Brayden's Easter Party...

Friday morning Brayden had his class Easter party. Sarah didn't have school, so she was able to go with me. The kids sang two songs for us and then they shared some special snacks and showed off the projects they made for Easter.

The first song was the Chocolate Easter Bunny. The second song is "This is Why We Celebrate", Brayden's favorite. He told me about the song all week long although the video doesn't show his enthusiasm except maybe at the 'la la la".

Mrs. Hayman had the kids each draw an Easter picture at their spot on the table. Brayden's is from the Easter basket and below. I like his flowers, bird, tree and grass.

Right next to his BFF, Jayden

Easter art projects

They have been talking about what Easter is all about at school this week, Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and then on the third day rising again. They have talked about Jesus being our superhero and rescuing us from sin and death. I can tell that Brayden has been thinking about what they are learning because throughout the week he has been randomly come up to me and saying "Mommy did you know Jesus is the King" or "Jesus rose again" or "Jesus is alive". I love that he is thinking about it, talking about it and declaring it.

Daddy's Day...

As I mentioned in yesterday's post Jason and Brayden had Daddy's Day at Brayden's preschool on Saturday morning for an hour.

I love the fact that the school wants to make sure the dads know what is going on at school and has a special day just for them and their child to come and spend time in the classroom. I know Brayden loved the extra time with his Daddy.

They went through the general activities that the kids do during their day at preschool - Pledge of Allegiance, calendar, circle time, craft and play time. For their craft they made marshmallow shooters and had a competition to see who could get theirs in the basket. Cool, right up the kids and dads alley.

I pledge allegiance to the flag...

Mrs. Hayman and Claire showing their class calendar.

Play time with play dough

Play time with Jayden at the sand box

So where is the Daddy in all these pictures? He is behind the camera and forgot to have someone take a picture of the two of them together at Daddy's day. I reminded him that morning to take pictures, which he did an excellent job at. I just should have specified to make sure he got in one of them.

After Daddy's Day at school was over Jason and Brayden had some more bonding time while getting breakfast at McDonald's and running a couple of errands.

What a sweetie, just like that cinnamon roll he is getting ready to eat.

Playing with my old cell phone. Pretending to make calls to his BFF Jayden.

JBQ District Finals...

Yesterday was a full day for our family. Jason and Brayden had Daddy's Day at Brayden's preschool, which I will post about tomorrow. Sarah had her JBQ District Finals all day.

The District Finals were hosted at our Wyckoff church campus, so it was a nice short drive for us but most of the teams travel a couple of hours to come for the day of quizzing.

Sarah's team member and coach were changed up for District Finals. James who was on Sarah's team all last year and this year has been the constant. We love James and his family, the Pettibones. He is a 4th grader who knows his 10 point questions and is just a great kid all around.

James, Ono, Luciana and Sarah

Luciana and Ono were great additions, they all worked together really well. Coach Peter encouraged their team throughout the day constantly giving them pep talks and direction on how to handle questions. You can tell by his enthusiasm and encouragement that he has a heart for these kids and JBQ.

It was a roller coaster day of emotions. District Finals brings all the best teams together, so you have to know your questions and answers, as well as be fast on the buzzer.

At the end of the afternoon they have an awards dinner. Sarah and her team were a part of the Achiever level who learns half of the questions in the book. Sarah placed 17th individually and her team placed 14th. Two of our Master level teams, who learn all the questions in the book, finished 1st and 3rd place. We are so proud of all our kids and how they are learning the Word of God and having fun while doing it.

JBQ Awards Dinner

Friends - Abby, Gabriella, Cayla and Sarah

Two of our teams will be going to Regionals later in April. Sarah has been asked to be a part of one of those teams. She is very excited to be a part of the Regional teams especially since this is her last year to be a part of JBQ.

First Babysitting Job...

Last night Sarah had her first "official" babysitting job. A family from church who lives in Wanaque, 5 minutes from us, asked if Sarah would be interested in babysitting their 5 year old daughter for 2 hours every other Thursday for the next couple of months. The mom knew that Sarah didn't have much experience yet, but they would actually be right across the street at a bible study their neighbors were having and if Sarah needed anything they wouldn't be far.

It is really the perfect opportunity for Sarah to start getting babysitting experience. She and her friend Cayla had already signed up to take a babysitting course at a local hospital the beginning of next month, so this will help put to practice what she learns. 

Sarah's first night was great. Addie warmed right up to her and everything went smoothly. What little 5 year old girl wouldn't warm up to our sweet, loving, and beautiful Sarah. Yes, I am bias, I am her mom, and I think she is amazing!

I had her take a picture of her first night for the scrapbook.

Sweet Adeline.

This is just another milestone for our "baby" girl. Yes, she is no longer a baby at almost 12 years old, but in my eyes she will always be my baby no matter how old she is. I don't like the fact that she is growing up and yet I am so proud of who she is growing up to be. It is bittersweet.

If your interested in babysitting services you better start booking her now, I have a feeling she will be a popular one. 

Wacky Wednesday...

This week Brayden's class is working on the letter "W", so what better way to celebrate this wonderful letter than to have a "Wacky Wednesday"school day.

Brayden was ready for the day in his wackiest outfit and showed off some wacky poses.

$2 bills...

Each year as my sister and I were growing up, my Great Aunt Sis who lived in Philadelphia would send us cards with brand new $2 bills in them for different holidays. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter and more, we would find cards from her in our mailbox. Although we did not get to see my Great Aunt Sis very much she was a special lady and was my mom's mother's sister. She passed away in 1986. I will never forget her cards, the $2 bills and her love for me and my sister.

The tradition of holiday cards with $1 or $2 bills inside of them continues for Sarah and Brayden from MeMe (my mom) and my Aunt Kathleen. My kids love getting their special cards and sometimes there are extra treats along with the cards.

A package from MeMe.

$2 bill

Chocolate coins. Yum!

Returns, Lunch and Legos...

Brayden was asking to go to the Lego store all last week to buy something with his money. I had some returns to take care of, so with returns in hand and money in his pocket we headed to the mall.

Brayden is not a patient shopper when it comes to Mommy stores. As soon as he sees the sign for GAP he says "We are not going in there. No, no, no." When it comes to shopping he also wants to know how many stores we are going to or how things I am going to buy at the grocery store. Once I give him a number he starts counting them down and when he gets to zero we should be done. Seems logical, but somehow it never seems to turn out that way. I will forget something else I need or I see another store I would like to go into. It is a women thing. For today, though, I had come up with the perfect strategy that we would do my returns first, have lunch with Daddy and then go to the Lego store. I knew he would look forward to lunch and Lego store if we could just get through my returns at three different stores.

Brayden did great and was very patient. Having his iPod with him helped a few times. While we were returning something he even saw a shirt he liked and asked if we could get it, so he did a little shopping himself. 

A successful shopping trip.

We met Jason for lunch at our new Steak and Shake, which is a wonderful hamburger place at a great price. It brings back memories from our college days in Springfield, Missouri.

Last but not least we hit the Lego store and he found a super cool Master Academy set that he wanted. He had several gift cards to use up and was able to buy it in full with his own money.

I forgot to get a picture in the store, so here we are in the parking lot.

Ready to put it together once we get home.

Enjoy these times with my little guy during the day, I won't get to have them as much next year when he starts Kindergarten. I don't think I will miss the questions "Are we done shopping yet?", but I will miss having him by my side.

Sweet dialogue...

I love the little moments with my family. I guess that is why I called this blog what I did. I want to hold on to the moments that we have as a family whether they are tiny or big. Moments like the one I want to share today. It wasn't an event or something major, but just a moment that I don't want to forget.

Yesterday Sarah stayed home from school as her stomach was bothering her. She got up this morning feeling better and ready to head back to school. Typically once Sarah gets into the shower Brayden wakes up. His routine is to stand outside the bathroom door saying "Hi, Sarah" over and over again until she answers her little brother back, then Brayden heads downstairs to find me at the kitchen table (another favorite moment of mine, but that is for another post).

This morning, however, Brayden added a little something to the short, but sweet dialogue.
Brayden: Hi, Sarah. Hi, Sarah.
Sarah: Hi, buddy.
Brayden: Is your tummy feeling better?

Melt this Mommy's heart. The fact that he remembered that his sis wasn't feeling good the day before and wanted to see how she was feeling. Maybe it is just a mommy moment and this post is just for my memory, but I love that Brayden loves his sister and cares how she is feeling.

No, not everyday is all roses between the two of them, they have their moments of bugging each other but for the most part they are very loving and caring for each other. If they fight it is usually over who is going to sit in which chair when they eat in the living room. I pray that their love and care for one another won't change over the years, but will only grow deeper as sister and brother.

For today though I think of this moment and smile. It makes me happy.

Buddies...

Brayden already has lots of buddies in his life at the age of 5. He is very similar to his sister, Sarah, in that he tends to be friends with everyone. This post lists the special "buds" right now. 

On Friday afternoon Jayden, from Preschool, came over for a play date. Brayden has been asking if Jayden could come over for a while now, so I wanted to make it happen for my little guy.

I picked the boys up from school and their teacher, Mrs. Hayman, told me she tried to wear them out for me. I guess that morning she heard a lot about their play date. These boys are active and were excited for what their afternoon together might hold in store for them. 

We first went to took McDonald's for lunch,

and then back home for playtime. They went from playing superheros, to trains, to cars, to the little hexa bugs they got in their McDonald's Happy Meals.

These buddies had a great afternoon together. I am so glad these two boys are friends. I loved seeing them interact and their different personalities. Jayden is a sweet boy and a good friend.

Here are some of Brayden's other best buds -

Cousin Sammy

Todd - He brings out the superhero in Brayden

Not least in the group is Daddy, who Brayden loves to spend time with

Showing Off Her Talent...

Last night Haskell and Wanaque schools had a combined talent show, which had 41 different acts. The show was organized by the schools music teacher Mrs. Spirko and was for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. There was singing, dancing, piano playing and even a comedy act. Each act had 2 minutes to perform.

Sarah and her friend Sierra chose to sing "Set Fire To The Rain" by Adele.

I didn't get a picture of all Sarah's fans who showed up to cheer her on, but Daddy, Brayden, Aunt Susie and Sammy came and then headed out right after. Aunt Melissa and Cayla stayed through 3/4 of the show.

The choruses from both schools, which Sarah is a member of, also came together to sing 3 songs.
I found out Sarah plays a mean handbell. The chorus performed a song and some of the students were chosen to play the handbells along with it.

We are so proud of Sarah. She loves to sing and was so excited to be able to have this opportunity. She was pretty nervous for the past couple of days, but she conquered her nerves and did it!

19 Years...

March 4, 1994 at James River Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri Jason and I shared our vows to one another. "I, Amy, take you Jason, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."

Even today, 19 years later, I couldn't imagine saying those words to anyone else than Jason.

God knew that Jason was the perfect fit for me and put him across my path to say "Hi" and I was hooked. Here we are 19 years later, still best friends and still excited to be sharing the life that we have together. It is not perfect by any means, but it is a commitment we both made to one another and before God and it is something we work at every day. It is so worth it. I love you honey.

To celebrate we got to go out for dinner tonight, while the kids stayed with Uncle John & Aunt Susie and cousins Sammy and Stephen. A BIG thank you to them.

We ate at one of our favorite places, P.F. Chang's. We have our favorites there - Crab Wontons, Panfried, Dumplings, Chang's Spicy Chicken and Beef Lo Mein. Yum! However, tonight we tried something new on our friends recommendation, Crispy Green Beans. They were great with a spicy sauce on the side to dip them in. Definitely a winner.

Another favorite thing to do is to go to bookstores and look around, so we strolled over to Barnes & Noble. I got to check out a couple of books I am wanting to get and then we treated ourselves to Starbucks drinks and dessert, another favorite.

All my favorites together makes for a wonderful celebration. Looking forward to this 19th year to see what God has in store for us.