ups and downs of life in our household

We have had a hard few days. The 2 little ones had MD appointments and got vaccinations and Roman got blood drawn. Roman is also getting his 2 year old molars. Needless to say, there has been a lot of crying going on around here! (and it hasn't all been the children...)

Roman did refer to himself as "Ro" for the first time though, so that is exciting. In between screaming, Lincoln has moments of happiness, true laughter and smiles. Maybe I should say that inbetween his happiness there are moments of screaming...it depends on the day I guess. Deacon is very happy with this Awana program, his swimming lessons and his friends. Next things to get him to love are vegetables and getting his pajamas on. (he says he is tired of putting his pajamas on everyday...he has a life of boredom ahead of him unless he can adjust his attitude...)

Thank goodness there are 2 of us- Noah is putting them to bed right now. We are so thankful for our friends and family too! Thanks mom for coming over and helping out today! We will show you the picture of the duck using the 'puter tomorrow! (Deacon saw a picture of a duck using a computer and he started laughing and laughing and said, "we've got to show this to grandma".)

sad and glad

Roman's 2nd birthday was yesterday. His party had a Bob/Elmo/Cars/Thomas theme! We had all of his favorite snacks and he was overwelmed with presents! It was a good time. Noah and I took the boys to McDonalds for lunch for a birthday treat. Deacon was quite upset over it because it was just us..."why aren't we bringing our people?" he asked. He often refers to friends and family as "our people" i think it is cute. It reminds me of the passage Noah and I had on our wedding invitations, "where you go, I will go and where you stay I will stay. your people will be my people and your God, my God." (Ruth something).

The sad part is that we said goodbye to Karla. She left this morning for Brazil. We are going to miss her SO much! the boys know she is going to Brazil, but they don't really understand. This morning Deacon asked about her and thought she would be at church. No concept of how far away Brazil actually is.

We share everything...

This is what brothers do, right?

odds and ends

Thanks for this picture of our family, Sally!

Wow! Time flies by...I can't believe it has been almost a week since I last posted! What has gone on...well, we are in the process of demolishing our deck in preparation of putting on a new one in the spring and we all started swimming lessons!

Deacon had his first swim lesson on Saturday with no parent in the water. I was afraid that he would cry, but he didn't and he particpated wholeheartedly in the lesson. Roman had his parent/child class and he followed along with the class without too many maverick antics.

Noah and I started lessons too- trying to improve our strokes in anticipation of our triathlon next summer. Deacon talks about triathlons a lot. He wants his own. He draws pictures of triathlons. I don't think he really gets it.

The boys went to the arboratum with my mom and sister on Monday. they had a great time. there was a maze for kids to go through. i will post pictures when I get them from my sister.

Cubbies and Puggles

It was the first night of Awana- something that we have been looking foward for with great expectation!

Deacon started the preschool program called Cubbies and Roman started the toddler program called Puggles. I was a little worried about how Deacon would do- if he would cry or not. He didn't and he had a great time. He even looked older and more grownup when he was done...he very seriously told me that in his bag were some rules that he had to learn. He asked me when he was going again and said that he thinks that next time he will be in T & T (the 3rd-5th grade program) That boy is always looking ahead!

We have never really celebrated halloween with the kids but this year there is going to be a little "Halajulah" party at church and we told the kids that they were going to be able to dress up. Deacon is very seriously weighing his options. He is considering being a table and havin Roman be a chair (I kid you not. he came up with that himself) otherwise our whole family may be power rangers or a football team. The best one is he being peanut butter, Roman being jelly and noah and i being toast. I suggested Deacon being spiderman, Roman being Superman, Noah being batman and me being wonder woman with Lincoln as Robin. My mom suggested "The incredibles". We will see how it all shakes out!

We went to "Lexi's Pirate Park" today and had a great time! I gotta learn to relax and just have fun with them more! I try to just remember to thank God that he can talk when he tells me the list of what he wants for his birthday for the 25th time in one day....

Pictures

I thought I would add some orange to the page in honor of Romans birthday month!

Karla and I took the boys to get their pictures taken last week. Why do I even bother?! They actually turned out pretty good- it is certainly a blessing that they are so naturally cute :) Lincoln crys when the other boys are within a foot of him and Roman kept climbing things -both actions aren't conducive to group shots...I think we may be able to capture our reality better on video :)

In Spencer

Grindstone Lake Family Camp

The day was a little too much for Roman. He fell asleep (finally) in the sailboat with his life jacket on!



The Teeter totters were a big hit!
Noah on the tire swing!

Some thought this bat was cute, I am not convinced!
Deacon in the fort!