The Banner

Okay, so I have a little bit more to brag about--this time it's about my husband. He wrote an article that was published in the September 2008 edition of the Christian Reformed Church in North America's magazine, The Banner. It is the cover story! Here is a link to his article, "Where in the World (of Work) Have All the Reformers Gone?"

Firsts and Other News (or Tales from a Bragging Mama)

Well, we have just a couple more weeks before baby #3 makes his first appearance for all to see in the world! I've been nesting a little...trying to get things organized and cleaned. I have done quite a bit and still have a lot to do! But I thought I'd take a break and share below a few tales about my two little shining stars...moms are allowed to brag once in a while, right?

Eli is doing great and getting so big! He's looking more handsome every day (I am just a bit biased).

Here is Eli on his first day of school this year (Pre-K)! He wanted to wear his baseball outfit and picked out a new "Cars" backpack. He seems to like his class and teacher so far!

Eli has been excited about reading, spelling, and writing lately. Here is an excerpt from the kids church bulletin (for ages 7-12) he did all on his own that I thought was cute. For those who can't see it well enough, he labeled the pictures: "star, crown, net, wosh (for watch, but it's actually a worm), fiur (fire), goste (ghost), iurn (iron), door." I was surprised he knew what an iron was...as mine rarely sees the light of day!

Silas has been as silly as ever, doing things like standing on his head and saying, "Take a picture of me, mommy! Go get the camera!" What a ham!

We'll see how this mama's boy adjusts when little brother rocks his world!

Another "first" is Silas learning to write his name. This is the first time he wrote his name (rather legibly) and then drew a self-portrait.

Don't you see the resemblance? Actually, all of his drawings of people look the same--like little Picasso ghosts.

A funny story about Silas...the other day we were shopping in the grocery store, and he was asking me (over and over), "What does that spell?" and would point to a sign or word he saw. I would reply, somewhat absentmindedly, "That spells Meat Department," or "That spells Produce." I was getting rather absorbed in the cream cheese section when I realized he'd been pointing to a word and repeatedly asking me what it spelled.....coming out of my cream cheese daze, I just shook my head and said, "Oh, I don't know." Silas matter-of-factly instructed me, "Well, sound it out!" (The word was "Philadelphia.")

Part of my reorganizing efforts have involved moving Silas into Eli's bedroom. Eli was so excited to get new bedding to match his brother's! He has all these ideas about what other cowboy decor we can put up in their room now...last time we were in Super Target he wanted to go to the cowboy aisle.

Here is Silas sleeping in his "big boy bed" for the first time!

Daddy reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to the boys in Silas's bed.

The boys reading in their room...hopefully they'll always get along this well together!

The ZOO with Aunt Rachel

Bryan's sister, Rachel, came for a fun visit to help me out while Bryan was at a conference in Boston. We had a good time hanging out, playing with the boys, shopping, re-organizing the house, and watching the Olympics! Thanks, Aunt Rachel!

Bryan had a great time in Boston...other than having the APA conference go well for him (he was called "the new face of calling [research]"!), he also enjoyed spending time with his friend, Andy Tix, going to a baseball game at Fenway Park, visiting some historical sites, and sharing an interesting dinner with a homeless couple. We were glad to have him home, though, and spent a day at the zoo as a family with Aunt Rachel (her Christmas present to us)!

Eli enjoyed the elephants!

Watching the gorilla eat made us all hungry!

The boys loved playing the drums (of course!)

Silas and Aunt Rachel watching the sea lion show.

This polar bear was quite active for being out of his climate zone!

I asked Eli to smile for a picture...he pulled this face instead. It's still cute, though.

This is after I caught Silas playing with some bird droppings....ughh.

And I decided to continue posting photos of myself...even though I am not crazy about my "great with child" appearance as I just get bigger and bigger! (Oh, and by the way, there is a giraffe in this picture. I completely dwarf the thing!)

He actually was quite a tall and beautiful creature.

Silas liked the flowers.

Rarely have I seen a hippo out of the water!

Bryan went on a train ride with the boys.

Later in the afternoon, the majority of animals were snoozing, like these lions.

...and Silas, too!

This leopard was aggravated about something. He gave us quite the roar!

End of the day family photo. We're all pretty exhausted, but we had a great day!

Vacation Bible School

The first week of August, our church held Vacation Bible School--the Son Harvest County Fair! We learned about the fruit of the Spirit and had fun with the farm and growing fruit theme. Eli and Silas both had a blast, and I had fun leading the music (but was quite exhausted and sore by the end of the week!). We also brought two of our neighbors, Will and Connor, along.

Will, Eli, and Connor were in the preschool class, the "great grapes."

Here is Eli singing "Old MacDonald had a farm...and on that farm there was a chicken..."

Yes, I enjoyed the strawberries and cream they had for snack one day...it was all in preparation for being one of the judges for the pie-baking contest at the end of the week. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it!!

Here are Silas and Steve petting the goat, Rocket. Church members also brought in cows, a sheep, chickens, rabbits, and an old tractor for the kids to enjoy.

While Silas wasn't old enough to be in the preschool class, he had a lot of fun during the music time and playing with the animals and other kids in the nursery. Joel is always a good sport and lets Silas tackle him.

The kids did a performance at the end of the week which included some songs. Silas got to sing on stage with Eli's class--they sang "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, Down in My Heart." Both of them did a great job doing the motions and were fun to watch.

baby shower

My neighbor, Sheri, threw a beautiful shower for me and baby #3 a couple of weekends ago. I was 33 weeks along.

Valerie giving me tips on raising boys (she has 4, and a girl, too!). Doesn't the food look delicious?

Craft time! They painted on mini murals to make a collage to hang in the nursery. Another meaningful thing everyone did was to write a birthday card for each year (1-18) of our third son's childhood. I will be looking forward to opening one every year!

I had such a fun time with friends!

I got some adorable outfits for our little guy to wear once he's born!

Brenna (10 years old) and her mom, Carla, made this incredible quilt for me and the baby. It is Brenna's first quilt! I am so blessed (and impressed)!!!

Here's Jennifer...the "diaper Santa"...that big black bag is filled with packs of diapers given to me during the shower....and are we sure going to need them!

The gracious hostess, Sheri, and me. Thanks to all for a memorable day!