Looking Back

This is a catch up post again. This time I’m going back through pictures we’ve taken and updating according to what I find. It’s funny how you can easily forget about events or circumstances until you see a photo and suddenly you are there again and remember details you couldn’t before.

So…in hopes of getting a few things in order I am posting photos.

The boys started swim lessons in June:

Aron did not participate in lessons, but did have a lot of fun imitating the other two. He loves for me to drag him around the pool so he can kick and blow bubbles just like Ivan.

Ivan is doing very well in the pool now. He was so timid at first that I was afraid we may need to wait a year to do lessons, but he showed his determined side at last and we are moving forward very well.

Owen did pretty well the first couple lessons but has improved immensely since working with Kris. There is something very motivating about daddy giving you a challenge and then encouraging you when you accomplish it that can’t be reproduced easily in another coach or teacher. I was happy to send him to camp with his new confidence and abilities.

Then along came Father’s Day:

I had been saving my pennies in order to surprise Kris with something for Father’s Day. He had been saying that he definitely wanted to take the boys to see Toy Story Three in 3D, and as it opened just prior to Father’s Day I was able to go the Wednesday before and purchase matinee tickets for the Father’s Day showing. I put the tickets into a card I had made from the pocket of some shorts that Aron had ripped and we gave it to him along with a framed 8×10 of the day he taught Owen to ride his bike. It was a very fun day.

June ended for us at a Rodeo. Our church hosted a bull riding competition and did the unthinkable by pouring truckloads of dirt on the floor of the sanctuary and creating an atmosphere that brought people to church in droves. Over 200 people were saved over that week and many of those people were folks that have never been to church in their lives. There were some who criticized. Some who insisted we were minimizing the reverence of the house of God. Personally, I think anytime you see an 18 year old cowboy pulling his hat off and bowing down to receive Christ for the first time with four of his cowboy friends, you are seeing reverence for God in a way that no amount of dirt in the sanctuary can hide.

Owen and 29 other first graders were chosen to run in the bull ring during the event. They were challenged to pull the ribbons off the tails of two little calves. His participation got the rest of us front row seats. I mean…merely four feet from the gates. We saw everything very well and it was intense a few times. A Cowboy being swung by his foot by a bull with a spur caught in it’s tail. One young man was swung underneath and hanging cheek to cheek with the animal and it looked like he was going to be trampled. All of them bounced up and walked away. I had a camera with me but we were told not to take pictures. I did get a few before things started and after the fireworks.

Kris parents were able to join us Wednesday night at the rodeo and Thursday morning we all got up and headed to the lake for a perfect day on the water. Kris and I had reserved a pontoon to tool around in but even at the time wondered if it would be too hot to enjoy it at all. A “cool” front came through just before our day so it was absolutely perfect out on the water. The boys loved it and we were able to relax…mostly…and just enjoy the wind and sky.

I don’t relax well. I’m realizing more and more what a worry wart I am in situations like that. The responsibility of renting the boat and the caution of having three little ones who don’t understand the danger they could encounter is neutralizing to my relax mode. I want to get better about that. I had to focus on relaxing instead of just falling into it. I did get there in spurts.

See the moon?

I don’t know why Aron is holding his nose in this picture but it makes me laugh.

We enjoyed some visiting and shopping on Friday and Saturday as well as fireworks here and there as our neighbors put on shows for each other. Sunday was the fourth and we watched more bull riding at church before coming home for pie. There was apple…

and there was blueberry…

and Owen’s favorite, shoo fly pie. He was begging me to buy more molasses so I could make him some more. I would have never guessed he would love it that much, but he did.

On Sunday night we were clued into the fact that a neighbor several houses down had filled the trunk of his large car with fireworks, the wrath of which few have seen in small settings. I wasn’t able to watch all of it because the noise really bothered Aron and I took him inside. It was quite a show and must have cost a small fortune. The next morning I got up early for my walk/run and had to go back inside to get my camera. The debris was almost pretty. I couldn’t really capture the vast amounts of colorful paper but I tried.

We enjoyed our last day with Grandma and Granddaddy on Monday and they left early Tuesday morning. I had the whole day to get ready for our next round of guests and what a round it was. The Halls and my dad showed up late Tuesday night and though the house wasn’t sparkling, things were picked up and ready for action. Dad actually stayed up at my sister Becky’s but we got to see him a few times.

Kristy had informed me that she didn’t want to do a lot of running around…she wanted to just relax. Seeing people was important but secondary to being still. I can appreciate that. I planned very little and what I did plan was not on the calendar. Just choices for when we had an inkling to do something. The boys played very well together for the most part. I mentioned before that there were squabbles and there were, but over all I was impressed with all 6 of them for their active yet peaceful play.

On Friday we did have a plan. It was little Christopher’s third birthday. I suggested a park in Lebanon that has a splash pool. Tim and Kristy paid for the shelter right next to the pool and the kids had a lot of fun. Kristy made a cake with fun colors. The kids played until they were worn out. Clean up was pretty easy and it was a successful party.

I took a few pictures of baby Ethan while he was visiting. I won’t show you all of them.

Ivan doesn’t want me to cut his hair because he wants to see if it will curl. I am not the type to just do what my kids want, but I’m okay with this one. He loves it when he looks in the mirror and sees crazy hair.

The Birthday boy was all smiles.

Our little party. You can see two of Becky’s girls here too. Landis was at a friends house and couldn’t join us, but the girl cousins came and it was quite a crew.

I NEVER let my boys play in the sand. I hate sand in my car, in my washing machine and in my shoes. The park had a couple of great play areas and one of them had a large sand pit. My boys asked me if they could play in it and my reaction was quick with an adamant “NO!” but as someone pointed out, they would be able to wash off in the splash pool after, I acquiesced. They took full advantage of this rare opportunity and there was sand everywhere. Once I got them in the pool, I washed everything, including their hats, in the water. They didn’t really like it when I held their heads between my knees so I could scrub the sand out of their curls and thick hair. Maybe they will understand why I don’t like sand after this.

Just more Ethan. Isn’t he sweet?

I posted another set of cards on Etsy last week. It’s been a while since I’ve minded my store and I hope these cards will get some good feedback…maybe even a buyer. Wouldn’t that be nice?

I also started on a project for my porch last week. We had the gutters cleaned and put guards on them so the abundant amount of tree litter wouldn’t clog them and cause the rain to overflow and splash into our covered porch. That was a costly venture but well worth it in the hopes of using the porch when it rains. As it was, you couldn’t sit there and enjoy it…you would get soaked. We also got the wood stained and sealed finally. That too, was something very needed in order to enjoy the place. It was getting rough out there. So this is the new color I chose for the wood. Kris is getting used to it, but I LOVE it.

The actual project is this couch.

It’s been around for a long time. Someone gave it to me, I stored it for a while and then Tim and Kristy used it in their first home. When they bought a new couch I offered it to Amber who had just lost an older classic camel back couch to a “misunderstanding” with the drama department at church. (Long story, but I was ashamed of a few people.) She used the couch in her front room for a good while and enjoyed it but with the advent of her new identity as physical trainer extraordinaire, she decided to turn her comfy den into an uncomfy gymnasium. This would require moving her TV and couch from the den, into the front living room and moving the old blue couch out. Does Mary want the couch back? Sure she does. But she won’t keep it the way it is. Here’s what I’ve done so far. I primed…

I painted…

I got rained on unexpectedly and had to haul the whole thing up to the porch by myself. Had someone had a video camera for that process, you would get a good laugh. I bought fabric and sewed piping.

I’m hoping this works.

One event that was a MUST among this gang was a showing of Star Wars. They probably would have watched all six episodes if allowed but we settled on one and allowed them to eat dinner on a blanket in the living room while they watched. Very little dinner was eaten. They love Star Wars and I love that there is a common interest like that for them. Being raised in China can divide certain levels of conversation, but common ground like love for God and love for Star Wars brings us all together.

These two weren’t quite as focused on the movie…aren’t they cute?

One of the last evenings they were here I had run out of bread and dinner options were minimized by that. I decided to make smoothies and with 6 boys to feed one blender full would not be enough. Since I had to make two batches I made them different flavors. Blueberry Peanut Butter and Strawberry Banana two tone smoothies. Fun stuff.

Our last weekend with Tim and Kristy and the boys was nice. We decided to go to the pool on Saturday but woke up to rain and pulled the plug on that. Then when I was returning from a grocery run I noticed that the pool was uncharacteristically empty on a Saturday afternoon and encouraged our gang to pull out the bathing suits and towels for one last dip. I’m so glad we went. It was a rare opportunity to have both the dads there to play as well as the moms, and the boys had so much fun together.

Here’s Clay…

and Thadeus…

and Ethan.

Christopher and Aron…I can’t wait to see these two play as they get older…very interesting characters they are already.

Ivan and Thadeus, who despite their earlier disputes really did have a sweet affection for one another.

Clay and Owen, who challenged one another, laughed together and built a lot of good memories this visit.

We left the pool and got ready for dinner out. We all enjoyed some great food and the casual atmosphere at Painturos and I think everyone rested well that night.

It was such a good visit, and I miss having them around already. I’m hoping that the next few years will somehow find them back in the states again, even if it’s not Tennessee, I hope they are at least within the possibilities of a road trip.

The past couple months were busy, fun and hard on my back, but I am so thankful for all of it.