Audrey Caroline

I've tried to start this post five times now, and am not sure exactly what to write, given that we expect to have our fourth baby in a few days. But I've been reading their story for a while, and it deserves to be spread. So I will just post the links to the story of this amazing family, their little girl, and an incredible testimony to trusting in God. Set aside some time and watch their story. Read their story. But be prepared. I doubt your eyes will remain dry...

Their blog...
Bring the Rain

Video from Cross Point Church in Nashville...

Smith Family Story from Matthew Singleton on Vimeo.

For Wizzy

Since Wizzy isn't sure who reads her blog, I'll fill this out just for her. I'll fill it out for Paige too, but those answers will be largely figments of my imagination. That way she will have to post to correct me, on the blog I supposedly started for her on which she has posted all of once. :)

1. What was I doing ten years ago?

Jason: Let's see, that would be 1998, the end of junior year at Dordt College. Fairly close to graduation, so 10 years ago I am fairly sure I had an ulcer that I probably should have had treated. The cause of said ulcer was the fact that I had no job lined up for the summer, I was getting my first B in a class since... ohhhh like third grade (I know, horror!), and I had a ginormous crush on the girl who lived in the room across the hall. Only problem was, she was going out with my roommate at the time. Thus the ulcer. I finally couldn't take it anymore, so I asked one of her roommates what was going on. Came to find out that she was breaking up with my roommate on that same day. I think I asked her out the next day. (I know, total violation of the guy code. But he and I are actually good friends to this day.) I believe that same day, we all went to the bar after a final exam, or maybe someone's birthday (Drinking? At Dordt? Never...) Somehow the guys discovered that they had missed buying me drinks for my 21st birthday, and proceeded to make up for their lack of observing tradition. A short time later, I was seeing double. Then triple. The girl next door ended up having to drive me back to our apartment building. Then she had to go to work that night. I hung out in her apartment, while all her roommates grilled me about exactly how long I had been pining for her. I do not recall many of the details, for obvious reasons. I am sure they extracted far more information from me than I wished to reveal.

Paige: She also fell madly in love with the handsome gentleman across the hall, and wanted to marry him and make lots of babies. Worked out pretty well for her, if I do say so myself... ;)

Seriously, I can hardly believe that was 10 years ago. And I love her more now than I did then. So her answers below are all in good fun...

2. Five things currently on my to do list:

Jason:
- Write in the boys notebooks. We write them a letter in a notebook every year for their birthday. I still haven't written mine. Their birthday is in July. The girl next door is a weee bit upset with me.
- Pack my stuff for the hospital. Lots of reading material. And a dog shock collar.
- Charge the camera batteries for the hospital.
- Give blood on Sunday.
- Fix the fan in the boys' room.

Paige:
- Give birth.

3. Five snacks I enjoy:

Jason:
- Chocolate covered coffee beans.
- Fudge from a real fudge shop.
- Jamba juice.
- A tall glass of freezing cold milk.
- Anything else with chocolate.

Paige:
- Bon bons. While watching soap operas, of course. (Isn't that what stay at home mom's do all day?) ;)

4. Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:

A billionaire? One billion dollars? You invest that at just 5% annually, that is an annual income of 50 million dollars. $136,986 a DAY! I can't even fathom that. You could buy a Ferrari for every day, and still have money left over.

Jason:
- I wouldn't tell a soul. You would have people coming out of the woodwork asking for a handout.
- Hire someone to totally rebuild the Bronco.
- Give a whole bunch of it away.
- Build "the big" house with a full shooting range in the basement.
- Have a room full of gold coins to swim through just like Scrooge McDuck ;)

Paige:
- She would have a lot more shoes.
- The "big house" would need an extra garage bay just for all the strollers.
- I'm guessing we would adopt about half of Africa.
- And probably travel all over the world too.

5. My five bad habits:

Jason:
- See the list of my favorite snacks. Enough said...
- I pick my fingernails and toenails. Paige bet me that I couldn't stop for 6 months. I won the bet.
- I thoroughly enjoy my own bodily noises (Is that actually a habit? And a bad one?)
- I often drink milk right out of the carton. If you come to our house and want a drink of milk, you probably will want to open a new carton.
- I rarely use blinkers. I'll drive 400 miles and never turn on the blinker, and then turn it on as I make the turn into our driveway. Paige just rolls her eyes.

Paige:
- She grooms me like a monkey. Usually while I am driving. Suddenly I get a finger jammed halfway down my ear, with no warning at all, like a chimp looking for a tick. She's lucky I can keep it in the lane...

6. Five places I have lived:

Jason:
- Dallas, TX
- North Phoenix, AZ
- Sioux Center, IA
- Tucson, AZ
- Gilbert, AZ

Paige:
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Sioux Center, IA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Gilbert, AZ

7. Who's next?
I have no idea. I don't think anyone reads this blog either. :)

I better go write in the boys' notebooks now. I am supposed to be finished by Friday...

Daddy date

Ella just called me and asked me on a daddy date.  A dad can't hardly say no to his little girl asking him out.  So tomorrow morning you will find us at The Farmhouse in "downtown" Gilbert, enjoying pancakes, eggs, and sausage!  Then maybe a trip to Home Depot to get some home repair supplies. (Every little girls dream, I know.)

Now if only I can convince her to not ask any other boys out for ohhhhhhh... 23 years or so.  :)

Countdown to B-day

There is now less than 1 week left until Addink kid #4 arrives. Next Friday at 1:30 Paige is scheduled for a C-section, and we get to meet our new addition. Since the day and time of birth aren't exactly surprising, we decided to be surprised as far as the sex of the new arrival. We figure we have girl clothes and boy clothes now, and no matter what the other three kids are moving into a room together for a while.

So I put a poll over on the right. Make your guess as to whether we will be having a "Bob" or a "Betty." For that matter, post a comment with your guess as to what we will name him or her. I think we have finally decided on a boy name in just the last few days (unless someone in the comments gives us a better idea.)

And check back here in a week for the pictures and statistics. I'm going to try to post a lousy cell phone picture to the blog before we leave the operating room. :)

Shocking...

So the new Addink arrives next week Friday. Paige has mentioned several times that she needs some device to wake me in the middle of the night in the hospital. Not that I have a history of sleeping through crying newborns in the hospital or anything. So far she has suggested the following...







At least she hasn't suggested this yet...


Needless to say, I'll be going heavy on the coffee next week...

Bruising Grandma's ego

Grandma Addink came over to watch the munchkins tonight. Levi and Noah hurled the insults at her.

Just as we were leaving, Noah walked up to Grandma and said "Grandma, is there a baby in your tummy, or is it just fat?" Oh my. We all got a good chuckle, even my mom.

Then at bedtime, the boys were goofing around in their room instead of going to sleep. Grandma went to check on them, and told them goodnight (again.) Noah sweetly called out "Goodniiiiight ollllld granny!"

My mom also said that Levi walked up to her the other week and said "Grandma, your hair is goofy!"

Really, they come up with these things all on their own...

Random kid moments

Paige has a bad habit of leaving cash in her pants pockets. So when she does the wash, there are usually a few bills that end up floating around the dryer. They usually make their way to the top of the dresser when the laundry gets put away.

So yesterday Ella was playing with her purse. She told Paige "I have lots of dollars in my purse." Paige looked up from what she was doing, and saw Ella pulling a wad of cash from her wallet. Paige counted it out... $106. Our 4 year old has managed to collect $106 from the laundry and stash it away in her purse. This does not bode well for when she turns sixteen. The cash won't remain in our pockets long enough to even get to the laundry...


Grandma Meyer is here visiting for a few days. She was telling Ella that she was only staying for a couple of days, but that she would be coming back when the new baby was born. Grandpa is going to come first though, then Grandma. Ella looked at her and said "Good, Grandpa is more fun! But I still want you to come back too."


Justin and Lindsey came to visit a few weeks ago. One night we were chatting about politics, and either Lindsey or Justin ask me who I voted for in the Arizona primary. From over in the corner, Noah chimes in... "Mitten Romney!" All the kids went with us in February to vote, and i kept telling them we were voting for Mitt Romney. Noah called him Mitten though. But that that little bugger remembered for over a month, and even knew we were talking about voting. It's frightening how much their little minds absorb...

Home Invasion

I walked out of the front door this morning to go to work. As I walked down the sidewalk and heard some buzzing around my head. I stopped, turned around, looked up, and saw this...

Then I ran screaming like a little girl back into the house. Kidding! I did, however, call an exterminator. He came out and blasted them with about four gallons of pesticide, which did a good number on them.

I just counted the bees. In a 100 ml container, there were 300 bees. And I measured 2,900 ml of bees total. That works out to 8,700 bees!

The kids were all fascinated and wanted to see the bees. We peeked around the corner before the exterminator came and checked them out. Levi told Paige that he was thankful to God that the man came to kill the bees.