Elijah on hot rods and tomatoes

Tonight at bed time.

Elijah:  Mommy, sometimes I feel like a hot rod and I just want to be a plain old Ford.
Me:  Explain more please.
Elijah:  You know how a hot rod revs up its engine and goes from 0-60 in like 2 seconds.  Then you drive it fast like 3 times and it breaks down and its just a mess.
Me:  Yup.  How is that like you again?
Elijah:  I get all mad too quickly instead of having peace.  (Yes, he said that.)  Instead, I just want to be a good old steady Ford.  Just running all of the time, not speeding too fast, overheating and breaking down.
Me:   That sounds like a great goal.  You know the fruits of the spirit we talked about tonight with your brothers?
Elijah:  Yeah. When you were praying about the fruits I was thinking I've got them all covered except for the self-control one.  It's like a tiny little green tomato and the rest are big fat red ones, especially the love one.  I've got lots of love.  Its like that big green tomato we saw in the garden tonight only mine is red and ripe.  I even started crying when you were praying tonight.  But the self control one... I'm still working on that one.  Its not ripe yet.

A beautiful conversation with this son who tries my patience on so many days.  We prayed a precious prayer together, asking for help with self-control for him and patience for Mommy.  So blessed and thankful tonight. 

Lollipops and Field Trips

I know, I know, it has been a while.  In school news, I finished my busiest semester (3 classes plus work), but all is finished and I  moved on to 2 summer classes which are going well.  I'm still working over the summer, but half of my hours are work-from-home and 1 of my 2 summer classes finishes June 26th, so after that the summer will feel much more relaxing.

Eric is awesome.  The church is going well, and he looks after kid, family and home stuff in my absence without even blinking an eye.  I've been on multiple field trips with the boys this month- the post office with Isaiah, the zoo with Micah and the farm museum with Elijah.  Eric covered two school events- kindergarten tea and recorder recital tomorrow.  Micah is doing REALLY well with his piano lessons, and Elijah picked up the recorder pretty quickly.  Micah was the only one of the three boys to memorize all of his verses in Sunday School and received a prize along with 4 other children last Sunday (Isaiah and Elijah were just one verse short and seeing Micah receive a prize totally motivated them to try harder next time).

Which leads me to a great story.  Sunday afternoon after the church picnic, I walked into the entryway of our house to see Isaiah crying (not unusual) but it was unusual that he didn't seem angry or hurt.  I asked what was wrong because Elijah was standing there too, but Lij just shrugged his shoulders and went back to playing with the water balloon he was concentrating on tying.  Zay sobbed out... no...thing.... shoulders still shaking.

I gave him a minute to catch a breath while I set my stuff down, looked back and Lij one more time who looked back at me blankly and shrugged.  I asked Zay if he could tell me why he was crying.  Here's what he gasped out between sobs.

"Mommy, I couldn't ask for a better brother than Elijah" and he collapsed into my arms still holding back sobs.  I looked at Lij who promptly started talking.

"Mommy, Isaiah brought home the etch-a-sketch from church because he thought it was a prize.  I told him it wasn't to keep so I took it back over to the church.  I told him that I'd get him a real prize (dum dums and Twizzlers were the real prizes) and bring it back over to him.  Well, when I took the etch a sketch back, I forgot to get him a real prize and so when I got home and he was sad I gave him my lollipop."photo © 2010 Heather | more info (via: Wylio)


Isaiah again, clutched at me and held up the peach Dum Dum for me to see, proof of his brother's generosity.

Elijah's Field Trip

Jacob, Lexi, Holly, Erin and Elijah

"Look Mommy, I'm a horse.  Take a picture."

We were really hungry at this point, so I know I was thinking "Man that fake food looks tasty."

The kids all got to try out this loom.  I couldn't take a picture because I was helping, but it was really fun for them.

Elijah loved every minute of every demonstration.  This is his learning style for sure.

Is this not the hugest rocking chair ever?

Things I learned on the field trip:
- It takes/took longer to become a master blacksmith than it does to become a surgeon.
- Women used dead hair collected from hairbrushes to fluff up their real hair.
- In 1860, toasters, tea kettles, cast iron stoves and an ice box (as opposed to the spring house) were modern conveniences.
- A zither is a musical instrument common to German settlers
- Elijah and Holly are best friends- really and truly.  They are kind to one another, share, talk, laugh and have fun,... and that's all.
- Elijah is a great kid!

Birthday Boy #2 (a few days late)

 There was 2...

 And then 3... (with cousin Liv)

 Then all of a sudden, a 7 year old...

 And now 9?  Wow.

You are becoming such a young man.  As a 9 year old, starting a new life in Maryland, you have taken a few months to adjust but are now showing the real Elijah.  You are ultimately kind and compassionate above all else.  You feel deeply for every one and every living thing.  You are complex, creative, full of story and drama.  You love fast cars, drawing monsters and creatures, making up stories, acting out stories, watching Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, playing with Amani, and running around outside.

Recently you started going to Robotics club at 4-H and you love it.  You decided on a skateboard with your birthday money and the roller blades you got from your cousins were a big hit.  We love you Lij!  Keep growing in love and faith.  

Elijah's drawing

Elijah's verse

Christmas Program

Elijah and Micah sing solos

On bullies/teasing

Elijah is the new kid, and let's face it.  His interests and talents are a little bit outside of the mainstream.  We knew that moving to a new school for 3rd grade would not be easy for him, but he has handled it with more maturity and courage than I thought possible.  

For the first several weeks (two months really) there were a couple of boys in his class who had been picking on him regularly.  He says they "bug" him.  He says Joe hurts his feelings while Jacob's specialty is pushing him around.  We encouraged him to tell an adult nearby when the boys were bugging him and to avoid them as much as possible.  Daily he brought home more stories of being pushed in the hallway and being called 'stupid' and 'cry-baby.'  I went to talk to his teacher and she assured me that she'd keep an eye out.  She said that the two boys doing most of the "bugging" were not in groups with Elijah, and he concurred that most of the teasing was going on in the hallway, at recess or at lunch. 

The same day I talked to Elijah's teacher, he came home with an office referral.  Apparently Jacob took his lunch box and was playing keep-away with it.  Elijah looked for an adult, couldn't see one close by so he punched Jacob in the stomach to get his lunch box back.  

Fighting is a serious offense.  Eric was the parent on duty when Elijah came home, and could see that he was already very upset by the trip to the office and the referral, so they talked about how to make better choices next time.  When I got home, I talked to him as well, and he agreed that forgetting the lunch box and ignoring the teasing would be better options if no adult could be found.  

But here's the thing.  Since the fight, two weeks have gone by and the daily teasing seems to have lessened significantly.  Today he said they were making faces at him across the room, but the verbal teasing and pushing seem to have stopped for now.  There is a part of me that feels, "Way to go standing up for yourself!  Its probably what needed to happen."  I don't want him to resort to fighting again, but I'm not disappointed in him for taking a stand.  

Sometimes parenting makes that line between right and wrong so VERY blurry.        

Graduation weekend

Surrounded by friends.

Caught a friend's birthday party before all of the graduation festivities.

Staying busy with army men and dinosaurs.  Its amazing what becomes interesting when all of the other toys are packed.

They are displaying the Bionicles (sp?) they each built (perched on the boxes and bookshelf).  Elissa, their favorite babysitter ever, gave each of them a going-away Bionicle and became their heroine forever.

Book Orders

It is a battle I've chosen to fight, but one that I know he just can not understand right now. The Book Order.
You know those paper fliers we brought home from school every month. I LOVED them when I was in elementary school. I eagerly read book descriptions searching for that one perfect choice.
I feel like things have changed since 1986. Elijah's book order is FULL of media driven junk. Here was our conversation today:

Elijah: Can I get something from the book order.
Me: Probably. Why don't you circle the things you think you will want.

Later he brings me the paper and we sit down together to go through it. His choices include a mini-scooter with accompanying pamphlet, a Transformers book, a spy video camera with some kind of booklet, a door alarm with booklet and a SpongeBob book. We talked about his choices one at a time. I asked why he wanted it and why he thought it would be a good book.
Elijah: Its a scooter
Me: Its a toy scooter. It is tiny, and it isn't a book. We're choosing a book.
Elijah: Look at the spy camera one.
Me: Its not a real camera. Its just a box with a lens. It doesn't really do anything.
Elijah: Oh.
Me: Why did you pick Transformers and Spongebob?
Elijah: I love them.
Me: Really? Because you haven't seen either one on TV in probably a year. Are the stories really that interesting?
Elijah: I don't know.

So I made some suggestions... other boys themed books about adventures, magic, science, there were plenty of other good choices.
But alas, he was blinded by the fancy, media driven items. Oh how I wish they would just disappear. Every scrap of it muddies the waters of so many other more edifying, wholesome, high-quality items that kids would LOVE if they weren't so bombarded by mindless characters and endless trinkets.
Revolt!
Anyway, we bought some books that I think he'll love if he'll give them a chance. And I'll sleep well tonight.

Birthday Boys

Another year flies by and our two oldest boys are a year older. Elijah turned 8 last week and Micah turned 6 two weeks ago. I can hardly believe it. We love them both so much! We had a shared party with a few friends. Mommy made a guitar cake, gifts were opened, games were played and I think they felt celebrated.

Elijah loves learning all about new places and people. Micah loves sharpening his math and reading skills. Elijah loves to run and jump and play and create. Micah loves to compete and spend time with friends and play video games and carefully observe. Both boys surprise us every day with the new things they're learning and doing. We love watching America's Funniest Home Videos before bedtime some nights, and both boys can be found curled up with a book or comic book at any given moment.

We love you so much boys! Happy Birthdays!

Idiosyncrasies

We all have them right? Micah and Isaiah love to color, paint, draw etc. If Eric or I are sitting with them, they'll do it all day long. Elijah on the other hand, not so much. Lately though, he has been coloring large portions with us. He talks incessantly the entire time, making up stories about the character he is coloring, but he needs the fine motor skills practice, so I encourage the storytelling even though... let's just say they're NOT linear. So today, we were all painting or coloring at the table.

Elijah was coloring a storm trooper, chattering away about how you kill storm troopers, what they do, who they are, what color they can or can't be, where they live and a thousand other details. I've learned the fine art of, "oh yeah? Really. Huh," responses while thinking other thoughts. I'm glad I caught this nugget though.

Elijah: I really hate coloring the background.

Me: That's OK. Just color the parts you like.

Elijah: OK. I'm done with the storm trooper. I'm going to cut him out.

Me: OK.

Elijah gets the scissors and starts cutting around the storm trooper.

Elijah: Mommy, it feels good to cut him out because I feel like I'm setting him free from his background.

Ahh the places we could go with this.

Elijah on Love

I made a pillow for Elijah when he was a baby. It is blue checked fabric with white satin ribbon around the outside edges and a giant E sewed into the middle. Micah and Isaiah started asking a few months ago why they don't have pillows with an M and an I on them, so I told them I'd make them one.

Friday evening, Elijah has soccer practice so I took the other two to Hobby Lobby to pick out their own fabrics for their pillows. Micah chose McQueen and Isaiah chose race cars. On the way back to the field to pick up Elijah, Micah started the following conversation.

Micah: Mommy, won't Elijah feel bad that he didn't get new fabric for a pillow.

Me: I don't think so. Elijah already has his E pillow, and he loves it.

Micah: But our fabrics are cool and his is just all blue.

Me: I think Elijah will be happy for you, but it would probably be best not to brag to him OK?

Micah: OK, can I show it to him?

Me: Sure, just don't brag about it being better than his or anything like that.

----- Elijah gets in the van.

Micah: Look Elijah, we got fabric from Hobby Lobby to make our own M and I pillows like your E pillow.

Elijah: Cool. Can I see it?

Micah hands it back to him.

Elijah: I like it. What did you pick Isaiah?

Zay: Race cars

Micah: Elijah, sorry but we didn't get you anything.

Elijah: That's OK. I already have my E pillow that Mommy made me.

Micah: But don't you like our new fabrics better than your plain old E pillow?

Elijah: (pauses for a second) mmmmm.... No, not really. Cause my pillow is full of LOVE. Right Mommy?

Me: That's right Lij.

Elijah: Mommy made it special just for me, so I love it.

Micah was baffled, but it was the end of the conversation. :)

Brotherly Love

On Friday nights the boys look forward to switching beds. Its a tradition. They never forget. Last night Micah slept in the spare room, Elijah in Micah's bed and Isaiah in Elijah's bed. Isaiah was having a hard time staying in bed. After several warnings, I moved Isaiah back to his own bed. As I was leaving the room, Isaiah wimpering in the background, Elijah whispered to me, "Mommy, I'm really sad for Isaiah. I think I might cry." I said, "I know, I'm sad for him too, but he knew what would happen if he kept getting out of bed. He can try again next week." Elijah tearfully chokes out, "Next Friday is really kind of far away. Can I let Isaiah have my bed tomorrow night and I'll sleep in his?" Such a sympathetic little guy.

Elijah's First Day

Elijah is officially a second grader. He had a great first day. He came home excited about compost, pumpkin seeds and Mr. Madill. We are all thanking the Lord for a science lesson on the first day (his favorite subject), a teacher that made him laugh, a friend (thanks Shawn) who sat with him on the bus, no homework, and no difficulties that we're aware of. Thank you friends and family for your prayers for him. He seemed calm and confident- miraculous indeed.

Micah's first day is tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

My first day with students was today and it went well. I wish I could share details but alas confidentiality is an issue. I'll just share that I have 2 very easy classes, 1 moderately difficult class and 1 class that will require all of my patience and more toughness than I've been accustomed to showing over the past 2 years.

Off to day two tomorrow!

Elijah's Prayer tonight

God thank you for daytime and dark

Thank you for old days and new days

Thank you for rainy days and sunny days

Thank you for birds that fly

Thank you for animals that I can pet

Thank you for stars and the moon

Thank you for my brothers

Thank you for the Bible

Amen.

Phoebe's Song

Phoebe's Song from Erin Crisp on Vimeo.

Elijah made up this song for Phoebe Saturday. She smiled and laughed and laughed the whole time he was singing to her. There were several more verses during the live performance.

Elijah was playing with Shawn- a very nice neighbor boy, about 9- on the trampoline today. I overheard their conversation. I'm not sure how it started, but here's where I picked up.
Elijah: Forest fires are weather.
Shawn: Forest fires are not weather. Rain, wind, snow, things that come from the sky are weather. Fires come from people.
Elijah: It can come from lightening and lightening comes from the sky.
Shawn: But that doesn't make it weather. Weather is different than a forest fire.
Elijah: If a forest fire comes from lightening and then the wind blows it and makes it spread, then it has to be weather. It didn't come from anywhere else. And fire can give new plants room to grow.
Shawn: You don't know.
Elijah: You don't know either. ...pause... Hey, you want to play that wrestling game?
Shawn: Sure.

No question. Elijah loves his science. So anyone know? Do forest fires count as weather? Some how I doubt it, but I thought he had a good argument.

Such a wonder to me. There could not be 3 more individually unique little men in my life. Each one requires such different approaches sometimes that I feel like I have multiple personalities. I can't imagine my life without them. We read the story of Gideon at breakfast this morning. When I finished reading the story Elijah said, "Mommy, I wish I had known that story last night. I was lying in bed being afraid of ___(I can't remember at the moment but it was something random)___ and if I had known this story I would have known that God would help me fight my fear." Imagine if we all knew the Story like we should.

Happy Birthday Elijah

A few days late because of internet difficulties, but a birthday message nonetheless. Dear 7 year old boy we love you. You keep us laughing, thinking, listening and loving daily. We are amazed at all of the ways you've grown this year. You have fallen in love with nature in whole new ways. You would spend every spare minute outside- digging in the dirt, finding rocks, uncovering bugs, inspecting leaves, searching for spiders, climbing, riding your bike and having a great time. We started homeschooling your this year and it has gone very well so far. You are learning lots- improving things that were really difficult for you at school and enjoying learning about things that interest you. We've done a unit on space, one on habitats and we're about to start simple machines.

Your brothers love you and you show such patience with them much of the time. We love you Elijah and can't wait to see who you become as a 7 year old.