Being Bilingual

Muck Raking

2012-02-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

I swept my kitchen on Saturday, y'all.

As in Saturday 48 hours ago, not Saturday 10 days ago. I've been thinking I will leave the pile there and maybe it will make an impression on the boys. They will see it and become so overwhelmed with remorse that they will promise never to make a mess again. Good idea? No, you're probably right. They would shuffle right through it unawares, and what doesn't get kicked back to where it was a few moments before, would probably end up in the baby's mouth.

Do you ever let something like a pile of dirt shape your thinking for an hour or two? Suddenly it mirrors all the things in your life that are unfinished, thankless, needing to be done again tomorrow. It signifies all the frustrations you have during the day with your naughty little boys who peel all the onion papers off 10 lbs of onions, shred the cotton off dozens of q-tips, stick stickers all over the furniture, and wipe boogers all over the walls. (sorry to be graphic, but it is cold season around here.)

Have you ever seen the movie Amelie, where the guy she wants to meet is late, and within 30 seconds, she has concocted a dreadful history in her head about what might have happened to him? I think he ended up in her imagination as an exiled sheep-herder in Afghanistan or something. My imagination went a little wild with that dirt pile tonight, and suddenly all the little problems and difficulties in my life became a looming mountain- perhaps in Afghanistan somewhere- who knows.
I knew in the back of my mind all of the reasons why I should be thankful for that pile, for the little onion-peeling hands that more often than not fill my life with gladness. But sometimes I have to remind myself not to be like the man in Pilgrims Progress who spent his days bent over, raking muck, while the joys of earth and heaven went by unheeded around him.
I really didn't mean to pontificate like this over my nightly sweepings, but jotting it all down on 'paper' helps ground me back in reality. And perhaps tomorrow I will joyfully help create the snowstorm made out of q-tip heads and wipe the runny noses before grubby fingers beat me to it. Just so long as they leave the onions alone.

Where there's a will.....

2012-02-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

"Mommy, will you peel my orange for me?"

"Not right now Etienne, mommy's busy. And you know how to do it yourself."

"Yes, but I always squirt juice in my eye when I do it."

"Well, give me a minute and I can help you."

Apparently a minute was more than he could stand waiting for his orange, because I found him engaged in peeling it a short while later- with protection.

You can imagine the pride I felt in seeing this child of mine improvise a squirt shield out of my clear plastic quilting ruler. I raced for my camera to capture such an innovative moment. Move over Thomas Edison, here comes my boy.

Ah, the irony

2012-02-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

"But mom, I dropped my ball in the mud and just needed to get it clean!"

(I also love that he avoided both door mats but nailed the bath mat and used the toilet to step on instead of the footstool right in front of him.)

January Miscellany

2012-01-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

So January went where? Still looking for it. And still trying to remember what we did with it. Oh yes, we did do a few things. I think it was mostly gearing up for the great project- the great work to begin on our huge unfinished house that I haven't blogged about for a few years now because just thinking about it made me a little bit crazy. If you got our Christmas letter, you remember that we received some funds to recommence work on our house. So we have been attempting to begin, but so far it feels like we are spinning our wheels a bit. After several days of cleaning up and organizing and prepping to replace all the wire that was stolen a year or so back, we were broken into again. Thankfully, there was no new wire up yet to steal, but we have had to focus on amping up the security on the house since it is obviously being watched. This may or may not include moving our rottweiler over there, just to introduce him to the neighborhood you know. It definitely includes a fence and security system that will allow us to alert the authorities should someone attempt to break in again.
Another thing we did in order to help simplify our lives was to take James out of school. We debated a lot as to whether or not this would help minimize craziness, but so far we feel we have made the right decision. And James is loving homeschool. Since he is such a fan of filling out papers and getting all his work done right away, it leaves very little for me to do except, of course, put stars on things.

Since we've been slow to get going on the big house, and since it has been the rainiest January that I can ever remember here, I've been a little stir crazy. So I started a few projects. One of those was to attempt a rudimentary mastery of french pastry- again. Many times over the past ten years of life with my pastry-loving husband, I have tried to attain that elusive, ethereal, epitome of baking- the croissant. But after so many failed attempts, I gave it all up in despair. I mean, who can stand all that butter going to waste? But after an inspiring blog post at my new favorite food blog, Annie's Eats, and a sigh of longing from my husband, I tried again. And this time- success! Well, at least the beginnings of success. I was so excited that I made a triple batch of dough (please don't ask me how much butter was contained therein) and froze it in sheets, like the puff pastry you can buy in boxes at the store. I've been playing around with it, and this morning we enjoyed pain-au-chocolat with strawberries. Not bad for a Friday morning.

I also started (and finished) a baby quilt. I love making quilts, but starting a big one always takes over my whole house and my life. So I content myself with baby ones. My mother is an incredible seamstress and makes beautiful quilts for all her grand babies, but that means all the nephews and nieces on my side of the family are taken care of, bedding-wise. So I started making them for the nephews and nieces on Steve's side of the family. It's a nice gift to send since it is lightweight and unbreakable and sometimes needs to be sent as far away as the Indian Ocean. This one is only going as far as the north coast of France for my sister-in-law's third child- a girl.

I delight in making girly things, and I obviously don't get the chance very often.

It turned out to be sort of reversible too, since when I outlined the individual flowers on the front, they are traced on the back too. And I love how the green edging turned out.

Anyways, this kind of thing helps me whenever I get the urge to sigh for frilly dresses and flowery decor, or to repine because the only sewing I do for my boys is patching the knees of tattered jeans.

So I guess that was January. How was yours?

Play Days

2011-12-31T12:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a quiet week around here- going nowhere and lots of playing with new stuff. We are resting up for the new year, which looks to be somewhat busier than the norm, which is saying something. But I don't want to think about that 'til tomorrow.

We had a lot of fun picking out Christmas gifts for the boys this year. A few were duds, like the remote control car that died almost instantly and had to be taken back, and the cheap dollar store toys the boys 'bought' for each other and broke within hours. But mom and I picked out this winner months ago when she was in town, and I have been hiding it ever since.

The boys actually love playing with doll houses, but I couldn't find any that weren't pink and frilly. What could be more manly than a rocket doll house with elevator included to transport various astronauts and aliens? And I love that all the boys love playing with it- even the baby.

I also got the boys some little chests with their initials on them, filled to the brim with art supplies. I didn't realize Etienne was really interested in art, but he has hardly stopped coloring since.

The weird thing is, he always colors inside the lines. It's a little unnerving for a four year old.

My favorite gift we got for the boys was the k'nex roller coaster. I enjoyed k'nex when I was a kid, and we have decided to go the k'nex route, rather than legos for our boys (at least at this juncture.) I had been looking for a cool set for a while, and Craigslist had a big roller coaster for a steal, but it was already sold by the time I asked. So I got another one at Walmart- not so impressive, but not too expensive. The day I brought it home, the lady from Craigslist called and told me the first buyer had fallen through and did I still want the bigger roller coaster. I decided to go for it, and hid the other one in the car to take back. Of course I forgot about it, and the kids found it a few days later. They brought it in, raising it high in the air and absolutely ecstatic. It was then my painful duty to tell them we had to take it back. Amidst the tears and wails, I tried to explain to them that they needed to trust that mommy knew best, and they wouldn't be sorry. I think they doubted me right up to Christmas morning. The coaster from Walmart had 400 pieces, the one I got had 2500. And Steve and I had a blast putting it together with them. Granted, it took a couple of days, and it is taking up almost the entire bedroom, but it was worth it. And it actually works!

Steve and I decided not to get each other much this year, but he did buy me these wonderful new shoes.

I just love the cuffs with the buttons!

And my mom got Steve this indoor lemon tree. We hope it will actually produce some fruit, but if not, it's still a lovely little tree and smells great.

We got the pot at the local nursery for five bucks! Couldn't have found a more appropriate one, eh?

So all in all, we had a very Merry Christmas. We are looking forward to 2012, and to putting our poor wilting Christmas tree out of its misery.

Oh, and Santa also delivered a few teeth. Thank You!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T16:47:00.000-08:00

This year was the first we have ever spent without going home to see my folks and sisters. It was difficult for me in a lot ways, since we have no family in town. I am used to a huge family affair, but we made the best of it and had a sweet time. It was definitely the most laid back Christmas we have ever had, and I sure didn't miss the jetlag. These are some shots from Christmas eve and early Christmas morning. I didn't get a lot of shots of the boys opening gifts after church, since I was trying to rein in the chaos most of the time, but I will try and post some of their gifts at a later date. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-24T05:43:00.000-08:00

From Steve, Nicky and a wreath of boys.

A surplus of kisses

2011-12-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

I bought a huge bag of Hershey's kisses from Costco a few weeks ago, and have been thinking of ways to get rid of them ever since.

They are a pretty versatile little chocolate drop, either on top of a peanut butter cookie, inside of a walnut cookie, or just melted in a blob with nuts. And the kids love unwrapping and sticking them on things, so they are an easy way to get kids involved without all the rolling, cutting out, and frosting that sugar cookies entail. Believe it or not, every one of these treats has already been given away, and I need to make more. I haven't even eaten one!

Star of the Show???

2011-12-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Last night, my boys participated in their first ever church Christmas program. They were not looking forward to it. I guess they don't have a lot of my genes, because the thought of standing in front of all those people and singing seemed to terrify them. They all assured me over and over again that they would go up front if they had to, but they wouldn't be singing. That is why this video of Etienne surprised me so much. I didn't have a good view of James and Sebastien- you will see them occasionally behind their teacher, but Etienne was front and center in more ways than one. I am not sure if he was nervous, trying to grab all the attention, or simply in his own little world. Of one thing I am sure. This kid marches to the beat of his own drum, literally.

Untitled from nicole lewin on Vimeo.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

2011-12-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the graphic nature of these photos, but they nicely convey the misery that's been going on around here for the last few weeks.

I am hoping Santa will deliver a little earlier than the twenty-fifth.

Just follow the trail....

2011-12-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

and let satsuma season begin!

Stay-at-home missionary

2011-11-22T05:41:00.000-08:00

My blog is not usually a place where I get preachy, but from time to time, God impresses on me something that I like to share.
I a mom of four little boys, and wife to a husband who is technically unemployed (although there has been scarcely a day since he lost his job that God has not provided work for him to do somewhere).

As thankful as I am for my current place in life, it can be stressful! I am realizing as I get older just how much stress can affect my physical well-being if I let it- tension headaches, achy muscles and generally feeling blah. It also doesn't help my relationship with my kids when I am uptight all the time. These past few weeks I feel like I have been blaming my kids for my neck aches and grumpiness.

To fix this problem, I have been trying to get up early enough to have some quiet time, a time to do a little exercise and stretching so I can face the hungry hordes in a more relaxed frame of mind. But in a small house, it is difficult to get up early without waking everyone in the process. I was so determined this morning to do my exercise, drink my coffee, read my Bible in peace and quiet that when the kids all came cheerfully tumbling out of bed right when I had taken a seat, an hour ahead of normal time, I was not a happy camper. I told them in a none too friendly voice that if they were going to be awake, they couldn't ask for breakfast, they couldn't make a peep, and they had to sit still on the couch for half an hour while I did my yoga. You can guess how well that went. By the end of my "relax" time, I was more keyed up than ever. I kept asking God why, when it was surely a good thing to seek quiet time in the morning, he was not letting me have it.

But as so often happens, I stumbled across this little blurb while I grabbed a minute to read some Elisabeth Elliot. She had found this passage written many years ago by a missionary, and at first I was going to pass over it, thinking it didn't apply to me since I wasn't on the mission field, but thankfully I remembered in time that I most certainly am on a mission field. It read,

"I am finding out that it is a mistake to plan to get through a certain amount of work in a certain time. It almost always ends in disappointment and frustration, besides not being the right way to go about it. It makes one impatient of interruptions and delay. Just as you are beginning, someone comes along to sit with you and have a chat! You might think it hardly possible to be impatient and put out where there is such an opportunity for spreading God's love, but it is. It may be just at mealtime, or you are writing a letter to catch the mail, or you were just going out for some much needed exercise. Surely good things in themselves. But better still, spreading the gospel through your actions, and I think it is well to cultivate an attitude of mind which will enable one to welcome the intruder from the heart at any time. "No admittance except on business" scarcely shows a true missionary spirit."

There is nothing so humbling as realizing you are going about something the totally wrong way, but nothing so encouraging as realizing that God shows these things to you just when you need them. I hope this is a help to anyone out there, struggling on their own private mission field.

Indulge me....

2011-11-09T07:05:00.000-08:00

...whilst I share some more James papers.
Sorry, I just find them a bit hilarious.

I had a conference with his teacher the other day, just to see how he was doing, and she showed me the first page of his in-class journal.

And the lists he makes, well, as I have said before, he is not very subtle. His teacher also noted that he is a boy who tells it like it is- he knows what he wants and isn't afraid to say it. For instance, Pre-Halloween, he left this list for me in a place where he knew I couldn't miss it.

And as soon as Halloween was over, I discovered this one on my pillow.

I have yet to figure out how to comply with his snow request.

And then I found this random paper on the floor.

One of his personal to do lists, I guess. I particularly like his first and second items- "Buy money" and "Get more". I also think it charming that he put "get a lollipop" next to "buy an i-pod" as seemingly equal goals. Ahh, childhood. At what age do we give up the dreams of traveling in a rocket, or having a "theater ride." ???

Just Etienne

2011-11-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

I was toying around with our new camera the other day. I am no photographer, so I am always trying to figure out a way to capture the kid's activities without blurry results. I have yet to figure it out, but I had fun taking these still shots. I ended up liking them better in black and white. I was kind of hidden behind the bedroom door while they watched one of their favorite movies, which turned out to be an ideal time to catch them sitting still! Do you ever just sit and watch your kids? It can be pretty entertaining sometimes.
I also realized that I haven't blogged much about my second born lately, so here are some pics of just him that will tell you better than words about his little personality.

Halloween Happenings

2011-10-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

I just got all my sugar-rushed children to sleep and thought I would post some pictures of the last few days of fall merrymaking.
This is the first year the kids have really gotten into the spirit of things, pestering me about pumpkin carving and worrying about the all important costume choice. I put the pumpkin purchase off way too late this year. I thought I would try to get some over the weekend- no biggy right? It was pouring buckets on Friday and I stopped at no fewer than six stores without any success. I couldn't find a pumpkin in this town. I found a few pathetic specimens at the local hardware store and they were charging 15 bucks per squash! At last, sopping wet and bedraggled, I found what seemed to be the last pumpkin in the city at the local Food Lion. And it only cost me 5$. The boys were a bit disappointed not to have one apiece, but we had fun carving it (or at least daddy did).

He decided on a pretty ambitious smile, with lots of little teeth. Eventually he lost patience with the carving knife and got out the drill.

Maybe he should have been a dentist, because the teeth turned out great!

The costume choice was unanimous this year. Pirates!

I hope they choose this every year because it is a super simple costume. A hankie, some boots, one of mommy's blouses and a belt just about does the trick. I always have this aversion to purchasing ready made costumes. Probably because my mom always insisted we find ours around the house. And some of the costumes we came up with when we were little were pretty creative. I like to think of it as a challenge. However, I did purchase James's hat at the dollar store. It was in the clearance bin, and I couldn't pass it up. I am sure it will get a ton of use year round.
He kept asking me if we had a peg leg around the house somewhere, but I told him that if we did, he would have to cut off his leg in order to wear it. That stopped the pestering. However, tonight he noticed a man in the crowd of trick or treaters sporting the same classy dollar store captains hat as his. When we got closer I realized he was an amputee with a real (albeit metal) 'peg leg'. I was about to point this out to James, but he had already spotted it and was horrified. He turned to me with a "Mom, he really did it mom! He cut it off!" He was totally in awe of a guy who would go that far for a costume.

It was so funny to watch as the boys had their first trick or treat outing. Unfortunately Steve couldn't make it, but we went with some dear old friends and had an evening full of trying to herd two strollers and a bunch of hyper monkeys up and down the streets.

But the kids had a blast and my boys couldn't believe that people would just give you candy for the asking. Sebastien hung back a lot at first- he was really spooked by some of the deco, but he overcame it pretty quickly when he realized that a bucket full of candy was at stake.

This little lion just went along for the ride.

After we got home, the boys had a small candy sorting pow-wow at the kitchen table, whispering all the while. When I came over to hustle them into their jammies, I found this. It was totally unprompted by me, and I thought it was about the sweetest thing I had seen in a while. (no pun intended)

(it reads- "the Candy that lays on the tabel is for DaDDy")

Hope you all had a fun evening!

Just a lovely day

2011-10-17T13:03:00.001-07:00

Not too much to write about today. I thought I would post some pictures of the fall church picnic we attended yesterday. That perfect weather I was talking about a few weeks back has decided to stick around for awhile, and we are loving just sitting around, enjoying the breeze.

I don't usually let my kids have kool-aid, but I yielded yesterday. They were all sporting those lovely red moustaches the rest of the day.

They had a great old-school playground with see-saws and even one of those merry-go-rounds that seem to be illegal in most states now.

Steve even got in a few rounds of this game. I have no idea what it is called, but he got pretty good at it by the end of the day.

And it is official. This boy looks like his daddy. (minus the facial hair)

Happy Fall everyone!

Over-achiever

2011-10-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

One of my sisters has a fascination with personality types. She had a book one summer that enabled her to fit every person she knew into a different four-lettered category. Some people were more difficult to place than others, but I have a feeling she could find a place for my oldest son without too much effort.
For instance- my son loves school. He loves the ritual, the assignments, the filling in of empty pages. And he wants to get it right. The only trouble he has ever gotten into in school is when he threw a pouting fit when his teacher put a red X on one of his papers.
When there is a new topic to learn, he drills it over and over. I usually have to stop him so we can move on to something else. Oh, and he starts his homework in the car on the way home.
He is always asking me if I am proud of his work, and makes sure I give him a star at the top of every page he finishes. He was even more ecstatic when I taught him how to draw stars himself last week, and begs me to let him put stars on his own work. If you want further help deciphering his personality type, this was the paper I found on my desk after I taught him to make the stars.

As you can see, rows and rows of practice stars. Not only rows though- a title for his work, and a thorough identification of himself at the top, including his name, and the letter his name begins with, just in case we couldn't figure it out.

But what really killed me was the check list to mark when he had finished each row, with the corresponding pencil color. This boy loves his check lists.

And when he was done, he asked me if I could put a star on the top. Sheesh.

When two (or three) lie down together........

2011-10-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Last year we decided to bite the bullet and make our first bunk bed purchase. Since we had four boys and only one bedroom for them, one of those bunks with the double bed on bottom and single on top seemed the best choice. We figured there would be plenty of room to stretch out, and we could even fit three boys on the bottom if we needed to. We never thought of fitting three boys on the top, but that is how they have chosen to sleep every night since we bought the thing.

The way we figure it, we could have about six girls too and they could all sleep on the bottom. Who needs a bigger house?

Second Spring (alt. title- Enough Already!)

2011-10-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

This garden is going to be the death of me. Don't get me wrong, the produce has been great, but it just keeps coming. Sometimes I feel like the guy in that proverb-
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish
and will not even bring it back to his mouth.

I mean, it was fun planning and planting it all, but harvesting is hard work. I have canned and frozen and canned some more, and am getting weary. I suppose if we lived back in the day where whatever you grew was what you ate for the whole winter, then I wouldn't be complaining. But just knowing I can buy all this down the street makes me less and less willing to make the effort to store it all away. This was just this morning's harvest- chard, peppers, tomatoes and of course zinnias.

What's funny is that we thought the garden was done at the end of August. We had a long, dry spell that seemed to be bringing the harvest to an end. Everything was limp and going brown, and we were contemplating where to start pulling things up. I kept thinking "this will be my last bouquet of flowers," or "this will be the last bowl of fresh tomatoes", and I must admit I was a bit relieved. Then the weather changed- cooler air, more rain and a lot of sun. The garden decided it was time to start up again in earnest.

This, my friends, is the plot of tomatoes I was ready to pull up a few weeks back. You can't see it, but they are covered with buds and small green fruit.

And this is round two of the green beans, which we planted in August just to see if we could get some more. We are almost there.

My strawberries are being reborn for a third time.

Oh, and up come the dahlias again.

I mean, it's October for crying out loud! We are wondering if this will all indeed come to a second full harvest before the frost decides to kill it all. I guess we shall see.

And then there is this little weed that is growing way too fast.

Slow down, why don't ya?

Sebastien and Spiders

2011-09-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

My third child turned three over the weekend. I love the stage he is in right now. (now that he is potty-trained) He is still a sweet and cuddly mama's boy, but he is learning to be independent. He is the clumsiest child I have ever seen, but every time he trips over his own feet, he gets up again and keeps going with only minimal crying. I hope he never stops talking with the little voice he has right now, because it keeps us in stitches all day. And his goofy faces? We love 'em.

But maybe what I love about him most is his eye for the little things. He is a great noticer of small details that the rest of us don't seem to see, and is always so full of wonder over each little bug and leaf.
He loves to help me pick flowers (my zinnias are still going strong) and he forces me to smell each one as it goes in the vase, even though zinnias don't really smell like anything. As I was arranging a bouquet the other day he kept telling me to look at the pretty spider. I looked, but couldn't see it. He kept talking about it, and I looked everywhere but to no avail. He finally had to touch it to get me to see it- a neon-yellow creature in the neon-yellow center of the flower I was holding.
Some spiders give me the creeps, but this little guy was just so perfectly suited to the home he had chosen that I had to marvel along with my boy and take a few pictures.

Happy Birthday Seb. Keep reminding us of the wonder all around us.

Overshooting the Mark

2011-09-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I really love to cook, but one of the main reasons I do is that it is therapeutic for me. For some reason, it helps my brain sort itself out after a busy day and strangely enough, when the kitchen is a complete disaster, starting a big meal is the best way for me to get things straightened out. Also, I am a really big fan of good food and no one else around here is going to make it for me.
All that to say, sometimes when I cook, I get carried away. Take tonight's quiche for example. Steve loves a good quiche (Say what you will about real men not eating it. I can only say that he is French, so therefore his taste in cooking is not to be contested.)
The boys like quiche as well if it is basic, (bacon and cheese) so I like to make it. Everyone happy, right?
The crust took me longer than usual seeing that in my haste, I managed to overturn my entire flour bin all over the pantry floor. That was a first, and hopefully a last.
Next I started frying the bacon, but then remembered I had bought an enormous bag of Costco onions that were starting to turn. So I sliced up a couple. Then digging through my veggie drawer, I came across some mushrooms that I had forgotten about. Score! Mushrooms and onions fried in the bacon grease. Mmmm. All this started to seem a little heavy to me, but then I remembered Steve's reminder that we needed to use up the Swiss Chard still growing in the garden. Something green is always good, right? I ran out to pick some, but had forgotten that it needs thorough cleaning, chopping, blanching and drying. A further pantry ramble revealed a jar of artichoke hearts just begging to be added.
At this point I realized it was getting late, the quiche wasn't even in the oven yet and the boys were hungry. Then I saw their poor pathetic faces as they looked at their dinner to be- full of funky green leaves and slimy mushrooms, onions and what not. Sometimes I forget what it was like to be a child, and how I would have gladly eaten Ramen noodles and bologna sandwiches for every meal.
I have this debate with myself often. Do I make my kids try something new, and fight them on every bite, or do I give them what I know they will like? I was merciful tonight both to myself and them. And in response to their dinner of hastily baked chicken nuggets, pears and cottage cheese, I was rewarded with a resounding chorus of "Oh mom, you're just the best cooker ever!"

What greater praise could I ask for?

Plus, there's more quiche for me!

And it was just right

2011-09-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

I often feel like Goldilocks when it comes to the weather. June through August is too hot. December through March is too cold, but for a few weeks in Spring and Fall, it is just right.

This is where our thermostat has been sitting, morning and night for the past couple of weeks-

The doors and windows have been open with absolutely no use of the a/c or heat. I live for these days. I feel like I am waking up after the long lethargy of summer swelter.

It's the kind of weather that makes me spontaneous, and very willing to load up all the kids and meet daddy at the park for a picnic.

(Check out Seb's face. This is what he does every time I ask him to smile. He is not being goofy, it just takes him awhile to contort his face into the right position.)

Trying to figure out what that poky green stuff is.

Just chillin'

And just 'cause I can't resist those blue eyes

Thank you God, for a breath of fresh air!

Fraternal Relationships

2011-09-12T06:21:00.001-07:00

It is very interesting to watch the dynamics between each of my sons when they play together. For instance, I couldn't be more pleased with the sweet way they all interact with Christian.
James and Etienne get along in a "let's wrestle and rough house" kind of way but James and Sebastien seem to have a special sort of bond. When we lost Seb in the Walmart for five minutes last week, it was pretty traumatic for me, but after we found him, James ran up to him, gave him a huge hug and said, "Oh Seb, I was so worried! You're my best friend!" This claim didn't seem to bother Etienne in the least. Anyways....

James started school again last week..... (sniff, sniff)

....so that leaves Etienne and Seb with me- the two boys whose special bond seems to be fighting over everything. And without James to lead in the games and stories, they seem at a loss to know what to do with themselves. The first few days we had to have a lot of talks about being kind to each other, and learning to get along. (James often acts as a referee between them as well) But this morning, they seemed to have accepted the situation and are getting along beautifully. (so far)

Another thing I love about being a mother to boys, as I have mentioned before, is to try and figure out what they are playing at before they tell me. Today I failed utterly.

"Guess what we are mom!"

"Cockadoodledoo! We're roosters! See our wings and coxcombs?"

And my beak?

After praising their creativity, I went to put the baby to bed and came back to this guessing game.

I just watched them for awhile- sitting quietly, looking at the gently swinging but empty baby swing.
But finally I had to ask.

"What are you guys doing?"
"Shhh mom, our babies are sleeping!"
"You have babies? Can I see them?"
"Sure!"

"Are they baby boys or girls?"
"Oh no mom," (very seriously) "mine's are baby tigers and Seb's are baby ghost-es."
"But don't worry mom" (reassuringly) "they won't eat you until they get bigger."

When it rains it pours

2011-09-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Oh, it was a rough night. Christian decided around 3 am that it was time to cry- and cry- and cry. Pacifier? - not having it. Feed him? - not hungry. Rocking him in the chair?- talk about back-arching. I'm still not sure what was wrong with him, but he finally fell asleep around 5. When he woke again at six, I got up to feed him, and thought the boys had turned the bath on and left it running. It took me a minute to realize in my groggy state that it was pouring in floods outside. We haven't had rain for so long that the sound of a good Southern rainstorm had grown foreign to me. I had to laugh, thinking about all the people who had been praying for rain and they got it- on Labor Day.

The other boys were waking about now, so I left Christian to play with them, told James to try and keep him happy, and stumbled back to bed, where I remained oblivious until 9! I haven't slept 'til 9 in forever, and I got that panicky feeling when I woke up, like- why is it so quiet? Where are my kids?
I threw on my glasses and found Christian all by himself on his bedroom floor, kind of fussy, but otherwise fine. I should have known where the other boys would be.

"Guess what mom- it's raining!"

"But mom, if I go outside, my feet might get wet."

"Mom- I couldn't find my rubber boots, so I used your garden clogs."

On Saturday, thanks to Moriah, I was able to get an early pick on a huge children's consignment sale, and found raincoats for all the boys. Talk about good timing. However, the only item I wasn't able to find on my list were rainboots for Seb and Etienne. It was hilarious to watch Seb put two and two together- looking at the holes in his Crocs and the two inch deep puddles in the back yard. He never did make it outside.
I had to laugh, but I was impressed too. They managed to find their coats and shoes and get them all zipped and ready to go without me. I wish I could say the same for their pants.

Hope everyone has a good (and dry) Labor Day!

Making do

2011-09-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

Who needs a giant flat screen t.v. when you have an ipod?

Guess who?

2011-08-28T13:19:00.001-07:00

For some reason I started the tradition of taking pictures of the boys in sailor suits when they were about six months old. Christian reached that benchmark this week.
I always laugh when people give us their opinion about the boys resemblance to us and each other. We get all kinds of opinions. Some who say one looks exactly like me, only to have the same child called the spitting image of his father the next day. Some people out in public will think they are twins (or even triplets!), and others who ask me if they are all related. I personally don't think they all look that much alike at this stage, other than being blue eyed with blond buzz cuts, but in looking through the old sailor suit photos, I was hard put to remember which baby was which. Can you guess?

Whatever Works

2011-08-26T05:12:00.000-07:00

James's favorite Spiderman cereal bowl got a crack in it a few weeks back, so I was sneakily trying to toss it, but of course he caught me. "Mom! What are you doing? Don't throw it away!"
I explained that a bowl with a crack in it was not much use, but his face was so tragical that I relented. I figured we could still use it for goldfish crackers or something, so it went back on the shelf.
The boys have gotten old enough to get themselves a bowl of cereal in the morning, which is great for me. They usually do a pretty good job of not making a mess, and no more dragging me out of bed at o-dark thirty to feed them. When I got up this morning and saw the spiderman bowl sitting on the counter half full of milk and cereal dregs, I didn't think much of it.

But after a few sips of coffee, I remembered the crack and wondered why there wasn't milk all over the table. Upon closer examination, I found this.

What can I say? My son is a genius.

Head Gear

2011-08-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

There are days when I try to figure out what makes my boys do the things they do.
Sometimes I think it is because they wish they had a little sister.

Christine?

Then I think that maybe they are trying to play a pretty lame game of hide and seek. You know, if he can't see you, you can't see him.

But then there are times when I have no idea whatsoever.

It can be rough being the youngest.

Sunflower Harvest!

2011-08-10T13:24:00.001-07:00

The sunflowers were fun, but boy were they looking bedraggled after these hot August days. So the boys and I had great fun chopping down our sunflower forest the other day. Each flower fell like a heavy tree, scattering sunflower seeds all over the sidewalk for the birds. Not to worry though, I spent most of Saturday brining and roasting the rest so we have enough stored to nibble on for the next 20 years. The only problem is, no one seems interested in eating them.

Hint Hint

2011-08-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

James is my boy with the sensitive nose, so he is always ready to sound the alarm when anything smelly comes to his attention. (read- "Mommy, Seb pooped on the floor again," or "The dog needs a bath mom!".)
Often, the first thing I hear in the morning is that the baby needs to be changed. This morning was no different. "Mom, you need to change the baby now- he is sooooo stinky." Then he will dramatically walk around with his nose plugged until I listen to him. I ignored him as long as I could this morning, trying to get my shower and breakfast going and a cup of coffee before I had to deal with the diaper. So James decided he needed to take further action, and when I finally got around to changing the baby, this is what I found.

Subtlety has never been his strong suit.

His 'n Hers

2011-08-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

When we first planted our garden, Steve was gung-ho for tomatoes. He had so many tomato starts flourishing on our kitchen counter, waiting for spring. Unfortunately, most of them shriveled up and died in the transplant process. Undaunted, he bought some little starts of exotic sounding heirlooms, tigrellas, cherries, lemon boys, even some sort of rainbow pineapple tomato.
Then Steve spent hours building a supporting trellis. It was ten feet tall, and perfectly latticed with twine in a lovely diamond pattern. I tried not to laugh, looking at our foot tall tomato plants and the giant ladder they had to climb. Steve has always been an optimist.

In the meantime, after looking at all our plants, I realized that we hadn't planted any sensible tomatoes like romas- my favorite tomato for cooking with. I mean, there are only so many things you can do with cherry tomatoes. So I planted my own row. Steve mentioned building another trellis, but I laughed it off. I would just buy some of those wire cages later if they needed it.
Well, things started to grow, and grow, and grow. I couldn't find any of those round tomato cages, so I bought some tall thin bamboo stakes. I spent hours hacking back the jungle of tomato vines in my row. They had gotten so heavy and tangled up that I couldn't tell which plant they were, and they were crushing all their own fruit. I finally got them all trussed up, and they looked pretty ridiculous, but at least they were in some semblance of order. I was pretty proud of my efforts, but then I turned around and saw Steve's immaculate plants, climbing obediently up his ten foot ladder- they had made it all the way to the top and then some!
When Steve saw my attempts, he didn't laugh too loudly, and merely hoped they would hold up. I somewhat grumpily replied that they might be uglier than his, but I was sure they would hold.
Alas for me, this tomato story is somewhat of a recurring theme in our marriage. When will I learn that if you do it well and right from the beginning, you won't have to come in later to try and fix your initial half-hearted attempt. These were my tomatoes this morning-

And these were his

In my defense, I must at least say that my plants seem to be producing just as well as his, which is the point, right?

Oh, and speaking of tomatoes, this is our little friend who has been guarding the fruit from vicious tomato sucking bugs. Isn't he a beaut? We have watched him grow from a little 1/2 inch fella to a rather impressive 2 inches plus. Not sure what kind of spider it is, but the boys have christened him Hairy Potter.

Floods and Forgetfulness

2011-07-28T09:31:00.001-07:00

"Hey mom," Etienne whispered in my ear as I was nursing the baby. "James doesn't want me to tell you this, but there is a flood in the bathroom."
"What buddy?" I reply distractedly.
(A little more loudly) "I am not supposed to tell you that there is a flood in the bathroom."
"A flood?! James? What's going on son?"

Silence from the bathroom region of the house.
I hear no water, I see no water, so I don't feel there is a dire emergency and consequently get sidetracked and forget all about it.

Later, as I encounter a soaking wet mountain on top of the washer, consisting of every rag and towel in the house, I remember Etienne's words. I open the bathroom door, dreading to find the aforementioned flood and am confronted with a spotlessly clean and dry chamber. I consider accosting James with a crime, but then realize that even if he did spill water, he knew he had made a mistake and cleaned it all up. Why drag up the issue? Frankly, I was rejoiced to see what a thorough clean up he had done- minus washing every towel and rag he had used to do it. I started the laundry and went merrily on my way, thinking of how much James was growing up, and how much progress he had made. I even praised him to Steve that night when he got home.

Imagine my chagrin then, when it was time to go to bed. I pulled open the right drawer of my bathroom cabinet, searching for my glasses when my legs were promptly deluged with a wave of water from said drawer. The entire thing was full of H2O and everything in it, swimming.

After staring confusedly at the drawer for a moment, I remembered the flood I thought had been cleaned up. I just had to laugh, and started removing everything from the drawer to the counter top to dry. I left the drawer upside down to drip in the tub and went to bed, thinking that perhaps we still had a little more progress to make with James, ie. checking more thoroughly to make sure a job was done.
The next morning, I went into the bathroom and noticed there was a lot more stuff drying on the counter top than I remembered setting out the night before. I couldn't figure it out until I realized the second drawer of the cabinet was also drip-drying in the tub. Steve confessed to having had a similar bedtime experience, only with the second drawer. I hadn't even thought to check that one.
So all my projected lectures to James on being more thorough were starting to sound pretty feeble. To top it all, when I opened the washer a few minutes later, I discovered I had forgotten to put all the rags and towels in the drier. The resulting mildewy mess had to be washed all over again. Think I should give the kid a break? Perhaps he comes by it naturally.

Pick of the Day

2011-07-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

This was just this morning's harvest (of tomatoes).

If only I could say it so well

2011-07-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

There are days when I aspire to be a writer- to write pithy little stories or sage advice that people would read and laugh at or profit by. I always think it wouldn't be that hard if I just had the time, or if life weren't so crazy, or I didn't have so many other things to worry about.
And I have been worrying alot lately- about life in general (finances, church, school,family- you name it) It's starting to take the joy out of life. I have tried to explain to Steve why I feel like I can't stop worrying, but couldn't seem to find the words until I stumbled on this little essay, and handed it to him. I may never be a writer, but that's okay if I can keep reading her stuff-

Starting next Tuesday I'm going to praise the Lord like gangbusters. That's when my (insert problem) will be over and I can exhale. How wonderful it will be then, the white-knuckling behind me and the joy in Christ before me. For now, I need to worry.

I'm going to rejoice in the Lord, I really am, but I cannot rejoice today. Today, all sleep-deprived, my goal is just to muddle through till bedtime when I'll catch a solid eight and be in shape to "reign in life" tomorrow.

Woe is me! The same old sin has snared my soul again. I have repented copiously, but how could I, vile sinner that I am, come to His gates with joyful praise without a proper pause (of several days) to beat my breast and stay away and suffer for my wretchedness? Psalm 51 pleads, "blot out my transgressions" and "restore to me the joy of Your salvation," but surely David doesn't mean today. Must keep respectable delay of time betwixt the two.

I said to Jesus, "Help me trust in Your unfailing love." And then I sank again into morbidity, to hunker down until such time as He saw fit to answer me. No rush, I thought. He is the Lord. What can I do until He acts?

A friend objected to my piety. Not "Lord, help me to trust in You" (quoth he) but "Lord, I trust in You! Yea, by Your grace I trust in You!" There's something psychologically different here, my chastened soul took note: The first prayer has a pious sound but never gets around to business, letting me postpone the joy it seeks a month or two, the meanwhile dithering in unbelief while waiting for divinity to bring me 'round robotically. The second prayer enlists the mind and soul and will, no more defaulting into foolish thoughts of Tuesday next.

Paul commands, "Rejoice!" (Philippians 3:1). David says, "Rejoice!" (Psalm 32:11). But that will have to wait a week or two 'cause now I'm in a stew. There's something I want badly and I must be anxious till it's mine. A major life decision has me tied in knots until it's made. And Satan has a laundry list of reasons why I should not sing (Zechariah 3:1). So pray excuse me from the banquet of His joy: "I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. . . . I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. . . . I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come" (Luke 14).

No. This nonsense stops today. Not "I'll rejoice someday," but "I'm rejoicing now." Not "I will trust someday," but "I am trusting now."
"Life is a series of problems. Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one" . Next Tuesday is a vain imagining. And you will never just coast into joy but you must take it by the horns.

For joy must be intentional or it is no match for anxiety. God shows the way out of heaviness and into joy: You best put on "the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit" (Isaiah 61:3). The hour is late, next Tuesday never comes, and faith in God is now or naught. Time to stop this stumbling in defeat and live in joy that's worthy of the gospel.

The dog bites and the bee stings and you're feeling sad. But blest are those who praise God in the midst of it, who praise Him when their heart is broken.
Put on your dancing shoes, baby!

Andree Seu

Once upon a time....

2011-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

...we got married.
Ten years ago today to be precise. There isn't a very succint way to compress ten years of life into one blog post so I won't try. Instead I'll post a picture.

Of all the pictures from our wedding day, I feel like this one captures the joy of the moment the best- just after we had exited the sanctuary and were on our way to our unknown future.
That unknown future has brought with it joy and sorrow, success and failure, the birth of four children, and the death of two. But after all of that, I can only give glory to God that the joyful smiles are still on our faces and our marriage is strong, despite all the unknowns. From the painful experiences of friends and loved ones over the past few years, I know that God has been very merciful to us. It makes me humble, and even a bit afraid- but a good kind of fear. A fear that keeps me begging for that daily mercy to love and serve, even as Christ has loved and served us.
I love you Stephen.

Baby Blues

2011-07-18T17:49:00.001-07:00

I am so thankful these are the only baby blues I have to deal with.

How did we get here?

2011-07-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

I have always loved baking. Well, since I was about thirteen anyway and made my first apple pie without removing the peels from the apples- you can imagine how good that was. But my sisters and parents were always pretty good about eating the creations I was constantly concocting.

When I got married I thought I would be baking even more, but found out that baking didn't pay. A few slices of homemade bread were eaten the day it was baked and the rest sat to mold on the counter. Cookies got stale in ziploc bags, leftover biscuits and scones went to the dog. Let's face it- homebaked goods without chemicals added just don't taste good the next day. It also didn't help that my husband carried around in his tastebuds the memory of the corner boulangeries of France. How was I supposed to compete with that?

Things have changed around here though. Saturday morning I thought I would try a new blueberry muffin recipe I had discovered. I made a big batch, thinking the boys could snack on the leftovers throughout the day or maybe I could freeze them for later. We sat down and I ate my muffin, but was interupted by the baby and left the table. When I came back, it was to this-

23 muffins gone in about five minutes, and one half-munched one left for mommy to enjoy with her reheated coffee.

People keep telling me how fortunate I am to have all boys since I won't have to pay for any weddings, but I am afraid my grocery bills are going to outweigh any savings we might have in the wedding department. But hey- at least I can start baking again with no fear of waste!

Per Request

2011-07-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

All right, here is the 'top secret' recipe for those of you who asked for the chocolate-chocolate malt ice cream. First of all, I don't really know why it is called chocolate-chocolate since it only contains one kind of chocolate. I think my dad called it that to enhance it's allure, but I don't feel like it needs that once you have tasted it.
Secondly, this is not a beginners recipe- it is a bit complex and involves a custard base that must not be curdled! But don't be afraid- custard is not hard to deal with if you pay attention and have all your ducks in a row, ready to go before you start.

Thirdly- this recipe was a little too big for our 1.5 quart ice cream maker- we did have some overflow, which was no tragedy since we just licked it eagerly off the sides of the bowl, but you can split it in half and make some today and some tomorrow- the custard keeps nicely in the fridge.

You will need two medium bowls- one to set over a pan of simmering water for melting the chocolate and one to beat the egg yolks in. You will also need a fine mesh strainer. If you don't have a fine mesh, layer several pieces of cheesecloth in a regular strainer. Trust me, the strainer makes a difference in this recipe and gives it a silky smooth texture.

Also you need-
2 cups whole milk (no skim please, or you void the guarantee)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup malt powder (found next to the hot chocolate in most grocery stores- think Carnation brand)
8 eggs
10 ounces of good quality chocolate (the original recipe called for Cadbury's milk chocolate bars which are definitely yummy, but Steve and I prefer things a little darker- scharfenberger anyone?)
Bailey's irish cream (we use a knock off brand)

Begin by separating the eight egg yolks from their whites- yes this is a rich recipe! Save the whites for omelets or something and beat the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl until pale yellow and slightly fluffy.

Break up the ten ounces of chocolate into the other medium bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate is melted and smooth- turn off the heat, but leave the bowl over the water to keep it melted.

Next heat 2 cups of whole milk and two cups of heavy whipping cream in a saucepan until almost boiling. Whisk in 1/4 cup of malt powder . Remove from heat.
Now slowly pour about 1/2 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Repeat with another 1/2 cup. This will slowly heat up the egg yolks without scrambling them. Next take the tempered egg yolks and slowly whisk them back into the remaining hot cream. This is your custard! Put the custard back on the stove over low heat and stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to thicken- three to five minutes. To test it, dip in the wooden spoon and draw your finger through the custard on the back of the spoon. If your finger leaves a trail, it is thickened. Quickly remove from heat as it can curdle at this point.

Pour the hot custard through a strainer into your melted chocolate bowl. You may find the custard has curdled slightly, but the strainer will take care of it. Stir the chocolate and custard together until smooth- things will be looking mighty fine by this time, but they get even better when you whisk in 1/4 cup of Bailey's irish cream (or more if you like things stronger). I have also tried Grand Marnier and Kahlua with this recipe, but we always end up going back to the Bailey's.

Cover the bowl and put it into the fridge until chilled- then proceed with your ice cream makers instructions. Some people like to freeze the ice cream in the freezer until hard, after removing it from the ice cream maker, but we think this recipe is much better soft serve style. Enjoy!
And if you have any questions, or if something is unclear, leave a comment. I'm new at posting recipes.

Frosty Delights and Father's Day

2011-07-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Steve and I have been looking for one of these gadgets for a while now.

We love homemade ice cream and have an older ice cream maker from our wedding which we have used alot. But these days, doing the whole ice and rock salt routine isn't on my list of priorities. Doubtless my father will probably shake his head at his progressive daughter. Dad always insisted that making ice cream the old fashioned way was the only way to do it (we had an old hand-crank ice cream maker as kids) And it's true, it did add to the experience and the anticipation- we cranked and cranked with our wimpy little girl arms until we were exhausted and then dad took over with his big brawny ones. The resulting dessert was certainly more appreciated after all that work.

However, the problem we have down south is that cranking ice cream outside in 100 degree heat with sweat pouring down your back loses some of its charm.

So for Father's day, as I was wandering through Costco, they had these on special, and I also had a coupon. I figured it was a sign. I bought it and we are loving it. In honor of my dad, we made the best ice cream recipe in the world for Father's day- chocolate-chocolate malt with Baileys Irish cream. Dad taught me to make it years ago, and we haven't found a recipe yet to top it.

Of course I can't splurge every day on an ice cream recipe full of egg yolks, fine chocolate and cream, so we have been making sorbets, frozen yogurt for the kids and our latest favorite, strawberry daquiris and slushy margaritas.

And it is soo easy- just keep the bowl in the freezer, and you are always ready to churn out a treat at the push of a button. No, this is not a paid advertisement, but if you don't have one, I would highly recommend it. Here's to keeping cool!

In love with zinnias

2011-06-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am posting about my garden again, but hey- it is what I have going on in my life right now, other than potty training, and who wants to hear more yucky stories?(not me for one).
We started picking cucumbers this week- so far we have picked five, and there are about eighty-two more on the vine. Looks like I need to learn how to pickle.
The butternut squash plants have decided that the yard is not big enough and are making a run for the street.

I guess we won't even need to set up a roadside stand- people can just pick a few up as they walk to work.

My Zinnias have been the biggest pleasant surprise for me this year. I wasn't planning on planting them- I was looking for something more like a daisy, but couldn't find any on the little spinny rack thing in the store and zinnias looked sort of like them, so I grabbed a pack and threw them in the ground. Steve and I have been amazed at the variety and color of these flowers- they were not a flower my mom ever planted (that I remember) so they seem new to me.

Every day we bring in another one that we decide is our favorite. And they are so bright and cheerful. I love how God can make colors so bright without being too loud and tacky. If someone tried to to combine a similar group of colors in something man made, it would only look garish. And they are a great cutting flower. They last almost two weeks in a vase without wilting.

I also cracked up when the boys brought this bouquet to me today- two of them in their undies- one completely naked. That is also what I have going on in my life right now.

So all in all, the dandelions were sweet,

But I like zinnias better(and they make a handy cover-up too)

And to think I was worried....

2011-06-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

...that our garden wouldn't grow.

Remember this?

And this?

Give it a few months, some humid weather and a lot of sun and you get this

Boy Howdy, has this been a learning experience.
Lesson # 1
Basil thrives in pots, not so much in the garden proper.
(I have four more pots of this- pesto anyone?)

Lesson # 2
Sunflowers really do get to be twelve feet tall

Lesson # 3
Never, ever underestimate the growing power of squash and tomatoes. I think we are going to need to open up a roadside stand.

Lesson # 4
Always plant some flowers along with the vegetables- there is nothing like the joy of seeing your own flowers bloom and filling vases with them.

All in all, we have had a blast doing this- the peas and beans have already been harvested, and we are looking forward to the first tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and squash. Gardening also gets you to try new veggies that you never thought you would eat. Who knew turnip greens could be so good? (well, simmered in cream and bacon anyway)
It is a lot of work, but the rewards are so great- such a sense of accomplishment and all the wonder that comes from watching a tiny seed explode with so much life. And now, does anyone know what to do with spaghetti squash?

Warning- Graphic potty training story ahead

2011-06-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

So I have been potty training Seb this month. It is a bit early perhaps (he will be three in September) but summertime is the best time to do it, and I really didn't want to wait another year.
He has actually been doing great- at least with the potty part. The other part, not so much. He has managed to evade my notice every single day for two weeks to do his business in a private corner somewhere, and I was getting pretty sick and tired of hearing James announce that Seb had pooped on the rug again. So tonight we were determined. Steve put him on his potty seat and I told him he was not getting up until he had done his business in the right location.
Then I went off to do something or other that needed doing. Actually, I must be honest here- I was watching some Netflix. I know, nice mothering right? I was planning on checking on him in a moment of course, just as soon as the next scene was over. Well, I heard some crying, but I figured he could sit it out for a minute or two. The crying got louder and Steve went to check. I heard him start to laugh, which in my opinion, is never a good sign when potty training is involved.
I peeked around the door and was startled to see Etienne standing in front of Seb, who was happily sitting on the toilet still. Etienne was weeping copiously and it took me a minute to realize that he had pooped all over the floor. Poor baby. He had run to the toilet in an emergency, only to find his little brother in the way, and his mother totally ignoring his cries for help. He was so embarrassed he had tried to clean it up himself which only made things much worse. I will spare you a picture.
Sigh. I know these days will be over before I know it, but when they are happening, they seem like the days that never end. Sorry if this has grossed anyone out, but I had to vent somewhere and I did warn you.

What is it....

2011-06-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

...about babies wrapped in bath towels?

James

2011-06-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

My oldest turned six over the weekend. Six feels to me like over the hill for childhood. We are definitely out of babyhood and firsts- no more first steps, or first bike rides, or first girlfriends- wait, I guess we aren't quite done with all of the firsts. But it feels like it sometimes. He even finished his first year of school last week! How on earth did that happen? How do I now have a boy who asks if I can leave the light on a little longer at bedtime to finish a book that he is reading?

We had a fun little party- pirate themed, per latest obsession, with three of his favorite people over to play for the day (handily enough, they are all from the same family :)

We had a very short water fight and tons of time on the slip and slide, since it was ninety-five degrees out.

We had a pirate-ship cake (I went a little overboard on the cake this year, pun intended) and made homemade ice cream.

Then we played for hours with the pirate ship grandma gave him, with cannons that really fire plastic cannon balls- what more could you ask for?

Happy birthday James, my first.

There's a carrot under my piano (and other tales)

2011-05-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

So there was a carrot under my piano that was winking roguishly at me for some time. "Come and get me, why don't you," it seemed to mock. "Just get down on your hands and knees one more time to pick up some random object that got here who knows how, and only I know how long ago."
Maybe it is the latent rebel in me, but I just didn't want to pick that carrot up- no matter how wrinkly and green it was turning. Or maybe it was the other voice in my head telling me not to bother, since something else equally disgusting would take its place in no time. I should learn to listen to that voice, because this morning I finally gave in, got down on my belly to fish the carrot out and ran my hand into a half rotten banana with it's accompanying cloud of fruit flies. That was the beginning of a long day. You know those days where you can't seem to find the humor in life? Those days where you are lashing out at your kids for stupid things like spraying their luncheon pbj with lysol?
After the discovery of the banana, I thought it was high time to give my house a good scrub down, and the only way I can usually motivate myself to do a thorough job is to move all my furniture away from the walls or put it up on tables and countertops. I felt even worse when I did this, for under my couch were no less than 12 match box cars, 17 broken crayons, another rotten carrot (I kid you not) and what seemed like mountains of other odds and ends whose identity was veiled in dust bunnies. I stared at it for a few minutes, and then had to nurse the baby.
And then I had to change my pants because the baby puked all down my leg. Then I figured the baby probably needed a bath too, so I scrubbed him up and had him all wrapped in his towel when he decided to pee all over my pants. Then I had to change my pants.
Next, James decided it would be a good time to beg me incessantly to build him a boat with his k'nex. Does anyone else have k'nex? I like them better than legos because the pieces are not so tiny, but they are a bit advanced for the boys. Usually I like helping them make stuff, but today was not that day. I put him off as long as I could, but they were all begging so I gave in. Of course half of the pieces were missing so we spent half an hour just searching for all the right parts, and then another half hour putting it together. Then Seb had a poopy all down his leg, so the older boys took their boat and fled the scene while I dealt with the diaper. All this time I am thinking "Is this why I went to college?" Then I put him to bed, and ran out to see what the other boys were screaming about. They were fighting over the boat, of course. Etienne had it and had locked James outside. I told him to let James in, so he unlocked the door just as James pushed hard. Etienne and the boat went flying. The boat got the raw end of the deal. "Mommy, build it again!" they wailed in unison. It was at this point that I nearly lost it, standing in the topsy turvy living room with poop on my hands and the remnant of that stupid boat at my feet. The boys must have noticed my frayed nerves because they gave up on the boat and quietly went outside.
It was one of those times where you have to decide if you are going to continue losing it or buckle down and do what needs doing next. Thankfully, God gave me the grace to start vacuuming. By the time Steve got home, the house was back in some semblance of order, dinner was almost ready, and I was able to start laughing at the craziness that is my life sometimes. However, just as I was relaxing after putting the boys to bed, Steve walked in the door with this backyard treasure.

I think I preferred the banana.

Learning to Wink

2011-05-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

Untitled from nicole lewin on Vimeo.

Hodgepodge and Handguns

2011-05-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

It's cicada weather around here these days. For those of you northerners who have never experienced this exceptionally noisy insect, here is a picture.

The noise they make I cannot imitate, although my boys often try.
They are a fairly tame bug, and very easy to catch as James found out at church yesterday. He insisted on bringing one home. It kept crawling all over him in the car and trying to get onto Seb, who was screaming in terror. When we got home, Steve told James to let it go free. He was trying to put it on a tree when it suddenly took flight. The boys were all excited watching it go, when out of nowhere a robin swooped down and snatched it right out of the air. A bit traumatic, but hey, that's nature for you.

Saturday was spent installing this new item on the boys wall. Steve found it at one of the properties he was working on. It was covered with old marker streaks and masking tape with kids names on it(I assume it once belonged in a school) but it cleaned up really nicely and I am loving it. I can always use more cubby holes!

Can you tell what is wrong with this picture?

I am not sure which of my boys needed to make sure that the baby was doubly pacified, but I thought it was pretty funny.

James to Etienne the other day.
"I am sorry Etienne, but pirates cannot have deedees."(ie security blankets)

Have I mentioned that sometimes I feel like I have a lot of boys?

No wonder I drool over those little pink baby girl shoes with flowers on them. Brown sandals get monotonous.

Still wondering about the word handguns in the title? First of all mom, don't worry, we are all fine and I don't want you losing sleep over this. I have only lost a little bit myself.
Saturday afternoon I was sitting in the living room with the boys when I heard the front gate flung open (I forgot to lock it) and hurried footsteps. The next thing I knew, two rather large men were trying to come through my front door, so I did the first thing that popped into my mind and yelled for Steve. Thankfully he was home and came running. The men turned quickly around when he asked them what they wanted, mumbling something about getting the wrong house. I thought it was weird, but seeing as they walked away, I put it out of my mind (after locking the gate again). I went back to doing laundry when I heard Steve talking to someone on the phone that sounded suspiciously like the police. I looked at him questioningly and he pointed out the window. There in the dirt of my side yard were lying two rather large handguns. They were not toys.
It took me a while to register what I was seeing, but by then Steve was outside talking to three cops who apparently had been looking for the guys. I put a movie on for the boys in my bedroom and shut the door, so they wouldn't need to wonder why there were several policemen in our yard unloading guns and examining bullets. They ended up catching the guys, but couldn't arrest them because they had no proof that the tossed sidearms were theirs. As far as I know there was no shooting involved, but it was pretty scary nonetheless. All in all, I am thankful that nothing worse happened and that God was looking out for us. Even so, we are letting the dog off of his chain and Steve is never leaving the house again, right honey?

Not your ordinary boys

2011-05-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

So I made a big batch of orange marmalade today.

Why, you may ask? Two reasons- first my husband is half-British and is in love with the stuff and second, we bought a 25 pound box of oranges from a roadside stand on our way back from Florida. These hands can only handle so much orange peeling before the citric acid starts eating away my fingernails.
Unfortunately, today decided to be the hottest day we have had yet this year and our AC isn't functioning so well. The marmalade making made the kitchen extra cozy, which in turn made me grumpy, which led me to usher all of my boys outside to play so I could sweat in peace.
There are days when I simply can't get my boys to play outside. I always thought boys just lived outdoors and I would have to be yelling from my front porch half the day to get them to come in. Granted it was hot outside, so the third time they came in whining, I got their swim trunks on and set up a sprinkler. I even ran through it a few times to show them how fun it was. They didn't buy it. They were all knocking on the door, begging to be let in while the sprinkler sprinkled merrily all by itself. I told them they had to stay outside just a few more minutes- gave them all full permission to have a waterfight or make as many mud pies as they wanted. Still knocking. Then James had the brilliant idea to sneak in the back door.
"All right", I said. "If you want to be inside, you have to clean." (Ha Ha, sneaky mom wins, right?)
His response was "I would love to do that mom." And he did. He cleaned up his bedroom, even vacuuming it, and then I came into my room and found this.

"I thought these looked better like this than on the floor mom."

By then his brothers had found the back door too, and were wanting to know what they could clean. I was running out of stuff by this time, so I told them if they wanted to be inside they had to play in their bedroom with the door shut.
This they did for five minutes or so, until I heard crying- and I mean really heartbroken, end of the world crying, so I went to check.
I found Etienne sobbing away, while James was obviously holding something in his fist that couldn't be seen. I asked him what he had done to Etienne. He admitted to doing something to him. When asked what it was, he opened his hand. It was empty. I asked again what he had done and again he showed me his hand, cupping it as if he were actually holding something. I looked to Etienne for clarification, and he was pointing at James's hand too, but crying too hard to talk. James then explained that he had been making pretend sandwiches for his brothers, but that Etienne was copying him. He didn't want Etienne making sandwiches too, but since he wouldn't stop, he insisted that Etienne had to put pepper on them just like him. Etienne didn't want to put pepper on his pretend sandwich, but James was making him do it anyway. That is when the crying started. What James was "holding" was a pretend pepper shaker. !!!!????
At that point it was dinner time, so we forgot about pepper sandwiches and hunkered down for some gourmet buttered noodles with leftover broccoli (Steve was not home).
After dessert of a piece of 85% cocoa dark chocolate (my boys won't eat milk chocolate. What in the world?) I sat down to play the piano for awhile. I noticed it was strangely quiet, and I also noticed it was bedtime. I went to their room to tell them it was jammie time, but they weren't there. I opened the front door and lo and behold, there they were having a grand old time. And then the inevitable- "Don't make us come in mom, we are having a waterfight!"

Where do these people come from? Maybe from a mother who is silly enough to make orange marmalade on a 95 degree day. Who knows.

Orlando

2011-05-03T12:05:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my father-in-law, we were able to spend a week for free at a condo down in Florida. It was so much fun- perfect weather, lots of adventures, and lots of time just soaking in the pool. I was a bit lazy about getting pictures every day, but here are some highlights. Thanks Grandpa Lewin!

A good day

2011-04-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

(I meant to post this a few days ago, but it still applies)

Don't you love it when you are expecting a difficult day and it turns out differently? My husband says I am a pessimist, but I prefer to think of myself as a realist. We just spent the last ten days in Orlando- a trip that was somewhat exhausting, but well worth the effort (I'll post pictures later). We got home late last night and I knew the morning was going to be rough- getting James back to school, refilling an empty fridge, getting Christian to the pediatrician by 9 am for some yucky shots, unpacking and cleaning a filthy car and getting everything put away. You get the picture.
I managed to get out the door on time, but we got stuck behind a semi-truck going up the mountain. All you who are locals know what that means- 7 miles an hour up the hill. I groaned inwardly and prepared for the bad day ahead, but wonder of wonders he actually pulled to the side of the road after only a few tedious minutes and we were off. I dropped James at school and made it to the doctor just in time. Our pediatrician is so great- and I was so encouraged when she asked me if I had
"celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ." I know we live in the South where these things might not be so uncommon, but it is still wonderful to exchange a "He is risen indeed!" with a stranger. Anyways- the shots were no fun, but Christian is as healthy and strong as a little guy at two months can be and just beginning to smile.
I was further encouraged at the grocery store when almost everything I needed to buy was on huge discount "today only". I guess I picked the right day to go shopping- even my favorite cookies were on sale, so I splurged a bit. But munching a cookie in the car made me thirsty, and driving by Starbucks was too much of a temptation for me, so I thought I might just get a house coffee. I gave the barista my cup and asked for the brew of the day as I reached into my bag for some cash. I started to hand him the money but he said, "This one is on the house today." Just like that- a free coffee for no reason!
I know they seem like little things, but just knowing there are nice people in the world is still a boost.
And when it came time to clean out the yucky car, James offered to vacuum it for me. I was thrilled. Granted, he and Etienne decided it would be fun to see what would happen if they sucked a bunch of toilet paper into the hose, thereby clogging the whole thing and making me spend half an hour getting it unclogged, but he did finish the job afterwards.
Then we spent the afternoon working in the yard which is growing beautifully and then I found out some very good friends of ours are moving back to town.
And if that wasn't enough to make me smile at the end of a not so bad day, this was.

Another Perk

2011-04-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

So another perk of having boys is the bugs.
I stumbled across this beauty whilst digging in my yard yesterday and instead of smashing it to death with my spade as I was immediately tempted to do, it somehow made its way into a jar on my countertop.

Now I wouldn't consider myself as an arachniphobe. The only bug I really run screaming from is a cockroach, but I must admit this guy gave me the willies. I know it looks like a huge tarantula-type in the picture, but in reality it was only an inch and a half long or so. That's big enough for me though. The boys, of course, wanted to know what kind of spider it was, and I was curious to know if it might be, you know, venomous in a deadly sort of way, so I jumped onto my surfboard and hit the internet. Let me tell you that after half an hour of looking at the creepiest eight-legged creatures on earth, my latent arachniphobia was emerging. My skin was literally crawling and I had to wipe the cold perspiration off of my brow. There are some crazy spiders out there folks!

This particular specimen turned out to be a trapdoor spider of the female variety. And its bite produces only mild discomfort. It was a very informative experience and I was able to introduce my boys to pictures of the black widow spider, so now they know to run screaming if they ever see that little red hourglass. They spent the rest of the evening taking turns staring at it in the jar, and only once did I have to intervene to keep it from escaping into my home. James wanted to know when it would start laying eggs. At that point I was ready to say goodbye, so currently our little friend is visiting James's kindergarten class(hopefully permanently). I am sure his teacher is thanking me right now.

Four!

2011-04-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

So my mom flew down for a last minute trip last week. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the few days she was here, but we had such a sweet time of visiting and getting things done around here. Thanks so much for coming mom! And it was so great to have someone from the family here to help celebrate Etienne's fourth birthday. I didn't get very many good pictures from his little party either, so here are a few favorites from the last four years.

Etienne

We love you Etienne!

Help! I'm surrounded!

2011-03-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking of changing the name of this blog to Being Boys instead of Being Bilingual.
However, I suppose that being the lone female in this house and learning how to think like my boys and understand them is another form of bilinguistics. So I will leave the title alone for now, and focus on learning the language that will let me understand why they do what they do.
For instance, why did I come across a batch of pictures the boys had taken with my camera of their rear ends? I will give you a tame sample of one of these with the pants actually pulled up.
Why are they so fascinated with bodily functions and why does every mention of poopoo or peepee send them into hysterical laughter? I have tried scolding, reasoning,and appealing to their better natures as gentlemen to stop their constant references to these things but to no avail.
James has tried but then told me the other day that "He will try to stop saying the words, but in his heart he can't help laughing."
Or how do I respond to the following conversation between Steve and the boys.
Daddy- "You boys sure have good taste. It must be the European in you."
James and Etienne(sniggering)- "Haha, daddy said Peean."
Daddy(exasperated)- "No boys, not Peean, European."
Etienne(laughing still harder) "No dad, you're a peean"
I mean really, what do you do?

Or why do they love bugs? Why do they go out in the pouring rain and mud to dig for worms to feed to the tiny snake daddy found in the yard?

Why do they all insist on sleeping on the top mattress of their big bunk bed, and being wrapped up like "roly poly bugs" before going to sleep?

And what about Winnie the Pooh in a muddy stew?

or incessant wrestling and doggy piles?

Can I get an interpreter please? Steve just shrugs his shoulders and tells me they are boys, so get over it. But I am still trying to discover the gentlemen in them. It does appear occasionally in James. He loves to get me flowers or clean up his room to surprise me, and yesterday, when playing pirates he asked Etienne to stop with his wicked cackling because they were "Good pirates who love God." Maybe I am making some progress.

We've been bloomed!

2011-03-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

The phrase in the title of this post was coined by James, after I tried to explain to him why all of our extra sneezing was coming from the trees in bloom.

The older I get and the more children I have, the more I love to garden. We are having so much fun with the kids this spring- fun playing in the dirt, loving their joy at seeing each bulb pop up out of the ground, wondering what kind of flower it will produce, and hearing their funny little expressions. ("Oh mom, just look how well the dandelions are growing!")
I have learned that it doesn't take much to make a garden- just a little labor and imagination. We currently live in a not so great neighborhood. When I started weeding the beds out front by the street, I had to wear thick gloves to protect myself from the many shards of broken beer bottles and other trash that had been lurking in the dirt for who knows how long. The yard next to us is a small mechanics shop, mostly made up of concrete and metal and even a little barbed wire. The house on the other side is a little more presentable, but nothing lovely. With such surroundings I was tempted to think that trying to make something nice out of our yard was pretty pointless, but I plugged away anyway, planting bulbs last fall, and planning flower beds. When my sister visited, she treated me to several flats of bright flowers from the local nursery, and planted them in big pots across my porch. Steve is currently building some raised beds for vegetables.

I have been amazed at the impact our little actions have made on this rather sad neighborhood. People who I see walking by on a daily basis staring at their shoes, now stop to look, to comment, to appreciate even my little attempts at beautifying. My daffodils are bent from trampling feet and half the yard has been tilled and replanted with new grass seed, but people still admire the color and symmetry of the flowers, despite the imperfections around. It's a simple kind of ministry.
So I am thankful for this spring, thankful for the allergies, and thankful for the perpetual handfulls of dandelions being brought to me by grubby little people. Here's to being bloomed!

A New Life, A New Blog

2011-03-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

How does one ressurect a blog that has been dead for almost a year? Apparently the desire to display a new baby to the world is enough for this lazy blogger. Equally motivating is the realization that I am never going to get around to updating baby books or printing and framing the thousands of pictures I have floating around on my computer. The best way I have found for recording the precious moments in life, the memorable things my children say or do and the pictures to go with them is with a blog, so back on the horse I climb.
This means however that there is an entire year of our lives that has gone undocumented. Solution? A brief timeline of events that will fill all my loyal readers in on our crazy lives from last Spring to this. Enjoy.

May-Mid August 2010
The Lewins bite the bullet and move to Memphis to be with daddy. There they experienced life in a large apartment complex with lots of little neighbors to play with, a pool to swim in, and cockroaches the size of dinner plates. The heat was mostly unbearable and there were no sightings of Elvis. They laid pretty low all summer. Highlights were mostly milestones for James. He turned five, learned how to swim and how to ride a bike all in one week.

August 2010-
The Lewins decide to move back to Chattanooga to try and get daddy's real estate business off the ground. The plan to stay in one of his tiny duplexes for awhile while renovating yet another house backfired slightly when the duplex proved to have no running water. Further investigation revealed the main water line had been cut somewhere in the middle of the yard. This was not discovered until after five days of living without plumbing in 103 degree weather and hours of digging in the clay with a pick ax. We were grateful to friends who lent a shower. Meanwhile, work commenced on a small house in which they hoped to live within the month. Unfortunately that plan hit another snag when they decided to throw caution to the wind and knock out some walls. The discovery of hard wood floors under the old carpet didn't help either. Much, much rubble and sanding and dust later, they moved in.

September 2010-
Steve's hopes for his business did not flourish as anticipated, so back to Memphis he went for five days a week. Nicky tried not to cry. Life continued very busy, and James started Kindergarten. He loves every minute of it. Sebastien turned two.

October-December 2010-
These months are mostly a blur. Nicky was a single mom most of the time, with weekends crammed full of daddy time and more home improvement projects. Somewhere around this time, Nicky discovers a pregnancy that she had overlooked for five months. If you want to know how on earth that happened, call her. Another boy was on the way.
Thanksgiving was spent in Orlando with the Moons, and plans were made to spend Christmas in Tacoma. Nicky managed to get herself, all three boys and her pregnant belly into an airplane all by herself and Steve joined them later for a wonderful Christmas with the entire extended family.

January 2011 -Present
The Lewins return to Chattanooga and Steve goes back to Memphis only to discover that he either returns to Memphis 24/7, or he is out of a job. Steve becomes unemployed. Nicky is extremely grateful to have him back home as the new baby is due any day, and the search for a new job continues. February 22, Christian Edmund Brock is born and is joyfully welcomed by all. A visit from sister Aubree and her husband highlighted the beginning of March, and now we are caught up. All we need now are a few updated pictures.

James, otherwise known as "Kindergarten Boy" at 5 3/4-

Etienne, "The Tank" Lewin at almost 4-

Sebastien, my not a baby anymore at 2 1/2-

And last but not least, little Christian at 2 weeks-

Together Again

2010-04-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hello to anyone who might be reading this old, unloved web-log. I figure this is still the best way to share news with the most people in the easiest way.
Steve came to visit for Easter, which was wonderful but way too short. The only reason I was able to say goodbye to him again without weeping was that we have come to the decision to move to Memphis to be together with him. This was a move I always said I would never make, but you do what you have to do. At this point it is a temporary move, but if there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that God is in control of our lives, not me. If anyone had told me a year ago that I would end up spending six months with my parents away from my husband, I would have laughed. But by the time we leave in three weeks, it will have been exactly six months.
And the future is quite a blank to me, which is actually kind of exciting. I have never before moved to a new city where I know absolutely nothing about it(except Elvis) and nobody in it(except Steve). But home is where the family is, and any uncertainties or doubts I may have are completely overwhelmed by the thought of having a father and husband close by again.
As to this blog- I don't know if I will have a computer or wireless access, but if and when I do, I will try and get this old thing up and running again. Thanks for reading.

So, about the blog

2010-01-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

Just in case anyone ever checks in on this blog anymore-

I am not sure what to do with it. Its original purpose was to give some updates to grandma and other family members back in Washington. Seeing as I have been living at grandma's house for the last three months, surrounded by my once long distance family members, makes that purpose a bit pointless.

I suppose an update would be good. I originally decided to move back home for a couple of months for several reasons- the primary one being that my husband was working out of town 5-6 days a week, and it was pretty lame being a single mom. Other reasons are family related, but mostly having to do with my father losing his job and being diagnosed with dementia in the fall. I had hoped to be of some use to him and my mom as she needs to be at work all day. Then I was to come back after the holidays with my husband.
Well, Christmas came and went and all of the reasons why I originally came out here were as strong as ever. Steve is still working far away, dad is still in need of help, and other issues, some having to do with our housing, have led us to decide that I am going to stay here for a while longer- not sure how long, but probably as long as my husband is MIA.
This has not been an easy decision for us- it has been difficult to give up my life in Tennessee for such a long period of time- to say goodbye to friends and church, but we are certain this is the right move for us right now. So for those of you who have been wondering what happened to us, that is it, in a nutshell.

As for the blog, I don't know what the future holds for it. It may be repurposed, or it may just be on hiatus until our lives are back to normal (whatever that might mean). So thanks for checking in.

Birthday Cake

2009-10-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Whoever came up with the idea for allowing a one year old to have an entire cake to himself must have been a glutton for punishment (no pun intended).
I know, these pictures are a week after his birthday, but we didn't celebrate until this week. I thought the cake eating was cute, but take a look at the tub that Steve had kindly scrubbed spotless for me the day before. Needless to say, he did it again, and I will reconsider the chocolate frosting next time.

My Sweet September Baby

2009-09-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

A very happy birthday to you, my third little man child. And stop growing so fast.

love mama

I almost built an ark

2009-09-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

I had to put up a new post. That picture of Steve glaring at me every time I opened the page was getting to me.

So those of you who live round these parts know that it has been raining a wee bit the last few days. Or should I say dumping large heavenly buckets-full of water?
Now normally I like the rain- the coziness of being indoors-the excuse to make a pot of hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream, not to mention little piece of home it represents. But this warm, sticky, jungle rain is a different monster, especially when it starts invading your personal space. Unfortunately, Steve took the camera to Memphis with him this week or I would post some pictures of the the predicament I was in last night, around midnight.
We had a leak- a major one in our kitchen ceiling. It started by the bathroom door and spread- spread till it was coming out of the recessed lighting in the kitchen- spread until the sheet rock started to crack and bulge. I called Steve in a panic, standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by post and pans quickly filling with water, expecting to be electrocuted every minute or at least to have the sagging ceiling come down on my head. He was of course, very calm about it and suggested I find the point in the ceiling that looked like falling in the most and poke a large hole through the sheet rock. So i got a chair and started poking. The sheet rock was pretty saturated and I soon had bored a dime size hole. The mistake was that I was standing right under it. That's right- a shower of gritty rainwater was my reward. I put a big bucket underneath, cleaned myself off, and watched the water from the hole pour down, relieving the weight of all the water that had spread around the kitchen. It helped, but I am not sure how much damage was done. We might be looking at replacing the ceiling of the kitchen.
At any rate, I was really tired by this point, so leaving plenty of towels and buckets behind, I went to bed. I was awakened at 4:30 in the morning by awful screaming. I jumped out of bed to find Etienne standing in the kitchen in a big bowl of water with soaked jammies and yelling his head off. He was so confused, he didn't know where to go. So I hauled him out, dried him off and we got back to sleep.
First thing this morning, I called someone to come fix the roof. I am hoping they will come soon- it is supposed to pour again tonight. Maybe I should build an ark.

Here we go, over the hill!

2009-09-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

I never post about my husband, so here is a quick shout out just to say Happy 30th Birthday honey!

This picture just captures everything I love about you- your patience, kindness and understanding, not to mention your clean cut, well groomed appearance at all times. Most of all I love it that you let me take pictures of you.

All joking aside, we couldn't ask for a better husband or father. And don't worry about turning thirty- I will be joining you soon enough.

Some days are like that, even in Australia

2009-08-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

First of all, name that book.

Second of all, let me tell you a little story.

Yesterday started badly when both boys woke up at 6:30, having soaked their beds. I figured it was going to continue on this way when I realized there was no electricity in the house. A storm the night before had knocked down a few trees up the hill which in turn knocked down a few telephone poles. We talked to one of the guys working to get things fixed and he said they would have to replace several of the poles, so we would be without power for most, if not all of the day. A few things had to be decided right away. What should we do about the food in the fridge? The forecast was ninety degrees, and without AC, this did not bode well for the milk and the frozen chicken. We decided to fill the fridge with ice and hope for the best. We also needed to decide what to do about coffee. Emergency Starbucks run or cold instant coffee? Unfortunately, cold instant coffee won the debate. Then there was the matter of urine soaked bedding stinking up my laundry room. I just shut the door on that one.

Needless to say it was a long day, wherein I had to try and describe to James how electricity worked and why he couldn't watch Curious George. He finally figured out that the wind had blown out the power, kind of like a huge candle, and the men in the street were trying to light it again.

I might have rejoiced that this was a great excuse for not having to cook, but I actually really like cooking. After a salad dinner, we headed to church where we had the difficult task of voting to accept our pastor's resignation, and of trying to decide who was going to decide who our new pastor was going to be. The meeting went late, and the kids were really cranky so we loaded them up quickly in the van. Then Steve turned the key and nothing happened. He tried again- dead. So we just looked at each other and smiled. What else? James piped up immediately, "Did the wind blow the car out too?" Something like that.

Steve tried several more times, but to no avail, so he jumped in the car with someone who lives close to us and was going to return with our other car, and then get a tow truck or something to get our van back home.
James was really worried and kept asking what we were going to do. I was trying not to do the same thing, so instead of panicking with him, I said, "Don't worry James, the Lord will take care of us," as I continued hopelessly to turn the key in the ignition.

With that, he went to the car door, opened it up and yelled to the night sky- "HELP US LORD!" He sat there, watching and waiting for a few seconds, then with a pout demanded why God wasn't coming to fix the car. I tried to explain that God doesn't exactly work that way, when the car suddenly came to life with the next key turn. I couldn't believe it, but it seemed very simple to James. He had asked, and been answered, so he said "Thank you Lord," and went back to his seat. Steve pulled up soon and escorted us safely home. When we got there, the lights were back on.

I could go on and on about the lessons I learned (hopefully permanently) yesterday, but I figure they are pretty obvious. Some days are worth having for the lessons they teach. Oh, and the chicken stayed frozen!

I don't usually do this but...

2009-08-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

I read something that I want to share.

I have had so many conversations with people lately about how difficult life seems to be right now, either financially, spiritually, physically, or circumstantially- you name it. I have been feeling in the dumps too- anxious,worried, frustrated, impatient. Again- you name it, I got it.
Then I picked up a little essay by Andree Seu from her book 'We Shall Have Spring Again'.
She says this-

"I have been waiting for the day when I can amass just enough spiritual capital to achieve some independence and not have to go begging God for every little thing. I have envisioned what it would look like: I would have read enough great books to be respectable in polite society. I would have attained enough competence in some skill area to amount to something. I would possess surplus purity of heart the way I have stockpiles of paper towels in the pantry, not having to fight for it anew every day in prayer.
I always think it's just around the corner, this time to coast. In the meantime I am constantly desperate for God.
There are precedents to my frustration in the tale of the widow from Zarephath. A stranger blows into town and asks for bread.
'I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug. Now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die." (I Kings 17:12) She is already counting herself dead.
At this point Elijah can, if he wants to, open the storerooms of heaven and make it rain fig cakes. But he does not. He only promises, "The jar of flour shall not be spent and the jug of oil shall not be empty until the Lord sends rain upon the earth."
Every day she comes down to the kitchen (is she biting her nails?) and there is just enough for the day.
We like a little more margin than that, thank you very much. But God is not into comfort zones. He dispatches disciples to preach with no staff, nor bread, nor bag, nor money. His heavenly caterers send manna enough for the day, but try to scrape up Wednesday's dinner on Tuesday and you'll get maggoty manna for your unbelief.
Recently I counted all the essays I have stockpiled over the years. They were a buffer against writer's block, a safety net in case the Lord didn't come through, a comfort zone in which the comfort was not having to rely on God. Maggoty, every one- stale and dated. Each one taking hours to write, each one representing time I didn't spend with my kids.
Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8) is merely the crassest illustration of my desire to own the gifts of God as a commodity. Who needs moment by moment relationship with God? Just sell me the ownership of the power of the Holy Spirit to wield independently of Him. To Me be the Glory!
I am humbled but happy. Begging God daily is the right place to be. Not to possess anything in myself, but to draw the day's grace as the branch draws from the vine. In your right mind, you wouldn't want it any other way.

Don't you love it when you read something that speaks right to you? I hope this helps any of you out there who are struggling with the day to day.

Summertime Uniform

2009-08-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine-

Three little dirty, popsicle-covered boys
Hot weather
Jumping in and out of the pool all day
Potty Training
Some really groovy new Pixar emblazoned briefs?

Long days of wearing nothing but underwear, that's what.

Something to blog about

2009-07-28T06:18:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty slow around here- a lot of staying indoors to avoid the heat and working on potty training for my big boy Etienne. I know it is kind of early for potty training- he just turned two, but I really don't want to wait a year and summer time is by far the best time to do it. Thankfully he has been doing great so far. I have discovered he will do just about anything for chocolate.
Anyways- we did manage to get out of the house and into the pool last week. My kids are generally afraid of water. Seb hates his bath and Etienne screams if water gets anywhere near his eyes. James isn't bold near water either, but by the end of the day, Steve had him dunking under and even opening his eyes. Seb loved floating in his floaty thing and Etienne was the only one who stayed pool side most of the afternoon. For me, it just felt good to float for awhile.

No time for subtitles

2009-07-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well, if I don't put some pictures of my trip up now, I never will. I don't have the time to describe all the events highlighted, so have fun guessing what we did!

Summer 2009

Back in time for fireworks

2009-07-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted pictures of my time in Tacoma yet, but I thought I would get some of these fourth of July shots up before Moriah does. Hah! We got home at 4:15 am July 4th, so we were a bit exhausted, not to mention unorganized and surrounded by piles of unpacked luggage, but we decided to go with Andy and Moriah and crew to the downtown fireworks show anyways.
We met up at their house beforehand and took some pictures of our patriotic wardrobes (pardon Steve's black t-shirt- it isn't his independence day remember. And he is half British)

The show didn't start until late, so we had an interesting time keeping track of the kids in the darkness while we waited, (including bribing them with suckers) but once the fireworks started, they had no problem staying put.

Hope you all had a fun fourth!

My surprise visit (extended version)

2009-06-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

So I have been meaning to blog about my surprise visit to Washington (which was a surprise to no one but my older sister) before I got home again, but I am still here. My hubby called the day before I was supposed to leave and told me that since his business obligations would be taking him out of town a lot for the next few weeks, that I should stay here as long as possible. What could I do but agree? I mean, I miss my hubby, but since he isn't going to be at home anyway.....

So I am here for one more week. We are having a lovely, somewhat restful time with my family and have had many adventures with grandma and the nine grandkids in tow. I have a ton of pictures, but can't seem to figure out how to download them off of this PC. Man, I miss my Mac. So I guess I will just do a huge photo dump when I get back to Tennessee. Until then.

All about James

2009-06-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

James is four this week. I know, I can't believe it, time flies etc. He is a bright, cheerful, constantly hungry, slightly obnoxious child who occasionally does really sweet things. Sometimes there are ulterior motives. Yesterday, to get out of punishment for whining again, he walked over to me when I called him, gave me this really cheesy, sappy look and pursed his lips. I asked him what he was doing, and he said, " Mom, I just really want to kiss you," in a falsely affectionate tone of voice.
I will not reveal whether or not he got out of said punishment.
Last night I heard him talking to Etienne after they were supposed to be going to sleep. I put my ear to the door and James was saying goodnight to Etienne. Etienne responded with a thank you.
James said, "No, don't say thank you. Can you say I love me?"
Etienne responded, " I love me."

He got a birthday card in the mail from Grandpa Lewin yesterday, and was so thrilled about it. He asked me too read the brief birthday wishes over and over again. After about the seventh time, he sighed and said, "That is such a good story."

James wasn't sure what he wanted for birthday presents, but he was positive that he wanted a choo choo cake, so I searched the ever helpful internet and came up with a picture of this cake that I tried to copy.

If I ever make this cake again, I will hide it under lock and key to avoid the constant begging to see, touch, taste and smell it.
We took the cake to the park and I shared the sugar high with Moriah's kids. They did a pretty good job of running it off though.

Some other big things going on in James life-

We changed his name to Butch (ie. daddy got a little too happy with the clippers)

I tried not to weep when I saw it, so that James wouldn't freak out, but when he looked in the mirror, he buried his face in his hands and cried, " Mommy, I lost my head!!!" We are getting used to it, and hey, it will grow back.

I don't have a photo of this, but James also has his first full blown case of Poison Ivy- tummy, legs, back, arms are well covered with little pink rashes. He doesn't seem to mind it too much. He just absently scratches all day. All in all, not the best birthday present though. He'll just have to start out year number four covered in Calamine lotion.

Still trying....

2009-05-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

to get a good, frame-able candid of all my boys

At least act like you love each other.

That's a little better, but not very candid.

Daddy suggests laying down. Hmmm.

Mommy yells to "keep your eyes on Daddy!" Maybe if she stood behind Daddy the yelling would have been a good idea.

Well, we'll keep trying.

Playing peekaboo

2009-05-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

The more children I have, the more I forget to look for baby milestones, like 'recognizes mommy' or 'able to grasp objects with thumb and forefinger.' etc.
'Able to play peekaboo' is usually on that list of milestones somewhere, so lest poor Sebastien be relegated to the role of unnoticed third child, I thought I would document this great achievement.

Peekaboo! from nicole lewin on Vimeo.

Birthday Pudding

2009-05-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

So I am not a big cake fan. Well, really, I am not a big dessert fan- sweets just aren't my temptation (give me a big greasy cheeseburger any day). If I have to eat dessert, I prefer dark chocolate to anything else. I think I get that from my mother. I have memories of her coming up to tuck us in bed with the smell of chocolate chips on her breath. I think that must have been her end of the day splurge- a handful of dark chocolate.
At any rate, for my birthday dessert I opted for this super yummy, super easy dark chocolate pudding that I found in a magazine once. I have given this recipe to some friends already, but I thought I would share it again here.

Dark Chocolate Pudding

whisk together in a medium saucepan-
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder (If you haven't tried the Special Dark powder, you haven't lived)
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons of corn starch.

gradually whisk in 1/3 cup of whole milk (or less fatty version if you are on a diet. Obviously, the more fat, the better) until a thick paste forms.
Over medium heat, slowly whisk in 1 1/3 cups more of milk and 1/3 cup of whipping cream if so desired. Either way, the total dairy should equal 2 cups.
Let this thicken until bubbly, about five minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in four ounces of dark chocolate (chocolate chips or fancy candy bar, your choice) and 1 tsp vanilla.

Now here comes the fun part. You can eat it as is, or kick it up a notch. We added a generous splash of Kahlua, but Bailey's is fantastic too, or Grand Marnier or any other liquor of choice. If liquor isn't your thing, mint extract is excellent, or any other flavor that goes with chocolate.

to chill it, just cover it with plastic wrap right on the surface, to avoid that yucky pudding skin. We prefer to eat it warm, right out of the pan. This also makes a great pie filling. I must warn you though- kids make a mess of it.

When I asked James why he was deliberately smearing it all over his face, he said he just wanted to look like daddy. (Steve's current facial motif is a rather unkempt goatee)

Oh, and this last picture is my birthday present from my mom.
It is a smocking pleater. I tried my hand at smocking a dress for my latest niece, but it took forever to do by hand. So, since I have no daughters to smock for, send your orders in. I need to make some cute dresses for somebody.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-05-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

Well, almost. My birthday is actually Sunday, but this morning was the best time to do our traditional out-to-breakfast birthday date. (if you can call a meal out with three kids a date) The problem was that our favorite breakfast cafe is no longer serving breakfast, which we didn't find out until we had all the hungry kids unloaded and ready to eat. Bummer!
Part of the reason we love that cafe is the location- lots of fun views of the river and beautiful walks. So we walked a bit and tried to figure out where else we could go.

We decided to go to a little hole in the wall restaurant we had heard of many times but never actually been to. It really was a tiny place, and very quaint.

But the food was great. It took a while to get our food, and we were really hungry by this point, so we held the kids off with Sebastien's cheerios (which Etienne ate painstakingly with a fork and knife)

until our giant pancakes arrived.

Then we had fun making Sebastien smile. This kid has the biggest mouth. Sometimes I think his face is going to split in two.

All in all, a lovely morning out and a nice way to start the last year of my twenties.

Funder

2009-05-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot of rain storms lately, with plenty of 'funder' and lightning. This is the first time Etienne has noticed thunder, and the first couple of storms scared him quite a bit. Now we have this dialogue just about every night before bed, whether there is a storm or not. This video also goes to show how much he is talking now- a month ago all he did was grunt.

Funder from nicole lewin on Vimeo.

Kites and Slides

2009-04-29T04:36:00.000-07:00

The weather has been so lovely this week- around eighty with a nice breeze and best of all- no humidity yet. We have been spending as much time out of doors as possible before the damp, stifling, suffocating, giant bug nurturing, lock your doors and bar your windows weather sets in (can you tell I don't like humidity? I may have mentioned it before)

We took a walk to our great little park the other evening to fly James's first kite- a 1$ buzz light year trinket that lasted one evening. It did fly for a while though.

Can you see Seb's little tooth poking out?

It was hard to get any good pictures of James running like mad with the kite high above him- he got pretty tired of it after a while, so we moved on to the play ground-

This playground was built by the community. They asked for volunteers and about two hundred people showed up. They built almost the entire thing in one Saturday. I was pretty impressed. Anyways, the whole play ground is fun, but the obvious main attraction is the giant slide. The boys (all four of them) had a blast.

Here's to hoping this weather will last!

Happy Ooster (Can I have more candy?)

2009-04-14T05:35:00.000-07:00

James somehow got it into his head that Easter was pronounced Ooster. He also quickly figured out that Ooster and candy go together, and the beach.... that's right, we spent Easter weekend in Florida with Joe and Darcee. It was exhausting, but well worth the ten hour drive, at least on the way down. On the way back up, I was starting to think flying wasn't such a bad idea.
We left Steve behind, but I had help from my sister Callie and her roommate Julia who were both a huge help entertaining and feeding three whining kids strapped into their chairs. In reality it seemed a very short trip compared to the sixty hours we spent in the car in January (at least to me).
We had a great time overall- saw a ton of stuff during three short days, and got plenty of warm sun to help us through this unusually cold and cloudy Chattanooga spring. And Easter day really was a celebration with more than just candy.

Friday Callie and Julia spent at Disney World- I wasn't in the mood for that undertaking with my kids just yet. So Joe and Darce showed us around Orlando a bit. We went to a wonderful park in a very upscale part of Orlando. The kids had a blast chasing squirrels and climbing trees. I enjoyed looking at the huge variety of exotic flowers and trees on display.

This was a palm tree growing out of some kind of cedar I think.

This was one tree the kids did not try to climb.

James is going through a stage right now.....

That night we were decorating eggs and we had an egg blowing contest. This, we discovered, is kind of a disgusting process made much harder if laughing hysterically.

Saturday was beach day. It was windy and warm and very very sandy, but also very fun. We built castles and after some tentative toe dipping, James loved splashing in the surf. Etienne allowed the waves to wash over his feet a bit but that was all.

Easter morning we woke up to this beautifully decorated table, our egg blowing efforts well worth the trouble.

I realized today that I hadn't really gotten a photo of the kids all dressed up, but when there aren't any fluffy Easter dresses involved, it doesn't seem as fun. Church was wonderful, as well as the long feast afterwards. Then we cleaned up, napped a little bit and drove uptown for a walk on the water.

Looking at the "big bugs", otherwise known as turtles-

At the end of the day I found James in bed, like this-

I guess we wore him out.
Thanks Joe and Darcee!

Two years old and fidoo free

2009-03-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, we did it. We accomplished our goal and with time to spare. The fidoo is just a memory now. Thank you for your many helpful tips- it proved to be much easier than I had anticipated.
So Etienne is two now. That means I have been blogging for two years, since I started this blog just after he was born. Time sure flies. And James will be four soon, and then school will start and then college and marriage and.....
no I will not worry about being a grandma yet.

So anyways, Steve likes to follow the kids around with the camera sometimes and take lengthy photo shoots. Usually they won't cooperate and most of the pictures end up being the back of their head. Yesterday however, Etienne seemed bent on posing for the camera. I thought these pics captured some of his quirky character, and let us see what had been hiding behind that pacifier. So I give you the many faces of my big two year old.

This picture disturbed me a little. He looks a little too comfortable strutting his stuff down the cat walk.

Wide eyed innocence is a better look for him.

I love how Steve caught the younger brother admiring his older brother's ability to play with mud.

Everything is a wonder at this age- even the zoom lens.

I call this look 'Blue Steel'

Dad- what is that thing crawling up your arm?!!!

Again, a little too comfortable with the posing.

Alright Dad, enough already.

Six Months

2009-03-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

So here is my little Seb at six months. I remember taking shots of Etienne at this age in the same little suit and it seems like two months ago, maybe three. And now Etienne is two this week. Yikes. Well, onward we go.

"I walked the dog!" (or the dog walked me)

2009-03-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I have done a Strider post, but Moriah's post of yesterday reminded me that we actually have a dog who is sometimes worth writing about. James, my big boy who is finally taller than the dog, decided he was man enough to try and walk him today.
Now normally not even I feel man enough to walk the dog. He is huge, hairy, and incredibly strong. I have attempted it several times with the stroller only to have him knock me and the stroller down whenever a stray squirrel happens across the road. Therefore he gets neglected.
However, it was a very lovely day today, and I felt sorry for the poor beast. Every time we take a walk without Strider, he yelps and cries so loudly that I can hear him all the way to the park four blocks away, let alone the little field just across the street where he can see us the whole time. So I yielded to James's request.

He did really well, only getting pulled through the grass face first a few times. He quickly figured out that the only way to stop him was to sit down with his boots dug into the ground. It was just so funny to see skinny little James trying to get that monster to obey him. But I was proud of him. He never let go of the leash, much to the relief of several people walking close by. I don't know why, but people tend to get nervous around our gentle, man-eating dog.

Operation get rid of fidoo

2009-03-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

It is time to dispense with "fidoo". Etienne calls his pacifier "fidoo", derived from the second half of the word and pronounced as he pronounces all words ending in er such as- "wadoo" for water, "stridoo" for Strider the dog, etc. He is my only pacifier dependent baby, and I do mean dependent.

He has always been quiet, but the paci increases this tendency. Now I am noticing, as he starts to talk more, that his fidoo is affecting his speech patterns, seeing as he is always trying to talk around a rubber stopper in his mouth. He is also getting bigger and stronger and chewing holes in the rubber so that they are always full of nasty spit, and I just throw them away. That leaves us with just a few, and I am constantly on the hunt for them which is annoying seeing as they are usually behind the crib or hiding in low, baby height places. Besides, I think he looks much cuter without it.

So my goal is to have him clean and sober by his second birthday, which is in just a couple of weeks. Any tips?

P.S. In looking through all these old photos, I noticed that it is also time to start thinking about James and his thumb sucking. And then there are the security blankets. Yikes. Well, one thing at a time.

A day at the zoo

2009-03-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

So the weather here in Chattanooga has jumped from frigid to toasty in about three days. Last week we were huddled up in the house with sweaters and scarves,. Today the doors and windows are wide open and the thermometer inside reads 78 degrees, with no help from the heater. So we took advantage of the nice day yesterday and did something we have been meaning to do for a while- go to the local zoo. Chattanooga is not known for its great zoo- they seem to have put all their time and energy into the aquarium. The zoo however, is actually affordable, and it doesn't take that much to impress a three and almost two year old.
It really wasn't a bad little zoo, if you could ignore the fact that it was stuck in the middle of a busy city, surrounded by loud trains and the sounds of sirens and trucks from the nearby highway. The boys actually seemed most interested in the choo choos.
We adults were particularly impressed by the birds- talking parrots, preening peacocks, turkeys, hawks, owls and some crazy African cranes with pom poms on their heads. They also had a lovely display of local crows! Who goes to the zoo to see crows? They may be my least favorite birds.
They had some cool cats too- a snow leopard, a jaguar, a cougar and other big felines. Unfortunately, they were all napping, so not much action. They had the usual chimps and a reptile house etc.- oh, and camels. Those are weird looking creatures I must say. As are the ugly hyenas they had. Yuck. Anyways- I took some videos, but was unable to upload them. I will leave it to your imagination to hear the parrot talking, the peacock showing off his feathers for a lady turkey, and Etienne chasing the goats in the petting zoo and calling them dogs. I did take a few photos though.

For Grandma etc..

2009-02-17T06:58:00.001-08:00

From time to time, when I get stressed about the fact that I haven't blogged in about two months, I remind myself why I started a blog- to post pictures for grandma so she won't forget what we look like. It is also good for me to organize my photos a bit and comment on them, just so I don't forget what life is like right now- each day passes in such a blur.
These winter months tend to be a little bit dull, with nothing much going on except the regular routine of life- music classes, church duties, choir practices, and of course mothering. These are just some pics of my kids as they are most days, alternately messy, cute, obnoxious, and very sweet.

JAMES-

James is no longer a baby- he is very noisy, very curious and very much wanting to be a big person. I have been doing a bit of yoga lately. I don't buy the whole 'connection to the earth' mantra, but it does help to stretch a bit and give my flabby old self a bit of toning. I was about to start the other day when of course I got distracted by something. When I came back, I caught James trying it out. I managed to get some shots before he noticed me-

I particularly love the Jammies and Dinosaur boots combo.

I also caught him the other day when it was really cold, diving head first into my fresh-out-of-the dryer clothes to keep warm. He stayed in there for a long long time.

ETIENNE-

Etienne is still my silent, serious observer, even without the pacifier which is his almost constant companion. I often wonder what in the world is going on in his little (or perhaps I should say big) head. We spend a lot of time scratching our heads over him- for instance, when he is tired, he takes his paci and blanket and goes to stand by his crib ready for bed, or the fact that he sits all the way through church on the edge of his chair without making a noise, or wiggling around. He is not your run of the mill child, but we love him anyway.

He does act goofy occasionally-

SEBASTIEN-

Then there is my sweet baby whose personality is still developing, but he likes most to

Sit

Smile

Sleep

or just be pretty darn cute

So there you go Grandma.

The Long Journey

2009-01-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

So we had decided not to go home for Christmas this year. Then my mother bribed us home by the offer of a van if we would be crazy enough to drive it back. We decided that we were crazy enough, so we bought one way tickets. Before we left we had a little Christmas with just our kids and gave them a railroad track, with the tracks screwed down since I am opposed to the tracks being strewn all over the house, or the wailing tears from James every time Etienne breaks his track. They have really enjoyed it so far.

So anyway, we were scheduled to fly out the 21st. That didn't happen. Seattle was experiencing one of the worst snow storms in decades so our flight was cancelled. We got rebooked for the next night and then went to a hotel where we spent many hours watching television.

The next day we waited and waited, not knowing if our flight again would be cancelled. It was a very long day.

We made it, thankfully, only twenty four hours later than expected. Some people fared much worse. Once we were there, the snow was great fun and it was the first white Christmas our little family has had.

Christmas day was quiet and peaceful, and very festive. We all got many fun gifts including hats from grandma,

souvenirs from Scotland

and James got his beloved Buzz Lightyear (which he calls Buzz RightHere)

Apparently Etienne wanted one too.

Oh, and mom bought all the "little boys" nerf guns

We also had some good quality time with the cousins

Our stay was very short, just under a week, but we managed to get a shot of all the grandkids with grandma and grandpa before we left. There will be two more to add come March. Not from me this time!

Then we piled in the van and took off. The first leg of the journey was a trip through the night down south to my cousins most wonderful house in California.

The kids had a blast exploring the marvels of their yard including a delightful play house

and a thrilling suspension bridge leading to the log fort.

We wished we could have stayed a week, but we caught up on sleep and then headed East for 1700 miles : )
There isn't much to report from that trip- it all seems kind of a blur. We took a few shots somewhere in the middle of New Mexico

Other than that, it was just going and going and going. Crazy Steve decided not to stop for any nights so we made it in amazingly good time, but that last drive through the night was pretty much pure misery. But we are home and now we have a vehicle that fits our family much better, with room to spare. Hooray! Happy New Year to you all!

My little old man

2008-12-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

So people are always telling me what a little man my Seb is. They say things like " Why he looks just like a little old man", or "He looks so old for a baby", or my favorite in the grocery store one day- "My, he looks so old, like, well... like a banker!" A banker?
Maybe it has to do with the bald spot he has developed over the past several weeks:

but most people don't see him from behind, so it can't be that. Maybe it is because he is a pretty serious looking baby:

However, he does crack a smile now and then:

Well, whatever it is, I guess old men must be cute because I sure think he is. And maybe it is a sign that he will be mature and responsible from a very early age. I am sure that is it.

Can't get enough twinkle lights

2008-12-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I love decorating for Christmas. I am the type of person who looks forward to Thanksgiving because it means that as soon as the dishes are washed, you can break out the tinsel and Christmas music. No, not really. I like Thanksgiving for the stuffing too. By the by, we had a great Thanksgiving this year, albeit much smaller than I am used to- just five adults. Joe and Darcee Moon shared their first married T-feast with us, and Marie Gonzalez, who braved sleeping on my couch and even tended to James's nightmares in the middle of the night. She also went red neck with us as we piled three kids and three adults into the cab of a truck and went to get our Christmas tree. It was great fun.
I love Christmas trees- the smell, the nostalgia, the sap on the floor. It's all part of the experience. One of my favorite things to do, once the tree is lit, is to wake up early when it is still dark, and drink my coffee and read my bible with just the Christmas lights on and my favorite Christmas cd in the background.
The older I get the more I appreciate the lights of Christmas- James is a huge fan of Christmas lights- always shouting out when he sees even the smallest pathetic string of bulbs on a bush, and it reminds me why we should put up lights in this dark season. It is such a lovely picture of Christ coming into a dark world. We light a lot of candles too.
It adds to the joy to have my children start to get excited about this wonderful season and begin to understand the reason for it. So can you tell I like Christmas? Have a merry one everyone.

Here's a few pics of my twinkle lights.

I don't even know what to say

2008-11-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

I thought of several titles for this post- " You can't do it all" " While the cat's away the mice will play" " I can't turn my back for a moment" "just keepin it real" and so forth and so on.
Several of my friends have been talking about the frustration of the never ending cleaning cycle, so I am joining in.
This morning I decided it was time to clean a little bit, or a lot maybe. Having a small house can be nice, in that it doesn't take very long to clean, but it also seems to get messy much faster. It was really the bedrooms that needed sprucing up and organizing- the living room/kitchen was relatively clean, so I took advantage of Seb's morning nap to tackle the rooms. I told my older boys to play outside- got their shoes on, coats on etc. Then I got to work. They played outside for a little bit- then I heard them come in, but I figured since they were quiet I wouldn't check on them. Instead I focused on actually finishing a job for once. This is what I came out too about half an hour later. I wish I had a before picture.

But the bedrooms are spotless! Now on to the living room again!

Smiles and Slime

2008-11-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

We have enjoyed having Steve's father in town for the past several weeks. He left to return to France yesterday, but it was a great chance for the boys to get to know their foreign grandpa a little bit better. As a result of his visit, we have had a lot of company and been out a lot more than usual which has made for a few very tiring but interesting weeks. Wednesday night we had some French missionaries who were on furlough here for dinner. Steve's dad has helped them in the past and I actually knew Suzanne at Covenant my Freshman year. We were both voice majors and seemed to have a lot in common. She also married a French musician. I hadn't seen her in eight years but we still seemed to have a lot in common when she walked in the door with three little boys. As we were introducing our children, we discovered that we had both named our sons Etienne! I never thought there would be two little boys with that name in one place. It was pretty funny. Anyways- we had a lovely evening despite six little guys running around in a small area.
Now that our company is gone, it is already time to start looking towards the holidays. Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away! I am hosting my first Thanksgiving this year which I am excited about. It will be on the small side, but that should be nice.
We have also decided to spend Christmas here this year which has been a difficult decision. What with the lovely economy and taking time off of work and three little babies etc. it just seemed like a bad year to go, or a good year to stay here I guess. In some ways I am excited to decorate my own house and try to start our own little family traditions, but being away from all the cousins and aunts and uncles and mom and dad- well, we will bear it as best we can.

Wondering about the title of this post? Well, here are the first shots I have managed to get of Seb smiling. He is seven weeks already. I can't believe it.
The slime has to do with the banana mousse that Etienne invented for his hair this morning during breakfast . It was quite impressive.
I have also included a few more attempts at a threesome shot. Still not great I am afraid. Maybe we will get a good one in time for our Christmas picture.

Life at home

2008-10-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

Having three children now, one of whom needs to be fed every three hours, and not having a car on many days has made us homebodies on a whole new level. The feeling of being house bound also increases when one lives in a small house and when the weather gets colder. These are some pictures I took last week while Steve was gone to show what we do for excitement in our quiet, at home lives.

Friday mornings there is the garbage truck show that the boys never miss.

Their favorite new toy is my laundry baskets, which they fill with all kinds of treasures(books, diapers, food, dirt etc...) and push around the house. They also occasionally enjoy a few quiet moments of reading in them.

Some days, if you recall the baby powder post, they get into things without asking mom. This was far worse than the baby powder. It was a can of frosting. My floor still hasn't recovered.

After events like this, we turn to the television while I scrub.

As for this boy, well, he eats (he is 12 1/2 pounds already!) and he sleeps- a lot.

This last shot is one of several attempts I have made to get a decent picture of the three of them. As you can see, it hasn't worked very well yet. Ah well.

Just me and the boys

2008-10-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

So Steve decided I needed a 'how good a mother and wife are you?' test this week, and is out of town for ten days. Yes. Ten days.
Ten days of flying solo with my three boys. Now lest you think my husband is a jerk or unusually cruel, I must clarify that he is on a road trip with his father, who is here in the states on one of his rare visits. They are visiting some old and dear family friends, and, well, his father is only here once every several years soo... It has been alright so far. Granted, he only left yesterday, but so far we have only had one incident where every single person in the house was crying at the same time- including me. Steve couldn't have done anything about that anyway- not much you can do against post-partum emotions and fatigue. Today was much better, and the weather was about as gorgeous as it can get in Georgia, so I can't complain.
I wish I had more interesting things to say about my day, but I am in the stage where I am trying to fit the rest of my life in between nursing times, so if I seem distant or entirely absent, that is why. Moriah has managed to get me out of the house a few times, and the only reason I am updating my blog is that one of my aunts commented on M's blog that she keeps up on my life through her: ) So here it is from the horses mouth (what does that mean anyway?) I am keeping my head above water, but realizing more and more every day how much I am needing God's help to see each day through with any success. That is a good thing to realize. Maybe i will get things together enough to post some pictures soon- well, I suppose taking some pictures would be a good place to start.

Sebastien Philip Hale

2008-09-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

So there is his name. Not exactly sure how we came up with Sebastien- it just sort of evolved. We are spelling it a la Francaise, and Steve is pronouncing it French style, but don't listen to him if he tries to get you to say it that way. I am pronouncing it as any other red blooded American would. Philip and Hale are both grandpa's middle names, so now that we have scraped the bottom of that name source, I hope we will have a girl next time. WE are not sure what we will shorten it to- either Seb or Bass or Bastien, but we will probably go with what the kids end up calling him. Right now they are very excited about him- even Etienne, but there is no way I am leaving him alone with them.

The c-section in itself wasn't so bad- I mean, I couldn't see or feel anything, although Steve throughly enjoyed watching every minute of it. It was so quick and effortless on my part. Ha Ha. The aftereffects are not quite so pleasant however. Let's just say I am on a lot of meds, but my mom is here doing all the forbidden lifting of children and dishes and laundry, and it is rather nice. They also let me out of the hospital early which was a big plus.

Well, enough about me- here are some shots from this sweet little boy's first days of life.

Meeting Aunt Callie and James

"Boy, this guy is cute"

"I think I will kiss him"

"On second thought.."

Bored at the hospital

Wide Awake

Home at last- don't you wish you were a baby?

d-day

2008-09-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Well, everything is just about the same here in breech land, so we have scheduled baby number three's arrival. Barring any unforeseen problems, this baby will have a September 24th birthday, at about two in the afternoon. Everyone has been great, encouraging me about c sections, and telling me it isn't as bad as I might expect etc. At this point, I am just glad to have an end in sight.
Everything is as ready as I can make it in this tiny house- I do love this nesting stage- it makes me so much more organized and clean than I usually am. I had a baby shower last week and got exactly what I hoped for- cash and diapers, diapers, diapers. Thanks to all who contributed. Here is a picture of my booty (pardon the pun). And I have recieved more since.

So next time I post, I will hopefully be the mother of three plentifully diapered children. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, we have finally settled on a name, and no we are not revealing it until Wed. It isn't quite as outlandish as Etienne; at least, I think most people will have heard it before, but it does lean a little on the obscure French side once again. Hey, that is the title of this blog, right?

Heads Up

2008-09-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all your prayers etc., but this baby is coming out backwards. Well, actually I don't really know what side they come out in a c-section, but at this point, barring a miracle leap, I am going to find out.
This is not the way I had hoped this little guy would enter the world, but option B was a complete failure, as option A has been the last couple of days. I really did hang upside down on an ironing board several times with a bag of frozen peas stuck on my stomach.
The external version was, much to my chagrin, an extremely painful process. They gave me medicine to relax my uterus, which made my heart race at 120 beats per minute for over two hours. I wasn't allowed to eat all day just in case I needed an emergency c section, so when they took a bunch of blood, I nearly passed out. Oh, and also they gave me a wonderful IV port for no reason other than I might need it for an emergency c-section.
Then the real fun began. It was a doctor and a nurse shoving, pushing, pulling for over an hour until my body now feels completely bruised and swollen. The pain was so bad that I was ready to throw up several times and they called a nurse in to hold one of those useless tiny little puke buckets next to me. Thankfully I held it in. They managed to move his head from one side of my stomach to the other, but couldn't budge his butt from my pelvic region. The things we go through to bring a baby into this world. After literally wiping the sweat from his brow, the doctor told me that this little man needed a good spanking as soon as he entered the world and then calmly asked when I wanted to schedule the surgery.
So that is where we are at right now. Apparently, doctors just don't do breech births vaginally anymore. I am going to try and fight it, but no one wants to deal with the potential lawsuits.
We are praying on, that he may just head south for the winter at the last minute. If not, I enter the realm of c -sections.

Breech Baby

2008-09-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

So, the blogging hasn't been happening lately. I usually like to blog when something fun has happened and I have some pictures to go along with it. I could include some pictures of me shuffling around the house in my slippers and the same comfy pants I have been wearing for about a month now, but I will spare you.
I went to the midwife today and she was surprised at the size of my baby's rear end, so she took an ultrasound. Lo and behold that big rear was the baby's head- in the wrong place. So.....
I have three choices
-Hope he will move in the next few weeks using home remedies like hanging upside down on an ironing board for a few hours
- Go to the hospital monday for an external version where they will shove the baby around til he is facing down as he ought to be
- Schedule myself for a c section

Right now I am opting for plan B.

Hopefully that will go fine and I will carry this baby to term, which is only three weeks away, although part of me wouldn't mind if he came a little sooner. Actually, most of me wouldn't mind.