A letter to "Grama"

Last week my sister's mother-in-law brought over gifts for the kids. She gave them each a new bathing suit and a pair of goggles. They were ecstatic! For his writing lesson today I had Owen write a thank you note. He was very frustrated by my spelling of the word "grandma." He insisted that it did not have an "n" or a "d." He kept sounding out the word to prove his point. I tried to explain to him that you can hear the "n" and "d" sounds in the word but he thought I was sounding it out incorrectly. "Mama, it's pronounced gramma, not graNDma!" He reluctantly spelled it the correct way only to write it his way underneath. He's a thinker!

Somersaults and the like

Owen's cousins have introduced him to somersaults, cartwheels, round offs, back flips and headstands. Owen can now do a decent cartwheel and he loves to do somersaults. Sometimes instead of walking to you, he'll roll to you. Recently he did 100 somersaults in a row. My stomach turns just thinking about it.

So with all the gymnastics going on Daddy decided to do a few of his own tricks.

Everybody Loves Daddy

Beautiful Weather for a Bike Ride

We are enjoying some unseasonably warm weather here in Michigan. I love it! Last night Daddy pulled out Owen's bike.

Owen decided to go down the big hill in the yard. Since his bottom is completely off the seat I think it's safe to say it was a little steeper than he expected!

He needed a little help getting back up that hill. Daddy to the rescue!

A Letter To Aunt Sarah

My kids colored pictures for Aunt Sarah and wrote her a letter. I wrote it, of course, but I only what they dictated. I laughed so hard at what they had me write that I had to take a picture of it. Click on it to enlarge and read it.

He Loves Me in Spite of Me

I'll be honest. Being called back to the bedroom after the kids are tucked in for the night really irritates me. I'm ready for a break and for some peace and quiet. It doesn't happen every night but when it does I'm afraid I can respond like a bear. The last thing I want to hear is "MOOOM! I need my sheet fixed. MOM! I need another drink! MOM! I have to go potty again!" Regardless of the fact that they go potty, get a drink and get their sheets and blankets tucked in around them, they still manage to find a reason to call me back into the room.

Tonight I tucked them in, gave kisses and hugs and said prayers. As soon as I sat down I heard Owen yell for me.

I marched down the hall, swung the door open, flipped on the light (which I only did to express my annoyance. I know - immature) and growled, "WHAT!?"

Owen sweetly responded, "I just wanted to ask you to have Daddy come see me when he gets home."

I took a deep breath and explained, "Daddy won't be home for a couple of days. Now please go to sleep. Whoever calls me in here again will be disciplined. Good night."

I flipped the light back off and before I left the room Owen said, "Mama, can I give you a hug and a kiss?"

Of course I couldn't turn that down so I walked over and bent down to hug him. He wrapped his arms around me and patted my back and said, "You're a good Mama. I love you."

Talk about immediate conviction! My son loves me and responded kindly to me even though I did not treat him with love and kindness. He loves me in spite of me. I'm not excusing any misbehavior, but I needed the reminder he gave by the example he set. Even when angry, respond in love. Respond with kindness. How much more effective would my corrections be if I had enough self control to be sure that I seasoned everything with grace? It wouldn't have been appropriate it and I wouldn't have let him get away with it, but it would have been understandable had he responded to me with attitude and anger. I so desperately don't want those negative responses to be a part of our family life!

Tomorrow is a new day. A new opportunity for me to do right and to be the good Mama my son already thinks I am. I want to live up to his expectations for the glory of God.

A Wife of His Own

When you ask a child what excites him about growing older you often hear responses like,

- staying up late

- going to school

- getting a driver's license

- moving out

- or having children (if you're talking to a young girl)

Owen often talks with excitement about being a husband when he's older. We don't prompt him, he just shares what he's thinking about. Tonight at bed time he prayed, "Thank you, God, that when I get older I can have a wife of my own."

Proverbs 18:22 says, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing." I hope my son will one day find such a good thing. I thank God that Owen already, in his childish mind, sees a wife as a "good thing" to thank God for.

The Wizard of Oz

Shortly after Christmas I decided it was time to pick up another chapter book for Owen and I to read together. We've now completed seven. Having never read The Wizard of Oz before, I thought it would be a fun classic for us to go through together. We read the original, written by Frank L. Baum in 1900. It was really neat to see my son enjoy a book that is over a century old! I didn't realize how different the book was from the movie. Did you know that in the original story, the special shoes are not ruby red, but silver? I had no idea! Owen had never seen the movie before so none of the differences bothered him, but it also required him to really use his imagination. I thought some of the imagery would be difficult. Winged monkeys, munchkins, witches, a tin woodman and a talking scarecrow are just a few of the things we read that Owen has never before heard of. But to my delight he loved reading through the book.

At one point in the story when Dorothy was confronted by the wicked witch Owen put his hands over his eyes and buried his face into the back of the couch and said, "Mama! This is so frightening!"

At that moment I remembered how scared I was of the witch the first time I saw the movie. I wrongly assumed that the book wouldn't be as scary as the movie.

So I asked him, "Owen, would you like me to stop reading? We don't have to finish."

He quickly answered, "I'm scared, but I just HAVE to know what happens next!" So we continued on and completed this 200 page classic. He loved it so much that we finished the book in 6 days. He wanted to hear the story again - and he did. We checked out the story on audio and he heard every word a second time. I love that he loves books!

Before Owen sees a movie I try to read the book to him first, if there is one. Since we completed the book he got to see the movie, which he thoroughly enjoyed after he got past the fact that it's quite a bit different from the the book. And for a little "field trip" we also went to see The Wizard of Oz live. There were three performances over the weekend and they all sold out. I'm so glad we were able to get tickets because Owen loved it! I was really impressed with the show too.

Waiting for the show to start!

Owen (in mid blink) with his cousin Brooklyn

Me, Owen and Brookie

We went with Aunt Kimmy and Brooklyn!

Every so often I try to do something special with just Owen. I am the one he spends his days with so it's up to me to do the majority of the schooling and disciplining. I think it's important for us to have these special date nights every once in a while. It was an extra special treat to have my sister and niece join us. After the show we went out to dinner and even got dessert. The kids had a great time!

Kids Say the Funniest Things

The day isn't even half over and yet these are some of the funny things I've heard already.

While pulling into the parking lot of the bookstore this morning Aubrey raised her hand and said, "Now Owen, I want you to be a good boy in the store. That means no running and don't touch anything."

Owen replied, "I know. And don't forget, Aubrey, that we don't say the word 'stupid' and we don't pick our noses!"

As we are walking into the store Owen notices the red bucket by the doorway with a man standing nearby shaking a bell. He asked, "Mama, what's that man doing out here?"

"He is collecting money for the poor," I answer.

"Well, you know, the Bible says that lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth."

We go into the book store and Aubrey sits down with a book and starts "reading." Each story began with, "Once upon a time everybody used the potty."

Before we even headed out the door this morning Aubrey had me laughing. She was telling me that God made the birds. God made her. God made everything. I asked her, "Aubrey, why did God make you?" She responded with, "Because he was just messing around."

Our School Year So Far

We are 9 weeks into our school year and I just can't believe how much Owen has learned. And even though I'm not officially schooling Aubrey she has picked up on so much! Because I don't want to forget . . .

Aubrey has learned:

- The pledge of allegiance (and she looks so darn cute with her hand on her heart while she recites it).

- The days of the week

- The months of the year (she does get the last couple months confused)

- The hymns, "I have Decided to Follow Jesus," "Take My Life," and "Trust and Obey." She's learned many other songs too.

- She has hidden these two verses in heart - "My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings." (Proverbs 4:20) and "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls." (Hebrews 13:17). She may know other verses too because I have to admit, I didn't intentionally teach her these verses. She picked up on them while I was teaching Owen and then all of the sudden we started hearing her recite them word for word. Who knows what other things she has hidden!

- She has also learned some of the states of our country.

We've done a lot of work in 9 weeks so I obviously can't remember it all, but here's some of what Owen has learned and is doing:

- He's learned 9 verses (they are usually 13-15 words long)

- He's learned the following character qualities that coincide with the verses: forgiveness, faith, attentiveness, honesty, patience, obedience, orderliness, generosity and thankfulness.

- He is writing so nicely. I'm super pleased with how neat his letters are! We are working on writing numbers too.

- He's learned several hymns.

- He can do a little bit of adding.

- We've completed three chapter books so far: Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and My Father's Dragon. We are in our fourth chapter book called Elmer and the Dragon. It is book 2 of a 3 book series.

- He's learned all kinds of fun things in science. We've studied snow, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, seasons, animals, plants and earth. Sometimes I wonder if we are doing too much for his age. And I'm certain he's not remembering it all. But then he'll surprise me and pull out facts he's learned. For example, yesterday it started to snow and he began to explain to me how the snow formed in the sky and how and why it began to fall. We learned about snow the first week or two of school but he remembered it. Kids are capable of learning so much. Their minds amaze me!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST -

- He is starting to read! This is probably the thing we are most excited about. He's sounding out words and beginning to read simple words like sad, mad, eat, meat, read, am, ram, me, etc. Yesterday he read the sentence "See me eat." It is SO FUN to teach him and see him learn! And now on my wish list . . . Bob Books. Does anyone else have these and recommend them?

Lean On Me

Owen's Birthright

Earlier this week I was reading to Owen the Bible story of Esau and Jacob. I explained that because Esau was the oldest son he had the birthright which meant he would get most of the money and property when his daddy died (until he gave it to his brother, Jacob). Owen immediately responded with, "Since I'm the oldest, if daddy dies I will get all of his books!"

Books are kind of a big deal in our family. In fact, the first time my grandma visited our home she said she thought she had walked into a library. So far, our kids share our love for reading so you can imagine Owen's excitement at the thought of inheriting hundreds and hundreds of books. I texted Ben and told him about my conversation with Owen. In his reply he told me to tell Owen that he would share his books with Owen now and that we could refer to them as "their" books. When I read the text to Owen he jumped out of his chair, threw his arms in the air, raised his eyebrows and yelled "YAY!!!"

A couple of days later Ben came home and Owen was quick to remind him that he said he'd share his books. You have to be careful what you tell this kid because he doesn't forget easily!

This morning Ben agreed to do the Bible lesson with Owen. During the review time Owen said, "Daddy, Esau had the birthright so he would have gotten all of his daddy's books!" Books, apparently, have more value to Owen then money or land.

This whole exchange is actually interesting because just a few weeks ago I asked Ben (privately, not in the presence of our children) what he would want me to do with all of his books should something happen to him. Would he want me to donate them to a church? Pass them on to a friend in ministry? Sell them? Box them up and carry them with me for the rest of my life? Ben answered that he wanted me to save them for Owen. Therefore, it pleased me when Owen, all on his own, thought that HIS birthright would be daddy's books and that those books were enough to excite him.

I do hope that some day Owen loves to read on his own. I'd love to see him read not just any books, but Ben's books - books written by theologians and men of God. Of course, I'm hoping he'll be borrowing Ben's books and that Ben will be with us for many, many, many more years!

My Kiddos

My sister-in-law, Sarah, gave the girls these adorable matching jumpers. Since she is currently in Africa on a missions trip I decided to take a picture of the girls in their dresses to show her upon her return. Here's what happened: Owen wanted to be in the picture too. I decided he could be in the first couple of pictures since I wouldn't mind a picture of all three kids together anyway. Once we got that picture done, I figured I'd snap a quick one of just Aubrey and Evelyn together. Well, as you can see, Evelyn wasn't too excited to get a picture taken.

Owen and Aubrey tried kissing her to "make it all better." It didn't help.

Ahhh . . . that's better. Evie Kate is still crying, but at least you can't really tell. She may not be smiling but at least she's not screaming either. We'll take it.

Evelyn had enough, but Owen and Aubrey asked me to take a picture of just the two of them. They're adorable so of course I agree to snap a photo.



Now where's that picture of my girls I intended to take? Maybe next time.

Big Brother

I was in the kitchen cleaning when Owen woke up from his nap. All of the sudden I heard talking so I peeked into the living room and saw this:
Owen was "reading" to Evie Kate. It was so precious. He told the whole story. And when he was done he said, "Did you like that story, Evie? Let me go get another book to read to you." And that's what he did. He grabbed another book and told another story.

And I was able to grab the camera and sneak a couple of pictures without him ever noticing! I love my boy and the kindness he shows to his sisters. He sure loves our baby!

First Day

Monday, September 12 was a big day in our family! Ben started his first day as pastor of our new church and Owen started preschool!
Owen was very excited to start school. A friend of mine told me that she put together a special pencil box for her daughter's first day of home school. So the night before we started homeschooling I went to the store to find a pencil box (not an easy thing to do this late into the school year, by the way). I'm so glad I found one because Monday morning Owen was delighted to see a bright orange box with his name on it. Inside was a brand new box of crayons, new scissors from Aunt Sarah, a new eraser, two new pencils and a glue stick. After handling each of the items Owen (without any prompting from me) bowed his hand and thanked God for his school box. Driving to three different stores at 10:00 at night to purchase the last box on the shelf now seemed totally worth it!

Aubrey joined in on the excitement even though she didn't know what the rest of us were so excited about. Excuse the jammies and undies, I wasn't expecting to get a picture of her.

We had to get a picture of Owen with his teacher!

Since we started homeschooling I keep thinking about Luke 6:40. I feel the weight of responsibility, to be sure.

"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher."

Here they are, my two boys on their first day. Owen's first day of formal education. Ben's first day as pastor of a church, shepherding the people God has entrusted him with. I am excited for my guys as they begin their journey. I trust and pray they will both be faithful to the task which God has called them to.

In the Blink of an Eye

Birthday party in 2010, turning 3 and 1.
Birthday party in 2011, turning 4 and 2.

Where does the time go?

The "Official" Birthday Bash

Between Sabrina's parties, visits and gifts from extended family and the party we threw for our children, Owen and Aubrey have done a lot of celebrating for turning 4 and 2. We've been so overwhelmed with birthday cards, special phone calls and gifts that I can't keep track of who we've sent thank you cards to. Yikes!
Yesterday we had a party at our house. It was the first time we've had a family party (as opposed to a friend party) in our home for the kids. It's one of the perks of living near family. We partied with Grandma and Grandpa Glupker, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Michael, Grandma and Grandpa Rademacher, Grandma and Grandpa Lange and the cousins: Cole, Brenden, Brooklyn and Carson. I thought we were keeping it simple until I saw all of the gifts. Oh my. I later told Ben that we might need to re-think this birthday party business before our kids begin to expect and feel entitled to so many nice presents from others. That's not to say that we aren't thankful. We certainly are. Aubrey was thrilled to see all of her new presents waiting for her when she got out of bed this morning. The kids hugged and thanked everyone for their gifts. They've also colored pictures to give to those who gave to them. But I still feel like I need to figure out how to train my children not to take the generosity of others for granted before it's too late.

Evelyn checking out Grandma

The kid table - outside! This made for easy clean up.

Aubrey Ann

Some time ago Ben told me that he would like to start a tradition of praying over our kids at their birthday parties. Our hope is that it would take some of the attention off the presents and put more attention on the child and their growth, both physically and spiritually. Our desire is that this time would become special and prove to be significant in the life of our kids. We'd like them to sense the importance of the prayer, the blessing we hope to bestow on our kids. I must admit that I had forgotten all about Ben's idea to do this, but he didn't! In fact I later learned that he had already talked to the kids about it a couple days ahead of time so that they were expecting to be prayed over. Owen, at least, seemed to think it was pretty neat. Everyone in attendance sat in a circle while Ben had each child take a turn sitting on his lap. Then he spent a few minutes praying for them and thanking God for them. And then he had them hug everyone and thank them for coming to his party. I am really thankful for such a godly leader for our family! I like this new tradition!

Aubrey and Brookie - they are so much alike and such good friends.

Grandma Lange made the cake. She brought it over early in the day so the kids could look at it and enjoy it. The cake was here probably less then two minutes before Aubrey decided to taste it (notice the three poke holes). The kids loved seeing Bob and Larry on their cake.
Family Picture
Aubrey's turn blowing out the candles
Owen's turn blowing out the candles
Eating cake - hmmm, why did we let them eat the cake inside?

At Age 4

In case I forget (which I know I will), here is what Owen is like at age 4. At Age Four:
- He loves puzzles and he's really good at putting them together.
- He looks out for his little sisters and tries hard to protect them.
- He likes to sing.
- He likes to tell stories, hear stories and read books.
- He is a great swimmer and doesn't need any assistance in the pool.
- He likes "bamilla" (vanilla) yogurt.
- He's sharp. The night before he turned four I said, "Tonight is the last night I'll be putting you to bed as a three year old! Good night my three year old boy." And he quickly responded, "Good night my thirty-one girl!"
- He insists on carrying his own bible to church.
- He uses "adult" toothpaste.
- He wants to be just like his Daddy
- He is very kind and has a sweet spirit and tender heart.
- He is very social.
- He and Daddy love to wrestle together. They also like to turn up the music and dance around the kitchen together during our after-dinner-clean-up routine.
- He is 41 inches tall (80th percentile) and weighs 42 pounds (90th percentile)

I remind Owen often that I am so thankful God put him in our family. He is an absolute joy! Just last night we were at a friend's house and he approached me and said, "Mommy, can we snuggle together?" I cherish these days with my children. They are passing by way too fast!

Owen's 4th Birthday

Owen turned four on Saturday. He woke up to find his chair at the table decorated just for him.


Four presents from us in honor of turning four. We gave him two new puzzles (101 pieces - which he has already put together!) and two new books.

Daddy blew up lots of balloons and had them all over the house. Owen called them his "special balloons."

Owen received cards and gifts in the mail in the days leading up to his birthday. We saved them and let him open them all up the morning of his big day. He thought getting four dollars from Aunt Judy and Great Grandma Glupker was pretty neat! Great Grandma Thelma also sent Owen some "dollars" as he calls them. Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Patterson sent down some new CDs. We listen to a lot of music in our home!

After he opened his gifts our family went to Baynes for some fresh donuts and cookies. We then headed over to our friend Sabrina's house. She knew we weren't going to be able to have a party for Owen until a few weeks after his birthday. Between our trip to Louisville and Ben preaching at the church we just didn't have time to have a party on his actual birthday. So Sabrina invited us over to her house for lunch. She did much more then serve us lunch!

She made him an awesome cake! He loved it!

She set up a little table just the right size for Owen and Aubrey

She played with and entertained the kids by pulling out some really cool toys.

She had presents for Owen. (excuse the blurriness. My battery was dying)

She gave him a puzzle, a coloring book, an airplane to throw in the sky, a Thomas the Train DVD and he got to keep the Thomas train and rings from his cake.

Trying out the airplane

Waiting for cake

Blowing out the candles

Sabrina has been such a good friend to me over the last 7 years. I'm so thankful for her!

In fact, tomorrow we are going back over to her house for ANOTHER party. She wants to throw one for Aubrey too.

Later that night we ended up at my sister's house. We had more cake and ice cream with the cousins. And even more gifts from Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kim and Grandma and Grandpa Lange. Unfortunately my camera wasn't taking pictures by this point.

Our family and friends made it a really special day for Owen. A few days later Aunt Sarah and Grandma and Grandpa Glupker gave him some gifts as well. And he hasn't even had his party yet! At this point I'm not sure we need to throw him one!