Remember?

Remember those paint with water books where the paint is already dried to the page in pictures and you just paint with water to reveal a masterpiece? In an effort to potty-train Isaiah (which is failing miserably in case you're wondering) I made him a sticker chart where he earns stickers for every time he goes, and after 6 stickers he gets a prize. The prize today was one of those paint-with-water books that I picked up at the dollar store for $.50 last week. It had Hotwheels pictures, so I figured that even if they thought the "painting" was lame, they'd at least be excited about the cool cars. The Dollar Store wins again! These little pictures where the source of at least 20 minutes of contentment today. We painted half of the book, but they were happy. Elijah painted too, but I don't have pictures of him since he painted later when he got home from school.

And about potty training, yes Isaiah is earning his stickers, but ONLY when I prompt him and overtly bribe him (if you use the potty you can get a sticker and remember what 6 stickers makes???...that's right, a present). He has yet to initiate potty use on his own. I've tried neglecting the reminders, hoping that the stickers will be motivation enough for him to remember to go on his own, but the result has only been pee soaked carpets and couches, and more laundry in one day than I normally do in a week. Suggestions welcomed! :)

Growing Up!

Elijah has taken a crazy growth spurt over the past month or so. He is looking so much older to us lately. Here are some pictures to prove it.

These pictures are all from our trip to Indiana last weekend, well all except for the outside one, that was after we got back to Kentucky. The kids all played outside this afternoon for almost an hour in jackets, and actually Isaiah didn't wear any shoes or socks for the first 5 minutes or so- until his mommy caught a glimpse of his bare toes running across the deck. I made him at least put his "rain boots" on (with no socks). I might get used to this living in the south thing after all. Pictured above are also the very cool and increasingly popular Spiderman pop-up book that Uncle Josh and Aunt Jess got him for Christmas, and a picture that is sure to reappear and embarrass him for years to come- Elijah playing with Olivia's Island Barbie. I had to.

The Parable of the Loving Father (AKA Prodigal Son)

"My son," the father said, "you are always with me, and everything I have is yours."
Luke 15:31
The son had just been complaining that the father hadn't given him enough. "You kill the fattened calf for my loser brother, but you don't even give me a goat for a party with my buddies."(my paraphrase) The father's response? "You are always with me, and everything I have is yours."

We usually hear about the father's compassion on the prodigal son in this story, but it hit me this week as I read it again that God wants to teach me something else about Him through the other son- you know, the much less frequently talked about son who stays home maintaining an average life while his brother runs off with the inheritance. I think in my previous readings of this parable, I've tuned out as soon as I get to the prodigal son part because I've never really had a prodigal son season in my life and I kind of know what happens next with regards to him.

BUT, as always with the Bible, there is more here than just the prodigal son. I mentioned to my more scholarly husband yesterday that I thought that this parable was more about the father and less about the prodigal son, and he agreed that our focus is often skewed and probably off from what Jesus intended.

With my new perspective focusing on the father instead of the prodigal, the other son becomes a key player. I can certainly relate to him as I've often had "other son" moments; in fact, I think God brought this story to my attention because I'm having plenty of those moments lately. My prayers usually end in something like, "and Lord, I know that you've always provided for us in the past but I just don't see how we're going to make it through this season. 'I do believe; help me overcome my disbelief.' Those kinds of prayers." And yet, I still have a roof, car to drive, clothes to wear, food to eat and freedom to pray and sing to my Lord whenever I please. Isn't this like saying to my Father, "I know I'm being taken care of right now, but I'm worried about next month. Can't you give me some extra right now so that I can be sure of your provision for next month? Where is my goat huh?"

God's response isn't wrath at some sort of greed that I might be displaying. He gives his blessed assurance. "You are always with me, and everything I have is yours." What a comfort this was to me this week. Everything God has is already mine- peace that passeth understanding, wisdom, assurance out the yin yang, and a joy for life that can only come from knowing Him. All of it is already mine because I am His. I don't need extra manna for this month to make sure I have some later. There will be plenty for what I need because I am His, and He will be as gracious in meeting our needs next month as He has been this month.

As if that weren't enough, the picture of the father in this story is not only one who provides for both of his very different sons, but he goes beyond provision. He lavishes what he has upon them. He doesn't give them only as much as they need for survival, but much more. This is the picture of our heavenly Father. He is ready to kill the fattened calf for the son (or daughter) who returns to him from afar, but he is just as ready to share everything he has with the one who never left.

Tired toddler

Micah was rudely awakened by his younger brother at 3am last night and while Isaiah promptly went back to sleep, Micah tossed and turned in our bed until 5am and then woke up at regular time of course. (Eric went to Micah's bed.) The result? A tired toddler. Aside from the fact that his patience level is at an all time low, he makes us laugh with his constant state of meaningless motion. The little video will show what he's been doing for the past hour. :)

Play a game; feed the hungry

Go to this website, play the game and this organization will donate grains of rice to those in need. Try it while you're on the phone on hold, and see how much you can donate. :)
www.freerice.com

What do we do all day?

Micah puzzling
Isaiah showing off a puzzle,

A friend asked recently... "so what do you do all day?" Interesting question really. Besides the regular stuff like dishes and laundry, I do "school" with the boys in the morning for an hour or two. Today Eric ran some errands and then studied at the library for the morning, came home for lunch then read for a class most of the afternoon. Micah was totally into puzzles for the day. Isaiah pretended to be into puzzles like his big bro, but he mostly just dumped them out so Micah could put them back together. Elijah and I were having so much fun that we almost forgot to get him on the bus at noon, and I continued the saga of potty training Isaiah, which really just means more laundry. :)

So far so good..

Well, the next phase of our Wilmore lives has begun. Wednesday was my last day of teaching, and Thursday was my first day as stay-at-home-mom. Eric is ready to start substitute teaching on Monday and I've been working at my new job at Southland Christian Church for two weeks. I am really enjoying my new job at the church. Half of it is writing curriculum for preschoolers, which I can do at home, and the other half of the job is teaching the large group preschool at 4 services, 2 weekends out of every 3.

I don't think the newness of "mommy being home" has worn off yet, and Eric has been home quite a bit these past two days so that's made life pretty easy. Elijah said today, "so mommy, you're going to be home with us and Daddy is going to work now right?" I said yes and he said, "I'm glad." So I know he notices... we'll see how fond he is of mommy after a few weeks (or maybe days) when mommy has a grumpy day or two. Overall though, I couldn't be happier staying home with our boys. They make me smile daily, and it is such a blessing to help them grow into the young men God created them to be. Sounds cheesy I know, but its absolutely true.

Thanks to some friends, we should have a new (used) camera soon, which means more pictures of our favorite activities. We can't wait. :)

While We're Telling Micah Stories...

On the same day as Erin heard the Micah in the coffee story, I hear this conversation between Micah and Elijah while I'm in the next room. I was getting ready to run on the treadmill and this had Elijah ready to do a little exercising as well.

Elijah: Daddy, I'm going to do some push-ups.
Eric: OK buddy.
Micah: I want to do push-ups with you Elijah.
Elijah: You have to hold your head up Micah.
Micah: I can't, I'm holding a marshmallow!

I laughed my fool head off!

Dreams

3:30pm today- post-nap

Micah: Mommy, I just had a dream.

Me: Oh yeah? What about.

Micah: There was a monster, and he had a cup of coffee.

Me: Yeah? (Micah jumps up on the couch beside me.)

Micah: Yeah, and I was in his cup of coffee and he drank me.

Me: He what?

Micah: The monster drank me in his coffee.
He looks at me and smiles. I wonder if he'll have an aversion to coffee someday?

Christmas

This was the best Christmas yet with the boys. Not only did they seem to understand more about why we celebrate this time of year, but they played so well with their cousins, aunts and uncles, that Eric and I thoroughly enjoyed some time to play games and chill with his relatives. Elijah, Maggie and Gracie (Rex and Lynn's twin 4 1/2 year old girls) played all afternoon and until midnight Christmas Day! 0 arguments or tantrums... it was a new day. He felt very grown up being allowed to stay up until midnight. Micah and Isaiah did well all day too- Micah playing with the twins and Isaiah playing mostly by himself as he always does these days, but they went to sleep in Aunt Becky's bed at their normal time.

The only unfortunate part of our holiday was that on Christmas Eve, while the van was parked in Nana and Papa's driveway unlocked for 2 hours between trips, someone stole our portable DVD player and digital camera. They also took my purse, but upon finding no money they dumped it in the neighbor's yard. I'm really thankful that they returned my purse as replacing all those cards and things can be such a pain. Yes, we learned to keep our van doors locked even in broad daylight, and sadly, we won't have any Christmas pictures to post. So, if anyone has an old digital camera that you'd like to sell or donate,... :)

Merry Christmas everyone! If you didn't get a copy of our Christmas letter and you'd like to have one, leave me a comment and I'll send it on to you. Happy New Year!

O Happy Day!

I think I've attempted cookie baking and decorating every year since Elijah 18 months old. I've tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to get the boys involved in the process in the hopes of creating a longstanding family tradition.
Finally, this year will go down in infamy as the first truly successful Christmas cookie baking and decorating event. Things I've learned along the way:
1. Only involve willing participants. If all 3 kiddos don't want to use the cookie cutters, don't cajole, bribe or beg, just invite them to join in if they show interest... and everyone will show interest in icing.
2. Bake a small batch. Attempting to supervise 3 toddlers with icing while continuing to bake additional pans of cookies is a recipe for icing in hair and under chairs while 2 dozen sugar cookies get eaten by 3 children.
3. Short bursts of activity. Fun with cookie cutters, then go play while cookies bake and cool and Mommy makes icing and cleans up. Kids return when all decorating supplies are ready. Yes, this means washing hands and faces twice, but the result of overworked cookie bakers is disastrous.
4. Have individual supplies ready. Each child gets their own 3 cookies to decorate, 2 dixie cups with small amounts of colored icing and a plastic knife that stays in each cup. The icing is different colors so trading is encouraged and welcomed.
5. Get all family members involved. Being prepared enough so that Mommy and Daddy could both sit down too went a long way I think.
6. Age matters. An 18 month will probably not see the beauty in a decoratively iced cookie- but a 2 1/2 year old just might. :)

A River Runs Through It

OK, maybe not a river, but certainly a healthy stream. After several days of rain, our new favorite afternoon excursion is to the park at the bottom of the hill, not to play at the park, but to explore all aspects of the stream that runs behind the park. The boys and I went one afternoon, and we took Daddy along with us this past Thursday. To our northern friends, you will notice that the date WAS December 20th, and we WERE playing in a stream wearing sweatshirts- no jackets, mittens or hats. Crazy.Isaiah is fishing with a weeping willow branch. No bait, no hook- the best way to fish in my opinion. They usually end up swatting at those little bugs that glide along the top of the water with their willow branches.
This little rock ledge is a favorite spot, and when the boys and I go without daddy, our rule is only one kid on the rock at a time for obvious reasons. Since Eric was there to carry home a wet kid if need be, we risked it, but everyone stayed dry. You think we'll have a white Christmas?

Santa pics

I think Micah's looking a little GQ in this picture- skillfully avoiding looking directly at the camera- "show me wistful..good. yeah.. now apathy... good.. good..."
Isaiah... just looks old- so grown up. Where oh where did my baby go?
Elijah. He hesitated just for a moment this year before hopping up on Santa's knee. He glanced at us with a look that hinted, just for a second, "Am I too big to sit on this strange man's lap?" Who knows, this may be the last year for his Santa photo.
Wilmore Old Fashioned Christmas strikes again. Such a lovely little family tradition. We learned from last year, and timed our walk from our house to Santa downtown so as to avoid the rush. Isaiah was much more confident this year as well. For a peak at last year's event, click here.

First Basketball Game

Elijah came home from school a few months ago asking to play on a basketball team, so we signed him up for YMCA basketball. Two practices, a team T-shirt and group picture later, he had his first game.

Elijah's team is the Heat and they have 8 players. Four of the players are 6 year olds and 4 are 5 and it is obvious who is who. The six year olds dribble with ease and shoot at EVERY given opportunity. The 5 year olds are expert defenders, shuffling from side to side with their hands up, but if the 6 year olds ever follow the coach's advice and pass to the 5s, they inevitably drop the ball and there is a mad scramble as 8-10 little bodies go scampering across the floor to reemerge with the ball.

Some questions I had going in-
1. Q- How do you determine when a 5 year old is traveling and what do you do about it? Most of them hold the ball and run until the coach reminds them to dribble.
A- The ref blows his whistle for the player to stop (if he's not dribbling), and tells him to pass the ball. I guess the message is that if you can't dribble yet, become an expert passer.

2. Q- Will any of them really make any baskets? The baskets are 8 feet high.
A- There was one "Shaq" on each team. They don't keep score but my guess would be that our Shaq- Christian- scored about 5 baskets. The other team's Shaq- Brady- scored probably 3 or 4.
If you know Elijah, you could probably guess that he had no idea what the score was nor did he care, and while the other kids were asking the coach "who won... did we win?" he was busy eating his poptart. He did prove to me today though, that it is possible to enjoy a sport when you're not very competitive.

3. Q- Quaters? How long will they play, and will Elijah be disappointed about not playing as much as the 6 year olds?
A- Four, 5 minute quarters I think- although the last two seemed to go a lot more quickly than the first two. They started with a jump ball for each quarter and Elijah got more than enough play time. In fact, twice he asked to go back to the bench citing injury as the reason. Truth be told, I think he was having as much fun hanging out with his buddies on the bench as he was on the court. At one point their team made a basket and the coach turned around to high five the 3 boys on the bench. They were so involved in whatever they were laughing about that they didn't even notice the basket. Coach just smiled.

Their coach is great. He has been really encouraging to Elijah, telling him that he's improving a lot. He works with him one-on-one quite a bit and Elijah really listens and follows his directions- well, until something more entertaining comes along.
So that was our day.

We'll keep you posted on his athletic development. :)

Thanksgiving Pictures

Nana, Papa and all 7 grandkids.
Aunt Jess, Esther and new baby Gideon at the hospital.
Here are all of the kids in their new PJs from Grammie B. Thanks mom!

Thanksgiving in Michigan

Josh and Jess hosted us for Thanksgiving '07 and it will forever remain a special day because we welcomed the newest member to the Crisp clan shortly after midnight on Thanksgiving Day. Gideon Joshua was born just a few hours after everyone arrived and both Jess and Gideon are home and doing great. He was 7lbs, 3oz and is beautiful and healthy. Sooo, we postponed our Thanksgiving meal until the new family member was able to join us. The kids all did really well together and we enjoyed our visit so much as always! Keep Josh, Jess, Olivia, Garrett and Esther in your thoughts and prayers over the next few months as they adjust to welcoming a newborn into their already busy household. Pics to follow soon.

Stargazing

We arrived home after church last Wednesday night. The speaker taught about prayer and specifically about seeing God in the small moments of our lives. We did an exercise where we meditated on a grape- an actual grape. We felt it, smelled it, tasted it and then meditated on what God might want to impress upon us through that moment of appreciating something He created. It was about slooowwwwing down and looking at the good things of life- really looking. Good stuff.

So we're getting the boys out of the van, thinking about hurrying them into bed since it's past their bedtimes, and they're taking their sweet time of course. Eric and I finally wrestle Isaiah out of the driver's seat and join Micah and Elijah at the front door, and what are they doing? They both have their little heads thrown back, their mouths wide open and they're gazing up at the clear, night sky. Isaiah, of course, joins his brothers, and Eric and I stop and look at each other smiling. Our rushing ceases. We join our boys in stargazing, slowwwing down enough to enjoy the really good stuff. :) What good things of life have you noticed this week?

Halloween Pics

Dash...
Super Turtle
and superman showing off his massive chest muscles.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, Isaiah is wearing two costumes. He couldn't decide between a Ninja Turtle or Superman, but her finally did commit to the turtle suit for the evening.




Costume pics of our super heroes.

Wild West Fall Fest

Elijah has been looking forward to our church's Wild West Fall Fest since they started talking about it a month ago. He was not disappointed. The kids had all kinds of fun playing games, winning candy, riding horses and eating s'mores. This was the first "horsey ride" for all of the boys, so it's a day to remember.

Ladies Retreat

Our annual seminary wives' women's retreat was last weekend, and as always we had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, and we had much needed opportunities to spend quiet time with the Lord and quality time with each other. I met a courageous friend from Korea who knows very little English, has a 10 month old baby, and jumped into an environment completely foreign to her. Her name is Hye-Seong (Hay-sung kind of) and we spent quite a bit of time together, learning about each other. She amazes me because she has only been in the US for a few months, she knows almost no one, and her limited English makes it difficult to get to know anyone, yet she is smiling and taking risks to follow God's call on her family's life.

The other lovely lady in the picture is Angela, a good friend and fellow babysitting co-op member. Her daughter Mackenzie rides the bus with Elijah and she has a beautiful red-headed baby boy.
Retreat center pictures. A nice place to spend time with the Creator.
Look mom, the leaves are starting to change color... finally. :)

Pumpkin Patch and Carving

The only way to get a decent picture of Elijah... make him sit down and be ready!
The boys in the giant chair at the pumpkin patch.
Daddy carving our pumpkin.
Papa doing the detail work. Check Papa's blog later for some pictures of the boys pulling out pumpkin goo.
This is Elijah making the face that he wanted us to carve on the pumpkin. He's been showing Eric and I this same face all week saying, "I want our pumpkin to look like this!" How did we do? Is it close?

Pumpkin Patch Days

Oddly enough, Isaiah wanted to be carried or held all afternoon. Usually he is Mr. Independent.
"Hmmm, I wonder how long it would take me to completely disappear if I jumped out of this wagon right now."
Micah helping Nana look for the perfect pumpkin. Our child most concerned with perfection was in his element. Elijah and Isaiah tend to pick the first pumpkin they see.
According to the mathematically precise giant orchard apple, Micah is 3ft. 4 inches tall. We'll have to find last year's picture to compare. Isaiah wouldn't stand next to it. He was a little freaked out by the giant smiling apple for some reason.
Nana lovin on the boys. I'm going to have to look for a picture of Elijah. I'm telling you, that kid is a master at avoiding the camera. Every time you're about to snap is picture, he bolts away to do something new so all you get is the back of his head or the blur of his arms and legs moving away at light speed. Our annual trip to the pumpkin patch was made even more special this year since Nana and Papa could join us.