Class reunion

I've just spent the last little while on my high school class reunion's message board, reading what everyone has been up to over the last ten years, and it is pretty amazing. I'm further encouraged that when I'm teaching kids, my own or other people's, and they're driving me nuts, I can just remember that in a few years they'll be traveling the world and using their talents to do incredible things.

In honor of the homeland, I posted this picture that my brother sent me. A reminder of the time a moose walked up behind me, at least this close, as I was getting on the bus. I can't wait to visit NB again this summer. There's just something about going home. :)

Isaiah's first birthday

Yes, that is an entire piece of birthday cake the Isaiah is shoving into his mouth. My question, how can he still breathe?










Here he is after the 1st piece. He went on to steal Elijah's piece and eat his as well. This was just totally fascinating to all of us. None of our previous six children (I'm including all of the cousins who were there as well) really cared much for their first piece of birthday cake. Most just took a few licks and were done. Just more confirmation of the uniqueness of every child.













Elijah and Olivia showing us their "sweet moves." Elijah is dressed up like a power ranger... again. His costumes are like the blankie or teddy bear that most children have. He is naturally shy and sensitive, so when people come over, even people he knows well, instead of grabbing for a blankie, he puts on a costume. There is security in pretending to be someone else I guess.











Micah and Garrett in a rare moment of relative peace. Eric and I discussed just today that lately it seems like the only way Micah knows how to play is rough. Whatever toy he has is smashing into things, falling, catapulting, flying through the air, being thrown off the deck, into the pool, down the stairs, out the window of the van... you get the picture. I'm beginning to think he has a future in demolition.

The birthday party was terrific. No new news to post on our transition except that we're now considering that we may have to rent our current home instead of selling it. Maybe there is a family who really needs a nice home, can't buy a house but would be able to rent it, and maybe God wants us to serve them in this way. Or a hundred other possibilities. All in God's timing.
Blessings,
Erin

We're Moving

Yup it's true. Clubhouse Drive will be our humble abode no longer. For quite some time now we've been talking, praying, discussing, lamenting, dreaming over some pretty exciting life changes. It is now public and official. Eric has been accepted at Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, KY for this fall, so our house is for sale, we're looking for a home to rent in Wilmore, and we have resigned from Brown's Chapel. We hope to move in July if our house sells. We will certainly our dear friends here and our Brown's Chapel family, but we definitely feel burdened to move on.

The absence of posts during the last month and a half can be partially attributed to the fact that we've been packing and making repairs. This house is going to look better the day we sell it than it ever looked the entire time we lived here. We spread 3 cubic yard of mulch on Wednesday, we replaced the garage door, painted the window boxes and trim, and there is still a list to complete for the next family moving in. Anyway, this all seems pretty boring and trivial after reading about Bethany's trip to Cuba.

Isaiah's first birthday party is tomorrow, so we're going to celebrate with the cousins. I'll try to post pictures soon, but no promises. I still haven't been able to successfully post pictures from the Mac at home. Safari quits every time I try to import a picture. Again... technical advice anyone?

Erin

New pictures

Micah (turned 2) on the left, Elijah (turned 4) on the right. Their birthdays are only one week apart so we had a birthday lunch to celebrate both birthdays. Micah was totally focused on getting the cake, as you can see, and could've cared less about hearing Happy Birthday sung to him. Elijah's crown came from pre-school. They get to wear a crown on their birthdays.

Growth bruises

I was putting laundry in the washer today when I heard a shriek from the living room. I ran up the stairs to see what was going on only to find Elijah crying on the floor holding his back. He sputtered accusingly between sobs that Micah had pushed him off the back of the couch (he was laying across the top of the back like a cat). Apparently he doesn't have cat-like reflexes though because he landed on a toy firetruck. He is fine, just a nasty bruise on his hip. I had been telling him that I was proud of him for not trying to hit Micah back or even being angry at Micah. After I'd held him for a minute, he said, "Mommy, you didn't see it happen."
I confessed that no I'd been downstairs.
He said, "Mommy, you didn't run fast enough."
My mind raced. He's begun to realize that I won't be able to protect him from every possible hurt in life. There are just some times when Mommy won't be there to prevent pain. I wonder if this will make him more cautious, and I wonder what would happen if I were always there to catch him before he fell. Next time he'll weigh the options- lay on the back of the couch and possibly fall off? or stay seated safely on the cushion? Whichever he chooses, at least he now knows the consequences of each.

It also made me wonder if I ever accuse God of not running fast enough. Although, I doubt God does much laundry.

iPhoto

If any of you out there have any techie friends, ask them this question. iPhoto has been frozen on my powerbook for the last three days. It just keeps "thinking and thinking" and won't close or anything. I even tried letting the computer run out of battery and shut down and when I plugged it back in, iPhoto was still running. I'm beginning to think it's possessed.

Micah and the 2s

Ahhh the trying 2s. We love this stage. Can't wait for Isaiah to get there. Micah is trying in a whole new way though. Elijah threw tantrums, screamed and cried occasionally. Micah is the strong silent type. He has his moments of outburst, but usually, his independence shows up in a stoic determination to do what he wants regardless of any discipline. He may not scream or cry, but he'll just continue doing his own thing.... and for a MUCH longer period of time than Elijah used to. The other day I warned him that if he pushed Elijah again, he would go to time out. He promptly looked at me, turned and ran down the hall TO his room, closed himself in an stayed there for twice the length of a normal time-out. The message- "What's time-out to me Mommy? I have all day. Go ahead." His personality just requires a new kind of patience. A kind of calm, long-suffering, I'm-determined-to-outlast-you patience as opposed to the your-screaming-and-kicking-isn't-going-to-get-to-me patience we had to develop with Elijah. Parenting certainly develops well-roundedness.

Smiling Pacer boy

Isaiah has three 1/2 teeth now. The second top tooth is being stubborn and driving him nuts. He chews on everything including his brothers when he gets the chance. Micah just still isn't sure that he likes Isaiah much (understandable when Isaiah will chew on his leg if Micah lets him get close enough), but Elijah protects him diligently. Micah talks constantly and we don't understand much of it, but he can clearly say, "No Isaiah, mine."

Graduation

Yeah! How many kids get to see their dad graduate from college. I wonder if you'll remember this one Elijah? It was worth the wait.

Isaiah crawls!

Sleeping Beauties

Eric and Isaiah love taking naps together. Eric and I take turns feeding Isaiah becuase whoever isn't feeding gets to either chase, wrestle with, feed or bathe the others.

Where do Babies come from?

Yup, Elijah asked that famous question for the first time today. We were playing with Isaiah and he said, "Mommy, did we get Isaiah at the pet store?" I said, no. and he asked, so where did we get him. I said, "Remember when Mommy's belly got really big and we told you your baby brother was in there. Then Mommy went to the hospital and the doctor helped Isaiah come out." I was crossing my fingers at this point hoping that he wouldn't require any more details just yet. He looked at me for a minute and said "Isaiah just jumped out," motioning from his own belly as though something was bursting from his belly button. I said, "kind of like that." He looked at me again with a look that said, "that's just too freaky and weird to talk about any more," and promptly changed the subject.
A little later, out of the blue he said, "Is a baby going to jump out of Aunt Jess?" She is about to have a baby and he saw her last night. Amazing the things he picks up when we're not even paying attention.
His brain is working all of the time.

First Fieldtrip

OK, our little boy is growing up. We celebrated our first class fieldtrip this fall-the pumpkin patch.

See the little girl on the far right in the orange jacket? Her name is Daisy, and apparently she's the most popular girl in class. As parents were arriving at the pumpkin patch, someone metioned wanting to meet Daisy becuase her son was always talking about her. Then, one by one, each parent of a boy spoke up (including myself) with comments like, "you know, Gabe talks about Daisy too. And she's the only girl he talks about." Later we all met Daisy, and it became obvious why the boys like her. She made her way from one little boy to the next, saying hello to them, holding their hands as we walked from place to place and giving some of them "hello" or "goodbye" hugs. She seemed to make every kid feel like he was her best friend. Most 3 year old girls still think boys are germ infested, barbarian beasts to be feared or ignored. Not Daisy.

Elijah the photographer

Eli took this picture one Sunday while Eric and I were making lunch. Notice the perspective. I forget how big everyone and everything must look to him.

Tree decorating

Elijah's favorite "toys" are common everyday objects that he uses in new and creative ways. His bag of "costumes" helps him transform into superheros, airplanes, rescue heros, and whatever else he can think of. To illustrate, notice that Elijah is pointing to something on the Christmas tree? This is his very own ornament that he created and attached to the tree himself. Want to know what it is?



Its a beater that he took out of a drawer in the kitchen. First the beater was the front of an airplane, then it was a drumstick as he discovered that the bongo drum made a really cool noise if you hit it with a beater instead of your hand, then it was a "shooter", and finally it came to rest on our Christmas tree as an ornament. He attached a piece of string to the top of it with LEGO blocks, carefully hung it and then came and got me to show me. Who knew a beater had so many uses?

Where do they learn this stuff?

Elijah has had some problems at school lately. He thrives on routine and any disruption in routine causes a disruption in his behavior. Well, our lives have been nothing but disruption this month. He missed school for two week when we went to Canada, then we had the stomach flu, then he got the stomach flu, and Eric was gone to FLAME classes in Michigan for a week, so Miss Pam has remarked at his change in behavior and we've been doing our best to give him consequences here at home for his school stuff. Anyway, last week he brought home a review paper on opposites. He had to draw lines between the opposite objects (hot & cold, big & small etc.) and all of the lines were drawn correctly. I was holding him on my lap praising him for doing such good work, trying to encourage his good behavior to help curb the negative yada, yada, and he looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I didn't do that." Huh? Who did? "Ellie was sitting beside me and she did it for me because I didn't want to." Great, and he's only 3 years old. Is this a sign of things to come? I wish I had pictures to post, but the camera is still broken. Maybe we'll get each other a new one for Christmas. Anyone have any suggestions on a good digital or what to do with a 3 year old cheater? :)

Some days I wonder where the time goes...

Vacation

We're back from two weeks in New Brunswick with my family and although we enjoyed the time away, we're glad to be home. We drove the 24 hours to NB with all three kids in one little van, straight through on the way there. We stopped over night in Utica, NY on the way home. Overall, the kids did great! Who wouldn't get a little stir crazy after that many hours in the van. We took out one of the middle row seats so there was some floor space for diaper changes and for either Eric or I to sleep while the other drove. Elijah and Isaiah were in the back row, Micah in the middle and usually either Eric or I sandwiched between the two in the back, feeding Isaiah a bottle while he was still in his seat or coloring and playing with Elijah. Portable DVD player, a wonderful thing! Not sure how the pioneers on the Oregon trail did without it. We watched a DVD of Looney Toons cartoons for about 6 hours straight one afternoon, so I've had enough Donald Duck for the rest of my life. I'd have some great pictures to post too, but I dropped our camera and it is no longer functional. So you'll just have to imagine what we looked like after 24 hours in the van.

Its always nice to visit another church. Go Woodstock Wesleyan!

My mom was also gracious enough to stay with the boys several times so that Eric and I could spend some time together. That was WONDERFUL but also made us aware of an awful truth. If you're not into the bar scene, there's not much to do in Woodstock or any other small town. Those of you from small towns can probably relate. You can't even go hang out at the mall- it doesn't exist. And Tim Hortons attracts a certain crowd- we'll call them MATURE. No wonder the church has a void when it comes to 20s and 30s without kids. Help me out all you 20s and 30s. Where do you go? What do you do for a spontaneous, unplanned night out? Any suggestions? Maybe we're just not creative enough.

Eating habits

OK, so Micah has this fairly odd eating habit, although with toddlers, is anything really normal? For instance today for lunch I gave him his plate or cheese quesadilla pieces, lunch meat slices and grapes. As usual, he picked up a bite of quesadilla, put it in his mouth, chewed twice, took it back out of his mouth and placed it to the right of his plate. Then he picked up a grape, chewed it twice, took it back out of his mouth and place it to the right of his plate. Next, he picked up a piece of lunch meat, chewed it twice, and, you guessed it, took it back out of his mouth and placed it to the right of his plate. Then, he takes a drink and eats normally for the rest of the meal, saving the partially chewed morsels for last. Interesting. Why do all of my Micah stories have to do with food? Those who know him best would know why. Let's just say the boy likes his snacks!

The WHOLE family

We are so blessed to have Josh and Jess living close by. The boys will grow up playing with their cousins just like I did. Olivia is 10 months younger than Elijah. Garrett is 1 month younger than Micah, and Jess is going to have another baby in December who will be 8 months younger than Isaiah. This is everyone on the couch with Jess trying to keep Garrett from picking his nose. :)