8 things about my Kids

A while back, I was tagged by Karen and Ashley to list 8 things about my kids. Sorry it took so long girls... here goes:

Anna:
1. Six years old and going on 18. She is a huge help to me especially when it involves Luke. We have just started assigning her chores and are now paying her an allowance.
2. Has been swimming year round since she was 3 and has already "competed" in a swim meet.
3. Loves her brother! She has taught him so much... alphabet, shapes, colors and even how to spell his name! She wants to be a teacher when she grows up.
4. Enjoys shopping with mommy especially at Ms. B's used bookstore. (Hence the need for an allowance).
5. Spends a lot of her time writing, drawing and coloring. Her latest creation was a dinosaur book that took her the whole evening to create, draw, color, write in and staple together.
6. Favorite sport to play is soccer.
7. Favorite cartoon is "Tom and Jerry".
8. Loves to go anywhere that sells Icees. She loves to mix all the colors together.

Luke:
1. Very polite 2 1/2 year old. He is good about saying thank you, please, and excuse me... hopefully that will continue.
2. Loves his big sister! If he can't find her, he will walk around the house saying "where Anna go?".
3. His happy place is My Gym. He asks to go there almost everyday.
4. Favorite cartoon is "Little Einsteins" and "Tom and Jerry".
5. Favorite pajamas... Little Einsteins.
6. Favorite toy.. pat pat rocket from the Little Einsteins.
7. Loves popsicles ( He even chooses them over chocolate).
8. Outgoing (the boy doesn't have a shy bone in his body) and loves to entertain.

One Word

This year instead of making a long list of new years resolutions that would after several weeks be long forgotten, I was encouraged to pick one word to focus on. After considering the areas in my life that I would like to work on or maybe even change I have chosen my one word... self control. The bible has much to say on this topic but here is the verse that has stayed with me:
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "no"to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and Godly lives in this present age." Titus 2:11-12 (NIV).
This year I plan to focus on saying "no" to worldly things and use self control in many areas of my life that I want make changes (time management, finances, taking better care of my self ie. eating healthy and exercising). What is your word of 2008?

Pictures from Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was so much fun! Both kids were so excited to see what Santa had left for them. Here's Luke with his new tool bench:The one thing Anna really wanted this year was a gymnastics Barbie:
Grandma and Granddad got Luke this fantastic train table:
This year Luke really got into opening gifts. Anna could hardly stand it. She is so use to opening gifts for him. As you can see, he caught on...
I decided to surprise everyone with new shirts to wear on New Years Day. Luke was too busy with the tool bench and train table to be in a picture.
After all the gift opening, we jumped in the van and headed to my mom's house. We made it in record time (just under 4 hours and 30 minutes), probably had a lot to do with the fact that everything was closed so we didn't stop except for bathroom breaks. The kids were great in the car. It certainly helped that Santa brought new movies for each of them... how did he know?

Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Happy New year and... GO DAWGS!