More zoological studies.

Here are a few more pictures of our John Ball Zoo trip. Also, for the record: I think that all forms of the primate are VERY immodest!

Lazy Bones, Sleepin' in the Shade, How Ya Spect To Get Your Corn Meal Made?

Nathan had to go to a class from 8:30am until 4:00pm that dealt with some real exciting stuff:

1. co-concurring illnesses
2. lessening the use of restraint as a non-theraputic tool
3. principles of compassionate care
(There is more, but you will stop reading out of boredom!)

Let's just say that I got tired.

When I got home I had to mow the yard and water everything that grows. Anna was outside with me and helped me to see how the mundane can even be turned into play. It was nice.

Lydia is currently transcribing dictations.

When Anna and I completed our yard chores, we sat on the bed and looked through magazines together. Anna looked through Mothering and I looked through Old Schoolhouse.

We fell asleep. (Not from lack of intellectual stimuli, but due to built up exhaustion. )

Lydia then discovered that Anna and I were not the only characters in this house that had passed out on a warm, breezy August evening. The whole family was asleep, but she continued to type. And to type. And to type.

Doulas (doo-loss): Greek in origin, noun, Slave or Servant

Lydia works so hard through-out the day.

1.She keeps a very clean house (thanks for the training Irma).
2.She maintains children and meets their needs. (The hard way too..she actually takes care of them.)
3. She has a high needs husband who is demanding at times.
4. She is a work at home mom.

Anna HATES the crib. For some reason, a crib, to an AP kid, is like a prison. She is not free to explore and to learn..she is free to sit and to think. (When she is older she will appreciate sitting and thinking. )

For some reason, today she wanted to be in the crib with her little people (www.littlepeople.com) and to be left alone. Thats okay once in awhile.

This post is entitled Doulas, because at times we are all just that. Slaves to our own lives.

The Snuggles of Sibship

I do not remember snuggling with my siblings as a child. This does not mean that I didn't, or that I came from an unaffectionate family... I just don't remember having times of affection such as the MANY times that Anna and Owen have together.

I hope that the love and friendship will continue to grow between the two so that they can have an open and honest relationship as brother and sister.

Siblings CAN be close.

It Was a Potato Moon Tonight

We joined with the Vedra family (www.thevedrafamily.blogspot.com) on an evening outing to the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park (www.meijergardens.org) for a "Summer Concert Series" in which three local bands performed, one of which was Potato Moon. It was hosted in a beautiful outdoor amphitheatre that was surrounded by beautiful landscaping and gardens.

We all had a great time listening to the eclectic mix of blue grass/jazz while we drank gallons of aquafina! (It was 92 degrees this evening!)

Noah and Anna got a chance to splash water on each other in the splash pool and float boats in the Great Lakes sculpture; while Seth and Owen were quite content being "worn" by their loving mothers.

Children of the Cloth

People often wonder how others can use cloth diapers. They say, "that is gross! having to wash all of those things". I say that cloth is much more fun than disposables that pile up in your bathroom waste basket.

How could you get such fun diapers if it was not for cloth? Huggies and Luvs attempt to do it..but they fail. A faded Minnie Mouse print on the front is nothing in comparison to the aesthetically pleasing nappies that our kids wear.

Check them out at www.fuzzibunz.com You can also buy some for us if you want to. (Anna is in large and Owen is in medium!)

Enjoy!

Sunday morning fun!

I am sure that we all have had better nights of sleep. Anna decided that 1am would be a good time to finally fall asleep, while 6:30am would provide sufficient sleep to make it through the day.

She did okay. We were able to crawl out of bed, put on the Starbucks "Gold Coast", dress the kiddos and head off to church.
Anna wanted to sit here with Owen and I took that as a great moment to take a few pictures. I took 23.

She did really well at Church and even proclaimed, "amen!" upon the ending of Rev. Lanning's prayer. (Which is cute and embarassing, becuase we are not a Baptist amen shoutin' crowd!)





The one below is when I was trying to make the bed so I put them together while asleep. When Anna saw that Owen was next ot her, she put her arm around him, said "O-O" and went back to sleep.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!

IT IS SATURDAY NIGHT AND WE TRY really hard to prepare so that we can have a good Sunday. We usually clean the house, prepare as much of the meal as we can, and we especially bathe the kids and attempt to have them in bed at a decent time.

I got home from work at 11:50pm and found these three things were occuring.
1. Anna is quite sure that she IS Elton John
2. Owen sleeping like a good boy should.
&
3. Lydia preparing for Sunday school which she should have done days ago!

Tomorrow should be interesting

Camp Concordia: Sixth annual visit

Camp Concordia is well known in these parts. First, for being a Lutheran camp that will allow a bunch of hooligan ARPs to take over once a year, and secondly, for being the place where Shawn and Nate almost drowned to death!

I think that all of us have a copy of the famed drowned rat picture of Shawn and Nate. (I still keep a copy in my study, even though the shot is from 1999!) Its a classic.

Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of our visit out to camp.

We sang Psalms, of course.
We got wet because it rained.
Oma and Opa Fekkes came out from Canada.
Anna swam and loved it!
Lydia complained, but went anyhow.
Owen made his first trip to camp.

Enjoy!

Camp Concordia: Sixth annual visit

Here are some more great pictures from the camp! Enjoy!

A medium green thumb

The philosophy behind the English garden method of gardening is that you let the plantlife do what it wants to do and you are there to direct it. Every year that we have lived here, I have been more punitive than directive.

I think that this year has been a good year for dominion.

The only thing that has really not worked this year was the grass. Oh well, if youwant tall green grass you can visit the Vedras!