No greater love

I really enjoy those moments of connection with my kiddos as they get older. Jaedon has been really growing and I can see the Holy Spirit working in his little heart. It's especially sweet to engage him in conversation about spiritual things. The other day we rented an animated version of the Jim Elliot story (Torchlighers DVD). We got this from our library several months ago and watched it but he was not all that interested. This time, however, after watching it he was very somber and actually sad! (which, if you know Jaedon, is quite something since he's not so much on the emphathy/sympathy thing) Anyway, he told me he was very sad that Jim Elliot died. This led into a (probably way overdone on my end) discussion about living our life to please Jesus and how sometimes people die for Jesus. We talked about how because Jim Elliot and the others were not afraid to die because they had Jesus in their hearts and how all the "spearmen" (as he calls the Alkas) came to know Jesus too. I'm not sure how much he got but his little gears sure were spinning! =)
We also mentioned that we saw one of the "spearmen" (at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert)and Nate Saint's son, Steve. Did you know they call Mincaye, one who took place in spearing the missionaries, "grandfather"? It is such an amazing story- if you're not familiar with it, I recommend reading the book Through Gates of Splendor (by Elizabeth Elliot), Beyond Gates of Splendor (by Steve Saint) or at the very least watching the movie- the End of the Spear.

There is no greater love than this
There is no greater gift that can ever be given
to be willing to die so that another might live
there is no greater love than this.
This is the love God shows the world when he gave us his Son so we could know his love forever- beyond the gates of splendor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFkcwViNXIs -see the YouTube clip on the right side of the blog.

Silly quiz- thanks Richelle ;)

86 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Brad's home.
The house is still standing (and much cleaner than it would be had my mom not been here this week!)
I'm baking brownies.
And no, I didn't get a ticket from the cop-

All is well.

Is it Friday yet?

You know those days where when someone asks you how you're day is going you honestly don't know how to answer? Brad asked me last night when he called me from Band Camp (he's gone all week and my mom is visiting for the week). Anyway- I said "I'm not sure how my day was. It was a mix of great and pulling my hair out."
Hmm...
-We went to the children's museum yesterday. YEAH.
-I got pulled over by a policeman. boo. (eh- it was my own fault- I was in a construction zone and pulled a left turn -even though I saw the no turn sign- dummy me- the cop was RIGHT behind me! He had one of those sleek new cars that you can't TELL it a cop car...yeah..it was lights on top of the car afterall and NOT a cartop carrier. ;)
So anyway-
-The two older boys played well together. yesterday. YEAH. (Today- not so much. boo.)
-The swing batteries died therefore Owen refused to sleep unless being held (which I usually enjoy doing but it is a bit hindering at times.) boo.
-The weather was really nice so we could enjoy being outside. YEAH.
-I had to dig out our plunger as the kitchen sink clogged BIG BOO.
-I have friends that I can call and say "hey! what do you know about drains?!" ;) YEAH!
-Owen decided that 5:00 this morning was awake time... and the dogs next door decided he was right. BOOOOOOO.
- my mom let me sleep from 7-9 this morning while she took care of the boys. YEAHHHH.
-The sink is still clogged. Boo.
- I do feel quite victorious for at least figuring out how to take the trap pipe off. (Thank you Jill W. ;) YEAH.
-Altho I realized how very dense I am about all things plumming. I was using the WRONG end of the "snake" thingy (that's the offical term) for the better part of 20 mintues today and the right side to no avail. boo.


Soooo...that's my past 24 hours. What I wanna know is why things happen that don't normally happen when the hubby isn't around to take care of it?!! =) My theory- to help me learn to appreciate him more and not take him for granted.
Is it Friday yet?!! ;)

Who's Who?

Top- Owen and Seth

Middle- Amber at 5 and our Niece!!

Bottom- (Brad) and Jaedon and (Brad) and Owen

Whattya think?! ;)

The brothers and a GRIN ...

Brad found Owen's tickle spots- and we're getting a lot of silent giggles ;) SO fun.

We're in full swing here at the Howells' household. Our days are pretty similar and busy.
The new pool is a HUGE hit! Jaedon and Brad spend a LOT of time in there together (not sure who truly enjoys it more ;)
Brad, Jaedon and Seth went camping the other night- just in our backyard but they had a blast. Of course, you CAN'T play flashlight hide and seek while the light is out and it's just impossible to chase fireflys until it's dark- so needless to say they both zonked out somewhere between 11-12 (after 10:30 popcorn snack of course ;)
We've roasted more marshmallows then I care to divulge and made hobo pies for supper the other night too.

I'm trying to get over my "supermom" mentality- not that I THINK I'm supermom- but i think I'm trying to be. Does that make sense? I've realized in all 6 weeks of my "expertise" (HA!!) of a mom of 3 =P that not EVERYTHING that NEEDS to get done HAS to get done! Profound huh? I'm not an organized person by nature (altho I LIKE organization....just doesn't come naturally to me) so I have experienced a LOT of 1/2 done projects around here lately. And, of course, I remember them usually when I'm feeding Owen and can't do anything about them.
I've also remembered/was reminded/still learning that the success of a day isn't how many THINGS I can get done (who really sees my "to do" list anyway?) Sometimes (ok- more often than not...) the best days are when the laundry is still piled on the couch (folded or not) , lunch still needs to be cleaned up and yikes! don't even look at the dust on the piano!! BUT- Seth learned what "C" says, Jaedon read ME the David and Jonathan story and I got to see even more smiles from Owen who just LOVES his bath!! ;)

Remember Remember....
Altho- I wouldn't mind a few organization tips from anyone!!

Party in Heaven

Just thought I'd let you know that Jaedon decided to accept Christ last night! What an honor for us as parents!

You know you're a Dad when...

Our vacation "out east" ;)

Brad put together a mix of songs (he entitled "Old School") that made me feel oh so old! He had songs like Jesus Freak, Big House, Shine, Flood... oh yeah. All these "hip" songs that SEEM like they're only about 5 years old in my mind!! uh...try 12-15 years! YIKES! We were listening to our blast from our past music while traveling to Detroit this past weekend and I heard the song Life Together by (any one know?!!) Ding ding-- Geoff Moore and the Distance! (man they had some great songs!) IF you don't know the song (that always takes me back to 1995!) it's just talks about him and his friends who swore to be friends forever and made a promise to DO life together. (something that our church talks a lot about acutally)

I don't know if any of you have "friend forever till the end on this my friend you can depend..." type of friendships but we are blessed to say we DO! No shocker to anyone who knows us but our "life" friends are Shawn and Becky Gurk.

We have an odd history with Shawn and Becky. Shawn and Brad knew each other back in high school days! They met at music camp at Cornerstone- only to be followed by going to Cornerstone together and being on a brass team together. Becky and I met at Cornerstone too - we lived in the same dorm only we didn't "hang out" together. I just knew who she was and remember thinking how beautiful she was (is!). So a few months after Brad and I were married we decided to get together with them for some food and games. That first get together we ate the food- and nixed the games- we ended up just TALKING for hours (like 5 ?!?!).


Their friendship to me as a person and to us as a couple has been and continues to be one of the greatest blessings in our life. Brad and Shawn have a great connection and accountability friendship. Becky and I can spend hours together over some latte- just talking- and when it's time to leave- we feel like it's only been a few minutes.


I say all this not to be prideful but I am just so thankful for this God- centered, life-together friendship we enjoy so much!


Our families have done a lot together and we decided, hmm... let's try a vacation together!!! We planned a trip to Detroit over this past weekend with them and had a great time! Here's the goods...Day one:


We went to IKEA (while the kids were fresh and Dad's were not worn out! :) for a few hours...yes, hours. They have a kid play place (for Jaedon and Adrianna) - so they were entertained for an hour while we shopped.


Then we caravaned over to our hotel. We decided we wanted a hotel with a "suite" so that we could have some living space. It turned out to be the best decision we made all weekend! =) It was beautiful and the perfect amount of living space (for a 2 day stay at least). So we got to the hotel around 2:30 and stayed there until the next morning. Of course, you HAVE to get a hotel with a pool- which we used a LOT. We ordered some pizza and picniced in our room. And again, we were GOING to play cards after the kids were asleep...but we just talked instead (I see a trend... ;)



pictures:

top left- Brad and Seth in the pool, our Hungry Howies picnic, Owen - enjoying neither the pool or the picnic ;)

middle-Jaedon zonked out, (my favorite picture of the weekend) Jaedon jumping in the pool, Seth and Eliza playing together behind the curtain =)

bottom row- hot tub time, the mamas (I'm never in the pictures ;), Seth drying off with the towel while wetting his whistle?! ;)

Day two

The crew!!! We had just two kids when we did this zoo 3 years ago ;)
Owen enjoying the cruz...
Our fam- Owen doesn't look very comfy does he?!
If you put eyes on his chin .... nah- they'd just be hairy eyes ;)

Day two:

I forgot to tell you the best part about our hotel! It was a gourmet breakfast each morning (ok- anything more than raisin bran is gourmet to me!) as in- made to order omlettes, pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, hasbrowns, muffins, donuts, toast, yogurt, fruit... oh, and they had raisin bran too ;)

anyway- We went to the zoo- obviously. It's a nice zoo but it seems like there are as many gardens and kiosks as there are animals! But- the weather was fabulous and the kids did great too. We enjoyed the pool again when we got "home" and rented a TV movie for the kids- the Pirates who don't do Anything (outrageously priced for a 90 minute film- but fun.)

pics-top-Adrianna and Jaedon, Mama and her boys, Seth in the underwater display

middle- Daddy and Seth checking out the seals and polar bears, uh...a bear ;), Jaedon playing with his straw at On the Border for supper

last-the boys were zonked again, uh... do I really need to spell it out? , buddies Jaedon and Adrianna

the end already?!

Day three-

Ahh yes- tis time to head on home. The first picture is what I call the vacation DAZE... we had cartoons on for the kids (is Sponge Bob ALL they play anymore?!!) while we packed up. We were bummed that we couldn't get one more swim in the morning but it was closed =( We ended up finding a park nearby and letting the kids run around there for a bit.

Becky had found this place called Marvins Marvelous Mechanical Museum- online when we were planning the trip so our last stop was to go there after lunch. Basically, it was a wall-to-wall arcade. (The moms had IKEA, the Dads got to play - it all equalled out right?! ;) We were there for almost 2 hours I think- Brad said he really enjoyed it (no big shocker there ;) Of course, when you win the games you collect tickets and get to trade them in for PRICELESS valuable trinkets! Jaedon got a kalamazoo (or a kazoo but it's too cute to correct him ;) , Seth got a truck that I THINK lost a tire BEFORE we left, and Brad ended up with candy. Oh yes....life with boys! ;)

After that we came home and discovered that our cat had been trapped in our bedroom ALL weekend long. I'm surprised she's still alive- our room is on the top floor and it gets HOT up there. Soooo... on top of all the vacation cleanup, we have some serious bedroom cleanup to do too. Fortunately (for us ;) since she didn't get any FOOD, there was no poo... but uh...not smelling so nice up there right now. We're investing in some serious cleaning stuff designed to kill ... anything it needs to so hopefully by the end of the week we'll be able to sleep in our room again and not camp out in the living room - oye! Welcome back to life eh?! ;)

the Fourth

Here's a few pics of our day here on the Fourth. We had the Howells' gang over then went downtown to see the works. The colored blur is the kids running with glowsticks - by the way... they may have been a bigger hit than the actual fireworks ;)

Oh- and the picture of Jaedon is especially for Uncle Myron- He and Brad went on a bike ride and came back with mud caked on his (new) shirt, socks, (new) shoes, hair, ears, etc... you would've been proud ;)

Can it be true?!

Owen is one month old today!!! WHA?????? How did this past month just FLY by so fast?! I can hardly believe it! Brad and I were saying that is seems like just a few days since we had him- and it also seems like he's always been around! =)

Wet and Wild

I'm not sure what possessed us but we bought one of those "quick set" pools. The boys had some fun in the wading pool (oh yes, the little round kiddie kind) but it was more of a water trough since their game was fill their buckets with water from the pool and go and water things...Daddy's car, the flowers (rarely), our neighbors driveway (I'm sure he's always wanted a bigger driveway...) They had just outgrown it so here's some pics of the new pool - Seth is still not quite so sure about it. Jaedon and Brad are LovInG it!! ;)