Quick 5 #4

1. It's Micah's birthday! Time flies--my firstborn is three years old. Whoa. And he's such a great kid. I'm blessed. It's also my brother-in-law's birthday today, and his and my sister's tenth wedding anniversary tomorrow. Can't believe they've been married ten years, either.

2. I lost my camera, and I'm pretty sure it's gone for good. So, there haven't been any pictures lately, and since I won't be able to replace it for a while, there aren't likely to be pictures on this blog anytime soon. I'm not too upset that the camera itself is gone (it was oldish and on its last leg), but I'm very, very sad at the thought that I might miss capturing some cute moments in my boys' lives. Sheesh, what would I have done in the days before cameras existed?

3. Last Friday, I did not do a quick 5 because I was at a women's retreat. It was a good conference, and it was great to get away for a couple of days. I think every mom should be allowed to leave the house for the weekend every six months or so, just for sanity's sake.

4. Josh's parents and sister and brother-in-law are on their way here from Rapid City right now, getting ready to P-A-R-T-Y for Micah's birthday. (I plan on borrowing their cameras to get pictures of everything, so at least I won't miss this big milestone in my lack-of-camera days. And I'll do a separate "Micah is Three" post sometime next week.)

5. Our youth are having a retreat next weekend that involves a service project with an inner-city ministry. My high school girls small group is going to make and wrap 120 plates of cookies that we can hand out to the neighbors that live near the ministry. So, that's like 1400 cookies! Should be a fun, though large, endeavor. I'll let you know how that one goes!

Okay, off to some more preparations before the family gets here. Happy Friday, everyone!

Quote of the Day #2

(Micah is squirming in his chair at dinner)
Me: Micah, do you have to go potty?
Micah: No.
Me: Are you telling me the truth or are you telling me a lie?
Micah (thinks for a moment): I'm not telling you anything!

Quick 5 #3

1. This morning we went to the zoo, and we were in what I think is the smelliest part--the cave in the Kingdoms of the Night exhibit. Micah said, "I smell something." I said, "What?" He said, "I smell a foot!" Ha ha ha ha ha!

2. Fall weather is here, and I LOVE it! The boys and I have been playing outside and taking walks almost every day. I get excited every year when I get to wear jeans and sweaters again, although it's not quite that cool here yet. I guess I really don't like the heat. It's not so bad when you want to go swimming or play in the sprinkler, but it's annoying to get sweaty every time you step outside.

3. The NFL football season started yesterday. I have a fantasy football team, and thanks to Drew Brees, I already have 29 points in this week's matchup against Josh. My team won our league last year, and I'm starting out pretty good this year, too! I especially like that I got a quality individual for my QB. I had Tom Brady last year, and although he got me a lot of points, he's not the kind of guy I want to be cheering for. :)

4. Today we did the zoo with no stroller--just a backpack diaper bag and prayers that the boys would obey. They did great. Micah got one little talking-to about not running too far ahead, but I really didn't have too much trouble. We probably stayed too long, though. I carried Eli a lot, and by the time we got back to the car, Micah had used up almost all of his energy. But it was nice to not have to maneuver a stroller everywhere.

5. I can't believe it's been 10 years since 9/11. It's weird how different our country is now, and yet, how little my personal life was impacted. I know many, many people faced huge losses that day and the months and years that followed. This weekend, I'm making a point to pray for those who are still hurting.

Quick 5 #2

1. Go Big Red! I'm waiting for the boys to wake up so we can go watch the first Husker game at a friend's house. Although I'm excited for football season, I think I might get tired of reading through dozens of facebook statuses that only say "Go Big Red" or "GBR!"

2. Micah made his first ever purchace with his own money (that he earned doing chores). I thought for sure he would buy something edible, but he picked out a little orange water bottle. I thought it was a very good choice for such a little guy.

3. My cousin's birthday was yesterday, and since she lives in my town, I had the privilege of making her a cake. I made a chocolate cake with a layer of cream cheese mixed with whipped topping and Oreos in the middle with melted chocolate chips on top. Delicious....

4. Eli is really into making animal sounds. He only makes two--quacking and roaring--but there are so many animals that roar that he finds reasons to make those sounds a lot. We were reading a book with a duck character, and he quacked the whole time.

5. Tomorrow, I will go to church with my husband, sit with him, and possibly even arrive and leave with him. Being married to a youth pastor, this doesn't happen often. But it's our church's annual Family Fest--an outdoor worship service for the entire church body, meaning there's no separate nursery or youth services. And since all the prayers, announcements, and sermons are covered by other pastors this year, Josh doesn't have any responsibilities! There is clean-up that he'll pitch in with, but it's rare to have a Sunday "off" like this.

Hide and Seek

Lately, Micah has been learning to play hide and seek with his friends. Today, he wanted to play with Eli and me. We had a good time, but I made a few observations as to why hide and seek with toddlers isn't all that challenging...

1. Micah's not very good at hiding. Sometimes he only hides his eyes, like when he lay on his bed with the covers over his head but not his legs, or when he curled up on the couch with his head down but his entire body completely visible.

2. When Micah does find a good spot to hide, he announces where he is. "I'm under the bed! You can't find me!"

3. When Micah counts, he only counts to ten, and he does it really fast, giving me only about 4 seconds to find a hiding spot.

4. Eli doesn't really understand the concept of hiding, so he will usually go in a closet, then come right back out.

5. Eli's other mistake is that he'll follow me to a hiding spot, only instead of hiding with me, he'll just stand there and stare at me, like a hunting dog pointing at a fallen bird. He leads Micah right to me (that is, if Micah is smart enough to catch on).

But even with all of this, it's very fun to play hide and seek with my kiddos. My favorite thing is when I'm hiding somewhere and Micah comes in and looks right past me and leaves the room. Then I have to make a little noise or he'd be off somewhere in the rest of the house.

It will be fun to see how hide and seek changes as the boys get older. :)

And for your enjoyment, here's a random picture of my cutie pie.

Quick 5 #1

A few of my friends do this "Quick 5" thing. Basically every Friday they post five little snippets of what's going on in their lives or what they've been thinking about lately or anything else that they feel like sharing. I'm going to try it out today, although I can't promise that I'll get to it every week.

1. Tonight, Josh and I are going to the East/West game. It's the football game between the two high schools in the district where we live. We love going, because we get to see and talk with so many students and parents (and my old teaching buddies), since everyone in our town seems to go to this game. We get to watch our two athletic kids play football, and our 112 musical kids perform in the bands at halftime. We spend half of the game in the East stands and half in the West stands. It's a good time. It's like all the fun of high school, but none of the drama. :) I think Josh maybe even watches the game.

2. We get to go to the East/West game with no children, thanks to my wonderful cousin, Lauren. I am so incredibly thankful that she goes to college here! She has babysat for us more times than I can count. The kids love her, and she loves them. And she's one of my best friends.

3. Micah has started doing extra chores for 25 cents each. He still has his regular duties, but if he wants to, he will ask me to "earn a quarter," and I'll give him a little job like putting the clean silverware away or using our little carpet sweeper to clean up under Eli's high chair. I made him a little bank to keep his money in until he has enough to learn how to spend it.

4. I mowed my lawn last week for the first time since July 6th or so. Yes, it was ugly and brown for the last several weeks (apparently that's what happens when you don't water it), but at least I didn't have to mow in the sweltering heat!

5. Josh just started Hebrew class for seminary. Last night he was learning the Hebrew alphabet. I took a glance at his notebook, but it was Greek to me! (Ha ha ha ha ha ha!)

Quote of the Day #1

Last night, I was getting Micah into his jammies, and he asked me what was written on his shirt.

"It says, 'Tough Guy.'"

Micah's reply: "No, it says, "Soooooft Guy." He said this while stroking the skin on his legs.

Goofball. :)