love them and it's a great way for them to learn and reinforce the concepts we are trying to teach. Shanna Clark has put together these wonderful games. And she has some for all ages. These are especially great to take with you on all those errands where you have to wait or when you are traveling in the car. Right now she is having a Christmas Sale so check out her website. Happy Homeschooling! ~Cara

http://learningathisfeet.blogspot.com/2009/11/christmas-sale-on-our-website.html

Floor- 1st place.