All About Moo

Next Saturday, our Mr. Moo will celebrate his 2nd birthday. This thought fills me with a strange mixture of emotions. I'm a little sad that my baby is getting so big, in spite of my best efforts to keep this from happening. At the same time, it's been an absolute joy to watch him grow! He's not the same bald, high-maintenance little guy he was a year ago. (Now he has hair!)

I thought I'd jot down a few unique qualities of Mr. Moo . . .


~ To ask for something, he says "Pleeeeeeaaaaase", while rubbing his chest with BOTH hands.

~ He is capable of beating up any and all of his siblings!

~ I've lost count of the number of goose eggs / head injuries he's acquired in the past few months.

~ His mouth is always open.

~ One of his favorite games involves punching me in the arm. I then "punch" him back in the chest, arm or stomach, which makes him laugh hysterically.

~ Speaking of laughs, he's got the happiest, dorkiest, most contagious belly laugh I've ever heard.

~ He does everything 100%, which is what's earned him his other nickname of "Full Throttle."

~ I never knew it was possible for a child to be this messy or just plain disgusting, until Moo came along. He's actually drooled in my mouth while giving me a kiss, and pretty much makes me gag on a daily basis.

~ If you call him anything else, he'll say, "No, I'm Moo." (He does answer to the name "Malachi" as well)

~ He's a clown. There's nothing more motivating to him than getting a laugh. Good luck trying to stop him when that happens!

~ He thinks he can do everything his siblings do - never mind that they're all older. He became enraged at the beginning of the summer, when reality set in and it became obvious he wasn't going to be able to ride a bike without training wheels. He also likes to stand on a stool in front of the potty without his diaper. Nothing ever comes out, but he's proud as punch just the same.

~ Possibly the most endearing quality about Moo: He's a Mama's boy. He gives great bear hugs, and loves to nestle into me.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Moo - I love you!

Spring 2008


Fall 2008




First haircut - August 2009


September 2009

Random Bits of Humor

On Labor Day, we took a family bike ride. This struck me as funny for a couple of reasons:

1. Rachel and Zekers both rode their own bikes, while Karis rode on the extension behind Danny's bike, and Mr. Moo rode in the child's seat behind me. It's been like this for the past several months, ever since I told the kids that riding bikes would help their legs get stronger for the kiddie tractor pull coming up in September! Now they can't get enough of riding their bikes - it's hard to motivate them, but every once in a while you hit on that perfect thing, and this was it!

2. On that day, apparently, "riding bikes" meant "racing as fast as possible through puddles at the now-empty fairgrounds." You can see the results below. Fortunately, every bit of mud washed out. It's not too difficult to tell which child was shielded by the baby seat . . .








This is Zekers, about five minutes after insisting, "I'm not tired at all, Mom!"










Danny was away speaking at a men's retreat last weekend, so I planned some "special" things for the kiddos and I to do together. We hung out at the park, tried the new frozen yogurt place in town (a big hit!), and to top it all off, I rented The Parent Trap - the original one with Hailey Mills. Rachel has a CD with the song "Let's Get Together" from the movie. She sings it all the time and has wanted to see the movie for months.

Well, she loved The Parent Trap, but what I didn't realize was that there is actually a Parent Trap 2 on the same disc, which she begged for days to watch. So, last night, the night after the movie was due back, we finally relented.

It was AWFUL. Or at least, the few snippets I saw were awful, and poor Danny was forced to watch the whole thing while reading books to Mr. Moo. It had to have been made in the late '70s, and Hailey Mills was now in her 50's, with about the cheesiest plot line, not to mention "acting", I've ever seen. The real entertainment was watching Danny's face!

Then there was the time several days ago when we were driving in the van, listening to Karis sing "Seal, seal, seal without llamas, it is not good to have." After about 10 minutes, we finally figured out that she was attempting to sing a song from one of her Scripture memory CDs, entitled "Zeal Without Knowledge." I think maybe we've taken one too many trips to the zoo!

And here it is . . . the day we've been "training" for all summer: the one, the only - Kiddie Tractor Pull at Jeff & Tammy Dietrich's missionary benefit. All three of the kiddos placed. There were three contestants in each age category. Karis brought home a 2nd place trophy, Rachel third and Zekers placed first. This was HUGE for him, since last year, I think he MIGHT have moved the tractor about 6 inches. All three of them fared better than Danny and I, who were soundly beaten in the cornhole tourney. I just had to laugh, though, at how important those trophies were to them. Now I have to find a place to put the stinkin' things!

Joy and Tears

The joy is theirs. The tears are mine. What else could it be but the first day of school? I had a particularly difficult time watching Zekers get on the bus and pull away for the first time. I nearly collapsed in a puddle of tears as all the other, more sane, parents were waving happily to their excited children. Fortunately, it was Danny's day off, because I cried off and on all morning and then tried to drown out my sorrow with chocolate.

A very happy, excited Zekers exited the bus around 12:30, so that made me feel a bit better. Rachel and Zekers both have wonderful teachers, which also helps. In fact, although I haven't had a chance to get to know Rachel's teachers much, Zeke's teacher seems to be a perfect fit for him.

And so begins another school year. The summers are nice, but I'm ready to get back into a routine. And I'm consoling myself by planning things with the other 2 that I can't do with four: bike rides, trips to Wal-Mart that involve everyone fitting into the cart; more time to focus on just Malachi and Karis.

So here are the mandatory "first day of school" pics. I thought it was extra sweet that Rachel & Zekers held hands getting on the bus.


Zeke's 1st day of school, Rachel's 4th day of school


Getting on the bus in the morning


Zekers getting off the bus at 12:30


Zekers with his teacher

My Girls

It's hard to believe Rachel is 7 and Karis is 4. As per our yearly tradition, we looked through their scrapbooks, relived the days surrounding their birth and enjoyed once again seeing the many ways they grew - especially the first year. In my personal opinion, each "stage" of their lives has been better, and more fun, than the one before.

So, here are a few ways I've enjoyed watching them grow in the past year:









Rachel

1. She's grown in her love of reading. In Kindergarten, it was a daily struggle to get her to read ANYTHING. Now, she gets up early, runs out to the living room, and simply devours books. Her current favorites are the Boxcar Children and Magic Tree House book series. She reminds me a lot of myself at her age; although I'm hoping she won't need glasses as young as I did!

2. She's grown in her capacity to think critically. It's crazy the questions a 6-7 year old can come up with, and quite honestly, she's stumped me a few times. She asked me several months ago, "If God created everything, does that mean He created sin?" That's when I so cleverly reply, "Go ask your father!" But seriously, we've had some great conversations lately on a plethora of topics. It's wonderful to be able to talk with her on more of an adult level; to see her wrestle with and ask questions about different topics.

3. She's grown in taking initiative. She's started asking to help out more - and actually helping! She offers to do dishes, she makes her bed first thing without being asked, she helps out a LOT with Malachi (and often smothers him almost to death), and she reads to the younger two. It's just the coolest thing to see her growing up and thinking of others.














Kari Bou

1. She's grown in stubbornness. I know this seems like a negative - and trust me, it has been at many times! Honestly, this has been a very rough year for her (and for Danny and me!); but I love that she has a mind of her own, and if by God's grace we can continue to be consistent to "train in godliness", this very quality which has given us such headaches will become a huge asset to her in the future.

2. She's grown in sweetness. As stubborn as she can be, she more than makes up for it with hugs, kisses and snuggles. And she's a born nurturer. All day long, she carries around one or two baby dolls, dresses and undresses them, changes their diapers, puts them to bed, breastfeeds and burps them, and gives me instructions on how to care for them when she's "out." It's too cute.




3. She's grown in her comprehension of sin. If there's one truly positive thing that's come from disciplining her this year, it's that struggling over the same issues nearly every day has shown her a need for Christ. It started out as a way to avoid consequences. Her responses went from "But Mom, I'm just a kid - I can't be good ALL the time", to "Mom, even when I try as hard as I can, I do bad things." She's very aware - more than the others were at this age - that she's a sinner who needs Jesus' help to do the right things. Through some heartbreaking episodes, God has opened the door for both Danny and me to have some really cool conversations with her.

I love you girls so much, and I pray often that you will grow every day in your knowledge of, and love for, Christ. I can't wait to see what this year holds for each of you . . .

Baby Makes 8

My parents are now the proud grandparents of eight! My sister Hannah and her husband Kenneth just welcomed their third child, a sweet baby girl, into the world around 8:00 on Wednesday morning. She weighed in at 6 lb. 11 oz.

Zeke, Karis and I dropped off Mr. Moo to take a nap at Grandma Wright's house, then drove to Kettering to see our new little niece / cousin. The only bummer was that no kids are allowed in the maternity area unless they are the patients' children, so, with tears of disappointment, Zekers and Kari Bou waited out in the lobby with Uncle Kenneth. Their tears quickly evaporated, though, when they realized he had brought them crackers!












Aunt Hannah was nice enough to bring their little baby cousin right up to the main door of the maternity ward so the kiddos could at least get a look at her in person.










So, even though there was some talk of changing her name, I'll go ahead and say . . . Welcome, Elizabeth (Ellie) Joy!

Best of GDCF 2009

I've tried to figure out what it is that brings us back, year after year, to the Great Darke County Fair. Is it the crowds? The dust & dirt? The noise? The colorfully-worded T-shirts? The greasy food? Walking until our legs are numb?

After our 8th fair week (can't believe we've lived here that long!!), I still can't really answer that question. All I can say is, we look forward to this week all summer, especially the kiddos! Their absolute favorite thing to do - and what kept us coming back every day but one - was visiting the animals. I believe we may have spent more money on animal food than on funnel cakes. As for Danny and me, like most everyone else attending, it's the sense of community: running into dozens of people you know; catching up with friends you haven't seen in a while; taking some time off from the normal routine and doing something a little different.

In any case, it's always an adventure! (and I still think deep-fried twinkies sound absolutely revolting)

My sister Hannah, her 2 kiddos, and my mom came up one day so the kids could all do rides together. This has become a yearly tradition for us.


In 4 years, we have yet to take a picture where our kids actually appear to be enjoying themselves on the ferris wheel!


One evening, we met a very nice girl who told the kiddos all about her horse, and even let them pet him.


The absolute favorite place was a tent that housed many unusual animals, including pot-belly pigs, emus, and angora goats. Every day, we bought a cup of feed which the kiddos divided among themselves to give to the animals.


Thanks to some friends, Rachel was able to go inside a pen and spend some quality time with several pigs.


Farmer Zeke


The next best thing to Clifford


For the first time, Rachel and Zekers sat in a seat by themselves on the BIG ferris wheel. There were a lot of tears at first, but by the end I think they really liked it. (I couldn't go with them, since I rode in a seat with Karis, and Danny stayed down below with Mr. Moo.)


Mr. Moo LOVED the bumper cars! He went several times with both Danny and me.


After driving his own car one time, Zekers got off and announced, "I'm never driving again!" I'm documenting this so I can remind him of it about 10 years from now.