Ernie Miller Field Trip: Kids and Critters

Yesterday we took a field trip to Ernie Miller with homeschool friends and others who have preschoolers. The kids had a blast. We picknicked first and then went to the program. They got to pet a bunny and see a turtle and hawk up close and learn about what they eat and where they live. Then we went on a short hike b/c Jesse took Lucy's stroller out of the van without telling me, so I was a wimp and tired of carrying her. I wish I got better pics. I am hoping Jenn did and she will post them here.

Are you going to quit being my friend if I vote for ...

During this whole election season it has amazed me at how gunshy so many people are about talking politics. Allison and I were talking about this the other night. People act like who they are voting for is some big personal secret like their finances. Could this possibly because they are unsure of their decision? If you are confident in your candidate, why are you reluctant to share that you are voting for him? It is just like religion...if you are confident in your God, why are you reluctant to admit that you follow His teachings?

I have also heard it said to others and had a few people ask me if I will still be their friend if they vote for Obama. I know it is half in jest, but let me just say, if I were to stop being someone's friend because of who they vote for I wasn't their friend to begin with. Yes, I am passionate about McCain/Palin, but I am also passionate about America and the democratic process. I might argue with you about your decision, especially if it appears you made it lightly, but I will still love you. Do we argue with our husbands sometimes? Yes, and we still love them. We need to stop being so PC and skirting around issues to avoid controversy. If being PC is really about acceptance of our differences, it doesn't have to mean keeping quiet. I am confident enough in my choice enough to have a firey argument with someone and still accept that I can't change their mind. I can still love someone even if they disagree with me. Jesse disagrees with me almost every nap time b/c he wants to have rest time instead. He drives me insane some days, and we don't agree...But, I love that kids with my whole heart. I want to teach them that we don't always have to agree but we always have to love. I want my kids to learn to stand up for what they believe in and never shy away from a conversation out of fear. Of course I want them to speak the truth in love and avoid foolish arguments, but I want them to be passionate little people.

So, let's all lighten up. We are supposed to love each other, people. Don't be afraid to talk about what is important to you whether it is politics, religion, family or social issues. And, don't be afraid to listen, either. I can't speak for everyone else, and I definitely know that there are some people who would end friendships over politics, but I am not one of those. Like I said, we may have some heated conversations, but bring 'em on. My mind has been changed over the years more than once from a heated conversation with someone of a differing opinion. I respect passionate people...even if they passionate about things I don't agree with or understand. They are a lot more fun than luke warm fence riders.

What inspired me to write this is all of the interesting and misguided things my kids have said and done throughout this season. We have tried as best we could to talk to the kids in a way they will understand about the candidates. They make assumptions about what we say and take it to a whole new level. Shelby argued with her Grandma Sherri back and forth about whether or not Obama loves Jesus. Jesse says that if people vote for Obama he won't like them. (hence, the maturity level of those adults who feel the same.) We have a cheer we do for McCain that the kids love to do out front as loud as they can. Shelby made the McCain yard sign with the elephant we now have in our van window. Shelby said something horrifying too that we had a long talk with her about. It was very reminicient of something David said in Psalms about his enemies. She said, "If Obama gets elected, I am going to pray that God will kill him." Trust me, we have never said anything like that and we talked to her about how wrong that attitude was. We have told both of our kids that we will respect and obey our president whoever he is. If Obama gets elected we will never say bad things about him. We will defend him, in fact. (We may not defend his decisions or agree with them, but we will defend him as a leader of our country to anti-Americans...just to clarify.)We have also told them that God is ulitmately in control and he appoints leaders. If it is his will that Obama leads our country, we will support that. But, now is the time to vote for the candidate who we believe has the most similar values to our own. Our highest calling is to love God and to obey his commands. We have to vote for the person whose voting record and plans allign most with what the Bible teaches.

shelbisms

Last night my mom was talking to Shelby about her fall party at school and here is how the convo went.
-Noni, did you see that there was a juggler at my party?
-Yes, I did, but he wasn't really very good, he kept dropping the balls.
-Well, Noni, he did the best he could.
-You know what, you are right Shelby, I am sorry, I shouldn't have said that.
-You don't need to apologize to me, you need to apologize to him.
-Well, sweetie, he isn't here, so I am sorry I said that to you.

another convo about something my mom was trying to tell her that was different from what I might have said.
-Noni, how do you know that is true?
-I have raised 3 kids.
-My mom has raised 3 kids too!
-Your mom is still raising you all, you aren't raised yet.

My mom left today...it has been so nice having her here.

updates

Here is my crazy brother at the Taj Mahal in India. Looks like he is blending in well with the culture. He sent us some great pics today. Talk about missing someone. Whew, we still have several months to go.

Shelby misses Jeka so much. She is wearing her Lakers shirt that Jeka bought her to sleep in tonight and she wanted to take a pic to tell her she loves her.

We are on hold with the house thing. Our buyers haven't cancelled their contract with us, but at the very least it will be pushed back. They still want our house but there is something going on with the buyers of their house that they are trying to negotiate. We will just have to wait and see what happens. Patience isn't my strongest quality, but I am having faith that everything will work out just like God has planned. He has always been faithful to us! In the mean time, we are keeping the house ready and enjoyng time with my mom here. She will get to go to Shelby's HCA fall party with us on Tuesday.

b-day quicks

Here is Shelby posing with her new helmet and the shirt she borrowed from her friend Grace. We did the traditional get up and go to McDonalds in our pjs and have a picnic in the car. And then that evening we left for my parents. I need to get a pic with her and the Fancy Nancy doll and books she got from Noni and Papa.

Jesse got his long wished for Pancake Puffs machine from Noni and Papa. It was a huge hit. Everyone stuffed their faces. Apparently they are better than plain pancakes, only you have to buy them from Amazon, b/c if you buy one off of the infomercial it ends up costing you $60 with shipping.

Here, everyone is talking to Matt on Skype. He and Jessica turned 23 on the 12th.

We are crazy busy unpacking and packing, so I may not post for a bit...We'll see.

weird things the kids major on...

1) Time of day: Our kids have always had a hard time knowing whether or not it is morning or evening when they wake up. They both still take naps. Shelby only sleeps at naptime about half the time, but Jesse sleeps every day. Shelby is better about knowing the time of day now, but Jesse still gets terribly confused. Although I know that some of this is normal, I just realized how I perpetuate the problem. In the morning we make coffee, have cereal, and lounge on the couch until we are fully awake. After naptime should be different right? Nope, I have made coffee while they were napping and they usually have cereal for a snack and lounge on the couch until they wake up. Of course the little guy would be confused.

When we have something exciting coming up in the near future, bedtime and naptime are always hard. We are getting ready to go to my parents and they kids are beside themselves with excitement. Each time I tuck him in Jesse says, "Are we going to Noni and Papas when I wake up?" When I have to tell him how many "sleeps" he has until we leave he always gets upset and is visibly confused. He is one I really should wait till the last minute to tell.

2)Made in China: Shelby is obsessed with checking every toy, notebook, plastic plate, etc. to see if it is made in China. She is fascinated that so many things are made over there. She and James have had long talks about why so many things are made in China. She always says, "Oh brother, guess where this is made?" And she rolls her eyes.

3)Porta Potties: Ever since using one at the Farmer's Market, they are always on the lookout for these stinky little buildings. They always shout PORTA POTTY!!!!! I saw a green one, I saw a yellow one!

God orders our children

We moms spend a lot of time worrying about the birth order of our kids. Will I screw up my first born and make them a type A people pleasing maniac? Will my baby be spoiled? Will my middle child be the forgotton child who slips through the cracks? Am I spacing my children too far apart? Too close together??

Do we not trust God with the order of our children? Who is the author of life? It is not an accident that Shelby is first born, Jesse is second and Lucy is the baby. God knew just the right time and situation each child was supposed to be born into in order to develop their unique character traits, gifts and talents. He knows his plans for them and those plans include when they are born in relation to their siblings.

As far as spacing between children goes, I am now thankful that God has shown me over and over that I am not in control of this. Why do we think that we get pregnant because of our careful planning and timing? Again, who is the author of life? If we happen to get pregnant on our carefully planned out time table, that was really God nudging us to carefully plan it out so that His plan would come to be. If our kids are supposed to be a year apart, they will be. If they are meant to be 12 years apart, they will be.

This brings me to the whole reason I am thinking about all of this stuff this morning. I am 12 years older than my sister and brother. Most families would call that poor planning. I call it divine intervention. At 35, I am closer to my 23 year old sister and brother than many people I know whose siblings are only a year younger. We have a unique relationship in that I was always a sister and authority figure for them growing up. I babysat for them and as they got older had no problem disciplining them or sitting them down for a good long lecture. During their high school years our relationship started changing. They were able to talk to me about most everything even when they couldn't go to mom or dad. We prayed with each other and talked about what God was doing in our lives. Since they have graduated from highschool we have grown closer and closer. We now have pretty level realtionships. I go to them for advice as much as they come to me. We talk about love, God, politics and pretty much everything that is on our minds. We share our dreams and our secrets. We know each other inside and out and we accept each other for who we are. We don't always agree, but we love each other unconditionally. We are each other's safe place to fall. We are there for one another. That is why it is so hard to be apart right now. My brother is in India for a year and my sister just started grad school in California. Matt and I skype almost once a week and Jeka and I talk every day. I can't wait till the day when we can be together again and hopefully raise our kids and grow old together (James and I way before them...maybe they can change my diaper in the end to repay me for all of the diapers I changed their first few years. ; ) I had to say something to gross my brother out.) I haven't even mentioned the special relationship they have with each of my kids. If there wasn't such an age span, it wouldn't be the same.

Tell me our relationship isn't a God thing. Seeing how perfectly he has ordered us and given us an unbreakable bond helps me to let go of the worries I might have about ordering my own kids. Why worry about something I can't control anyway? That is where the being thankful part comes in. I know if the order of my kids had always worked out according to my own plan I'd have given myself and my precious calendar the glory. There is no doubt in my mind who created my kids and that He had a very good reason for the timing of each precious life he has entrusted to my care.

our yard sign

Shelby made this sign to put on our front door. She is fascinated by all the signs in people's yards about the upcoming election. She loves that the elephant is the symbol for republican and the donkey is the Democrat symbol(should tell you something right there.)We don't have one to put in our yard, so she wanted to make her own. Cute, huh?

Okay, I have a HILAROUS story. We have some friends who get just as excited as us, if not more about the democratic process of being able to vote in the presidential election. They too support McCain. They put a McCain-Palin sign in their yard last week and it got stolen. Big shocker since they had Bush signs stolen out of their yard during the last election! (If Obama supporters are so confident in their candidate, why are they afraid of a yard sign?)
Anyway, Our friend got an idea, that is so hilarious I love it! He wants to put new signs out and hide in the shadows to catch the McCain thief. He asked a friend of his who is a police officer if it would be okay to catch the guy and tie him up and hold him until the police come. I haven't heard what his friend said or if he has done it yet. I can't wait to find out! We were talking about it over dinner and Shelby and James came up with several creative ways to catch the thief and want to try it in our yard. (electric fence...gooey slime, etc.) We just need a sign to stick out there.

sweet friends...more like family

These sweet pics are from 2 years ago. They are such cutie pies! I remembered them when I took a pic today of the kids having a snack on the chaise lounge and I had to find them. The second snack pic is the same group of kids plus one 2 years later.



We had the Wiltse kids over today while Jenn went to a meeting with James. When they are here, it is almost easier even though there are 3 of them because they entertain each other. I love them like they are my nieces and nephew and they love me, so they are really obedient for me. Between youth group, church and HCA carpooling they spend a lot of time together, so they probably feel like family too. They begged to do school with us, so we did a little. We sang songs, went over our scripture memory verses (they have the same ones as our kids, but they are a week ahead), and read books together. Then, after lunch we had recess and walked down to the playground in our neighborhood. That was a trek with all 6 kids, but it was good exercise. The only had part was Mason and Jesse had to pee in the woods at the park and then Jesse almost pooped his pants as we raced home. I almost knocked on a stranger's door to see if we could use the bathroom. That is what I get for not asking everyone to potty before we left. All in all it was good times! Maybe I could have 6 kids!

second visit from the tooth fairy

Shelby lost her second tooth yesterday. Actually, the hygenist pulled it. Shelby Jesse and I went to the dentist for our 6 month cleaning and her tooth was barely hanging in there. She has been paranoid each night before bed that it will fall out while she sleeps and she will lose it. So, when Krista offered to pull it, she was all over it. She put a little numbing gel around it and popped it right out. She even got to take it home in a treasure box. Very cool.
It was an exciting night at youth group, because her two buddies Grace H and Grace A both had lost a tooth. One of them also lost one yesterday so she was getting a visit fromt he tooth fairy last night as well.

Here is the painful part...not a "proud mommy moment." It is hard for me to even write it b/c I just want to forget it. We were soooo exhausted last night that James and I forgot to be the tooth fairy and put money in her tooth box. UGH...It makes me sick to my stomach. She came downstairs at 6:30 a.m. with a huge frown on her face. I immediately knew. I am the world's worst liar. Thankfully she hasn't figured out the signs yet because she believed what I told her.
I said, "The sun is just now starting to come up. Maybe you got up too early and the tooth fairy was just getting ready to take your tooth and leave some money, but she can't do it if you are awake. Maybe she is still in the house. I bet if we put it under Daddy's pillow since he is still asleep, and we tell her it is okay to leave it under his pillow, she will still take your tooth and leave money." then I said, "Tooth Fairy, if you are still here and hiding somewhere, Shelby did lose her tooth, but she accidentally got up too early. If you don't mind, would you please check under her Daddy's pillow? He is still asleep and we promise we won't come upstairs to see you." (I despise this type of dishonesty, I just have to keep telling myself that it is harmless and adds to the magic of childhood. It is all part of the make-believe world kids love to explore.)We have had lots of conversations discussing what the tooth fairy might look like and how she might get into the house. I always just ask them questions and listen to their creative answers.

A half hour later, Shelby went upstairs and got the tooth box out to find her tooth missing and replaced with a crisp five dollar bill. She was so relieved and excited that our plan worked.
(And,Yes, I know that is a lot of money, but by the time they lose all 20 teeth that will be $100 for them to buy something really special, and it is spread out over several years.)

we have mice!

Hey, look Patrick, a ball.

See it?

Hey, that looks yummy! Wanna trade?

Even better than I imagined!

The mice kids, as we so lovingly call them were over yesterday and we had a ball! I love watching Lucy and Patrick play. She doesn't get to hang with other babies very often. They were adorable together.

Veronica is one of the sweetest, most polite little cuties. I just want to squeeze her cheeks! I had the awesome privilege of being with Helen and Jeremy when Veronica made her grand entrance into the world. When her big, beautiful, expressive eyes popped open, we immediately knew we had witnessed the arrival of a true beauty.
She performed several songs for me and the babies while Jesse and Tommy played dinosaurs.