Kid Quotes

Yesterday I was reading my kids a book and part of the story was about a Daddy that was sad b/c he had a bad day. I asked my kids if their Daddy ever has a bad day. They all shook their heads no. I asked them if Daddy was ever sad and they again shook their heads no. Then I asked, "Does Mommy ever have a bad day?" All three of them answered with a big "Yes!" Hmmmm . . . . :/

Today at the lunch table:
Samuel: "Mommy, does 4 plus 4 make 8?
Me: "Yup! It does!"
Samuel: "So then 4 plus 5 makes 9?"
Me: "Good job!"
Samuel: "And 5 plus 5 makes 10!"

Overheard last week while the kids were watching Daniel Tiger on PBS:
Hope: "They always don't pray before they eat!!"
Samuel: "Yeah . . . that's sad"

On election day, I was explaining to the kids about how it is Election Day for our Country. I told him that Obama is our President right now and that today we could vote to either keep Obama as our President or to have Romney become our President instead. I then told Samuel that I voted for Romney.
Tonight at the dinner table we were talking about the election and Daryl said, "If I could vote, I think I would have voted for Obamney." Samuel piped up and said, "Mommy voted for Uncle Rodney!!" Uncle Rodney . . . Romney . . . it's all the same to a 4 year old!!

Not really a quote . . . but definitely something that I want to remember:
I have a habit of leaving the cupboard doors open while I'm working in the kitchen. Hope always shuts them as soon as she notices they are open. She just ran into the kitchen to tell me something and then went over to shut a cupboard before running back to the living room. Confession: sometimes I leave them open on purpose just to see how long it takes her to notice and close them.

The other day, Hope and Samuel were playing with the play food.  Hope brought Samuel a pretend cupcake with pink/red frosting on top.  Samuel said to her, "Wait Hope, I need to see if this has red 40 in it."  He proceeded to take off the frosting from the cupcake, look under it, and pretend to read it.  He then handed it back to Hope, saying, "Ohhhh, yup.  This does have red 40 in it so I can't eat it."  That boy knows his stuff! ;)

Hope learns best through music.  She loves to listen to music, sing along to CDs, make up her own songs, etc.  Last night, Daryl was whistling 10,000 reasons (Bless the Lord) and she immediately said, "Daddy, that song is 'Oh my soul!'"

My favorite part . . .

. . . of coming home from the library!

{2012} Thankful Tree

Our 2012 Thankful Tree was a little bare . . . but definitely not because we don't have a lot to be thankful for.  We got a little bit of a late start and we missed a lot of days when we were gone in the evenings.  And why, do you ask, is "THANKFUL" written on brown construction paper?  If you asked Samuel that question, he would readily tell you that it's because Mommy spelled thankful wrong the first time.  And he's right.  So . . . the list isn't anywhere near complete . . . but here is what we were thankful for this year:

Daryl:

- Sara/Mommy

- Sunshine

- My kids!

- A good job

- Our new bathroom

- Baby in Mommy's tummy :)

Sara:

- Our cozy house

- Adoption

- My family: Daryl, Samuel, Hope, Aliyah, and Baby #4 :)

- My Mom and Dad

- Tuesday mornings (Bible Study)

Samuel:

- Books

- My soccer ball

- My bedroom

- The hospital garage that we made out of duplos

- Craft stuff

- My bed

Hope:

- My sister, Aliyah

- My special baby 

- My little kitchen

- My pillow

- My cup

- My Mom and Dad

Aliyah:

- My baby Callie

- My Samuel

- My babies

- My baby Callie (she would have repeated this more than twice if we didn't encourage her to think of something else!)

- My bunny

- My Hopey

Yes, we have much much more to be thankful for that didn't get put on our Thankful Tree this year.  I can't believe we only managed to do this 6 different days in November before Thanksgiving hit on November 22nd!  My goal is to do a lot better next year!!

Samuel's Bathtub Creations

Samuel is becoming more and more creative with his drawings.  One of his favorite places to draw thing is the wall of the bathtub.  It's fun to see what he comes up with!

 His most recent one: A house with wings and wheels!

This one is harder to see, but he told us it was "Elmo".  Pretty impressive!

Christmas Party #1 {The Bishop Family}

We did our Bishop Christmas Party early again this year so that my Grandpa and Grandma can head for Florida before the snow flies (they leave December 8).  Plus, David and Rachel were in town for Thanksgiving so it worked out perfectly!  I only have 3 cousins on the Bishop side of the family (my Mom's side) but it's always fun to get together with them.  I don't see them often enough!  The kids did really well too . . . again, it is so much easier to take them places lately!  They aren't nearly as shy and clingy.  

 My Mom made sweet little bell ornaments (crocheted) for the kids this year.  She usually buys them each an ornament, but I like this better!  So special for my kids to have!  Hope was being a stinker when I told her to show me her bell . . . so you can't really see it all that well.  All you can see is that sparkle in her eye and that mischievous grin!

 Samuel and his ornament from Aunt Sandy.  My Aunt Sandy also buys an ornament for my kids every year.  I think this is such a special tradition.  My grandparents did the same for me as I was growing up and now I have all of those special ornaments to hang on my own tree every year!

 Aliyah with her bell ornament and her penguin ornament.  And please note she is wearing the same outfit that she wore on Thanksgiving.  I tried to hide it so that I could put a different outfit on her, but she saw the tights and insisted on her "sparkle shirt and skirt that matches".  

 Samuel got an Angry Birds game and Angry Birds wall stickers from my Aunt Sandy and my Grandparents (his Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Bishop)

 Hope got pop beads!

 Aliyah got some pop beads too!  They are a little too challenging for her right now, but it won't be long!

 Samuel also got a couple of matchbox cars and Sequence for Kids (a much better game than Angry Birds . . . at least in this Mommy's opinion!!)

 Hope's other present was Trio blocks.  She loves to build and create things.  These will be challenging for her . . . but good!

 Samuel playing Sequence for Kids with Savannah, Grandpa, Aunt Anna

 Some of the crew!

 Aliyah's other present - a Polly Pocket pool.  She loves it!

Mommy's turn to play Sequence!  

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman with Grandpa and Grandma!  Daddy and Mommy watched it too . . . but who wants to sit next to them when Grandpa and Grandma are around? ;)

My kids loved watching Frosty.  They stayed glued to the TV for the whole 30 minutes.  Even Aliyah loved it and could repeat back to me a lot of what she saw.  So fun that they are at an age where they are beginning to enjoy fun Christmas traditions like this one.

*The plan for tonight was to go downtown and watch the tree lighting ceremony at Bronson Park.  With it being rainy and windy with windchill temps around 16, we decided staying at home and watching Frosty on TV was a better idea!! :)

Thanksgiving Day {2012}

We had another great Thanksgiving this year!  The weather was beautiful (in the 60s) and the food was delicious.  The kids were also really good.  They are at the age where Daryl and I can actually sit down and enjoy our food and talk with our relatives without getting up every 2.4 seconds.  They are all becoming more comfortable with other people which makes it easier for them to just play and have a good time without clinging to Mommy and Daddy for the whole day!  

We went to our Thanksgiving worship service last night.  It was a great service!  I think it was even more meaningful to me after everything that has happened with Savannah's family in the past week.  I am so thankful this year for the assurance of salvation that I have through Jesus Christ!  This week has made me even more mindful of the despair and sadness surrounding those who don't have that assurance of eternal life with Our King!  

We had a lazy Thanksgiving morning.  Daryl made pancakes for everyone and Aliyah helped me look at all of the ads (she's my little girly girl!).  Aliyah picked out her sparkly shirt and tights to match and insisted on her ruffle skirt.  That girl has some style!  We headed up to my Grandpa and Grandma Stegink's house for the big Thanksgiving day lunch.  It did not disappoint!  Delicious!  The Lions, unfortunately, did disappoint.  It was a great game though . . . just wish the end result was different.

Because the weather was so nice, we headed outside to play after the Lion's game was over.  We did lots of running along with some baseball playing and football playing.

So thankful for a great day spent with those that I love the most!

Samuel giving a good swing!

The baseball game

Happy Thanksgiving Day from the Huinink Family

I did convince Aliyah to change into pants for playing outside!

The best picture of the kids . . . and I was talking.  Of course.

Aliyah and Callie

Callie goes everywhere with Aliyah.  And if we forget to bring her somewhere with us, Aliyah will realize it eventually and she'll let us know that she isn't happy about it!  When Aliyah can't find Callie, she says, "where's my Cay-yee?"  Callie is well-loved and it is starting to show.  Her hair is falling out and she is just a little dirty.  Her clothes don't come off (which drives me crazy!) which makes her extra hard to clean.  For whatever reason though, Aliyah is very attached to Callie and I'm hoping that if she bites the dust, the Callie doll that my Mom is getting Aliyah for Christmas (same doll . . . about four times the price that the first Callie was purchased for!) will be just as special to her!

Around the house . . .

The boxes that the kids each packed for Operation Christmas Child. It was fun to have them help pick things out at the store and to teach them about giving to others!

 Samuel is taking after his Uncle Ben. He loves to build things! He was so proud of this barn that he made. When I told him that I wanted to take a picture of it to send to Uncle Ben he said, "okay, I'm just going to sit behind it like this and put my arm around it like this!"

And this little girl is taking after her Mommy!  She loves to look at catalogs and store ads!

Trying some potty training.  I don't think she's quite ready yet, but she sure looks cute sitting there!

Samuel wanted football gloves so he got creative and put socks on his hands!

Being Adopted Means . . .

This afternoon, I couldn't find Hope. I finally found her standing in front of the mirror in my bedroom saying, "I am adopted. Being adopted means God loves us, God takes care of us, God protects us, He knows us, and He loves us the mostest. And when we get dead God carries us up into Heaven where Rosie lives."

The 15 week baby bump

15 weeks