Happy Birthday, Harmony!

Harmony turned 6 on Friday. How can it be six years already? She's a beautiful girl--not because of her appearance, but because of her heart. She finds joy in everything, and she's got a giving and prayerful heart. She's the one who most often wonders about our Compassion children, wondering how Leidy spent her birthday on Wednesday, praying that they'll have a good day, wondering what time it is where they live. She was insistent that she wanted things to send to Haiti instead of gifts for herself for her birthday party.

We celebrated on Friday by joining Mammaw and Pappaw at Chuck E Cheese.

On Sunday we had a joint party with her birthday buddy, Emi, at the pool.

She not only got some fun things for herself, she also received 102 items to send to an orphanage in Haiti!

Harmony's poetry

Gardns by Harmony
flowers are prite
Mud Putols are not
Gras is prite
Bees are not
Busssss
swush
swush

My cat by Harmony
My cat is vere sneke and quiit
She is amosing at hid and sek
She eats a lot
Meyo

Babes
Babes criing
Babes chasing
Babes Playing
Babes eating
Babes nice
Wah!!!

Grama
My Grama is fun
My grama plants
My Grana is tall
Yaaa!!!!

Lily
Lily is fun
Lily Plays with me
Lily likes me
Lily hugs me
best frend!!!!

Dogs
Dogs are fun
Dogs giv kissis
Dogs are fast
Wof!


My mom
My mom prays
My mom techis chemstre
My mom eats a lot
My mom is the sekint oldis.
I LOVE YOU!

Conversation with Harmony tonight..

While tucking Harmony in tonight:

H2: Mom, is there another baby in your belly?
Me: No. (Guess I better get back on track with the diet!)
H2: We should have another baby. Jen has four kids.
Me: Why should we have another baby?
H2: So we can have a boy for Henry to play with.
Me: Well, they'd be at least eight years apart, so I don't know how much they'd play.
H2: So how do you know if there is a baby in your belly?
Me: uh...God gives it to you. Moms have ways of knowing.
H2: The baby should have the same birthday as Hope.
H2: But in December. December 16.
Me: You'll have to talk to God about that.


Oh my. First, I better get back to the situp routine and diet. Second, the kids have been eerily correct on talking about babies before they were born (though I am in no way, shape or form ready for/considering more babies!! I'm feeling definitely too old!!)

Wordless Wednesday

A girl after her great-great-great grandpa's heart (he was "The Potato King of the Northwest")

Harmony's weekend report

This weekend was a busy one. Friday I picked up Henry, Harmony and Emi from school, then our friends Emma, Ruthie, Olivia, and Sarah joined us (Henry escaped for a boy playdate). The girls played, made pizza, and watched a movie.

Saturday we did chores (folding a mountain of laundry) then celebrated Samuel's birthday (Happy Birthday, big guy!). The kids went to a movie with friends and hung out at their house while Patrick and I had some adults over for a project Patrick's working on.

Sunday, we went to the donut shop and "home schooled" for church (Patrick played the keyboard for worship, Henry read, and we discussed it). After lunch, the kids and I met a friend at the ice cream store and played at the playground. We ended up eating dinner at Little Mexico.

So what did Harmony write about in her weekend report? The pajama party? The movie? The birthday party? Ice cream at the park?

"I stad hom" (translation: I stayed home). Maybe its what she wishes happened...

Happy Birthday, Henry!

Today was Henry's 7th birthday and the first day of school! We had to run to the bus, but made it...



I brought snack for Henry's class--ice cream bars. I'm amazed at the difference between kindergarten and first grade--Henry came home with an assignment book; they have homework every day!

After school the kids took the bus to their "normal" destination. They had a mini-party for Henry there and played on the playground while I picked up our CSA veggies (yummy!). Then we went to Henry's requested dinner...the mouse house, Chuck E. Cheese! We met some friends there and had a pleasant time.




Happy Birthday, Henry! What a great boy you've become!

Update

Sorry I haven't posted much...guess I don't have much to say. We've been busy and having fun. My camera is in the diaper bag, which is at my sister-in-law's house, so no pics for a while...and I got a new laptop, so I'm still figuring everything out.

Hope is crawling all over the place, and pulling up on anything she can reach. She's sporting two tiny teeth on the bottom, and making lots of fun sounds--she's added raspberries, pppfffts, and fish lips to her ba-ba-ba-ma-ma-ma's. She has a re-check on her ear tubes (that she got three weeks ago) on Wednesday.

We've had a fun long weekend. Thursday evening we went hiking, and were stalked by four raccoons while we ate our picnic dinner. One of the water fountains shot the water at least six feet--Harmony held the button while Henry and some other boys tried to catch it with their mouths (and got thoroughly soaked). Henry also fell in a small stream, so he took off everything except his underwear for the ride home. No stopping for ice cream! Though we did stop at an Amish farm and get some green beans.

Friday we went to Conner Prairie with some friends we met on the train. They have two girls, one Harmony's age and one Henry's age. When we got to Conner Prairie, I told Henry that next time we should bring his friends, Jacob and Aden...and about five minutes later, we ran into them! Henry hung out with them for the rest of the afternoon. We met back at the ice cream stand, and ran into some of Patrick's relatives--definitely a small world!

Saturday we celebrated Ava's (our niece) first birthday. She and Hope were very cute, checking each other out. It was also the first time cousin Emma and Harmony could really play together on their own--soo cute! Fireworks got rained out...

Sunday we homeschooled for church on generosity, ran some errands, and played at a friend's house, then celebrated Ruthie's birthday. How big you all are getting!

So that's the news from here. I'm taking the kids on the train to see my parents (20 hours on a train, anyone?), and I doubt I'll have internet access up there, so it'll be quiet around here for a while. Hope you're having a great summer (if anyone actually reads this...I'm writing more for myself and the kids' journals at this point...)

Melodic Monday--Here Kitty Kitty by Justin Roberts

We saw Justin Roberts at the Chicago Lit Fest this weekend--three times! The second performance on Saturday was called for rain, but Harmony got a personal performance of her favorite song, from the "Songs from the Hebrew Scriptures" CD...

The kids on Marriage...

Overheard in the car this afternoon:

Harmony: When Hope and I grow up, we're having babies. I'm having two girl babies.
Me: What about a boy?
Ha: Well, maybe one. Just like we have!
Henry: But first you have to be married.
Harmony: You have to get married first--you're older.
Henry: I don't know about that...maybe I'll marry God instead.

(I guess Henry wasn't ready by the Jedi Knight argument Ruthie made...)

Harmony's Dream Home

Harmony's been talking a lot about "when we get the new Earth, you know, when Jesus comes back." She has two requests:
1) She wants to be young again (Mom, when we get the new Earth, do we get to be babies again? I want to be young again.)
2) She wants a pink and purple room, all to herself. (I told her Jesus has gone to prepare a place for her, and she wants to request the paint scheme!)

She also might have strep throat, poor girl...

Wordless Wednesday--

Hope at 2 months:

Guess what?

Harmony: Mom?
Me: Yes?
H: Mom?
Me: Yes?
H: Excuse me, Mom?
Me: Yes?
H: Guess what happened at school today?
Me: What?
H: At school today, guess what?
Me: What?
H: We painted a tooth with guess what?
Me: Painting sounds fun. What did you paint with?
H: You'll never guess what!
Me: What!
H: A toothbrush. And guess what?
Me? What?
H: We used toothpase to paint them!

Just cleaning me out...

Overheard from Harmony, between puking sessions Thursday night:
"I guess Jesus is cleaning all the junk out of me..."

What a literalist! She got that from our jack o'lantern analogy this fall...

Wordless Wednesday--twins separated at birth?

Harmony and her friend Emi were born on the same day, at the same hospital, and were even the only two babies there at the time...I'm sure when they're old enough to know about books like The Parent Trap they'll wonder if they were switched at birth...

Harmony funny

This morning, while getting a Hello Kitty spoon to go with her Strawberry Shortcake bowl:

Harmony: Mom, what do you get when you put Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty together?
Me: What?
Harmony: Friends!
Me: That's nice.
Harmony: What do you get when you put Henry and me together?
Me: Siblings?
Harmony: No, a disaster!

(Actually, they played together nicely, with minimal arguing requiring our intervention and lots of laughter, for several hours yesterday--that was quite the Christmas gift!)

Harmony's olympic aspirations

(this is at least a week late, but better late than never...)

Harmony loved watching gymnastics during the Olympics, especially "the girl in the pink leotard" (Nastia Lukins in the individual all around ). Patrick watched rhythmic gymnastics with her, and she was just or more enthralled with that. Ever since then, she's been doing flips on any bar she can find, and wierd stretch poses all over the house.

But what she really wants to do in the Olympics? Be one of the girls who carries the flowers and medals to the champions.

She'd be too young for doing gymnastics in 2016, but maybe she could be a flower carrier if it's in Chicago...

Harmony's new friend

Since the "big kids" have gone to school, the dynamics at preschool have changed. Along with that, Harmony has become one of the "biggest" kids there. She now also has a new close friend, Emi. In fact, Harmony calls her "her twin"--and she's mostly right. She and Emi were born on the same day, at the same hospital.

They've started trading names-- other day there were two of the same craft, both labeled "Emi", and to get the correct child to come to the car, I had to ask "Emi" if she was ready to leave. And this morning, Harmony insisted on wearing a dress, because Emi always wears a dress.

I'm waiting for them to be old enough to watch "Parent Trap" and propose a trade...though it would be easy to tell if they switched, since Harmony is blonde with blue eyes, and Emi has brown hair and eyes.

I remember when Harmony was born, and knowing that another little girl was born that day. I had always wondered if they would ever meet, and if they'd be friends. I guess I know the answer to that now!

Thanks, God, for friends. Bless Harmony and Emi's friendship. Help us to be good enough friends with You that we take Your name as ours and start to look more like you.

Conversations with Harmony

This is a very typical conversation with Harmony these days:

H: Mom?
Me: Yes?
H: Mom?
Me: Yes?
H: Mom, can I tell you something, Mom?
Me: Sure.
H: mmmmmmmm...I love you, Mom!

Cute quote of the day

While we were hiking at Turkey Run, Henry was peering into a cave.
Henry: Oooh, Wow!
Harmony: What's in there?
Henry: Nothing.
(Harmony throws up her hands and gives me the "oh, brother" look)...

A second classic:
"This is a hiking trail, not a whining trail"

Harmony's dress rehearsal

It was the first time on the "big stage". They did well at the beginning, but lost it after the "running with ribbons" part...