Zion
Bryce
Goblin Valley?
Arches
Petroglyphs
Antelope Canyon
Horseshoe Bend
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Southwest Pictures
Here are a few of Christian's favorites from his tour last week...he was somewhat limited by a client that didn't like hiking or heights or bugs, so he couldn't get to some views he would've liked to. Oh well, we're glad to have him back!!!
Zion
Monument Valley
Antelope Canyon
North Rim of the Grand Canyon
Friday, June 24, 2011
Quickie... well, more or less...
Sorry, Christian took both cameras with him, so I have no pictures! Maybe I need to get bluetooth for my computer or something so I can transfer stuff from my phone.
ANYway, we've been having a good week despite the absence of Daddy who is now wrapping up a photography tour of the Southwest. (Yeah, next week you'll see some great pictures) Last Saturday we went to the library to see James the Juggler. He was pretty neat- one of his first tricks was juggling balls and apples and eating the apples as juggled them. At the end he juggled three 12lb bowling balls. In the middle were all sorts of juggling tricks, including using a hula hoop and a teeter-totter looking device that he balanced on. He also did quite a few yo-yo tricks and some other things from around the world. The kids loved it and we got them signed up for the summer reading program! Poor Peter has to read 12 hours before he gets a prize and lucky Anne (and the rest) only has to read 6. :) Peter's already at 5 1/2, though- he's never had a problem getting motivated to read. What's also cool is that audio books count as well. I should put on the Nathaniel the Grublet CD that Grace put together for us that has like an hour of book material. But I can do that in the car.
ANYway, I digress. For weeks now the kids have been talking about "Kids' Holiday" coinciding with the 1st day of Summer. They would just play some random imaginary game (like Band, where they pretend they're in a band) and say "We should play that on Kids' Holiday! So Tuesday kids had fun playing (I still made them do chores though, oh well) and in the afternoon our recently returned Auntie Faith and Uncle Gary took the big kids to the pool! I stayed home with the twins and remembered why I'm so grateful that the twins aren't my firstborn (let's just say I didn't get much work done). I did manage to pull off a banana cake with chocolate frosting, though, in honor of the special holiday. We spent the evening playing/chatting with Grandpa and Auntie Grace and Uncle Andy. Our friends the Requadts also stopped by with their little one that we hadn't seen in over a year. So that turned out to be a pretty fun day!
I've also been working at implementing the system laid out in Large Family Logistics (pretty much the best book ever, in my humble but accurate opinion :) ). So I've been working hard and what do you know? My house is pretty clean and the kids are learning some great skills! I like that she has a Focus Area that you whittle at all week as well as each day having its own purpose (e.g. Tuesday is Kitchen day, Wednesday is Office Day, etc.). I LOVE that she clarifies that this system is meant to be a tool, I am not meant to be its slave. If I don't get something done that was on the list, no worries- I'll have another chance next week.
Here are some favorite quotes:
-"We don't say, 'I can't'. We say, 'I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!"
- "Teach the kids to ask, 'What can I do next for you, Mom?"
- "If you complain, you will keep the job until you can do it without complaining."
- Teach the kids, "We are a family, we love each other, we take care of each other, we help each other."
- "It's this realization- that God made us and keeps us safely in His hands-that gives us as wives the spiritual strength to rejoice and to overcome difficulties; to not only have physical stamina, but to demonstrate spiritual fortitude as well."
- "Put yesterday behind you and get started today by planning for tomorrow. Do the necessary prep work today to make tomorrow a success, and start each day out with joy!"
ANYway, we've been having a good week despite the absence of Daddy who is now wrapping up a photography tour of the Southwest. (Yeah, next week you'll see some great pictures) Last Saturday we went to the library to see James the Juggler. He was pretty neat- one of his first tricks was juggling balls and apples and eating the apples as juggled them. At the end he juggled three 12lb bowling balls. In the middle were all sorts of juggling tricks, including using a hula hoop and a teeter-totter looking device that he balanced on. He also did quite a few yo-yo tricks and some other things from around the world. The kids loved it and we got them signed up for the summer reading program! Poor Peter has to read 12 hours before he gets a prize and lucky Anne (and the rest) only has to read 6. :) Peter's already at 5 1/2, though- he's never had a problem getting motivated to read. What's also cool is that audio books count as well. I should put on the Nathaniel the Grublet CD that Grace put together for us that has like an hour of book material. But I can do that in the car.
ANYway, I digress. For weeks now the kids have been talking about "Kids' Holiday" coinciding with the 1st day of Summer. They would just play some random imaginary game (like Band, where they pretend they're in a band) and say "We should play that on Kids' Holiday! So Tuesday kids had fun playing (I still made them do chores though, oh well) and in the afternoon our recently returned Auntie Faith and Uncle Gary took the big kids to the pool! I stayed home with the twins and remembered why I'm so grateful that the twins aren't my firstborn (let's just say I didn't get much work done). I did manage to pull off a banana cake with chocolate frosting, though, in honor of the special holiday. We spent the evening playing/chatting with Grandpa and Auntie Grace and Uncle Andy. Our friends the Requadts also stopped by with their little one that we hadn't seen in over a year. So that turned out to be a pretty fun day!
I've also been working at implementing the system laid out in Large Family Logistics (pretty much the best book ever, in my humble but accurate opinion :) ). So I've been working hard and what do you know? My house is pretty clean and the kids are learning some great skills! I like that she has a Focus Area that you whittle at all week as well as each day having its own purpose (e.g. Tuesday is Kitchen day, Wednesday is Office Day, etc.). I LOVE that she clarifies that this system is meant to be a tool, I am not meant to be its slave. If I don't get something done that was on the list, no worries- I'll have another chance next week.
Here are some favorite quotes:
-"We don't say, 'I can't'. We say, 'I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!"
- "Teach the kids to ask, 'What can I do next for you, Mom?"
- "If you complain, you will keep the job until you can do it without complaining."
- Teach the kids, "We are a family, we love each other, we take care of each other, we help each other."
- "It's this realization- that God made us and keeps us safely in His hands-that gives us as wives the spiritual strength to rejoice and to overcome difficulties; to not only have physical stamina, but to demonstrate spiritual fortitude as well."
- "Put yesterday behind you and get started today by planning for tomorrow. Do the necessary prep work today to make tomorrow a success, and start each day out with joy!"
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Our World of Plastics- a funny story
So the other day Peter warned Christian before he went to bed, "You'd better watch out- you're going to get a surprise tonight! This normally means we'll find a plastic dinosaur or stuffed dog or something like that under our pillow (this is a tradition my family had growing up- sneaking a plastic frog under other peoples' pillows- I highly recommend the tradition- makes up for not doing the tooth fairy, right? :) ). Christian, however, forgot the warning. The next morning, bright and early, acting slightly giddy, Peter skipped into our room and asked Christian how he liked his surprise. C admitted he forgot and promptly lifted his pillow, revealing a dead stink bug. Peter, giggling, blurted out, "Anne and I found a plastic stink bug in the backyard!!!" I, marvelously suppressing a shriek, informed him that it was indeed a real stink bug. He had a good cackle over it anyway once he realized he wasn't in trouble. :)
On other fronts, as in all fronts, God is good. I've pretty much been dreading potty training the twins since, well, before they were born. Probably within the first couple hours after finding out we were having twins. A month or so ago, Berea started adamantly objecting to wearing a diaper. I, dreading potty training, just as adamantly forced her to wear the diapers. I vacillated back and forth for a few weeks over when to take the big plunge- before Christian's big trip? Before our Zion trip in August? Heck, why not just wait until next Summer! Well, I decided to give them a trial run of just one day, fully expecting to be ready to throw in the towel. So, just about every day since then I've been waiting for them to completely rebel and decide they hate the whole thing, giving me an excuse to give up. But they've been SO amazing (just like they were AMAZING sleepers as newborns). I just leave them undressed from the waist down and by golly, when they need to go, they sit on the little potties and go! Not that they're perfect, but we've had remarkably few accidents. It makes me SO glad that I have twins when I find them cheering each other on- "Yay, Tissah! Poo poo!!! (clap clap clap)". Often one will sit down and the other will decide she should get to do it, too. It also helps that all five kiddos get a gummy bear with any accomplishment- that way we're all the same team! :)
On other fronts, as in all fronts, God is good. I've pretty much been dreading potty training the twins since, well, before they were born. Probably within the first couple hours after finding out we were having twins. A month or so ago, Berea started adamantly objecting to wearing a diaper. I, dreading potty training, just as adamantly forced her to wear the diapers. I vacillated back and forth for a few weeks over when to take the big plunge- before Christian's big trip? Before our Zion trip in August? Heck, why not just wait until next Summer! Well, I decided to give them a trial run of just one day, fully expecting to be ready to throw in the towel. So, just about every day since then I've been waiting for them to completely rebel and decide they hate the whole thing, giving me an excuse to give up. But they've been SO amazing (just like they were AMAZING sleepers as newborns). I just leave them undressed from the waist down and by golly, when they need to go, they sit on the little potties and go! Not that they're perfect, but we've had remarkably few accidents. It makes me SO glad that I have twins when I find them cheering each other on- "Yay, Tissah! Poo poo!!! (clap clap clap)". Often one will sit down and the other will decide she should get to do it, too. It also helps that all five kiddos get a gummy bear with any accomplishment- that way we're all the same team! :)
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Life
I've just started reading a book called Large Family Logistics. I love it so far, and hope it will help me with time management and priorities, especially with The Abyss, as she calls it (Internet) :) that has a tendency to suck me in. In the meantime, life has been happening anyway, so here are a some pictures of what we've been up to...
Wearing African clothes...
Playing Peek-a-boo (or peel-a-boo, as T calls it)
Putting skirts on our heads...
Trying on Mr. Potato Head accessories...
Hugging? Wrestling?...
Potty training when I feel like it (the girls are doing pretty well when I'm up for it)
Trying not to gripe about the weather- you'll notice the humidity level at 1%... and it's not abnormal to have a 50* change in temperature from early morning to afternoon. Our poor plants.
Running irrigation lines to aforementioned poor plants...
Chicken-tending...
or rooster-tending?...
Finding chickens who have become escape artists...
Appreciating that we at least have a good crop of spearmint and peppermint coming in!...
Stocking up on pineapple to dehydrate...
and loving the great strawberry prices this season...
losing teeth...
Trying to keep a smile on our faces...
more or less...
Becoming a graphic artist...
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