A Trip to the Beach and a Near-Death Experience

Do you see that photo at the top of my blog? Well, I got to take the boys there last week, and it was SO FUN! My mom came over a couple of days early, and we all drove up to Grand Haven, MI together. Then my grandparents met us there the next day. They had never met Gabe before, and Ladan and I hadn't seen them in almost two years, so this was a special treat.

This was my first kid-on-the-beach experience, so I wasn't exactly sure what I should do with Gabe. I asked many friends, and none of them had any good advice... except be ready to fish sand out of his mouth if he gets enough that he's choking. It's a good thing I tend to be a little bit laid-back when it comes to my kids encountering germs, because the thought of seagull poop in his mouth might have prevented me from going otherwise.

So, in the interest of your time, I'll get on with the photos, and I'll include a few little stories where necessary....

In case you're a relativist who isn't sure whether or not there's truth in the statement that the earth is round, these first two photos are for you.



The boys had a blast the one day we actually got to play on the beach. It was 80 degrees, there was a calm breeze, and the water was warm enough to get in. Gabe took right to it all. Ladan needed a few minutes to get used the facts that the sand was dirty and that the water might make him wet. He was pretty funny, actually. For the first 30+ minutes, he did things a little differently than most kids. Most kids I know take wet sand up to the dry sand so they can make castles, etc. Ladan, on the other hand, took the dry sand down to the wet sand so as to make it less "muddy". After a good bit of time, however, he did what every kid does and spent about an hour throwing shovels of sand out to the water.



Our beach day was Sunday. Monday was rainy, so we decided to do some swimming in the hotel pool and celebrate our Dutch heritage with a trip to Holland, MI. Ladan promptly found the huge wooden shoes and decided they would serve better as race cars for he and Gabe.



Then Tuesday was ultra-windy. The winds were about 35-40 miles per hour... leading to the crazy-hair photos below. If Gabe had hair, it would have been blowing too! Ladan was very uncomfortable in the wind, so he stayed up closer to the car with Grandma. Gabe accompanied me all the way to the water's edge, which is where I snapped the shot of the two of us.




And these are my grandparents! My Gram will be 80 in the spring, and Ken is something like 83. They're so active and energetic, and they have a BLAST together! Ken has macular degeneration, so he can't see much at all. However, Gabe's big eyes captured his heart. It wasn't long before he was crawling around on the floor with Gabe playing peek-a-boo.



Okay, so here's my mom's favorite part... the horse-riding experience. My Uncle Bob (mom's brother) lives about 20 minutes from Grand Haven, and he invited us to come out to ride his horses. Ladan thought the idea was really great, but these were some big horses, so he decided it wasn't such a great idea anyway. I rode Buddy using the saddle normally fitted for the other horse. After walking into a tree line, nearly falling off the horse MULTIPLE times, and fearing for my life a few more than that, I figured out how to get Buddy to do what I wanted him to do.

I quickly learned from experience that horses get a little bit "fiesty" (as Bob termed it) on cool, breezy days. As soon as the breeze picked up, so did Buddy. I can't even count the number of times I had to slow the silly horse down so I didn't bounce right off the top of him. It wasn't until I dismounted, and my cousin was about to get on that we realized that Buddy's saddle was too loose. It's no wonder I felt a bit insecure! Lesson #1: if you're jumping up onto a horse, and his saddle slides down his side, get back off and tighten it... BEFORE you go for a 3-mile ride! Lesson #2: If you fail to do this, your bottom will likely hurt for a day or two. Lesson #3: It's still pretty fun even if it's a bit scary!

Gabe decided he would go ahead and attempt to ride with Bob. He was right at home, and Bob was having a great time! Ladan was content to pet the horses, which is just fine with me.

And here are a few photos of the lake (Lake Michigan, in case you're not sure). The wind prevented us from hanging out on the beach, but it made some really great waves! There is no doubt that the LORD is an all-powerful Creator! Just look at his handiwork!

And, finally, does anyone with loads of random knowledge happen to have figured out why seagulls stand perfectly still staring in exactly the same direction at a time of high winds and possible rain? I'm assuming it's to streamline their bodies and make it a little bit easier to stand on their tiny little feet. But if there's a better or more complete explanation, please comment.

More Conversations With Ladan...

Conversation #1

Let me set the story up a bit for you...

When Ladan is being bothered by another child, his tendency is to just scream. We have been trying to teach him how to handle this a little bit better. When one of his friends is pushing or doing something he doesn't appreciate or understand, we instruct him to simply say, "Please don't do that." If the child continues, he is to come tell us or another adult in charge (he is not to hit or push back).

A couple of days ago, we were taking our normal evening walk/jog in the park. Gabe was in the back of the 2-kid stroller, and Ladan was in front. Ladan wanted to recline his seat, causing his bright orange hat to be within arm's reach of his very curious little brother. That said, his hat didn't stay on his head long, and he was quickly moved to shout at his brother, "BABY GABE, PLEASE DON'T DO THAT!" It was a little loud, but he was getting the concept. Realizing that when another person touches Ladan's hat it's the equivalent of them taking his underpants or some other terrible offense, and that Gabe (at 11 months of age) probably wasn't going to understand my explanation, I had to come up with a quick solution. They swapped seats.

Now Ladan was sitting in the back, and Gabe was in the front. Of course, this was very difficult for Gabe, because everything that was interesting to him was behind him. He was regularly turning around and laughing at Ladan. Since Ladan's hat was safe, he felt free to enjoy the company of his baby brother. He started to gently tickle Gabe's ears. After a few tickles, it became clear that Gabe no longer enjoyed this type of play. The conversation followed like this...

Me: "Ladan, please don't poke at or tickle your brother. He's not enjoying that."

(He promptly stops and sits back in his seat.)

Ladan: "Mommy, could you please don't do that?"

Me: "Don't do what?"

Ladan: "Could you please don't tell Ladan "stop tickling my broder"?"

Me: "Ladan, Mommy is trying to help you love your brother. When you were tickling him and poking at him, he wasn't enjoying it. I want Baby Gabe to like hanging out with you, so I'm helping you learn how to show him love."

Ladan: "Because I don't know these things."

Me: "Yes."

Ladan: "And you're helping me."

Me: "Yes."

Ladan: "Thanks, Mom."

The ride home was quiet and uneventful, aside from Gabe's near escape from his stroller buckle. That kid is going to be some kind of Houdini, I'm convinced.

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Conversation #2

(Ladan is sitting on the potty, and I'm cleaning the toys out of the tub.)

Ladan: "Hey, Mom?"

Me: "Yes, Ladan?" (If I want him to say "Yes, Mommy" I better set an example and say "Yes, Ladan")

Ladan: "When I had my zookinny (zucchini) in my mouth and kept it there, Daddy dissipwinned (disciplined) me."

Me: "Did he do that because you were refusing to swallow your food?"

Ladan: "Yeah. I didn't chew up my zookinny and swawwow it."

Me: "Daddy didn't want you to choke, huh?" (This has actually happened many times in our home when Ladan keeps his food in his mouth for 30+ minutes refusing to swallow it. He may not be the meanest kid on the block, but he's got an independent streak that cuts to the core.)

Ladan: "Yeah. Daddy didn't want me to choke. He helped me eat my zookinny. Daddy loves me. And teaches me right from wrong. So I don't disobey and choke. On my zookinny."

He said "zookinny" so many times in the course of the conversation, I couldn't help but give him a big squeeze. I love that word! And his expressions were priceless! It was also a huge blessing to hear that the thing he focuses on when he recounts correction is that his daddy loves him and wants to help him.

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Conversation #3

(This is our normal conversation every night when I put Ladan to bed. He sits on my back while we read his Bible story. Then he lays on my back while we pray. Then I tuck him under his covers, give him a kiss on the cheek, and we go through our nightly salutations.)

Me: "Goodnight, my buddy."

Ladan: "Goodnight, my Mommy."

Me: "I love you."

Ladan: "I love you too."

Me: "Sleep good."

Ladan: "Sleep good, Mom."

Me: "See you in the morning."

Ladan: "See you in the warning." (I'll be so sad when he stops saying this.)

What a sweet kid! It's no wonder I generally feel energized for a couple more hours of chores after that!

New Music

August 28 was a good day in the music world. Two new and amazing cds came out...

Casting Crowns The Altar and the Door

And Shane & Shane Pages.

Chet and I are going with a couple other folks our age and a load of teens from our church to the Casting Crowns concert in November, and I cannot wait! The cd is great, but Casting Crowns is always so good in concert that the cd almost pales in comparison. Because the cd is great, I can only imagine what the concert will be like....

Nothing Like a Good Shower and Shave

...for the couch, that is! I am so excited because I steam cleaned our couch tonight. It's a hand-me-down couch that has been through four owners, I think. It's approximately 15-20 years old, and it wasn't too expensive to begin with. However, the thing has held up like a champ. Sure, you can feel a few wires in your back when you sit down, but overall, it's relatively comfortable. It also takes up much less space than its more modern counterparts. And while it might not necessarily sell for much on the street, it's worth at least $400 to us... the cost of replacement if we decided to swap it.

I have to admit that I was feeling a little bit of discontentment as I stared at my couch first thing when I walked in the door all the time. The biggest problem I was having is that it was fairly dirty. It made me a little unsure of having guests over. After all, who wants to invite their friends to come and sit down on 15 years worth of whatever landed on the couch? I started looking around at other couches. Too expensive. I then moved on to looking at slipcovers. Too big (see comment above regarding the massive size of couches today).

So, what could I do? After four owners and at least twice as many moves, I realized that the thing just needed a little refreshment! I mean, seriously, can you imagine going 15-20 years without a shower?! I didn't think so. It came to me in a conversation with my good friend, Jessica. Her brother- and sister-in-law just purchased a small steam cleaner for just this kind of situation. So Loretta brought it to church for me a few weeks ago and was so kind as to bring a bottle of the appropriate liquid for the cleaner as well. I finally had the time to try it out tonight, and IT WORKED! Our couch is clean!

Now you're wondering about the shave.... Well, my mom taught me how to use a razor to shave off the little tiny balls of fabric that pill up on sweaters, so I decided to attempt this on the couch to spruce it up a bit. I only had one cheap razor in the house, but I decided just to give it a whirl and see if it would make any difference. IT DOES! So I'm going to the store tomorrow to purchase a package of really cheap disposable razors, and my couch is going to have its first complete shave. What a glorious moment it will be to sit on my newly showered and clean-shaven couch!

And you thought the life of a homemaker was boring!

Trials, Abundance and Glory!

I'm still working through a book called A 30-Day Walk With God in the Psalms by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Today's time in the Word was focused on Psalm 66, and there are so many good things to share! The Lord is GOOD! I'm just going to list some of the things that stood out to me in my study today, and you can let me know if they are as encouraging to you as they are to me.

Psalm 66 (ESV)
1 TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A SONG. A PSALM.
Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your
enemies come cringing to you.
4 All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name." Selah
5 Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward
the children of man.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations-
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12 you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will perform my vows to you,
14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected
my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Now re-read verses 8-12.

Quote by Charles H. Spurgeon (Treasury of David, 284)
"We, too, often forget that God lays our afflictions upon us; if we remembered this fact, we should more patiently submit to the pressure which now pains us. The time will come when, for every ounce of present burden, we shall receive a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

1 Peter 4:12-13, 19 (ESV)
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Romans 8:18 (ESV)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

AMEN!!!!!!! I could sit and stare at these scriptures for hours! Whatever your present trial, may you walk through it with Christ!

What Family Is All About...

We've been having some great times lately! Chet starts class tomorrow, so he's been working diligently to prepare and read ahead. He went on our walk/run tonight, and it was so much fun! I hope he gets to do it regularly. Even though we didn't talk a whole lot, it was fun just to do something productive together. Plus, I could see the muscles in his arms and legs, which was enjoyable in itself. Just so you know, I can say that because WE'RE MARRIED!

The boys and I went to the zoo splash park with some friends last week. I can already tell that Gabe and Ladan are going to be a great team. While we were at the zoo, they wrestled a polar bear to the ground and threatened to pull his ears off if he tried to move. Here's a photo to prove it...

Gabe has figured out how to click his tongue and say "Da-da". He also enjoys laughing just for the fun of it, which causes all of the rest of us to laugh right along with him. He loves to put squishy basketballs and footballs in his mouth and crawl around. He enjoys throwing just about everything he picks up just to see what happens to it... with the exception of his food, which he normally eats promptly. When he sees someone he likes or when he wants attention, he sports a huge smile with all-out dimples, scrunches up his nose and breathes in and out really fast... which sounds strange but is super-cute. And he gives some of the best baby hugs ever! He wraps his little arms around our necks and squeezes with his cheek squished right beside ours. AMAZING!

He's a daredevil and doesn't appear to be afraid of anything. Tonight, he crawled into the bottom of his exersaucer and got stuck bent in half. He really enjoys getting up on beds, but he has no reservations about crawling full-speed for the edge (obviously (thankfully), he hasn't found out what happens when you plummet 2.5 feet onto the hardwood floor). And we can't use our kitchen chairs as barricades, because he simply crawls over the spindles at the bottom and gets where he wants to go anyway. He's fast and wants to be everywhere all at the same time... and yet, he learns fairly easily not to touch things like electrical outlets or open cabinet doors.

Ladan is SO MUCH FUN!!!! His imagination is running wild, and he's learning so many new things. He asks all these really great questions. And while some little boys at this age stop wanting to be close to their moms and dads, he seems to enjoy being as close as possible more and more every day. One of his new favorite things to do when we're walking down the sidewalk is to run ahead of me about 10 steps, turn around with a huge smile, shout "HI, MOMMY!" as if he's surprised to see me, and run back to me with his arms wide open so I can pick him up and give him a kiss on the cheek.

The great thing is that, even as he's finding new ways to be closer to us and to demonstrate his affection for us, in the last few weeks he's also wanted to start doing things for himself... like putting the stool in front of the sink and turning on the faucet so he can wash his own hands, getting his own Life cereal out of the cabinet and bringing his bowl to us so we can pour him some more, and opening and closing all the doors when we enter and exit places. If the rest of age 3 goes as well as the first few months, we're going to have A BLAST!

Our boys are so different in so many ways, but they also display many similarities. I'm just grateful that they both get super-excited when they see Chet or me and that they absolutely love one another! Isn't that what family is all about?! I pray that they will grow up to love the Lord so that I can be with them in ETERNITY!

Prioritizing

Okay, so I've been doing some re-prioritizing. I feel like I'm continually doing this, but I'm really wanting to make an improvement instead of just shifting things around. (Quick note... it's 12:34). Here are my goals for the fall:

1. Spend time alone with the Lord EVERY day.
2. Lose the extra baby weight I still have... or at least the inches so I can fit into my clothes WELL (rather than just simply being able to close them).
3. Refrain from scheduling myself for too many things in one week.
4. Figure out a system for cleaning and keeping our home up so that I don't get totally overwhelmed.

Here's my plan....

1. I'm currently working through a devotional book called "A 30-Day Walk With God in the Psalms" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I have been working through this book for much longer than 30 days, but for the last week, I have been disciplined to take time to spend in the Word every day. By the way, this book is very good. This fall, I'm also taking a Discipleship course through the Seminary Wives Institute on campus, and I will be held accountable for spending time in the Word daily for the course.
2. To lose my extra baby inches/pounds, I am: a) exercising daily. I've got a pretty good run/walk route straight from our home that gives me exactly three miles, isn't boring, and allows me to just throw the boys in the stroller instead of having to waste time packing them in the car. b) unofficially using the Weight Watchers plan of tracking and planning my meals. I have always wanted to know how to do this, because I think it's one of the healthiest ways to lose weight. My friend and I are exactly the same height and weight and have exactly the same goal weight, so it will be fun to work on it together. By the way, I've finished Day 3, and so far I'm doing really well. I created an excel spreadsheet to track my progress throughout the day... this in itself was very exciting for me.
3. I have a tendency to try to serve in every way I think I can possibly help others and learn new things. This is GREAT, except sometimes I overestimate the number of hours I have in a day. My goal is to err on the side of helping others while maintaining a good balance of keeping our home in consistent order.
4. Honestly, I think I'll be able to figure out a system for keeping up with our home if I am relatively good at keeping goal #3 in check. I already have several trips planned for this fall, so my efforts could be totally in vain... but I'm going to give it a good shot. Keeping up with the laundry is a bit easier now that Gabe isn't puking and pooping all over his clothes all the time.

So, there you have it. I could think of about 25 goals for the fall, but then I would be ruining the first four... so I'll work on these for a while and then add others in good time.