To Infinity and Beyond!!

It's completely irresistible. I'm weak to it, I really am. To see my children's faces filled with wonder and awe. It's a good thing that I am limited by the need to buy groceries for the family and have the lights turn on. I see so many things that I want to get my children.


Yes, I know that my best gifts to my children are not things at all. I get that - I really do. I also am very aware that our Heavenly father is the giver of ALL good gifts and His gifts do not break, get dusty or go out of style. No gift could ever be greater than the gift of eternal life and a hope and a future! Can I get an amen??

So, ALL that being said... am I the only one who gets REALLY excited about giving special toys to our little ones? Surely I am not based upon the toy rooms that we visit.


Today was one such day. And off we went to Toys R Expensive and found the mac daddy of toys. Yes, they both now have talking Buzz Lightyear toys. "To infinity and beyond" is about the only sound coming from their room this nap time. (Today was a special treat by bringing a toy - a talking one no less - to bed. I will likely regret this decision when dealing with overly tired boys this evening.)

I don't want my boys to be lovers of things. I want their joy to come from the only true source of peace and joy. I think we do a pretty good job of instilling that. And then there are days like today when a plastic toy makes two brothers VERY happy!

Our little lamb

I realize that I've not yet written of my sweet daughter, Rachel. It's because I honestly don't know how to put into words the joy that she is to our family. I could go on and on... and on and on about her. We're THAT crazy about her. Alas, I need to give her some love on this blog. Here goes...

Her name is Rachel Shiloh. Her name was decided upon 8 years ago while my husband was courting me. We both liked the name Rachel and he introduced me to Shiloh. Rachel means "little lamb" and Shiloh means "place of peace." Both are Old Testament names which goes along with our other children's names. I love that they can open God's word and find their names. That is cool to me.

So, I think she quite favors a Kewpie doll. She's got these huge blue eyes with eyelashes that perfectly curl. Am I the only one who sees this resemblance?


Oh - and here is a Kewpie doll from a few years ago..

A brother in need.

(Unrelated picture but I like it.)

Proverbs 17:17 He that is a friend loveth at all times: and a brother is proved in distress.

Here's the scene...

Josiah spots some dirt from shoes outside the kitchen door leading to the garage. He indignantly announced that Jon was the culprit and to make matters worse - Jon did it "on purpose!!!" So said Josiah. Jon was not able to properly respond to the accusation as he was sitting in the car after having buckled himself in while awaiting the rest of us. So, he did all that he could do. He yelled.

No sooner had Josiah heard the wails he determined that something was wrong. "Jooown! I'm coming!" To make sure that I knew what was happening, he quickly came to me. "Mom, Jown is in trouble. My brudder is in trouble! I will help him!" Josiah pleads with me to hurry and get his shoes on.

Jon yells again, probably still annoyed that Josiah tried to frame him.

Yikes, thinks Josiah! This must be serious! Josiah turns to Rachel, "Rachel, my brudder, Jown, is in trouble! I must go to him! Jown - I'm coming!!"

Moral of the story -it's okay to sell out your brother, but you must quickly come to his rescue whenever he needs you. It's what best friends do.

Buzz!

"Before"

If you were in a 5-mile radius of our house yesterday and heard wailing and gnashing of teeth, it was just our boys getting haircuts on the back patio. For weeks, JD has wanted to give the boys a buzz cut - especially Josiah with all that thick hair. And Saturday was the day...


For you loyal readers, you may remember my attempt at playing hairdresser about a year and a half ago. I can't believe that all 3 of my fellas trusted me enough to give them hair cuts. Yeah, um - not so good. So, when my sweet husband offered to try, I was more than happy to hand over the clippers.

Bless their sweet hearts, they both really did want to like getting it done and I could see they were mentally gearing up for this. I think as Daddy's technique improves and he becomes much faster, it will go better. This picture of Jon David melts my heart because I know how hard he is trying to remain positive though not liking any of this. He's able to keep up this facade for about 3 minutes.


It took about 30 minutes and the added incentive (not really a bribe) of Goodberry's ice cream as a treat after dinner to pull this thing off. So, while Daddy is buzzing away, I could be seen with their hair flying all around me doing whatever I could to help the boys sit still so JD could finish. I remember reasoning with Jon, "You will have half of your hair cut and look really silly, Jon. Just be still and Daddy will be done in a minute." To keep them happy, I dug deep into my bag of tricks. For Josiah, he was happy with yet another rendition of "God is bigger than the boogie man" and Jon required the "twinkle twinkle" little ditty as well as a few songs from The Polar Express.

At the peak of agony, I regret to say that I was too busy consoling the boys to capture their angst. But here are a few shots before the wheels completely came off the bus.
When all was said and done, it was time for a quick wash down to get rid of the hair and lunch. They were tired and this was the best I could get for an after shot.

"After"

I give JD a lot of credit for pulling off this operation and for helping us be thrifty. He did a great job and it's harder than it looks to just shave off hair. This was definitely one of the times when Daddy is much better at something than Mommy. I was there with the assist and we got through it. We like the the way the boys look and they do too.

Good Night, Jon Boy

Do you ever wonder what bed times are like with other families? Is yours more like a scene from Super Nanny or, and I'm aging myself here, the Waltons? I'd say at our house, we are part Super Nanny and part, "Good night, John Boy" - more closely resembling the Waltons. This post is about the funny and sweet parts of our night. I'll tackle the aspects requiring performance management some other time. Now, for the fun...



If you had been in our home this week, here's what you would have seen.

Our snakes (aka Jon and Josiah) needed to shed their skins. What, you don't all do that?? Oh, you are missing out. What you need to do is lie down next to your stuffed animal snakes (you need to have at least 4 - one of baby brother and three for the big guy). This can take anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes.

Missing loveys. Jon's "Baby" is often MIA come bed time. And no telling where Si's "Blankie" is hiding. Give us about 10 minutes for a search and rescue mission.
Mix in a snake book and a story from The Jesus Storybook Bible.

Prayers which tonight included Jon David saying, "Thank you, God, for my parents." So sweet! Tuck the boys in their beds and proceed to the nightly train story. All train stories must begin with "Once upon a time on the island of Sodor" - it's simply non-negotiatable. Daddy tells the first train story and Mommy finishes.

The next part is quite comical and something I might even consider filming for posterity sake. We sing the Veggie Tales' hit, "God is bigger than the Boogie Man." It's a good night time song as it reminds them that God is looking out for them. What makes it extra fun is that I find myself using moves from my Zumba class as I sing. It's a hoot and the boys giggle and sing along.

Lastly, Mommy sings another ditty from the Veggie Tales CD... "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star. What a gift from God you are!" I have to sing it to each boy separately and sing it softly in their ears. They just love this part. How sweet is that!?!

The End.

(Oh, I almost forgot... you must include at least 2 or 3 additional potty breaks and requests to be tucked in - again! Insert Super Nanny here.)

In need of a rescuer...

There a few products for which I think I should receive a commission based upon the number of sales I have personally generated. One of those is The Jesus Storybook Bible - Every Story Whispers His Name. To put it concisely - I. Love. This. Bible.

Prior to this Bible, our nightly reading of God's word was less than enthusiastically received by my sons. I believe the words, "No Jesus!" were said more than once - no lie. We read a review of The Jesus Storybook Bible on World Magazine and thought it looked interesting. Yes, the illustrations are lovely but it's more than that. I absolutely love how from the beginning of the book (Creation) to the end (Revelation), it so clearly shows how every story does indeed whisper His name. Every story tells of our rescuer, Jesus Christ, and God's word tells of His coming from the beginning of time. I absolutely love reading about God's "Never Stopping, Never Giving up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. .."
When the storybook Bible tells of Jesus, it speaks of how Jesus is our rescuer. I just love that - our Savior, our Rescuer. And to be rescued is something that my kids can understand. In fact, I believe that God used this book to really do a work in Jon David's heart. For months, we've talked about God's l0ve for us, the pain that our sin creates and our need for a rescuer. Often, Jon David would say, "Nah, I don't need a rescuer. I'm good on my own." I thought to myself how often my actions mirror that statement. Still, we keep reading and talking of our Savior and our need for Him. And, we kept praying.

Just last week, Jon David told me that he wanted Jesus to be his rescuer. He wanted this because he has sinned, is what he told me. I lead him in a special prayer and just rejoiced over this! As John so rightly wrote, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4.

We've started talking with Jon David about baptism and he's not showing a whole lot of interest in it at this point. That's okay. We'll keep talking with him and praying that he'll want to take the next step in his faith walk.

Of course, God's Holy Bible is perfect and needed for every family. This storybook Bible is not meant to replace it rather as a supplement. I pray it will bless your family as it has mine!

The boys are back in town!

It's Opening Day once again! Had you been at the ball park tonight, you'd have found my Party of Five there. Wouldn't miss it!



Evening started with some excitement as my boys were selected as the season's first Ultimate Fans courtesy of Wild Wings Cafe. Each received a $10 gift certificate and had their picture taken. Apparently it was shown on the jumbotron in the 8th inning. We NEVER make it past a few innings with my crew... maybe one day. (Thanks, Fellas, for giving them to Mommy & Daddy to use on a date night!)
My guys were selected because they looked so stinkin' cute in their baseball splendor. Mommy had them in matching outfits (can't resist) and Daddy let them pick out new ball caps. They really looked great. Jon David asked, "Mommy, do I look like a REAL baseball player now??"

Super Fans!

Rachel was such a trooper. For a little girl with the world's earliest bed time, she did amazing. She slept a good part of it all snuggled in my baby carrier. Eventually, the loud cheers from the super fan behind us disturbed her slumber. Even still, she gave little more than a sad whimper and was over it.

Must. Have. Cotton. Candy.

No one lost a shoe (as happened last year) and Jon was not crabby (as in 2008 - actually that could be said for 2006 and 2007). It was really fantastic. Beautiful weather, best sport, my favorite people in the whole wide world... can't ask for much more. Okay, I take that back - I'd like to make it to the 4th inning next year with the fam!