Church

We decided to go to the local FourSquare church. It's not even 8AM yet and we have until 10:00 to leave home. Hopefully we can get everyone ready in two hours. I'll update when we get home. Although...it may be a while since I think we will run home and have a quick lunch then head to the library. We have to return our books and shows and pick up a new truckload (almost literally) for the upcoming week. I think we'll play at the park at the library too...they have a spray park, kids play equipment, a children's garden with a sandbox...lots for kids and master gardener's demonstration gardens and a fish pond for everyone to enjoy. It's the coolest library and grounds I've ever been to.

Feed Me!

I'd been meaning to post this. A while back (last month, I believe...or the month before) we saved some Starling babies from our microwave oven vent. They had been abandoned. The saving of them was quite a messy event and another story that I don't think I'll tell here. However the pictures of our little birdies I wanted to share. I fed them with a straw. We actually only cared for them for a couple days as I found someone who had more time than I did to take over their care. She told me that they all did very well and flew off a couple weeks after we gave them to her.

The big SOCCER extravaganza! & Church Talk

Well, today was the first soccer game for Az. Mind you, he's totally new to the game and has only had one practice. It went SURPRISINGLY well! He overcame a couple of obstacles and came out a stronger, tougher, & braver boy. The first thing was that he got bitten by some bug (probably a horsefly) and swelled up. He was pretty hysterical at first and Papa told him he could either stay and play or go to the hospital (ha ha ha). He chose to stay and play, obviously. He's pretty terrified of bugs so being bitten was a pretty traumatic experience for him. One of the guys who lived close by ran home and brought some baking soda & water paste to put on it and the swelling went right down. He played well and with gusto! It was a very entertaining game and you could tell most of the kids were learning as the game went along....like which goal was the one they were trying to kick the ball into. There was more than one occasion where kids were kicking the ball towards their own net! It was cute and there was LOTS of cheering and laughter. It was so much more fun than I would have ever imagined.

Oh, the other thing was that Az fell over the ball towards the beginning of the game and he ran out of the game to Papa crying and, I think, embarrassed. Well, Papa sent him right back in and he got over it and kept on playing and didn't have any other issues after that. He's learning to get up and keep going no matter what and that's an important life lesson that we all need to learn. I'm so glad I was able to get him on this team...and it all began when we saw some other kids playing at the library fields and he said, "Mama, I wanna do that"! I'm so glad I acted on that and got him in.

Some things you'll notice in the pictures is that Az is not wearing the team jersey. Well, it's because his hasn't arrived yet. He joined after practices had started and deadline was really way back in June but they nice guy who's head of the Upwards program at Bethel Community Church let me sign him up late...so his jersey will be there by the next game. One of the neat things about this program is that they have prayer and a Bible verse at practices and games. So cool!

You'll also notice our lovely desert hills in the background. Ha! It's amazing what irrigation will do to such arid land. The games and practices all take place at Bethel Church...it's got HUGE grounds and there are TONS of games going on and two time sets of them every Saturday.

Speaking of churches...I believe we are going to try a new one out tomorrow. I can't decide between three...Columbia Bible Church, Tri-City Foursquare, or Grace United Reformed Church. I know, they're all over the board as to types of churches...but you'll notice there's no Mormon or LDS mentioned in that list. Ha ha ha. Those are really big around here. They come a knockin' ALL THE TIME! Not for us...we're Sola Scriptura here. Born again, Bible believing, non-denominational (at present) Christians. Ideally we'd love to go to a HOUSE church but haven't been able to find any in the area. They tend to be under the radar though, so there MAY be some around...just hard to find. If you are interested in reading about the movement use this link: http://www.house-church.org/
Maybe someday we'll start our own.

Anyhow...from Soccer to Churches...what next? You'll just have to wait and see because I have got to go now! Love to you all and have a blessed weekend.

Avi the Spectator

I DO occasionally comb Avi's hair, REALLY! She's looking a little nonplussed in this picture. Hmmmm...
Oh well, it's the only picture we got of her today. I'll have an AVI day sooner or later. I have got to get her in a tumbling/gymnastics class soon.

First Game!

Sittin' on the sidelines

soccer. soccer. soccer.

Az & Teammates having a little circle time.

The Team

Az is Kickin' It!

Action Boy AZ and the BALL

Practicing before his first soccer game, which was TODAY! He loves it and had great fun and is learning to toughen up and be a big boy...so all in all a winning proposition. Soccer is a good thing~!

Feeling Pressed...

This is, I think, my favorite. I love how the green leaves turned out and the tomato blossoms too! In the center is the remains of a daisy that Mark had picked for me the very first day we met! Wow!!!

Dried Things...

The kids and I did some flower and leaf pressings a few weeks ago. These are the final results. Excuse her messy face (momma didn't clean it for the pictures)!

Avi's got bugs!

Avi loves bugs! Here she laid them all out on a silky blanket & photographed them. She even likes real bugs nd enjoys picking them up & examining them. Az, on the other hand, is pretty much terrified of the creepy crawly things!

Proving my point...

This is an old picture of AZ (1.5 yrs ago I believe)
...but his favorite thing to do is to dress up in Camo and pretend to be Army Boy!

Militarism and Boys...

Here's a great qoute I came across today...

G. K. Chesterton wrote in a 1906 magazine article:

***** A child's instinct is almost perfect in the matter of fighting; a child always stands for the good militarism as against the bad. The child's hero is always the man or boy who defends himself suddenly and splendidly against aggression. The child's hero is never the man or boy who attempts by his mere personal force to extend his mere personal influence. In all boys' books, in all boys' conversation, the hero is one person and the bully the other. That combination of the hero and bully in one, which people now call the Strong Man or the Superman, would be simply unintelligible to any schoolboy.... But really to talk of this small human creature, who never picks up an umbrella without trying to use it as a sword, who will hardly read a book in which there is no fighting, who out of the Bible itself generally remembers the "bluggy" [bloody] parts, who never walks down the garden without imagining himself to be stuck all over with swords and daggers--to take this human creature and talk about the wickedness of teaching him to be military, seems rather a wild piece of humour. He has already not only the tradition of fighting, but a far manlier and more genial tradition of fighting than our own. No; I am not in favour of the child being taught militarism. I am in favour of the child teaching it. ****

Oh JOY!

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.

-Henri Nouwen

Saturday's Events

Saturday, which is now yesterday, we got out and went to Columbia Park (4th time this week now!) so the kids could ride the bumper boats. Az had been asking for so long to do this and he finally got his opportunity. He got his own boat and Mark took Avi in another boat. We thought he'd be able to handle the boat and the height requirement of 4 feet was met...BUT it turned out to be rather traumatic for him. I don't think he really understood how to control the boat and people kept bumping into him, after all, that's what it's all about! Anyhow he was panicked and Mark told the lifeguard that Az needed to get out NOW. So the guy hopped up on the side and saved him by bringing him back to the deck and Az was relieved to get down the steps to me and Liberty! I asked if he'd like to go again with Papa and he did, of course. I felt so bad for him out there. He's so big for his age and it's easy to forget that while he may be big enough or tall enough...he's still just a little boy and may not be mentally ready for whatever it is that he's physically ready for. I hope that soccer will turn out better for him than the bumper boats! So, he went again and had big smiles and fun the second time around...as a passenger. Photo evidence below!

After Col. Park we went to our wonderful library and returned our 100+ items for 100+ MORE items for the upcoming week. We got some cool shows and TONS of books. I picked out all the kid books (as usual) while Mark hung out with Liberty and the kids played on the library computer they have set up in the children's section. We overfilled two baskets and made our way home with fresh, new reading material.

We got a book that the kids, and Mark LOVE...I plan to read it today with Avi since she's begging me as I type to read it to her. It's called: "The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales". The art is GREAT and I'm excited to read it today. I think it's Avi's new favorite book and one we may have to BUY. Here are the story titles: Jacks Bean Problem, Giant Story, Jack's Story, Cinderumpelstiltskin or the girl who really blew it, The Tortoise and the Hair, The Stinky Cheese Man, Chicken Licken, The Princess and the Bowling Ball, The Really Ugly Duckling, The Other Frog Prince, & Little Red Running Shorts. It does neat things with fonts and text sizes. Cool kids book.

OK...baby is having a fussy day. Maybe she's not well?! I must go and get in the shower as we have lots planned for today...mainly cleaning and mowing and shopping, OH MY!

Oh, by the way, for those who aren't aware, you can click on the pictures to see them bigger if you so desire.

More another time...have a blessed Sunday!
Next week we try a new church out but today we are staying home.

Mark and Az ride the bumper boats

The last couple of days...

We went to the PARK OF DREAMS (two days in a row!) and the children played in the water park. They had big fun. Today when we arrived we met up with a friend and her child quite by surprise so that made the time extra nice. We are going to meet up there again tomorrow and have a picnic. That will be a fun diversion for a hot day.

The big news for today though is that we signed Azriel up for SOCCER! It was a bit late to join but the leader made an exception for us so he only missed one practice and the games start Saturday NEXT (not this one). It's through a church program called UPWARDS and we got in through Bethel Church in Richland. We still haven't found a home church yet so maybe we'll check it out this Sunday. It's a pretty big church though and I really prefer the smaller ones. Az is so excited about this and Avigail, well, she cried because she isn't old enough. I'm going to get her into some sort of tumbling class or something of that nature! I can't believe how quickly they are growing up! Az will be 5 in October & Avi will be 4 in September! Liberty has a way to go before she's even 1! I think it's odd that we start our children out at zero here. They should really be dated from the time of conception, at least in my opinion.

Markus Aurilious (as I Jokingly call him) is actually home at 6:30 PM! WOW! He's been leaving early and not coming home until 9PM this week. They've been installing the phone system for the city of Othello. It's the first BIG system (icluding 911 service, VOIP, etc.) that Mark has designed from the ground up. He's feeling pretty good about it today since he's all done!

Anyhow I'm outta here for now. I'm going to talk with my husband...