Head Injury

So I mentioned Isaiah's head injury; Monday night he had an unfortunate run-in with the ceiling fan. He was leaning out over the edge of the bunk bed a bit too far and the fan clipped him in the forehead. It left a good sized gash and we we unsure of whether or not to go to the dr. Mon night, but Tues. morning he woke up all bloddy and gross, so off to the doctor we went. She said that it is more like a crush injury than a laceration, and even though it is pretty deep, there was nothing she could do- no edges to pull together. She recommeded a wet healing which means scrubbing off the scab daily and applying bacitracin (sp?). Yes that is as fun as it sounds. (ughhh) But it's looking better already. Here's a little pic although it doesn't do the depth justice.

Birthday for Zay Zay!

April 29th, your 3rd birthday, and you are as full of life as ever. Isaiah, the baby of the family and you are no longer a baby. At just 3 years old certain aspects of your personality are already abundantly clear. You are your own man. You are not swayed in your decision making by what your big brothers do or say. You want what you want regardless of others. This confidence makes you endearing and a joy to most people you meet. You look everyone straight in the eye, hold their gaze, wave a friendly hello and smile a confident grin. You just can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to stop and talk to you. You can talk well at this point, expressing your every thought and need, except when your mad about something. Your confidence, while endearing, can lead you to believe that you should have whatever you want whenever you want, which can be a challenge for both mommy and you. You are most disappointed when you can't keep up with your older brothers, and even though you make valiant efforts, there are still times when they race ahead and you are crushed- but never for long as they always come back for you. You have a great sense of humor- you'll tell me something crazy like "monkeys are purple" and then say "just kidddingggg" with a big grin and a giggle. You make our home a happier place and we love you dearly Isaiah Jonathan. Happy 3rd Birthday!

I messed up the pictures so I can't do captions, but the saucer is Zay at 5 months and the ice cream is 18 months. We celebrated this year by going to the doctor to get his head injury taken care of (more on that in another post) and then going to Walmart to let him pick out his own cake and candles. He went with a balloon theme. His chosen gift was a Planet Hero action figure- Ace.

Girl in a Boy World

You Know You Live in a Boy World If...
5. You reach for the "hair tie" that is on the floor, hoping to pull back your sassy locks only to find that it is really a rubber LEGO tractor tire.
4. You become so accustomed to the toilet seat being left up and having to put it down when you go potty that you catch yourself putting it back up when you're done .
3. Where some people's small drawers and baskets contain little girl's hair bows, ribbons, bands, purses, shoes for every occasion and nail polish, your drawers contain: the capes that attach to superhero PJs, misc. LEGO pieces, car parts and the broken helicopter blade that your son is inexplicably attached to.
2. You know more than you ever wanted to know about The Flash, Green Lantern, Spiderman, The Hulk, Wonder Woman, and a dozen other super heroes.
1. You see a random mud puddle at the corner of a sidewalk & driveway- you know the kind with shiny, squishy mud and no rocks- and you think, "man that would be perfect to squish my toes in."

Isaiah the soldier

Isaiah has become really attached to my denim purse. No, not in the girly sense. For some reason, when he wears it over his shoulder like he is in the picture, he thinks he's a soldier of some sort. He puts it on and then marches around the house saying, "hut, two, three, four." He salutes at me when I ask him to do something, and he says, "Right away sir!" His amazingly vivid imagination was evidenced to me yet again today.

I had walked with Isaiah about 20 paces toward the church tonight when he just HAD to turn around and go back to the van because he'd forgotten to take off his PRETEND helmet and leave it in the van. Not a real helmet, the non-existent kind. I could tell from the urgency of his request that were I to deny this whim, it would be a battle ending in my carrying him the rest of the way into the church. Instead of fighting this battle (as I've probably done before with some annoyed comment like "we don't have time for your pretend helmet"), I walked him back to the van and smiled as he carefully unclasped the PRETEND helmet from under his chin, picked it up off his head with both hands, stretched out his apparently empty hands to me and said, "Mommy, you put my helmet in da van for me ok?" I think on previous occasions I probably have totally missed this moment, rushing to get inside, balking at the ridiculousness of opening the van again to put away a non-existent object, but today, I gladly opened the door, set the pretend helmet carefully inside, closed and locked the door again, and we were on our way. If there is anything I'm learning about being a parent, it is to slow down.

Galloping

I was washing dishes in the kitchen and kept hearing this odd galloping noise down the hall, kind of like running but not really? Curious, I backed up, and this is what I saw through the doorway. It's only 4 seconds long, so you'll have to play it several times to get the full effect, but Elijah had been doing this up and down the hall for a good 10-15 minutes. One of the things I love about him is that his own body is and endless source of entertainment. The other day I caught him drawing his bones on his skin with a pen. Yup. He was making long marks all the way up his arms and little marks for every finger bone. You gotta love him!

More pics

Spring Photo Shoot

We have an incredibly beautiful pink blossoming tree in our front yard. I made the boys sit in it together today so I could catch some pics. Micah stayed the longest, so I got the most pictures of him. Elijah was done after 2 shots, so yet again, I have to be thankful for the few pictures I did get. Isaiah was a little freaked out at being in the tree. Micah would live in the tree if he could.

Miracle Making Prophet

I have to record these conversations I've been having with Elijah recently if only to remind myself, in 5 years when all I can get him to say is "OK moooommmm," that he once told me everything he was thinking and more.

2 nights ago- (putting E to bed)
Elijah: Mommy, what miracles have I done?
Me: What?
Elijah: Yeah, I'm a prophet right? So what miracles have I done?
Me: Well we named you after a prophet, but you're not actually a prophet yet, but who knows what God has for you in the future. Maybe you will be a prophet of some sort.
Elijah: What is my miracle?
Me: I don't think you've done any miracles yet.
Elijah: Will I do a miracle?
Me: It's possible. God uses his people to do miracles, and you could start praying that God would use you.
Elijah: So if we pray EVERY night that God does a miracle with me, He will right?
Me: It is certainly a possibility.
Elijah: OK, I'm startin' tonight. (eyes squinted shut staring up at the ceiling) "Dear God, thank you for this world, it is so beautiful, and make me do a miracle someday. Amen"

Tonight before bed:
Elijah: Mommy, I already did one miracle. I'm praying for another one.
Me: Oh really? What was your first miracle.
Elijah: I changed your job.
Me: Can you explain that a little more?
Elijah: I remember it. (imagine elaborate hand gestures and intense concentration on the face) I was at church, and I was playing the video games- not the ones on this side, but the ones over on the other side- it was Pac Man, and you came around the corner and called my name and told me it was time to go. I got up to go with you and we turned left and that's when you told me that you got a new job at the church and you wouldn't be teaching at school anymore. I remember it.
Me: And how was that a miracle?
Elijah: Because I changed your job.
Me: Are you saying that you had prayed or hoped for Mommy to leave my job?
Elijah: No, no, no, I didn't pray it, I just knew it, and when you told me you were going to be home with us at the church when we were turning left, I knew it was a miracle.
Me: (staring in shock) uh-huh...
Elijah: And now (rubbing hands together like a magician getting ready to do his next trick) I'm going to do another miracle. I'm going to pray for daddy's job.
Me: Hold on there buddy. You know that we don't do miracles right? God does the miracles, he just uses people sometimes.
Elijah: Yeah, but God can use me to do a miracle right?
Me: Absolutely.
Elijah: Then that's what I'm going to pray. "Dear God, please use me to do a miracle. Amen."

I didn't ask what miracle Eric needs for his job. If it comes up again, I'll let you know.

Uncle Ron is Famous!

The boys were all watching Sesame Street this morning, and I heard Elijah yell, "Mommy come quick. Come see. Uncle Ron is singing on TV with a band." So the above picture is REM, who was singing a parody of "Shiny Happy People." Whoever talks to Uncle Ron first, let him know that Elijah thinks he's the lead singer for REM.

New Blog

For those of you who are interested in our "life in community" adventure, we are setting up a blog dedicated to recording our thoughts and reactions throughout the journey. As the disclaimer at the bottom of the community blog states, we are not experts, and we don't advertise this as THE choice for all people. We are just doing what God has laid on our hearts to do at this point in time. The community blog is authored by any of the four of us, and it will hopefully be an honest look at our experiences. There is a link to it on the side of this page if you need to find it again later. For now, there is a post from me, and a post from Tom, and more to come later I'm sure.

Living Outside

You haven't heard much from us lately because we've been literally living in the great outdoors- well minus nap times and bed time, but we've even been eating outside lots. This is Isaiah and Micah eating pizza outside with our neighbor friend Abby yesterday. Elijah is getting really good at riding his bike up the hill (we could always ride it down). I'm guessing we'll be trying without the training wheels soon. Micah is doing pretty well too. He at least tries to peddle up the hill now. I think he'll learn to ride his bike just to spite Isaiah who is at his heels, trying to learn to do everything Micah does. They are getting along A LOT better these days. After Elijah goes to school, the younger two actually play together really well these days- a definite change! I actually heard Micah say today, "Good job Isaiah!" And I wasn't even making him.

Micah's Flamingo flower

Micah picked a flower for me yesterday. He brought it inside and said, "Here Mommy. It's a flamingo flower." A what? But then I looked at it, and the flower petals really do look like little flamingos. It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but they really do.

The Preschool Mind....

Riding in the van today-

Elijah: Mommy, I just figured out a new blend- "ine" has the letters i-n-e. When you put any letter in front of "ine" it can make new words. Like "vine"
Micah: Or "mine"
Elijah: And Micah the silent "e" at the end makes the vowel say it's name.
Micah: What's a vowel?
Elijah: Vowels are bad.
Me: Why are vowels bad?
Elijah: Like in basketball, Daddy says that grabbing someone's shirt is a vowel and that's bad.