Quote of the Day

Eric: "How do stay at home mom's keep their minds from turning to mush?"

Bring Hope in Suffering

(picture has nothing to do with the quote... just a cute pic of our tent loving boys)

Where there is pain

Let there be grace

Where there is suffering

Bring serenity

For those afraid

Help them be brave

Where there is misery

Bring expectancy

And surely we can change

Surely we can change, Something

David Crowder

Working on the fall reader has had me thinking a lot about the pain and suffering others experience and how I isolate myself from even empathizing with them 99% of the time. I want to change that somehow. Still praying about what it looks like completely, but I've got some thoughts in mind. More to come. Also, I'm going to try and post something every day for a while. We'll see how that goes. :) Praying tonight that I can learn not to fear suffering- in myself or in others.

Finally a new post

Coloring has become Isaiah's favorite activity lately. We've run out of space to display his work. Its contagious too. All 3 of them color for at least half an hour every day. That's post-trampoline sweaty head he has.

Zay and Lij are pretending to sleep with Micah at Josh and Rachel's house. Doesn't Micah look thrilled?

Our friend Dave is reading a comic book to the boys. Since he's sailed all over the place and they were reading about pirates, he could explain all kinds of cool things like what "keel hauling" is.

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OK, so I know its been forever, but we've been in transition so to speak- in lots of ways. Here are the hightlights.

- Eric and I went to Florida for a week alone (no kiddos) and had the best time renewing our friendship and realizing again all of the reasons we not only love each other, but we really like each other. That has nothing to do with the changes about to take place, but it was a much needed break after a nose-to-the-grindstone year. The boys had a great time with nana and papa too.

- I was hired for an 8th grade teaching position this fall at a middle school in Lexington. I've spent a week in training and I think I'm really going to like the school. It does mean leaving my spouse and family job which I have loved dearly, but my job change was necessary for the overall peace of our family in the coming year.

- All 3 boys are going to school this fall- something they're all excited and/or nervous about, but this change does allow my return to full-time work without too much remorse. My school schedule is very similar to theirs and Eric's, so we'll all get nice long breaks off together.

- We bought a little car so that I can commute to work and Eric will still have the van for the boys. His schedule works out so that we'll only need babysitting about 5 hours a week. He can be home with them before and after school most days.

So, that's where we're at. We entertained lots of other scenarios, but we're finally committed to this plan for the year. The summer has been great so far. Long days at home with the kids- swimming at the Y, playing on the trampoline, riding bikes, enjoying fresh veggies from the Community Supported Ag farm cooperative. It's been good. I should be able to post more often again now. More pictures coming soon too.

End of Semester Camping

Trying to start a fire again. It got rained out. Again.

Thanks for the tent Mom! We loved it!

We decided to go camping to celebrate the end of spring semester. We've had the spot reserved for a while at Natural Bridge State Park- beautiful! But unfortunately, it did rain most of the time we were there. Eric and I set up the tent in a pouring storm while the boys cheered for us from the back of the van- the back door open- Micah cheering "Seek Shelter!"

With the tent up, the rain stopped briefly enough to unload the van. The boys made beds and played in the tent while I made oatmeal and PB&J sandwiches for everyone for dinner- not the original plan but it worked. We tried for a fire that night, but everything was just too wet, so at 10:30 or so, we put the boys to bed.

Sleeping in? No. Normal 7:00-30 wake up time and the sun was out so we went for a hike after breakfast. The trail was right by our tent and it was short, so we hiked to a cave. Elijah was comfortable, confident and in his element. Micah chatted the whole time about everything he saw, where it came from, where it was going and why it was. Isaiah is more comfortable at a party with an audience than in the woods on a hike. He noticed every spider web and bug, and was quick to warn us all to steer clear.

The sun you see in the pictures was during one 3 hour window of time. The other 40 hours, it was either raining, wet or cold. Somehow though, the boys still had fun. They read comic books to each other, made up silly games and played outside. We played together as a family- games, stories, food cooked outside, and going to sleep together. Eric and I were patient with the kids, but definitely annoyed by the weather and lack of campfire. Elijah asked to roast marshmallows at least 54 times (which we finally were able to do) and no one had dry shoes by Sunday morning.

Ah the memories! Hopefully more sun next time.

Pictures

Happy Birthday to Isaiah!

r

e

(yesterday)
Dear baby boy,
You're definitely not a baby anymore! You have a great sense of humor, always laughing at funny things your brothers do. You are a social butterfly. Everyone you meet is your friend; you talk to them immediately and tell them that you have two brothers- Elijah and Micah. Every fiber of your being wants to be bigger than you really are. You are frustrated by all of the times that your brothers prove themselves to be bigger, stronger, faster or smarter than you. But you don't let it get you down for long- you just work harder to beat them next time.

You love wearing boxers and a muscle shirt to bed at night instead of PJs with cartoon characters on them. You play alone just as well as you play with other kids, and you're interests are varied at this point. One day you'll be content to paint and color and the next day you want to run, jump and ride your bike all day. After the busy play though, you're never to busy to curl up on the couch beside me in a big fuzzy blanket and snuggle in close. Your strong will and temper are never far beneath the surface, but no one can stay annoyed at you for long. One big smile and kiss blown my way and you're completely forgiven.

We love having you as a part of this family littlest one. We can't imagine our lives without you. Thank you for the joy, smiles and warmth you bring to us every day.
Happy 4th birthday!

Reading Boys

Mom, do you see what book Elijah is reading to his brothers? It's the one, the only Sylvester and Tweety book.

My mom hid this book when I was a kid because I requested it so often. Then she passed it along to me. Thanks mom! Luckily, none of our boys were quite as addicted to it as I was, but Elijah can read it to his brothers now anyway, so I'm off the hook.

Laundry soap

Thanks to a great SFM event a few weeks ago, I made our own laundry soap last weekend for a fraction of the cost of the store bought stuff, and it's better for the environment. Here is the recipe
12 cups of Borax
8 cups of Super Washing Soda
8 cups of baking soda
9 bars of Ivory soap grated- freeze them, cut into chunks and pureed in the food processor.
The total cost was about $30 and it will last for 280 loads of laundry. You only use 2-3 tablespoons in each load. It smells great, works well, is eco-friendly and economical- what more could you ask for?

I mixed it by pouring in about half of each ingredient at a time, mixing, then pouring in the next portion and mixing some more. The 5 gallon bucket was perfect for mixing, but I'm storing it in 2 large plastic ice cream containers- the kind with the handle.

I bought most of the ingredients from drugstore.com but bought the baking soda at Meijer for 0.60 a box and had $0.50 coupons so they were only 0.10 a box. We've used it on several loads of laundry and so far it has worked as well on stains and smells as any other soap. I felt very Little House on the Prairie making my own soap too. :)

Our New Addition

The sandbox! As soon as the rain stops and the temperatures rise past 60, I'm sure it will be a source of endless entertainment. The boys have tried playing in it numerous times only to come back inside with very cold red fingers and wet pants. These pictures were from the day we brought the sand home, and it's been chilly ever since. You'll notice the tarps we use to cover the sand, protecting it from use as a litter box- one under the sand and one over it. The end of the covering tarp is nailed to the playset so we just pull it up like a blanket and put a board on one end to keep it down. So far, our tarp covering system has worked great! The sand for the box was funded by some leftover boys' birthday money from various relatives, so on their behalf, we thank you!

Change

Wow have our lives changed. After 7 years of having small children, we have moved on to new territory:
- Everyone picks out their own clothes and gets themselves dressed
- Elijah can make breakfast for everyone and enjoys doing it
- Everyone goes to the bathroom on his own and 2 out of 3 can wipe (well).
- Everyone gets their own drinks most of the time
- Everyone buckles his own carseat
- Elijah can watch his brothers while I mow the grass, take the dog for a short walk around the court, run over to the neighbor's for a minute etc.
- They can clean their own room really well at the end of a day
- They can play a game together with almost no adult help
- Everyone knows his alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, and basic Bible stories

It is a strange feeling to switch for child-care kinds of parenting to child-enrichment kinds of parenting. Now that so much of our energy isn't consumed by simply keeping them alive and healthy, there are all sorts of other things to think about. It is an interesting change and one I'm not wholly ready for, but who is ever ready for anything really.

Also, I've been trying lots of vegetable purees in foods that the kids like as a way to sneak more vegetables into their diets. I made up this recipe last night and they ate every bite- even Isaiah.

2 cups dry penne pasta cooked to package directions
While it's cooking make the sauce.
3/4 cup of carrot puree (I make these purees all at once and put them in the freezer then chop off blocks of veggie for almost everything we make- it's steamed carrots pureed really fine)
1/4 cup parm. cheese
1/3 cup cheddar cheese
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
Whisk it all together
Drain the pasta and return to stove on low
Stir in the sauce and a little olive oil or margerine. Heat through and stir until thick (so the eggs will be cooked)
Makes 4 small servings. The 3 boys ate all of it and thought they were eating mac and cheese with new shaped noodles.

We enjoyed Easter with the Crisp/Ledbetter clan in Indiana. thanks for a wonderful weekend family! We love you all!

Wrestling Match

stargazers

There is just something wonderful about the return of warm weather after a few months of cold. We appreciate things like taking walks, going for bike rides, playing outside after dinner until bedtime and laying on our backs on the sidewalk, looking up at the stars. If there was never this season of cold to make me long for the warm, would I appreciate it? And these 3 little boys we're blessed with, they are constant reminders to slow down and appreciate it. They rarely sense any of the urgency about doing daily tasks. They notice things and stop to enjoy them. I love that about them!

No training wheels for Micah!

Hocking Hills

I think this would count as our first family vacation with just the 5 of us, and we had a fantastic weekend. It was just 2 days, Saturday morning to Sunday evening, but the weather was perfect and the kids had a blast. Hocking Hills state park is in Ohio, and it is beautiful! I highly recommend it. On the way there, you drive through hills and forests, and at one point Elijah said, "I love Ohio!" I asked him why and he said, "Because there are more trees than houses!" That says it all for Elijah. He was in heaven!

Introduction to Poetry- Billy Collins

(or why I couldn't stand teaching poetry with a textbook)

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Spring has Sprung

What a great day we had out in the sunshine today. I dug up about a hundred dandelions and four dead shrubs while the boys entertained themselves with a whole list of activities:
- they hauled cut branches to the curb for me
- they picked worms out of the dirt clods I was digging up
- they named said worms, made homes for them in plastic containers and took them for rides in the wagon
- they gave each other rides in the wagon, all around the court, laughing hysterically and taking turns pushing, running beside and riding in the wagon
- they rode bikes, but Micah got mad and went inside for a bit because he couldn't win. To appease his perceived inadequacy, he tried to taunt Isaiah saying, "You're slower than I am" to which Isaiah responded, "That's OK, I'll grow" which infuriated Micah all the more. It made me smile.
- the poor worms suffered through another episode of "house" before I finally convinced them to let the worms go. "House" involved one worm 'having a baby' which actually means having a tiny bottom section ripped off so that there was a large worm and a tiny wriggling bit of a worm. This prompted a save-the-worm intervention from mom.

Yup, we had a great afternoon. There's almost nothing I'd rather do on a sunny warm Sunday than enjoy life, order and beauty in little patches of Creation- working to the tune of brotherly boyishness in the background.

Chores

We decided recently to give the boys ownership over their laundry- great gift huh. So, we put their own laundry basket in their room, and they get the privilege of deciding if their clothes are clean or dirty every day. Then, on Saturdays they'll wash their own basket of clothes. This past Saturday was training day. Micah got the job of official sorter. He is an expert at determining what should be with the whites and what is dark. Elijah pulls wet clothes out of the washer as well as running the buttons on the washer since he is a button expert and also has the longest arms. Isaiah loads into the drier with Micah's help, Micah sets the drier timer and Isaiah pushes the drier "on" button to make it run. They were surprisingly excited about this new responsibility. We'll see how long it lasts. Ahhh now if they could only fold. They have started putting lots of their own clothes away already.

Phoebe is here

Here she is! Sweet little girl of the Fuersts has arrived. Her birthday is officially March 17th and she seems like a very content little girl so far. Cassie is doing well too. Everyone is home and we're looking forward to getting to know this new little one.

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.

Dread Champion

The writers of the Bible gave us some lovely images of God, don't you think? And then there is this one. It has stuck with me all day in a somehow humorous yet comforting kind of way.
"But the LORD is with me like a dread champion." Jeremiah 20 somewhere

So I immediately get a mental image of a huge boxer, standing behind me complete with mouth-guard, sweat and red leather boxing gloves. Not exactly the image of God we usually hear, but comforting all the same don't you think?