No Lack of Black - the FOB blog

A Few More Obedisms

2012-02-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

Obed: "Uzziah is so cute. I can't wait to see what he will look like when his chin grows in."

Obed: "Hey mommy, when throw-up is about to come up, I just stop and swallow it. Isn't that AWESOME?!"

Me: "Obed, what are you doing?" (inquiring why he's digging in his pants)

Obed: "There's something tickly...oh, I got it. There was a cracker in my pants." (And low and behold, he pulled a cracker... out of his undies.)

The First Few Weeks

2012-02-09T16:12:00.001-08:00

10 Days...

8 Days...

6 Days...

4 Days...

Reason Number Three Bajillion I Love Vince

2012-01-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

I really love Vince... a lot. But for me, it's a pretty easy thing to do. It's no surprise that with a new born baby, sleep is pretty limited. One way that Vince serves me is by taking Uzziah after his last early morning feeding (somewhere between 3:30 and 4:30 AM) and takes him out of the room so I can get a solid block of sleep for about 3 hours. This morning, the posting below was his Facebook status update.

"First of many early morning readings with Uzziah. Looking forward to every one!"

The Big Brothers Meet Uzziah

2012-01-28T15:20:00.000-08:00

Meet Uzziah

2012-01-28T07:05:00.001-08:00

Meet the latest addition to the Black family; Uzziah Joel. Uzziah arrived last night at 8:52, just about an hour after we arrived at the hospital. He weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz and is 20 inches long. Uzziah means the Lord is my strength. Joel means the Lord is my God. We thank God for another healthy Black boy to add to our brood. Children are truly a blessing from the Lord and we are blessed!

Psalm 18:1-2

I love you O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress

and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Six?

2012-01-22T19:07:00.000-08:00

As I always say, how can it be that my kids are growing so fast? Asher turned SIX last week. SIX! He's growing up so quickly. He's a silly, sensitive, thoughtful little boy who loves to make people laugh, play Legos and bang on the drums. Six years old. Wow.

As birthdays go in our house, the morning started with opening presents.

Asher wanted cinnamon rolls and grapefruit for breakfast, so we all enjoyed his birthday breakfast.

Then for dinner, he wanted Swedish pancakes with strawberries, bacon and a smoothie.
Then it was time for birthday cake. I was out of town the weekend before his birthday, so Vince and the boys made a birthday cake together for Asher's birthday. It was a cake Vince used to have when he was growing up: Oreo crust, ice-cream (Asher's choice was mint-chocolate-chip), a chocolate sauce poured over the top, and whip cream. Pretty tasty!
Asher's birthday fell on a day that we had quite a few commitments, so Vince took part of the day off the day after Asher's birthday so we could celebrate some more. For some reason (unknown to us), Asher really loves IHOP, so on Tuesday morning, we headed to IHOP for breakfast.
Then we drove to a place just outside of Denver called Jump-Street. It's a warehouse with wall-to-wall trampolines.
I forgot my camera, so all the pictures indoors were taken with my phone (translated; they will be blurrier than my normal sort of blurry pictures). The boys had a fantastic time. We were the only people at Jump-Street for the first 30-45 minutes. There was a jumping pit for dodgeball.
Asher giving his thumbs-up approval.
The biggest jumping pit.
Ezra, about to literally bounce off the wall.

It was a fun couple days celebrating Asher.

Obedisms

2012-01-20T21:28:00.001-08:00

Obed's a funny kid. The great thing about Obed is that he is not trying to be funny; he is just a quirky little 4 year old who makes us laugh a lot. Here are a few of his quotable quotes from the past few weeks.

Obed: "Daddy, can we read about that one guy who kind of sounds like poop?" (Speaking of the Pope).

Obed: "Today I want to wear the bumpy jeans." (Speaking of corduroy pants).

Vince: "Why are you standing there with the back door open?"

Obed: "I'm just showing the chickens what I'm wearing today."

Butterfly Pavilion

2012-01-08T07:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we ventured to the Butterfly Pavilion with some friends from church.

There were several hands-on activities, including holding a tarantula (which none of the boys wanted to do... and I can't blame them!). Here they are touching a horseshoe crab (the butterfly of the sea. Yah, I just made that last part up).
There were lots of different spiders, beetles, and roaches showcased (all of which made me feel like I might throw up a little).
There was an aquarium area.

And then there was the area that housed all the butterflies. It was a beautiful atrium filled with all sorts of plants and species of butterflies flitting around.

There was a cased-in window that held the chrysalides of butterflies from all over the world. Many of the chrysalides were opening as we watched, and every day, the zoo keepers at the Butterfly Pavilion release the new butterflies into butterfly house.

After we walked through the butterfly pavilion, there was a play area the boys really enjoyed.
They particularly enjoyed the zip line!

An Outing

2012-01-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

We've had some beautiful, warm days here recently, and after having been cooped up inside for most of the month of December, it's been great to be outside! Yesterday afternoon it was about 50 degrees, so the boys and I walked to one of the neighborhood parks so they could have some time to play (plus Ezra kept asking, "can I please just be outside and run? I just want to run around).

Ezra spent the majority of his time running circles around the park while I timed him, or building a bridge with fallen branches across the small ravine at the park.

Asher drug quite a few large branches here and there, ending with dropping them off from the top of the playground equipment.
Obed dug a lot in the sand.
Asher also built a T for baseball out of an old log.
And Obed did some exploring... all while carrying a large stick, of course.
All excellent boy stuff on a great day to be outside.

Cheap Entertainment

2011-12-29T11:05:00.000-08:00

We're all about cheap entertainment in this house. And what's more entertaining than chickens eating a dried out gingerbread house?

Toy Box Vomit

2011-12-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

What happens when both mom and dad end up getting the stomach bug that most of the boys have had this week as well? Well, the house falls to pieces and it looks like the toy box vomited all over the house.

Morning Conversation

2011-12-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Me: "Obed, did you do your chores this morning?"

Obed: "Uh huh."

Me: "Is there a chance you might have forgotten to do one of your chores?"

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

As stated in a previous post, we've been sick here in the Black household. We've been sick for almost 3 weeks now (although I'm hopeful we've finally turned the last corner and are on the way to health). But, in spite of so much sickness moving through the house, we've been so thankful that we've been able to enjoy a lot of our favorite Christmastime traditions. The following posts are just a few of them.

Skating in Old Town

2011-12-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

Last year we enjoyed going ice-skating at the small rink put up in the Old Town Square, and we enjoyed it once again this year as well. Solomon and I stood on the side and watched as the older three boys and Daddy skated.

Ezra and Asher have been so very excited about going skating and jumped on the ice with a lot more confidence than last year.

Obed decided he'd like to try skating this year. Although he had spaghetti legs on the ice, he had a great time and Daddy was so very patient with helping him around the ice.

Still watching... "cheeeeeeese."
Asher zooming past with his garbage can helper.
Ezra decided he'd like to ditch the garbage can helper and hold onto the side for a while.

Stillllll watching, this time through the glass...
Obed tired of skating after a bit, so he, Solomon and I enjoyed playing on the Square while the others finished up skating. The painted pianos in Old Town are always fun.
As is the giant fish.
It was a fun evening for sure!

Gingerbread House

2011-12-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we were still all too sick to go to church (except Vince, of course), which we were all pretty bummed about. We had all missed church the week before as well and were hoping to make it, but it just wasn't prudent. To try to counter the boys' disappointment, I promised a fun activity, so we broke out "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (one of our favorites) and a gingerbread house and tried to make a fun afternoon of it.

The candy carnage on the table.
The finished product with crazy boys.
Although not the same as getting to be at church with our friends, worshipping the Creator of this season, we had a fun time none the less and built a pretty sweet gingerbread house.

Baking Cookies

2011-12-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

We weren't able to do quite as much baking this year as we normally have in the past, but we were still able to make cookies as a family one day. We made Amish Ginger Cookies, which were quite easy and tasty as well. The boys love to measure and dump everything into the mixer. I love that they love to bake!

Solomon's job was to hold the sprinkles. It's a very important job, you know.

Obed licked up anything and everything that landed on the table; sugar, flour, cloves, baking soda. You name it, he licked it up.
The boys particularly enjoyed rolling the cookie dough into balls and then rolling the balls in sugar.
It was a fun afternoon of baking together as a family.

Zoo Lights

2011-12-23T18:52:00.000-08:00

In spite of the fact that most of us were still sick, we were able to continue on with our yearly tradition of going to the Denver Zoo lights and dinner on the 16th Street Mall. We once again went to Maggiano's this year, where Obed got the spaghetti with a giant meatball (as described on the menu). And yes, the meatball was indeed giant.

Solomon enjoyed his "noo-noo's" as well.
And then we headed to the magical land of Zoo Lights.

Solomon enjoyed the lights. Although he saw them last year, I doubt he remembers it. He kept pointing at lights and saying, "tis lie" (translated, "Christmas lights).

I particularly loved that Ezra and Asher brought their cameras this year and they stopped at so many different light exhibits to take pictures. They thoroughly enjoyed all the lights.

Decorating the Tree

2011-12-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Back in November, we decorated the Christmas tree. The boys were SUPER excited to put the tree up and we always enjoy sharing this tradition with family. Grandma and Grandpa were visiting, so we were able to share this fun time with them.

Daddy put the lights on, with a very ready and anxious helper.

Grandpa and Solomon putting ornaments on the "Tis-tee" as Solomon calls it.

When you have 4 little people decorating the tree, the tree gets a bit ornament heavy near the bottom; nothing that can't be "adjusted" when little eyes are no longer looking.

Sick Day

2011-12-09T09:23:00.001-08:00

Asher's been sick all week. I finally took him to the doctor yesterday after he began his fourth day of having a fever. Thankfully he just has a virus (and a bad case of croup) and seems to have turned a corner today. Ezra and Solomon, however, woke up in the night last night, sick. Ezra hates being sick (don't we all!!), particularly because he hates being left alone. He hates lying in bed all day by himself. Solomon is 2 and in spite of being sick, he has no concept of "I should rest." So brilliant Daddy set up a movie in the living room, by the fire so it seemed like a fun day where Ezra could be with people, and Solomon could come and go as he pleased and play, but at the same time, hopefully rest a bit.

Knights

2011-12-07T17:20:00.001-08:00

These are my valiant warriors... with plastic armor and foam swords. I am well protected.

Pre-Dinner Wrestle-Mania

2011-12-07T17:17:00.001-08:00

Sick Lunch

2011-12-06T11:12:00.001-08:00

Asher woke up yesterday morning with a killer headache. By yesterday afternoon, he was running a fever and feeling crummy. He ate a small lunch yesterday, no dinner last night, and no breakfast this morning (which, if you know Asher, his mantra is, "I'm still hungry," so his lack of caloric intake is indicative of how he's feeling).

I asked him today if anything at all sounded good... anything. He thought for a bit. Initially he said ice-cream. Then he said he wanted Lucky Charms and Tater-tots. So, in spite of the meal being totally void of any nutritional value, at this point, it's calories and he's eating a bit, so Lucky Charms and Tater-tots for lunch it is.

Snowy Day

2011-12-02T09:30:00.001-08:00

Vince just left with Ezra to take Ezra Christmas shopping, so while they are away, my other cuties decided they'd like to play in the snow.

She Has a Good Personality (Hopefully)

2011-11-30T08:04:00.001-08:00

I don't know if God gives chickens personalities, but if He does, I sure hope this one has a good personality. The poor thing seems to have hit the "both ugly and particularly stupid jackpot."

What Do You Think?

2011-11-27T09:13:00.001-08:00

I'm quite certain that there was no pork present at the manger scene, but what about a panda and a dinosaur?

Meet Jay & Sarah

2011-11-25T19:25:00.001-08:00

Meet our friends, Jay & Sarah (also known as DJ Scribbles & Lady Sassafras). They recently moved to our beautiful city to pursue their small joint business venture; Kettle Corn & Callus Abstraction.

Jay's lifelong passion is to start a high-quality Kettle Corn business with low-quality prices. Sarah's dream involves corns of a different kind. Jay's hope is to start this business and then buy a horse trailer, which he will convert into Crazy Jay's Traveling Kettle 'Corn' & Callus Removal (yes, I agree, the marketing is a bit weak, but there's still time for growth), and travel all over the country, delivering his high-quality Kettle Corn & Sarah's callus abstraction to fair goers and the like.

If you see Scribbles and Lady Sassafras next summer at your local state or county fair, make sure you stop by their stand and support their business venture. Maybe, if your'e feeling generous, you could even put a dollar in the tip bucket.

Advent Reading for Families

2011-11-25T10:13:00.001-08:00

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the Advent season. Last year we celebrated Advent as a family, looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior by reading from a family advent calendar published by thrivingfamily.com. If you have kids, this Advent Reading for Families is a great way to celebrate this season through short readings and simple activities that focus on the days and events that led up to the birth of Christ.

Tubsicles

2011-11-13T15:11:00.001-08:00

What's a girl to do when her 4 year old was up 10 times last night, crying that his ear hurt so bad, her 5 year old was up twice, and her 2 year old was up 4 times, crying (probably being woken up by the screaming 4 year old). Then the 4 year old goes to the doctor and has a severe ear infection and is prescribed antibiotics so that there can be healing without scarring of the ear drum. Then the 4 year old has an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, the 2 year old wakes up from nap with his whole body and bed covered in sick-poo, all the while juggling doctor's visits and 4 kids with the fact that the husband has to be at work and ready to preach, sharing a car, running to the pharmacy, getting follow up medication, etc...

Well, the girl puts the hive covered and poo covered kids in the tub, washes them well, gets some clean water, gives them popsicles, and goes in the other room to cry for a few minutes. Then she sucks it up, bounces back, gets the sanitary cycle going on the washing machine, finds and administers the Benadryl, and then she starts a list of things for which she can be thankful since, in spite of the tough day its been, God is good, in control and working all these things together for her good and the good of her family.

Birthday

2011-11-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to my favorite guy!!!

Fall Time Fun

2011-10-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

Our trees decided (after the foot of snow we got last Tuesday) that it was time to drop their leaves, and so its seems they did just that. The boys have been begging to rake leaves and jump in the pile, and today, we were able to make their dreams come true (tip; set the bar low and make yard work a "dream job" for your kids. Then, they are rarely disappointed).

Snowy Day

2011-10-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

It was 80 degrees on Monday (a record high), and warmish yesterday. Today? We have over a foot of snow! The boys were thrilled to awaken to a winter wonderland and got out to play in the snow as soon as they could this morning. Vince has some meetings in Denver this week, so he took today off rather than his normal day of Friday. We played outside in the snow for a long time this morning as a family.

Vince pushed the boys on the sled down the "hill" in the backyard.

He and Asher played some snowball baseball.

Then more sledding.

At first, Solomon was a bit leery of the snow, but once he rode down the hill a few times on the sled, he was sold! Coming up the hill in bulky snow boots, snow pants and being a rather wobbly boy as it is made it challenging for him to get up the hill, so Vince helped him.

Solomon and Asher Sharing a ride.

Ezra (who is looking far too old in this picture) enjoying the morning.

Two Boys on a Waterless Fountain

2011-10-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday the boys and I went to Old Town to grab a special snack from an ice-cream shop before church. The fountain in Old Town was under repair, so it had no water in it, which the boys thoroughly enjoyed. They did a lot of "rock climbing" on the sculpture.

Natural Areas Field Trip

2011-10-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

The city has Master Naturalists that offer educational programs for children at different city parks. So this week, we loaded up on Tuesday morning and headed to one of the local parks to learn more about some of the bugs and plants that live in our natural areas and forests.

The boys each got a small magnifying glass and learned about where many bugs hide and make their homes. Ezra and Asher hunted for bugs under the bark of a dead tree.
We also got to trek through the woods as we hunted for bugs.
Asher doing his kung-fu jump over a dead tree.

Solomon spent the majority of the field trip screaming. Apparently he doesn't care for bugs, nature hikes, Master Naturalists, or coats (the reason he began screaming and continued on for a full H.O.U.R. - because his mean old mom made him wear a coat when it was under 37 degrees). Needless to say, we spent most of the filed trip exploring other areas, away from the group so as not to disturb the others.

I Suppose It's Time

2011-10-20T12:28:00.001-07:00

On my kitchen counter sits a cream colored ceramic jar. The jar has held many things over the years. It used to have tea in it. Then it held sugar substitutes (when I tried to use them but learned quickly that I find them quite nasty). It has held cash for dates, small screws, nuts and bolts. Really, it's been a multi-purpose jar over the years.

When Solomon got sick, the neurologist told us there were several different medication options to try, but she was hopeful that one in particular would work. And by the grace of God, it did. The medication came from a specialized pharmaceutical company in Deerfield, IL once a month via Fed-Ex and the jar on the counter became Solomon's medicine jar.

When we first started weening Solomon off the medication, I kept his left over medicine around in case the new medication we were starting didn't work, or should he need both medications. The initial seizures were so intense I just couldn't part with medicine, "just in case."

There is also the practical side of me. That little ceramic container sitting on my kitchen counter held, literally, thousands and thousands of dollars of medication. Who in their right mind would just throw $3500 into the trash? But that is just what I will do... when I throw out the medicine.

I have forgotten about the medication on the counter for many months. The other day one of the boys was helping me cook and asked what was in the jar. We looked and there was Solomon's medication. I just put the lid on the jar and slid it back into its place. You see, it's been a year since we weened Solomon off that medication. It's been over a year since he's had seizures. And yet for some strange reason, I look at that jar full of little white packets and I see it as the thing God used to save my son's life, and throwing it in the garbage feels wrong in some way. But I know it's time.

Now, I just need to figure out some other trinket to keep in the soon-to-be-empty jar.

A Trip to the Denver Zoo

2011-10-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of the free admission days at the Denver Zoo, so several friends from church loaded up and headed to Denver for the morning. The weather was beautiful, and the zoo was not too packed when we first arrived, so it was a great morning to enjoy an outing.

We spent quite a while enjoying the Asian elephants. Obed liked watching them. Solomon enjoyed making his elephant noise.

The anteater is one of God's funnier creations, I believe. Solomon enjoyed all the animals.
Asher enjoying some water fowl of some sort.
A flock o' flamingos.
Part of the group of kids that joined us enjoying the gorillas.
Ezra and Asher posed on the gorilla statue.
We picnicked for lunch and then after lunch went for a ride on the train. The boys waited patiently while we waited for our turn.
Obed sat next to his buddy, Casey, on the train.
Solomon was pretty excited to be on a train as well.
On our way out, we stopped by the giraffes.
Obed got to touch polar bear fur.
And we ended our day watching the sea lions swim. It was a great day spent with good friends, viewing God's amazing creations.

First Fire of the Season

2011-10-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

There is a cool front moving through the area. There is a chance of snow today, although the high on Monday is 75 again! This morning is chilly, rainy and windy. A perfect morning for a fire in the fire place.

The Princess & The Goblin

2011-10-06T17:59:00.001-07:00

After our family devotions each night, Vince reads to the boys from various books. Right now, he is reading The Princess and The Goblin by George MacDonald. The boys are really enjoying it.

Homecoming Parade

2011-10-05T18:58:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the local university's homecoming parade. It was a beautiful afternoon, so we rode our bikes up to the parade route and met several families from church with whom we watched the parade.

We had great seats, in the shade, on a large curb. The kids had a great time.

The parade was at 4:30. Had we watched the parade and then biked home, there would have most certainly been a low blood sugar meltdown due to a late dinner. I didn't feel like packing a picnic (we had just picnicked the night before for dinner), and I didn't really have a firm dinner plan in place. The curb where we sat to watch the parade was right in front of... a local pizzeria. Perfect! We ordered a pizza, and they even delivered it to the curb for us, complete with napkins and paper plates.

Ezra getting a bit of refreshment.
Asher with his stash of candy.
And the marching band to end the parade.
All in all, a beautiful evening spent with good friends, a fun parade, pizza delivered to the curb and a bike ride home. Just a great, fun night!

Why We Keep Warnie Around

2011-10-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

If you know us, you know that while we care for our dog, he's really nothing more than a d.o.g. He's as low on the totem pole as a "family member" can get without getting the boot. However, there is one person in our family who has very, very different feelings about Warnie.

Filing System

2011-10-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

When we lived in North Dakota, our insurance was such that we got one bill every month, telling us what we owed. We payed the agreed upon amount and waited until the bill came the following month. Twelve months, 12 statements. Our insurance here is quite different.

When Solomon got sick last year, one of the many overwhelming aspects was the number of insurance bills, statements, pharmaceutical records, etc. we had to deal with. It just felt like "one more thing" to have to process. Working with so many doctors, we had bills from the pediatrician, the neurologists, the epileptologist, the metabolic specialist, the ophthalmologist, as well as various sections of the hospital for MRI's, EEG's, and the specialized pharmaceutical company based out of Illinois, just to name a few. Rarely a day passed that we did not receive some sort of medical statement, balance, or inquiry in the mail. I grew to dread the mail!

Once the bills were paid, I had to keep all the information. And let's just be honest, filing is not one of my strong areas. Someone more organized than myself would certainly either scan all the bills and keep them neatly in a file on their computer, or possibly file them all by date in a drawer. Me? Well, I got a brown grocery bag, put it on the floor in my closet, and dropped all my paid bills, medical statements and inquiries into it. Done and done. If you want tips on how to create a filing system as advanced as mine, I'd be happy to offer my expertise.

Goalie

2011-10-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

This year, Ezra's soccer team has goalies. Each of the kids get a chance to try our their goal keeping skills during the season. Today was Ezra's second opportunity to play goalie, and he loved it.

A Small Observation

2011-10-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

If you've spent any time at all with my older three boys, I am certain you will have noticed that they ALL are toe walkers. The very first step Ezra ever took was on his toes. Ezra has been the worst "offender" when it comes to toe walking, although Asher and Obed both do their fair share of it as well. Solomon? Well, he never has, until just recently. You see, with Solomon's low muscle tone, he has never had the strength to walk on his toes. Within the past few weeks, however, he has begun standing on his toes more often. When Ezra was a toe walker, I sort of thought, "oh well, he'll out grow it." When Asher started walking on his toes, I thought, "really?" And when Obed did it, I thought, "are you serious? This is ridiculous!" But with Solomon, it's been an encouragement because it means he's getting stronger and his muscles are able to handle both the strength and balance it takes. I took the picture below for the next blog post, but just had to point out how Solomon is standing. Funny how little things can serve as encouragements.

I'll Admit It

2011-10-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

I just love when footie pajama season finally arrives!

Cinco de Blacko

2011-09-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Pardon the uh-hmmm, rather immodest picture, but I don't think there is much question as to what Black Baby #5 will be.

We're thrilled to be adding to our brood of boys and thankful that God knows just what our family needs. Apparently the Mama in this house has enough estrogen to go around and not another drop is needed!

Garden

2011-09-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

We recently grew a garden: a mold garden, that is. It's really quite simple, so should you want to grow a mold garden as well, all you need is a bit of dirt, a few slices of potato, a bit of cheese and some water to spray on it, and voila, in about 4 or 5 days, you too can have a mold garden as lovely as ours.

Random Shots from My Everyday Life

2011-09-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

My life is very ordinary... to me. These are just a few things that have made me laugh in recent days as I travel through each ordinary day.

Several GIANT eggs (which, we have learned, have double yolks).

Solomon insisting on wearing underwear... over his diaper... over his onesie.
Two pandas and a giraffe keeping watch.
A pig in a light.
A helpful boy loading the dishwasher (guess which cup he put in).
A dirty sock behind the dying basil plant on the back of the kitchen counter.
A chicken, wearing a helmet, wielding a cocktail sword, on a motorcycle.
A chicken standing at the back door, knocking with her beak.
And my favorite... the suction cup toothbrush stuck to the toilet.

Birthday

2011-09-15T18:28:00.001-07:00

Obed turned 4 on Sunday (as always stated, I can hardly believe it!). As birthdays go in our house, we started out with the opening of presents.

One thing not missing from Obed's birthday this year? Sugar. Obed got to pick his birthday breakfast, and he wanted donuts with sprinkles, so donuts with sprinkles he got.
Knight Obed sporting his new knight costume and sword belt.
Obed wanted chocolate cupcakes with white frosting and sprinkles (what can I say, the boys loves his sprinkles). His brothers picked out a variety of very "special" candles which required more surface space than a normal cupcake offers, so I made Obed a giant cupcake so that we could use all the special candles selected for him by his loving brothers.
Happy birthday to my sweet, quirky, hilarious, sensitive little Boo. I love you boy!!

Sorry

2011-09-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

Ezra really likes to play board games. In particular, he is fond of Sorry these days. If he and I are playing, we are able to play all the way through. If we add a brother in the mix, we can *sometimes* make it through a game. Add more than one brother into the mix? And it always, ALWAYS ends poorly (which is a guarantee, and the very reason why, when all the boys wanted to play today, I grabbed my camera to document the typical "family" game of Sorry).

Usually the game starts out fine. The slightly competitive Asher gets particularly excited when he gets any card that moves him forward or causes another player to be sent home.
Ezra, always eager to help likes to "help" everyone move his pawn (translated, he plays everyone's game and tells everyone where to move).
Obed spends most of the time upset, on the verge of meltdown, unless he gets a 1 or 2 to get out of home, or a Sorry to send people home.
Then the game really starts to get out of hand. Pawns go missing, but never fear, they always show up. This time it was found driving the bus full of birds.

Then trains start driving on the game board, courtesy of Solomon.
Then, at some point, mutiny occurs and the boys start wrestling over who will get sent home when one of them draws a Sorry card. This time? Asher drew a Sorry card. He wanted to send Obed home. Obed dissolved into hysterics. Ezra, ever the peacemaker, was trying to steal Obed's pawn to put back on the board, telling Asher that he could have his pawn and send him home and not to take Obed's. Asher is then in hysterics because he only wants to send Obed home. Solomon gets into the fray and tackles Ezra. And, as the ever vigilant mother, I am sitting watching it all, snapping photos and laughing at the chaos.
Then Obed and Asher fight to get the last remaining pawn from the board.
Then Ezra typically gets fed up and declares the game over and quickly tries to clean up. And yes, please note that Obed is indeed sitting on Asher's head.
Family games are always fun!

Animal Army of Destruction

2011-08-30T11:32:00.001-07:00

This morning we played "Animal Army of Destruction." The rules are quite simple. If you are a "good guy," then you climb to the top bunk with your Buzz Lightyear laser gun (which, incidentally, shoots not lasers, but dynamite) and your nets (blankets) and you shoot down the animal army of destruction as they jump and fly to the top bunk (and obviously, the animal army of destruction are excellent jumpers and fliers).

With every jump, each animal must yell, "BODY BLOW!"(although an occasional "BONSAI" or "COWABUNGA" are acceptable for effect).
But no worries. If you are the "bad guys" and get shot by the dynamite-shooting-Buzz Lightyear-Laser-Gun, the animal army of destruction (or, as Obed calls it, the aminal army of construction) goes to the hosibul (hospital) and drinks the lemon cordial (reminiscent of Lucy's cordial in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) which heals them instantly of their wounds so they can once again fly and jump to the top bunk to fight.

Family Bike Ride

2011-08-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely night tonight, so after dinner we headed out for a family bike ride. This was an extra special ride because it was Obed's first time on the tag-along. At first, he screamed and cried that it was too scary and he didn't want to do it, but once he got the feeling of it, he loved it! After our ride around the block, down the bike trail, and through several parking lots ended, Obed exclaimed, "I want to always ride on the tag along!" Fun times.

Up The Canyon

2011-08-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

This morning we drove up The Canyon, to one of my favorite (nearby) places so the boys could play in the river for a while.

Vince and the boys caught minnows and...
A one-pinchered crayfish.
Even Warnie got to join us on our adventure and he had the time of his life running around, never venturing too deep into the water though, since he is a bird dog that doesn't actually know how to swim.

Sweat Equity

2011-08-25T18:13:00.001-07:00

When Vince and I were newly married, I worked for Habitat for Humanity. Habitat has a program called "sweat equity," which is what they called the work they required the soon-to-be-homeowner to do on their own house. Essentially, the philosophy is that a person will take a lot more ownership of something if he has to work hard on it; pour a lot of hours of sweat and labor in order to "pay" for it.

One of our sons has recently made several poor decisions, causing a lot of destruction to various items around the house. I do think that most of the issues are due to childishness and immaturity, rather than anger or disobedience. Pure curiosity and testosterone caused him hit the glass bird feeder with a baseball bat, rendering it useless. He wasn't angry. He wasn't even trying to show off. He just likes to hit things and doesn't think of the consequences. But, regardless, he broke it.

Our kids don't get allowance. They get all of $15 total for Christmas and their birthdays, so their cash flow is pretty non-existent. The discipline we rendered for the broken items didn't seem to be doing the trick. So, in an effort to help him understand that we can't just go "buy a new one," our son is having to pay us for the items he has destroyed in sweat equity. On top of his normal, daily chores, he has extra chores every day for a week; picking up after the dog twice each day, folding his brothers laundry, and clearing the table and loading the dishwasher after meals. I don't know if this approach will work with him or not, but at least he's getting the idea that we have to work hard for the things we have. Plus, as an added bonus, we have a new chore chart and it's given us the opportunity to test it out!

An Easter Egg Hunt

2011-08-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

Two of our chickens are each laying one lovely brown egg every morning. We learned that right before these chickens began to lay, they started announcing to the world (through excessive screeching, clucking, cawing, and all together loud noises) that they were indeed going to lay soon. And low and behold, a few days later, they quieted down and began laying.

Our Ameraucana Chicken (also known as the Easter Egg Bird for the blue-green eggs she lays... little bit of trivia for you there) began her excessive screeching, clucking, cawing and loud noises this week, so we've been anxiously awaiting her first egg. Ezra has run out to the hen house multiple times a day, hoping to find the egg. But thus far, he has been disappointed.

However, today, I took the compost back to the bin, and sitting right on top of all the grass clippings, right in the middle of a nicely shaped, grassy nest, was a green-blue egg; the first egg from our Ameraucana. I think she just wanted to be consistent with her breed name and allow us to hunt for her egg, since she is called the Easter Egg Bird after all.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

2011-08-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Today was a free day at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, so the boys and I headed down to Denver for the morning in order to explore with some friends of ours.

As soon as we walked in, "Mr. Bones" was there to greet us, and eat Asher's head.

The boys enjoyed all the exhibits. The first we explored was the space exhibit. They had to try to land the Space Shuttle on a launch pad.
Then they got to make their own sun dials.

Obed, picking up "space rocks."
Solomon flying the shuttle into space.
The kids enjoying the exhibit about light and heat.
There was an observation deck where you could see the whole cityscape from Longs Peak to Pikes Peak.
We all really enjoyed the wildlife exhibits.
There was the human body exhibit.
Asher learning how a mule deer hears.
Fun with pins.
There was the dinosaur exhibit, where the kids learned about how big they were compared to the dinosaurs.
There was a fun hands on room.
The kids acting like a Grizzly Bear.

And, of course, a picnic outside, under the shade of a tree.

New Shoes

2011-08-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

Solomon got a belated birthday present tonight in the mail (which arrived during bath). Let's just say Solomon was a little excited to wear his new shoes. He didn't seem to care that they didn't really match his outfit.

Super Hero Wednesday

2011-08-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

An interest in all things super hero has resurfaced in our house. This morning, Superman and Spiderman came to visit.

Two!

2011-08-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today, Solomon turned 2! What a great day to celebrate God's mercy to us all in healing our precious Solomon Hosea.

The morning started out with presents, of course.

Solomon loves, LOVES cameras, so he was thrilled to receive his very own camera from Asher.
Ezra made a birthday banner to hang up in the kitchen.
This evening we had lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (what can I say, Solomon has great taste!). Solomon was not at all happy with the fire on top of his cupcake (pretty sure he thought he didn't get it eat it).
But once the fire was out, he was much happier.

The key to happy cupcake eating is to eat it like an apple.
Happy birthday to our sweet son!
And yes, as an aside, Solomon does have a black eye. One might think after my post about his rough week two weeks ago, he should have no more bruises. This time around, his brother dropped a book from the top bunk onto his face. Poor kid.

Bike to Church

2011-08-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

The community in which we live is a big biking community. There are very few roads that don't have bike lanes. There are bike paths that connect the whole city. It's great.

Tonight there was a large festival of sorts downtown. The building that our church meets in is about 2 blocks from the main festivities, so we knew there would be no parking at church tonight (since all the parking is street parking). This being understood, Vince asked as many people that lived close enough to ride their bikes to church. The picture below is part of our church "parking lot" tonight.

After church, we rode our biked to enjoy some of the live music. Solomon enjoyed dancing to the music.
On the way home, Obed fell asleep, on Solomon, in the bike trailer. Solomon didn't really seem to mind.

A Tough Go

2011-08-01T12:02:00.001-07:00

While these pictures don't really do him justice, I've got to say Solomon has had a tough go the past 4 days. On Friday, he tripped and fell, hit his head on a picnic bench, then hit his face on the curb under the picnic bench. He cut his face and got a bruise from his ear all the way to his eye. Then on Sunday, he was standing at the backdoor, lost his balance, fell the two steps it takes to get to the concrete patio, and landed cheek first on the concrete, opened the cut on his face from Friday, and got some road rash on his cheek. Then today, 10 minutes before we were leaving for the dentist, he fell again (not sure how it happened this time, as I was in the laundry room folding laundry and just heard the thud and subsequent scream). But when I heard the boys yell, "there's blood. Lots of blood!" I ran out as quickly as I could to find blood... lots of blood. Solomon had managed to bust his lip, mouth and nose and was pouring forth lots of blood. It's always a treat explaining to any medical professional why your kid has so many cuts, bruises, scrapes, and a giant fat lip. "No really, Doctor, Solomon has low muscle tone so he loses his balance easily and falls a lot. I promise."

And Then There Were Three

2011-07-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

If you are one of the two long-time readers of this blog, you probably recall the time back in December of 2009 when Asher became our hillbilly son. Well, tonight Asher lost his first tooth, on his own, without the help of scary dental tools, goofy gas, Novocaine, or abscess. Way to go boy! And now, I shall sign off so I can head to the store to buy him a present to slip under his pillow.

Cousins!

2011-07-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

My younger sister, Megan, and her three kids are home from Brazil for several weeks and flew out to see us last week. We had a busy, fun-filled time and the cousins had a blast together.

On our first full day, we headed to the beach.

We also checked out some bikes from the bike library and went for a bike ride.
On Wednesday, we drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked around Sprague Lake.
The boys played with the hose (and washed all the floor mats from my car).
And on Thursday, we headed to the fountains in Old Town to play.

We're so thankful that Megan, Isaiah, Malachi and Naomi came for a visit. We had loads of fun and so enjoyed our time together!

Another Installment of Crazy Dress Up Night

2011-07-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

Last night we had another crazy dress up night. The boys thoroughly enjoy getting crazy clothing on and running around like wild.

Although the boys each started out with one crazy outfit, most of them ended with a different one. Ezra actually decided to go with six pairs of undies.

Ever seen an Arab with a spoon in his turban? Me neither.

After supper we headed outside for a bit of fun in the sprinklers and with the hose.

Vince, the ever compassionate father, keeling over with laughter as Solomon became totally paralyzed and screamed bloody murder any time the water touched him.

And a super fast slide to end the night.

Camping

2011-07-16T17:47:00.001-07:00

We went camping this week at Rocky Mountain National Park and had a lovely time. I mean seriously, how can you go wrong when this is the backdrop you both drive into and wake up to every morning?

On our way into the campground, a coyote lay down in the road right in front of us, stalking its next meal. We got to watch him try to catch some tasty coyote snack (although he never got it this time around, so we're not sure what it was).
Meal time!
The older kids decided to sit out on the rock at our campsite and eat the first night.

God provided us with two amazing sunsets.

Our friend, Elspeth, enjoying God's handiwork.
On Thursday we did a bit of hiking. We first hiked up to Nymph Lake, where we stopped for a bit of refueling.
There was an overly friendly (translated overly-fed-by-people) chipmunk that crawled right up to Asher and onto his shoe. He wasn't too sure how he felt about the overly friendly "wild" life.
Then we hiked on to Dream Lake, where we stopped for lunch.

On Friday, we packed up and headed out. After two nights of abnormal sleep and very slight naps, Solomon was pretty much a wreck. But it was nothing a bit of driving the car couldn't help while we loaded up the vehicles.

Fashion

2011-07-11T14:44:00.001-07:00

I have a sneaking suspicion (and I would hate to falsely accuse someone of such a heinous act) that someone has been showing Obed 80's rock videos as a source of fashion inspiration.

Beatin' The Heat

2011-07-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the best one to comment on heat, since I am a self-proclaimed complete and total heat weenie. With that understanding in mind, I gotta say, it's been HOT the past few weeks, and not just hot, but also humid (which makes "hot" all that more nasty). Today was another hot and sticky day and the boys were desperate to be outside, but unfortunately inherited their mother's heat-weenieness. So, we had to come up with a fun activity to "survive" the heat.

And what's more fun than a bowl full of water balloons?
The boys had a great time for the 38 seconds that the bowl full of water balloons lasted. And after the balloons were gone, we broke out the hose and I made some homemade frozen strawberry lemonade.

All in all, a great way to beat the heat of the day.

"Garden"

2011-07-09T13:41:00.001-07:00

I love the idea of having a beautiful garden. The truth is, however, that it's just not a priority for me right now. Yesterday, our "garden" finally got a bit of tending, which really meant we pulled the full bed of weeds that have been growing now since April. Now, all we have left in our garden are 2 large plants, 1 small plant, and a dying plant. Sad to say, it looks much better than it did before we weeded.

Solomon really wanted to help. Vince was inside and heard the backdoor open and went to see what was going on. Solomon went from the front yard, through the house, to the back yard, got a shovel from the sandbox, and then came back out front. He knew just what he wanted.

How To Scare A Mama

2011-07-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

Vince had some work to do on the roof yesterday (cleaning out the gutters, trimming the tree, etc.) and he told the boys if they wanted to get on the roof with him they could. Ezra and Asher were super excited to crawl up on the roof. Sure, it made my heart stop a little as I looked up, but once the boys were up there, they were both a little timid and willing to sit contentedly as Vince worked.

T-Ball

2011-07-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

Asher decided this spring that he wanted to play baseball. The problem, however, is that in order to play baseball in our city, it's a big commitment; a commitment this mama of a 5 year old was not ready to make (since we really didn't know if Asher actually even liked baseball!). So, I found a good alternative. There was a local sports program that offered a 4 day t-ball camp, for about 90 minutes each day, teaching the fundamentals of baseball/t-ball. Asher loved it, learned a lot, and the commitment time was pretty short.

He had a great week and we found it the perfect thing for our budding ball player.

Kitchen Helpers

2011-07-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

My boys like to help out in the kitchen. Ezra is old enough now that he can actually be of some help. Like today, he chopped all the fruit for a fruit salad for lunch (with a relatively dull knife, mind you). Obed's "help" is to put things on the plates once they are chopped, or in this case, put the chopped fruit in the bowl for the fruit salad. Solomon's "help" is to eat as much chopped fruit as he can shove into his mouth before Obed can grab it, occasionally fall off the chair (causing mommy to gasp with fright), and saying "deeeeeeeeese" anytime he sees me get the camera out. Needless to say, some are more helpful than others, but I want to nurture their desire, even if it does make lunch preparations twice as long. (As an aside, Asher likes to help too, but he was at T-ball camp today during our lunch preparations).

Today, We Broke The Rules

2011-07-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

House rules: we don't stand on the couches, bounce on the couches, stand or sit on the arms of the couch and we most certainly don't jump off the couches! But today? Today we broke the rule. It's sort of hot and sticky out today and the boys are overly tired from 3 very late nights in a row. My temptation is to put them all down for rest and have a bit of quiet... but instead we opted to make it a fun time of "disobedient distraction." And the boys had loads and loads of fun. There were even super-hero capes involved at one point.

What I'm Currently Reading

2011-07-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a quick blog about some of the books I'm currently reading. Each of these books I have found particularly helpful to my own walk and life.

The first is a book called 'By His Wound You Are Healed: How the Message of Ephesians Transforms a Woman's Identity'. I have only recently begun this book. I am using it for my morning devotions and have been greatly encouraged by the way the author makes the writings of Paul both very practical and applicable. The chapters are relatively short and each chapter has a section left for thoughts and reflections. A great way to start a morning (with a cup of coffee in hand, of course).

The second book (I actually just finished this evening) is one called 'Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches'. This book is super short and the chapters are only a few pages long each (translated: a quick, easy read). The author does a great job of writing candidly, with humor, about the challenges of parenting little ones, but also about redeeming all things to Christ. It was a great reminder to me that children are a blessing from the Lord and every moment, mundane as it may be, is a moment for praise and delighting in my kiddos.
"1000 Gifts" is a book by a woman who went through a horrible tragedy as a child, and yet through her deep and immense sufferings, she learned to be thankful in all situations. She began to write down things for which she was thankful, until she reached a list which was 1,000 items long. It's a book that has challenged me to find thankfulness, gratitude and contentment in all circumstances.
I am also reading 'The Heart of Anger' right now. I find that oftentimes, my initial response (when things don't go my way) is anger. Sure, it may come out as tears, sadness, frustration, name-the-emotion, but at the heart of it is anger. And I see this sin tendency very clearly in one of my kiddos. It's a great scripture-based book, looking at why the heart (both my own and my kid's heart) tend toward anger and how to battle this sin.
And lastly, I am reading 'Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids With the Love of Jesus'. I've only just begun this book, but I would say it is a must-read for any Christian parent. The authors faithfully remind the reader that it is God, and God alone, who saves and transforms our children. It is a fantastically refreshing reminder that no matter how good or poor of a job I do parenting, God is not bound by my sinful limitations and that He is ultimately in control of the souls of my kiddos. If you're a parent, read this. You won't regret it.

Susan, the Rooster

2011-06-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

You may, or may not, recall, that several months back, we got chickens. The chickens have grown significantly and one "chicken" was significantly taller than the other chickens, seemed a bit more aggressive, looked slightly different, was developing spurs, and occasionally made a strange noise that sounded nothing like a cluck. Sure, after all this, you are probably thinking, "dummy, you have a rooster!" And we did have a rooster (which is illegal within city limits). But seeing as how we've never tended chickens before, we were a little slow on figuring out that this bird, although named Susan, should actually have been called Steve.

Vince's dad (who was recently visiting) grew up on a farm, and being very familiar with chickens, knew immediately that Susan was in fact Steve. So, on Friday of this past week, Vince and Randy caught Susan (using the chicken catcher that Randy brought with him) in order to return it to the feed store.

I have read that it is very difficult to introduce a new chicken to a brood and suggested that maybe we just be content with 5 chickens rather than 6. The problem arose, however, once Vince and the boys arrived at the feed store and Asher said, "I can't watch them put Susan in the cage. I just can't watch" as tears welled in his eyes. Then Ezra said, "it's okay Asher, we can come and visit Susan at the feed store." From there, it turned emotional and Vince and Asher arrived home with a new baby chicken. Seriously, could you have looked into those big, brown, teary eyes and said no?
The funny part of the story is that upon further study, the chicken Asher picked out is called the Jersey Giant. It was once bred to try to replace the turkey. So while our other chickens will weigh between 4-6 pounds each, Rumblebuffin (the name of the newest chick) will weigh in at a whopping 13 pounds. So, even if the other chickens try to peck it to death as we introduce her to the brood, all she really has to do is threaten to sit on the other hens an I think she'll be just fine.

A Visit With Grandma and Grandpa

2011-06-27T18:34:00.001-07:00

The Original Plan:

I fly to St. Louis with all the boys. We visit my family for a few days in St. Louis and then Vince's mom comes to pick up the older three boys to take them for a fun week at Grandma's and Grandpa's while I fly home with Solomon. Then Grandma and Grandpa drive out to Colorado to deposit the boys back at home.

The Way It Really Went:

I flew to St. Louis with all the boys, and it went remarkably smooth. We did lots of fun things while we were there. On Saturday, we got a call that Vince's grandmother (Vince's mom's mom) had died suddenly (but not unexpectedly). So Vince did church on Sunday and then drove to St. Louis on Monday. He then headed to Illinois on Tuesday to do his grandmother's funeral while the boys and I hung tight in St. Louis. Then on Wednesday, the boys and I headed down to Grandma's and Grandpa's (in Cape Girardeau, MO) to try to pack a week's worth of fun into 2 1/2 days. I think we did pretty well and believe it was a good distraction for Vince's mom to have a house full of boys after such a difficult week.

We started out Wednesday night catching fire flies. A first for Obed.

Solomon and Grandpa got some good reading time.
We went fishing one morning, which the boys loved!

We also got do to a bit of boating.

We got to go to the new splash park in Cape as well.

And of course, there's playing in a giant box. What's more fun than that for boys?
In spite of deep sadness in losing Vince's grandmother, the boys had a great, great amended time. We're thankful for sweet memories.

Trucks With Papa

2011-06-14T18:07:00.001-07:00

The Magic House

2011-06-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today, our last full day in St. Louis, was a bit rainy and overcast, so we decided to head to The Magic House (The St. Louis Children's Museum) for some indoor fun. And did the boys ever have fun!

There was the fun of learning about letters.

Fun banging on drums.
Fun making things spin.
Fun sitting on a giant mushroom (that's fun, right?).
Super fun making face impressions.

Fun driving.

Lots of fun with different types of balls and ball machines.

Apparently this ball was extra, extra fun, as you can tell by Obed's face.

There was fun with things that were at the museum when I was a kid, like fun with pulleys.
Fun with Morse Code.
Fun with phones.

And the super fun, super slide that spirals down three stories.

There was sand table fun.
And fun at the water tables.
However, Solomon did not think the smocks for the water table were fun at all.
There was fun watching the boys fish.
And fun fishing.

And of course, there was fun banging on a random metal box.
Asher particularly liked the mechanic's area. He had loads of fun working on the car.

And fun working at the pizza parlor.

Just a fun, fun day.

St. Louis Zoo

2011-06-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

Today we headed to the St. Louis Zoo to meet up with the boys' cousins, Tobin and Corwin. It was a lovely morning and we thoroughly enjoyed walking through the zoo, seeing all sorts of God's amazing creatures!

Obed and Solomon enjoyed the giraffes. There was a baby giraffe which was so cute!

Asher, looking at the grizzly bears.Touching a tiger pelt.

We enjoyed the penguins, in spite of the fact that Solomon and I got totally soaked by a King Penguin doing some fancy swimming in his pool.

God's creativity in making so many different types and colors of animals is amazing.

We stopped for a snack in the shade and the boys enjoyed watching the zoo train go past.
The cousins, minus Corwin.
The rhino, in the back ground.
The boys got to touch a rhino tusk.
Our favorite exhibit was the hippos. The boys loved standing right at the glass as the hippos swam right next to them.

And to close out our time, Aunt Holly and Uncle Rob bought train tickets for the boys so they could ride the zoo train back to the entrance in which we came.

Whittles

2011-06-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a train store called Whittles. It's just a store that sells wooden trains and train tracks and then has about 5 different train tables, each covered with trains, tracks, cities, etc. Solomon just ran from table to table, making his train noise. He's just entered the "crazy about trains" phase, so he had a great time.

The other boys enjoyed it as well. We just about had the store to ourselves, so it was a nice place to hang, out of the heat.

Missouri Botanical Gardens

2011-06-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Friday morning, we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. There's a great kids play area at the gardens which the boys thoroughly enjoyed. The kids play area has one section that has a river with a hands-on lock and dam. The boys, along with their cousins Callie and Jacob, spent about an hour floating the boats through the locks. They had a great time.

Then they played at the splash area for a bit. Solomon was not too sure about water. Every time he got wet, he sort of shied away and fussed.
But then he discovered he could climb up on the different play things and he was content.

Tilles Park

2011-06-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

Thursday afternoon we headed over to a park called Tilles Park. It was insanely hot and humid, and Tilles Park has a fun splash pad. The boys loved both the park and the splash pad.

Grant's Farm

2011-06-09T11:14:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Grant's Farm in St. Louis. We started out feeding the baby goats.

Initially, we went into the goat pen to feed them, but after Asher dropped his bottles and started screaming, "I CAN'T DO THIS!!" I figured the onslaught of hungry baby goats might be a bit much for the boys to handle. So we moved outside the pen and fed them through the slats.

Then we moved to the carousal. Ezra and Asher loved it. Obed and Solomon didn't really care to try.

Then we cooled off with some snow cones (since it was a billion degrees with a trillion percent humidity... okay, maybe that's a wee bit of an exaggeration, but it was hot and very humid, which makes this dry-climate girl think the heat is crazy hot!)

We ended our visit at Grant's Farm watching the animal show. We watched a Macaw roller skate and put a puzzle together, two rats race up and down the arms of volunteers, a pig go through an obstacle course and we learned about an owl whose eyeballs are 5 pounds each. All in all, a hot, but very fun morning!

The Progression Of A Blue Raspberry Snow Cone

2011-06-09T11:12:00.001-07:00

Shootin'

2011-06-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

The boys and I are currently in Missouri, visiting Grammy and Papa. Papa has a BB gun that all of the boys got to shoot last night.

Obed was not too sure about standing on the chair, and he didn't really care about aiming at the target. He just wanted to, "push the button."

Ezra tried to hit the target.

Asher tried as well. No one actually hit the target, but they had a great time trying.

Squished

2011-06-05T09:01:00.001-07:00

Sure, we have a giant soaker tub in the basement. But on this night, all 4 boys wanted to cram into the single person tub upstairs.

Baby's New Do

2011-06-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

It was time. Out came the "hair plane" (what the boys call the clippers) and buzzed off his sweet baby curls.

My Dumb Dog

2011-05-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

I must admit, that most of the time, Warnie is little more than a nuisance to me. With 4 young boys, he's just one more thing during the day that needs tending to. But, there are times he makes me laugh. For instance, every time he curls up on the carpet by the back door, the curtain causes him issues and he ends up as Mother Superior Warnie.

Or there's his deep fascination with the chickens. Being a bird dog, I know his instincts are telling him to pursue them. But the constant, "no Warnie, no Warnie" chiming in his ear from his people stops him. Yesterday, he was laying on the ground and a chicken came up and pecked his nose. He did nothing. Yes, he's a nuisance, but he's also a great dog.

Soccer

2011-05-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ezra's last soccer game was on Saturday. He had a fantastic time playing and was quite disappointed after the game, knowing that he won't get to play again until the Fall. Here's just a few shots from his last game.

Coconuts

2011-05-18T17:54:00.002-07:00

Last week I brought a coconut home from the store. I thought it would be fun for the boys to try fresh coconut. So, as any good and handyman-type husband would, Vince got out the drill to open up the coconut.

First, the boys tried the coconut milk. They all agreed it was "kind of good and kind of not good."

Then came the task of opening up the coconut for the actual meat. First, of course, Vince tried the hand saw.
Then he smashed the coconut on the garage floor with a hammer.
But really, all this was pretty worthless because most of the boys were relatively certain that I was asking them to eat poison when they tasted the coconut. They H-A-T-E-D it... and really, I can't blame them. I'm not a fan either.

Ducks

2011-05-18T17:54:00.001-07:00

Last night, we walked out our front door, and there were 2 ducks hanging out in our front yard. I found it funny.

A Fun Family Day

2011-05-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

Typically, Fridays are Vince's day off and we try to do some sort of family activity. This week, however, Vince has a regional Acts 29 conference, so he's going to be in Denver all day. That being said, he took today off instead and we spent the day doing family stuff.

Since the forecast for today was rain, rain and a bit more rain, we started with a trip to one of the city pools, a great indoor activity. The boys had a fabulous time swimming for about 2 hours! (No pictures though since none of our kids can actually swim, despite their belief that they can, swimming with the boys requires both mom and dad in the water).

We then grabbed lunch at a local Mexican food restaurant and then headed home so the littles of the family could rest. After rest, we built a fire, and Vince read from "The Silver Chair" for a bit. Then we roasted hot dogs over the fire and had a "camping supper" picnic on the floor.

And of course, no camping supper is complete without S'mores.

We had a fabulous time today. In the midst of a particularly busy season in life, I'm thankful for our weekly family days that help keep us grounded in knowing what our true priorities need to be.

Birthday Bike

2011-05-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

We were going to surprise Ezra with a new bike on his birthday, but the weather tomorrow is supposed to be n-a-s-t-y. And what is more torturous for a child than to get a new bike and NOT be able to ride it? That being said, today is crazy beautiful, with bright blue skies and a high of 70, so we opted to give him an early birthday present so he could use it today before the rain and wind arrive tonight.

We rode to a park not too far from our house and had a picnic.

Apparently a lot of people have fed the squirrels at the park because they come really, really close (it actually creeped me out... especially when it was behind me and I couldn't see how close it was. I had visions of that nasty squirrel rodent jumping on my back).
There is a little stream that runs through this particular park and the boys enjoyed playing by it after lunch. Asher found a watch in the water. Yes, it's a pink watch, but he insists it's "pinkish-red" so it's okay for a boy to wear.

Happy, happy birthday to Ezra!

Mustache May

2011-05-09T20:54:00.001-07:00

Black Beans

2011-05-09T20:49:00.001-07:00

About three years ago, I posted a similar picture of Obed, having just finished his black beans. All the boys have loved black beans. And all the boys have gotten crazy messy eating them... especially when the beans are pureed and the child is given a spoon of his own. Holy messes Batman!

A Birthday Camping Trip

2011-05-08T09:07:00.001-07:00

Ezra will turn 7 on Wednesday, and this year for his birthday, he decided he wanted to go camping. So this past Thursday, we loaded up the car and headed up the mountain to a camping spot about 45 minutes away.

The camping site was just about as perfect as it gets. Tall Ponderosa Pines (giving the required Colorado camping smell), shaded tent spots, right on a river... perfect!
Some good friends of ours met us there and we spent about 48 hours enjoying God's creation, fun adventures, and time with friends.

On Thursday night, we celebrated Ezra's birthday.
His friends made him a really cool homemade Find It for a present. Ezra has already enjoyed it quite a bit and even brought it to bed with him last night.
Then we had cupcakes to celebrate my almost-7-year-old.

Every night we spent time around the campfire.

We spent time relaxing the hammock.

The kids spent most of their time at the river. It's still pretty low, so it was a relatively safe place for them to play. All the kids enjoyed building boats out of bark and sticks and floating them down the river and through handmade obstacle courses.

Solomon sat contentedly for long stretches of time, dropping rocks into little puddles. He didn't really care that he was sitting in a cold puddle of water, totally soaked.

On Friday, we went on a 90 minute hike through one of the gulches near by.
There were 5 different water crossings on our relatively short hike. Quite a fun adventure for all the kids!

Then on Friday night we made S'mores.

The kids love wearing their headlamps. They were all playing "There's A Moose In The House" on this particular night.
And of course, Obed is always available to bring unintended laughter.
We had a fantastic time! I am so thankful for God's amazingly beautiful creation, good friends with whom to share the experience, and most of all, for my precious, soon-to-be-7-years old son, Ezra. Happy birthday!!

Flowering Trees

2011-05-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my sister and I were talking about springtime and she asked me if we had any flowering trees in Colorado, to which I answered, "I don't know." We both assumed that we must not have flowering trees because if we did, I surely would have noticed them. They're just too beautiful not to notice.

In recent weeks, as I have driven, walked and biked around town, it has been impossible to go down any street without seeing (and smelling) some sort of flowering tree. I guess my assumption was wrong.

As I was planting some flowers today, it dawned on me that although last year was our first spring in Colorado, we were dealing with all of Solomon's medical issues, and spring came and went, completely and totally unnoticed by me, as did summer, and some of fall.

So, even though this spring is technically our second spring in Colorado, it's the first spring I'm really aware of and I'm so thankful for the amazing beauty all around.

A Beautiful Day To Eat Outside

2011-05-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Brothers

2011-05-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ezra and Asher are the best of friends. I often hope that Obed and Solomon will be great buddies too. Today, I found them lying in bed together, playing dinosaurs. Hoping their sweetness continues!

A Trip to The Nursery

2011-04-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

We went to the nursery today (plant, not baby) to get a few plants for our yard. The boys enjoyed riding on the plant wagon (although Solomon made his train noise the whole time).

Resurrection Cookies

2011-04-24T19:48:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine recently sent me a recipe for "Resurrection Cookies," which we made with the boys last night. It was a great and simple Easter activity for kids.

The recipe starts out with crushing pecans, representing the way Christ was beaten.

Then a bit of vinegar is added, representing the vinegar that was offered to Christ as he hung on the cross. All the boys took a sniff of the stinky liquid.
There were egg whites, representing life.
Solomon was wanting to participate, so his job was to dump air into the mixing bowl, which was a good thing for him to dump since he was so busy looking at the camera saying "Cheese!" and not really watching where he was dumping his air.
Asher added the salt, which represented tears.
Vince and Ezra discussing what it means to be born again.
Then we mixed in the nuts.
And put them on the cookie sheet.

We sealed the oven with both rocks, like the tomb,
And sealed it with tape, like the tomb was sealed.
The cookies were hollow(ish) on the inside, representing the empty tomb. The boys enjoyed making the cookies and it was a great hands-on activity for little hands to help communicate some of the significance of Easter.

Mr. Fox

2011-04-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Mr. Fox was visiting tonight, trying to woo the ladies out (or figure out a way to break in). He even danced on the roof of the coop.

365 Days

2011-04-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

One year. It’s hard to believe it was a year ago today that Solomon had his first seizure. I remember that morning well, and the subsequent days are seared into my mind’s eye. I remember standing in the doctor’s office weeping as the doctor explained to me Solomon’s diagnosis. I remember sitting and trying to calm myself before I drove home, watching an ant crawl across the carpet in the doctor’s office, trying to drag a cheerio with it. I remember going out to the car to call Vince and tell him the news, starting the flood of tears all over again. It was hot in the car. I remember the day we had our first meeting with the neurologist; it was a rainy morning. I remember the solemn, serious look on the neurologist’s face as she told us that the abnormal brain activity on Solomon’s EEG was extremely severe and his prognosis was very grave. I remember the days following well. I was numb. Those days were, by far, the darkest days I have faced thus far in my life. Life as we knew it very quickly and dramatically changed in a short, 24 hour period.

One year later, as I reflect, the thing I keep coming back to today is that life, once again, feels normal. I don’t find myself watching Solomon constantly, waiting for the next seizure to start, wondering if every little jerk and movement is the start of a new one. There are days I still struggle with fear. There are times I still find myself wondering if this movement or that tongue click is the beginning of a seizure. But all in all, life feels normal again.

I remember when Solomon got sick, I ached for the old "normal." I didn't want the new normal we were facing, and yet today, I’m thankful that I've known both the new and the old. I’m thankful to God because I can appreciate the beauty of predictability because I have seen God sustain me in the midst of the destruction of “normal.”

Today, I am thankful for Solomon’s health; more thankful than any words or utterances could ever express. But beyond that, I am thankful for a God who is constant and always present, regardless of what “normal” looks like.