Interview with a 4 Year Old...

hard questions. honest answers.

What is your favorite....

color? Pink
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Ice cream? Vanilla & Chocolate
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Movie? Pistachio (the newest Veggie Tales)
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Animal? Lamby (her "snuggle buddy")
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Book? Rainbow Who.
Me: What do you mean Hannah? Winnie-the-Pooh?
Hannah: Oh yeah. Winnie-the-Pooh! I can't talk right today.
I disagree with this answer though. She actually loves all the Berenstein books.
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Food? Rice & vegetables. Make sure you mention corn.
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Person? Jude, Isaiah, Ira
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Thing to do? Play

There you have it folks.... a few of Hannah's favorite things.

Project 365

This is something I've been contemplating for a while.
Project 365 is a challenge to take at least one photo a day for a year.
I had thought about starting at the beginning of 2010 but for some reason decided not to.
So here I am ... it's April and I'm just starting Project 365.
Better late than never right?
I actually started on Bobby's birthday so I have 4 photos in my collection so far.

I think this is going to be fun and challenging. My goal is to capture photos of our every day life - the kids, our pets, our garden, etc. So on April 8 of 2011, we'll see how it turns out. I'll be uploading my Project pictures to Flickr and I'll post the link on my sidebar as well (in case you might be interested in keeping up with my work ;-)

a sign that spring is here...

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I couldn't resist adding a picture of these two handsome fellows...

Easter 2010

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The night before Easter, Hannah, Samuel, Karen & I dyed our Easter eggs. This was an amazing accomplishment considering we had been going non-stop all day.

Easter day we had lunch at my Granny James' house and had an Easter Egg Hunt with my younger cousins.

Easter evening we had a wonderful time of fellowship with our best friends, the Steele's. It was the perfect ending to a crazy weekend!

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Lately I've been uploading my pictures to flickr and photobucket to edit them before posting them to our blog. It's fun to play around and see what I can do with our pictures and I love the results. (The picture of Hannah welcoming Elijah to our Seder & the one of Ira "drinking" Elijah's wine are actually the same photo!)
It's so time consuming though and sometimes I don't get to every photo. So I wanted to add a few that didn't make the cut last time...

Karen & David before the Easter Bunny Run. I love that Karen is all smiling & happy while Dave is yawning!

Our sweet friend Jenny Bradford and her beautiful daughter Mattie. Jenny ran the 1/2 marathon.
I don't know how I missed this photo during editing b/c I had really wanted to put it on the blog.

This is my favorite... all of the guys standing around the grill talking. Never mind that we were starving!

All in a Days Work

Saturday, April 3

6am - wake up (begrudgingly) and get ready for the Easter Bunny Run in Clemson.

7:30am - arrive and get our starting info for the race.

8:06am - The half marathon starts and Bobby & Dave are off!!

8:10am - The 5K starts and Tommy & I are "off"! I'm running along, talking to Tommy, and
the next thing I know ... he's gone! He had stopped running and started walking. I was left
talking to myself!

47 minutes later - I finish my first 5K! No pictures of me yet. Karen was waiting for me at
the finish line and she'll email me my picture soon so I can post it for you guys!

57 minutes later - Tommy straggles in. He finished his first 5K and I'm very proud of him!!

Finally the half marathoners begin to finish....

Bobby comes down the hill and thinks he's about to finish. Sorry bud, you still have to go up another hill and around!

Now you're almost at the finish. Coming down the hill and then...

he finishes!!! 2min & 20sec faster than his last 1/2 marathon!!!

Dave is not too far behind.

And he's done!

Tommy relaxes while we're waiting for the guys to finish.

2pm - I'm showered and fed. I take the kids to the Easter Egg Hunt at Oconee State Park.
And they loved it too. All of the plastic eggs were filled with little trinkets.

4pm - We're back at the State Park for Dave, Karen and Bobby's joint birthday party.

Dave & Karen looking @ the photo album of old pics we gave him for his b-day.

I'm sporting the awesome hat Dave & Karen bought me for my b-day. Hannah is enjoying the finger paints I bought for her.

Karen & Heidi

Dave & Bobby

Who's really cooking?

Hannah fed the geese. But this one was mean (and bigger) than the others. He would flap his wings and run them off - which scared Samuel. So my mom had to hold him the entire time they were by the lake.

Passover

For the past few years we've celebrated Passover with our dear friends The Steele's. It's so amazing to see what is celebrated & remembered during Passover while knowing that Jesus broke the bread - His body- and offered them the cup -His blood that was "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:17-35).

We use 'The Messianic Passover Haggadah' as our guide. It explains everything that is done during the Passover feast and provides scriptures and songs as well. We light the candles, wash our hands, drink the cups of wine, eat the bitter herbs, read the story of Passover, eat the meal, hid the Afikomen.... you get the idea. We do it all! And the kids really enjoy it too. Hannah was disappointed that she didn't find the Afikomen but she did get to open the door for Elijah.

The Seder Plate
Lindsay made cute little seder plates for the kids and we had the main plate as well.

1. Cup of Salt Water (represents the life of pain, suffering and tears that the Israelites led in Egypt)
2. Roasted Egg - replaces the lamb shankbone and is eaten during the sedar meal. (symbol of mourning of the destruction of the second Temple)
3. Bitter Herbs (to remember how bitter the life was for the Israelites in the land of Egypt)
4. Horseradish Root (causes you to shed tears of compassion for the sorrow that "our ancestors" -yes, they're even our ancestors - knew)
5. Chopped Nuts & Apples - you dip your matzah in the horseradish and then in the apple mixture. (To remind ourselves that even the most bitter of circumstances can be sweetened by the hope we have in God.)
6. Lamb Shankbone -Since the Temple in Jerusalem no longer stands, lamb is not eaten at Passover. (represents the lamb whose blood marked the houses of the children of Israel/their obedience to Gods command.)
7. Parsley - dip the parsley in the salt water and then you eat it. (Passover is a springtime holiday, when the earth is beautiful and green with life. The parsley represents life created and sustained by God.)

Hannah loved her mini-Sedar plate.

The kids table.

Samuel washes his hands.
Who may go up the mountain of God?
Who can stand in his holy place?
Those with clean hands and pure hearts...
Psalm 24: 3,4

Joshua barters with Isaiah for the Afikoman (the middle piece of matzah -out of the three pieces- that was broken, wrapped in a cloth and hidden from the kids. After the meal the kids searched for the hidden Afikomen).
This is my body, which is being given for you:
do this in memory of me."
Luke 22:19


Hannah opens the door to welcome Elijah the Prophet to our seder. Hannah had a wardrobe change halfway through because her "best friend" spilled his juice on her dress.

Gotta Love...

Little boys who love to eat spaghetti. It's a good thing since it's one of my favorite meals!

It reminds me of a certain someone else who used to love spaghetti.

Hannah July 2008
wow my photography skills have improved a bit since those days!