My Christmas pictures-

I've said it before and I'll say it again- I love December. Today I am so thankful for my family. We have enjoyed many days just being together- and today being no exception. I love that Brad has 2 weeks off of work that we can "sleep in" (as much as the two monkeys let us ;), and have Jaedon crawl into bed with us in the morning and just spend time playing Sorry (Jaedon's latest favorite) or Hide and Seek (Seth's favorite). Ahhh...

These pictures are of Buzz Lightyear (aka Jaedon ;0 ) ; Jaedon, Tristen and I, and of my little Shepherd boy. It was so fun this year at my large extended family Christmas chaos ;) There were about 40-50 people in my aunts house and about 15 of them were under 8 years old. They were having blast together and had fun dressing up and acting out the Christmas story for us all too. Weird thing is- it seems like I was the one dressing up and acting it out just a few short years ago! =)

oh- and a video of the boys singing/burping Away in a Manger. This is PG rated however- note the position my dear 4 year old is in when the video ends. LOVELY!!

Christmastime was here

Some more
pictures- Seth got a basketball hoop and loved it (after we showed him what you're supposed to do with it ;)

Our adorable niece Katelyn Rose - her very first Christmas!!

There were two snowmen on our street that we went to "visit". This one with Jaedon, obviously, was HUGE- and very creative. His belt was landscaping edging and his nose was a garden stake =P After we chatted with the snowman - it was followed up by an inpromtu snowball fight. I'm not sure who won but we had fun anyway!

More Christmas cheer...

Here's the recent picture of the cousins -
Sunni, Jaedon, Seth,
Shai, Cale and Tristen.

Brad and his IPOD

and Jaedon and his Dance Pad (which as I type this- BRAD is upstairs currently using ;) haha)

HELP! I have a toddler!

Ok- you'd think that with Seth being baby number TWO I would have this toddler thing down to a science right? uh-- not so much. He is NOTHING like Jaedon. Jaedon being my compliant, easy going child. Seth- uh, well, let's just say his Christmas gift to me was that he learned how to throw COMPLETE temper tantrums!
So- for those of my blogger friends who have or have had strong willed children I need some advice.
First of all about how to deal with the "I-want-you-oh-no-I-don't-I'm-just-going-to-throw-myself-on-the-floor" tantrum. And, well, just any other tested and true tips on raising a strong willed toddler- I'd be grateful!
Secondly I need some tips on how to transition a not quite two year old to a BED. (that is what the current and happening right now tantrum is about).

Fill er up...

I've discovered the greatest invention of all time - according to my current cravings at least-
ORANGES! I can not get enough of them! As in, I had my mom stop today at a grocery store, buy a 1/2 gallon and literally have drank 1/2 of it today (oh- and with EXTRA pulp much to my husbands dismay! I like to chew my orange juice!! ;)
Not only that but last week I bought 2 very large bags of oranges - and I have about 5 left. Strange? First of all, I never have craved oranges with my other two pregancies. Secondly, I never have had such URGENT cravings!
Weird.
What were some of your cravings? (providing you are a Mama reading this ;)

Almost 2!?!

Today my "baby" is 21 months old! How is that possible?

Reminising

I love to reminise and find it especially fun to do at Christmas. I've come to realize that Christmas is more the month leading UP to and including the 25th of December. Maybe that's why there are so many memories that can be recalled.
I remember my best friend, Angela, and I would decorate my parents house every year. We hung tacky tinsel on the balcony and would act out the Christmas story for my parents! I remember one year we got a tree so large that my dad standing on the ladder could just barely reach the top for the star.
In high school my friends and I would go caroling to shut ins in our church. Whatever happened to caroling?
My mom and I would make a Christmas Tree shaped Cinnamon roll plate for Christmas mornings. yumm... I'll have to remind her of that one and maybe we and the boys could do that again this year.
Of course we always drove around and looked at Christmas lights. I don't know why that's such a kick for me but it still is! The town where my parents live now does an AWESOME job with lights!! As in- almost every house is done up- and done really well! There is one street that we walk to from their house called Candy Lane- every house is completely decked out. They have Bing playing over some speakers and a living nativity at the end of the street. Santa is there a few days too and hands out candy canes to all the cars. It's a highlight of our time there!
Brad first met my family in December that we were dating (all of 4 months!) We actually dared to take him to the "extended family" get together/anarchy that is my family and he first met Myron, my bigger-than-life-teddy-bear-sorry, Myron-but-rather-a-redneck brother. He had on his long leather trench coat, cowboy hat and had some pistol strapped to his side and said "nice to meet you." ;) I don't know if Brad laughed or peed his pants - but he married me anyway!!
That Christmas was also the first time Brad told me he loved me. Actually we kindof told each other - separately. I gave Brad 12 gifts for 12 days before Christmas - (things like 12 cookies, 7 buttons on a shirt, 3 "like you" letters) They all said "On the .... day of Christmas my true like gave to me..." (corny eh?) but on Christmas day I gave him a single red rose that said "On the First day of Christmas my true love..." *sigh* He wrote me a very long letter that mentioned...about a dozen times...that he loved me too. And he made me a CD of love songs!
Hmm... I'm smiling as I write these thoughts because 1.I don't know of anyone else who really cares about my Christmas memories and 2. Brad gave me a garbage disposal last Christmas - oh how things change!! (ps I really did LIKE the disposal just FYI ;)

As fun as reminising is and can be I'm also reminded at how important it is to live here and now- to start new traditions and live in the moments God gives us each and every day. So go ahead and have fun reminising all the yesterdays - but don't stay there. Live today!!
Merry Christmas!

The most wonderful time...

Ok I know this is so cliche but I'm going to say it- I LOVE this time of year. There's just something about listening to the Beach Boys sing Merry Christmas, Baby that gets me everytime. Ok, not really but I have been known to get a bit sappy and listen to the Delilah show on Star 105.7 every now and then.

And not only the Beach Boys ;) - or Christmas music in general but I love all the fun events! This past Saturday for example, we went on a Candy Cane Hunt (organized by the city of Wyoming). The kids had to find 5 different colors of plastic canes "hidden" in the snow then trade them in for the real thing. Then they had a pizza lunch with Santa and while we were waiting we enjoyed hot cocoa, ornament making, storytime and playing Memory. It was a lot of fun!

We also made our way to a Living Nativity that a church near us does every year. It's a bit hokey but super neat for the kids. They "act" out the Christmas story, have some songs and live animals. I guess if we're eating lunch with Santa and ending the day with Jesus it's all justified huh? ;)

Anyway, just thought I'd share some family fun. I hope you are enjoying this December as well.

I QUIT

No really- there is a job that I've taken upon myself that I am deeming useless, null and void. For one thing, I'm not qualified for this job. I have no reason to think that this was even a job I could fulfill in the first place! For another, well, I'm tired of the responsibilities that I've "aquired" with this job and I'm just ready to be DONE.

So - I'm quitting.

No, I'm not giving away my children. (not today at least ;)

I'm talking about the job of me working as my husband's Holy Spirit. Anyone else every attempt this? Wow. I don't know how your stories go but attempts have failed miserably and I'm exceedingly thankful to be relinquishing this "responsibility". How prideful and foolish I am to think that I could do anything other than pray for my husbands heart?! I'm here to tell you, I experienced an amazing thing yesterday! I let the Holy Spirit work and ya know what? HE DID!! I saw it with my very own eyes-

and it brought me to tears.

I have experienced joy and restoration that is only because of the Holy Spirits work in my life - and can resound that this joy is "not of my own works-" because given the chance, I would boast about what a great JOB I did.
No, it's not about me at all. But I am thanking God that I can experience his peace, his love, his JOY -

all because I decided to QUIT.

Wadiju say?

Of all the things I hear my children say during a day, I NEVER thought I would hear these words from my precious 4 year old.
And I quote

"Mama, may I please have some more BROCCOLI?"

hmm... lettme think for a minute!

Great Quote

"While we are busy teaching our children all about life - our children teach us what life is all about."

It's Sunday evening and I don't understand how a 5 day "vacation" week at home can go by so quickly. We had a very relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving with Brad's family- complete with that "too full" feeling and Grandma's meringue kisses- mmmm....

We got all of our Christmas decorations out and up which I've decided is rather silly to do unless you have others over to your house to help enjoy the the Christmas beauty you've attempted! Anyway, we had fun putting ornaments on the tree - and since we have our tree in a corner this year- we only had 1/2 of it to decorate! It took about 20 minutes! Seth literally put the bulbs ON the tree- as in there were a pile of decorations on a single branch. He thought it was funny - especially when they started falling. Let's just say we have a lot of precious yet not breakable ornaments on the bottom quarter of our tree. Of course, the expectation of "Oh Jaedon! This ornament is of your first Christmas" and him replying "Oh Mama! I'm so glad that I'm part of your family!" was a bit lost in the "Hey! there's a hook in my sock" and the excitment of getting more and more ornaments to put on the tree- regardless of the memories behind them.

The boys also had a bit of left over fall fun. For some odd reason the trees in our backyard decided that Friday was a good day to drop every single one of their leaves. Sooo...all 3 boys, complete with 3 little and large rakes, had LOTS of leaves to have fun with. And fun they had...as demonstrated by the video.

And now Monday is looming and I'm fighting the urge to just stay curled up in my bed all day and wait until Christmas break - but I guess that's not really an option huh? I find that while I love having Brad home on his breaks, I always seem to have a transitional day of "oh yeah- I can do everything on my own" on his first day back at work. That's pretty selfish of me- I know! It just reminds me of how thankful I am for all the time I DO get with my family when most other husbands jobs don't allow for those types of times! What a blessing.

If - Then

Jaedon has stumbled into a grand new phase of understanding cause and effect - the whole "if - then" idea. I guess I must speak to him in cause and effect quite often because over the past few days he has decided to speak to Brad and I in the same way. For example - before breakfast today he asked if he could have a piece of candy (thank the LORD there is only two more pieces of Halloween candy left!). I told him he could have one piece of candy after we ate some breakfast. He said "well, if you're not gunna let me have a piece of candy now then I'm not going to eat my breakfast." I replied "If you're not going to eat your breakfast then you're not going to get a piece of candy!" The dialogue continued by him saying "well, if I can't have a piece of candy then I'm gonna pitch a fit!" AH!! Where should the bantering STOP!!? I told him that if he chose to pitch a fit that he could go in his room while Seth and I enjoy our breakfast. I'm not sure if I should just keep reasoning with him - he seems to "get" the reasoning logic thing- or if there is a better way to be dealing with this defiance. Any suggestions?!

For your soul

I am doing a Bible study at church and we are using a book called "Living Beyond Yourself" written by Beth Moore. Over the past few weeks we have been reading and learning about love- without making this a super long post I'll just say God has been reworking my heart in this area. Not only how I give (or don't give) love but how I receive it.
She wrote this poem that made me cry (everything makes a pregnant woman cry!) - but honestly as I read this I was thinking that I could've penned the very same words. I hope they speak to your heart too.

I've arrived at a conclusion,
maybe one of life's rare finds
that there's not a lot worth salvaging
within this heart of mine.

It's ever ready to destruct
and lie above all things...
It tends to laugh when it should cry
and mourn when it should sing.

I've wasted countless hours begging,
"Fix this heart, Lord, please!"
while it stomps it's feet and demands its way
and floods with sins disease.

At last, you're able to get through
and lay it on the line:
"You must give up that heart of yours
and trade it in for mine."

So I cry out with the psalmist,
create within me, Lord
A new heart crystal clear
that only Calvary could afford.

A heart which pounds the rhythm
of heaven's metronome
and issues forth a boundless love
and beats for You alone.

I want to love that which You love,
despising what you hate
and see myself as least of these
oh Lord, retaliate

The efforts of the evil one
who seeks to make my plea
that of his own, "I'll make no move
'til I've considered me."

Peel away my fingers,
finally make me understand
the power to love and please You
can't be found within a man.

So, my Lord, I bring this offering;
a stubborn heart of stone
And ask You, in it's absence,
please exchange it for your own.

Being efficient

Last night I went in to Jaedon's room to give him one more tuck and kiss before I went to bed - usually I do this and he's sound asleep -but last night he was wide awake and sitting on top of his pillow with his bedding all nice and neatly pulled up. I asked him why he wasn't UNDER his blankets trying to sleep and he said " but Mama- if I make my bed NOW- I wont have to make it tomorrow!!"
Ah! Now why didn't I think of that?!!!!!!! =D

The end of my twenties...

The kids enjoyed helping put the candles on the cake. Seth put one in upside down and Jaedon wanted to help put them "on fire".
Brad and Jaedon made me my birthday cake. Do any of you other moms not get b-day cake anymore? I wanted a plain ole chocolate real-live birthday cake! It was yummy! - Obviously, Seth enjoyed it too ;)

I had a great birthday this past weekend! My hubby took me out to eat at Rose's restaurant in East GR - highly recommend it if you have some cash to kill. Brad ordered Duck (he likes ordering weird food - especially when we have a gift card ;) and I had "Parmesan crusted Chicken with aspargus". On my actual b-day (Saturday) Becky Gurk and I went to Pages in Time to scrap the day away! I have not been motivated even slightly to well, first clean UP my scrapbooking desk and then to actually dive in and do something. So this was a perfect opportunity to get caught up on Seth's baby book. I figured that might be a nice thing to get done before baby number three. =) We enjoyed a delicious, kid-infested meal at the Gurks afterwards and I actually volunteered the game Scrabble to play after the cake! I'm claiming temporary loss of my senses on that one =D

Picture this

We were bored this morning so Jaedon and I thought it would be fun to have a little "photo shoot". After claiming the make-shift "studio" as a pirate ship, they had fun climbing on the sheets I set up. Of course, after EVERY picture I took both boys jumped up and ran over to me to "see the picture". Wait until they find out we had to actually WAIT to get pictures oh way back when... ;)

Halloween

I'm real glad that my red eye eliminator worked well on these pictures- now to find a ketchup remover button. hmmm...

The crew- Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, Wendy, Peter and Tigger too!

I never went trick or treating growing up. With both of my parents being raised Mennonite, my Baptist upbringing was quite liberal for them - included in that was basically ignoring the day of Halloween. I honestly don't know how to teach Jaedon right now why some people like to be scared (never understood it myself!) but we're just focusing on the fun part of the day. It's fun to play dress up and, of course, get candy!! This year I found a Peter Pan outfit at a garage sale- which spurred our entire evening's events! Becky Gurk and I thought it would be fun to have our 4 kiddos dress up as the movies characters. Jaedon was Captain Hook (he carried his bucket by his hook ;), Adrianna was Wendy, Seth was Peter and Eliza was Tinkerbell. Adrianna's cousin Colin (Tigger) bounced into some pixie dust and joined us too :) Ever creative Becky made mummy dogs for dinner for the kids and then spider snacks after we all dried off from our rainy outdoor candy-getting-adventure ;) The older two kiddos then got to watch Peter Pan (after sampling some candy). It was a fun evening - my second time trick or treating!

Stuffing the Stocking - or not

Does anyone else struggle with Christmas gifts? My newest challenge is what the poll on the right mentions- how many gifts should I give my children? I know a number might not be exactly what I need but I'm having a hard time figuring out how do you teach thankfulness in the midst of 20 gifts that all have their name on it? How do you emphasize the importance of giving when all they are experiencing is getting on Christmas day? We have never done a lot of gifts (usually about 2 or 3 each or one large one) but I'm toying with the idea of a bunch of tiny gifts just for the fun of opening gifts! Things like a toothbrush and goldfish crackers- and then have one "bigger" gift. This is also hard for me because I LOVE buying gifts!! But as I am thinking about it I'm not sure I want to feed the gimme monster that is already quite prevelant in my four year old! So- I need some mom advice. Anyone? =)

Coming Home

There are lots of Home comings here in PA this week. Today Shai is officially being released and coming home! (yeah!), Sunni and Cale are going to be at least going to Bellefonte this weekend to be with their other Grandma (they still can't go home because they are sick) and my gang is about ready to pack it up too. *whew*. This week has been ok. My croupy boys made nights a bit long at times but with the window wide open and the cool mist blowing directly on them they are starting to get better. Sunni and Cale are fighting colds but thankfully have not had the croup - maybe they have stronger bronchial whatever ;) And today my mom is quite sick- OYE.
We spent a day with my extended family (Jaedon only has about another foot to go before he's as tall as my Grandma! ;) I have cousins that we spent time with- ages 16 to 5. The 5 year old (Cavid) and Jaedon are about the same size and had a LOT of fun wrestling! And I informed my Grandma that GREAT grandbaby number 17 (!) is on it's way ;)
Yesterday we had blues clues day- the older 3 had notebooks and found the pawprints that I hid on things. Sunni is such a great artist at her age that she LOVED drawing the items in her book. Jaedon and Cale just had fun finding them =) We also made paper binoculars and cameras to go on a safari adventure with PopPop in the evening. After supper we went to Gander Mountain - they have lots of mounted animals so the kids had lots of fun going on safari.
Oh hey- Here are some things I've heard recently that have made me smile - some Pennsylvanianise:
Once = Wanst
Day = Dee "Tuesdee"
You all = yous
Not = as in the end of a question "ya turn left here not?"
Jerry = Jury
Pulley = Pooley
and my last name is pronouced Howse (yes even by my parents!)

I'm thankful that I am not sick (yet?!) and things really are going well. It's not the number of kids that is challenging- it's the number of sick and HOMESICK kids! Jodi (my sis in law) has not seen these two for over a week and over the past 6 weeks she has only seen them a handful of times. They are really homesick for their kids too- but the end is near!
Sunni is such a sweetheart. She's the most thoughtful 4 year old I have EVER met. For example the other night my mom was awake a lot with Cale in the middle of the night and was telling me about it at breakfast. Well, that afternoon (when my mom usually naps with the kids) my mom had to go somewhere instead of taking a nap and Sunni was very concerned and said "but Aunt Amber, Grandma should take a nap because she didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Ok seriously- what 4 year old thinks like that?! Anyway, it's been fun to spent time with them and it's been fun doing ponytails!!! ;)
Ok- well, this is a long post. I actually decided to go to a coffee shop today (where I am now) during naptime so that I could get an internet connection - plus it's turning out to be a nice getaway. But I need to get back and make sure all is well. Thank you all for your continued prayers - now for a safe and uneventful trip home!
A

Week One

Well, me and my two boys have been in Pennsylvania for a week now. There really are fewer things more beautiful than PA in the fall - as the picture above attests. For those who may not know, I came out here with Jaedon and Seth because my brother and sister in law had twin baby boys and my mom has been watching their older two kids for about 5 weeks now. So I brought my troops in tow for some change of pace and distraction. Little did I know that I was also bringing the CROUP with me but that's another post all together! We've had a good week. It's busy with 4 - My niece Sunni is 4 1/2, Jaedon is 4, Cale is 2 1/2 and Seth is 1 1/2. We have done a lot of parks already- yeah to nice weather!!! My mom made monkey bread with all four (Seth enjoyed eating it), my dad and brother took the older three hunting. They found "John Deere tracks" ;) and yes, we actually took all four grocery shopping. They got to ride in those silly carts so it was an adventure for them. (and us! ;) It's been a fun week overall. As I mentioned, Seth came down with the croup on Thursday night and I actually spent the entire day Friday with him in the ER. Not exactly part of the plan. He is doing okay- but not over it yet and, of course, decided to share with his big brother. I'm just waiting for Sunni and Cale to start barking too. Unfortunately, because my niece and nephew have been around the croup, they are not able to go home for at least another two week- if you can imagine that the croup is not ideal for premies! I feel really bad about this but I know there isn't a lot I can do about it either.

the little Rice's

These are some pictures of me, my niece Sunni and brother Myron holding Tristen (in the blue clothes) and Shai - my sweet premie nephews that are 3 weeks old already! Tristin is home with but Shai has a bit of growing to do before he can come home. I just thought I'd post some pics for you.

Marching Band Days

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since I last marched in a competition. I still have memories of it like it was yesterday (well, at least like last month). Today since Amber and the boys are in PA, I took the opportunity to go and see the Jenison Band Competition. There were 44 bands from 8:30 am to 11:00 pm and I saw 36 of them... Phew!!! What a blast it was amazing to see literally thousands of kids, and tens of thousands fans/parents doing the marching band thing! The bands I went to see particularly were Wyoming Park (earned 4th in class B), Edwardsburg (6th in flight IV), and Hudsonville (2nd in flight II). The whole day was worth just seeing the last 6 or so bands. Amazing show concepts, props, tech-gizmos... you name it, some band probably did it. It was very cool to see something like 10 of my former students in various bands performing today, even though I only saw one current student come to watch the performance, and that was because her big sister was performing! It's pretty amazing that I can have an impact on students that will affect their lives forever, even with something as small as marching band. I know what a change it had on me!! :) The next coolest thing about the day was getting to see a few old friends from high school. Beth-used-to-be-Otto-but-I-don't-know-her-new-last-name was there, as well as Mary and Marty and Annie-used-to-be-Otto-but-I-don't-know-her-new-last-name-either. I got to talk briefly with Ryan and Karina (Machado) White. What a blast. ***Sigh*** Well, I got home at 11:45 and have been doing computer stuff and it's almost 12:30 am. I better scoot so I can get up and be off to church in the morning. If you read this, comment or something so I have something to do.... Oh wait... I'm already so busy I don't know if I need anything more to do... So long.

Can you read me?

ps. scroll to the very bottom of the page ;)

Spring Grove

Here's a collage of 4 years worth of family photos taken at Spring Grove. Bottom left-2003, Missing-2004, Bottom Right-2005, Top Left-2006, Top Right-2007 (BPH)

5 second rule

I had a first happen to me today. Jaedon and I were taking a meal to a family and as I was getting the Chicken and Biscuits pan out of the car, the it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time disposable pan it was in, folded in half and dumped the contents onto their front yard!!!! I never met this family before and was SO embarassed!! Thankfully, I decided to laugh about it instead of bursting into tears! I humbly walked the remainder of the meal inside the house and apologized for being such a klutz! (They saw it happen from their front window). I told them I would run over to Little Ceasars and pick them up a pizza. So I got back in the car and realized- hmm...I don't have any money! AHHHHH!! I decided to stop at Jill Westra's house (practically next door) and told her my whole story and begged her for $5.30! (Which, between fits of laughter she gave to me- THANK YOU JILL!!!!). The funniest part of the story is as this vegetable, gravy and biscuits concoction lie spewed across their yard Jaedon looked at me and said "It's okay, Mama! Just blow it off!!"

Strike a pose

Every year our family goes to this ultimate picturesque park in Jamestown called Spring Grove. We awkwardly tote around a (don't laugh at us) music stand (to set our camera on) and our little camera with an automatic timer to set up and take some family pictures. And every year we come home with oddles of pictures that we get to sift through and one of them usually ends up being a Christmas card picture (after some cropping and editing of course!). We also have discovered that every year we go to this park with expectations of our time together as a family being jubilant and fun- much like our pictures appear to be. Pictures, however are not telling the truth behind all the hub-bub of what goes into getting the pictures actually taken! Getting kids to look at a blinking light, sitting still, smiling on cue, not pushing each other, be careful for the mud, don't fall in the stream, no, you may not feed Seth a leaf... you get the point. Well, this year, to add to our joyful frustration, our camera batteries died after taking about 4 pictures. And our backup pair was equally dead. Brad decided to go pick up some AA batteries- and they didn't even let us take a picture before they died. Sooo...needless to say, we did NOT get any Christmas card pictures taken today! =) This is the one picture that actually turned out. Maybe we'll try again after my PA trip- and after we have a truckload supply of batteries!!

One Short Day...

Becky and I spent the day in Chicago on Wednesday- shopping the Michigan Mile (altho we found it funny that we went into stores that are in Grandville!), getting the mandatory Starbucks, eating at the Rainforest Cafe (and getting a little birthday treat) going to see WICKED (again-ahhh), riding the CTA, going to IKEA and only getting a little lost! What a wonderful memory with a wonderful friend!

Happy 30th Birthday, Rebecca!

Ode to a Dog

Our neighbor likes dogs. He has had at least 3 dogs of his own (BIG dogs) and usually dogsits for friends of his- in his tiny little yard I have seen up to 6 dogs roaming around. Out of the goodness of his heart, our neighbor decided to let his friends dog become a permanent daytime fixture- a doggie daycare as it were. The presumed idea behind this was that the dogs would play together in their huge outdoor pen all day, then his friend could pick up her sweet dog that he would be worn out from playing all day and not be as frisky at night. The greatness of their plan is that they both are GONE from his house all day. Not so with me. Oh yes- I get to see their "great idea" in action - or rather... I HEAR it ...all....day....long. These dogs do NOT play all day. They bark. Actually, to be fair, just the visting dog is the barker-
I was so...uh...inspired by him that I wrote a Hiaku- *ahem*

Nothing I can see
But I'm barking constantly
Oh, to have a brain.

Betchya didn't know Brad and I were poets eh? ;-)

Neverland, MI

I found both of these Disney store costumes at various garage sales. Peter Pan's outfit was first (complete with some hilarious boots). I think Jaedon wore that for a week straight. Then I spotted Captain Hook's garb and couldn't resist. I found the enormous hat at the actual Disney store- too cute to pass up.
Jaedon insists that I refer to him as ... whatever character's costume he currently is in. "I'm not Zaedon, Mama! I'm Captain Hook." Silly me.

Fall Love Poem for Amber

I feel at long last,
no foolishness at lovers' laughs,
nor fear about longing looks.
For all life's left,
is freedom allowing lingering lips
as fleeting air lifts leaves.

BPH

Variations on a Theme

We love to go on walks in our family. However, we do them often and they are loosing their charm. So, instead of going on a "walk", this past Wednesday we went on a 45 minute "treasure hunt" (picture with the kids and their baggies). They found all sorts of various treasures -(including a cigarette butt that I didn't let them keep ;) And this morning Jaedon, Seth and I went on a "Safari" (hence the hat and "spyglass"). Jaedon found a baby bear, I found a zebra and Seth found a giraffe- AND - according to a certain 4 year old-they are all suppose to fly over to our house today to play when Daddy comes home. I was just glad I got my walk in! =D

My boys

This picture shows their true selves - I love it. =)