You Are My Sunshine

Progression of a House

2011-11-23T08:38:00.000-06:00

Probably the only benefit of back-blogging is that you often get the whole story all at once instead of a bit at a time. Such is the case with our new home. They broke ground in September. Now it is almost Thanksgiving, and we are scheduled to move in in 11 days. Whoo-hoo!! We can not wait!

Framing

Sheetrock

My amazing kitchen over-looking the living room

The Big Boys' Room

They are so excited to have an up-stairs.

Brick

Stone

All done. They bricked the whole house in 3 days. These guys are crazy-hard workers!

Next up: hard woods.

We get to keep the left-over stone, so we tucked it away in the garage.

One of my favorite parts of the house: the mud cabinet.

Kitchen cabinets

Pretty ceiling in the school room and master bedroom.

Boys' Room again.

Living room. There are very dirty hardwoods under all that mess.

Window seat in the playroom upstairs

I am so excited about all this STORAGE!!

Kitchen almost done.

This house is so much more than we could ever have asked for or imagined. The way the doors opened for us to get this amazing house for such an awesome deal, we know it was a gift from the Lord. We are commited to use it for His glory and His purposes. We are so excited to get started on this new chapter of our lives!

World Diabetes Day

2011-11-14T09:39:00.087-06:00

What a stinky day to have cause to recognize. Diabetes and I are not friends. In fact, I H.A.T.E. Type I diabetes with my whole heart and soul. I have good reason. Diabetes runs our lives. I struggle minute to minute to be an adequate pancreas for Nosy...and mostly I fail big time. The pressure and guilt I feel on a daily basis are enormous and suffocating. I cry a lot and want to rip my hair out or scream at the tops of my lungs in frustration. Jeremy and I try and try and pray and think and worry and make changes to attempt to keep Noah's small body in balance so that he can feel good and play and have energy and, well, live. His sugars have been so unstable recently. They swing from over 600 to the 30's in a given day sometimes, usually for no reason that Jeremy and I can pinpoint. We are not stupid people and we follow all the rules and check and double and triple check all the appropriate calculations, but still we fail. And Noah ends up hyper or lethargic or with a tummy ache and diarrhea or almost at the passing out point or with blood as thick as molasses that has no way to carry oxygen to all his important parts. All because we can't control this awful disease. It has gotten to the point that we check Noah every 1.5-2 hours all night long. And thanks to my recent awareness of Dead in Bed Syndrome, every. single. time I enter his bedroom, I brace myself, prepare myself for the absolute worst. I hold my breath and pray, pray, pray in my heart of hearts until I see him take a deep, reassuring breath. He's okay. At least until the next check, he's okay. He's alive. And God forbid he over-sleep in the morning. I can be found in almost an all-out panic. Recent studies show that 1 in 20 Type I Diabetics die of low blood sugar. When I heard that, I was physically sick for a week. 1 in 20?! How can that possibly be? So heap on some extra stress and pressure and bottles full of tears for my boy and all those other D-mamas and daddies that struggle like we do. All I can do is TRUST the Lord my God with Nosy's life. He has been so faithful. He gives and takes away. And I am so thankful. But still I brace myself.

This ad ran in the New York Times and The Washington Post a couple of weeks ago to help raise awareness for Type I Diabetes. There is encouraging research being done on an artificial pancreas. If you'd consider signing a petition to help speed things up in the testing through the FDA, here is a link. We would all appreciate it so very much.

Sporting our blue, the color of diabetes, on World Diabetes Day.

Praying for a cure.

Fall at the Arbo

2011-10-06T16:25:00.001-05:00

Even before the first hint of Fall is in the air, the pumpkins arrive by the truckload at the Dallas Arboretum. After an especially stressful week, the Boys and I decided a spontaneous excursion was just what we needed. We drove by Sonic to pick up some yummy lunch (because greasy food helps ease stress too, you know!) and headed to the Arbo to see the pumpkins. We had so much fun strolling around!

Strong Man! Jones tried to lift all the impossibly huge pumpkins. Check out his great form. Lift from the legs!

It's the pumpkin patch, Boys! Indulge me for just a couple of quick shots? I know it's absolute torture.

Pausing to catch his breath after one of our many hay bale maze races. Mommy even won a few!

Nosy is the proud owner of Caveman, one of the joys of the Sonic kids' meal. Nosy gave him the grand Arbo tour. Caveman seemed to enjoy himself, although he did leave covered in hay.

Straw anyone?

If you know me, you know these are just the first of zillions of Arbo pics for the season. We love it out there and I just can't not take pics every. single. time. Poor kids. I wouldn't have this problem if they weren't so darn cute!

Hideout

2011-10-05T20:22:00.005-05:00

Tent-making in our new pad, with our very limited resources.

Sometimes I miss my stuff. My stuff that is all in boxes piled around our house. But actually, most of the time, we don't miss our stuff at all. It has been fun having fewer choices and getting creative with what we do have. The Boys have only asked for their toys once. All they have to play with is their Legos, a few McDonald's toys we've accumulated since the move, one football and a couple of Hot Wheels. It feels good to live much more simply. Even though I purged big time before the move, I have big plans to get rid of even more stuff once we move again.

And I know you all (if anyone even still reads this!) are super jealous of our sweet linoleum!

Holding On

2011-10-04T20:17:00.000-05:00

You can hold my hand forever, Little One. I treasure these days.

"Bird"

2011-10-03T20:38:00.002-05:00

Jones is surely a genius. Our other babies did not utter a word until way after the age of two. Jones already (15months) has a vocabulary that consists of "mama," "ba(ll) ba(ll) ba(ll)," "mmmmm" (for his mimi). See? A genius, no doubt. Today he started signing "bird" and it is so super cute! He gets really excited when we understand what he is signing. He can also sign milk, more, airplane (he's only done that once...but it still counts!), eat, all done. I wish I knew more signs to teach him, but for now, it's so fun having a tiny guy that can communicate some of what is going on in his tiny genius brain.

Busy

2011-10-03T16:53:00.000-05:00

So very, very busy. Having fun and working hard and living life. And although I haven't been blogging any at all, I do have hundreds of pictures that I will one day post. One day...

For now, a couple of pictures of just how big and handsome all my guys are. We had a great time exploring a new park near our new (temporary) house today.

Sadly, the Smartie I was tempting him towards me with is visible in his cheek. gasp! Shame on Mommy for giving a baby Smarties.

(Is anyone else having trouble with picture quality on blogger? These pics are crystal clear and beautiful in Photoshop, but appear grainy and awful when I upload them.)

Guitar Hero II

2011-09-29T08:44:00.020-05:00

After the rather sporadic summer guitar lessons, O decided he really did love to play. But with his teacher going back home to Russia, we weren't sure where to get O more lessons. What an enormous blessing it was when our friend Cindy from church approached us one Sunday. She is interested in teaching children how to play guitar, but since she had never taught before, she wanted a trial student. The very best part? Owen's lessons would be free of charge!!! Sign us up! So every Thursday, O gets a great lesson from Cindy. He has made so much progress in just a few weeks. He still acts as if practicing is all sorts of torture, but once he gets going, he doesn't want to stop. I love having our house full of music!

Cindy's sister joined Owen and Cindy for the first lesson. She teaches guitar in Ft. Worth.

After their session was over, Cindy took us out back to show us the tiny baby bunnies they had found in their backyard. They were so itty bitty!

Jones loves tiny animals (he's not a fan of big ones though). I'm just worried he's going to squeeze one to death someday. He loooooves them with all his might! We tried to instill the one finger rule.

Nosy, on the other hand...this was as close as he would get to the scary, scary bunny. Silly Guy!

We are so thankful for Cindy and her time and talent!

Jonah's First Steps!

2011-08-26T18:11:00.001-05:00

Lessons Learned Today

2011-08-25T19:03:00.000-05:00

And I'm not talking about the kids. I learn more from my kids each day than I think they could ever learn from me. Take today, for example...

(The Boys wanted pictures taken of Daddy tagging them OUT! in backyard baseball. They are such posers. :-) )

After school was done, the house was straightened, supper was thought out and the early prep done, I had a few minutes to spare. Aaaahhhhhh. Down time. I laid Jones down for a nap, set out Legos to entertain the Biggies, poured myself an extra large glass of my new fave drink (Diet DP mixed with Coke 0 in a 1:1 ratio) and headed to my room to watch the latest episode of Say Yes to the Dress. Relaxation at its finest. But alas, I was followed. I was just about to tell O that Mommy needed a few minutes of "rest time," when he piped up: "Mommy, can I read to you from my Bible?" And, shame on me, I actually hesitated. I was so looking forward to a little peace and quiet! In the pause, O changed his mind, "Or maybe you could read to me? Stories about Jesus? Maybe from Luke?" Thankfully, that gave me time to mentally scold myself. I was about to sacrifice precious time spent with O studying God's word together to watch a cheesy show about wedding dress selection. What's really important, not to mention, eternal, here? Now that's some major conviction.

This Guy hates kisses. Noah wipes off every kiss he gets, and he gets a ton of them. He is just so incredibly kissable! We were wrestling on our bed today, and part of wrestling with Mommy is getting lots of kisses. He was squealing and protesting every kiss. "Mommy, STOP!! No. More. Kisses!" So then I asked him, "If I can't kiss you, Nosy, how do I show you how much I love you?" He shrugged his little shoulders and said, "Just play with me, Mommy," with a huge grin. Wow, did that hit home! I spend 24/7 with the Boys, but mostly we are learning, cooking, reading, cleaning, shopping together. I have to remind myself to stop doing what I feel needs to be done and just play with them. Play whatever they want to play for however long they want to play it. Before I know it, they won't want to play with Mommy anymore. Slow down, let the house/dinner/errands wait and PLAY with my kids.

Lessons (hopefully) learned.

Let the School Year Begin!

2011-08-15T13:11:00.035-05:00

It is with much excitement and a tad bit of nervousness that we enter the 2011-2012 school year.

This year, Owen is in 2nd grade and Noah is starting Kindergarten. Such BIG boys!

It will be great to be teaching both boys together. I am just a little nervous about the work load plus entertaining a very fast crawler.

Crazy boys!

A fun, new way to practice handwriting: flour on a cookie sheet. The Boys loved it and the mess was minimal. They could erase and start over as many times as they wanted.

O's learning cursive this year. We are up for the challenge!

How can you tell if we've had a great day? The messier the table, the better the day! We had a terrific kick-off to the school year!

Coming Right Along

2011-08-10T17:46:00.013-05:00

Check the little guy out!! Jonesy discovered a new trick today! He has come a LONG way in just two months (14 months old now), considering at 12 months he had only pulled up once. Now look at him go! He is a dynamo and will be running circles around me before I know it. :-)

Why I Don't Have Time to Blog Anymore

2011-08-09T19:27:00.002-05:00

This guy keeps me on my toes!!

Cleaning Out

2011-07-29T19:29:00.000-05:00

With high hopes of moving soon, I have been attempting to clean out my "junk drawers" one by one. That task, however, is made a lot tougher (albeit a lot more fun!) by this little guy who tends to perch inside the drawer.

Take note:

A picture of my world famous candy drawer!

It really does exist, and we have daily appointments to keep.

And yes, those are scissors in Tiny's hand. We live on the wild side around here.

Guitar Hero

2011-07-10T20:29:00.003-05:00

Owie is musically inclined. Jeremy and I are at a loss. We are tone deaf, completely. LouLou gifted O with this pint-sized guitar a couple of years ago. I have tried to teach him a few things by watching you tube videos, and Uncle Joel has demonstrated a few chords that O plays over and over again. Owen composes little songs and sings his heart out. It is dear. And greatly entertaining. And loud. Yaya has generously provided O with a series of real life guitar lessons this summer. We'll see how it goes. If he loves it, I can definitely see us continuing with further instruction. I see church praise bands in our future. And campfire songs. And swooning girls. And concert tours. He is my guitar hero.

The Bubble Lady

2011-07-09T20:28:00.000-05:00

We have never attended one of the free Saturday fun days at the library before. But then, I heard about The Bubble Lady (must be said with awe and adoration). She was world-renowned and supposedly unbelievable. Amazing. Unprecedented. She was a must-see. So I stood in line when the library opened, along with about a hundred other devoted moms, and snagged tickets for our fam.

Can you tell by looking at Jeremy's face that she was mediocre at best? At it was durned uncomfortable smooshed together on the floor in the overly warm conference room.

But the Boys thought it was cool. And it did start Jeremy's wheels turning about what kind of so-so act he might be able to take on the road for a bunch of money. Hula-hooping? Juggling? Hop-scotching? Don't quit your day job, Buddy!

Plethora of Baseball Pics

2011-07-09T20:27:00.000-05:00

Little boy baseball. It doesn't get much more all-American than that! Here are my favorite pics from the season.

The team, minus a few that were out of town. It was so much fun for Jeremy to coach with his brother and good friend, Josh.

Ryder

Pre-game pep talk

Cousin Oliver

O got to home plate first, so this poor guy was o-u-t!

A little down time between batters

O's first run and the HUGE grin that followed. He has the best smile!

High fives for Noah after his first run. He acts so nonchalant when he scores, but inside he is jumping for joy.

Coach pitch. Poor Jeremy was under so much pressure pitching to all his kids this year. How awful he felt when one would strike out. He did a great job!

Waiting to advance bases. Little boy in a huge batting helmet!

The Halpin crew

All In

Scored again!

Kaden

Best Buds

Some advice from Coach Joel

Another run from O for the Little Sox

Waiting to run

Now that is some intense concentration!

What a great season we had! The boys learned so much and loved having some of their best friends on the team. See ya' again next summer, Little Sox!

Owie-Wan Kenobi

2011-07-07T19:14:00.000-05:00

See the resemblance?

With his TP roll/construction paper "light saver," he's the spittin' image of this Star Wars hero. What cracks me up is that he came up with the name himself: Owie-Wan. So funny!

Big Boy Lunch

2011-07-06T14:13:00.000-05:00

I have had so much trouble transitioning each of my boys from pureed baby food to table food. O and Noah were still eating homemade puree at 18 months. Yikes! I am trying to do a better job with Jones by introducing table food quite a bit earlier. He loves it! And although I do not love the humongous mess he makes all over himself, me, the kitchen, it is so much fun to watch him enjoy every bite. Today, he ate an entire lunch of big people food: chicken nuggets, mac & cheese and watermelon. I couldn't believe how much food his tiny tummy could hold!

Over and over between bites, he'd say, "Mmmmmm. Mmmmmmmmmm!" So cute!

"I am done with mashed up baby food! Done, I tell you!"

Probably not, but we have made a great start!

Now I am off to soak watermelon juice off the cabinets and mac and cheese off the ceiling!
This sweet Baby is off to dreamland for a good, long nap!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

What's for Dinner??

2011-07-01T15:54:00.000-05:00

Shopping for supper in the babyfood cupboard. Looks like he's happy with his choice!

Happy Birthday, Kakie!

2011-07-01T14:29:00.000-05:00

We had a great Grand Finale to Camp Gigi/Papa planned. As soon as VBS was over on Friday, I met Julianne, Gigi and the kids at Taco Bueno to satisfy our Bueno craving (something I must do at least once a week!). Then all of us that could (poor Jeremy and Erica had to work) headed over to celebrate Kakie's 98th Birthday. Sweet Kakie. Knowing her is such a wonderful perk of marrying into the Halpin Family. She is precious Mimi's sister, and such a dear lady. Hopefully we did not completely overwhelm her with our off key performance of Happy Birthday or the kids' enthusiastic handing over of the homemade birthday cards. Julianne brought a yummy cookie cake and I brought juice. We made quite a party of it!

This picture was taken before Joel, Oliver and Elliot arrived to complete the group of partiers. Dorothy, Kakie's roommate is also pictured.

We can't wait to celebrate your 99th Birthday next year, Kakie!

What We Do When Biggie Is Away

2011-06-29T21:53:00.000-05:00

With Owen gone all week at Camp Gigi/Papa, I was looking forward to some quality time with just Nosy and Jones. Our pace slowed way down with just two boys to play with. So, what exactly did we do? Let me tell you...

We took turns feeding Jonah...

...and taking pictures of each other while feeding Jonah.

We *attempted* to take care of our new baby flowers by giving them lots of drinks.

Seems like we spent more time digging in the dirt.

Afterwards, we had to wash our baby.

Date Day!!!!

Noah and I went to see Cars 2. Just the two of us. We bought popcorn (all for me!), and Noah got to choose any candy he wanted. He chose plain M&Ms. In a box. But he only wanted them if he could save half to give to O when he got home from Gigi's. Oh, and could I save half my popcorn for O too? Precious Boy.

Then we wandered around the mall for awhile, picking up a few things on clearance for next summer. We split some nuggets and a fruit cup for lunch. And we got special drinks at Sonic. One of my best dates ever! There was even a lot of super sweet hand holding involved. :-)

We gave Jonesy some fun rides in the swing.

And introduced him to some new old favorite toys. That Boy catches on quick!

I also played about a million games of basketball. I even learned how to make the especially tricky 12 and 13 point shots. I have a great coach! When I wasn't one of the players in the basketball tournament, I helped keep score. For example: "I had 21 points and I scored 2 3-ers, 4 12-ers and 31 13-ers. What's my score now?" Nothing like a little mental math to keep me on my toes!

We missed O like crazy, but we made the most of it and thoroughly enjoyed our time as just the three of us.

Jonah Gets Emotional over Frozen Yogurt

2011-06-28T22:05:00.000-05:00

FroYo for a Lego*

2011-06-28T22:04:00.001-05:00

So one other eventful thing happened while O was at Camp Gigi/Papa. We had our first tiny object stuck in a nostril. Honestly, with three boys and a plethora of tiny tempting things around the house, I am surprised this experiment hasn't been tried before.

I was on the computer. Jones was in bed and Noah was happily relaxing after our busy day. Soon I hear, "Mommy! I found a Lego under the couch!" Well, that's great news, but sadly, not that unusual. Then the screaming started. Hysterical screaming with some loud snorts mixed in. I ran to find my very distraught kiddo rolling around on the living room floor. He was in.con.solable. It took me a few minutes to even decipher the screaming, hiccupy words coming from my spazzing kid's mouth. "It's in my nose...my NOSE!!!" Uh-oh. The newly discovered Lego found its way into Noah's nose. He was so upset that I could barely peer into his tiny nostril. Unfortunately, I could see neither hide nor hair of the Lego. Mix that news with the fact that he was still snorting and sniffling, surely moving the Lego even further up into his nasal passage. I immediately called our pediatrician who informed me that if the Lego could not be visualized, a trip to the ER was in our future. Great.

I pulled Noah up on my lap to try to comfort him. Gradually his sobs turned into hiccupy whimpers. I was finally able to get a description of the missing Lego and impart on him the importance of not snorting with all his might. Man, I did not want to head to the ER, alone, with a tired, crabby Jones and a scared 4 year old. Not to mention the cost of a trip to the ER. I prayed and prayed and prayed while I rocked Nosy. When he had calmed down enough, I laid him on the floor and took a peek up his nose. I think all the snot from crying had helped lube up his nasal cavity. I could now see the Lego! A grey round piece. Maybe, just maybe, I could get it out myself? I was scared to try though. What if I pushed it up further?

I called my parents for advice. (Remember Gigi was taking care of 5 cousins all alone. No need to worry her!) They rushed right over to offer moral support and to stay with Jonah if an ER trip was necessary. I decided to try one time. If I didn't get it right away, we were hospital bound for sure.

The first thing we did was pray over Noah. Please let this work, Lord! Then I told Noah that if he lay super still and let me get the Lego out, Daddy and I would trade that Lego for frozen yogurt after dinner. Ooooo! His eyes lit up at that! I am not a fan of bribing my kids, but in this case, a little incentive to be still could not hurt. Mom and Dad held Noah down and I went after it, armed with tweezers. And guess what guys?! First try, I nabbed that pesky Lego and it slipped right out! Praise the Lord! We all collapsed with relief. Thank God it worked!!!

So after dinner, we headed out to Yogurt Cup for some delicious dessert...and a heart to heart about keeping tiny objects out of our noses. Noah never could tell me why or how the Lego ended up in his nose to begin with, but I betcha it never happens again!

*Jeremy said to tell y'all that if this were his Pulitzer Prize winning article, he would entitle it FroYo for a Lego No-no.*

Stuck

2011-06-26T15:28:00.003-05:00

In Daddy's drawers. At least they were clean!

I know he looks distressed in the pic, but he actually thought he was hilarious.

Jones at the Game

2011-06-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

Jonah loves going to baseball games! What's not to love? Endless adoring attention from grandparents and team moms. The Little Guy has picked up on some skills too. He can throw a ball into the air and hit it with a bat before it hits the ground! Pretty impressive for a 12 month old!

Backblogs

2011-06-10T16:03:00.000-05:00

Just in time for half birthdays, I have finally published O and Nosy's posts for their last birthdays. I am so overwhelmingly behind!!!!! Hoping to gradually get more consistent with the blogging. I miss it.
O Is Six
Noah is Four

One

2011-06-09T02:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby.

1 Million Party Pics

2011-06-04T15:57:00.087-05:00

Jonesy's first birthday party was to be a low-key affair. Lots of crazy cousins. Cake and a few snacks. Balloons. Maybe a fun craft.

The decor consisted of a few handmade decorations and balloons.

Jonah's 12 month picture.

I have a picture of each of the boys in the same overalls with the same duck right around the same age. It's so fun to compare their sweet faces!

The big boys drew posters for Jones.

Owen's is of Jonah holding a ton of red (Jonah's favorite color) balloons. Owen also makes an appearance in the picture. He's teeny tiny in the bottom corner with a telescope peering into outer space.

Nosy's picture if of a super huge cake and Owen (with curly hair) and Noah holding gifts for tiny Jones. He drew hot tamales and blue jelly beans around the cake because Noah is sure those are Jonah's very favorite candies.

Look at the darling cakes!! My great friend Danielle made the cakes especially for Jonah. They turned out perfectly!!

(The cake-eating/smashing deserves an entire post of its own! Coming soon.)

Craft time! We bought visors for each cousin and a million stickers for decorations. Such concentration going on!

Clayton, O and Ally

Maddie and Nosy

Will and Mia

All the kiddos with their finished masterpieces! They are armed with bubble wands that O and Noah and I covered with even more stickers. Next they were ready to go outside to play in the water!

Julianne, Mimi and Gongi

Mommy and Daddy with the Birthday Boy

It was about this time that I woke the poor baby from a sweet, sound sleep so he could attend his own party. He was not happy!

Elliot loved the balloons!

So did Jonesy!

A few of the splashers. While the kids were busy outside, I helped Jonah open his gifts.

So excited about all his thoughtful presents.

Jonah with Gramps and Yaya.

Getting some Papa love.

Loving on Gigi and ready to go back to bed.

What a great time we had celebrating Jonesy! Thanks to everyone for being here!

Party Day!

2011-06-04T08:04:00.003-05:00

It's Party Day!

Hip-hip-hooray!

It's Party Day!

We are all so excited to celebrate Jonesy with our family. I can't wait to see his skillz in cake smashing!

Spring Pictures

2011-06-02T15:29:00.001-05:00

My good friend Stephanie was expecting Tiny Girl #2 (who has since been born and is so precious!!). She knew of a great new place to take family pics, so we headed off to Frisco to check it out. Sadly, we chose the absolute windiest day in the history of the world, so the number of photos that actually turned out (without crazy hair, blurriness from camera shake, wind-blown clothes) were very few. Oh well. A few turned out:

I loved the new placed so much that I persuaded another great family to make the drive. It was well worth it! We got so many wonderful shots!

Thanks, Guys, for the privilege of photographing your families! It was so much fun!

Halpin Falls Water Park

2011-05-31T08:27:00.003-05:00

To commemorate the beginning of summer, we dug out our tiny baby pool and hose and re-created Halpin Falls from last year. The kids were so excited! I just love it that with minimal set-up time and energy and no money at all, we can have an absolute blast in our own backyard. Kids are great that way!

Curious Jones crawled right over to see what all the gleeful shrieks were about.

He really enjoyed watching, for awhile...

...until he got a face-full of water. Poor Tiny Jones. If you can enlarge this photo, you will see one very distressed little boy. He steered clear of the pool after that!

We all had so much fun! We splashed and played and ran and laughed until our teeth were chattering and little eyes could barely stay open. What a great kick-off to our summer!

Lego Mania

2011-05-30T21:12:00.003-05:00

The Biggies at our house have a new obsession. While they have always enjoyed playing with their Legos, they have taken it to a whole new level in the past few weeks. We have Lego games, Lego competitions, Lego sleeping companions, Lego talk and plans all day long. Sadly, Tiny and Legos do not mix well. Noah especially is so concerned for Jonah's well-being when the Legos are out. "He might suck on one and swallow it by accident!" I am thankful for the doors on our playroom so O and Nosy can play without worrying about Jones ingesting a Lego. Jones, on the other hand, is not so thankful for the doors. He is totally aware that he is being excluded from something wonderful.

Where are those Boys???

Found them!

Can I come in? Please??

Lego genius Numero Uno

His trusty sidekick

I think Daddy has just as much fun as the Boys!

Today's creativity line-up

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T07:48:00.001-05:00

To celebrate Memorial Day, we had a barbeque and swim party at Gigi and Papa's house. The water was way too frigid for any of the adults to even attempt to swim, but the kids didn't mind a bit!

Little Sox Together Again

2011-05-26T19:35:00.000-05:00

Coach Jeremy is at it again! With both Boys begging to play baseball again this year, how could he say no? We bumped the kids up to coach pitch, a league technically for 7-8 year olds. No matter that our team members are mostly 6, with a 4 year old and a 5 year old for good measure. We'll see how this goes! So far, the practices have been super fun! Especially since Cousin Oliver and bestie Grant joined our team. It has been really fun for Jeremy too, co-coaching with so many of his great friends.

My three before the first game

Dedicated spectators

Ready to play!

The season is off to a great start!

Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuull Up

2011-05-25T21:38:00.002-05:00

Jonah.

Amazing, wonderful, joyful Jonah.

Jonah that is so laid back and content that he is developmentally lagging behind just a bit.

I am not at all worried. His muscle tone is great. He is fine neurologically. But the Boy is not motivated to advance to the next stage. He just started crawling at nearly 11 months. Maybe part of that is my fault. I do love to tote that darling baby around on my hip all day long. And maybe part of it is the Biggies fault. They dote on Jonah so much and bring him anything his heart desires. We are probably all to blame. Anyway, we have been working on pulling up lately. Owen, Noah and I will put tempting items in the middle of the table, trying to entice tiny Jones to go after them. The problem is, tiny Jones doesn't care. He'd rather play with a crumb on the floor or my shoe than work to reach the tempting toy.

But one glorious morning, Nosy put his Good Lizard and Owen's Orange Frog (we are all about creative pet names around here!) up on the coffee table. Jonah's interest was piqued. He had not been allowed near Good Lizard or Orange Frog for fear of drooling on them. He crawled right over to check it out.

Stretch, Jones!

Glory be! He pulled himself up!

He received abundant praise from two very proud big brothers and one happy Mama. However, I guess that incident was both the debut and the finale of this stunt. He has yet to perform the trick again. I know it will come all in good time. Honestly, I'd rather him take his time so I can baby him just a tiny bit longer.

Busted!

2011-05-11T19:01:00.000-05:00

Basking in the Bluebonnets

2011-04-13T20:15:00.003-05:00

"Everyone give me your best fake smile on 'three'!"

Aaawww. That's better, Guys!

Jones was a happy camper plopped amidst the bluebonnets.

Guac

2011-04-04T19:56:00.004-05:00

Tonight, I accidentally fed my baby guacamole, very garlic-y guacamole. I guess that's what I get for keeping the left-over guac on the same shelf in the fridge as my lovely avocado-banana puree. Poor Jonesy! The sweet baby just made an awful face and opened his tiny mouth for more. A true Texan!

Arbo Guests

2011-03-21T18:03:00.000-06:00

Dallas Blooms is even more beautiful than I ever remember. The flowers are absolutely breath-taking, so we have been inviting as many people as we can to enjoy it with us. The weather has been a bit tricky, but we have made it out there a few times. This particular day, we invited Gigi and a few of her dear friends to spend the day with us. In spite of the gale-force winds, we had a fabulous time touring the Arboretum.

Dale and O loved on this goat. In typical Noah fashion, he observed from a distance.

Nosy is going through an anti-photo stage, much to my chagrin.

Jeremy's Dream Come True

2011-03-17T17:25:00.000-06:00

It has been a life-long dream of Jeremy's to win Yard of the Month. Since neither one of us has any talent in the gardening department, nor do we invest much time in our landscaping, the dream seemed unattainable. One year, we even hired a grass and weed company to come give our sad lawn monthly treatments, hoping maybe our super green grass would catch the eye of the HOA. But no. Jeremy stopped the lawn treatments and let his dream die.

And then...the first day of March, I noticed something strange in our yard. A sign in the grass. What could it be? The boys and I ran outside to get a look, and I almost fell over from laughing so hard. The boys were ecstatic, jumping all around. We had been awarded Yard of the Month! I called Jeremy at work with the astounding news. He thought I was playing a trick on him until I texted him a picture with the evidence. We, the Halpins, Yard of the Month?! Amazing.

Why so amazing? Let me describe our yard to you on March the 1st. Jeremy, O and Nosy had spent the Saturday before pulling weeds, but the grass was as brown and dead as could be. There were no flowers blooming, the hedges had not been trimmed and the mulch was just the remnant left from last year. Our yard was going for the minimalist look. It looked awful! Definitely not Yard of the Month material! How ironic that we won the prize when we weren't working for it in the least!

After winning, Jeremy was inspired to work outside a bit more! (Maybe that was the ulterior motive of the HOA?) We acquired some new gerbera daisies, fresh mulch and great looking hedges. Thanks for all the hard work, Jeremy! Now we can rock that Yard of the Month sign!

(Sorry for the super squinty smiles. The poor guys were staring into the sun.)

Biggie

2011-03-10T17:15:00.000-06:00

Medium-y

2011-03-10T17:12:00.002-06:00

Tiny

2011-03-10T15:40:00.001-06:00

9 Months: Delightful!

2011-03-09T15:38:00.002-06:00

I can not get enough of you, Jonah Cody. I delight in you all day long. You are the most wonderful, amazing, good, precious tiny Guy. You are a pure joy!

18 pounds, 3 ounces (15%)

29 1/4 inches (75%)

You finally decided you like food, Jones! Yay! Your faves are the veggies, but you'll eat anything. I've started sneaking you some table food. You gobble it right up! You even eat the nasty Stage 3 foods with little chunks of who-knows-what mixed into the puree. You give me a confused look during the first few bites, but you keep opening your little mouth for more.

Your very favorite plaything just happens to be attached to you: your toes! (I confess: I am a fan of your tiny toes too. They get a whole lot of kisses!)

Whether you are on your back, giving your toes a nibble or sitting bent in half to get a closer look at those fascinating appendages, your toes are always entertaining. You even chat with them from time to time.

One of my favorite things about you, Jones, is your belly laugh. It is the best sound ever! You laugh easily and often. You have such a light, happy spirit. You toss back that blond baby head of yours and chuckle, eyes sparkling. Your brothers dance around and perform funny tricks just to earn a giggle out of you. A person cannot stay down or crabby with you around!

You are by far the most social of our three boys. At the store or the park, you grin and wave at everyone that passes by. "Ha, ha!" you shout, saying hi to anyone who will listen. And who could resist such a Cutie Pie? When people stop to chat with you, you reward them with drooly smiles and jibber-jabber.

Your communication skills are great! You sign for milk and say "ha" (hi) and "Dada." At 9 months, this is really impressive for our kids that are mostly silent until age 2. You are working on signing please, thank you and all done, but we have a way to go on these.

Another special thing about you Jones:

You adore your Daddy! While the other boys were pretty much mama's boys at your age, you can not get enough of your Dad. When he gets home from work, you smile bigger than ever and wriggle, squiggle with happiness until he picks you up. He can rock you to sleep even when I can't. Daddy loves to play with you and spend time with you.

You need a lot less sleep than either O or Noah, who still took three two hour naps a day at your age and slept about 11 hours at night. You take 2 good naps and sleep about ten hours at night. I am ashamed to say that until just before you turned 9 months old, I was still nursing you at least once in the night. (Awful, I know. But it was so much easier just to take the 10 minutes to feed you rather than let you cry and cry. Plus, I was up with Noah anyway and I treasured that alone, quiet time with just you.) We declared a "Cry It Out Weekend," because finally enough was enough. You must have heard us discussing our plans because the very first night we were going to let you cry, you slept like a rock! And again the next night, and the next. We have had no issues since! You sleep great. Smart Baby!

You are nowhere near crawling. You scoot on occasion, completely unintentionally. You are really too laid back to care about going anywhere, and Mommy loves to tote you around. Plus, Owen and Nosy bring you toys to your heart's content. You never get frustrated when things are out of reach. You just turn your attention to something else. One of these days, you'll discover there is a whole wide world beyond the edge of your baby blanket, but until then, I am happy to have you stay where I put you. :-)

Jonah, you are amazing. I could seriously stare at you, rock you, play with you all day long, just delighting in who God created you to be: the little guy with the bubbly, sparkly personality. You are so affectionate (your favorite way to be held is with your cheek smooshed onto mine while your baby hand strokes my hair) and content. You are an easy baby, a joy to be around. How richly blessed we all are to know you and love you and be entrusted with you for a little while. You are a gift from the Lord. I praise Him because of you. I love you, Jonesy.

Pop Quiz

2011-03-08T20:14:00.002-06:00

What's even better than sea salt caramel gelato in the middle of the afternoon?

Spending all day giggling with these three.

He Meets Me Where I Am

2011-03-07T20:36:00.001-06:00

Last week, when Mom gave me this little devotional that has so touched her life, I had no idea how much it would minister to me. It seems that every single day, the words are written straight to me. They might as well say, "Dear Rachel," at the beginning.

Everyone knows how much I have been struggling against diabetes lately. And recently a great deal of fear has been added to the mix of frustration and lack of control and worry. What a mess! I am struggling to trust my sovereign LORD.

When I opened up to today's devotional page in Jesus Calling, I did not expect to feel so loved by God. Here is what Sarah Young wrote (read it as if God is talking):
"Let me help you through this day. The challenges you face are far too great for you to handle alone. You are keenly aware of your helplessness in the scheme of events you face. This awareness opens up a choice: to doggedly go it alone or to walk with Me in humble steps of dependence. Actually, this choice is continually before you, but difficulties highlight the decision-making process. So, consider it all joy whenever you are enveloped in various trials. These are gifts from Me, reminding you to rely on Me alone."

Wow. Words to cling to throughout my day. Thank You, Lord.

Mental Health Day

2011-03-03T19:30:00.002-06:00

The stress level around here has been sky high for weeks! So I declared a Mental Health Day from school, and we played and played all day long. We had so much fun enjoying the pretty day and each other's company. I just soaked in my kids and tried not to think about diabetes or pods or blood sugars one bit.

We introduced Yaya to Grimaldi's, a favorite restaurant in West Village. They give the kids lumps of pizza dough to play with while we wait for our food. And they have the best meatball pizza ever!

The next stop on our adventure was Paciugo. Due to my complete lack of the sense of direction, we wandered around West Village for quite awhile before we stumbled upon it. Oh well. It was a gorgeous day and the Biggies let me take a few cute pics. Love those goofy Boys!

Gelato at last! Check out Jones. Can you tell he's a third baby? Not only does he already recognize something cold and yummy in our cups...

We can't help but indulge him just a little. He flaps his arms and grunts and moans until we put the tiniest of tastes in his mouth. Oh, the delight on that child's face...until he swallows and begs for more!

Off to ride the trolley, all the way from one end of the line to the other, just because. It was greatness, the breeze blowing in our faces, people watching, and bouncing up and down with excited little boys.

Photo courtesy of Owen

This Mental Health Day was just what we all needed to, well, restore our mental health. :-) It was totally worth playing catch up in school the next day!

Breakfast

2011-03-02T19:17:00.001-06:00

We have another fan of pumpkin pancakes at our house!

Sorry for the over-abundance of photos, but isn't he the cutest little guy you've ever seen?

Delish!

The Boy and the pancakes.

Lovers of Sticks

2011-03-01T20:18:00.003-06:00

The weather is just starting to warm up, which means lots of fun park adventures for us Halpins. And where there are parks, there seems to be an abundance of fabulous sticks to be discovered. Trust me. We find them all. All types, sizes, shapes. And they all just *have* to come home with us. To live in our backyard. Forever. We can not leave even one beloved stick behind. The most enormous sticks can't squeeze into our car, thankfully, so we find them a happy home at the park. But the rest? The rest now live in our wagon out back, waiting to be brandished in a brotherly dual or floated down a stream or used as a dirt digger. I love having boys!

The next stick lover.
Poor baby got his very first sunburn on this walk. I didn't even think to put sunscreen on his fair baby skin. I learned my lesson for next time!

In Lieu of a Party

2011-02-27T19:43:00.000-06:00

A whole year ago, we visited The Great Wolf Lodge for the first time. We had a BLAST! Ever since then, both Boys have been begging to go back. In fact, last February they agreed that instead of either one of them having a birthday party, they wanted to spend the night at Great Wolf. Jeremy and I thought surely they would waver once their birthdays actually rolled around. Nope! They stuck to their plan. Thus, we enjoyed a wonderful night at The Great Wolf Lodge once again. Gramps and Yaya tagged along for the fun...and to lend a hand with Baby Jones. We couldn't have done it without them!

So Happy Birthday, O and Nosy!

A treasured memory from our first visit to Great Wolf was jumping on the beds in Gramps and Yaya's room, something they are not allowed to do at home. When we talked about what we most looked forward to about our up-coming visit, jumping on the beds was way up there on the list! These stripey guys jumped and jumped and jumped.

Yaya and her Little Buddy. Jonah did really well considering that the separation anxiety phase of life has set in!

My Dad at the end of a ride

A funny story:

Somehow Gramps always ended up coming down the slides completely backwards! Whether we were all riding in a round raft or he was going down alone, somehow he would get turned around and come out of the slide the wrong way. It didn't stop him from having a great time though!

Cold, cold, cold! They just do not keep it quite warm enough. That is my only complaint about Great Wolf. At least they have a hot tub to thaw out in every once in awhile!

This trip, we discovered the Cub Club. They have free crafts and stories and games to play. A definite highlight of the trip for the Boys! At home, they have now created their own Cub Club with Owen as the director. So funny!

We ate a lot of ice cream. Hey, it's vacation!

When we got home, O wrote his pen pal all about his Great Wolf adventure.

We had so much fun! I hope this is something we can do as a family every year.

Chemistry Saturday

2011-02-26T19:12:00.001-06:00

Saturday morning we were up far earlier than anyone should be on a Saturday. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to dig out our chemistry set and give it a whirl. We had so much fun! Chemistry is one of my favorite subjects, and I love sharing it with my kids. Prepare yourselves for an insane number of pictures of my future chemists:

Reason #527 that I Love Homeschooling

2011-02-24T20:31:00.000-06:00

Holding class on the top bunk while still in pajamies on a rainy Thursday.

We hauled all of our books up there and had a great time studying together.

Handy Helpers

2011-02-15T20:15:00.000-06:00

I am so proud of these two! There were jobs to be done...many household cleaning, not very fun jobs. And these Guys pitched right in! We turned the praise music up a notch, grabbed our cleaning supplies and set to work. We dusted and swept and mopped and scrubbed the entire morning until our house sparkled. And as a reward, we grabbed Daddy and Jones and headed to McDonald's for some family fun.

Over-Protective

2011-02-15T20:01:00.000-06:00

The Boys don't quite trust Jonesy's ability to sit up. They ensure that he does not bonk his head by thoroughly padding the area around him at all times. Such sweet Brothers.

More Valentine Yummies

2011-02-14T22:00:00.001-06:00

These Boys are scrumptious!

Valentine Yummy

2011-02-14T21:44:00.000-06:00

You know how we love to bake around here! Mom gave me a wonderful heart shaped dish for Valentine's Day that was begging to be baked in. The Boys and I whipped up a vanilla cake and smothered it with chocolate icing. The kids picked out the perfect sprinkles and got down to the business of decorating our delicious dessert. Sadly, sprinkles don't always cooperate and we ended up with a huge mound of pink and red and white goodness. The kids tried to more evenly distribute them, but to no avail. I think it turned out just perfect! Both boys devoured a beautiful piece of cake, cut right out of the middle, completely covered with Valentine sprinkles. We could not have been happier!

My Funny Valentines

2011-02-14T20:36:00.001-06:00

Frozen Fun

2011-02-10T20:05:00.004-06:00

It has been too freakishly cold around these parts. We haven't been able to play outside or even leave the house for days (partly because of sickness). We finally decided to stop whining about the ridiculous cold and start taking advantage of it. So in school today, we did a couple of frozen fun experiments to learn about the properties of water.

First, since the temperature was all of 17 degrees outside, we decided to try to make our very own ice cubes. Each kiddo had a tupperware of water. They put many drops of many assorted colors of food coloring in their water to make scrumptious colors. This involved a lot of stirring and splashing (and mopping up). Next, each Guy chose a few tiny toys to put in their water. We were able to talk about items that sink and float. Once our tupperwares were just perfect, we set them out on the back porch to start the freezing process.

I think one boy or the other peeked at the tupperwares every 30 minutes all day long. They were very diligent ice cube watchers! It really was fascinating to watch the ice crystals form, and eventually both tupperwares had a thin layer of ice covering the top. We left them outside all day long.

This is where the story turns tragic. After supper, we brought the dishes inside to study them more thoroughly. The tiny toys were frozen in place. The ice was thick. We assumed they were frozen all the way through. Owen was intrigued with smelling his ice, funny kid that he is. He thought the food coloring smelled absolutely delicious. He was inhaling deep whiffs. Then, he tipped his tupperware up to his face so he could smell it all the better. Sadly, we found out the hard way that his water had not frozen completely. Icy cold water flooded Owen's face and soaked his clothes when the ice broke and the unfrozen water poured everywhere. Poor guy. He cried and cried as we peeled his freezing cold clothes off and hustled him to the bath tub.

Next up:

Snow painting!

We mixed up some water colored with food coloring, grabbed our paintbrushes and headed outside to our snow-covered porch.

We had a great (very cold!) time decorating our porch and driveway with beautiful pictures and bright colors. It worked surprisingly well!

We didn't last too long out in the cold though. Before long we hustled in to warm up with our cozy blankets!

8 Months: My Sidekick

2011-02-09T12:30:00.001-06:00

Eight whole months old, Jones. Where does the time go? As excited as I am to spend every day with you and as thrilled as I am about each new milestone, the time is going by way too fast. I can't help but pick you up and squish you to me as tightly as possible, trying to soak you in just as you are right now. Thankfully, you like tight squeezes (since they happen very often!), and you sweetly press your chubby little cheek close to mine. I hold you like that as long as possible. You are so tolerant of your sentimental Mama!

You were 17 pounds, 11 ounces when at the doctor for a super bad ear infection (right ear drum ruptured) and case of the flu this week. You were one sick cookie and didn't smile or laugh for almost a week. Broke my heart. I enjoyed a whole lot of rocking and snuggle time with you when you were so sick.

This is the adoring, tiny face I see as I cook supper or school the big boys. Except usually you are grinning or jabbering or blowing raspberries. You are so absolutely, incredibly, darlingly, adorable, but as soon as you see my camera, the smiles and coos vanish. I am constantly frustrated and sad that I can't seem to capture your essence on film.

Ah...there's a tiny grin. Not a great picture, but you can see the two tiny bottom teeth you sprouted this month.

You are sitting so steadily now. You are happy to sit in the middle of the living room with a toy or two and observe the action going on around you. And with those big brothers of yours, there is always a lot of action to watch! You are such a content, happy, laid back guy. Of course you are happiest when plopped right beside me. I'll let you in on something: That's how I'm happiest too, with you right next to me. You are my tiny sidekick. We go together, you and I.

My little opera singer.

You gesture so enthusiastically!

One of my very favorite things you do:

You reach up and touch my face as you nurse. You love to have me kiss your tiny fingers and you stroke my cheek. You are the sweetest. I treasure those moments.

This is the face I usually get when taking your picture.

But there is something (or someone) that can get a smile out of you every, single time.

You just spied Owen. Just look at that happy face. You adore him. You grin at him all day long. You two are going to be very special friends.

I love you, love you, love you, Jonah Cody. You bring immeasurable joy to this family. We thank God for the blessing that you are.

Matters of the Heart

2011-02-05T16:19:00.002-06:00

These two (sporting awesome new craft aprons from my Cousin Katy) are as different as different can be.

I had this conversation with my Guys a few weeks ago. It is worth remembering.

Owen: "Mommy, I have music in my heart. It needs to come out!"

Noah: "I have football in my heart."

And that pretty much sums them up. What a joy it is to raise two kids that are such opposites!

Arithmetic

2011-02-04T15:36:00.002-06:00

My son and his "mathy" brain intrigue me. Each day he has a 1 minute race page of 25 addition problems. His goal is to answer as many as he can in 1 minute. He knows all the answers. However, he can never get more than 20 (usually it's closer to 15) done in the time allotted. Don't get me wrong. I am happy with 15 (After all, it's second grade math and even the teacher's manual says 15 is very good.), but O is not. So we have been working on speed in addition. After a little investigation, I now see why it takes him a little longer to answer his math problems. He takes the most circuitous route to the answer possible.

Example:

Problem 6+8=?

Owen's thought process, in his words:

"4+4=8

8+8=16

6=8-2

16-2=14

Therefore, 6+8=14

14!"

And this one:

Problem 9+3=?

"Well, 3+3+3=9

3x3=9

3x4=12

So 9+3=12."

See what I mean??

Love him.

I Love My Sink

2011-02-03T20:37:00.004-06:00

It's just right for bathing babies.

Cutie Pie.

Our Weekend

2011-01-30T18:12:00.003-06:00

We whiled away the days fighting fevers, wiping noses, and playing lots of R2D2 Trouble on Mommy and Daddy's bed. Good times. Good times.

Oh, and this Guy was busy cutting Tooth #1, which finally made its appearance Sunday morning. Bottom left. Jones is by far my earliest teether! I think O was 13 months and Nosy 10 months before getting any teeth. My Baby is growing up.

Compartmentalization

2011-01-27T10:40:00.003-06:00

When things get crazy and the house has to be straightened and the boys just keep dragging out more stuff...

Compartmentalize your children. It works wonders.

(The Biggies actually crawled in this box with their Legos all on their own. I think they're camping out in there for the day. Next up: School in a Box!)

The God Who Sees Me

2011-01-25T18:32:00.002-06:00

Disclaimer:

If you are not interested in a post mostly about diabetes, you might as well skip this post.

I have been struggling, struggling, struggling. Really struggling. Diabetes is over-taking my whole life. Noah is having such an awful time and no matter what we do, he is not improving. It breaks my heart, stresses me out, frustrates me immensely. I ache for Noah.

Let me back up a bit. Things with the Omnipod overall are improving. Although we still have many more malfunctions than the average person (at least one a week), Nosy is happy with having fewer shots. About a month ago, Noah announced, after weeks of crazy, full-blown fits whenever we had to change his pod, that he was no longer going to scream and cry. It did not help it hurt any less. And so now he doesn't. It was that easy. He decided and that was it. Now he just squeezes the tar out of my hand and squeezes his eyes shut really, really tight until it's over. My brave, brave, super mature Boy. Breaks. my. heart.

Anyway, the pod is going better, but Noah's sugars continue to be AWFUL!! They swing from super high to super low all day long. This weekend, we had 7 very low sugars in a 24 hour period followed by 18 hours of sugars in the high 300's. (Noah's ideal blood sugar is 160. His acceptable range is 100-200.) Jeremy and I organize all of his data in a spreadsheet and just stare at it, sick to our stomachs, for hours, trying to tweak this and inch that up or down, trying to keep Noah in range. It is not working. The hospital has said we are on our own. "Bring your data to the hospital every 3 months for his check-up. Otherwise only call in an emergency." And good luck with that! I've had two emergencies in that past 2 months and, not only did I not get to talk to a nurse right away, I did not get called back for over 3 hours each time. We are at our wit's end! We have gone from checking Nosy's sugars 6-7 times a day to now checking at least 9 times a day, usually at least 3 times in the middle of the night. I think about diabetes constantly. I can not look at sweet Nosy without analyzing his coloring, his activity level, his mood, wondering if he is too high or too low. It makes me nauseous.

And poor Noah. As he gets older, the swings are effecting him much more dramatically. When he is low, it is as if he is having a panic attack in the midst of a really severe temper tantrum. He gets unreasonable, screaming and crying and thrashing. He can not control himself. Thankfully, I have learned to check his sugar prior to disciplining him. The highs make Nosy crazy-hyper, uncontrollable, with absolutely no attention span. He can't sit still or concentrate at all.

So do you see why diabetes is all-consuming? It used to be bad, but not nearly this bad. And so I've been praying a lot about it. A lot.

This is what I have learned.

God is in charge of Noah.

God loves Noah more than Jeremy and I love Noah.

God holds precious Noah in the palm of His hand.

He has proven this to me over and over. I can not tell you how many times I startle awake in the middle of the night, thinking, Noah must be low (even though all rationality would say it would be impossible for him to be low based on earlier circumstances in the night). I try to shake it off and go back to sleep, but I can't. I get up, check Nosy and, sure enough, low. That is God taking care of Noah.

What a comfort!!

One time, I sat up in bed, wide awake, confident something was wrong with Nosy. I ran in to his room to hear the pod malfunction alarm ringing. He was under so many blankets that I couldn't hear the alarm on the baby monitor. I had already done my last blood sugar check for the night, so if God had not wakened me up, Noah would have gone for several hours without any insulin.

God is taking care of Noah always, especially when I can not.

I have been reading Genesis in my quiet time lately. I love how Hagar calls the LORD "The God who sees me" (Gen 16:13). God sees me. He sees me struggle. He sees me worry and fret and try to control things the best I can. He sees me try to keep it all together and be productive when all I really want to do is crawl in bed and bawl. He sees me. And He loves me. And He is with me very step of the way. And not only that. Those promises are true for Noah too. He is always watching over my Noah. I praise Him for these truths and how He has lived them out in my life. I can trust the God who sees me. And sees Noah. And loves us so. And that is all I need to do right now. Trust Him.

Baby in a Basket

2011-01-25T14:53:00.000-06:00

This is Jones. In a laundry basket. We call it sit up training. Jonah is doing a great job sitting up, but he still topples over pretty easily. So we stick him in a basket with his favorite toys. Now he's safe while we bustle around or play near by. Of course, in true Jonah style, he was cracking up until I got the camera out. Then he'd barely crack a smile.

Halpin Birthday Bash

2011-01-23T21:08:00.002-06:00

We had so many very loved people to celebrate when we all gathered at Julianne's house for dinner.

Oliver, Will, Owen, Gigi, Papa and Laura Ann all have birthdays in late January or early February. We had a great time celebrating each one!

The birthday bunch...plus a few.

These three little boys were all so excited to blow out the candles and open gifts.

I have never gotten a picture of Laura Ann and me. So here we are!

We had such a great time just being together with our huge, crazy family. Celebrating this way, we get to draw out the birthday just a little bit longer. Thanks, Julianne and Rob, for hosting us!

The Cookie Cake

2011-01-21T21:35:00.000-06:00

Every year, we have the same birthday preparation tradition. The Birthday Boy gets to go to Walmart (whoo-hoo!) with Mommy to select the exactly perfect cake mix, icing and decorations for their birthday cake. This year, O completely surprised me with his request for sugar cookies. Sugar cookies?? Yes, birthday sugar cookies. Sure, honey, whatever makes your day special!

So I had the great idea of making a sugar cookie cake, invisioning a nice, big, round cookie to decorate. Sounds easy enough, right? I have never had cookie dough that gave me this much trouble. Notice there is not a picture of the whole cookie cake. It turned out to be an uneven blob, burnt around the edges, squishy in the middle. What a mess! Oh well. We spread some icing on it, thoroughly sprinkled it, wrote some happy birthday words on top and called it a cake.

The birthday boy was thrilled with the result, and that is all that matters! At least it tasted great.

We enjoyed breakfast for dinner (O's choice) while watching a little more of the Star Wars movies. What a great day spent celebrating our super special firstborn!

Mickey D's with Pals

2011-01-21T21:22:00.001-06:00

Way back in February of last year, right after our first trip to the Great Wolf Lodge, the boys had a conference with each other. The result of this conference? They voted unanimously to fore go their next birthday parties to take a family trip to Great Wolf instead. Considering that their next parties were almost a whole year away, Jeremy and I did not pay too much attention. You know how the minds of little boys can change over time. However, as the months have passed, O and Nosy have stuck to their wish for an overnight at Great Wolf Lodge. Wish granted! We will be visiting that great indoor water park late February. (I'd better start getting into swimsuit shape! :-< )However, once O's actual birthday rolled around, we couldn't just let the day go unrecognized altogether by his friends.

We had a tiny, informal get-together with some of Owen's soccer team at McDonald's for ice cream and play time. No gifts or anything, just a chance to sing to O and celebrate him a bit.

We all had a really great time, even though it was seriously 85 humid degrees in the sweaty play area. It was so hot that Jeremy, Gigi and Jones had to evacuate to the cooler adult seating area due to heat-induced nausea.

Gigi and the birthday boy!

Amazing Jake's

2011-01-21T21:17:00.000-06:00

The Birthday Boy always gets to pick one special family activity to celebrate his special day. Something like putt-putt or bowling or Chuck E. Cheese. This year, O stepped it up a bit and mentioned Amazing Jake's, the grown up (and expensive!) version of Chuck E. Cheese. We decided to go for it, and I am so glad we did! Gramps and Yaya (who came with coupons in hand-yay Yaya!) met up with us to celebrate O.

Once we got there, we realized that Friday lunch is not a very popular time at Amazing Jake's. We were the only ones there most of the day! We got the royal treatment with only our favorite pizzas on the buffet, free balloons and a birthday badge for O, and no lines for any of the games and rides.

Ready for some fun! (Jones was napping)

Opening gifts

We rode the go carts over and over again. We could stay on them as long as we wanted!

The carousel is always a fave.

This picture cracks me up! Jeremy and my Mom had a blast hunting bears and deer on this red neck hunting game. Never thought I'd see my Mom or my husband packing a rifle!

Our very favorite thing to do was the laser tag. Gramps, Yaya and the Boys had never played before. It was so much fun guarding our bases and sneaking up on each other...although something about shooting my son just feels wrong. The vest was almost as big as Nosy, but that didn't stop him from getting a good many shots in. We had so much fun!

What a great birthday celebration!

O's Big Day Dawns

2011-01-21T09:27:00.000-06:00

OWEN IS SIX!!!!!

This birthday has been the most anticipated birthday yet. O could hardly wait to bounce out of bed on his big day. His mind was full of spectacular plans to celebrate.

Daddy had the day off. Hooray! We bundled up and headed to the donut store for some yummy breakfast and to set our plan for the day. This year, O decided to branch out a little from his normal choice of sprinkled donuts. Ever since sampling my apple fritter on Nosy's birthday, he had been excited to have his very own. How disappointed we were that they had just run out of fritters! O had a great attitude though and quickly switched to a sausage roll and a blueberry cake donut. Kind of random choices, but he was happy!

Home to open gifts! Owen is always so gracious to let little brother be involved. Jeremy was a little concerned when I told him we had gotten O a globe and a rocket ship clock for his birthday. "Where are the fun gifts?" I assured him O would be thrilled. And he was!! O is fascinated with maps and geography, and the clock projects planets on his ceiling. He was so excited. (O's big gift, an electric drum kit!, definitely deserves a post of its own. It had not yet arrived by mail for O's big day.)

I can't believe my first born is really six. And yet, as we went throughout our day, there were so many times when I was impressed with his maturity. Whether it was a great, flexible attitude when disappointed, sharing his special moment with his brother, or being so grateful while receiving gifts, my little boy is growing up so well. I am so proud of him and the character he is developing.

Six.

2011-01-21T08:04:00.084-06:00

I can not believe you are six, Owen Jeremiah. Where has the last year gone? You are growing in leaps and bounds, taller and lankier...and smarter and wiser.

You have taken your role as eldest brother very seriously lately. I can not think of a better role model for the younger two than you. You are sweet to them and caring and considerate and thoughtful. With Jones, you are only gentle and kind, and that Tiny Boy adores you. With Nosy, well, you two have your moments of complete knock down-drag out fighting, but mostly you guys are the very best of friends.

These past six months have been our most challenging yet. You have discovered the world of sass and are giving it a whirl. Toss in some great foot stomping and pouty, disrespectful faces and you've got quite a mess. It has not been fun for either of us as you experiment, but we'll get it nipped in the bud. I have to, before you are bigger than me.

This is the O we see most of the time though. You are funny and witty and love to tell jokes that crack yourself up. You are contemplative and a math genius, I am sure, and so sensitive. You balk at school, but it comes so very easily to you. You are so athletic and have recently become even more enamoured with Lego construction than ever before. You are quite the artist and enjoy drawing when it's quiet around the house.

You have the best laugh ever, full of pure delight. You still love to snuggle with me, and I will take advantage of that fact as much as I can. I know the day is coming...I can't even think about that right now. You are competitive and are learning to be a good sport, sometimes the hard way.

You are a joy, Owen, a pure joy. I love spending my days with you. And when I get frustrated and tired of the disciplining, I focus on the fact that I know God has a special calling on your life. It is our job to ready you for that calling, whatever it may be. I focus on that and the fact that you are not going to be little forever and how very much I will one day long for these tired days again.

I am so very thankful that God chose to bless us with you. You are amazingly wonderful. And now you are six. I love you more than you can ever know.

7 Months: Giggle Box

2011-01-09T21:18:00.000-06:00

This gorgeous Boy is 7 months old and is more fun than ever!

We have lately learned that Jonah is as obsessed with balls as Big Brother Noah. Very rarely does this Guy cry, but take his ball away and the alligator tears start to roll. Bring the Boy a ball, and the arms and legs start a-flapping. He does love balls!

Jonesy's other favorite past time is his bath. Whether in my deep black kitchen sink or in the tub, alone or with his brothers, this kiddo will splash and kick until he turns into one big prune. He is still a pretty wobbly sitter, so the slippery bathtub can be a challenge, but he loves every second of it!

Outside! Jones cannot get enough of being outside. We can't wait for the weather to warm up some so we can enjoy the outdoors a whole lot more!

Something new Jonah has started this month: He pants with excitement, especially when he wakes up happy from a nap. He will chit-chat with himself until someone comes to fetch him from his crib. As soon as his door opens, he starts flapping and panting with joy. It is the cutest thing!

He also laughs a ton! Such a happy baby with the sweetest little giggle. I keep trying to capture it on video, but in true Jonah style, as soon as I get the Flip out, he clams right up. Oh how I treasure his little laughs though!

Jones, you bring such joy and blessing to our family. We all love you so, so much. We love to celebrate the new things you are learning, and we are excited to see your personality grow bigger and bigger. We thank God for you!

Our New Year's Day

2011-01-01T21:16:00.000-06:00

What a great, funtastic way to spend the first day of 2011! We watched a lot of football, ate a lot of good food, and had a flying Flexeez contest. What's a flying Flexeez?? We each created our very best, aerodynamic flying contraption out of Owen's Flexeez. Then we raced them across the house, measuring whose could zoom the farthest. After many tweaks and adjustments, it was determined that Daddy's Chinaman (thus named because of its resemblance to a Chinese star) was by far the most aerodynamic. It beat out Miss Priss, the Noah-saucer and O's Superhero every time.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T14:03:00.002-06:00

Ringing in the New Year with my very favorite person and some sparkling grape juice. Life couldn't be better!

Best Invention

2010-12-28T15:03:00.002-06:00

Flexeez
We have had hours of fun building with these crazy, flexible pieces. Today, Owen made a surprise ice cream sundae topped with a yummy cherry for Daddy, complete with his choice of so many colored spoons. Such creativity, that Guy! Daddy sure was surprised to see his place mat at dinner time.

Pajamed Picassos

2010-12-28T14:53:00.000-06:00

We have been enjoying the best week after Christmas, even with the cold, rainy weather. We have been hanging around in pajamies, experimenting with all our new toys, snuggling the sweetest baby and praising him for his every accomplishment, cuddling up with great books (new ones and old faves), doing a bit of school here and there. I love these quiet, lazy days with my guys.

Crowned

2010-12-26T20:48:00.001-06:00

Look who's been crowned king of the House of Halpin. Such a cheery little king!

Gift Wrap

2010-12-25T21:29:00.000-06:00

Someone loved him some bows this Christmas. Mmmm. Tasty.

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

2010-12-25T17:13:00.000-06:00

This was our grand finale to our wonderful Christmas Day.Jeremy got Star Wars, Episodes 4-6 on DVD. The boys have been dying to watch Star Wars, although I still think they are a little too young. As we wound down Christmas Day, Jeremy had the joy of bonding with them over "A New Hope." Judging by the number of questions asked, I think they were a bit young, but great fun was had by all. We now have a great many games of "Dark" Vader fighting Luke with his light "saver." So funny!

Halpin Family Christmas

2010-12-25T16:33:00.002-06:00

There is nothing like Christmas at the Halpin House! It is warm and cheerful, busy and loud, full of kids of all ages. There is tons of food and gifts and chaos. We all love it!

Ally and O got quite a rhythm going on their "drum sets."

Beth Ann was so sweet to snuggle with baby Jones for most of the day, freeing me to help in the kitchen and with the bigger boys. I think both Beth Ann and Jonesy were pretty happy with the arrangement! Here Jonah is checking out his new shoes from Gigi and Papa. They are darling!!

Mia and Nosy enjoyed a ton of dessert. That is one wonderful thing about Noah's new insulin pump. It frees us up a little bit with his carb intake and eating schedule. He was able to eat pretty much whatever he wanted on Christmas day...and we let him! The precious Boy couldn't believe it when we kept saying, "Yes, you may have another cookie...just like the other kids." It makes me happy and sad at the same time for my sweet kiddo who has gone through so much.

The kids' tables. (Notice Nosy is having even more dessert!)

O sharing his new Leapster Explorer.

Yes, Elliot, chocolate pie is like a little slice of heaven on earth.

Jonah getting some Gigi cuddles.

Papa explaining his new game to Owen.

More wonderful memories were made today! How blessed we are to be so loved and to be surrounded by so much family.

Bring on the Breakfast!

2010-12-25T15:12:00.001-06:00

After the excitement of opening gifts, we all dashed around to get ready for our first stop of the day: Mimi and Gongi's! We always have such a special time at their house, catching up with each other and eating a delicious hot breakfast. Mimi and Gongi work so hard to prepare a wonderful meal for our huge, hungry family.

Discussing what Santa brought.

Man talk.

It's always wonderful to see the Kidd Family!

This year, the kids over-took the adult table!

Mimi and Gongi have collected so many beautiful Christmas figurines over the years. The Boys are fascinated by all the tiny, detailed figures. Mimi is so sweet to explain special stories about each one.

Every year, Mimi and Gongi are so generous towards us. They ask for a detailed Christmas Wish List for each child and then shop so hard to fulfill their every wish. O was thrilled with his new panda pillow pet!

Nosy got quite comfortable on his dolphin pillow pet (chosen because it is blue).

Tickles from Papa.

Mimi and Gongi, thank you for making our Christmas morning so wonderful. We make such precious memories at your house every year. We love you!

Rise & Shine! It's Christmas!

2010-12-25T15:08:00.001-06:00

Christmas morning...such a special time! We started off singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, and then the Boys (rather tentatively) dug into their stockings. Set out with their stockings, they each got a Leapster Explorer and a plastic sled, in hopes of a snow storm later in the winter.

A hug? Or a wrestling move? Sometimes it's hard to tell around here. These Guys really do love each other. This pic was taken right after they exchanged their gifts to each other, which is a post of its own.

Things I especially want to remember about this Christmas:

Sweet Nosy. His very favorite gift was a box full of very low carb gumballs. He put them, along with his sugar free mints, in a big ziplock bag that he carries around the house. The joy of it all is that he can chew his gum or suck on a mint pretty much any time he wants, since they are such low carb. So much freedom for a little boy who is used to counting and reporting every single bite that goes in his mouth. The most precious part? He is completely generous with his special stash, passing out gum and mints freely all day long. Pictured, he is eating his favorite blue gumball while sharing my favorite red one with me.

What a joy it was to give gifts to O this year! Every tiny thing he opened was rejoiced over, examined from all angles, and loudly declared to be the BEST GIFT EVER! His excitement and appreciation were genuine and followed up with huge bear hugs. His very favorite gift? His red plastic sled that cost a whopping five dollars. It's so funny to me to see what little guys value the most. This Guy is really praying for a snowy winter!

One more story about Nose:

Every. single. time a box was opened, he would hover over the gift recipient, saying over and over again, "It's not just a box. There is something inside. It's not just a box. Is it just a box, Mommy? It's not just a box." So funny, that one!

Jonesy woke up about 15 minutes before we were to make our first Christmas appearance, so he didn't even get to open his gifts Christmas morning. He wasn't too sad, though. Love those baby blue eyes of his!

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-24T14:33:00.010-06:00

Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the whole year. I love everything about it: the anticipation, the wonder, the awe that comes over me as I contemplate God sending His Son to Earth as a baby. I love attending church with my family, reading the account of Jesus' birth before opening the very first gifts, the vast amounts of sugar I consume, the pure joy on the Boys' faces. If I had to pinpoint one especially favorite moment of the evening, it would definitely be singing Silent Night with candles lit, smooshed between my husband and my boys and my parents. I try to memorize each of their faces as they are right in that moment, lit only by the tiny flames, filled with wonder and awe, as we all sing a little off key. It is absolutely beautiful.

Quick family pics before diving into our delicious pizza dinner.

We were so excited that Kyle and LouLou were with us this year! It's just not the same when they are off galavanting somewhere exotic.

Reading the Bible with Gramps.

Yaya got Nosy some authentic juggling balls. Jeremy showed off a few of his skills. I am sure there are some new juggling tricks in our future!

Tiny O is growing up, sniffle, sniffle. A few months ago, he mentioned that he thought his Sesame Street bike helmet was not grown up enough for him. It was for a little boy, not a half grown boy that is almost six. When I passed this tidbit onto Yaya, she was more than happy to shop for an appropriately grown up helmet for our Big O. He was super excited when he opened a manly green and silver helmet. It was declared to be "cool" and he sported it for a good part of the evening. Thanks, Mom, for scouring Toys R Us for the perfect big boy helmet for our little guy.

Reading the yearly photo book. Check out Mom's "bling": hand painted rocks and seashells strung on purple curling ribbon. The Boys could not wait to give it to her and she wore it with such pride.

I love our Christmas Eve, full of family and tradition. What precious, priceless memories we are making!

Getting a Little Shaggy

2010-12-22T10:03:00.001-06:00

Darling Jones. You always get comments about your hair: the pretty color, the waves, the sheer volume of it all. I do love your sweet baby blond hair. But kiddo, it has gotten a bit out of control.

And so I am afraid the day has come for your first real haircut. (I trimmed the back a few weeks ago after discovering a few pieces of hair that reached way past your shoulders.) I am a little sad, knowing just how grown up you will look afterwards, but it must be done before people mistake you for a little blond girl.

You laugh in the face of haircuts!

Uh oh. You look a little more concerned now that Daddy's scissors are clip, clipping away at you. (photography by Owen)

Just look at how handsome you are! All three of you boys got spiffy haircuts just in time for Christmas. Your new do is so precious! I wish we'd cut your hair weeks ago. And many kudos to Daddy, the self-taught hair genius. I should seriously hire him out!

Four.

2010-12-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

Noah Cole.

4 years old.

Cheerful and brave and bashful and silly.

43 pounds and 43 inches of wonderful.

We continue to have a booger of a time managing your diabetes, but you handle it all so well. Even with the crazy sugar swings you experience almost daily, you are so upbeat and positive and happy. I can't imagine how awful you must feel some days as your blood sugars may range from in the 500's down to the 50's in a given day. You are so courageous and patient as Daddy and I struggle to keep those crazy sugars in line.

When you love someone or something, Nosy, you are All In. You love with loyalty and complete trust. Take your love for ketchup, for example. You could drink ketchup by the gallon. You can not get enough of it. You would climb tall mountains, swim wide oceans, to consume some of your beloved ketchup. You would do almost anything for ketchup. Or, for an even better example, take your sweet love for me. My neck has never been squeezed tighter, my face slathered with more wet kisses, my lap been more full than of you. You shower me with millions of dandelions because once I said they were pretty. Or for the most precious of all examples, take your incomparable love for Tiny Jones. You guard him to keep him safe and out of trouble. You still ask almost daily if you can hold your baby. You play with him with patience, pat him with affection whenever he is near, and (much to Jonah's chagrin) hold his hand with such tenderness every chance you get. Your love is pure and unselfish.

Pictured is another of your great loves:

SPORTS.

Any kind of sport, even if it is made up, like one of our faves: hit the pokey ball with a crooked stick.

You are super competitive, play with endless energy and intensity, and are very hard on yourself when you don't perform to your own high standards. You practice so hard to keep up with O and his friends in both soccer and baseball. You can hold your own. You would love nothing more than to play some sort of ball all day long.

You are one bright, happy kiddo, Nosy. You laugh and joke and tease your way through your days. Your smile is contagious, your laugh infectious. We love you so much, Sweet Potato, and are continuously blessed by you. God created you to be amazing!

Isn't She Lovely?

2010-12-20T13:51:00.000-06:00

Meet our newest addition! I am so excited!!

My old camera was having so many issues, so Jeremy brought up the remote possibility of getting a new one for Christmas. He had been shopping around, doing some research. They are just so expensive, though. And then our front door cracked...and our potty had to be replaced...It seemed an impossibility. But look at what arrived on our front porch just in time for Christmas!!! I love it!

We are still getting acquainted. This camera is far smarter than I am, and I am realizing just how very little I actually know about photography. Mostly, I have reverted back to taking all my photos on Auto for now, which frustrates me. But I am reading little by little, and one day, I hope to have this all figured out. I am excited to get better at photography in 2011!

To Argyle or Not to Argyle

2010-12-19T21:17:00.002-06:00

I have been laughing so hard all day. At Jeremy. In his crazy, fancy socks. We have a running joke about what socks go with what shoes go with what pants. This joke has recently extended to include our growth group from church. And let me tell you, the debate can get pretty heated concerning the socks/shoes/pants/sometimes even belt hot topic. (I know we should be discussing much holier things at Bible study. :-) ) So today, "Santa Josh" showed up with a sweet little surprise for Jeremy. Some bold, colorful, argyle socks. They are awesome! And the joke continues...

Thanks, Josh!

The Hugest Bike Hill EVER!

2010-12-19T20:54:00.003-06:00

Man, I miss blogging. The pictures just keep stacking up, stressing me out.

Anyhow, here are a few pics from our day. One street over from us is a cul de sac that has a pretty steep hill. You'd think it was Mt. Everest to hear the boys rave about it. They love to race their bikes down the hill and vroom around the curves, practically on two wheels. It gives me a heart attack every time, but they love the thrill.

Quiet Time

2010-12-16T20:41:00.001-06:00

I was thinking the other day...It is always my goal to get up a little bit before my kids to start my day off right, with a little time reading my Bible and praying. I know if I don't do it first thing, it will never get done because I get too busy or tired later on in the day. However, my kids never see me reading my Bible when I always do it before they wake up. It is never modeled for them. So I have been making a conscious effort to read my Bible when they are around. Sometimes, if they wake up before I've finished, I'll snuggle them up next to me and read aloud. And you know what? A funny thing has happened. Sometimes, when O and Nosy have some free time, I'll find them reading their Bibles (or Bible story book). I took these pics after I came out from taking my shower. They were both cuddled up with a quilt studying their Bibles.

Camera Shy: 6 Months

2010-12-09T20:56:00.001-06:00

Six months, Jonah? Really?? Where did the time go? Slow down, Tiny Boy!

Stats:

15 pounds, 13 ounces (25%)

27 1/2 inches (75%)

You are long and lean like your Daddy.

Jones, how do I even begin to describe you? You are a ray of sunshine, so content, smiley and chatty and wonderful. You rarely ever cry. Instead, you bounce and squeal and jibber-jabber. You are happy to just be plopped somewhere to hang out, as long as we stop by every once in awhile to chat with you. I honestly think God placed you in our lives to be such a bright spot in the midst of some trying times. It is impossible to remain sad or stressed while holding you. You are our joy.

These pictures do not do you justice. As soon as you see the big black camera in front of my face, you clam right up. Normally, you grin from ear to ear and have the sweetest dimple in your right cheek. Your eyes sparkle with excitement.

You are so laid back and Mommy holds you so much of the day that you aren't sitting yet, nor can you roll from back to tummy. It'll come all in good time though. We practice sitting some every day.

Unlike your brothers who were very wary of people at your age, you have never met a stranger. You coo and smile at everyone you meet. You love to interact with people!

One of my very favorite things is to pop you in Aunt Erica's sling while I shop. Your little head peeks out over the top. You look around with your huge blue eyes, grinning at everyone that passes by. So many little old ladies stop to comment on your extreme cuteness. I have to agree with them. You are the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Your brothers can not get enough of you! They each spend time talking to you and explaining things to you. You just light up when they come into your line of sight. O loves to sing you little songs he makes up. You absolutely beam at him the whole time. You are a tad bit more wary of Nosy, just because he loves in a much more physical way and is not always as gentle as he should be. Noah performs funny little dances for you to make you laugh.

Jonesy, I know you've been around for awhile now, but I still can not believe that you are mine. I honestly lay awake in bed sometimes and get excited all over again when I hear you on the monitor. You are really ours. I truly have the most amazing boy, the boy I prayed so diligently for, right down the hall in his crib. You bring us such immeasurable joy. You are loved more than you can ever begin to imagine. We are so richly blessed.

Sad Little Sickie

2010-12-08T15:27:00.001-06:00

This is how Jones spent the day before his Happy Half Birthday. So sad and feeling puny. Hoping for a happier guy tomorrow!

Getting Our Holiday Craft On

2010-12-01T20:50:00.001-06:00

We'll have finished products to show off soon!

Rattling Around in my Brain

2010-11-30T20:58:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I get so frustrated, doing the same cleaning, disciplining, diabetes-managing, attitude-shaping every day just to go to bed (but not sleep because little guys have many nighttime needs!) and start all over the next day. I love my life and I would not trade spending all day every day with my boys for anything, but it can get wearisome at times, especially when I am just so tired. But then God gives me one moment, just a fleeting moment, that reminds me why I am doing it all. For today's "moment," I just happened to have my camera handy.

They are so beautiful, it almost brings tears to my eyes. My three.

I read this quote the other day and it has burdened me with such a responsibility:

"...the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like...

Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, 'What comes to mind when you think about God?' we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man."

A.W. Tozer

Right now, day in and day out, my Boys are deciding what they believe to be true about the awesome God we serve, and those decisions will be what ultimately shape their lives. And I know that they are making these decisions based not on what they learn in Bible class as much as by what they see lived out in front of them. I have been entrusted with three little hearts and I am so convicted about being a good steward of them. My actions and reactions are the example they see modeled for them the most often. Am I reflecting Christ to them? His love, His compassion, His mercy? Am I daily walking by faith, trusting God's sovereignty? Am I living out what I teach them in our daily Bible lessons and devotionals? Or am I full of empty words? And am I thankful for those teachable moments when I can direct my kids back to God and His word (even though it takes so much more energy and effort) or do I squander those times and let them slip away? These are all things I have been tossing around in my brain lately. These years when the kids are tiny are so important and fly by all too fast. I pray I am doing an honorable job. I just have to look at those three precious faces to be convicted and strengthened in my mission to raise godly boys who faithfully walk with Christ.

Tree Trimming

2010-11-30T20:49:00.001-06:00

Christmas music, pancake supper, reminiscing over favorite ornaments. Lots of laughter, hot chocolate, twinkly lights. Love Tree Trimming Day!

Sampling

2010-11-30T20:38:00.001-06:00

Sweet Jonesy,

So many are your wonderful qualities. Too many to list. Nighttime sleeping, however, is not one of your strong suits. You love to wake up every 3-4 hours as if you were still 6 weeks old, to nurse and snuggle with Mommy in the still of the night. I cherish that precious time with you, Son, but Mommy is ex.haust.ed! I need you to sleep. So we have resorted to introducing rice cereal a little earlier than our usual 6 months old.

Here's how it played out:

After the first bite or two, I was shoved out of the way by two very eager big brothers. One fed while the other filmed, and then they switched.

Pictured are your true feelings about solids. You spit so much and whined so sadly that we quickly abandoned our efforts to force feed you. Maybe we should wait awhile.

Who needs me when these two are around!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

2010-11-29T20:04:00.001-06:00

Ah, tradition. Sometimes a bit painful, but always worth keeping. One tradition that marks the beginning of the holiday season is the annual cousin Santa picture. All four families come from far and wide to meet at the mall all dressed up, wait in the long line, paste on cheesy smiles and click, take the pic. My favorite part is always the look on Santa's face when he finds out we have ten, ten?!, kids that all need to pile onto his lap, chair, floor space to get the perfect picture. I feel for the guy!

This year was not without its fair share of the dramatic. I was bathing the kids right before we left so they would be spic and span for the photo, when Noah started screaming that his "area" was hurting. He needed to go to the bathroom, but was having trouble and it hurt so, so bad. All tell-tale signs of a bladder infection. Of, course the pedi's office was already closed for the day. What to do? I calmed my boy down, asked Gigi to stop at the store for some cranberry juice, dosed him with Motrin, and off we went.

He was soon feeling much better and the symptoms never reappeared. So strange.

This mall has pretend snow falling as you wait for Santa. With the special lighting, the snow drifts and gently falling flakes, it really is magical. O enjoyed it so, so much.

I'll interject a tad more drama here. As we were waiting for our turn to see Santa and all the kids were playing in the snow, one kiddo did not seem to be enjoying himself so much. Clayton was kind of propped up in the corner, not at all himself. Sure enough, just as we stepped up to sit in Santa's lap, Clayton made a bee line for the nearest trash can and threw up. Lovely. Poor Guy! We cozied up for the picture as fast as we could, told everyone to hold their breath so as not to get any germs, and quickly sent poor Clayton home to recuperate.

It turned out pretty good...considering.

Make-up Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T20:57:00.001-06:00

Because Yaya caught a nasty bug the day before Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a make-up holiday at their house on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We had so much fun celebrating all we have to be thankful for.

Like the first egg nog of the season. Cheers!

And pumpkin pie. Yum!
(O and I are the only ones in our little Halpin family that like egg nog or pumpkin pie. And we not only like. We love! We 're not sure what's wrong with the rest of the fam!)

And after-turkey football games in the front yard. Good dive, Nosy!

He's still got it!

We have so very much to be thankful for! What a fitting holiday to celebrate twice. We love you, Gramps and Yaya!