All my little buddies

I'm so behind and have so many great pics.....so here it goes. This blog of pics has random times throughout the last week or so. All the little buddies at our house are playing together well and I think most of these pics show it. It blesses my socks off to see the synergy between these kiddos. For the most part, they play well, share toys, and include one another. Sometimes it takes a little prompting but we can trudge through upsets and tears most days. However don't mistake me, we have our moments of selfishness, tantrums, and meltdowns as well. We will concentrate on the good for now.---------------------- Derrick and his lil helpers installed a new toilet on Saturday. We got some new WASHABLE paints and now I have very happy, MESSY artists! We've been having some recent issues keeping Addie in her bed after the lights are out and the door closes. Sometimes I catch she and Kai talking and giggling, but I found them asleep like this last night. This box was hours of entertainment. They all hid in it, drew on it, sat in it, and made weapons out of it. Kai and Addie's shields of faith and swords of the Spirit (yes, learning the biblical principles of God's armor) AND fearless battle faces. Addie and Eli with less direction from Kai on WHAT they would use the box for and decide to just sit and enjoy the simplicity of it. Daddy with the lil tikes! Eli is now off the bottle completely.......it was super easy. It was more a matter of me just putting milk in the sippy cup. It's bittersweet having all my babies do things themselves! :( The blow-up pool hasn't been seeing much action lately, even though it continues to be HOT. We pulled out the baby pool one morning last week and had contests who could sit in the icy water the longest. Eli is the man! We had to take several warming breaks. Derrick and I agree that Addie and Eli could pass as twins in the below pic. A classic Kai pic. He's copying how Derrick uses Kleenex for bloody noses or to prevent drips lately with his uncontrolled allergies/cold. Kai randomly walked down the stairs with the Kleenex in his nose. It's a trend this week. Picnic in Brighton at the sk8 park. We were right next to the street because we were so desperate for shade! My kids ask to have picnics almost every other day! I'm so glad they love PB&J's! Cutie pie picnic buddies!

Father/Son Camp out

Last weekend Derrick and Kai ventured to 'the Farm' for a campout with dads and sons from our church. Kai was sooooo excited to hang with Daddy and all his buddies. Our friends that live on 'the Farm' have land where the kids roam free, dig in the dirt, ride bikes, roast marshmallows, etc. Kai was named youngest "pyro" after this event.....nice. My guys had a great time together. They ended up pitching tents in the barn due to rain, but not a bummer in Kai's opinion. Derrick toughed it out with horrible out-of-control allergies that flare up at night and make nights sleepless. Needless to say, not much sleep happened in that barn. We are so blessed to have a group of men that value their relationship with their sons and take time to spend with them.

Loud & Clear Skate Jam

Many BOLD witnesses in a dark place. The battle is not amongst ourselves. This rebellion runs deep. But a Savior was present. The sheer numbers boggle my mind. The power of testimony in a few people.....was used. Pride was broken and hearts were called to meet their Heavenly Father. The community among Christ's Church came united to love and serve and there was understanding among them. It wasn't about us, not our church, not our ministry. It was them. God loves these rebels that skate and cuss like sailors and fight for what they think is "freedom" and entitlement. They just don't see. They choose not to hear it. But God was there. He dangled true freedom at their fingertips. Freedom that lives above the bondage of sin we are constantly battling. He lovingly tugged at their hearts and a few listened. Praise God, a few listened. There's hundreds of stories from one night at Memorial Skatepark that can't all be told on this blog; stories of kids hearing the love of Christ, questioning a God bigger than themselves, arguing, mocking, eating ridiculous numbers of hot dogs, skating to impress the pros, and being broken. The battle is God vs Satan; and the world is Satan. Pray for these people, these new creations in Christ Jesus. Their journey does not get easier from here. Knowledge and understanding can be the hardest part. Looking at your sin in the mirror and believing Jesus has overcome it takes practice. This is where our job begins. Pray for us and the many others who will do LIFE with these people. Pray we will do it well. Pray we will be used. Here's just a few pics of the evening from my camera including the prep at the park beforehand. We set up an FCA booth to give out information about Skate Church. Note the new 10 ft promo banner...pretty awesome! Massive quantities of hot dogs! Approximately 1300 hot dogs were eaten!! A skater's fav, Monster Energy Drinks. We had to mark hands with an "x" to ration them. Buns and water stacked. Christian Hosoi brought the message, LOUD & CLEAR. Addie, just because she's precious and she loved the free Jamba Juice (seen all down the front of her shirt)! Derrick and Chad, long-time shredding buddies. Faithful friends & ministry supporters, Mike and Tammy manning the FCA booth (and my sister-in-law, Emily in the chair). Attempting to capture the sheer number of people at the SK8 park. This is only half the park. We estimate 1500-2000 people in attendance throughout the evening. There was about 200 kids who chose to pray with Christian Hosoi when offered the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. I believe lives were changed, including mine. Just by attending, my heart is more burdened for these skaters. I want to love them, the way Christ loves me (especially since I will never be able to influence them using my skateboarding skills). No strings attached. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for video footage, professional pics, and more stories via this blog, Facebook, and our FCA ministry updates. If you want to know more, post a comment and I'll get back to you.

back to kids

Kai and Addie shucking corn on the cob for supper. A wedding attire fitting and practice session. We need some work on the hold still, look this way, and smile at the same time:( An all sibling sandbox party after some new sand from Lowes! Hope this sand batch sticks around IN the sandbox a little longer or we will have a beach in our backyard soon! The girls. Scout and Addie "Happy Traveler." Could the kid get any cuter? I may just enter him for a resort travel magazine cover...what do ya think?

here's to adults

This post is about adults. I know, Derrick and I rarely get any coverage on this blog and believe me the pics are few and far between as well. But amongst the bottles, diapers, baths, and messes we do ATTEMPT to have somewhat of a life as well. So here's to a rarity...... My dear PREGNANT friend Kaci and I dazzled for tea to celebrate our friend Tara's baby girl set to arrive this month ! Nothing a trip to the ARC thrift store can't fix when you're at a loss for granny's white gloves and tea hats. Heavenfest 2011 in Loveland, CO. These are our homies, Matt and Sarah Gaw (oh and ministry partners, friends, and neighbors as well!) We spent all day in the HOT sun manning the booth to promote our upcoming skate ministry event, LOUD & CLEAR at Memorial Sk8 Park in CO Springs on Aug 19th. We had shade (praise God, otherwise we may have melted), we were kidless (can I hear another praise), and we could hear great music mostly from afar. I also got to see my cousin Angie (5th I believe) and her hubby Allen at the Museum of Nature & Science in Denver. Addie, Eli and I played around the museum in City Park most of the afternoon before meeting up with Angie and Allen to view mummies and birds. LOL. Allen was playing the actual bird calls from his IPhone while we were viewing the replicas. A & E loved it! I got to hang with 2 of my most fav college roommates, Lindsey and Katie, at LA's shower for BBA (that translates, Lindsey's shower for baby boy Anderson....a story for another time). It's tradition to get a pic like this when we're all together.....just glad it wasn't my belly this time! I know, he doesn't belong in this blog. But he's too cute to leave out. If you haven't seen us in a while, Eli got a buzz cut. He looks fully boy and cuter than ever! Ok, if you read my blog to get updates on my kids alone, back to the madness...........

A Sunday

Yes, I've been slacking. So here's an attempt for relaxation on a Sunday evening after I worked all week and locked the keys in the car in the driveway (smart I know, one of 'those kinda weeks' is what I'm getting at). The pool is a whole process in itself. Once we finally get everyone's suit on and the pool filled, they are ready for towels because the hose water is bitter cold. I just cannot organize quick enough. As probably previously stated, our grass is "patchy" to say the least. So mud and grass make their way in the pool BEFORE anyone actually gets in. Therefore, mud and grass are hanging from everywhere on everyone. Tonight the kids were experimenting with ring floaties. I especially enjoy the pic of Kai assisting Addie to pull her ring on from the feet up. What a helpful brother. And yes, Eli was suit-less. Diapers bloating in the pool just restrict too much! The other pics are random: Scout and Addie (the girls), Eli perched on a suitcase, and all 3 munchkins playing trains in the basement. Yes, it looks sweet until you can HEAR what's going on. You can only imagine the displays of affection! Kai actually built tracks to play on that Addie deliberately broke and stole the pieces and that Eli was throwing parts to and from the entire time. Needless to say, we had to have a major intervention after about 5 mins. of screams and cries. This pic sadly displays the normal state of our basement as well. Welcome to 3 toddlers! That's us. Happy Sunday.