Calling me out on it

Tonight we were frantically trying to get out the door to a Christmas musical at our friends' church, Vista Community Church - Dublin. My friend had mentioned what a great service it was going to be, so we did not want to miss it.

However, Brent was trying to get our dryer fixed and our wonderful handy-man neighbor came down 30 minutes before we needed to leave to help Brent with the task. And I was trying to catch up with a friend on the phone for a few minutes, but received about 10 calls in the meantime (NOT an exaggeration...usually no one calls us!). I was questioning whether we'd even end up going to the musical and if that was what we were supposed to do for the night. Maybe we were supposed to stay home as a family and get the dryer fixed.

So can you imagine what a freak I was being, deciding that we were still going to make it to the service. I wasn't very nice to the boys while I was getting them moving, as I knew that we were going to be late, and they wanted to lolly-gag getting ready.

Finally, we're all in the van. That's usually where everything erupts if it hasn't gone well in the house. Of course, I took advantage of the situation and fell in my "venting role." Soon, Braden piped up, "Mommy, are you going to act like that at church?"

Oh...my...word...!!!! My 5 year did NOT just call me out on my sin! Yep. He did...and he made us all laugh so hard, but also see the reality of my sin. (Brent laughed hardest) I told Braden that God gave him to me just for that moment. Had Brent said that, it would not have gone well at that point, as much as I needed to hear it.

I have certainly been trying to work on peeling away that junk...
#1 not acting like that to my family b/c I think I can.
#2 Not going to church and acting like it's all good.

God is so good to give me that challenge....through my son. When my kids can see right through me, why would I think anyone else couldn't? The Christmas service was so awesome & moving. I could post on that alone and may just do that! I needed to surrender that anger/frustration....SIN...during the service. I pray that see me handle things appropriately next time I'm overwhelmed.

Quotables

We know people highly suggest leaving thoughts of your kids at home while you're on a date with your spouse. But we just can't help but quote the boys when something reminds us of their funny comments. They give us a lot of material to laugh about while we're taking a breather from them. Can't completely get them out of our heads!

Last week I was making treats for big brudder's preschool class. I asked him, "Do you want me to put chocolate chips in the rice krispies, or do you want sprinkles on top?"

He answered, "Hmmmm, chocolate chips or sprinkles? That's a hard decision! Now if it were peas or chocolate chips, that would be an easy decision!"


Tonight we were watching a commercial for the "healthy" Curves cereal. The women in the commercial are portraying how much energy the cereal will give them...they're jumping really high in the air with huge smiles on their faces.

Big brudder broke the silence..."Mommy, do we have Curves?"
I was kind of in a daze, not soaking up the content and thinking the boys weren't either. I just knew that cereal does not find it's way into our cupboards. "No, why, do you want to get some Curves?" I asked.

"No."

"Does that cereal look good or something?" ...still trying to figure out why he asked if we had some.

"Will it make us jump really high?"

Whew!!! I was worried that he was checking out the older women in the commercial! :-)

And one more for the post...more to come later, I'm sure!

My boys have been spoiled by fast food for sure. Last year, I had a hard time getting home after preschool without a request for the Golden Arches nearly every time. One day I responded, "No honey, God didn't make our bodies to eat at those places all the time. It's not healthy to eat 'fast food' every day."

"Well, mommy, I'll eat it really slow. Will that be healthy for me?"

Hmmmm, I think he's on to the latest diet scam!

Back to the Bikes

I mentioned in an earlier post about bikes and what a great time we have on family bike rides. We have been so blessed by my brother, who has graciously hooked us up with bikes & accessories over the past several years. He is an amazingly, creative guy whose profession is designing graphics on bikes, helmets...all sorts of accessories. The coolest part is that he works for what we think is the best bike company in the world...TREK! (Did I mention he designed the graphics on Lance Armstrong's bikes & the racing team's identities? That's our mom's favorite detail to add in when she brags on his work) My parents can brag all they want though...they've seen his talent since he was a young guy, obsessing over and re-creating on paper his favorite bikes and semi trucks. We're glad he chose the bike industry over the 18-wheelers...we couldn't fit 2 of those in our garage!

So we have the ultimate hook-up with some great quality, American-made bikes and they happen to be sporting graphics that my own brother designed! I won't do justice for his amazing design work and talent...he does a quality job in everything he does though...most importantly being a family man for his wife and girls.

Then, to top it off, he hooked us up with a bike trailer to pull our kiddos in. Braden graduated from the trailer a couple years ago, when we happened upon a TREK Mountain Track bike at a garage sale. We snatched that tag-along up so fast and have by far recouped the $10 we paid for that gem. Coolest part about it...it is the exact color of Brent's bike and looks like it was bought as a pair!

Brent & Brooks going for a ride

For this summer's adventures, we've took family rides to the ice cream shops, we rode on some awesome trails in Fairfield, Iowa (where Brent grew up) and took the whole set of bikes on our 1st Labor Day camping excursion. We gave nearly every kid in our camping group rides around the campground and Brent managed to sneak away on some trails with a couple of buddies. Apparently the trails were quite narrow and the trees jumped out and grabbed Brent's toe. He is still suffering tonight and thinks it's probably broken. Thankfully our friend, Maria, was with us and she put her nursing skills to work and taped up his bum toe.

Brent getting some TLC from everyone at the campsite.

Regardless of the outcome of our rides, we think of my brother and are so grateful every time we hook up the bikes and ride off together for some q.t. The boys could ride for hours and we're given the great chance to get out and explore the great outdoors!

Thanks a bunch for the hook up! We'll keep saying it..."We LOVE our bikes!"

Forgiven

After hearing a little scuttling downstairs, a sniffling l'il brudder came upstairs to tattle to mommy.

*Sniff, sniff...choke, choke (forced crying & whining) "Brudder said....um...."

I waited to hear what great offense he endured.

*Sniff, sniff "Brudder said...um"

Then he disappeared to the hallway and yelled down the stairs in the clearest, most composed voice, "BRUDDER....what did you say?"

"What?"

"BRUDDER...what DID YOU SAY?!?"

I never heard a response, but so quickly the incident was over...brudders resumed playing...offense forgiven! I could learn a lot from the little guys!

More adventures in the Heartland

It was pretty toasty while we were back in Iowa. Pretty normal for this time of year. So we frequented the awesome aquatic center in Marshalltown. The boys have been fish this summer, so we couldn't miss any opportunities to swim on vacation.

Brent has been a great instructor for them these past 2 summers...he stands in the pool, makes them jump off the side and keeps backing up while they swim as far as they can to him. It works and they keep rising to that challenge. By the end of the summer, they are pretty independent in the water. They have some great slides, but unfortunately they weren't part of the fun for our entire family for very long. We needed 2 more inches on big brudder to pass the test. We snuck on twice but got busted when Grandma tried to ride with him. The Lazy River was a hit though and we also snuck on the drop slide a time or two.

We had an awesome time with my sister's family...the kids couldn't wait to play each day. It's such a blessing to see them pick up where they left off, when they see only each other 2-3 times a year. We had 2 sleep-overs...one at their house and one at Grandma's house. And yes, we actually got sleep at both of them! The big boys got to play too...a round of golf at The Harvester, thanks to Mom and Dad for that annual gift!

We took a couple of bike rides (more about bikes later!) with my parents and rode to my grandparents house one day. Grandpa Button showed the boys his entertainment for the summer...his rodent trap. He wanted to empty it before showing them, but boys will be boys and they just had to see the dead thing! (I wanted to see it too...I am a city girl!) Grandpa and Grandma Button are kids at heart though and always fun to visit. Their wisdom is wonderful and the Godly heritage of their family is rich We are so thankful for their influence on all of our lives and love any time we get to spend with them.

There were many more highlights during our stay in Marshalltown...playing the Wii with Mom, Dad and Grandpa Button, hitting our favorite restaurants in town, chasing and loving on (torturing) Gabby the cat each and every day and simply enjoying the comforts of "home." It was a great time. We are so thankful!

Bzz, zip, bzz...Oops!

Today I took the boys to our favorite "salon" for their haircuts. Hands down, Cookie Cutters does the best job on their hair. Brent gave haircuts a whirl a couple of rounds ago, but we decided to stick with the pros. Expensive yes, a quality job, yes...every time?

Big "brudder" got a closer trim than we expected...on the first pass over his head! He was in the race car, Cars the Movie was showing and he was jammin' to the opening song. Bzzzz... the trimmers started and on the first cut, the guard flew off the razor. Down to the scalp they went on the back of his nice thick head of hair!

Oops! She looked at me to see if I just saw what happened....I could only laugh, b/c I didn't miss any of that action and what could we do at this point? She was relieved that I didn't jump down her throat. I just imagined him with a bald head on his first day of preschool. Our guy didn't even have a clue...he just kept right on groovin'. I don't think he would have cared had we left the racing stripe...he never sees the back of his head anyhow!

I was just thankful that we already had summer pictures taken a few weeks ago. Preschool starts soon, but we're usually lucky to get a good first day picture anyhow.

She mastered the mistake into a quality cut and it resembles one of his buddy's hair, so it's all good for him. It's a little harder on mom and dad, b/c he looks like he should be starting 1st grade or enrolling in the Marines! I don't have a picture, but wish I had one of that "Oops!" moment. It'd be worth a thousand words and a few laughs in the future!

Back Home

There's still no electricity in Iowa...sorry for the dark picture.

We had a great annual trek back "home" to Iowa. Every summer, typically in August, we spend a week at the Bailey house (my parents) and a week at the Bowers. They live about 2 hours apart. We are so blessed to have that quality time with both sets of parents/grandparents.

Summer is also a very nostalgic time in Iowa for some reason. Me and my hypersensitive nose can remember many moments from the 18 growing years I spent there, solely based on the scents in the air. The farm smells were so annoying while I was growing up, but now I can appreciate them!

On our way back to Ohio every year, Brent and I sift through our time in Iowa and discuss whether it's time to move "home." We don't feel God's calling this year, but we try to keep our hearts open for "the call."

This year we visited one of best kept secrets in Marshalltown, where I grew up. The Big Treehouse is one of the biggest tree houses in the world! A neat story surrounds it's construction and how a grandmother allowed her grandson's dream to come to fruition in her backyard. The Tree House consists of 12-levels, 55-feet high, with over 5,000 square feet of floor space, complete with music, electricity, telephone, microwave oven, refrigerator, running water, grill, 13 porch swings, and a Spiral Stairway, which was all built in stages around a maple tree. The grandmother actually gives you a guided tour, that infuses some history of the area into the tour. She emphasizes education and quizzes you during the tour also. So pay attention and don't get squirrelly or she'll fail ya!

The sprial staircase of the Treehouse

Grandma Bailey & the cousins being silly during our wait for the tour

The monkeys in the tree

It was so cool to see how massive the base of the tree was and also how the bark/branches of the tree have begun to grow around the wood of the treehouse. We were all amazed, inspired and somewhat fearful that we might lose a kid or 2 through the slats of the upper levels too!!

Well, that was the first of many adventures in Iowa, but being new at this blogging thing, it took me forever to post, so I'll wait for another post to share more adventures.

Hope you had some fun travels, making many memories this summer!