Reflections on the Year

Last year we started a doing a 'Time Capsule' with the kids on New Years Eve.  We had fun looking back at 2011 when we opened last year's capsule...and it was also interesting seeing 2012 from their eyes.

When I think back on 2012, I think about how difficult this year was for us.  We lost Jut's dad on March 1st.  The kids didn't mention that significant event...I doubt X even remembers it.  My grandfather passed away at the end of April.  The kids didn't think about that either...however, that didn't hold much significance for them except for the excitement of seeing their other cousins.

However, for Jut and I, both those events were life altering.  Life will never be the same as it was when 2012 started.  Jut still had his dad...a very sick dad...but still his dad.  I still had my grandfather...and an intact family.  So much has changed.  With the passing of my grandfather, their estate had to be settled.  Never in my wildest imagination did I ever envision the fallout of settling the estate.  Family dinners and gatherings with the extended family are no more.  It has been a hard road to travel...and I am just a bystander of a grandchild.  The struggle of the generation above me has been awful as this has all unraveled.

Those are the two events that stick out in my mind when I think about 2012.  However, the year wasn't all struggle and turmoil.  We got the joy of watching C blossom from infancy to toddlerhood.  Today he finally gave up crawling.  Walking is now his preferred mode of transportation.  He's vocal and can signal what he wants.  My baby is gone...a little baby that started the year without teeth now has 10.  A little baby that survived on milk now eats and eats and eats whatever you feed him.  There is so much joy in watching life bloom and grow.

Also, we had a phenomenal vacation this summer...it even made it on the 'best things of 2012' for E.  We rented a house on a bay near TC with another family and just escaped life for a week.  It was great.  No church issues...no school (for Jut)...just family and friends.  It was perfect.

There were other things that made the year interesting, too...Jut assumed the role of 'lead minister'.  We had our first ER visit with X and his bout of pneumonia.  We experienced our first ambulance ride with C when he drank my bottle of essential oils.  E started kindergarten this fall at home.  That has been an exciting journey.

We look forward to the new joys, adventures and challenges that wait for us in 2013.  We will be so excited for Jut to finish his coursework and graduate with his Masters in Missional Leadership this spring.  We look forward (with much anticipation and some anxiety) to buying my grandparents' house and the extensive remodeling project that will follow.  E will be in her first dance recital this spring...X and C will continue to grow and blossom and be too cute for their own good.  A new member will be joining the extended family in June and the kids will have their first 'real' first cousin.  Exciting times.   We are looking forward to 2013!

One of those Moments I Don't Want to Forget

This actually happened the first Sunday in October but I keep forgetting about it until someone else brings it up...and it did make quite the impact because someone reminds us of it every week or so.

The month of October we had one combined service at church.  The first Sunday was a PACKED house.  We were squeezed in with few extra spaces.  We choose to keep our kids in the sanctuary until the sermon.  The boys can get a bit squirmy by the end of communion but we feel that it is important to worship as a family.

So anyway, the church was packed.  Jut had left the pew getting ready to do his thing.  X was sitting on my lap saying, "Mom, I'm thirsty.  I smell water.". I tell him it is almost time to leave and we'll get a drink when we leave.  Then, Jut dismisses the kids.  So, I tell X it is time to leave, put him in the aisle, grab all our stuff, collect C and am working to shoo E out of the pew when I hear Jut say from the podium, "Hey, Buddy.  What do you need?". Jut had walked up on to the stage and turned around and there was X standing on his heels.

I look up at Jut's words and there is X standing on stage next to Jut.  Everyone laughed.  X looked a bit bashful when he noticed the room full of people staring at him but he said, "Dad, I'm thirsty." Jut quoted a bit of Scripture about asking for a drink and gave X a drink from his cup.  To which X replied,"Thanks". Jut suggested going to class and away he went...by this time I was waiting for him at the base of the stage.  Both of us were pretty embarrassed by the whole scenario, but it was pretty sweet at the same time.  It broke any tension that existed in the room that day.  It is amazing what an impact it had on the congregation...as I previously stated, people mention it to us almost weekly.

It was a special moment that I wished the floor would open up and swallow us at that particular second but now it is one of those memories I know I will treasure in my heart.

Happy Holloween!

Okay, this post is a month late, but I just downloaded the pics from the camera and I decided that the munchkins were too cute not to document.

X and E changed outfits from our trick or treating adventure at Huckleberry Railroad.  Thankfully, C didn't have such opinions.

 X got a couple of costumes from his birthday and decided he wanted to be 'Pirate Chica'...I didn't bother to tell him 'chica' is Spanish for girl.  He thought it sounded cool.  Sprout has a little chicken that was 'pirate chica' one day.  He thought it was a good name, I guess. Besides, he was still 2.  One can get away with a lot when you are two and cute.

Notice the sword that is as tall as he is...Thank you, Grandma.  What a wonderful birthday present that was...However, I do understand that pirates need swords.  I just wasn't thinking he needed a 3 foot long sword. 

E decided that she did not want to be a pioneer...after all she dresses up as that weekly.  She wanted to be a fairy princess.  It was quite the costume she concocted from all her dress up clothes.  Her outfit was only established the final minutes before we left because it kept changing.  Pay special attention to her footwear. It screams fairy princess.  Strawberry Shortcake socks and sparkly flats loaded with bling.  Unfortunately, it was cold.  So, E had to wear her coat and so most people didn't get to see the wings and the top half of her ensemble. 

  
The funniest thing of the night was that when we got to my folks' house, X was so exhausted he practically fell asleep standing up in the doorway.  My dad scooped him up and he soundly slept for our visit, the car ride home, and to the next morning.  He didn't even remember going out there.  Poor little guy that can't nap anymore can't handle being out after 7:30.  :)  But, one must admit, it is too exciting to nap on Halloween...you might miss the trick or treating!

Thankfully, C goes along for the ride and did well with all the excitement...but then again, Halloween didn't bother his napping habits.

First Snow

Last Sunday, we had our first snow of the season.  We didn't know it was coming.  It was a surprise.  X walked down the stairs in the morning and exclaimed, "Mom, its Christmas!" when he saw the ground covered in white.  E and X were beyond excited.  There is something magical about the first snow through a child's eyes.  Both kiddos just wanted to go outside and play, but it was Sunday and we had to get to church. 

As soon as we got home, X put on his hat and mittens.  E changed into her snow gear and out the door they flew.  They had so much fun playing in the snow.  There really wasn't very much...just enough to coat the grass but it was enough.

My pictures didn't turn out very well...I'm not sure what was going on with the camera, but they had fun.  It was nice because they weren't in the kitchen begging for food while we were cooking.  There was definitely an up side to this snow!!  :)

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy gave us this amazing sunset at the end of October.  I didn't even get a picture at the peak of its color.  It was amazingly beautiful.  My pictures don't do it justice but it was phenomenal.

Happy Thanksgiving

I helped the kids make a Thanksgiving Turkey.  I thought I'd share.  I wrote X's thanksgivings on the left side of the turkey and E wrote her own on the right side.  X's list:  Thanksgiving food, Grandma Daron, Grandpa and Grandma, Home, Turkey and Healthy body.  E's list:  Mom and Dad, Food, Hand, God, Eyes and Grandpa and Grandma.

I love how their minds work.  I always find their thoughts interesting and sometimes they really surprise me what they come up with.   But, I am also thankful for everything on their list.

I am thankful for so many things.  I'm thankful for my husband and all the hard work he's doing to complete his Master's degree and his attempts to juggle family, school and work.   I'm thankful for my parents that are close by and support us with so many things.  I'm thankful for my kids that keep me on my toes every single day and keep me from getting bored.  I'm thankful for our church family that supports us financially and with prayers.  I'm thankful that the Lord has blessed our family with health.    God has so richly blessed us and I am so thankful for His mercy and grace.  Our blessings are too numerous to count...and for that I am thankful.

This one will go down in our family history books...

Tonight was a normal evening.  Kids got bathed.  Kids got on their pjs.  Kids got their teeth brushed.  Kids picked out books to read.  Then, the unusual happened...

Jut was downstairs with his mom and I was reading to the kids.  All of a sudden, C started screaming.  I looked and he had somehow opened my full bottle of Thieves blend essential oils and had it streaming out of his mouth.  There was a pool on the floor and he was screaming.  I rub a drop of it it under my nose when I have a cold and it burns my lips if it gets too close.  I can't imagine the pain he was in since he took a mouthful of the stuff.  I yell for Jut to call poison control...should he drink milk or water...drink or throw up?  All questions that poison control can answer. 

Since Jut didn't have the number for poison control on his phone, he calls 911.  The operator can't even figure out what essential oils are...let alone be much help.  As I can quickly see that his conversation isn't going anywhere, I run downstairs and call poison control.  C is screaming and thrashing.  I talk to poison control and he tells me that he'll be fine...it just really hurts him and he needs to drink something, anything to wash the stuff out of his mouth.  By the time I am done with poison control, we have a police officer in our house...then there's another police officer in our house...then the ambulance shows up and we have two EMTs in the house.  I guess when a child is involved in a 911 call, an ambulance is automatically dispatched to the scene.  Lovely.  So, C gets evaluated.  When the first cop showed up, he stopped screaming because this was all new and interesting and as each additional person showed up, he became more and more intrigued. 

So, the EMTs evaluated it.  The area around his mouth was fiery red.  He sounded extremely phlegmy. He was drooling like crazy.  The EMTs recommended that he take a precautionary trip to the ER based on those symptoms...plus he had really started thrashing and carrying on again.  They were worried about his breathing and potential reactions like tongue swelling or throat closing.  I told them that poison control said it really wasn't a big deal but they still cautioned that a trip to ER would be the safe thing to do based on his presented symptoms.  So, C and I headed out to the ambulance and went for a ride.  They buckled him in and gave him a little stuffed animal.  He was wide-eyed at the new experience.

Now, the funny thing about it was...C was extremely odoriferous.  All the responders mentioned how much the house smelled of eucalyptus.  We got in the ambulance and they turned on the vents.  We walked in the hospital and the nurses commented on how nice he smelled...and how overpowering it was.  They quickly got me a gown for C so that we could take off his oil soaked pjs and sealed them up in a bag.  When Mom and Dad arrived, they said that they could smell it when they walked into the ER.  At least we gave the ER a pleasant smell.

The nurses gave us pedilite and formula...I think C drank about 6 ozs of each...maybe even 8 of the pedilite.  He calmed down.  They called poison control and shockingly they told the hospital the exact same thing that they told me.  That it wasn't anything serious and that he needed to drink some fluids.  They sent us home in about an hour or so.  Moral of the story:  Listen to poison control.  They know what they are talking about.  Don't let the EMTs scare you into worse case scenarios.  However, our EMTs were great and I'm thankful that they were thorough.  Better to be safe than sorry.

C was quite the charmer at the hospital.  He visited the nurses station and made lots of new friends.  He giggled and laughed and threw himself around enough to make the nurses nervous that he was going to hurt himself.  Fun times.

He does have a bit of a double ear infection the PA told me.  It isn't bad enough to warrant antibiotics yet but if he becomes inconsolable in the next few days...that would be her number one suspicion.  Fun, fun.

Now to get the smell out of our house...that might take a few days.  :)

X is 3!

X celebrated his 3rd birthday today.  It is hard to believe he is three.  I can't pretend he's still a toddler.  He's now a 'preschooler'.  Crazy.  Where did my little guy go?

Well, if we are speaking of physical stature, he still is my little guy.  His 2T clothes fit him perfectly now.  He grew his typical 1.5 inches for the past six months but no more.  It doesn't appear that he inherited the tall genes from our families.  C is already taller than X was at 18 months.  But, he is growing and hopefully the dr doesn't have too many concerns next week at his checkup.

Speaking of doctors, we visited the allergist last month.  We didn't get him retested but did confer with the dr about how all the food allergies of dairy, wheat, soy and eggs seemed to have dissipated.  The nut allergy is severe. X falls asleep when he has one and the dr told me that was his body shutting down, and that nuts will kill him if we don't keep him away from them.  It was a bit of a reality check for me about the severity of his allergy.  He's gotten into them 4 times since his diagnosis and hopefully will not again!  Our vigilance has been heightened. 

Listening to X play is one of my favorite things.  He's so imaginative and fun.  He uses different voices and facial expressions.  He's adorable.  He and E play together so well (most of the time).  Its great.  He mimics E and what she says.  They both pretend play like they are characters in a storybook and will say things like, "'blah, blah, blah,' said the farmer."  It cracks me up  They like to dress up too.  E is constantly dressing X up in her various princess or fairy costumes.  Consequently, X got some 'boy' dress up clothes for his birthday.  But, he loves dressing up and playing.  He has a great imagination.

X still LOVES Thomas but not as much.  We don't always have to watch Thomas movies or Thomas on the television.  He plays with other things.  Playing in the dirt with his construction trucks is one of his favorite things.  We made him an indoor sandbox for his birthday and he's been playing non-stop with it since Sunday.  So, he does play with things that are NOT Thomas sometimes.  But, he still plays with his motorized track and engines quite a bit.

I love listening to X.  He has a the cutiest little voice...at age 5 it might be annoying if it doesn't change but at age 3, it is just adorable.  His "th" sound is missing at the beginning of words...so he says "fank you" instead of 'thank you', but otherwise he does pretty well with his sounds.  I don't always understand him because he talks fast or quietly but if he speaks up, I can usually understand him. 

He's a ball of energy that goes and goes.  He loves riding his balance bike.  Everyone comments on it when we are out and about.  He loves zooming around.  He only had one accident on it this summer when he kissed the sidewalk after nearly colliding with our neighbors car.  He can balance so well when riding that I think a 'real' bike will be a cake-walk for him when the time is right.

 

Naps are a thing of the past but bedtime comes earlier.  So, that's good.  On Halloween, he was so tired that upon arrival to G'pa and G'ma's house (just before 8), he promptly fell asleep in G'pa's arms and when he woke up the next morning, he didn't even remember going out to their house.

Age 2 was fun.  I can't wait to see how my little guy changes in the next year.  I'm sure it will be filled with lots of laughter!

We are blessed.

The Spook Train

When we visited Crossroads Village this summer, they advertised their Halloween extravaganza very effectively.  E was all about going back and riding the "Spook Train" at Halloween and trick or treating.  She didn't let us or X forget about the special event going on there in October.  So, both kids were begging to go.  We decided that it would be the boys' 'fun' birthday outing.  Last week when it was 70 degrees, we packed up the kids and headed over to Genessee county.

E chose to wear her pioneer costume (shocker, right?!).   C was a lion.  X chose to be a bumblebee.  They were ready for some trick or treating.  The setup was pretty cool.  Inside the village, twenty of the houses/buildings were trick or treat stations.  They had everything decorated.  Most of the houses/buildings were decorated in a theme.  It was neat.

The last stop was for cider and donuts.  We brought a picnic supper with us and so we ate it there.

Doors opened at 5...of course, we didn't get there until 6.  We couldn't get tickets for the 7 something train.  So, we chose to ride the 8:20 train. That was cool to ride it in the total dark...but it was bad for pictures.

Waiting for the passengers to board.  We only had one other family join us in our car.

 E waiting...

 X waiting...

 Jut and C waiting...

The train ride's gentle sway put C right to sleep

My only picture of the decor that turned out.  This part was the 'haunted' woods.  It was just plastered with skeltons and skeleton parts in the trees. It was neat.  They had the entire 40-minute pass decorated with different things.  My favorite was the ghost train...the old steam engine all decorated...however the pirates were pretty neat too.

It was a fun evening for the family.  The kids loved it and Jut and I love watching them and all the other people dressed up at the village.  X did have major costume envy when a little guy wearing Thomas came by...I thought we were going to lose him and he was going to follow Thomas home.  But, it was a good time.  And, I'm so thankful we went when it was 70 degrees and not this week in the 40s!

5 Reasons Never to Invite the Minister and Family over for Dinner

5.  They are late.  Always late.  Constantly late.  18 minutes late.  No calls, no texts...just inexcusably late..and cause the noodles to turn to bricks.  (Justification:  winter arrived and I had to find suitable hats & coats for the weather and then convince the kids it was no longer summer and they had to wear their coats and hats and then proceed to bundle them up in said hats and coats...plus it took at least 5 minutes longer to reach their house than we anticipated...did I mention we have 3 kids to herd??)

4.  They are LOUD!  The kids run around like crazy and SCREECH!  They will make you deaf in just one evening.  (Justification:  They are loud...but they were having fun with the other kids...and the screeching...yeah, we are working on that.  Rumor has it that his voice will lower in 10 years or so.)

3.  They are busy.  Their parents don't watch them and cause your family to chase them down.  The poor high schooler had to chase the baby up the stairs twenty times (and I'm not exaggerating...she counted). (Justification:  it was late and they were tired...and it kept the baby from crying.)

2.  They can't keep their food on the table.  X and E are getting better, but it was still very apparent where they sat and that baby...He throws it everywhere.  (Justification:  Self-feeding is progressing but not a science...for any of them.  We were very thankful for the pooch that cleaned the floor when we were finished.  Makes me think we need one of those.)

1.  They pee on the floor.  Okay...maybe not 'they'...just a 'he'.  The baby ran away in the middle of a diaper change and proceeded to urinate on the floor.  (Justification:  He's quick and not much fun to diaper...I was getting up to get him when he had his accident.  Plus at home, he is use to undiapered time between changes but he sits on the potty first to eliminate the chance of accidents.)

Yeah...we had a stellar night.  Thankfully our host family has 4 children and didn't bat an eye, but upon returning home and reflecting on the evening, I was appalled.  We are insane.  I hope no one invites us over for a long, long time...and maybe I'll warn them and sent them this blog before we head over.

C is 12 months! Happy 1st Birthday!!

My baby was a year old yesterday.  He has officially left the 'baby' stage behind.  We had a fun day celebrating his and X's birthdays with the family.  It was a great day!

C just keeps on trucking along.  He can crawl so fast that he doesn't really attempt to walk very much. However, he's cruising right along holding on to things.  He can walk the little push toys right across the floor without trouble.  He can go from one side of the couch to another without problem.  He'll hold on to one of your hands and walk along.  Independent walking isn't too far away and then I'll never be able to catch up with him.

He's finally sleeping through the night again.  We had a month spell or so that he gave that up but for the past week and a half things have been going well again.  However, I hear him coughing through the monitor and I'm thinking we won't be so lucky tonight.

 Jabbering has really taken off.  He 'talks' and 'talks'.  One of these days we'll know what he's saying other than "Mom-ma, mom-ma" or "Da-da, Da-da".

He's quite the little dancer.  If there is music playing, his little body is moving.  He is cute!  Babies are so adorable when they dance!

C's favorite books are "I Love You Through and Through" and a touch and feel animal book.  I keep thinking he'll change and decide he wants a different one, but nope...those are his two books.  He loves to sit in his room and 'read' while I shower.  We also have a big TV box in there that he loves to climb in and play 'peak-a-boo' with whomever happens to be in the room with him.  He's adorable.

My little man is a fun little guy right now.  We have lots of fun.  He loves knocking down towers, chasing E and X around the house, locating and tormenting the cat and finding mischief wherever else he can (which is not difficult around here).  He loves exploring the school corner to see what fun things didn't get taken care of that he can chew on.

He started drawing for the first time yesterday in church.  He thought making lines was a pretty cool ability. 

Life is good.  We are blessed!

My cuties at about 11 months...

Everyone tells me that C looks just like his brother.  While I do agree that they do have similar features, tend to see more  E in C than I do X.  However, they are all their own person and have features that look similar and features that are completely unique to them.  Aren't genetics interesting?!

Here's a look at them all today...

It is so much easier to get a picture when they are almost 1 and just love smiling for the camera...

What are they doing????

Can you guess what my monkeys are doing?

I had to ask because I couldn't tell

Although, maybe it is obvious to you

and just I was lacking a scope of imagination

because they certainly were enjoying themselves

while they were dressed in their bathing suits pretending to water ski.

Beginning Dance

We enrolled E in dance this fall.  She was so excited.  When she'd say prayer for a meal, she'd always include, "Thank you that I can go to dance."  Seriously super excited.  That was probably an understatement.

Our wonderful [former] neighbors went to dance and E always thought that it sounded like fun.  When I talked to their mom about starting dance, she graciously gave E a bunch of leotards.  It made E's day.

On the first day of class, E could hardly contain herself.  She was ready.  She was a bit nervous once we got there but she knew one of the little girls from our activities around town...and then she was good to go.  She had lots of fun and looks forward to it every week.

This should be interesting.

A Nature Walk

The first week of our homeschooling journey, we used the book Moose on the Loose for the base of our studies.  I choose the Five in a Row curriculum, but due to my inability to make a decision, the curriculum didn't get ordered quickly enough to get here by the first week of September.  However, I found a curriculum similar to FIAR using Moose on the Loose...so for week one, we improvised.





One of the things we discussed was moose habitats.  What better thing to do than go explore some habitats?!  Maybe we don't have moose habitats here...but we have some other great wildlife habitats that we can explore.  It was a beautiful fall afternoon and we headed out to a local nature area to do some exploring.


We had a great time looking for signs of animals...we found numerous 'deer' trails (cousins to the moose), some scat, small animal paths, some deer beds, etc.  It was fun to have Jut along because we 'see' very different things to point out to the kids...he was finding deer beds, and pointing out the direction the deer were headed on their paths.  I pointed out all the milkweed plants and monarchs surrounding us or the couple of frogs that jumped across our path.  





Both the olders loved being the scouts and getting close to what they were investigating/exploring.  We could tell they were finally getting tired when they stopped being on point and started walking with us. 

There were lots of paths to choose and directions to explore on our walk.  Both kids had chosen different directions...we had to do some mediation to keep the peace with our leaders.


Did I mention that they loved running on ahead of us?  Fortunately, they always stopped when there was a fork in the path.


It was a beautiful place to explore and enjoy a beautiful fall day.  E is all excited to go back sometime this month and observe all the changes that have occurred.



Fun, fun times.  Plus, to end our exploration, Jut splurged for ice cream...How can you beat that in an afternoon?!

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Is anything more precious than a napping child snuggled up on your bed with all your pillows?  [especially when they are so adept at causing 'confusion and delay']