Right to my Opinion

life of the party crasher

2011-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

"Where's Ethan?"

This is a question that has been asked many times. One time we lost him for 1/2 hour (!) at the Lights of Christmas deal at warm beach. *shudder*

Anyhow, this was nothing like that. Ebo was at a birthday party for one of his best buddies, along with Aidan and Luke, at Jump Around Fun Zone. The plan was to play there for a while then go out for Pizza somewhere in Blaine. Of course, since this is Washington State, Jump Around Fun Zone, being an indoor facility loaded with bouncy houses, was a dry, comfortable refuge to no less than three separate birthday parties on this day.

Shelly, the mother of the birthday boy was doing a quick head count when the question came up: "where's Ethan?" Incidentally, Shelly was with us when we lost him at the Lights of Christmas *shudder*. After searching the facility herself to no avail, she enlisted the aid of some of the older boys at the party to search the facility for Ethan.

Still nothing.

Then she started thinking outside the box.

Not too long after that, Ebo was found.

She found him sitting in one of the other private party rooms eating pizza, chips and pop.

There were at least 20 other kids in that room. Ethan didn't know any of them. Didn't matter. Apparently it didn't occur to him that his brothers should be around somewhere. I honestly don't know what is more strange: Ethan following a bunch of kids he doesn't know into a room to eat OR the parents in charge just giving him food. Actually the weirdest thing about it is that it's just not really that surprising at all. If it'd been one of the other boys... unimaginable. Ethan? yeah.... I can see that happening.

The lady in charge of the party Ethan crashed told Shelly that he came in and acted like he was in the right place so she gave him some food. She even let Ethan take his food with him. Of course all the other kids were confused as to why Ethan got to have food and no one else did.

Ethan didn't see anything strange about it all.

I asked him about it in the car on the way home. He started to explain himself, stammered a bit, then just went silent. I didn't press.

Some things have no explanation.

Like this, for instance.

I don't recall ever mentioning to Ethan that he needs to hang up his socks and underwear in this way. As a matter of fact I can't think of anyone else I've ever seen take care of their underclothes in such a way. Luke had no explanation.

Of course, not many 6-year-olds can bang out hand stand push-ups until they get bored.

He's a special kind of treasure.

justus 1.5

2011-01-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

He's so peaceful when he wakes up, when he has his precious thumb

When he wants to turn on the charm, there's plenty to go around.

This is what his face looked like after a weekend with Dad. He plows through life with a good amount of reckless abandon.

Yes, that is a hot pepper in his hand and he was eating it. Don't even think about taking it away from him. A hard thing about Justus is that as much as he might love whatever he's doing (taking a bath, eating rocks, writing on furniture with permanent maker, etc), the expression of his disdain for concluding said activity dwarfs that love in duration and intensity.

J-Bear always has a smile for the camera.

And some piercing blues to draw you in.

Can you smell what Justus is cooking?

huntin'

2011-01-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

Aidan and Luke are really into hunting lately. I love it. They are outside, getting exercise, being manly.
They are however 8 and 10 so they need a safer version than what one might normally think of as hunting.

They dress in snow gear (because our yard is a mud pit), grab a BB gun (we now have more than just the pink one), some ammo and head out. Most of the time they walk around looking for birds, rabbits, voles, or a coyote would make them very happy. One day they came up with the idea of setting up a "blind."

Here is Luke behind the blind waiting for dinner to come walking up. Notice the strategic placement near the bird feeder.

I am so thankful that they have not yet actually killed anything. We don't hunt for sport alone and I really am not looking forward to whatever meal they bring home...

free time

2011-01-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

"Hey Mom, can we use the face paint?"

"Sure, but you have to let me take your picture."

{Side note: I should also have required that I find no traces of the paint in my house afterward. It was everywhere.}

ava turns 4

2011-01-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

Ava celebrated her golden birthday this year.

She turned 4 on the 4th.

Grandma D and Aunt Helen came over and we enjoyed the usual birthday merriment.

This is the face Ava makes when she is thinking. She is that cute almost all of the time.

on any given afternoon

2011-01-14T15:23:00.000-08:00

{I am not going to be cliché and mention anything about how long it has been since we have posted anything on this blog.}

Walking through my house on any basic afternoon, this is what I find.

Open books.

Everywhere.

Someone is in the middle of reading these books. (I only have three readers currently but I have around ten open books in my house.)

On the one hand I love it. Hey they are reading.

On the other hand, I really like a tidy home and I do not see how this is going to possible in the future when I have five readers times several books being read multiplied by "I can't risk putting it back on the shelf or finding a bookmark".

The Carb That Cures Cravings: Dried Sweet 'Taters

2010-11-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

Editorial note: I've talked to many people who have expressed frustration in getting that magical crunchy and chewy texture after baking. After getting them all prepped, it's really lame to ruin a batch and end up w/ burnt sweet potato char-crisps. So after much experimentation, I believe I've fine-tuned the cooking process. So you don't have to search for it, I'll lay it out here in the beginning.

Once you prepare the pan with butter or oil and cinnamon or whatever spice you want, put the pan in the oven for 45 minutes at 325. It could be that you could use 50 or 55 minutes; this depends on how even your oven heats and how many trays you are cooking at a time. I cook 3 trays at a time in a convection oven and 45 minutes works for me.

When the buzzer sounds, take out the trays and check to see which ones are done. Usually at the initial buzzer, very few are done. Perhaps 1 in 10 or so are ready. The way I tell if they are ready is by lightly pressing down on them. They will be hot, but if I can push on it and there's no mushiness at all, then they are done. Even a tiny bit of mushiness is okay if it's on a small part of the Tater. I take them off the silpat and place them on a cooling rack. They will continue to harden a bit on the cooling rack, so what you pull off the silpat is not what you end up with. Interestingly, putting them in the fridge re-softens them a bit.

After this initial check, set the timer for 10 minutes and put 'em back into the oven. Repeat the process as needed. I'll often move some less done ones to the edges of my baking trays as well. In my experience, I pull off 10% during the first check, 25% during the second check, 55% during the third, and the final 10% after the final 10 minutes.

Of course, the thinner you slice them, the shorter the cooking time. The more consistent you slice them, the fewer 10 minute intervals you need. The more even your oven heats, the fewer intervals you'll need.

If this sounds like a lot of work to you, well, that's because it kinda is. In my mind, it's worth it because these have replaced so many snacks in my life. I need sugary carbs in my life at least a little bit. These do so much less damage than anything else that they're worth keeping around the house for me. Hope you enjoy them! Now, on with the recipe and quick lesson in fructose metabolism.

Have you ever found yourself demolishing a large bag of Sour Patch Kids or Starbursts and decided to stop because you were just full? If you're at all like me, a recovering candy addict, the answer is no. I've reluctantly put down the bag of sour/sweet goodness because I was sick to my stomach, or because I had accumulated an embarrassingly large display of wrappers, or because it seemed my ratio of swollen to nonswollen tastebuds was nearing 1:1. But I've never stopped because I was full.

Come to find out that "neverfull" feature of the fruity goodness I used to inhale is actually a byproduct of how my body digests the addictive morsels. So, really, it's not my fault, it's the fault of my metabolic pathway and how my body deals with fructose overload.

While a little bit of fructose is okay, the standard American diet includes way too much of it, particularly in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Even sucrose (white sugar) is half fructose. All this fructose is problematic for you liver, which is the only place it is metabolized. When it gets full, all that extra fructose runs amuck in your bloodstream, turning into triglycerides while, unlike glucose, not suppressing ghrelin (the hormone that tells your body you've eaten enough). Furthermore, all those extra triglycerides also mess with leptin secretion, another hormone that regulates satiety.

All that to say that foods high in fructose don't make you full. It's fine for mouth-exercise but if you want your body to feel satisfied from a meal or snack, minimize the fructose.

At this point you should be starting to anticipate the magic of the "Dried Sweet Tater". Everybody needs a snack; something they can grab and consume without a lot of prep time. This is particularly important after a workout, when muscle glycogen stores are depleted and there is strategic benefit to triggering a bit of an insulin spike. It's counterproductive to replenish your liver glycogen at the expense of muscle glycogen, so you should favor carbs that contain higher amounts of glucose and lower fructose.

It also helps when the carbs are super yummy. Sweet potatoes fit the bill. They are sweet, but that sweetness comes almost entirely from glucose. Seriously, 200 calories worth of sweet potatoes has as much a little more than 1 gram of fructose, or about as much as 200 calories worth of alfalfa sprouts. Granted, too much glucose can be bad too, but you're less likely to load up on glucose because it promotes leptin and suppresses ghrelin, i.e. your body recognizes that it's eating something and gets full.

Okay enough science. Suffice to say that DSTs have become a staple around our house, universally loved by all. As a family of 7, we burn through them pretty quick, but at least it's a snack I can feel good about feeding my kids. I'll be honest though; Amy and usually get most of them.

Cast of characters:

Sweet potatoes. I thought these were yams, but apparently they are sweet potatoes. Whatever, I don't really care. Just get the orange ones. The yellow ones don't survive being sliced after being baked and cooked.
Cinnamon. I've read that it improves insulin sensitivity. It's also delicious.

Coconut oil OR butter. If you're whole30ing, strict or can't handle dairy fats, you'll need the oil. I used to prefer butter, but then I tried the good stuff.

I'll never use butter again. The gold label virgin coconut oil (left) is just too good. It imparts a subtle coconut taste that rounds out the flavor of the DST in a truly marvelous way. The expeller-pressed variety will work, but, buy design, it lacks the coconut flavor. If you have the good stuff on hand, this recipe is worth it.

First you need to bake the sweet potatoes. I spread out a piece of aluminum foil (otherwise you get nasty drippings that are super hard to clean) on a middle rack and bake as many as I can fit on there for about an hour at 350. Sometimes I'll even rock two trays.

You want them soft and you want it so the skins easily pull away from the sides. After baking, I find it works best to peel them as soon as they are cool enough to work with. The hotter they are, the easier the peels come off. If you can't get to it, letting them sit in the oven overnight is fine.

Now you have to peel them. If you baked them long enough, you should be able to get most of the peel off with your fingers. Use a knife for any stubborn bits. This should leave you with a dish that looks like this:

Note that this amount will produce many pans of Dried Potatoes. Another name for this is a dish full of awesome.

Now you need to slice them and arrange them on a baking sheet. I also like to use one of those liners (Silpat is what I use) to make removal of the finished product easier. I cut them about 1/2 a centimeter thick. You want a uniform thickness if possible and I find 1/2 cm gives me enough potato to keep it from becoming a mess when I transfer pieces to the pan. I like to arrange them flat side up.

Keep in mind that the more uniform the thickness, the more consistent the results will be when you bake them. If they are all over the map in terms of size, you'll end up with some magically chewy DSTs and some less-than-stellar crunchy ones and some not-as-good-as-it-could-be soft ones.

Now, melt your butter or coconut oil and paint the potato slices with fat using a pastry brush. They will glisten with goodness. All that glucose plus some hard-to-find medium chain triglycerides... this is truly better living through science.

Now give it a healthy dusting of cinnamon. I load up on it. I mean have you heard how good cinnamon is for you? As long as you aren't eating it in "roll" form, this stuff helps improve insulin sensitivity, lowers LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), lowers tryglycerides, and helps migranes, coughs, colds, and toothaches. So load up; it's good for you.

Then back to the oven it goes for the "drying". This is the tricky part. I've experimented with various time and temperature domains in order to find something repeatable.

Once you prepare the pan with butter or oil and cinnamon or whatever spice you want, put the pan in the oven for 45 minutes at 325. It may be that you could do 50 or 55 minutes; this depends on how even your oven heats and how many trays you are cooking at a time. I cook 3 trays at a time in a convection oven and 45 minutes works for me.

When the buzzer sounds, take out the trays and check to see which ones are done. Usually at the initial buzzer, very few are done. Perhaps 1 in 10 or so are ready. The way I tell if they are ready is by lightly pressing down on them. They will be hot, but if I can push on it and there's no mushiness at all, then they are done. Even a tiny bit of mushiness is okay if it's on a small part of the Tater. I take them off the silpat and place them on a cooling rack. They will continue to harden a bit on the cooling rack, so what you pull off the silpat is not what you end up with. Interestingly, putting them in the fridge re-softens them a bit.

After this initial check, set the timer for 10 minutes and put 'em back into the oven. Repeat the process as needed. I'll often move some less done ones to the edges of my baking trays as well. In my experience, I pull off 10% during the first check, 25% during the second check, 55% during the third, and the final 10% after the final 10 minutes.

Of course, the thinner you slice them, the shorter the cooking time. The more consistent you slice them, the fewer 10 minute intervals you need. The more even your oven heats, the fewer intervals you'll need.

If this sounds like a lot of work to you, well, that's because it kinda is. In my mind, it's worth it because these have replaced so many snacks in my life. I need sugary carbs in my life at least a little bit. These do so much less damage than anything else that they're worth keeping around the house for me.

Here's how mine look when they are done. I snagged a few for PWO this morning.

I store them in a ziploc bag. I don't know how long they keep because we've never had a bag last longer than a few days. They are amazing post-workout and you won't believe how much satiety you get from something so sweet.

Enjoy. I pretty much live on these right now. They are my favorite food in the whole world and before them, I was never too big a fan of sweet potatoes. If you don't like them, then I would say you're probably doing something wrong.

what was I thinking?

2010-10-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

From a recent discussion that took place in my head.

"Oh good! My toddler is happy. He can sit in this chair beside us. We will get all sorts of wonderful school work done while he is happily sitting in this chair. Oh he has a green marker. Well, normally I would not allow him to have a marker but he is obviously thrilled with the idea of coloring the paper with it which will allow us precious more minutes for grammar, math, reading and language... Hooray for a toddler who can be content!"

30 seconds later....

beach school

2010-09-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Peaceful.

Fun and adventurous.

That is what our homeschool day felt like yesterday afternoon.

Mike was working at home so I was able to leave the nappers with him and pack up my school age kids, a few of our books and head off to the beach.

We even spied a deer in the woods.

We had a great time. I am so thankful for these special days that I get to spend with my kids!

a typical morning

2010-09-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

Let me break it down:

* Ethan is learning a new math concept; I am helping him.

* Luke and I are reading his grammar lesson.

* Luke is also picking blocks up off the floor and putting them on Justus' tray (it is easier for a boy to retain information when his hands are busy).

* Ava is coloring her math page.
* Aidan just finished a typing game on the computer.

* Justus is throwing the blocks at me and complaining about his buckled in situation.

It's crazy. It is a bit tiring. But man, is it worth it. And it's fun too.

Easy Egg Cupcakes

2010-09-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

The past year has been quite transformational for my diet. Hopefully I'll be able to go into that in great detail in future posts, but for now I want to tackle one specific issue by offering a recipe.

For starters, I've eliminated nearly all grains, legumes and (most) dairy out of my diet. I eat meat and veggies and some fruit. That's pretty much it. I mix in a few nuts and seeds every now and then but try to stick to meat and veggies. Also I try to minimize polyunsaturated fats and maximize saturated fats. I share that only to throw out a controversial subject with the promise to revisit it in future posts. Eating this way, along with regular exercise at Crossfit X in Barkely Village, has put me in the best shape of my life, surpassing even when I was playing soccer in high school. I can even button size 32 jeans, which I can't ever remember being able to do.

Anyhow, adjusting to this diet hasn't been effortless. Easier than you think, for sure, but not being able to eat much of anything that comes out of a box requires some purposeful living, especially in the area of food preparation.

Anyhow, the specific issue is breakfast. I love breakfast. I love for it to my biggest and fattiest meal of the day. I don't mind getting up early or doing what it takes to have a good breakfast. I find that when I get a breakfast full of eggs, meat and veggies--and enough fat to cover the food pyrmid--I feel great all day, am barely hungry at lunch and ready for a nice-sized earlyish dinner. It really suits our lifestyle right now. I know that many people place high value on morning sleep and don't feel like undertaking a monumental task of creating a breakfast feast so they find themselves reaching for a bagel or some other form of poison.

This needn't be the case. You just haven't yet been introduced to breakfast cupcakes. I'm about to remove that excuse.

For this meal, you'll need a lot of eggs. For the batch in this series of pictures, I think I used about 36 and that made about 18 cupcakes. I like to crack the eggs into a separate dish and then dump the dish into the main dish. I do this because it sucks to dig a tiny piece of shell out of huge vat of eggs but it's equally lame to get an unnaturally crunchy bite of egg cupcake. Doing this solves both problems.

Then you cut up veggies. Sharpen your knife b/c this is going to take a while.

Mushrooms, jalepenos... yum.

I've also got swiss chard, white onions, other peppers, other peppers, cilantro and probably some other things going into these eggs. My kids prefer just onions, meat and cheese but we were also making part of this batch for my vegetarian sister. She just got a job as a teacher and has some of those time challenges.

So now you sauté up the veggies. I use butter to sauté veggies because (1) butter tastes awesome and (2) I'm trying to maximize saturated fat in my diet. Depending on your preferences, other appropriate oils include bacon or sausage drippings--which would be available because any sane person would include meat in these--or coconut oil if you're trying to avoid dairy fats and meat. Do not use corn/canola/vegetable/etc oil (because it is poison) OR olive oil (because you shouldn't cook at high heat w/ olive oil b/c it oxidizes and attacks your body with free radicals).

Keep in mind the order of sautéing. You want to start out with the things that are tougher or more fibrous, then progressively add things that cook up more quickly. The besting thing is to start w/ bacon or sausage, then add in the veggies until you have a pan full of awesome egg cupcake filling. The fat from the meat is perfect for cooking the veggies.

Now, spray a couple X-Large muffin pans with Pam. You can use other fat to grease the pan if you want but I use Pam b/c it's easy. Also, I generally don't like using nonstick cookware but for occasional baking I guess it's okay. If you have the right muffin pan, it'll nicely hold 1/2 a cup of eggs. That's about 2 eggs.

Dump 1/3 cup of the meat/veggie mix into the egg and that'll push the limits of what you can put in there.

Then, if you want to, you can add a pinch of shredded cheese. I'm a fan of this and so are my kids. If you're not big on dairy than skip it. If you add it, mix it in a bit.

Into the oven they go. They take about 25 minutes at 350 for two pans. You'll know they are done when the middle doesn't jiggle like liquid. There's a lot of room for error here so don't worry about overcooking them by 5 minutes or so. You won't ruin them.

Let them cool for a few minutes in the muffin pan. Note: we throw away the older-looking muffin pan after this. They fall out of the new pan with nary a trace of cupcake. You end up recovering about 85% of the cupcake w/ the old pan and that includes a decent amount of scraping with a plastic scraper. I think the pans are $14 and they sell them at Haggen. It's worth it to get a new one (or 2).

After cooking them, let them cool on a sheet pan. Once cool, put the sheet pan in the freezer. Overnight should be enough time to freeze them solid. I like to put them in a big freezer bag at this point as that makes them easier to store. In the morning, zap it for 2-3 minutes in the microwave (covered) and enjoy with salsa or some fresh fruit. If you're extra hungry, grab two. For a good lunch at work, bring one in a microwavable dish. It'll stay cold enough until you are able to microwave it at work.

Enjoy! Now you are without excuse.

my boys and science

2010-09-07T21:10:00.001-07:00

The "habitat" assignment reads: "Rope off a 1 square-yard area in your backyard and carefully examine it."

This is not exactly how I pictured it. But I like it.

hey momma

2010-07-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

Ethan: Hey momma, guess what I am.

Mom: Super man?

Ethan: Nope.

Mom: Spider man, a ninja, a warrior, a super hero....?

Ethan: Nope.

Mom: Well, what are you.

Ethan: (in his "duh" voice) I'm Ethan. With a mask on.

oh man; my littlest man

2010-07-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this guy? He is so squishy and delightful.

Justus is a complete momma's boy and always wants to be right where I am.

This is one way that I have found to keep him occupied so that I can get the dishes done or make a meal.

My J-bear. Busy, busy. Learning to walk, communicate, make messes, command attention and show love. {And take really great pictures!}

ava swims

2010-07-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

So much of parenting is learning more and more about your children. For the last couple of weeks during swimming lessons I have learned a new side of Ava's personality.

Ava is almost always by my side. In our day to day life she is my buddy, we do almost everything together.

I was therefore very surprised at Ava's independence and outgoing personality at swimming lessons. She went right into the pool on day one, did everything that was asked of her (including several jumps off the diving board) and excelled. She enjoyed every moment of it.

We found it amusing that out of the ten kids in Ava's class (two of which cried the whole time) she was the only girl! Maybe that is why she felt so comfortable! And can you believe how cute this girl is?!

the school year

2010-06-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

We are officially on our summer break. Have been for a few weeks now. We all are enjoying the different (not necessarily slower) pace which allows us to do more of what we want and less of the to-do's on our check list.

This blog is a family scrapbook. We only write about and post things that we think we will care to read in the future. With that in mind, I think we will want to remember some of what our school days were like. I had better document it a little bit before I forget it all entirely.

This year we waited to start our school schedule until October. It was all because of this guy.

I wanted Justus to be on a somewhat predictable schedule and allowing me to get full nights of sleep before we started into the thick of it. It worked out splendidly and as a result of no teacher workdays, snow-days, and very few random holidays we were able to put in a full year and still end by June!

Once we began, Aidan enjoyed a terrific third grade year. I think "The Year of Independence" would be a good label for it. This year, I could count on him to follow his checklist and accomplish many tasks without me. He would see what subjects were required for that day, work on them, check them off and leave the work on the counter for me to go over when I had time. This independence was such a wonderful thing to see because in the past three years Aidan has needed much from me in order to move on to the next thing without loosing a bunch of time, focus, papers, pencils, books and oomph! Maturity and personality go hand in hand to bring about this change.

Aidan has been moving along nicely in math never having trouble with the concepts. The only speed bumps he encountered has to do with diligence and attention to details. For instance, long division would get tedious and he would begin to make errors. A problem both Mike and I empathized with and were able to steer him successfully away from.

Aidan cruised through cursive, beginning Latin, logic (mind-benders), literature, spelling, Spanish, typing and Bible/memory work without a hitch. Our grammar and writing book did not work for us and that is one ball that I dropped; I know what the problem is/was and I have a plan to remedy that for next year. Aidan says his favorite subject this past year was reading (I had him read books that I picked out during this time rather than the usual fare that he reads on his own.)

For history, science and read alouds Aidan, Luke and I would work together. This is for sure my favorite part of homeschooling. I started four years ago with creation and we have worked our way chronologically through the pilgrims (we will pick up with them in the fall). We worked on maps and geography, a few projects and enjoyed many books (historical fiction and non-fiction) written about our current time period. In science we focused on astronomy this year and enjoyed all that we read. I intended for us to do a lot of observing but this is something that we just never got around to. Thankfully our school is not closing and my students are not moving on to another teacher so that we can look forward to more in the future.

These two subjects were made even more fun because we did them together. Luke, Aidan and I were all equally learning together and we would take turns "teaching" Mike and the other kids at the dinner table. Good times.

(Aidan, Luke and friends with Ken Ham)

Luke's year of first grade required a lot of intense one on one instruction from me and thankfully Ava and Ethan made this possible by playing so nicely together on their own or doing one of the many activities I made available for them (think: really, really big mess). I would reserve these times to happen during Justus' naps and as a result Luke accomplished a wonderful year of reading practice (reading out loud to me books of increasing difficulty), phonics, grammar, spelling, and math. On his own he worked on handwriting, Spanish and Bible/memory and I have to mention that his handwriting is already much neater than that of his family members!

It has been fun to grow to understand the way Luke learns best. Luke is much more particular about details and really cares about getting things right (I have no idea where he gets that). He and I learned a lot this year about how to accomplish all of our goals with each subject we tackled. I am really pleased with the progress Luke made and the confidence he has gained in his abilities.

I completely loved observing Luke hold his own in subjects that we did together with Aidan. He did well learning side by side with a brother two years older. Luke seems to have a special affinity for science and he says his favorite subject was sometimes math, sometimes spelling and sometimes reading.

The nature of our homeschool requires a bit of patience from the students. If Justus needed a diaper change or woke early from a nap, if Ava and Ethan needed some help or discipline, etc., etc., and etc, Aidan and Luke would be put on hold, asked to do something else for a few minutes or were required to keep on working despite interruption. They are used to this. They don't know it any other way. But this year I am especially thankful for how flexible Luke was in this regard. Near the end of the year, Luke often would read to me standing near the sink while I did the breakfast dishes so that I did not get too far behind on my work but could still look over his shoulder and help him with difficult words. He would receive spelling tests while I was making lunch and would have to remind me over and over that he was ready for the next word. And he would often receive his grammar/math/phonics lesson from me while I was nursing Justus who would be happily kicking him as he sat beside me. I am thankful for Luke's adaptability this year and I look forward to seeing how the Lord uses the strength this "grew" in him in the future.

Those are the nuts and bolts. The notes that I feel like making after a few weeks break. There were many days that I felt it was impossible (true with many jobs/teachers/students), many days that did not run smoothly, and many days that were almost euphoric as I saw my students grow in their understanding. Taken as a whole, I am so glad we do it this way.

Homeschooling may not be the easiest way to pour information into my kid's heads but it is the easiest way to know exactly what facts and whose worldview they are getting. We feel it is the best way to ensure that their character is being molded in truth and righteousness one day at a time, one hour at a time. I am so thankful to have so many hours to spend with these kids learning with them, about them, and teaching them exactly what Mike and I want them to be taught. The academics are not the end goal of our choice to homeschool but I sure am delighted to see that (so far) we have been able to be really successful in this area!

Now if I could just stop shaking in my boots as I consider the challenges of adding Kindergarten with Ethan (aka the wild one) to our year of second and fourth grade! I will be praying for a lot of wisdom!

a visit to the civil war

2010-06-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Mike took the boys on a field trip to learn about the Civil War a few months ago.

They had a blast going from station to station with a group of homeschoolers learning all about that time in history.

They of course loved all things weapons.

As I was looking trough the pictures of the many field trips we took this year, I loved seeing how many of them had Aidan raising his hand. He is just like Mike when it comes to asking questions in order to fully learn about a subject.

While standing at this station, Ethan raised his hand to ask, "How big are your guns?" That, my friends is an example of wanting to hear yourself talk more than needing an answer to a question!
They also learned about sending secret messages using quilt patterns, make-shift hospitals and some of the complexities of the conflict.

It is field trips like this one that make me so thankful that we live in an area with such a large homeschooling community. So many opportunities. And we love that we get to learn all together. What a treat!

my scouts

2010-06-22T13:05:00.001-07:00

It has been a good year of cub scouts for Aidan and Luke.

Luke completed his first year with a lot of which to be proud. Aidan accomplished all that he needed to now be a webelo. I am pleased with the group we are a part of and all that my boys have received from their involvement.

Many opportunities for fun, learning, exercise and field trips.

It has also been neat to become closer with friends.

Luke is excited to start his second scout year as a wolf.

And Aidan looks forward to the many adventures planned for webelos.

Great job boys!

happy birthday justus beric

2010-06-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is what I was doing a year ago today. Waiting to meet my sweet Justus.

Even beautiful scenery could not hide the fact that I was done providing a home for this baby (not to mention bloated and uncomfortable). Every day of those nine months was worth it because this boy is such a treat.

We love you j-bear!

friends for a year

2010-06-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

These two. The pictures in which our friend's daughter Xochi and Justus are wearing green were taken three months ago. I can't believe how much their personalities have changed in just three months!

Being able to get around changes things a lot for a baby.

Justus and Xochi have been friends from birth. Cutzi and I love to compare and contrast their bodies and personalities, something we've had a lot of experience at with our girls.

The non-green set of pictures are from Xochi's one year birthday party. They sure did interact with one another differently. It is like they finally noticed each other. Xochi, in true girl style is interested in communicating.

Justus on the other hand, as most boys I know, is more interested in wrestling!

Sorry about that Xochi.

what we did on our summer vacation

2010-06-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

We decided a long time ago that May is the best time for a homeschooling family to have a "summer" vacation. We love the lack of crowds and really summer is the most fun time to play at home when you live in the pacific northwest.

However, our week in Bend made us re-think this opinion. It rained almost every day we were there, the indoor pool was not open for the first couple of days we were there, the go-kart place was only open on the weekend and almost all of our fun-things-to-do list included outdoor activities. But we had fun anyway, how can you not while on vacation with your favorite people!

Highlights include: a super long bike ride (our first time with Justus & Ava in the trailer behind Mike's bike), hiking (our first time with all five kids), enjoying some time with our Aunt Sarah and cousin Keegan, relishing time with our grandma and papa (why do we not have any pictures of them?!), racquetball & other sports, and swimming in the pool as much as we possibly could.

(A few pictures of sweet Keegan and Sarah)

One of the hikes we did was a couple miles down into the earth via a lava tunnel. It was pretty neat to use the lanterns to see where we were going and to hike into a cave like that. (Oh and there is Grandma & Papa!)

This was taken at the end of the lava tube, about a mile into the earth.

We went geocaching and this was what Ava choose to take out of the box.

Hilariously, one activity which was enjoyed by all (especially Sarah and Papa but no pictures of them) was seeing how long one could hold an L-sit on the parallettes. Good times.

One last thing to share. We made it home from our 8 hour drive (not including many stops) late Friday night. After putting the kids to bed, Mike and I began to unload the car. All of a sudden a big, wet (it was raining), dog came up the driveway and followed us right into the garage. We chased him out of the garage and he went straight into the backseat of the car. He sampled each and every seat of our car a-la-Goldilocks and would not get out no matter how firmly we prodded, pleaded and cajoled. It was comical at first. But by the end I was pretty ticked at the wet, stinky, (at least two of us are allergic to) dog and the hair that he was getting everywhere. Once he had sullied the entire car he ambled out and headed for our house (we are convinced he would have headed straight to our bed had we not locked him out). We never found out his origin nor have we heard from him again. Pretty funny cap on a great week away.

he's never even seen jack bauer!

2010-06-11T10:53:00.001-07:00

As I was watching Ethan play the other morning, I was amazed at the likeness to the hero of 24.

I mean, you've either got it or you don't. And E-bo... he's got it.

and then there is ava ruth

2010-06-10T11:26:00.001-07:00

This girl, with her oh-so-soft voice and sweet ways is pure delight.

Ava is smart & creative, kind & caring, tough, strong & social. Today I asked her to switch the laundry for me, she had no problem --did it all on her own. She regularly (as in several times a day) changes her clothes, putting the old outfit away. I am continually amazed at her abilities.

Ava is so beautiful; we are teaching her that it is a smile and a happy heart that make a girl truly pretty (conversely, a grumbling-whiny heart is ugly!). I am learning so much from these lessons!

We are so thankful for and blessed by Ava; we earnestly pray that the Lord will give us all that we need to parent her well.

this is why...

2010-06-09T10:19:00.001-07:00

This is why we do not have a good picture of all seven of us up on the sidebar. We can't get one. Granted we have only tried once or twice, but really it seems impossible.

The one above has: a weird Ethan face, something going on funky with Luke's tuck-in job and zipper situation, and Ava, Aidan and Justus not really looking at the camera.

This attempts to crop out Luke's shorts but E-bo is still a goofball and Aidan and Ava are still looking elsewhere.

This one? Same issues really. I am not even taking into account the several others which were also not good or the fact that we are all standing very far apart. Oh and I am not even trying to pretend that I can get it together enough to have matching, coordinating or complimenting outfits!

Those are all the negatives or as I like to call them, the realities of the situation. The positive --and it is a big one is that these six people are my most favorite in the whole wide world. And no matter how crazy the pictures end up I will never tire of their faces!

my baby

2010-06-08T11:57:00.001-07:00

Justus aka (J-bear) will be turning one at the end of next week. I know all moms say this, but I really, truly can not believe that a year has gone by already. At the same time, I can not believe that just a year ago he was not part of our lives!

Anyway, I need to get some pictures of this guy up here before he changes much more.

He is quite possibly the cutest baby boy ever.

I am so incredibly grateful that he is such a cuddle-er. I have had baby boys who would not stop to cuddle because they were so busy. J-bear is a busy and active guy but he always has time for a cuddle with momma!

And we will probably be sorry one day but for now the sight of him sucking his thumb is adorable.

Mike and I joke that we don't hold/carry Justus, we wrestle with him. And it does not make it any easier that he is a very big & heavy boy. We don't think this will change much as he eats a LOT!

Justus gives us so much to laugh about and we are truly thankful for the incredible blessing of being a part of his family.

I think it was in January

2010-06-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

So we haven't really been blogging lately. Actually, both Mike and I have written the beginning of a few different posts here and there and then left them unfinished as drafts. Because our days have a lot to offer and the interruptions are many. No big deal really --in the scheme of things.

We went on a week long vacation the week before last. As we were uploading those pictures, we began looking at pictures from events past that we still would like to chronicle. At least a bit.

One such event was a wonderful little vacation we took to Lake Chelan with our great friends. They have condos there and were so gracious to share with us. We had a great time. There was a little snow on the ground so we were able to get in a some sledding.

We did other things too. We enjoyed hanging out with all the kids during the day, hanging out just the adults in the evening, playing bingo, and swimming at the indoor pool each day. We did enough to tire out the little guys. So much so that Ethan fell asleep standing up one night.

Good food always helps E-bo recover. This is one he made up on his own, knowing the evil of carbs (it is two sausage patties with scrambled eggs between). He named it "The Trader Jobes sandwich." I typed that right. We have been shopping at Trader Jobes ever since. We plan to never let it go.

One of the biggest highlights for everyone was a scavenger hunt created by Bob. He planted items down on the beach and after explaining the rules, and dividing the kids into two teams, he handed out a list of items for them to find. They had a blast.

It all culminated with this last tractor to find. And we all worked together to search for it.

With Mikey victorious in the end.

It was such a hit that as we were packing for our summer vacation, Ethan asked if we were going to do Bob's scavenger hunt again.
Thanks to Bob and Rebecca for such a great time!

the bedtime routine

2010-04-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

When Mike is your daddy, part of "the going to bed routine" always includes physical activity: tickling until your sides ache, wrestling until you are sweating (or someone is crying), and many other of these sorts of activities (Mike is very creative).

One common game that is played during this winding down (yeah right!) time is "thumb sheaths." You don't know what that is? Let me fill you in on this wonderful and regular family game.

For this game to work you need to be in your "pajamas" which to my boys simply means shorts and no shirt.

Step 1. Get ready, get your mind in the game, prepare your manly fortitude.

Step 2. Daddy prepares his weapons: the thumbs.

Step 3. Sheath the thumbs. {A boy's armpit is the perfect sheath for a daddy's thumb. And it tickles a lot.}

Pull ups (or attempting them) is also almost always a part of this time in our day.

We are not near our pull-up bar so Ethan is making do with daddy's forearm. Two very strong men!

Push-ups are a must.

Aidan has mastered good push-up form.

Luke is demonstrating a bridge.

He is awesome at it, very flexible.

Our kids sleep really well. Maybe it is due to these crazy activities that Mike has instituted as part of the bedtime routine in our family. At least that is what I tell myself when after I call out "time for bed" all I hear is uproarious laughter and all kinds of energy!

some rainy Saturday creativity

2010-04-04T16:43:00.001-07:00

It was a drizzly Saturday yesterday. Which inspired some creative projects in everyone around here. As I was upstairs working out, Ethan exclaimed "I'm gonna go get my camera!" When I met him later downstairs, he showed me what he had meant.

These circles are the places where he can see the picture after he takes it. They are now all colored in with images so I guess his memory card is full.

Ava made a camera too.

And Luke continued to work on his Lego masterpieces. He would not allow me to take his picture (grumble!) but he wanted me to snap one of what he had built.

I love to see Mike's creative genes have been passed on to these guys. Hopefully, we will blog about what he had spent the day building soon.

all five kids

2010-03-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, someone asked us to send her a picture of all five kids together. We couldn't comply because we had not ONE picture of all five kids! Crazy. Justus was 8 months old and we had lots of pictures of different combos of the crew but none of all five.

While on a walk last month we took a few. They are not dressed exactly how I want, they are not all giving their best smile or anything but at least they are all in the picture! I guess it is a little indicative of life right now. We are enjoying one another; feeding, clothing & bathing the kids, reading and schooling, sometimes cleaning the house but peripheral things like getting a picture with everyone in it has been put aside for a while.

a rule to live by

2010-03-15T21:32:00.000-07:00

At our house we really promote efficiency.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing in one trip.

We encourage creative application of this motto.

(pictures taken from window)

new tricks

2010-03-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

Simon Cowell would almost certainly call a post like this "indulgent nonesense" but I suppose that's probaby fine in a blog called righttomyopinion.

Next time I struggle with learning something new, I'll remember the brief time my buddy was learning how to crawl.

our most quotable

2009-12-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

Ethan lives life at 1.3 times normal speed. This is just a little bit faster than the rest of us in the real world. When you live in a different world than everyone else, it helps to define the rules in this world.

Recently we had to remind Ethan to wash his hands after using the bathroom. After going back and obeying he returned and offered an explanation for his negligence. Quite often when Ebo opens his mouth we say to ourselves that we should be writing this stuff down.

This time we actually did.

When you say this in your head, you need to use an Ebo voice and say it much faster than necessary.

"There is a fire-fighter go pee: you don't wash your hands or flush because you got to get to the fire."

"There is the rescue go pee: Do flush the toilet but don't wash your hands 'cause you have to rescue someone out of the sea or somthin'."

"And the just play go pee: you do flush and wash hands and turn the light off and put the towel back and then go play."

thanks

2009-11-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

Thank you Cutzi for the hat you knit for me.
Mom and Dad think I look really cute in it.

It might even cause one to drool.

vacation, fall 2009

2009-11-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

One of the really nice things about homeschooling is that we can take vacations whenever it suits us. Knowing that a baby would be joining our family in June we figured out a long time ago that September would be the ideal month for a family vacation.

Then we came up with the brilliant idea to vacation with our dear ol' friends; once we put it all together we had a terrific plan for fun, fun, fun.

And fun it was. We went to a place called Veranda Beach on the US side of Osoyoos lake.

It was a long drive deep into the middle of what felt like nowhere (in other words no Starbucks!) but the place was awesome and the cottages were perfect. The two most important things this place offered was 1) no limit on the number of people we could house in the cottage and 2) it was available when we finally got around to making reservations.

(Serving meals seem to be the only pictures we have of Stacy and Me and that makes sense because that is what we spend a lot of time doing, so I am posting a few).

The people: we had 4 adults and 10 kids ages 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 4, 2, 19 months, 7 months, & 3 months. You would think that this would make for a crazy week but really it was not crazy at all.

Yes, there was a lot of energy, activity and people but there was also a clear rhythm to things. We had all our meals around the table together (two tables moved around to accommodate & a cooler served as a bench for three kids), we played hard but had a quiet time each day and at night all of the kids were in bed and quiet by 9. Once the kids were in bed the adults played games and ate/drank yummy things. What a treat!

What we did: the resort has guests park their cars away from the cottages leaving the little roads clear and safe for walks and bike riding. This was so fun for the kids. At both our homes, going out for a bike ride is not easy so it was so neat for the kids to just be able to go. And Mike was able to teach Ethan to ride a two-wheeler which they were both super excited about.

In addition to riding bikes we swam at the pool until it closed for the season half way through our week.

We walked on the beach, played at the play ground, had a big flag football game, played lots of games inside, did a few crafts, had a group read aloud (one of my favorite parts) and ate lots and lots of yummy food.

Pretty simple stuff but just perfect for this season in both families.

Our kids get along great. Each of our kids has known one another from the moment they joined the family making them super familiar friends.

The white shirts you see in the pictures are homemade t-shirts that Mike and I made on the computer. They feature the first letter of both of our last names reclining on a beach chair. Of course the printer-iron-on things washed mostly out of the shirts after a couple washes.

The drive was the only part to which we were not looking forward with joy. But the 5.5 hour drive turned out to not be that bad at all. Justus slept most of the way and the other kids were very satisfied with our audio book "Story of the World" and their individual books and music. We enjoyed our stop in Winthrop for some famous ice cream and made it the whole way there without even using the DVD player. On the way home we busted the thing right out and allowed the boys to watch all they wanted. It was indeed a treat for them.

Here we are taking a break half way over the pass to nurse Justus and stretch our legs.

One lesson we learned on this trip is that our gps has no idea where Oroville, WA, is! We followed Meridith (that is what we've named our gps) without even a thought because she has never let us down before (and Mike has used her in several cities to find tons of places on his work travels). This time however she led us deep into the heart of nowhere. After passing several longhorn steer (seriously the span of these horns was like 6 feet!) Meridith claimed that our destination was a few yards away. Out our windows all we see is open field. Yep, she was way off. But we figured it out and arrived safely albeit an hour later than we should have.

On the way home we stopped at an organic farm to pick up 30 pound boxes of honey crisp apples for $10! That score made the fact that our vacation had to come to an end easier to swallow.

rules of engagement

2009-11-15T22:48:00.000-08:00

Any time two or more boys of somewhat similar ages gather, some form of wrestling will surely ensue. It's one of those universal truths.

At first, the wrestling takes place under the rule of might. The bigger, stronger, or quicker boy tends to experience the more enjoyable side of the physical exchange. As this goes on, however, in order to entice the younger wrestler into continuing such physical contests, a system of governance must be established.

Such systems arise out of consensual understanding of fairness. Allowances are made for the weaker wrestler to obtain some measure of advantage through a meaningful handicap of the stronger boy or by disallowing conduct considered to unfairly amplify an existing physical advantage.

At advanced levels, these rules become codified, I can only assume in order to allow for more consistent interpretation and a more exact understanding of the rules on behalf of all parties.

I recently discovered such a manual.

Cover:

The authorship of this manual appears to be a joint effort. Keep in mind, no one ever told Aidan and Luke to "come up with some rules so that people stop getting hurt", much less to write anything down. This was a truly enlightening discovery.

Page 1-2.

I'm not certain, but I believe this is saying that if somebody tries to grab you, then you should duck. And if you weren't sure what direction you were supposed to duck, there is an arrow pointing to the floor.

Rules must be specific. Although this appears to more fall under the category of general combat tactics than rules.

Page 3-4.

The construction of this section leads me to believe that The Wrestling Book is a living document. I would surmise that bans on punching, kicking and pinching were established at the formation of the document. They may have even provided the impetus for its creation.

I believe that "No surprise attacks" has to be considered an amendment.

It may even be classified as a unilateral amendment.

Page 5-6

Perhaps as compensation for disallowing surprise attacks, "tabletops" have apparently been given permanent legal status in wrestling.

If you are unfamiliar with this tactic, I think the illustration makes it quite clear.

There are several blank pages left in this book. I do not know if this is simply the first volume of what will grow into an immense codex of legislation or if those governed by its principles will prefer a more laissez-faire approach to combat regulation.

Although for all the joy this book has brought me, I'm kinda hopping for the former.

a few grins

2009-10-18T00:48:00.000-07:00

This little guy has eyes for his momma. I wish I could say these grins were directed at me, but it's not like I supply his food or anything. Besides, someone has to be in charge if maximizing the in-focus area in such shallow depth of field.

Same story. Momma is camera left this time.

Of course this grin isn't really directed at me either. More the camera. At least the grin is pointed at me. This was taken during a really fun vacation with some good friends. I have a whole bunch of pictures from then that I will sometime get around to posting.

This is not so much a smile as much as what happens when a 4 year old watches "Two Towers" with his older brothers twice through in its entirety on a six-hour road trip . I'm pretty sure he's shooting an arrow at me.

But I don't fear his imaginary arrows. Not even a bit.

I mean seriously... How does he even see through those things, let alone aim his imaginary bow?

more from our eula bee party

2009-09-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

There are a few more memories I want to document about our party this year.

Mike mentioned that it rained and that it changed our plans. I would like to add that it rained hard and it changed things drastically. There were a lot of planned things that we didn't even try to do which was a bummer. But one thing it impressed on us is that we have great friends. No one made us feel like they were miserable (soaking wet, cold, uncomfortable etc.) or not having a good time. For that we are thankful and pleased with our good friend-picking abilities.

While friends arrived one by one in cars full of kids,

we gathered around the tables outside. I had little kits to make beaded purses which went with one of the the themes of the book (Native American). So this craft was at one table and at another table we had face painting.

It is at this point that the rain began.

When I worked at a church many years ago I much preferred events that were just with kids to the one's that included the parents. The reason is simple. Parents have much higher expectations and are harder to please. Ava and I exemplify this perfectly. When the rain started I began to complain while Ava became delighted with the fact that she would now be able to carry around an umbrella!

Part of Ava's enjoyment of this party (and umbrella holding) has to do with our wonderful Aunt Helen.

Helen spent the party alternating between caring for the needs of Justus and Ava as Mike and I were leading the events, having fun, nursing etc. We are forever thankful for Aunt Helen, she rocks! (Thank you Aunt Helen!)

In our last post we covered that once the rain started we "went hunting!" That was so much fun and we have a million pictures of that but I will only post a few.

These are the targets we set up for the BB and soft pellet guns.

After hunting for a while we all took a reprieve from the rain and came inside to eat food. It was really yummy toastadas and fruit salad. I want to publicly confess and apologize that I did not have enough food. We had enough for everyone to have one serving (I think?) but I don't think everyone was full! I am sorry.

This is the point where we let some things go. We had a super great plan for each family to come up with an interpretive dance/war cry to perform for the other families. (It fit loosely with the book). But we decided that would not work inside and we let it go.

Once we were ready to head back outside, we went to the pinata!

Ethan choose to use his sword rather than a bat.

About half way through the pinata started to leak, so the daddies duck taped it so that it would last until every kid had had a chance to take two swings.

We did have some drama to accompany the pinata, but no one got hurt and the kids loved it. So I will leave it at that for this method of memory keeping.

After the pinata, we had a "horse race." The pictures speak for themeselves.

Nate Button came in first. Everyone did a great job!

Looks like Adia lost her shoe.

Accomplishing the horse race led us to our final activity. A mini-bonfire and smores. Mike worked hard with many flammable liquids to get the fire going but it never ended up being the sit around a campfire thing we had imagined. I think the general consensus was that we all needed a break from the elements. I bet that as we "grow up" campfires will be more commonplace.

When all was said and done, our family had a great time with this party. I love the brainstorming sessions we have with the kids about all the things we should do. It is a lot of fun to decide together what would be the best book to use as our theme for the party. And I love shopping at the dollar store with the kids as they pick out prizes for the party. Even setting up and cleaning up are enjoyable because it something we are doing all together.

So our 2009 Wait for me, watch for me, Eula Bee party was different than we expected but a success non-the-less. I wonder what we will do in 2010?

the good, the bad, and the....

2009-09-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

For the last couple Summers we've thrown a particular kind of party. Our four oldest kids' birthdays are all late in the year when Northwest Washington punishes those folk who decided to move up here after visiting in the Spring. These times not conducive to fun, outdoor parties.

So each year we pick one of our favorite read-a-loud books that we went through as a family and loosely base a party on it. This year the book was the somewhat obscure, likely out of print, but utterly riveting Wait For Me, Watch For Me, Eula Bee. Great book; pick it up from the library some time.

Last year we tried to design activities and stations that represented certain passages in the book. We were quite a bit lazier this year. Essentially, the book was set in the Old West, so our party had an Old West theme.

We encouraged people to dress for the occasion.

Some people had really great costumes that clearly took some thought and effort.

Other people... not so much.

Of course we had face painting because everyone in the Old West had their faces painted.

Eula Bee was a rather violent book. Probably has a lot to do with why our boys liked it so much. In homage to numerous battles carefully detailed in the book we "hunted for our dinner".

We hunted turkeys with a bow and arrow, hunted buffalo with BB guns, and threw knives and tomahawks at turkeys. And by "hunted" I mean we shot at pictures of the animals that we set up as targets.

We had quite the arsenal.

Of course safety was our first priority.

Seriously though, no one was hurt. Parents were involved where needed.

The only real downer came courtesy of the rain that pretty much dumped on us throughout the course of the party. Now, our house isn't exactly tiny but kids and adults numbered over 40. This created a little bit of an issue when it came time to eat. Fortunately we roll with some pretty chill folk. Families of five, six, and seven, etc found nice plots of hardwood throughout our house and formed sort of an indoor picnic.

Some even found their way to the porch with the shoes. 40 shoeless folk means a lot of shoes.

Despite the hiccups we are committed to keeping this tradition going, though we may push for an earlier date next year to lessen the likelihood of rain.

I'll end with pictorial commentary from my four year old.

regarding the transportation complication

2009-07-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

Having recently given birth to our fifth child, we field many "how do you manage it?"-type questions. Sometimes people will ask us what the hardest part about having 5 kids. That is what this post is about.

If we've been to your house, chances are we rolled up in this:

This has been our primary mode of transportation for about 6 years. This 2003 Honda Odyssey is [finally] paid for and we have enjoyed the vast majority of the just under 70k it shows on the odometer. It suited our family of four very well.

Family of five? Not so much.

And for a very simple reason.

Our government requires kids to be in a car seat of some sort until they are just shy of their 19th birthday. This is fine if you have only a few kids or even a lot of kids far apart. It's also fine if you own an 11 passenger van.

I like our minivan. And though I think someones going to come take away my man-card for saying that, I'm not ready to part with it yet.

But those car seats make for quite a tight fit.

Tight but it works.

But the "fit" is only the beginning of the problem. Let's remind you of who sits in the back of this van.

First we have Justus. This whole problem is pretty much on him.

Ava is also a significant contributor to the problem due to the girth of the car seat that her undersized frame requires.

Ethan is sort of in between a full booster seat and the kind without a back. At least he can use a normal seat belt. And even buckle it himself. Except for the times when he can't.

Luke is on the cusp of being tall enough to ditch the booster, but since he's only 6 the law says he's got to be in it. Now, we consider ourselves to be upstanding, law-abiding citizens, but considering that I rode on the center "hump" between the front and back seats in my mom's Ford Pinto all through my childhood (and survived) we'd be okay with letting Luke slide a bit on the booster.

He'll have none of that. Not even for a trip to the store.

Aidan is an adult in the eyes of the law when it comes to seat belts. This is a good thing. But he still adds in a fair amount of complication to the seating chart.

In case you're not up to speed on the form of car seat required for children of various ages, here is a handy reference.

Later on, you can cut out these pictures and use them as game pieces to help solve the minivan conundrum. But I'm getting head of myself. You first need to understand the rules to such a game.

First remember, it's cramped in there.

You can hopefully imagine that only certain combinations of seats will fit together. For instance, there's no way you're putting 3 of our seats across the back. One is fine. Two can work, but having two crammed in there makes it difficult for everyone back there to be able to buckle themselves in. Remember, we need to fit, but we also want to maximize efficiency. It already takes us a minimum of a half hour to get out of the house. We need to save every minute.

Of course there are other complications as well.

Though almost irresistibly cute, this pairing does not work in the car. Justus' seat really does not fit in the way-back seat. This means that the person who sits next to Justus not only needs to be capable of handling his binky and adjusting the baby-view mirror but must also be able to handle passing food, water and other things to the back row. So this combo is out.

For largely the same reason as above, this combo doesn't work so well. Ebo is just a little bit too unpredictable to be Justus' car-bound chaperon. And when he passes things back, they spill at least a third of the time. This is a great ratio of you're hitting baseballs, but not so much if you are trying to keep our van clean.

This pairing has relational challenges. Physically it works fine. When they are together in the back you have to be careful that Ebo can still do his own seat belt. It really sets him off when he can't do it. But even after the logistics, these two are just a little to good at pushing each others' buttons. Sure, we could be all-star parents and employ smart, calm and consistent discipline to solve this problem but executing such a philosophy is difficult at 65 miles per hour. We'd rather nip this one in the bud via strategic seating assignments.

These two get along great. No issues there. They require no booster and the smallest booster seat, so space is not an issue. But they need to be separated. They are our two best players and we need them on separate teams. One needs to be in back, one in front. Aidan does great riding next to Justus, but we listen to a lot of audiobooks and the sound is better in the way back. When we put Aidan in that middle row, the chorus of "please turn it up" requests drones on unceasingly. So him in the way back is better.

So are you getting how complicated this is? It reminds me of one of those logic puzzles where you have to figure out when all these guys can go to the doctor, but Joe can only go on Tuesday or Thursday but only after Jim goes and Jeff has to go between when Joe and Jim goes, etc...

No one tells you about this kind of thing when you are pregnant with your 5th child. But I wanted to put it out there. I think we've more or less figured it out, but our arrangement is far from perfect. I figure time will eventually sort this all out.

aidan, the oldest

2009-07-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

It is so easy for us to treat Aidan like he is older than his eight (and a half) years. I think this is just part of the deal when you are the oldest. You are given responsibilities sooner, you are asked to act the most mature (not that you always do) and be independent sooner than your siblings. Not all of this is bad of course, I think a lot of it grows some really great leadership qualities in those oldest children but sometimes (like Aidan found out yesterday) the ride can be bumpy.

We were at Target picking up a few odds and inns, all seven of us together. So after we are done checking out the skateboards (which was Luke and Aidan’s request because they want to save their money to buy one) we head over to bedding to pick up some plastic sheets to stock up for when we move Ava to a big-girl bed. Mike and I decide to split up; he will get something in the baby department and I will get the sheets. As we split deciding who will go with whom, we realize that Aidan is not with us.

Since the sheets were back in the direction from which we had come, we figure that I would find him on my way. So I casually call his name as I retrace my steps. I don’t find him. When I meet back up with Mike and realize that he does not have Aidan either, we conclude that Aidan is lost. We call his name a few more times and then we start coming up with a plan (who will take which row) to find our boy.

It is about this time that I hear over the loud speaker, “Will Amy H. please come to the front counter to meet your party.” I walk as fast as I can to that counter to get Aidan. My sweet baby boy is there crying and waiting for me. He is not sobbing, he knows it will be OK, but he is crying because that was really scary for him. I cried too.

Once I get Aidan, we hug hard and he doesn’t want to let go. He also held my hand the whole rest of the time we were in the store. As we walked away from the counter, I got his side of the story.

Aidan was looking at some toys and didn’t follow us right way when we left the toy section (he does have a habit of dilly-dallying and we often are waiting for him to catch up). So we moved on and he was left there. Once he realized that we had left, he tried to find us but couldn’t. So (in tears) he looked for "someone with a nametag." He quickly found a Target employee and told them that he was lost. They asked for our names and took him to the front counter.

I was so pleased that he knew what to do and how to handle the situation. When I told him so a few hours later he responded with a few more tears that he was so glad that I had taught him what to do.

It is because he is the oldest that he was left. We do not move a step without making sure younger Ava and Ethan are with us but it is the other way around with Aidan, he is to keep track of us. However, it is also because he is the oldest that it worked out. He is the one in our family who would remember the day years ago that I taught the kids what to do if they are ever separated from us in a store.

I am thankful for the lesson for all of us, thankful that it all worked out fine and thankful too that I am reminded to re-teach that lesson again to the other kids. Because after all as every yahoo in this town wants to remind me, I do have my hands full.

sweet luke

2009-07-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Luke is such a sweet, thoughtful boy. The other morning, Luke came into my room announcing that there was a surprise for me in the kitchen.
This is what I found:
Luke had gone to the garden first thing in the morning to harvest one container of peas, one container of beans and two cups filled with buttercups.
He set it all up on the counter with these notes.
What a dear. Luke was not content with just giving these gifts, he also checked with me several times that day to make sure I was eating and enjoying this harvest.

Here is a picture of Luke being a kind and gentle big brother.
Luke loves Justus and shows him with care. Justus is pretty happy with his big brother too.
Later this same day, I took the kids to a parade where they scored a bunch of candy. Luke left two pieces of his loot on top of a note that said "Daddy" next to Mike's pillow. Mike came home at midnight from a business trip to find this act of love.

That Lukers, he's a lover!

more baptism

2009-07-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

I love it that Mike enjoys photography so much. And I really love it that he is so good at putting together blog posts for our family scrapbook. But sometimes he does not add pictures because the lighting is not good, the focus is off and something about bokeh. And sometimes he doesn't include a memory if we don't have pictures to go with it.

Like this picture.
I like this candid of two of my men enjoying the afternoon at our BBQ. It was such a nice time hanging out with good friends in the sunshine celebrating God's goodness.
This picture of Adia was not included in our last post. I know the lighting is off and all, but look how cute she is! I loved seeing our friends all dressed up as we are usually more casual around each other and Adia was darling in her dress. See her wild hair? The kids all had a grand time playing together (there were 17 friends age 8 and under who attended Justus' baptism! He will never be in want of a friend!).

I don't want to forget the food.
Mike mentioned the great burgers but we also had tons of yummy sides lovingly prepared by friends and family. Everyone contributed. We had pasta salad, pico de gallo & chips, melon-fruit salad, amazing fresh berries, I made a chocolate-espresso-banana cake and of course their was ice cream!

Is it OK if I remember the incident where a certain Papa had a certain situation with a certain substance ALL over his hand causing him to call out, "CUTZI, I NEED YOUR HELP HERE." Hilarious.

This is only made funnier by the fact that we Hollisters had our own version of an incident earlier that day.
About 10 minutes before the end of Pastor Kevin's sermon after which the baptism would take place Justus began to stir in his car seat. Upon taking him out, I felt that he was wet. Unsure if it was sweat or one of two other substances I lifted his backside to Mike ans asked, "Is it bad?" His answer: "REAL BAD!" I rushed to the bathroom and gave Justus a complete wardrobe change (he even needed his socks changed!). Justus and I walked out of the bathroom just as Pastor Kevin was asking the family to come forward. We came from opposite sides of the church and met in the front giggling at our shared joke.

This next picture is also not good, picture wise.
If I knew how to crop, I would cut the adults out of the picture and make Xochi bigger. But I don't (with Mike's fancy program). But that's OK because I want to remember sweet baby Xochi's face (and getting good pictures at this age is hard). I want to remember that I am (almost) always nursing Justus these days. And I want to remember how nice it was to do so in the sunshine with friends that day.

After the BBQ most of us did a little of this:
And this is the best picture we got of the main man of the day:

Maybe not a perfect portrait, but enough to sufficiantly see how preciously sweet is Justus.

justus, baptized

2009-07-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

Last Lord's Day we baptized Justus. Pastor Kevin preached a wonderful sermon about why we baptize and how we are to view our children.

It was very special for us.

We happened to taking pictures for the Church directory. AND we happened some of our best friends in the world present for this occasion.

Ava warmed up the "studio" which was actually a couple flashes, cheap umbrellas and a very wrinkley sheet.

Ava warmed up the sheet.

We snaged pictures of our friends in front of the sheet. No blog for these folk, but we fit very well with them.

And of course you know these friends.

And these folk often make appearances on here.

And this ravashing lady is my own dear mother, looking rather fetching in front of the wrinkly sheet.

After the service and pictures, we headed out to our place for a barbeque.

You'll have to bear with me as I was busy cooking; all we have are pictures my mom took. But she had some good ones. Unfotunately no pics of the burgers. They were pretty good. I still have some room for improvement. But the grilled onions really make these things sing.

A great battle ensued.

This pictures kills me. That backswing is totally past parrallel. No wonder I've been chunking it so much lately.

Maybe super-E-bo can save my swing.

an afternoon with friends

2009-07-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

... just because it's been a while since we posted some pictures. And Aunt Helen probably needs a fix.

We spent a schorching day with some friends.

It was all about long-time friends...

... and soon-to-be long-time friends.

And ice cream.

For everyone.

Then I let Aidan shoot some pictures.

I think he did a good job compensating for the camera's tendency to underexpose the subject here due to the strong backlighting, but he really needs to work on his raport with his model.

He liked this one because he caught his brother in motion.

It was pretty hot. After ice cream, we retreated to back our friends' house for some shady quiet. While Justus nursed, Aidan read a book to Ebo and Steele.

I guess it was a good book because it started to draw a crowd.

Pretty soon they had maxed out the couch.

Just a fun afternoon and some fun pictures. Especially this last one. This was my favorite picture of the day. Isn't she adorable? I think out of all my friends' kids she probably likes me the most too. And she likes to smile for my camera. So this is probably not the last picture you'll see on here of Aida Moon.

a different kind of playground

2009-07-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

Luke is getting ready to play. He is setting things up for his brothers.

Play what, you ask?

When the horseplay gets to be too much, we say, "go hit some balls."

and what have the other kids been up to lately?

2009-07-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that Justus' most favorite thing to do is nurse. This has meant that things have been a little different around here as momma is in a chair a lot of the day helping Justus get a full tummy.

What have the other kids been doing during this time? A lot of fun things outside the house actually: swimming at the pool with Daddy & Grandma D., swimming lessons, golf camp, cub scout camp, a fourth of July picnic & golfing with daddy have been a lot of fun these past two weeks. And these deserve their own post.

While at home, I have seen the kids be really creative about coming up with activities to do while I nurse. Here are a few of which I managed to get pictures.

First and most obvious, playing all sorts of imaginative games outside. Here is Aidan day-dreaming on the trampoline.

Then there are the fun ways in which one can do chores. Ethan's job is to put away the clean silverware.

Here is an Ethan tip for you. It is more fun if you use an empty paper towel tube as a chute through which you can drop the silverware into place.

Ta-Da! Nice work E-Bo.

Ava enjoys the past time of dressing herself. Many times a day.

Note the shirt & pants (and under-ware too) are all on backwards.

Luke thought it would be fun to wrap "birthday presents." I told him he could use a roll of wrapping paper and the kids spent a greater part of a couple days wrapping up their toys and giving them to one another.

Whatever I paid for that paper was money well spent!

I also got a shot of Aidan talking on the phone with Aunt Helen and Cousin Shannon who were in Slovenia (I think... or was it Croatia?)at the time. Talking on the phone with them was enjoyed by all the kids. Aunt Helen, this pic is for you!

Ethan and Ava both can spend a great deal of time watering my plants for me.

One cup full at a time!

And Ava especially can be amused (for a LONG) time by being asked to clean things.

She loves to clean (I think because she was watched and helped me do so much of it) and she is actually quite competent at it!

For the record, she saw this seat in the bathtub and asked to clean it. It was her idea, not mine.

I love how they always have a great time no matter what they are doing. It is a good thing too, because I need to go nurse again!

two weeks of justus

2009-07-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

We have had many requests for more Justus pictures. And rightly so, he is such a sweet baby worthy of many pictures! We just have trouble finding the time to upload and post them.

But here are a few shots of some of what our littlest man has been up to lately.

Here he is napping in his bed.

Taking his first bath at home.
I love it when they are still small enough to bathe in the sink!

Here he is napping by the pool while the other kids are swimming.

Napping is definately Justus' second favorite activity, nursing is his first.

And another frequent activity: being loved on by his siblings!

We are so thankful for the ways this sweet baby has enriched each of our lives!

justus and his name

2009-06-24T22:31:00.000-07:00

The name Justus means just, righteous, fair. These are values that have always meant a lot to us. As we have gotten more use to saying it these last few days it has taken on more meaning.

It's a humbling concept. It is speaks about how God satisfies his own justice by sending His son to die for us. Every time we say his name we are reminded how God used this sacrifice to cover over the many ways we have wronged him. We love the mere mentioning of his name brings to mind a cornerstone of the Gospel.

We have chosen Micah 6:8 as the scripture to pray/sing over him at bed times.

"He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?"

His middle name is Beric; like Eric with a B. This name commemorates our family's love for the works of G. A. Henty. One of our favorites (so far) which we were listening to while choosing baby names is titled, "Beric the Briton." Henty has written about 100 books, all historical fiction written about the start of the 20th century. Henty possessed a deep faith as well as a heart to teach boys how to be men of courage and integrity. In every one of his stories, a young boy grows from youth to maturity and becomes a hero of his people. Set during the Roman Invasion, Beric becomes a leader of the Britons. Henty has already had a profound impact on our homeschooling and our family. This name honors both the works he left and the idea that boys need to be taught principles of courage and integrity.

It is also really fun for us all to give Justus a name from something we all enjoyed so much as a family and when he is a little older it will be neat for him to read Beric the Briton.

*Thanks to Christina for designing/making the adorable onesie; perfect for this post.

5

2009-06-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

The day began at 5:30. Amy woke up and called the hospital to see if there was room. They said to be there at 6. We left the house at about 6:15.

Don't worry though. We got to the hospital just in time to wait.

But at least the food was distractingly scrumptious. Amy had been looking forward to it.

About 12 hours after we got there, the epidural man was given the okay to help Amy out w/ what had finally become painful contractions. A normal epidural takes about 10 minutes. We've had 3 of those. I wouldn't say this guy is the biggest failure we've experienced but he comes pretty close. He burned through three of the "epidural kits" and finally got through on the third hole. And it still didn't work out all that well. Not as bad as with Nora Fine who did the epidural with Luke. She was so bad I remember her name to this day. Coincidentally, Nora did the epidural for this anesthesiologist's birth and messed it up for him too. That made for some pleasant camaraderie but didn't help Amy's pain much.

So to help Amy deal with these contractions, I reminded her that I had already done all the hard work about 9 months ago. She found that even less funny in her altered state.

Fortunately, delivering a baby does a lot to lift ones spirits.

We had the audacity to weigh him. 8 lbs. 12 oz. He was not impressed. That was about the only time we were able to get him to cry. He is a very content baby thus far.

But he really enjoyed his first bath.

I took a turn with my little guy.

While momma took a well-deserved rest.

The rest was also well-timed. There were a few folks who were a little bit excited about seeing their new little brother.

Justus Beric
b. June 18, 2009 8:51 PM
8 lbs 12 oz.

not the baby anymore

2009-06-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Two more nights and, Lord willing, we will begin the process of what the boys call "getting the baby out". Everyone is excited.

I think Ava is ready to not be the baby anymore.

Amy liked the combination of this dress, this chair and the pink barrette.

I like the light that streams through our 4 big windows. Some of you have probably thought, "why does he always pick the same lame backgrounds?" What... walls and bookcases, along with the occasion blurred vision of a messy office area isn't attractive?

I can't help it. That's where the light in our house is. I'll have to buy a nice backdrop some day.

Maybe I'll spring for a cool seamless backdrop for a "new baby" photoshoot.

I really should take more pictures of the other kids.

But they don't wear cute little dresses.

And if they did, I certainly wouldn't post pictures of it.

Oh who am I kidding... of course I'd post those pictures. I mean... come on...

I think she's going to enjoy having a larger audience.

what a pretty picture!

2009-06-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

What do I think of when I see this picture?

Man, I really need to mow my field.

Blogging frequency will pick up once I get some outdoor stuff done.

Amy goes to work with Mike... in Hawaii

2009-05-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

I travel a lot for my job. Rarely do I travel to exotic locales though. Rarely is not never though.

I cashed in some frequent flier miles and Amy and I travelled first class to a conference at the Fairmount Orchid on the big island of Hawaii.

And of course I took some pictures. If I don't photoblog it, it might as well not have happened.

The flight took about six hours. Amy went to the bathroom about 11,748 times. Good thing first class has its own bathroom.

After landing, we encountered a particularly amazing naturally occurring phenomenon in the rock.

We smiled a bit bigger as we drove toward our hotel.

Once we got there, we spent some time at the pool.

Later that evening we had a our first reception. The host of the convention flew in Kenny Rogers to play traditional Hawaiian music.

Okay, that wasn't Kenny Rogers. But whoever that was performed on a very cool grass stage.

There would be many more receptions. I think that these "meet n' greets" filled with people she didn't know had to be Amy's favorite part. Especially the cool name tag she got to wear.

Not being able to take advantage of the hosted bar probably grated on her a bit.

Actually her being there was very strategic from a business perspective. People tend to like Amy. Since my job is essentially to get people to like me and thus want to do business with me, having her there is like an unspoken endorsement. People get to know her and figure that if I was able to get her to like me enough to be carrying my fifth child, I can't be all that bad.

The hotel also had this amazing naturally occurring waterfall.

Okay, not naturally occurring, but nice backdrops nonetheless.

The second to last day we took a Catamaran trip out into the ocean to snorkel with sea turtles, fish, hermit crabs and other things. Snorkeling is great, especially if you are trying to give your skin a nice, red hue.

My favorite part of the trip had to be the scenery. There was beauty everywhere I looked.

Oh, and there were a lot of pretty flowers too.

The last night we attended the "Meeting of Kings". It was a beautiful show that traced the history of all the islands of the South Pacific.

Amy impressed me by knowing a lot of this stuff already. Leave it to the homeschooling mom to have a handle on the obscure details.

The highlight of the show for me was the "fire knife" dance. First, because it's cool and dangerous, but also because I thought it would provide an opportunity to play with my camera.

The dance did not disappoint. Can't say the same thing about my camera skills. Taking pictures in low light is hard. Taking pictures in rapidly changing light is even harder. Especially when the autofocus keeps hunting. I took over a hundred shots and got very few keepers.

But I lucked out and got a couple really nice ones just as he was getting ready to eat the fire.

First he just tried a taste.

(I love this picture. They should put it on their brochure.)

That little taste must have suited him well because he went for a much bigger bite after that.

Sadly, our 5 days in paradise came to a close. It's okay though. By this time we were really missing our kids. We knew they were in good hands, but we still were imagining them with us while we considered which activities they would like best.

But it was nice to spend time with just the two of us.

Even so; next time, we bring the kids.

Here are the pics I didn't post...

2009-05-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

Just more of our friends. They said it was okay.

some pictures from the park

2009-05-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

I'm still going through the pictures from the Hawaii trip, so y'all are just gonna have to wait for that.

But here are some pictures from our time in the park with some friends. It was really sunny but we got a few nice shots. Some really good ones of some other people's kids but Amy thinks that we shouldn't put other folks' kids on the internet without their permission. Which is a shame cause they were great pictures.

carpe photoshoot

2009-05-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

The other day, in between seeing our friends dedicate their precious kiddos, we seized a rare moment where (1) everyone was dressed relatively nice, (2) the weather was nice, (3) we were near a very scenic location and (4) I happened to have my camera and the right lenses.

And we captured evidence of this phenomenon on that aforementioned camera.

The cherry blossoms made for great background for my pretty girls.

Then I turned the camera loose on some goofball boys.

I did not direct these poses. Getting them to all look right for a picture is a lot like herding cats.

Except for my Lukers. He is happy to strike a pose. He likes the camera.

And I think the camera likes him too.

mother's day

2009-05-10T17:07:00.000-07:00

We celebrated all the moms today. An expectant mother and I prepared some grub. For the curious, it was fruit salad, crustless quiche, and a failed attempt at Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls.

We all put on our Sunday best. Well I guess we already had them on. We'll delegate Ava as the representative for "Sunday best" for obvious reasons.

My mom and me.

Both Grandmas and Ava.

See if you can spot the resemblance in this triple generation picture. Honestly I'm too close to these people and I can't see the resemblance at all.

Grandma D brings 62 years of life experience to her trampoline moves. That's some pretty decent air.

chelan vacation

2009-05-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Our good friends were kind enough to invite us to spend a few days east of the mountains with them. The drive over was beautiful, with this cloud foreshadowing the great weather we would enjoy.

We aren't strangers to long car trips. When it's more than a couple hours, we bust out the opiates, er... screens. While some of us have simpler needs that can be met by the comfortable and familiar odor of drool-soaked "nigh-night", it's nice to have a bright, engaging adventure lighting up ones countenance.

We spent the first morning getting reacquainted with our friends. There is commonality in caring for another, whether it's a fuzzy tigger, dingy baby doll, or a chicken. Who am I to judge the object of ones affections?

The water was still too cold for a swim, but not unlike the mystery of Stonehenge, some vacationing family or tribe or ? had fashioned a fort from driftwood.

Very soon the fort became the Millennium Falcon.

Also, Bob has a cool goatee.

There's plenty to do on the beach though. We pretty much had it all to ourselves.

This little guy didn't eat any sand. Picky eater I guess.

Or perhaps he secretly noted that you just never know where that sand had been. Or what's been in that sand.

We had a competitive round of mini-golf. Some took it seriously, some not so much.

Going off by yourself and vacationing with your family certainly is fun, but we all think doing this kinda thing with good friends who are at a similar stage in life is even better.

that's a lot of kids

2009-04-17T12:06:00.001-07:00

We had our friends over to play this morning.

I guess we're going to need a bigger couch pretty soon.

17,000 Easter pictures....

2009-04-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

... and one decent one.

They seem so grown-up.

mischief

2009-04-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today as we were scrolling through old pictures in search of something new to hang on our wall, we came across this:

We all shared a good laugh.

the soccer ritual

2009-04-05T00:52:00.000-07:00

For the next couple months, we, along with approximately everyone in the county, will meet at a local playfield every Saturday for an hour or so of intense physical competition.

Soccer is a pretty big deal.

Since Aidan really wants to try football, only Luke is playing soccer this season.

This is serious business. He brings his game face.

His intensity is nearly matched by his adoring fans.

Six-year-olds play three players to a side and no goalie.

The key to winning is to be able to maintain focus on the game for longer than 12 seconds at a time. This is harder than it sounds.

Luke's focus was in good form today. This can't be said for all players. You can click on the picture for better peek at level of interest in the game according to the player's facial expression.

When players are able to maintain their focus for a period of time, you get some pretty good action.

Luke is one of the tallest kids on his team. And he's got a pretty powerful foot. Sometimes the opposition learns this the hard way. #35 is about to figure it out.

Luke made a great throw-in here. I don't think anyone on either team noticed it though.

#11 was hurting us in this game. Luke tries to dribble by him.

I tell Luke he needs to use his body. His application of this advice isn't exactly what I had in mind.

But it did help him score a goal.

He must get his competitiveness from his mother.

how to put away a sharp knife

2009-03-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

... according to Ebo.

2009 Pinewood Derby

2009-03-19T00:47:00.000-07:00

I vividly remember making my own pinewood derby car. Even though my mom was pretty handy around the shop, growing up without a dad put me at quite a disadvantage. But I didn't know that. I recall filing a grove in the hood of my car with something that I'm pretty sure was supposed to be a metal file. I carefully painted it (black of course) and even more carefully wrote the words "Ninja III" on the side (I was into ninjas as the time). To me it was a thing of beauty. When I finished it, I didn't think there could possibly be any car that looked better or ran faster. I mentally rehearsed getting the first place trophy. I knew there was no way I could lose.

Needless to say things didn't go down as I planned. Once I got to the derby, I saw an assortment of modified cars that left me dumbfounded. What's this thing about a weight limit? You mean you should add weight to the car? I was pretty outclassed. I finished near the bottom in speed and took home a ribbon or trophy that said "Snazziest" (seriously)--only because this was back when everyone had to win something.

Fast forward twenty-some years. Now it's not my pinewood derby car, but Aidan and Luke's car. Unfortunately, I'm probably only about 13% more competent with hand tools than I was when I built my own pinewood derby car. To this day I have never changed the oil in my car (and I have no plans to... don't get me started).

But I am pretty good at the Internet.

Who'd have known that there are pages and pages of tips on how to build fast pinewood derby cars. I printed off about 15 pages of stuff and after reading it myself, I handed it to Aidan and said, "after you read through this, we'll get started on your car." He read it that night.

At breakfast the next morning I quizzed him to see what he'd retained. He was on track. He knew the key was to reduce all sources of friction and to get the car to track as straight as possible. He knew that you'd need to add weight to get the car right up to the 5 oz limit.

We began construction on two cars. One for him and an "outlaw" car for Luke. Luke's not quite old enough to officially race, but we built him a car too. They started by drawing their designs on paper. After addressing a few impracticalities, we got to cutting.

It's pretty serious business.

Through much toil (a solid Saturday and a half), we came up with a couple nice cars.

Aidan had the "Gold Racer".

Luke made a tank.

I'll be honest that even though I tried to involve the boys as much as possible, I was feeling a little bit concerned that I had helped too much. Turning a 6 year old lose with a dremel was scary, but should I have let him shape the lead too? Isn't lead dangerous?

Once I arrived at the race and took a gander at the other cars, all my guilt was washed clean away. I then realized... this is as much a contest for Dad as it is for kids. Some athletic dads live vicariously through their kids' sporting endeavors. Us nerdy dads atone for childhood failures by engineering a pine wood masterpiece. Some of these cars were amazing.

The "Outlaws" looked pretty good too. Before the races, all the scouts and outlaws got to vote on which cars they liked the best. Neither of our boys voted for their own cars, which is remarkable considering they possess my DNA.

After all the cars were checked in and tested for illegal performance-enhancing modification (seriously), the first race was set to begin.

Tensions were high. Would our plans work?

We got second in our first race. Not too bad. We weren't the worst car.

In fact we got second a lot.

Look at that white car beating us to the line by less than a centimeter. We will have our revenge. Somebody check that car for PEDs!

Ah, the sweet taste of redemption as we pull out yet another second place finish, this time by beating that white car in a photo finish.

Oh come on! Sabotage! Foul play! Someone didn't want us to win and placed our car on the track backwards, dropping us to third place in this race.

But it looks like that black car truly was the better car this day. Even facing the right way we could not overcome her.

Luke enjoyed the races, patiently waiting his turn to run with the outlaws.

Unfortunately, the tank was really slow. I mean really slow. It got last every time. But that's okay. Luke's artistic expression was rewarded. The outlaws voted him the best of the bunch!! Who would have thought that a bunch of 6 year old boys would have deemed a tank to be coolest car?

Aidan's car finished 10th. I call that a top ten finish. It was fun making the cars and talking about the physics involved in making the cars go fast. The creation process was definitely the highlight for me and I think the boys really liked working with the power tools. We'll be back next year with three cars: Ebo will take his turn as an outlaw as Luke gets to run in the official races.

I'm thinking we may work for two and a half Saturdays next year. The competition doesn't stand a chance.

luke's reading list

2009-03-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

Luke has enjoyed some really great books lately. Here he is during one morning's reading practice.

One of the books we really enjoyed reading was, "Ruby Bridges" by Robert Coles. What a wonderful picture book this was, teaching us the story of Ruby who was one of the first four black six year olds to be sent to an "all white" school. My kids were incredulous that this sort of injustice happened in a place that in Aidan's words "probably had at least one Christian." Luke really liked that Ruby who was the same age as him was wise enough to pray for the people in the mob outside the school who were mean to her.

After reading about Ruby Bridges Luke moved on to his reader. Today it was "Black Flag" a wonderful story about a preacher named Cotton Mather who implored a group of buccaneers to repent of their sins and call out to God prior to being hanged. Luke loved this book and he did a great job reading it. My favorite thing about the stage Luke is at as far as reading ability goes is that as he hits challenging words which require extra work sounding out he gets louder and louder. By the time is finished with a paragraph he is practically yelling! Little sweetie.

The third book we read this week is "Wait For Me, Watch For Me Eula Bee." What an amazing story this has been! Recommended by good friends, Eula Bee as we call it has been one of Luke's favorite read alouds. This book about a family whose settlement is raided by Indians during the civil war has had us all on the edge of our seats. Luke will stop me many times to talk about our emotions during it, "Aren't you scared momma?" Or "Isn't that so sad momma?" as I am trying to read through tears.

It is so rewarding to sit beside my kids as they cuddle close and read them good books. Almost always the rest of the day is filled with discussion about ways in which the books we have read relate to our days and our worldview.

And this cuddly guy is one of my favorite people to listen to read and to read to, I don't want to ever forget how special are these school days.

valentines day

2009-03-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Our family is hit or miss when it comes to days like February 14th. Sometimes we celebrate, sometimes we don't. This Valentine's Day we had a good time celebrating.

We began several days before by having four kids from one family over and two with their mom from another. We had a blast. 10 kids 8 and under with Cutzi and me as the authority figures. We sang songs together (which all of the kids LOVED!), we made treats dipping pretzels into melted chocolate and decorating with sprinkles, shared lunch, played lots and lots, and made paper crafty valentines. Lots of laughs and fun but no pictures! It kills me that I did not even take one picture. I guess that is the thing that had to go taking care of ten kids ages 8 to 11 months!

On the 14th we got things started by giving the kids Spiderman (a current fav around here) valentines and punching balloons which I had picked up at the dollar store. The kids thought these gifts were the greatest thing ever!

Mike treated us all to his fabulous banana-blueberry pancakes (and of course we sang Jack Johnson). Yummy, he always makes the best breakfasts (and I make good coffee)!

Later that morning we headed over to Hovander for a chilly walk and visit to the playground. We all really enjoyed ourselves and most of all enjoyed spending time together. Especially after the time we have had apart due to Mike's travel lately.

We've studied the history of the holiday. We know we are not celebrating the pagan Lupercalia and we discussed the reason Roman Christian's chose to begin the tradition of remembering Christian martyrs and especially Saint Valentine on this day. But most of all we just enjoyed the sweet gift the Lord has given us in one another!

our citrus habit

2009-03-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

Every time we go to Costco these days, we come home with a 15 lbs bag of grapefruit.

I absolutely love grapefruit. But even better than grapefruit is fresh squeezed grapefruit juice.

I make up a big jar of fresh juice at least once a week.

We used to just drink it strait over ice. We still do that. It's incredible.

Even more incredible is to mix it with gin. It's pretty close to magical in its goodness. I think being able to have gin & grapefruit juice is top 3 on Amy's list of things that she's looking forward to about not being pregnant. Seriously it probably goes (1) holding/meeting the baby, (2) feeling better, (3) gin & juice, (4) the hospital food (5) who knows... See, it's right up there by my estimation.

For the time being, she mixes hers with club soda.

Seriously, you need to try this. Get yourself a citrus juicer and a big bag of grapefruit. Doesn't need to be a fancy one: this, this or this would probably be fine.

a fount of wisdom

2009-03-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder how other families get along without their own Ebo.

If a good tree bears good fruit, there must be a forest of full of "huh?" trees inside our Ebo. In order to remember this, we wrote down three things that he said. Keep in mind that these three things were said within a span of about 30 minutes. And it's not as if Ethan turned off the wisdom spigot at that point. It flows daily at our house.

[Ethan had worn his mother's shoes out into the family room because when his sister Ava does it, it's funny/cute. It's more funny/weird when he does it, but that's not the point of the story. I walk by and notice the spectacle out of the corner of my eye on my way into the kitchen. Also, keep in mind that all the boys are very much into Star Wars right now.]

Ebo, yelling into the kitchen: Daddy, I'm wearing momma's shoes!

Me: Yes, I know, I saw that.

Ebo, running into the kitchen: Daddy, how did you know? Did you use the force to see me?

[Sitting at the dinner table, we have a nice discussion about how Luke actually got to see the baby (inside momma's tummy) kick this afternoon and how special that is.]

The rooster crows.

Ebo: Momma, I just heard the baby kick.

And he's completely serious.

[About 10 mintues after that we're having a discussion about how momma get's scared sometimes with scary books or movies with real bad guys in them.]

Ethan offers: Momma, you don't have to be scared--the only real bad guys are giants [pause for effect] and monsters.

Again, he's not trying to be funny.

You don't have to ask Ethan to pose for these pictures. This is just what he does naturally.

super heros

2009-02-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

It all started with our weekly visit to the library. Aidan wanted to find some new Star Wars books because ever since we watched the original Star Wars while we were in Whistler it had been a passion around here. Well, while looking for Star Wars books, Luke found a book of superhero comics.

Once we were home and everyone began delving into the books we brought home, the superhero book quickly became a favorite. Later that week, I had the idea to show them the Superman movie from 1978 since it is on Netflix Watch Instantly. It was amazing how instantaneously the passions around here shifted. The next morning Aidan was Spiderman, Luke Superman and Ethan: the flash. And they have been superheros ever since.

And what fun is it playing a superhero with making some modifications. You see, Batman doesn't really have any powers to speak of which makes him not nearly as fun to "be". But, (and this is a big deal) Batman is the only one with a utility belt. Well, what's to stop every hero from having a utility belt.

You see, a utility belt allows you to integrate toys from other genres and past passions into the current passion. You'd be surprised at the things you find on a typical utility belt.

At one point, Aidan proclaimed to me that he was "Aidan-Man". Yes, he really did. You see Aidan-Man has all the powers of Superman and Spiderman but without the pesky kryptonite weakness.

It has been a lot of fun to explain to The Flash that he needs to save the world by cleaning his room, to implore Spiderman to treat the other citizens with kindness and to ask Superman to carry a heavy load for me.

obsessions

2009-02-21T21:46:00.000-08:00

I remember eating dinner at Costco several years ago. I think Aidan and Luke were about 4 and 2 at the time which would have put Ebo in the stroller as an infant. The close quarters of the Costco cafeteria provide ample opportunity for mingling with strangers. This particular occurrence of such mingling has somehow stayed with me. I don't recall the details of how it started, but a fortysomething mom of one rather obstinate 3 or 4 year old struck up a conversation with us about the trials dining in public with kids. Part way through our interaction, she asked us what we did about "G-U-N-Ses". Yes, she spelled it so as not to rile her already-riled dinner date, also, I presume, out of misplaced assumptions as to what our opinions on the matter would be. Amy replied, loud enough for all to hear, "What...? You mean guns?" After a brief shudder, she nodded.

I honestly don't remember where the conversation went after that, but I think I probably said that I don't think you can keep toy guns out of the hands of young boys. Even if you have no TV, videos, books, etc, there is this inherent knowledge that emerges in boys at an early age that there just has to be some means of propelling a projectile of some kind with speeds great enough to inflict serious harm on another person. It's instinctive. Even in a gun-free household, at some point a young boy with find an errant spaghetti noodle on the floor and for no particular reason, point it at his little sister and go "pew, pew". You can't stop it. You can only hope to contain it.

That story is only slightly related to this post, but whatever.

So about 3 years ago, I ordered some padded swords for the kids to lovingly beat on each other with from BUDK. Not sure how I came across that company, but they had good prices on a variety of knives, BB guns, and medieval weaponry. As some of you may have experienced, often when you order from a catalogue or website, you get spammed like crazy. We've probably gotten at least one BUDK catalogue a month for the last few years. Usually they quickly find their way to trash, but occasionally they are intercepted.

This catalogue happened to come at a time when birthday money was burning holes in a few pockets around these parts. Luke took a strong fancy too it and spent about 75% of his free time looking through it. The other 25% of that time was spent telling us what he was going to get, or how he and Aidan were going to pool their money to get something big, or how he had changed his mind about what he was going to get, or how Daddy should buy this really cool thing, or... you get the picture. It was nonstop, incessant. Some acquaintances of ours have labeled Luke the quiet one of our family. We laugh about that. He just sometimes likes to save it up for home.

[Yes, those are stink bombs on the left page there. Yes, they were proposed as a nonviolent acquisition by the boys. No, that proposal was not endorsed. No, I have no idea how it works or what is inside it or anything like that]

Some of Luke's favorites:

No, it's not a flask. It's actually a "permanent match". It's a steel container filled with toxic lighter fluid that apparently has some apparatus that you can pull out and strike like a match. Of course. What 6 year old doesn't need an infinite supply of matches?.

His mean parents put the kibosh on that one pretty quick. We explained that Papa had drank lighter fluid when he was boy and was pronounced dead at the hospital prior to being revived. He didn't press the issue on this one. Also, it's important to keep in mind that in our house, you have to 8 before you can have a pocket knife. I know that rule is quite arbitrary, but Aidan would ask us for a knife every day a few years back so we kinda came up with that rule on the spot. That is how case law is established in our family. Everyone else just has to deal with it.

His next option was this:

I guess it's not a pocket knife. We jokingly/sarcastically told him that we could also get Ebo some metal armor so they could have real battles. Apparently our jest was a bit too subtle as we found out a couple hours later that he really thought that was going to be it. Serious redirection ensued.

We were finally able to persuade him that the cheap airsoft guns offered the most value for his dollar. Also, it was understood that they would primarily be used as props because "we don't want to waste all the bullets."

Of course, it wasn't just Luke who felt the need to bolster our household defenses.

It's times like these that make me so glad that we have a girl. She can lend beauty and grace to all this testosterone. She brings sensitivity and compassion to the family, along with a healthy dose of cuteness. She is a beacon of femininity in the swirling waters of testosterone upon which our household floats.

[sigh.......]

ava & the chickens

2009-02-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

Ava loves chickens. She has a stuffed chicken (from the Boynton books which we all love) who she is often seen playing with, carrying around or bringing to bed.

I think this love was sparked last spring when we got baby chicks. She was at just the right age to be forever changed by the little balls of fluff in our garage.

Often when I get Ava out of bed she explains to me that she could hear the chickens (she means the rooster) in her bed. And every time --EVERY TIME!-- we drive away from home she calls out, "bye chickens" and every time we pull up to the house she greets them with "hi chickens."

Ava loves chickens.

aidan judges Judges

2009-02-17T15:45:00.000-08:00

This morning after breakfast while Aidan was reading Judges ch 8 aloud to the family he came to this line:

^31"And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech."

If you don't know the story of Gideon it is wonderful story detailing the history of God saving His people in a way that only God can using Gideon as his servant warrior. My boys love this story very much --our whole family does. Read Judges chapters 6-8 for the amazing narrative.

So this morning when Aidan reached verse 31 and read "and his concubine" he interrupted himself to declare ominously "oh, no. Nothing good ever comes from a concubine..." Aidan then proceeds to elaborate on how whenever there is a concubine involved there is trouble, completing his thought with the example of Wu Zetian (Wu Zetian is the only woman to have been empress of China. She began as the emperor's concubine and through many awful acts, including killing her own daughter rose to power). Aidan, Luke and I had just learned about Wu Zetian in our history study a few weeks ago.

This whole thing tickled my heart in so many ways. First of all, he expressed his thoughts in such a cute and intelligent way. Second, he is remembering and applying the history I am teaching him. Third and most importantly to me: he is right! The fact that Gideon had a son with his concubine is a foreshadow of the trouble to come! The next chapter is all about the gruesome trouble that Gideon's son Abimelech brings to God's people.
I love it when they get it!

sunshine

2009-02-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

There has been a bit of a lull in our posts lately for this journal. We just keep forgetting to take pictures is the truth of it. But life is marching on!

A few Saturdays ago the sun came out and we celebrated by going for a bike ride/walk in Lynden with Cutzi and her kids. Despite the sun, the cold still demanded we don our favorite hats.

It was perfect. We played at one park, walked and rode to another park, then went out to lunch. Up in the great Pacific Northwest, it starts raining in about November and doesn't much let up until April. You need to carpe diem so you can get your wiggles out.

Sometimes I wonder if the people in California get bored of this because they pretty much get to do it whenever they want. There's no way they appreciate it as much as we do. Anyhow, it's good to brush up on your large motor skills.

We were thankful for the sun, the exercise and the company of good friends.

sweet baby number five

2009-02-14T21:43:00.000-08:00

Here is our first picture of the newest member of our family for the journal. Sweet baby number five is developing well and we are so thankful to find he or she is growing healthy and happy.

Baby was so active that we were not able to get a super profile shot but I love the position we caught the little sweetie in here. He/she is sitting with legs straight up in the air almost touching the nose! So funny. Sweet baby had his/her hands by his/her head and both feet right there too. I love it.

Everyone in this family is so excited to meet this person. We are halfway there! And so thankful for this blessing.

and then ava turns two!

2009-01-31T10:55:00.000-08:00

The morning after our last Christmas party was Ava's birthday!

This girl. What a delight she is to us. She is cherished deeply by each one of us. Her "boe-eez" as she calls her brothers, especially when she is beckoning them to entertain her latest whim, think she is the princess of the world. Her daddy is smitten ending each day with a comment about how hard it is to believe she could be so cute. And her momma, is just so thankful to have this amazing girl for a daughter.

Ava is really different at home than she is out in public. When we go someplace, Ava stays quietly right by my side. She acts like she is shy. I am still not used to this because this is so different than how she acts at home with the family. At home Ava is in command, loud, and boisterous. It is fun to observe the complexity of her personality.

Ava is really good at loving those around her. She helps her momma, wrestles with her daddy, plays soldiers with Ethan, allows Luke to take care of her, and kisses Aidan's owies. She notices other people and what they are interested in, what they are doing, wearing and saying. She is an attentive sister.

Her birthday this year was very low key. It was Sunday so we worshiped in the morning and in the evening and napped in between. This left dinner time to say "Happy Birthday" and share some cake. Actually, at every meal we put a candle in her food and sang to her. She loves the birthday song and enjoyed that part of it very much. However, she hated the candle. I think we have done too well of a job explaining the dangers of "fire" and "hot" because she wanted nothing to do with the candle while it. So at breakfast Aidan blew out, at lunch Luke helped and at dinner when two candles were on her cake Ethan was happy to do the job. Funny girl.

We did not get super pictures of Ava on her big day. But we did take this (really poor quality) video which serves to record the occasion. It's kind of amazing that we (for once) have no good pics of the biggest picture magnate in the family.

Since this post is about a month late, there have been some new developments. About 1 year ahead of our traditional timing, Ava has decided to become potty-trained. The process was so very different than with the boys. Aside from being a year early, she takes particular joy in doing it ALL by her self (as in the video: "Ava do it.") For us it's a little unbelievable how easy it's been, but she just seems to get it and care about it a little more than the boys, who I honestly think would sometimes still prefer diapers so as not to disrupt a particularly intense time of fighting bad guys, slaying dragons or whatever.

We're so blessed to get to share in the experience of raising up this little lady.

our last Christmas tradition of the year

2009-01-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

The next Saturday we were finally (our family's stomach flu & the weather got in the way a lot) able to have our annual Christmas get together with these dear friends.
Every year we order take out (in lieu of an adult gift exchange), exchange gifts with the kids, put them to bed and then play games as adults. Everyone always enjoys this get together immensely.
This year we choose Greek food for the adults and pizza for the kids. Here were are getting ready to eat (not yet Ava!).
And here we all are gathered around the table. I am amazed that we got this shot! We have Aidan (8), Ella (7), Luke (6), Isaac (5), Ethan (4), Isaias (3), Ava (2), Adelia (11 months), Stacy's baby (due Feb. 19), my baby (due June 29th), and the four adults. What a fun group!
Mike had just bought a new gadget for his camera that allows him to set the camera on the tri-pod and take pictures with a remote. We were able to get some fun ones this way. Here we are exchanging gifts. Ava is walking over to thank Stacy for the super cute crayon pouch that Stacy made.
Isn't Stacy's home so warm and inviting! Here are Isaac and I being silly with the camera, I like how we are transparent.
Ella, Luke, Ethan, and Isaias.
These kids have been around each other their entire lives. Such rich history and community (of course everyone knows Stacy & I have been friends since 6th grade, I was there when Mark met Stacy & we both were a part of one anothers weddings).
After exchanging and enjoying gifts & dessert, everyone got into jammies (just the kids) and Stacy read a story to all the non-babies.
I love that I have a million pictures like this from over the years. The kids enthrawled while Stacy reads a story.
After stories, we set the kids up with a video (they choose Old Yeller) and we (well Mike) made margaritas.
It was virgin drinks for the pregnant ladies this time. We ate yummy snacks and played a rousing game which Mark won (of course).
I wish I would have taken a picture of the kids sleeping downstairs, they were so cute. The only complaint I heard was the next morning when the kids were upset to find out we had taken them home in the "middle" of the night.
Next year it will only be more fun with two more babies!

new year's eve

2009-01-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

We spent New Year's Eve with these dear friends. Due to illness on our part, this was our first opportunity to have a Christmas celebration with them. We shared a delicious dinner and then got the party started.
We "counted down" the new year (at 8 pm) and let off some noise makers, the kids loved it.
After the fun of letting off the noise, we all got up and had a impromptu dance party. To the tune of "Ol' Bamboo" from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."
Once we all calmed down from this, we put the kids to bed and the adults enjoyed dessert while playing games together. Here are some cute pictures of Steele and Adia "sleeping" in our room.
These two are so cute. They giggled for a while with Adia calling out "good night Mr. H" (only she said the full name) it was so cute. Soon after, they slept soundly. We love these times when we get together.

and look what aunt helen did!

2009-01-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

We brag about our Aunt Helen a lot, but with good reason. This year she outdid herself once again blessing us with her skillfull talent. She knit each of the boys a sweater vest and for Ava a dress and a hat! They are all amazing and pictures do not give her the credit she deserves. Here are a series of pictures we took of the kids wearing their knitted gifts to church Sunday morning. The sun was shining brightly so the lighting isn't the best to show off the work, but you can get the idea of how amazing these gifts are.

I actually like seeing the progression and movement in these pictures. It shows how much can change with these four in the short span of shutter speed.
Here is a picture of Ava and her dress and hat. I love it so much, thank you Aunt Helen!

(not a good shot of me I know)

the day after christmas

2008-12-30T23:38:00.000-08:00

After a wonderful Christmas day, we all decided that Grandma D and Aunt Helen should spend the night. They did and thus enabled us to have the whole next day to enjoy one another. We ate a huge yummy breakfast, played with our Christmas gifts, baked cookies, worked on a puzzle, played Ticket To Ride and Cribbage, and ate some more.

Hopefully Ebo didn't add any of the special sprinkles he found to the cookies.

One of my gifts from Grandma D was a set of cookie cutters. She had also brought up some yummy cookie dough and set to work with the kids making tons of Christmas cookies.
While she did this Aunt Helen and I worked on a puzzle. I learned that Helen is very skilled at putting together puzzles and I.am.not.!
I like this shot because it shows not only the puzzle ninja but also the lovely white Christmas we enjoyed.

christmas day

2008-12-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day is our day to celebrate with Mike's side of the family. Here is our Grandma D, the matriarch.
Our family does not really worry about the dividing lines of "in-laws." Thus my parents and Mike's mom love and enjoy one another. And Denise has adopted my sisters and their kids as part of her family too. So for a couple hours at the first part of the day we were all together.
At one point Aunt Helen began reading a book to Ava. Before Helen had read very far, her audience grew.

And grew.
Helen is a pretty great reader.
After my parents left, we had a little present exchange with Denise, Helen, my sisters, and their kids. It was nice and my sisters were blessed by Grandma D's knack for finding, buying, and making great clothes for everyone.
We had let the boys pick out some things for Alix and Keegan to open on this day too. Here is a lovely pair of footwear for Alix.
Cherie mentioned that her downstairs neighbors will especially appreciate this gift. And speaking of noisy gifts, the boys found this item for Keegan.
After the presents, we enjoyed a little lunch together and then Sarah and Keegan and Alix and Cherie took off to join my parents for a different celebration in Puyallup.
We were sad to see these sweeties go, but there was more party to be had.
Yep. It is a leotard. Grandma D got Ava her first leotard. Flash dance fans get ready.
We had a terrific rest of the day. We played games together while the kids napped and afterward video taped some memories.
Then we opened gifts and enjoyed hanging out.
The day wouldn't be complete without another big meal of course, so we partook of that as well. We ended the evening with our traditional game of Cribbage with the two most competitive cribbage players ever (Denise and Mike) and then everyone went to bed.
More happenings to come on the day after Christmas.

christmas eve

2008-12-27T21:01:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas celebrations began on Christmas eve day. This is the day that we spend with Amy's family. The night before, Aunt Cherie and Alix drove up to beat the coming storm. Isn't Alix such a cutie-pie?

Here is Alix and Cherie.

Grandma and Papa arrived later that afternoon. Grandma started cooking a big Christmas dinner for everyone and the rest of us just hung out and visited. Here is grandma in the kitchen. And Papa bearing gifts.

The last part of our Christmas Eve party was Aunt Sarah and Keegan.
Once they arrived we had a grandma, a papa, two aunts, three two year olds, my boys and Mike and I. It was a party ready for some fun. We ate, we opened gifts, our stocking full of explosives from Papa and we sang songs.
Some sang with a little more gusto than others.
We got Alix a doll house and it was a big hit with all of the kids.
I think everyone had a good time. It was just nice to be all together. My family had not been all together since Christmas two years ago when Cherie and Sarah were pregnant. We were thankful for this time to have everyone together.

A time for fun and a time for bonding.

ethan's birthday

2008-12-21T18:19:00.000-08:00

December 13th is Ethan’s birthday. This year he turned four. I can’t believe I can no longer use “he’s just a three year old” as an excuse for his crazy behavior! But that is the case.

In a lot of ways it makes sense that he is now four. Four years old has always been one of my most favorite ages and Ethan is a ton of fun! He is smart, funny, energetic, full of ideas and imagination, a very likable guy.

Ethan has a zest for life that is contagious. He likes almost everything. This is one of the things that makes buying presents for him very difficult. He likes everything. And because of that it is hard to narrow down what might be a good gift. This year when asked what he wanted for his birthday he would always say, “a sword and a sheath just like Luke’s.” So he wanted Luke’s same present. We decided to just go with it.

We also picked up this soft elephant (Ethan is very into the textures of things) for him which he loves.

The day of his birthday, Ethan helped his daddy make his birthday cake. This year it was a gingerbread with molasses whipped cream cake which they all loved. He was very proud that he cracked his first egg by himself.

On his birthday we had a nice visit from some favorite buddies who brought him a gift. It was so cute: as soon as our friends arrived with gift in hand, all the kids ran off to play leaving us adults with the gift. Ethan was just way more interested in visitors than a present! But that's okay. Someone else was happy to play with his elephant.

That night Aunt Helen joined us for cake after which we all enjoyed watching the beginning of the The Return of the Jedi (Star Wars is a current favorite around here). After that, someone was a little reluctant to return Ebo's elephant to him.

It was a very nice day enjoyed by all. Our sweet Ethan is fun to celebrate because it is always a party to be around him (unless we are asking him to eat taco soup). We are so thankful for our buddy Ethan and pray that he continues to grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord.