Autumn

Here's my blog's annual picture of the kids in the leaves. Last year's was taken during Micah's nap time, so this is the first with four kids. Enjoy.

Baby Alex

Warning: This post contains some sad news. You may want to read it later. If you know us well, I'm sure you've already heard.

We said hello and goodbye to a second baby on August 20th. Alex made it to about 15 weeks before passing early on to be with the Lord. This baby will be just as dearly missed as his slightly older sibling.

This little one also had his or her mother's beautifully unique hands, which raises quite a few more questions we hope to have some answers about in time. Because of additional testing we've opted to pursue, it will likely be confirmed in the coming weeks if this was Alexander or Alexandra.

We've been learning and researching more about "Brachydactyly Type C", and what it could possibly mean when mom has these hands along with two miscarried babies after having four relatively normal kids.

But, while we wait for more on that, we remember and appreciate our short time with little baby Alex. We buried him today, next to his brother Gabriel. The incredible weather allowed us to linger a little longer in the "Garden of Angels" and brought us some different memories.

If that second picture in particular brought as many tears to you as it did me while creating this post, I apologize, I just had to include it, I warned you. Even though I was standing right there at the time, the, um, 'drama' of the moment didn't even hit me until I saw this picture tonight. ...here, let me hand you a kleenex.

Ball Pit

"A what?"
"A ball pit."
"What's that?"
"Well, a pit, that's full of balls."
So, goes the usual conversation when explaining to someone about the latest addition to our basement.

Old siding off grandpa's house: $0
Paint left by our house's previous owners: $0
Slide we've had for a few years: $0
Netting and tropical backdrop: party store - it wasn't free, but it wasn't that expensive either
Padded mats for the sides and floor: $0.65/sq. ft. (Sam's Club)
5,000 balls: Well, we only have 1,500 so far, so we're watching places like craigslist. If you have any you don't use that you'd like to contribute, send them our way.
Seeing the look on your son's face when he sees what you built in the basement while he was away at grandma's for a week: Pri... I'll never know - I missed it. We were going to show it to him after I got home from work and videotape his reaction. But, before I got home he went down there to get something and saw it. We tried to have him pretend he was seeing it for the first time, but it didn't really work. At least the kids have really been enjoying it. :)

Camping

Yes, we went camping with another family with young kids, for a total of 9 little ones. Isaac, who is turning 7 next month, was the oldest. It was quite the adventure and a lot of fun.

more random pictures

Noah and Lyda practice their balance.
Micah looks like he's ready to preach his first sermon.
Isaac, just before a recent violin concert.
Micah's first haircut (just a few weeks after Lydia's first haircut).
Lydia is now just tall enough to help out with the silverware.
We, somewhat spontaneously, went to the 49er Days parade to celebrate "Friendly Fridley."

action shots

A few recent pictures to share.
We'll call the first one: "You've got to really watch Micah these days, he'll try to eat anything."Lydia had her first haircut just the other day. It was kinda spontaneous, while daddy was at work, so Isaac took some pictures.
Noah just turned 4!
And finally, "You might think they've had a little to much Mario Kart Wii, when all they can do outside is laps around the patio while pretending to be Mario characters. I think this is supposed to be King Boo."

a couple new videos

I haven't posted videos in a while. Here's a couple things that went on in our house while homeschooling the last few days.

Isaac and Noah have been working on memorizing the books of the Bible. One day, to our surprise, when Isaac got a little stuck on one, Lydia jumped in with the next book. Since then, we've all been working on them together. Here's how far we've gone...




And, here's the obligatory rocket balloon experiment going through the middle of our living room...

Road Trip

We took a family road trip last week. Three stops in WI and IL, totaling about 1,100 miles. I won't bother going into detail, but here's some pics. A good time was had by all. :)

The kid's rooms

Time for a couple more 'before & after' pictures. Here's the kid's rooms. Yes, those butterflies in the top left picture are pretty cute, but there was no way we'd be able to fit three boys in the other bedroom. So, after much thought and prayer the butterflies were replaced with stars. The very brown smaller bedroom received some new butterfiles to make up for it, along with some dragonflies and ladybugs.

How do they keep their rooms so clean? Well, all their clothes are kept in the dressers and closet in the laundry room downstairs, all their toys are kept in the playroom and basement, that just leaves beds and a few books. We spent just a few minutes picking up books and making beds before these pictures were taken. Have I mentioned?... We love our new house.

Micah's 1!