Camo Birthday

Solomon recently celebrated a triple birthday with a camoflauge birthday party. Solomon was born on June 10, Josh on June 11 and Luke on June 12. Yes, the same year. We were all in the hospital at the same time. I didn't know Luke's Mom that well at the time but we went to the same church. She was not due yet, I think she just couldn't stand the thought of us being in the hospital while she had 2-3 weeks to wait. Josh's mom was a good friend who was not due yet either but walked all day and did squats trying to induce labor as she knew Dr. Jurgens would have the weekend off. Since their birth though we've all become great friends and we all meet weekly as a group with husbands to share faith, food, struggles and fun. The boys enjoyed lots of sugar including candy, icecream and an amzing cake decorated as the Candy Land board, done by a very creative Mom/friend. They shared gifts, had water balloon fights and battled the Slip and Slide ( head first, against cautionary statements printed on the plastic). It was a fun, hot afternoon. Nothing is sweeter than a tired out 6 year old pumped up on lots of sugar.

A Farewell To Baseball

The loss last night in Comstock Park brought the 2008 baseball season to an end for the Mariners. It's always sad to see the kids have to turn in their jerseys. The game ended 5-3 but our kids surely didn't give it their all. Perhaps everyone is just ready to call it a season.

Next year Nathan moves up to the next age bracket. The whole game changes for him then. The field gets bigger, the rules change and bring on the steel cleats.



Solomon is always prepared should they need him to take the field.

Photos courtesy of AJ

We Found Our Pot of Gold!

Adrianna loves taking pictures, especially in non-traditional settings. After our last baseball game we stopped in Hamilton for gas at Farm Bureau. Suddenly she yelled "Quick, give me the camera". She jumped out of the van and ran to where she caught this photo of a rainbow:



The kids observed that since it appears that the rainbow ends in the silo behind the building, our great (material) fortune must be in agriculture and surely if we have room for crops we must have room for ponies...

She also captured this one, she followed a bird for days before finally discovering where she hid her well secluded nest.


With her sense of adventure, lack of fear and love of animals I could see a future in photojournalism.

Breakin' the Birthday Rules

(I know, I know, I forgot to buy birthday candles)


We 've had a rule in our family that you need to be 9 before getting a dirt bike. We felt that was when the motor skills, dexterity and quick thinking that are necessary would be present. Until now.

Solomon has been athletic from birth. He mastered a two wheeled scooter at the age of 3 and a bike at 4. He's just a natural. He has also had a few years of co-riding with Doug during what is known as "The Dirt Bike Game" when Doug and Solomon "chase" the other kids through the woods, acting like a grumpy old man who is chasing the neighborhood kids off of his property. This may sound dangerous but really he never gets very close at all, just stirs up the adrenaline in everyone and they think it's cool that they can outrun a motorized vehicle. So, Solomon understands the steering, leaning, etc...Well, he's been "saving" for a dirtbike for sometime but often breaks into his stash (change from pockets) and buys himself something nifty from Sandcastle. He has been saying for months that all he wanted for his birthday was $$ for a dirtbike someday. Based on his savings/spending habits, we figured he would have enough to possibly buy one and ride it to his first real job.

Yesterday was his 6th birthday. Boy did those years go quickly. He was presented with his own real dirtbike helmet, goggles, gloves and chest protector. Feigning going out to play The Game, he was led to come across a bright orange KTM 50 CC just for him. In my excitement, I totally left the video camera on the porch. Boy would his reaction been worth a million bucks on film. I didn't see it myself but it was truely speechless and on the verge of tears.

Some last minute instructions before the test drive...

I considered borrowing training wheels until he had some hours in but I felt silly after I saw him take off. Within 5 minutes he was standing up for apparant jumps and whizzing through our lakes of water left by Storms 2008.

Some felt he would need to run completely out of gas before getting off. Doug coaxed him though into spraying it off to keep it looking good and honestly he was quite red in the face by this time. What a perfect gift.

Around 10:30 last night when we thought he was asleep he yelled out in his emergency voice, simply wanting to know when it would be time to wake up.

He got up today at 6:30. Between him and the puppy it looks like some long summer days beginning early and ending late.

The Corkscrew: Realtime

The 3 younger children and I were cooking ravioli on Sunday when the phone rang and we were ushered into the world Michigan Adventur via Nextel. The Scout troop was spending the day there and Doug was kind enough to share the experience with us while on speakerphone.

He gave us the play by play, that clikity clack produced by the initial climb in the background. He gave us a final word before going over the top and then all we heard was...is there a word for rushing air amidst screamingand yelling mixed with laughter and whooping? Then he came back on the phone to tell us the ride was over and he would call later-which he did several times; all from the Corkscrew.

A Puppy, 3 Kids and a Twister

I was home last Saturday night with the 3 younger children amidst the torrential rainstorms. They had all fallen asleep (Adrianna in bed with me, the puppy in her crate and Franchesca and Solomon having a sleep-over in her room) when I heard the news that indeed we should take shelter in the basement. Remaining calm while rousing 3 kids, grabbing flashlights and the puppy crate was challenging. They kept thinking of things they wanted to bring down in the basement with them including a backpack (filled w/?), pillows, blankets, and the cat. We couldn't find Oliver (cat) right away and I really felt that risking our lives to get him wasn't in order.

We sat in the cold basement (compared to our very warm upstairs) and watched the water drip off of the pipes above due to condensation. We watched the lightning and discussed how far away it was and wondered how Doug and Nathan were doing in tents. They suggested going up for snacks and I realized that I must have done ok in playing down the situation-perhaps too much.

We returned up to MY bedroom after 25 minutes and all piled in. Between the constant lightning followed by thunder, wind and worry about the guys and the cat, we slept very little. 4 people in a queen size bed is a bit tight.

ADOPTING AGAIN?!!!

I recently put someone straight into orbit when I emailed her and asked to put her down on our adoption application. I guess most people thought we were "done". A blog seems a bit impersonal to be sharing such big news but it seems that's how things are done now. It's not as though we just now thought of doing this. Yes, it is a big move but we feel that the children are the right ages now and even in this economy, feel that we can provide the love, security, socialization (and food) necessary.


There were so many decisions to make...where to adopt from....what age...boy or girl...how far were we willing to travel...This has actually been in in the making for some time, lots of applications filled out and much frustration with the timeliness of the process.




Most everything has been finalized...we've picked out a name for our new little girl and here is some of her first photos





INTRODUCING: LILY JAMES

Here she is sleeping on AJ's lap

Blogging can be a good way to share news.

A Spring Piano Recital

SHE DID IT!

Our annual spring recital was last night. Franchesca has only played in 1 ever even though she has been learning the piano since she was 5. It could be labeled "Extreme Performance Anxiety". I began working on her early this spring, offering lots of encouragement (and bribes). I REALLY wanted her to have this success under her belt. She finally agreed to the agreement that we go horseback riding and that she and Doug can soon watch "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", something lots of people have seen but we feel has been way too intense and complicated for all but the oldest in our family.

I didn't intentionally invite anyone as this makes her much more nervous, she has always been this way-even on her birthday. I waited all day for the tummy ache to start and the withdrawn spirit but it never came. She said she wasn't even nervous. We even took the day off of all lesson work to have fun and get some energy out (planting garden) but she seemed fine all day. The drive there could have been trecherous but still, just smiles. We arrived WAY early, practiced, sat in the FRONT row (her request-boy that is brave too; probably so we didn't see just how many people were behind us) and patiently waited 6:30 to arrive.

Franchesca played a duet with her teacher, Mrs. Koeman. Nathan offered to play with her but she felt more secure with a more mature person. She also requested that they go FIRST. Apparantly Mrs. Koeman doesn't get many requests to go first, was pleasantly surprised and they opened with fanfare playing "Stars and Stripes Forever".

I was so glad for her. This felt great, not to negate Nathan and Adrianna's performance which were equally great, but didn't require quite so much courage. Nathan accompanied AJ on "Chopsticks" and then went on to later play a beautiful rendition of "Beauty and The Beast".

Now-to find that place to ride horses!

Spring Fling

I'm the type that once I've let something go awhile, it gets really difficult to get back to it. My baby books and photos are in that catagory now, so is my basement! Blogging has also sat on the back burner, ideas always abounding but time always lacking.

We've been super busy doing springish things around the place. Memorial Day weekend was spent weeding, barking and moving lots of green things. I had an entire lily garden that hadn't been divided in years and I single handidly moved it to create a nice landscape around the girls playhouse. We've decided to call it "The Lily Pad". I did all this from the stuff we already had an added some chives from my moms garden. The kids think these taste fantastic and feel at one with nature when they can walk by and pick them and let them hang from their mouths chewing on them. My sister passed this abode on to us when her girls grew too big for it. It even has wood floors! (Thanks Tina. Stop by and see it).

After the basic spring cleanup we began to move on to this years big project: The Vegetable Garden. This was intended to be a family project. Adrianna and Solomon tired of the hard work quickly and found a much more suitable way to spend a gorgeous day. This next week will be busy finishing the fence which is badly needed to keep all the wildlife from feasting and getting it planted! I'll get some pics up soon of the amazing job Doug did on the "penitentiary wall" around it.

I insisted that Solomon turn the frog toward him incase of a quick leap.