Learning Joy

Ok, so I have to blog about Nicholas’ birthday party. We’ve been planning it for a bit. I realized about two days ago that there would be 27 people here if everyone showed. That number included 12 kids (including my three). We’ve never really had kids at our parties. Usually it’s just a bunch of grown-ups. But, we prayed, and God answered!
Let’s see, so we had the Fowlers – Aaron & Aisha and their 3 kids; Kamali & Tina; Grandma; the Minches – Uncle Doug & Aunt Marie and their 2 boys; the Vances – Mary and her 2 kids; the Dibbas – Adam, and her 3 girls; and Amy. It got really noisy in here a few times!
The kids played together pretty well. My boys get so excited when others come over. We played “Pin the Nose on Elmo” and “sneak the scarf”. Nicholas, however, didn’t partake in the gameplay. (He can be a stinker! He didn’t want to play either game!!) Aaron & Jacob tied on “Pin the Nose”. They each received a little gift for winning. Since “Sneak the Scarf” isn’t really a winning game, we didn’t give out a prize for that.
After we played games, Nicholas opened presents. Nicholas got a TON of stuff!! We were so surprised! Let’s see, his first gift came in the mail a couple days ago – he received a gift card to Target from Granny & Grandfather. So we have to go see what he likes. He also received the following:
Two Thomas the Tank Engine books – Aaron & Carissa
Elmo key chain (it talks!) – The Fowlers
Elmo & Cookie Monster shoes – Aunt Tina & Aunt Kamali
Elmo floor puzzle – Aunt Kamali & Aunt Tina
Luke Skywalker’s X-wing – Uncle Doug & Aunt Marie
A football (nerf) – Matthew & Jacob
Cookie Monster sweatshirt & sunglasses – Adam & her girls
Dress Up Elmo – Matthew, Jacob, U. Doug & A. Marie
Wooden puzzles – Grandma
Two floor puzzles – Grandma
Two books about shapes & numbers – Grandma
M&Ms – Grandma
Tom & Jerry DVD – Grandma
Life-size stuffed Elmo – Mommy & Daddy
Barrel of Monkeys – Daniel
Elmo figurines – Daniel
Elmo cell phone – Jonathan
That’s all! Adam brought a cake! It was really cool!! I posted pictures. It was really yummy, too.
We had cake & ice cream after the presents. Everyone had a good time. Nicholas really loved the party. He was smiling and bouncy the whole rest of the night. It is so fun to watch him.
This morning I said, “Happy Birthday, Nicholas!” and he said “Happy Birthday”. He’s SO cute!!
Oh! I posted pictures, so be sure to check out the newest archives. 🙂

Elmo & Nicholas. See how big Elmo is? Oh, and they had to match, too. Nicholas got a Cookie Monster shirt from Adam, so we put his old coat on Elmo! :o)  

my Pumpkin pie. Taken 11/6/05 

Kisses from Elmo 

Elmo, Aunt Tina & Nicholas! Taken Nov. 6, 2005 

Nicholas’ wonderful birthday cake! Our friend Adam brought this from a bakery in Seattle called Borracchini’s. Yum! 

Yesterday Nicholas had his Elmo party (I’ll fill you in on the details next post). He received a large, stuffed Elmo from Mommy & Daddy. Elmo is almost as big as Nicholas! He loved him!! Last night, when it was time for bed, Nicholas took Elmo to bed. I was a little worried that he might forget about Muh. Not Nicholas! He got into bed, laid on Muh like he usually does (he kind of uses him like a pillow, but hugs him at the same time) and then told me he needed to be covered. So I covered him, then he put Elmo on top of himself & said “Elmo needs a Pooh Bear blanket, too.” So Elmo got a Pooh Bear blanket, too. Nicholas also wanted me to cover Glowie (his glo-worm), but I told him Glowie had to share his blanket.

We’ve been kind of low the past few days. Yesterday Jef heard a sermon on the radio. He came home & found it on the internet & we both listened to it. It was based on Jer. 29:11.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I hadn’t thought of this before, but the pastor reminded us that verse was written to the Israelites who were stuck in captivity in Babylon. They probably thought God had had enough and was done with them. That’s how we were feeling. Now, we are at least reassured of God’s love & care. We still don’t know what we are supposed to do, though. 🙂

Today is Nicholas’ party. He is turning 3 tomorrow. I can’t believe how fast he’s grown! Nicholas has been looking forward to this party since August! He is having an Elmo & Cookie Monster party. I hope it is lots of fun for him. We will have 27 (27!!!!) people here – 12 of those will be kids! Yikes!
Having Jef home is nice – everything is done for the party! Usually I would be freaking out because there would still be fourteen things to do! All I have to do today is scrub the kitchen floor, run to the store, shower, and make chocolate chip cookies! 🙂 Could’ve made the cookies yesterday, but I wanted them to be warm & fresh.
Ok – off to scrub! Thanks for all the prayers! Please keep praying!

Last night we had tater tots for the first time in long time. Daniel didn’t remember them at all. After trying them, he told Jef, “When I grow up, I am going to tell my wife to buy these every year, every month, every day because they are SO good!!”
Silly boy!

Well, coffee with half & half is actually cheaper, calorically speaking. 😀 It is 155 calories for a cup of coffee with half & half (6 Tbs. = 90 calories), sugar (2 scoops = 70 calories) and Splenda (1.5 scoops = 0 calories). So YAY!!!!

How do we generate jobs/clients for Jef’s business? It really doesn’t seem like any of this going out is working. He’s been a lot of places, and we haven’t had even one phone call! Please keep us in prayer, as the money is trickling away. We are trying to trust God, but sometimes we doubt whether we are really in His will.

The kids are doing great – hope you all liked the pictures. They are learning a lot. Jonathan is very quick in Math. Daniel is great at creative things. He made me a beautiful butterfly out of these glo-sticks we got for Halloween. He thinks of things “out of the box”. 🙂 Nicholas is just cute & a mischief-maker. He’s very excited about his party this Saturday. (I, on the other hand, am worried because there will be so many people here!)