Some pictures of our life when our noses aren’t in the books. Did I mention it’s football season?

Nolan and Nathan are finally home after an extended stay in the hospital. We praise God that they are healthy and in their own beds!

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139)

The season when much of my parenting (don’t hit, don’t push, be gentle, treat others the way you want to be treated…) gets thrown out the window when they step on the field. It’s also the season when the boys learn how to be part of a team, how to excel in their role even if they’re not the superstar, how to persevere through trial.

Football. One of the many reasons I love having boys. The Chiefs’ season opener was first.

They played well and won the game!

Some poses between games.

The Chick-fil-a cow visited the field. He was a kid magnet.

I turned and saw a gang of little kids running toward me, and couldn’t help but think of Sesame Street.

After a team pose with the cow, it was game time for the Saints.

Ruthie helped plan some of the plays.

The Saints played well and marched on to victory!

After reading about our family game night, you may have observed that the boys tend to pair up for competition – #1 vs. #2 and #3 vs. #4. Perhaps you’re wondering about Ruthie’s competitor. Well, sometimes it’s the dog, as shown in this video.

Jake is suspending a toy duck from the upstairs hallway, and Molly is jumping for it. Though I’m not sure Ruthie really understands the game, she decides to jump along with Molly. They have about the same vertical.

Around here, everything is a competition–from who can eat the fastest and the most, to who can get Ruthie to stop crying first. So when we pulled out the Twister and proposed a double-elimination tournament among family members, the boys were all over it.

Jake and Derek were up first.

As these two get older and stronger, the competition surely becomes more intense. I have memories of Derek “weswewing” Jake to the ground almost a decade ago. Then, it was cute and harmless. Now, they leave an impression on one another.

As usual, Ruthie provided some comedic relief in her dalmatian get-up.

After the half-time show,

Peter and Jeremy went head-to-head.

Jeremy, being the youngest male, becomes quite emotional when he senses that a loss is at hand. But he held his own until the end.

Another fun family game night.

I observed something interesting today. I was greeted promptly at 7:00 this morning by the one who normally struggles to get out of bed at the sound of the alarm. Jake came downstairs with puffy eyes. But those eyes had a spark in them.

He excitedly told me that he got up at 3:30 last night, pulled his telescope out to the backyard, and viewed the Orion Nebula, and it was so cool. He went on to share his other observations, such as the moon occlusion something or other on Jupiter.  One of Jupiter’s moons was casting a shadow on the planet, and he caught it at the perfect time.

One not-so-minor detail about this middle of the night activity: Jake pulled Derek out of bed to go skywatching with him. According to Derek, Jake had an “endless list of things he wanted to see”, and Jake intended to plow through that list together. Brother-friends on a skywatching excursion. Their deadline of course would be sunrise, as all the night lights are drowned out by the light of the sun.

Well, as Jake was explaining to me all the wonders that he saw in the night sky, the boys’ alarm was blaring in the background. It continued blaring for 12 minutes. When it finally stopped, Derek stumbled downstairs with eyes half open and shoulders slumped in exhaustion. His eyes were puffy like Jake’s but they were missing the spark. The night sky hadn’t energized him like it had his brother. Had the middle of the night activity included college football, the tables would have certainly been turned.

So this made me think: for Jake, skywatching was worth sacrificing the comfort of sleep. I might venture to add that he would probably even be willing to skip a meal or two if he had to, just for a glimpse into the night sky. It’s good to have something that trumps all other things in importance. Something you’re willing to sacrifice comfort/popularity/material things for. While stars are a great thing to observe and understand, what’s even greater is the One to whom they point. The One who created them.

And one more point–no matter what a person’s interests are (stars, college football, computers, cooking), the fact is that all things are created through Jesus Christ and for Him. All things hold together in Him.

That’s my little girl. Sugary-sweet fashion plate by morning…

Spicy, feisty fashion plate faux-pas by evening…

She insisted on swimming. It was too cool to swim. We struck a compromise.

There’s a new cosmetic fashionista in town.

Ruthie took to make-up like a duck to water.

While she could use some improvement on accuracy, she knew right where to apply the pink stuff.

And she was workin’ it.

She was introduced to the lip gloss by Suzy, and they became fast friends that night.

The kids took time out from their busy school day to pose for their first-day-of-school picture.

You may notice that there is one missing.  Uh, Ruth? We’ve got a spot here just for you…

Ruth evidently had more important things on her mind. Like catching bad guys in her police car.

That’s okay. We’ll try again later.

Welcome, Nolan Stephen and Nathan Gordon!  Two nephews added to our family.  Praising God for a safe delivery.

The kids enjoy playing with Jim’s iphone. When it returns, we never quite know what we’ll find on it.

After returning from our trip to TX, we connected the iphone to the computer, and this is what came out:

Historically, whenever I’ve seen kids with mohawks, I’ve thought That kid’s a rebel. Shame on his parents for shaving his head that way.

I am now publicly eating my words. Because when my little Bubbie came downstairs requesting a mohawk shaved on his big head, I couldn’t refuse. Peter locked onto that idea too and requested a similar haircut for himself. Derek was in the room with us during the conversation, so I asked if he wanted one too. He looked down sheepishly and just shook his head no. We all agreed that he doesn’t exactly have a mohawk kind of personality. Peter and Jeremy on the other hand…

Ironically, Derek is on the Chiefs, while the mohawk brothers are on the Saints. Go figure.

The boys have been working hard this summer. It seems that everywhere we turn, there is a task screaming to be accomplished, and it’s more than Jim and I can handle on our own. So we hire in-house.

Their little sister longs to join them, but alas, child labor laws restrict her from working such jobs.

So she opts to throw on the swim cap and provide the comedic entertainment.

Most mornings, this is Ruthie’s first uttered word as I carry her downstairs. “Bwuh – duhs?” She wants to know if her brothers are up. Being a firstborn, I can’t directly relate, but I can just imagine the excitement of coming downstairs in the morning to older siblings who are chomping at the bit to play with you.

The other day, Peter was in the midst of folding his laundry, but when Ruthie came down, they chose to use his laundry basket as a boat instead.

Her spitfire personality helps her relate well to Pistol Pete. They are alike in many ways.

Since birth, Peter has always been calmed by a soft touch on his back, his head or his arm. Well, the other day I found him calming Ruth by lightly scratching her arm. It worked like a charm.

Perusing through these pictures reminded me of this shot from a year and a half ago…

Looking at these tells me 1. time flies and 2. these sibling bonds are tight.

We took another journey to Niles, MI, only this time for a different purpose. Life Action, a ministry based in Niles, invited OneWay to lead the music during their weeklong staff conference. Jim and I brought the kids for the day yesterday and were so encouraged by our time there.

What came to mind was this verse from Ephesians: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. We had never met any of the people there, but because of our shared faith in Jesus Christ, we felt like we were among close family. So cool.

The kids had a blast in the afternoon being flung off the BLOB. I must admit, this contraption frightened me a bit, but thankfully there were no major injuries. This is a video of Derek jumping from the platform onto the blob, and Stephen being flung off into the water.

One of the highlights of the day for me was having dinner with some of the leaders from Life Action, one of them being Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Rachel’s and my new BFF.

Despite the fact the two of us look like giants next to Nancy, I love this picture. Her joyful, generous spirit was fun to be around. She is a godly woman who spends her life teaching on the radio, speaking at conferences, and writing books, all so that women would turn back to God. See all the books we’re loaded down with? Nancy cleared the bookshelves as she led us on a tour of her offices, so that we wouldn’t go home empty-handed. I now have three years worth of reading ahead of me.

I forget that sometimes when I look at our gentle, albeit clumsy, domesticated yellow lab.

But when Jim came home with a real bone with (smoked) meat on it, and I saw Molly’s utter excitement over this primitive toy, I remembered. Dogs are carnivores.

This list was written by J.C. Ryle, a man from England who lived in the 1800s. He was answering the question, “How do we know when we love Jesus Christ?” Love this!

1. If we love a person, we like to think about him. We do not need to be reminded of him. We do not forget his name or his appearance or his character or his opinions or his tastes or his position or his occupation… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
2. If we love a person, we like to hear about him. We find a pleasure in listening to those who speak of him. We feel an interest in any report which others make of him… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
3. If we love a person, we like to read about him. What intense pleasure a letter from an absent husband gives to a wife, or a letter from an absent son to his mother… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
4. If we love a person, we like to please him. We are glad to consult his tastes and opinions, to act upon his advice and do the things which he approves… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
5. If we love a person, we like his friends. We are favorably inclined to them, even before we know them. We are drawn to them by the common tie of common love to one and the same person… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
6. If we love a person, we are jealous about his name and honor. We do not like to hear him spoken against, without speaking up for him and defending him… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
7. If we love a person, we like to talk to him. We tell him all our thoughts, and pour out all our heart to him. We find no difficulty in discovering subjects of conversation… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
8. Finally, if we love a person, we like to be always with him. Thinking and hearing and reading and occasionally talking are all well in their way. But when we really love people we want something more… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!

Ruthie is showing quite a fascination with doors. Whether it’s the back door, the bathroom door, or the nursery gate at OneWay, she is drawn to them like a bug to light.

Some people have a “life verse”, so I am declaring Psalm 84:10 to be Ruthie’s “toddler verse”:

Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

From my husband this morning:

From the below map I can envision two scenarios:

1. All of us together at Rock Island trying to figure out what to do with 5 kids and a blown over, rain soaked tent, or…

2. You, Ruth and Jeremy at home worrying about the four boys (out of cell phone contact, mind you), who in turn are wondering how to deal with a blown over, rain soaked tent.

Be flexible.

Because plans change. And hold onto your hat because around here, plans can change at breakneck speed. Take the family vacation we had planned for this week, for instance. We reserved a campsite at Rock Island, WI. Never mind that we have never camped as a family before.

See where the marker is? That’s Rock Island. To get there, first you drive up that peninsula and put your car and your self on a ferry that takes you to Washington Island. Then you drive to the northern part of Washington Island, park your car, and hop on another ferry to Rock Island. From there you walk to your campsite while hauling your camping gear. Simple enough…if you are a group of adults.

I started getting a headache just imagining this weeklong adventure with kids underfoot. Granted, the older ones would be fine. But the five-and-under crowd? Not so much. I asked Jim if he minded taking the older three while I stayed back with the younger two. He agreed, so this became plan B. As time got closer, we realized a week apart wasn’t exactly a family vacation, as we had originally intended it to be. Jim strongly suggested I reconsider bringing Ruthie–it’s totally do-able, we can bring an extra tent, the pack-and-play and some baby-friendly activities…not a big deal at all. I reconsidered. Really. So we were on to plan C….or A. Meanwhile, I prayed, asking God what He wanted me to do. When I settled again on the decision to hang back with Jeremy and Ruth, I told Jim. So then we decided on plan D, which was really plan B.

We happened to look at the weather forecast for Rock Island for the week, and it was questionable. Good chance of storms. Jake was planning to bring his telescope to go stargazing. So between the iffy weather and our desire to be together, Jim made the final call last night. Plan E: we will all stay home.

First order of business on our stay-cation?

Yes, I know we had made the decision not to set up the pool this year. Please refer to our family rule #32.

As the kids frolic in the partially filled pool, flexibility sounds really good.