Our funny girl

I know this blog is already mainly about Ziva, but since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we're thinking about how blessed we are, here's another post about how cool Ziva is and just how much we love her and are thankful for her!

Today I discovered just how much our little one likes to draw. She was especially fussy this afternoon (crying for a cookie for close to 2 hours!) when I finally plopped her at the table with a few pens and some paper, and she got busy and sat there drawing for about an hour and a half!! Sometimes she wanted me to sit and draw with her, but for most of it, she just happily scribbled away on her own. (and I got LOTS of dinner/Thanksgiving food prep done!) I realize it's probably a little early to start telling what her "bent" will be, but it's fun to dream about, wonder about, and pray about. Maybe she'll be an artist some day....

Speaking of prayer, that's another thing Ziva is developing quite an interest in. She loves to hold everyone's hand, bow her head, close her eyes, and then say a very loud AMEN! at the end. Again, who knows how much real spiritual tenderness that indicates, or if it's just a love of mimicking us, but Jesus did say that when it comes to matters of faith, children get it more easily and more completely than adults. We certainly pray that she learns to love Jesus as a young girl!

Cuddling with Daddy at our bonfire last week

My dad always used to play horse with us and give all four of us rides around the house. I now have a new appreciation for that....especially since all I did was "trot" a few circles around the living room and I was definitely feeling it the next day.

Is she precious or what?

He is STRONG!

Pardon my singing...I thought I was a little better than that, but apparently not. It doesn't matter, though, because Ziva is the star of this show. She does do more defined movements to the song, and she does sing more of it, but I think this time she was a little camera shy. Enjoy!

Bye-Bye, Tia

I know I keep saying I'm going to do better about blogging, and then I keep not doing better about blogging. Sorry. I don't think I'll say it this time, and we'll just see what happens. :)

Today we said goodbye to Daneli (Tia) after a great weekend visit. It's just so wonderful to see favorite friends, especially when they don't mind just sitting around and not doing much. We did have a pretty cool bonfire at my parents' last night (where everyone wimped out on the s'mores so I HAD to eat three so they didn't go to waste) and Ziva LOVED having Tia here (she's so cute when she says "Tia"). We didn't get any pictures with Daneli this time, and I haven't downloaded our most recent so we'll save some of those for the next post.

Let's see, what else has been happening around here? Last week at school was Spiritual Renewal week, which was a really great time. I saw new sides to some of my students, and was reminded many times of how much I love my job and how crazy hard life can be for teenagers these days. Both great things to pray over. We are loving our church, and last weekend we did finally meet with another couple about starting a small group. The plan is to wait to start anything official until after the holidays are over since this is such a busy time, but we're going to try to get together to just hang out and get to know them at some point. So far it may just be the four of us (six counting Ziva and their little one due in March), but we're excited about the possibilities there.

This week we are looking forward to some time off together, good food, and great times with family. I also have a short list of "projects" I'd like to accomplish during the week off of school. When I wrote it I felt it was fairly realistic since there are only 3 or 4 things listed, but I'm not so sure. One of the things is to do a baby scrapbook for Ziva. Yes, she is almost 2. And I still haven't done that. With my track record, the chances of it happening this week are not that good. We'll see. :)

October's over?

Let's see...I guess I'm a little behind on the blogging. Nothing spectacular has been happening around here, just lots of good days (and some somewhat sleepless nights, thanks to coughing or new teeth or ear infections or who knows what else).

Last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch for a little bit and had some fun with Ziva. Then Vince and my dad took a guy's trip to Stillwater to watch the OSU-Texas game. They had fun, even thought OSU lost. And Norma came over and we girls hung out for the night. Fun times!

We've been checking out the youth group for a few weeks now at our new church, and so far we're liking it. We're planning to meet someone this weekend about joining a small group, so we'll keep you posted on that.

Other than that, not too much happening. Tonight we're kind of sad since our friends here at The Greens are moving tomorrow to Texas. Good friends are few and far between so it stinks to see them go, but we know God has great plans for them there and for us here.

Here are a few moments from the last few weeks...
Reading in a diaper box. I got a good video of this too, but it's several minutes long and might literally take an eternity to load to the blog...sorry.

We're creating quite the little ham

When I saw her feet poked through the bars like this during her nap I just had to get a picture. I've got one of just her feet, too. Precious.

Running through the hay maze at the pumpkin patch

You may remember this one from last year, when Vince perched a 7 month old Ziva atop this giant scarecrow. I wasn't much less nervous this time around. :)