Halloween love and the aftermath

Superman and a Storm Trooper ventured out Saturday night to find some candy. It was so cute to see their faces when we walked up to these houses that we see everyday, knocked on the door, and were given candy. We made it to about 8 houses and then they both declared they were ready to go home. I think they were more excited about digging into their candy stash rather than getting more.

Ian as Luke Skywalker dressed as a Storm Trooper. And he means serious business when this costume is on.

We stopped by Papa's and Grandma's house first and practiced knocking on their door before the real work began. It was a successful Halloween!

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And now that we have handfuls of candy lying around.... Did you know that sugar suppresses the immune system? Having the equivalent of one can of soda (8 tbsp of sugar) can depress the immune system by 40% for hours... up to 7 hours in fact. So let's say you have some form of sugar for breakfast, your immune system may only be functioning at 60% for the entire day. That leaves you vulnerable to all sorts of germs and viruses. And that's assuming you only have 8 tbsps of sugar all day. Add more soda, a piece of candy, some coffee cake, a mocha... and suddenly your system is suppressed continually. That makes it really hard for your body to function at it's best during the sick season.

We've been fighting some cough-runny nose-thing this entire last week. We've been keeping it at bay and it's been pretty mild so I debated on whether to let the boys have the candy from Halloween. I was worried that the work the herbs and veggies and vitamin D we've been doing would be undermined by the sugar. But they hardly ever eat traditional candy and they were so excited that we decided to let them have some. And of course, then I had some because I just couldn't resist a little Milky Way bar (or two) that was sitting next to me.

Then last night I realized that this cough and runny nose I had held at bay was hitting me full force. Being pregnant, my immune system is weaker anyway, then add in pure sugar and suddenly there's not much to keep the little germs from invading. My head is full, my nose is running, and I cough constantly. Ian is doing about the same.

So today I brought out the veggies and decided we had to add some nutrients back in. We've spent the past month going between juicing our veggies and fruits and making smoothies with them. This morning I decided to use the juicer and went with apples, lemon, romaine lettuce, fresh ginger, and 2 beets.

The boys love to help with the juicer and I know this gets them excited about drinking their vegetables.

Their favorite part is watching the different colors of juice pouring out in the bowl. "It's GREEN! It's RED!"

Then we immediately drink up, not even bothering to clean first, to maximize all the enzymes and nutrients the juice gives.

Today was red mustaches thanks to the beets!

Ian is a really good eater but Sawyer is not, he's as picky as they come. But somehow, he loves the juice we make with our veggies and fruit. The boys know it's made of vegetables and they know vegetables keep them healthy. It's my goal to keep it fun but real and I don't think you get more real than drinking beet juice.

This juice was good, tart, but good. I love the way it makes me feel and I'm hoping our colds will be gone very soon because of it.

Our days

... are waking up in warm flannel sheets

... in bunk beds in the room that's been shared since August. (Sawyer sleeps on the top, Ian on the bottom- they worked that out themselves)

... reading the Fall and Winter books that have been put away since last March

... playing in the leaves and making Dad rake them over and over again

... enjoying the vibrant red on our Japanese Maple out back

... forgetting about the rain boots out in the rain

...crocheting and knitting every evening


... making pumpkin faces with paper and seeing them glow inside when it's grey outside

... playing "action-figure bowling"

... with rain boots on of course, just in case we get a chance to run outside.

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Thank you all for the baby boy congratulations! We can already see him here with us and that makes it hard to wait 5 more months. And it doesn't hurt that I'm feeling MUCH better and the holidays are almost here! Hope you are enjoying the Fall things around you.

The boys' turn to share

It's true! We found out this past week that we are expecting another BOY!!!! (Although I realized after making the signs that "on his way" could be interpreted as possibly soon, it won't be for another 6 months until we get to see his little face.) We decided to go in for an impromptu sonogram because we were all curious about whether a little boy or a little girl would be joining our family. And we are so excited to know! He was so little in there but everything about him was perfect. We saw each individual finger and he would push his arms up above his head and then jump with his little feet. Absolutely beautiful. His little profile was perfect and we both thought right away that it reminded us of Ian's and Sawyer's profile pics. Here's his profile, facing up:


We can't believe we get to have another one of these boys. We can't wait to meet him and he has two VERY excited bigger brothers who want to know what he will be like. I can almost picture him sitting on the steps with them. What fun life is going to be like with 3 little boys running around. They will all three be teenagers together and we hope, the best of friends. How lucky are we that we get three handsome, gentle, sweet-natured, full-of-life boys to surround ourselves with. Keep growing strong little one... we'll be kissing you someday soon!

We're back and it's Fall!

Our Maui vacation was exactly as expected... relaxing and busy... wet and sandy... warm and breathtaking. We swam and played on the beach, we read books, and ate delicious food. I ate more fish in that week than my entire life combined I believe. And by the end of the eight days, the boys were so encrusted with sand it was hard to tell where their hairline began. They loved it, of course. We were a bit worn out because vacation with two young boys is well.. busy. But the memories are awesome and I love that we made some there.

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And we came back to Fall! The weather was very cold when we flew back home but the sun was shining and that makes all the difference. I'm happy to be back where I need to wrap up warm when I go outside and where the leaves are almost off the plum tree that was still bearing fruit before we left. The colors are amazing and remind me of why I love this time of year so much. This is what we've been doing since we've been back....

Painting autumn trees of our own.

Spending our mornings playing many games of "Let's Go Fishing".

And our afternoons making a craft. Today they sorted through buttons to look for all the colors of Fall.

Then they took turns threading them with string...

and making sure they were on tightly.
When they were finished we hung them from the tree branch in our family room.

And lastly... we picked pumpkins from our own garden! They started from a single seed that we had found sprouting in our compost bin. We planted it just to see what would happen and it took over our strawberries, basil, and lettuce reaching past 8 feet in every direction. But we got two beautiful pumpkins that sit perfectly on our porch. (Sawyer in full "smile" mode!)

Aloha

We're putting the rain boots away because tomorrow morning we fly away to Hawaii! Eight days in the sun, feeling the sand between our toes, and trying our best to not to get a sunburn. And oh yeah... did I mention the food? And the luaus? And the volcano?

See you next week!

Our newly painted house

Here are the before and after pics of our home! We are so happy with how it all turned out. The men who installed the trim were very meticulous and careful considering they had to saw the trim design into the siding. And the painter did an amazing job to make the whole thing come together. We decided on a Kendall Charcoal from Benjamin Moore and Pear Green from BM for the door. We love the way it pops!

House front before:

House front after:

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House side front before:

House side front after:

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Porch side before:
Porch side after:____________

Porch right side before:

Porch right side after with honeysuckle arbor:

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Back of house before:

Back of house after:

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Trim detail:

Is this thing on????

Thank you all for the wonderful congratulations on our news! We are so happy and feel very blessed to be expecting another baby. It's hard to believe it's been 2 weeks since I posted last but things seem to pile up when you don't feel well. But it looks like even that is slowly changing. I'm having more good days then bad now so I think we are turning a corner!

My sleep could use a little improving however.... I've been awake since 3am and figured what better time to catch up on a blog post! Better to get something done then just lay in bed staring at the ceiling. I had this same issue in Sawyer's pregnancy... I wake up during the night and it takes a couple hours to get back to sleep. Good thing I can adjust my mornings and lay low for awhile.

But life has been good! The boys are as active as ever and we are coming up with all kinds of things to keep busy. The weather is changing and we have warmer days and cooler days. I'm really looking forward to the colder weather, warm soups, and blankets curled up on the couch.

In the meantime though, we are getting outside and making the most of our warmer weather. We've taken hikes with silly boys...


Made water stations out on the back deck so little Lego men and Transformers can go swimming.


The boys have enjoyed dinner out with Dad on a few occasions while mama sleeps.


And there's been a lot of music being played lately. Jeremy's obtained a new music area now that Sawyer and Ian are sharing a room. The boys grab their guitars every time Dad does and it makes for some very creative music.


And it finally dawned on me to ask Jeremy to teach me chords on the piano so I could play something... anything. I've had a few lessons over the years, just enough that I've picked it up pretty quickly this time and now I can play a good list of worship songs. I love being able to sit and play and sing.



So all is well in our little world. And I've taken pictures of our newly painted house... it's been done for about a month now. (I KNOW... I've been horrible with the updates). For those of you that have been asking, I promise I'll get them up soon. Everything turned out amazing and we love the new colors!

Back to bed for me... maybe I can fall asleep for a couple of hours before the boys wake up...

Spring arrival

In the last few weeks I've nursed a few of these jars...



Spent my free time here...



... and taken lots of naps. But it's all worth it because tucked away inside of me is a little baby. A baby!

Yesterday, the four of us crowded into the doctor's office for the ultrasound. We saw a perfect little baby with little arms and legs. We even got a few wiggles out of him/her! It was fascinating especially since a couple of weeks ago all we could make out was the beautiful flashing of the heartbeat. The boys are so excited and ask us all the time when the baby is coming out. It will be a long winter for them I'm sure. Little baby should be here around April 5th.

The sickness has been worse this pregnancy then the ones before. I'm counting down the weeks until the first trimester is over and hopefully I'll start feeling better. Jeremy has been amazing. He's picked up the slack, making sure we're all taken care of and spending lots of extra time with Ian and Sawyer. The boys are understanding and know when mama needs to rest on the couch and they let me, without any complaints.

It's amazing how seeing the little baby can lift my spirit and help me look past the nausea. It never ceases to amaze me how miraculous this entire process is and it humbles me that I get to experience it again. And that by next spring, I'll be holding another little baby of ours. We love you already little one.

Little baby at 9 weeks:

Learning at home

Ian came to me when he was 3, just before his 4th birthday, and asked me if I would show him how to write his name. Sure! I thought and sat down to go over each letter and write a dotted version for him to copy. He skipped over all of it and just wrote his name. Plain and simple. Since then, he's been a writing maniac. He's taught himself most all the letters just by copying them out of books. Throughout the day he asks me how to spell certain words and then writes them over and over again. Sometimes he writes them backwards, sometimes they are split in half because he runs out of paper, and sometimes he just makes up words like he's writing a whole story.

About 2 months ago he asked me if I would teach him how to read. My sister gave me her old Bob books and we sat down to look at them. He has less patience for reading but he gets it quickly. He can easily read the first couple books in that simple series and has started rhyming words in his spare time. "Hey Mom... COAT GOAT!"

It's amazing to me because I decided long ago, when he was really little, that my goal with them wouldn't be to teach them how to read at a young age, but to focus on manners and attitudes. Because, I always thought, who cares when you begin reading as long as you get it some time. But manners are something that can easily be over looked in the frenzy of early childhood education.

Plus, about a year ago something really began stirring inside me that I couldn't ignore anymore. I had to look at it from every angle, decide what it all meant, how it would look, and ultimately... what would Jeremy think. I really... really... wanted to homeschool.

I prayed about it and we'd have discussions about what that would look like and what it would mean for the boys. Jeremy was unsure and I knew his reasons why. They had been the same reservations I had had before. But slowly, our perspectives started changing and we started seeing how good it could be. We read this book and became even more convinced that we wanted to offer something different to the boys.

Another aspect that appealed to me was unschooling... especially in the early years. I wanted the boys to be children. To not have the stress of homework, to not have to sit in a chair for hours on end but to have the freedom to study or play with what they wanted. The other part of unschooling that attracted me went along with what I mentioned above. That I wasn't going to pressure Ian into learning his letters. I wanted him to show interest whenever that happened to be and I had prepared myself for a long wait and possibly years of hearing parents talk about their 4 year olds reading while my 7 year still didn't. But funny how things happen... when Ian has space to think and be creative, space that's not taken up with the TV or being entertained, he shows interest in learning.

I hadn't planned on starting any type of "school" this year but instead wait until next year when Ian would have started kindergarten. He, however, has different plans and wants to learn now. Which ultimately is part of the unschooling philosphy... that life should be spent learning, not just during school hours, but that we are constantly learning every day of our lives.

"Birds fly, fish swim, man thinks and learns. Therefore, we do not need to motivate children into learning by wheedling, bribing or bullying. We do not need to keep picking away at their minds to make sure they are learning. What we need to do, and all we need to do, is bring as much of the world as we can into the school and classroom (in our case, into their lives); give children as much help and guidance as they ask for; listen respectfully when they feel like talking; and then get out of the way. We can trust them to do the rest."

-John Holt, How Children Learn

So this is the beginning of our journey into homeschooling. We are really excited about it and where it will take us. We live in a city that is full of life, culture, and experiences. I'm excited for the boys to meet people of all ages and backgrounds while we run errands. To have the freedom to explore and touch and interact with things on their level and on their own time. To learn music and to play sports and not have it crammed in to an already full day of hourly classes in a classroom. To watch them be creative and have space to experiment with it. To have time to be quiet and not fill every hour of their day with busy things. And I'm most excited to be there to watch it all happen.

Life and vacations

Sitting outside while the boys play. Happy that the sun is out today, if even for a moment, but thankful for the rain that fell this week. Not feeling too well and still feeling sad about our Henry. Thinking about the coming months and what they will bring.

It's important to change and move with life. I know this but it's never easy. I really do love feeling content. But little things move, they flow in and out as days go by. So we make little adjustments to move with it.

It means cutting back on our spending. Letting go of our one hundred tv channels to find contentment in just the few. To eat at home more and enjoy our own company. But realizing that even though we have to cut back on our spending habits, our house is (nearly!) painted and we've avoided further problems by waiting another year.

It means thinking that our 4 year old has finally learned a lesson in yelling only to have to sit down with him again and again. Repetition, quiet voices, gentle reprimands to calm the storm. That he has to be mindful of everything he says and how he says it. But knowing that he is learning to speak kindly even in the midst of his outbursts. And that we must show him, by example, what that means.

And how a 2 year old whose vocabulary has consisted of new words every day, is now stuck on two phrases: "I do, I DO!" and "Mine!". It means realizing that we cannot raise these boys without prayer and without constant emotional and spiritual attention.

But I'm so thankful for it all. So thankful for God's reminders of what it means to live fully and peacefully. That He isn't content to let us just sit and be idle. He's always teaching us and providing opportunities to trust Him and to grow in Him.

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I'm still finding pieces of our vacation lying around. A dirt-filled shoe here, an extra nap needed there. Our week away was very busy. We packed our days full of activities with only a little time at night to fit a board game in. The boys had an incredible time. Staying up late, constant company with their cousins around, lots of food, and so many opportunities to run and play. They fell asleep every night exhausted but woke up in the mornings ready to go full speed ahead.

Keeping tabs on cousin Caleb was a favorite past time of Ian's.

There were deer everywhere and like the dutiful city-folk we are, we took pictures whenever we could with however many cameras we had on hand.

We hiked and climbed our way around a couple of waterfalls. I left the picture big so you can see the teeny tiny man standing nearly underneath the fall on the right. That would be my Dad who still thinks he's invincible at 62 and loves to scare us all with his daring adventures. (Really... I can only blame my need to skydive the day before I graduated highschool on him. I get a lot of that from him.)

The boys making brownies with cousin Meagan.

Licking the spoons was the best part.

And collapsing every afternoon for a quick rest and to catch up on Shark Week.

Out of all the pictures we took, there wasn't one that turned out clearly of my 14 year old niece Meagan and I. So I included this one... blurry me and beautiful Meagan. It still makes me happy.

Losing a friend

We lost a really good friend last night. Henry was hit by a car. His pelvis was too broken to repair; he had lost all feeling in his legs and the doctor wasn't sure he would ever be able to walk again even with surgery. So we made the hard decision to let him go. The 4 of us crowded in the little room to scratch his neck and tell him how much we love him. He was drowsy on pain meds but he seemed comfortable and responded to each one of our kisses.

I keep going over last night, thinking about what I could have done differently. I realize there's nothing that can be changed. I'm so very grateful to the cyclist who happened to be riding by at that moment and saw it happen. Without him, it might have been hours before we realized that something was wrong. Instead he wasn't in pain for long and for that, I'm thankful.

This morning feels hard, empty. I feel like he should be rubbing up against my leg or asking to be let outside. He was a wonderful cat, patient with the boys, and always wanting to be cuddled. We miss him terribly.

Goodbye Henry.

Joys of parenting

We are leaving in the morning for our vacation. Six days in a rented house with family. Miles of trails for walking and biking, a river to glide down in canoes, late nights playing games and watching movies and of course, lots of laughing, silliness, and memory-making. In the meantime, I filled this post full of stuff, from all sides of life. Enjoy and be back next week!

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It's hard to describe the joys of parenting until you are in it. A lot of people see the fussy child in the store, the toddler who refuses to sit down during dinner in a restaurant or the 4 year old who becomes obstinate and yells at you for not buying the toy he wants. Everyone knows that side of a child. What they don't see is the piece of cake being shared between brothers... the "thank you for making me dinner" nearly every night without fail, the late night cuddles in bed, the hours and hours spent rocking a little one to sleep kissing their warm head and whispering prayers over them. And the trust they have that Dad will always catch them...

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Yesterday, the boys and I were watering the raspberry bushes and noticed that there were a lot of bumblebees bouncing from bloom to bloom. We've seen them every year but this year they seem to have doubled. I realized that most of them had pollen on their back legs that they must have been collecting over the morning. It was fascinating to see up close. I grabbed my camera and got a good clear picture of one of them. I left the picture big so you can see the pollen on his hind leg (click on it!).

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Like I would imagine most 4 1/2 year olds, Ian is completely won over by any type of superhero or gun-toting, sword-wielding person in a mask. He pretends to fight, he carries 3 different types of "guns" (different fingers you see), and is always wanting us to play dead. It's always a little shocking at first when your sweet little toddler suddenly becomes fascinated with weapons, especially when you've done what you can to keep them from seeing even remotely violent movies or cartoons. But... it's normal. It's a boy thing. And we've chosen not to fight it. We try to make sure he doesn't whip Sawyer or shoot him and we try and direct his weapon use to "snakes" or "small vermin" but it's really only because I don't want him to get over-excited and hurt his brother... not because I think he will actually become a serial killer.

He's never seen a Spiderman or Batman cartoon or movie, yet he knows who they are and what they do... somehow. Now my BIGGEST problem with this is that I really don't like him falling into the hands of marketers and wanting to buy every single toy ever made with their logo on it. I don't buy into Disney either and I really don't like him watching kid commercials because they elicit that response to consume and to always want more.

So I found an alternative that is really appropriate and funny. It's Superhero ABC. A great book with superhero personalities like Bubble Man who shoots bubbles out of his mouth and Vomit Man who vomits on villains. (Seriously... Ian loves that page). So if you're looking for a good alternative Superhero book then I recommend this one.

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Lastly... I wanted to link to a post my sister wrote earlier this week. I would love to sit and expand on it, I may, one day soon... but for now I'll link to her. She speaks her heart about gentle parenting. The comments are really honest and from all different point of views. Jeremy and I decided early on that, for example, spanking as a punishment was not what we wanted to do. We really felt like God was showing us something different and even though we aren't perfect, as you can see from the comments, we see the difference in the boys. We see how they respond to us and how peaceful our house is because of it. The post is written so graciously ... let me share one of Tonia's replies to a mama regarding her child:

"it's difficult when you are in a mind set of "power-over" or "control" parenting to accept these kinds of things, i know. we are taught that the child's obedience is the most important thing...if i am just distracting the child, i am not teaching them to obey me. (and in this kind of parenting there is tremendous pressure from other parents and christians. if my child is not obeying it is because i am not doing my job. every childish behavior is a small condemnation of my skills.) but in gentle parenting, we believe that obedience comes out of relationship. the relationship with the child is the most important thing, and so we cultivate an atmosphere of trust and value. the child has her own worth; she is a full person just as i am and does not deserve to be smacked for learning and exploring and discovering boundaries...

... again, for a certain mindset, this sounds ridiculous. it sounds as if we are catering to the children instead of our children conforming to our schedules and our family requirements. but when you consider the commands in scripture to prefer others before yourself, to lay down your life, to serve sacrificially, and when you understand that the scriptures apply to children as well as adults, it becomes easier to see."

Marionberry love

We got up early one morning last week and made our way to a little farm to find marionberries. We had to walk a bit to find the berry patch but then we saw the thin vines wrapped in circles, red and black berries dropping from all sides. Really, quite beautiful.


My Grandma came with us and they all got right to work picking berries off the vines.


She gave the boys tips on picking the ripest fruit and how to carefully pull them off the vines. She grew up picking fruit and berries all summer long as a girl on her family's fruit tree farm in Idaho. She knows her varieties and when the best time to pick them is. She knows how bruised fruit can change a canning batch. And she has story after story of the women in her family getting together to can all summer long.


I realize how much of this information is lost when it's not passed down. Invaluable skills and experience about home-keeping, canning, and gardening. All that has nearly been lost because of convenience and fast food. At least around here, there seems to be some grass-root efforts to get this information back and to teach it, person to person, community to community. So it was really, really nice to learn hands-on from my Grandma and to see her teaching my boys.





After a little mishap where my clumsiness got the best of me (dropped the whole box on the ground!), we split our pickings and said goodbye. Hot marionberry crisp with cold vanilla rice ice cream for dinner... er... dessert.


And then I canned two little jars of marionberry jam with a little left over to eat from the pan. Delicious... and definitely worth a day's work.


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Thank you for all the anniversary wishes! We had a wonderful time. And the only thing I will say about us not looking like we've changed much... well... the photographer used a lot of air brushing in that last photo. :-)

A decade!

Ten years ago today on July 24, 1999 at 6:00 in the evening, I married my best friend. What I couldn't have known then was how much more in love I would be with him now. Even though life has been rough at times, we are happy, very happy, and that feels so good.

Dating: September 1998, I was 20 and Jeremy was 23

A year later... leaving our wedding reception

And now, 10 years later. A little wiser, definitely some grey hairs and more laugh lines than I'd like to admit but I'm looking forward to what another 10 years will bring.

We are leaving in a little more than an hour to drop the boys off with my sister and then spend our first night away since Sawyer's birth! We are really excited to sit down at a nice restaurant, talk uninterrupted, and go back to a nice quiet hotel where we don't have to worry about who's jumping on the beds or running too loudly. Time away, just the two of us. It's very much deserved and we plan to enjoy each moment together until tomorrow afternoon when we pick up our boys and bring them back home to our normal life again.

Kitchen fun - making nut creamsicles

We got down to business in the kitchen yesterday. We were desperate for something cold and sweet to eat so we made berry nut creamsicles. The boys got elbow deep in water to wash the popsicle molds.


Since we can't have dairy, and I don't like the taste of soy ice cream very much, we're always looking for healthier alternatives. We have a raw 'ice cream' that the boys and I love and it makes perfect creamsicles. They scooped out the avocado and put handfuls of cashews in the blender. I bought a Vita-Mix a few months ago and while I told myself for years that I didn't really need one, I can't imagine my kitchen without one now. Besides making our "ice cream" in a matter of minutes, I make our own gluten-free flour, green smoothies, and it can even blend up compost from the kitchen! I love this machine.


We enjoyed a little cup while the creamsicles were freezing.

Berry Peach Iced Nut Cream

1/2 cup raw cashews
1 large orange, juiced (or 1 cup orange juice)
1-2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 ripe avocado
1 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 to 1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen peach slices

If you own a Vita-Mix you can blend all the ingredients in it (adding more orange juice as it's needed). Otherwise, use a blender to blend until creamy and smooth the cashews, orange juice, and vanilla.

Then transfer the cashew mixture to a food processor fitted with the 's' blade and add the avocado, frozen raspberries, frozen strawberries, and frozen peach slices then process until smooth, thick, and creamy.

Serve immediately, or freeze for later use. To serve frozen nut cream, let stand at room temperature for about 5 to 10 minutes then place into the food processor and process until soft and creamy.*

*This is my slightly modified version. The original recipe is from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook.