Thankful for Naps

Asleep, and we haven't even had the turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving from The Piks!

A Crucial Potty Update

Ready for church

Today we walked over to one of our favorite parks, the helicopter park, then on to Walgreens to pick up some M&Ms to use as rewards for pottying. This weekend I got the crazy idea to let Spence run around the house naked and see if he would go to the potty. He did pretty well at first, then disaster struck. He pooped and peed on the tile in the dining room. Then the next day he pooped on the stairs! I was pretty discouraged, but I didn't want to pressure him to go in the toilet if he's not ready. Today I started a sticker chart and 2 M&Ms for going potty (3 M&Ms if his pull-up is dry). I caught him mid-poop and we got to the toilet and finished up there. Then 15 minutes later he said he needed to go again. He went poop completely on the toilet! I was so excited! This could be the beginning of the end of diapers and pull-ups, or a total fluke. We'll see!

On a totally different topic, how would you take the following comment? We were leaving Walgreens, all three kids in the stroller. A lady walking by asked how old Allie was. Then she made the most bizarre statement: "At least you got a girl." Like I can now find a good home for the boys and be rid of them? Or what's with the "at least" part? She's not great, but at least she's a girl? I'm still baffled. If nothing else, it just reminds me to say things like, "Your children are beautiful!" Not, "What a relief that your third was a girl! I'm sure you would have climbed a tower, jumped, and plummeted to your death if it had been a boy." Be nice, Amanda.

Pictures, past and present, from the helicopter park:

This is why we call it the helicopter park

It has an awesome sand area

There's also this cool digger...

And an airplane!

Check out Spence on the airplane a little over 2 years ago! (October 2007)

This was Allie's first "ride" in the helicopter

Just look how much these boys have grown in the last 2 years!

What do you see?

I threw some trash away and noticed the above spill on the trashcan. I thought it looked just like a giraffe. Then Coleman came back from the trashcan and said, "Mommy! Come look at this stain on the trashcan! It looks like a giraffe!" He wanted to take a picture so we could show Daddy.

Grandma, Can We Borrow Your Airplane?

The boys like to watch cartoons and kids' shows on one of the Christian channels. And just like any other kids' station, their advertisements bring shouts of, "Mommy, when can we have that?!?" or, "Mommy, when can we go there?!?" One of the commercials is for a Bible-themed amusement park in Florida that has a replica of Jonah's big fish, the parted Red Sea, and other scenes from the Bible. A few days ago we were sitting at the table eating lunch:

Spence: When can we go to the big fish?
Mommy: Honey, that's a long way from our house.
Spence: We can go on Grandma and Grandpa's airplane.

I love these little glimpses into their minds. How cute that he thinks Grandma and Grandpa have their own plane! So, Grandma and Grandpa, if you do indeed ever get your own airplane, can we please borrow it to go see the big fish? It would really make Spence's day!

What It's Come To

I really didn't want to use word verification for readers to leave a comment, but the spammers have given me no choice. I've gotten several spam comments left in the last few weeks. I hope you will still leave your comments. I love knowing that people are reading the blog and enjoying it! Keep your comments coming!

911. What's Your Emergency?

This is one crazy ride I'm on! Sometimes I think my kids are nuts, but I wouldn't have them any other way! And as that popular country song says: God is great and people are crazy (I omitted the beer is good part because I don't agree wholeheartedly with the song). Sunday was one of those days that starts off bad and just gets worse. I sat down to write about it, but it was too overwhelming. I had to take a few days and decompress. I'll just give you the highlights.

Brian had the worst stomach bug I've ever witnessed him have. He didn't even come out of the bedroom when the police showed up! Just wait, I'll get to that. We missed church since I figured we might all come down with what Brian had. (Praise the Lord we didn't!) Spence had been having some rough nights and I was sleeping with him until Allie would wake up and I had to feed her. We've got that all straightened out now. Brian has to check his room for bugs every night and Spence is fine. Simple solution! Sunday afternoon the kids and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie. Coleman was playing with the phone, but I was too exhausted to care. All of a sudden there was a banging at the door. Since I was feeding Allie I asked the boys to see who it was, but not to open the door. They said, "It's the police!" Turns out Coleman dialed 911. The police officer was really nice and talked to Coleman about why it was important not to dial 911 unless there was a real emergency. Coleman was terrified! I think we're safe from Spence calling for a while because he kept saying, "Don't dial 9911! It's not an emergency!" I was tempted to tell the policeman that someone had come in and ransacked the house, but figured that wasn't such a good idea.

Yesterday we were heading out to the park and saw this:

I figured the news was doing a story on the mayor, who lives across the street and one house over from us. When we came back home the vans were still there and a man was outside. I took the boys out to see a real live news van. The man was very nice and showed them his camera and some of the equipment. Then he told me they had interviewed the mayor because he was robbed at gunpoint in his driveway last night. Yikes! It doesn't seem that the thief knew he was robbing the mayor. He probably was waiting around for someone to come home. He pointed the gun at the mayor and took his money and cell phone. Then he made the mayor get under his car. Thankfully no one was hurt. And it actually provided a teachable moment for Coleman. We were able to say,"Now that's when you call 911. When a bad guy has a gun and robs you. If the police have to come to our house when you are playing with the phone and there's no emergency, then they won't be able to go help people who are really in trouble." Lesson learned, I hope!

And just because I think she's the most adorable 5 month old little girl, here's a new picture of Allie!

5 Months

5 months ago our lives changed. Our family of 4 became a family of 5. I started cleaning pink lint out of the dryer. The boys fell in love. Well, we all did. We love you Allie! I'm so glad our lives changed 5 months ago!

Click here to check out her handsome friend Judson. He is two weeks older than Allie.

Not Just Another Messy Face

She may look messy, but she's gonna have to step it up a notch if she wants to compete. In her defense, she's only got rice cereal to work with. Take a look at the reigning Pik Family Messy Marvin:






No contest. He's serious about his title.

The Joy of Youth

"How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of Beginnings, Story without End, Each maid a heroine, and each man a friend!"

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Life

What's going on with those crazy Piks? Life, I guess. There are ups and downs. Easy times and stressful times. Times of income and times of no income. We're in one of those "no income" seasons. Brian didn't lose his job, but we found out the day before Halloween that his company ran out of money. They deposited his check, then promptly pulled it back out of his account. They have asked their financial backers for more funds, but haven't heard an answer yet. All of the employees are still going in to work with the promise of being paid back should the money come in. Brian is looking for another job, but he really enjoys what he does at his current company. Of course, getting paid is a big part of having a job. So he might just have to find a paying job. Luckily Brian is a big fan of Dave Ramsey, and has done an excellent job saving and building up our emergency fund.

We've been here before, so I feel like an old pro. Except when Brian's entire department was laid off at M.D. Anderson they had one month's notice and a nice severance package. Not so here! It would be easy to get mad at the situation and worry ourselves silly. But I choose to look at this as an awesome opportunity to trust in God. He knows the plans He has for us. They are to prosper us and not to harm us. His ways are higher than our own. He will work it out for good. And though I am not enjoying everything about this situation, I am enjoying resting in His arms and wondering what He has for us.

I have to share a story of God's amazing goodness. Something so simple that He used to remind me who He is.

Early in the week of Halloween (about 3 days before we found out about Brian's job) I started singing the praise song "Great is the Lord." I couldn't remember all the words, but I sang what I knew:

Great is the Lord, He is holy and just.
By His power we trust in His word.
Great is the Lord, He is faithful and true.
By His mercy He proves He is love.
Great is the Lord and worthy of glory!
Great is the Lord and worthy of praise!
Great is the Lord
I lift up my voice, I lift up my voice!
Great is the Lord!
Great is the Lord!

I couldn't figure out why this song kept coming to my mind. I didn't think I had heard it on the radio or sung it in church the last Sunday, so I was a little confused. But it kept coming to me, so I just kept singing it. I began to think that God was giving me this song to prepare me for something that was coming. I'll admit I was a little worried something was going to happen to one of the kids. I went over the words and their meaning, and they were very comforting. This continued all week, then Friday I got the call from Brian informing me that his company was out of money so there would be no paycheck. After we talked and I tried to take in all that he told me, the song came to mind again. I realized God had given me this song to remind me of His character. He is in control and knows the outcome. He will provide for all our needs. We trusted in Him a few years ago when Brian was jobless, and we'll trust Him now. (I have to add that I fully trust Him to bring us through this, although it may not be in the time frame we would want or the circumstances we would choose.)

I was so excited by this realization that God had been whispering in my heart these words of comfort and peace to speak to me at the exact moment I needed to hear them! But I still didn't know what had initially sparked this song in my mind. Later that afternoon, I was getting something out of the fridge (something I do a little too often) when I saw a piece of Coleman's artwork that I had put on the refrigerator door. It was a pumpkin with the words "Great is the Lord" that he had painted. I was seeing it every time I opened the refrigerator door, even though I didn't realize it, and God was reminding me that yes, He is great! So from a simple little art project that Coleman did at school, God prepared me for some not-so-great news, and reminded me that in the midst of hard times, He is great. He is faithful and true. He is worthy of glory and praise. You better believe I wrote a thank you note to Coleman's teachers to let them know how God had used them! I hope this reminds us all that the little things we do can be used greatly of God.

If you're still reading, I'm glad you made it through all that! We would appreciate your prayers. I know God has something to teach us. Maybe dependence on Him and the fact that we cannot put our trust in the things of this earth. Maybe something bigger. I don't know yet. I feel so blessed in my life. I have a wonderful husband and three healthy children. There are people going through such horrible things that I can't even imagine. But God is the same God no matter what life brings us. Maybe you have something going on that is stressing you out. I'd love to pray for you! Leave me a comment. Leave me a comment even if it's just to say "Amen!" to God's goodness!

Happy Belated Birthday Spence!

Spence turned 3 on Saturday! I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about it. I have been exhausted lately! My precious baby who spoiled me by sleeping through the night since she was about 5 weeks old has decided that she wants to see me around 3:00 or 4:00 every morning. That, added to the boys' boundless energy seems to have left me pooped. Well, that's enough for my excuses.

We had a fun birthday weekend. My parents came over Friday and took us out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. Then Saturday we went to Coleman's last soccer game. That afternoon an enormous castle moonwalk was set up in our backyard. Several friends came over to play. It was a simple, laidback party that was so much fun. The moonwalk guy didn't come back to pick up the castle until after 9:00 that night, and Brian and the boys stayed out there bouncing almost that long!

Spence and Coleman with their friends Matt and Keller

Judson and Allie hanging out

When Candice comes over we always get the kids together for a group shot

Jumping into the night!

My guys on the moonwalk

And earlier that day...

Coleman and some of his teammates

Our Halloween

What a busy weekend! Our Halloween started off with a soccer game. Coleman is enjoying soccer immensely and plays with all his heart. Thank goodness! My parents came to watch his game. After the game, we took the boys to Double Dave's, then headed to Nana and Poppa's to attend their church's carnival. Following are probably more pictures than you care to see!

Coleman and several of his teammates during practice

Coleman's cheering section

Star Wars Clone Trooper, Pumpkin, and Clone Trooper

Ready for action!

Too little for the rides

Antihistamines taken, ready for a hayride!

The boys loved this slide

Coleman on the velcro bouncy

A fun tractor ride

"This was fun, but where's my candy?"

"Yes! Another fun-filled Halloween!"

We always have "the feeding of the goats" when we visit Nana and Poppa

Our Playgroup Party

Today our playgroup had a Halloween party. I can't believe we were able to get most of the kids to sit for a picture! These are some of the people the boys and I hang out with. We get together for playgroups and give and share advice. They are a wonderful group of moms and kids!

The babies

The big kids

Please say a prayer for one of our playgroup members, Erin, and her family. Today would have been her daughter Kristen's first birthday. Kristen passed away from SIDS last Spring at four months old.

School Halloween Carnival

Coleman's class

Coleman and one of his teachers and friends

Allie in her pumpkin costume

Spence having fun

Spence and his friend Orie

And the Pumpkin Goes To...

Did you know my husband is a champion paper airplane designer? Every year the building he works at holds a paper airplane competition. Last year the airplanes that landed closest to the target won gift certificates to a local Mexican food restaurant. Brian won first place! So this year he decided to offer his airplane crafting services to his coworkers and in exchange they would split their winnings with him. One lady took him up on the offer and the airplane came in 3rd place. (Brian's airplane had altitude problems then crashed into a wall or something.) The building didn't do gift certificates this year, but intricately carved pumpkins. His coworker who won 3rd place was gracious enough to give the pumpkin to Brian since she said our boys would enjoy it more than her teenage daughter.

Pretty crazy!!!

Thought for the Day

Why is the easy way out not always the easy way out? That's about as deep as I go today. Allie has been having some eating marathons at night. (She totally gets that from me!) From about 8:45 or 9 until 11ish. That leaves me little time to do all those leftover things that need to get done before I go to bed. Last night she woke at around 3 and then again at 6. (That wouldn't be so bad except she's spoiled me by sleeping so well usually.) I woke up tired to yesterday's leftover messes. I'm trying to remind myself that unfolded laundry piled on the table, dirty dishes in the sink, and backpacks thrown on the floor don't signal the end of the world. I'm trying to focus on letting God show me priorities. If I'm only given a certain amount of time to clean or tidy up I have to pick and choose what gets done.

Anyway, all this to say that I couldn't imagine coming home from Bible study today and getting out bread, turkey, peanut butter, chips, fruit, and yogurt. Then pouring drinks, cleaning up messes, and putting everything back where I found it. Wouldn't it be easier just to go to ChickFilA for lunch? Apparently not! We ordered our food, found our table, were brought the wrong food, took it back, got our almost correct order, exchanged one fruit for a fry, headed to the bathroom, waited on Coleman, sanitized our hands, returned to the table to eat our food, learned of a poopy pull up and 4 year old who now needed to poo poo, realized the pull ups were in the car, sent the 4 year old to the bathroom, ran out to the car with the other two to retrieve the forgotten pull up, hurried back to the bathroom, changed the poopy pull up, wiped the poopy bottom, resanitized our hands, headed to the play area, unbuckled the baby from the carseat, gave a 10 minute warning, pulled the crazy toddler* off Spence's neck, wondered why I was the only parent in there watching kids, gave the 5 minute warning, decided it was time to leave before I had to end up refereeing all these unsupervised kids, gave the 1 minute warning, buckled the baby back into the car seat, called the boys, put the shoes back on, thanked the boys for coming when I called them, explained that no, we wouldn't be getting ice cream because we had brownies at home, loaded up the car, did a final sanitation of the hands, and headed home.

So no, ChickFilA was not the easy way out that I was hoping it would be today. Gone are the days of order your food, eat it, and leave. That's just not my life right now. And I love every minute of my crazy, adventurous life!

Yesterday I visited with a friend who has 5 children. I loved witnessing her laid back personality and the way she guided her kids to Christ in her interactions with them. If you're reading this Rachel, you are an inspiration to me! You are such a wonderful Mom and I enjoyed our visit yesterday! Can't wait until next time!

*If you have to tell your 3 year old to watch her little brother and come tell you if he isn't nice, maybe you should stay in the play area and watch him yourself!!!

Coleman's Soccer Game

Jumbled Thoughts from the Week

Here's what happens when I don't post for a few days: everything ends up being combined in one big post. From the results of Allie's weigh-in at her 4 month checkup, to funny things that happened to the Piks, to an explanation for this picture:

As for Allie, she weighs 16 lb 5 oz. That's the 95th percentile! She is my little beautiful chunk! Minus the little part. She cried just as much when she got her oral vaccine as she did for the two shots. As for Maestro, I found him lying on Allie's changing pad, which I had put on the floor while her bathtub was occupying the changing pad's usual spot on the countertop.

On to funny conversations:
Coleman has been trying to get Spence to use the potty more because Brian promised them they could play a new video game when Spence starts using the potty regularly. Here's what I heard Coleman telling Spence the other day:

Coleman: Spence, you should go poo poo on the potty.
Spence: No! I don't want to!
Coleman: It's just like sitting on the couch watching football. Except you have a stool.

The other day Spence was making a weird face and I asked him where he learned that. He said, "At yoga." And no, I don't do yoga.

And here are a handful of amusing stories:
We were at the park the other day and Spence's pullup was so wet it was about to fall off. We didn't have any pullups with us, but I had a few of Allie's diapers. Spence, who is about to turn 3, fit in one of Allie's size 2 diapers! That will be one of those embarrassing stories I can whip out when he's trying to be all cool in front of his friends several years down the road.

We visited another church this morning for the first time. Recently, Spence has been getting a little teary-eyed when being dropped off. Maybe it's all the different churches we've been visiting. Anyway, Brian went in his class with him and was trying to let him know it would be alright. He asked the teacher, "What is the Bible story about today?" And she replied, "Oh, today we'll be learning about the Trinity!" Brian thought, "Now that's diving into the meat of the Scripture Spence!" There's nothing like deep abstract spiritual truths to calm a nervous toddler. (By the way, we all enjoyed the new church and Spence, though he probably didn't grasp the concept of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit being one, enjoyed playing on the playground.)

And now for a soccer update:
Coleman is having such a blast playing soccer. We got lots of video, and hopefully Brian will have a chance to post some later so Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Poppa can see. For now though, here are a few pictures.

Lining up to practice kicks

Ready for action!

Spence took a picture of Daddy, Mommy, and Allie watching the game

Finally, here's what is happening with Allie:

Tonight she had cereal for the first time! She did pretty well. She seemed to like what actually made it into her mouth. Of course, you can look at her and tell she likes to eat, so I don't know why I would be surprised that she started out well with the cereal.