Its too cold out 'ere!

I've noticed lately that Max has a slightly british sound to him because he doesn't pronounce the "h" at the beginnings of words. Today's example was the phrase: Its too cold out here.

Max had the opportunity to say it repeatedly while we tried to view the Mount Clemens Ice Festival sculptures with the Kirks. We bundled all up and met Aron, Erica & Belle in downtown Mt. Clemens. Promptly upon getting out of the car Max pronounced "Its too cold out 'ere." He repeated the phrase about every 45 seconds. Belle seemed to be in general agreement. We tried some hot chocolate at a warming station but we only lasted about 30 minutes in the bitter cold.



We headed back home for the prospect of more hot chocolate, coffee, chili and warm cookies. Max & Belle had a great playdate. They played with little people, had cookies and milk at a Spiderman table, and got to play in Nate's loft.





Nate was totally out to impress Aron and constantly called him to "come see" a variety of things (like a box of hot wheels, how far Nate could jump, how fast Nate could run). Aron was a very good sport and did seem to enjoy himself, especially with the nerf guns.

We had a great time just relaxing and getting to know the Kirks a bit better. It was definitely too cold outside, but inside it was a warm, cozy time with some new friends.


(This was my favorite ice sculpture. It had frozen chocolate truffles in it!)

What's in a name?

I have a thing for names. I love talking about names. How someone chose their children's names, what the names mean, what other names they considered, whether or not their spouses had a lot or almost no say in the names, its all fascinating to me. Every year I look over the Top Baby Names list distributed by the Social Security Administration. I look at my kids names to see how the rank this year compared to the year they were born. I like weird names but Derek doesn't so we tried to find names that were not very common but that weren't too unusual.

Believe it or not Kaylee (Meaning: Who is like God? Origin:American) was not even in any of the baby name books we chose. It had not been in the top 100 prior to the year she was born but has been steadily on the rise ever since. It ranked 36 for 2007.

Nathaniel (Meaning: Gift of God Origin: Hebrew) had consistently ranked 61 for several years when we named Nate. It has been growing less popular and was ranked 82nd for 2007.

We figured Maximus (Meaning: Greatest Origin: Latin) would definitely fall in to the not very common category. In 2000 in ranked 850 but then made a huge jump to 311 in 2001- thanks to the movie the Gladiator. Maximus has consistently ranked in the 300s since then and was ranked 323 for 2007. We knew Max was slightly more popular but it still only ranked 141 so we didn't think of it as too common.

But there was one thing we didn't really think a lot about. Pet names! . Last week I heard on the radio that Max was the number 1 name for both dogs AND cats for 2008.

Maybe I should have thought a little more about it. After all, we did have a dog name Max growing up. (Both my parents & my brother think its weird that I would name my kid Max for that reason alone.)

Oh well, I still like the name!

Try to catch some ZZZZZs

Max is napping after a hard day. I know I'll probably regret letting him nap after 6pm but really we both need a little break. I'll have to wake him in 20 minutes to go get Kaylee from youth group anyway.

So listening to him sleep reminds me, that I feel really sorry for his future wife. Nate's too. Both boys SNORE!!! Not just a little, not delicately, they are like buzz saws! I can't help but wonder if they sound like this at 7 & 2 what they will sound like in their thirties or forties.

It's good to pray for the future spouses of our children. I pray that they will be Christians, that they will exhibit the fruits of the spirit, that they will love my children and their children passionately, and I pray that they sleep soundly. Still, I think I'll be buying them ear-plugs as a wedding gift.

Time Out Break Out

Since he turned two, Max has been spending a little more time in "Time Out." He's not really a willing participant in "Time Out" so we accomplish this by putting a door knob lock on the inside of his door. You can open the door from the outside or from the inside if you understand how to squeeze the pieces of the lock together. (Think of a child proof medicine lid).

Tonight Max decided he'd had enough of "Time Out." I set him on his bed and closed the door to his screaming. About 30 seconds later, I heard a banging added to the screaming and about 10 seconds after that I heard a shattering sound. I opened his door to see my not-so-sweet, very red faced, toddler standing there with a plastic hammer in his hand and a fairly surprised look on his face. I said "What did you break?!?" He responded by pointing the the corner of the room where the door lock lay in pieces.

I think we need a new strategy for "Time Out."

Goodbye President Bush

President Bush gets bashed by the media a lot. Some of it is warranted, some not. I think everyone trips over their tongue at times. Maybe he does it more than most or maybe they just report it more because they don't like him. I hope that in the end history treats President Bush more kindly then they do now. He made some tough decisions that he knew wouldn't make him popular but he did what he thought was right. In some cases, he was wrong. In others, time will only tell if it was right. In many cases, we may never know because the new administration will work to reverse Bush's agenda. In any case, I'll be praying for the new President to make wise choices. But since its President Bush's last day in office I thought I'd share my favorite Bush mis-quotes from a recent article. One thing that I like about Bush was that he could laugh at himself. Good thing.

• "Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech." April 16, 2008, at a ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the White House.

• "The fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place." — May 27, 2008, in Mesa, Ariz.

• "It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber." — April 10, 2002, at the White House, as Bush urged Senate passage of a broad ban on cloning.

Busted!

I came downstairs to find this:


I wondered why a chair was parked in front of the fridge. I did have my prime suspects.

Suspect #1- Candy Loving 7 year old who knows there is still halloween candy on top of the fridge.

Suspect #2- Automatic water dispensing two year old whom the lock feature was probably designed for.

The case was closed when the culpert returned:

Aren't they cute?

When I arrived back home after a quick trip to the store to get diapers this is what I discovered:



Aren't they cute? They all fell asleep watching Food Network, which is the newest fad at our house. Now I need to move them all to beds so I can have the couch to watch the season premier of Ace of Cakes.

Oh & ignore the unfinished trim on the wall in the background. The family room is Derek's latest project and its on the same time frame as the kitchen was on.

You're Invited to the Marlin Invitational

What?: 27th Annual Marlin Invitational Swim Meet!
When?: Jan. 17-18, 2009
Where?: L'Anse Creuse North High School
Time?: Approx. 2pm start for Boys 8 & under



Nate's Saturday Events:
50 Free
100 IM
50 Back
25 Free

Ian's Saturday Events
50 Free
25 Back
50 Back
25 Free
100 Medley Relay

Nate's Sunday Events:
25 Fly
25 Back
25 Breast
100 Medley Relay

Ian's Sunday Events:
25 Fly
50 Breast
25 Breast
50 Fly
100 Free Relay

It usually costs around $3 per person for the whole weekend. Nate & Ian would love to have some fans in the stands!

Kaylee's "tough" day at "work"

Last night when I picked Kaylee up from dance, I asked my usual question-

"So how'd it go?"

On Monday's Kaylee is a teaching assistant for pre-school classes so she some times has funny stories to share. Last night, she was the funny story.

In response to my question, she heaved a big sigh and replied:

"It was really tough today.

In the pre-school ballet class we had 2 new students. Identical Twins! And they both had yellow leotards, and white tights, and white shoes. They even had the same ponytail holders! Sigh!! I asked one of them what they were going to wear next week and she said they were both going to wear pink!!!!"

So if you are having a rough day at work- think of Kaylee. I mean what could be harder than trying to tell the difference between 4 year old twin ballerinas?

Sick Boy says yes

Max is normally very agreeable, but having a fever & green goo coming out of his nose for 3 days makes him kind of cranky. Who can blame him? So I wasn't that surprised this morning when every suggestion I had was met with a no.

Do you want some water?..............no

Do you want some milk?...............no

Are you hungry?...............no

Do you want to play webkinz?...............no

Do you want to watch T.V.?...............no

Do you want to read a book?...............no

I think I went through every possibility, until finally I asked

Do you want to go cliff-diving?...............YES!

I don't know what made me ask that, I do tend to be a bit sarcastic when I'm frustrated, but I had to laugh at the fact that cliff-diving is what he said yes to.

Something to think about

Who is he?

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw th e mone y in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one o f the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

I received this in an email this morning. I don't generally forward emails like this but I thought this one was worth sharing. I did check it out at snopes.com and its a true story.

Sesame Street Live anyone?

I'd really like to take Max (the Elmo Freak) to Seasme Street Live. Tickets are only $10 each. Anyone want to join us? Please post here or call or email me. I'd love to get a big group of Moms & Tots to go. I'm thinking the Wed. Feb. 4 11am show but I'm flexible on that.


WHEN ELMO GROWS UP

Introducing Abby Cadabby! The newest Muppet on Sesame Street joins Elmo, Zoe, Rosita and all of her furry and feathered friends in asking, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ as they prepare for a pageant on Sesame Street. Get ready to sing cowboy songs, ride the rails and more with Sesame Street Live "When Elmo Grows Up." When Elmo and his Sesame Street Live friends think about growing up, it’s a musical show-and-tell! as Bert dreams of becoming a forest ranger, Telly longs to be a cowboy and their newest friend, Abby Cadabby, wants to be a Fairy Godmother just like her mommy. Elmo thinks about becoming a ‘weather monster,’ but has a hard time predicting his own forecast—he wants to be anything and everything all at once! "When Elmo Grows Up" includes lessons on perseverance, teamwork and the power of imagination. Children learn that if they believe in themselves and are willing to try, the possibilities are endless.

Adults will hear music they’ll recognize and enjoy sharing with children, such as "Home on the Range," "Down on the Corner" and "Give a Little Love." "When Elmo Grows Up " features nearly two dozen songs, including classics that children will love to sing along with such as "I Love Trash" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

THE CAST
Bert, Big Bird, Ernie, Elmo, Oscar, Grover, Cookie Monster, Zoe, Rosita, Count Von Count, Abby Cadabby, Telly, Baby Bear, Prairie Dawn, Roxy Marie, Grundgetta, and Honker.

Happy New Year- I'm already behind

Wow- you've got to love the holidays. Since I get two weeks off- I always think I'll have a nice relaxing vacation: spend lots of quality time with the kids, catch up on my reading, spend time with friends and family, eat a few desserts. Well all of that happens- except its not a few desserts and it seems to happen in a whirlwind so by the time the vacation is over I don't feel relaxed. It's January 4 and I already feel behind. Oh well, that's just my life. At least I know I'm living it to the fullest and loving (almost) every minute.

But since I'm definitely behind in blogging- let me do a catch up post! Photos at the end.

Happy New Year! We had a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration with about 10 families and too many kids to count. Kaylee, Nate and even Max stayed up right through the horn blowing and fireworks and fell asleep around 1 am on the way home. Our friends also surprised Derek with a birthday cake complete with 40 candles and a very loud version of "Happy Birthday". It was a great night.

On January 1 we drove to Grand Rapids to spend a few days with family and friends there. I wish we could have had longer. Even though we only see them a few times a year we have such an awesome time with our "wild & crazy GR friends." They are the type of friends that when you see them again it doesn't feel like its been months- it feels just like old times. Except that we are getting old. These are are camp friends so "wild & crazy" used to mean toliet papering the boys cabin or convincing one of the guys to try to drink a whole gallon of milk so he'd puke. Then after college but before kids, "wild & crazy" meant getting together at someone's house and playing card games until the wee hours of the morning. This year "wild & crazy" meant getting a babysitter for 9 kids (Kaylee helped but we'd never leave her alone out numbered like that), going to dinner at 5:30pm and then playing cards at Biggby until they closed at 10pm. We seriously contemplated going to the hospital cafeteria since they never close but one of the tough guys insisted that just the smell of the hospital would make him puke. Yep. That's us. Wild & Crazy.

We also got to spend a couple hours with another couple- friends that we haven't spent much time with in the last few years. That is bittersweet. It's great to see them again but it reminds me a little bit of what we're missing by not living close by. The sweet part is that we are all Christians and I know we'll have an eternity of friendship in heaven someday! Something to really look forward to!

On January 3 we had Derek's family's Christmas celebration. Max & Nate had a great time wrestling and playing with their college age cousins. Kaylee was so excited to spend time with her older female cousin. And we have a new grand-niece due any day now. Again, we don't spend as much time as we'd like with family so when we do its special.

We came back home late last night so that we could be in church today for the Mission & Values launch. The foyer looks amazing and Andy's message was right on. Passion is part of who we are. Sometimes passion is tiring but its so worth it.

So I'll keep running. I'll blog when I can, spend quality time with my friends and family and look forward to the finish line when we can spend eternity in the presence of the almighty God. It's my most fervent New Year's wish to see you at the finish line with me!


New Year's Eve- Max & Kelli celebrate.


Derek Blows out all 40 of his candles.


Derek's Family Christmas

Drew & Angie (Drew's Girlfriend), Devon, Nick, Max, Kaylee, Nate


Drew, Nate & Max play with Nick's dog Jack.


Kaylee & Devon open presents