bright eyes + blue eyes

khanjoe's visit

Uncle Joe and Khani came for a visit in October.

Here are some pictures of everyone playing in the front yard.

This visit was also the first time J & K got to meet Manzo.

It was a FUN night.

izzy : our new puppy

izzy : our new puppy from ellie and abbie on Vimeo.

 

last weekend

Last Weekend Was Lovely:

(1) My marvelous mom & dynamite dad came for a visit.

(2) My beneficent brother and his glowing girlfriend came as well.

{Throw the salt, glisteningly, into the pan...}

(3) Together, we went to Pumpkin's final soccer game of the season.

(4) My mom & dad were hilarious at the soccer game. My family of origin is not very "soccer-ish", if you know what I mean. Sure, we like it--but none of us ever played it for very long. (Ellie & I didn't play at all, Robert & Joe played for a few seasons I think.)

(5) Consequently, mom & dad didn't quite know what words to use to cheer Pumpkin on from the sidelines. (I'm in that category, too--I don't really know any soccer phrases, besides "defense!" and the other obvious ones.) So mom & dad ended up settling on, "Bend it like Beckham!!" --simply because they knew that had something to do with soccer.

(6) They also found it necessary to counterbalance Hunter's strategic advice to Pumpkin. Hunter is prone to "coach" her from the sidelines. {i.e., "Run down the field! Get ready! Look, there's the ball!..." etc.} He's a very enthusiastic sportsman, and that definitely comes out in his cheering. Well, mom & dad provided the yin to Hunter's yang, with comments like, "It's just a game! You're doing great! The only reason we're here is so that you can just HAVE A GOOD TIME." Good advice to Pumpkin, encased in a bit of good natured teasing, directed at Hunter. It was really making Hunter and me laugh.

(7) We went to IKEA and got a great little trundle bed to go under Superboy's twin bed. {Thank you, mom & dad!} The trundle is guaranteed to be used about 436,895 times.

(8) Our dear friend Kim came over to babysit while the adults went out to dinner. Our dinner together was one of the best meals I've had in a long, long time. I had delicious rainbow sushi, which tasted, to me, like the DEFINITION of health and freshness. Yum.

(9) Worship together on Sunday morning. Fantabulous.

(10) Tomato soup alongside smoked turkey sandwich for lunch. Perfect food for this weather. 

(11) We had plans to trick-or-treat with a group of friends, starting at 5:30.

(12) The children got in their costumes. We snapped some pictures. Superboy looked very fierce as Iron Man. Pumpkin was a cute Dorothy.

(13) I particularly like the idea behind these photos..."what would Dorothy do if she actually saw Iron Man??"

 

 

(14) Trick-or-treating was a blast. Every year I get so caught up in how much fun this night is for children. It's such a departure from regular life/reality. There's so much neighborhood excitement....everyone is out, walking around. Everyone is giving out candy....the children are all fascinated by the various costumes. {And Ellie, YES, much to my delight, the children did in fact sort and categorize their candy. That's the best part, right?}

(15) Here's a Seinfeld sketch about trick-or-treating. I think of it every year when we're getting the kids' costumes on. The best part of this routine: "What is this? What did you say? Wh-wh-what is that you said about people giving out candy...??" Cracks me up every time.

Jerry Seinfeld on Halloween

yo quiero taco bell

(please do not take that title literally--I actually cannot remotely stand even the idea of Taco Bell. Yuck-o. How do you make a sentence negative en espanol? I don't know. But I do know a bit of French. So I will merge the two together: "Yo ne quiero pas Taco Bell"....ha ha)

In the summer of 2008, Pumpkin's cousin got a little bitty dog. A teacup chihuahua, to be precise.

 

I myself grew up in a "big dog" family....not a "small dog" family. The whole idea of a chihuahua was unfamiliar to me. Nevertheless, it was fun to be around little Cocoa. Hunter & I both got a kick out Cocoa. ("He's sooo little!") Superboy enjoyed him as well.

But Pumpkin.....

Well, let's just put it this way: To say that Pumpkin *loved* Cocoa would be a major understatement. She would sit on the screen porch for HOURS playing with Cocoa. We would have to coax her away from Cocoa to eat her meals.

That has been the consistent theme ever since Cocoa joined our extended family. Pumpkin basically counts the days until she gets to play with Cocoa again.

Meanwhile, in our own immediate family, Hunter and I have been wanting to get a dog for YEARS. We've toyed with the idea of a Weimaraner. We've toyed with the idea of a Black Lab. We've toyed with the idea of a Boykin Spaniel (based on Abigail & Matt's great experience with their new dog.)

Hunter would love to train a hunting dog someday. The problem is, those first couple of years of dog training (for a hunting dog at least) are crucial...and we just don't have the time right now. Hopefully we will in a few years.

So we have struggled with dog fever. For years.

Well. Here's where the story takes an unexpected twist.

We got a phone call from Hunter's sister last week. Her neighbor's sister has a dog that she needs to find a new home for. The dog is healthy & happy; she just needs a new home.

And the dog is a chihuahua.

Hunter and I talked and talked about it. What should we do....this isn't what we were planning on....but the kids sure would love to go ahead and get a dog....maybe this will be dog #1, and dog #2 will be a hunting dog....

After much analysis & contemplation, we've decided to go for it.

We're going to have a 1 yr old chihuahua join our little home in about a month.

Not sure if our new perra poco will be much of a help in the duck woods (ha!! can you imagine?), but she will definitely provide some smiles here on the homefront. 

(These are all pictures I took of Cocoa when he was a teensy puppy.)

 

 

goodbye, dear tree

1. We had a tall, but very scrawny, ginkgo tree in our front yard. It was unhealthy & needed to come down.

2. Gram and Papa were in town for a visit in May.

3. One evening, Hunter and Papa decided that it was time to take care of the tree.

4. They tied a big blue rope between the tree & the Mazda. They put tension on the rope & then Papa began cutting the tree, at a strategic angle, with the chainsaw. Slowly but surely, Hunter edged the car forward until the tree began to tip.

5. Crash. (when a tree falls, it's LOUD.)

We saved the part of the trunk that's in good shape. We plan to get that wood planed and make something out of it. {Maybe we'll make a wardrobe and fill it with long fur coats, with the hopes that it'll make a good hiding place for children playing hide-and-seek someday. :-) }

 

baby love

 

 

thankful

pics : before & after

We are all absolutely overjoyed to have a precious new baby in our extended family.

My brother and his wife are the proud parents of a sweet little lovebug who has everyone within 20 feet of her oooohing and ahhhhing.

Hunter and I cannot wait to meet our new niece in another few weeks.

The children are so delighted that they have a new baby cousin. 

We praise the Lord for this beautiful little girl--she is the miraculous work of His hands.

Our hearts are so thankful.

Oh give thanks to the Lord,
for He is good,
for His steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 107:1

reflecting on sickness

Superboy had a fever last week and had to miss three days of school. While I was taking care of him, I was reminded of a book I read a couple of years ago which really impacted my perspective on the "sick days" we all experience as parents of little ones.

I just looked through my MS Word files & found my old post so I could re-publish it. (see my other post for today)

One thing I'd like to add to our family's "treating a sick child" routine is a bell. My mom used to give us a bell so we could ring it to get her attention if she was elsewhere in the house. As a child, I thought that was the coolest thing ever. If I owned a bell I would've started that tradition already. (So far in my mommy years, I never even think of purchasing a bell until right in the middle of someone's sickness. So I try to make a mental note to look for one when he/she gets better...but then of course I forget!)

Here are a couple of additional things we usually incorporate during fever/illness/sickness. If you have tips or things your children usually respond well to, I would love to hear them! Please, do share.

• a snuggly "nest" somewhere in the living room (couch or comfy chair)
• tissues & trash can nearby
• cold washcloth on the forehead
• Vaseline
• gingerale (served with a straw)
• gatorade (served with a straw)
• popsicles
• chilcken noodle soup + saltine crackers
• a big stack of old Highlights magazines to flip through
• a few audio books
• a few videos
• a nice relaxing bath, if that sounds good to the patient

Also, when the patient starts to feel a bit better, Hunter likes to make him/her a baked potato, with a little butter and salt. That was always what his mom made for him when he began to turn the corner. In his words, "a baked potato never tasted better." 

"a portion of time that counts"

{originally posted on my previous blog...posted sometime in 2007, I think.}

Last week we had a yucky cold paying each one in our family a visit. It started with me. My main symptom was that I lost my voice. (Not fun. I couldn't talk to the children or read to them. Plus I felt exhausted for about 3 days straight.)

Then, Pumpkin got it. She had a fever and woke up in the night coughing and coughing. Thank goodness for this stuff, but that is another post for another day. We tried to let it run its course, but after about 3 days of her feeling miserable, we took her to the pediatrician, who suspected a chest infection and prescribed an antibiotic. After a day of taking her meds, she was quickly on the road to recovery.

Then, four days later (four days later! after I had ruled out the possibility!), Superboy complained that his eyes were hurting. I stared at his eyeballs, trying to figure out why in the world they could be hurting him. It wasn't until I felt the child's head that I realized what was going on: he definitely had a fever. He felt yucky and had a fever for about 24 hours, and then he was fine.

Hunter felt yucky for a couple of days but, of course, kept trucking along & never took time off. I have a feeling his busy week might catch up with him, so I'm hoping he takes at least an afternoon off next week--just to rest.

I must admit, after I felt so bad and then Pumpkin felt so bad (our episodes were back-to-back), I was definitely in an emotional slump. I hadn't really left the house (which was growing increasingly messy); the walls were beginning to close in on me. I most definitely viewed the sickness in our house as just something we had to get through.

Thankfully, my perspective was refreshed by the wisdom of a godly woman. I happened to be reading Edith Schaeffer's book, What is a Family? and happened to read the chapter entitled, "A Shelter in the Time of Storm." I was reminded that when dealing with sickness & suffering, we have a beautiful opportunity to serve one another in the family context. Here are a few sentences from my favorite passage in this chapter:

When illness hits we should remember that this period of time is part of the whole of life. This is not just a non-time to be shoved aside, but a portion of time that counts.

There is an importance attached to the use of the whole span of time which means that creativity, imagination, work, appropriate contribution, blending of talents, and pitching in to do whatever needs to be done, applies to periods of sickness as well as periods of health--periods of tragedy as well as periods of special happiness. We are to recognize that to waste this time is as much a loss as wasting a time we might think of as the height of productivity.

He [Jesus] is the One who also points out that when we have cared for the very least of the sick ones or thirsty ones, we have cared directly for Him. How better could we use our time than caring for Jesus?

Indeed: How better could we use our time than caring for Jesus? Here's hoping I remember these encouraging words the next time there is sickness in our household!

astronaut + cleopatra