Family Picture Day at the Beach

More Pictures

Isaiah got into a container of baby powder on the front porch, and when Aunt Jess found him and asked him what he was doing, this was the face he made.
Playing music together- no Crisp family gathering would be complete without guitars and singing.
Nana played Candyland with the older kids. Later they played a very LOUD game of Uno together too.
Everyone enjoying a sailboat on the lake. If sound were included with this picture you'd hear a lot of, "Hi boat," "Over here," and "A-Hoy there!"
Micah and mommy watching the waves.

Michigan Vacation

Eating breakfast together every morning- the kids around the big table and the adults sharing a smaller table off to the side. When did the bigger table become the "kid" table? When our family included 6 kids in 5 years. Just in case you need a refresher, starting clockwise left to right- Olivia, Esther, Micah, Isaiah, Garrett and Elijah. Garrett helping Elijah bury his legs in the sand. The lake was pretty cold for the first few days, but by the end of the week it warmed up and we were all swimming.
Micah sporting his shades. He was probably the most timid of our boys about going into the water, but even he was enjoying the waves on the sandbar by the end of the week.
The boys asked Olivia and I to bury them, and we were only to happy to oblige. They don't seem to mind being completely sandy and grimy for hours at a time.

Murder Mystery

Our friends Josh and Rachel had us over for a murder mystery dinner a few weeks ago. We had to come dressed as particular characters. Eric's persona was Cal Q. Later- a nerdy type. I was Penelope Lofer, AKA Penny Lofer- a rich snob. The whole dinner was a class reunion where one of our class members had been mudered and we were charged to figure out who the killer (s) was. It ended up that I was mostly innocent since another character and I had plotted to kill, but our plot had failed as someone else had gotten to our potential victim first. Eric was one of three who actually succeeded in the killing. He was the brains behind the murder- of course.

Pre-parade fun

The parade begins- I think they're watching the firetrucks here.



Travis, Tom's brother, helps entertain everyone until the parade begins.


Eric and Isaiah- again, trying to stay occupied until the parade.

Lawnmower Brigade

So in the Wilmore parade, they have a group of men from the community who dress up in white dress shirts and ties. Each man pushes a lawnmower in formation. They have a director who uses a whistle to direct them into new formations- turns, marching in single file, marching in two lines. It was in the top 10 funniest things I've ever seen. Eric says there is a YouTube video of it, and he'll try to find it.

Some international flavor in the parade. There are lots of countries represented in our little town, so it was nice to see some international color.


This was the house across the street from where we watched the parade. There is an older couple on the front porch and the man smiled from ear to ear through the whole thing- especially the antique tractors.

4th of July in Wilmore

Tom brought this hat and poster for Elijah just before we left for the fireworks. Micah and Isaiah stayed home to go to bed, but Elijah fought to stay awake and enjoyed his first firworks show. By 10:30, he was laying on my lap to watch the show, and if you know him at all, you know how infrequently he lays down to do anything. Even though he was tired, he thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks. He says his favorite part was all of the noises. That's a change from last year!













We all played outside with the beach toys we'd purchased at the Dollar Store. No beach in Kentucky but we're getting ready for our trip to Michigan. As you can see, Isaiah enjoyed a mud spa treatment courtesy his brother. He didn't seem to mind, but Micah freaked out about any little splash of dirt that found him.







What's better than a homemade cherry pie for dinner on the 4th of July? We had eaten all afternoon at Tom and Cassie's, so when we got home I made pie and we ate a backward dinner- dessert first (or for some of us, just dessert).



Wilmore Parade- A lovely hometown experience of which the highlight is the lawnmower brigade. It deserves its own post, but here are the other attractions.

Horses- of course.










A lineup of old tractors...

and I'll put more in the next post.

Isaiah, Micah, Elijah... (L to R)

Playing behind the couch- with all of the open spaces where our children could choose to play, they always choose cosiest spots. I was reminded of my childhood house in Rosedale this week. The little bungalow where my brother and I grew up. By all comparisons to today's standards, it was a pretty small house. But it never felt small to us. I remember feeling like we had all of the space in the world, and when I visit that house now, it seems really small.

It makes me wonder why we seem to think that having more children means moving into bigger houses with more bedrooms, playrooms and bonus rooms. Do our children really require all of that extra space, or is it just more convenient for us- for me? And what are the implications of living in a smaller space with a family of 5? Certainly we hear and see more of each others' business. At first I thought it would deter us from entertaining, but that has not been the case at all. In fact last Sunday we had 8 adults and our 3 children here quite comfortably. We may try to get out more often to escape our four walls. I think we go to the park, library, mall, store, walks, and bike rides more often now than we had, but is that really so bad? It has just gotten me thinking that in two years when we are transitioning to a new town, home, house once again, it would be valuable to remember our happiness and contentment here in this small house with the small yard. Someone please remind me of this when my greed tempts me to want bigger and better, always bigger and better. Why the need to buy homes that are at the upper end of what we can afford? Why not buy a house whose payment is only half of what we can afford? Just imagine the good we could do with the other half of all of those house payments- not for ourselves but for others.