So, even though Silas’ birthday was July 1st, and Owen’s was June 8th, we weren’t able to celebrate until August 10th. One of the things I knew I had to make for month’s was a cake for Silas with a ninja turtle on it, and not just any ninja, but it had to be Michelangelo!

 So, after watching a few episodes of “ace of Cakes” I was feeling pretty confident. The end result turned out to be pretty good, and Silas loved it. Owen was equally happy with his basketball cake. The boys had fun blowing out the candles and being sung to, and spending some time at mima and papa’s house. Here’s a couple pictures of the evening.

So, I’,ve been meaning to write a post for the last week, but time has gotten away from me, and now, here I am, a week later, and I’m making myself write. First of all, thank you so much, everyone who prayed for us while we were gone. In general, the trip went great.

 We were away from the kids for the entire day, except for meals. I thought that was going to be hard on the kids at first, but after the first day, Silas was already asking to go home with his class teacher after dinner. We got to stay in dorm rooms, which the kids absolutely loved. The three older kids were in a room together, and Jeremiah and I and Owen shared a room. The twin beds were soooo romantic Olivia and Eden each made some special friends and some great memories, and Olivia has already e-mailed back and forth with her friends a few times.

There is so much detail that I could go into about our trip, but I’m afraid you would stop reading due to the length of the post, so I’ll just say this. We walked away feeling so refreshed and excited about the next phase in our lives. We learned a lot of practical things we need to know for our next phase of raising a support team.  But most of all, our mind set has changed from being overwhelmed and a little fearful of sharing His vision and asking for support, to excitement. Excitement about how He will change our lives in the process. And who knows the opportunities we will have to speak into other peoples lives and give them the opportunity to be a part of the vision He has called us too. And maybe along the way, you might be moved to come and join us, or begin your own journey to bring His message to the lost.

Well, this Thursday we are takin off to Chicago. It feels like we’ve been waiting forever to go on this trip, and now it’s only two days away. We are headed there with the whole family. The first couple days we get to spend with my aunt and uncle. We are so excited to see them and let them get to know the kids a little more.

 Then we’ll head to the agency for a week of training. There will be so much to learn this week. Lot’s of cross cultural learning, and training to get us ready for our move overseas. The kids will be in class all week as well, learning about other cultures, and just having fun. But I think one of the hard parts will be that we’ll away from them, except for meals, from 8am to 6 or 7 pm. We’d love for people to be praying for us and the kids while we’re away, and we’ll fill you in on our trip when we get home.

As a little extra, I’m posting a video of Eden. She was listening to music on the computer and singing, but when I came down to video tape it, she said she was too shy to let me see her. But she said I could leave the camera there and she would sing if I left. So, this is what I got. It starts off a little quiet, but picks up in the middle. I think it’ll make you laugh.

A conversation we had earlier this evening…..

mom “oh kids, it’s gonna be hot tomorrow at church!’”

Eden “we’ll have to wear the littlest clothes that we can find”

Olivia “tank tops and underwear!!!”

 I’m not looking at them, but I’m smiling.

Eden “No, we can go NAKED!”

Olivia “we have to wear tank tops and shorts”

Eden “nope, let’s go naked, and no panties either”

Then Eden goes on to sing the “nakey nakey nakey” song while Silas laughs hysterically, and Owen dances back and forth with his lips pushed out like he’s really feelin the music.

 Don’t worry, they’ll be wearing clothes to church tomorrow.

Another tiny conversation with Olivia and I…..

 I’m on the floor cleaning up watermelon juice (thanks mom) with a sponge and Olivia is standing there watching me, and this is what she says…

Olivia “hey mom”

Mom “yes?”

Olivia “did you know that when you use an overused sponge, it works just as good as if you were cleaning the floor with a piece of raw chicken?”

 Yes, my seven year old has been watching too many Lysol commercials.

The other day, I let each of the kids do something, you know, whatever they wanted to do in front of the camera. This was Silas’ impersonation of Raphael, from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, apparently. He didn’t let us know until after he had done the impersonation though. Yeah, I think he has a brilliant acting career ahead of him!

So, We had a great father’s day.After church we headed over to Jeremiah’s parents home to see his dad. He was painting the outside of the house, which ended up being the high light of our visit for the kids. There was scaffolding up to the second story of the house, and the kids immediately wanted to climb it. So one by one, Jeremiah climbed to the top with the kids. Thank goodness Jeremiah’s mom wasn’t there, she would have had a heart attack! I was a bit terrified myself, but I kept my composure enough to take some pictures of everyone climbing. I now understand why my mom would freak out every time I climbed to the top of my favorite tree in the back yard as a kid. I think , as a mom, it might be better just not to watch at all.

 After that we headed to my parents house and had a nice time just hangin out with the family and my sister Abby. It’s always good to catch up on what everyones doing. Then Jeremiah went out with a couple of friends that night.

 I thought, since it was Father’s day, that I would say a few words about one of the greatest father’s I know, my husband. It amazes me, that even with the hard job he works everyday, he still comes home with so much grace for me, and is always ready to jump right in and take the kids off my hands without a second thought. He still changes his fare share of diapers, even the stinky ones. I love how he talks and teaches the kids about God in every opportunity he can, and is so patient with them. He provides for our family and for me. The love he has for his Father, and his family is astounding and I am so thankful that God has blessed me and the kids with such an incredible man. I love you Babe.

So, here’s a little conversation I had with Silas today. It happened after I picked him up from nursery after church today. The worker had told me he had been holding hands with a little girl while they were reading a book together. So, I sat down with Silas to ask him a few questions and this is what he said

me:”So, Silas, did you play with you friend  today?”

Silas: “Um, yeah, we read books, uh huh.”

Me: “did you hold her hand?”

Silas: “Um yeah, I hold her hand, and we read books.”

Me: “Silas, why did you hold her hand?”

Silas:”um, ’cause she’s my best friend, mom.”

there’s a slight pause.

Silas: “isn’t that wonderful?”

Later on we were at my parents house and I wanted Silas to repeat what he had said to me, to my mom, cause I thought it was pretty cute, and he proceeded to tell me a little more….

Silas: “Yeah, I held her hand, And I kissed her.”

Me: “What? Did you kiss her, or did you WANT to kiss her?”

Silas:”Um I want to kiss her.”

Me:”So , you didn’t kiss her?”

Silas: “Yeah, I kissed her.”

Me :”Um, Silas, You can’t kiss your friends. That’s not respectful or nice to your friends. You have to wait til you’re as big as dad before you kiss girls.”

Silas :”But I want to, I want to get married. I am big. She’s my best friend.”

Olivia:”Silas, you can’t kiss until your sixteen!”

Me: “NO, not sixteen!”

Olivia :”Oh eighteen.”

Me :”No, Your want to try not to kiss until you’ve found the person that you want to marry.”

Silas :”OK “

 I’m not sure if I handled this one the best way possible, but no matter what, I know Jeremiah and I have a lot on our hands as these kids get older. Lord help me. Yeah, how are the ladies going to resist this kid?

So, I know I haven’t written anything in a while, and I still feel like I’m in a bit of a slump when it comes to creative writing. Yet, I feel the need to post something, otherwise you may stop checking out my blog So hears a project I worked on last weekend. My mom got me a beautiful deep purple lilac tree. One of my favorites, thanks mom. But then I realized we had no place to plant it. So Jeremiah chopped down a rhododendron tree that I didn’t really care for, and on Friday and Saturday, I dug out the root and planted my beautiful tree. Fun fun fun. I’m still sore.

A picture says a thousand words, so here’s a few. Let’s just say that this is the best purchase we’ve ever made.

So, do you ever have those days where you kind of sit back and think….”did I really just do that?” or maybe it’s “I thought I would never do that and I just did?” . OK, so this is one of those day’s for me.

 I try to do the best with my kids when it comes to discipline and being consistent and staying on top of things. I try to focus on there behavior, but more importantly there hearts, and the motives and feelings they have internally. Yes, it’s been working well for me and the kids…….that is, until Owen came along. I love my son with all my heart! He is sweet and kind. He loves animals and babies. He is so gentle with my parents cat’s and his little nephew Josiah. He’s a great helper too, putting his own dishes away, and throwing his dirty diaper’s in the trash……. But there’s another side to this child that I am at a loss for what to do with him!

 Since he began walking, he has never stopped. Every cupboard, nob, drawer, door, counter and refrigerator is fare game in his little mind. It’s almost like a natural thing for him. Like breathing…..if I say no to one thing, he’s on to the next, and so on and so on, all day, every day, for eternity I’m thinking. We recently conceded to putting a lock on the refrigerator, after finding him countless times with the half and half dripping down his cheeks, or the egg carton emptied on the floor, or him helping himself to the “child proof” bottle of vitamins. That was hard enough for me to do, me being someone who used to laugh at the parent with the leash on there child, or the safety latches on there cupboards ( which I also have now, thank you Owen).

 But today, I think I went beyond any safety proofing I ever thought possible for myself. Recently Owen discovered how to climb out of his crib. At first it was just when he woke up in the morning that he would do it, and it was sort of convenient. But then he began waking up his brother , who he shares a room with. Then he started trashing his room, or wandering out into the house. I would find DVDs , makeup, toilette paper, or  refrigerator items strewn across my house. Now he is climbing out at nap time and bedtime before he even falls asleep. I have to put him back in bed over and over. I wait outside the room and listen for the crib to start squeaking, and know he’s at it again.

 And last night, I was awakened by what sounded like diaper’s rustling. I stumbled into his room around 3am and found him out of bed, trying to change his own diaper. Now, Jeremiah and I are going out of town this Sat, and his mom is coming over to take care of the kids for us, and I was thinking, how will she do bed time, with out going insane! The answer…..sadly……I’m have resorted to tenting him in his crib. That’s right, they actually make these things and sell them, crib tents. They’re a see through tent like enclosure that totally covers the entire top of the crib, with an easy access zipper to have contact with them. Apparently, my son is not the only child with this problem, and as embarrassing as it is, I am counting the days until it comes in the mail and I can finally have a peaceful night knowing that he is securely in his bed, and not wandering around the house destroying who knows what.

 Whew, it feels good to confess this. I hope none of you feel any less of me after this sad last resort that I’ve had to come to. I’ll leave you with a little video of a sweeter side of Owen, and hope that you will pray hard and long for this little stinker, and for me too, that I won’t go crazy while I’m waiting for him to just chill out!