So So Blessed

We moved!  Yeah, I know.  We do it all of the time.  Really and truly though, we hope that this is the last time in a very long time.  And if it isn't, oh well.  We're pros at this whole packing, moving and unpacking thing.  It builds character.  This was a short move- just 10 minutes up the road from the church parsonage to a home in Taneytown that we now own (well, the bank let's us say we own it).  There are lots of reasons why we decided to move.  It really just ended up being the best decision for our family for this season of our lives.

The new house is beautiful.  It is much  more than what I had envisioned when we first started house shopping-two stories, almost finished basement, garage, on a dead end street- it is really and truly perfect for us.  But the very best part has nothing to do with bricks, rooms and grass.  The very best thing about the new house is the neighbors.  I will post pictures of all of the kids playing together when I get to my camera.

Gene (no idea if that's how you spell his name) and Amanda have 3 children- 2 girls and a boy.  Their daughter Erin is Elijah's age (2 months younger), Elizabeth is Micah's age and Austin is 4 years old.  They play together at every opportunity.  Even better is the fact that Elijah and Micah are getting along with them so well.  They always struggle with change a bit, but this time around, they have felt welcomed and included immediately.  It has been the biggest blessing of this whole move.  Thank you Lord for providing friends.

Birthday Reflections

It is now February, the season of birthdays in our house.  I posted all of pictures on facebook this year, and I don't have them handy.  More than anything, what stands out this year is maturity.  These boys are becoming young men.

Micah can be thoughtful and contemplative, but sometimes clowny and silly. He spent his birthday money on a desk, and love to be studious.  He made thank you cards for his friends on the computer tonight.
Elijah is increasingly interested in things like: what he'll be when he grows up, what you learn in college, TV shows that he hears his friends talking about, and the rituals and prayers he is learning at school.
Isaiah (even though his birthday is in 2 months) listens, watches, soaks everything in and makes sense of it all.  Fiercely stubborn and smart, he lives life at his own pace and is a friendly face to everyone he meets.

Bottom line- I love these sons God has given us, and I'm thankful for every grace and mercy he offers us.

Baptism

Nora, Isaiah and Micah- Looks chilly.  Olivia looks on. 

Family and friends wait for the pastor and church members to arrive.

Pre-Baptism conference.  Daddy and boys- so sweet.

Micah in the water- it was really chilly.  

"Death, burial and resurrection!"

Isaiah ready to go under.

Death, burial and resurrection!  

Family and friends hug, kiss and congratulate.  

 

Elijah decided to wait for a while which is totally fine.  We're glad he isn't swayed by his brothers.  Micah was totally excited and wanted to share his Good News with everyone.  He took the video of the baptism that Larry Foster made for us (thanks Larry) to school and the whole 2nd grade (31 kids) watched it together.  We are so proud of all 3 of our boys!  Praise God for their growing faith.

Mother's Day 2011

My wild animals

7:00am- Eric went over the the church
7:15am- All three boys sneak out to the kitchen.  I can kind of hear them, but I stayed in bed.
7:45am- Boys bring a platter into my room, marching behind it saying, "Happy Mother's Day!"
I am so blessed!
Elijah:  I made you the bagel, but I only buttered one side because I didn't know if you'd want butter or not.
Micah:  This is juice in this cup, not coffee.  I know you really like coffee, but I didn't know how to work the coffee maker, so I gave you juice instead.
Isaiah:  Mommy, sorry I kind of poured too much milk in your cereal.  I hope you like Special K.

They all sat around the bed, grinning and watching me eat, happy as could be.  Their first breakfast for Mommy all by themselves was a huge success.

It's Been A While

Micah was loving this attention, don't let the body language fool you.  Check out his grin.

Athan after a long walk, enjoying a snack while a crazy looking bike rider enters the square from behind him.

Morgan.  Sweet girl, full of life and imagination, riding the purple bike statue. 

I thought we needed an update.  Life is full and wonderful- not always happy and stress free, but full and wonderful.  We enjoyed a visit with our friends the Strebecks who stayed with us over a weekend while Ryan spoke at a youth event nearby.  I love these friends, and the boys do too!  Morgan and Athan are such special kids who love wholeheartedly and without reservation.  Their mom and dad are pretty great too.

We've been playing outside LOTS since spring weather is finally here, enjoying backyard baseball with the neighbor kids, skateboarding and roller blading.  Eric and Erin are both in stressy season right now.  Local church conference and Easter back to back have Eric at lots of evening meetings, and Erin is recovering from mid-term projects and tromping on toward final projects.  Everything feels controlled right now- not chaos, and I can tell we're not overly busy because we still make time for weekly family movie nights, walks with the dog and movies/TV time without kids too.  And, we just finished up a round of swimming lessons for the kids.  Everyone can swim to some extent- some better than others- but we all have basic skills.

School has afforded us lots of opportunity to learn about how other people live differently than we do.
- My friends play video games whenever they want.
- Everyone I know is allowed to watch Spongebob
- What does "retarded" mean when someone says it in a mean way?
And other lovely conversations like why calling a girl on the bus "sexy Lexy" is not the same as "Funny Lexy," or "Silly Lexy."  Isaiah and Elijah both got into some trouble on the bus recently, but it was a case of dealing with some name-calling.  They may not have made the best choices in handling the kid who was doing the teasing, but again, more opportunities to talk about patience, and grown-up skills like ignoring the kid who is bigger and older and should know better but doesn't.  And, the administrator at school who talked to them both called to tell me how wonderful they both were as she disciplined them- how sorry and genuine and lovely they both were as they respectfully took their consequence and didn't argue or get angry.

And I'm probably most excited to write about our very recent evening Bible and prayer times.  I think the trials they've experienced at school this year have helped them mature into a sense of why we need God.  They have caught very small glimpses of the sin in other people and in themselves, and it is changing them.

We had taken a break for a few months from bedtime Bible reading and family prayer.  I'm not sure why, but we had, and I don't feel like it was a negligent thing, just a season.  We started up the tradition again recently, and it's different.  Everyone is silent and still while Mommy or Daddy prays and we pray slowly and deliberately for quite a few minutes ( a far cry from our hurried, pray, pray, stop-that, pray pray, be-quiet, lay-still prayers of before).  Elijah has started joining in to pray a few words here and there when he feels that I haven't given enough detail- all on his own and very sincerely.  There is peace and stillness that surrounds our prayer time and it is genuine instead of rushed and "required" as a part of the routine.  They are growing and changing inside and out.

Lessons I'd Forgotten

Snow + temperatures right around freezing with no wind and sunshine= the PERFECT sledding day.  I couldn't wait to send the kids out into the snow AND join them.  We left the house at 9am.  I shoveled, they slid.  At 9:50, they started trickling over to see what I was doing.  I couldn't believe it.  How could they be bored of sledding already?  I used to sled for hours (it felt like).  So, I planted my shovel in the bank and joined them on the hill.  I watched them go down a few times, took some video and then realized that they were missing a few key ingredients for a perfect sledding day.

1)  If you walk back up the same trail where you slid down, it ruins your trail and makes it difficult to climb the bank.
2)  If you make some "steps" for yourself out of snow in a few key places on the snowbank, climbing back up to the top is much easier (and prevents you from ruining the sledding trails).
3)  To keep your sled from sliding backward down the wrong side of the bank while you're climbing aboard, flatten out a section at the top big enough for your sled and a couple of foot holds.  We even built a little bank behind the starting position spot to keep them from falling backward.
4)  Getting tired is part of the fun.  Make a snow bed/ fort/ cave for yourself and take breaks (important for Micah).
5)  If you're getting wet, get wardrobe help before you get too cold.
6)  The best sledding trails are made by sliding down the same spots over and over and not walking back up on the sledding trail.  Therefore, the more people you sled with, the more fun it becomes, so when we saw our neighbors out, we hiked over to join them.

Lesson I learned- sledding with a 5,6 and 8 year old is even more fun than sledding with a 4,5 and 7 year old.  

Science center

The other two play on the footprints of dinosaurs.

Sent from my LG phone

Halloween Group Shot

Soldier, Indiana Jones and the Ninja!

Painting

 Painting #1

 Painting #2

Painting #3

Just because I was in a painting mood (and I love to share the love), we decided on a theme and painted dragons together a couple of weekends ago.  These are watercolor on canvas from the craft store, and they will be displayed in the basement play space.  The boys worked really hard on them, and I love how each one is so unique.  Any guesses on who did what?

Barrel Riding

Favorite entertainment lately!  Everyone gets invited to go barrel riding, even the lawn mowing guys.  I'm not sure what Isaiah said when he ran up the hill, but it illustrates his excitement. Micah has bruises all over his shoulders, but he continues to beg to go riding.  When I told him today that he needed to take a break for a while, he threw a fit saying, "the bruises don't hurt."  Crazy.

Stopping to Breathe

There are a few things you should know about these three boys.  They are amazing young men and grow more a part of my heart and soul every single moment I know them.

Zay has become a man of precision.  Everything about him right now is meticulous.  He is always the last one in the van, ready for school, finished with homework... because he does everything with a level of determination and thoroughness that is awe inspiring (and more than frustrating at times) but notable none the less.

Micah is thoughtful, contemplative and incredibly perceptive.  There is no hiding anything from him.  His soft heart and sensitive spirit stay guarded often, but once he lets you in, there is a whole world of love and connection that is complex and beautiful.

Elijah.  He is still the explorer, the adventurer, the incredibly creative boy that he's always been, but there is something new too.  He's learned to complete the menial non-creative tasks of life like feeding the dog and doing homework with a smile and a bounce (most of the time) instead of tears and stomping.  At dinner tonight he was telling us a wildly imaginative story, then stopped midstream and said, 'Just to clarify, what I mean is..." and then went on.  There was a time when he wouldn't have cared to notice if clarification was needed or not... and he used the word "clarify".  

They amaze me.  I remind myself almost constantly now to stop.  breathe.  soak up these moments and days and weeks.  To be gentle in my words.... ALWAYS because every. thing. I. say. or do. makes a difference.

PS- Most of these pics (except the tiger face paint) were taken at the Science Center where we'll take you if you come visit us.  :0 )  Everything I write lately comes with that ploy.

MOOSE

In an ocean of canola beside our house,

I was driving by and saw the distinct sleek black image of a bull moose. Contrasted against the yellow of this field, he was hard to miss.
I turned back to tell my family, but alas, when we returned to look, he was gone.  The boys thought Grammie and I were crazy, taking them out to look at a moose.  For some reason they thought a moose was dangerous.  Only when he's on the road in front of your car.  :)

FYI- These pictures were not taken on the same day as the moose sighting.

Park Sprinklers

Warming up after playing in the frigid sprinklers.

These umbrellas from Grammie were a big hit with all of the kids at the park.

It was a rare HOT day in NB today.  Right around 85, so we took advantage of the sun and nice weather to visit the Woodstock park.  The sprinklers are a fantastic addition to the park since I was a kid.  Free fun all day every day.

Elijah is obsessed with this tank.

Wedded Bliss

My brother is officially married and the boys were awesome through all of the ceremony and reception.  Seriously, they stood just like you see them here through the whole thing; more than I can say for my bro who is the tall slim guy in the middle.  Poor guy had to go sit down half way through.

Outside waiting for pictures in the shade.  It looks lovely and peaceful but what you can't see are the millions of black flies.  The boys handled it like pros.  Wondering why?

See that cute little thing in the pink over there?  As soon as she and her two flower-girl cohorts entered the picture, our little men became perfect gentlemen.  Ahh the power of women. 

And HUGE kuddos to my sis-in-law.  This was one kid friendly wedding!  The candy bar was open while we waited for the reception to begin making every child's dream come true.  And the cute little books with pink ribbon on the table were made by the bride and groom for all of the kids to use during the reception.  There were mad libs about Garth and Jodie, wedding word searches, coloring pictures and more.  

This is the loft at my mom's house.  It is the boys' domain for this month.  They love playing up here.  

This is at the other end of the loft.  There is a great little shelf that they use for all kinds of play. The triangle window behind Zay looks down onto the living room.  Elijah loves laying in this window like a cat and watching the TV down below.  

Watching Daddy mow from the back of Uncle Garth's truck.  

Trying out Grammie's new mower with Isaiah.  That's the same view I grew up with and never appreciated until now.  

The woman who makes it allllll happen.. my momma.  :) 

First full day in Keymar :)

Find of the day... This great park just minutes from our house. Maryland welcomed us with perfect weather. We toured the boys future school and found a Redbox for a bedtime movie. Can't wait to move in.

We found a bike shop to get Micah's bike repaired, bought enough frozen dinners for lunches and dinners for 2 days, and played in our back yard/ church parking lot all afternoon.  At the checkout, Micah told the cashier, "Look!  We got Kid Cuisine!  We never get those.  I mean it.  My mommy has NEVER boughten those before ever even though we always ask.  But we're in Maryland, not Kentucky."  He waltzed off and left me there to try and explain that one with a bewildered looking cashier.

Speaking of the grocery store, we happened through the "Family Friendly" lane.  I was unsure of the meaning of this at first.  I eyed the cashier critically- was she going to be extra nice to my kids?  Suckers?  Discounts?  Then I noticed the racks next to the lane that are usually laden with candy and gum.  Instead there were toddler snacks, mini-tissue packets and magazines for moms.  Very smart.  My boys however, not to be fooled, picked up a "mom" magazine and flipped through until they found an ad that they could "show" me, packaged with, "Mommy, I'm not really asking for this but LOOK at this bike.  If someone wanted to trade me my bike for this one, would you let me trade?  This bike is soooo cool.  Its not all rusty and old like mine."

Lots of tree climbing and only one pseudo-injury.  Micah turned over a brick under a GREAT climbing tree beside our house and a million baby ants swarmed all over his feet.  He dropped the brick on his foot, screamed and started stomping all over.  When I ran over to him, he had most of the ants off.  Their nest was so full it looked like the ground was moving.  He was still sobbing so I said, "Does your foot hurt from the brick or did the ants scare you?  He said, "the ants!!!!!"  Isaiah promptly ran over to the nest and started squishing the stray ones that had scurried away from the brick saying, "Leave Micah alone!"

I would imagine Micah will be leaving them alone from now on.  :)

Raven Run pics

We were collecting leaves for a school leaf project.  It was Elijah's homework.  I love this pic of him.  Totally spontaneous.

Isaiah took this picture and I didn't crop it at all.  He's quite the photographer.

Climbing the falls.  Miraculously, no one got wet, and I didn't have to go chasing after Micah's shoe down the stream either.

Easter Suits

The boys have never had suits before. We have them this year for Uncle Garth and Aunt Jodie's wedding in June. For the most part, no one complained too much about getting dressed up this morning- that is after I convinced Elijah that he was dressing up as James Bond.