Best Quote Ever

Howie has decided emphatically that he does NOT want to get married and have children when he gets older.  He insists that he never ever wants to leave Mama and Daddy's house, a fact that I will find delight in reminding of when he's 16.  So today he walked up to me at the dinner table, arm around his sister, and proclaimed, "This is my wife, Mama."  It melted my heart.  Wren has Howie (and Justy too) wrapped around her little finger.  He brought it up again later and I broke the news to him that you can't marry your sister.  So I guess he's back to plan A- living with me and Josh for his whole life.

Siblings

Believe me there are many moments throughout the day that I must pray for the strength to not pull my hair out.  But I am also blessed to witness sweet moments shared by our kiddos, and it gives me hope for the future that they will grow to love each other more.

The kids tend to think of this sofa as the perfect wrestling spot.  All 3 of them together.  Josh and I are ok with that as long as it doesn't involve poking the sofa or each other with sharp pencils or something.  Isn't that the fear with leather?  I'm just dreading the day when I hear a popping noise and "Umm, Mom..."  Pick your poison with young kids. Either you're worried about stains or sharp objects.

Chillaxing in front of the tube.

You couldn't pay me to play in a wet, cold sandbox, but none of the appeal is lost on this crowd.  They love it.  Even sitting in it.

Bike riders extraordinaire.  I realize the matching sweatshirts are a bit much, but they were given to us and this way they're a walking Christmas party.

Not to be outdone, Wren sits on her bike.  Now if only she can figure out how to make it move out of the grass.

Howie and Justy are super into coloring.  I also wanted to show that the old man skinny pants have moved onto the next child- Howie once made a splash in these and now Justy is carrying the banner.  The ladies in the nursery thought he was dashing.

November Update

The last few weeks have been so crazy I have neglected to visit my blog.  Between Sandy and other craziness it felt like much of October and November kind of disappeared, and then I woke up and realized it was nearly Thanksgiving!  2012 has flown by!  Holy moly.  Here are some newsworthy events that have taken place in the last few weeks.

1. Wren turned 1 and is walking!!  This was actually October 16th so more than a few weeks ago.  Her first year of life was full of adventures in learning a new place and how to be a mama to 3.  She is such a joy.  She just started walking in the past couple weeks, which of course she is obsessed with.  

1st birthday complete with milkshake at Chick Fil-A

2. Howie and Justy are obsessed with Legos.

Josh has had such a blast building fortresses and armies with them.  Love to see their creativity.  

3. We had a great Thanksgiving here.  Although we sorely missed our families we enjoyed sharing dinner with a wonderful family from church and going to the Macy's parade in NYC in the morning.  The boys were awed by the HUGE Mickey Mouse and friends who floated by.  So many things to be thankful for this year! 

Our wonderful neighbor kept Wren at home so she's not in the pic.  

Hurricane Sandy's Aftermath in Our Neck of the Woods, which was relatively unscathed.

Sandy was really something else. Amazingly Teaneck was relatively unscathed, though there was at least one large fire and there are many, many trees and power lines down, and probably 90% of the houses, businesses, and stoplights are still in the dark. In God's mercy our power was restored after a short 24 hours, I think because we are down the street from the hospital in Teaneck. So our house is warm but our next door neighbors are still without power. We are doing everything we can to be a blessing to those around us! But compared to the Jersey shore, Hoboken, NYC, and other towns around here it seems to me that Teaneck did pretty well. We're so grateful for God's protection but so sad for those who have lost everything in this.

Hi. I'm Pretty Sure Eggs Are NOT My Friends.

I've suspected it for a long time and now it seems pretty certain- I gave this poor girl fried eggs earlier last week and now she's pretty miserable and has rashy bumps on her skin.  No omelets in this girl's near future.

Redecorating in Progress

We just recently redecorated our living and dining rooms.  We are renting our current house and I can't say that I'm a fan of the paint colors that were chosen by the owners- the house already has a serious lack of natural light and then on top of that the walls are very dark... which makes the rooms look even darker.  So we have a serious lighting issue.  Since we're not sure how long we'll be in this house (although def. until next summer), we don't necessarily feel like painting, especially since our color options that would be allowable by our landlord are very limited.  When we first moved we had several big book cases in the living room (the same ones from our St Louis apartment) that took up an entire wall in the living room.  We realized upon greater consideration and more than a year of living in the house that those needed to go.  They made the already dark room look even darker and smaller.  So we got those out and moved a loveseat downstairs as we had gotten a new ocean liner sectional couch.  Wow, it's big.  In classic Desch fashion we didn't bother to measure the room and then the couch to see how the fit would be.  It looked like it would be fine, so we went ahead with the purchase.  The day it was delivered I remember Josh and I were sitting on the stairs watching the delivery people move it in, majorly sweating if it would fit or not.  I saw how big each piece was as the movers brought them in and saw the shrinking space between the end of the growing couch and the wall...  turns out that although it does fit by about 6 inches on one side, it is far too much couch for such a tiny room!  But we love it anyway!  It seats tons of people and maybe someday we will have a bigger living room where it will look more appropriate.  Anyway a wonderful friend from church (Kel- the former Christine Griebel!!) took me to the Brooklyn Flea Market a few weeks ago and I was able to find some things that I loved.  Along with being a hotbed for hipsters- I had major insecurity that my jeans weren't nearly skinny enough- there was a wonderful selection of interesting furniture, clothing, artwork, food, jewelry, and randomness.    We still have pics that we will hang on the wall when we get around to printing them out (a pitfall of digital photography!!) so it's a bit of a work in progress.

Yesterday Was A Red Letter Day

Remember this little guy?

Our precious Justice turned 3 yesterday... seriously, where did 3 years go?  Time is a curious thing- I can't really remember what life was like before Justice was in our family, but I also can't believe that 3 years have gone by since we welcomed him at 7:24 on a beautiful September morning.  I remember thinking the moment I saw him, "Wow, he looks exactly like Howie!" (And imagine my surprise when he was a boy after I had been convinced for months that we were having a little princess named Stella!) Over these 3 years it has been such a joy to watch him grow into his little self and begin to discover who he is.  He loves to laugh and prance around on his tippy toes and squeeze his brother and sister (usually too hard) and play and read and watch Mickey and have awesome conversations.  Josh and I always love hearing what he talks to himself about after the lights are out and Howie is asleep next to him in their bed.  Tonight he was singing Hickory Dickory Dock.  Sometimes it's Happy Birthday to himself over and over again- though the proximity to his actual birthday is a nonissue.  He has a tender little heart, and when he loves you, he loves you with the whole of it.  

We had a wonderful day celebrating yesterday.  He was presented with a Lightning McQueen bike, much to his delight, which was followed by a family bike ride in the dead end street on one side of our house.  He requested dinner at Smashburger, a family favorite, and after that we came back for brown (meaning: chocolate) cake, also at his request, and Oreo ice cream.  Yum.  Looking forward to another wonderful year for this special little boy.

Family bike ride.  Justy was thrilled with his shiny new bike.  Obviously he's got some room to grow into his helmet.

Post blow-out.

If at some point your small pathetic spoon no longer does the job, upgrade to the ice cream scoop.

Words of Wisdom

I want to commend to you a blog post written a few weeks ago by my sister Carrie.  While we were at my parents' house this summer my sisters and I had many wonderful conversations about raising our children and shepherding their hearts- through them I was greatly encouraged and given much food for thought.  Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the daily grind of having small children... changing diapers, making lunches for school, doing laundry, changing clothes, cooking food, grocery shopping with little ones in tow, etc... It is easy for me to lose sight of the fact that although such a busy and exhausting time these are such important and wonderful years for intentionally investing in our children and beginning to encourage them to know and love the Lord.  Carrie is a wise, godly woman who has thought and studied intentionally about being a godly parent, and you can read her post here.

And So It Begins

We have embarked.  Howie was thrilled to put on his uniform, help make his lunch, and pack into the car to go to school.  Justice accompanied us and we bid Howie goodbye... as we left he was already playing and seemed to be doing fine.  I can't wait to hear his impressions of the first day.  We are so proud of him and are eager to see him grow and develop over this year.  I already miss him horribly but I'll muddle through.  Justice is already apologizing to me that he will go to preschool next year.  Wren and I won't know what to do with ourselves!  Today was a shortened school day to ease the transition for the kids, but tomorrow it's the real deal- we actually have to be on our A-game and out the door early in the morning.  We'll see how that goes!  

P.S.- Who can believe that the football season started last night?  Where has this year gone???

Called on the Carpet

This afternoon I was reading a Veggie Tales book to the kids about lying- I'm not crazy about this book because I think the author's theology of confession and repentance is pretty pathetic.  One of the veggies breaks a plate and lies to his father about who did it.  In the end of the book he finally admits that he lied, and his dad says basically, "it's ok- just don't do it again."  No reference to our need for real confession and repentance.  So it's been my habit through these years of reading aloud to just change whatever I don't like and insert what I do like.  In my new version today the veggie told his dad he was sorry for lying and his dad said some nurturing words that I can't remember about how he forgave him and he was glad his son was convicted by the Holy Spirit and led to genuine repentance and how we find forgiveness in Christ... I don't know what I said.  I say something different every time I read that book, and no one has ever noticed before.  Howie looked up at me with a smile on his face and said, "You just made that up. It doesn't say that."  I was shocked.  He caught me.  But hopefully he absorbed some good truth about repentance and forgiveness through Christ on the many times that I've read and edited that book before today.  I guess I have to be more clever and less obvious with my editorial remarks from now on.

P.S.- we just put the boys to bed a bit ago and Justice is laying in his bed singing Andrae Crouch's song "To God Be the Glory" at the top of his lungs. Somehow Howie has already managed to fall asleep despite the singing, even though they share a bed.

Last Day

What is the significance of this picture?  And the title of this post?  This is the last day we have our dear Howie with us during the morning.  Ever.  Except on weekends and holidays and sick days and summer of course, our precious Howie will be out of the house in the mornings for the next 13 years... he embarks on his school career tomorrow. This is the last movie that the boys will watch together in the morning, having nothing to do but whatever strikes our fancy.  The more I think about it, the sadder I am.  This is the beginning of letting go, and I'm not ready for this.  I know I will be a mess tomorrow as I take him to school and watch him leave my care for such a significant part of every day from here on out.  There's no going back.  Although there are definitely days that I would say I would love for him to be in school, I am viscerally sad that he's moving a little more toward independence.  Of course I know that parenting is a progressive process of letting go and entrusting them to God, and I'm so thankful that our Lord goes with Howie to school.  We will miss him horribly while he's gone, but I know that we will treasure the time that he is home during the day all the more.  Pics to come of him looking handsome and studious in his uniform tomorrow!

And this is just for fun.

Apple Picking

We went apple picking last week in New York state... it was such a fun outing.  This was our first time picking together and I'm hoping that it becomes an annual fall tradition.  I love that God made apple trees to grow low to the ground- they were just the right size for short pickers.  We had 20 pounds picked in no time.  They are fabulous.  There is nothing that says fall is fast approaching like a delicious apple.  We're hoping to eat these and then go back to pick a different variety.

Apple picking on a hot August day in fire boots.  

Look at these beauties!  Now I'm thinking of anything apple that I've ever made.  Applesauce, apple crisp, apple cake... any other ideas?  YUM! 

Even Wren has discovered the joy of a wonderful apple.  (outfit disclaimer: Josh put those legwarmers on her
with that dress.)

Happy girl... a hard apple is also a good teething pain soother!  

Girl Meets Donuts

Yup.  It's a hit.

This is illustrative of how I have changed as a parent.  I would never have DREAMED of feeding Howie a donut at 10 months.  I was more the "this child is never going to taste sugar" sort of parent.  That slowly changed as I was progressively beaten down by the demands of being a mom.  Justice was eating lollipops at 1 (I discovered at this point that a lollipop is a powerful thing... although I feel guilty saying that) and Wren shared some of a milkshake with Josh at about 7 months. Sweet mercy.  Anyway the boys think Dunkin Donuts is so amazing, but I don't really agree.  I feel like the donuts coat your teeth and throat in this weird grainy film.  Is anyone with me on this?  We go get them on occasion but I always need a drink to wash them down.  But Wren was all in.

Rain For Roots... Amazing

I recently downloaded this album I stumbled across randomly while looking at other music and we LOVE it.  It's obviously intended for children, but I love it too... the lyrics are so rich and wonderful.  I can listen to it several times in a row without wanting to pull my hair out (sorry Mickey Mouse Clubhouse CD- can't say that about you!).  I am so grateful for things like this that help us to shepherd and nurture our children so beautifully.  Get it!!

A Barbie's Fate In Our Home

Our wonderful little neighbor friend left her Barbie at our house after visiting this morning and this is how I found her later this afternoon. Oops. Barbie ER anyone??

Obsession