7 months, 4 days old

You know you have a 3-year old boy in the house (part deux)

when you know from experience that:
--Rubbing Alcohol will remove Sharpie & ball-point pen marks from a LCD monitor & a wood desk (3 times in the last year at least, including the ballpoint pen deal today).
--Fingernail polish remover combined with a solvent actually does a pretty good job of removing dark purple fingernail polish from carpet & walls.
--Taking out your window screens & standing on the frame bends them back into place quite satisfactorily.
--It's beneficial to have extra paint on hand for wall & trim touch-ups.

Now I know what you're thinking...

You've been itching to see a picture of our little neighbor, Mohammad, since he was "not pictured" in the earlier post, so here you go:Henri, sat in our backyard, on our back steps, and then on our neighbors back steps, waiting for Mohammad to come out today.

He entertained himself with a large stick he found, saying it was a "machine" used to sweep the dirt off the grass. (He had just been watching a neighbor using a weed whacker).

"Neighbor! Neighbor!" He occasionally called out while hoping his friends would come out and play with him.

By 7:00pm, I walked Henri to the front door to see if Mohammad could come out to play with him. And he did! So did Abraham, Zachariah, Ismael, and their older sister/aunt (depending on which boy), Amina. They had great fun tonight running around, rolling down the hill, and digging in the dirt.

Mohammad's family is from Somalia. They are very kind, and Henri loves playing with them. Please pray for us as we get to know them that we'd be kind enough to share the gospel with them and everyone we encounter.

We've got pictures!

Johnny found a camera on Craigslist that is very similar to our old camera, and he picked it up last night. I haven't taken many pictures yet, and I'm still getting used to the differences.

I discovered a tooth just starting to poke through in Cosette's mouth yesterday (center bottom left). This would explain her fussiness that I was sure was an ear infection or reflux. I didn't think that it looked like a tooth was near in her mouth, and Henri didn't get his first tooth until 9 months.

This is Henri playing outside last night with our 6-year old neighbor Mohammad (not pictured).













Here's our view of downtown from our backyard.

cameras, home, & family

Here's another point by point update:

• For some reason, the e-bay payment method we used didn't accept our payment for the camera Johnny ordered, so we're supposed to be seeing a refund to our account. Therefore, we're shopping again. Johnny has inquired about a camera for sale on Craigslist.
  
• We've been talking with Realtors about our home. We have another meeting this afternoon. We're trying to discern whether we should just stick with the service we have & lower the price or get a Realtor & lower the price a little less and better market our home.
• Johnny's grandparents who have given us their airline miles to fly the kids & I out for the family reunion in Oregon want to try & get to a United ticket counter Friday to get the tickets approved. They're so wonderful & gracious & self-sacrificing & all the other great words that I can't think of right now.
  

Aren't they just the cutest?!

Though they probably won't appreciate me posting these pictures, I'm just so excited that two of my sisters are expecting precious babies at the end of November. My younger sister, Jaime (top left), is expecting her 2nd baby with her husband Tony, and Johnny's younger sister, Kristin (bottom right), is expecting her 1st baby with her husband Matt. I just can't wait to give these babies smooches as I love burying my face in Cosette's cheeks. My lips start puckering as I think about it (yes, I suppose I'm one of those cheek-grabbing aunties). It's too bad that Matt & Kristin live so far away from us!

Update on our visit with Murphy

I'm surprised with how many things we dealt with today:

1. Johnny found a digital camera deal on E-bay, and he ordered it. I hope it gets here soon!
   
2. We got our car back after paying a large bill. We bring it back in a week for more testing & possible fixing & possible more billing unless it's covered by a warranty in which case we may get about 1/3 of our money back.
3. We talked to some Realtors about our home. We have meetings set up for Thursday, but we had one good talk today with a Realtor who confirmed on lowering the price & trying that before hiring a Realtor. It felt good to get validation on a direction even if it is a direction we love the least.
   
4. We had a long discussion about heading out to Oregon for Johnny's family reunion near the end of July and looked one more time to see if there was any possible way Johnny could come with us. Johnny's Grandparents have given us their flight miles, which will buy us 2 tickets (for the kids & me). We couldn't find anything for Johnny, so we called United to set up the flights. After a half hour of talking to a computer, it ended with saying that Johnny's grandparents have to go to a United ticket counter in person to verify that it's okay that we use their points. A talk with an agent confirmed what the computer said. This may be difficult to accomplish for health reasons, so we have given the news to Johnny's family & are waiting to find out the verdict. They were so kind to give us the points, and we totally understand if it doesn't work out.

Murphy says, "Hi."

When Murphy moves in

Well, Murphy's moved in (as in Murphy's Law). Actually, we invited him to live with us a while ago, but he's stirring up trouble this week.

• Camera update: minimum repair is over $$$--repair person deemed it not worth the cost. So we think we're going to look for another digital camera to get us by with good pictures until we can save for something better.
• Our Saturn L200 is in the shop with over $$$$ in repairs. Saturn is checking to see if the warranty will cover the cost & it's possible I'll be without a car for a few days. Let's pray that we only have to pay the deductible! Otherwise, we're calling my brother-in-law, Tony (a car mechanic) for advice. I'm totally inept when it comes to driving Johnny's manual transmission car. I've tried to learn; it's pretty hopeless.
• Our listing agent has suggested that we lower the price of our home $$$$$, which would price it below what we paid for it. We are looking for wisdom, and weighing the costs.
  

These are "bummers", but the LORD is sustaining us. Click on the "Dave Ramsey" link on the sidebar to learn what we've been learning about kicking Murphy out the door.

You know you have a 3-year old boy in the house

when just before sitting down to eat his oatmeal for breakfast, he delivers his spoon to the table with his toy loader.

7 Months Old

Happy 7 month birthday Cosette!

Oh wait, no, no...this is a picture of Henri when he was 7 months old...because our camera is broken, and I don't have a picture of Cosette at 7 months old!!!

Ah, well, I guess it doesn't matter...they look so much alike anyway...

Grumble, grumble, grumble...remember Philippians 2:14...remember Philippians 2:14..."Do all things without grumbling or questioning." ESV

A scheme revealed

Henri, eating a bowl of chicken & pasta with his baseball cap sitting nearby on the table: "Papa, where did my chicken go?"

Johnny, finishing cleaning up after our son when Henri decided to try & fill an empty chicken broth box with water using the refrigerator water dispenser: "I don't know. Did you pick out your chicken and eat it all?"

Henri: "Oh, here it is! It's under my hat!!!" (as he lifts up his hat to reveal a pile of shredded chicken.)

Horror of Horrors

Our camera has stopped working!

Papa is an excavator

new book

Henri pulled our Melaleuca Wellness Guidebook off our bookshelf this morning.
"Mama, this is a book about Jesus and French."

I likes what I likes

Cosette likes (she will cry out if you take these away from her):

• power cords
• plastic bags
• plastic hangers
  
• paper
• her brother's toys
• the telephone
• wet washcloths
• her brother's blanket
• her pacifier
• her long-sleeved sleepsack (where can I find another!?)
• her feet
  
• sitting up (with support)

Cosette does not like:

• my parent's very friendly dog, Chloe--she screams in terror
• a lot of her own toys--she's tired of them (already!)
  
• being left alone

Ladies first

Henri & his good friend, Ava, went to a splash pad & park today. At one point, both of them were heading for a slide and Ava was asking to go first, but Henri quickly ran ahead of her to go down it. I pulled him aside to explain that gentlemen let the ladies go first and that he should stop & wait at the top of the slide to let Ava go first. Henri did a little too well. Every time Henri ran to the top of the slide, he would call out to Ava to go first even if she was somewhere else on the playground. "Ava! I'm waiting for you!"

If you think Henri looks a little red in the photos below, you would be right. No, he didn't get sunburn. He just turns bright red when he gets hot.

Happy Birthday Auntie Dena!

Happy Birthday to my big sister, Dena. On this day in 1974, my parents' firstborn came into the world about 3 years before me. She's an artist (she can draw like nobody's business) and a lover of all things nature (she works for the U.S. Forest Service). She currently lives in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, but she's lived in Colorado & South Carolina in the past few years too. When we were children, Dena would practice drawing, and I thought I would be as good as she was when I got to be her age. Nope, not even close. I did not inherit our mother's talent like she did. Stick figures maybe, but that's it. Here she is with Cosette a few months ago. I also have a younger sister (Jaime) & brother (Brandon).

A Song on My Heart

We sang this worship song to God on Sunday at our church. It's been on my heart since then as I've thought about our home being still on the market, our financial situation, as well as what our dear friends have been going through--their 3rd miscarriage.

By Brenton Brown
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God You reign forever
Our hope Our strong deliverer

You are the everlasting God
the everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary
and You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles.


I believe the song is based on Isaiah 40: 28-31:

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

A Good Sunday with some Not so Good

After church on Sunday, we had another Open House. I went to a picnic at a family's home from our church (who I didn't know really well), and Johnny ran home to clean the house & show the home.

Good:

• Henri went swimming in a deep pool with his clothes on--some people there swam with him & watched over him for me
  
• Free food at the picnic
• We met new people from our church
• Cosette took a good nap at the picnic in one of the bedrooms
  
• Johnny got time to study for his CCNA
  
• The kids were asleep at our house by 7pm...so was I
• Johnny played softball last night & his team won both of their games

Not so good:

• No one came to our Open House
• Another Open House Sign went missing...the one that was directing traffic down our street (maybe that's why no one came!)
  
• The air conditioning stopped working in my car
• The Security light remains on in my car, which makes my horn honk every time I start it. We had the car checked on Saturday, but they didn't find anything wrong (& the light didn't come on for them).
  
• A dog bit Henri's fingers at the picnic (he's okay, and he was happy to wear a band-aid)
  

Grandpa's Sandbox

Messy Baby

Must put it in my mouth...

Blonde Hair & Blue Eyes...Where did that come from?

Johnny has brown hair & green eyes. I have brown hair & olive green / reddish-brown eyes (I mean how do you describe the eyes I got from my dad?).

Henri & Cosette? They're basically twins 3 years apart who got our 1/2 Swedish mothers' blonde hair & blue eyes. Oh, and Johnny had blonde hair as a child (not me), so it remains to be seen what will become of our children's golden locks. Henri has Johnny's hairline with the 2 diagonal cowlicks on either side of his forehead. Cosette's hairline is different from Henri's, and I have no idea if it's like mine or one of her grandparents'. By the way, (since this stuff is fascinating to me), I don't know which of Johnny's parents, or grandparents, has the same hairline as him. It is a pretty funny hairline...

So what's really funny is that my sister, Jaime, has blonde hair & blue eyes, and her son, Chase (who's the same age as Henri), has brown hair & brown eyes. Many a person has commented how they think our sons are switched.

Hello? Hello? Is anybody reading this anymore? (Not after reading this captivating post...hee, hee, hee)

Wading Pool Open!

The little wading pool in the park near our home opened two days ago, so we walked over this morning. It's free & open to the public. What fun Henri had!

Henri, can you look at the camera?

Henri, keep the water in the pool!

Ha, I got a pic with Henri looking!

Cosette, on the other hand, disliked the water and was tired (even though I brought her to the pool right after she woke up from her morning nap!) She went straight to bed when we got the home.

Learning to Sit

Henri (summer 2004)--just learning to sit up on his own. Almost 6 months old.














Cosette--6 1/2 months old--notice how she reaches for the toy with her right hand & Henri just stares at it.












Timber!

A Good Morning

My friend Jennifer was photographing children this morning for a children's book, including Cosette. While Cosette was in for her photoshoot this morning, Henri enjoyed strumming a guitar, playing with toys, walking in the lake (I changed his wet shorts twice), and eating snacks. Even if Cosette doesn't make it into the book, we had a great time! I can't wait to see the pictures, Jennifer!

Nani & Henri

Henri is 6 months & 18 days old in this picture (exact same age as Cosette is today). Henri is posing with Johnny's mom, who goes by the name Nani with our kids. We were out at Johnny's parent's home in Eagle Point, Oregon for Kristin's wedding (Johnny's sister). Photo taken: 8/16/2004

Meet Our Church Small Group...well one of them

Cosette, Me, Allison, Korissa

Toby & Amy

Jason, Jamey, Darren, Johnny

Emerson & Braden


Not Pictured: Henri

To the Park