hanging out with my kids

I was recently out with the kids right at sunset. There's something really wonderful about hanging out with my kids! I feel really blessed.

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Joseph January Pics

Here are some of Joseph's pictures from January...

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D is for Dinosaurs

Preschool is a fun time for all of us! This week we were working on D for Dinosaur! It was fun to talk about how God created dinosaurs and then pretend to be scientists digging up the dinosaur bones. We also made Dinosaur tracks with plastic dinosaurs and paint!

The kids are starting to sound words out with the letters they've learned! It's really fun to watch them learn these pre-reading skills!

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Proud of Joseph!

This is going to be one of those posts where I get to brag on my son a little bit... I'm so proud of Joseph!! He has been learning a lot in preschool and working really hard! It's been a lot of fun to join him in this. I love being with him during the school lesson time!!

A few weeks ago he was really struggling with writing his name. So, he and I worked and worked on it. We worked on it a little each day. Now he's doing it on his own!! He's so proud of himself!

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extra cooks in the kitchen

Lately I've been having to relearn how to cook. It used to be something that I did by myself. A time to work and listen to music. It was nice to have some time alone to think. But, this has all changed. Joseph and Faith have suddenly become really interested in cooking. They want to be big helpers! Sometimes it's so much fun. It takes a lot longer to do anything. But I can't resist them...they're too cute!

I know that I need to treasure this time with them because it seems to go by fast. One day they won't be begging me to put on the aprons Grandma made them. So, even though it takes longer to cook...I'm enjoying it! 

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Faith's new friend

One of my new Arab friends has a sweet daughter who is a little younger than Faith. It's so cute to see them playing together. Faith speaks to her friend in English and then her friend responds in Arabic! The other day when they were at our house the girls played dress up...so cute!

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Happy Birthday Faith!!

Faith turned 3 years old on January 4th! She was so excited about her birthday party. I loved hearing her talk about how her friends were going to come celebrate her birthday!! She was most excited about everyone singing "Happy Birthday" and getting to blow out her own candles.

This girl keeps getting more and more fun! She has a wonderful personality. It's fun to listen to her thoughts and watch her play.

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Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was a special time for our little family. It was the first time that we have had a Christmas with just the four of us. The previous two Christmases were in the States, which was also a special time!

The kids were so excited that it was Jesus' birthday. We explained to them that since His birthday is EXTRA special, we all get to open presents! They were so happy!

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Winter Wonderland at the Mall

The other day we went to the mall to play in the snow. That's the only place that we can find snow around here!! They actually had a real snow machine! It was fun for the kids and for us!

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Preschool before Christmas

The other day we went to the English Institute where Tim works. Joseph was so excited to get to write on these huge white boards! He's been learning how to write a few of his letters. In this picture he was practicing his M!

I've really loved watching Joseph learn in preschool! He is totally into it and loves to learn! I just feel so blessed that I get to do this with him. :)

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Riding Bikes

 Joseph's Grandma and Grampa sent money to buy Joseph a bike for his birthday in September. Between moving, traveling, and very hot days...he ended up getting it at the end of November.

He feels like such a big kid! Sometimes he gets frustrated, but he's learning to ride. I can't wait to see him take off those training wheels!! 

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Faith Day Slideshow

Yesterday we had a bunch of friends over to celebrate Faith Day! I wish you all could have joined us to celebrate this wonderful girl! We had ice cream sundaes with treasured friends...what a blessing!

I made a slideshow of Faith. Here it is, I hope you enjoy it: 

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Traveling Quotes

We're traveling right now and it's been fun to hear the Joseph and Faith's thoughts and questions! Here are a few of their quotes the last few days:

"Mommy, will you hold me for five days?" - Joseph
"Where did our new house went?" - Faith
"Is this hotel our house?" - Joseph
"Can I go to Emmet's house?" - Faith
"Dear God, help Grandma to have a good trip" - Faith (I think she thinks everyone is traveling when she is traveling)
"Where am I from? Africa? America?" - Joseph
"Where are we?" -Joseph
"I want to call Aunt Karla." -Faith

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Hair Day

Today I took the kids to get their hair done Joseph got his hair cut and Faith got hers braided!

Here are the before and after pictures of Faith's hair: 

 


I found this really cute music video that Sesame Street did for girls like Faith...enjoy!

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Faith

Faith is growing so much! It's fun to watch her change! She is talking more and more...I love hearing what she has to say!

She always wants to do whatever Jojo can do and that's why she has her backpack on in this picture. Joseph got a new backpack for preschool and we found this one for Faith.

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Painting Fun

One of the favorite activities that we have done in preschool so far is painting!! It's a special activity that is messy and fun.

The kids are making a creation book. Each page is one of the seven days of creation. They got to paint on the pages for day 3 when God separated land from the sea and made fruit bearing plants. They also got to paint for day 4 when God created the sun, moon, and stars!

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First Day of Preschool

Joseph started preschool last week. We are doing a homeschool group with four kids. Joseph was excited to get a new backpack with wheels! We only had one day of preschool last week because Jojo had a stomach bug and we had to cancel the second day. :( Next week we plan to have two days of school and we hope to work into three days a week in November!

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Joseph's 4th Birthday Party

Joseph turned 4 on September 4th....it was his Golden Birthday!! Even though we were still jet lagging, we pulled a party together. We went swimming with friends and then had pizza and cake! We had a Superman theme, which was fun. The kids played pin the shield on superman...so cute!

Below you can see a slideshow with more pictures from his party! Enjoy!

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Some favorites from August

 August was a crazy busy month for our family, but we enjoyed it! We had one month in Denver. Tim was taking a four week course for teaching English as a second language. While he was in class the kids and I did a lot of fun things and got to catch up with a lot of people! Here are a few of the kids' favorite times in August!

This first picture is when Joseph and Faith got to ride in Grampa's truck!! What an adventure they had!! This was one of their favorite things!

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boys and girls are different

Dinosaur Play from Tim and Jeni Saltzman on Vimeo.

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Joseph is Officially American!!

After several trips to Immigration Services we finally got Joseph's Certificate of Citizenship!!! 

We're jumping for joy!! :) 

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Conversations with Faith

"What kind of house should we move to, Faith?" "Purple and Pink!" 

"Mommy, I love you a Bushel and a Peck!" "Thank you, Faith!"

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Cousin Pictures

Of course there are too many pictures to post, but here are few more of my favorites of the cousins! The Buchanan Bunch are really so sweet with our kids! We're really blessed! :)

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how we travel with young kids

Some people have asked me, "how do you travel so much with these little kids?" I don't know....it's just what we do! We have traveled in lots of different ways with these kids and it's all been fun!!

Here are some ways that we make it fun...

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Family Night at Chick-Fil-A

The other day we decided to meet up with Mark, Renee, Sam, and Noah at Chick-Fil-A. Little did we know that it was family night!! It was so fun for the kids to get to watch Veggie Tales on a big screen!

Of course it was fun for us too, because we got to catch up with our friends!

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Videos with Grandparents

Here are a few fun videos of the kids with their grandparents! I'm really not sure who has more fun when they're together, the grandparents or the kids!

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Faith's Quilt

A couple weeks ago, I sewed a quilt for Faith! I've been meaning to do it since before we traveled to get her from Ethiopia. I made one for Joseph before we traveled to get him. Life was much more simple then, I guess. Anyway, I finally finished Faith's quilt and she enjoyed watching me make it! She kept telling me, "I like my blanket, Mommy!" 

I worked really hard to get it finished. I kept thinking of my precious little girl sleeping with her new blanket. I was glad to see how happy she was to sleep in her little bed with her big blanket! 

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I love these two kids!

 
 Joseph and Faith have been continuing to grow over the last month. It seems that every day there's something new or a skill improved. They have loved having time with their grandparents and, I know the grandparents have all loved this time with them too!

Some days I look forward to the next stages that they're stepping into and get excited! Other days I realize, with sadness, that they are no longer as little as they once were and we can never go back.

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Easter Kids

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bikes

Joseph and Faith have really enjoyed riding on bikes lately. The weather is getting nice again and it's fun to be outside!! Spring is such a beautiful time!!

Joseph has figured out how to pedal and he's pretty happy about this new skill! Faith doesn't know how to pedal, but she still loves being on a bike that's her size.

Below are a few more pictures and a video of them on bikes over the past week or so.

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traveling kids

Some people have asked us what it's like to travel so much with young kids. Some times it's fun....other times it's challenging.

For the most part Joseph and Faith travel well. I thought you might enjoy seeing a few pictures of these two traveling kids....

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Sledding!

When we were in Colorado we went sledding! It was a fun time!!! Joseph and Faith had never been sledding before. They loved it!!!!

Every time Faith would go down, she would shout, "MORE!!!" as soon as the sled stopped! I loved watching (and taking pictures) of them with big smiles on their faces!!

What a great memory! Enjoy some more pictures and videos below.

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Valentine Fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! It's pretty fun to be in the States for Valentine's Day! We see hearts, chocolates, balloons and teddy bears everywhere we go!

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First time to the Aquarium!

 Joseph and Faith got to go to the aquarium when Uncle Ross was visiting! We had a fun time checking out the fish, the eels, the jellyfish, the sharks, and the turtles!! The kids loved it and we loved watching them enjoy the aquarium!

You can see more pictures below.

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First Zoo Experience

This weekend, when Jeni's brother Ross was here, we went to the zoo! It was the first time for Joseph and Faith to go to a zoo! It was so much fun! Joseph was excited about each of the animals we saw!! Faith's favorite part was seeing the monkeys! 

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Faith turned two!!!

It's hard to believe that our little girl is 2 years old!! She's a very blessed girl...she had 2 birthday celebrations, one in Colorado and one in New Mexico!

Here are some pictures of Faith's birthday:

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Snow!!

Joseph and Faith enjoyed seeing snow in the States! It's something they don't get to see in the Middle East, so it's an extra special treat!

Here are some pictures of them enjoying snow in Albuquerque and Colorado: 

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Quiet Time

 Most days we have a quiet time. The kids are learning to sit quietly and look at books. It's a great time for me to read and pray too!

Joseph has done this a lot longer than Faith, so he's pretty good at it. Unless, that is, if his sweet little sister bats her eyes at him and cuddles up next to him. Then he thinks it's time to play! (so does she)

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doctor visits

 Recently we've taken a few trips to the doctor for various reasons. The kids have been troopers putting up with things like getting their blood taken. They loved getting stickers when it was over and they walked out with smiles on their faces!

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holding hands

Joseph and Faith have enjoyed holding hands lately! Sometimes they hold hands and walk around the house just for fun. I love it when we're getting ready to go and Joseph says, "Faith hold my hand because cars are dangerous!" Aww!! He's such a good brother.

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