Caleb teaches Nathan about obedience

The other day, while Nathan was serving a timeout for eating a candycane without permission, Caleb said this to him:

"Nathan, did you know that the Bible says, 'Obey your mom and dad?' That's what I'm doing. I'm just sitting here drawing. Nathan, you're not going to have any fun today if you keep acting this way."

He wants to be a rockstar

Caleb sang a solo at our churches Christmas program. He has been wanting to get on stage for years. When he was little I'd have to hold him back from climbing up on the stage. He finally got his chance yesterday. He was so happy that he actually got to use the microphone.



I must say Nathan was pretty cute in this performance as well.

Baby Mama

No, I'm not talking about the Tina Fay movie, which I'm sure is hilarious, I haven't seen it yet.

Anyway, I was thinking last night when I should have been sleeping...Timing wise we'll probably have our Ethiopian addition by this time next year. That means that she's most likely in utero right now. Which means that there's a mother in Ethiopia that is going to have a horrible year. She's going to carry this child and birth her all the while loving her deeply. Then she's going to get sick, probably with some disease that is completely preventable, then she will pass away leaiving her precious baby.

I so often think of how excited I am that we're adding to our family and how wonderful it's going to be. But all day I've been thinking and praying for my baby's mama. That the Lord will be real to her as she deals with all the hardships that are coming. I can't imagine what it would be like, not being able to watch my children grow up, not even having the peace of mind knowing that my babies would be taken care of by my family, but giving my child to strangers, hoping for a better future for her. What a brave lady, my baby's mama is.

I'm also praying that this problem of people dying of curable diseases would decrease. It's just plain stupid that people around the world are dying when they don't have to. More on that tangent later. I'm reading Red Letters by Tom Davis for the second time it's got me thinking.....

Miracle Baby Update

My niece, Taylor, is home. The Lord has shown his power so miraculously in this little baby's life. It was so wonderful to be able to hold and love on her last Sunday. I'm praising the Lord for working wonders in Taylor's life since she was born in October.

As you can see from the pictures, the kids love her so much. Nathan was smitten with her immediately and all the way home from Lansing Caleb would randomly say "isn't Taylor so cute?" They've been asking when we can see her again. We're all really in love with that sweet girl.

The boys also had fun playing with Trevor. It took Trevor a little while to get used to their craziness and he just watched, but by the end he was running around, kicking balls all over the place.

Hair emergency

This picture was a complete accident. I was trying to take a picture of Caleb and Aunt Jenny in a deep discussion, but Nathan jumped right in. It was an eye opener for me though. I'm so used to seeing this crazy spike, I don't even notice it anymore. Since this picture, I've been working on taming the shark fin. It hasn't worked much but ahh well. It doesn't help that he's so opposed to a haircut. He hasn't had one since the time I cut it during his nap....That gives me an idea, he's sleeping now. I'll try that again.

Why you shouldn't go to McDonald's playland

Today we were eating lunch at "Old McDonald's," as the boys call it, and I see my friend Missy's face gloss over with shock...I followed her eyes to Nathan's little, naked bootie. I ran over and I pulled up his pants and said what are you doing? (through lots of laughs) He giggled and said "I don't know. I forgot I was twying to take off my socks."

This reminded me of 2 years ago when we were at a busy, really large, filled the whole ceiling playland. When I look at the bottom of the slide and see a pile of clothes. Horrified I realized they belong to my son. Then I look up and through a little, plastic window see a completely naked Caleb. Michael brings him down and asks him what he's doing---"I'm a tiger. Tiger's don't wear clothes." It's true about the things being funnier later. I thought it was pretty funny then but now I think it's hilarious.

You never know how many naked booties have been in those plastic germ stations. In our fam alone it's been 2.

Nathan's Happy Machine

Nay Nay is having a bit of a cranky day. He's a little emotional (I have no idea where he gets that from). Everything was setting him off. I had been warning Caleb to keep his distance, that Nathan was having a rough time. Caleb went into the backroom and returned with "Nathan's Happy Machine." A big, red tractor hanging from a rope. Caleb said when you swing it around and say "woogooboogo" it makes Nathan happy.

Nathan's response "NO. No, it won't make me happy! I not happy!" over and over again.

Nice try Caleb. If only it were that simple:)

Birthday Moments

Behind in my blogging again, sad for me because if I don't write things down I completely forget...
So my birthday was a couple of weeks ago and Michael did an awesome job of making it a fun weekend for me. He had the kids spend the night at Nana and Papa's for a night and we hit the town:)

Here's the cute poem that Nana and Papa worked on with the boys:

Another memorable moment to mark before my brain loses it.....Michael singing kareoke! That's right. U2--with or without you. Very fun!