power outage

after another steamy day, the boys and i decided to cool off inside while i prepared a scrumptious dinner of bacon and cheddar quiche, hash browns, banana bread and fruit parfait. Delicious. clearly, i was feeling very ambitious and domesticated. in fact, i opted out of a nap in the afternoon in order to be more productive when the boys were resting. my desire for a night of togetherness and productivity was quickly challenged as the oven beeped at its preheated temp, and then the power promptly turned off.

as discussed previously, my fight or flight instinct is solely flight. therefore, trying not to let the panic i began to feel about no air on a 80+ degree evening, i suggested going to the in laws for the night. brad's response was a chuckle, then he went outside to work on the generator that never worked during the last outage, a mere two weeks ago.

being the amazing and hardcore provider/protector that brad is, his reactions to such inconveniences as power outages are typically those of a knight going on a quest. ha ha ha, a challenge, no problem! there are some differences between the husband and me.

brad valiantly repaired the generator. i mustered together enough courage not to cry and put the quiche in the oven. it quickly became apparent that the oven requires mucho electricity. we had to prioritize and cut out down on all other usage. when the time came to fry the hash brown potatoes, brad's cool demeanour started ramping up to become a little heated like mine. he explained about 23 times that the oven and stove going at once was to much electricity. i countered with equal determination that if he wanted to eat this is how hash browns are cooked.

he offered to grill them, not in this pan babe.

one more, "you dont understand lynds"

and i loudly proclaimed "you dont understand bradley, i am pregnant, which means i have 40% more blood coursing through my body. take however hot you feel and multiply it by ten. that is how i feel. i am by the oven and i can feel my heartbeat in my feet. stop telling me i dont understand!"

to which brad calmly replied, "okay, i did not understnad that, thank you for telling me". i turned the oven off to keep the quiche warm and browned those hash browns to black in no time.

after the tasty supper, we entertained ourselves by cleaning up and standing in front of fans. i love the ingalls wilder fam as much as the next girl, but this kinda living was too much. the boys did this:

until we went outside and tried to sit in the windiest places. brad assaulted the problem head on by driving the mule or his truck down the road every few minutes to check on the status of electricity in various homes of our neighbors. i wrangled the boys inside and put as little jammies on as i could, bathed them in lukewarm water, and planted them in front of the tv and strategically positioned fans.

hallelujah, at 9:45 the power clicked on.

thank you jesus for that miracle of working electricity, it may have saved our marriage.

dear consumers energy:

this month i decided to pay you based on my level of satisfaction and not on the amount suggested by the bill. according to my calculations, you owe me $5000.

sincerely

lyndsey

hee ee eet

perhaps you have recently heard the above noise. if you were in zeeland this past week, i am confident maxer's adorable attempt at a whistle made it to your ears. though you may not have been able to identify the sound as a whistle, it is more of a yell, and it is precious.

maxer lately started incorporating hand motions to accompany the loud whistling effort. he holds his hands in front of his face and moves them up and down to emphasize each hee ee eet syllable.

giving credit where it is undoubtedly due, i attribute this new found talent to bradley. brad has long since possessed the habit of whistling to direct one's attention towards him. this has occurred frequently in a joking manner when brad needed my assistance in such matters as a refill, or help with the computer. he is totally joking, but i get all "i hope you did not direct that whistle at me as i am not a puppy but your gorgeous wife". somehow i think those sorts of responses makes brad utilize the whistle even more...

i digress.

so now max whistles. kind of. he exploits this knack for getting people's attention on a regular basis for the results are always similar and consist of several giggles, and all eyes on him. i have witnessed the whistle to try to find bear, to respond to a question of maxwell's location, to direct friends towards his ideas/activities.

he whistles loud.

he whistles proud.

yesterday i was showing baby bear where daddy was mowing. in the next moment, i heard a little baby hee ee eet. he is learning a lot from his big bro.

we love camping

we have joyously returned from our very first camping adventure of the season at dutch treat campground in zeeland. we all had an amazing time. the best part about camping is the opportunity it gives me to delight in my boys with really no other agenda. having the company of some of my very best friends and their adorable children just sweetens the experience to the point that we could only bear to leave yesterday because we knew we would be back to camping in a mere two weeks.

this latest camping escapade was characterized by much tractor/bike riding, fish feeding, and park playing. there were not many other campers around this time, so our kids ruled the campground. they were biking around this loop that encircled all our campers so we moms were comfortable chatting it up and getting glimpses of the kids as they pass right on by. my boys loved this independence and i loved catching up with all the mamas. another highlight for max this year is being able to use the potty. he would shout with pride as he sauntered into the restroom to take care of business. he was usually followed by at least bear, but sometimes all the kids. the littler ones would ride their toys down the hall in the bathroom and the bigger kids would also take care of their business. nothing like group bathroom breaks.

max had quite an eye for all things creepy crawly. here he is pointing out ant hills. there were a lot of ant hills, so any walk to the park was lengthy. maxer also found several caterpillars. aubrey nyhof even made one a home in a laundry basket and carried it around for awhile. such the nurturer that aubs!

the weather ranged from chilly to hot hot hot on sunday when we left. no major injuries to report other than an epidemic of croup and a significant boo boo received from emma klein who was only visiting. the boys are full of their customary bruises and scrapes, and they continue to show them off with pride.

maxer woke up this morning asking if we are going to go camping in a little while again. a sure sign that he did not get his fill! thankfully, the weather at home is beautiful and we plan to take full advantage. cleaning the camper can wait ;

call it like it is

recently, brad and i were discussing how in our world there seems to be a severe lack of miracles. example, when was the last time you had manna for breakfast? or witnessed the parting of some significant body of water? me neither. however, pastor jim addressed this issue at church saying that miracles are in fact happening constantly, and we mostly choose to label them as something else. a very provocative thought.

what if instead of crediting ourselves for our accomplishments, our luck for our surprises, and our own wisdom for our decisions we started glorifying god for all the miraculous ways he provides for us. what if instead of blaming world hunger, war, and disease on god's lack of intervention we see that it is WE who cause these sinful problems with greed and selfishness.

this perspective seems to change my entire outlook on life as i spend the day saying "great are you, my lord, and most worthy of praise" for all his greatness in even my little insignificant life.

like yesterday, maxer woke up from his nap quite flushed and lethargic. he commented several times that his legs were hurting, as was his tummy. maxwell's little voice was strained and his skin hot. he asked for...the bucket.

well i about lost it right then and there. my anxiety went thru the roof as i thought how awful a sick max would be for camping, what a disaster it would be if we all got the flu... i pretty much was 5 minutes away from calling pine rest and admitting myself for a couple days or R&R. instead, i remembered i am not alone in this battle and prayed over my baby boy. he continued to ache and whimper all night long. this morning, he joined me and brad in bed at 6:20 feeling "good". as i mentally cursed myself for leaving the window blinds open, max welcomed the day as he watched the sun rise, reporting constantly on the "frog" out in the fields.

today found my firstborn still not himself. he was real chill, content to watch movies, play golden tee golf, and play with some homemade playdoh. bear is feeling great, and insists on making up for the lack of energy max is exuding by going wild with his noises and needs. maxwell continues to heal, and i attribute each one of his gains in health to the faithfulness of my jesus. what a miracle it is to witness my baby regain strength and wellness. what a miracle that god healed my baby boy again. thank you jesus for your faithfulness.

6 months pregnant

check that baby out! growing and growing, much to our joy! here are the latest details of this precious pregnancy:

weight gain: back up to my pre-pregnancy fighting weight. woo hoo.

cravings: a goog's burger. delish! also, laffy taffy, watermelon preferabley

movement: beans felt the baby move on sat. she is the first nonBrad person to feel the adorable kicks!

names: there are currently very few names that brad and i both find tolerable, none that we both really love. i did get brad to agree to save the name russell for a future puppy and not future baby.

emotions: excited, glad i have several months to prepare, grateful, and totally in love with the littlest meiste

happy mothers day!

waking up to bear's giggles and wet kisses commenced my mothers day. what a beautiful good morning! we breakfasted on some delish cream cheese muffins and a little cotton candy (special thank you to beans and austin) and began preparations for our feast of a lunch with the lampens. maxer picked out a delightful hanging basket for grandma lampen and brad promised me a pedi before baby meiste comes :) hooray!

after some naptime we bonded as a fam over the players championship and prepared some customary sunday stromboli. such a beautiful day!

again today i recognize the gift of motherhood. i am so blessed to have two boys and another babe on the way all call me mommy. well i adored all the "happy mommy's day" wishes from my boys, i have been gifted with much more than the sweet wishes and pedicure.

i have the honor of watching these boys grow, of witnessing the miracles of development.

i have the delight of receiving snuggles and kisses and love galore from two precious little lives.

i have the grave responsibility of raising these children in the lord, of teaching them to feast on jesus and depend on him for their needs.

i have the constant reminder of god's love for us demonstrated in my own unconditional love for my children. i have the fabulous opportunity to witness maxers announcements of "i just toot" and "i gots to go pee".

i have the great pleasure of watching my sons assist each other, appreciate one another's company, and imitate the other.

i have an exceptional teammate for my babies daddy, a man who also loves and desires the best for my babies and me, a man who encourages, supports, and praises my mothering.

god, grant me the wisdom and strength to teach my boys that your ways provide satisfaction, not those of the world. equip me with your spirit lord to give my boys the blessings of a family built on christ. may i be worthy of this calling of mommy.

the grass is greener

with the occasional warmer weather we have been having, the grass has turned from winter brown to a lush green. and it is growing. all good news, except for when it gets to long and we need to mow. you may think this job seems like one i could handle, like one thing i could do around the farm. you would be mistaken.

a couple years ago, brad determined to teach me how to mow. well i was not all "hot dog" about the idea, i thought there were some perks including a tan from being outside in the sun and a super grateful husband. therefore, i tried to learn. i really did. but let me tell you, operating one of those ride on mowers with all the turning and forward/backward maneuvering was just more than i could handle. i would go over some bumps and get that thing just bouncing around and going back and forth till i would panic and forget how to steer at all. though we began this process in the most open areas of our lawn, brad soon feared for the barns, and his own life.

so, brad is the lawn mower around here :)

because our boys cannot bear to see daddy and not be with him, brad does not mow alone.

he gets assistance from the boys, well at least he gets their company.

brad possesses very optimistic goals for max and wes' mowing abilities and responsibilities in the near future. it is very likely that they will be more successful than their mother in this endeavor very soon. so i encourage these practise sessions by cheering the meiste boys on from a lawn chair with book in hand.

i love spring

tulip time

oh yes, the tulips are blooming in holland michigan. thus, the vendors are selling their delicous and super unhealthy wares (i saw a booth selling deep fried oreos), the tourists are wandering cluelessly, and the parking lots are beyond full. obviously, we cannot stay away! (in this usage, we does not include brad who has no problem steering clear of all tulip time festivities.)

monday night we joined grandma lampen and the meiste's for a little supper. per my request, we started the evening near the newish water fountains there on 8th street. one of the vendors right there sells hotdogs on homemade buns, oh amazing, and baby wanted one bad. therefore, we took our places in line while grandma watched the children squeal and run around the fountains. by the time i had spent my $45 on corndogs, fries, and that hotdog on a homemade bun, maxwell was dripping wet. soaking to the bone, head to toe drenched. and he was "freeze".

so i stripped the big and rather mischievous boy down to his undies and bundled him in a coat and blanket for the remainder of the evening. he was content as can be to ride in the stroller nakey except for his toy story underwear. bear found the events of the evening entertaining, but did not brave the waterworks as unabashedly as his bro. perhaps it was my yelling and gesturing from the picnic table while devouring the hotdog on homemade bun in a matter of three bites that prevented him from bathing in the fountain. regardless, i did not have more blankets for a nakey wes, so one nakey son was enough. after a quick stop at the peanut store for some slightly less overpriced goodies, we headed straight for the veen. my plans to take some precious pics of the freshly bathed and dressed boys were thwarted by the fountains and fun had by a certain 3 year old.

that is about enough tulip time for our family. maybe next year we will actually get those cute pics. until then, i am drowning my sorrows in caramel corn, being very careful not to pass on any nuts to max. they inspire an adverse reaction in him, gagging and some pukes. gross.