The VanZandt Family Blog

Fall Reflections

2010-11-19T17:43:00.000-05:00

We were able to spend a few absolutely gorgeous days at Clear Creek State Park last month (accommodations thanks to my parents, once again, and weather, thanks to GOD!). It was warm, and wonderful to get away!

Our attempt at a family picture!


Skipping rocks...even Alliyah was trying! The Clarion River was very low.

Happy 14th Anniversary! My parents offered to keep the kids and let us go out to dinner, but we were just having too much fun to leave the kids and go...who wants to skip a campfire and mountain pies with the kiddos?

The next day we took a little trip down Corbett (my maiden name : )) Road and went to Beartown Rocks.

Zach was fearless! Climbing anywhere he could.

Wonder where he gets that? (Frank is on the left side of the picture...on the side of the rock!) This was the PERFECT climbing rock! Frank said it even had natural hand holds in the holes!

Kaity let me take a few pictures (a rare thing!) ...this was one of my favorites...even if it's a little blurry.

Here is Liah...sitting on her "baby rock"...all the rocks were Mommies or Daddies or babies!

Flash forward to senior pictures...(really only 5+ years away! UGH!)

Elli helping Liah climb some rocks...♥ sisters ♥

Nathaniel the explorer

♥ Father - Son time ♥

A couple of the family pyromaniacs... : )

Our last morning there we went for a hike on "The River Trail"...Breathtaking!

Reading the map...trying to decide if we had time to go the long way...unfortunately, we didn't. : (

The girls...posing for another picture!! : )

God blesses us so richly...we need only to open our eyes to see the beauty, the splendor of His creation!

Reflections

2010-09-23T15:20:00.006-04:00

Wow, how we've changed in one year! I've just been thinking about the changes in the last year...how the kids have grown, the things we've gone through. This is a picture of Alliyah last September...she still looks like a baby! At the bottom of the post is a picture from last month. She's a little girl now...

Here are Nathaniel, Kaity and Zach waiting for the bus last year...just beginning 2nd, 5th and 4th grades...

And little Elli waiting for the bus for the first day of Kindergarten! Seems like so long ago, yet just like yesterday too...

The four oldest at Fall Fest...

My attempt at a picture of the 5 of them last fall...

And then we morph ahead to this year...

First day of 5th, 6th, 1st and 3rd grade already!!!

From our vacation to the beach at the end of August...

And my "big girl" sunbather...she's growing so fast! They all are.

My devotion today talked about "always abounding" in your role as mother and that motherhood is a labor of love...not in the sense of physical labor, but of the weariness we experience as we "do" our job as mother. Abounding- "to excel, to exceed, to increase, to be in excess, be better, enough and to spare." God has called us not to just "do" our job as mother but to abound in it! When we feel weary as we are doing the many things that mother's do, the words of God are there to comfort and encourage us. "I will not forget your work and labor of love." Hebrews 6:10. God promises to give us the strength for each day. "not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy." (Colossians 1:11- The Message) What an encouragement as we endeavor to abound in our God-given role as mother.
So as I look back over the last year, there are many days I felt weary and that I was just "doing" my mother role. I pray that God will remind me of the great reward and joy ahead as I press on to be an abounding mother to my 5 blessings. My mothering ministry is not in vain...there will be reward. : )
And as I look ahead to the next year and all the challenges and blessings it holds, I AM encouraged.

"Therefore, my beloved brethern, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." I Corinthians 15:58

This is a picture of the monarch butterfly we watched change from a caterpillar last year. A new beginning...a new attitude...a new view...

Time to start again...

2010-08-14T16:56:00.005-04:00

Well, it's been almost a year since I posted...the kids want me to start up again. I think I will, but maybe not until after vacation...once the school year is underway. We're going to be very busy the next 3 weeks...

The Veggie Tales Massacre?

2009-09-01T09:51:00.003-04:00

Well, we had cut up cucumbers and tomatoes with dinner last night...

And after Elli finished eating hers, she said, with a look of shock on her face,
"I just ate Bob and Larry!"
And then she laughed...and so did we!

This morning when she saw the picture she said..."I'm never eating Bob and Larry again!" : )

Pictures of Liah

2009-08-26T14:42:00.005-04:00

I attempted to take some pictures of Liah...She's very wiggly and it's hard to coordinate pushing the button on the camera and catching that perfect pose...and then sometimes the camera can't focus that fast...but I think I got a few keepers! : )

An attempt at distraction to get her to sit still!

Now I'm being cute! : )
(See the marker on my hand? Guess what I had fun with?!)

Gettin' kinda tired of this, Mom!

Maybe sitting with biggest sister will make her more cooperative...not! Still trying to get away!

She's quick!

Now I'm happy...my sisters are here!

All done!

Zach is 9!

2009-08-26T14:15:00.005-04:00

Zach turned 9 on August 12th. We officially had his party combined with Nathaniel last month, but we saved a few things for the actual day.

Frank tried to fake Zach out like he did Nathaniel by putting a package of socks on top of the new DS game we got him...but Zach wasn't fooled for a second! Isn't it great that he LOOKS as excited about the socks as the game? : )

Later, we had chocolate chip brownies with chocolate peanut butter ice cream to celebrate in the evening...with Grandma and Papa Corbett. (since they couldn't be at the party.)

Zach got a new Star Wars Lego set from Grandma and Papa...

Along with some new clothes, of course! (Great for back-to-school!)

Thanks Grandma and Papa for helping make the evening special!

Our 24hr trip to New York

2009-08-11T11:22:00.009-04:00

We took a quick trip to Chatauqua, NY last weekend. My parents had rented half a house with friends for the week, so we crashed for a day! This was the view we were greeted with when we arrived...beautiful!

This is the house we stayed in...the back of it anyway!

Glad to be out of the car after 2hrs!

~serenity~

Liah enjoyed the stairs...immensely!

Elli and Kaity enjoying the water!

Nathaniel "surfing" on the boogie board!

Liah and Zach having fun!

Still surfing!
The wind was strong, so the waves were big for the lake!

Fun on the paddle boat!

Liah was brave enough to put her tootsies in...that was about it!

♥~posing!~♥

Frank pushing the kids onto shore...we went out on the paddle boat too, but thankfully no one got a picture of that! : )

Clean up before we go home!

Elli and Liah posing with Grandma at the end of the dock.

Kaity...just a little bit silly!

Thaniel follows suit!

And Zach too!

So why not Elli too!

Liah posing again! : )

A hot air balloon lifted off from the other side of the lake!

Nice one!

Silly one!

Grandma and Papa! Thanks for having us! : )

Fun after the Birthday Bash!

2009-08-11T10:29:00.005-04:00

After the Birthday Bash for the boys, the girls decided to have some fun with the lightsabers!

Kaity!

Alliyah!

Elli!

Jedi poses

What IS this strange creature??

Oh! Just the kids having fun with their glow bracelets!

Alliyah didn't have any cake at the party...
(because she was napping)

She licked every crumb off her plate!!!

And was a VERY HAPPY little girl!

Posies!

2009-08-10T19:06:00.003-04:00

I'm always excited when God blesses me with the unexpected! I planted these lillies spring 2008...never saw them last year. Then this year, WOW!, this beautiful lily bloomed! With the promise of another soon!

And here the lily is with a couple of other beautiful blessings! ♥Kaity and Elli! ♥

Last year the begonias were beautiful in pots, so I tried them in the ground this year. One is doing quite well, the other is almost dead! And the one I planted in the pot is also not well...

This is obviously the one doing well...

I got some black-eyed Susan's this year from my Mom and Dad's yard...they're still in the bags and boxes, but they bloomed beautifully! Alliyah really likes them too...she's my newest blooming blessing! ♥

Birthday Bash!

2009-08-02T18:12:00.009-04:00

We had a combined birthday bash for Zach and Nathaniel this year...their birthdays are only 23 days apart, so it was much easier to do one! We were able to plan a little better and invite friends!

Clark and Mason are our neighbors on the next street. The boys were so glad they were able to come! (Kaity's friend, Lauren, and her little sister, Emily, stopped by for the fun too!)

(Cousin) Austin and Noah came too! FUN! FUN!

We started in the backyard with a wet obstacle course! It had rained so much two days before, that by the time we were done...everyone was wet and a little (or a LOT) muddy!

Isn't it amazing how many kids you can fit into a baby pool???

We didn't end up timing anyone on the course...they all just did it for fun!

Posing for a picture before....CAKE!!!

THE CAKES!

16 candles between the 2 of them...it quickly grew to look like an inferno!

Winding up!

Action shot!

Drying off from the obstacle course and water balloons!

The birthday brothers!

Anticipation....

Me first!!!!

The girls wait patiently...

Finally...PRESENTS! Zach and Thaniel reading their cards Annie made! Zach's had a picture of Yoda on it, and Nathaniel's said "I see London, I see France, I see purple underpants!" We all got a good laugh with Nathaniel's card!

Star Wars T-shirts! COOL!

Some of the partiers watching the boys open presents.

Nathaniel got a new notebook and crayons! (Zach too!)

Zach's big present was a Nintendo DSi...we didn't get a good picture of it because Nathaniel inadvertantly opened it and thought HE got a DS!!!!
Midst the confusion...no picture. But here he is opening the starter set for it...Star Wars theme!

Posing for pictures...Nathaniel with Papa Chuck

Grandma and Papa Chuck with Zach

Nathaniel got a cool new Star Wars plane!

And a motorcycle puzzle he can paint!

But the thing they were both excited about...a Star Wars walker...an AT-TE! (Thank you, Toys-R-Us for GREAT SALES!)

Everyone had a good time, got wet and had some yummy cake!
(Thanks, Mandy for taking pictures to help make this blog entry possible!!)

Just a few random pictures

2009-08-02T17:05:00.004-04:00

Liah being cute as usual!

Liah and Elli

Liah and Elli...again!

Kaity doing what she's been doing a lot of!

Zach and Thaniel sporting their summer haircuts!

And here's a treat!

Nathaniel's 7!!!

2009-07-24T16:03:00.008-04:00

Nathaniel turned 7 on Monday! We just celebrated at home because Daddy had to work in the evening and we're planning a party for next weekend. Thaniel got to have a break from his usual chores for the day. After lunch, we let him open a few presents!

He was excited to get his own gum and M&Ms!

He got a couple of new Transformers!

The second present was a box of baby wipes...or so he thought!

Much to his delight, it was really a "signature" Webkinz panda!

That evening, Grandma and Papa Corbett came over because they'll be away for his party...We had birthday pie! YUM! Fresh-baked apple!

Got them all!

A LEGO Star Wars set!!!

Thaniel shares his Papa's love of planes...so this was GREAT!

Another new Transformer! ALRIGHT!!!

I think Nathaniel enjoyed his day...other than missing his big sister 'cause she was a camp...he had a good birthday!

Busy Day... but FUN!

2009-07-24T14:55:00.007-04:00

Last Sunday our church had a GREAT outdoor service! The weather was perfect...not too hot, not too cold. After the service we had a picnic with LOTS of good food! And then there were games and activities for the kids!

Kaity and Liah after lunch...waiting in line for horse rides!

Frank, Kelly and Liah watching all the kids riding horses.

Elli was SO EXCITED to find out about the horse rides! It's almost her turn!

Obviously, Kaity didn't want her picture taken!

Zach and Nathaniel are always ready to pose, though!

Here's Kaity riding

Elli on Tabasco...could her smile get any bigger?
(If you click on the picture and make it big...you can actually SEE her smiling face!)

I even got a chance to ride with Liah...who was totally unimpressed. (Yes, I got up there all by myself!)

Then Zach go to ride Cocoa.

Nathaniel rode Tabasco too.

Elli wasn't afraid of the horses at all! We had to remind her to ask before she touched or fed the horses. She wasn't shy about asking! She fed the horses a couple handsfull of grass. She absolutely LOVED it!

Then, later in the day... we took Kaity to Seneca Hills for camp for the week. Here she is unpacking her stuff on her bunk. We managed to get there early enough she got a top bunk like she wanted. (Are you impressed? You should be!)

Kaity posing with one of her counselors and Janalyn, a friend from church. Kaity went not knowing if she was going to know anyone there. She was pleasantly surprised to find out Janalyn was in her cabin. She also saw another girl she knows from her Grandma and Papa Corbett's church during registration. The neatest thing, though, was that Aunt Mandy's cousins, Stacy and Shannon were there this week, so she knows them. Plus, Stacy's daughter, Emily is in the cabin with Kaity too...a new friend!

When we got home, Liah found Kaity's purse...when the cat's away...the mice will play! Actually, I think Alliyah is missing her biggest sister a lot this week!

Cub Scout Day Camp---Family Day!

2009-07-20T16:01:00.010-04:00

We got to spend the day as a family at Day Camp this year! Friday is always family day...and water wars! So you have to go, knowing you'll get wet...unless you wear a big orange vest to let everyone know you're off limits! I had to wear one this year because of Alliyah... : )

Elli started the day picking posies while waiting for the activities to begin.

The first station the boys went to was the fire hoses! The idea was to use the water to move the water jug down the rope to the other team's end. The boys got SOAKED! Kaity and Elli participated too...for a little while, but they didn't want to be up front and get totally soaked!

Here Zach is actually manning the hose, but you can't see him. Behind him is Nathaniel, Kaity and Elli. Kaity and Elli are trying to shield themselves from the blast! What a good big sister Kaity is!

Here the boys are....SOAKED!!!

Liah got tired of sitting to watch all the fun, so she thought she would stand...for a better view, I guess!

Nathaniel manning the hose!...AGAIN!

Zach manning the hose...AGAIN!

Elli likes the view much better from here!

Little Liah...just bein' cute! : )

This was the interesting creature we were greeted with at the bottle rocket station! At the end of the post is a little video of a launch!

Nathaniel trying his hand at a slingshot...under Daddy's watchful eye.

Zach's turn!

Kaity and Elli got to try too!

Emptying the firetruck!

4

Daddy was practicing too.

After lunch the kids got to see some animals up close...and how to bathe a goose for the fair!

The kids got to pet baby chicks.

Then, back to the games! They had to soak a sponge then pass it to the back of the line over their heads, squeeze the sponge, pass it back up, etc. to see who could fill the bucket at the back of the line the fastest!

This was a BIG slingshot for water balloons!

Their last station was a big water gun battle! The "forts" were pretty much destroyed by the time they got to this station, so it was everyone for themselves!

Daddy in action!

Zach on attack!

Nathaniel's sneak attack!

The boy's pack was responsible for closing ceremony. Here they're retiring the flag.

We had a great day! The weather was excellent! Hot and sunny! Perfect for Water Wars!

Fun at the farm!

2009-07-20T13:59:00.004-04:00

After the baby shower, we all went to the farm. My uncle's farm that used to be my grandparents' farm is a great place to visit. It's always fun to go to see what animals will be there and new things for the kids to play on! Zach, Nathaniel and Elli had gone up with my parents earlier in the day. Frank was also able to join us after he got off work. As you can see, Alliyah was still enjoying one of the balloons from the shower!

Carl and Laurie have had this trampoline for several years and it's always a source of great fun! They were still jumping when it was so dark they could hardly see each other! Earlier in the day the kids also got to swim, play in the playhouse, visit the kittens, cows, chickens, ducks, turkeys and goat, and just enjoy some great Mueller food and fellowship!

Having the moon about full helped them see!

Frank and my cousin, Mark, set off some bigger fireworks. They even had some that launched into the air. Great fun!

On a sadder note, it also would have been my grandfather's 94th birthday. We miss him so much!

First comes love...then comes marriage...then comes

2009-07-18T17:49:00.006-04:00

Doug and Dessi with a baby carriage!

Frank's niece (mine too!: )) is having a baby! She's "due" October 8th. And has been told she's having a girl! I saw the ultrasound pictures...it's pretty convincing! : ) ♥~ Makayla Rae~ ♥

Her mom, my sis-in-law, Kelly, and a couple of Dessi's friends threw the shower for her. It was a luau theme! I have to admit, it was the first luau baby shower I've been to. Very cute!

Kaity and Annie were filling in their cards for baby bingo. We had fun playing that. Mandy kept winning!!!!

Alliyah enjoyed the balloons! : )

Jeannie and Dessarae all decked out in their luau attire : )

The cookies were in the shapes of baby things and the baby's name.

There were even fun straws and umbrellas for our drinks!

They got lots of cute little girl clothes and baby necessities. This little outfit says "Mommy's little angel"

It's hard to see from this angle, but I found her the cutest little tankini for next summer! : )

Liah spent some time with "Aunt Jeannie" during the present opening.

The happy couple...soon to be threesome!

Kaity with her leis : )

Visions of the future???

Justus loved trying to pull Doug's hair! : )

On a more serious note...Dessarae's been having problems with elevated blood pressure and swelling in her legs since before she was 28weeks. It's still too early to deliver the baby. So, I'm asking for prayer for the safety of Dessarae and little Makayla as those symptoms can have adverse effects on both of them!

The Fourth of July

2009-07-18T17:13:00.004-04:00

Here's our (almost) annual 4th of July picture!
The kids are looking quite patriotic, aren't they?
We enjoyed a brunch picnic at the Leo's (which I've attended many times since I was in high school!) with a dip in the pool as well! It was a fun time except Frank had to work so he couldn't join us for the fun. Thankfully, Grandma and Papa Corbett were there to help watch the kids once again! It was a little cool for swimming (low 70's) but the water was WARM! It was great! You could just walk right in...no adjustment needed! Of course the kids didn't want to get out! I was surprised, though, that Alliyah didn't like being in the pool because she LOVES the bathtub!!!

That night Frank set off a few little fireworks on the front sidewalk...one of which was going full force when the police drove by...guess it wasn't big enough to bother with!

Then we did sparklers! Alliyah wasn't very sure of them. She was just fine watching!

This was a major accomplishment! Zach overcame his fear of the sparklers. I didn't know why he wouldn't do any the last couple years. He would just run the other way and hide. He revealed that one of his siblings had dropped a hot sparkler on his foot a few years ago and that is why he was afraid to have anything to do with them!

Love Elli's outfit? This is the "sweatshirt" she picked when we told her to go put on something warm over her dress! I'm not sure what made her pick the hat!

All in all it was a fun day and we enjoyed watching the great display of fireworks Grove City put on this year (22 min.!) from our 3rd floor windows once again.

Just had to...

2009-07-08T15:28:00.001-04:00

post this cute picture of little Liah!

Check it out!

2009-07-08T15:26:00.001-04:00

I added a video to the last post...check it out!

Father's Day

2009-06-29T15:31:00.010-04:00

MY DAD!

The reason for celebrating the day!
I definitely dropped the ball in planning ahead for this day. When I asked my Mom if she had anything planned for the day, she said "He's not my dad." Fair enough. That's true! So, we planned, in very short notice, a picnic at the park. (Thanks to my Mom!) For some reason, my Dad reminds me of Pa Grape in this hat. (Have to watch Veggie Tales to understand!)

Alliyah was ready to play! She's wearing an outfit that my Grandma Corbett made for me when I was little!

Monkey Annie! She can climb!

Elli swinging! And learning how to keep herself going!

Liah cuddling with Grandma ♥

Me trying to get a picture of Justus while holding him!

Annie and Kaity...best cousins!

Sam and Elli...best cousins too! Trying to convince them they can't get married when they're older is difficult!

Jeffrey and Justus...waiting to eat!

After the meal, came the part I think the kids loved the best! We all walked to the pond and the kids tried to feed the fish and the geese. These are very well fed fish and geese...I'm not sure the kids even saw any fish and the geese were totally uninterested!

Still trying to feed the fish!

More studying the water for fish!

Zach posing with the fountain in the background.

Nathaniel and Austin found shells, stinky snail shells. (Some of the other kids found them too!) We tried to convince them to leave the shells there or the snails would be homeless...I think we actually succeeded! But not without them trying! (again and again!)

Sam and Nathaniel throwing rocks in the pond.

Papa and Caeden
(I think Caeden was voted 'most likely to fall in the water'...he just loved being close to it! Thank goodness he didn't fall in though!)

Liah posing...a future dancer?

We ended the evening taking a few pictures of the Dad's and their kids (or grandkids!)

Here's Jeff with his brood.
Annie, Austin, Samuel, Caeden and Justus

And Frank with his...
Kaitlyn, Zachariah, Nathaniel, Elliana, and Alliyah

And Papa with all but one of his grandchildren!
(Miss you Asher!)

Happy Father's Day!
Thanks for being such a great Dad!♥

We Can-Can Dance!

2009-06-29T12:35:00.007-04:00

Dotty McGill Dance Studio had their recital on June 20th this year (once again falling on the wedding day of one of my cousins!). Kaity and Elli along with my niece, Annie, all were in it.

This was rehearsal for the finale, "Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog." You can see Ann on the far left of the picture giving the girls instruction.

Elli, Annie and Kaity all ready for their first dances!

Kaitlyn with her stage makeup and tap outfit on!

Elli "getting all made up"

Elli with her stage makeup on. She did a ballet dance this year.

My camera does not zoom nearly well enough! Elli is the 4th one in from the left with her toe pointed in front of her. She danced to "My Magic Tutu."

Mandy's camera zooms MUCH better (thank you Mandy!). Here's Kaity during her tap number. (Gotta work on that smile!) Her dance was to "Pink Cadillac."

Alliyah got a backstage trip the day of the recital! This is Kaity in her ballet costume. She danced to "Yellow Bird."

Here's Kaity stretching out before acro...to do her back walkover. (That's something I never could do with any consistancy! So glad she can!)

Kaity and Annie...stretching and posing! : )
(The one dance they got to be in together! )
"Do You Believe in Magic?" was their song for acro.

The beautiful dancers after the recital with all the flowers they got! (Thanks Grandma and Papa and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Mandy!) (Also, notice Austin in the background scowling because he got caught making faces while we were trying to get "nice" pictures of the girls! LOL!)

Posing with Grandma and Papa Corbett

~Elliana~

~Annie~

~Kaitlyn~

Frank with Liah...this was actually her SECOND dance recital! What a culturally enriched girl! : )

Our attempt at a family shot...Nathaniel hurt his eye and would not look up!

The girls outside Pew Fine Arts building at GCC.
The recital was good! Wish you all could have been there!

Basketball Camp and VBS: East Main style

2009-06-26T14:15:00.003-04:00

The boys kicked-off what I'm calling "camp season" this week by attending a basketball camp offered by GCHS coach Don Fee. Zach has gone the last two years, but this was the first year Nathaniel was able to attend too! They both had a great time improving their skills and got these cool shirts and basketballs the last day.

Here's Mr. Z with his new b-ball!

And Thaniel with his, which he thinks is cool that it's a size 6, cause he's six (at least for another couple of weeks)

BROTHERS!
(If only they got along like this always!)

I didn't get and pictures from VBS, but the Kaity and Elli went while Zach and Than were at b-ball camp and had a great time! Crocodile Dock was the theme. Kaity especially enjoyed the special "top secret" things the older kids got to do each day...like clean up at the park and go to the nursing homes and play games with the residents. Although their plans got changed for Friday because of the weather (was supposed to be swimming) they still had fun playing games at the church and eating pizza. Zach and Nathaniel went for the last day to have some fun too!

We LOVE Strawberry Days!

2009-06-26T13:21:00.006-04:00

Attending Strawberry Days has become a tradition in our family. After Elli's dance class that Saturday, the kids and I went to see what was on display this year.

Elli spotted the wood carver. He had lots of items on display. This horse bench was just one of the beautiful things we saw.

We spotted these miniature horses and carriage. Of course Elli was excited. As they passed us, the driver said "Rides are free!" MUSIC to my ears! The oldest four kids all had rides.

Elli was in her glory when she got to pet them! She was so sad when she had to stop so they could give a ride to her brothers!

Zach and Thaniel enjoying their ride!

Another *FREE* thing we found was face painting! Elli, of course, got a horse! She picked the colors..

Nathaniel chose a lizard!

Here's Liah sporting pig tails!

Elli looked around at everything there was and just HAD to have this unicorn! We stuffed it together and picked out the outfit.

We ate lunch there (pizza!) and ran into some friends. The kids went back later and did a few things with Daddy. The one thing Zach REALLY wanted to do was gem mining. The boys had done it the day before when they'd gone with Grandma and Papa Chuck. I thought the price was pretty high for what you got in return, but Zach really wanted to do that and nothing else. So, when Frank took them back, he let Zach gem mine. Turned out, one of the photographers from the Allied News was there and took a picture of Kaity, Zach and Thaniel while Zach was gem mining...so now they think they're famous!

The New Bathing Beauty on the Block!

2009-06-10T18:30:00.005-04:00

Here she is!!

Little Miss America!

There she goes!

(Whew! I think I'm all caught up now! FINALLY!)

Summer fun....here we come!

2009-06-10T15:14:00.007-04:00

The fun started while the pool was filling...Zach got out the squirt guns!

Elli didn't like getting squirted...with the hose or squirt guns...and the water was COLD!

Liah wasn't sure about the cold water either!

Nathaniel...the golden boy!

Pose for a group picture!

Okay...now a silly one!

Then a little break to 'sun-bathe' and warm up.

Mommy and Liah...self-portrait!

After the break, Elli really got into it!...the pool, that is!

Sweet Zach!

Cute Kaity...posing!

Underwater man!

Group picture!!! : )

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

2009-06-10T15:05:00.002-04:00

Here's the 3 oldest ready for the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
WOOHOO!
It was actually just a half day of watching movies, taking pictures and making sure desks were emptied! But, it's official now...I have a 5th grader, a 4th grader, a 2nd grader and a kindergartener!!! Can you believe it???

The kids!

2009-06-09T21:57:00.006-04:00

Just some pictures of the kids...being kids!

Liah and Kaity

Little Liah ♥

Natalie? or Nathaniel?

Elli!

Zachariah!

Liah is climbing!

Elli trying to get Liah to take a nice picture with her!

The Baby is ONE!

2009-06-09T19:27:00.006-04:00

Alliyah, 'the baby', turned one on May 24th! We had a party the following evening in order to accomadate traveling grandparents...she didn't mind at all! : )

The little princess...♥
Wearing the sash Daddy picked out for her!

Alliyah had LOTS of help blowing out the candle...she wasn't sure what to do with it...looking to the crowd for help!

Some cool effects by Aunt Mandy!

Gettin' to the good stuff!

Some play time with cousin Justus...is he playing 'this little piggy'?

Nathaniel stole the camera...got some interesting shots

After a duet by Annie and Liah...

We opened some presents!!!

One of her favorite presents...and one thing she can say "ball!"

This was a really cool present she got from Rich, Marcy, Shannon and Ronan...a Liah mover! : ) (hat compliments of Uncle Jeff and Aunt Mandy!)

Trying out her new ride-on toy from Grandma and Papa Corbett!

Here's to many more happy birthdays, little one! God bless you!

Kaity got dunked!

2009-06-09T11:56:00.005-04:00

Kaitlyn took a big step of faith in her faith! She was publicly baptized at church on May 24th, 2009. She gave a brief testimony and then Pastor Paul, our youth pastor, asked her two questions..."Are you sure if you were to die today, would you be in heaven with Jesus?" and " Are you willing to live the rest of your life for Christ?" Her answers were "Yes" to both questions, and so...she got dunked! :) Our hearts are filled with joy that she took the initiative and stood before the congregation to tell everyone Jesus is her Savior! (What courage!) And she was obedient in following Christ's example of believer's baptism!

These are the youth who were baptized, with Pastor Paul and Miss Kelly.

When did she get so grown up?

Kaity with her very proud Daddy!

Just some general cuteness!

2009-06-09T09:38:00.005-04:00

Alliyah discovered her rocking chair! (gotta love that wild hair : ))

One of many pictures we took trying to get a nice one for a Mother's Day project! This was the one they all liked. Although a little fuzzy, we used it!

Elliana after a shower...all ready for bed! (Notice the horse in the background, and yes, those are pictures of horses on her wall!)

This was taken after we went to a Mother-Daughter banquet with Grandma Corbett, Great Grandma Mueller, Aunt Mandy and Annie. (yes, I have a matching one too!)

Nathaniel and Zach during Elli and Kaity's soccer practices..at least 1) they weren't fighting and 2) it wasn't during THEIR soccer practice!

Liah...being her usual cute self!

Pictures of things to come....Elli tried on her dance recital costume!

Can she be any sweeter?

Here she is on her actual birthday! The big ONE YEAR OLD!! ♥

Big brother, Zach reading to Liah : )

Cowgirl Elli!

2009-05-28T12:58:00.006-04:00

If you know Elli, you know she LOVES horses!

This is her 'cowgirl' skirt and new cowgirl princess hat!

Elli's great grandfather could really use a lasso! He went to rodeos and did performances using his lasso. It's been said he could lasso four horses running beside each other! We are privileged enough to have his actual lasso. Daddy was giving Elli some lessons the other day...

Daddy lassos "Elli THE horse!" then Elli takes a try!

The Wedding...

2009-05-28T12:39:00.003-04:00

And here's a picture of the kids that I couldn't get to insert anywhere in the last blog entry!

Far away Family

2009-05-28T11:39:00.007-04:00

Dessarae got married (to Doug) and the occasion brought some family to town that we don't often get to see! We were so glad to be able to spend even just a little time with them!

♥Dessare and Douglas♥

Dessi with Kaity, Zach, Thaniel and Elli

Kaity really looks up to her big cousin...but not for long! Soon she'll be taller! : )

Aunt Billie (or GREAT Aunt Billie to the kids) came from Florida! We haven't seen her for 2 years, and 10 years before that! What a good time the kids had loving on her!

Papa VanZandt came all the way from Arizona! Yada wasn't able to come because of doctor's appointments and follow up from her surgery and treatment for breast cancer...but she was here in spirit! And believe me, she has a LOT of spirit! : )

Posing with Aunt Billie at Uncle Dave and Aunt Kelly's house the day after the wedding. We were there to watch Dessi and Doug open their gifts.

Uncle Kevin and Aunt Chris...this was the first time we'd seen them since they 'ran away' to Jamaca and got married!

Here they are with their "kids"

Moving up

2009-05-23T18:59:00.006-04:00

Zach and Nathaniel "moved up" in Cub Scouts. At the April pack meeting, they had a ceremony for each den.

Nathaniel waiting to move up to Wolf Cub.

Officially a wolf cub!

Zach's turn! Movin' up to Webelos 1!

Looking through his new book while Daddy puts on his new neckerchief, compliments of the pack!
We're so proud of both of them!
Neither one can hardly wait for Day Camp!

Lookin' Up

2009-05-23T14:07:00.003-04:00

It's still hard for me to believe that Elli's a big sister! Here's little Liah following her big sister, Elli. Seems like just yesterday Elli was following Kaity around like this. Oh how the time flies by. I wish there was a way to keep them little...just a little longer!

What cha lookin' at big sister?

Little Liah ♥

Big sister, Elli ♥

It's JAMMIE TIME!

2009-05-23T13:17:00.004-04:00

I used to take lots of pictures of the kids sitting on the couch all ready for bed...haven't for a long time, though. I guess I just forgot about it...until a couple months ago when we were looking at pictures of the kids when they were younger. SO CUTE! So, I thought I would carry on the tradition. I'm pretty sure I don't have any with Alliyah, maybe not Elli either... : ( So, here are some fun pictures of the kids!

Obviously, Alliyah is getting REALLY tired!

FEET! What fun! (They're growing SO fast!!)

They're SOOO sleepy, they fell asleep on each other! ; )

♥Kaity and Liah♥

♥Thaniel, Zach and Elli♥

And a funny one! : )

There was a little girl, who had a little curl...

2009-05-08T11:41:00.005-04:00

...or a LOT of them! Elli got to have her hair "done" professionally for her cousin Dessarae's wedding. She thought that would be fun, and initially, she liked the results. Here she is almost done! They just had to pull a little back into a clip. But we wanted to take a picture of all the curls!

While we were still at the salon waiting for Kaity's hair to be done, she decided she didn't like her hair. "I didn't want all the curls." She was very sad... The girls at the salon felt very bad she didn't like here hair, so they tried adding "fairy dust." (glitter) That didn't help either!

sad...

very sad...almost in tears!

We had a few hours between the hair salon and pictures. During that time she mellowed a little and started to accept her hairdo. Here she is just before walking down the aisle.

And here she is after...a little wind blown, but happy! : )

Posing with Kaity on the GCC college campus

Waiting for the reception to begin!

Kaity's a decade old!

2009-05-02T00:29:00.008-04:00

Kaity's been asking since before she turned 8 to have a sleepover party. I told her then when she turned 10, she could have one...those 2 years went by REALLY fast!!! SO here were are celebrating her 10th year (and yes, we all survived and even managed to get a little sleep...not a lot, but at least a little!)

Kaity and her friends before the festivities...missing from the picture, Annie.

Kaity and Makayla geared up for fun!

We started the evening off with a pinata!!!

It ended up coming off the plastic loop, so Daddy had to dump it! They all had fun batting at it!

Our 10 year old beauty!

Her princess cake!

Blowing out the candles...got 'em all! And before anyone could get a picture of her doing it!

Opening presents...

Gwen and Kaity

After most of the adults left (grandmas, papa's, aunt and uncle and all the boy cousins)
the girls decorated cupcakes~sometime around midnight!

The next morning they're all smiling...maybe a little sleepy, though!

Silly picture!!

The beautiful cupcakes!

Gettin' mobile!

2009-05-01T23:47:00.006-04:00

Alliyah is getting mobile! She's such a little dare devil! She loves to climb up on things!

And she gets such a kick out of it when you say something about it to her!

Here she is walking! ( There's a video at the bottom!)

Crusin'

And climbin'

Sorry the video is sideways! I wasn't thinking about posting when I was recording! ( Yes, that's her squealing!)

HE IS RISEN!

2009-05-01T23:09:00.006-04:00

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

It was a GORGEOUS Easter morning! After church, (An awesome service! Powerful! Proclaiming Jesus reigns!) we posed for some pictures.

Then, the kids were FINALLY allowed to look for their baskets!

Kaity found her basket pretty quickly.

But, Zach found his first!

Thaniel had the hardest time finding his!

Elli was very pleased with her new horse! : )

Liah found hers in her toy bin. Here she's posing with her new sun hat that was bought with money for Easter from Grandma VanZandt.

Daddy and Liah at the end of the day after the Easter lunch and egg hunt at Grandma Mueller's house. It was a wonderful day of celebration of Jesus' resurrection, full of fun, good food and family time. Thank you, Lord for your goodness!

Colorin' eggs

2009-05-01T21:02:00.002-04:00

Here's a couple pictures of our traditional egg coloring. The last few years we haven't been able to do it as a family because of work schedules and activities. This year we were!

Gettin' silly!

Double Trouble? Doubt it!

2009-05-01T20:27:00.002-04:00

On Palm Sunday we had a double baby dedication at our church. Alliyah Mae and Justus Alexander were dedicated to God. They are the closest in age of any of the cousins. Do I think they'll be instigators of trouble when they get a little older? I doubt the duo will...they have been the easiest babies either Mandy or I have had! But we do pray they will be fast friends!

Sending messages to Asher

2009-04-07T21:07:00.004-04:00

I guess we know why Asher was checking his e-mail! : )

My sister, Holly, posted a video of my nephew, Asher, "checking his e-mail" a few days ago. We just watched it this evening. Alliyah was 'crusing' and crawling around the computer desk shortly after and I found her doing this!

The AWANA Games

2009-04-03T19:39:00.005-04:00

Kaity, Zach, Thaniel and Elli all go to AWANA on Wed. nights at our church. They are actively learning scripture and more about God each week. They also play games. These games have some interesting names like Bean Bag Bonanza, Poop Deck, and Rabbit Hunt. Once a year our Awana group puts together teams and goes to the AWANA Games. The last 2 years it has been at Seneca Valley High School. It is a LOT of fun!

Here's Elli getting into the spirit! Kaity, Zach and Thaniel were all on blue teams!

Here's Kaity (second in) before the games. They're not allowed to talk to anyone not on the game floor after the games start, but they can smile for pictures! (Zach was clear at the other end of the line, so I couldn't get a picture of him...too dark!)

Here is Miss Kelly congratulating everyone afterwards. There were 2 blue Truth and Training teams ( 3rd-6th grade) and 1 green. Both the blue teams took 2nd place and the green team 3rd!

Kaity and Zach with their 2nd place ribbons : )

Makayla and Kaity...good friends! : )

Zach and Noah...2 peas in a pod...waiting for the Sparks games to start (1st and 2nd grade)

Posing for pictures...Mandy, Elli, Gwen and Kaity

Cami and Kaity...the 3-legged race winners!

Thaniel with his 1st place ribbon! There was only 1 team of Sparks, and they got 1st place again this year!!!

During church this past Sunday the teams were all recognized.

And here's a little video from the day of the games that I shot by accident, but Zach REALLY wanted me to post.

The Girls!

2009-04-03T18:14:00.003-04:00

Kaity will be 10 later this month...can you believe it? Frank's thinking about cleaning his guns...won't be long and the boys will be calling! I'm not worried! She's not allowed to date until she's 21! : ) And I'm really leaning towards the courtship to marriage track instead of dating. I'm praying she will see the value in doing that as well! Her shirt appropriately says "Daddy's girl" (she was the first one!), and Frank is hoping it will stay that way for a long time to come!

Elliana with her horses and new "flower girl" doll. Below she's wearing...no, not a dunce cap, but once again, the UNICORN horn! : ) What an imagination!

And here's little Liah posing. What a little sweetheart!

The Highland Hobby Show

2009-04-03T17:33:00.004-04:00

Nathaniel displayed his GeoTrax trains for the Hobby Show at school. He displayed all his engines, the train station, the city towers , clock tower, suspension bridge and a little of the track.
He would have needed many tables put together to make a working track with his whole collection! He's been collecting it since he was 2!

Dessi's Getting Married!

2009-04-03T16:47:00.002-04:00

Dessarae with her bridesmaids

"THE ONE" for Dessi...Doug!

Elli and Kaity loved having Dessi home for a few days. These pictures are from her Bridal Shower at the church. (Pictures by Kaity! )

Growin' and growin'!

2009-04-03T15:20:00.004-04:00

Little Sweetie!

Little Alliyah is growing SO fast! She's making leaps and bounds in all areas of development! (except getting teeth, which I'm thankful for as I am still nursing her!)

I found her one afternoon standing in her bed after her nap...she was very happy to see me until I ran back out of the room to ask someone to bring me the camera! So, the "pulling herself up on things" stage had started.

Here she's much happier once she realized I was just taking pictures and not leaving her stranded in her crib!!!

She's been showing more of an interest in books...opening them, turning the pages, pointing to things...here she's 'reading' about Jesus walking on water!

A few days after I found her standing in her crib, she decided it would be fun to put her feet THROUGH the rails! Gratefully, they were not stuck!

Here she's sitting in a seat just her size...she wasn't sure about it at first, but now she can climb in and out of it!

She loves to dance with her monkey! : )

Elli Belly

2009-03-29T15:11:00.003-04:00

Elli got some new clothes for her birthday that she LOVES!
Here she is in her "cowgirl" outfit...sporting braids, which is her favorite way to wear her hair. She just needs some cowboy boots and a hat!

This outfit was actually for Christmas. Grandma got the finishing touches put on it! She was so excited to wear it! : ) She and Adie match!

I caught her playing with her horses in the living room, they were going to take a nap she said. She just loves horses! And anything to do with them! She still thinks it would be perfectly ok to have one in the backyard!

♥Elli's 5th Birthday!!!

2009-03-18T13:42:00.005-04:00

We celebrated Elliana's 5th Birthday by having a horse/unicorn themed party. Anyone who knows Elli knows she is a horse LOVER!!! Often she is found crawling around on all fours neigh-ing and proclaiming "I am Elli THE horse!" or as it has been lately "I am Elli THE unicorn-pegasus!" As a funny side note, she had gotten the princess hat she is wearing from the dollar store a month before her birthday, wanting to wear it for her party. It wasn't until we were looking at the pictures from her party the other day that she proclaimed "There I am with my unicorn horn on!" I asked her to clarify. She proceeded to tell me in no uncertain terms that it was NOT a princess hat she was wearing, but INDEED a unicorn horn! : )

Grandma and Papa Corbett found a pretty "horse" shirt for her.

And an American-girl type doll who is dressed as a flower girl! Elli is going to be a flower girl in her cousin, Dessarae's wedding in April!

She was SO excited to get her own bag of pink M&M's from Great Grandma Mueller! Unfortunately, our dog, Timber, got to them first! : (

Here she is posing with her prized possession! A Lipizzaner horse! All she talked about in the weeks before her birthday was getting" the white horse with a crown" that she saw at Target months before her birthday.

Here Elli is posing with her doll riding the prized horse while Alliyah checks them out!

We had extra-special guests...Great Grandma and Great Papa Jim were able to come! Here's Great Grandma holding Alliyah. : ) ♥

Blue and Gold Banquet

2009-03-14T17:15:00.003-04:00

The annual Blue and Gold banquet was held Feb. 21st. Traditionally it is the time for the Weblos 2 to be honored as they cross the bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. All the other dens are honored too as they achieved their rank badges.

Since the boys are in different dens, we had to separate to eat. Frank and Elli sat with Zach's Bear den.

Kaity, Alliyah and I sat with Nathaniel's Tiger Den. Here Nathaniel is holding up one of the placemats Zach made. It has the meaning of the colors for Cub Scouts. "Blue stands for truth and spirituality, steadfast loyalty and the sky above. Gold stands for the warm sunlight, good cheer, and happiness."

Each den was recognized and each child individually recognized for their accomplishments. Nathaniel earned his Bobcat and Tiger badges, activity beads and an elective bead.

Zach earned his Bear badge. One of the sections they finished recently was on knife safety. His den leaders gave each of the boys in his den a really nice knife with an eagle on it!

Zach's School Project

2009-03-14T17:08:00.001-04:00

Zach had a school project to do...a time line of his life from his 1st birthday to 3 years into the future! We had a lot of fun looking at the pictures of Zach and seeing how much he's grown! What blessing he is to the family.

Lovin' Little Liah!

2009-01-17T13:20:00.006-05:00

Alliyah has been such an added joy to our lives! She is adored by us all! Such a happy little girl, who shows her emotion so readily...usually with a squeal of delight! My sister-in-love, Mandy, recently posted on her family blog about being given something you didn't even know you wanted, in regards to her own 5 little blessings...it's so true! Who knew I wanted 5 kids? Obviously our loving Father knew just how much I would treasure each one of them! His plan is always best! What joy we would have missed out on if we decided to intervene and stop at 4 children...

Liah...pre-bath : )

In the tub...she LOVES the water...could easily become a mermaid!

Lookin' cute after her bath...love that chubby little face!!

Sittin' in the highchair (the one I bought at a yard sale AFTER Elli was out of hers...'just in case' we had another baby!) eatin' crackers! YUMMY!

Trying to get going!

Zach lovin' Liah...big brothers are the best!!! : )

It's a little blurry...but I LOVE her expression! What a cutie!!!

Nathaniel's turn to love on Liah!!

What a sweet little face!

Swingin'!!! Love it!! (Thanks for the swing back...again! The one I was going to sell after having Elli because we were 'done!')

Alliyah...she's growing!

2009-01-17T11:58:00.005-05:00

Alliyah is growing and changing so fast! Here she is at the end of December,,,so much more stable sitting! She's able to sit and play now! (7 months old)

Here we are...trying to do a self-portrait! Liah looked away!

We purposely took this picture of her in this outfit in this position because she looks so much like her oldest sister and we have a picture of Aunt Holly holding Kaity like this in this outfit!

LOVE the walker! Look out, world...she's mobile!!

Happy girl!

Liah and Elli... ; )

Blowin' bubbles!

Truly Daddy's girl....when mama's not around!

Smiley girl...most of the time! Little precious!

Cuddled up with Daddy after a busy day of just being Liah!

More Christmas

2009-01-17T10:53:00.006-05:00

In the middle of the day we were at Grandma and Papa Chuck's house for a while. It was fun to have all the VanZandt cousins together!

Here's Grandma and Papa with Dessarae, Garret, Kaitlyn, Zachariah, Nathaniel, Elliana and Alliyah

Nathaniel got a kit to build a helicopter!

The 'Dread Pirate Zach!'

Elli amidst the presents! She got a new dolly.

Kaitlyn got one too!

The next day we went back to Grandma and Papa Corbett's house to open presents and to have an easy to prepare (we ordered out!), no-hassle dinner. (pizza! with paper plates, cups and utensils for easy clean up!)

Here are Annie and Kaity opening presents...it's always a wild time!

Nathaniel and Zach with Uncle Sean and Beth (in motion!)

We had a wonderful celebration with both sides of the family. We did miss seeing Papa and Yada VanZandt (in Arizona), Uncle Kevin and Chris (in Michigan), Aunt Billie (in Florida) and Uncle Paeter, Aunt Holly and Asher (in Arizona too!) We love you!

Christmas Day

2009-01-12T16:41:00.004-05:00

Christmas morning we have a tradition...the kids wake us up BEFORE peeking downstairs, we (Mom and Dad) go downstairs before the kids, get the video camera and digital camera ready, then let the kids come down the stairs to see the Christmas tree and presents beneath it. It's great to see the expressions on their faces! ( See Elli's face in the picture)

Before any present opening, we read through our Advent book which tells the story of the preparation for and birth of Jesus, so that our focus is right. This year we also sang 'Happy Birthday' to Jesus. Then we started with the stockings and the madness began! :P

I think Kaitlyn liked her new Webkinz! This is the whimsy dragon.

Zach and his new puppy (Webkinz, not real!)

Nathaniel seems QUITE pleased with his new Planet Hero.

Our little horse-lover, Elli, got several new horses...this one with a carrier!

Liah, loving her new dolly!

We went for Christmas brunch at my Mom and Dad's...here is Great Grandma Corbett and Great Papa Jim, along with my Dad and the 4 oldest kids. : )

Liah sporting her 'Baby's 1st Christmas' fuzzy bib...and sitting up so well! She's growing so fast!!!

It was a nice day, busy, but nice...we were all able to be together as a family!

Early Christmas Presents!

2009-01-12T15:41:00.003-05:00

Grandma and Papa Corbett gave the kids early Christmas presents!

The girls got a trip to The Nutcracker at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh.Here is Annie, Grandma and Kaity....Elli came too, but she was hiding behind Grandma! (Justus came too with Aunt Mandy...he was such a good little boy! Slept the whole time except when his Mommy woke him to feed him!)

The set of The Nutcracker. The picture doesn't do it justice!

Annie, Kaity and Elli...princesses at the ballet!

The boys got to play basketball at the YMCA as part of their Christmas present!

Here is Zach's team after their last game!

Here is Nathaniel in his basketball shirt....I know I took pictures while he was playing...just not the same week as Zach's...and I can't find them!!! Nathaniel missed his last game due to the stomach flu. But he really enjoyed playing...he was the highest scoring player on his team! (I'm sure his height didn't hurt!) Both of the boys loved spending some time on Saturdays playing basketball! Thanks Grandma and Papa for everything!

Sibiling love!

2008-12-03T20:46:00.003-05:00

We love our baby sister!

The girls ; )

Liah...briefly on her belly before she rolled right over!

Hello!

WOW! SNOW!!

Zach's Thanksgiving Play

2008-12-03T13:55:00.002-05:00

Zach was "Miles Standish" in his Thanksgiving play at school. He did an excellent job! It was great to see that "they" have not succeded in completely removing God from school! It was not a secular version...they prayed and gave thanks to God.

No, Zach is not being burned at the stake!

Elli with her star brother!

Veteran's Day

2008-12-03T01:08:00.002-05:00

Nathaniel was given the opportunity to wear a hat or shirt from a uniform for Veteran's Day at school. So he wore his Daddy's hat and Navy uniform shirt. He was very proud!

Zach got to do it last year, but wanted to have his picture taken in it again this year.

Then Elli wanted to get in on the act too, so she put on Daddy's USS JOSEPHUS DANIELS hat!