BUSY!

We have been so, so busy lately.  I think probably busier than we've ever been!  At least it feels that way.  The boys and are are always headed out to some outing- whether it be a Cascade activity, play date, birthday party, appointment, errands, Eli's soccer games on Saturdays (which Jonny is the coach of) or a random field trip of our own.  Jonny is crazy busy coaching Cross Country and being a leader at Young Life.  It seems there has been an unusual amount of meetings to attend this year, and then a few nights Jonny's stayed late just to catch up on his actual classroom job.  He's also the class advisor for the junior class this year, which means more meetings.  (The juniors are in charge of planning prom in the Spring.  Which means that after ten years, Jonny and I may be attending prom this year.  Strange!)  House churches are just starting up now too!  I don't necessarily see it, but several people have stopped Jonny at work asking if he's alright because he looks so worn out.  I guess there have been a few nights he's crashed way early for a 12-13hr night of sleep.  Thankfully, as November rolls in, I think we'll be headed for a slower season... just before #4 is born.  Ha!  Then maybe I'll be the one who looks sleep deprived!!  

No complaining here, though- just sharing what real life looks like.  I read this psalm to Eli last night and it was the perfect thing I needed to hear in our busy season:   

The LORD is my shepherd;
         I shall not want.
 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
         He leads me beside the still waters.
 He restores my soul;
         He leads me in the paths of righteousness
         For His name’s sake.        
 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
         I will fear no evil;
         For You are with me;
         Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
         You anoint my head with oil;
         My cup runs over.
 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
         All the days of my life;
         And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
         Forever.

We have made time to do some fun family things though, too- like go to the pumpkin patch!  Here's one picture of us at home with our pumpkins... we have LOTS more, but like I said, we're busy and I only have time to put up one right now.  :)

Oh, and GO BEAVS!

The Bean

I haven't made a mushy-gushy post in awhile, and so fasten your seat belts!  I'm gonna share some lovies on Siah, or "The Bean".  First of all, he's just so dang CUTE!  I know I'm partial, but come on, even with the drool you've gotta admit he's emitting some major cuteness.  :)  He's also so, so sweet.  There is something so tender about him.  His personality is so kind and endearing.  He loves his brothers, shares with them, brings them things, cares deeply when one is upset, and is generally happy and friendly to all.  He is so cooperative with whatever is going on and is very good at obeying so far.  He really seems too good to be true; I'm waiting for the real child-like qualities to start.  I mean, really!  All I have to say, is "Don't touch that, Siah.  Its not for you."  He can't be that easy for long!  Then to top it off, he's gone pee on the potty THREE times in the last day and a half!  Could we have an early potty trainer on our hands??  He's still only saying "Mama" in a distressed tone... usually when he's wanting to be held or upset at something, but that's okay at least he's saying it.  Plus, since its usually me he wants when upset, Jonny can get the excited "Dada, Dada!"  Jonny is always telling him that his Mommy just adores him and thinks he's the cutest thing ever and its so TRUE!  Everything he does is just so precious.  Yesterday when I laid him down for a nap I told him I need a break because I can't get anything done with him walking around all cute- its just too distracting!  :)

Moving right along

Our baby has now made it to the end of his 27th gestational week!  That means his chances of survival, if he were born prematurely, are much greater.  I love getting past this point.  Its so exciting to think we're getting so much closer to meeting this new little gift.  
Here's what went on with Baby #4 this last week:


This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

I haven't felt any hiccups yet, but there sure is a lot of moving around in there!  :)

The Hiding Place

I just got back from book club.  We read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom this time, and I couldn't put it down!  I can't say enough about this book.  If you haven't read it- read it!  You will not be disappointed.  You will be humbled, encouraged and inspired!  

Corrie recounts pieces of her early years, growing up in an amazing family and then what became of them during the Holocaust..  I would love to go back in time and meet her family, especially her dad.  I got the impression that every word out of his mouth was wisdom.

Corrie's story is one of great tribulation, faith, forgiveness, love, tragedy and through it all, God's sovereignty and protection.  Corrie's family loved God with such passion.  They craved His Word like food to their soul.  They prayed constantly; in fact, at one point Corrie said of her sister that it became hard to tell when Betsie was speaking to God or to her.  Amazing, amazing stuff!  I'd like to highlight some parts of the book that really stirred me up inside:


At one point, Corrie shares a story of asking her dad a question as a young girl.  Her father felt she was too young to discuss what she had asked about and he handled it with such wisdom. 
"Will you carry it (his heavy traveling case) off the train, Corrie?"  he said.
I stood up and tugged at it.  It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.  
"Its too heavy,"  I said.
"Yes,"  he said.  "And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load.  It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge.  Some knowledge is too heavy for children.  When you are older and stronger, you can bear it.  For now, you must trust me to carry it for you."
She thought back to this wisdom several times in her life when the trial before her was too heavy to carry herself.  She prayed that God would carry it for her.   

In another part of the book, when she and her sister were walking naked into the showers at a prison camp in front of all the guards and feeling so embarrassed and vulnerable this is what happened:
But it was one of these mornings while we were waiting, shivering, in the corridor, that yet another page in the Bible leapt to life for me.  He hung naked on the cross.
"Betsie, they took His clothes too."
Ahead of me, I heard a little gasp.  "Oh, Corrie.  And I never thanked Him."
I thought this was so, so precious and sweet!  And it was the thought that their Savior had been stripped naked and humiliated for us that gave them the strength and courage to press on.  

Then there is the whole message of forgiveness.  Corrie's sister, Betsie, had such a forgiving heart for her persecutors.  She prayed for them, felt sorry for them, and was kind to them.  It was incredible to read.  Years after she had been in prison, Corrie had a situation that put a challenge of forgiveness right in front of her face.  A former guard from the shower room at the prison attended one of her speeches at a church service. Here's what happened:

His hand was thrust out to shake mine.  And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them.  Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more?  Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand.  I could not.  I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity.  And so again, I breathed a silent prayer.  Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

As I took his hand, the most incredible thing happened.  From my shoulder, along my arm and through my hand, a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me."

And finally, towards the end of their time in prison, Corrie's precious sister said, "No pit is so deep that He is not deeper still."

Again and again Corrie and her sister were reminded to be thankful in all circumstances- like what it says in 1 Thessalonians, even in the most wretched conditions.  They shared the gospel with everyone they met.  Their lives were truly humbling and inspirational.  What a baby I am!  The things I complain about!  The things I struggle to forgive!  The things I need!  Ick, its despicable!


A couple days after I finished reading the book, Corrie's amazing story was still racing through my mind.  I opened my bible and read Paul's words to Timothy saying that Christians would "be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and sincere faith."  That seemed to fit with the character of the entire Ten Boom family.  Also, I read a little later, "For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do."  I have no idea what Corrie and her sister Betsie looked like while they were in prison, but I can only imagine that as God looked down on them, they shined with radiant beauty that glorified Him.

 “Never allow yourself to complain about anything, not even the weather.  Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or some place else.  Never compare your lot with another’s.  Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.  Never dwell on tomorrow ~ remember that tomorrow is Gods, not yours.” -author unknown

My FIVE year old son!

Eli turned five on Thursday!  In some ways the time has gone so quickly, and in other ways it totally feels like its been about five years.  :)  We had a great day celebrating his birthday; first by having cinnamon rolls for breakfast- his with a birthday candle on top, then he was blessed with some gifts from his family, for lunch we packed up some sandwiches to eat in Daddy's classroom, he requested ravioli for dinner and then we went on a special ice cream date- just Mommy, Daddy and Eli.  As we were driving to get our ice cream Eli, being the sweet boy that he is,  said "This is strange.  It would feel better if Noah and Siah were here.  Next time lets just all go."  Then, before he finished his ice cream, he asked, "Can I finish this at home with Noah?  I think I'll give him the rest."  And finally, to top it off, as we turned the corner onto our street, Eli sat up and very sincerely said, "I can't wait to see what Noah is doing!"

This boy is such a blessing!  He's funny, smart, kind, athletic, and very inquisitive.  Jonny and I were talking about how weird life would feel without Eli in our family.  Like everyone in our family, God has made a specific role for Eli to fill, and none of us would be the same without the wonderful gift of knowing him.

Okay, enough mushy-gushy... here are some pictures of my FIVE year old son!!!

Birthday boy in his new NIKE running shoes!!!  Jonny & I found these months ago on sale at Kohl's and had an additional 30% off coupon to use.  Jonny's running shoes look just like these, so we couldn't resist!  He LOVES them!  (And yes I know he looks like a Duck fan in this pic, but he is a BEAVER fan!  Lets just say he sportin' Green Bay colors for Grandpa Marshall  :)  )

He asked me to give him so many relay races!  Look at those boys go!!!

 Okay, now moving on to his party.  Ugh.... I still feel bad thinking about it.  We first began talking about canceling his party Friday night when Eli wasn't feeling very well.  Saturday he seemed alright, so we thought we'd stay home from church on Sunday morning to take it easy and see how he seemed.  I woke up Sunday morning to very gray storm clouds above.  (The day before was a very hot and beautiful day!)  Eli was acting totally fine, but now the problem was the weather!  Off and on all morning the wind and rain took turns sweeping through our neighborhood.  The weird thing was that the hour-by-hour weather report claimed that it would be partly cloudy with sun by later in the afternoon.  Anyway, by 12:30 we finally made the call to cancel his party that was scheduled for 3:30.  Plus, Noah was acting strangely quiet and still.  But wouldn't you guess it- at exactly 3:30pm, the time of the party, the gray clouds transformed into beautiful white cumulus clouds scattered across a sparkling blue sky!  Even the sun was glimmering down beautiful rays on sunshine!  Ugh!!!  Two weeks of planning out the window for nothing!  My sweet boy, dressed in his Spiderman shirt and disappointed he didn't get to play with his friends, asked if we could "go out and play catch since it turned out to be a nice day."  I felt SO bad.  This will probably be his first memory of me screwing something up for him!  :(  I hope my playing catch, football, and basketball with him in the backyard made up for it.

While Eli and I played, Noah laid under a blanket on the swing on the back patio.  Later this evening
he had a fever of 103!!  Then Eli had one of 102!  What a confusing day...  Here is how we celebrated at home.

I attempted to make a spider web in this hoola-hoop for a game.  The kids were going to trow a ball through the middle hole in the spider web.  I had spider party bags with goodies inside, but room for the kids to fill up with treats from the Spiderman pinata.  I ended up giving most of that stuff to Nona who can use them in her classroom.  Oh well!  :(

Summer Break: Part 4

Here are the last of our summer break pictures!  What a blessed summer we've had, and these are only some of the things we did!

Whoops, this is one I left out from earlier this summer-  canoeing at Sun River!

The boys & I picked so many blackberries this summer!  Its so convenient that they grow all over our neighborhood.  :)

We've planted 10 trees this summer, and helping Dada plant trees is fun because the boys get to play in the mud! 

Silver Falls with Aunt Becky was lots of fun!  The boys handled the hiking just fine, in fact, they ran!  I, on the other hand, had a hard time with a baby in my belly and another on my back.  ;)

My sister is so beautiful!

Siah was such a good sport being carted around in the Ergo.

And of course, playing at the park is always fun.

I LOVE this face!  His sweet eyes, crinkled up nose, chubby cheeks, kissable lips, and even his teeth are SO adorable!

Eating sand and thinking its so funny!

This boy is definitely a WATER baby!

Playing games in the warm sand.

Jumping waves!

The boys in my life. 

This week was the boys' first week in their new playroom!  They LOVED it!  I stayed up late last Sunday night to put it all together for the boys to wake up to Monday morning.  I tried to organize it like some of the preschools I've worked at with a reading corner, dramatic play center, block area, game area, etc.  Our school area is going to be a combination of a writing, art & science center.  Noah has repeatedly said how much he likes it and keeps thanking us for it.  Eli walked around and around, then said how cool it was that there are different areas.  He's so like his mama sometimes!  Siah likes it too; his favorite place to play is in the toy kitchen.

We still have a lot to do to make it just right, but we are loving it so far.  :)

Classical Conversations!

I am so excited about this homeschool program called Classical Conversations!  For quite awhile now, Jonny has had this plan of sending our kids to public school K-4th or 5th grade.  Then he wants to pull them out to homeschool for the rest of their education, maybe considering and praying about having them attend the last couple years of public high school part time.  I've had reservations and concerns about different things, but am mostly just taking the role of prayer and following my husband.

Now some new ideas are being discussed.  We've heard great things about Classical Conversations over the last year, and just about signed Eli up for it this year.  The deadline is today!  I still sorta wish he was doing it this year.  I know he'd love it and learn so much, but there were just too many road blocks preventing us from going ahead with it this year.  The things they will learn, at a young age are amazing!  I'm excited to do it for me!  I want to reclaim my education.  :)

Jonny and I have been talking about what we want to do for the boys' education A LOT lately.  Praying.  Reading.  Praying.  Talking.  More praying.  Jonny now thinks he wants to amend his plan to pull the boys out of public school after 3rd grade.  Anyway, I know that as each family prays and seeks the Lord for wisdom on these things, we may feel led in different directions.  I love to hear how God is working in families who are all doing different things.  The ultimate hope is that our children come to know and love the One who made us.

I was thinking we'd just continue with our little homeschool with Mommy this year.  No curriculum, no program, just Mommy trying to be creative and think of fun ways to teach the boys some basic skills.  At last Sunday's service, as I was praying about all of this stuff, I got up towards the end of worship to go get the boys.  I was stopped by a mommy who said she'd had me on her heart for the past week and wanted to share this curriculum with me.  Its a very basic curriculum based all on character development- things like obedience, faithfulness, integrity, patience, etc.  AWESOME!  That is just what we need right now.  A solid foundation of what godly character looks like is what we've always been working on, but now I might have a few more tools to work with in teaching that to my boys!  Thank you Lord!

On Monday we then found out our neighbor across the street is the director of the Albany Classical Conversations group!  How funny!  We're praying about doing Classical Conversations with Noah next year while Eli is in half-time kindergarten.  I think it'll be a good comparison.  Then we'll pray about what to do for the years after that, but I know we'll always be building on TRUE wisdom- fearing the LORD, knowing Him and walking in obedience to Him.