And Some More Pictures For Rachel :-)

As Our World Turns

I've been so focused on posting pictures and getting caught up on my blog from the past few months, that I haven't really written anything about what we're up to right now.  I've been sorta obsessive compulsive about posting pictures and blogging about the summer and fall.  I can't just not post pictures and leave a big gap in my blogging!  :-)  Oh my, no!  Well, actually, yes I can.  So, here they are.  Real, actual words about us!

* I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Josiah is now POTTY-TRAINED!  (Pardon me while I yell a little!)  He still wears a diaper for naps and night-time, but I wonder if he'd do pretty good if I just put underwear on him.)  Anyway, it's really, really nice.  He's younger than either of his big brothers were. :-)

* Hannah is now cruising around furniture and standing alone for a few seconds at a time.  I think she's just itchin' to walk.  She's also started trying out a few words here and there.  Or, maybe I should say, making obvious attempts.  That just amazes me!  As Rhonda (mother of 4 of my nieces) would say, with a knowing, almost smug look, "That's how girls are!"  And, her first two teeth are about to pop through - late just like her brothers!

* I've been going to physio therapy for my back and feet.  I don't know what's wrong with my feet, but I'm supposed to be "massaging" them with a little ball and it hurts like the dickens.  And for my back, we're strengthening my almost-non-existent abs.  Fun.  The therapist showed me how to exercise abdominal muscles I never knew I had.  And I would never have found them by doing crunches.  It's very interesting and gives my some hope for some day having a flatter tummy and no lower back pain.  

*  I have a Dr. appt. for Josiah on Monday to check out his little "seizures" that he gets when he hits the back of his head.  

*  We went to the dentist a few weeks ago and found out that Logan has 5 cavities and Caleb has 2.  Caleb also has a receding gum by one tooth which is either caused by crowding (sorry for the genetics I passed on there, Son!!) or plaque build-up.  Sigh.  So we're beefing up the brushing routines.  Instead of getting the cavities filled immediately, I'm going to get a second opinion at the suggestion of a friend.  But, that means another dentist visit and bill.  It seems like we've been in a "season" of appointments lately and it sure makes the schedule challenging!! 

*  Yesterday Logan was drawing worms in his "Do You Doodle?" book and he said (loosely quoted):

Logan:  Look Mom, these worms are girls.

Me: How do you know they're girls?

Logan:  Because they have eyebrows.  Pretty eyebrows!

* Yesterday I spent about three hours talking on the phone with two friends.  That was so much fun, because it hardly ever happens.  But, it's frustrating too, because at the same time I'm feeling a little bit guilty for "neglecting" my kids and house.  I guess that's just one of the tensions of my chosen schedule and life right now.

* A quote from one of the aforementioned conversations:  "I love Math in theory.  It's the actual numbers that mess me up."  Oh, really, Becky?!?

* Yesterday Caleb was reading "World", a Christian news magazine.  Suddenly he piped up with, "Mom, what's abortion?"  Ugh.  I told him and watched the flicker of pain that went over his face.  It's so sad to see their innocence slowly be chipped away by the rawness of our fallen world.  Did I make the right decision in telling him?

* I've been very fed up lately with my "brokenness" and the junk in my heart.  I'm so longing for a real and lasting change.  "How long, Oh Lord, how long??"

* And along those lines...  We're heading up to Stormer Lake this afternoon (as soon as I'm done with this post?) for a weekend of encouragement and fellowship.  There will be about 10 of us getting together to share and pray for each other and worship together.  I'm hoping this will be another good step along the journey of life.

* In the past few months, Josiah has gone from "stinker" to "the sweetest thing around" to "Challenging"!!  Help me, Lord!

* Oh, and speaking of brokenness... I've REALLY been struggling with my eating lately.  I just want to eat what I want and when I want and hang the consequences.  (Well, actually, I'm wearing the consequences.)  I was thinking about a whole post about "hunger", but here's the abridged version.  When I'm "hungry" for comfort food, what I really need, I know is to feel loved, safe, comforted, etc.  And I know in my head that food doesn't bring a lasting satisfaction.  It just makes me want to go back for more.  Recently I was reminded of the verse, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.   It's a promise.  So, do I need to re-direct my "hunger" in the right direction?  To hunger after God, to long for him to fill my heart with his love and to love him in return, to hunger to be clean and pure in his eyes.  That's what I really long for underneath the "felt need" for chocolate.

* Keith has gone moose-hunting a few days with no success yet.  Last Sat. he took Caleb and Logan with him.  They actually saw a cow, but it was right when they parked the truck and Keith didn't even have his gun loaded yet and she took off right away.  He was pretty disgusted about that one!

* Oh, and I did have a birthday sometime not long ago which was well-celebrated.  I celebrated by signing up on facebook.  Haha.  Not really.  But I did join facebook around that time and I can attest that it's fun but it can be a real time-waster.  I still like blogs and blogging!

* And now it's time to close this sucker down, give Hannah a bottle, and hit the road.  And when I come home, I'll have 12 comments, right?  :-) (That's what ya call shameless begging!)

Fun with Friends and Relations

One of the things that's been fun this fall is spending lots of time with Matthew and Rhonda and their girls - and other cousins and friends along the way.  Iris was here for awhile in August/September so we got to do some fun stuff.  

Here's a whole bunch of misc. hooligans enjoying a meal of smokies and corn on the cob.  Yum.  
Matthew and Rhonda's girls had a sleep-over.  Even Larissa stayed.  The funny thing was that by morning, Caitlyn and Larissa were on either side of me in our bed, and Keith was on the couch.  I was just glad we didn't have to take them home in the middle of the night!

Okay, this has been so much fun.  Wendy, Rhonda, and I did a couple of "school" afternoons together.  Wendy is teaching them art, I did some science activities, and Rhonda did "home-ec" (yummy snacks).  Wendy and I are going to continue with just our kids when Rhonda is gone.  The kids love it and so do we (as long as the babies co-operate!)

Tia and Caitlyn making quesadillas for snack.

Working on a science activity.

Caleb's (top left and bottom) and Logan's (top right) artwork.

The Final Hurrah of Summer

The rest of the trip was interesting.  I won't say much about the alternator trouble.  Let's just say we had some changes in our plans and a big bill on our Visa!  We also spent a night at my Aunt and Uncle's, Ruthie and Dwen, in northern MI.  And I forgot to take a picture of them!  But it was really nice to be at their place again!

When we got home on Sat. afternoon, all of Keith's siblings were already here.  So we jumped directly into a week of G. family partying.  What fun.  It felt like Christmas without the snow and the other busyness that comes in Dec.

Family portrait.  Logan messed up every one on my camera!  But Sandra got a good one.

Shania and Hannah

The boys had a total blast playing with Uncle Neal.  Josiah was pretty sad to see him go at the end of the week!!

"One, two, three..."

After they all left, we had fun spending time with Matthew, Rhonda and girls.  It's so fun to see the cousins all getting to know each other and making good memories with each other.  Labour Day weekend we went camping with my family.  Well, with those of us who could make it.  Unfortunately, Dad and Dru had to work and Mike's had something else going on, I think.  And of course, Rachel and Dave are a million miles away.  :-(  But, we managed to have lots of fun anyway.  The weather was beautiful, but windy.  We spent a bunch of time at the beach and sitting around the fire.  The kids just played and played.  It was a reminder too, that camping isn't generally relaxing with little kids.  But I'm expecting that each year now, things will get a little easier.  Sunday afternoon it was actually warm enough that I went swimming.  Darla and Rhonda came in too and our hubbies and a bunch of kids, of course.  That was a relaxing afernoon and it was so much fun to just play!  (I'm not so good at doing that normally!)

Hot babes hangin' out at the beach.

Goofy kids.

Playing with play-dough.

Scotty.

Dylan - all tuckered out.

Like I said, it was windy!

Matthew and Sierra - cheers!

Summer Re-visited. (Rachel wanted pictures!)

After Rachel's wedding we had a week to "mosey" home.  That was so nice.  Our first stop was a Y. family reunion.  We were just there for a few hours, but it was really nice to see family again.

Hannah with Great Grandpa and Grandma Y. 

Then we headed to MI to spend a bit of time with our friends Jeff and RoxAnne and their family.  It's always so good to see them!

Next stop - Lake Michigan.  We rented a house near the lake for two nights with my dear friends Karla and Brenda.  It was fun catching up and introducing them to our kids.

Next we met Keith's child-hood friend Dan, his wife, Juanita and family.  We spent a day together and went to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo.  That was a lot of fun for the kids.

Snack time in the parking lot!

Some of the kids beside a real Blackbird.  (The world's fastest plane, or something like that.  Caleb could tell you all about it probably.)  

To be continued...

Fall

It's been a beautiful fall here.  We've had lots of sunny, crisp/cool days to enjoy.  But, I find I have a hard time enjoying it to the fullest because Fall mostly evokes in me a dread of winter.  Sad, isn't it.  Winter here is so long and often comes so early.  I find that hard to deal with.  Some day, I'd like to live somewhere - even if it's just for one year - where Fall is a really long, beautiful season and the winter that follows doesn't strike terror to my heart.  And where there are lots of hard-woods that bust out with red and orange leaves.  Here were mostly have just yellow leaves.  But, in the meantime I'll try to soak in the beautiful days we have.  And this year I've been thoroughly enjoying my maple tree that has Red Leaves.  It's been wonderful!  Happy fall! 

Oh My Goodness, I'm A Great-Aunt!

My niece, Kayla just had a baby girl this morning.  Her name is Serenity Marie, and she is a precious, little cutie!!  Kayla did a great job!  Now we're waiting for Samantha to have her little boy soon.  When it rains, it pours, eh?  :-)

Is It Too Late To Post Pictures From The Wedding?

It's almost Dave and Rachel's two-month anniversary.  But I still want to post about it.  If I can remember it. :-)

It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've been at.  (Of course, I'm not biased, or anything.) It was a truck-load of work, and I hardly had time to scratch my ear all week, but there were some really good moments too.  Here are some highlights:

* On Wednesday evening we (Dave, Rachel, and our family) went out for supper at a really nice restaurant right on Winona Lake.  We sat outside on the screened porch overlooking the lake.  It was a beautiful evening, and for some reason, I was able to not think about wedding stuff and we just relaxed and had a wonderful time together.

* Late Wednesday night, Matthew, Rhonda and their girls arrived, jet-lagged to the max.  But it was SO good to see them!!!

* Friday morning all of Rachel's friends and relations who were around went out for brunch.  It was like a big, 'ol, "back home" reunion.  So many who used to live here and now live all over the globe, all coming together because of Rachie!  We made quite a ruckus in the restaurant, and had a blast.

* The wedding ceremony was so meaningful and beautiful.  And I didn't have to do anything else, so I could just relax and soak it in.  (And try to forget that there were 240 people behind me.)  The music was beautiful.  She had piano, trumpet and cello for the prelude, processional and recessional.  Wow.   A definite highlight was when a group of our Yutzy aunts, uncles and cousins sang an amazing benediction.  Oh my!

* The reception was lovely.  It was in a tent outside Rachel's church and the weather was absolutely perfect.  Amazing.  

Sadly, I don't have any really good pictures.  But, here are a few anyway.

Logan and Alabama were flower-girl and ring-bearer.  They were so cute!!!

I'm a Nerd

Last night I stayed up late (getting my new computer organized). :-)  So just before I headed for bed I went in Hannah's room to cover her up.  I turned off the closet light which I had left on when I put her to bed because her night-light is not very bright. (Bear with me, I think that detail is relevant.)  Then, with my eyes not adjusted to the new level of darkness and with a sleepy brain, I headed out of the room and WHAMMED into the edge of the door with my forehead.  PAIN.  MUCH PAIN.  I stood there for a bit wondering if my glasses were perhaps broken and just feelin' the pain.  When I went into the bathroom and looked, I already had a nice goose-egg forming above my right eye.  So I got a bag of frozen vegetables and sat with that on my head for awhile and read a book and wondered if I should take Advil before I went to bed.  But, the pain did subside and I was able to sleep fine.  I can't believe I did that.