Back From Big Cedar Lodge

Our Last Skidamarinky Doo

Friday was the girls' last day of school. Normally, it is a day I welcome. I usually don't fall into too much sentimentality (oh boo-hoo, it's my child's last day of kindergarten,) but this May 25th, the sentimentality fell into me. It has been THE BEST year. Kami's teacher, Mrs. Zemanek, has been challenging, sweet, fun, interesting, organized, encouraging, and engaging, a fabulous 3rd grade teacher. She's irreplacable. And Ellie's teacher, Mrs. Swaim, is just a jewel. So sweet and laid back and amazing with those kiddos. The pied piper of kindergarten teachers is she. The whole class can be in an uproar, and she begins quietly singing... and no kidding, I have witnessed this several times... within 30 seconds they are all sitting around her singing too. Here she is sitting on her new rocking chair that the class gave to her (you can see another picture of it below) surrounded by Ellie's classmates. As the class stood in line at the door, singing their final song together, I found myself wanting to capture the moment forever. It hit me hard that it was Ellie's last Skidamarinky Doo with Mrs. Swaim. It is a song that she ended her days with all year long. Here are the words:

Skidamarinky Dinky Dink, Skidamarinky Doo, I Love YOU!

I Love you in the morning and in the afternoon.

I Love you in the Evening and Underneath the Moon,

Oh, Skidamarinky Dinky Dink, Skidamarinky Doo, I Love You!

(Yes, I do!) I Love You (See you Tomorrow!)

I LOVE You, Doo, Boop-Boopy Doo, Yeah!

A Beautiful Birthday

What to do for Nana's birthday? Kim and I had planned a fancy schmancy dinner and cake. But Mom suggested going to Granny's house. Granny would fix up her usual brown beans with ham, skillet potatos, and cornbread. We didn't have to be asked twice!!! And truly, it couldn't have been a better way to celebrate Nana's birthday than being at Granny's cookie cutter shoe box of a house. The weather was perfect.... we spent a lot of time outside on her green lawn, just playing, nothing fancy of course. But that is part of the magic of granny's house. The sheer simplicity of it all. The old swing next door which all of us kids grew up playing on. The backyard that, while darling, can withstand any kind of digging and rooting around that the kiddos do. The porch swing in front that we played endless games on growing up. The red dominos in the Christmas tin that look just as shiny as they did 30 years ago. The box of white dominos, and the black ones too. Used to play countless games by Granny and Grandpa Ernie. And after all this time, not one of those dominos lost. The warmth and love that blanket you right when you walk in the door. The hugging arms and infectious smile of this amazing woman. Her giggles. Her cakes. The memories. The garden. The flowers. The old garage out back... filled with carefully stored toys and other old stuff. But she knows exactly where everything is and, I tell you, that is not a musty garage. So, although this started out as a blog about my mom, it turned into one about my Grandma Ida, who a stitch of years ago, gave birth to another amazing person, my mom. But I know my mom won't mind, because she thinks as dearly about her mother as I do. Mom, I am so thankful for the mother who raised you and made you into the wonderful, caring, thoughtful, sweeet and fabulous (See, I did not mention bossy) person that you are. Happy Happy Birthday! Your children and grandchildren love you deeply!!!!

Little Miss Determination

Whatever this girl does, she works her hardest to do her very best. What more could a parent want? This is Kami at her gymnastics performance where she got 2 blue ribbons and 2 red ones. Great job, Kam!!!!

Kami and her friend Nicole

3 Pushing 95

We spent a precious evening at Grandma I's house for Mom's birthday. I took over 200 pictures. Many of them are bound for the trash bin, but there are some fun ones. I'm just posting this one tonight, but I'll post some of Mom and her birthday festivities later this week. I'm tired. This picture just captures such an amazing moment for me. Here we have my 3 (almost 4) year old son pushing his 95 year old great-grandma on the swing. They were having fun together. It was a moment that I'm sure few get to witness, and it is a moment I do not want to forget.

Popcicles: $2.00, Scooter: $25.00, Swingset: $500.00, Summertime Fun: Priceless

Random thoughts about June just being days away:
*The treats on the ice cream truck aren't quite the deal they were when we were little.

*You can never have too much sidewalk chalk.

*Ditto for popcicles.
*Ditto for bandaids.

*Peer pressure works when it comes to taking off training wheels.

*Except if you are Ellie.

*You may see the fashion princess Hadley in 4 or 5 different outfits on any given day.

*Our cul-de-sac is like a huge playroom.

*15 kids in a cul-de-sac is a great number.

*Luke MUST HAVE a nerf gun for his birthday... before he drives the neigbors crazy trying to use theirs!!!

A Special Day in Ellie's Life

The Christmas of 2005, I was reading to the kids from a devotional book that my friend Dawn had gotten for us. The particular devotion was about Noah. I talked about the people's sin, God's sadness, and Noah's faithfulness. When I looked up, I saw tears running down my 5 year old's cheeks. I said, "Ellie, what's wrong, honey?" She responded, "Nothing's wrong mom; I just want to become a Christian." So, we prayed the prayer with her, but decided to wait until she got a little older to let her get baptized, or bap-uh-tized, as she says. During that year and a half, she never went more than a few days before she asked when she could be baptized. And so now, about a year and a half later, she was finally able to show the world that Jesus is in her heart! Our pastor, Deron Spoo, baptized her with great kindness and gentleness and with the prayer that she will remember this day in her life. We pray the same and dedicate our little girl's life to the Lord!

A Day in May

Top 5 things to do at the park if you are Luke:

1) Ride your bike at full speed down the pathways.

2) Pretend any type of ridge in the path is a bike ramp, and jump it.

3) Try the monkey bars.

4) Look for a cool kid to play with.

5) Ride your bike at full speed down the pathways.

(I couldn't get any good pics of the bike riding because he was going too fast!!!)

Girlfriends

When we moved in our cul-de-sac, these two (Lilli & Sarah) were Kami's age (see pics below). They seemed so grown up at the time, but now, almost 4 years later it's hard to believe they are on the verge of bursting into teenagehood!!! What's nice is that they still like to visit us and play with all the kiddos. They read books to them, fix their hair, play board games, computer games, hide and seek, and give piggy back rides. Here they are with Ellie and her friend Brooke.

A Shoulder to Lean (Sit) On

Is this not a great picture of how a dad helps, supports and goes the extra mile for his son? Luke wanted to look for a little friend over the fence. Tom could have said no or just hoisted Luke's face over the fence for a second. But he put Luke on his shoulders and found a spot where Luke could really see. It seems to me to be a nice picture of God, who loves us supports us, and will go the extra mile for us. He wants to help us SEE His love, His truth and his guidance. He is patient with us. He has our little frames up on his strong shoulders. All we have to do is ask, "Daddy, will you help me see?" Psalm 119:118 - Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. [Or maybe what we have here is just a peeping Tom :) ]

A Real, Live Treasure Hunt

There is nothing that kids like better than going treasure hunting. So on this past, beautiful, Sunday afternoon, I packed all 5 kids up, and went out in search of new letterboxes. (In the fall, we found a couple of letterboxes, and the kids have wanted to go searching ever since.......) I won't give away the locations, just in case you decide to go letterboxing yourself, but we followed the clues we found at letterboxing.org. We found TWO letterboxes, one in midtown and one in about 5 miles south of our house. One of the letterboxes, as you can see below, was actually hanging in a bush, right at Kami's eye level. She and Hallie and Ellie peered into the bush, but she was the one who discovered it. Then, the chaos ensued as the kids scrambled to stamp their notepads with the stamp in the letterbox. Each of them were then able to stamp the notepad in the letterbox with their own stamp, which represents their personality. You don't sign your name, just give your "handle."

Here are the kids handles:

Kami - Moon Beam

Ellie - Happy Lemur

Luke - Hot Wheels (real original, huh?)

Hallie - Bouncing Bunny

Lauren - Beautiful Bird

More information can be found on letterboxing HERE.

America's Next Top Model(s)

Several weeks ago, we were asked to be in The Common Thread Fashion Show, benefiting the Scott Carter Foundation. If you know me, you know my middle name is definitely not Grace. Let's just say that I'm a bit clumsy, and that traipsing down a catwalk is not my thing. Especially in heels! But I tried to enjoy the entire experience, from picking out my outfit at a hip boutique (I'm not sure if I was hip enough to go there!) to finding coordinating dresses for the girls. Ellie doesn't like lace or frills, and was looking for something she called "funky." What we ended up finding fit her personality pretty well, as did the pretty dress that Kami wore. (both from Kathleen's Kids.) Kiki (Kim) and her kids were in the beach category, and they were on first. The dressy category, which we were in, was the last, and when our turn came, I just asked God that he would not let me fall off the end of the platform. It was very possible with the dark room and blinding spotlights, that I might not see where the catwalk ended.... I could picture myself taking a big step into nothingness, pulling the girls with me into a big heap on the floor. But, of course, the night was perfect. Our 15 second walk went smoothly, and when we went back out for the "finale," hundreds of gold and white balloons dropped on us from overhead. I don't think I've ever been the receipient of a balloon drop, so it was kind of fun, even for me. When the fashion show was over, our babysitter Leialoha picked up the kiddos from the show and took them home. I got to stay and enjoy a fabulous meal and adult conversation, and when I returned home, Lei had cleaned my kitchen, bathed my boy, and had the kids ready for bed. What a great night!

Welcome Back!

Thanks to all of you who checked on us, making sure our family and our blog didn't fall off the face of the earth. What happened was that I had a cyber-stalker (probably just a little grandma in Minnesota) who was checking my blog multiple times a day. My mind got to imagining things (think man dressed in dark hoodie with mean, squnity eyes staring at pictures of my children) and.... it started weirding me out. So, I had to make this blog a little more anonymous, thus the address change. I have made a few other adjustments that make me feel more comfortable with a public blog. And now that I'm up and running again, I have nothing to blog! No pictures at least. So, I'm posting this fabulous poem by my "friend" Beth Moore. I have a link to her blog below, and here is a link to the lady who designed this "worship art." Beth Moore is an inspiration to me!

The Book of Thomas

I sometimes wonder, if our family's life were a book of the Bible, documenting all of our trials and tribulations, etching out for future generations the riverbed of our lives, what would we look like? Would people say, "those silly people, running from God, just like Jonah"? Or would we be perceived like disciples in the boat during the storm when Jesus turned to them and said, "oh you of little faith?" I can only hope that there would be a verse or maybe even a chapter that would find us faithful, standing strong, anchored in truth. I want so much to be like David, like Ruth, like Jacob, like Nehemiah, but unfortunately, I often feel like doubting Thomas! But God even had mercy on Thomas, didn't he? He helped him believe! God help me to remember your words to Thomas: "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Easter Pictures

Every child loves Easter morning, but dreads, I'm sure, the taking of the Easter pictures. And if you are a child in our family, there is no doubt that you really, really dread it. As we line all 9 of the kids up (all aged 8 and under), there are no fewer than 6 people with 8 cameras squealing, "look over here!" "say cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese" and "JUST ONE MORE PICTURE!" If I just happened upon the scene, I'm sure I would find it quite humorous, or possibly disturbing. I guess they are getting used to it, even Kyler who used to refuse the family papparzi because look at these precious pictures of these amazing kids. I'm breathing it in cause I know it won't be this way forever.

Here a Rae, There a Ray, Everywhere a Rae Ray

From Left: Kimberly Rae, Maggie Rae, Ronda Rae, Kamryn Rae, Anastasia Rae, Ida Pondarae, Freddy Ray and Raelynn Marie. Due to the amazing people in this pic and the strength of this family name, I am thinking of changing my name to Annie Rae. And I'm not kidding.

We miss you Grandpa Ernie Ray!!!

A Wee Bit Tired

I always know it's coming, but the knowing of it doesn't prevent the happening of it from making me worn out. Basketball season stomps out of my life with March Madness. And it seems about that time I can sense a bit of relief coming. A life preserver is flung before me. But it's still actually a month before I will grab on to that life preserver and relax. The guys are doing their ever-so-important recruiting throughout April. That is not sarcasm, it is seriousness, especially with the reality that Caleb and Ken have moved onwards. So, Tom is out looking for some new tall guys, as the kids like to say. And I support that. Believe me, I know how important recruiting is. But, wo! It's this final stretch that can be the toughest test. It's the time of year I think my children have been replaced by rebellious, conscienceless, vindictive aliens and I become a wideeyedcrazilyravingshorttemperedfreakazoid lady who I don't really know. It's the time of the year that puts me on my knees, asking for one last bit of strength! He always provides it, in the form of encouragement, joy, laughter, friends, family. And finally, May comes!!!!

Compliment of the Year

Ellie: Mom, you rock this house.
Me: What? I what?
Ellie: You rock this house, mom.
Me: Well, thank you Ellie... but what exactly do you mean by that?
Ellie: You just make everything soooooo special!!!!