2010 Year in Pictures

God gets all the glory for what he has done with and through us in 2010.


Click on this link to view/download this year's video.
http://micahsteele.net/Videos/2010YIP_small.wmv

Early Riser

  

This is my early riser.  I am convinced that as soon as she as much as rolls over one time her feet hit the floor and she runs down the stairs.  We snuggle and talk until the boys get up or we get hungry, whichever happens first.  If we are snuggling and she hears the boys about to make their entrance into the kitchen she groans as if she is annoyed and makes sure that she firmly secures her place in my lap because she knows she is about to have to share. :)  I love my morning girly time with her!

Debbie Friar, Please Come to The Jewelery Counter...

Mom came for a visit.  We were SO glad to have her spend time with us at home.  We got a large snow so she got to enjoy that while she was here.  We also decorated a gingerbread house and made cookies.  Levi got so into the decorating that he decorated his toe!  :)

We made a trip to Wal-Mart and mom took the kids on an all out tour of the toy section while I got groceries.  I TOLD her to wait for me in the toy section but she was no where to be found so I had to have her paged- TWICE!  Gotta love that woman!  We laughed so hard.  Love you Mom!

Announcements

With reverent praise and submission, we announce once more that we are officially in the process of waiting for another Steele baby.  We submitted another adoption application with Holt International adoption agency 1 week ago, so we are looking forward  to welcoming a little girl.  Naomi has already affectionately named her Rachel.

It's impossible that God won't bring glory to himself through our fourth child, just like he has with the first three.  Praise Him.

Firsts

Little pumpkin was super excited when big brother and sister rushed to get their snow gear on when the flurries began to stream down.  He was certain that he wanted to go too!  He giggled as I put his hands in mittens and held out the snow bibs for him to step into.  His laugh was totally contagious!  He was even more tickled by the boots and then he waddled all over the house.  It was all fun and games until he actually went out to see the white stuff.  He was scared!  He wanted no part of that weirdness!  All dressed up and no where to go...he watched happily from the glass door while eating his blueberries.  Maybe we will try again tomorrow. 

Oh how I love seeing all of these things that he has never seen through his eyes!  Such joy, praise the Lord!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had to post these pics of Levi at his first Thanksgiving and seeing his first snow with Cousin Miriam. It was a most blessed time for all of us at the Steele household!

Blog Facelift

So I'm trying to figure out this whole design your own custom blog thing.  I am now realizing why people get paid lots of money to write code...It is hard and confusing!  My children have not been fed or had baths in days due to this little project.  Micah is hungry too.  I think I'm almost done.  Maybe just one more embellishment...

Favorite recent kid quote...

While Micah and Isaiah were outside building a fire Micah asked Isaiah if he knew what to do if his clothes caught on fire.  Isaiah looked at Micah with confidence and said "rock and roll".

They need a few more, don't ya think?

Rick and Gwen and the St. Louis Steeles (Joel, Steph, Miriam, Cora, and Walker) came for a visit last weekend.  We had a lot of fun together.  It is great to see all of those cousins running around and hanging out.  We LOVE it when our families come for a visit!!  It makes us feel special. ;)

I needed this reminder...

Ni Hao Ya'll!

There is the cutest gal who has the cutest family that I want to be just like someday :).  Check out the blog and you will immediately know why!  Anyway, she is having a "30 Days of Giveaways" event to showcase some really cool stuff that mommy types make at home and sell.  You should go there and check it out.  If you follow the instructions to enter the giveaways then you might win something!

Levi

In Levi news...he is doing quite well.  He is a joyful child most of the time and loves to clown around, as I'm sure I have stated before.  We have been traveling to Iowa City Children's Hospital for regular checkups on speech, hearing, and with the surgeon.  Tests have concluded that he has hearing loss in both ears that will hopefully be corrected with tubes in January.  Then little man will start speech therapy.  He currently has tons of words and many phrases but they are a bit unclear and usually not understandable to anyone other than mom.  :)  He is a joy to parent...and kiss and snuggle!

John Deere Pavilion

On the way home from the Quad Cities we stopped at the Pavilion to climb on the equipment.  Here are the cuties enjoying their time ...

Zoo Field Trip

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The weather here has been wonderful so we took the school on the road and went to Niabi Zoo near the Quad Cities.  It was a beautiful day!  I think that a good time was had by all!

Isaiah's New Bow

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Isaiah used his birthday money to buy his first compound bow.  We weren't in the market for a bow but we went to Wal-Mart by the lake house and I lost Micah and Isaiah in the hunting department. :)  He has enjoyed shooting it at the lake since we have more space there.  At home the boys have set up a hay bale with a target.  Isn't he adorable?  Micah is thinking he may have to learn how to hunt because Isaiah really wants to kill something.

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

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Isaiah turned 6 on October 27th!  We can't believe our sweet Isaiah is already 6.  He is such a joy and it is so much fun to watch God write Isaiah's story.  He is so much like his father.  He is sort of a perfectionist about some things and he is very smart.  He loves to read and soaks up every bit of school.  His current favorite things to do are ride his bike and shoot his bow.  (More to come on this!)  For his birthday we had a great party -Star Wars of course- where he invited his favorite babysitter- Nicole- and three other friends.
We love you buddy!

Sunday Snapshot

Our littles.

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Saturday Morning TV

Since we don't have cable the kids have learned how to get their TV fix by grabbing my laptop and heading to PBS kids. Nothing like a little Public Baby Sitter!

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A Saturday Project

Isaiah saw this workbench in a catalog and expressed a desire to own it :).  I said it was very expensive but that we could show it to Dad and see what he said.  Micah took one look and declared that they could build it themselves.  I have to admit, I was not sure what was going to come out of this Saturday building project but I went to run some errands and came back and low and behold they were done!

Toy store version:

Super smart husband's version:

Aren't they adorable?

Isaiah told several people at church that he is a new believer and that he got a new work bench!  He was beaming.  He has spent quite a bit of time today rearranging the pegs on the pegboard, sawing boards, and cleaning up the work surface.  So cute!

Isaiahs Prayer

Isaiah approached us last night and told us that he wanted to pray about putting his faith in Jesus.  We quizzed him a little bit, and he also had some questions about it himself.  But after that he said he really wanted to pray about it.  So we both knelt by the bed and Isaiah sat atop it and said a big-boy prayer about his faith, saying that he wanted to follow the one true God.


After dinner, we celebrated the event with (what else) ice cream sandwiches.  Then, Isaiah suggested we cap off the night with a dance party.  We told him that we might as well do that, what with all the angels doing the same up in heaven ;)


Only God knows Isaiah's heart, so we don't know if he has or when he will truly cross from death to life.  But praise God for pursuing us and calling him to Himself.


Here's some pics from the party.  The kids chose their own attire...

Vacation for Mom!

So Micah's mom and dad offered to keep the kids for the week and it has been wonderful!  The kids have had fun and Mom (uh hum...me) has had a great week of refueling.  I just wanted to spend the week with God soaking Him in and resting in Him. I was able to read a great book and meet with strong Christian women that I don't often sit and chat with and learn from.  AND I was able to date my awesome husband!  Did I mention how great it has been? 

Some pics from the kids week...

Some pics from my week...

Just Stop and Think

Watch this video...it's a good one.  Just watch it...

Kisses for Daddy!

I just caught these two being cute so I snapped this pic on my phone.

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It's Harvest Time

We went down to the Steele's to help with a bit of harvest last weekend. Here are some of the pics of the boys. Levi had his first tractor ride and he thought it was pretty cool. I got quite a bit of joy out of seeing him riding with his dad as well! Isaiah helped pretty much all day on Friday and Saturday...ok, well he rode along and offered interesting commentary to Micah. Naomi participated for a little while but mostly stayed at the house and played "parents" with Miriam.

If That Isn't The Cutest Thing Ever!

When I got home from New Beginnings yesterday this note was handed to me by precious Isaiah.  Dad had helped him to write it and he was beaming when he delivered it to me.  We are working on writing and ( as you can see) the difference between D and B. :)  These are precious days.  I would not want to be doing anything else in the whole world than parenting these children!

Poor Kid

While Isaiah and I are doing school work Naomi makes Levi play baby.  He likes her so much that he will do just about anything she says.  This is what he looked like when he came up from the basement this morning.

Seeds Family Worship...Spread The Word!

My kids are learning scripture like crazy.  You guys have to check out www.seedsfamilyworship.net.  If you have little ones or know little ones you need to get these CD's for them.  I stood in my kitchen crying listening to my 4 year old singing her little heart out to words straight from the bible.  They liked one song in particular and we looked up and read the scripture.  It lead to some awesome discussion about faith.  I could not find that song online but this is an example and it is one of Isaiah's favorites.  Some friends came over today and he said "hey, guess what I learned today?  Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young.  But set an example for the believers". (1 Timothy 4:12)

We Love You John!

My Step-dad, John, was baptized recently.  We are so excited about his faith journey.  This is the super cool video of that special day.  We love you John!!

Baptisms 2010 from Harvest Bible Chapel Raleigh on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Levi

Levi's birthday celebration didn't come off without at least one snag.  These are both the first and second take.

I Am...

Cute...

silly...

and bigger...I am 3!

Happy Birthday Levi!  We love you so much!