Cornerstone Block Party 2012

Today was our church’s 8th annual block party!  It truly is an amazing event to pull off!  We close a main thoroughfare in our neighborhood – we have to obtain a block party permit and it is ALWAYS a huge answer to prayer when we are granted one – they aren’t too keen on closing a main street because buses have to be rerouted!  But God has been incredible in granting us one every year!

The block party has become an event that the entire neighborhood looks forward to!  There is face painting, inflatables, music and puppets, and most importantly – the gospel is being shared through the use of the evangi-cube, stick drama, and gospel magic!What I find amazing is that Matt and Sarah are now actively involved in A LOT of the block party events!  They are the ones pictured performing in the stick drama and the gospel magic!  How did they get so old already?

I took Drew and Daniel up for a couple of hours.  Daniel was a mess for the first part but soon shipped up and started having fun.  He loved the inflatables!  I tried to get Drew to do the water one – but he would have nothing of it!  He much preferred to play in the fire hydrant!It was a great day and the weather was VERY cooperative!We are praising God for the people whose lives were touched and praying that they would grow in their faith.

All Boy!

My baby is now a true boy!

He received his first knee boo-boo!  And he is quite upset about the whole thing!  He keeps looking at it and pointing to it and just plain ol’ fussing about it!  The problem is – he is ALL BOY and is a MANIAC!  He doesn’t slow down for anything and plays HARD!!  So I fear we have MANY more of these in the future.  Hope he gets used to them!

My Little Nutkin

Andy is away on a teen retreat with Matt and now Sarah!  She turns 13 this month!!!  Crazy!  So I am home with the two younger boys!  It’s really funny!  I’ve never just had two boys!  The girl has always been there!  The dynamics of the house are very different when it’s just two boys!  Drew has been an absolute NUT!!!  He’s been climbing EVERYTHING, playing with everything and talking to me like crazy!!!  I guess when the girl is away he feels the need to fill the silence!  Though Daniel does a pretty good job of filling the silence along with him!

Today, I opened the dishwasher to unload it and found this…

Apparently he had been there before me!  He was so excited I had “found” them for him!

He’s also VERY into wearing different hats.  He found this one of Sarah’s and has been wearing it around the house for days now….

He is such a nut!  But he is SO MUCH fun!  But honestly, it’s going to be a miracle if we make it through the summer without a trip to the ER!  After he got his cast off in April the doctor said to me, “Try to keep him safe from himself!”  Yeah – I think that’s easier said than done!

Little Talker

I think God has a HUGE sense of humor!  As a child I was the shy, non-verbal type.  I pretty much tried to blend in with the scenery.  Never liked crowds and desperately tried to never make any kind of eye contact with anyone!  My sister on the other hand, was (and still is!) the complete opposite – center of attention, highly verbal, and LOVED meeting new people!

So, why do I think God has a sense of humor?  Because three of my four kids are just like her! 

Sarah talked full sentences by the time she was 18 months.  Daniel spent the first three years of his life in her room and pretty much picked up the talking thing as fast as she would talk to him!  Matt is a talker to me (but is somewhat quiet around strangers) – put that boy in a car with just me and he talks up a storm!  The other funny thing is is that her son is JUST LIKE ME!  A quiet kid who likes to READ!!! 

Now we have Drew.  He is now 28 months old (2 years 4 months!) and for the LONGEST time the older three would say, “When is he going to say real words?”  I did not put him in Sarah’s room, because honestly, I could wait for those words to come!  I am still a “relish the quiet” person and sometimes the kids use their word quota by 2 pm!  I know I shouldn’t be like that – and God is working on this with me.  I am trying to enjoy the fact that my kids love to talk to me and tell me about EVERYTHING!  And really focus in on what they are telling me and not just nod my head as I try to do other things.

Now Drew is starting to tell me EVERYTHING!  It seems he is learning new words every day!  His favorite word right now is “baseball”.  He wants to watch baseball with his daddy, he wants to toss a baseball to whoever will catch, he wants to wear baseball hats.  And it is so cute how he says it – as two words – “base” “ball”.  The kids are amazed!  Now they are trying to get him to say all kinds of words and giggle when he says them in that cute little toddler voice.  My favorite word he says is “welcome” when he’s supposed to say “thank-you”!  It’s really funny!  I’ll have to try and get a video of that one!

So as I go through each day, the verse I have chosen to focus on is “Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” Psalm 19:2.  Now I know the verse is speaking about the heavens declaring the glory of God, but my little bits of heaven are also pouring forth speech and displaying their knowledge and I am trying to cherish this – because one day too soon the house will be quiet.

Memorial Day Fun!!!

We went to Andy’s parents house for the Memorial Day holiday.  It was so wonderful to get out of the city – even if it was only for a little over 24 hours!  The kids always have a blast running around in the wide open spaces and in the green grass!  Here are just a few of the pictures that say “Hello Summer!”

Feeding Grammy’s fish is always a big hit!!!

Climbing the tree is a huge favorite since we don’t have many here in the city!

Mr. Serious!  For about 30 seconds!

The granddaughters!

All the grands!

THE BEST THINGABOUT SUMMER IS….STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE – Schultz style!!!

We had such a great time!  We are really hoping to spend a lot of time up there this summer!  We really miss country living!

Where did my baby go?

This post is long overdue – but I wanted to write about it so I wouldn’t forget!  Easter weekend was a big one for my little guy!  Friday, April 6th, Drew got his first haircut!  It was so time!  Do you see those long curls!  They would get all knotty and he would hate to have them combed out.  My mom’s wonderful hairdresser gave him his first haircut – she’s given all my kids their first haircut!  She’s so sweet and kind and the kids love her!  Of course we had to bribe Drew to sit on Daddy’s lap – MomMom brought the bribe candy – gummy carrots.  He LOVED them!  Of course there isn’t too much of the sugar category that Drew doesn’t like!!

That Monday, April 9th, Drew FINALLY got his cast off!  I can’t tell you how happy I was!  He was a real trooper.  Didn’t fuss or cry when they took it off.  In fact, after the cast came off he looked at his hand and said, “Ewww!”  There was a bit of crud right above his knuckles!  He’s so funny!  After getting the cast off he wouldn’t use the right hand for anything!  When I encouraged him to use it for eating or coloring – his response was, “No, Mommy.”  But now I am starting to see him use it more.  I was worried that this whole broken arm thing may have caused more than bone damage.  Sometimes messing with hand dominance can mess with other things – brain things.  But it looks like he may be on  the mend!  One thing that he hasn’t gone back to is sucking that little thumb!  I have to say I am happy about that – but I sure do miss that cute little thumb stuck in his mouth – it seems my baby is truly gone and the little boy is emerging full force!  Let the wild ride begin!

Never a Dull Moment!

It has been FOREVER since I have posted a blog – mostly due to the fact that the fourth child has totally thrown me for a loop and keeps me on my toes – ALL DAY LONG!  Homeschooling has been challenging as well – trying to keep a 9th grader, 7th grader and 1st grader all on task.  The toddler isn’t a great help during homeschooling as he wants to be the center of attention 24/7!  His cuteness is often distracting!  But I was reminded this weekend that several people actually do read this blog and enjoy knowing what’s going on in our lives!  So here is our latest update!

I stated that our last child keeps us on our toes – this week he proved that more than usual.  Drew sleeps in a pack-n-play as there isn’t enough room in our house for a full size crib.  He’s slept in it since birth and doesn’t know any different.  A few weeks ago I awoke one morning to a sweet kiss from my baby.  After enjoying the sweetness it dawned on me – how did he get in my bedroom?  He had climbed out of the pack-n-play and came to seek me out!  He didn’t make it a habit until about a week ago.  Andy and I had been discussing that it was time to build a trundle bed so that we wouldn’t have any accidents.  Well, apparently we didn’t follow through fast enough.  Last Tuesday, February 28th, Drew decided to climb out of the pack-n-play – but landed arms first instead of feet.  After hearing the bang and running to get him, he continued to cry – very unlike him!  I gently pulled the arm of his sleeper up on his right arm and noticed a not so pleasant bend.  Off to the emergency room at CHOP!

After eight hours – did I mention he broke it at night? – we were finally home with a little blue cast on his right arm.He’s been amazing!  He is adjusting well to using his left arm for what he needs – eating, coloring, picking things up.  The only problem we have run into is that he uses his right thumb for sucking.  He has been particularly cranky the past couple of days and I believe it’s from lack of sleep as he can’t suck his thumb.  He has an appointment Monday, March 5th, and I am hoping they might be able to put on a smaller cast.  Right now it goes up to his armpit – I’m hoping for one that goes up to his elbow.  Please pray for complete healing and that Drew will adjust to sleeping without sucking his thumb!  This is how I found my little guy after he had talked for more than two hours in his pack-n-play!  Love that he fell asleep with a book in his hand!