Welcome to First Grade

Life with a 1st Grader...

This is it - Madison's first grade picture. This picture is significant in the game of life because this will be her last picture with all of her baby teeth. She lost her first tooth the afternoon after this picture was taken. Her "grown-up" tooth is now making its way to the surface and we get a regular report on what teeth are loose now.

Madison is loving school and doing great. At least we think. : ) We are due for parent teach conferences next week so her teacher will fill us in on all the fun details. So far she hasn't missed a word on her spelling test and judging from her math homework, addition and subtraction seem pretty easy for her. That seems like half the battle. Madison has a dream of becoming a veterinarian even when she was told that would take 7 years of school it didn't seem to phase her. Who knows, some day you could be taking your sick pets to Dr. Madison.

Hope you are having a blessed day!

Noah's 3rd Birthday

We waited to have Noah's birthday party until the weekend, but we wanted to celebrate on the day he was born so we sang to him and watched him blow out candles for his BIG 3.

Poof! They are out in nothing flat.



Noah chose to have a Thomas the Train party.

Noah can spend hours playing with his Thomas trains.

What 3 year old has a laptop? Noah now has a Thomas one - its educational!

There were plenty of smiles to go round.

Madison picked out a new train for his track and he was sooo excited.

Paul and I got him a new bicycle and then spent the rest of the weekend teaching him how to ride.

Grandpa and Grandma Crisp got Noah a helmet and pads for his present.

We have to take care of our precious cargo.

What's better than turning 3?

Got your ticket?

There is something exciting going on at World Gospel Mission and I thought you might be interested in getting involved. The Call to Prayer, WGM's bi-monthly magazine, is promoting a Concert of Prayer from September 15 - October 14. The magazine lays out a page-by-page 30 day prayer calendar featuring current WGM fields of service or new areas where we feel God calling us. Everyday at noon (EDT) the readers will call in to join a missionary or representative from that field praying for the requests mentioned in the magazine. It only take five minutes. Can you think of a better way to spend your lunch?

Don't have the magazine? You can get it for free here. Just sign-up and we'll get one mailed to you immediately.

This edition has really challenged me already. I don't feel like an expert when it comes to prayer, but the magazine really makes it simple. I have promised the Call to Prayer readers that I will blog about my 30 day Concert of Prayer experience. You can track my thoughts here and please feel free to leave any comments about your experience.

Here's an ALL ACCESS ticket just for you!

Water Fun

We found some relief from the hot summer days by running through the sprinkler. Thought I would share with you a couple of the pictures from our splish splash fun.

What do a couple of wet munchkins look like? This is as good as it gets!

Madison's 6th Birthday

PINK POODLE PARTY TIME!!!

For Madison's 6th birthday she chose to celebrate with pink poodles. Who is surprised, right? If there is pink involved she's all about it. : )

Grandmom made her pink poodle cake. Thanks Grandmom it was so yummy!

It was a day filled with Littlest Pet Shop, horses and one of her favs a mommy pink poodle to match her baby pink poodle webkinz.

Can you believe she is six already? First grade...here she comes!

Catching up with the Crisps this Summer

What has the Crisp Family been up to this summer?

To begin with we purchased a new vehicle (Acura MDX) which you saw Paul has installed DVD players for the kids in an earlier post. We determined our "vacation" for the summer would be camping however, after our first outing we once again spent the weekend in rain and we realized our little pop-up needed an upgrade so here is the before:



And this is the after with our new Jayfeather. At least the kids have their own beds and the hard sides were a must since the rain, lightning, and thunder kept us up in the other camper. We have taken several trips and have enjoyed our family time outings.

July 4th Camping

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

This was our first outing after getting our new camper. We were able to spend a week at Mississinewa Reservoir with a big part of my mom's family. There over 40 of us camping together. That's a bunch of people!

The slide out on the end of the camper is a queen size bed where Paul and I sleep. On the opposite end there are bunk beds for the munchkins.

Our camper has a really nice feature - our awning is electric so we only have to push a button for it to roll out or in.

No camping trip is complete without a little fun n' the sun. The kids are enjoying the kiddie pool with some second cousins and friends of the family. The parents decided a kiddie pool on our site seemed a bit more reasonable than taking all these little ones to the beach.

Our Trip to the Zoo

Lions, tigers, and bears - oh my!

Our family made time to enjoy the Ft. Wayne zoo over the weekend.

It was so much fun! Thought you might like to see a little from our experience.

Madison loves horses so she was so thrilled that she was

greeted by one just after entering the gate.

Mom and Dad mentioned that they did not have a picture with both of them and all the grand kids together so we made sure we took care of that. There was a splash pool for kids to play in and this was one of the animals by the pool. It's not easy being green.

The sea lions were showing off and staying cool in the water.
Here is one of the pictures we got of a sea lion up close.
The kids loved being that close to the animals.

We saw an exhibit of penguins from South Africa.
Did you know there were penguins in South Africa? I didn't.
Apparently they like the heat, but as you can see there was one little guy swimming in the water.

A quick pose for the camera.

As you can see Paul got up close and personal with a piglet.

Who's that joey? It's Noah!

For Madison this trip would not have been complete without a stroll on the pony. Giddy-up!

Scott, Jennifer, and Makayla - enjoying the rain forest.

Although Madison was being silly on the carousel, she did not like being this close to the tigers. She left the viewing area immediately after this picture. Can you blame here?

Most of us went log riding - it is a must do if you visit the zoo. Sooo much fun!

Entertainment & Happy Kids

We recently purchased a new vehicle and had dvd players installed for the munchkins. They love their new play toys and Paul and I love the quiet rides their toys offer. Want to see a picture of them trying it out for the first time? Click here: http://www.acuramdx.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3322&papass=&sort=1

Perfect!

Thoughts from Madison's Momma

We all have goals - you know those things in life you really want to achieve. Growing up I really liked the idea of achieving straight A's, but I never really wanted to work hard enough to achieve that level of greatness. Chalk it up to being a social butterfly! Grades came fairly easy for me so I knew that I would do above passing so I never disciplined myself to achieve that next level.

Someone in my family has though and I wanted to share that GREAT news with you. Madison brought home her third semester report card and it is PERFECT. I think that rocks! Madison is incredibly smart and enjoys learning. If she keeps that mind frame I can only imagine what God might call her to do.

Right now though she is leaning toward veterinarian. I know she is only 5 but she thinks 8 years of school doesn't sound so bad. Trust me - she did not get that from her momma. : )

Hats off to 5 year olds 'cause they rock!

Happy Easter!

Sending you a bit of Easter cheer!

http://home.att.net/~solos_holiday/2008/_011/egg.htm

Crisp Parent's House Fire

Last night around 11PM, Paul's parent's house caught on fire. Likely caused by a lighting strike, they never knew anything was wrong until the smoke alarm started going off. When they went into the kitchen they found the microwave on fire and immediately called 911. Fortunately, Dad, Shirley & Candy (dog) were able to get out of the house with no problems and since the Fire Department is just around the corner, they got there in just a few minutes. Obviously, the damage is pretty bad so they will be unable to live here for a month or two.


Kitchen view from the broken out windows.


Kitchenette area.


Kitchen view from living room.


Kitchen ceiling.


Front entry & formal living room.


Spare children's bedroom.


Spare children's bedroom ceiling.