the crisp connection

 its now 1030, patricks been in bed for 30 min, and i need to head that way as well. but i feel like my life is passing by me at warp speed these days, and unless i document it some how, i wont remember it at all. as if it didn't even happen. charlie has a bad cold right now, and i just came downstairs from rocking him a little extra tonight. he barely fits in my lap anymore, he has to turn sideways. i know its cliche, but i couldn't help thinking, when did my baby turn into a little boy? honestly, the past 5.5 yrs have gotten crazier and crazier. what with 5 moves, babies one after the other, new jobs. the days may drag but i really do look back and wonder how we got here. the particular "here" today is school! we did some preschool books in the spring, but this is for real. a teachers manual, lesson planning, worksheets, little science projects, and everything. I could have a whole blog just on my homeschooling experiences so far (but so many other people have done that :-). A whole list of "i never knews". Such as, i never knew how frustrating it could be to try to teach a little person how to draw an oval. or to differentiate between d and b. or that Y does not say "whuh", even though it sounds like it. So far we really like my fathers world. I drew up a great daily and weekly schedule before we started back babysitting. And i think i've actually followed it one time. We always, however, have story time, as i can do that on the couch feeding the baby. and we always do school, when the toddlers are in bed. As for the other stuff, well, i have alot of great ideas. of course, coming up with ideas never got anybody anywhere. one thing we're doing i'm really excited about is our own little mission awareness moment, once a week. I downloaded a free preschool program (designed for use in churches, i guess) from Wycliffe. It has games, stories, crafts, everything you need. We got an inflatable globe, some coloring books of unreached/unengage peoples, an a-z storybook of bible-less peoples, and we're just learning all kinds of things. the other morning hannah came into our room to wake me up, with her backpack on, packed full. She said she was going to africa to tell people about Jesus. (yes, she's being indoctrinated. no, i'm no ashamed to say it!)

 but life is not all serious! we had a great weekend when Lara came to visit, and we celebrated Charlies birthday with her, david and des, and pizza. (that last part really did it for charlie :-). We ordered a little cake (from the grocery store. yes, we cut corners these days. lots of them. i even use paper plates!) and i made the mistake of showing it to him in the morning, as we were leaving for wichita. he got so excited singing happy birthday, and then completely lost it when he realized we werent actually eating the cake right then, at breakfast.

 i ordered it over the phone, and mentioned i wanted white icing, instead of the electric blue i've often see for thomas the train cakes. when patrick picked it up, there was a big sticky note on the top: NO COLORED ICING. i smiled when i read meghans blog, about parkers cake. they had a chocolate lego cake, to avoid the food coloring to make a brightly colored lego. i'm not the only one!

 as it was day before labor day, i had to wear my white pants, right?! we spent the day in wichita, and by the time we got home that night, we (ok, I) were a little worse for wear. Caroline had had a blow out, (really stands out on the white pants), there was a milk stain on my shirt, all kinds of things. so we get home, unload the car, get the kids to bed, get some supper, crash. the patrick looks over and mentions i'm still wearing the poopy pants. "dont you want to change", he says? seriously? i passed that stage a few years ago. you know how many outfits i'd go through if a little poop/snot/dirt/milk/food on my clothes bothered me? :-) i'm doing good if i put it in the laundry at night instead of trying to get by with wearing it the next day. (emergency intervention: mommy makeover!)

 similar to above perspective: didnt bring bathing suits, but find one of these nifty fountains? oh well. just strip them down and let em play anyways!

 we havent made it out to haviland much since the baby came, she still cries alot, and wants to be either eating or sleeping. but there have been a few bonding moments.

 the boy LOVES his dessert.

 one of the things i have always associated with my sister is great food! all those years working in fine dining establishments, she's learned alot. she can no longer get me free food, now that she sells luxury condos. (too bad i'm not currently in the market for a luxury condo, i bet i could get a deal :-). but she can make it for me! pan seared ahi tuna, warm soba noodles with sauteed red pepper, and cucumber miso salad. it was amazing. all the more so because of its rarity in my current hometown.

 we are at a monumental place: we've lived in pratt longer than we've lived anywhere. we noticed this when we spent our second saturday at "western fun day." i remember thinking last year, wow, my kids would be seriously easy to please if we stayed living here. western fun day definitely falls under the simple pleasures category, but they did indeed have fun. (charlie's sportin an uncle brett style here :-)

 hummmmm, do you think i could rig up one of these in the basement?

 panning for gold

 fishing

 ok, so her head seems kind of funny shaped. but so so so cute! she started laughing, a few weeks ago.

this is my boy right here, no mistaking it. as i've mentioned, patrick and i have no qualms about imparting to our children certain values. One of which, what it means to be a boy or a girl. no worries with these kids! i can see the differences in charlie so strongly, already. he needs to be interacting with the natural environment, and have the opportunity to throw his little weight around. i think most of his acting out can be traced back to a natural desire to just be a boy. poor guy, stuck with 5 females!

 patrick noticed this little apple tree in haviland, and found out the owner lets anybody come pick it. so pick we did! this was patricks first apple picking experience. I so wished i could import the crisp fall air, the apple cider, and the cake donuts that i associate with apple picking. now we have to figure out something to do with all these apples.

this is a horrible picture, i realize that. but it made the cut because it was a momentous occasion in the crisp family. we went out for dinner, all 5 of us, and had fun. actually laughed and had fun with each other and the kids. now we've had dinners out that were fine, no kids running away or fights with the spouse. but this was really fun. i guess they're getting old enough for that. the highlight was sharing a molten chocolate cake. patrick and charlie actually fought over the last bite.

cooler weather has finally come, and we are so grateful. life with caroline is getting marginally easier, i think i'm figuring her out a little. for the childless out there, i know life with a baby seems like it should be easy. after all, it isn't rocket science. they're hungry, you feed them; they're tired, you put them to sleep. it just doesn't always work that way. we by no means have a schedule, but we do have a routine. she is the best little night time sleeper! the past few days i've actually gotten her to bed at a reasonable time, and she still is only waking up once, around 3 or 4. so she's sleeping from 10-12 hrs, waking up once. i think God knew that as crazy as the days are, i had to sleep. the bottom fell out last week, though, when i got sick. the not even have the energy to read or watch tv but can only manage to lay still in bed sick. thankfully it was the worst on the weekend, so patrick was there. but there was still caroline. he does the other 2, and she's my responsibility. which is fine normally, i dont mind her being completely dependent on me. until i simply want to die in peace, and she's screaming her bloody head off. we survived. but i tell you what, strep throat is not for the faint of heart. i think i got the flu at the same time. its taken me 2 wks to recover. i went in to the doctor after 4 days of feeling like someone was stabbing me through the ears and down my throat everytime i swallowed. she said, well, i know you dont like alot of drugs. . .  Which is true. but some people think just because i choose to give birth naturally means i like pain. or i'm at least ok with it. but my opinion is, thats ok because its supposed to happen. that pain doesnt mean anything is wrong. this pain, on the other hand, meant something was desperately wrong. give me medicine! so she did. and i got better!