Keeping up with the Greniers!

"Helping Ham" continues . . .

2012-01-03T15:46:00.004-07:00

The morning of New Years Eve, we enjoyed repeating something our children dubbed "Helping Ham" last year. This time, we invited friends to join us for a "packaging party". We set up an assembly line at our dining room table and packed 35 lunch sacks full of sandwiches, cookies, fruit, other treats & notes from the kids. We finished in record time ~ Emily commented several times that she couldn't believe we made 70 sandwiches that fast! Then we headed downtown to distribute them to the homeless. It was cold and blustery (Samuel nearly blew away!). We were thankful that we had a warm car to get back into when we were finished.

The Great Sledding Incident!

2012-01-03T15:31:00.018-07:00

I still can't believe I didn't take a picture of one of our greatest adventures of the past week. In our family, the running joke is that if there wasn't a picture, then "it didn't really happen"! Unfortunately, photo or not, it really happened and I'll try to paint you a picture of the scene.

We were invited by some friends to go sledding at a nearby campground (Jellystone Larkspur) and to visit the goats that we've become involved with over the past few months. It has snowed several times throughout the Christmas break and there is still a lot of snow everywhere. When we arrived at the campground, we decided we would head up to the barn to see the goats first and then go sledding. We were almost to the barn when my car (with brand new tires, but WITHOUT four wheel drive) decided it didn't really like the snow packed road I was driving on and started sliding backward. It came to a stop fairly quickly . . . in a snow bank!

We had quite an adventure attempting to get the car "un-stuck". I called the roadside assistance service (that is included in our car insurance policy) and they sent a very large tow truck to assist me. Things looked promising. The driver, however, could not get permission from his boss to take the very large tow truck up the road where my car was (b/c his boss was concerned that he would himself become stuck). He was very kind and tried determinedly to push me out. He made limited progress, but was unsuccessful in getting me back on the road (fortunately the service is included in our policy and didn't cost anything extra!).

Darkness fell, the temperature dropped and my little mini-van remained stuck!

On the other side of the campground, the kids (and my niece ~ who had come with us) had a fabulous time sledding and snowboarding and enjoying a campfire. As it grew dark, they put out the campfire and proceeded to have a most memorable time huddling in the nearby bathhouse for almost 30 minutes (attempting to stay warm) until I returned for them!

Several hours after our adventure had begun, the wonderful campground owner and his son teamed up and managed to pull me out . . . the kids were all rescued from the bathhouse and we were even able to visit our beloved goats before heading home!

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-02T11:13:00.022-07:00

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day both fell on the weekend in 2011. Let me just say that I'm glad that will NOT be the case in 2012!! It was a busy season, and definitely had some highlights. We enjoyed Christmas parties, some creative holiday baking, a big snow just a few days before Christmas, the kids were involved in special singing at church (for the Christmas Eve and Christmas services). We were able to see some grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles on Christmas Day, we spent time with some great friends, we enjoyed good health and we were able to spend time as a family enjoying some of our new gifts!

Fun with Food

2012-01-02T11:13:00.019-07:00

Anna absolutely loves to be a kitchen helper. She delighted in having a few different opportunities to help make fun holiday treats this Christmas season. She loves to don an apron and chef hat (or Santa hat!) and create something fun to share with everyone else. She was particularly thrilled to receive a fun little mini donut maker as one of her gifts this year!

Big, fat sleep-over!

2011-12-21T22:42:00.023-07:00

We kicked off the Christmas break (from school) by hosting a big, fat sleep-over! The kids had enrichment classes on Monday - complete with Christmas parties and a talent show (the boys played the piano and Emily did a beautiful dance ~ last photo below). That afternoon we brought home five friends (and a friend of mom and dad's too) and had a blast for the next 24 hours! Grandma (in VA) had sent some fun "kitchen surprises" that the kids didn't know about yet . . . so our first matter of business was the unveiling of an old fashioned popcorn popper AND a cotton candy maker! (hiding behind the kids in the first photo)

The kids were thrilled that we agreed to a "weird utensil dinner" (a favorite of theirs ~ where we force everyone to eat with some strange kitchen utensil rather than a fork or a spoon). We watched movies, feasted on goodies, raced remote control cars and enjoyed the chaos (the very loud chaos) of a full house. We rounded out the time with two hours at "open gym" time.

Thanksgiving in the mountains

2011-12-03T06:43:00.022-07:00

For the past two years we have spent Thanksgiving in the mountains (at Grandma's timeshare) with my sister's family. The kids look forward to it immensely! Both years it has been quite cold, so even though we are in the beautiful CO mountains (and probably ought to be skiing or something impressive like that!) we spend most of our time at the resort enjoying the hot tub, the pool, the foosball and ping pong tables, and just sitting around playing games and relaxing. We also take along the "fixins" for a simple Thanksgiving meal. I'm not sure how long our new tradition will continue, but thus far it has made for some very fun memories and lots of great "cousin time" for the kids!

Starlighting

2011-12-02T11:34:00.006-07:00

Every November our little town of Castle Rock has a big event they call "Starlighting" (it's the night when they ceremoniously light the star on the top of the huge rock outcropping, the one which gives the town its name). Big town gathering, lots of vendors, various local businesses handing out fun little trinkets, crowds, activities, hot chocolate, Christmas carols, the works! -- it is the official beginning of the Christmas season for many who live here.

Our little church is perfectly situated in the downtown area to be right in the center of the Starlighting festivities. For many years they've offered a live nativity on the front lawn ~ complete with animals and actors! This year we (the church) added a "petting zoo" to the mix, which was a HUGE hit! Levi had fun being a shepherd in the nativity and several of the kids joined me in helping out with (and trying out!) the petting zoo. Fun, busy day!

October snow!

2011-11-08T09:02:00.011-07:00

We had our first big snow in October this year . . . the kids had fun sledding, snow boarding, eating cinnamon rolls, drinking hot chocolate and making snow ice cream (this was the first time we tried to make snow ice cream ~ it earned rave reviews from the critics!)

Anna's half birthday (a little bit early)

2011-11-08T09:00:00.019-07:00

Anna's 'half birthday' always falls right around Thanksgiving and just before our anniversary. This year we wanted to avoid feeling like we were squeezing it in during the holiday season . . . so, we celebrated early!

Anna had been talking for weeks about wanting to go ride a horse or a pony. She also regularly tells us that she wants to see various animals (zebras, giraffes, monkeys, etc) ~ not your run of the mill suburban pet store animals . . . clearly zoo material! And (drum roll please!) the day we had set aside for our special time with her happened to also be a ‘free day’ at the Denver Zoo =)

We wrapped up our time with some ice cream and a quick stop at Chuck-E-Cheese (mostly because we had some extra tokens). Fun, fun, fun with a sweet, sweet little girl!

Celebrating Daniel's 9th bday

2011-11-08T08:59:00.030-07:00

Daniel turned nine a week before Halloween. Nearly every birthday at our house starts off in the same way ~ everyone gathering around the kitchen table singing to the birthday child (or adult), "birthday donuts" for everyone, a picture with the "birthday bear" and a few gifts are opened.

One of Daniel's gifts this year was another set of marble tower pieces to add to his marble tower (he actually received the first marble tower on his 3rd birthday! ~ see the sweet, chubby faced photo below!) He's been spending lots of time lately enjoying coming up with new configurations for it and racing his marbles down it.

We took the day off of school, spent a lazy morning playing and then went and helped with/visited the goats in the afternoon. After we returned home, we had Daniel's all time favorite meal (tator tot casserole) for dinner and Anna helped make a big "cookie pizza" for dessert. The night before Daniel also had me take a picture of his "last dessert as an eight year old"! (hence the photo below of him enjoying some ice cream . . . silly boy!)

Almost a week later, we also enjoyed a party with some of our favorite friends. Fun times!

Fun with some four legged friends!

2011-10-25T06:00:00.017-06:00

During a camping trip with extended family this summer, Anna fell in love. The object of her affection was not a little boy, but rather . . . a goat! "Snickerdoodle" was his name and every night after we returned back home she told me how much she missed him. Several weeks later we were camping at the same spot and were able to visit him again. During that camping trip, Emily fell in love . . . with several of Snickerdoodle's friends! (her favorite is named Gypsy).

It was then that we officially became involved with a wonderful goat rescue program in Larkspur. There are 24 goats on site (and I'm still amazed at how quickly Emily learned nearly every single one of their names and was immediately able to tell them apart!) Fortunately, our new friends live about 10 miles from our house and we've been able to visit them periodically. Our desire is to help out with the goats as a family in various ways (as needed). You can learn more about them at Jellystone of Larkspur's website (www.castlerockrvpark.com)

Levi's half birthday!

2011-09-25T21:15:00.018-06:00

We enoyed our annual "half birthday" celebration with Levi yesterday! One of his desires was to go target shooting. Our planning (and lack thereof) conspired with our budget (and lack thereof!) to make that a less than ideal prospect. We compromised by starting out our time with a trip to Bass Pro Shops where we did some simulated target shooting ~ which proved quite fun!

Of course, we HAD to eat lunch from Taco Bell on the way there (because Levi's favorite food in the world is tacos!). Next up was torturing the adults at Jump Street (that place is made for YOUNG people!) Truth be told, we had a ton of fun playing dodge ball and watching Levi try his hand at "bull riding". Usually we conclude our half birthday celebrations with some kind of sweets. Levi doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but he loves pomegranates ~ so he delighted himself in one before we headed home. Fun time with a fun young man!

Another school year has begun!

2011-09-14T00:32:00.011-06:00

Another school year is upon us and (somehow!) this year my YOUNGEST child is officially a BIG kindergarten girl! We won't even think about the fact that her sister is in SEVENTH grade already! Oh my! Anna loves school and practically lives to do crafts and art projects, so she is a happy girl at the arrival of a new school year! All of the kids love our weekly enrichment program and have some really dear friends (whom they've shared the past 5+ years with at enrichment)~ so the excitement is unanimous as they anticipate what this school year holds.

Break away from the peloton!

2011-08-31T04:32:00.014-06:00

I should tell you that we aren't your typical sports fans (there's a good chance our children couldn't even tell you what ESPN stands for!) We do, however, LOVE watching the Olympics and the Super Bowl (mostly for the commercials and the snacks!), occasionally the World Series and a football game here and there. We aren't against sports, but they don't generally tend to consume us. HOWEVER, we are huge fans of the Tour de France ~ mostly because Kevin is a big fan of cycling and he has influenced us!

The world comes to a (near) screeching halt for three weeks each summer during the Tour. There are nightly episodes of snuggling together and following along to see who is going to win the sought after yellow jersey; how the Schleck brothers, Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie and Tom Danielson are going to fare. We cringe at the crashes and admire the stamina, training, discipline and endurance involved in professional cycling. I've already made note of the fact that the start of the Tour next year coincides with our family holiday (which is always June 30th)~ so, we may have some scheduling challenges!

Needless to say, we were pretty excited when we learned that Colorado was going to be hosting the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, right in our own backyard (so to speak!). We had hoped to be among those crazed fans who followed along all week long, camping at the side of the road during the mountain stages, cameras and cowbells in hand!

That part of our plan didn't work out, but we did enjoy 'making a day' of the Golden to Denver stage. We camped out in the park for the morning and enjoyed being among the hoards of fans who gathered together for the excitement of the final stage! We were close enough that we could almost reach out and touch the finish line. Riders came zipping past within inches of our noses!, going so fast that we couldn't even tell who it was we were cheering for (there are advantages to watching these things on television!)

Working together . . .

2011-08-31T04:31:00.014-06:00

Okay, I'll just say it now! . . . I have a bit of a soapbox about work. I think it's good. No, I think it's very good! I think working together as a family is even better! I am convinced that one of the most important things that you can do for your children (while they are young) is teach them that hard work is a good thing. It was, in fact, one of the first things that God designed us to do.

I am not someone who thinks that children need to be paid for every chore they do. Work has it's own rewards . . . and they are worth far more than any amount of money.

Okay, I'll stop now! =)

Samuel is six and a half!

2011-08-28T20:31:00.011-06:00

By now you probably know (and might just be sick of hearing about . . . ) our half birthday tradition, rated by our kids as the hands down favorite out of all of our goofy traditions! We enjoyed a special time yesterday with our awesome 6 1/2 year old, Samuel! He has been telling us for weeks that he wanted to go to Waffle House on his half birthday (though we aren't entirely sure why!). So, the fun began with a waffle drowned in syrup, an egg and some bacon (and, of course, chocolate milk!). Next, we discovered a school near our house that has an awesome playground. It is set up as more of an obstacle course than your typical playground, so it was perfect (especially considering the current "American Ninja Warrior" craze at our house!) Following Levi's lead from last year, our next stop was the Porsche dealership where we got a quick look at some "fast cars". The salesmen made Samuel's day when they offered him a huge car poster! Next stop was Jungle Quest where our timid little guy surprised us a bit. He absolutely LOVED the zip line! He did a great job on everything he tried there and was the perfect size for all of it. We rounded out our special time with a stop at Cold Stone Creamery (Samuel has decided they have the BEST ice cream in the world!) Fun, fun times with a sweet little guy. I tried not to think about him being "half way to 13"!

Summer Fun at Elitch's

2011-08-12T00:03:00.006-06:00

Every summer we get to enjoy a day at the local amusement park provided largely by our library (the kids each earn a free ticket through the summer reading program). Having a big amusement park right in Denver is a mixed blessing. They make their season passes very affordable and several of our friends/family members have them. Thus far, we've been thankful that we don't. Our kids actually enjoy having that day each summer to look forward to and feel like it wouldn't be as special or fun if we went there all the time. It's a bit like too many french fries on a road trip . . . just when you thought you'd never NOT like the thought of french fries, it happens! I'm so thankful that our kids really "get" that. So, without further adieu (or getting on a soapbox about "too much of a good thing"), here are some of our highlights!

Our Emily Girl!

2011-08-01T06:44:00.006-06:00

Twelve years ago God answered our prayers (ending 5 1/2 years of infertility, longing and praying) and blessed us with a precious gift. Happy Birthday to our creative, compassionate, intelligent, devoted, graceful, goofy and downright beautiful young lady, Emily Grace! You are a treasure and we can't imagine our family without you!

Happy Birthday! . . . you've come a long way, baby!

Busy, busy dreadfully busy . . .

2011-07-14T07:31:00.011-06:00

Now that I've got you humming that obnoxiously catchy Veggie Tales song! Let me say, this is crazy! Isn't summer when you catch your breath and lie on your back and look for pictures in the clouds and spend lazy days at the pool? Somehow we've missed the boat! We returned from our trip and hit the ground running. We arrived home to the track & field and swim team seasons well under way with VBS (younger 4), Dance camp & "Critter Camp" at the local animal shelter (Emily) and a very 'hands on' science camp (three boys) following closely on their heels. Those and a myriad of other things have kept us much, much too busy - but all of it was good stuff. Emily was excited to finally be old enough to choreograph her own dance at dance camp this year AND she was chosen to perform it at the nursing home outreach (only a couple of girls were asked to do that). She did a great job!

Big, fat road trip . . .

2011-06-18T05:01:00.035-06:00

After Taylor and Kelsey's wedding, we continued east for a "big, fat road trip" (hauling our travel trailer with us) to visit some family, friends and sites in the east. In Ohio, we enjoyed bumper boats, go-karts, mini-golf and the southern shore of Lake Erie (if we don't mention the mosquitos that were big enough to pick us up and carry us away!)

In New York and Pennsylvania, we enjoyed visiting with family, playing with newborn baby goats, digging for fossils, clay and slimy critters in the creek!, touring the Corning Glass Museum, laughing by the campfire, doing lots of laundry at the local laundromat!, eating entirely too many 40th birthday desserts, meeting my newest cousin, visiting my grandmother (and being flooded with memories of childhood visits to Berwick and fun times with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles), making our own chocolate bars at Hershey's World, and watching them make fudge and other tasty fare (which we sampled as well!) in the Amish country.

In Virginia we visited with more family and friends and spent a few days touring the sites in Washington DC. The highlight for Levi was finally getting to visit the International Spy Museum! By default, we enjoyed our first ever "parking garage picnic" in Union Station (which, after spending far too much time searching, was the only place we managed to find a parking spot!) Our days in DC were hot and involved lots and lots of walking, but memorable no less. We had envisioned strolling by the Reflecting Pool in the cool of the evening ~ unfortunately they had drained the Reflecting Pool for repairs and the cool part of the evening didn't ever really come! Another highlight was visiting with some friends in DC and meeting their new baby. We were even able to avert a near tragedy by visiting the library in my mom's town and replenishing our supply of books!

After DC, we took my mom with us and headed to the beach in Ocean City, MD for several days. The kids got to indulge themselves in the (much warmer!) Atlantic Ocean less than a month after having been in the Pacific! We strolled the boardwalk, saw wild ponies at nearby Assateague Island, played in the waves, did karaoke at the campground, played "candy bar bingo", tye-died t-shirts, ate Dippin Dots, played in the pool, watched movies with Grandma and enjoyed the local air show.

On our way back to Colorado we were able to visit the newlyweds and see their new apartment, enjoy dinner with them and play on our favorite big slides in downtown Omaha.

Taylor's Wedding

2011-06-11T22:05:00.023-06:00

Taylor and Kelsey's wedding (May 28th) was a perfect way to begin our big road trip! What fun to be there and be part of it. With the exception of some impressive Iowa rainstorms, the day couldn't have been more picture perfect: Kelsey was gorgeous, Taylor was utterly handsome (and don't even get me started on how far beyond adorable the flower girl was!) . . . it was a sweet, sweet time.

Whirlwind California Adventure

2011-05-14T23:57:00.018-06:00

We decided somewhat last minute to make a quick trip to CA (part business/part fun). We covered a lot of miles in 6 days and the kids proved (again) to be great travelers. We spent an afternoon with our dear friend Nancy in San Francisco and the kids got their first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Samuel and Anna couldn't resist gathering up the plentiful sand dollars that were scattered about the beach . . . they decided they must be rich! It was cold and windy so we stayed in our "go out to lunch clothes" and didn't plan on getting IN the water . . . you can probably guess how well those plans went (especially if you have children!) Fortunately, we had some extra clothes in the van! Watching the kids squeal with delight as the waves taunted them, tickled them, chased them and sometimes wrestled them to the ground was priceless!

Our Anna girl!

2011-05-06T20:15:00.011-06:00

Tonight, we enjoyed an early birthday celebration for Anna's 5th birthday (she turns five on May 24th, the day we leave town for Taylor's wedding and east coast trip). She's been so eager to be old enough to go to open gym time, we thought it would be fun to invite a few friends to join us and make it part of her celebration. We had some quick fun at the house first ~ making sparkly princess crowns, eating dinner, playing dress-up and decorating cupcakes (which Anna voted for instead of a cake) and then headed to the gym. It was a super fun time! Somehow we didn't get any pictures of open gym time =( . . . we ended up running out of time at home, so after open gym ended, we opened gifts and ate ice cream cups out in the parking lot! (hence the picture of the happy, sweaty, birthday girl eating ice cream!). I can't believe our littlest blessing is almost 5 years old already.

Another half birthday celebration

2011-05-02T06:39:00.009-06:00

We celebrated Daniel's half birthday this past weekend. In typical Daniel fashion, it included Arby's curly fries! Daniel beat us at cards while he munched happily away on his lunch, then we went to JumpStreet (an indoor trampoline park). We spent the majority of our time there playing dodgeball. Daniel is GOOD at dodgeball! Super fun (and super sore for the parents the next day!). We rounded out our time with a quick trip to Dairy Queen for a chocolate dipped cone! Fun time with a super fun 8 1/2 year old!

AWANA

2011-04-26T22:33:00.004-06:00

We wrapped up the season for AWANA tonight, celebrating with a potluck and awards banquet. The kids had a great year in AWANA and all of them worked really hard. Emily started out behind her peers (b/c she hadn't been as motivated at our last AWANA and was a whole book behind them). She worked hard and caught up, earning several different awards! We're proud of all of the kids and are glad that they enjoy memorizing scripture. We're also thankful for the faithful folks who organize and run the AWANA program every week.

Scenes from Easter 2011

2011-04-26T22:32:00.007-06:00

I'm posting a random assortment of pictures from Easter. It was a busy weekend. The bunny rabbit photo (Levi and Anna) is from a block party that our church held (and we helped out with) the day before Easter. Emily and I were also able to squeeze in attending a Mother/Daughter tea! Anna and I worked in the nursery at church Sunday morning. Anna's favorite baby was there and she had fun reading stories to her! The rest is probably self explanatory. We enjoyed an egg hunt and potluck get together with extended family after church (it was a bit on the chilly side, so we hid the eggs in the basement).

Emily's cool new camera

2011-04-25T11:42:00.021-06:00

Emily has been babysitting a few times a month (bright and early, for the little boys across the street ~ whose mom works the night shift). She has been saving up money to buy a new camera. She finally did it and is enjoying her new "toy"! She's been experimenting with all its nifty modes and features. Her favorites are the black and white mode, the 'smile feature' (where the camera will automatically take a photo when it determines that you are smiling!) and the color highlight mode (where it takes a black and white photo, except for one particular color which it will highlight for you). Fortunately she has lots of willing (and did I mention silly?) subjects to practice her budding photography skills on!

Levi's surgery

2011-04-21T22:47:00.003-06:00

Normally we eat apple pie and pizza to celebrate Tax Day, but this year Levi celebrated by having surgery ~ a 4 hour outpatient procedure to repair a hole in his inner ear. They did a great job and he is recovering well. Because of the size of the hole, they had to take skin from behind his ear (to use as the inside patch). So, he's now sporting 19 very impressive stitches just behind his ear. He's had a great attitude about having to wear a strange contraption around his head and refrain from many of his favorite activities (which would include nearly everything except for lying down and standing still!). He isn't even allowed to blow his nose!, so I'm trying to be a good sport about not constantly reminding him to =) The kids were so excited when he arrived home, he got a bit bombarded right when he walked in the door. We had to pull them away, so he could eat some applesauce and head to bed!

Spring Break

2011-03-28T03:34:00.007-06:00

We don't really officially take a spring break. However, we have cousins and friends who are out of school and some of our normal weekly activities (Community Bible Study, homeschool enrichment, etc) take one as well . . . so we end up with a day off here and a day off there. One of those days off happened to coincide with Levi's birthday, so we enjoyed having some friends over for the day ~ and also got to indulge in an "open gym time". Levi and Emily were both thrilled that they were able to master doing a back handspring and a back flip (with a lot of wonderful help from Daniel's gymnastics coach). . . guess what they've been doing on our trampoline ever since?!

On Mondays the kids are normally at enrichment all day . . . but since there wasn't enrichment today, we took advantage of the opportunity to "serve up some fun"! We went to our favorite 'soup kitchen' (a church downtown that serves food to the homeless every Monday) and helped out for a few hours. Some of Emily's friends were able to join us, and Grandpa too!

Anna's AWANA class takes turns sending "Cubbie bear" home with a different child each week (they get to chronicle his adventures in a class journal), this has been Anna's week to enjoy having Cubbie at home, so any guesses about who else went along to serve the homeless? ~ yep, Mr Cubbie Bear himself!

Levi boy!

2011-03-23T05:03:00.018-06:00

Ten years ago, today, God blessed us with a 10 1/2 lb bundle of little boy . . . twinkly eyed and tender-hearted, hard working and happy-go-lucky, clearly gifted at working with his hands ~ fixing and fashioning; hard wired for pursuing possibilities ~ dreaming, scheming and 'thinking outside the box' . . . a faithful friend and full-time fun magnet, all rolled into one amazing boy named Levi! Happy Birthday, we're SO glad you are part of our family!

Another birthday boy!

2011-03-21T14:17:00.011-06:00

We had a fun afternoon/evening celebrating Kevin's 50th birthday today. After MUCH deliberation, he decided that what he really wanted to do was to find a way to share his celebration with the homeless. I made several cakes and we took the kids (and the cakes!) downtown, walked around several different parks and found as many homeless folks as we could to share Kevin's birthday cake with. The older kids helped serve the cake, Samuel kept the napkins from blowing away (it was a beautiful day, but very windy!) and Anna enjoyed her 'very important' job of handing out forks! It was a lot of fun! Afterward, we had a "fine dining" experience at Chuck-E-Cheese!

Better than meeting the president!

2011-03-20T00:45:00.021-06:00

It's all a matter of perspective, life is. What we set our hearts upon and pour our passion into, what inspires us and defines us, what we give our time to. Along the way, we tend to be drawn to "like-minded" people, those who we feel we can relate to because we share a common thread of what "makes us tick".

The kids and I had the chance to meet the Duggar family yesterday in Colorado Springs. It didn't start out as such, but it turned into an all day event (with a little fun at Whit's End tossed in beforehand!). As we were waiting for the Duggars to enter the room, I saw the twinkle in my kids' eyes, they inched to the edge of their seats and looked around the room in anticipation, scanning each doorway for possible signs of the family they admire and adore. I mentioned to one of them that, for us, this was probably more exciting than meeting the President! No offense Obama, we can just relate to them a little more!

We only see glimpses . . . and no doubt the glimpses we see are often of a family at their best moments ~ but nevertheless, we are drawn to them because we can relate (at least on a much smaller scale!). We agree with their values, we share many of their passions and we admire the fruit of their daily choices. I'm GLAD their kids are some of my childrens' role models and "heroes"; from what we've seen of them, they are polite and respectful, hard-working and responsible, intelligent and compassionate, servant-minded, kind to their siblings and even seem to have a great sense of humor!

After spending 2 1/2 hours standing in line (in 30 mph wind!) to meet them . . . all of my kids told me afterward that it was WELL worth it (even though some of their favorite, younger, kids had already gone back to the bus by the time we got inside). The kids (mine) did a great job entertaining themselves while we waited ~ playing "rock, paper, scissors" with each other (over and over and over again!) and talking to the people around us . . . with only minor moments of complaining tossed in there ~ I was proud of them!

Birthday Boys . . .

2011-02-27T08:37:00.007-07:00

Samuel and Levi are like two peas in a pod . . . very similar and both very silly. Their brains are wired alike and they love that they have one another to conspire with in their silly schemes. Their birthdays are about a month apart and they decided this year to do a joint party (since they wanted to invite the same people and both had a very similar party in mind ~ a "Hot Wheels / Spy / Inventions" party!) My "guys in ties pretending to be spies" enjoyed the adventure!

Moogie Moosky! (aka Samuel)

2011-02-26T20:44:00.009-07:00

Samuel turned a big SIX today, hard to believe, especially for such a tiny little guy. He is a delightful bundle of silliness, giggles and great ideas! (a lot like his brother Levi ~ the two are nearly inseparable!) On one hand, it doesn't seem possible that six years have passed since Samuel decided to make his appearance a full 30 days before his due date, sending our family into a bit of a dazed tailspin for a few weeks. At 7lbs, 9oz . . . he was one of the biggest "preemies" the NICU had ever cared for. Those were a very long 11 days (driving back and forth to the hospital for most of my waking hours), but once we got through those crazy first few weeks, it seems impossible to think about (or remember) our family without our little Sam-Sam! The third little brother welcomed and adored by a big sister who had been patiently praying for a sister! We wouldn't trade him for the world, such a blessing he is! Happy Birthday lil' mister!

Father/Daughter Dance 2011

2011-02-22T11:23:00.014-07:00

The girls were delighted to have a night of fun recently at the Father/Daughter dance. They enjoyed the special time with daddy (and their friends), the chocolate fountain, and being treated like princesses! It was a Hollywood theme, so dad slicked his hair back and donned his shades . . . along with his "Winnie the Pooh" tie, of course! (he's bound by tradition on that one!!)

Valentine's Day Fun

2011-02-14T10:55:00.004-07:00

Brrrrrrr!

2011-02-08T18:15:00.029-07:00

Colorado seems to be joining the rest of the country in a moment of climate confusion and weather extremes. A week and a half ago it was 67 degrees, sunny and scrumptious! (I even cleaned the garage!), a few days later temperatures plummeted to -14 degrees (which is extremely cold for around here) . . . and it seems like it's been snowing ever since! AWANA was canceled tonight for the second week in a row. Community Bible Study was canceled last week (forcing us to eat our Groundhog's Day cupcakes all by ourselves!) Emily, however, was delighted that dance started back up again today, in spite of the steadily falling snow.

The kids aren't minding the snow at all since it's one of our family traditions to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast when there is new snow on the ground . . . plenty of happy breakfast moments around here lately! Levi has also been enjoying plenty of snow shoveling moments (his favorite!). He was thrilled to venture out with Kevin Sunday morning to help shovel the walks at church also! We had good friends over for the afternoon of the Super Bowl and the kids squeezed in some sledding time at the park across the street before the commercials and snack-fest (and game!) began.

A recent highlight for us was the chance to share an afternoon and evening with Emily to celebrate her "half birthday" (she's halfway to 23 ~ oh my!). The other four kids enjoyed hanging out with their cousins while Emily tried out riding an indoor zip line, indulged herself in her favorite treat from Wendy's (french fries dunked in a Frosty-cino with whipped cream!). We also took her to see "Secretariat" and topped off the evening with her favorite ~ Chinese food! Without a doubt, half-birthday celebrations have become one of our most treasured traditions.

Oh my!

2011-01-16T07:13:00.015-07:00

I've had that nagging "I really need to update my blog" feeling for several days now, competing head to head with the recurring "I'm so tired and don't have enough hours in the day" refrain. Toss into the mix a healthy dose of "there hasn't been anything very new and exciting to write about" and you get (drumroll please . . . ) a neglected blog! =)

2011 has gotten off to a good start and somehow we are already halfway through January (the month that I seem to have a love-hate relationship with). February is right around the corner and life zooms onward.

I was SO excited to actually do a tiny bit of scrapbooking over the holiday break, I got our little "Christmas highlight album" completely up to date (2010 is even in there!). Eighteen years of Christmasses in one place, children being added to our family and growing before your very eyes as you flip through it's pages. This is a feat for me to have anything up to date in the scrapbook arena, you know! So, feel free to throw roses at my feet, send me boxed chocolate (dark, please) . . . at the very least applaud for goodness sake! =)

Okay, silliness aside, it was such a needed thing for me to have something "scrapbooky" up to date, an album that actual has Samuel and Anna in it! (Those 'poor, neglected children' don't even have baby books begun for them yet . . . guess what's next on my list?!). It does my heart good (in a 'happy-sad' sort of way) to look at it and remember. It offers a strange bit of comfort, a balm for that ache that creeps into my heart as I wrestle with how quickly time (and childhood) passes.

We had a reluctant start to the new school semester (the reluctance was largely on my part because, truth be told, I really wanted to be scrapbooking!) Our enrichment program started back up entirely too early in my opinion, but the kids went and were thrilled. They were also very excited about Community Bible Study resuming (it's our first year being part of it and they love it). It's halfway through the month and we are finally getting back in the groove.

Somehow I had forgotten how much time and energy is involved in teaching children to read . . . I'm a bit puzzled at how I could have forgotten this, since I've been known to even plan pregnancies around that very thing! ~ nevertheless it has somehow taken me by surprise this time. Samuel and Anna are working on the task together right now, the younger proving herself far more eager than the older brother ~ but both are zooming toward that lightbulb moment when the pieces fall into place and a whole world of wonderful possibilities is opened to them (the moment when reading really "clicks" for them).

Right now, Anna is following in Daniel's mathematical footsteps. She wakes up ready to do math and throughout the day (if she thinks she has perhaps caught mom in an unoccupied moment), begs with great persistence to work in her math book. It's currently her idea of fun to do math (Emily would of course argue that that's only because she isn't doing Algebra!) She was so very excited to finish her "Kindergarten A" book (we made a special homemade ice cream concoction to celebrate!) and is looking forward to starting a 1st grade book soon.

Samuel, on the other hand, is quite content to ignore math completely and is happy to talk about letters, sounds, long and short vowels, consonants and such ~ provided he can scurry along a high ledge somewhere while doing so, or at the very least continue building himself a fort out of the couch cushions (while we talk).

Emily has spent her spare moments either babysitting for the little boys across the street (bright and early before school) or writing, a few different pieces of fiction that she is really excited about right now. She's eager for dance classes to start again. At the moment, she is with her cousin (Hope) at "Snow Camp" in the mountains. We did a 'cousin swap' for the weekend, so we've had Tommy in place of Emily since Friday afternoon. We're trading back this evening and looking very forward to seeing her!

Daniel is moving forward with gymnastics and just competed in his second meet of the season yesterday (at the Air Force Academy). He was thrilled to bring home two medals! (they gave out a lot of medals). He placed 8th in the rings and 10th in the vault. It was a lot of fun to watch him!

It's also been really fun listening to Levi play the piano lately, he's really gifted at playing things by ear. A few hours ago he was plunking out a song he hears on the radio (that he doesn't have music for) ~ and it sounded just about right!

I'll wrap this up for now, Kevin seems to have caught a "rearrange the house" bug and I should probably find out just exactly how that's going to affect me! (I think I might actually be getting a better scrapbook corner out of the deal . . . I love rearranging!)

My reluctant two cents worth . . .

2011-01-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

(If I sent you here from Facebook ~ welcome! . . . here is the post that I promised)

365 days ago, I was staring down a brand new year ~ excited about the possibilities, looking forwarded to exchanging the excess of the holidays for the (welcome) restraint of my beloved routines. I don't usually make resolutions, and last year was no different.

I knew, of course, that I needed to lose weight ~ still. Somewhere between my 3rd pregnancy and my 5th, I had to give up running (due to an injury) and things got very "stuck" for me, when it came to managing a healthy weight. It wasn't the first time in life that I struggled with weight, but it was definitely the worst.

Fortunately, in the past year, I finally found something that worked for me and (though I'm quite unexcited about doing so . . . ) I feel like I should share it just in case it can benefit someone. Believe me when I say that I've tried many, many things over the years, with extremely limited success. It seemed that no matter how healthy I tried to eat, the weight just wouldn't come off (or if a little bit did, it came back almost as quickly as it had left).

In 2010, I managed to lose 60 lbs (!) and have stayed within 5 lbs of that for many months now. It occurred to me recently that that is almost the equivalent of my 8 year old ("Little Mr. Solid Muscle Gymnast Dude", Daniel ~ he's solid and he's heavy!!). I'm not yet where I could be, but I can't help but think my heart, lungs, joints and feet can only do better without carrying around the equivalent of Daniel with me all the time!

So, here's what finally worked for me:

My biggest weight loss (50 lbs of that, which I lost between May and Aug) came from going on a homeopathic version of the hCG diet (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin). This sort of diet has been around for decades and has been traditionally monitored through doctor's offices and made available for those with significant issues of obesity.

The homeopathic version is a little bottle of odd tasting liquid that you put under your tongue several times a day, coupled with an extremely restricted diet (of 500 calories a day) for a short period of time. The hormone is naturally produced in the human body and is often referred to as the pregnancy hormone (because the levels double every two days during pregnancy). The hormone allows the body to metabolize stored fat (your secondary fat reserves ~ the fat that normally won't go away until you are starving to death) in lieu of all those additional calories you aren't consuming.

I had been going to a nutritional counselor in Denver (for many years) . . . she was the one who recommended this particular diet to me. I also took some detoxification supplements along with it (the first time). I did the diet twice (the first time for 40 days and the second for about 25). You are supposed to do it for a minimum of 21 days (which apparently is how long it takes to "re-set" your hypothalamus)

After the extremely restrictive 500 calories/day portion, you spend the next 3 weeks in a "maintenance phase" eating all those things you couldn't during the restricted phase, but still avoiding starch and sugar. Then you gradually add things back in and see how your body reacts. During the maintenance phase, you are advised to control your weight by making sure that if you gain anything more than 2 lbs beyond your ending weight that you have a "steak day" (which means only drinking liquids until dinner time and then having an apple and a steak . . . and you generally lose about 2 lbs). I did a few of those days, but decided they didn't seem very healthy, so the second time around I substituted a "protein and produce" day instead (eating only good quality protein, fruits and vegetables on those days when my weight was starting to climb again) ~ I had the same results I'd had with the traditional steak day.

I agree, it's a peculiar diet, but incredibly effective.

It is also very strict . . . they advise you not to wear oil based make-up during the low calorie phase or to even touch butter or other fatty substances (because it is absorbed in your skin and affects your weight loss).

It's referred to as pregnancy hormone, but the diet is very popular with men as well as women -- men actually tend to lose a little bit more than women (and the level of hCG involved is low enough that there aren't any "pregnancy side effects" involved at all). I think my favorite part was that I only had to be really disciplined for a short amount of time (that "light at the end of the tunnel" effect) ~ and I saw really fast results.

Pros:
~Extremely effective (fast results)
~Very strict (I didn't have to make decisions or deal with temptation, I knew ahead of time what I was eating during the strict phase of the diet)
~Short term discipline, long term results
~2/3 of what I consumed each day was fresh fruits and vegetables
~You lose fat (rather than muscle mass)
~I don't remember ever really being hungry (there were days when I couldn't eat all of the food I was supposed to)

Cons:
~ I was really tired during the very low calorie days, often too tired to exercise (but it was short term, and I started exercising again in the maintenance phase)

The only other negative would probably be this:

If you search the internet you can find many suppliers of homeopathic hCG, unfortunately some are probably far better than others -- and I've never ordered the product on-line (the brand I took was from Deseret Biologicals). The greater issue is that if you have ANY significant health issues (especially high blood pressure or heart problems), you really should find a health care professional, of some sort, to monitor the diet . . . and some of them are fairly skeptical or just unfamiliar with it.

My second bit of advice is something I have re-discovered in recent months: the importance of staying away from processed sugar as much as possible. I think I'm pre-diabetic, so this is a good one for me anyway. The "diet world" has long been stuck on the idea that a low fat diet is essential to weight loss, when in reality (at least in my reality), it seems that sugar is far worse than fat, especially "good fat". I've realized that it only takes a few bites of sugar for me to feel like a crazy maniac! (emotionally and physically) . . . and those few bites just make me want more (so I can feel crazier!).

I've been experimenting with alternative, natural sweeteners (some of those low calorie sweeteners out there, like aspartame and even sucralose, are sadly far worse than good old ~ crazy making!~ processed white sugar). I've fallen in love with liquid vanilla stevia and powdered "cup for cup" stevia. Many people complain that it tastes too much like licorice -- I don't really notice that. I've also been having fun with agave & honey and baking with concentrated fruit juice (Wax Orchards sells some extremely concentrated fruit juice . . . as well as some heavenly chocolate sauce that is entirely fruit sweetened). I would say that it is well worth it to try out some other options.

So, there is my reluctant two cents worth, use it as you wish =)

Un-Birthday Sleep-over!

2010-12-29T20:01:00.006-07:00

Christmas break is a great excuse for spending time with friends. The kids have enjoyed two sleepovers away from home already (once with friends and once at grandparents). Tonight, we're enjoying hosting a great big "un-birthday slumber party" with a houseful of friends. The fun began with 'open gym time' at the gymnastics center where Daniel's team practices . . . then we came back home for trampoline fun, American girls, Hot Wheels, Webkinz, Nerf wars, dress up, chasing each other around the house, watching Mythbusters and telling silly jokes at dinner. The evening has been fun! . . . an ice cream extravaganza is next! Our kids have great taste in friends, what a sweet bunch of buddies to play with!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T19:48:00.011-07:00

"Helping Ham" . . .

2010-12-24T14:43:00.008-07:00

We enjoyed a family adventure this morning that the kids have dubbed "Helping Ham" (I think it's a play on Helping Hands . . . but I'm really not sure). It started out as "Operation Lunch", so we're still not sure if the new name is an improvement or not!

We turned our dining room table into an assembly line and packed about 20 paper sacks with sandwiches, clementines, Christmas cookies, pretzels, juice, Hershey kisses, Wendy's gift cards, and an encouraging note. Then we donned our Santa hats, prayed that God would guide us and set out to deliver them to the homeless in Denver. It's a very mild Christmas Eve in Denver, so (along with handing some out the car window at various intersections) we walked around in the park and handed out the rest. The bags ran out quickly and as we walked back to the car, there was happy chatter about how fun the morning had been, requests to repeat the event and talk of making it an annual tradition. Emily said "next time, we should do 200 bags!"

The kids are beside themselves with excitement that tomorrow is Christmas! They are singing with the "kids' choir" at the Christmas Eve service tonight (and Emily is greatly anticipating her solo!). I'm cutting this short, because a family ping pong tournament awaits!

Merry Christmas!

Our big Anna girl!

2010-12-23T08:41:00.015-07:00

Since Thanksgiving, Anna has been eagerly counting down the days until her special outing with mom and dad (she finally reached the golden age of 4 1/2 where half birthday celebrations begin). Last Saturday, we got to enjoy a special time with our Lil' Miss Anna girl! (while our amazing Emily held down the fort at home)

We had lots of fun playing at Chuck-E-Cheese and having her beat us at her favorite card game, "Army" (known as War to the rest of the world!). Usually our outings involve a treat of some sort, too (like going to an ice cream shop). She voted, instead, for going to the store and picking up a cake to take home and share with everyone else. She's such a sweetie!

Gymnastics

2010-12-13T06:15:00.009-07:00

Daniel enjoyed his first gymnastics meet. That boy rocks on the rings! I don't think I have the upper body strength to do a single thing he did on just that one event, much less the coordination to do all the others. So far, it's been a good experience and he is enjoying it lots!

Silly kids

2010-12-11T05:47:00.007-07:00

We spent Thanksgiving in the mountains with my sister and her family ~ we played lots of ping pong and foosball while we were there. After winning several games of ping pong against his cousin (Tommy) and his uncle (Chris), Daniel declared "I dominated the Murray men, now I just need to conquer the Murray women". My sister asked him if he was a conquistador . . . to which he replied "no, I'm a ping-pong-ador!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm regularly reminding my kids that we need to "dwell together in unity" (and I often begin the sentence and let them fill in the blank). In the car a few days ago, I started the familiar reminder, "dwell together in . . . " Before anyone could fill in the blank with "unity", Samuel chimed in with "our underwear"!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our old, faithful van . . .

2010-12-06T22:42:00.003-07:00

It was mid-summer 2002 ~ I was pregnant with our third child, Kevin was working at Open Door and I was working at Joy House . . . we didn't have much income and with the arrival of Daniel, we would soon be outgrowing the car we were driving.

I prayed for a mini-van . . . and since my favorite color is green, I made a special request for a green one! (it never hurts to ask!). About a week later, someone called to tell me that her friend was wanting to donate their mini-van to someone in ministry . . . oh, and it just so happened to be green!

Isn't God fun?!

A few days later, two really excited kids climbed around the inside of our "new" van! It was nine years old, but it was new to us and still had lots of life left in it.

I don't remember how many miles were on the odometer when that wonderful family gave us their hand-me-down van, but we personally put LOTS more on it. We took it on several cross country trips, into Canada twice and around town more than anyone wants to think about! It has served us very, very well over the past 8 1/2 years. About 3 weeks ago we found out that the transmission has finally gone "kaput" (and on a 17 year old car with close to 200K miles, was probably not worth it for us to replace it)

I poked around on Craigslist and found two vans that looked interesting and affordable (though neither one was green!) One of them happened to be for sale in the same mountain town where we had plans to spend Thanksgiving. Long story short, we drove to the mountains in one car and came home in two! That particular van turned out to be very clean, very well kept, seven years newer than our last one and in great shape . . . and cost us less than replacing the transmission would have!

The Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization came today to haul our "old green van" away. There has been some sadness, especially for Daniel, about "saying goodbye" to the van that has been in our family for his entire life (he still doesn't really understand why we can't "just keep it in our back yard"!) Nevertheless, we are thankful that God has, once again, provided for our needs.

Strange . . . and stranger!

2010-11-18T20:12:00.011-07:00

Our little dog, Suki, recently had a birthday . . . so we made a 'dog friendly cake' and special peanut butter doggie treats and had a small doggie party!

That's strange.

Stranger still is that our 'dog loving Emily' decided a few months ago that if dogs have seven birthdays each year that we should be able to figure out exactly when Suki turns (doggie equivalent of) the "big 5-0" ~ and we should certainly mark the occasion with a big party (she hasn't mentioned anything about celebrating her dad's 50th birthday, which is only a few months after that . . . we see how he rates!)

So, according to Emily's mathematical calculations, January 6th is the big day. If one of Suki's little "dog friends" happens to live at your house, be on the look-out for an invitation! (or not)

Happy Birthday Taylor!

2010-11-15T11:51:00.018-07:00

Taylor turns 25 years old today . . . which just doesn't seem quite possible (he was only 6 when I met him!) I remember babysitting him one night in 1992, while Kevin was busy doing something at the coffee house (an outreach, to the homeless, which he was running at the time). We were trying to be really quiet, but Taylor had a case of the unstoppable giggles! . . . after many failed attempts to be quiet, he finally looked at me and explained that 'the crank on his giggle box was broken'! (and then he erupted into another fit of giggles). . . what a cutie!

Admittedly, we haven't been able to have as much time with him over the years as we would have liked . . . but I have great memories of Christmas visits and plenty of camping and fishing trips with him (here in CO). We also enjoyed lots of drives to Nebraska to visit him ~ and almost always stayed in the same hotel, with a really fun indoor pool. He has grown into a remarkable young man who is a friend to many and is very well loved. We're looking forward to another big event in his life (his wedding) in approximately 194 days . . . but we don't know anyone who's counting!

Midwest Road Trip

2010-10-31T16:37:00.025-06:00

We returned home yesterday from a six day road trip with the kids, the dog and our travel trailer. We set out on Daniel's birthday, our eyes fixed firmly on one goal ~ to sleep outside of Wal-Mart at least once!! Okay, that wasn't really the main goal, but it was the part I was, oddly, most giddy about!

Our first stop was just outside of Omaha where we visited Taylor and (his fiance) Kelsey. We got to see Taylor's house and Kelsey's college, had lunch at Taylor's favorite restaurant, visited with his grandma and other siblings and even got to play on the big slides that we used to take Taylor to when he was younger. But perhaps most importantly, we finally beat Taylor and Kelsey at Spades! =)

After Omaha, we went south to Oklahoma City to visit with my great aunt and cousins. We ate way too much really yummy pizza and then toured the recently completed Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. The memorial was creatively designed and very memorable. The kids enjoyed the reflecting pool and the area where they could leave messages in sidewalk chalk.

From Oklahoma, we drove back to central Kansas and played around in the town of Hutchinson. We visited a space-themed swimming pool and an underground salt mine . . . both were very fun!

Our drive back home was made most memorable (and prayerful!) by some whopping Kansas winds! Let's just say that it isn't fun to haul a big 'boxy' trailer down the highway when there are strong gusts of wind relentlessly blowing at you from the side. Our drive was much slower that day, and we ended up spending an extra night on the road (yeay for "boondocking" at rest areas!)

We arrived home safely, a bit tired, but thankful . . . basking in a contented state of triumph and satisfaction having finally (drumroll please . . .) slept outside of Wal-Mart . . . not just once, but twice! Mission accomplished!

Daniel bug!

2010-10-14T21:00:00.018-06:00

Our Daniel LOVES gymnastics! If you've ever seen him, that doesn't surprise you ~ he's a muscular little thing and just has that "gymnast look" about him! Then there are his back flips on the trampoline and the issue of him often standing on his hands or his head, or doing cartwheels all the time, or round-offs . . . instead of walking!

He's recently had his first opportunity to be involved in a gymnastics class. Somehow, Levi and Emily both got to do two activities/sports over the summer and he only ended up with one (track & field). So, in an attempt to be fair, we allowed him to choose a second activity. His first choice was to find a math competition . . . September didn't prove to be the best time of year to find one of those! His next request was gymnastics. We found a 'buy one month, get one free' deal at a gym close by and he's been greatly enjoying gymnastics since the beginning of September.

The "problem" is that the beginner class (where they required him to start) was too easy. Fortunately, after a couple of weeks, they moved him up to the Level 2 class. He then began telling me that Level 2 was too easy (and observing him in the class, I'd noticed that too). After his 3rd week in the Level 2 class, his coach pulled me aside and said that he noticed that Daniel is quite a bit ahead of the others in the class. They don't have a level 3 class right now and their competitive boys' team starts with Level 4. The coach had done some testing with Daniel during class and felt like he was already testing at the equivalent of Level 4 and invited him to be part of the competitive team.

This particular coach, who'd been working with and observing Daniel over the past several weeks, happens to be the coach of the boys' (competitive) team. Their first meet of the season is in December and he feels like Daniel has enough individual skills already to put a routine in place. So, now we're in a quandary . . . of the good sort.

I should probably back up. We have really wrestled in our family with how to keep extra-curricular sports in balance. A few months ago, I was reflecting on how far things have come in the past 30(ish) years in regard to children's sports, especially running events. When I was a kid and my sister and I dabbled in distance running, we were clearly the anomaly (there were times when we took 1st and 2nd place in the 12 & under age group of a road race, because we were the only kids in it!).

The opportunities (and the encouragement . . . and the pressure) today for children to be involved in sports is nearly limitless. On one hand, that's a neat thing. On the other hand, that phenomenon seems to have taken on a life of it's own. It's the typical scenario in America (especially suburban America): at some point, nearly everyone with school age children finds that their life revolves around their children's extra-curricular activities and sports.

I've been concerned about the harried pace that families (with just one or two children) often live, because of those commitments. Multiply that by any children above the standard 1.5 and it can really make your life crazy! I know that there are those who would argue that they really enjoy that (lifestyle) and wouldn't have it any other way. And that's okay. But, as I look around, it appears that "typical family life" in America is at the mercy of children's sports . . . which (though I'll be criticized for saying this) I don't think is altogether good.

When can a family sit down and connect with one another over a relaxed meal when sports practices are right at the dinner hour? How can they go to church as a family when many sports leagues schedule games on Sundays now?

So, we find ourselves in a bit of a pickle. Our kids have participated in a variety of things over the years (soccer, swim team, t-ball, track & field, dance, etc). We were both involved in sports growing up and know the value of physical training, commitment, teamwork, etc . . . but we still find ourselves in a quandary. We don't want to limit what God can do with the unique giftings that he's placed in our kids, but we also are desperately cautious about sacrificing family life on the altar of children's sports.

It's a tough decision.

A few months ago, we (re-)read Eric Liddel's biography and were SO very impressed with him (he's the "Chariot's of Fire guy", who didn't compete in his best Olympic event, because the qualifying heat was held on a Sunday). He struggled with becoming involved in competitive sports, his family really struggled with it and yet he recognized that God was the one who had made him fast! (and he couldn't find peace about just walking away from that). He was one of the rare few who managed to excel (really excel!) at a sport and yet keep it in a balanced perspective. I realize that it's not impossible to do that . . . it just seems about as likely as sticking your hand into a bee hive and not getting stung -- it's possible, but it really takes some concentrated focus and effort.

So, here we sit, recognizing that it's entirely possible that God has given Daniel a special talent in this area (it remains to be seen just how much of one) . . . we don't want to hinder that, but we want to proceed with great caution. We're very proud of him and we are thinking we're going to let him go for it ~ and in a few months, re-evaluate (to see how it's fitting into the big picture goals we have for our family). We realize that most of you reading this will think we're making a mountain out of a molehill even being concerned about this, but it feels (to us) like we're taking a plunge into potentially deep waters. We'd sure appreciate your prayers on that one!

Levi . . . and fancy cars!

2010-10-11T13:48:00.004-06:00

We recently enjoyed a special outing with our 9 1/2 year old, Levi (celebrating his half-birthday, finally!).

His latest passion is fast, fancy (expensive!) cars. When we go to the library, he comes home with a huge stack of books about every type of car he can find a book on. When we give him 'independent learning time' (when he can learn about anything he wants), guess what he chooses? . . . yep! He's memorized more details about cars than I could ever hold in my little brain!

So, armed with a few of his car books, we set out to see if we could get up close and personal with some of his favorites . . . drink in that 'new car smell', touch the smooth leather seats and see our reflection in the freshly polished chrome.

His most beloved car (apart from the Bugatti Vayron) is the Lamborghini. Unfortunately there wasn't anyone at the dealership (I guess the market for $250K cars isn't what it used to be!). We were, however, able to see some VERY fun cars in the Porsche showroom and at the Ferrari/Bentley dealership.

We finished out our time with lunch and some leisurely fun at Chuck-E-Cheese . . . playing virtual racing games, sinking submarines, shooting hoops and pitching baseballs (that boy throws fast ~ but mom can still beat him shooting hoops!). Great fun, great kid!

Sneak peak photos

2010-10-07T14:57:00.004-06:00

We went and did a 'family photo shoot' at a local park today . . . I took these with my camera, we won't get the other pictures back for a few weeks, stay tuned!

"Would you still love me even if I had mud all over my face?

2010-10-06T05:50:00.026-06:00

"Mom, do you love me?" . . . our sweet little Anna (4) asks me this a few times a week! It's always the same routine, she snuggles up close to me (completely convinced of the answer already), plants that adorable impish pout on her little four year old face, looks at me with those big, innocent, blue eyes and asks "Mom, do you love me?"

I tell her "YES, of course I do!" She follows it up with some silly sort of question like "would you still love me even if I had mud all over my face?"

I reassure her that I will love her no matter what and there isn't anything she can do to change that. I snuggle with her for a few more moments (tell her what a 'silly goose' she is) and then she runs off, contentedly, to play.

I always walk away thinking, "isn't that what we're all wondering?"

Deep down. "Will they still love me even if I'm marred in some way?", "even if I'm not perfect?", "even if they knew . . . (fill in the blank)?", "even if I have mud all over my face?" (because, the truth is, sometimes we do!)

. . . and even deeper down, when we dare to let the question creep into our souls, "Will God still love me?"

If you aren't aware of it yet, let me be the first to tell you ~ His answer is as certain as the one I give that sweet little silly goose . . . YES, YES, YES!

There isn't anything we have done or can do to make our face any less precious to Him!

Crawl up on His lap and believe it.

Emily's first 5K

2010-10-03T17:16:00.009-06:00

. . . and my first one in about 8 years!

Emily and I ran the Race for the Cure this morning (with my sister and my niece). I'm not sure which Emily enjoyed more ~ the race itself or the chance to ride the light rail! (with LOTS of other people dressed in pink!) . . . I'm pretty sure it wasn't having to get up at 5:00 in the morning!

89 perm rods later . . .

2010-10-03T17:14:00.009-06:00

Emily has curls! So, it's kind of an 80's thing, but we decided to go for it and see how a spiral perm would work on Emily's long golden locks (apart from drying them out and damaging them at such a young age! =/ . . . )

So far, she loves it.

Colorado Colors (okay, mostly yellow!)

2010-09-19T23:23:00.017-06:00

We returned home Saturday from a camping trip to Kenosha Pass (a little less than two hours away from home) . . . the infamous (though beautiful!) spot where Levi remembers his first encounter with stitches (he came home with 17 stitches after our trip there last year). Once again, we seemed to hit that particular mountain pass at what is probably it's "peak weekend" . . . there was still a good deal of green intermingled with the yellow, but the view was nothing short of spectacular. We discovered that arriving on Thursday gave us lots of options for "campsites" (it's dispersed camping, so that just means we got there first and got to claim a spot of land to park ourselves on!).

The kids had fun running around in the woods, building teeter totters, making up a frisbee golf course, teaching Samuel and Anna to throw a frisbee, hiking part of the Colorado Trail, trying to catch leaves as they floated to the ground, beating me at cards, roasting marshmallows on our stove (since there was a fire ban in place) and, of course, eating ice cream before lunch on "Backwards Day"!

A new school year is underway!

2010-09-13T09:59:00.011-06:00

We are settling back into our school year routine, rejoicing in the return of structure and enjoying things so far. The kids are back at their one day a week enrichment program as well. Emily is officially considered a "middle schooler" there, Samuel is a big kindergarten kid and Anna is adjusting to pre-school without Samuel (though she is decidedly NOT happy about that adjustment!). She loves Mrs. Kesha, but she really misses having her brother in her class (fortunately for her, she still has the rest of the week to spend LOTS of time with him at home). Emily and Anna have also returned to their worship dance class and are enjoying making new friends (and seeing old ones) each week.

More Camping Fun . . .

2010-09-07T15:49:00.015-06:00

We ended up going on an impromptu camping trip over Labor Day weekend (we had to help some dear friends "break in" their new camper!) . . . another Jellystone ("Yogi") campground ~ but this one has the unique distinction of being about 10 minutes down the highway from our house! It also had an abundance of fairly large grasshoppers - (below) Anna is modeling one that jumped onto her back while we were out for a walk!

Moogie Moos half birthday celebration

2010-09-02T16:40:00.010-06:00

We recently enjoyed a special night with Samuel to celebrate his half birthday. We traditionally let the "half-birthday child" set the agenda for their special time with mom and dad . . . Samuel chose to start the evening off with Arby's curly fries (his favorite!). He munched on them with great satisfaction (while he soundly and effortlessly beat us in a game of Sorry!) After Arby's we went to Chuck-E-Cheese and spent a few leisurely hours together. Samuel's favorite parts were the simulated roller coaster ride and the train (and his M&M's!). It was a fun night with a very special 5 1/2 year old!

Emily's birthday party ~ finally!

2010-09-02T16:39:00.019-06:00

Our summer can officially come to a close, now that we've enjoyed a late summer 'party weekend' to celebrate Emily's birthday! Our 'getting oh, so grown up' 11 year old was able to have a girly sleep-over and crafting time with her closest "gang of friends" . . . which we wrapped up with a "purple party" (involving several more friends). She topped off the weekend with a sleep-over with her cousin, Hope. The weather was perfectly cooperative, the tie-dye experiment was successful, the ice cream cake was quickly devoured and the entire weekend was lots of fun! We were reminded once again how much we appreciate Emily's great taste in the friends she chooses . . . such a neat collection of girls! (and boys, but mostly girls!)

"Lincoln Log Village" has taken over our living room!

2010-08-30T06:19:00.007-06:00

The kids have spent the final weeks of summer indulging themselves in long lazy days filled with board games, card games, Matchbox cars and Lincoln Logs (the Lincoln Logs have been a definite favorite!). We've even gone searching about on Craigslist to add to our collection . . . aaah summer, this is what I hoped you'd be like!

Can it really be called "camping"? . . .

2010-08-15T22:14:00.012-06:00

I don't know that my conscience will allow me to call it "camping" . . . when it means spending the weekend with Yogi and friends (in a camper with a microwave and a shower, no less!)~ but such is the fun of a Jellystone Campground! We enjoyed a great weekend "camping" with family in Estes Park. The timing of the Perseids and a perfectly cloudless sky conspired together to create a near magical experience filled with 'oohs' and 'aahs' from children who had never seen a single shooting star, much less several of them in one hour! Daniel wiled away the daylight hours in "mini-golf heaven" and nearly melted when he temporarily misplaced his "unlimited weekend pass"! (fortunately he found it quickly!). The weather was scrumptious and even hinted of the soon coming splendor of (drumroll please . . . ) autumn!

Our birthday girl!

2010-08-09T23:08:00.009-06:00

My favorite photo from Emily's birthday (taken outside of church)

Eleven years ago . . .

2010-08-01T06:16:00.004-06:00

Eleven years ago, on a quiet Sunday morning ~ while the world around us was just waking up, we were making a frantic dash from Castle Rock to Denver (praying that our baby would not be born on I-25!) Very shortly after arriving at the hospital (there wasn't even time to park the car!), God breathed new life into my shallow understanding of what it means to be a 'child of God' when He blessed us with a little bundle we named Emily Grace. On that August morning, after 5 1/2 years of infertility, I found myself gazing down at my very own miracle ~ ten little fingers and toes, soft swirls of strawberry blond hair, deep blue eyes; beautiful and perfect in every way.

It is hard to believe that eleven years have passed since that surreal morning. Our sweet Emily has moved with us five times, welcomed four younger siblings with great anticipation and joy, grown through six years of homeschooling, committed her life to Jesus, chosen some really wonderful friends, developed into a voracious reader, graceful dancer, prolific writer and an amazing big sister. She is creative, funny, smart and sensible and she knows how to take charge and get things done. She brings us laughter, she sometimes brings us tears, she brings us closer to Jesus and she continues to be a precious and beautiful gift to our family.

We love you Emily!

Fishing Fun

2010-07-18T11:01:00.012-06:00

It was a "good Grandpa week" for us, we got to see him twice in the same week! We were able to join my dad (along with my sister's family) for a fishing outing with a group that he's been volunteering with (giving kids the opportunity to go fishing who might not otherwise get to). In this case, several of our children had never even gone fishing before (yes, sad but true!) and most of them had never caught anything if they had. In spite of the extreme heat, all of them caught something that day and were very excited ~ hooray!

Hiking Castle Rock

2010-07-16T22:27:00.021-06:00

The kids' track team recently hiked our very own Castle Rock (and we even talked Grandpa into joining us!). The trail is fairly easy going up to the base of the big rock. The trickier and more adventurous part is shimmying your way up to the tippy top of the rock itself (where the flag pole sits). The older three kids and grandpa went up there this time (Kevin was kind and stayed behind with Samuel, Anna and me). Great views and great fun. All of the kids thought it was pretty fun that we could see our little church in downtown Castle Rock from the trail also.

Family Fun at Elitch's

2010-07-16T22:22:00.024-06:00

Thanks to the Summer Reading Program at our library, we've just crawled in the door thoroughly exhausted from our annual trip to Elitch's. We enjoyed our day immensely ~ although we might have done one too many "spinning things" for the old folks' stomachs . . . we don't do so well going in circles anymore!

a few favorite photos

2010-07-12T01:04:00.007-06:00

Anna's new bike!

2010-07-06T21:51:00.008-06:00

Our sweet little doodle-bop, Anna, spent much of our recent camping trip on her tricycle. She pedaled and pedaled as fast as her little legs could go, around and around the campground! When we got back home, she decorated her tricycle for the 4th of July block party and rode it up and down the street, over and over again! The next day she woke up and decided she was ready for a "training wheel bike". She was positively delighted when I brought one home from my errands later that day. I'm glad we live in a court, since her constant request for the past week has been to go and ride her bike . . . she is one happy little girl on that bike! Now, if we could just get her to wear her helmet frontwards!

Camping with family ~ 4th of July

2010-07-06T12:09:00.017-06:00

We went camping (close to home) over the 4th of July weekend. We celebrated my niece's birthday and even managed to have Auntie Penny there for part of the time! We had beautiful weather and a fun time (our last camping trip involved 17 stitches, this one was blessedly uneventful!)

St Ogden Valsinkidane Day!

2010-07-06T10:43:00.017-06:00

So, we're a little weird (but that isn't surprising to anyone who knows us!) We finally gave our family holiday a name ~ "St. Ogden Valsinkidane Day". At 6:42 pm on June 30, 1992 Kevin and I met outside the City Lights Coffee House on Ogden Street. At the time, Kevin was the director of the coffee house (which was an outreach to the homeless) and I was coming to volunteer for the evening.

Several years ago we decided to make it our family holiday. The goofy name comes from the letters in "Kevin and Lisa, Ogden St" (all mixed up into a word that sounded fun). This year we had a lot going on during the daytime, but in the evening we took the kids and went in search of a fun, 'out of the ordinary' spot for ice cream sundaes. We ended up at a fun little ice cream shop in the small town of Sedalia (a few miles up the road from Castle Rock).

Sports Camp

2010-07-01T21:04:00.012-06:00

The kids have completely and totally enjoyed a 4 day sports camp this past week -- hosted by an awesome church in town (and staffed by a great group of folks from a church in Texas). The basketball hoop in our driveway has been scarcely touched for the past two years and the kids jumped out of bed this morning to play basketball together . . . hooray! What a blessing for our kids to have had the opportunity for fun, exercise and learning new things in a safe environment with some young adults (and adults) who have such a heart for Jesus! Levi came home the second day of camp with a medal for being the best volleyball player and on the last day of camp Daniel was given an MVP trophy for the week . . . he was thrilled! Emily was excited to have beaten a few of her coaches in basketball (her favorite of the sports they did). Fun times!

Dance Camp

2010-06-30T16:33:00.002-06:00

One of Emily's highlights of the summer comes at the end of each June when she gets to spend the week at Celebration Ministry of Art's Dance camp. They always have a missions focus during camp, which she loves ~ along with getting to see several of her favorite friends. The week culminates with a nursing home outreach and a Friday night performance.

Track & Field and Swim Team

2010-06-26T00:25:00.038-06:00

We are well into the season for swim team and track. Emily was very excited to improve her freestyle time dramatically between the first and second meets. She was disqualified her first time in the breaststroke, but now she knows that both hands have to touch the wall! Levi was encouraged (by his coach) to compete in the backstroke and did a great job. He joined the team a little late and didn't compete in the first meet. Emily, as the "veteran swim-teamer in the family" enjoyed supporting him at his first meet. We can see big improvements in all three of the older kids' swimming as a result of swim team ~ and Daniel isn't even on the team! (but as I type he and Levi are off at the pool swimming together). Emily was delighted to master the "flip turn" and thinks it's the coolest thing in world (chocolate aside!)

Levi and Daniel have come back for another very "blue ribbon" season at track. Last year it seemed like they won every event that they entered (except for one very close second place), the first meet of this year was a definite de ja vu experience. Those boys are fast! Samuel and Anna are enjoying their first year of track. They certainly aren't competitive, but they're sure having a good time! Anna is the youngest child on the team but is apparently one of the better long jumpers in her group.

2010-06-25T23:47:00.029-06:00

Pool fun and just plain cute

2010-06-21T22:28:00.010-06:00

The kids (and I) enjoyed a pool day with my sister and her children recently ~ complete with a mini celebration for my birthday. My niece masterfully turned a huge rice crispy treat into a cake of sorts ~ and the kids loaded up on lots of frosting and sprinkles and sugar . . . and of course, loved every bite! There's also been some random cuteness lately, hence the non-pool pictures that follow.

Innocence!

2010-06-19T06:06:00.020-06:00

Levi is our "fix it" kid, lately he's been cleaning the dust out of the inside of our school computers. Yesterday he screwed the panel back in place on his computer ~ when he finished he looked at Kevin with satisfaction and said "there, it's all screwed up now"! (if he's ever heard that phrase used any other way, he apparently hasn't paid attention!)

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We were driving a few days ago when Daniel announced excitedly "Look dad, I can put an Altoid up my nose with my tongue"! ~ oh my!

More portraits ~ finally!

2010-06-19T06:06:00.013-06:00

Tiny Town and Geocaching

2010-06-01T22:57:00.017-06:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we escaped for a little adventure in the mountains (and we had the rare opportunity to steal Grandpa for the day, which the kids were very excited about). We visited a spot that has been a favorite place through the years for our older kids, but Samuel and Anna haven't been to it enough to even remember it (which should have told us that we were overdue for a visit there!). "Tiny Town" is just outside Denver and is comprised of lots of fun little houses, many of them based on local landmarks, some of which the kids can actually climb inside and explore. There is also a coal powered train that simply must be ridden when we visit!

After exploring Tiny Town and enjoying a picnic lunch, we went to Mt. Falcon Park and went geocaching! Our GPS led treasure hunting was far more successful than it has been in the past and we found three rather large caches which were each filled with fun little trinkets. The kids had fun putting things in the boxes in exchange for the little treasures they took out! Samuel and Anna were quite the little troopers during all that hiking!

Fun with our 4 year old!

2010-05-30T06:08:00.012-06:00

Anna's birthday began with our usual (we are once again bound by tradition!) birthday donuts. It continued with a VERY windy field day with friends, a meeting in Denver and a trip to visit our favorite librarians (and the library too!). We finished off the night with a family celebration at Chuck-E-Cheese.

Kevin is so good about remembering to take the annual 'birthday bear' photo. Anna seems to enjoy using her bear (Ulysses) for a pillow these days! This year's photos are followed up by a quick trip down memory lane, ending with Anna's very first picture with her birthday bear when she was just 24 hours old (the bear was so much bigger then, he must be shrinking!)

Field Day Fun

2010-05-30T06:07:00.006-06:00

Our homeschool enrichment program holds an annual field day to celebrate the end of the school year. With the exception of the 30 mile an hour winds that were yanking everyone's plates out of their hands (while we attempted a potluck lunch), it was a lot of fun. The kids look forward to it each year . . . this year it was particularly fun because it was scheduled on Anna's birthday!