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.

Summer 2006

Just a little reminiscing... these pics are all from last summer. It's fun to see how they've changed. This year I don't feel like they've changed as much as years past. I think we're mostly past the exponential growth phases.

Elijah Reads!

This video has sound but it's really low because I just used the digital camera to record it. We wanted to capture the momentous event of Elijah's first book- the first book he has been able to read all by himself. After some help the first couple of times through, he read it to both of his brothers several times. It is a library book called This Car, and all three of the boys loved it. Elijah is so proud of himself for reading. He often says, "Mommy, I'm reading my first words" when he sounds something out on his own. He is learning and changing so quickly right now. He points out his sight words (aka popcorn words) everywhere we go. :)

On Being Boy

What is it about boys that makes them want to take risks? When we have little girls over to our house, they rarely play on the playset in the same ways the boys do. To the boys, the treehouse is a mountain to be explored, climbed and conquered in every way. To girls, it is a house, a fort, a home, a cave, a shelter, a car, a space to be tamed and domesticated with chalk drawings, but rarely the source of risk. I thought about trying to keep the boys from climbing up onto the rails for a while, but I knew it would be a long, painful battle for both of us that would probably result in them not wanting to play in the thing at all, so here they are, doing what they do best, taking risks to conquer the world.

Yay, You!

One of our most recent library book aquisitions is the book Yay, you! by Sandra Boynton. On one of the pages, there are two pictures side by side. One

reads, "Do you want to be terribly busy?" and includes a pictures of the bear character sitting at a desk covered by papers, typing on a computer, clutter all over the room etc. The other page reads, "or not?" with a picture of the bear floating in an inner-tube with a glass of lemonade on his tummy.

I've read the book to all three boys individually now twice and they've each answered in the same way each time.

Micah- Wants "to be terribly busy," Elijah? "or not", and Isaiah just wants the lemonade from the off of the bear's tummy as far as I could tell. :)

Conversations...

Me: (calmly) Elijah, do not ride down the sidewalk again. We're going inside.
Elijah ignoring me.
Me: (Still calmly) Elijah, I know you can hear me. We're going inside. DO NOT go down that hill.
Elijah still ignoring me, turns his bike around to face downhill.
Me: (Raising my voice a little) Elijah! You heard me!
Elijah finally gets off his bike and walks over to the step where I'm standing.
Me: Why aren't you listening to me?
Elijah: You were talking so calmly, I didn't think you really meant it.
Me: What? Every time I ask you to do something I mean it. I shouldn't have to get angry before you obey.

I was really annoyed by his comment and I'm still thinking about what this means to us as parents in teaching our children to listen, but it also got me thinking about how often we as adults don't really listen until it is urgent. How often does God have to "raise his voice" to get my attention? Do I practice listening to Him all of the time instead of just when circumstances get difficult? Ahh the lessons of parenting.

Bricks, rocks and boards? or boat?

Uncle Garth and Dillan, these pictures are for you. Does this look at all familiar? It should. How many hours of our childhoods were spent building things out of the scraps in the brick yard and the shop? The boys found a bunch of scrap wood and bricks behind our shed and have been busily building on what used to be our lawn for several days. The grass was dead long before they started, but I think it's lost all hope for recovery at this point. They reminded me of us.
This is Isaiah contemplating mass destruction while his brothers are gone. When it was finished Elijah insisted that it was a boat complete with motor, sail and seats.

Pictures

We weren't even going to attempt a group picture, but they were all doing really well so we got lucky with this shot.
Elijah at 5 years and 4 months old.
Isaiah at 2 years and 2 months old.
Micah at 3 years and 4 months old.
Picture day with the boys was actually about a month ago, but I've been slow getting them uploaded. The guy at Sears did a great job!

Raven Run Nature Preserve

Hoooray!!! The weather finally cooled off a little this weekend. We were down to a high of only 92 today, and the humidity was bearable, so we had to find a good reason to spend some time outside enjoying it. We decided to take the boys hiking this afternoon. Elijah, of course, needed to know the plan and as many details as we could provide about the park. He was skeptical to say the least. How could a park with no playground be any fun at all? Raven Run Park is about 20 minutes from Nicholasville. There are quite a few trails and a little nature center with stuffed, wild animals and some live turtles in a tank. You would have thought it was the Cincinnati zoo. Kids are so easy to please. We were really thankful for our off-roading stroller- the one we haul behind the bike for Micah and Isaiah. A regular stroller could never have handled the trails, and Isaiah needed to be pushed most of the way. Actually, Micah surprised us by walking almost the whole way. Elijah rode more than Micah did. We ate a picnic dinner after our hike, and on the way home in the van Elijah said, "Mommy, I guess nature parks can be fun," so I guess that means it was a successful trip. Incidentally, we saw a family there with like 8 kids, the oldest being maybe 15. The dad carried a 2-3 month old baby on his arm both times we saw them, and the 10-11 year old son had a Baby Bjorn on carrying a baby that looked to be about 9 months old. They were enjoying the FREE entertainment of the nature preserve as well. Does is seem like big families are more common than they used to be, or is it just me?

Expectations

At the church we attend here in Wilmore, children stay in the service until the sermon time, then children under school age go to "Extended Session," a more child friendly sermon experience for them. For the past year we have been brining a few toys and coloring for Elijah and sometimes Micah to play with during the first part of the service. (Isaiah is in nursery and Micah has been sometimes joining us, sometimes staying in nursery.) One of the hardest things about parenting for me is knowing how much to expect from a child at a certain time in his life. What is a reasonable expectations for a ____ year old when it comes to ____. You could fill in these blanks with a thousand different things. And, where do our expectations for these things come from? Other parents? Our own families? Media? What would God expect from my 5 year old in church? I thought about this a lot last Sunday and realized that I had higher expectations for Elijah's behavior at school than I do at church. I don't send him to school with toys to entertain himself during his teachers' lessons. I don't put off his homework because I'm having trouble getting his other brothers to bed like I might put off his nightly Bible story and prayer time. And, I spend a good bit of time preparing him- helping him know what is expected of him at school- not just good behavior but that I expect him to learn every day.

With my newfound revelation, I decided that we needed to take a little field trip. So this morning, Elijah and I left home 30 minutes before the rest of the family and walked to church. It wasn't too hot yet and he actually told me twice on our walk, "Mommy, I needed some time alone with you." We talked about all kinds of things, but as we approached the church I told him that I had a special reason for inviting him on our walk today. I explained that he was growing so much that I wanted him to understand more about how special Sunday is for our family. I asked him if he knew why we go to church and what we were doing during the music and prayer times. We talked about what he thought and I tried to deepen his understanding of how blessed we are to be able to worship God freely together with other people, and that because he was getting so big, I think he is ready to start participating with us. This means no more toys in church. It means no more laying on the floor under the bench or crawling back and forth on top of it while we're standing. It means sitting on the bench, or standing next to us, and it means having nothing to distract him from listening and watching, and of course asking questions about the things he doesn't understand. I realize completely that he won't understand a fraction of what happens on the average Sunday morning, but I also realize that by encouraging him to stay distracted, I am preventing him from soaking in his surroundings.

So, how did it go? He was upset at first, as he is with all changes however small, but by the time we got to church his tears were dry, and it actually went really well. Micah was with us today, and he sat just as well and just as quietly (if not more so) than Elijah. They did take full advantage of a bathroom break during worship, but aside from that, Elijah adjusted wonderfully because he knew exactly what was expected of him. Learning to parent well is such a process. I think about all of the times I have developed my expectations on the spot- while we're in the church service, while we're at the restaurant... and how correcting behaviors at that point is like putting out a forest fire with a bucket. The older Elijah gets the more I understand the effect of prevention- especially with him. If all three of them understand exactly what Mommy and Daddy are expecting them to look, sound and act like, the forest fires barely have a chance to start.

Pictures of first day

Hugging daddy goodbye,
Hugging mommy goodbye,
Waiting on the step for the bus,
Waiting in the tree for the bus,
Time to go at last. Just so it's recorded for posterity, on Elijah's first day of Kindergarten, the bus did forget to pick him up. We waited for 40 minutes in our front yard and were about to give up and drive him to his first day when we heard the bus coming up the hill. It had already dropped all of the other kids off at school, so on his first day, he and the bus helper had the whole bus to themselves. Elijah would probably prefer it that way. ;)

FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

Ok, anyone who knows me knows that I'm not one to become emotional over just every little milestone. I don't normally cry at much of anything (although I did cry watching A.I. this month... how weird is that.) Anyway, I've been mentally preparing for the 1st day of kindergarten for a couple of weeks now because I knew it would be harder on me than him. Call me crazy, but Kindergarten just seems like a big deal to me. He has officially entered the educational system- Class of 2020 as my own school system was only to eager to point out to moms everywhere, as if our own quandaries about "where did the time go?" weren't already enough. Anyway, he is doing great considering... well, let's just say flexibility is not his strength. We fully expect it to take a month or so before he really settles in and enjoys himself, but he doesn't cry getting on the bus, and he doesn't take on some superhero persona every day to protect his true identity, so I think we've made some steps in the right direction.

He and Micah have both been "reading" whole books to each other lately. I use the term reading loosely because I think they have mostly memorized them, but there are definitely times when Micah gets stuck on a word and either Elijah has heard the story more times, or he is using some phonemic awareness to figure out the words because they end up figuring out the words together. We're going to try to get some video of it because it's just one of those things they will need to see when they're teenagers fighting over the car someday. Elijah also has homework this year, and get this. His favorite parts of homework so far have been identifying letters and numbers and counting skills, but I have to practically sit on top of him to get him to do the drawing. He had to do 5 drawings this week- himself, his family, his friend, something he likes to do, and something he's looking forward to at school. It has taken us literally sweat and tears to get those 5 little pictures out. He draws one line then starts crying (or pouting depending on how tired he is) because it just doesn't look like that way he pictured it in his head. If it can't be exact, he doesn't even want to try. Anyway, we made it through tonight and his little book has 5 pictures. Incidentally Jess, he included Esther in the picture of his family. Mommy, Daddy, himself, Micah, Isaiah and an extra tiny person next to Isaiah. When I asked him who it was he looked at me like I had two heads and said, "it's Esther playing with Isaiah."
He drew blocks as something he likes to do, a newfound interest of his. Anyway, enough blabbering on... her are some pictures.