Sent from my LG phone

Sent from my LG phone

Sent from my LG phone

Elijah's Field Trip

Jacob, Lexi, Holly, Erin and Elijah

"Look Mommy, I'm a horse.  Take a picture."

We were really hungry at this point, so I know I was thinking "Man that fake food looks tasty."

The kids all got to try out this loom.  I couldn't take a picture because I was helping, but it was really fun for them.

Elijah loved every minute of every demonstration.  This is his learning style for sure.

Is this not the hugest rocking chair ever?

Things I learned on the field trip:
- It takes/took longer to become a master blacksmith than it does to become a surgeon.
- Women used dead hair collected from hairbrushes to fluff up their real hair.
- In 1860, toasters, tea kettles, cast iron stoves and an ice box (as opposed to the spring house) were modern conveniences.
- A zither is a musical instrument common to German settlers
- Elijah and Holly are best friends- really and truly.  They are kind to one another, share, talk, laugh and have fun,... and that's all.
- Elijah is a great kid!

Rainy Day Goodness

It poured today, and our middle boy was made new.  Great sheets of rain let loose from the sky and fell in giant waves across the parking lot outside the window.  Micah looked outside to see the downpour and said, "I wish I could go play in the rain."  I said, "Go for it!  Have fun!"
So, off he went.  We watched him for a while, dancing around in the huge drops, all by himself.  At one point he looked like he was talking to himself and  Eric said, "He's making up a great story out there for himself."

Skip ahead to bed time tonight.  I was reading a devotional book to the boys and the we came to the prayer time after the lesson.  All of a sudden, Micah said, "I prayed outside today."
I said, "That's great!  What did you pray about?"
He announced without hesitation, "I prayed out loud to God and asked him to come into my heart."
I told him that was fantastic and that I was so happy for him.  I told him it is an important decision and that God waits and waits to be invited into our lives because he loves us, and He wants to forgive us and help us love Him other people better.
He said, "That's what I prayed too.  That he would forgive me."
I asked him how it felt.
He spread his hands across the top part of his chest and said, "It felt all warm in here, and really good.  It felt really happy and nice."  Then he smiled the hugest smile I've seen from him.

I love it that he was alone in the pouring rain when he made this decision.
I love it that he knew words to pray to express what he was feeling.
I love it that he felt free to announce his prayer in front of his brothers and me.
I love it that he waited until the time was right for him. (We've had conversion conversations several times, and each time he expressed that he wasn't ready to decide)
I love it that God orchestrated our evening so that he could share his experience with us tonight.  There was time and a peaceful space.
I love it that Jesus met Micah in the rain today.
Thank you Jesus.  Be present in our dear son's heart, soul and mind always.
Amen.

Mother's Day 2011

My wild animals

7:00am- Eric went over the the church
7:15am- All three boys sneak out to the kitchen.  I can kind of hear them, but I stayed in bed.
7:45am- Boys bring a platter into my room, marching behind it saying, "Happy Mother's Day!"
I am so blessed!
Elijah:  I made you the bagel, but I only buttered one side because I didn't know if you'd want butter or not.
Micah:  This is juice in this cup, not coffee.  I know you really like coffee, but I didn't know how to work the coffee maker, so I gave you juice instead.
Isaiah:  Mommy, sorry I kind of poured too much milk in your cereal.  I hope you like Special K.

They all sat around the bed, grinning and watching me eat, happy as could be.  Their first breakfast for Mommy all by themselves was a huge success.

Repost from Marilyn

Learning to be who we are is a bigger task than we know.

These two thoughts have become one thought in my mind. There are more ways to live on this interesting earth than any one life can envision. We can run and run to find what we might not have. But the one treasure is the one we take with us everywhere... But still must choose it. This is the choice to come to deep peace with who we are, uniquely and personally. Then it is not so important where we are. 

Rest of her post here. (May 1st)  Does everyone come to terms with the fact that they can not live all of the lives they want to live, or are only a handful of us blessed with subjected to this reality?

There are so many different lives I can imagine for myself and my family, and yet I am very content with the current day, week and month I am living- blessed and happily fulfilled.  But oh how I love new experiences, people and places.  Is this human nature and few of us are willing to share our dreams?  Or are there only some of us who imagine ourselves in other worlds?  Maybe we don't share because we feel judged.  Maybe if I share my dreams with you, I also fear that you think I'm saying that I'm unhappy with my current lot in life when that's just not true.  Dreaming doesn't necessitate discontent.  In fact, I think just the opposite is true.  If I am discontent, dreaming is difficult because I have lost hope.  

Isaiah's Birthday

The chosen birthday meal- mac n cheese with hotdogs and ketchup.  Orange Kool-aid to drink.

Big 6 years old!

Isaiah had specific requests for his birthday.  He is a man who knows what he wants and isn't afraid to ask.  On Sunday, he addressed the Thorpe family at church.  He told them that his birthday was on Friday and that he wanted to come over to their house to celebrate his birthday.  He thought they should have a party for him.

Kym graciously offered to host if Kennady's softball game got rained out, but since the weather was looking nice, we told Zay that we'd have to make other plans.  He said, "Why can't we just go to Kennady's game?"  No reason at all so that's what we did... softball game for Zay's birthday followed by hot drinks and hockey with the Thorpe clan.

For his gift requests, LEGO.  No surprise there and he is still engrossed in his building and rebuilding.

Dear Isaiah, youngest in our family,
We see you as the 6 year old boy you have now become.  You articulate your thoughts so well, and have been doing so for so long, that you've seemed 6 to us for months.  You are patient and people-loving, quick to forgive and easy to get along with in general.  To say that everyone loves you is no exaggeration.  School is a breeze for you, when you have the time that you want to do your work.  You live, breathe and work at your own pace, and although we may at times try to speed you up, it often only results in our own frustration.  No one can argue with the quality you produce with your pace though.  Everything you do is done well if you care about it.  We love you so much Zay, and we can't wait to see what being 6 will mean to you.

Featured Photo

Poetry for People posts a photo as poetic inspiration each day.  Ben Rimes is an instructional technology educator and operates the site.  He chose my Micah photo for today's poetic inspiration.  Visit the site to write a poem inspired by the photo (or one of the many other great shots Ben has collected.

Funny Micah story

Micah loves to be first. He is the first one ready for school every day and the first one ready for bed. Tonight when I was tucking him in, I noticed that his socks were really dirty. I pulled them off while we were talking and he said , "hey , what are you doing?". I said taking your socks off because they're dirty. He said , (direct quote here) "I know your plan! You're trying to make me not first to get ready for school."

We talked some more and apparently about a month ago he figured out that if he didn't take his socks off at night, this was one less thing to put on in the morning. Efficiency expert in the making.

It's Been A While

Micah was loving this attention, don't let the body language fool you.  Check out his grin.

Athan after a long walk, enjoying a snack while a crazy looking bike rider enters the square from behind him.

Morgan.  Sweet girl, full of life and imagination, riding the purple bike statue. 

I thought we needed an update.  Life is full and wonderful- not always happy and stress free, but full and wonderful.  We enjoyed a visit with our friends the Strebecks who stayed with us over a weekend while Ryan spoke at a youth event nearby.  I love these friends, and the boys do too!  Morgan and Athan are such special kids who love wholeheartedly and without reservation.  Their mom and dad are pretty great too.

We've been playing outside LOTS since spring weather is finally here, enjoying backyard baseball with the neighbor kids, skateboarding and roller blading.  Eric and Erin are both in stressy season right now.  Local church conference and Easter back to back have Eric at lots of evening meetings, and Erin is recovering from mid-term projects and tromping on toward final projects.  Everything feels controlled right now- not chaos, and I can tell we're not overly busy because we still make time for weekly family movie nights, walks with the dog and movies/TV time without kids too.  And, we just finished up a round of swimming lessons for the kids.  Everyone can swim to some extent- some better than others- but we all have basic skills.

School has afforded us lots of opportunity to learn about how other people live differently than we do.
- My friends play video games whenever they want.
- Everyone I know is allowed to watch Spongebob
- What does "retarded" mean when someone says it in a mean way?
And other lovely conversations like why calling a girl on the bus "sexy Lexy" is not the same as "Funny Lexy," or "Silly Lexy."  Isaiah and Elijah both got into some trouble on the bus recently, but it was a case of dealing with some name-calling.  They may not have made the best choices in handling the kid who was doing the teasing, but again, more opportunities to talk about patience, and grown-up skills like ignoring the kid who is bigger and older and should know better but doesn't.  And, the administrator at school who talked to them both called to tell me how wonderful they both were as she disciplined them- how sorry and genuine and lovely they both were as they respectfully took their consequence and didn't argue or get angry.

And I'm probably most excited to write about our very recent evening Bible and prayer times.  I think the trials they've experienced at school this year have helped them mature into a sense of why we need God.  They have caught very small glimpses of the sin in other people and in themselves, and it is changing them.

We had taken a break for a few months from bedtime Bible reading and family prayer.  I'm not sure why, but we had, and I don't feel like it was a negligent thing, just a season.  We started up the tradition again recently, and it's different.  Everyone is silent and still while Mommy or Daddy prays and we pray slowly and deliberately for quite a few minutes ( a far cry from our hurried, pray, pray, stop-that, pray pray, be-quiet, lay-still prayers of before).  Elijah has started joining in to pray a few words here and there when he feels that I haven't given enough detail- all on his own and very sincerely.  There is peace and stillness that surrounds our prayer time and it is genuine instead of rushed and "required" as a part of the routine.  They are growing and changing inside and out.

Playing in boxes. They are doing experiments mythbusters style trying to make dents in the box with a marble.

Sent from my LG phone

Never met a stranger... literally

Isaiah has the tiniest bladder ever, so we stopped at a gas station to go potty on the way home from swimming lessons.  I was standing in line to pay for a drink (post-workout dying of thirst) while he went.  When he came out and joined me in line. We were standing behind a man, lots of piercings, tats, baggy jeans, black hoodie sweatshirt, you get the picture.

Isaiah was at eye level with the man's back pocket. I saw him staring intently at the contents of the pocket, and before I could say anything, he reached up and poked something sticking out of the man's back pocket.  I  tsked at him and whispered, "Zay, you don't touch people's pockets man."  As I said this, the man reached around to check his wallet and I noticed his other hand was holding his cell to his ear.

Just as I was thinking about my gratefulness for his conversation as it would excuse me from making apologies for my son who likes to poke people in the butt apparently, I look back to Zay to see him tapping the man on the elbow.  What?  I say, "Zay, he's on the phone.  Leave him alone."
The man then turns to us and says to the person on the phone, "Hold on, there's a kid here trying to talk to me and I don't want to be rude."  To Zay, "Yeah buddy, what is it?"
Isaiah, "Do you know you have a BINGO card in your pocket?"
Man, "Do I?"  He pulls it out.  Sure enough there is a scratch off BINGO card that I couldn't see because his sweatshirt was covering it.
Isaiah:  "Where did you get it?"
Man, "My girlfriend gave it to me.  I don't know if its a winner or not. OK?"  Very pleasant and polite.
Zay nods and he goes back to his conversation, turning around.  I looked at Zay with a perplexed look.
Zay said, "What?  I thought only kids played BINGO."

Birthday money from grammy spent on video games.

Sent from my LG phone

In Honor of our Home

Since we live on Frances Scott Key Highway in Keymar, 1 mile from the birthplace of Francis Scott Key, I thought I'd repost this in his honor today.   

It was on this day in 1931 that 'The Star-Spangled  Banner' became the official national anthem of the United States.The lyrics come from a poem  written by Francis Scott Key more than a century before, 'Defence of Fort  McHenry.' He'd spent a night toward the end of the War of 1812 hearing the  British navy bombard Baltimore,  Maryland. The bombardment lasted  25 hours -- and in the dawn's early light, Francis Scott Key emerged to see the U.S. flag still waving over Fort McHenry.  He jotted the poem 'Defence of Fort McHenry' on the back of an  envelope. Then he went to his hotel and made another copy, which was printed in  the Baltimore American a week later. 
The tune for the Star-Spangled  Banner comes from an old British drinking song called 'To Anacreon in  Heaven,' which was very popular at men's social clubs in London during the 1700s. Francis Scott Key  himself did the pairing of the tune to his poem. It was a big hit.
For the next century, a few  different anthems were used at official U.S. ceremonies, including 'My  Country Tis of Thee' and 'Hail Columbia.' The U.S. Navy adopted  'The Star-Spangled Banner' for its officialdom in 1889, and the  presidency did in 1916. But it wasn't until this day in 1931 -- just 80 years  ago -- that Congress passed a resolution and Hoover  signed into law the decree that 'The Star-Spangled Banner' was the  official national anthem of the United States of America. - From The Writer's Almanac for 3/3/11 

So the tune for the Star Spangled Banner was a drinking song.  Makes perfect sense.  :) 

Birthday Boy #2 (a few days late)

 There was 2...

 And then 3... (with cousin Liv)

 Then all of a sudden, a 7 year old...

 And now 9?  Wow.

You are becoming such a young man.  As a 9 year old, starting a new life in Maryland, you have taken a few months to adjust but are now showing the real Elijah.  You are ultimately kind and compassionate above all else.  You feel deeply for every one and every living thing.  You are complex, creative, full of story and drama.  You love fast cars, drawing monsters and creatures, making up stories, acting out stories, watching Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, playing with Amani, and running around outside.

Recently you started going to Robotics club at 4-H and you love it.  You decided on a skateboard with your birthday money and the roller blades you got from your cousins were a big hit.  We love you Lij!  Keep growing in love and faith.  

Birthday Season

Spring 2007- Tom and Cassie's house on the farm

February 2008- Barefoot Dr. house in Kentucky

Spring 2009- Raven Run, Kentucky

Good morning; it's my birthday- February 2011, Keymar, MD

We didn't have cake for breakfast.  This was after school.

Micah opens birthday season around here; then its nonstop for 2 months.  Our middle son turned 7 years old on Tuesday the 15th.  Amazing.
Micah we love you more than ever.  New adventures for you include piano lessons, which you are enjoying more every week, and very recently 4-H robotics club.  As always, you love all things screen related- Wii, DS, computer games you name it.  If someone is working on a screen, you want to be right there beside them, watching how everything is done.  Your technology skills are quite proficient.

At school, you are doing wonderfully.  Math seems to be your favorite subject although you say anything on "Success Maker" (a computer program you use in class) is your favorite.  Your least favorite subject is art.
You are a joy my middle boy.  We love you so much.  Your thoughtful, contemplative heart peeks out every once in a while and when it does, we are astounded at the depth with which you understand things.

I overheard you recently giving your big brother some advice.  He was walking down the hall with his DS in hand, ready to ask me if he could play.  You came out of the bathroom and this was the conversation:
Micah:  What are you doing?
Elijah:  I'm going to ask Mommy if I can play.
Micah:  (chasing after Lij) Don't take your DS with you.  Look it's even on.  (You grab it away and turn it off)
Eljiah:  Why not?
Micah:  She'll think you started playing without asking. (exasperated sigh as though you were thinking- "silly boy, you should know better)
Elijah:  Oh, ok.  (walks in to me)  Mommy can I play DS?
I say yes and you give him his DS, smile at me and bounce out to go watch your brother play.  

On the first day of school, way back in the fall, you fussed at me after school for putting an "I love you" note in your lunch box- its embarrassing you said. I laughed and we moved on with things. No big deal.

A couple of weeks ago, you tearfully confessed that you felt really bad for what you said about the note and for not really liking your lunch that day.  Confessions are difficult for you and you hold onto your guilt for a long time, but your sincerity is such a blessing.  Yes, we are watching you grow- inside and out.

Happy 7th birthday big boy!  Keep learning and growing and loving!  I pray that God continues to work in the secret, quiet places of your heart, rooting those seeds of faith that you possess deeply.    

Productivity

Author Norman Mailer says, "Over the years, I've found one rule. It is the only one I give on those occasions when I talk about writing. A simple rule. If you tell yourself you are going to be at your desk tomorrow, you are by that declaration asking your unconscious to prepare the material. You are, in effect, contracting to pick up such valuables at a given time. Count on me, you are saying to a few forces below: I will be there to write."


Isn't the same true with any discipline we're trying to develop?  Count on me, I'll be there to pray or read or talk or write a letter... instead of waiting for inspiration.

Anticipation

When I start feeling the least bit stressed about something, my brain immediately switches to "what-can-I-look-forward-to" mode.  I start my spring semester of graduate classes tomorrow night.  Three days a week of 12 hour days, 2 days a week at home to do homework and look after house stuff.  It is a bit tight, but very manageable for a few months, especially when you have a wonderfully willing and helpful husband.  :)

Nonetheless, I feel like I'm about to dive back into the water, not to truly emerge again until May 17th. Most people have heard me talking recently about how much I've loved having real snow- snow that piles up in banks behind our house, snow for sledding and trekking and building.  The kind of deep snow that muffles the noise of life (or maybe people just stay home), but outside in the morning as the sun turns every branch into a diamond speckled scepter, it is blessedly silent- quiet enough to not only see your breath but to hear it.  The kind of quiet that doesn't happen during any other weather event.  Ahhhhh.

So then why today, did I find myself daydreaming of my garden?  Why can't I continue to enjoy our present state of wintery whiteness?  Craziness. All I can figure is that my coping strategy must go something like this.

Brain 1:  "Can I handle this again?  Four months of reading and writing and studying and family and church too? Am I crazy?  When is the drop/add deadline date again?"

Brain 2:  "Of course you can.  Soon that lovely patch of mulching leaves in the back corner of the yard is going to grow warm and soft.  You'll add a truckload of organic mulch and work your tools down into the earth and just imagine the smell... that earthy, mossy, wormy fresh smell... that's the smell of potential, of hope because what is more hopeful than a seed.  So see?  You'll be fine because you'll get to plant a garden before you know it."

In what world does any of that make sense?  Yet that's what I'm dealing with here.  Odd.    

Lessons I'd Forgotten

Snow + temperatures right around freezing with no wind and sunshine= the PERFECT sledding day.  I couldn't wait to send the kids out into the snow AND join them.  We left the house at 9am.  I shoveled, they slid.  At 9:50, they started trickling over to see what I was doing.  I couldn't believe it.  How could they be bored of sledding already?  I used to sled for hours (it felt like).  So, I planted my shovel in the bank and joined them on the hill.  I watched them go down a few times, took some video and then realized that they were missing a few key ingredients for a perfect sledding day.

1)  If you walk back up the same trail where you slid down, it ruins your trail and makes it difficult to climb the bank.
2)  If you make some "steps" for yourself out of snow in a few key places on the snowbank, climbing back up to the top is much easier (and prevents you from ruining the sledding trails).
3)  To keep your sled from sliding backward down the wrong side of the bank while you're climbing aboard, flatten out a section at the top big enough for your sled and a couple of foot holds.  We even built a little bank behind the starting position spot to keep them from falling backward.
4)  Getting tired is part of the fun.  Make a snow bed/ fort/ cave for yourself and take breaks (important for Micah).
5)  If you're getting wet, get wardrobe help before you get too cold.
6)  The best sledding trails are made by sliding down the same spots over and over and not walking back up on the sledding trail.  Therefore, the more people you sled with, the more fun it becomes, so when we saw our neighbors out, we hiked over to join them.

Lesson I learned- sledding with a 5,6 and 8 year old is even more fun than sledding with a 4,5 and 7 year old.