Sunday School...with a twist.

Eric taught Sunday School this last week and ended the lesson with a game of Hot Potato- where if you had the "potato" when the music stopped you were out unless you answered a question from the lesson correctly.  My kids are currently attempting their own version.  It goes a little something like this:

A singing "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" ornament is the music.
The potato is an IKEA soccer ball.
The questions I've heard so far include:
     - When does Mommy light candles in the house?  at Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas?
     - When did Miles get his red hair?
     - When does the farmer end the sheep?  (I think this means slaughter...we recently went to a REAL butcher shop to pick up some beef we bought from a friend's farmer-dad.  Animals, meat, and how-the-animal-becomes-meat is on their little minds right now)
     - When did baby Jesus come?
     - When does the farmer mow the sheep's hair?

Acceptable answers so far have included:
     - Halloween and Christmas
     - at zero
     - ?? (this one ended in laughter...not an answer)
     - Christmas (phew, glad they got this one right.)
     - 16. (huh??)
    

When you give your kids a camera.

We got a new camera...almost a year ago.  Since then the kids have taken over our old one.  It's been great, it entertains them for HOURS.  I thought that the simple fact that it kept them busy was a good enough reason to continue to change the batteries on it.  BUT, as it turns out the pictures are pretty fun too.  We took all their pictures off it a few weeks ago and handed the camera over to cousin Ashlynn for a bit so her mom can enjoy the wonders of the camera too.  Here are some of the pictures our budding photographers have taken:

 Daddy.  Needing a shave.

Sam.  Needing eye surgery.
Just kidding.

Mi laughing it up.

Squishy-face Sam tying some Polly Pocket to the bunk bed.  Knots are his specialty.

Sleeping Daddy and Sam...

Cute pic of crooked eye Miles.

Squishy-face Mommy.  Now we know where Sam gets it from.  (must have been a humid day, that's some special hair I'm sporting...)

Daddy-O.

Sam, in the car.  Apparently the camera went on a ride with us one day.

Sam and his stuffed pals during a rest time.  They must have been pretty proud of their bed making skills that day...

Sam's green tongue.

Debby Harding.
What?!?  When did they snap this one?  It's a mystery I tell you, a mystery.

And lastly, a series of self-portraits by Maggie.  There were probably 20+ of these...too funny!

Huh-Why Photography.

My niece, Ashlynn, held an impromptu photo session at our house this evening.   Following are some of the photographs that she took.

Her company is "Huh-Why Photography".  She's based in Sisters, OR and does wonderful work at a very reasonable rate.  Thanks for taking such great pictures, Ashlynn!

Snow? Well, kinda...

So, there is no school...mainly because it's below freezing and Portlanders don't know how to deal with ice, so we're all safer if they cancel school.  We're okay with it.  :-)  Here are some pics from the morning outside, you can check out Miles' eyes too if you want.  The redness is decreasing each day, and we're thankful.

Getting a trim and an alignment

Quick update on Miles.

His hair used to look like this:

Then we cut it.  

His eyes used to line up like this:

Then he got ready for surgery, that looked a little like this:

Then he got out of surgery, came home, and was a pathetic (and frankly annoying) little boy who looked like this:

Now he's rested, fed, an on pain medication.  He's looking something like this:

The redness should go down in a week or so and totally go away over the next two months.  BUT, so far his eyes are lining up MUCH better and he seems to have already compensated for the shift in balance/coordination that eye surgery requires.  So he's walking around getting into everything again today.  I pray he continues to get relief from tylenol and is able to sleep.  He did 12+ hours last night, but it was only after Mommy "forcing" him to give it up and stop the freak-out-show in his bed.  I think he was just over tired and over stimulated for the day and wasn't able to calm down enough to sleep.  

On another Miles note, he went back to the developmental assessment clinic last week and he's moved up from the 1st percentile developmentally to the 12th in the last 9 months.  We're praising God for his growth!  Physically he's still about 14-16 months old (chronologically 29 months old now) and on the Occupational charts (think problem solving, fine motor, self care- pretty much anything that isn't gross motor or speech right now) he's about 18-20 months old.  The therapists/doctors at the clinic were shocked at his growth since they saw him last and were very complimentary regarding the parenting Eric and I are doing with him.  SO, THANK YOU!! for praying for Miles and praying for us as we continue to trudge our way though the special needs waters.  Your prayers sustain us and give us strength in so many ways.

What about our other children, you ask?  Well...Maggie is a mini therapist for Miles.  She copies everything I do with him and has made it her job to teach him animals and animal sounds.  I'm very thankful she has her Daddy's spirit of servanthood and desire to help those around them.  Sam is busy showing Miles love via rough-housing.  I think Sam is enjoying it more than Miles right now, as Miles tends to get hurt while under Sam's "care".  BUT, Miles is getting tougher all the time and I know that any bond Sam can form with Miles will only benefit them both- so we're trying not to smother it too much.

If you read this far, I'm impressed.  Maybe I'll start a new trend- you know, one where I blog more than once every couple of months...

Maybe.

Bathtime for Mi.

My cutie-pie.

Excuses.

Excuses for not updating the blog:

Facebook totally-for-real-no-joke ate my blog
Broken computer
New computer
Learning to use the new (MAC!) Computer
School starting = insanely tired hubby
Preschool starting = busy (but happy!) mama
Soccer starting = busy (and TIRED) kids

Okay, so here they are:  Preschool pics!

And soccer pics!!

Sam celebrating his score

Maggie getting serious about kicking the ball

 Mags, taking the entire other team...and leaving with the ball.  Nice work girl.

Maggie is an animal on the field (or at least she was today)...but don't tell Sam we said that.  ;-)  He, on the other hand, did manage to score three times (Mags scored twice- but who's counting, right?) and then pooped out and CRIED his way through the fourth quarter.  Let's hope his stamina improves or baseball really will be the only sport he can play...

Hood to Coast 2010!

197 miles
34 hours
12 people
2 vans
not nearly enough sleep
and entirely too much fun

That's our Hood to Coast experience in a nutshell.  Here is a team pic at the finish line in Seaside to back it up: 

Hopefully we will be owners of a healthy computer later this week and will be able to post the rest of the pics from the weekend.  Thanks for a great weekend Team "Cornerstone"!  Seriously need to work on that name for the next go'round....

Miles and the tissue

We were at my Aunt and Uncles house one morning over vacation. Miles found the kleenex...apparently I did the same thing at his age while "resting" on my Grandparents bed. Since those Grandparents were present also that morning, no one stopped him. Nostalgia, you know.

Camping: the 'rents.

Aren't we so adorable? Sleepy camping eyes...dirty clothing...wind blown hair....
BUT, we did take a pic. And that is a huge improvement over the last several vacations our family has been on.

Eric, SUPER passionate about his S'more. S'mores...S'mores....everybody loves S'mores....

Did you know that there are manicured gardens at the beach? I didn't. But I do now. Any they were gorgeous!

Our gracious hosts.were

My parents were gracious to let us tag along on their camping adventure this August again. We hit Bullards Beach in Bandon, Oregon for five nights. Seeing as last year Miles was not crawling, there was not way that this year would be easier than last year. And inded it wasn't. BUT, Mom and Dad were very patient and flexed with us throughout the day. Thanks for a great week in the dirt and campfire smoke, Mom and Dad! We had a great time.

Here are some pics of our hosts....with their favorite little campers.

In case you didn't know where that first pic was taken...here's the full shot.
I have great memories of hitting Trees of Mystery growing up, and this year Sam and Maggie LOVED it. They got a Paul Bunyan book this last year and were thrilled to see the ridiculous statues. I loved getting to share that memory with them.