Another Late Post (What Else Is New?)

Well, I figured I'd better post before it's been a month from the last post... I've been quite delinquent in my job as official picture-taker of the family, so I don't have a whole lot of inspirational pictures to load up for you.  I'll do my best!  One thing I know is sorely lacking on this blog at the moment is a post about the wonderful celebrations that occurred on October 13 - Timothy and Danielle's wedding of course!  I was going to remedy that this evening, but it appears that the only pictures I have on my computer are either blurry shots of the reception hall from my seat at the head table or one last picture of me at the end of the day in my pajamas taking out all 75 bobby pins from my hair.  Since those aren't exactly exemplary shots of the fantasticness of the day, I'll have to save a wedding post for when I get some better pictures from someone else's computer.  Let me just say that the day went very well, a good time was had by all, and the bride and groom looked absolutely radiant!  Heartiest of congratulations, my dear sister and brother-in-law - we pray that God will continue to shower you with blessings in the years ahead as you begin your married life together!

And on to the random non-wedding pictures that have accumulated on my camera since the last time I posted.  To begin with, here is a shot of little Nato on the day he fell off the couch and put his teeth through his lower lip.  Poor guy!

Playing outside in the backyard before we got our new lawnmower from Dad M.  I was almost starting to lose the children in the long grass.

 

 Off to the park on a warm October morning, no coats required. 

 My middle sweetie

I realize these self-portraits of me and the children don't ever yield any award-winning shots, but there's something very truthful about how they portray life with little ones at home

Practising his writing skills

 My oldest sweetie

My youngest sweetie - this is one month to the day from when he first cut his lip.  There will be a scar there for quite a while

 Nathaniel has changed SO MUCH in the last number of weeks.  Basically, I think he realized he was finally getting his follow-up appointment with the speech pathologist (he was first assessed in April) and he decided to kick it into gear.  A month and a half ago, he had just a handful of words and wasn't really trying to repeat what we said to him.  I think a switch flipped in his head, and he started repeating things after us, singing along to songs (other than just saying "amen" over and over) and using words much more regularly.  I received a checklist from the speech pathologist with a whole variety of words from different categories, and I was to check off which ones he understood, and which ones he understood and said.  The comprehension wasn't a problem for him, it was the verbalization that seemed to be the trouble.  I think over the last few weeks I could go over that checklist and change it every single day, as he's been adding new words to the vocabulary like it's going out of style.  It is SO exciting to hear!  He's been starting to put two words together, and he's happy to be able to communicate more effectively with us.  He loves to sing along to songs with us and be able to request his favourites.  There are still some sounds that he seems unable to make, but I'm sure that will all come with time.  This picture below is of him singing one of his favourite songs, "Holy, Holy, Holy"

November is a birthday month for our home, and with birthdays come cake and icing.  I had prepared a batch of icing for Peter's cake and had some leftover in a bowl on the counter.  I went downstairs to fold some laundry, and Peter came down to let me know that Aaron had "eaten some of the chocolate".  When I came upstairs, the entire bowl of icing was licked out, and Aaron was nowhere to be found.  I discovered him hiding in the shoe closet in shame, and hopefully nursing a stomachache. 

 Working on "thank-you" goodie bags for his birthday party visitors

 Completed goodie bags for Peter's four classmates that came to help celebrate

 Opening his presents on birthday morning!  Happy birthday to my first five-year-old! 

 A rousing game of Junior Monopoly with Dad while Mom makes Dutch pannekoeken for breakfast.  After breakfast, we headed out to Jeremy and Sarah's place to meet little Timothy, their newest addition to the clan (congratulations by the way!!).  Afterwards we went to Dad and Mom VD for dinner before heading home again.  

The experimental icing-design cake.  I think it turned out reasonably well (maybe not up to Pinterest standards, but who is?)  The jet was perhaps a bit big for the cake but I was told that it gave it a "dimensional" look

 This little stinker has fallen in love with the camera.  Every time I try to take a picture of something, he gets very loud and starts pointing at himself, saying "ME! ME!", and then he gives me a big grin. 

 Mom and Dad M came for a visit and dinner to congratulate Peter on his birthday

 Opa reading with the older two

Hurricane Babbling

We're hunkering down in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy, which is due to hit here sometime this evening with furious winds and excessive rainfall amounts.  Grocery stores were exceptionally busy this morning during our early morning grocery shopping trip with people buying canned goods and bottled water in anticipation of an extended power outage.  We've already had 45-50 mm of rain, not connected to the hurricane system, in the last three days, several mm of which have unfortunately found their way through the chimney cleanout into our workshop.  Thankfully it's the only part of the basement without flooring, so at least we can see what's going on and we can dry it up again fairly successfully.  It seems that an additional length of drainage tile on one of our downspouts has fixed the problem, at least temporarily.  Basements + water = frustration!  Perhaps all the crazy wind gusts will dry up the rain before it makes everything too soggy?  Probably not.  We'll be parking the van in the carport tonight, although I think most of the vulnerable trees in this city were downed in the windstorm last spring.  The wind is coming from a different direction this time, so that might make a difference.  We're hoping that if the power goes out, it's not out for too long, or we'll be crashing Danielle and Timothy's place to huddle around their gas stove :)    
I have a number of little stories or anecdotes that I've written down in the last little while that really need to be put into a post, but I'm not feeling terribly eloquent at the moment.  I'm just going to post this in all it's literary un-glory and if it's not up to snuff, you can leave a comment to complain.  Or leave a comment to encourage, whatever you like.  Believe it or not, I prefer encouragement. 
Peter is really enjoying himself at school and is developing confidence in his interactions with other kids.  He wakes up eager for school and hops on the bus ready to take on the day.  We've had a few meltdowns on mornings when there is no school, and although that can be challenging, it's great to see that he likes being at school and learning new things.  They were learning about the letter U today and Peter proclaimed to his teacher that he already knew that it was the letter U, and that the animal with one horn and wings is called a uniform. He also saw a "snack" today in the urinal which he thankfully didn't try to touch since someone had peed on it.  Haha!!  We've had a few issues with the bus which hopefully will not occur again, and it seems that he gets along well with the other students he rides with.  A few of these students told Mike a few weeks ago that they really like Peter because he's cute.  They also really like his accent.  Accent?  We weren't aware he had one, so we were amused by that comment.  He also has informed us that he doesn't need to eat his vegetables or his spinach because he already has enough energy to do all the playing he needs to do.  Nice try kid.  
The older two boys pick up a lot more than you might give them credit for, and there is one thing in particular that they heard in a sermon about two months ago that has been repeated many times since.  Rev. Bouwers was preaching about the Lord's Supper, and how just as we need physical food to survive, so also we need spiritual food or we will die.  Well, this made a huge difference in the speed to which they respond to the call "lunchtime!" They just about trip over each other running up the stairs, because "The minister told us if we don't eat, we will DIE!"  Kind of handy, actually, except when they use it in the early morning.  They were up early the other day, and I was still in bed, listening to them talking.  Aaron came into our room, and he said to me "Mommy, we need to have breakfast.  Do you want us to die?"  There's a good motivator to get out of bed. 
A few weeks ago after the boys had been playing on the driveway we noticed a whole bunch of scratches on the side of the van.  As we were fairly confident who the culprit was, Mike confronted Aaron about it.  Aaron suggested, "I think maybe a bird pecker did it."  Good try there, Aaron.
Aaron does a lot of thinking about God, heaven, Jesus, blood, and other spiritual things.  The questions that he comes up with are intriguing and I am often impressed by the way that he thinks.  Some of the things he has asked me recently include:
"When we die, we go to heaven, right Mom?  How will God get our blood back into us so we will be alive again?"
"How does Jesus' blood make us clean? Grown ups are washed with Jesus' blood, but kids are washed with juice, right Mom?"
"Mommy, did Solomon buy gold for the temple from the store, or did Jesus give it to him?"
He is also picking up on words that sound the same and he is quite excited when he finds a match.  Two weeks ago, he was snuggling with Oma first thing in the morning.  After quietly laying there for a few minutes, he pipes up, "Hey Oma, 'let us' and 'lettuce' sound the same, eh?"
Other words that he's noticed are similar include (bye / buy), (sea / see), (too / two), (BiBLE / bull), (calcium / Mrs. Mechelse).  He is so very ready and excited for school, poor guy has another two years to go.  We've been working on a pre-K letters/phonics book at home, and he enjoys his "little school" lessons.
Nate is starting to pick up on a few more words lately.  He's still struggling with pronounciation of a number of different sounds, but he's made good use of the sounds he can master, and it's fun to hear him talking.  He's had "Mommy" and "Aaron" for quite a while, and the occasional garbled "Dad" comes out.  Other words/phrases include: go away, go home, home again, amen, (s)ky, moon, (s)tar, owie, eye/I, (yo)uuuu, yea.  I also hear a lot of arguing between him and Aaron that goes something like this: 
Yes! Mo! Yes! Mo!  And a lot of screaming and "go away"s.  They don't get along all that well right now, which has been a wee bit of a challenge.  Anyways, I'm waiting for a follow-up call from Speech Services for therapy for Nate, as well as a referral call from an ENT specialist to get his adenoids checked out in case that is what's causing trouble for him with his pronounciation (and also what may have been the trouble with his drinking issues as an infant).
So there you go, a non-eloquent update on how things are going over here.  Just a heads up - ever since I changed the way that commenting is done (you no longer have to enter in the cryptic letters to have your comment approved) I have gotten quite a few SPAM comments that kind of creep me out.  I will probably be adding a password to this blog in the near future to keep creepy people away.  If you're not a creepy people, let me know that you'd like to keep following and I can send you the password once it exists.  I imagine there are a few of you out there that don't know me well at all, or perhaps we haven't had contact in quite a few years - I'm thinking people who read from Alberta, Halifax, Tottenham, Perth AUS, or the mysterious Moutainview, California reader... I'd be tickled to hear from you!  You can leave a comment with your email or email me to be on the password list at rmussche at hotmail dot com. 
That's all for now!
Mike and I signed up for the One Match program to be on the list for stem cell donation.   We know now very personally how big a difference a stem cell match can make to someone, and if we can be that match for someone else, how amazing would that be?  It's very easy to sign up - a short questionaire online, and then a swab kit mailed to your home that you complete and mail back postage paid. 

The back corner of our yard... PRE-hurricane Sandy.  I think we'll have a swimming pool back there by the end of the week.  I made some paper boats with Aaron today, but convinced him to float them in the bathtub instead of outside because it's awfully cold and miserable out there right now!

The Last Month

Opa and his newest grandson about a month ago.  This little guy has grown so much since then!  My boys always gained a healthy amount in their first few weeks, and the most any of them had gained by 6 weeks was about 3 lbs  This little guy gained more than 5 lbs his first 4 weeks!  I think his Mama is feeding him whipped cream. 

 On the third Sunday in September, Mike and I went up to London to see Mom and Dad V in the hospital.  This was two days before Dad's stem cell transplant (check out his blog for updates!).  We were surprised to be able to go on a quiet walk around the hospital with him yet, and it was good to visit with the two of them.  This picture, taken from the parking lot, is of them waving goodbye from the isolation room window.  

Somewhere in the insanity of September, I had a milestone birthday.  30 years old!  It kind of got lost in the shuffle, but I celebrated with the younger two boys by taking them to the petting zoo to see the animals, feed the ducks, and play on the playground.  Mike went to Strathroy for the weekend to help out with installing new flooring, but Mom & Dad M and Danielle & Timothy came over, and we had a celebratory dinner at... wait for it... McDonalds.  Yeah.  Fancy dinner!  It went over a little better with the kids than a nicer restaurant would have.  Maybe next year we can celebrate 30 again. 

On the fourth Sunday in September, we went to Hamilton to witness and celebrate the baptism of our first nephew on my side of the family. 

On the next weekend, we had a baby shower at Tom's mom's home in Cayuga.  I didn't take any pictures at the shower, but I stopped on my way home to take a few pictures of the changing fall colours along the Grand River. 

 It's amazing how long a child can be entertained by putting toothpicks into an empty spice jar

What a ham

Peter brought home an "All About Me" book that he had put together in Kindergarten.  We had a good chuckle over some of his drawings.  He proudly showed me how he could spell the word "green" because he had copied it from the picture.  So apparently his favourite colour is "crayon"

 I'm not sure where he's had happy face cookies (maybe Tim's?) but it seems that he's been traumatized by them. 

This one made me laugh the most.  I would have liked to see the teacher's reaction when he proclaimed that his favourite food is asparagus.  What kind of four year old is this, anyways??  Haha!! At least it's an easy one to draw!

On the Thanksgiving weekend, we were planning to go up to Strathroy for an overnight stay at Jeremy and Sarah's place, a big meal on Monday, and a visit with Dad and Mom in the hospital.  The week before, on Wednesday, Nate woke up from his nap with a fever of 104 degrees.  He didn't seem particularly sad or sick, just a little whiny, the fever dropped with Tylenol, and it had cleared up by Thursday night.  Then on Friday night at bathtime, we found he had developed a rash from his neck down - looking a lot like the Roseola that he had last fall.  Unfortunately this meant that we weren't allowed to visit Dad, and we didn't want to infect all the little nephews, so we didn't end up going.  We went to Hamilton instead to visit my family (not T&L with their little guy though) and took the opportunity to go for some hikes in the forest near their house.  The fall colours were absolutely gorgeous!  On Sunday, we took the older boys and went with Opa to the woods

 The temperatures worked out well this year for some amazingly beautiful displays of God's handiwork

 Looking out over the 20 Mile Creek

 A picture with my hubby

Mike commented that he had to flip through so many "Mussche" pictures on the camera to get to any pictures of people... I guess that's kind of true, but there's so much beauty out there that it's hard not to take pictures. 

 

 On Thanksgiving Monday after church, we headed back to the trails with all the kids and a bigger group of friends and family.  And of course all our cameras. 

 It had been quite some time since I'd been back there on the trails, and it brought back many memories of hikes in years past.  This particular location below reminds me of a certain fuzzy caterpillar that gave me an allergic reaction - a bit of a funny story actually as it involved me ripping my pants off. 

 Somewhat failed family fall phfotograph

 Some of the ladies who accompanied us on our hike

 My lovely parents

 The happy engaged couple - only three more sleeps till the wedding! 

 My dear Mom and me

 The latest edition of Three-Boys-On-A-Couch

My Sweet Honey

The weather is turning colder and the days a little shorter, and when the chill of Fall sets in, my thoughts turn to sipping warm tea, and my mind wanders into the past and stories of tea and sweet honey and frantic hilarity swirl in my subconscious...
I left the house on a drizzly Saturday autumn morning, presumably to do some grocery shopping or some other errand without any children in tow.  A lovely break for a busy Mom, to be out of the house for an hour or two alone, leaving kids to the care of my dear husband.  When I came back home and let myself in the back door, I could see the washing machine churning and I was filled with warm fuzzies to think that while I was gone, the household chores were not forgotten!  How nice that a load of laundry was being done for me.  I set down the grocery bags and proceeded further into the house, where I was surprised to find Mike on his hands and knees, in his boxers, scrubbing the floor.  Now, laundry is one thing, but washing the kitchen floor in your underwear?  What on earth was going on?  Mike looked up at me, a little flustered, and gave me a weak smile.  "I just wanted some honey in my tea"
Setting out to make himself a steaming cup of tea, he had searched through the cupboards for a forgotten jar of honey to sweeten his drink, but when he found it he saw that the honey had gotten somewhat crystallized.  No problem!  Those crystals can be easily dissolved with some heat - so put some water on to boil.  Once the water had boiled, he poured it in a big bowl and set the honey container inside to melt.  So far, so good.  But here the plot starts to unravel.  The honey was only dissolving around the outside of the jar, and there was still a big solid piece stuck in the middle.  Not wanting to take a simple spoon out to stir when you can use the big guns, Mike grabbed the hand mixer from the cupboard, inserted one beater, stuck it in the honey jar and turned it on. 
The beater got lodged in the honey clump, and instead of the honey mixing inside the jar, the jar started spinning around with the beater.  Since it had been sitting in a bowl of boiling water, it was too hot to grab and stop the spinning movement.  Panic set in, and Mike forgot to let go of the mixer controls - the steaming hot jar of half-molten honey went flying around and around and around, sending arc after arc of melted liquid honey in concentric circles around my kitchen.  Honey on my counter, cupboards, blinds, windows, stove, sink, floor...and all over my dear husband, who had only wanted to sit down with a hot cup of sweetened tea, and who now had managed to coat every surface in the kitchen with hot, sticky honey.  A frantic attempt was made to clean up the mess before I got home - stripping off sticky clothes, trying to wipe up the floor with a sticky kitchen cloth, and getting everything into the washer.  And any minute now, one of his student's parents was supposed to show up to pick up a homework package. 
It took a good amount of scrubbing to get the kitchen floor back to normal, and I don't know if I ever managed to get all the honey off my kitchen blinds.  I suggest that if you have to melt your crystallized honey, it would be best to stir it with a spoon.

Common Household Insults

Kids don't always get along.  They fight, they argue, they yell at each other, they call each other names - I'm sure any parent out there can attest to that fact.  They're just not always as sweet as they look in the pictures!  Of course, we love them dearly, but sometimes the things they say would make any parent shake their head and wonder where on earth they got THAT from.  Our kids have learned there are a few words they should stay away from - and they make sure to remind their parents and grandparents of the rules when off-limit words like "stupid" are inadvertently used in their presence.  They often come up with creative insults to let each other know what they're thinking without using banned words.  Here is a sampling of nasty-mood insults I've heard recently from my  3 and 4 year olds. 

"You are not in my sentence.  Mom and Dad are in my sentence, but you are not."
"You eat like a giraffe!"
"You are a stinky table!"
"I'm going to huff, and puff, and blow your raisin bran right out of your bowl!"
"You have to go live with the neighbours!"
(or, if you want to be especially nasty)
"You have to go live with strangers!"
"You have to go worship idols!!"
Yeah, it's interesting when your kids fall back on using the Ten Commandments to express their frustration with each other.

In the Middle of Extremes

It seems that pretty much every time I write an update on here, I mention that "life is busy".  However, I've been thinking in the last little while that all those other times that I've said "life is busy", it's really just been a walk in the park, a relaxing leisurely vacation, a stop-and-smell-the-roses time of life.  Because right now, life is BUSY, and it's difficult, and it's full of joy, and it's full of sorrow, and the only way to fill up the emotional capital being drained at an exponential rate is to drink up the promises we have been given by our almighty and merciful Father.  What a treasure we have in His Word:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  

They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  

I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him;

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

(Lamentations 3:22-26 )

The last time I wrote a real update was August 22 - a lot has happened since then.  Two days after that, on August 24, my newest little nephew was born!  Little Benjamin Simon was welcomed into the world, healthy and beautiful, and very sweet!  Mike and I were able to visit him and his proud new parents that afternoon, and we've been able to see how well he's growing in the several visits since then.  We're very thankful that all is well and that he's finally arrived (although I was CERTAIN that he was a girl!  Gotta tuck that pink sleeper back into the closet again, perhaps for October?).  

On the Labour Day weekend, we gathered as a family in Strathroy for a few days of hard work, good fellowship, tears, prayers, and good time.  We ended up painting most of the upstairs of Mom and Dad's place in preparation for Dad's time of isolation after the stem cell transplant.  Flooring is to be ripped out and replaced starting at the end of this week, the goal being to make their home as clean and sterile as possible before he comes home.  We were thankful for such a tangible way to help with preparations and for the time we were able to spend as a family looking ahead to a long time of difficult changes.  

Updates from Dad and Karen and information about Dad's transplant can be found at his blog:  http://rvanderdeen.blogspot.com

Your prayers are coveted, especially for the specific items which he mentions there.  

Mike and I were thankful to have the opportunity to visit with Dad and Mom in the hospital yesterday evening, to be able to give Dad a hug (completely didn't expect this, but very thankful!), to be able to walk with them through quiet parts of the hospital and talk together.  We don't know how often we will be able to see each other physically in the next few months once strict isolation is in place (thankful for Skype!) so we appreciated being able to visit.  It was good as well to see family at church in Strathroy, and to enjoy a coffee with Karen and Andrea before we headed to the hospital.  

We sit this evening looking at tomorrow, Day 0, and it feels like we are waiting for a tsunami.  The first week of hospitalization, intensive chemotherapy, and pre-transplant treatment turned out a little different than we were expecting - hard to know what to expect, I suppose - but we know that there are hardships and trials just around the corner.  It's hard not to be anxious, worried, uncertain... this Psalm of David has been a rich blessing to us lately: "The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? .... I remain confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27: 1, 13-14)

And so we wait.  

I feel a strong dichotomy of feelings over the past few weeks - I knew this was coming, but now that we're getting into the middle of everything, it is sometimes overwhelming.  When I look at our VD family, there is sadness, anxiety, tears on the verge.  However, our M side of the family has been experiencing events of much great joy, abundant happiness and rich blessing.  We joyfully greeted little Benjamin a few short weeks ago and look forward to celebrating his baptism this Sunday.  What a blessing to witness this little one receiving the covenant promises of God!  We also are looking forward to celebrating the marriage of Danielle and Timothy in just a few short weeks - another huge blessing, another reminder of how the Lord is in control of all things, and is able to work out His plans in ways that we can't imagine!  

So, in between the laughter of baby and wedding celebrations and the tears of hospital visits, we find ourselves in the middle of September - drenched in showers of abundant blessings and waiting for a tsunami of trial.   

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to  you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

(Numbers 6:24-26)

Happy 2nd Birthday Nate!

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Nato,
Happy birthday to you!

Hard to believe it's already been two years since you joined our family!  You're a lively little boy who has filled our lives with much joy and laughter.  You love to be in on whatever your brothers are doing, and you try your best to tag along with them.  Woe be anyone who gets in your way, for you are strong-willed and know what you want.  You love playing with tractors, joining your brothers at the Lego table, sitting with Mom, and reading books together - I often find you on the couch looking for Goldbug.  Although you're not talking much yet, you're pretty good at letting us know what you're thinking and you're certainly not quiet - you can get extremely loud!! We look forward to hearing you do a little more talking in the next year instead of calling everything and everyone either "Mom" or "Aaron".  I did hear "Oma" and "arm" over the last few days, but your new words are slow in coming.  I'm sure things will change in the next year, and we won't be able to remember today's word-less version of Nate!
Congratulations, my two-year old Nato!  May God continue to bless you in the coming year!

 Blowing out the candles

 Digging in!

Comment Changes

As it seems there have been some problems with posting comments and the "word verification" feature, I have removed that setting to see if it fixes things.  I included that feature in the first place to get rid of unwanted spam comments that were showing up.  Your comments will still be subject to my approval before they are posted - not that I think you'll post something nasty, but I'd just like to filter out those spam comments that might find there way here.  Hopefully this new setting will spur on an avalanche of comments from my millions of readers!  Happy commenting! 

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I was at the bicycle repair shop this morning with the front tire of our double jogging stroller, which I discovered had a flat tire just as we were heading out for the bus stop.  Aaron and Nate were with me, and Aaron was watching the repair process very closely.  The guy was having a hard time getting the tire off the rim, and exclaimed something along the lines of, "Oh my gosh, this tire just doesn't want to come off!".  Aaron was quick to admonish him, telling him "You shouldn't take God's name in vain, that's bad." The man quickly apologized and agreed that he shouldn't talk like that.  Some days I think we have a lot to learn from our children about confronting sin in the world around us and sticking up for what is right.  Way to go Aaron!