A year ago

A year ago this week, was a busy and exciting time for our family. After a few weeks of meeting at Five Guys Burgers and Fries in downtown Detroit for bible study, we rented our first space to meet as Deliverance Bible Church Detroit. Our first service was just Shea, me and the kids, but we did not mind. We knew that Detroit was where we were meant to be, planting this church was part of the vision and we planted ourselves on the third floor. Yeah, stairs. Besides the stairs, our first challenge was to tackle the interesting paint job the previous tenant left behind. The room was a lovely shade of red, yellow, orange, green, purple and grey with maroon carpet. So in one kid free night we primed the entire room and one coat of paint on the walls. It was a very long night and I think we went to bed at 4 am. Shea went back to the space a couple more times to finish the job while I stayed home with the kids. Shea played guitar while Manoah, Jaelon and I danced around the room worshiping the Most High. Shea preached, shared scripture and then we went down to the river walk to pass out invites.

 

 Jaelon's imagination blossomed at the play ground. He was only 18 months old but already learning how to run and jump. On one of these jumping days, he caught his foot and face planted on the hard wood floor of our friends home. His lip began to bleed and it was difficult to get it to stop long enough to see the damage. Since it felt like forever that his lip was gushing blood, I took him to the nearest ER. There the security guard gave Jaelon a peek-a-boo book that had characters hidden behind flaps for him to enjoy while we waited to see the doctor. His lip was still going strong but something in me started to say, "he will not need stitches, so just leave." I did not listen, and we went through the whole process only to hear the doctor say that he will be fine, and does not need stitches. Wasted time, wasted money. Grrr. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, because it was an open wound and remain wide open for a while. Jo was fighting what I think was an ear infection that week, so I guess it worked out that we got some medicine.  

 I gave Manoah a hair cut, and I thought he looked so very handsome. Shea did not like it, and prefers Manoah's hair long. Which is ironic since Shea shaved Mo's hair every month for over a year when he was a baby. Oh well. Manoah's imagination blossomed as well that year. Pictured below is Mo's very thirsty horse. I fear if that was a real horse, it would have been in trouble. Mo successfully led that horse to water and made it drink. Ha!
  Both the boys became more daring on the playground. Lapeer is full of really nice, newly renovated playgrounds, all within a short distance from the house. Jaelon would take on equipment that was designed for 5 and 6 year old children, and very successfully conquering them. I could not bare to watch my 18 month old climb ladders to great heights. I was always very close with my arms out stretched, sweat beads forming on my brow and heart racing. After numerous times of triumphal climbing, I began to relax, but still stayed close just in case. The slide pictured was a feat that Manoah took on that took my breath away.  The shadow at the top of the slide is Mo's excited body about to fling it's self down the 12 foot high tube. He went down this slide many times, and was the youngest one at the park to go down it. The little girl in pink at the bottom, 2 years his elder, was afraid to go down it, and she did not try while we were there. Jaelon did not go down the slide, the stairs leading up were too narrow and too steep for his taste. I was a happy momma at Jo's choice.

 

 Last year was a very busy, life changing year, but more on that later.

Blessed times three

Zephaniah discovered his hand recently. A few days ago, I heard him wake from sleep but he was not crying. I stood at the side of his crib and watched as he attempted to suckle his fist. This new activity kept him appeased but I knew it would be temporary since the fist is not a good source of milk. Hehe. Today, while I was holding him and we were engaged in a conversation of coos and awes, his fist past before his face. He stopped talking to me and followed this "new" object. I could not stop myself from giggling as his eyes crossed many times and his lips pursed, like Ben Stiller as "blue steel" from the movie "Zoolander." To say it was cute, is an understatement, it was awesomely cute. There is something so fun and rewarding to witness a baby discovering their world and every baby is unique in this adventure. As I write this, Zephaniah is asleep in his bouncer and he is sleep suckling the air. Yet another favorite thing babies do.

Life with kids is ever changing, and entertaining. This morning being no exception and slightly more than most mornings. Manoah spent the whole morning as a super hero with no name, seeking out villains using his cup as an evil-scope. Its like a telescope but it only sees evil. Patient pending. I'm just kidding.  Most of his super hero work consisted of standing in a corner or standing on the couch and staring in a really awkward manner, flinging his cape every now and again. He was a rather quiet hero, and his epic battles kept locked with in his mind. The only outward evidence of a win was when he would swoop across the room, cape flying heading to another area in need of rescue. Unfortunately to capture all the awesomeness on camera was near impossible and almost too hard to describe. This weak attempt will have to suffice as documentation of how delightful my first born's imagination is in my life.

 Tonight, after dinner, Jaelon did the dishes. I had left one side of the sink full of soapy water in preparation to clean dishes after nursing Zephaniah, only to find Jaelon had almost finished them all! At the ripe young age of 2, he had successfully washed the dishes from dinner along with all the dirty flatware and placed in the second basin to be rinsed. I have never taught him how to hand wash, and I think Shea played a game with him once while cleaning. I have filled the sink with soapy water and played sink or swim games. Mo likes to race "boats" (my measuring cups) in the water. I was so impressed that he did this with out anyone asking him to help and he was actually really good at washing things. I finished out the process, but it was so nice to have the kitchen clean in what felt like half the time. I can not help but think he notices daddy serving in the home and realizes that we all help to make the home work. I am blessed beyond words.

MeMaw and PaPa visit part 3 of 5

May 14, 2012 MeMaw and Papa come over early and we head out to the Detroit Zoo. Expecting the cafes to be open, we plan to see all the exhibits on one side of the zoo leading to the cafe on the farthest side from the entrance. This plan leads us first through the penguin exhibit, and since it was a warm day, the smell of fish was overwhelming and my Memaw left with in seconds of entering the facility. Next we visited the new play ground available at the zoo.

 It was awesome. A nice stop for Zeph to nurse, me and Memaw to chat and the boys to blow off some crazy.
Then there was the fountain with the bear statues, and many a "bear butt" jokes ensued. Then the ever favorite amphibian exhibit, where the boys enjoyed spying on snakes, frogs, crocodiles, and the like. One lizard looked asleep and wedged in a crack in an awkward way that looked similar to how I find my boys in their cages, I mean beds, in the morning. Yet on closer inspection, it appeared to not be breathing! Either that thing had a ridiculously shallow breathing or it's keeper had not noticed yet that it's been "asleep" in the same position for a little too long. It's a good thing my boys did not notice, because they would not have been able to keep themselves contained.
 So we get past most of the exhibits, the boys loving every minute of seeing the animals and funny looking people. Once we arrive to the cafe, tired and hungry, we learn that during the week the zoo only keeps one cafe open. That cafe is in the middle of the zoo, just past the polar bears. Just past where we were. 15 minutes ago. Where the hungry really started to hurt. Where the attitudes started to flare. Where my mom spent 10 minutes trying to get the perfect shot of an iris just like the one she has at home.

 We took a bathroom break, and headed toward the middle of the zoo, opting out of seeing the bears until our bellies were satisfied. After a yummy meal, it was time for yet another bathroom break. Jo consistently puts his glasses on upside down, so this made for a little entertainment while waiting for Memaw in the potty. Memaw was gracious enough to hold Zeph for me while I went potty. Zeph spent the whole day very comfortably wrapped up in the sling, only taking breaks for diaper changes and nursing. Lets just say, I got my very first day of serious work out since Zeph was born, and I felt the burn. I was very proud of myself. I burnt almost a thousand calories carrying that boy for 5 hours. I rewarded myself with a giant hamburger.

 Bellies full, bladders empty, we heading into the polar bear exhibit. It was getting very warm, sun was shinning and so was everyone's foreheads. Most of the animals were hiding in shade to take naps, except the polar bears. One was walking around, and the other was playing in the pool. There were two more polar bears, but we did not see them until we went to the underwater tunnel part of the exhibit. When you first walk in, the pool for the seals is on display. Mo caught, literally, the tail end of large seal swimming by the glass. Then we went down the tunnel, not much was going on, and we were quickly heading through. Shea told me to sit and wait since my parents were lagging behind. Then the coolest thing happened. It was snack time. Little fish started falling in the water and soon after you saw four large paws walking just above your head, then a dive, and snatch! The bear caught his treat in mid swim. More and more fish fell, plunk, plunk, plunk and the bear followed to each location. This was causing quite a stir. The more laughed and pointed in delight. Jo staying close to me, while Mo running around like a mad man follow the bear to each catch. I had a big dumb grin on my face, but I did not care, it was cool. It was such a great moment and I got to share it with my parents.

     Bears were the best part of the day, at least for me, but Mo kept on insisting to see the giraffes. Mo had fed giraffes at the zoo in Dallas when he stayed with friends, and another time at Fossil Rim. I feared he expected to do the same that day. Usually one can purchase tickets to feed the giraffes, but it was sold out. Fortunately, he was satisfied with just looking. We went up the other side of the zoo heading toward the back again, and this time our goal was the train. The train that takes you from the back to the front for a small fee. This was very appealing to everyone. The kids loved the idea because it was a train. I loved it because I was exhausted from carrying Zeph all day, and my parents loved it because, well they are old. (love you mom and dad!) Checking all the animals along the way, we got closer and closer to our destination, then there was a bathroom. Potty stop. The very last thing for us to look at were the kangaroos, but there was one problem. We had chosen to go a way that put us at the end of the exhibit and there was no going in the exit. The entrance to the kangas was near the train. The train that was coming. The train that would take 20 minutes to come back around. The train that would get us home sooner than later. It was getting close to dinner and our bellies were becoming the boss again. Since you could see the kangaroos from the outside, just not close up like you can when you walk through. We decided that the outside look was good enough and high tailed it to the train station. We barely made it, and we relaxed as the choo choo took us to the front. We opted out for leaving through the gift shop, loaded up into the car and headed toward the closest Big Boy.

Family worship time

A little clip of the boys giving God praise.

MeeMaw and Papa visit part 2 of 5

 Mother's day, Sunday May 13th, 2012, my parents were still in town, and we took the whole family to our church plant in Detroit. We showed them around our space and did a bible study. I was a little nervous how all this would play out, but it went really well and I think they even had fun.

  We had received a package the day before from Oma (Shea's mom) that was full of stuff for all the boys, including a couple clear boxes for capturing bugs.

 Since this is something Mo loved to do with Oma when he visited her, he knew immediately what those boxes were for and insisted we start hunting asap.

  My mom and I left all the boys at home to bug hunt in the backyard, and we went to JoAnn Fabrics for their Mother's day sale. It was the perfect way for us to celebrate mother's day, away from the men and doing really girly, crafty sort of things. We made a pit stop at Sally's beauty supply, and the Dollar tree. My mom and I bought a handful of trinkets, a nail file and new blue dye for my hair.



There was so much at JoAnn's that we wanted and I had a stack of coupons. Narrowing our purchases down to fit our cash budget took some time, and more effort than expected. We knew that dinner was drawing near and the men folk would be hungry soon, so planned our answer to the "what's for   dinner?" question. Texas Roadhouse.

 Our waiter told us that Mother's day was their busiest day of the year, and they were prepared. Outside while you wait was lots of seating, big barrels of peanuts, and even a play area for the kids with bubbles, hula hoops and games. It was very yummy, very busy, and very fun meal. A little bit of home, while a little bit of home was visiting. Just what I really wanted for Mother's day.