Boys will be...

boys. Ella would freak out if they ever tried this on her.

Humbling...

This video makes you feel insignificant one one hand, but strangely special on the other. All of that, in some random "blank" spot in space, so that one day we would finally look at it, and words written thousands of years ago would become even more impressive "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." That's one impressive declaration...

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Psalm 8:3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 147:4 He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.

Psalm 148:3 Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

More bugs

Paige is in Michigan right now. Every day I talk to her, and her first question is "Did you call an exterminator yet?" After she found the last scorpion in the house, she had the crazy idea to go around the backyard with a blacklight to see how many more there were. When you find a scorpion in your house, and your wife is deathly afraid of them... don't go looking around your backyard with a black light. We found 5 the first night, and 4 the second night. Each time, Paige was squealing like, well, a woman afraid of scorpions. I has having fun, like being a kid again. I commented that Levi and Noah will have great fun in a few years, hunting scorpions in the backyard. Paige's response was less than supportive of our boys future careers in bug hunting.

So I went out hunting again last night. I found three on the back wall. Two were hiding in the cracks of the wall. I tried to blast them with flaming starter spray. I'm not sure if I got them or not. This big ol' bugger was hanging out at the bottom of the wall.



I discovered it is fairly difficult to take a picture of a scorpion at night. You have to crouch down behind a bush, balance the black light, get the camera really really close for the macro to work, and then hold perfectly still so the image isn't blurry. Of course, this isn't easy to do when the dang scorpion goes scurrying across the wall and you jump up squealing like, well, a little girl afraid of scorpions...

Well vs Good

So I was writing an email to a customer, and wanted to tell them that some samples in a test were "doing good"... or is it "doing well"? I'm an engineer, not an English major. I have no clue. Normally I would pick one an move on, but now I am paranoid. My know-it-all sister recently mocked me for saying that I was "good". She says (in know-it-all sister tone) "You mean well?" Uhhhhhh, no, I meant "good." She's a theater major and grade school teacher, so she probably knows better than I do. So I ended up looking it up on the internet...

Grammer Girl sounds authoritative, so I'll go with that. Hmmmm, it would appear that "I am good" and "I am well" are equally valid. Never miss a brotherly opportunity to demonstrate your superiority.

I ended up going with "doing good." She'll probably comment on here that I did indeed pick the wrong word...

Road Trip!

(Not really from the trip. On the way to swim lessons.)

So we survived the road trip to Michigan. It went better than expected during the day, and far far worse during the night...

Thursday, Phoenix, 4 AM: Drag ourselves out of bed, load up the last minute supplies, and hit the road. Kids conk out in the backseats for a while.

Somewhere in New Mexico, 12 Noon: Stop for lunch, I can't even remember where. Kids are doing great, watching movies, playing with toys, etc. I've even managed to listen to about 4 hours of Mark Driscoll already.

Amarillo, 9 PM: We've made something like 900 miles the first day. Dang good start. We stop a Chucky Cheese and let the kids terrorize the place for a while. They've been cooped up in the car all day and have done great, so they get all the pizza and games they want. Paige and I decide that we still feel pretty good, so we might as well try to get a few more hours on the road. We figure the kids will fall asleep in the car, we'll drive 'till we get tired, then find a hotel somewhere.

Oklahoma, 11 PM: Ok, here's where it gets interesting... It's 11 PM and all three kids are still awake. Not a good sign. We are getting tired, so we find an Econolodge. It's one step above the rent-by-the-hour hotels... not exactly the cleanest place in Oklahoma. Get a room on the second floor, and start dragging kids and luggage upstairs. Set up pack-n-plays, get everyone in PJs, Paige jumps in the shower, I watch some nature show with the kids. Turn off the lights, put the boys in pack-n-plays and they have an immediate meltdown. Screaming, wailing, and gnashing of teeth ensue. OK, so that plan isn't working. Take the boys out of the pack-n-plays, and put them in bed with us. Ella goes in the pack-n-play, cause she says she wants to sleep there. Boys start to relax, everyone is finally drifting off to sleep....

Ella: THE BOYS ARE TALKING! I CAN'T SLEEP WHEN THEY ARE TALKING!
Paige: Ella, SHHHHHHH. Be quiet and go to sleep!
Ella: BUT THE BOYS ARE TOO LOUD!
Boys: Snoooooooooore....
Paige: Ella, you are going to wake them up!
Noah: Hi Dad-dy!
Levi: Ha-ha-ha
Noah (climbing on top of me and jumping up and down): RIDE DAD-DY!

Now they are all awake, and tearing around the room like rabid monkeys. Jumping on the beds, wrestling with each other, screaming... completely out of control. Paige and I try to get them calmed back down, but at this point it is hopeless. We have no clue how to regain control of the rugrats. At this point, we are just waiting for the Indian guy in the office to call and complain, or for one of the neighbors to come over and yell at us.

Oklahoma, 1 AM: It's too bad we didn't rent the nasty room by the hour. All three kids go kicking and screaming back into the car. Levi is wet from playing in the toilet, Noah has been splashing in the tub water that never did drain from Paige's shower. The room looks like some rock band stayed there and trashed the place, except this rock band ground cheerios and fruit snacks into the beds. I throw the key at the guy at the front desk, who looks at me like I've lost my mind (he might be right). We head back on the road, planning to let the kids fall asleep, then pull over somewhere and sleep in the car ourselves.

1:05 AM: All three kids are passed out in the backseat. That didn't take long.

1:30 AM: Finally, an exit! We pull off, find a nice dark side road, turn off the lights and car, and lean the seats back...

Noah: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

1:35 AM: Back on the highway, Noah fast asleep again.

2:00 AM: Pull off in a rest stop. As soon as the wheels stop rolling...

Noah: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Ella: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Jason: Is there any way to stop the car, but make it sound like it is still driving?

2:05 AM: Back on the highway. This time Noah doesn't stop. I climb into the backseat and hold him in my lap. Paige and I are so exhausted we can barely keep our eyes open. Neither of us dares to go to sleep while the other one drives.

2:30 AM: Find our second hotel, after stopping at three others with no vacancy. This one is a slight improvement over the first. Specifically request a room on the ground floor away from everyone else. Guy has one. Pile into room with no luggage. Room is like a sauna, so we crank the AC on as high as it will go. Paige, Levi, and Ella pile into one bed, I set Noah on the other bed, and then climb in with him.

Noah: GO AWAY DAD-DY!

Ok then, guess I get to sleep on the floor. Curl up on the floor between the beds, and fall asleep almost instantly.

3:30 AM: Holy cow, it is freezing in this room! Wake up on the floor shivering. Noah is fast asleep, so I climb in with him.

Noah: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Oh great! Paige wakes up and climbs in with Noah, who promptly calms down and goes back to sleep. I see how I rate! So I go to the floor by the other bed, and try to pull some of the blankets over to keep warm.

I have no idea what time: I wake up shivvering again. Try to climb in bed with Ella and Levi. Ella is not too fond of the idea, and starts yelling and kicking Levi. Paige switches beds again to calm them down. I go take a leak in the bathroom, and discover that it is much warmer than the room. So after doing my business, I sit on the floor, lay my head on the tub, and go to sleep. Keep in mind, we paid something like $29.99 for this hotel room. I wouldn't exactly qualify it as sanitary. Good thing I am not squeamish...

6:00 AM: Noah wakes up and claims to be hungry. Paige finds me in the bathroom, with half a roll of toilet paper stuffed up my nose. At some point I had a bloody nose, although I really don't remember it.




Get everyone fed with muffins and milk, pile back in the car, and start driving again. Next day on the road goes pretty well. Kids watch movies, play games, color, etc. We each drive for a while, and manage to get a little more sleep. We decide that our mocking of the families who all sleep in one bed on Super-Nanny was mistaken. The whole co-sleeping thing suddenly seems like a much better idea.

St. Louis, 7 PM: We decide to try to avoid the fiasco of last night. Find a decent hotel, with a swimming pool even. Get some Arby's for dinner, get the kids in their swimsuits, and head over to the pool. Kids have a blast jumping around the pool.


Hotel, 10 PM: Back to the room, read lots of books to get them all nice and calmed down. Make a "nest" for Ella on the floor with extra blankets. I take Levi, Paige takes Noah, turn off the lights, and we all go to bed. Everybody goes to sleep...

Ella: I CAN'T SLEEP IN MY NEST!
Paige: Ella, SHHHHHHH. Be quiet and go to sleep!
Ella: BUT I CAN'T SLEEP IN MY NEST!
Paige: Ella, you are going to wake the boys up!
Noah: Hi Mom-my!
Levi: Ha-ha-ha
Jason: Ohhhhhhh crap...

We dropped the hammer on them this time. Levi and Noah kept trying to get out of bed so they could play. After getting dragged back into be and told "NO" about 10 times, Levi decided to go to sleep. Noah, on the other hand, has an iron will. The kid is more stubborn than a mule. He ended up getting a swat on the butt everytime he got out of bed. After about 15 of those (literally) he finally gave up and cried himself to sleep. Ahhhhhhhhh...... sleep...

Back on the road again the next day. The kids are now officially done with the road trip. Whining, crying, fidgeting. We broke multiple speed limits though Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan but made it to GR that night. There was no way we were stopping for another night in a hotel...

I am back in Phoenix now. Poor Paige has to drive back with her Mom in a few weeks. I hope she doesn't decide to just stay there instead of endure the drive back.

2118 miles of memories... :)

Puke and Bugs

So Jason set this up as a way for me to communicate (vent). I think he wants to save money on phone bills or something. So today would be a good day to vent about to my family. Monday morning I awoke to a foul smell coming from the boys room. Levi and thrown up and was sleeping in it. That began the day of throwing up another two times for him. I thought we had lived through it all and then at 7:30 at night after returning from a nice family walk with three kids bathed and in pjs Noah throws up all over the place. He too proceeded to vomit two more times. We put the boys to bed and hoped for the best for Tuesday. Well, today began better than Monday did, but only about 20 mins after being up Ella began to throw up.

After cleaning her up I scooped up the bathroom rug that he had puked on and she said "Mom a bug!" Since the baby duck in the back yard incident I have begun to listen more carefully to what my three year old is telling me. Sure enough, there was a bug running for cover across my bathroom floor. A SCORPION!!!!!!!!! Nice. He was under the bathmat that Ella was standing on and that I was kneeling on next to her as she vomited. He ran out when I lifted the rug and hid in the corner of my bathroom. I couldn't get to him with a shoe b/c he was all coiled up in the corner. So out of frustration and fear I had Ella run and get the phone and I called Jason at Bible Study and demanded that he come home to kill it. (he was only 5 min away, it wasn't that irrational of a request) He laughed at me as I described my dilemma of not being able to get it out of the corner and my fear that it would jump at me. **They run very fast in a freaky scuttling manner that is not natural and very frighting to your nerves.** He told me to get his big old knife out of the bed stand (Don't ask, I'm sure McGuyver had one in his night stand too) and stab it. So in the end, I did. In fact I cut it into a million pieces. I had to make sure it was dead. I am protecting my children and all. It is still in my bathroom, I refuse to touch it or get near it as it may be filled with venom. :) Jason can clean up the sad pile of remains when he gets home as punishment for making me live in the desert where these types of creatures roam freely.



Other than that, and Ella vomiting yet another time, it has been a typical day at the Addinks!

Comments from the fearless husband...
- I originally suggested the shotgun for dispatching the beast. Paige didn't approve.
- Paige now wants to change the carpet, tile, and paint in the entire house to colors that contrast with scorpions... :)

Haircuts

This one is just for Luke Simmons... :)

Levi was ok with the haircut...



Noah? Not a big fan...

Pictures from back in February.

Ewww

Yesterday Ella, Olivia, and all the boys were out side playing and I was unloading the dishwasher. Ella kept coming in to show me her treasures from the back yard... a seashell, a rock, some grass (yes, she brought in two blades of grass) all these items were dubbed her treasures. Then she came in and told me that there was a baby duck that hatched from an egg in the yard. I was trying to get the kitchen picked up as Abby was due to arrive any moment, so I was only half listening to her. I poo-whoed her and said something like "oh really?" and kept on working. So, Abby comes and I let her in. I show her and the kids to the sliding door and invite McKenna to come and play with all the kids in the yard. Noah comes running up to me "look mommy!" I put out my hand and he flops in a dead baby bird. Ahhhhh. There was the little duck that had just hatched from its egg that Ella had told me about! Nice greeting for Abby and her kids! :)

Next time I better listen more carefully to what she has found in the yard. Last week she told me there was a pile of stinky and she was right. Some nice cat left his treasure behind in the yard. I listened to her then, I guess I was expecting a baby duck in the back yard. :) -(no, it wasn't a duck)

In the zone...

So Paige ordered a portable DVD player from Ebay, and got four sets of wireless head phones. All in preparation for the big trip to Michigan this summer. We tried it out tonight. To our amazement, they all would wear the headphones. Not only that, but they remained frozen in this exact position for nearly 15 minutes before they got restless. Now we just need to work with them every day until they can stare at that little bitty screen for 32 hour uninterrupted.

Some warning system in our brains has obviously stopped functioning since we are even considering this trip...

Safety first!

The boys were thoroughly excited about their new safety goggles from Lowes...

The eldest had a few, umm.... issues...

First post!

We'll see how this works. I figured Paige could use it to share pictures and stuff with family...