Happy Birthday Jonas!

Jonas Rico turned 3 in November and while I organize a Christmas post, I thought I would just head backwards and capture his special day!   I can't even tell you how much we just love this little boy.  He is hilarious, animated, full of energy and life, caring and all boy!!!  We are so thankful for the gift we have in his little life.  Jonas, may God bless you richly as you grow in Him over this next year.  We love you buddy!!!  

 Jonas on his "real birthday".  I made this "CELEBRATE" plate at Camp of the Woods last year and Jonas was sooooo excited to use it for his special day.  He felt like such a big boy!

 He chose a Thomas birthday party.  It was so fun.  We made a train craft, played "toss the coal", ate a yummy Auntie Lauren cake and kept a bunch of 3 year olds happy!  

 The birthday boy conductor at the "Refueling Station".  

 I absolutely love and always have loved planning our kids birthday parties.  It is just so fun to me to see the day come alive, add the little fun extras and just plain make the kids feel special on their day.  But more recently my favorite part is working with the kids and watching them work together to get ready for the special day for the sibling.  We played "pin the 1 on Thomas" and I saw a way to make the game on pinterest. Josiah is our little artist and he wanted to help me create the picture so him and I worked together to get it done and I was amazed at how well he did and how much he helped.  And it came out great, didn't it?!?!  I am all about a fun party on a budget so Pinterest is my birthday party BFF!

 Conductor Jonas Libby!

We tried really hard to get a picture of a bunch of 3 year olds...this is the best we got!  So adorable.  They were so fun and it was such an easy party because they are so easy to entertain.  They are 3...everything is exciting!

Set Him Free

The manger.  The creche.  The beautiful baby Jesus.  During this time of year, we see many beautiful nativity scenes.  I enjoy mine right in front of my sink each year so I can reflect on what this season is all about as I wash the dishes...again.  My kids have a Fisher Price one that they have played with for years playing out the scene of Christmas story (as well as maybe some battle scenes as well. Yup, I got some boys!).
But I realized something this year.  Without even thinking about it, whenever I see a manger scene set up outside someone's house or a church, I look for a chain.  Yes, a chain. People have encountered too many unfortunate events where baby Jesus has been stolen from the beautiful scene.  It perplexes me.  Really?  Baby Jesus during Christmas?  You can't just leave it alone.  Maybe you don't believe in God.  Maybe you are of a different faith and don't celebrate the holiday.  Maybe you are just a plain ole' Scrooge or Grinch.  But can't you just leave well enough alone?  LEAVE BABY JESUS WHERE HE BELONGS!!!  
But no. We have people chaining down baby Jesus.  
It got me thinking.  What about me?   Don't I chain down Jesus when I want too? Don't we all chain him down sometimes?  And not because we are fearful anyone will take Him, but because we want to keep him in one place until we have use for him.  We want him when we want him--or need him because of a challenge that is before us. But when we got it figured out and can do it in our "own strength", we chain him up.  We put him on a shelf. Better yet, we may even box him up from January to November! 

The truth is we need to give Him the freedom to work in our lives.   We need to let Him have his way in our lives and hearts, during both the good times and the not-so-good times. When we chain him up or put him in a box, we are only asking Him to work when we want Him too.  
The truth?  He wants to work in our lives.  Even through the difficult circumstances, He wants to work in our hearts.  Actually, it is especially in the difficult circumstances when He will do His best work!  But the only way that can happen is when we give Him the freedom to move about in our lives and let His will happen, not ours.  We need to give Him the liberty to roam our hearts.   We need to let go of the reigns (or chains) so that He can take over.  
When we chain Jesus down during the Christmas season or any part of the year, we are chaining down all He can do and wants to do in our lives.   When we chain down the One that is to be celebrated during this season, we are the ones that miss out because we have potentially chained down the blessings He wants for our lives.  

This year as you celebrate Christmas with your family, it's easy to leave Jesus front and center. However, as you enter the new year and get back into the groove that is your life, it can be more difficult to remember Him.  But I challenge to keep Jesus where He belongs in 2015. No more chains...

Merry Christmas!

Five Minute Friday

Today's word is PREPARE

Go

"We want to buy a house first." "I would like to be done with school first." "Once I get ahead in my career, then we will think about it."  
These are the many things you hear before a couple decides to have children.  But I remember when my husband and I were having the same conversations and someone said to me, "You will never be ready."  I think they were talking to me in the financial sense but it means so much more.  
It is true.  We can never be prepared for what having children means for us as individuals and as couples.  Sure, we have the baby shower and receive wonderful gifts that will make life easier with a little one.  However, even with every state-of-the-art baby gadget and the most decked out and beautiful nursery, we can never be prepared for what is to come. 
We thought we knew what tired was before children, no ma'am.  We thought we would be this kind of parent or that kind of parent, no sir.
We are never prepared for the tantrums (theirs or mine!), the tears, the anger and the prayer times where you just cry out for your child!  
We are never prepared for all the work that comes with children but we are also never prepared for the love that we have for them.  Yes, they drive us crazy and makes us want to scream but we love them so much and there is no way to prepare for that.  

STOP

An Early Christmas Gift

Back in October, Dave and Caleb were given a very special gift.  They were given tickets to a Bears vs. Patriots game.  It was a complete surprise and Dave was so blessed to be able to take his son to a game.  It was something Dave and his dad never got a chance to do so Dave was beyond words with how much it meant to him.  Thank you to all you special, special folks...you know who you are.

 Dave and Caleb all ready for the BIG GAME!

 Caleb looks like he could get used to this, huh?

 This was the view from their seats...Caleb got some great pictures of some of his favorite players too.  You know, Brady, Gronk, Edelman and Wilfork...see, I know my players...haha!

Love this picture of him and the jumbotron...sorry Auntie Wendy, he didn't actually get on the jumbotron...we know if you were there, you would have made sure he did!!! ;-)

Though only one team could win (sorry daddy...), both my boys came home happy from such a fun day together. 

(Seriously, Caleb felt so bad that the Bears didn't win this time...he wanted them to win for his daddy.  Sweet boy...)

Five Minute Friday

It's been a long time since I have linked up with Five Minute Friday and why not today!  Five Minute Friday is bloggers all around the world linking up to write for 5 minutes without editing or critiquing.  It's writing to simply...write.  
Today's word: 
Turn.

GO

Turn off the noise.  Turn off the media.  Turn off the phone, the computer, TV.  Just turn.  I am looking forward to turning this weekend.  I am headed on a ladies retreat and I always look forward to the turn.  Not only turning of the devices but turning off the voices in my head that tell me, "I'm not good enough", "I will never overcome the sin that I struggle with", "I will never be the wife or mother I want to be for Him" or "I will never be content".
These are the voices I struggle with throughout different seasons.  But this weekend I will turn.  I will turn to the One who quiets the voices, quiets the lies and quiets my heart so I can listen to Him and Him ALONE.  
And I know after an encounter with my God, I will turn.  I will turn from the lies.  It doesn't mean they won't creep up again and rear their ugly head but I know that each morning that I wake, I can turn to Him for His encouragement and promises.

STOP

Dressin' Up

The kids go to AWANA at a nearby church each week and last week they had a Harvest Party with the option to dress up.  The kids definitely wanted to do that.  We did our best to come up with a group costume...I think this fit them perfectly! Best set of dominoes I have ever seen!

 Even Jonas got in on the action of course!

They wanted to line up like they were getting knocked down.

Happy Birthday Hannah Grace

It's hard to believe our baby girl is already 6!  She had a really fun birthday party with all her friends! She chose a "rainbow" birthday party.  BONUS!!  It was pretty easy peasy for me to put together.  I am not sure my sister Lauren would say the same with the amazing cake she made (wait until you feast your eyes on it!).  And yes, her baby girl was only 6 weeks when she made the cake...can't you see her in her cape now?  SUPERMOM!!!  (Don't worry, I offered to take the cake off her hands...she was not having it and I am so glad for that!)

Our Sweet Girl...

Hannah, you are one of the happiest girls we know!  You have a beautiful smile that you bring to those around you and your eyes so big and bright, we just love to watch them light up with new and exciting adventures.   You are a wonderful helper to mommy and daddy, love spending time with your family and you enjoy taking care of your little brother (the "little mother").  You keep up with your older brothers and have a sensitive heart to give to others...we are excited to see how God will grow you and use Him for His glory over this next year.  Love you baby girl!!

 I love girls birthday parties because they LOVE crafts!!!

 So the birthday girl wanted a pinata...her mother did not.  So I found this alternative idea on piniterest.  Thank you to my husband and engineer brother-in-law for putting it together for me!  It was filled with candy, nail polish, play doh and other fun treats.  But the treats came without premature opening of the pinata, welts on the head and too much sugar in everyone's belly!!!!  There was already plenty of sugar in all the rainbow candy and the amazing cake!

 See, everyone is happy and nobody has an egg on their head from crazy stick swinging!  Yes, the boys prefer to swing sticks, I know!

 Beautiful, right?!?!

 Wait for it...

 TADA!!!!  Didn't she do an amazing job!?!?  

 The funny part is she had no idea of her work until we cut the cake!  AMAZING as always Auntie Lauren!!!

Daddy has started a tradition by bringing home flowers to his little girl each year...she truly looks forward to this.  Her whole face lights up when he walks in the door with them.  

Summer Days...

Our days have been slow around here so I thought I would catch you up on some summer pics!  Okay, the days aren't "slow" by any stretch of the imagination just eventful at the moment.  School has been keeping us quite busy and some days are CRAZY but we are getting into a rhythm finally and the kids are adjusting quite well to the new school year. This week we have an assignment to create our own volcano and we will be heading to the planetarium in the next couple of weeks.  

We went to Camp of the Woods again this past August and had a blast...once again!  

 We stayed lakeside this time around and had a beautiful view day and night.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  I enjoyed sitting on the back deck reading when I could.

 Love, love, love...

 This picture just cracked me up with Caleb in this little canoe.  The kids LOVE spending time at the lake.  And though the rest of the week was cold and sometimes rainy, our beach day was beautiful!

 "CHEESE!"  Jonas just loved the water this summer.

 Two more happy campers.  Dave and I have made a COTW tradition.  One night after the kids go to bed, I run to the teepee to grab ice cream for us and have a date night.  This year was a little trickier b/c we were a little further from the teepee so I drove the van down so the ice cream wouldn't melt!!!

 Daddy and Jonas setting out on our hike.

 We found some beautiful (and dangerous!) waterfalls.  We went with another family and had 8 kids between us and had to corral them so they wouldn't head down to far and fall.  Beautiful day for a hike.

 On carnival night, she heads straight for the facepainting table!

 And there was no question what this little guy would get painted on his face.  This boy is in love with the Monsters University movie and wouldn't have it any other way than to 

have Mike Wazowski (sp?) painted on his face!  

 As in past years, I took each of the kids on a date and Hannah was finally old enough this year to do the rock climbing so off we went.  She did great and I did alright...my hands hurt the most but it was a fun date!

 I once again ran the 5K.  This time I ran with my friend Liz.  We ran a few mornings together before the race and those mornings were some of the highlights of my week.  Liz was a runner so she had a lot of tips for me and kept me going during the race.  I even beat my 5K time by a whole minute!  She pushed in an encouraging and positive way.  It was so fun! 

 Caleb chose for his date a 1 mile run with mommy.  Granted I had just run the 5K that morning but it was worth pushing a little further to hang out with my buddy.  And he did awesome!  Maybe we'll run the 5K next year together!

 Each year they have a carnival on the beach.  However, this year the weather really didn't cooperate and they had to cancel it.  But Caleb had been practicing his Noah's Ark sand castle all summer so he could enter the contest at COTW.  There was no contest but daddy took him to the beach anyway and they built it together (even though it drizzled for some of the time...what a good daddy!).

 One of the reasons we chose the lake to stay on is for the firepit.  This was our last night there and it was so fun to just sit together by the fire as a family and talk about what a great week we had.

 Two peas in a pod.  Josiah and Zack hung out all week together and have very similar interests so they got along so well with one another.  In case you are wondering why there is no date picture with Josiah, we were supposed to go to the art center together but it had already closed.  So instead we went to the bookstore to pick out some gifts and he got some fudge...all to himself.  I can't post that for the other kids to see!   ;-)

Love this picture of these 2 discovering.  This is how they were all week.  It was great to watch.

The traditional "family tree" picture.  It's only our 3rd year at COTW but my, how they have grown already!

And here goes...my COTW plug.  If you have never been, you should seriously consider getting your family there.  It is a blessed time of relaxing and being fed spiritually.  There are so many activities to keep you active physically and kids are never bored!  Plus, not having to cook or clean for a week....that's vacation right there for the mamas...BONUS!  

Check out the link for COTW.  They are taking reservations starting TODAY and it's good to get in early b/c it gets booked.  There, I digress.  I promise, COTW is not paying me for this plug!

www.camp-of-the-woods.org

Introducing...

Jasmine Faith Griffin! 

 

My sister Lauren and her husband, Tim, welcomed their new baby girl into the world on Sept. 6th.  Not only are they excited but there are 6 other little munchkins who couldn't wait to get their hands on her!  Two of the munchkins were especially ecstatic that there was another little girl cousin...I will let you guess who those two are...
Check out the hair!  The pictures don't even do it justice as to how much she has!! Apparently the nurses were all fighting over who got to wash it in the hospital!  Isn't she precious?!?! 

 She couldn't wait to get her hands on this girl!  Now we just have to make sure we don't find her and Bella putting her in their baby doll cribs! 

 Caleb loves holding her every time he sees her.  I guess he's gotten used to this over the years...

 Josiah lovin' on his new cousin.

Once he met Jasmine, Jonas kept reminding all of us that he is "huge" and he is a "big and strong boy".  

 Nonna's Crew of 7!

 Seriously, that hair!

 We visited Auntie Lauren when the boys were on a field trip with daddy and Hannah and Jonas were quite happy to have Jasmine all to themselves!  Auntie Sandra certainly enjoyed her snuggle time too ;-)

Hello Again

Ahhhh, it feels so good to sit at my blog again.  I know it's been so long!  To my fault at times, I am an all or nothing girl.  I look at my blog and think, "I am so behind, there's no point in trying to catch up now so I just won't!"  You know, sort of like my scrapbooks that are sitting there waiting for me to complete the first years of Hannah's and Jonas' lives! Someday...right?
But it's definitely not okay for my blog to not be updated.  Honestly, we had such a busy summer, it's no wonder I haven't had time to catch up.  We went camping a couple times, to Camp of the Woods in NY, spent time down the Cape with my family and hung out lots at the beach and by the pool.  Hopefully I can get some pics of that soon but for now I am going to go with the scrapbooking rule:  Start where you are at and if you have time, go back!  So that's how I will approach this.  
This past week was busy as we started school.  The kids get all excited about the new school supplies and just switching up routine but when we get right down to it, yeah, nobody loves getting back to school.  But so far, so good.  We have started slowly with only a couple subjects last week and added in a couple more this week.  Didn't want to shock their systems too much with our ho-hum summer days to the fall frenzy of school!  
They are taking it all in well so far.  Here are the pics from our first day.

Hard to believe my oldest is in 4th grade this year.  His workload is definitely heavier this year but I know he will handle it well and I look forward to watching him grow in his writing skills.  He enjoys it just like his mama!  Caleb will be starting football this weekend which he is of course pretty psyched about...as always!

My little man is in 2nd grade.  I look forward to working with Josiah in reading.  He is ready to read and excited to grow in this area.  I am just praying for a lot of strength with this little guy.  School is not his favorite so our days aren't easy...but they are worth it to watch him grow and use the creative mind that God has blessed him with.  He didn't want to play any sports this fall but always looks forward to our field trips.  

 My eager 1st grader!  Hannah Grace is ready to read!  She's been ready and is always picking up books to try to read to her little brother.  She loves all her school supplies and her own little desk.  I have a feeling she is going to pick up on reading quickly because she is so enthusiastic about it.  She also starts piano in a few weeks and can hardly wait!

  

 Yup, my baby starts preschool this year.  We got a curriculum for him with his own set of workboxes and he is already joining the big kids while they read and write.  He loves telling people that he "does school"!  Can you even stand the smile on his face!?!?

There they are...Mama Libby's class for 2014-2015.  Looking forward to a wonderful year together!!!