Sharing Sticks

Tyler and his sticks.... He collects them, he plays with them, they become his friends. So it wasn't unusual that he found a stick on the beach to play with.

In walks Romeo who also has a love for sticks...
Then the love of a little boy for his dog is shown.
Tyler and Romeo are both happy and look who walks away with the smaller stick...
That right there tells you how much he loves his dog!

Blessings!!

Sickness, Snow and No Where to Go.

These past few weeks I have stayed away from the computer. Trying to concentrate more on my family and the holidays. It has been a nice break. It is surprising how much a computer controls your life.

Wake up in the morning... need to check the computer, see if anyone has emailed, then off to Facebook, you know someone posted under your status update, then off to check the blogs that you frequent and before you know it an hour of your day is gone. But lets not stop there. You check the computer several times a day and each time you go through the same routine. That is hours that you have spent on the computer with nothing to show for it.

This week has been the first week in months where we have no place to go and nothing to do. Only God could have planned it so well, since we have been battling sickness over here. Jilli had the stomach flu, then Kevin got it, and now all three kids are struggling with colds/coughs. I haven't had a full nights sleep in a week (I know, I know, poor me). The one thing that could have made the week better would have been the blizzard that hit the East Coast.

I want me some snow!! My yard with grass showing is not very pretty to look at. Poor Micah can't use his snowboard that we gave him for Christmas. To top it all off, we are supposed to get rain to make my yard a muddy mess. Here's hoping we get slammed with snow come January (after the 11th).

Since this is the second year in a row that I haven't sent out Christmas Cards, here is the picture I would have sent had I had the time to send it. Consider this our Merry Christmas and Happy New Year card!

Blessings!!

The End of a Fantasy

When do you finally choose to tell? When is time to "let the cat out of the bag?" Is keeping the secret right or wrong?

I remember the conversations between Kevin and I about Santa and whether or not we were going to "teach" our kids about him. I remember the year that Micah walked down the stairs as Kevin and I were wrapping his gifts and he saw a big huge fire truck and we hoped that he wouldn't remember his discovery in the morning when he found the gifts from Santa.

Every year it has been harder and harder to keep the "secret" alive. My children ask very pointed in-depth questions that are hard to dance around. I have changed subjects several times to avoid lying to them (which I still see as lying). I have been asked point blank if Santa is real.... "Oh Look, there is a fire truck guys... Where do you think he is going?" ...yikes that was a close one.....

On Sunday Kevin heard a sermon on Christmas and what the true meaning was. The Pastor asked some hard questions that made Kevin really think about the whole "Santa Fantasy" and what we were allowing our kids believe. Kev and I have had some great conversations since Sunday about this whole subject.

Tonight, December 14, 1020 @ 7:35pm, sitting in our living room, Kevin read the kids the story of Jesus' birth. He read about the Wise Men, we talked about St. Nicholas (which they already knew all about) and then he told them the truth. Santa wasn't real.

It really was a beautiful moment and that is why I wanted to blog about it. I want to always remember when and how we told our kids. I am so thankful it was us that told them and not one of their friends. I am grateful that we had time to sit and answer their questions and that we weren't rushed. Tonight felt right, it felt good.

Honestly, I feel so much peace about telling them. My spirit is resting knowing that I no longer have to dance around their questions. It is freeing to me. I know it may seem corny, but this time of year I would feel such guilt over the lies that I would tell them to keep the fantasy alive. But now that they know, we are faced with an even greater problem...

Tyler

The first thing out of his mouth was.... "so where are you hiding our presents? I am going to find them....." said with a twinkle in his eye and a giggle from his mouth.

So I am now off to go hide the presents better..... because if anyone is going to find them... it's Tyler!

Blessings!!

Jilli Helping Daddy

I have so many beach pictures that I don't know what to do with them all. I want to show you all of them because some are cute and some are funny, but realistically I can't. We would be looking at bathing suits all winter and that might become slightly depressing for those of us in the northern states. So I will be picking and choosing over the next few posts... I hope the pictures make you smile, like they make me smile.

Jilli was helping Daddy dig his hole a little deeper....

Blessings!!

Water Fun

I have a constant battle going on inside of me. Do what I know I should do, or do what I want to do... Well, on this quiet morning, I am choosing to do what I want to do. I am spending a few minutes on my blog, a place that I haven't been spending much time on as of late....

Just a quick update on me, I am doing fine...until the next time it snows and I need to drive in it *smile* my Mom says that I will never be the same and I suspect she is right. As for the van, well, even though the damage doesn't look that bad it is nearing the 4 digit mark. Kevin also had to get a new tire since on Sunday we noticed that the front tire was completely flat and when brought to the tire store they said that there was a slash in it, with no way of repairing it. Whenever I think about how much my few second sleigh ride is costing us, I feel very guilty, continuing to thank God though that He kept me safe... hopefully Kevin will do the same as he writes the checks...

Since I really don't like posting without pictures here are some more from our summer cottage vacation.

The water was a perfect temp, the waves were big enough to play in, but not too big to be dangerous (at least north of the pier). Sadly someone lost their life the week we were at the cottage at the State Park, which is about 2 miles south of us. The waves around the pier cause rip currents that can be very deadly.

Even Romeo was enjoying the beautiful weather.

Blessings!!

The Big Red Sleigh

"Mom, Mom, wake up look outside!" said by two very excited children as they open the shades in my room, letting the blinding light in. I tried to sound excited when answering them, but I could only muster a "yeah, that's nice."

We all knew it was coming. The temp had turned colder, it is only a matter of time before the lake effect snow machine started up and most of the time, I don't mind the snow. But today I had to drive 40min away from home to work and most of that drive is back country roads.

I got up and started my day, when the phone rang. My good friend asked me if it was hard to drive a rear-wheel drive (RWD) vehicle in slick roads (she was getting a new RWD van). I have been driving RWD vehicles for 18 years, that is what I learned on. I said "No, just go slow and if you feel your back end kicking out, take your foot off the gas and the vehicles will usually correct itself." Didn't want to remind her of my driving story from last year when I tried to drive up a hill and the van ended up sliding down it sideways and backwards. But I had bad tires, which got replaced and now my van works like a charm on bad roads. No worries I tell her.

Kev comes home and tells me that one of the tires on my van has a nail in it and Discount Tire can't get it fixed by the time I needed to leave for my job. I had to take his van instead, which he lovingly reminds me that the tires aren't the best but the breaks will put me through the windshield, so be careful.

I leave Kevin home with the kids doing school and I drive away in his bright red sleigh. It took me a little longer to get to where I had to go, I had a few intense moments trying to get up some hills in the back country but I made it there safe and sound.

On my way back home Kevin calls and tells me that he had to have my van towed to auto shop because when he tried to back my van out and it wouldn't start. We formulate a plan on how we are going to get our kids to karate and I continue on my way home.

Knowing the roads are slick, knowing the tires aren't the best and knowing that this is the first snowfall of the season and people aren't as careful, I set out at a slow and steady pace.

I merge from one highway to another driving at 35 mph because the road looked like shear ice. Cars were flying past me and I continued on my poky pace. At one point I moved into the "fast lane" to pass a slow moving semi truck. There was a red blazer in front of me. He hit his breaks and turned onto an "authorized vehicle only" turn around. First thought that went through my head was.... man, that was a dumb move especially on a day like today. Had I been traveling closer I might not have been able to stop in time. I started to excellerate back up to speed when the back end of the van started to kick out. Not panicking I take my foot off the gas and wait for the van to straighten back out. It didn't. I start to slowly turn the wheel, because over correcting is almost worse, you can loose control even quicker.

The van kept fishtailing back and forth. I kept waiting for the tires to find traction and snap the van back into place. It never happened.

The next thing I knew the van had spun around not only once, but twice and I was facing the wrong way..... and still moving. It was during the spinning that I commenced panic mode. I held the steering wheel with both hands prayed that God would keep me safe and flew off the highway sideways down into the median. At one point I grabbed my seatbelt and performed the roller coaster tug. You know that tug that you do to make sure the seatbelt is pretty much cutting into your legs so you won't go flying out of the seat... I was sure that the van would start rolling at any second. How can you go sideways down a steep hill and not roll?

Thinking back on all of this, it seems like this all happened over several minutes. But playing it in real time, this all happened in seconds. My life didn't flash before my eyes per say, but I did have the.. oh no, am I going to live through this, this might really hurt, brace yourself, relax... drunks usually don't get hurt, I think I am going to fly up on the other side of the highway, when will I ever stop... thoughts.

Then the van spun around one more time and all was still.

I was alive...

I wasn't hurt...

Grab phone... call home... speak like a blubbering idiot so that your husband can't understand you...

Watch all the drivers that just watched Big Red do a triple lutz , drive by without even stopping to make sure I was OK...

Then for the next 20 minutes try and count all the drivers staring at you and giving up because really, it was pointless. Hundreds of people just drove by. Sad really...

Hearing about yourself on the traffic report over the radio...

Watched my knight in shining armor pull up in my Dad's big truck...

Then the cop pulled up and asked me what happened, and really at that time, I couldn't get my thoughts in order, I didn't remember the red blazer, I knew I wasn't driving fast, I couldn't even tell him if I hit anything or anyone else. It was so LOUD, when I was spinning around and sliding down the hill. All of Kev's tools came crashing out of there spots and rolled around. I really had no idea how it all happened.

The rest is really uneventful. The tow truck came and he pulled out the van. I didn't get a ticket. Then with my shaky hands and a heart beating wildly, I had to get back up on the horse, I had to drive myself home. I don't remember being that scared to drive since my first day in drivers-ed, and even then, I don't think I was that scared. I had the windshield wipers going to try a keep the windshield clear, but it really didn't do much good because it was my eyes that were making a blurry mess out of seeing.

I pulled into my driveway and let out a huge sigh. The van seems to be OK, except a big scratch when I hit a metal post, but other than that I was pretty blessed. Yes I use the word "blessed". There was no luck involved.

God's angels were protecting me as I was spinning. They were keeping other vehicles back, including the semi that I had just past. They were keeping the van upright as it screamed down the hill sideways. They were working on the cops computer, not allowing it to work, so that even if he wanted to write me a ticket, he would have to do it all by hand and really, what cop wants to do all that work. My children were not with me, I was driving a van that weighed much more then the van I usually drive. My husband was not working and was able to get to me quickly, my dad was home and able to watch the kids. Need I go on?

After I was home for awhile Micah just starts to cry. I ask him why he is crying and he says that he was scared that I would die. I could have, you have no idea the kinds of tools that were behind me that were missiles waiting to be launched at my head. But I didn't. I asked him who is always with me, he said "Jesus" and I tell him that no matter what happens, Jesus is always with me. Micah calms down and goes back to playing. There is comfort in knowing that no matter what, I have a Savior that will never leave me nor forsake me.

I am Blessed!!

A Little Hole Diggin

I am FREEZING and it's just the beginning of these long, cold, dark months of endless gray skies and little white flakes. It's not that I don't mind winter, I kind of like it. But I thought that as I am shivering at my computer I could share some pictures of warmer temps & brighter skies.

I have loads of beach pictures that I will share over the next few days. For starters, I thought I would share two of the boys playing in the sand.

Who can dig a bigger hole???

Romeo even decided to help Andy dig his hole.

Blessings!!

Fun Park

Sometimes I think that I am a little ADD. I jump from one thing to another only remembering to come back to it much later (my Mom calls it Motherhood). I would love to share some exciting pictures with you, but then I am afraid that I wouldn't get back to where I left off so.... Continuing on with our summer vacation with our cousins.

There is one place that is high on the kids list of things that we must do when they make the trip from Wisconsin to see us. Go to what they call "The Fun Park". All the passageways, stairs, slides, tire swings... this is just a great place to let the kids run some energy off at. Funny thing is last year when they came we went to the park in long sleeves and sweatshirts. We timed our Fun Park trip right in between all the rain drops that seemed to be never ending last year. This year, was HOT! The kids were all sweating and red faced.

The fave every year is the tire swing...

And then there was Kevin adding his own interpretation of a gilded figurehead on the bow of a ship.

There really is never a dull moment with Kevin around.... He cracks me up sometimes!

Blessings!!

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

I have soooo many pictures to share from our vacation with our cousins. So many, that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Where do I start? What do I write about first?

I guess I will start where anyone from our family would start..... with ice cream..... cuz who doesn't LOVE ice cream??!! Especially ice cream that is eaten along side a channel with boats softly bobbing up and down in the water.

Our two families are ice cream connoisseurs. It is just the way we are wired, so every good vacation with them involves several trips to different ice cream stores.

And really.... you can't have all the cousins eating ice cream and not make them pause for a picture. What a great way to start our week long vacation with the most beautiful weather and warm lake temps.

Love this next picture. Boys... eating ice cream and checking out the boats... Classic.

I am known to pack my camera, for all the unexpected times that I may need it, but on vacation, it is my third arm, I go no where without it, and you never know when it might come out for a quick picture. You need to be prepared at all times to be photographed. This was one of those times...

Why you ask, would I take a picture of Kevin getting into the van? Because I can, because he never expected it, because if I don't take pictures of him when he least expects it, I would only get pictures of his hands in front of his face, because that's how I roll.

With all the excitement of the first of many wonderful days with the cousins, Jilli was all tuckered out. Love how her little lips are swollen with sleep and her hair is a mess. I don't know how many more times she will fall asleep like this, so I will cherish this time and of course take a picture of her sleeping on her Daddy's shoulder.

Blessings!!

Karate Testing

The kids started taking Karate back in April. We take them to a Christian Karate Studio and have been very happy with what we have seen these last 7 months. They pray before and after every class and do a devotion at the end. We love it there and are excited to watch the kids continue to bloom under the loving care of their instructors (KyoSaNim's).

Back in August the kids had their first karate testing. It was a long morning, but it was so fun to watch the kids and see what they had learned.

At one point during the testing, Micah had to perform Kee Cho Hyung Il Boo (Korean for form #1) with only KyoSaNim Caleb doing it with him since Micah was the only white belt testing that day. Micah Rocked it! He did better than some of the more senior belts. DoJaNim Bill (who is the owner/master) commented on how well he did.

The really cool thing was that we got to watch the kids break their first boards. I would have never thought that Micah was big enough to break a board let alone Jilli.... I was wrong, all three broke their boards. After they broke them the instructors all signed them, so I guess I will now be collecting broken boards with signatures for the next few years.. just one more keepsake ;-)

Here is Jilli breaking her board... she did it like an old pro. What Form!!

Tyler was a little more scared that he was going to kick KyoSaNim's fingers, but then he got over his initial fear.... now he thinks he can break any board anywhere...

Then there was Micah. He walked up to DoJaNim and broke the board so fast I almost wasn't ready with my camera. I had to check to make sure I got a photo of his big moment. Shocked DoJaNim too...

Here he is a moment before his foot hit...

And the moment after...

Here is a pic with the kids and the their broken boards...

Brace yourselves.... Here is one of our whole family... Tyler is being Tyler...

Blessings!!

Beautiful Ears

My son, my beautiful son, comes up to me today and states that he is ugly. Ummm..... I tell him that he is beautiful, that he is created just the way God wanted him to be. He tells me that his ears are too big. That they look like Dumbo's ears and he wants to cut them off. He says they stick too far out from his head. YIKES!! I expected stuff like this from Jilli but not from my son!

Kevin comes home and I have my son tell him what he told me. He repeats his complaints and then said he wants to cut them off. Kevin lovingly tells him how handsome he is, that his ears don't stick out, that he is perfect just the way God made him and then he says only what a Father can say.... "but if you want to, you can cut them off." Panic shoots through my heart, out of all my children this is the one you DON'T want to challenge in this way. Kevin then proceeds to tell him that it will be very painful and there will be lots of blood.

I would have never taken this approach, but it seemed to make him stop and think that maybe his ears were OK, just the way they were.

About an hour later, the boys were upstairs in their room together. I was going through their schoolwork and all of a sudden I hear Tyler start to cry/scream. My heart stopped. He didn't really try..... He comes running down the stairs holding the side of his head... There is blood dripping through his fingers, running down his hand. I turn white.... my breathing escalates... I am thinking that I hope my kids remember how to dial *911 cuz I am about to pass out!

Normally, this kind of stuff doesn't bother me. I saw lots of stuff in the Doctors office and nothing ever effected me the way this did.

Micah came down the stairs asking Tyler if he was OK. I quickly ask Micah to grab me some paper towel. He came with half the roll flying behind him as he ran it to me. Tyler removed his hand and I quickly started to apply pressure to the wound, which was thankfully a little scrape just above his ear. Apparently my boys got in a little shoving match. Which is kind of funny because just a few hours earlier I was having a conversation with a friend about how sometimes our lives can be portrayed as wonderful, beautiful, fun filled lives with nothing amiss or even slightly ugly. And... w.a.l.l.a.h... this happens. My perfect, never do anything wrong children, were fighting pushing each other and one winds up with a head injury.

Thankfully Tyler didn't try to cut his ears off, but I am still in a quandary with what to do about the negative views of his ears. I look at him and his ears are perfect for his funny, sweet, smart, fiery, strong-willed, sensitive, handsome little boy. And as I go over in my mind what to do to help Tyler find peace with his ears, I can't help but feel again, overwhelmed by this amazing job of being a mother. But as I was reminded today by my pastor, that all things are possible with God (spoken from a man who has 6 kids). All I have to do is start my conversation with Him about Tyler's ears and I know that He will be there for me, answering my prayers.

You know, my heart really breaks for my child, the one who I carried under my heart for 38 weeks. The one who I fed, bathed, rocked, sung to, kissed, hugged, and loved on for the last 6 (almost 7) years and if I feel this way... how much more Our Father feels the pain of the lie that Tyler is believing. To think that Tyler is anything but beautiful is just too much for this mind to comprehend... so I'm not even going try... HE IS BEAUTIFUL... enough said.

Blessings!!

Pool Time

It turned colder today. Not the bone chillin cold that I am sure this winter will bring, but the cold that forewarns you that colder temps are on the way. It's the perfect day to remember the warm temps of summer.

I will always remember the summers that the kids learned that going underwater is fun and not scary. For the boys it was two summers ago in a warm Tennessee pool. For Jilli it was this summer.

Aunt Laurie did what only Aunt Laurie could do. She talked Jilli into going underwater with her. Then she did it over and over and over. Jilli finally got the hang of holding her breath and then wiping the water out of her eyes when she came back up. After the one evening with Aunt Laurie, Jilli was determined to figure out this whole swimming thing on her own... Without her lifejacket.

And she did....

As soon as she figured it out, she was like a fish, spending more of her time underwater than above the water. Then she started to jump off the pool stairs...

It was pretty cool to watch. And since the weather was so hot day after day after day, we spent a lot of time in the pool practicing our new skills.

Since the boys already knew to wonders of the underwater world, they wanted to increase their already found skills. Which is kind of hard to do in this pool because

A.) it doesn't get that deep... and

B.) you can't jump in off the sides.

So the boys practiced swimming longer and longer distances and we played games with these little pool balls.

Tyler thought it was great fun when I was sitting at the side of the pool and he would throw the ball at me, it would land right in front of me, which would cause a big splash and I would get all wet. I think I recall that I was laughing too...... NOT!

I would then proceed to throw the ball back at him and try to splash him, which he thought was unfair....

We had lots of fun playing with those little balls.....

Then when Daddy came to visit us, the boys would have Daddy launch them into the pool.

They would have done that for hours but Daddy's muscles could only take so much...

Here goes Tyler...... sizing up Daddy.....

Preparing for the launch.....

Air Time...

Blessings!!