Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: A New Year & A New Season + Skiing & Swimming ~ January 2015

Giving God Glory

God can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine! ~ Reconciling a marriage ~ Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20 A couple who is friends of ours through various connections was headed for a divorce... the wife was packing boxes, had job interviews in TX, and was planning to take the children with her; the husband started preparing as well with selling their minivan and trading it for a car he wanted, making plans for a friend to move in and pay rent; they had tried marriage counseling and a Weekend to Remember Marriage Retreat through Family Life Today... but nothing seemed to be helping... until the Lord intervened! He softened hardened and hurt hearts and helped them to reconcile and to commit to staying together no matter what. The wife also shared with me many more ways she saw the Lord at work (above and beyond what Wes & I had been praying for) ~ growing her in having a personal relationship with Jesus, helping her see her husband from a new perspective by focusing on his strengths, giving her wisdom with friendships, and more. Praise the Lord!

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts

A New Year & A New Season ~ The Lord has brought about a new season for our family as we excitedly anticipate Samuel's arrival and as we enjoy some other changes that have been blessings. Here are some of the new things going on:

Preparing for Samuel

I began cutting back in responsibilities since I am looking forward to welcoming and adjusting to having a newborn in our family. :)

Pre-K School ~ I ended teaching Pre-K out of our home at Christmas break.
Caring for our nephew, Nathaniel ~ I cut back from 1-2 days/week to only 1 day a week in January, and we will stop our weekly care of Nathaniel in February.

We moved Josiah into Noah's room, and they enjoy sharing bunk beds.

New opportunity & dynamic ~ The Lord has blessed Wes with the opportunity to serve as a deacon at our church. I see the Lord bringing a new season and dynamic with this new role for Wes. Over the past 5 years, the Lord blessed me with a variety of opportunities where Wes was excited to support me ex. tutoring, childcare, piano lessons, teaching Preschool out of our home, etc. Now the Lord has encouraged me to cease from these extra opportunities, and I am excited to support Wes and help him rather than the other way around.

Financially ~ We met with a wonderful financial advisor to seek wise counsel about our financial goals (especially with adding another child) and to see if we were on the right track or if there were some ways we could improve and adjust our goals. It was very helpful!

Praises & Prayers

Tami - Continued prayers for the Lord to give my dad and other loved ones His perspective and that God would heal Tami, but ultimately that His will would be done. Prayer of Galatians 5:22-23 that the fruit of the Spirit would abound in Dad's & Tami's lives during this trial. Also, prayer of James 1:5 for wisdom with this trial.

Our Family - Continued praise for the Lord sustaining Samuel’s life. Praise for the Lord providing - in His perfect timing and ways - a reference for someone to replace our water heater through the father of baby-sitter who watched our boys during the short time we were looking for someone to replace our water heater.

Wes - Praise for the Lord blessing him with the opportunity to serve as a deacon at our church. Please pray James 1:5 for the Lord to give Wes wisdom with the roles and ministry the Lord has called him to as husband, father, firefighter, deacon, and T&T boys director.
Christina - Praise for the Lord giving me grace, strength, and energy to be faithful in all the roles and ministry the Lord has called me to ~ especially since the pregnancy fatigue is starting to increase. Please continue to pray James 1:5 for wisdom as I transition and prepare for our family's new season as a fam of 5. :)

Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will. Praise for the Lord growing Noah in being kind to Josiah - we're seeing some progress. ;) I asked Noah what he would like loved ones to pray for him - "That I would love Jesus more."

Josiah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will. Praise for the Lord growing Josiah in not biting others. Please continue to pray Ephesians 4:32 that he would be kind to (and not hit) Noah or others.

Marriage Memories

Wes and I have been enjoying listening to MacArthur's sermons on Genesis during our time together in the Word the mornings that Wes is home.

We enjoyed watching a hard-to-watch movie, eating a yummy dinner, & playing a video game together on our date this month.

Funny note ~ So, I wanted to bless Wes with doing something that he liked (play a video game with him)... but somehow I managed to fall asleep in the middle of playing?!? Guess that goes to show how much the pregnancy fatigue is affecting me now. ;)

Family Fun

Enjoying Some Skiing & Swimming ~ For our family Christmas gift, we decided to go to Silverthorne, CO for a little overnight getaway including some skiing and swimming. We left early in the morning on the first day so Wes and Noah could hit the slopes at a good time. Josiah and I had fun swimming at a nice recreation center. We made some wonderful memories!

Out to eat at a yummy restaurant

Skiing ~ Ready to rock it on the slopes! * Having fun & enjoying a beautiful day

When we went skiing in the past, I was the one who coached & assisted Noah, but I did not go this time due to being pregnant. We were curious how it would go with Wes being in the coaching role. Well...it went great! Wes said that he made some of his best skiing memories that day. :)

Noah cruising!

Noah really took off in his skiing skills this time! The first 2 runs were a little frustrating, but they took a break and when they came back out Noah did excellent! He rarely needed help and even started to learn some basics about zig-zagging. Noah kept wanting to do more. ;)

Wes thinks they probably did 11 or 12 runs!!!

Swimming ~ Excited for some pool playtime

Josiah was SO excited when he saw all the balls & noodles * Silly boy :)

The pool was 1-2 ft deep, which was perfect for Josiah to be able to stand up in areas and feel comfortable trying to swim in the deeper parts. We had a lot of fun together!

That night we went out to eat and then played board games back at the hotel. Our night of sleeping was quite memorable ~ see the section Memorable Moment of the Month further down in this post. ;)

Noah sound asleep on the way home :)

AWANA Grand Prix

(aka. Pinewood Derby Cars Race)

Painting their cars

Noah's * Josiah's

Race Day ~ Brothers watching the races together * Papa & Nana came to see the competition

Noah's car on the left * Josiah's car in the middle

Papa & Noah watching Noah's car cruise

Noah got a 2nd place trophy for "Novelty" * Josiah competed agains the adults & got 2nd place for "Speed" (He wanted to hide his car from me when I tried to get a photo.)

Nerf Gun Wars

Noah News

Age - 5

Cute Communication -

*"What does _____ mean?" ~ Noah has been a lot more inquisitive about the meaning of unknown words when we are reading books.

*"What does Josiah want?" ~ Noah often asks this when it comes to making decisions about food preferences such as whether he wants honey or agave in his yogurt, kind of cereal, kind of gum, etc. because he will intentionally choose the opposite of what Josiah wants since he doesn't want to have the same thing as his younger brother... ;)

*Noah told me his first joke... of course it involved potty humor ;) ~

Noah - "Why did the chicken poop his pants in the street?

Me - "Why?"

Noah - Starts telling another joke

Me - "Hey... where's the punch line or answer to your joke?"

Noah - "Oh... he wanted to!" ;)

Latest Likes

Wrestling with Daddy

Monopoly Boardgame - Kids version

Berenstain Bears Books

Playing tag

Playing "Slug Bug Game"

Having fun rolling around & playing with Sierra :)

The shoes Noah worked so hard for (May photo) * Noah got a lot of use out of them! (Jan photo)

*Video ~ Noah skiing

Josiah Joys

Age - 2

Cute Communication -

*Ending names with "bop" ex. Mommy-bop, Samuel-bop, etc.

*Phrases he likes to say frequently :) ~ "Look Mommy!" to show me something he is doing; or "Help Mommy." Josiah enjoys helping me with laundry, unloading the dishwasher, cooking dinner, etc.

*One Sunday morning, Josiah woke up with a nasty cold. He noticed Daddy and Noah getting ready for church and asked, "Daddy, Noah leaving?"

Me - "Yes. They are going to church."

Josiah - "Josiah feeling better now." ~ He didn't want to be left behind. ;)

Latest Likes

Wrestling with Daddy

Berenstain Bears Books

Gum

Playing with Legos & balls

Songs - Jingle Bells ("regular" as he calls it) & Jingle Bell Rock

Sweet boy with a sweet smile :)

Some entertaining sleeping positions ;)

*Video ~ Josiah's sweet laugh while rough-housing with Daddy

Samuel Sentiments

8 Months

30 Weeks Ultrasound

What a joy to see this precious & active boy again! Lord-willing, we will be holding Samuel in our arms soon! Our hearts are so thankful for the Lord's graciousness! ~ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father... James 1:17

What we found out at this ultrasound:

Samuel had flipped and was no longer breech, which meant possibility for VBAC.
However, the placenta was still too low to attempt a VBAC, so we would need to have a C-Section. We were thankful the placenta was high enough (and I was not having bleeding) that I did not need to be on any restrictions or bed rest - Praise the Lord!
Samuel 30 weeks stats ~ 3 lbs. 3 oz. ; head full of hair - could even be seen on the ultrasound! ; he is very active! :)

*Current Update ~ At our most recent ultrasound, Samuel was breech, and my placenta was still low. So, Samuel's arrival (our C-section) will be on March 10th ~ unless the Lord has him come sooner. :)

Bro Bonding

Bundled up bros

Attempting to gang up on Daddy ~ the brothers can't get enough of wrestling Daddy these days! ;)

Holding hands while walking in Wal-Mart :)

Noah pushing Josiah to the park. Noah enjoys taking care of his little bro.

Having a blast playing tag together at the park

*Video ~ Playing tag together at the park aka. Josiah chasing Noah ;)

Homeschool Highlights

Click on these links if interested in seeing more info about the K-8 skills/benchmarks books I use:

Core Knowledge Sequence: Content guidelines for K-8 (Fyi ~ This is not the same as Common Core.)

What Your Child Needs to Know When: According to the Bible, According to the State: with Evaluation Check Lists for Grades K-8

What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know ~ Obviously, this book is specific for Kindergarten. :)

This month we did a History unit study on Presidents and a Math unit study on Money.

History Unit Study: Presidents

We focused on George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, & Barak Obama.

We read many books about these presidents, colored pictures of them, and discussed what presidents were on various coins and bills.

Math Unit Study: Money

We focused on learning the names and values of coins and bills and also recognizing and using the cent and dollar sign. We read books about money, did activities about money, and played games involving money such as Money Memory, Money Bingo, and Money Go Fish.

Click on this link for a catchy song that we liked about the names & values of coins ~ Coin Song

Curriculum We Completed

Scripture Memory ~ Noah completed his AWANA Sparks handbook and is now working on extra credit Scripture memory activities.

We also completed the following curriculum (that RMCA, the homeschool program Noah participates in, bought for us!) :

Math-U-See ~ This was a great hands-on Math program that Noah really enjoyed!

Draw * Write * Now ~ Writing is not one of Noah's favorite subjects... ;) Overall Noah liked this approach to writing because it involved learning to draw a picture that corresponded with the topic you were writing about, and he likes artistic activities.

Art Projects from 1st Semester at RMCA Homeschool Program

Noah goes to Rocky Mountain Classical Academy Homeschool Program 1 day/week

Field Trip: Winter Art Workshop at the Library

The art instructor demonstrating the next drawing strokes for the polar bear pencil drawing

Noah observing * Coloring his drawing with chalk

The brothers hard at work * Josiah was very focused too ;)

The Masterpieces :) ~ Noah's polar bear * Josiah's designs

Art - Snowman Sculpture :) ~ Noah did almost all of it by himself!

Various Life Skills

Replacing a water heater - Noah & Josiah enjoyed watching them disconnect & remove our old water heater and dolly down to our basement & hook up our new water heater.

Serving others & Baking - We served together as a family at Crossfire Ministries by rolling out & cutting heart-shaped chocolate cookies from pre-made cookie dough. Both the boys had a great time serving, and it was encouraging to see Noah's strong work ethic!

Lessons in Integrity

#1 - We found a $5 bill and a $10 bill along the street gutter by a home. We talked with Noah about how we could take the money or double check with the owner of the home first to make sure this money did not belong to them. The owner of the home said the money did not belong to them so we could keep it.

#2 - Wes discovered when unloading items into our van that Costco did not charge him for a movie since it had accidentally got hidden underneath another item. Again, we discussed with Noah about how we could not say anything, or we could do the right thing and let Costco know about the mistake (even though it would take time to go back in the store). Costco appreciated our honesty, said it was their mistake, and told us we could have the movie for free.

We hope these lessons and opportunities the Lord blessed us with in having integrity made a lasting impact on Noah. :)

Memorable Moment of the Month

The brothers unique bedtime positions!

For bedtime arrangements when we stayed in a hotel in Silverthorne, CO during our family getaway, we had Noah in a sofa sleeper (on right), and Josiah was in the toddler blow up mattress (on left). In the middle of the night, Wes thought he heard something and thought maybe one of the boys was awake. When he went over to check, Noah and Josiah were BOTH in the toddler blow up mattress sound asleep! Somehow Noah "sleep-rolled" or "sleep-crawled" into Josiah's bed without waking him up! ;) Wes gently moved Noah back into the sofa sleeper.

Then... When we woke up in the morning, we could not find Josiah!!! We finally looked under the sofa sleeper, and there he was sleeping away with his pillow pet! Somehow Josiah "sleep-rolled" or "sleep-crawled" right off his toddler mattress to under Noah's sofa sleeper. Too funny!