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Tonight has been one of those nights that reminds you to hold on to your loved ones and love on them every moment you get. Often we forget the treasures in our life, maybe it’s because we have such easy access to them. I look at my babies and I thank God for them every single day and often times many times a day. I find myself worrying on many different occasions for God to keep me healthy and safe until my babies are grown up and can fend for themselves, but I happen to forget that this very minute, somewhere parents are fighting for their baby’s life. We hear about all types of diseases and sicknesses, but very often we base them on age and think, oh, that usually happens to older people, but oh how we are wrong. It attacks newborns, babies and adults. Dear Jesus, I am so grateful to you for my little joys and I am sorry to take them for granted when I do. I hold so much love for these miracles that the thought of anything happening to them, makes all of my insides cold. I pray for their health, safety, wise decisions, mainly to follow You and to always walk hand in hand with their Creator. I bring my gratitude for the blessing of sharing every minute of the day with them, oh how often I get exhausted and forget what a privilege it is to be with these most precious tiny people. I thank you for their laugh, for their eagerness to learn, for their soft hearts, for the love they hold for one another, for priceless prayers that are prayed by most tiny lips, for their energy, for their excitement about the littlest t things.
I thank you for my most understanding, loving, caring, kind husband, who has seen me in my best and my worst and still never gave up on me and keeps loving me immensely every day. I thank you for both of our families that always stand by our side and support our decisions and continue to love us unconditionally. I thank you for every single blessing and trial in my life. You are the only One that knows me inside and out . Most of all, I thank you for finding me and for saving me, I would not be the person I am without you Lord. I am blessed beyond measure and I owe it all to you my Heavenly Father!

I definitely feel behind on keeping this site updated, my only drive is my little ones that will hopefully be grateful to read through their childhood years and where they were up to.
This was our third year going to “Trunk or Treat” at our home church (Bayside). The kids as always anticipate the day of dressing up AND getting candy 😉 This year we decided to take the shuttle and started from the back instead of the front of the festivities. The pictures will pretty much show all that we did. There are also a few from the actual Halloween. I know there are a lot of Christians who frown on this so called “holiday” completely, but every year it rolls around, we ask ourselves, do we just shut the door and become ignorant or do we open our doors and perhaps leave a sweet message out in front of our house, that Christ is love. So, we did just that, we carved our pumpkins with that same message.

In a few words, this was a much needed vacation. Not only for our family, but for my parents and O and Lilya. Somehow we get so tangled up in life, that breaking free and taking some time off seems to be the only answer. We have waited for this vacation for a while and have planned it, where we would stay in two different hotels while there. One night in Pismo and two nights in San Luis Obispo. Both places were a true blessing, however one thing we never saw coming was the luxury of the one in San Luis Obispo. It felt more like an apartment with two bedrooms, dining area, fire place and a lot of room for our joys to run around. On top of all that, we had our own private jacuzzi! I will admit, ever since having our little miracles, this was the first time we felt like we were on vacation. We were blessed beyond measure to be able to get away for a couple of days. Pictures will tell the story 🙂

I couldn’t help myself, ever since I made her this tutu, to take her out into nature and take a few pictures of our baby girl. She had fun most of the time, of course mosquitoes and other insects did not make it any easier, but we still managed to take a couple of great photos. To us, she is the elegant flower that keeps blooming and shining into our lives. We love you our sweet girl! Thank you Lord for our precious miracles!

Lois and I had a privilege to throw Sarah a baby shower. Not only did I enjoy the process, but I loved the event itself. Seeing Sarah’s face upon arrival was priceless. It was the moment, I knew that all of the hard work has paid off 🙂 I could tell she felt loved and that was the whole idea. A huge Thank You goes out to everyone that helped to make this event happen, papi for painting the branches and playing with kiddos, my sweet husband that made the pom poms and hung them, Sarah Carter who sowed the most beautiful appliques and bibs, mamusya for making dishes, coming early to help prepare food and being my mental support, Lois for helping decorate and prepare food, Lilya and “O” for helping on the day of the event and for watching the babes, auntie Susie for baking the most delicious “tea cakes” and all of the guests that showed up to make Sarah feel special. It was truly a blessed day!
I pray for both Bobby and Sarah as the day of baby “G’s” arrival is quickly approaching that God will give them peace, wisdom, love and joy. I always say, the 9 months you carry your baby in your tummy is the easiest part of the journey, even the mothers that had to be on bed rest. It’s what comes after, the love, care, sleepless nights, patience, wisdom, discipline and the list can go on forever that will count at the end. It’s whether you raised God’s servants and givers. Sarah and Bobby you will make great parents! We Love you guys!

My sweet boy, I feel like it’s been a while since I have written about you and you have been nothing but joy to us. Almost daily you say or do something that makes mommy and daddy laugh or just stand there in awe. One of the cutest things you have been saying is “I love you”, which comes out more like “I ya you” You said it to your daddy first and lately, you have randomly been running to mama, giving her a nice tight hug while saying “I ya u”. My precious boy, you have no idea how much these words mean to your mommy, they mean the world. You have been intensely trying to learn to count and you have succeeded on September 27th. You counted from one to ten without stopping. Now, you try to count everything and anything. You say how old you are and show the little index finger while you say “one”. You pronounce words very well and use “please” when you know you want something badly. “Thank you” sounds more like a very high pitch “Tank you.” The favorite word that we hear probably at least twenty times a day is “mine”, it’s hard for you to share, but you are slowly learning. Mommy and daddy are definitely challenged by you, because we don’t enjoy giving you “time out” but we know you will thank us eventually 😉 When you work on something for a while and succeed, you yell “I did it!” It is absolutely precious. You still love, love, love to paint. I am beginning to think you might be taking it up from mama and you are quite the artist : ) You love shapes and you know them pretty well, your favorite shape is dome/semi circle and oval. You love to draw circles and always saying “urcle” as you try to draw it. The first song I have heard you attempt singing is “God Loves me” and “Awake, awake..” I wish I could keep these sounds in my mind forever, because it is adorable when you sing them. You have learned a few letters, you know your letter A, B, C, M, O and P. You love to sing, “A is for apple” song also. You are a quick learner and love to learn through singing. Your daddy often reads to your by singing through the books : ) You can now sit through an actual book and with how busy you are, it’s very impressive : ) you are still a great eater and will eat as long as something is offered. You started liking gold fish, quite a bit. Your favorites are smoothies, cookies, fruit and pancakes. You are absolutely great at trying things, you will 99% of the time try things and once you like something, you always make that sound of “yummmm” (it makes me smile every time) You adore your pacifier and mommy and daddy are dreading the day when we have to take it away : ( We try to have you go without it for most of the day and only give it to you at sleepy time. You treasure those moments with your paci. Your favorite TV show is Kipper. You absolutely freeze when it comes on. There really isn’t anything else that you can watch that intently. Joshy, we are very proud of your baby and we love every single minute with you and your sissy. You light up our world! Always remember that!

One of my favorite seasons, is Fall. Beautiful, gorgeous Fall! I am a sucker for the smell of pumpkin spice, maple and cinnamon. And of course I am crazy in love with pumpkins and yellow and red leafs. The air is so crisp that it makes you want to be outside all day long. Our little family finally ventured out to the pumpkin patch. We all had a fantastic time, starting with walking through the pumpkin field and ending with sunflower labyrinth. I am pretty certain the babes loved it!

Happy Birthday uncle “O”! We all shared a beautiful day at the lake. First time fishing for all but “O”, papi and Barry. I must say, I loved the experience of watching the fish bite, reeling it in and that’s about it. I don’t believe I could make a good fisher woman, simply because I have a hard time watching it try to survive, but the outcome of it cooked is also pretty amazing 😉 The kiddos enjoyed playing with sticks and running around while adults enjoyed indulging in some delicious food. May God keep blessing you my sweet brother! We all love you very much!

August 27, 2013
I cannot believe my sweet Bella started school. It’s more like mama and Bella started school, as she will be home-schooled. Since her birth, I have been determined to teach her as much as I can, so I started as soon as we brought her home from the hospital. Sometimes, I think if she could speak then, she would ask me to be quiet as I told her and showed her everything I possibly could. Anything I was doing, I described to her, whether it was taking out the trash or getting the mail or driving. This girl was very well equipped with vocabulary from early on. Today, she seems to communicate as an adult, even the tone of voice is sometimes intimidating. I have to turn around and see whether it’s a 3 year old or a 16 year old. The idea of homeschooling was born when I started dating Barry as he was also home-schooled. I used to think, there is no way I can home school my children as I don’t know enough, but that is a foolish thought, because whatever I don’t know, I will learn and teach them. After doing extensive research and reading, I have come to a solid conclusion that public or even private education is just not what I choose for my kids. I am not judging anyone that has decided to send their kids to a regular school, not at all. I have based my decision strictly on what I have researched and what I see and want to see in my children.
Bella is starting Kindergarten at age 3 and the reason it’s not pre-school is because of the material, her and I have gone over pre-school material last year and she is very familiar with what is taught in pre-school. I chose a classical education approach, because it requires a child to collect, memorize and categorize information, which is very effective. Bella loves the material so far and is having fun with it. She has fully memorized Psalm 100 and recites it smoothly. We will continue to memorize verses, poems and songs. She is reading daily and picking up speed. One of my favorite things about teaching my kids at home is I can teach them a Christian curriculum, not only will they possess day to day knowledge but they will also grow in their walk with Christ. I am excited beyond words about this new chapter in our life! Through Him everything is possible!

This was a first for us, to bring our sweet daughter into class and for her to just take off and become part of it. The tears wanted to come on as soon as we entered, but she was distracted enough to not cry. She did fantastic! I knew she would like it, but I had no idea how good she would be at it. This girl nailed every exercise that was given and stuck with it all the way to the end. The least favorite part for her were the “foamy things” somehow they were cutting into her skin, as she explained. I hope next time her experience will be even better. Bella honey, mommy, daddy and Joshy are all very proud of you and your accomplishments. Not only were you good with all the exercises, you were the best behaved child and that makes mommy and daddy beyond proud. We love you our precious girl!