Nov. 24, 2009 - Christmas.............

Ahhh...with Thanksgiving upon us, Christmas will shortly follow.  I am the ultimate Christmas fan, restraining myself from decorating already!!!  I am listening to Christmas music already and I LOVE it!! And of course...I have already heard the pleas from my dear children "Mom! I want that for Christmas! No, that, or maybe that...yes that!!" What is comforting about it is my kids know they only get three gifts for Christmas. Yep, we started this last year and the kids love it!  Jesus got three "known"  presents from three kings/wisemen and so we had come to the conclusion of "why should you get more than that?"  We have always tried not to indulge the kids-and this helps.  Each gift we give them represents something, just like Jesus's gifts did for him. For Jesus, gold represented that He was a King,  frankinsense represented that He was the Son of God and a holy man, and myrrh signified that He would die (His purpose).  So we tie these facts into the kids gifts each year.  They get a "gold" gift-this is the fun gift, a toy and we hide it and send the kids on a scavenger hunt complete with clues.  They get a frankinsense gift which represents a talent they have and since this year everyone has enjoyed reading so much, they are all getting a book of some sort.  Myrrh is their purpose/talent gift. So this gift will represent something they are good at, such as drawing, puzzles, or it could be a game to "share" for when a friend comes over.  DO MY KIDS LIKE THIS???

The answer is a resounding YES!  Now, last year when we started this they were sort of like 'what? okay, mom and dad are nuts.'  BUT, once we explained the reason behind it, they couldn't argue with the fact that to get more presents then three on a day that is NOT your birthday did seem well...selfish!  So this year, they tell me "Mom, for my gold gift can you get me......"  hee heee...But, I dont feel the pressure to satisfy every desire they have, for we have this common understanding of the importance of three very special gifts. Plus, this year they have even shared this idea of what we do with others and why we do this-so it is turning into a great evangelistic tool as well!! 

Ho Ho Ho..what do I do about the big guy??ahh...yep.  Well, how I handled it was they could believe, but if they asked me if he was real, I'd say "No." Some I know disagree with me, but my thought is, if I lie to them and tell them "Oh yes, Santa is real"....and then they find out he isn't...will they believe that Christmas being about Jesus is real?? Or worse yet...that Jesus is real at all???  So at this point none of my kids believe in Santa (thank goodness) and you know what? They don't seem to bothered by it either.  Now, we do read a book about  the true St. Nicholas, because he was a REAL person who loved God and wanted to do good for others and then we can talk about how we can model that to others, all the time and not just at Christmas. It also shows the kids what the world has done to Christmas as well. Also it gives me a chance to explain to the kids how special Christmas truly is. You know in the bible Jesus never tells us to celebrate His birth, only to remember His death, but for me, personally how can you celebrate what Christ did, without celebrating His birth and all the wonderful things that God did through that?? These are the things I want my kids to focus on at Christmas. Yes, we will have fun and watch silly Christmas shows at times but when it comes right down to the nuts and bolts of it, CHRIST needs to be the focus.

Lori

Nov. 6, 2009 - "Tom" got "Jerry" this morning!!

Some mornings it doesnt pay to get up does it?  I got up at 5:30am this morning, which is pretty typical for me.  Hubby is usually just on his way out the door and I get an hour or so to myself and I love it.  Well, I went into the bathroom after I awoke to you know...go.  I did not turn the bathroom lights on cause my eyes were not quite focused yet and the lights from the kitchen do nicely.  I happened to glance over and look into the tub and saw something dark in there.  I thought it was one of the kids tub toys.  I got done, washed my hands, and thank GOD I turned the light on before I reached into the tub!  I turned on the light and there was a mouse in my tub!  Yeah, you laugh! Go ahead!  At first, I thought it was dead so I called Tom in to pick him up and dispose of his vermin, flea-carrying hide only to hear Tom say "Sweetie, its not dead."  UGH.  I HATE, and I mean HATE mice!  It wasn't dead folks! It was sitting at an angle and so I thought it was dead, well apparently one of our two cats must have injured him, lost him and the mouse scampered up a towel that was laying over the edge of the tub and slipped into it.  Well, "Jerry," which is the name I give to these creatures (because they are always getting killed by Tom) must have been listening cause he started running around the tub...eeeik!  Talk about the hibbijibbees!  {{Shivers!}}  My son came in at that point and wondered what was going on and I said "wanna take a bath Ty?" To which he replied after looking in the tub. "Nope."  Well, Tom did kill Jerry  (funny heh??)  I'm just glad he was still home to do it.   At any rate I was awake after that!

~Lori

Nov. 4, 2009 - Sickness....

Two of my three children are sick. At least we are on break this week, thank you God for that favor (He is always so good to us!!)   Em is on the mend, praise the Lord and hopefully today Ty will turn the corner too!  They started with these complaints of headache/sore throat...then a few days later low grade fevers of 99-100.  Then they each have had a day or two of fevers that wen up to 102.8!  I know that according to doctor standards that is not HIGH, but to a mother's heart .... it is. Tyler even had the chills, you know the kind where they shake and shiver and even have chattering teeth?? Their little cheeks and lips get soooo red!   Woah.   Is it H1N1? Who knows. Its viral whatever it is. I had just stocked up on ibuprofen and tylenol too (good planning Lori!!)...   What seems to linger after the fever finally breaks is a cough, not a continuous one, but one of those annoying ones that attack you like when you laugh too much?? Then it sounds like they are smokers or something.  Amazingly enough Claire has not come down with it....yet.  She seems to have a great immune system and I praise God for that.   Em's temp stayed normal all day yesterday!! WooHoo!  I think Ty's fever broke last night.  I checked on him around 12:30am and he was drenched in sweat! I mean his hair was sopping wet and he was sleeping so peacefully. He is still sound asleep this morning at 8:30am...unusual for him, but I am letting him rest, his little body needs it.

I love this painting of this mom tucking her kids in.  Its called Mother's Little Angels, by Normal Rockwell.  I love his paintings, they are so true to life, not that I dress like the mom in that painting (nope), but you can see the love in that painting that she has for her "little angels."  Love it.   Hope all of you and yours are staying healthy!!

~Lori

Nov. 1, 2009 - Night and Day

Well, here is a result of a sugar HIGH and a sugar L O W.   Claire ate a lot of candy last night and she had a horrible fit of giggles before bed and I caught these pics of her:

Here is where she started with the hiccups!

But all sugar highs have to have their lows right?  Hers did, she crawled in my bed in the middle of the night and after I got up this morning, our fat cat Mooch joined her in her sugarless slumber....

Its precious heh?

Awwwww....yes, this fat ol' cat loves to sleep like this, he is a major cuddler.

The joys of childhood!!

~Lori

Oct. 31, 2009 - Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the "Terror-rific" Trio!!

Hope your Halloween was Spooktacular!

~The "Mummy"

Oct. 31, 2009 - Claire turned 6 !!

Well, ClaireBear turned 6 on 10/18.  Here are some pics.

The present she got from us....she is getting into "Barbies" now..

Claire at McDonald's after church, this was so much fun! She is looking so grown up.

Dad and his girls.

The Terrific Trio.....(see the rabbit ears??) She can be a stinker!

Me and Claire

After McD's we went to Tom's folks home and had cake and ice cream.  Claire was so excited when she got socks, a few different kinds - she loves clothes!

She also got a Connect Four game-she loves to play this at Grandma Joy's house so much so now she can play it at our house too.

MORE SOCKS!! 

Time for cake!  Oh, and she also got some pretty barrettes which she just HAD to wear right away as well.   It was a great birthday!

The following weekend we celebrated Claire's birthday with my dad's! More presents!

a princess ring...

cool new shoes from gramma and poppa-and that's a big deal cause when you are the youngest in the family, most of your shoes are hand-me-downs! So this was a big deal for Claire!!

She got a "Rapunzel Barbie", chapsticks and nail polish from Aunt Cher!

A "Super Why Super Reader" computer from Aunt K!

Blowing out the candles with my dad.  It was so wonderful that they could celebrate their birthdays together this year....what a blessing after a rough year!

It was a great birthday!

~LORI

Oct. 7, 2009 - Miss Em...almost 10 1/2 ??

On October 14 Miss Em will be 10 1/2-wow!  I got this great pic of her the other day.

Oct. 7, 2009 - How to get rid of a grouchy almost 6 year old...

Miss Claire was really out of sorts the other night, part of it was she was just tired, part of it was she just wasn't getting her way with anything (ever had one of those days?)  Anyways she came to me looking like this....

You can see the smirk coming...she saw the camera (she loves the camera!)...Anways I told her if she didn't stop pouting I'd have to tickle her and of course she made me do that...so with one hand on the camera and the other hand tickling her I got these great pictures:

At this point, she is begging for me to stop!!!!

She is finally in  a better mood and has her favorite friend "Small Blanky."  See how she is rubbing it against her mouth?  She has done that for years, she has had this blanket since before she was born because I bought it for her when I found out I was pregnant, it has been repaired and repaired...but anyways, when she is calm and tired she will rub the binding against her mouth and do that all the way around the blanket...turns out my niece (who is like in her 20's now) who is also a 3rd born, baby of the family did the EXACT same thing with her blanky--I find that so fascinating! 

~Lori

Sep. 1, 2009 - Uno Challenge!

Claire loves Uno and will challenge anyone who is interested in taking her on!  Well, tonight it was a game between her and daddy.  It was cute to watch:

You got it! She won!! 

~Lori

Sep. 1, 2009 - A very tiny toad!

Tonight, Tom found a very tiny toad in our garden.  Isn't it cute? 

~Lori

Sep. 1, 2009 - Just your friendly neighborhood SpiderBoy!

My sweet son Tyler loves bugs!  This summer especially I have noticed that he is very interested in them and has no problem picking them up, studying them, talking to them, etc.....  He has picked up earwigs, moths, grasshoppers, but tonight he picked up what I think is a wolf spider?  EW!  Here are some pictures of my friendly SpiderBoy!

Ew! Right?  He was holding it for quite a while and the spider left a small white ball on his fingernail...an egg?  Who knows.  I sure have quite a boy!

~Lori

Aug. 21, 2009 - Chillin with the peeps!

My daughter Emily LOVES her chickens!  They are not just pets, but friends to her.  I remember growing up I had a great dog, Patches, who was a cross between and Old English Sheepdog and a Bearded Collie-she was my best friend, I can remember crawling into her doghouse and just sitting there, talking to her.  I think these chickens are like that for Em.  I snapped these pictures of Miss Em, chillin' with her peeps.

This is Em and Pufferdoodles-one of her favorites.

Pufferdoodles also called "Puff" is one of the few chickens who likes to "cuddle."  She loves to sit on the kids laps and "chill."

Here is Em and Patty, one of her birthday chickens. Em has worked hard earning Patty's trust, cause up until about a month ago, you couldn't pick her up. Now, she allows you too (or at least she allows Em).

Claire had to get in on the pictures too, so she grabbed LucyLoo, her chicken, and brought her over for a photo op.

My girls and their "peeps." Here in this pic, Claire still has LucyLoo, Emily is holding Edna, who is the self-proclaimed boss of the flock!

This has not been a good summer for our chickens, we lost 4 of them. One just due to age and 3 others met their fate at the hands (or teeth rather) of a raccoon, but my kids were not home to see that. Thank goodness!

They sure love their chickens and I am so glad.  My kids are animal lovers, as am I and I love it!!

~Lori

Aug. 5, 2009 - Why does God want to meet our knees mom?"

Out of the mouths of children I tell ya... Last week ClaireBear asked me this question while pointing to her knees.  We have been listening to a song from "Cosmic City" which is a VBS program our church did last year, and the song talks about God meeting our NEEDS.  But yes, my 5 1/2 year old really thought the song told us that God wanted to meet our KNEES!  So she was rather curious as to why He would want to do that.  I explained to her that the word was NEEDS and that it means that God will make sure we have what we need to live...like food, clothes, water, love, and that our KNEES are what He gave us to use to pray on to ask Him to meet those NEEDS.  "Oh, well, that makes sense mom."  It got me to thinking though...how many times do I just assume that God is going to meet those needs without me asking?  Yeah, God used that whole moment for me to show Claire and for God to show me, we need to PRAY more!   I told Claire that the bible says to make our requests known to God and we need to do that everyday.  "OK mom I will!" And off she ran to play.  What a precious moment for me to cherish in my heart.  I love those moments.  Thanks, God.  I sure needed that reminder.

-LORI

Jul. 31, 2009 - Final Library Projects

This past week was the final library program for the Summer Reading Program "BE CREATIVE."  The kids made stepping stones!  Here they are drying on the deck:

ClaireBear's stone.

Tyler's stone.

Emily's stone.

What was funny was after the stones were all dry and out of their tins I wanted to put them in my flower gardens..but the kids were like "NO!"  They put them on their dressers!  Too cute.  Oh well. It was fun anyways. What a great library program we had this summer!!

-Lori

Jul. 31, 2009 - My Garden Girl

Miss Em loves the garden (girl after my own heart).  Her chickens follow her everywhere and they love the garden too.  They don't eat the plants, but love all the bugs!  They even come out there when I am weeding and stand there and wait for me to toss them a bug or two, it is a lot of fun.  The other morning Em went out to pick peas off the fence and some of her feathered friends joined her and I could not resist taking some pics of them:

Here she finally realized I was standing there taking pictures and she was like "awww mom...."  But she waved to me just the same. I love gardening and am so glad she does too!

-Lori