Crazy Hair Day!

Monday was "Crazy Hair Day" at our enrichment program. Levi and Samuel decided they liked their hair just fine the way it was . . . but the other 3 had fun being a bit goofy for the day!

Fun with one . . .

Somehow Levi's half birthday slipped by unnoticed (it was in September and we were apparently focused on the stitches he had acquired a few days earlier). We finally figured it out and managed to arrange for childcare (for the other kids). This past weekend we were able to enjoy several hours alone with our big 8 1/2 year old! He has had a growing fascination with archery, so we took him to a sporting goods store with an indoor range where he was able to try out shooting with some good quality bows. He was actually pretty good! He also made sure that we took careful notes about the bow that he liked best so that it might have a chance of joining him at home someday! We also went to lunch (for some reason he was REALLY in the mood for Taco Bell) . . . and to a place that was filled with trampolines -- they even went part of the way up the walls! We jumped until we were sick of jumping and then headed back home. Levi immediately went and grabbed his bank and dumped out all of the money he'd been saving up. Crumpled dollar bills graced the floor as he chatted excitedly about how soon he might have enough saved up to purchase a bow and arrows of his own. The very next day he found one on Craigslist for 80% less than the new one! He now owns his very own bow. He doesn't have any arrows yet, but I'm guessing that it won't take him very long to acquire some of those too!

Skating . . . and more stitches

We went ice skating with some friends on Friday. The littlest ones had never been on skates before (at least not that I can remember) . . . they had fun trying to figure it out with the help of the older kids ~ and those nifty little things that you push along in front of you. As it was, they didn't have a long time to practice. About 45 minutes into things, Emily fell and split her chin open on the ice =( We ended up cutting our time short and taking another trip to the emergency room (our doctor's office was booked for the day). The other kids weren't allowed back in the ER . . . which they didn't really mind at all ~ since the hospital had just put a brand new train table in their waiting area! Emily needed six stitches and did a great job throughout the process. She enjoyed the adjustable bed and the big remote for the hospital television -- and even discovered The Food Channel (Network?) while she was waiting for the anesthetic to work! She's currently contemplating whether to continue a future in ice skating ~ at this moment she's thinking she may pursue other interests instead. I personally think she'll be back on the ice again (this child has ice skates for her American Girl doll!)

Something is wrong with this picture . . .

Feel free to call me archaic or out of touch with modern society (both are probably true! . . .), but it saddens me that my daughter received a post card in the mail today from a church in our neighborhood inviting her to their new ministry for middle school students. They took pains to advertise that they have "3 ps3s, 4 xbox 360s, 2 wiis, 6 mac computers, the official dance dance revolution and a full service coffee bar" . . . frankly, that makes me gack! Granted we don't have personal experience with most (okay . .. any) of those things at our house ~ so they aren't a big value to us. But, don't most of the kids in suburbia have one or more of those in their home 24/7 . . . do they really need them for those two little hours on Sunday morning? Please? I understand the whole "seeker sensitive", "make your church attractive to the un-churched" mind set, but what happened to Romans 12:2 (the "do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world" concept. . . ) Is there something wrong with showing the culture that there is something else (different) out there? . . . Gack, gack, gack! Okay, I feel a tiny bit better now . . . so I'll try to go back to bed! =)

Trick or Treat!

Admittedly, we aren't huge fans of Halloween, but the kids were pretty excited to be in town for it this year (we were at a conference out of state at this time last year). They enjoyed dressing up and going around our neighborhood gathering up as much sugar as their little plastic pumpkins could hold! (If my calculations are right, we should have dessert taken care of for the next 6 months or so!) Emily was thrilled to receive so many compliments when she donned my old Domino's delivery driver jacket and used an empty pizza box (with a hole discreetly carved on the top) to collect her loot! Anna had to sing to half of the neighbors that we visited (and they politely listened and proceeded to tell her that she was cute!) We even got a bit goofy and made "mummy crescent dogs" for dinner. We all decided they looked more like something out of Veggie Tales than any mummy we'd ever conceived of ~ oh well, that's probably better! The oldest three enjoyed being involved in their first piano recital yesterday (Emily and Anna dressed up for the occasion--the boys did too, but they didn't insist that I take their picture!). The weather has been warm and our snow is almost completely melted. That hasn't kept the boys from piling (three deep) onto a plastic toboggan and sledding down the snow and then the grass (!) on the shaded side of our yard. Much fun!