this is our kids' first christmas shared with a COUSIN on this side of the family! here's a few shots from the christmas pj's photo lineup --it was pretty funny trying to get all four to cooperate at the same time.
after taking a sip of one of her daddy's favorite -- eggnog -- she described the taste as being like "a really bad donut hole." (never thought of describing it that way myself, but now that she mentions it...)
today at lunch she informed me that one of her cherry tomatoes tasted "JUST like a cheese puff!"
one type of movie that i love are those that deal with issues of social justice/social conscience and really make you think. we recently watched Blood Diamond, and first of all, i STAYED AWAKE through the entire thing! this is a true rarity, though it could have been partly due to my headache... (why is it, by the way, that EVERY Sunday i have a headache??) so anyway, it gets points just for keeping me awake. there are definitely some parts of this film that are not for the faint of heart, and i had to turn away at some points due to violent scenes. but overall i found it thought-provoking and eye-opening, with some very moving themes. i wanted to quote one particularly profound moment here, through which i totally heard the voice of God speaking. a father comes face to face with his young estranged son, who had been taken and brainwashed by the enemy and now points a gun at him. i just love how he looks straight into his son's eyes, seeing past the hard exterior, and speaks truth straight to his heart. for me, this was one of the scenes that makes some of the darker parts of the movie worthwhile.
"you are Dia Vandy... you are a good boy. i know they made you do bad things, but you are not a bad boy... i am your father who loves you, and you will come home with me and be my son again."
click here to watch the trailer.
sawyer's birthday party, from left to right: the birthday boy himself, levi, sarah, elyse, miriam, trey, & brady, who looks by far the most excited to be having his picture taken at that moment. it was a full house!
i am also excited that
Treehouse Books (downtown Holland) has agreed to carry my cards! last week my mom had miriam and levi for an afternoon, and sawyer and i headed downtown with my card sets to see if anyone was interested in putting them out in their store. (lug the cute kid along -- good icebreaker.) i have to mark them up a bit since they take a cut of the profits, but it is a low-risk way to get some exposure.
2)
We've finally been trying Levi wearing underwear to bed at night, and he's been doing really good staying dry. One morning this past week he came into my room wearing only his underwear and Miriam's robe. I figured he had wet because he had taken his pj's off, so I said to him, "Is your bed wet, Levi?" "Yeah..." he replied, and then paused. "Well," he continued, "my pillow is wet, but my underwear is dry!" I had to think about that one for a minute, especially early in the morning. I guess he's just a big-time drooler when he sleeps!3)
Miriam and I were driving downtown Holland the other night and I was pointing out different places to her, one of which was the Pizza Hut. She looked at the sign and said, "Huh, that's funny, this one is called Pizza HUT and the one by us is called Pizza HOT!" I tried to convince her that they were the same but she did not believe me. I guess her version of the name really does make more sense!
since then, Jess has been remarried and their family now lives in Chicago. but their life has now taken another unbelievable turn. their oldest son, Alex (12, i believe) has just been diagnosed with leukemia. this is supposedly not something that is passed down and the doctors are shocked. he barely had any symptoms. he has begun chemo and his sister and brother, Halie and Sam, are going to be tested as possible bone marrow donors for Alex. would you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for them, and pray for a miracle.
my mom tells me that my favorite thing to say and do as a little girl was "weed book!" throughout my school years, however, i was not much of a reader, other than what teachers required of me. but in these past years since beginning to read to my own children, and especially since pursuing the homeschooling route, books have been steadily growing more and more appealing to me. i think our recent television fast solidified this even more in me.
earlier this year i read a book to the kids called "Missionary Stories with the Millers" that I picked up at a homeschool conference. it was a collection of little snippets from lives of various missionaries, some more well-known than others. miriam could not get enough of it! this led me to look into other similar types of stories to read to them and i settled first on George Muller, whom i have always heard of but had never read about for myself. i am finding his story not only fascinating, but also challenging. a man who God turned from well-to-do, self-centered thief into self-sacrificing servant to the poor and orphaned, his life was marked by simplicity and believing God for every step of provision and direction. his testimonies to God's faithfulness prompt me to question my own lifestyle and how well (or not) it matches what we say we believe about God and what we are trying to teach our children about following Christ.
with the weather still being so warm and beautiful, it is hard for me to stay indoors, especially with the impending michigan winter soon approaching! (the kids can't wait for it to snow again, however... they certainly didn't get that from their mom.) the change of seasons, though, is refreshing. with the cooler air comes cozy sweatshirts and jeans (though i do wear my flip-flops until the snow flies!), and with the earlier nightfalls come longer bedtime stories. we also look forward to some fall campfires and roasted marshmallows in the backyard with our neighbors over these next weeks, along with raspberry picking (& hopefully some jam to follow), apple picking, pumpkin carving, and probably a few cups of hot cocoa.
while more and more i am enjoying just being home, i also look forward to a few regular "mommy time" additions to my calendar this fall. first of all, i am learning to KNIT -- something i never thought i would do -- and tonight i will attend my first knitting/craft night with a small group of women. i'm so excited! jen w. is teaching me -- check out her blog to see some of the adorable things she has made. i'm currently attempting a washcloth... matt is really glad that i will now have something i can do next to him while he watches bears football games on sunday afternoons. :)
every other thursday morning, starting this week, i will be attending a mom's group at a local church which has wonderful (& free!) childcare. we were a part of this group last year, too, and it was great. on the off thursdays, i may try to plan some different outings, field trips, or playdates. i have lots of ideas -- i just have to get them on the calendar!
also on thursdays, one evening a month, a veteran homeschooling friend hosts a homeschooling "support" group in her home that has also been a huge blessing. a number of moms attend from all over the area, and it is a chance to fellowship together, share ideas, glean wisdom from those who have gone before, and just be encouraged. can't wait to go to that next week, since i missed the first meeting last month.
i am also hoping to hit the coffee shop a few times with girlfriends this fall, and matt & i do try to retain some semblance of a date night once a week or so. oh, and of course, the other very exciting thing about fall is the beginning of a new season of "The Office", our favorite tv show. :)
i laughed hard.
miriam was preferring to stay on shore and catch frogs.
we are currently spending a long weekend in western/central illinois, house-sitting and dog-sitting with our neighbors at a rural 30 acre property. yesterday we did some historical sight-seeing in a nearby town, mark twain's boyhood home. we toured a cave which twain references in his tom sawyer story. it was cool... except for the BATS! (note to self: caves=bats.) i saw a couple flitting above us when we first entered, and our tour guide was like, "oh, don't worry, they know where they're going... they keep to themselves... they don't like light and noise." then later, after one flew directly at my face, he added, "oh yeah, they like to dive-bomb us sometimes." thanks for that! 
not sure how much i will be able to blog over the next few days, so thought i'd leave you with some quality entertainment in the meantime. this is taken from a "French Idol" audition, and i think it's awesome. my personal favorite part is when he throws in a little Usher (any other Usher fans out there...willing to admit it, that is?) perhaps if you enjoy this one, i'll share a flute beat-boxer next week. (or you can look up his rendition of "Super Mario Brothers" on YouTube.) :)
this summer we celebrated our second annual levi and miriam days. since all of our kids have winter birthdays, when it is harder to come up with special things to do, we decided last year to begin a new tradition of each of the kids having a special day with daddy sometime during the summer. they talk about it and look forward to it all year long. the constants for the past two years have included an overnight campout in the backyard and a trip to craig's cruisers to ride the go-carts. we also try to include something special according to what each of them love. if you know us or have been reading this blog for long, you know that miriam's passion is animals (esp. dogs and horses) and levi's is cars and trucks. a friend of a friend hooked us up with some horseback riding for miriam, and levi got to attend a huge car show. but i think their favorite thing about their special days is the one-on-one time with their dad.
a few weeks ago, grandma & grandpa D were up visiting for a couple of days. now that i think about it, i am finding it a bit odd that i have no pictures of them, yet i have a picture of this heron taken while they were here. hmmm... it was nice, though, to have them give me a bit of a break from the kiddos, and i know the kids loved having them here. one afternoon, i got out alone with my camera and saw this guy flying over zeeland, so i followed him. low and behold, he made his landing right in the pond behind matt's work, and i was able to sneak up on him and get a quick photo.
God has really been working at accessing my heart more deeply this week, especially in relation to my role at home as a mother. one piece of what He has been speaking to me came from this excerpt from my devotional a couple mornings ago. it brings tears to my eyes. yesterday, the kids and i happened upon this field of clover and i thought the photo accompanied the poem quite well.
I longed to fight the battles of my King,
Lift high His standards in the thickest strife;
But my great Captain had me wait and sing
Songs of His conquests in my quiet life.
I longed to leave the hard and difficult sphere,
Where all alone I seemed to stand and wait,
To feel I had some human helper near,
But Jesus had me guard one lonely gate.
I longed to leave the common daily toil,
Where no one seemed to understand or care;
But Jesus said, "I choose for you this soil,
That you might raise for Me some blossoms rare."
And now I have no longing but to do
At home, or far away, His blessed will,
To work amid the many or the few;
Thus, "choosing not to choose," my heart is still.
(originally taken from Pilgrim's Progress)
speaking of favorites... blueberries received their very own day of honor in our household one friday in july. i decided to brave the blueberry patch with three kids in tow, one of which was on my back. on the way there, we stopped at the library and read Blueberries for Sal, a classic children's story about a little girl and a little bear cub who both go out with their mothers picking (& eating!) blueberries. it was a great day for picking, and somehow we ended up with 10 1/2 pounds of the delicious little fruits! and as for sawyer on my back, as long as i kept his berry supply steady, he did great. later that day, we made several batches of blueberry muffins and brought most of them around to our neighbors. mmmm!!
two photos today -- male and female of one of my favorite birds, the red-winged blackbird. we see them all over the place here, especially around the wetlands area where we often take walks. i love the male's coloring, i love their calls, and they make me laugh the way they get all uptight whenever you get anywhere near their nests. i thought they looked cute gazing at each other like this. :)
one sunday night this summer, one of the families from our church group hosted "summer olympics". the kids loved it, the dads competed for the best time in the obstacle course, and the moms were content as spectators for the most part. we finished the night off with an awards ceremony and popsicles. here are the group's littlest ones sporting their medals. from left to right: miriam, levi, sam, ani, lydia, elinore, leif, sawyer, & sophie.
miriam and levi attended Bible school the last week in july and they both loved it. it was fun for me, too, because it was the same one i went to when i was young. mrs. hemmeke is still "maestro" twenty-some years later. :) anyway, each day was a different dress-up theme, and this was "arabian knights" day.... i really had no idea how to dress them, but we thought a turban would suffice.
