handsful

Taken by Justin

Don’t let anyone tell you differently.  Moving is HARD.  Moving out of state is that much harder.  Of course, you miss your friends and all things familiar to you.  But, the daunting task of finding replacements for all of the activities, doctors, homeschool connections, etc. is…well, hard.  We’ve prayed specifically that God would provide for us in these areas.  And, even though finding a good guitar teacher might not seem like something God would care much about…boy, does He.  

Driving around in downtown Mooresville, I spotted a small guitar store and I figured that would be a good place to start finding out about area guitar teachers.  The guy who answered the phone said he normally taught, but his summer work schedule was too heavy for it…but, he had a friend who was home from college who was looking for students.  He gave me his number.  Having no info on this guy (he could be an ax murderer posing as a guitar teacher!!), I called him. 

To say he was polite is a grave understatement.  Then, he told us he was a christian, majoring in worship music at a very respected christian college (our nephew heads there this coming Fall).  He came to the house, and did a few lessons here.  We’ve ended up moving lessons to his houe because he also teaches drums…something Payton has always wanted to take.  Jackpot! 

So, I take the 3 kids to his house once a week…and, even though he heads back to college soon, he plans on getting together with them during his weekends home and he has a friend that he highly recommends when he’s not home. 

There are many more examples of how God is providing for our needs here in our new home.  Justin, the totally cool, totally sold-out for God, guitar/drum teacher is just one of them.  It amazes me how much God loves us.

Ethan

conquers

the

wakeboard.  You’ve got skills, dude.

Marley, Payton, and Ethan…my preemie triplets who each weighed in around 3 1/2lbs…are now 12 years old.  Officially pre-teens - 1 year till teenagers - 4 years from driving.  (yikes)

Their birthday was actually fairly laid back…as pretty much all of our summer days have been.  They slept in, and then requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Well, I had none in the fridge and didn’t have all the ingredients for homemade.  I did have a roll of biscuit dough, so after some imagination on my part, I presented them with cinnamon rolls.  They were good, if I do say so.

That night, they opened Abbey’s presents to them.

purple and pink camo sleeping bag

always suspicious of his sister, he’s listening for ticking.  Or, breathing.  Turns out it was an Xbox game.

Earlier in the week, Marley found just the comforter she’d been looking for, so that became her birthday present from us.  The boys were wishy-washy about what they wanted until it was too late.  We think we’ve hit on a couple of things, so we’ll do some internet surfing.

Then, we headed out to dinner…

Yummy dinner, followed by the usual birthday ice cream.  This time, there were no birthday singers - we were fine with that!

Now that they are 12, I decided to do a “who they are now” kind of post.  Listing things that really define them.  Afterall, I’m seeing glimpses of them as young adults these days (gulp), and I want to remember this season in their lives.

Marley -

Loves all things horses - dreams of owning her own horse farm with lots of other animals scattered about.

Hates all things related to thunder storms.  And splinters.  And peanut butter.

Loves to read - chapter books about animals are favorites.  Currently reading The Percy Jackson series.

Prefers to wear double-layered tank tops and jeans.  Isn’t fond of anything remotely “cute”.

She’s creative - loves to draw, color, cook, and write stories.

Loves to make other people happy, but can still flash a mean temper.

Payton -

Loves his brother intensely…can be just as intensely mad at him, too.

Hates injustice, soda, and wearing anything other than his favorite black shorts.

Orders lemonade at every restaurant.  Everytime.

Has a gift in drawing, especially cartooning.  Which fits his personality perfectly.

Little kids are drawn to him, and he loves that.

Prefers friends to call him “Tater”, and has a knack of making us laugh.

Ethan -

Hates reading, talking on the phone, and hearing his baby sister cry.

Loves soda, sugary cereal, and junk food.  Too much.

Has decided that baseball is not his thing.

Has decided that guitar is his thing, and he does it very well.   That and video games.

Always has arms full of silly bands and a rope anklet on his ankle.

Is a bit of a daredevil and loves a thrill.  Skateboarding, wakeboarding, skiing, roller-coasters…you name it.

I couldn’t be prouder of my triplets…who they are now, and who they are becoming.  Happy 12th M, P, and E!

How sweet.  Ethan is teaching Lainey how to play his guitar!  I love it when the big kids share their lives with Lainey.  I’m sure L will give him a big hug and kiss for this privilege. 

Or, maybe she’ll just steal his guitar pick.

What do you get when you combine 5 preteen boys, a dad who is only chronologically in his 40’s, air soft guns, ammo, pizza, midnight movie, sticky explosions, a potato launcher, 2 sleepovers in a row, junk food, Guitar hero, and bible study? 

You get Randy’s Real Life Group’s PROGRESSIVE SLEEPOVER!  Weeks ago, the guys were all talking about doing something special as a group.  Those discussions turned into a full-out, all-things-boy weekend.  The itinerary was:

Arrive here at 6pm Friday night

Play, hang out, make explosions, and shoot potatoes into the pond behind our house

Riddle/illusions/word search competition

Guitar Hero (boys sing LOUDLY)

Bible study

Leave for the midnight showing of Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Get home around 2:30, go to bed

Wake up at 7:30 for a work-day at church

Air soft gun fight in the field behind church

Go to the next house for more bible study and another sleepover - more playing, junk food, etc. no doubt

Get up for church

I’m fully expecting my boys to come home after church on Sunday and collapse into heaps on the couch.  But, the fun they’ve had will be remembered. 

More pics of their time here on Friday…

Love this shot.  All 5 boys working on illusions and riddles surrounded by soda, pizza, and an array of artillery and ammunition. 

Here is the “other” boy, pumping up the potato launcher.  Fuzziness credited to Ethan, the photographer. 

Potatoes must go THAT way.  Grunt. 

What’er you lookin’ at?  Haven’t you ever seen potato shootin’ before?

Next…

Set up soda.  Decide the lucky kid to drop in the Men*tos candy. 

How about Ethan?  He’ll do anything. 

jumping back and…

Cool. 

I think that’ll be enough to describe the whole weekend.  After they wake up from their naps tomorrow.

What are these boys so deliriously happy about?  See the box behind them?  It held a magic machine…

…called a PUSH MOWER!  Randy has been telling the boys for a while that he would get one (we have a riding lawn mower and a steep back yard which ends in a pond.  ‘Nuf said…).  We bought this one last night and the boys were really anxious to get that thing cranked and cutting!  Randy walked them through all the ins and outs of how to care for it, how to add fluids, check air filters, etc.  They listened intently…

Finally!  Time to crank it.  Even with the two of them working together, dad eventually had to help out.  Once they had mowed for a while, they were each able to crank it easily.  They turned the mower off as often as they could, just so they COULD crank it again.  Boys. 

EJ is working hard!  Randy bought a nice, but “standard” mower.  No self-propelled nonsense here.  Just boy propelled. 

Working around the palm, learning how to overlap so you don’t miss grass…so much to learn. 

They made me take this picture.  They’re holding grass that THEY cut.  They were so proud.  And, happy.  And, tired!  They ended up cutting about half of the yard, each taking turns.  The boys weren’t the only ones happy.  I LOVE a freshly mown lawn.  Just hearing the lawn mower rev up makes me grin (one of the weird things about me).  Now, I have THREE guys to do it!  Happy day!

Ethan has moved up to the 11-12 league, so some of these players tower over him.  The pitcher on the other team was 5′9″!  He doesn’t seem daunted. 

And, he’s been on the Red Sox for the last couple of years.  Now, he’s an Indian. 

Last weekend’s game was blistering hot.  People (including us) even brought their easy-up tents to provide a little shade.  It’s supposed to be in the 60’s for tomorrow’s game.  Nice. 

Even as hot as it was, our good friends the Orton’s came to watch Ethan play.  Here is Nate getting a squeeze from Lainey.  Lainey likes Nate.  A lot. 

Go Ethan!!!

EJ’s piano recital tonight…recorded on Abbey’s camera, so quality isn’t so high. He did great!