The first week of school...

Anna is a first grader and loving it!  She is so excited to be able to have computer class and pick out books from the big book shelves at the school library, which as a Kindergartener she didn't get to do.  The whole school is doing a rewards program for good behavior.  The students can receive yellow (golden) or green tickets for good behavior like being safe, respectful, and responsible.  Every Friday throughout the year, students will be picked to get rewards like sitting on the stage to eat lunch and having their picture posted on the school television system.  Anna has been so excited about the rewards program and everyday she comes home to tell us how many tickets she earned.  One day during the first week of school she earned 5 tickets!  It was a special blessing that she got picked the first Friday to eat lunch on the stage.  She was so happy!

Over this past summer, for one of our family nights we watched the original movie of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."  They were mesmerized by the whole idea of the "golden ticket."  Which has been a real treat for Anna since she considers the yellow tickets to be golden.

Ever since the summer Olympics, Anna has been fervently practicing cartwheels and handstands.  She has mastered cartwheels and can do 3 in a row.  As for handstands, her goal is to be able to hold her feet up and walk.  She loves listening, dancing, and singing to worship music, writing and drawing on her dry erase board, and having playdates.

For Micaiah, he has been enjoying more Mama time during the days.  He likes having me all to himself, but I think more importantly he doesn't have to share his toys.  We are doing Teaching Time at home, in which there are good days and bad moments here and there.  We do up to an hour and a half of reading, singing, rhyming, mazes, puzzles, painting, letter/phonic workbooks, and preschool skills/activities two or three times a week.  His level of attention span is getting longer and more focused so that is a good indicator.  He loves Bible Time, painting, playing with his Polar Express train set, playdough, and playing soccer.  And most recently he has started telling knock-knock jokes!  He says some of the funniest things -- he calls restaurants "eating rooms".

The school year is off to a great start!

An Outdoor Adventure!

The weather has been so beautiful here the past week or so.

Last weekend we took the kids on an all day outdoor adventure.

We spent the day at Shawnee Mission Park.

This was Anna and Micaiah's first time canoeing!

 Yes, I looked like a little kid with the life preserver on.
And I had just ran 2 miles right before we went canoeing,
so I started to feel sick while on the water.
Thankfully, we took PB&J's with us and had lunch on the water.

After canoeing, we took them bike (or trike) riding.
This was Anna's first time riding her new Hello Kitty bike with a bell.
And Micaiah's first time trying to trike.
He's just so short that he is just now able to touch the peddles.

Worlds of FUN! (Part 1)

 Our trip to Worlds of Fun on August 14th!

We spent most of the day at Planet Snoopy.

Micaiah was apprehensive at first, but

by the time we were ready to leave he was hugging Charlie Brown.

One of Anna's favorites is the carousel.

Here is Micaiah on his favorite the train ride.

Our kids are thrill seekers!!!

They enjoyed riding on the caterpillar kiddie roller coaster.

If you look closely, you can see Micaiah's little hands sticking up in the air.

(more in the next post)

Worlds of FUN! (Part 2)

(more in the next post)

Worlds of FUN! (Part 3)

Anna and Lucy

Before and After

Yes, Anna enjoyed riding the Sea Dragon.

It is like the Pirate Ship.

After the first ride, she told me it gave her butterflies in her tummy.

And then she wanted to do it again to see if she could put her hands up in the air!

Happy 4th!

For the 4th of July, we packed up a picnic and headed to Powell Gardens in Weston, MO.

It was soooo much FUN!!!!

We enjoyed the music of a full, live symphony and a huge fireworks display that was fantastic!

This was Micaiah's first time seeing fireworks (last year was rained out).

At first he was surprised, but was soon he was yelling about the lights in the sky.

He was also excited because of all the loud "booming!"

When it was all over, he was asking for more "boom, boom, lights in the sky"?!

Anna also enjoyed it thoroughly and asks if we can see more fireworks every weekend since.

We had a great time enjoying all the holiday fun at the gardens.

Goodbye rash, Hello sleep!

Okay, so...the nurse at Micaiah's pediatrician's office and I were both wrong.

It was not an allergic reaction.

It was not even a virus or viral rash.

This little boy has a double ear infection that caused him to break out in an itchy, bacterial rash from head to toe.  (little sleep for three nights)  Then his eyes started to become infected making them puffy, swollen and itchy.  He is on medication now and beginning to feel better...and sleep better.  Four days of little to no sleep had everyone a bit on the cranky side in our house.

  

And some other good news is that Micaiah is up to 22 pounds!  He gained two pounds in the past two months, which is a great increase for him.  It must be from all the ice cream that Papa is feeding him!!!  :)  Praise the Lord!  And thank you for your thoughts and prayers for him.  It is such a relief to us that his growth and development is slowly, yet continually increasing. 

And some (not-so-much) bad news is that right now

Micaiah's favorite word is------'no!'

Okay thats probably bad news for Brian and I more than anyone,
but sometimes he does say it to answer a question.
I think thats just hopeful thinking that its
not going to be a tough year with training him?!?!?!?!?!!

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it."  (Proverbs 22:6)

Besides getting little sleep, working at the studio, and getting even less sleep...
this weekend was really fun!!!!

I'm looking forward to sharing more about it soon.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

"Stitches"

With an unexpected visit to the emergency room today, Micaiah left with 8 stitches in his forehead!  This was his first (of what I suspect may be many to come) incidents that require medical attention,
if he is anything like his Papa.
Micaiah is quite a curious, fearless (and in some cases ignorant), 

and at times mischievous little boy.
For the next five days until he gets his stitches out,
his nickname will be "Stitches."

It was an unexpected fall (or was he jumping?) off of the ottoman when he gashed open his forehead and required 8 stitches.  Anna and I were in the dining room while he was playing in the living room.  Even though we didn't see it happen, we heard his body thump when he hit the ground and his immediate crying.  When I picked him up, he was already covered in blood and I knew this one wasn't going to feel better with just a kiss.  While the nurses and doctor were stitching him up, he laid on the hospital bed screaming, "GO HOME NOW!"  It was his first three word sentence!!!  And in his desperate cries, the sense of our safe and familiar home was what he was demanding.  

His pleas for "home" captured my heart.  Home is where the heart is.  

Isn't that a famous quote or something because I know I've heard that before? 

While comforting Micaiah and telling him that we would go home when it was "all done," it was as if the Lord was showing me the delight He will have on the day that He will come to take His church home..."Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."  

(Revelations 21:1-4)

Though for now we can find encouragement in this:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." 

(2 Corinthians 4:7-10)

The wonder of it all!

Here's Anna and Micaiah enjoying the jazz festival that we went to this past weekend.
They absolutely enjoyed it, especially because this was one of the few times that we have kept them out this late at night. This was their first experience seeing a live performance with all the instruments, sounds, and food.
They were mesmerized!

Anna's favorite instrument was the saxophone.

Micaiah liked dancing to the music.

We all had a great time!

Milestones and More

Wow, life has been so exciting in our home!
There have been many new developments in our lives recently.

Here's what happened in August...
(I know its September but hang with me,
I think you'll find its worth the read)

Micaiah : Every day new words come out of his mouth! He attempts to ride his tricycle but his legs aren't quite long enough to reach the peddles. He finally got his two upper "fang" teeth (still waiting for the bottom ones) AND at 22 months old, he weighed in at 20 pounds 7 ounces!!!! YEAH! We knew he could do it. He's over twenty pounds now, but still in the zero percentile so we still have to watch his weight. He likes to jump A LOT.
Here's one of his many new funny faces he makes.

Anna : What can I say about Anna?! She is just getting so big. Her latest milestones are: brushing her own hair, swinging herself by pumping her legs, crossing the monkey bars on her own, treading water, writing her name, and drawing people. She is really looking forward to riding her bike and going to the pumpkin patch this fall. Oh, and she got her first 'slap' bracelet--yes, those slap bracelet things that bend when you slap them on your wrist. (they were a big hit when I was in middle school...yes, it kinda made me think I'm old but at least I don't feel it YET) She likes wearing the slap bracelet and calls it her 'watch'.
Here she is being a monkey.

Brian : I am so happy for Brian because he is studying to become a certified personal trainer. This is something that he has wanted to do since high school. He really enjoys learning all these long medical terms that make no sense AND he is just so excited to help and encourage others to have a healthy and active lifestyle.
He studies a lot when he isn't working and his goal is to be certified by Jan 2011.
Of course, I think its going to be rather nice to have my own personal trainer too. ;)

Mama Rich : So, maybe I am a bit of a simpleton. Its funny how the littlest things bring me such great joy! Like reading the Little House on the Prairie book series to my daughter. I bet you didn't see that one coming. :) Yes, I used to read these as a child and I still enjoy reading them. The added bonus is that they are real life, wholesome, family-oriented stories that are bursting with history and fun. The books are so interesting to read about a different kind of culture and way of life. I am looking forward to blogging more about our homeschooling journey. In my own personal reading time, I've been reading Amy Carmichael's biography written by Elizabeth Elliot titled, "A Chance to Die." It is a book that I borrowed from a friend and I am so glad that I did. I hope to blog about the book more later too. For the second part of our fifth wedding anniversary celebration, Brian took me to Worlds of Fun to ride roller coasters together! It has been five years since I've ridden one. It was scary at first, but I really enjoyed surrendering to the fun of it all. Well, something new that is going on for me is that I've decided to become a certified zumba instructor. I'll be certified in October and looking forward to instructing classes. I'm very excited!!! If you're wondering what zumba is, its a low impact cardio workout that is based on a variety of dance steps that makes it fun to work out. It is so much fun!
I'll share more about that later too.

So that pretty much sums up August for us.
This summer was so refreshing and as we head into fall,
we are looking forward to all that God is going to do.
We will miss the swimming pools and the long hot days as they are replaced with cooler nights with jeans and hoodies. Yet this change in season is but a reminder of the seasons yet to come.

"Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)

"For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
(Romans 8:24-25)

(PHEW!)
September here we come!!!

A Miracle!

This post was written by Ed McInnis, a witness to this miracle and a very good friend of ours.

Last night (June 30th, 2010) while entertaining the Rich's, I accidentally ran unto (with my wheelchair) and parked on for a brief instance, the foot of Mr. Moo (their one year old son). 530 pounds of force was on his ankle and as he fell back screaming in pain and trying to free himself, he twisted his ankle into a most precarious angle.

When he was finally rescued and we began taking off his sandal, we discovered his foot was compressed, twisted, purple, and swelling.

Folks......I have seen mangled bodies and I know when things are "not good."

I, as "under cool fire as I am," saw his ankle and foot, I, even I, already had the creeping, nauseating suspicion that we were going to have to go to the ER due to a broken ankle/foot.

To quote David Hogan, "Faith kicked in before reason."

We laid hands on his foot and began to pray and immediately the color returned to normal, there was no swelling, and his foot was restored to its natural form.

Mr. Moo was comforted by his mom as he ate a popsicle; he wanted down and when his foot hit the floor.....well.........

He ran and chased his sister with NO sign of distress at all!!!!!!

PRAISE GOD!!!!

This was an actual, visible healing....

PRAISE GOD!!!!!!

Friday's favorites

Here are this week's favorites around the Rich home:

Peppermint Patties are my favorite.


Anna and Micaiah's favorite new hobby--sticker collecting!

Anna collects them on her bedroom wall.


Micaiah collects them on his arm!


Anna and Micaiah loving on each other.


and Micaiah's latest sad face!
(Yes, his hair is really almost white)

Happy Friday!

The Toils of Potty Training!

Wow! Its hard to believe that Micaiah will be 2 years old
in only 4 months!!!!

My baby boy is beginning to turn into a little boy now.

About a week ago, the process of potty training began.
Oh my!
They say boys will be boys for a reason, you know!
So for me, I'm facing up to all the fears and concerns of potty training a boy.
Is there really confusion in teaching them to first go sitting down, and then standing up later?
And there are a few more, but I won't go into detail.

For Micaiah, his Elmo potty seat and gummi bears make him pretty happy to keep trying.
It also helps that he really likes wearing 'big boy' training pants.

This is Micaiah sitting on the potty and asking for more gummi bears.

(Anna's favorite reward when she was potty training was M&M's.)

Now that he is learning that he is interested in potty time, he ventures into the bathroom a lot more.......
......and can you guess what he does???


You got it...

The toilet paper roll is his new playground---and he thinks its funny!

I'm sure that this year of potty training will
have its own tales to be told.

For more potty training tips, ideas, and information, go to Huggies.com.

The Huggies brand also does a rewards point program.

Happy training!

For the 4th of July

The July 4th holiday always stirs in me the desire and excitement to see a good fireworks display. This year, I really wanted to take Micaiah to see them for the first time. For some reason, he likes pointing out lights, so I couldn't wait to see how he would respond to "big lights in the sky." Anna was purely excited just to stay awake until it was dark outside. She likes being outside when its dark and seeing the way the world looks different at night.

For a part of the afternoon, we spent time together at
a local community event called VillageFest in Prairie Village.

Anna enjoying the day.
I really like this picture of her because she is just so happy and beautiful!

Micaiah on the other hand, was busy eating Cheetos!

Anna really enjoyed her first pony ride!
She even got to pick out which pony to ride.
Micaiah at least sat in the saddle, but he didn't make it the whole way around.

Later that day, we met up with some friends
and went to a carnival in Parkville, MO.
We had heard from others that the fireworks display that was going
to be set off at the end was really good.
I was excited. The kids were excited.
When they saw all the carnival rides and games, they got even more excited! :)
This was Anna and Micaiah's favorite ride at the carnival.
They both really enjoyed it and didn't want to get off.
This was Micaiah's first time riding a carnival ride!
Beep, Beep!!!
Anna got to ride a few more rides as it began to sprinkle.
Then, it hit! The drizzle became a downpour! We had to run up a steep hill in the pouring rain. Thankfully Brian was pushing, I mean running with the kids in the double stroller!
We all got soaked and yet it was a lot of fun!
It was a warm rain so once we were wet, we just kinda enjoyed it and got each other even wetter!
So the rain came and we did not get to see fireworks this 4th of July. :(