You Know You Have Boys When... - May 2013

Giving God Glory

God's Amazing Creation & Creativity - Due to the humor sprinkled throughout this post, I want to begin with these important truths...  I love my husband & sons immensely!  There are often times I am in awe of how the Lord has fearfully, wonderfully, uniquely, and creatively made each of them (Psalm 139:13-14).  Wes, Noah, & Josiah bring me great joy (and refinement at times too, which is good for me in helping me grow to be more like Christ).  I thank the Lord often for them!  

That being said - there are also times that I think, "Oh my..." or "What in the world?" or "I am so different from you guys..." or  "????" or "I never would have thought to do that... but it sure looks fun!" or "Just join in the laughter..." ;)  Genesis 5:2 - He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.  The Lord definitely blessed men and women in different ways, and it is amazing how He designed the genders to complement each other so beautifully (when we are living for His glory and according to His purposes rather than our own).  I know my life is blessed in so many ways and is a lot more fun as a result of all the maleness in our family!  Thank you, Lord, for...

...my wonderful & fun-loving husband & sons!

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts

Growing pains - In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:6-9  The Lord has been growing us a lot in our marriage recently, which has been a great blessing but has also been painful at times due to the refiner's fire purifying us of our flesh.  There's no one else I would go through growing pains with than Wes!  It's been a joy to see how the Lord is making us more united as one than we have ever been before.

Praises & Prayers

Various Loved Ones - Continued prayer for wisdom and for Christ's strength and perspective as they are in the midst of various trials (James 1:2-5).

Tache - Prayer of James 1:5 for wisdom for the doctors to determine how to help her back heal.

Tami - Continued prayers for the Lord to give my dad and other loved ones His perspective and that God would heal Tami, but ultimately that His will would be done.
Our Family - Praise for God faithfully growing our family to be more like Christ (Philippians 1:6).
Wes - Praise for the Lord giving Wes peace about his job situation.  Prayer of James 1:5 that the Lord would give us wisdom with there being more concrete talk of furlough effecting his job in July - less hours which also = less pay for approximately 6 weeks.  Continued prayer for Wes to continue to be a strong light and witness for Christ at work in the midst of a very spiritually dark environment and also for spiritual protection (Ephesians 6:10-20).  Also prayer for perseverance for Wes as he finishes another quarter of classes.
Christina - Praise for the Lord answering prayers for wisdom and the fruit of the Spirit to abound in our marriage and parenting.  Prayer of James 1:5 for wisdom as I finish preparing to teach VBS next month at our church, and prayer of Galatians 5:16 for both Wes and I that we would walk in the Spirit and not in our flesh.
Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.  Praise for the Lord growing Noah in honoring the Lord in his heart attitudes even when he does not get what he wants.  Prayer of Ephesians 4:32a that God would help Noah to be kind to others - especially Josiah & Sierra since he tends to get too rough with them.
Josiah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.  Continued prayer for the Lord to grow Josiah in his gross motor skills (ex. progressions involved with crawling & walking) in His perfect timing, and prayer of James 1:5 for wisdom with our response to how God has made Josiah but also with our role in helping him grow & develop.  

Marriage Memories

We enjoyed a day date of hiking the incline followed by a picnic on "Lovers Lane" in Manitou Springs. :)

Family Fun

Mother's Day

You know you have boys when... you try to take a nice family photo & they only last for 2 photos with some interesting expressions... then later on you discover when you are cropping the photo on the computer that there is a bat in the tree in the background ;)

You know you have boys when... popping an "attitude" occurs after throwing a ball

Daddy & Noah played catch together in the afternoon.

You know you have boys when... some of their sweetest smiles occur after trying to eat wood chips

We also enjoyed some fun at Palmer Park.

You know you're blessed with a wonderful husband and sons when... 

Mother's Day is one of the many days of the year that they seek to show you how much they love you!

Treating me to crab legs at Red Lobster...

... and finishing dinner off with delicious frozen yogurt for dessert!

Enjoying the Outdoors

You know you have boys when... one of their favorite activities is exploring the outdoors!

Feeding the ducks at a nearby pond * Josiah would get a sad face & whimper when I would leave his side - we think he was scared of the ducks :(

Noah's 1st time on a tire swing - he wasn't too sure about it & didn't last long * Josiah enjoys swinging!

Slide race!

Hiking at Palmer Park

You know you have boys when... one of their favorite topics of conversation is who has the biggest muscles

You know your oldest boy is growing up when... you have to be intentional about keeping up with his hiking pace

You know you have boys when... you extra treasure the season of baby snuggles because you know they'll be mobile & going non-stop soon

You know you have boys when... you're watching your steps carefully on rugged terrain while they are busting out ninja moves with sticks while hiking



Memorial Day

You know you have boys when... you enjoy watching them play a game of tossing the football... followed by some sweet snuggles :)

We're proud of Daddy!  He received an award for being Civilian firefighter of the quarter.  

You know you have boys when... this often proceeds bedtime - pillow fight & silly fun with Daddy

You know you have (big & small) boys when... multi-tasking consists of washing a vehicle on the grass - so the lawn gets watered too :)

Noah News

Age - 4 years old

Cute Communication - 

     *Noah - "I love my bro."

       Me - "He loves you too."

       N - "I love Jesus the most!"

       Me - "I love Jesus the most too!"

       N - "Does Josiah love Jesus?"

       Me - "I think in a baby kind of way that he does.  He doesn't know that he is a sinner, so we will need to teach him."

       N - "I know that I am a sinner."

       Me - "I am a sinner too, and I trust in Jesus as my Savior to save me from my sins."

       N - "I trust in Jesus as my Lord and Savior too."

     *"My teeth look like Mater Truck's.  See... I have a hole between my teeth like Mater Truck." (TowMater from movie Cars).

     *Noah cried for the 1st time in a movie - Charlotte's Web - when the spider, Charlotte, died.  When I asked him why he was crying he said that he didn't want Wilbur to die.  I explained that Charlotte was dying and not Wilbur, which apparently made him feel better.  Sweet boy...

     *In another movie, a character made a statement claiming to be God, and Noah emphatically says, "There's only one God!"  It's encouraging to see that what we're teaching him is impacting him.  We pray his passion for the Lord and truth continues!

     *Noah is exploring and learning how to politely interrupt us, which lately has been by tapping us on the arm.  However, there was a while where he would tap us for ALL communication, even if we were not talking and were looking at him.  

Latest Loves

Wearing a hat (Old Navy)

Making noises & sound effects for trucks, cars, construction machines, etc.

Doing "ninja moves" when hiking, playing soccer, & at other random times

"Working" in the backyard (aka. playing with his construction machines in the rocks or sandbox)

Setting out his clothes the night before & preparing his pjs for the following night (& putting under pillow)

You know you have boys when... their sandbox becomes a swimming pool

You know you have boys when... the backyard gets taken over by construction machines & transformed into a "work zone"

You know you have boys when... "owwies" are something to be proud of & to show off

Cheek scratches & bruise from pretend "battling" with a neighborhood friend * Back of his leg from attempting to do a spin move off our porch & misjudging where the porch was

You know you have boys when... this pose is one of your favorites (at eye level with trucks & cars when playing with them)

You know you have boys when... their favorite accessory is a hat (& some shades to make the outfit complete)

You know you have a young boy when... "flirting" consists of conversing with a friend (girl) through the backyard fence

*Video - Noah playing "catch" with Daddy

Josiah Joys

Age - 11 months old

1sts - clapping, initiating peek-a-boo, waving, discipline (Josiah bit my chin, & I responded with a gentle tap on the mouth & a "no."  He looked at me with a sad face and started crying due to his emotions being hurt.)

Teeth - 4 total (2 top & 2 bottom)

Latest Loves

Waving & growling

Sucking his thumb - he no longer fluctuates between his index finger & thumb

Playing peek-a-boo

Baths!!! - playing, splashing, & kicking in the water

Rolling everywhere - even on hardwood

You know you have boys when... getting more mobile gets them excited!

Josiah's started rockin' on all fours on his own a lot more frequently 

You know you have boys when... eating, playing, & fun are synonyms

Josiah playing peekaboo while covered with avocado

You know you have boys when... this is about the only time they are still

You know you have boys when... frequent baths are needed due to all the playing outdoors

You know you have boys when... exercising caution (ex. being concerned about hitting his head on our coffee table) rarely crosses his mind 

You know you have a baby boy when... "flirting" consists of waving excitedly to ladies who care for him at the YMCA

*Video - Josiah clapping for Noah

Bro Bonding

Precious boys working as a team to play peek-a-boo with me :)

Homeschool Highlights

This month we continued a Science unit study on the human body about our external body parts & 5 senses.

Click on this link if interested in the FREE preschool skills/benchmarks that I use - Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence of Skills

Click on this link for a corresponding preschool book that I use - Core Knowledge: What Your Preschooler Needs to Know

Science:  External body parts - Noah had a blast demonstrating his knowledge of body parts by putting labeled stickers on the correct body part.  He had a total of 35 stickers on his body, so this photo doesn't quite do justice. :)

Science: Sense of sight - scavenger hunt for various colored objects (got smart & started getting crayons) * "I Spy" activities

Science: Sense of smell experiments * Sense of taste experiments (photo of sour lime juice - said was "tangy") * Sense of touch matching textures game * Sense of hearing experiment - Noah having fun listening to various sounds & telling me what they were 

You know you have boys when... some of the best learning occurs while sitting on the toilet taking care of business! ;)

Math: Counting to 100 - Noah started counting while sitting on the toilet, so I maximized on this by finding a fun "I Can Count to 100" song that we jam to while he does his business

See link for this slideshow song - I Can Count to 100

Science: God's design for creating life & for intimacy

A friend blessed me with letting us borrow this book series.  We read Noah the book for 3 to 5 year olds - "The Story of Me" - to being the conversation about God's design for creating life & for intimacy.  This series is very well done, & we highly recommend it!

Spiritual: Catechisms formatted in a kid-friendly way in the book "Big Truths for Little Kids"

Catechisms are a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions & answers.

We had been incorporating Bible stories & Scripture memory from AWANAs and Sunday School in our daily time of teaching Noah God's Word.  With AWANA being on break for the summer, we are presently teaching him biblical doctrine through this book.  We highly recommend it, though we do not agree with the covenantal theology catechisms and alter these Q&As to align with what we believe the Bible teaches.

*Video - Catechisms "conversation" examples

The last Q&A we hadn't taught Noah yet.  It was encouraging to see how Noah thought through the answer & came up with a good idea.

Life Skills: Caulking * Painting * The finished project - our spare room / office

Memorable Moment of the Month

Praying about pursuing physical therapy for Josiah - Around 9 months, it became very evident that Josiah was strong in fine motor skills but was not strong in gross motor skills.  Josiah is mobile and rolls everywhere he wants to go.  However, skills involved with progressing to crawling and walking were not happening at 9 months, and our pediatrician recommended that Josiah be evaluated for physical therapy purposes.  The evaluation showed:

     ~ Josiah is above average in visual-motor skills (aka. fine motor skills).
     ~ Josiah is below average in locomotion (aka. gross motor skills) - mainly due to low muscle tone.

We learned that low muscle tone does not mean weak muscles.  It has to do with how quickly the muscles are firing - ex. sprinter's muscles have high muscle tone & fire quickly compared to long-distance runners who often have lower muscle tone & fire more slowly.  So, we're praying about physical therapy and pursuing our options.  The evaluator really enjoyed working with Josiah and said that he is beautiful, socially interactive, alert, vocal, fun, and easy to work with. :)


             

More Memories

You know you have boys when... they melt their aunt's & great grandmother's hearts ;)

Celebrating Dad's Birthday

Enjoying a yummy meal

Nana, Josiah, & me * Noah & Uncle Adam playing - I mean "building" ;) - with legos * Papa & Josiah

Noah bringing out the bday boy's dessert * Helping Papa blow out his candle

You know you have boys when... at a nice restaurant one of them lets loose a loud belch & laughs with gusto

...then later on your two boys decide to have a growling contest for all to hear

Fam Fans for Noah's Last Soccer Game

Papa & Noah kickin' it together * Nana & Josiah playing together too

Noah's team - "The Bears" - giving their growl at the end of the game

Gpa, Noah, Papa, Nana, & Josiah

 

Noah showing off his first medal

You know your neighborhood has boys when... the entire street becomes a battlefield

And when you are blessed with boys... it's a special treat to have a couple sweet & spunky girls over!