Bella at 6!!

Bella at 6....it is hard to believe our curly haired little bundle of joy has turned into a little lady of 6! She doesn't have the curls anymore but her big grin and cute giggle are still the same.

Bella, Bella, Bella, it's hard to know exactly what to write about our baby girl. Her big personality seems to be the hardest one to capture through writing. You just have to spend time with her to appreciate the fullness of who she is. She can absolutely exasperate your patience and then turn around and make you laugh in the same moment. Her constant chatter, and love of language make her an ever entertaining kid. She is always whipping out big words and complicated sentences and in the next moment she uses completely made up words or phrases to explain something that she can't quite remember how to say properly. She has a hard time waiting her turn to speak, most of the time because she is worried she will forget what she wants to say if she has to wait even a minute...and, she always has something to say! Michael likes to call her the cutest rude person he knows, haha, she will demand something or order someone around, and then add a cute little giggle to the end of it that somehow manages to keep her from getting reprimanded, especially by daddy!

Bella is our little fashion diva. She is always accessorized and never forgets her purse. She can put together her own outfit for any occasion and has even been known to give me some good advice on my own wardrobe. She is only happy when in a dress or skirt and loves to get her hair done and nails painted. Yet, inspite of all her girly glam, she loves potty humor! No one in our family gets a kick out of farting like Bella. She thinks it's the funniest thing ever and is known to talk about her beautiful aroma wherever she may be. For those who know our family well, you may start to see the resemblance between her and a particular aunt of hers!

She always love to head to the barn with daddy!

Lol, must have been a long road trip!

She did awesome in her first ever loppet!

Taking in the 4D movie at the Vancouver Aquarium.

The always cool Miss Bell

She was just about always our happiest little skier and kept up with the big girls no problem!

Kindergarten celebration of learning.

First year in softball!

A birthday meal at Red Robin's is everyone's favourite birthday tradition.

Bella and Leonie's matching outfits, Bella has been wanting to buy this outfit for Leonie since Christmas time because it matched the one she had.

She had a fabulous year in kindergarten this year, her teacher was awesome!

First time at camp, she had a blast and didn't even bring a friend with her.

Our birthday interview, thanks to Ladybugs n' Latte's for the idea!

Favourite Colour:? Violet

Favourite Food? Pizza

Favourite Show? Frozen

Favourite Book? Fairy books

Favourite Toy? Leonie

Favourite Song? Let it Go
Favourite Animal? Flamingo
What's your favourite family activity? Swimming

What do you want to be when you grow up? Artist

What are you good at? Colouring

What are you excited about? Going swimming

What are your favourite memories from being five? going to kindergarten, going out for supper, going to the farm, making snow men, going to the Aquarium, and Science World.
What is something you want to learn to do this year? Ride my bike with out training wheels (just accomplished this at Noisy Creek), How to read and do schoolwork.
Who is your favourite bible character and why? Jesus, because he loves you.

What is your favourite memory verse this year? couldn't think of a verse, but one thing she learned from the bible is that God/Jesus love you no matter what. 

What is one thing you would like to say to the whole world if you had the chance? I love them. 

Birthday Meal Requests:
Breakfast: Swedish Pancakes
Lunch: Bacon, eggs, and tatter tots
Supper: Gourmet Nachos.

Everyone's favourite birthday breakfast, Swedish Pancakes!

Bella's birthday was at a busy time of year for us, so it was a little thrown together and, of the few friends she did invite only two could make it. That's the bonus of a big family though, it still felt like there were lots of kids to make the party fun! We just had an outside play party complete with a hot dog roast and slip n' slide. 

Birthday Party lunch!

Of course Farmer Michael can come up with a way to make the slip n' slide better, lol.

No time for cake, and Bella doesn't really like icing anyways, so birthday cones!

There are 5 cousins with June birthdays so we had one big celebration in the park!

 

Cheyanne is 9!

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Well it’s June 2^nd and I am just getting around to writing about our darling oldest daughter and her 9^th birthday (April 28th), which is telling as to just how crazy our spring has been. I love spring, it’s such a beautiful time of year, but sometimes it can be exhausting keeping up with all the exras that come with the season.

It is amazing to realize that we have been parents for nine years already! So often I still feel like we don’t know what we are doing, but I suppose that’s the purpose of the first child right? She’s the guinea pig and after trial and error on her we will get it all right with the next three, haha, ya right. The longer I parent the more I realize that just when you think you have it figured out your next child is completely different or something changes in your life, or your kids’ life and you have to figure it all out again.  This year her birthday brought the realization that we are roughly half way through our parenting journey with her. In nine years she will have graduated highschool and we will no longer have the same influence in her life has we do now. I know you don’t stop being a parent once your kids have graduated, but your role definitely changes. This realization really made me think about how much time we spend with our kids. Are we making sure that how we spend our time as a family indicates what we value, are our kids growing up knowing that they are a top priority in our life, or do they watch and feel that work, farming, computers, etc. come before them. I also want to be aware of how we spend our money and use our resources. Are we teaching our kids that stuff and selfishness is what brings happiness or are we using our money and our skills to help the people around us, to show love to those who need it, and are we sacrificing our wants for what God is calling us to do? Seriously, parenting can be stressful! I am continually humbled as I try and raise my kids and be a Godly example to them, but luckily, for every failure we feel, every mistake we make, there’s always another moment, situation, day, to recover and show our kids how much we love them and to inspire them to be who God is calling them to be.

As Cheyanne is growing and maturing it has been a lot of fun to watch her personality change. She’s starting to have her own sense of style and her own opinions about how her hair should get done. I love watching how aware she is of other people and how she pays attention to what others are feeling. She tries to include everyone when she plays and is quick to pray for friends that are hurt or sad.  Her faith is growing and she is continuing to ask questions to further her understanding. She has become an avid reader and loves spending her free time reading. It is not unusual for her to be reading in her bed until the last scraps of light have disappeared and to begin again long before her sisters have awakened. Cheyanne has continued gymnastics, running, baseball, cross country skiing, swimming, and violin this year. She has really excelled in her violin. She shows so much poise when she plays and her nerves never seem to get the best of her. She performed in her first festival this spring and played awesome. She has also played in a few recitals, for her great grandma’s 80^th birthday, and in church on multiple occasions. The family asked if she would do something to honour Grandpa Haak  at the funeral this year to represent the great grandchildren and she said that she would play her violin at the service. She stood up there and played God is so Good for a few hundred people. I was so proud of her. I couldn’t believe how calm she was standing there looking at so many people. It definitely reminded me how quickly she is growing up.

We are just finishing up our third year of homeschooling. It has been a good year and we have had our good days and bad this year, but overall it has been such a blessing watching her learn and grow. I have felt very blessed to be able to be apart of this aspect of her life. I feel like I have really gotten to know her and see a side of her personality I wouldn’t have experienced had we not spent these years homeschooling. Next year will be her last year home (at least as far as we are planning) and I can’t get over how quickly these last few years of school have gone, and I am a little sad thinking it will be our last, but I am excited for her too as she is so looking forward to it. 

Another way she has grown up this year is her ability to be a helper. She is quick to help out when asked with chores around the house, garden, and even the farm. She loves to get up early and do calves in the morning. It’s fun for her and it also helps Michael get in a little earlier for breakfast too, which has been another perk of having her homeschool, she can be out at the barn instead of getting ready for the bus.

Cheyanne really loves the outdoors and nature. She is happiest just left to her self exploring in the creek or looking at the garden and the flowers growing. She is quick to volunteer to water the plants or help out with gardening chores. Another outside love of hers is tree climbing and often gets herself higher then her dad is comfortable with! If she can, she often brings a book and sneaks outside to read in her loft or on the trampoline. She also really loves animals. This year she is starting 4H Dairy and is hoping to also be a part of the pig project next year.

I am loving watching Cheyanne grow up, she is such a blessing to our family and I am excited to see how she will mature this next year!

 

We have a family tradition in our house, the birthday child gets to choose the meals for the day. We have had some rather interesting days over the years. Cheyannes Menu was:

Breakfast: Swedish Pancakes (Crepes)

Lunch: Spaghetti and corn

Supper: Pizza and Ice Cream cake (after our family trail run)

 Cheyanne's birthday landed it a rather busy time of year for us. We planned a Saturday party that would include a weiner roast, cookie decorating, and the hot tub. However, I had so many things going on that week that I didn't have time to make the cake....at least, not to make it how I wanted to, so, I put the kids to work and they made the cake! 

Ella carefully cracking the eggs.

Cassidy mixing the batter.

Anna, rolling out her sugar cookies, we ended up doing a lot of baking!

Time to cookie cut!

Playing on the tramp was a hit!

Roasting hot dogs with Michael!

Time to decorate the cupcakes!

Some of the creations.

Hot tubbing! Something tells me that in a few years Mason's really going to enjoy being the only boy, lol.

Present time!

Decorating their cookies to take home!

....and the mess they left behind! Lol. I felt like I'd run a marathon by the time they had all left!

Our birthday interview, thanks to Ladybugs n' Latte's for the idea!

Favourite Colour:? Blue

Favourite Food? Spaghetti

Favourite Show? Frozen

Favourite Book? Thea Sisters

Favourite Toy? Maplelea Doll (Brianne)

Favourite Song? Let it Go
Favourite Animal? Turtle
What's your favourite family activity? Camping 

What do you want to be when you grow up? Hair dresser

What are you good at? Drawing

What are you excited about? Camping

What are your favourite memories from being eight? The Aquarium, science world, family gatherings, camping, playing in festival, and baseball
What is something you want to learn to do this year? Become a better swimmer, be nicer to my sisters and brother, and to bake. 
Who is your favourite bible character and why? Esther because she saved her people from dying and was brave. 

What is your favourite memory verse this year? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

What is one thing you would like to say to the whole world if you had the chance?I love my family. 


Some random photos of Cheyanne over the past year:

Ready for baseball!

fishing with daddy for suckers

getting the hay wagon ready for the Christmas hay ride

First Renio Keski Salami loppet!

The pirate loppet

the queen

waiting for the sky train

at the movies

she was a gold medalist for her "practice olympics" at music lessons.

ready for festival

Cheyanne getting Brianne ready to milk her cow!