Abrielle

Our sweet Abbie Kate...how did this happen. Such a short time ago you were the only baby, a precious little girl we all fussed over and doted upon. We gave you dolls and toys to express our love and gain your favor. You would snuggle up and rub your belly button, stick your fingers into your mouth, and listen to story after story. And now, here you are. The biggest cousin, watching out for the little boys and taking care of the baby girls. You are so grown up. Now you are getting flat irons, pom poms, jewelry and nail polish. You are the one reading the books, and amazing all of us with your vocabulary and knowledge. Growing with you is your gentle heart. I love to see Jesus in your tenderness towards your cousins and sibling. We are blessed by you, Abrielle. Delighted by you and by what you bring to our family.

This was our family walk on Thanksgiving morning in Tucson. Note the tank tops, shorts, and sunglasses...it was warm :)














Silas is not used to the heat...this was him after our jaunt. Red faced, sweaty, and tired. He even got carried for part of the walk (see the shoulder ride above), but his Oregon hiking skills got him no where. However, finding enough rocks to throw in the river here in Oregon can sometimes be a challenge. The rock supply in Tucosn was bountiful...we just lacked the river.







We adjusted though, and even when it was cool outside the three little boys ran laps around Grammy and Pops' house until they were stripping down clothing and panting.










Maybe when we go back for Christmas we will be better equipped to jump on the trampoline in the sunshine, now that we have had some practice.

Dedicated

On November 1st our little family stood before our church body to declare our commitment to raising our children in the way of the Lord. It was a precious day for us, that we longed to share with our family.
Thankfully, God has blessed us with an Oregon family, too. Our awesome friends Lisa and Kyle also dedicated their new son, Max. We celebrated with their family. Thank you Lord for these precious babies.

Ah, the fall...

A few weeks ago I took these totally cute pictures of my kids playing in the beautiful fall leaves at a park near our house. It was one of those fabulous fall days when they sun shines, but the air is cold, and each leaf is it's very own shade of beautiful.

Every picture turns out just right and feels "post card" precious.

I came home and looked through all the photos, having to weed out the good from the great so that I didn't overload the blog.
And when I got on my computer there was a new blog posting from my dear sister, Heather, who I love so very, very much. She had beautifully written about the gift of God revealing our spiritual needs to us, using the picture of longing for relief from heat in the desert. She referenced those of us living in different states who are enjoying pumpkin patches and hot cider, while they are still battling 90+ degree heat. After reading it, I could not post my pictures. I didn't want her to feel like I was trying to rub in our fall weather or our display of leaves. So I decided I would wait, at least until a drop in Arizona temperature.

Well, before I got to it, my mom came to town for a few days. We enjoyed the fall ambiance with our Starbucks Pumpkin Lattes for the first day or so. Encouraged, we planned a trip to the pumpkin patch for the morning of the day she was leaving. One last hurrah.

Well, a "hurrah" we got.

The morning was cold. Very cold. No more than 45 degrees. It was raining. Really raining. Sometimes Portland has a drizzle, this was a true downpour. And the wind. Not a single yellow leaf was still attached to a tree limb. But how could we not go to the pumpkin patch in October?

So, we dressed ourselves in rain proof gear and got in the car. As we drove, leaves plastered against the windshield and rain pelted against the windows. We pressed on.

When we arrived at the pumpkin patch, not surprisingly, the place was rather empty. So, I put my infant daughter in the baby bjorn and zipped her up as high as I could in my water proof jacket. I grabbed an umbrella and got out of the car.

Silas and Jordan were unwavering in their determination. We followed the owner of the pumpkin patch out to a little open air passenger train. He squeegeed the metal seats for us. Yes, a squeegee. They keep those on hand at Oregon pumpkin patches. Silas' obsession with trains was not squelched by the rain. He was excited. We even got to go through a tunnel. The pictures of the train and the tunnel didn't turn out. Maybe it was the elements, maybe it was providence. The tunnel was adorned with every scary Halloween icon that I could think of. Skeletons, grave stones, headless men, and blood. We were shocked, and hoping that Silas didn't notice. A nice little mom and pop place...sheesh.
We got off the train at field of pumpkins. Thankfully, the rain had lightened. However, I still needed to use my umbrella to shield my sweet baby girl from the sharpest wind, stinging us with the remaining drops of rain and burning our hands with the cold.
The pumpkins were not holding up well to the overpowering weather. Many of them were rotted through and flattened into the muddy ground. I don't think it was quite was Silas was expecting.
The reason we had chosen this particular pumpkin patch was because of the attractions. After taking the little train to the patch, we were scheduled to wait under the tent for our boat to take us back across the small lake to the little country store. Although I felt skeptical about getting on the open water while battling the wind and rain, the boat looked sturdy and Silas (and Jordan) could not be persuaded otherwise. So, we waited for the boat to come and get us, and Silas made the most of the puddles.
We were hunched over against the wind, but were hoping that perhaps Silas would forget the cold, wind and rain, and just remember the train and the boat rides.
We were not counting on him remembering the boat ride due to fear. Half way across the lake (which seriously was not big), the driver pushes what seems to be a garage door opener, and up out of the water comes this robotic looking dragon...

followed by skeleton pirates waving a skull flag.

The next attraction seemed harmless, a little man with a pumpkin head sitting in a fishing boat.
Then the driver tells Jordan to take Silas to the other side of the boat. He walks him over there and then pushes another button. Out of the water comes this shark, SPRAYING WATER all over Silas and Jordan!! As if we were not cold and wet enough, the driver lures my 2 year old, shivering son, into the splash zone for a Halloween prank!
We didn't know if we should yell at the guy, just cry, or laugh out loud at the rediculousness of the entire trip. To top everything off, the pumpkins were outrageously priced and we didn't even buy a stinking pumpkin for the front step. So we have nothing but the evidence of the above abuses as a memoir of our trip.

I don't have much eloquence to add to this. Heather, I love you so much. I would have loved to share an October day with you in Oregon, and for our sweet two year olds to peruse the rows of pumpkins. Mulled cider sounds like a delicious treat to share, and I hope we have the opportunity to do that together soon. I am sharing this in the hope to give you some laughter, to lighten your day. I hope you know how precious you are to me!

The little things

Today was a really busy day for Jordan. He gets up early to work at the golf course, goes to the gym, and then goes to his 2nd job in the evening and isn't home until after 10pm. These are tough days for everyone. He is tired, and we miss him when we don't get to see him at all in the day. We try to keep our spirits up since we are thankful for the work he has (and for how hot he is from all his working out), so we find delight in the little things.

When Jordan isn't home for dinner, I usually go really easy and often let Silas pick what he wants to eat. Tonight I asked him if he was starting to get hungry and this was the next few minutes of interaction;

S: Yes, I am. My tummy is saying "give me food, give me food!"
Me: Oh, ok. Well what would you like to eat?
S: I like hot dogs, and chicken, and turkey and meat. And I like the skin on apples.

I was finishing nursing Jewel and he had a puzzle on the floor that makes noise. I bumped it with my foot and he said to me, "Mom! Don't do that. I can do that, you can't do that...you silly booger!" I should have been offended or corrective, but we have said that to him so much I had no choice but to laugh. So laugh we did, together.

So as I am warming up dinner, Jewel is having tummy time on the floor and is really making progress with neck strength so I decide to snap a few pictures. As soon as Silas sees the camera on her he says "Jewel, look at mom. Look at the camera. You gotta smile now Jewel. Like this, see me. Oh Jewel, come on, look at Mom...Jewellll, oh Jeewwweeellll." He then proceeds to stick his face in front of every picture and won't let me take any of her until I offer for him to help me take them. That's a good idea.

When we finally sit down to dinner, which consists of toast, banana and hot dog for Silas and yogurt with granola for me, Silas looks at my bowl and says, " I DON'T like that, Mom. That is just for moms to eat. What is that anyway? Yeah, it's just for moms. Like beer is just for dads. Daddy is my FAVORITE Dad, like a cake Dad!"

Jewel having her tummy time

Silas having "big brother-itis"

Getting a little wacky

Thankfully, Jewel finds it hysterical (for now)

Shamblin Attack!

Story time before bed

Brushing Teeth

At the Children's Museum

The boys, being boys, at the park

Macie giving it a try too

In the sandbox

Who, us? No, we are totally innocent.

Party Hard or don't party at all...
So, we party'd HARD!

Callie, Heath and their three adorable kids came to stay with us. Yes, you heard me right. We put four adults and five kids ages 3 and under into my three bedroom house for 6 days. Jewel was in the room with Jordan and I. Brodie, Callie's 6 month old little boy was in the room with she and Heath. Which left Silas (2.5), Colby (3), and Macie (18 months) all to share Silas' room. We didn't waste a moment of night or day enjoying one anothers' company!

The parents laughed as we listened to the kids over the monitor. First the whispers, then the giggles, then someone is jumping, finally they are in each others beds and not even trying to be quite or sneaky about it. When did Callie and I move from the whisperers to the patrol team? Was it not just a short time ago that we shared late night talks? I can't decide which is more fun, to be the sneaky kids, squeezing every last moment out of the day with the cousins, or the parents who smile as our own kids develop those special relationships through these priceless moments.

Once the kids were in bed, finally the adults (I use this term loosely when referring to Heath and Jordan) could play. I don't think we went to bed before 1 am any of the nights they were here. Between the Wii tournaments and providing a "girls night out" and a "guys night out" we just couldn't get enough! Not to mention Callie and I getting up in the night to feed babies (really in the SUPER early morning) and Jordan having to work at 6 am several days, plus the older kids being up and raring to go by 7:30. By the end of the week, every last one of us was completely wiped out.

How can it be that I was so physically depleted, but so emotionally charged? Even with all the commotion, insane meal times with rowdy kids, toys from one end of the house to the other and back, and Silas wetting his bed pretty much every nap and bed time while they were here, I finished out the week on a total mountain top.

That is what Callie can do for me. The Holy Spirit inside of her is so filling to me. Just being in the same room as her makes me smile. My conversations with her range from side splitting laughter, to quiet thinking, and tears of cleansing. She reflects Jesus to me in a way that no one else does. It's not that she's "better" at being a Christian, just that she is always so fully genuine. I admire her strength and boldness that is wrapped up in unconditional love and overflowing joy. When we went to college together for a couple years in Tennessee, God really developed our relationship. One of my fondest memories of that time was sharing our needs together, praying together, and watching God work together. When we would share our God stories, we would rejoice together saying "Go, God, Go!" When ever God brings Callie and I together for a visit, I find myself delightfully chanting "Go, God, Go!"

Buttons

Today at lunch we were tired. A late night for mom and dad, an early morning for everyone followed by playgroup at church and then a trip to the store with both kids resulted in Silas and I sitting at the table with food in front of us wishing we could skip straight to nap time. I was urging him to eat.

"Take just a few bites, Silas. We will sleep better if we eat a little lunch."
"But I don't waaannt to."

He is looking around the room for excuses and distractions.

"I need to look at Baby Jewel, Mom."
"You can look at her when we are done eating."
"No, I need to look at her noooowww."

The tired and whining voice is starting to grate on me and I am exposed in my weaknesses as a mother.

"If you don't eat, we won't have snacks later, you will be hungry. I know you will ask me for a snack after naps and I will not give you anything else to eat until dinner. You will be hungry."

He lowers his head for a moment.

Then my watch beeps the hour. He is distracted.

"Mom, what time is it?"
"Time to eat your lunch."
"But I want to push the button on your watch."
"You can push the button on my watch after you take a bite."

"But I want to push your buttons..."

Oh Silas, now I am laughing. Trust me, you have already been pushing my buttons.