eden is 3

every year as the girls birthday's approach, i wonder where has the year gone. why does time fly so fast when you want to freeze every moment (or a least most moments). i'm truly blown away that our sweet little joy, eden joAnna is now 3. the age her big sis was when we met her...

we made the most of eden's actual birthday after celebrating with friends on halloween. eden and i had a special momma-daughter date while ezri was at school. we had yummy smoothies and she picked out a special movie and outfit at the store. we picked sis up from school and met daddy for a quick snack. when daddy got home from practice, we went to dinner at the roadhouse. it was conveniently tuesday and tuesday's at the roadhouse are all about kids...kids eat free and hugh the balloon man comes! we had a great dinner and a complementary birthday ice cream sunday! when we came home, eden got to open her birthday gift from momma, daddy, and big sister...eden got her very own "american girl" doll (our generation doll from target) just like ezri. her name is lily anna and it was so fun watching the girls get so excited about playing with their dolls together! it was a wonderful day! the girls went to sleep with their dolls in jammies sleeping next to them! (sorry for the picture below, our camera is not happy these days)

at age 3, our eden joAnna is bubbly, funny, energetic and sweet. she's still in the 75% for her height and weight and starting to stretch out a little. she makes us laugh whenever she can, but has the gentlest little touch and a very sensitive spirit. she is her big sisters shadow and looks up to ezri in the most precious way...they truly are best friends! she loves coloring and creating, dancing, pretending of all kinds, playing with dolls and anything small...especially pet shops! she wants to be going to school so badly, and walks into sunday school and tuesday morning bible study childcare without hesitation because she's going to class like big sister! it's been so special having her to myself in the mornings while ezri is at school. i get to see a whole new side of her without sister around. she gets lost in imaginative play and is so creative, she's really excited about learning how to cut with scissors and put puzzles together. she is such a talker and quite the storyteller. the main character in all her stories is her "gwampa." she talks with the most adorable lisp, and has a cute little "helium" voice as my mom calls it! she's very tough and brave...she volunteered to get her flu shot before big sister and didn't even cry, but needs a band-aid for any kind of bump or ouch regardless of the location. she has the most precious prayers, and is always thankful for her sister and something silly and random like cheeseburgers.

our precious eden, we are so proud of you and the beautiful little girl that you are! you bless our family everyday and we love you beyond measure. you are a kind friend and a loving sister! your smile lights up a room and your laugh is contagious-one of the best sounds in the world! eden as you step into the next year ahead, we pray that the Lord would cover you in his protection. that he would guard you and keep you safe. we pray that you would continue to grow in your love for Jesus and always have a heart that is open to him. that you would continue to have wonderful friends around you to play with and grow with. Lord we ask that you would continue to bless eden's relationship with ezri and their bond as sisters would never be broken. Lord we thank you for eden's sweet and gentle spirit, continue to grow that in her so that she can share who you are with others. Father we pray that eden would desire to be obedient to you and continue to be filled with the contagious joy that you have given her. help us to be the parents you designed for eden to have, bless her and hold her tight in you arms Father! Jesus thank you for our precious baby girl! Amen!

eden's 3rd birthday party and halloween

our sweet baby girl turned 3 on november 2nd. wow! so hard to believe!

we had a very special birthday celebration with our amazing small group on halloween! our small group (which should really be called a large group), with kiddo's decked out in adorable costumes, came for pizza, crafts, and of course cupcakes! eden wanted a tinkerbell themed party, so the kids made fairy wands, decorated candy bags for trick-or-treating, and went on a hunt for captain hooks hidden treasure. after all the birthday celebrating, all 14 kids and families headed down the road for mob-style trick-or-treating! we had so much fun celebrating our baby girl and we are so blessed by amazing friends!

the girls wore the dresses they picked out from our trip to disneyland in june (yet to be blogged about)...eden was one of the fairies from the new tinkerbell movies named rosetta and ezri was princess tiana. i must say they were absolutely adorable (but i'm a little bias).

first day

this week was an exciting week in the teasley house. we started soccer and kindergarten.

wednesday was our first soccer practice. i volunteered to coach and managed to rope my dad into helping...major time warp for him. our 1st practice was hysterical...we were only on the field for about a half an hour and had kids saying they were tired and needing to sleep, they were doing kart wheels and somersaults, picking grasss, just about everything but paying attention...way too funny! it's going to be a fun season with these little ones. tomorrow is our 1st game...should be interesting.

thursday was our first day of kindergarten. ezri is thrilled to be at valley view and has the most amazing teacher in the world...miss selzler. eden and i were able to stay and hang out with sister for the first part of class. miss selzler read us all "the kissing hand" which is a perfect book for anxious momma's and kiddo's getting ready to leave each other for the first time. we kissed each others hands, leaving reminders that our love goes with each other even when we're apart. ezri had an amazing day, had p.e., ate frog slime with flies in it for snack (mint, chocolate chip ice cream), saw her buddy jack at recess, and was sent home with her very own book to practice reading. she was so ready to head back today! i'm so proud of the little girl she is and is becoming. what a joy it is to be her momma!

ezri just seems like such a big girl all of the sudden. i wish i could freeze time, it all happening too quickly.

our lil' e had a rough time leaving sister, so we had a hot cocoa date and enjoyed some great one-on-one time together. i'm looking forward to spending mornings with eden. i get to see a new side of her with out sissy around. thank goodness school is only a half of a day, eden and i were ready by lunch time to have big sis around againg!

all in all, we're excited for what fall is bringing!

thankful

that is how i find myself today...thankful! thanful for the beauty of God's creation, thankful for the mini-blessings He lays in my lap everyday, thankful the amazing man He gave to me, thankful for the spirited little girls He gave to me to raise, thankful for my lack of perfection and shortcomings...they are pulling me toward Him...refining.

this past year was hairy, i've titled it my "learning year." i was far from the momma, wife, sister, and friend i desired to be, but found that Gods grace was abundant and His peace sufficient in the midst of my overcommitments. i'm thankful for new beginnings, because his grace is new every morning and it's a new morning.

thank you Lord for where you've placed me, for the joy in my heart, for allowing me to try again- you are the potter and i am the clay...mold me.

i yuv you with...

After dinner Sunday, Eden leaned over to Levi and whispered "Daddy, I have a secret...I yuv you with carrots and ranch!" He must be pretty special!

bedtime prayers

Last night, as the girls are getting in lost in the mass of pink and yellow covers in their beds, they are chatting away telling me what we need to pray for before sleep.

Our little Eden's standard prayer requests are for Dadda, Mommy, and Sissy as well as the animals at the zoo, usually a specific animal. Last nights selection was leopards and hippos. Our new favorite request is to pray for chicken nuggets...not sure all she means in that, but cute none the less (treasures I keep in my heart)!

Our Ezri on the other hand - true to her character - has big issues she needs to address with the Lord, often precious thoughts for Grandparents we don't see often, or a friend. Last night Ezri said "Mom, we should pray for the people that had the earthquake."

We haven't talked about Haiti in a while. I love that she has a desire to help hurting people and remembers what happened. Ezri went on to tell me "We need to pray for those kids Momma, maybe there's one who doesn't have a family, maybe we should go and get one. We could adopt one Momma. If we adopted one, would we bring their car seat with us?"

As she chatted on about the kids, I just teared up. I love the tender awareness God puts in the hearts of children. Ezri prayed a precious prayer for "the people shaked by the earthquake." My prayer is that her heart is always soft and open to God's prompting and that Levi and I can learn from her heart as well!

if you're not a monkey...

...you can't eat banana's upside down.

While I was in the kitchen making dinner, Ezri was snacking on a banana at the table. I turned around and she was laying backwards in her chair with her head under the table. She looked at me and said "It's not easy to eat a banana upside down if you are not a monkey."

Another quote added to the list I don't want to forget!

"there are monsters in my nose"

In the car today...

Eden: "There are monsters, monsters, there are monsters!" Covering her eyes and peeking through her fingers.

Momma: "Eden there are no monsters, you silly goose!"

Eden: "No Momma! There are monsters in my nose! They are trying to eat my boogers." Then grabbing her nose and yelling, "Monsters DON'T EAT MY BOOGERS!" Then looking at me with a smile starts laughing!

trying to keep up...

It seems these days with teaching part-time (which often feels like more), being a momma and a wife, I'm not so good at keeping up with much else! But I'm hoping to do better. Be prepared for another round of blog-catch-up!