great strides

springtime celebrates hope. the hope of warmer weather and new life. the hope of salvation in our risen lord. the hope that there is more than this winter of life that can be full of sorrow and struggle.
what a perfect time to be considering involvement in the hope that the cystic fybrosis foundation brings to the lives of those suffereing from this debilatating disease. please join me as we raise money for the life changing research being done right now
while we are so grateful for all the people who experience the benefits of the cf medical advancements, i walk for elliot leegwater.

elliot is the adorable son of our friends jeff and marcie leegwater. he has held a very special place in our hearts from the beginning. marcie and i were due the same day with our third babies and we endured a hot summer of camping together with growing bellies and anticiaption. our youngests made their debut next door to each other at zeeland community hospital.

this little love is all boy and plays hard with his older siblings. i love getting to celebrate elliot's birthday together with my aylaroo and note the beautiful contrasts of elliot's bravery and ayla's sass, listen to elliot's jabber and ayla's high pitched commenteray. hold ayla's petite little bod and heft elliot's solid frame. so beautiful to see the distinction between the two. but there are some differences that are heartbreaking. like when elliot has to stop his busy playing in the dirt for a breathing treatment. or when elliot could not partake in the thousands of snacks that make up camp food because he can only have so many enzymes a day required to digest his food. or when the beach was not an option for elliot as the dirty, dusty sand would aggrivate his breathing.


every day, elliot fights cystic fybrosis, a life-shortening genetic disorder that creates a thick mucus in his lungs and pancreas. he takes five medications, gets nebulizer treatments and chest percussions daily just to stay healthy.

GREAT STRIDES is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's largest and most successful national fundraising event. This year, I'm walking in the GREAT STRIDES again and deeply desire your partneship as there are medical breakthroughs currently in trial that will literally change elliot's life.  please follow the link to make a donation safely and securely.
http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/lyndseymeiste

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those with CF! Thank you for supporting the mission of the CF Foundation and GREAT STRIDES!

take note

one of the kids still favorite activities is to play with their matchbox cars on a small track.  they adore racing them, finding the very fastest cars.  bear especially enjoys crashing them.  ayla jo even finds enjoyment in sending cars zooming down the track. 

my fave is how both boys start the race, "markers, get set, go!" 
instead of on your marks, they say markers.  i love that little glimpse into their minds, like o it must be markers because that is what i know.  the whole on your marks business is just beyond them.

as i was helping to maintain turns and overall peace in the racing world, i witnessed bear headbut baby blue for accidentally knocking the track over.  i intervened and told weston that he needed to apologize and if that behaviour continued the track would be put away. 

he immediately said he was sorry and was back at playing until he sweetly glanced at me and said "so, dad is... never mind, i wont say it."  after much encouragement, he finished his statement. " dad is the boss mom, not you".

wes was trying to diminish my authority a bit, like whatever you say mom, but dad is really the boss.  he obeyed me, but suddenly his actions seemed much more of an attempt to appease mom rather than recognize the error of his ways and repent. 

such a big lesson from a little bear bear.  sometimes my behavior reflects a similar mindset with the lord.  my actions are often more a relfection of habit or meeting the expectation of others rather thana manifest of my love for the saviour.

later that evening, i was cleaning up supper while brad went into our room to relax.  he had been working super long days as one of the employees is on his honeymoon.  the adorables followed him.  things did not sound restful.  just then baby blue came rushing back in the kitchen, pleading with me to "come on, come on mom!  this!  in mommy's room!" and flapping her tiny little arms motioning me to join the chaos. 

so i did.  there before me, was brad lying on the bed, and the babes all standing in a row.  after a muffled "ready?" he began steamrolling.  and the cutes began jumping over him.  well, attempting to jump over him.  sometimes they landed on him, sometime he rolled over them.  regardless, it was hilarious and very inventive of bradley to somehow still be laying down and entertaining all the children. 


lord i pray that the days you give me with these adorables are not wasted.  open my eyes to see your lessons in their lives and enable me to wisely teach them your ways.  thank you for the treasure that is my family

amen

farmer

have you seen the farmer commercial from the superbowl?  so good.  so simple and true and achingly beautiful.

each one of us are created with gifts and abilities that are perfectly suited for the life we live. 

farmers are certainly set apart.  theirs is a job with unique requirements and demands.  it takes a very strong man to be a farmer.

listening to the wise words of paul harvey and seeing the familiar scenes touched my heart. here are some of my own reflections regarding my farmer:

god needed a man who would look after his pigs with the concerned responsibility to feed the people, sometimes coming home two or three times a day to check that they are fed and watered appropriately.  so god made a farmer.

god needed a man willing to sacrfice.  willing to experience exhaustion, discomfort, pain and frustration on a daily basis for the good of his pigs, his chickens and his fields.  willing to make financial decisions based on hope and determination to keep farming despite the volatile market and high cost of corn. so god made a farmer.

god needed a man committed to creation.  committed to finding the best way to care for the animals and the land of which he was made to have dominion. so god made a farmer.

god needed a man strong with humility.  who demands not the respect he deserves.  a man who does his job, consistently and without fail despite the conditions or the reward.  with each load of pigs, row of corn ,or flat of eggs, he gives it his full attention and his best work.  even when he receives criticisms from peta or misunderstood public opinion and ill conceived demands, he will continue to provide those very people with healthy and well tended food.

god neede a man with strength enduring.  strength to do battle with a 300 pound pig, and strength to wake up at 3:00 am on a monday morn and work till late in the afternoon. strength to tame and subdue the land and raise healthy animals.  so god made a farmer.

i am beyond thankful for the farmer god made me and my family.  i praise the lord for all the farmers and ask him boldly for their protection. 

reflections

its lunchtime. 
and i have a few concerns.

this morning, when it was just aylaroo and i, the only activity she wanted to do with me was to watch a show in my bed.  nothing else.  not babies, not puppies, just watch a show.  i gave in for a few minutes while i quickly tried to tame the tangled mess of my house and lured her away with story time later.  okay, so maybe i had to also give her smarties.  which she held in her toes and used them to point to things in the books we were reading.  not. normal.

bear bear is wearing his green shorts.  it is 22 degrees outside and though our pellet stove is roaring, i am chilly in a hooded sweatshirt and hat.  i told him he could not eat until he put something additional on.  he settled on a pair of shoes and his halloween socks. 


i am quite certain bear bear chooses lunch based on what harv likes to eat more than what he himself wants.  lots of the nuggets are disappearing from his plate in small pieces...

baby blue refuses to sit down and eat an entire meal.  she asks to be excused sometimes before she even takes her first bite.  cupcake always comes back for another bite when i call her but lunch is a long process.

while my daughter is napping, my son has turned into a pirate.  i hid the treasure, and he requested that i draw him a treasure map to find it.  me, the girl who got lost coming home for her entire first year of marraige despite the fact that the streets are numbered by me.  bear bear may never come back.

well, i found bear,  but he did not find the treasure. and that created some animosity toward me. so i gracefully switched activities to throwing an arby's frisbee back and forth.  this also did not go so well.  at one poiont, bear stopped pointed to his hand and proclaimed, "mom, this is your goal.  aim right here"

so this snippet is not a concern, just pride in my eldest.  when we picked maxer up from school, he entered the veen and proudly showed us three bracelets he earned with his good behaviour tickets.  as we congratulated him and discussed how cool they were, maxwell announced he got one for sister and one for bear and one for him.  sooo generous!  thanks max!


i am sure these things will resolve themselves...

the little things

last night brad and i started planning our annual winter water park adventure.  we looked at different dates and prices and discussed if we could include a cadillac night or two in the mix.  though nothing has been decided, we have cash in an envelope waiting on us thanks to my grandparents generosity at christmastime.

the anticipation is so much fun.  ever since we began talking about great wolf lodge, i keep thinking about different aspects that i am especially excited about.  hotel coffee, hotel living, okay, everything about hotels.  how fun it will be this year for the kids as they are all a bit older and a bit braver.  eating out :)

my tendency when something exciting is coming up is to focus solely on that one good thing, losing sight of the lots of good things that are happening in the waiting.  this happened to an extreme while i was engaged and waiting to be married to bradley, and when i was pregnant with each of the adorables.  however, it happens in little bits waiting for the weekend, or for brad to get home from work.  so, i am determined to intentionally enjoy all the little things that are oh so beautiful:

1.  like today, on this wintery, blustery, freezing cold day, we are enjoying the pellet stove warming the living room with its cozy glow while bear bear is snuggled in a blanket with macie.  i am letting them watch a little show, and bear bear keeps trying to sing along with every song and speak along with the characters as if he knows each word by heart.  in reality, he is unfamiliar with this episode and is just sorta mumbling along.  he does this often, with books i read or movies in the veen.  i find it so charming, he is one of a kind.

2.  max is start student starting monday.  therefore, this weekend included much preperation for his big week.  mrs. pitcher gave max several stars which he had to fill with characteristics of himself.  we had so much fun looking through pictures and discussing his favorites and future plans.  this is what he came up with:
when he grows up he wants to be a professional golfer.
his favorite food is deer meat, so he cut out a picture of a deer daddy shot and is hanging from a rope.
his favorite hobby is riding in the razor with daddy.

3.  ayla jo is currently obsessed with all things my little pony.  somehow, i managed to accidentally change the settings on my phone so the internet works crazy fast!  yeah!  so i have resorted to you tubing baby blue some rainbow dash and applejack and twilight sparkle shows.  presh

4. books.  all the adorables are super into stories right now.  as we were settling in with stacks of books this afternoon, i told both cupcake and wes that i loved them so much and kissed them loud and long on their foreheads.  bear looks at me and says, wow, you love me a lot!  totes bear bear, a whole lot.

5.  snow.  winter came with a vengenance.  snow days happening left and right, freezing temps, and windy white outs.  sunday we were able to actually enjoy the snowfall with our neighbors and friends the kleins.  between brad and jason, all kids got their fill of being dragged behind the atv's on their sleds.  max's hands got so so cold, but he refused to tell us until he was in pain.  i drew him a warm tub and he literally fell asleep in the bathtub.  it was creepy looking and angelic at the same time.  i obviously woke him up, got everyone snuggled in with blankets and then tracked brad down to ask for a ride of my own.  i took a terrible spill after 2.3 seconds and then broke the sled after 5 seconds of riding.  whoopsy daisy

such a good reminder that the days need not be momentous to be special and unforgettable. 

sick day

this morning, in the hustle and bustle of lunch making and breakfast serving, i noticed maxwell was moving a bit slower. he told me he did not want breakfast.  when i kissed his forehead, my fears were confirmed.  fever.

so heartbreaking to see my my oldest who ussually hungers for outdoors and adventure, snuggle on the couch, only ingesting water and popsicles.  this is when i love harv the best.  whenever maxer is ill, harv snuggles in right by him and does not leave his side. (unless he is harassed by our other son).  max sometimes gets annoyed with the constancy of harv's closeness, but the dog's intuitive companionship is adorable.

this pic was taken on saturday during the 50 degree warm front

the challenge of the day then, other than encouraging max to drink and eat, is keeping the other adorables from the tv.  it is like a magnet.  sickness earns the right to unlimited toons, but a sick bro does not.  so i have been making lots of deals with bear.  he can watch to the commercial, then 5 books.  or a game. or a project. or whatev.  keeps me on my toes.  but bear's bear's brotherly love is beautiful.  every so often, he will tell me he needs to check on maxer and will be right back.  though i suspect a trick to sneak in more max and ruby, he always returns momentarily with a report.

thinking of auntie kels in nyc

ayla jo is not exempt from the tv watching marathon.  she is currently running back in forth from the kitchen table to the living room with my robe sash wrapped around her shoulders screaming super bunny.  also she is wearing bear bear undies...

friday morning brought healing for the oldest, and pink eye for the mama. bring it on

tales of tuesday

we are two days into a back to normalcy routine.  already i was feeling thankful for a day that only one child had to be ready for the public.  in fact, i allowed bear bear to remain in bed until the van was started and maxer and ayla jo were loaded.  when he finally opened his beautiful brown eyes i suggested a quick bathroom break before dressing him in snowpants and a coat on backwards per his request.  underneath his snow gear he wore shorts.  of course.

reveling in maxer's independence, i wore my fave flannel camo pants featuring a hunting dog motif.  baby blue was the cutest by far.  despite her intense case of bed head. 

we returned home and got the middle one fed. the two remaining adorables seemed happy to play wild and free with one another.  until bear requested technology.  a typical request, but one rarely answered with a simple yes.  i gave him an amount of time before we could wii and dove into whatever game or play the babes wanted.  though i attempted productivity in between the barbie/monster truck sale, lunchtime requests and puppies, minimal cleaning happened. 

instead, the highlights included lots of ponies getting arranged and rearranged on various surfaces, bear bear demanding me to draw several kittens until finally i traced one from a book and he settled down, and the creation of a construction paper hot tub complete with mini bear and aforementioned kitten which is now being proudly displayed on our fridge. 

once our fam was complete and brad and max joined the crazy, cupcake expanded her  mantra of "here's a puppy for you" followed by "that's my favorite puppy" to involve two more family members, meaning i heard it even twice as often. 

bear bear tore from the table as he had to go poop.  when brad went to assist him, wes spit on the floor of the bathroom.  brad questioned the spitting and weston denied it.  later he explained he had a bad smell, so he spit it out.  eew.

we spent a little family time with the wii.  the boys are so entertaining to watch.  bear's entire body moves to the race.  max keeps a running commentary in which he thanks the other racers for letting him lead, or asking if he is going fast enough for the other cars.  funny!  brad and i kept glancing at one another with amused grins.

that night, as my daughter and i brushed our teeth together, aylaroo blurted "i like you mommy" and smiled sweetly.  i hugged her close and thanked her, assuring her i love her so very much as well.

this certainly is a happy ever after kinda day.