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?

Happy Birthday Elijah

A few days late because of internet difficulties, but a birthday message nonetheless. Dear 7 year old boy we love you. You keep us laughing, thinking, listening and loving daily. We are amazed at all of the ways you've grown this year. You have fallen in love with nature in whole new ways. You would spend every spare minute outside- digging in the dirt, finding rocks, uncovering bugs, inspecting leaves, searching for spiders, climbing, riding your bike and having a great time. We started homeschooling your this year and it has gone very well so far. You are learning lots- improving things that were really difficult for you at school and enjoying learning about things that interest you. We've done a unit on space, one on habitats and we're about to start simple machines.

Your brothers love you and you show such patience with them much of the time. We love you Elijah and can't wait to see who you become as a 7 year old.

Rock Boys Band

This morning, after our school work part 1, our home saw the birth of the Rock Boys Band. Right now, I'm listening to them discuss options for tour dates, advertising, audiences, and of course who will be the star. Stuffed animals will be the audience. They need a microphone. "We need suits!" Micah exclaims. It is a big day! Elijah is working on posters. I asked him what he thought should be on the posters- his response- "Our band's name "Rock Boys Band," a picture of our band and when we're playing." Now, they're planning dance moves. The music they will sing and play seems to be secondary somehow, but adults often fall into the same trap, so can you blame them?

Happy Birthday Micah

We love you little man! We'll post birthday pictures of the big day soon. I just wanted to pay tribute to our very special middle child on his birthday. Praise the Lord for an incredible 5 years, and I pray that we have many many more to enjoy with you.

The Superhero Book

Elijah writes in his journal every day and we try to pick something to type and "publish" every so often. Today was publishing day and he chose a little story he'd written about a super hero. He typed his story himself, picked out a picture to accompany it and printed it out. Micah did the same, typing the story himself with a little extra help from me with spelling. I typed Isaiah's story for him, but I typed it word for word as he told it to me. The video is Elijah reading their finished product to everyone.
"The Superhero Book- By Elijah, Micah and Isaiah Crisp. Illustrator- Google.com
Super man jumped off the window. Oooof he said. He landed in the bushes. By Elijah
Optimus landed on Mars. He saw a giant alien. By Micah
Green Lantern lands on the moon. He saw the giant alien drink a pack of juice. The giant alien has plastic in his belly. By Isaiah"

Only in Cape Breton

If you know about the Maritime provinces, you can skip this little paragraph, but if Canadian geography is somewhat foreign to you, read on. There is a tiny island off the coast of Nova Scotia called Cape Breton Island. As you can see from these photos, Cape Breton is a beautiful place. Steep hills, ocean scenery, meadows, trees; truly it is beautiful. Until winter.
This is actually a bus being pulled out of the icy water by a crane of some sort. My mom has worked for years with a lady named Marian who is from Cape Breton, and Marian recently told my mom this story about her brother. She says, "The road he took to get there (to work) was pretty iced up and he lost his car over a steep embankment with the front end stuck in the snow and the back end up in the air. He went to get help from a wrecker and when they got back to the car, the car was missing its back tires.....there was a note on the windshield and two old bald tires sitting beside the car, and the note read 'didn't think ya would be needin yer tires for the rest of the winter seeing as where you vehicle is, so took them and left ya my bald ones for summer."

Ahhh the homeland.

Micah...



Elijah and Micah


Micah and Isaiah collided and continued down the hill, laughing hysterically. Our neighbors joined us too.

Icy day to play

Our deck- treacherous, and the seminary was only on a 1 hour delay today.
My favorite picture of Elijah in the last year. We had a great homeschool day and play day today.
Icy grass and Isaiah's boots. I haven't bought winter boots since we moved to Kentucky. They just wear their rubber boots from Grammie with 2 pairs of socks in them.
Isaiah, refusing to look at the camera, and my fingers were freezing so I gave up.
Micah and Isaiah, Micah looking very much like Esther with his wrinkly nose, don't you think?

Kung Fu Panda

A picture to commemorate the 2 days we spent closed up in our bedroom with space heaters while the furnace was being fixed.

TODAY- the boys have full run of the house and they are enjoying it. The boys are in love with Kung Fu Panda currently. Every day is an adventure for the Furious Three. Each picks a character and they make up their own adventures together. Isaiah is Tigress, Micah is Crane and Elijah is Monkey. This morning they were making their own Kunf Fu Warrior Pie. First they went shopping for ingredients together, then Elijah cooked while requesting ingredients from his brothers. "Isaiah, pass me the flour. Micah we need some chocolate." Finally the pie is complete and Elijah says, "Now for the apple butter Kung Fu icing." They ate the pie, moved on with playing and decided that after the pie the warriors all needed a nap. Micah said, "Hey, good think we all still have our jammies on!" And they all got back in bed, turned the lights off, woke up, turned the lights on and started a new adventure.

I love it when they play together like this. No arguing. Everyone included. It makes me want to analyze every possible element that might have led to this morning with intentions of recreating this goodness every day. Not possible I know, so I'll just revel in their fun boyishness this morning.

In love

I love it that Elijah isn't too old to giggle while trying to hide from me among the rows of books at the library tonight.
I love it that Micah run to me pouting about not getting to go with us, then squeezes my legs and is all better after a big hug and some tickles.
I love the streams of laughter that erupt from Isaiah over every crazy thing when he's over-tired. I love how no one is ever in a hurry to do anything- except play of course.
I love watching them wrestle with each other.
I love how we all whisper during quiet writing time each morning- respecting the thoughts of each other.
I love it that Micah is totally excited about being invited over to his friend's house to play.
There is a lot of love around here these days. Just thought I'd share it in case I get a case of the nasties sometime soon. :)

Kiva- Micro lending

A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.

Two Front Teeth

Micah's self portrait when he "borrowed" our camera today.
Isaiah- such cutie.

Elijah is now missing his two front teeth. The huge gap is making it difficult for him to speak normally, but his new teeth are growing in nicely. Homeschooling is going great. He is so much more relaxed. He is going to sleep more easily at night and just seems to have much less anxiety. I've just watched him relax more and more every day.

Quote of the Day Courtesy Isaiah

On the phone with Papa this evening:

"I learned about God today."

Pause...

"Yeah... His name is Jesuuuuuus... and he has a yellow shiiiiirt... and he has hair kind of like mine."

New Years Pics

Elijah, Olivia & Gideon, Micah, Garrett, Esther, and Isaiah- our traditional fence picture- taken annually to track kids' growth. We had a wonderful time with cousins, aunts, uncles, Nana, Papa and grandparents. Thanks so much for all of the warm conversation, tasty food and laughs.
Gift opening at Uncle Rex and Aunt Lynn's this year.
Grandpa (great-grandpa to the kids) Uncle Rex, Uncle Ron, Eric, Papa.
New shirts and transformers from Nana and Papa.
Opening gifts with Nana and Papa.