What will they look like in 50 years?

Haircut day!  So that's what the boys will look like down the road.

Septic Skating

It has not been exactly balmy here the last few days.  Here is a short video of some of our kids in the backyard playing with the neighbor kid who had ice skates. With all the freezing rain and sleet, our backyard has transformed into one big ice skating rink.  Of course, the best area to frolic about was around the septic sprinklers.  Nothing like sliding around on top of ... well, you know what :-)

Avast! Stay ye away from me grub!!

Brayden had carefully wrapped up his hotdog from the night before and was looking forward to eating it for breakfast.  (Yes, I know, it goes just great with Raisin Bran.)  Well, Brayden recruited his fellow pirate in training, Brennan, to help him ward off the enemy.  They were not happy that Blaize had been teasing them about pillaging the hotdog from the fridge and quickly eating it.  After a brief scuffle, the little boys prevailed, and Brayden succeeded in enjoying his morning tube steak.

Dominican Republic Mission Trip

Last year, we traveled to the Domincan Republic for a family mission trip. While there, we (Jon, Christi, Blaize, Brodie, and Anna) stayed with our dear friends, Bill and Peg Pearson, who run a mission called Christian International Fellowship, Inc. from their apartment in Santo Domingo. They are an amazing couple who open their lives and home readily to others. It is quite common for them to feed 20-30 + people in their apartment on a given afternoon and/or evening. This is a video of some pictures from our trip. Better late than never :-)

Brayden's Morning Devotion

After breakfast, we go through a chapter of the Bible for our family devotion.  Each person shares a verse and what he or she learned.  This day was Matthew 22 and Brayden was reading the verse he chose (usually selected by the deeply spiritual method of closing his eyes and pointing).  Being the first time he had seen the word "hypocrites", he exclaimed in his animated voice some kind of a word mix between horrible and woodchuck (maybe not too far from the truth). :-)

Child labor at its best ...

Our neighbors down the street are moving out of state and needed their swingset moved from their backyard before the new owners move in.  Since our swingset is about to fall apart, we were more than happy to dismantle and move it.  Below are some pictures of the process.  It's amazing what some motivated kids and furniture dollies can do.  We were able to keep the set in big pieces and wheel it out the backyard and down the street to its new home.  The hardest part was wheeling it through the grass, out the gate, and to the street.  I'm sure the neighbors got quite a chuckle looking out their window and seeing a crazy dad with seven kids wheeling big edifices down the road to a new home.

Before dismantling

It was much easier on the concrete.
Here we are ready to start wheeling the first big piece.

Hooray, the last piece on its way!

 

Brennan and Brayden have a theological discussion

The "little boys" often have quite intense Biblical discussions.  Today's exegesis was regarding the Garden of Eden.

Brennan and Brayden singing away

Brennan was caught in the act of composing his own Easter song.

Brayden listened to Daddy practice "Arise My Love" to sing on Easter Sunday.  He paid more attention than we thought as he started to sing part of it later on - complete with the ending loud drum beats.

Daddy/Daughter Dates

This year for Valentine's Day, Aliyah, Ava, and Anna heard the doorbell ring and found Dad waiting to take them to the restaurant of their choosing . . .


Aliyah, for breakfast, was excited to rise early
and head to the Waffle House . . .
 

Ava, for lunch, was thrilled with the buffet at Pizza Hut,
 especially her big Valentine's day soda  . . .
 

. . . and Anna, for dinner, indulged in the Golden Corral!

Each girl received a gift in the car.
Here Anna is admiring her bouquet of lollipop "flowers".

 

It's amazing we have not been to the emergency room!

So ... I look out the window and snap this picture of Blaize and Brodie improvising since we do not have a tee for tee-ball.

This is what it looks like close up before a big swing with the crowd cheering on.