a visit with the Embrees!

Our good friends, the Embrees, are on home assignment in the USA from their home in South Africa, and we've had the privilege of hanging out with them on numerous occasions these past couple weeks! On this particular night, it was raspberry picking time!

Jeremy set up a berry picking contest... The winner? Hannah. The prize? Max's blue ribbon winning cookies for all.

This wonderful family has an amazing ministry in South Africa. They've lived there 7 years already! Thanks James and Ella for sharing your family with us.

You can check out what they're up to here.

fan in training

I snapped this shot last week of my little sweetie watching late night gymnastics with me! Everyone else was in bed usually, it was just me and Annika. She was clapping after the Chinese gymnast messed up on bars. Just Kidding... but she was really happy that night!

bountiful harvest

My super-gardener husband grows an incredible garden, if I do say so myself! I can't take any credit, I just pick it, cook with it, and eat it. I have grown to appreciate it SO much.

This year we grew cabbage (green & red), carrots, zucchini, 8 ball squash, green beans, apples, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, green onions, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, celery, spinach, swill chard, and butter crunch lettuce! Some he starts from seeds, and for some buys starts.

He has been working extra hard this summer to build a greenhouse for next year. I call it the Taj Ma-greenhouse, it's huge! But I'm dreaming of growing tomatoes, peppers, watermelon and pumpkin in it! Who knows if the last two will work... but it's worth a try! I tell him he should start a garden consulting business, he's amazing! Here are some pictures of some of the wonderful things we've grown this year:

You hit the nail on the head, son. Twice.

Here are a couple of recent quotes out of my 7 year old's mouth. They blew me away! One in a funny way and one in a WOW way.

Gavin: "Mom, make some more!" (he was talking about some kind of food I'd made and he said it in a cute, excited way)
Drew: "Moms are Moms. You need to say please make some more. Moms aren't servants."

Thank you, son for acknowledging that I am indeed not a servant (in that way)! But, I am a servant by choice in serving my family and others in ways that please God. Sometimes my attitude needs some tweaking, but my four little ones and Jeremy are a joy to serve.

Okay, here's the WOW one. He randomly said this during lunch a couple weeks ago. I wrote it down right away because I never want to forget it.

After sitting at the table pondering for a moment... Drew said, "I think God is better than I think."

He continued by listing off the reasons why in this order:

1) He lets people make their own decisions.
2) He's nice.
3) He does miracles for people that don't believe in Him.
4) He lets us have a good home.
5) He brought Jesus down to earth to save us.

Thank you, sweet son, for reminding me that God is indeed "better than I think!" That same boy struggles with sin just like the rest of us, but is still able to ask for forgiveness, move forward, and glorify God with his words. I have to laugh thinking about the last two days with him. He has lost the use of his bike for 2 days, his computer time for a week, and spent an hour on his bed! That all happened in a 24 hour period! He struggles just like the apostle Paul did as stated in the Bible and as we all do today. Drew always says, "My brain wants to do right things, but my body just doesn't do it."

That is exactly (in 7 year old terms) what Paul was saying in the Bible in Romans 7:15: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."

But to Drew's credit, the first thing he did before breakfast this morning was grab the electric sweeper in the kitchen and clean up because he said there were too many crumbs. No matter how exasperating some moments with him can be, he is so sweet, loving, and thoughtful. And later in the day he told me I looked like I needed to sit down and take a break because I was working too hard. I laughed really loudly and he said, "What??? You do!"

I always grab him and hug him and remind him that he was my first baby. And that I used to do all of the same things with him that I now do with our sweet Annika. He loves that, and is fascinated at the fact that he was WAY chubbier than her!

Chubba Lubba Drew at 7 months

HOORAY!

Finally! A gold medal for Shawn Johnson! She was flawless on beam and won herself a well-deserved Olympic Gold Medal!!! She has shown so much maturity in all of her interviews during these games and she's only 16! And to take so many silvers after being touted the world's next "it" girl in gymnastics.... she was so gracious. And on a side note, does anyone know how to mute commentator Tim Daggett??? hee hee Just kidding, he has been the commentator since I was a young teenager, I can tune him out now. Waa waaa waaahh

Way to go, Shawn!!!! Can you imagine training since you were 6 years old? And for like 8 hours a day for this??? Wowsers... I'm not so sure that would be my priority, but congrats, girl!

Nastia takes the gold!

Hooray for Team USA for taking the gold and the silver in the All-Around the other night!

I was on the edge of my seat, as were a few of you! It was a great competition, and it was completely amazing that our top two gymnast were 1-2, taking the gold and silver! I was so proud of Shawn Johnson for being so gracious to her friend and teammate, even though she was touted as our next gold medalist. And what a beautiful night of gymnastics for Nastia Liukin. She has absolutely flawless gymnastics, way to go!!! But you can cheer for Shawn and Nastia a couple more times this week! Nastia qualified to compete in the event finals in Uneven Bars and Beam, and Shawn will compete on the Beam and Floor Ex. starting Sunday night! I'm hoping our little Shawn will come through with a gold medal of her own.

Gymnastics!

Okay, so I have to admit that I'm bummed about the silver medal! They suffered a few setbacks both in the way of injuries just prior to the preliminaries and mistakes in tonight's performance. I was SO tense watching them on bars and beam. I could hardly watch. Gymnastics has been a love of mine since I don't remember when! It was a bit lonely watching the big event this time (miss you sis), my whole family went to bed after the first rotation. It was nice and quiet, but I miss the outloud cheering! Compared to Athens four years ago, the party at the Parker's, and a large toga over my prego belly... this was a bit of a letdown night of gymnastics. I at least should have eaten an egg roll, don't you think? But I loved every minute of it and am anxiously awaiting the Women's All-Around competition Thursday night!


Who will it be? Shawn, Nastia, or say it isn't so: a gymnast from China??? :)






Tell me, who do you think will take the All-Around gold?

My vote? The cool as a cucumber and extremely talented Shawn Johnson. But I would be equally thrilled if our Nastia took it as well!

Blog update and nightmare!

Well, I've finally figured out how to get those cool blogger backgrounds! Go to www.pyzam.com for free backgrounds... there are TOO many to choose from. But maybe do it without your kiddos and hubby in the room. I came across one racy one and I'm sure there are many more.

Have fun!!! But the only bummer (big bummer) in all this is that I accidentally clicked on something that deleted all my old "widgets" which were all of my links on the side!!!!! Okay, now I need to remember all the blogs I had linked to! Happy blogging!

July highlights

Is there nothing better? Does anyone else just love brand new Crayola crayons? We snagged this the other day at FM and it has been very popular around here. Especially by our little one who wears mostly pink. She actually sorted the entire thing by color the 2nd day she had it. So now it looks like a big organized rainbow. I was secretly so proud of her, because that is exactly what I would have done!

Drew checking out a very interesting history book at one of our favorite new stops!

Kaci and Jordyn joining us at our favorite stop for Story Time! I don't think when Jessica and I were 14 we would have imagined this! We've been best buds since 9th grade! Bungee Buddies, actually! I hope you're reading this, Jess!

This little Kangaroo came jumping down the hall out of her room with her baby doll in the pouch! We went on a walk shortly after, and the kangaroo came too. I held her long tail so she could walk without dragging it. She collected leaves the entire way to feed her "baby!"

Us three having "Grill Time" as Morgan puts it.

Uncle Sean and Auntie Vanessa came for a long weekend toward the end of July! We were able to go up to their new property and spend the day. The kids even went out fishing with the men, not a fish was in sight, but they had a blast!

Uncle Sean and Miss Morgan

Beautiful Auntie Vanessa and Sweet Annika

Fancy Nancy look-a-likes Morgan and Abby!

My Mom, who is affectionately know as Grammy by the grandkids made 3 sets of matching dresses for the girls!! They are SO adorable!

Thanks, Mom... they will see loads of wear!

!

let the Games begin!

Meet the 2008 Olympic team of the best Olympic sport! Gymnastics!!! I thought I'd add to my sis Jen's post here.... by letting you meet the team! Big nerds, I know! We've been into gymnastics since longer than I can remember! Go USA!

Shawn, our national all-around champ.

Nastia, our national all-around runner up.

Chellsie

Samantha

Bridget

Alicia

a MUST read

There are a few (a lot) of "social issues" in this country that send me on a major soap box, and this book touches on several of them! I'm not usually into politics and that sort of thing. And never before have I used this blog to mention any of those, but I am very into anything that has to do with our health and cover-ups by the ones we should be able to trust in the name of money... (think water supplies, pesticides, airborne poison, autism, vaccines, breast cancer, etc... they're all covered here)

I ran into the public library to return some books this afternoon while my family patiently waited in the car. I can't enter a library without walking through the isles to see if a book catches my interest. Well, I walked out of the library with about 8 books on subjects that range from vegetables to cooking to vaccines to my book club book to juices & smoothies to THIS.

I couldn't wait to jump into it. I've been sitting on the couch since we arrived home a couple hours ago and have been devouring it ever since. I'm now half way through the book and may finish it by the time my head hits the pillow. It seriously makes me want to do something. So I figured the best thing I could do about it all at this moment was to tell all of you about it! A lot of the issues talked about in the book were issues I was already concerned about and being proactive about for our family, but I was astonished by countless others. And can I just make one recommendation before you read this book??

STOP eating Tuna! I knew about mercury levels when the whole thing came out about Tuna containing dangerous levels of mercury, but I innocently assumed that it would be taken care of for the safety of our nations consumers. Boy, was I wrong! (I learned there is nothing that can be done! You can't buy your way around the tuna problem! No options for "organic" tuna.)

To make an amazingly interesting chapter short... basically, mercury gets to our ocean's creatures by pollution that originates in coal-fired plants. "First, it pollutes the surrounding air, then, in an inexorable cycle, it drifts with the wind and rains down into the ocean water." So basically, once it settles in the sea, it begins to contaminate the smallest creatures first. The it quickly moves through the food chain... ending with the largest fish, like tuna, holding the largest levels of mercury. Yuck! You have to get your hands on this book! And the "good" albacore tuna is the worst, it holds 3 times the amount of mercury as the regular kind. It is disasterous to your health. Especially our children, babies, and unborn. SO..... not to be a bummer of a friend, but we Americans are WAY too trusting. The amount that the FDA says is beneficial for your health is absolutely not. "If American women follow the FDA's advice and eat a can of albacore tuna a week, a bad situation will be made far, far worse."

There are a few more major issues that I haven't yet gotten to in the book. The tagline on the front of the book states, "Startling new evidence about the real causes of cluster illnesses, birth defects, cancer, asthma, and autism."

I'm sure I'll have more soap boxes to jump onto after finishing the book. But for now, I think that's enough "food" for thought!

Aaron and Abie

As promised, back in May, here are some pictures of Aaron and his fiance Abie!

They are getting married October 18th, and we are so excited for the two of

them and can hardly wait to have another sister!

Below is a picture of the moment Aaron popped the question.

What a romantic backdrop, wouldn't you say?

so so so so blessed

Here are four reasons why:

happy birthday to gavin!

We celebrated Gavin's 6th birthday earlier this month with a Soccer Party! He invited some buddies to the park for a fun evening! He was more than energetic and was quite hilarious opening gifts... that's our exuberant boy! He thought his party was "Sweeeeeeet!" and "Awesome!"

The kids were so cute lined up on a picnic table bench to watch Gavin open gifts... they were mesmerized. I love it. I remember feeling so happy for my friends, as a child, when they opened gifts. And I remember that feeling when they opened your gift. I'm glad I get to relive that with my kids.

Gavin is a wonderful, energetic, fun-loving, sweet, kind, sharing, sports-loving kind of boy. He makes our home a hilarious place to be. He is starting to really grow up and Jeremy and I comment that we don't ever want his cute little voice to change. I'll end this post by sharing a Gavin funny from this summer.



In June, we went to Vacation Bible School at church... and every day in the "Jerusalem Marketplace" there was some sort of drama that took place acted out by adults in costume. Near the end of the week, it was getting intense. Jesus had been arrested and Peter (one of Jesus' disciples) was walking through the marketplace and was being asked if he in fact knew Jesus. (And we know that in the Biblical account, he denies knowing Jesus 3 times before the rooster crows....) But here's how Gavin took it:

"Mom! I'll tell you what happened!! That guy Peter? He said he didn't know Jesus, 3 TIMES before he heard the turkey!!!"

Drew and I laughed SO hard on the way home about it... after Drew corrected him and told him that it was actually a rooster, he said, " Oh, I didn't know that!" Then just a few days later... "Mom, a crow says cock-a-doodle-doo!" That boy sure has his birds messed up!!!! :)

fabulous summer

I just have to blog about my new-found freedom from To-Do lists. For the past 4-5 years, my life has been ruled by a huge, never-ending To-Do list, and I now have none! (breathing a huge sigh of relief) In the past I had a running list of things that needed to be accomplished for MOPS and other ministry involvements, etc.... even during the summer. I'll go a whole week or more now before I pick up my planner, that used to lay open on the kitchen island year-round.

The quote at the bottom of the picture to the right says, "Make a list - you'll feel better." That cracks me up! That is SO me sometimes.

Granted, I still make lists before birthday parties, a big cleaning project, events, and those kinds of things. I'm a list kinda gal... remember, I'm one of the strange ones who writes something down that I already did, just so I can check it off! (did I just admit that??)

I was just realizing the other day, how free this summer has felt. I don't care that the weather has been less than ideal, it doesn't affect me. I love rainy days because you can stay inside and watch movies, read, and play board games, I love snowy days because we have hot cocoa, light candles, and listen to good music, I love cool fall days where sweaters and sweatshirts make their way back into the wardrobe, and I love brown spring days because I know that green is just around the corner. What can I say, I'm easy to please. I love for things to change, so I guess Alaska is the perfect place for me. The weather doesn't stay the same for very long.

Pause.... Drew just came out of this room, it's 10:30pm and they've been in bed for an hour and a half... and gave this Mom a heart attack! He said in a wavery about to cry voice, "Mom???? Gavin is hanging from the bunk bed!" "WHAT?????", I yelled and ran in to see. And Drew said, "NO! Not that kind of hanging.... he was hanging like this!!!" (like a monkey from the top bunk rail) All I could imagine as I ran in there was that they were playing around with a rope or something, and Gavin was the bad kind of hanging from the top bunk! Situation solved.... I just have two insomniac boys who were both in tears because they couldn't fall asleep. The adventure never ends. Un-pause. :)

I am so thankful it is summer. But I am getting really excited, as you homeshooling mamas will understand, about the box (or two) of books that should be arriving this month for the next school year! So far, Math, History, and Language Arts are ordered and heading our way. But I'll be happy enough to tuck them away until the first week of September when we dive in for real.

I told the boys tonight after the above episode that we'd get back into the habit of reading a chapter of a book before bed... Right now we're reading a spin-off of the Little House books. When the boys were little before the girls came along, they each picked out 3 books before bed and we read and read... but now this Mama is a tad more weary at the end of the day and we read sporadically throughout the day but not as a routine in the summer. So as the boys were tearfully trying to settle back into bed, I asked them if we should start up a bedtime routine like we used to do. They both lit up and nodded. Oh, and we added bedtime music to the routine. All things we used to do, but let them slide away with life.

Well, goodnight... this long, rambly post has come to an end... but could you answer me a question or two??

If you have kiddos, do you have a bedtime routine? And what do you do?

and/or

Are you a list maker like me?