healthy children

so theres a little bit of irony here, but not really...
all in all, with five children,
we've seen our share of illness and injury
(and this weekend we saw a little more than we would have liked).
but nothing compared with what you see after spending
a few hours in a children's hospital...
toddlers and teens without any hair on their heads
or most of their body hooked to a machine.

yes, today we spent the better part of a gorgeous day in the children's hospital.
and yesterday, we spent an hour or so in the pediatrician,
but before i fill you in, i just want to say i'm grateful,
because it could be so much worse.

that said, eva has two buckle fractures,
one in each of the bones which run from the wrist to the elbow.
she attempted her lovely cartwheel on uneven grass in the park yesterday,
and there you have it...
jonas, as always, is a little more complicated.
he has suffered a few dozen skin conditions since around nine months,
and yet he always manages to find another.
now, i've always waffled on vaccinations.
i take some, i leave some, i delay most...
such was the case with the chicken pox and mmr,
which i had delayed due to jonas' sensitive skin.
but, he had been in a good stretch for a few weeks, so i went ahead.
and, of course, he was the rare child to have the reaction.
he now has mild cases of both measles and chicken pox.
(although the pox are becoming less mild by the hour.)
poor baby... hes been crying and itching through most of the last few nights.

hopefully, they'll be feeling better in few days...
and i'll keep remembering to be grateful i'm not
the mama living in a hospital.

long days

some days are long.
we're exhausted at the end... in a good way (most of the time).
i suppose the longer day, the more things you get to live...
today began at 6 am.
joel was on his bike to work before the little ones and i
crawled out of our warm, soft bed.
most nights, some little one creeps into our bed before dawn.
every once in a while all of the little ones make their way in.
eva had awoken from a bad dream.
mara joy came in crying about her candy (those darned easter eggs).
and jonas (as we found out later in the day) had a double ear infection.
despite a bit of a sleepless night, the morning had a calm beginning...
reading over eating breakfast, getting the chores done,
and little bit of playing before our trip to the pediatrician.
unfortunately, this was the third trip to the pediatrician in the last five days.
and theres one more to go... at least thats a well visit (for the moment :) ).
turns out jonas has a double ear infection, again,
but at least the other four children were angelic (those wonderful easter eggs).
the afternoon was filled with a renewed interest in the birds.
last year, the kids were crazy over birds.
there must have been a few dozen handmade feeders and houses in the yard.
then, suddenly, they lost interest.
well, with the return of spring has come a return of love for the birds.
with the sun finally shining, they busied themselves filling feeders and baths.
then, some more reading (the horse and his boy) over lunch.
now with jonas sleeping came online math lessons,
some computer programming (elias), a reading lesson (micah),
some handwriting (eva), and playing (mara joy).
then joel came home. we took a walk... getting jonas' prescription,
delivering a meal to a neighborhood couple who just had a baby,
and paying a visit to the library.
one of the things we so love about germantown is
how we can walk most anywhere.
after eating dinner and getting the little ones to bed,
it was on to the boys' skateboarding reports for the co-op.
and, after that, a long quiet night for me.
joel has been replacing a part in the van since just after eight.
its now after midnight...
the blessing and the curse of being able to do so many things yourself.
and the reason i'm writing so long, so late.
i have the hardest time falling asleep alone.
but i'm enjoying the end of my quiet, albeit long, day.
mondays are quiet because its mostly us (not that we're quiet, of course).
the rest of the week is filled with people... people we love.
i just love the quiet, too,
which makes its worth making the day just a little longer.
but now its time to say goodnight. i think i hear joel finally coming in.

quote of the day

from micah, on this rainy saturday afternoon before easter
as we watched the Jesus film,
and after he heard peter deny Jesus three times...
"listen, everyone, now the peacock will crow."

ten

last night, joel and i completed our tenth session

of premartial counseling for a cool young couple,

kerith and jay. kerith was a high schooler

i mentored in my days of leading youth group.

she met jay in college.

they will be married in the end of april.

last december, joel and i celebrated ten years of marriage.

its been so amazing, the coinciding of these events in our life.

counseling kerith and jay was challenging and enjoyable,

and we hope and pray its making a difference for this couple.

they say it was far more significant

in their relationship than they anticipated,

but last night as they were thanking us,

we found ourselves realizing how significant it was for us...

not only did it cause us to

reflect on and dialogue about our own marriage

each time we read a chapter in our book

or prepared the evening discussion,

but it really allowed us to take a step back

and look at the big picture of our lives so far.

God has done so many things,

and we are so different ten years later.

yes, theres been many, many rich blessings

from committed family to enduring friends

to five fiery little children :)

but whats most amazing is how He has redeemed

so much of the struggle, the heartache, and the trials.

we sat there last night, trying prepare this newlywed couple

for that moment that will inevitably come.

the one where you ask yourself

"how did i get into this and is there a way out?"

alright, i'm not trying to be shocking here,

but if you've been married ten years,

you've thought this at least once, right...

even if it was only a passing thought :) ?

but once you remember this is what you signed up for,

and that the only real way out is through,

thats the place in which God really begins to work change in your heart.

and then one day, you find yourself having come through,

having been changed and made stronger because of it.

here we are, joel, and i, and yes, jonas...

celebrating our tenth anniversary in the same cabin we honeymooned in.

the co-op

this year we joined a homeschool co-op.
well, actually, we worked together to begin a homeschool co-op.
its been a lot of work, but worth it.
its only 8 blocks from our house.
it has all kinds of families.
and today, on our first day of spring semester,
the boys had classes on the lion, the witch and the wardrobe,
the french language, the country of Japan, and skateboarding.
how cool is that?

jonas

since its been so long,

i thought i would do an update on each child

(one at a time, of course).

those of you who we don't spend time with regularly

might be surprised to know our baby has become quite the little boy.

if people ask how old he is, i say

"17 months going on 5".

he is quite certain he is as capable as his brothers and sisters

and will try to do every last thing they do.

and if he cannot do it or we will not allow it,

look out, he can throw a stellar tantrum.

he is all boy, even more than micah was at his age...

he is completely taken with balls and anything on wheels,

from cars to skateboards on which, believe it or not, he hold his balance.

and yet, he is also more taken with dolls than either of my girls were at his age.

he has several boy dolls that he affectionately calls "doddy"

and carries all around the house.

hes such a sweet mix, and at the same time, completely himself.

hes short and stout like his papa, for whom he was named,

and hes got golden locks which fall all around his face...

this definitely warrants a pic.

just to put it in writing

someday i will no longer have little ones.
though this is very hard to imagine,
a day will come in which i will not need to nurse, change diapers,
chase toddlers, sing and pat babies to sleep, and
(the one i really cannot imagine parting with)
wear my little one in a wrap, a sling, or an ergo
(you should see the collection :) ).
i do not really look forward to this day,
although i know once it comes i will embrace the new stage of life.
but what i want to put in writing today
is something i hope never to forget.
and thats the joy of it all, despite the exhaustion,
the constant struggle to balance life, the little frustrations.
today i was at a meeting with jonas.
i thought i had it made with just one child in tow.
but jonas was not interested in the meeting,
and he spent the most of the time running away from me,
shouting for other childrens' balls, and all together making a commotion.
i finally decided to leave early once i could no longer handle the glares of a man there.
now this was a basesball meeting for the boys, mind you.
parents of boys who were a few short years ago just like jonas.
i hope having had as many children as i have,
i will never be that parent who forgets what a joy a little one is
and only sees the commotion. i always want to see the joy.

just one thought...

here goes...
my millionth attempt to keep my blog up to date.
but, i have a new idea this time.
no long entries (at least not yet), probably not many pictures,
but maybe just one thought.

i'm inspired by those of you whom i love so much that live so far away.
at least, i can get a little window into your days and lives.
so, heres your little window into mine... one thought, one day at a time.

this past week has been like stepping back in time five years.
while elias and micah are having the adventure of their little lives
in disney world with oma and papa,
i have been spending my days enjoying my littlest ones.
lots of reading, baking, playing house, dolls, and balls.
not that we don't play this way every day, but its punctuated
by reading novels, enacting science experiments,
traveling to and from sporting events, etc...
its been refreshing to have a little change of pace,
but its also reminding me how grateful i am
for the challenge of parenting different stages.
(not just because i love each one,
but because its refining me like nothing else in my life has.)