whats up with pup

you may be wondering how we are doing around here what with the addition of our dog. the answer is good. we are all entertained by little harv and he is really adjusting to life at the circus well. one great advantage of a dog is the conversations that now take place concerning our canines well being. enjoy this list of discussions regarding harv:

max while dragging a desperate puppy in the bottom of a laundry hamper: "no mom, harv likes to be in the hamper"

me: "dont put harv in the grill! we dont eat dog"

brad: "maxer, stop pulling on the dogs ear or something will fall off"

bear in response to my shrieking what happened to make harv yip: " i hit him in the head with the golf club"

me, in hysterics: " there is poop stuck on my foot!!"

brad: "check out this trick. when i tilt the dog he kicks his legs up and it looks like he is trying to fly"

me:" dont blow in his ear boys"

harv also us with his antics such as "digging" and "burying" his toys and treats in the couch. he paws at a spot, then uses his nose to push the cushion around his treasured items in an effort to hide it. obviously that doesnt really work on carpet and couches so he will give up after awhile and try a new location. interesting to see how innate that behaviour is!

bear still refers to harv as "miwwie", confusing our doggy for john and beth ann's toy fox terrier named millie. funny that he cannot remember that harv is named harv and ours, not mr john's...9 times out of ten i patiently correct him and he gets excited all over again that this dog is harv and we get to keep him.

and that is what we are going to do, keep him around.

easter

a few comments

what a beautiful savior. easter is the culmination of grace, a day so sacred and blessed, it is pure joy to reflect and remember the gift of the resurrection, life. this year i worked really hard at explaining this awesome day and celebration to my smart little man maxer. Jesus' sacrificial love is something that is completely beyond my own comprehension, so breaking it down to 4 yr old understanding proved quite challenging. as i happened to be reading rob bell's book love wins, i really emphasized that phrase. gods love for us won over death, the cross, sin, all powers of evil. we read the bible stories several times and cheered when the tomb was empty. maxwell always pointed to the cross standing at the front of church and whispered, jesus died on there. things were starting to click. so on sunday, while sitting in the service, arms raised and voices lifted, imagine my surprise when i asked maxer what jesus did today and he replied

eeeeh, went on an easter egg hunt

so close. yet so far. we had several more conversations and some laughs. sweet sweet maxer.

adoring our son and his cute little mind hard at work, brad and i were once again overwhelmed with how great the fathers love for us. that even more than offering himself, he offered his son. personally it would be a million times easier for me to sacrifice myself than any of my kids. wow. thank you lord, may i live a life expressing my gratefulness.

now, back to rob bell's book. all the controversy intrigued me so i read it. and am reading it again. this particular insight really moved me

"what happened on the cross is like...

a defendant going free,

a relationship being reconciled,

something lost being redeemed,

a battle being won,

a final sacrifice being offered,

so that no one ever has to offer another one again,
an enemy being loved."

hallelujah!!

each facet of this loving act is stunning. rob referenced scripture to coincide with each statement, and seeing the collective impact of good friday left me once again celebrating easter sunday.

a final thought,

easter dresses are soooo much fun. this one is from my sissa's. they bought it when ayal was born and are good at life. obviously.

new life, baby aylaroo. what a little princess!

just like daddy

this morning, i was busy cleaning breakfast up, or making it, or chasing the dog down for chewing on one of baby ayla's chew toys, or whatever, the point is i was busy. whilst rushing hither and yon, i caught a whiff of brad. not so much the stench of just completing 15 loads of hauling manure, but the everyday man smell. after taking a moment to smile and miss my hubs who filled another weekend with laughs and loves, i thought it odd that i was reminiscing about him so poignantly with my nose. after all, he had already been at work for 3 hours at this point.

thats when i discovered the boys liberally applying old spice deodorant all over their cute little bods. smiling, i asked maxer and bear what they were doing. smiling, they replied "this is what daddy does. its so we dont stink."

well they've got that figured out. it seems to me, the are more concerned with the doing what daddy does part than the not stinking part. and that is presh. there are lots of choices and actions my boys take for the sole purpose of being like daddy.

whenever we drive by zoet poultry they tell me they both want to work there with their daddy when they are a little bit older.

when a tractor appears on the road, they vocalize their desires to ride in that tractor, with their daddy.

both boys want to pee in daddy's bathroom. or when brad has to go, he gets lots of company...

maxer and bear repeatedly tell me they love daddy, but not to worry because they are convinced that baby ayla loves me.

both boys are protectors of daddy's things. like when i attempted an adorable easter egg crafted involving strips of paper from brad's old successful farming magazines, they both started crying saying daddy will be so mad at me, the mom, for ruining his most cherished old mags.

the boys need daddy to lay by them to go to bed at night.

my heart is full of thankfulness that the man they so desire to emulate is one that demonstrates a life lived to glorify the lord. thank you jesus for the incredible daddy my boys have after which to model themselves.

my little princess

baby ayla jo is such a joy in my life. i adore her and delight in her and praise the lord for giving me such a beautiful daughter. at times i feel the boys' antics get more attention than her sweet little presence, so to honor my precious little girl, i wrote the following:

my little cupcake, my precious baby girl,

i delight in watching your accomplishments and personality unfurl

your smiles dazzle, and your giggles bring us joy

you save your best laughter for your brother boys

kicking and rolling around on the floor

your tiny screeches and shrieks demonstrate you are girly right to the core

whether i'm painting your toes

or cherishing my time with you kissing your nose

you brighten my life and add lots of pink

such a pleasure after all this blue i think!

your chunky chunk legs and big beautiful tummy

finally you are finding some fruits yummy

now you are sitting all on your own

miraculous, all the skills you do hone

my prayer dearest aylaroo

is that you glorify God in all you do

may we be examples of loving our lord and showing you full life in him.

for when jesus is your light your life will never be dim!

love your mommy

dishwasher

harv is not the only recent addition to our fam. that's right, we also have a brand new dishwasher to welcome to the meistes!!

max requested to "live" in the dishwasher's box. i said sure.

so our old dishwasher died weeks ago. at first i really just washed dishes like it was my job with just a few complaining moments when clean up after dinner took until the next morning. mostly though, i imagined myself laura ingalls wilder worthy and sudded, soaped and dried those cups and plates and utensils one by one by one by one. it did not take long to recognize that the amish and old school peeps are amazing and i am appreciative of any and all appliances to make my life easier. i know many fams do not use dishwashers and i am so proud of them. however, i do not want to join the club. especially with the flunami we had last week, i was overwhelmed with laundry and dishes and life in general.

thankfully, my husband loves lyndsey and not laura (ingalls wilder that is). so on monday after i got out of work and inhaled dinner, we loaded the veen and headed to northgate. brad, i love that man, seriuosly and foreverly. he was ready to deal. all for me, because he will be the first to admit his domain does not include dishes. ever. so there he was, discussing options like stainless steel tubs and the utensil blast and bargaining for his proud wife who stood back and smiled until she heard a crash from the childrens play area and then assisted the boys in picking up every block, duplo, and puzzle piece they threw across that tiny room.

let it be known, you can spend thousands of dollars on a dishwasher. as we desired to keep a house in which to use that dishwasher, we decided upon a classic and efficient and working model that fell into the hundreds of dollars instead of thousands of dollars category. also let it be known that to have that poochie installed is another $100. for serious. at the mention of that fee, i sprang forward to regale those salesmen of my bradley's handiness and mechanical mind and persistence and capabilities. surely he could do this. both brad and i were shocked to hear the installer man tell us it typically takes him an hour. there are literally three aspects to be connected. how hard could it be?

turns out really really tricky.

step one: clean out the cabinet under the sink. disgusting. boys continuously asked if daddy just caught those bugs in the vases i stored under there. i lied out of shame that i have never before cleaned that area out. eeew.

step two: let boys clean out a vase in the tub to get them out of the way.

step three: deal with drama caused by broken TUB, not vase, but tub that this activity caused. remember that bathroom redo we just completed that cost $12,000? well that new tub is broken. brad is NOT impressed.

step four: remove old dishwasher. gross again. water everywhere, and floor broken

as you can see, brad had quite an audience. the boys were to remain on their stools so we could see them, they could see us, and no more accidents would occur.

step five: run to gil roys hardware for parts leaving wife alone at table with her supper. and a beer. because really.

step six: install new dishwasher. getting insulation in place, appliance level, and brackets attached (this was my job which i failed miserably at when i asked brad where the dishwasher rim was located), took forever. those three tubes/wires that needed to be connected were the most complicated things alive and not to mention located in absurdly difficult locations, the bottom of a dishwasher.

well ladies and gents, fear not, for brad completed the task at hand without slipping a disk! hallelujah. the project ended at approx 9:25 pm. he began immediately following work at 4. there was a supper break, but the rest of the evening was dedicated to dishwashers.

here is a pic of bear talking on his cell while on the potty. both boys were in the bathroom while i had my arm snaked under the dishwasher hunting down wires and whatnot. i raced to find them as soon as i was finished and saw this:

where did he learn to hold super important conversations while on the potty? i have no idea. okay it was me. t

probably just go ahead and spend the extra money to get it professionally installed. just sayin. unless of course you have a husband like brad, willing to sacrifice an entire night, some skin on his hands, and a bathtub to ensure a working dishwasher for his appreciative and in love wife.

harv

so we got a dog

max is quite excited.

journey with me as i attempt to recreate the circumstances during which i thought getting a pup was a good idea.

last week was a total puke parade at our house. sunday night bear got the flu and maxer joined the party on wed night. eeew. happy to report all is well here now. however, i do believe that sleep deprivation played a role in the purchase of a puppy.

once upon a time, the wenkes got a dog. this got brad thinking, hunting, and discussing the benefits of canine companionship with me. initially, brad decided that an outdoor lab was a necessity for our fam. after much internet purusing, he found bear, an older, giant dog that would be a perfect fit thought brad. well, remember our bear? the kid? right, cannot have two of those in one fam, so we passed.

after several more hours dedicated to doggy finding, brad located a toy fox terrier nearby. and he fell in love. i agreed to look at it with him. while we were having dinner, brad asked if i was really prepared to leave a puppy there. i said absolutely, but noticed he was far less prepared for that sort of outcome. therefore, i accepted the likelihood of a new addition, and loaded the veen with kids and positive thinking. in reality, dogs have always been rather temporary. brad first had buddy when we were married. after max was born, bud ran away. then we got rolly, who also took off one day. rolly was supposed to be a toy fox terrier only he grew to epic proportions and we realized the amish man brad bought rolls from was either mistaken or slightly dishonest...

well, we came home with a puppy. max named him harv. the boys adore playing with that thing. such a lovely distraction! baby ayla is super entertained and kicks and screeches and grunts when she sees that bouncy dog. truthfully, i do not hate the dog. he is rather sweet and i so enjoy watching my kids and husband joyfully play with the pup. there have been relatively few accidents, and harv finds and devours many crumbs. also, the multiple walks outside to allow harv to do his business has provided me with very enjoyable personal time away from the pukey, whiney, needy, sickies. harsh but true.

i am learning and really working on being more of a dog person. witnessing the love and cute concern and caretaking my boys have for this doggy is certainly helping.